by Banks, Maya
She squeezed her eyes shut, determined not to cry. She hadn’t broken down, not even when she’d faced certain death.
“Jessie, don’t cry, honey.”
She opened her eyes again, but tears swam, blurring her vision. “I can’t afford a knee replacement. I don’t have a job. I don’t have insurance. I already have medical bills from my previous surgeries. And now I’ll never finish school.”
She bit her lip, pissed at how defeated she sounded. She’d survived. She was alive. What else was important but that? So what if she wasn’t able to walk. She could use a cane. Or crutches. Even a wheelchair. She was alive.
Truitt squatted beside the bed so that he was eye level with her. “Do you remember what I told you right before you went to surgery?”
After a brief hesitation she nodded. Unbidden, her gaze drifted to Rick but she jerked it back to Truitt, not wanting to make the moment awkward. It looked like she was looking to him for…for the same declaration. And didn’t that make her twisted?
Rick leaned over, tucked a finger under her chin and gently turned her back to face him. As if he understood exactly what she’d asked for. “I love you, Jessie. I told you out in the woods but you were unconscious. I’ve told you in my head a million times, but this time I’m saying it out loud. To you. I love you.”
This time she didn’t even attempt to call back the tears. They slid in damp trails over her temples and into her hair. Truitt leaned over and kissed one away.
Then he murmured low next to her ear. “The reason I’m telling you this again is because what it means is that you aren’t alone. You won’t have to do this alone. You’ll have us. That’s right. I said us. We’re going to be with you every step of the way. And you know what? We’ll figure it out. You’ll get your knee replacement and you’ll get the therapy you need.”
She glanced between the two men, afraid to hope, afraid to put to words the question burning a hole in her brain. She licked her lips and gathered her courage.
“You both are okay with…if…I mean, you won’t be angry if…”
“If what, sweetheart?” Rick asked as he stroked her cheek with one finger.
“If I love you both,” she whispered.
“Well, hell, I hope you don’t just love one of us,” Truitt said in a disgruntled voice. “That would be hell on a friendship, not to mention cause problems for you when neither of us refuses to let you go.”
It was getting harder to concentrate as the pain in her leg became progressively stronger. She knew this was important. Perhaps the most important thing to her future. Their future. But she struggled to get the words just right.
A soft moan escaped before she could call it back.
“I’ll get the nurse,” Rick said grimly.
“No,” Jessie said, catching at his arm as he turned to go. “Not yet. Please. I need to…I need to say this before…” Her breath huffed out, and she briefly closed her eyes as she fought a fresh surge of pain.
“Shhh,” Truitt said as he stroked his palm over her forehead.
Rick turned back, his brows drawn in concern.
“I didn’t say it,” she said. “I asked a question, but I didn’t say it. I want to say it. I love you both.”
Rick’s dark eyes warmed until she felt some of the pain melt away under his gaze. Truitt’s hand stilled on her head, and she glanced over to see joy unfurling in his eyes. Rick took the step back to her bed and bent over to brush his lips over hers.
“I love you too, Jessie. Now will you let me call the nurse?”
“That stuff she gives me makes me go to sleep.”
Truitt’s smile warmed her to her toes. “That’s okay, baby. We’ll be there when you wake up to tell you we love you all over again.”
Chapter 19
SIX MONTHS LATER
Why wouldn’t she let us take her to her therapy session today?” Truitt grumbled.
He leaned back in his chair and checked his watch. She should be about half done by now and he was itching to get down there to pick her up.
Rick scowled. “I don’t know. She wouldn’t even let us take her in. Or even let us drop her off at the door so she didn’t have to walk so far from the parking lot with her cane. What the hell was that about?”
“Maybe we’re getting on her nerves,” Truitt muttered. “Are we too overbearing?”
Before Rick could answer, Bull stuck his head in the door of Truitt’s office.
“Hey guys, I heard Jessie had her last therapy session today. How’s she doing?”
