Knox shook his head. “Last time I went to see him, he refused visitation.”
“Maybe you should go visit Cross. He’ll give you any news. Give North any messages.”
“Yeah, that’s a good thought.”
Reid set his mug of coffee down with a clack on the table. “I’m sorry, man. I promised you that I would look after him.”
Knox waved a hand. “It’s not your fault. I might have been pissed at first but the fact is . . . no one can promise that in there. You can only try. You were a good friend to us when we first entered that place. The shit that would have happened to the both of us that first month if you hadn’t stepped in . . .” He shook his head. “Man, forget about it. You don’t owe us an apology. You’re another brother to us.”
Emotion punched him in the chest. Especially considering how alone he’d felt ever since he got out. Work, eat, sleep. That was pretty much the cycle.
A few weeks after his pardon, he’d actually paid his mother a visit. He didn’t know what prompted him . . . what he was looking for from the woman who had never given him anything in life. He felt worse after seeing her.
The years had not been good to her. Most of her teeth were gone. Her greasy hair had thinned so much he could see her scalp through the stringy strands. He had to remind her who he was several times. She continually asked him if he had any money and even went so far as to grope his pockets when he stood up to leave.
When he left her trailer, he bumped into Gaby, one of the twins he used to fuck around with in high school. She was there visiting her parents. She was still hot. Jeans painted on and a skintight sweater that hung loose off one shoulder.
She invited him back to her apartment. He’d accepted the invitation, desperate to move on. Desperate to prove that what he felt for Gracie wasn’t real. That it had just been circumstances. Their forced isolation and the constant threat of danger combined with the fact that he hadn’t touched a woman in years. It had taken him ten minutes in Gaby’s apartment to realize just how wrong he was.
The moment she stripped off her sweater and started a little strip tease, fondling her comically large breasts while licking her lips, he knew. He didn’t want anyone but Grace.
“Like these babies?” she asked between licking her lips and tweaking her distended nipples. “My ex bought them for me. Best thing I got out of that marriage.”
“I thought they were . . . different than before,” he managed to say.
“Damn straight.” She straddled him in her leopard print bikini underwear. “Bet you’ve got a lot of pent up energy.” Her hand dove for his dick, grabbing it aggressively as she thrust her chest into his face, nearly blinding him with a nipple.
He jerked at her rough treatment, grabbing her wrist and trying to pull her hand off his dick. “Want to use this on me, big guy? I’m a lot better than I was in high school.” She winked. “Have had lots of practice since then.”
He tugged her hand off him and squeezed out from under her, dumping her on the couch. “I don’t think I’m gonna be up to your standards, Gaby. Kinda rusty.”
“Are you kidding me?” She blinked up at him, waving at herself. “You’re passing this up?”
“I’m sure I’ll regret it later.” He was sure he wouldn’t. “Nice seeing you, Gaby.” And then he’d bailed. Ducked out of her apartment as fast as he could.
It had taught him a valuable lesson. Grace Reeves had in fact ruined him. What he felt for her had been real. Time hadn’t dimmed his feelings. He couldn’t even stomach touching another woman.
He had even stopped watching television. He needed to purge her from his system, and that included avoiding glimpses of her on TV.
Maybe it was the thought of the TV that had his gaze drifting to the box in the corner above the long counter. As though he had summoned her face, she was there. As beautiful as he remembered her. He stood from the table and drifted closer, drawn despite himself.
He shot a quick glance at the waitress behind the counter. “Hey, can you turn that up, please?”
The woman obliged and he heard the crisp voice of a reporter. “First Daughter Grace Reeves arrived yesterday with her family and fiancé . . .” The rest of the words faded away.
Fiancé. She was getting married. The sight of her looking sophisticated in a green skirt and a fitted black coat alongside some good-looking tool flashed on the screen. The guy was polished in a suit, his hair gelled and styled like he stepped off a magazine cover. So that was Charlie.
A panorama of the McDonald Observatory flashed across the screen. He refocused on the rest of the reporter’s words. “. . . the observatory will be the location for the couple’s engagement party tonight. An astronomy major herself, the First Daughter looks forward to witnessing Seraphina’s comet tonight in the arms of her future husband, White House communications director Charles Hubbard.”
She was going to the observatory. She would finally get to see out of her telescopes. He couldn’t help smiling over that. And she’ll be doing it with some other guy. A guy she didn’t love. What the hell was she doing? What the hell was he doing letting her do it?
The waitress behind the counter smacked her gum and winked at him. “Got any New Year’s plans, sugar?”
“Yes,” he answered, turning for the door. “Yes, I do.”
Twenty-Six
It still wasn’t that difficult to slip the Secret Service.
Grace knew she only had moments until they located her. The new special agents appointed to her were especially vigilant these days. She eased out a side door, escaping the din of the party and finding her way outside. Her coat was still inside and she shivered in her gown. She fell in love with the strapless blue satin the moment she saw it, but it wasn’t equipped for outdoors or the winter. The two combined were a straight ticket to hypothermia. Another reason why she wouldn’t be outside long.
