Love & Deception (Agents in Love - Book 1)

by Chantel Rhondeau

  The breath stole from Nick’s lungs and he shook his head. “I don’t know. None that she’s mentioned.” Perhaps he should have been more thorough when Carlie said she wanted them to get to know each other. What if they gave her a medicine that she had a bad reaction to? Then he remembered the narcotics. “Wait. I remember now. She doesn’t know of any.”

  The receptionist didn’t successfully cover her raised eyebrows, though she tried to. “Newlyweds?”

  “Very recent,” he agreed. And how long would they stay ‘married?’ How the hell did Paul know they were leaving today? Or was it just dumb luck? “She’s going to be okay, right?”

  “The doctor will meet with you later. First, I need you to fill out this paperwork.” The receptionist stood, handing him a clipboard over the countertop.

  Nick reached to take it, but the woman snatched it back.

  “You’re bleeding.”

  He turned his palm upward and shook his head. With the urgency to take care of Carlie, he forgot about cutting his hand on the window. It wasn’t horrible, but red leaked steadily from the wound. Wiping it against his leg, the dried blood covering his pants suggested he’d done that several times without thinking about it.

  “I was so worried about my wife, I didn’t really feel this.”

  “Let’s get you taken care of. We’ll worry about paperwork later.”

  Nick nodded. The delay would give him time to gather enough money that no one would worry about their lack of identifications or insurance cards. If Paul could make things disappear from police files, certainly Nick could bribe the right person to delete their medical records.

  ***

  “Stephanie? Stephanie? Can you wake up?”

  The insistent voice wouldn’t leave. Carlie finally didn’t feel as though every nerve in her body was inflamed, but she didn’t know how long the feeling would last. All she wanted was sleep.

  “Stephanie, wake up. Your husband’s anxious to talk to you.”

  Ryan? What?

  “My husband’s dead,” she whispered.

  “No. He’s okay. Just a small cut on his hand and had a second-degree burn. You’re the one lucky to be alive.”

  Sense slowly returned. The fire, the shop, Nick driving her to the hospital. He must have told them her name was Stephanie and that he was her husband.

  She opened eyelids almost too heavy to lift. “I feel weird.”

  A brunette in blue scrubs nodded. “We had to sedate you for the bath. That’s going to wear off soon. Can I bring your husband in so I can speak with you both? You might not remember this conversation, and I’d like him present.”

  “Yes, bring him in.” She was anxious to see Nick. There were a lot of questions she needed answered, the least of which was how badly she’d been injured or what that meant. Where were they? Could the assassins find them?

  Was it wise to give them her real name?

  Nick walked in and brushed hair away from his forehead, relief lighting his dark eyes. “I’ve been going out of my mind.”

  She smiled. “I slept the whole time. You didn’t need to worry.”

  The nurse raised her eyebrows and turned to Nick. “The sedative causes lapses in memory.” She took in a deep breath and shuddered. “Anyway, everything went as well as can be expected, and the doctor will be in to talk to you in a few hours. I need to explain the PCA pump to you so we can manage her pain.”

  “PC...what?” Nick asked.

  She waved him over to the bed and pulled an oblong wand off a machine with a bag of fluid attached beneath it. The gray stick had a blue button in the center. “Stephanie, this is hooked into your IV. Whenever you feel pain, push this button and it will give you morphine to help ease that.”

  Nick shook his head. “Isn’t that dangerous, letting her have medicine whenever? I heard you can stop breathing or something.”

  “We’re monitoring her. If she pushes it before it’s safe for another dose, it won’t release any medicine, but that can help us gauge how bad her pain is.”

  “I feel great right now.” Even as she said it, Carlie realized that wasn’t entirely true. Prickling of pain crawled along her knees and arms. The palms of her hands seemed most insistent.

  The nurse pursed her lips together. “That won’t last.”

  A tendril of fear wound down Carlie’s spine. The least the woman could do was lie.

  “If the pain gets too bad and the morphine isn’t controlling it, call the nurses’ station right away.” She headed for the doorway. “I’ll let your husband fill you in on what happened, Stephanie, while you wait for the doctor.”

  As soon as she left, Carlie looked down at herself. White gauze swathed every inch of her not covered by the hospital gown. All except for the fingertips of her right hand.

  “I look like a mummy.” She smiled, but looking at Nick’s unhappy face wiped it away.

  “What happened in that shop, Carlie?” His voice was dangerously low and his anger a physical, tangible force. “How did you get stuck inside?”

  “I honestly don’t know. I didn’t even know anything was wrong until I was getting ready to leave.” She felt foolish for not knowing sooner. “The smell of smoke had been there for a while, but I didn’t realize what it was. Once I did, it was too late. I never heard anything.” She shook her head. “When I’m alone in the shop and it’s dark, it creeps me out. I always shut the office door. It must have muffled any noises.”