“We wouldn’t know,” Rick said sourly. “We weren’t allowed to go with her.”
“Well tell her we’re all rooting for her.”
“Will do,” Truitt said and waved as Bull withdrew.
The last six months had been long, hard months for Jessie but at the same time they’d been happy months of discovery as they charted the waters of a new and nontraditional relationship between the three of them.
The media had picked up on Jessie’s amazing story of survival, and within days, a fund had been set up to help her with the cost of recovery and her eventual knee-replacement surgery.
The local university had even given her a scholarship to complete her degree and she’d taken online classes, but she planned to attend regular classes next semester.
But the best part had simply been that they were together. Jessie had come home from the hospital to Truitt’s house, and there she’d stayed. Kirsten had been a constant visitor in those first weeks after Jessie’s surgery, helping when Truitt and Rick had to work.
It hadn’t always been easy. Jessie had nightmares and was in constant pain after her surgery. She had trouble sleeping and when she did, she battled her personal demons.
Through it all Rick and Truitt had been fiercely protective of her and they bullied her mercilessly to take proper care of herself and her knee. When they thought she pushed herself too far, they didn’t hesitate to shut her down. A fact that didn’t always endear them to her.
But every single day with her was a miracle. She was a miracle.
A lot of Kim’s madness was still a mystery. An extensive investigation into her life revealed a bitter woman driven by hatred for other women. Women she considered weak and inferior. The common denominator in all of the women she’d murdered was that they had done a perceived wrong in Kim’s mind. Things that had gone unnoticed in an investigation for their sheer unimportance. But to a woman steeped in insanity? They’d seemed unforgivable sins that Kim had insisted on punishing them for.
They hadn’t been able to trace back a cause or even the point when she’d broken from reality. Her early years on the force had reflected a driven police officer with an unerring sense of justice.
The most likely cause, if there indeed was a driving force behind her madness, was a case she’d worked three years before when a young mother had abused and eventually killed her children only to be released on a technicality. Kim had taken the case very personally and eventually had taken a leave of absence. When she’d returned, she’d been quieter and more focused, but nothing had ever made her fellow officers believe she was anything but a damn good cop.
What had pushed her to torture and hunt innocent women? It was a question that haunted both Rick and Truitt. Maybe they’d never know. All they had was endless speculation and a lot of unanswered questions.
Tied into all of it was Kim’s apparent obsession with Rick, a discovery that had baffled Rick and Truitt both. No one had picked up on her attraction to Rick, but she’d been intensely focused on him, and ironically, Kim had targeted Jessie only because of the apparent wrong she’d done to Rick when it had appeared Jessie had used Rick and Truitt as an alibi.
Jessie had simply been another woman who had committed an unforgivable sin in Kim’s eyes, and Kim had set herself up as judge and executioner.
“Hey man, it’s time. Let’s get out of here,” Rick said as he checked his watch again. “Let’s go get our girl.”
Truitt stood, sudden
ly anxious to be near Jessie again. The truth was, he wasn’t over his own terror, a fact he dealt with every single day. How the hell did you ever get over nearly losing the woman you loved?
Jessie wrapped the towel around her neck and leaned back, her breath coming in shallow bursts. She was tired and her knee ached from the exercise regimen she’d performed, but giddy excitement coursed through her veins because today was the day she was going to surprise Rick and Truitt by walking out to them without her cane.
“How you feeling?” Carmen, her therapist, asked.
Jessie smiled. “Tired. Jubilant. Excited and nervous.”
“You should be proud of yourself. You’ve made excellent progress in a very short time.”
Jessie leaned forward to rub her knee, but Carmen sat on the stool in front of her, moved Jessie’s hand, and began massaging some of the soreness away.
“I’m ready to get on with my life,” Jessie said, feeling better just for saying it. “I’ve spent far too much time putting pieces back together and now it’s time to look ahead.”
