Daniel shook his head. “Kate believes that necklace is her mother’s last gift to her. She wants it.”
“Our mother is some illusion my sister has in her head,” Stephanie smoothly supplied. “Now why are you here? I’m her sister, and it’s my job to make the calls.”
Daniel held up his hand again. Hadn’t she figured it out? “Your sister and I were married on the ship.”
Stephanie’s chin went in the air, and she shook her head. “I don’t believe it.”
Daniel leaned to his side. “Why?”
Stephanie should not play poker. She had all her emotions on the table. “My sister never loves anyone.”
Daniel slowed down his words. “She loves me.”
Stephanie coughed. “Yeah, okay. Whatever. Make sure my sister lives, so she can give me the necklace. I’ll let the two lovebirds live happily ever after.”
Stephanie turned to walk away. Daniel stood in front of her.
“What do you know about what happened to Katie?” Daniel crossed his arms. “You can’t believe you’ll get away with hurting my wife.”
“Kate will lie, cheat, and steal to get what she wants,” Stephanie answered fast. “How is she married to you?”
“You don’t know her as well as you believe.” Her sister’s lies sounded more like Stephanie’s life than Kate’s faults. He swallowed and hoped his confidence in her wasn’t false. When Stephanie turned to leave, Daniel stepped in her way again.
Stephanie’s brow curled. “How could she ever love you to marry you? She can’t trust anyone. She’s been isolated, without friends, for years.”
“I’m sure your father and you set that up” —Daniel decided to confront her with his speculation on that necklace—“to get the necklace and Sparrow Inc. from her ownership.”
“She sure has you fooled.” Stephanie crossed her arms. “As for Sparrow, Inc., Kate knows nothing about fashion anyhow. She’ll run our family name into the ground.”
“My wife is capable, and she has me for an ally now.” Daniel smiled and saw his brothers down the hall with two officers. “So you tried to have her killed to take the company?”
“It wasn’t my idea,” Stephanie answered.
“You have the right to remain quiet,” one of the officers announced. “Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law . . .”
The other officer cuffed her.
Daniel turned away and went back to the door and his wife. Kate needed to wake up and not have any permanent injuries. A shot to the head was survivable, if the bullet hadn’t pierce through the skull. He hadn’t thought it had, but he could have viewed the wound with emotions attached.
A million possibilities exist, and his mind went to the worst-case scenario.
Kate had to be fine. His brothers patted his back, but Daniel stared at the door. He wouldn’t leave until she came out.
Chapter 59
Kate’s eyes burned. She stared at a florescent light and white stucco ceiling panels, and counted how many lines she found. Her mind tried to calculate. Heaven wasn’t a hospital. She rolled her eyes, then she winced. The gauze wrapped was wrapped so tight that her neck refused to move. Ouch. Her hand went up, and her fingers touched her head.
A memory flashed. She’d been shot.
She swallowed.
The bandage meant she survived and her fingers worked. She couldn’t bend to see, but she swore her toes obeyed.
She wiggled her feet, legs, body, and moved everything. Her head bounced a little, and a sharpness entered her skull. She froze, but the pain in her temple became her focal point. Her lips twitched, then she called out, “Hello?”
“Mrs. Collins?” a woman called out. “Page, Dr. Collins.” The voice came closer and Kate saw the blue scrubs. She coughed and realized the nurse addressed her. “Your husband went to go eat, at my insistence. I didn’t think you’d wake for a few more hours.”
Huh?
“What happened?” Kate cleared her throat. Her voice sounded scratchy, but she swallowed. She was alive. “Do they know who shot me?”
“Someone was arrested, but you should ask your husband the details. My job is to keep you healthy,” the nurse answered and stood above her now. The woman’s eyes assessed Kate, and stared at her injury. Kate stilled her movements. The nurse then changed topics. “Your eyes look sharp and alert. Let me get a light, and take your vitals until the doctor arrives.”
Kate gazed at Daniel from the corner of her eyes, but she struggled to keep her head straight. Daniel had to tell her everything was fine. She had to live, and if she stayed still, she’d stay calmer and let people help her.
Daniel took her hand, and she clutched his fingers. Then she blinked, and her eyes grew wet and tears leaked down her cheeks. “Thank you.”
“They arrested your sister.” Daniel kissed her knuckles. “The necklace means you own your mother’s company. The will confirms it.”
“Sparrow, Inc.,” Kate repeated him at a loss of what else to say. She licked her lips. “And what do you mean ‘I own it?’ Dad owned the company when Mom died. I questioned it years ago.”
“Whoever told you that, lied.” Daniel squeezed her hand. “The company is yours. Your father and sister kept you in the dark.” Daniel blew on her hand, and she wiggled her fingers for him. “Don’t let this upset you, sweetheart. I asked Sean to check all the company paperwork while you’re here. Focus on your recovery.”