She clattered up to the railing in her three-inch heels, wrapped her fingers around the cold steel and stared up at the darkest, clearest night she had ever seen. The stars were infinite. She exhaled, glad for the fresh air and silence even with the cold biting into her. Her eyes teared and she blinked, hoping she didn’t ruin her mascara. Her hand shot out, dashing at her eyes.
She’d seen her comet, but it didn’t matter nearly as much as she had hoped it would. She could only think that Reid should have been with her to see it, too.
“Did you see your comet?”
She spun around with a gasp at the deep voice. Her chest constricted as Reid stepped into the glow of the perimeter light. He looked amazing in dark jeans, the hint of a gray thermal shirt peeping out of his dark pea coat. His hair was a little longer. The winter wind whipped the dark blond strands.
“What are you doing here?”
“It’s your engagement party. Didn’t get an invitation.” He shrugged as he advanced on her, walking slowly. “Figure it must have gotten lost in the mail.”
A short, hard laugh escaped her before she could catch herself. “Don’t,” she whispered, pressing her fingers over her mouth.
“What?”
“Make me laugh.”
“Why not?” He continued coming, stalking toward her with easy strides, his eyes fastened hotly on her face.
Her voice came out strangled. “Because when I look at you I only want to cry.”
He stopped in front of her. “Yeah? Well, when I look at you I only want to do this.”
His mouth crashed over hers and it was everything she remembered and more. His lips were hungry and brutal. His hands dove into her hair, messing the elegant updo. Pins scattered and she felt the heavy mass tumble down her back.
She broke away with a gasp, her heart pounding with a mixture of lust and panic. “Reid, stop! You have to go.” She pushed at his chest and then reached for her hair. How would she explain her appearance?
“I’m not leaving without you.”
She stilled, her eyes fixing on him. “What?”
“I was wrong to s
tay away.” He motioned to the building. “You don’t want to marry that guy.”
“I have to,” she whispered.
His eyes sparked. “What happened to the girl tired of doing what others wanted? The girl who was going to live for herself?”
She shook her head. “I promised my father.”
“You promised yourself.” He closed the space between them and seized her face. “You love me. I know you do. And I love you.” He kissed her again, and she let herself drown in sensations again before breaking away.
“I can’t!”
He stared at her a long moment before lowering his hands from her face. He shook his head, his eyes so sad and dejected it tore at her heart. “Then you’re not the girl I fell in love with. I don’t know who you are.”
He started to back away, and every step felt like another shovel of dirt falling on her grave.
She shook her head and looked up helplessly to the sky. “I promised my father I would do what he wanted if he pardoned you.” The moment the words were out, her gaze shot back to him again.
Reid froze, his face going pale. “What?”
“I told him I would marry Charles.”
“For me? For my freedom?”
She nodded.
“Fuck that.” In two strides he gripped her arms again. “I promised him if he pardoned me I would leave you alone.”
“What? He went to see you?”
“Yes. Right before I was released.” He shook his head. “I don’t care what he does. I’m not staying away from you.”
She nodded, tears blurring her vision. “Yeah. Fuck that.”
He laughed, and before she knew what he intended, he tossed her over his shoulder.
She beat on his back. “What are you doing?”
“I don’t expect you to get very far through the grass in those shoes.”
She bit back a giggle and hit him in the shoulder. “You know kidnapping is a federal offense.”
“I’ve beat it before,” he replied, walking down the uneven slope of ground. “How does Vegas sound?”
“What?”
“We can drive through the night. Be married by the morning. It might be harder for the president to go through the effort of revoking my parole if I’m his son-in-law.”
She went utterly still. Her silence must have worried him. He stopped and lowered her to her feet.
She shivered and he uttered a quick curse. Shrugging out of his coat, he slipped it around her shoulders. Beneath that endless blanket of stars, he took her hand and held it between them, looking almost nervous. “I know I don’t deserve you—”
“You deserve everything,” she quickly rebutted.
Still holding her hand, he dropped to his knees on the cold earth. “Grace Reeves, will you marry me?”
She exhaled and looked up, gazing at the lights of a million stars. Looking down again, she saw the same brightness in his eyes, in him, in the love reflected on his face. “I will.” Leaning down, she pressed her mouth to his. “Now we better hurry before the Secret Service figures out I’m gone again.”
“On it.” Rising, Reid swept her up and carried her down the slope.
She leaned toward him to press tiny kisses to his throat. “Maybe we should head to a hotel before we start for Vegas?”
He turned his head and caught her mouth in a short, hard kiss. “Tempting, but not happening. The next time I have you in a bed, you’re going to be my wife. And when the goons in the suits catch up to us, I’ll be able to wave a marriage certificate at them.” He nuzzled the side of her face with his mouth. “Because I’m not letting you ever go again.”
Grace smiled. “I’m okay with that.” More than okay. It sounded like a perfect kind of forever—one she had never thought possible. Never had the courage to seize for herself. Until him. Until he showed her courage. Until he showed her love.
Now it was real. And it belonged to them.
Epilogue
Ten months later . . .