  “It’s not your fault. I should have reminded you to stay alert, but I thought we would get away without…the assassins finding out about it.” Nick dropped into the chair next to her bed and leaned forward. “Speaking of that, I think Stephen did this.”

  “Yeah, me too. The assassins probably hired him to finish the job he started earlier. Shelves from the kitchen were wedged into the hallway, keeping my door closed. The phone line wasn’t working before the power went out, so I think he cut it.”

  “And I had your damn cell.” He ran a hand over his face, and Carlie saw the bandage on his other hand.

  “Are you okay?” Worried about him, she tried to sit up for a better look. Falling back and biting her lip, she struggled against letting Nick know she had a problem. It seemed the nurse was right—the intensity of her pain built with each passing moment.

  Unaware of her trouble, Nick held his hand up, showing her the bandage. “This is the only thing wrong with me. I’m fine.”

  “That’s good.” The nerve-endings in her hands zapped in long spasms, and she couldn’t bite back a moan. “Think you could push that little blue button?”

  He hurried to do so, staring at her with drawn eyebrows. “Damn. I’m so sorry. I should have realized something like this would happen and left Sayle earlier.”

  “You couldn’t know. We thought you were the one in danger. I never considered that the assassins would attack me as soon as I was alone.” She shook her head, hoping the floating feeling returned soon. “Shelley wanted to go to karate class, so she left early. They must have been watching.”

  He reached out as if to touch her, but pulled back. “I’ve done everything I can to keep us hidden, but we couldn’t go very far from Sayle.”

  “So, we’re not in Canada?”

  “No. We’re only about fifteen miles north of town. Hopefully they’ll think we went further away and won’t realize you’re hurt.” He sighed. “And even that drive was too long. I’m sorry you had to suffer more.”

  “Please don’t worry. You’re trying to keep us hidden. You didn’t have a choice.”

  “I just hope I’ve done enough. Before they brought you out of recovery the doctor spoke with me. He said you’ll need to stay here three weeks, at the least. We have a new car, I ditched both our old phones back with the Porsche, and I lied about who we are. It’s the best I could do.”

  “Won’t the hospital want insurance cards and stuff? Even if I had that, I can’t tell them who I am.”

  Nick shook his head. “I worked that out with
admitting. Don’t worry. I’m paying cash and they aren't asking questions or reporting anything. Paul—uh, the FBI guy won’t find me. We’ll be safe. Our identities are secret.”

  She closed her eyes as the morphine kicked in and relief flooded through her. “I figured out we were someone else when the nurse called me Stephanie and said my husband wanted to see me. If I’m Stephanie, who are you?”

  “Frank Plume.” He finally smiled for the first time. “We’re newlyweds.”

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Crossing the Canadian border and getting Carlie safely tucked into his house on the lake was easier than Nick feared. After a month in the hospital, Carlie’s pain had receded to the point she didn’t require much medication to stay functional.

  The first thing Nick did was hire a private doctor and a physical therapist to visit her at the house. Though most of the burns had only been second degree except for deeper ones on her knees and left hand, it was all bad. Her recovery had been extremely painful. Regaining function in the fingers of her left hand to the point she could cook again was the biggest priority now.

  Nick brooded as he stared out across the water. Even though he’d thought reaching the lake house would solve their problems, he felt restless and edgy. He wanted revenge against Paul and S.A.T.O. for the pain they’d put Carlie through. Especially since she was innocent.

  He wondered if S.A.T.O. searched for them. It was a constant worry. Each day that passed with no surprise attacks from other agents calmed his fear marginally. It seemed they were safe, but Nick knew Paul wouldn’t give up easily. They had to be vigilant about hiding their former identities.

  At the sound of the door creaking, he looked up at the house. Carlie padded out wrapped in a blanket. Even though she was upset when they chopped her burnt hair off, he liked the short, sexy cut.

  “Hey, beautiful. How was your nap?”

  She sat down next to him on the whicker couch and pulled her legs across his lap, snuggling into his shoulder. “Good. Lonely. I thought you were napping, too.”

  “I couldn’t sleep.” It would be better to focus on happy things, rather than tell her his worries. Besides, how could he explain S.A.T.O.? He had to keep quiet. “The physical therapist seemed pleased with your progress today.”

  “I’m pleased too.” She kissed his cheek.

  The soothing sound of water lapping against the shoreline and holding Carlie in his arms relaxed him, cooling his anger. A slushy drizzle of rain mixed with snow drifted onto the rocks below the deck, but they were dry and warm beneath the awning. As much as he wanted to kill both Paul and Stephen, this was what was important.

  “I love you, Carlie, so very much.”

  She laid her hand against his cheek. The scared and damaged flesh of her palm felt odd against his face, but gratitude filled him when he thought about how easily she could have been taken from him.

  “I love you, too.” She kissed his lips softly. “I never imagined I’d get a chance at real happiness.”

  “Neither did I.”

  She grinned. “I’ve got some great news for you.”

  “Yeah?” He ran his fingers through the spiky hair at the side of her head. The short style was slowly growing out, but he wondered if she’d keep it short for him. “What’s that?”