Carmen smiled. “I wish all my patients were as motivated as you. But then I wouldn’t have a job.”
Jessie’s phone pulsed, signaling a text message, and she pulled it out of her pocket. She smiled when she read the message from Kirsten.
I’m rooting for you, girlfriend. Knock ’em dead.
Jessie slid the phone back into her pocket and then took a deep breath. It was time and she didn’t want to mess up her moment by having the guys come in after her.
“I’m ready,” she said to Carmen.
Carmen stood and extended a hand down to Jessie, but Jessie shook her head.
“I can do it.”
She pushed herself up, flexed her knee once and then put all her weight on it. Though she wasn’t completely pain-free, she experienced only twinges and a dull ache when she pushed herself too hard.
She took a few experimental steps, testing her steadiness without the security of her cane. Delight fizzed through her nervous system until she was positively twitching with excitement.
“Want company on the walk out?” Carmen asked with a broad smile.
Jessie smiled back. “No. I need to do this on my own.”
As Jessie made her way toward the front, the team of therapists that had worked so diligently with her gathered and started to clap. Jessie’s cheeks warmed and she smiled as tears gathered in her eyes.
Joseph, one of the techs blew her a kiss and held open the door as she walked out into the midday sunshine.
As soon as her feet hit the concrete of the circle drive in front of the clinic, she looked across the parking lot to see that, indeed, Rick and Truitt were coming toward her. And they hadn’t seen her yet.
She increased her pace and walked out from underneath the awning and farther away from the place she’d spent so much time in over the last few months.
She forced herself to have restraint. The very last thing she wanted was to fall on her face for her big moment. She was pleased that there was hardly a noticeable limp. Just a slower, steadier walk that would change as she gained more confidence.
For now, all that mattered was that she was taking her first steps without the aid of a walker or a cane.
Her gaze never left Rick and Truitt as they hurried toward the building. She knew the moment they saw her and realized it was her. Truitt stopped cold. Rick took two steps and then also halted.
At first they looked shocked but then slow grins spread across their faces. Truitt let out a whoop and then ran toward her. Rick’s grin was no less huge but he strode behind Truitt.
When Truitt reached her, he lifted her up and spun her around until she was laughing and dizzy. Then he slowly and carefully lowered her to her feet but held on to one arm as if he was afraid she’d fall.
“What do you think?” Jessie asked.
She shook off Truitt’s hand and slowly turned in a circle. When she came to a halt, Rick’s eyes looked suspiciously bright and Truitt was still grinning like a maniac.
“What I think,” Rick began slowly, “is that you are one incredible woman. I’m so proud of you, Jessie. You just don’t know how to quit.”
Jessie threw her arms around his waist and hugged him fiercely. “I couldn’t have done any of this without you and Tru. I love you so much. I won’t ever forget that you were with me every minute of my recovery.”
As soon as she pulled away from Rick, Truitt tugged her into his side and wrapped a strong arm around her.
“What do you say we go home and you let us show you just how damn much we love and admire you,” Truitt said.
She wrapped her arms around their waists and let them pull her close into them as they headed toward Rick’s truck.
“I like that idea. A woman can never be told or shown too much how much their man—or men,” she cheekily corrected, “love them.”
“Damn straight,” Rick growled as he leaned over to claim her mouth. “And we plan to tell you a whole hell of a lot for the next fifty years or so.”
Keep reading for a special preview of the next book in Maya Banks’ Breathless Trilogy
FEVER
Available from Berkley April 2013
Jace Crestwell tapped Gabe Hamilton on the shoulder and when Gabe turned, Jace grinned. “You’ve hogged my sister long enough. It’s my turn to dance with her.”
Gabe didn’t look happy with the interruption. He and Mia had been solidly glued to one another for the past hour, but he grudgingly took a step back and Mia smiled radiantly as Jace took Gabe’s place.