Reid hurried up the winding sidewalk, his arms full of grocery bags. He felt his iPhone vibrate in his pocket and gave a start. He still wasn’t used to the damn thing. One of the many new technologies he was getting accustomed to since he and Grace had moved to Boston. Grace assured him it would make his life better. He didn’t know about that. She was the thing that had made his life better. Technology, he could live without.
He took the three flights to the apartment he and Grace shared in graduate student housing. She had accepted her deferred offer, and he had applied and been accepted into grad school as well. He was getting that masters in Criminology after all.
Delicious aromas wafted from their apartment, and he knew Grace was still hard at work in the kitchen where he’d left her an hour ago. Classes let out yesterday and she had sent him to the store three times since then. She swore that his first Thanksgiving was going to be perfect. He told her they could order a pizza and it would still be the best Thanksgiving he ever had. Because he was spending it with her. His wife.
Even her parents coming to dinner didn’t dampen his happiness. They had come to terms with their marriage. If they didn’t love the idea, they accepted it. He suspected her father might have helped with his admission to grad school. Probably figured it was better having a son with viable career choices.
Reid used the weight of his body against the door to hold up the grocery bags as he unlocked it. Grace was taking a fresh pan of corn bread out of the oven as he walked in, her dark hair pulled up into an adorable ponytail. He set the bags on the table and moved into the kitchen. Ear buds dangled from her ears. He came up behind her and folded her into his arms.
She yelped and whirled around, whacking him with a potholder. “Reid!” She yanked the buds from her ears. “You scared me!”
He plucked the potholder from her hands and tossed it down. “Just like old times. You beating me up.”
“Ha! I seem to recall you chasing me and tackling me down.”
He cocked his head to the side and looped his arms around her, bending his knees so they were eye level. “I also seem to recall that I was naked then.”
She considered that with an expression of seriousness. “True. This isn’t a total recreation of past events.”
“Oh, I’m all up for getting naked.”
“Big surprise.” She giggled. “I’ve got to start on the cranberry sauce for tomorrow.”
“You can take a break. You deserve it. So do I.” He lifted her up in his arms. Her legs immediately opened and wrapped around his waist. He carried her into their bedroom with both hands cupping her ass.
“Just a short break,” she said against his mouth as they fell together on the bed.
He deftly worked free the buttons of her blouse. “Of course. An hour. Two tops.”
“Reid!” she gasped as his teeth sank down on her earlobe.
“Yes, Mrs. Allister?” he breathed into her ear, his tongue playing over the tender flesh he had just bit.
“Why are you still wearing clothes? I thought you had an affinity for being naked.”
“Baby, it’s my favorite thing when I’m with you.” Grinning, he stood back and started stripping off his clothes, his movements rough and anxious, his breath coming fast and hard. And that wasn’t the only thing that was going to come fast and hard if he didn’t get inside her quick.
She scrambled back on the bed and made quick work of getting out of her clothes, those beautiful breasts thrusting out as she reached behind her back to undo the clasp of her black bra. Her dark eyes devoured him as she crawled on all fours toward him on the bed. “C’mon. What are you waiting for?”
Then they were tangled up in each other on the mattress. Ten months and it still felt new. It would never get old. Every time with her felt different, better than the last.
He entered her with a hard thrust, bare-skinned. Grace hugged him like a glove. Nothing separated them and it was the sweetest, hottest thing. They’d ditched the condoms shortly after the wedding. T
hey planned to ditch the birth control pills in a few years. The idea of Grace pregnant, carrying his child, snapped the last of his control. He pumped harder, lifting her hips and angling her just right so that she flew apart, screaming his name.
A few more strokes and he followed, finding his own climax without barrier. That was sweet, too. Something he had only ever done with Grace. Something he would only ever do with Grace. This was it. For both of them. Real and forever.
He snuggled up beside her, loving her naked curves nestled against him. Gradually her breathing slowed and evened.
“That was amazing,” she murmured.
He smiled smugly. She said that every time. Because it was true—for both of them. “Aren’t you glad you took that break?”
She nodded. “I need to get back to the kitchen. I have two piecrusts to finish.”
He hugged her closer. “It hasn’t been an hour yet.”
“Reid, my parents are going to be here in the morning.”
“See. Plenty of time.” He started a trail of small, nibbling kisses down her throat.
She moaned softly and melted against him. “You’re very persuasive, Mr. Allister.”
“You promised me a perfect Thanksgiving.”
“But that’s what I’m trying to give you,” she protested.
“I have the perfect Thanksgiving. Every day with you is that. You . . . this . . .” He waved a hand around them. “It’s a future I never even dreamed of. I thank God every day for it.”
“Oh, Reid,” she breathed.
“You and me,” he continued. “Together in this bed. We can order takeout. Watch Netflix between bouts of loud, sweaty sex. That’s what we should do tonight.”
She smiled up at him. “You do love some Netflix.”
“Not as much as I love you, Mrs. Allister.”
“That does sound like heaven,” she murmured, sliding on top of him. “You know what? Screw it. We can go out to dinner with my parents tomorrow.”
He chuckled, wrapping a hand around her neck and bringing her face down to his for a kiss. “That’s my girl.”
Hell Breaks Loose Page 22