“How did I survive this?” She knew the answer. Daniel. Her skin burned for a hug and a kiss.
Daniel stared into her plain, brown eyes. “My brother blocked a direct hit when he kept you in his shoulder. The bullet grazed your skull, but never punctured through.” Daniel closed his eyes. “We should have planned better.”
“I’d be dead without you.” She smiled at him. “I’m going to be okay?”
He kissed her forehead. “Yeah. You’ll recover.”
She tried to nod, but her bandage moved. She froze and answered, “Then everything’s good.”
“Your sister showed up here.” His voice stayed low but had an intensity in it. “She had motive, opportunity. You were right to warn my cousin and my family, Katie.”
“You’re the only one who ever calls me Katie.” She closed her eyes. “I’ve been Kate or Katherine all my life.”
“Do you want me to call you Katherine?”
She rested her other hand on his. “No.”
A knock at the door interrupted Daniel, and she opened her eyes. A man in a white jacket entered.
“This is Doctor Walsh,” Daniel said. “He took care of you here.”
Walsh? Kate’s mind stayed fuzzy. The doctor seemed familiar, but she couldn’t wrap her thoughts together.
The doctor held a chart in his hand and addressed Daniel. “I need to speak to my patient. Can you wait outside for a few minutes, Doctor Collins?”
Daniel’s hand slipped out of hers, and he took the warmth with him. Kate stared at the light again to keep her head straight. This time she counted the white tiled stucco squares and ignored the florescent lights.
The doctor’s sandy blond hair rang in her head as familiar.
Walsh sat in the chair next to her and held her chart. “Mrs. Collins, how does your head feel?”
“I’ve a bit of a headache, since you asked.” Something about the man jarred at her. He reached over to check her wound, and she saw his Celtic cross tattoo on his wrist. She froze. “You dated my sister.”
“You hated me, Kate,” Walsh answered. “Yet there has to be good in you if you’re with Doctor Collins.”
Ice ran in Kate’s veins.
“My life is a never ending roller coaster.” She trusted Daniel. “Are you planning to knock me off?”
“Stephanie broke my heart when she cheated on me,” Walsh said then focused on his chart.
“I warned you.” Kate paused. “And I never hated you. You and Stephanie were not right for each other.”
“I fell for
the wrong sister, it seems. Your husband adores you.” Walsh reapplied the new bandages. “This looks good. Thank you for letting me see, now, what at the time, I clearly missed.”
No one thanked her. Ever. She opened then closed her mouth. What could she say?
Chapter 60
Two minutes later, the doctor left. Kate shifted positions in her bed multiple times, but found no comfort. She assumed Daniel would walk back in. She sighed, stared at the clock on the wall, but then she let her heart drop down to her stomach. She’d curl into a ball, if she wasn’t on a hospital bed. Had he left?
A chill rocked her body.
She checked her fingers and stared at her cuticles to pick at later. Then the door clicked open. She saw his dark brown hair through the windowpane at the door, and her pulse lifted. He opened the door, and her heart soared.
Daniel held a basket of flowers.
She smiled at him. “You’re back.”
He nodded. “Of course. What did the doctor tell you?”
“He dated Stephanie.”
Daniel frowned.
She swallowed and finished, “He recognized me immediately.”
He put the flowers down and crossed the short distance between them. She added fast, “He thanked me for what I said.”
His expressions relaxed. “Ohh. Good.”
She motioned with her fingers for him to sit on the bed. Her body ached with need to hold him tight and not let go.
Calm down. She needed to protect him. Her life was a mess. She swallowed. “You know relationships that begin in the middle of adversity never make it when the adrenalin dies.”
“Where did you hear that?” He scooted closer to her and took her hand.
Why did she quote a movie? Could she take it back? Her face heated. “A movie or something.”
Daniel adjusted her pillow and her eyes welled. “You and I are not in a movie. We’re real.”
She’d have to let him go. He deserved a life full of love and happiness. His family loved each other. Her family intended to kill her. She cleared her throat. “I’m sure the FBI will take care of the details now that I handed over the files on Dad. We don’t need to be married anymore.”
“Have they caught the guy who shot you or the dark-haired man on the ship?”
She stiffened. “Daniel, take the hint.”
“What hint?”
He tried to take her hand, but she slipped out of his arms. She leaned backward on the bed, away from him. She had to do this.
“Get out now.” She sounded hard and mean. Years of practice with Stephanie, but she had to be sure he left her. “You and I are done. I can’t trust you, not long-term.”
“You make no sense, Katie.” His voice stayed calm and collected, but her blood stirred. He should be angry and storm out. He needed to be safe. She pressed her lips together. “I am not your sister or your father, out to get you.”
