“I’m not strong.”
“Cassandra Van Winter, you are the strongest woman I’ve ever met.” He forced his eyes to open and captured her tear-filled green ones in a locked stare. “Most people would’ve crumbled at everything life has thrown at you. Not you, you took it all and you survived. Hell, you even survived me. Survived me pushing you away, survived my lies and you fell in love with me anyway.”
She blinked and two more tears fell on her cheeks. “I-I don’t l-love—”
“You love me, dammit, and if it’s half as much as I love you I’ll be satisfied. No more lies, Cass, not now.”
He waited. Cassandra remained silent, then drew in a deep breath before she spoke and he braced himself for her response.
“You love me?”
“With…” He struggled to speak. The weight of her on him felt good, like a warm blanket. He wanted to hold her. Was he still holding her? “With everything I am.”
“Reilly, I love you too. This all this happened so fast. I didn’t know—ohmigod…what is that? Is that blood? Reilly? Reilly!”
He heard her cry out and he tried to speak, to reassure her he was okay, they were okay. His lips moved, but he couldn’t hear his own voice. The wind was so loud, even here inside the apartment, and it was dark. It was so dark.
Cassandra exited the hospital’s elevator with what she hoped was a sincere smile on her face, mindful of the stares and whispers. Her floor-length beaded gown jangled softly as she moved, her high heels clicking on the polished floor.
She switched the matching, beaded clutch purse from one hand to the other as she silently counted off the room numbers on each door.
410, 412, 414—
A few feet away she watched a door open and a tall man, his posture straight and his feet steady, step into the hall.
Reilly!
Cassandra halted. What was he doing out of bed? And dressed? He’d only come out of surgery less than twenty-four hours ago. Her mind raced with joy and confusion as she took in his dark hair and eyes, the cut of his business suit and the polished cowboy boots on his feet.
Business suit?
It’s not Reilly, she realized. A smile came to her lips. She continued walking toward him until the gentleman noticed her and stopped.
“Now, you must be Miss Van Winter.”
A younger version of Reilly stood large before her. She recognized his Texas drawl was more pronounced, but the two men shared the same eyes, strong jaw and imposing presence.
“Please call me Cassandra, Mr. Carrington.”
“Rann.” He held out his hand. “Thank you for getting in touch with my office. I was in Alaska when I got the message. I got here as quick as I could. We must’ve just missed each other this morning.”
“I guess we did. The doctors kept me here overnight. After they released me, my mother insisted I go home to rest.”
“Well, you look lovely for someone who’s been through such a harrowing ordeal.”
Cassandra looked down at her dress. “I don’t usually walk around like this. I was attending a jewelry auction when I got word he’s awake.”
“Oh, he’s awake, all right.”
“How is he? After his surgery the doctors told me he’d lost a lot of blood because the bullet nicked the femoral artery. They also said he’s going to be okay.”
Rann stuck his hands in his pockets and smiled. “He’s gonna be just fine, now that you’re here. I told him I’d leave my private jet at the airport so he can get himself back home. The damn fool muttered something about heading to his beach house.”
Reilly wanted to go back to Nantucket? Did he want to go alone?
“I’ve got a suite at The Envoy Club.” Rann’s voice cut into her thoughts. “When he gets off the phone, tell my brother I’ll be back in the morning.”
“The phone?”
Rann nodded and walked past. “Yeah, he’s in there arguing with someone about a necklace.”
Cassandra watched Rann Carrington walk down the hall, his stunning good looks and vibrant presence causing quite a few female glances to follow.
Turning back around, she only needed a few more steps to reach Reilly’s room. She laid her hand on the door, then pulled back and squeezed her purse until the beads bit into the still-tender flesh of her palms. The pain was a fresh reminder that a little over twenty-four hours ago she was actually clinging to the side of a high rise building, her life centered on the outcropping of metal she’d somehow managed to grab onto with both hands.
She owed her life to the man lying in the bed on the other side of the door. Her life and her heart. He’d told her that he loved her. Had he meant it? Or had he said those things to comfort her after he’d got her inside?
“There’s only one way to find out,” Cassandra whispered, then drew in a deep breath and opened the door. Stepping inside, she found Reilly still on the telephone. She let the door close behind her with a soft swish as she moved farther into the room.
“I know it’s not listed, it’s a late entry. Look, I know the owner personally and yes, I’m sure it’s for tonight’s auction. There is no way she’d—what? What do you mean the item’s been pulled?”
Reilly hoisted himself higher in the bed with the assistance of a metal bar hanging over his head. “That’s not possible! She wouldn’t do that—argh, damn!”
Cassandra rushed forward as pain creased Reilly’s features. “Are you okay?”
“No, I’m not okay! I’ve got a hole the size of Texas in my leg that burns like the fires of hell and I can’t get a straight answer about Cassandra’s necklace— Cass?”
The shocked expression on Reilly’s face slowly eased as the powerful heat of his gaze engulfed her. It traveled from her up-styled hair, past the high collar of her gown down to the slit that revealed the soft sheen of her nylon-clad thigh.