The entire ballroom of the Bentley hotel was decorated for Christmas, a nod to the fact that above all else, Mia loved Christmas and it was also a well-known fact that Gabe would do damn near anything to make his new fiancée happy.
And well, Gabe moved fast when he wanted something if nothing else. He’d started planning the engagement party the moment he got his ring on Mia’s finger. Almost as if he were afraid she’d change her mind unless he got the ball rolling immediately.
It was pretty funny to see his friend in knots over a woman. The fact that the woman in question was Jace’s sister was a little weird, but Mia was happy and that was all he could ask for.
“Are you enjoying yourself, baby girl?” Jace asked as he turned her around on the dance floor.
Her entire face lit up. “It’s fantastic, Jace. The whole thing. It’s positively magical. I can’t believe Gabe pulled this off so fast. It’s just…perfect.”
Jace smiled back at her. “I’m glad you’re happy. Gabe will be good to you or I’ll kick his ass. I already made that clear.”
Her eyes narrowed. “If he isn’t good to me, it’s not you he has to worry about. I’ll be the one kicking his ass.”
Jace threw back his head and laughed. “That I have no doubt about. You made him work for it. I gotta admire that.”
Mia’s face became somber and Jace frowned, wondering what could have possibly made her so serious on a night she should be over the moon.
“I know you gave up a lot for me,” she said in a quiet voice. “I always wondered if the reason you hadn’t married and had children of your own was because of me.”
He stared at her like she’d lost her mind.
“Maybe now you can stop worrying about me so much, and you know…”
“No, I don’t know,” he said. Then he shook his head. “You’re a nut, Mia. First of all, just because you’re getting married doesn’t mean I’m going to stop worrying about you and looking out for you. That’s just fact, so get over it. Second, don’t you think if I’d gotten married before now, especially when you were younger, that it would have made things easier? For both you and me? You would have had a mother figure instead of being stuck with an overbearing, overprotective brother as your sole source of support.”
She stopped mid-dance and threw her arms around him, hugging him fiercely.
“I don’t regret a single thing about the way you raised me, Jace. Not a thin
g. You did a wonderful job and I’ll always be so grateful for all the sacrifices you made for me.”
He hugged her back, still shaking his head. Nut. Total nut. She was aglow with happiness over her impending marriage to Gabe, and now she wanted everyone she cared about wrapped up in that same glow. God help him. He and Ash should probably be ducking and running.
“It was no sacrifice, Mia. I don’t have a single regret either. Has it ever occurred to you that I didn’t want to get married and have kids?”
She pulled back with a frown and then her gaze skirted sideways to where Ash was standing across the room with Gabe. “Yes, I suppose it did.”
Jace barely suppressed a sigh. It was obvious Mia had a very good idea of his and Ash’s sexual proclivities when it came to having threesomes with the same woman. It wasn’t exactly something a brother wanted his sister to know about his sex life, but there it was. He wouldn’t apologize for his lifestyle, but neither was he going to get into a conversation about it with his baby sister.
“Play hard and live free,” he said by way of explanation.
Mia frowned and cocked her head upward.
Jace chuckled. “It’s our motto. The three of us, Gabe, me and Ash. Only you changed the game for Gabe. Doesn’t mean Ash and I are eager to follow his lead.”
She rolled her eyes. “For God’s sake. You make Gabe sound like a pussy.”
Jace cleared his throat. “If the shoe fits…”
Mia pounded him on the shoulder. “I’m so going to tell him you said that!”
Jace laughed again. “The man would probably admit to being a complete pussy when it comes to you. And that’s not a bad thing. I want him to treat you right.”
They were interrupted when Ash stepped in, sweeping Mia into his arms.
“My turn,” Ash proclaimed. “Gabe’s only going to wait so long before he reclaims her, so I’m getting my dance in now while his parents have him occupied.”
Jace leaned forward and kissed Mia on the forehead. “This is your night, baby girl. I want you to remember it forever. Have fun.”