“Take my words at face value.” She’d spent years in front of a camera as the ice maiden, and she had to free Daniel of her life. He deserved far more. “Get out, and don’t come back for me.”
He crossed his arms. “My, you’re in a bad mood.”
“Don’t make me be mean.” She crossed her arms as well, but hoped he hadn’t called her bluff.
He then dropped his hands to his sides. “Katie, you don’t make any sense.”
Kate Sparrow had no friends. No allies. She knew better. And Daniel had done enough. If the men came after her again, he’d be out of her orbit. Marriage made him an obstacle to her enemies. He’d be safe now. He’d live a normal life without her. Kate had years of practice being a viper. She sighed. “I don’t love you. I used you to save me on the ship. Our time is over, and we’re getting a divorce now.”
He froze, and her heart cracked open in her chest.
“You are telling me we’re done?”
She turned to stare at the wall, but then turned back to him. “You’re still here?”
He stood and then stretched her entire sight of vision. He’d saved her life, and she would save his. This wasn’t over for her enemies.
“We’re done,” she spat back. “We never started. Now go. Leave me.”
She tugged at her hand to throw her rings at him, but she fumbled. They wouldn’t come off her finger.
Daniel walked to the door. “Keep them, Katie. Remember me when you look down.”
She held back her hot tears and stared at the ceiling again. “There is no point.”
He opened the door. “I’ll go.”
She bit her bottom lip to stop herself from another word. There was nothing else to be done. He should go. He deserved a life without guns pointed at her head.
Then he stopped at the door, and approached the table near her bed. “Here is my business card, with my home address and number. Katie, we should have exchanged these the first day we met.”
Her heart shrank in its cavity, but she refused to blink. She said nothing.
Every morsel of her body begged to tell him to stay and apologize. Yet she couldn’t. She kept her face hard and cold.
Someone might try to kill her, again. He’d be safe without her. She wouldn’t apologize, until all the shadows in her life were vanquished.
Chapter 61
Two lonely, quiet days later, Kate dropped her bag down with a thump back at her fancy condo in Raleigh. Her phone immediately started ringing off the hook, but she ignored it. Sparrow, Inc. could rot for all she cared.
Daniel never left her thoughts.
She closed her eyes, and listened to her heart race. How could she have been so mean to him? She gulped for air. She’d do right by her mom’s company, but the sunlight hadn’t mattered anymore. The moment she’d pushed Daniel out the door replayed in her head.
Raleigh wasn’t Boston or the Cape, where Daniel lived. She had chosen this city for the easy drive to Washington DC, and the small-city charm. She tapped her heels on the floor, and tried to function.
With a hard swallow, she flipped on the lights, and stared around her quiet, bright rooms. How had she lived like this?
Nothingness existed here.
A coldness ran through the place, and Kate understood no fire would sooth her.
A knock at the door shattered her second of peace. Daniel? Her heart leapt. Had he followed her? Her feet pounded to the door. Then suddenly the door flew open and black fur lunged at her followed by a wet lick.
“He’s happy to be back with you,” Bridget said. “I kept him under lock and key the moment you told me someone had killed a dog and left him in your bed.”
Her dog licked her leg, begging for attention.
Kate stood motionless, realization spiraling through her numb body. She loved Daniel. She’d never loved anyone else. She’d have to tell him. She’d be someone kinder and open her heart.
Bridget dropped the dog’s stuff on the counter. “Bridget, I know you’ve done so much but I need to drive up to Boston, or catch a flight. I made a horrible mistake I need to fix.”
“I can watch Charming again,” Bridget offered.
“No,” Kate said, making the decision at that moment. “Charming comes with me.”
“Can you drive?” Bridget gestured to her bandage and cringed.
Kate paused. Bridget had a point. A plane would be faster. “Can you get me to the airport? I’ll make the reservations now.”
Bridget shook her head. “Cargo sucks for an animal.”
Kate licked her lips. She had the money, and the numbers to small airlines. “I’ll fly private. She’ll be with me.”
“Good luck.”
Kate raced around her house to get her dog’s things and pack. She’d tell Daniel she loved him, tonight.
Chapter 62
Kate sighed. The agent hadn’t mentioned on the phone that Logan International was nowhere near Hyannis. Kate had licked her lips and then hired a last-minute limo to escort her. With Charming and her head injury, she needed the room.
In the backseat,
her body refused to be still. Her head bobbed. Her hands folded, then unfolded. Her legs crossed, then uncrossed. She’d get to Daniel. Nothing else mattered. She’d been wrong. She’d apologize, and tell him she was sorry to his face.
She opened her purse and clutched her phone, again. Should she call him and tell him to be home?
Borrowing the Doctor (The Collins Brothers Book 2) Page 22