A soft smile came to Cassandra’s lips. She watched Reilly lean up on one elbow in an attempt to see all the way to her feet. She reached for the phone resting on his stomach and pulled it out of his hands.
She put the handset to her ear. “I’m sorry for bothering you.” She paused and smiled. “No, the gentleman won’t be any more trouble. Thank you for your assistance.”
Reilly’s expression turned to stone. “Why’d you do that?”
“Because you were giving that poor woman a hard time for no reason.” Cassandra hung up and put the telephone on the bedside table.
“You were at the auction tonight. You pulled the necklace.”
His words came out as statements instead of questions.
“Correct to both.” Cassandra turned back to him.
She watched him look over her again, slowly this time covering every inch, as if he was making sure she was really okay. Except for her eyes. She wanted him to look at her, really look at her, but he purposely avoided direct eye contact.
“Are you all right?” The rigid look faded and this time his voice came out in a husky whisper.
Cassandra responded with a shiver. “I’m fine, thanks to you.”
“You look…amazing.”
“Should I turn around?”
“Only if there’s more skin showing.”
Slowly rotating on one heel, Cassandra paused at the swift intake of breath and the soft undertones of now-familiar foreign expressions. She looked over her shoulder as she completed the turn to face Reilly again. “You know, you really shouldn’t swear so much.”
She’d known he’d appreciate the way her dress was cut to reveal her bare back from her shoulders to her waist. She’d worn it for him.
“You look like a million bucks. Like thirty million bucks.” The light dimmed in his eyes. He turned away and focused on the sterile white wall at the end of his bed. “I guess you don’t need the chump change the necklace would’ve brought in from the auction.”
His dismissal caused her voice to catch in the back of her throat, but Cassandra forced herself to speak. “You’ve talked to the police.”
Rei
lly nodded, but remained silent.
“Then you know what was inside that package Elizabeth wanted so desperately. What you don’t know is that I decided to go to the auction tonight in order to give the necklace to a surviving member of the Romanov family. I realized that’s where it belongs. Money didn’t have anything to do with it.”
“Why should it? You’ve got plenty sitting in a Swiss bank waiting for you.”
“No, actually I don’t.”
He turned back sharply to her. “What does that mean?”
“I don’t really understand all the legalities, but Mother and I spoke with the police last night. We told them as much as we knew about my father’s business dealings at the time of his death,” Cassandra said. “There’s going to be an extensive investigation, but the money could belong to former employees of my father’s company.”
“Again, what does that mean?”
“It means my mother and I are in the same place we were before, financially at least.”
He folded his arms across his chest, pulling the hospital gown tight over his shoulders and upper arms. “You don’t appear too upset at becoming a multi-millionaire and then losing it all again in less than twenty-four hours.”
Compared to the possibility of losing him? No amount of money in world could ease the pain that would cause. Cassandra gestured to the edge of his bed. “May I sit? I don’t want to hurt your leg.”
“Go ahead.” Reilly tried to scoot over, but pain flared in his eyes. “You can’t hurt me anymore than—go on, sit.”
Cassandra perched at his hip. She knew there was so much they needed to talk about, when actually all she wanted was to feel the strength of those arms of his around her. Where should she start? “My mother is selling her house. She’s moving to Washington, D.C., to be with Louis DiMarrio.”
Reilly’s gaze once more slammed into her. Well, at least she’d gotten his attention again.
“She told me about Lou the night before Willard’s funeral, but I was so wrapped up in my own world I didn’t really hear what she was saying. We talked again today. She’s determined to live the life she’s always wanted. I can honestly say I’m happy for her.”
“Dig’s a good man.”
“He said the same thing about you.”
“You talked with Digger?”
“You know, you call him that and all I can picture is my mom’s dog.” Cassandra smiled, then continued. “Yes, we talked. He told me about his past relationship with my mother and how they found each other again. He also spoke of his long-standing friendship with you. I’m so sorry, Reilly, you tried to tell me you didn’t know about your inheritance and I didn’t believe—”
“Forget it, it doesn’t matter.”
“Yes, it does!” Cassandra cried. “I condemned you for your wealth. I let my own pain and fear keep me from seeing the truth. After I walked away in the cemetery, I pictured you in a bar, thanking your lucky stars you’d gotten away from me. Either that, or on the first plane back to Texas.” The sting of tears bit at the edge of her eyes. “My mom told me about you being at the house when Elizabeth forced me to call, keeping watch over her when she had to deliver that package. Then talking to Lily and coming to the penthouse.”
“I did what I had to do to…”
“To save my life?” Cassandra finished his sentence when Reilly looked away. “You did exactly that, you know. You saved me when you pulled me back inside that building.” When you told me you loved me. She wanted to say the words, but they remained locked away in her heart. “I guess you know what happened after you passed out yesterday?”
“Yeah, Jake Griffin was here when I woke up this afternoon…along with Rann.” Reilly eased his posture, but his stare remained on the bedding. “I guess you’re the one who told the hospital how to get a hold of him.”
“I called his office myself. You’d lost so much blood. The paramedics had a heck of a time keeping you stable on the way here. I was so scared I was going to lose—” Cassandra broke off her words. It took all her strength to choke back the tears that threatened to escape. “Your family had a right to know how hurt you were.”
Reilly nodded, but again remained silent.
“After they took you in for emergency surgery, the doctors insisted on checking me out.” Cassandra looked at her hands. “I told them I was fine, it was you I was worried—”
“You were kidnapped, held hostage by a crazy lady and fell out of a plate-glass window of a skyscraper.” He finally looked at her, his dark eyes flashing. “Of course, they’d want to check you out.”
“Not a scratch on me, except for my hands.” Cassandra held them up. Her fingers trembled and she dropped them to her lap. “It’s amazing what a good manicure can do. And the doctors did insist I stay overnight for observation after I told them about the drug Elizabeth slipped—”
Reilly shot up from his elevated bed. “She did what?”
His hands tangled with hers and Cassandra clung to his warmth and strength. “I guess she thought giving me Liquid Ecstasy would help me to loosen up and tell her about the European bank account. She figured I had already opened the package from Willard’s office and knew about what my father had done.”
His gaze roamed over her again, slowly this time, as if he was checking for himself her claim of being in good health. “Are you…are you really okay?”
“I’m fine. Most of the effects of the drug wore off before you arrived at the penthouse. I refused to leave the ER until you made it through surgery. My mother even tried to bribe me, telling me I could check on Lily, but…”
Reilly leaned back against the pile of pillows, his hands slipping from hers. “She was desperate to see you, to make sure you were okay. You should’ve gone to her.”
It warmed Cassandra’s heart to hear Reilly worry about her friend, but she could feel him distancing himself from her again. “I did, after the doctors finished with the tests they were running on me and after they assured me you were going to make it. The staff pulled some strings so she and I could stay in the same room. She’s going to be okay. We talked until she fell asleep. Then I came to see you.”
“You came here?” His voice was a low whisper. “To my room?”
Cassandra nodded, remembering how she’d sneaked into Reilly’s room in the wee hours of the morning. “A friend of mine is a nurse here. When she came to check on me, I asked if you were out of recovery. My mom found me here this morning and insisted I go home with her.”
“Why?”
“Well, she knew I hadn’t really slept all night. I wanted to stay, but the doctors said it would be hours before you’d—”
“No, why did you come here?”
Cassandra looked up to find Reilly staring at her. She tried to read the wild flurry of emotions she saw churning in his eyes. Was that doubt she saw there?
Didn’t he know? Hadn’t he heard her yesterday?
The moment he’d appeared, gun drawn, to save her from Elizabeth, she’d finally accepted what she’d been running from. Her love for this amazing, wonderful man. She’d almost blown it when she’d protested his assertion of that love, but found courage in his defiant declaration of his feelings for her.
“You. I was here because of you.” Her voice cracked and she pushed back the lump in her throat. “I love you, Reilly Murdock. Didn’t you hear what I said after you saved me—”
He grabbed at her, and pulled her close until she was lying across his chest. “Reilly! Your leg!”
“The hell with my leg,” he growled. “You love me?”
Cassandra poured her heart and soul into her smile. “With everything I am.”
A watery sheen bordered Reilly’s eyes before he closed them. A deep shudder filled his chest and a single tear made its way down the hard angle of his cheek. “I thought…” He stopped to clear his throat. “I woke up and you weren’t here. I thought it was all in my head.”
“Oh, Reilly—”
“I forced Rann to get the docto
r. They told me you were okay, that you went home. I didn’t know what to think…to believe…”
“Believe this.”
Cassandra cupped Reilly’s face in her hands, the rasp of a day’s growth of beard scraping her fingers. She pressed her lips to his, praying the strength of her love could be conveyed in a simple, chaste kiss. A thrill shot through her when Reilly’s hands moved from her arms to lie across her back as he tried to pull her even closer to him.
“You saved me yesterday. Do you know that?” His voice, rough and tear-filled, rumbled. “You make me feel alive again. You pushed past my self-inflicted barricades and breathed life into my soul. I can’t stand the thought of losing you, Cassandra, not now. Not when I finally realize I can’t live, can’t love, without you. Come home with me.”
His eyes sparkled bright with gentleness and a promise of love. “I’ve got myself a run-down, deserted beach house that needs a special touch,” he continued, a devastating grin crossing his features. “You can open an extension of your shop on the island, your mom and Dig will have their own suite to visit any time they want. We’ll fill those rooms with babies and love and laughter.”
Cassandra smiled through her tears. “Is that a promise or a proposal?”
“It’s both.”
Epilogue
Candlelight suited her.
It caressed her pale skin and shimmered in the red of her curls.
The emerald green satin of her dress matched her eyes and, except for her bare shoulders and arms, covered her completely from her collarbone to well below her knees in what she told him was called tea length. Her sexy ankles were visible, encased in smooth nylons. He intimately knew they ended high on her thighs, leaving a lacy scrap of matching green panties completely accessible.
Reilly tightened his grip on the crystal champagne glass in his hand. He’d helped Cassandra dress hours ago when she’d dragged him from their bed upstairs, informing him that no, they couldn’t “take a pass” on tonight’s festivities and yes, he could undress her, in any way he liked, after their guests departed.
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