  “The doctor gave me the okay today for...” Her eyes met his and she bit her lip as red crept up her neck and cheeks.

  Nick jiggled his eyebrows. “Did he?”

  “I’ve been thinking, I never gave you a Christmas present.”

  He shrugged. They spent Christmas in an agonizingly long line at the border, waiting to get into Canada. The oral medication only marginally controlled Carlie’s pain, so neither one of them felt like celebrating. “I don’t know what that has to do with anything, but don’t worry about it.”

  Smoothing down his eyebrow with her thumb, Carlie licked her lips, continuing to stare at him. “I hoped maybe I could give you a present now.”

  “Okay...what is it?”

  “It’s really one for both of us.” A beautiful smile lit her face up. “I’m giving you me. Now. I need you, Nick.”

  ***

  Carlie lay with Nick in the king-sized bed. Crisp winter air came through the open window, bringing scents of the wilderness beyond and sounds of the lake water lapping below the house. The cold made her delightfully shivery, and it felt good to snuggle against Nick’s warm chest, him holding her tight.

  Though making love had provoked a bit of pain and they weren’t as adventuresome as usual, it felt nice to finally be with him again. He’d been wonderfully patient, never asking anything about the bedroom, just sleeping next to her each night while she healed. However, her injuries had brought them together more fully.

  They had a lot of time to talk while she recuperated in the hospital and later at the house. They discussed their childhoods, their hopes and dreams, what they wanted in the future. She finally felt she knew everything about him. Life couldn’t get better.

  Well, one thing could make it better.

  “Nick, are you awake?”

  “Mmmmm...barely.” His voice was slow, lazy, and she wondered if she should talk to him about it later.

  The worry had nagged at her constantly for the last three weeks, though, and Nick never mentioned it. She really needed to take care of things. “Do you still have the numbers from my phone?”

  “Why?” His voice was sharp. That got his attention.

  “I always talk to my parents on Christmas. I’m sure they must be mad with worry. I’m also concerned about Shelley. I need to get a hold of people.”

  Nick pulled his arm from beneath her head and stood up, pulling on some clothes. “I have plans for your parents when you’re stronger. You can’t call them, Carlie. Not now.”

  “Why?”

  “The assassins might have tracked you through your parents’ phone, remember? We can’t take a chance on them figuring out where you are now. Not when you’re finally safe.” He jammed his fingers through his hair, pacing the room. “If it wasn’t so risky, I’d go back now and beat the shit out of Stephen. The only reason I don’t is because I have to keep you protected.”

  “You know there’s always a chance they’ll find me. I mean, I’ve been running so long. I don’t want to give up everyone in my life. It’s not worth that.”

  He looked at her, frowning. “I’m not enough?”

  “Of course you are.” She climbed out of bed, shivering as the cold air hit her. Without stopping to pull clothes on, she crossed to him and wrapped her arms around his neck. “I love you, you’re the most important person in the world to me, but I do care about my other friends. Shelley must be worried, wondering what happened and whether I was hurt in the fire.”

  He pushed her away and stepped back, clearly unhappy. “How can I keep you hidden if you want to call people?”

  Pausing, she forced herself to really consider that. She wasn’t stupid. It was a risk to keep in contact with anyone from their past. It hadn’t ever mattered before, but she really cared about Shelley. She also owed her business partner an explanation...and the money Nick promised to send him.

  “Shelley’s my friend,” she said softly. “She isn’t going to turn me in, and I can’t leave her worrying forever about what happened.”

  “Phone calls can be traced. She doesn’t have to turn you in. The danger is in calling her.”

  Unfortunately, she knew he was right. It took time to trace a call though, so a quick conversation telling her she was fine would probably be okay. It would be harder to talk to her parents for only a short time, however, as they would demand details. Besides, she missed them horribly and wanted to talk to them. “What about my folks? You have a plan for them?”

  “Once you’re fully healed, I thought we’d go for an African safari.”

  Carlie widened her eyes. “What?”

  “We’ll cross paths with them along the way, and no one will be any wiser. I figured we could get the
m secured phones so you could start talking regularly without fear of discovery.”

  “Oh, Nick.” She ran the short space between them and leapt up.

  Laughing, he caught her and swung her around, closing in for a passionate kiss. He lowered her to the ground, smiling. “I take it that’s a good idea?”

  “You’re the best fake husband a girl could ask for.”

  He kissed her again and then pressed his forehead against hers. “Maybe not so fake once I meet your folks.”

  His words were so soft that Carlie didn’t know if he meant to say them aloud. She grabbed his hand in hers and led him back to the bed.

  “What are we doing?” he asked.

  “First, we’re getting you out of those clothes,” she explained, stroking his stomach and dipping her hand down a bit further. “Then, we’re making up for lost time.”

  “Oh, my lady, I love the way you think.”

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  The weeks flew by. They were already nearing the end of January, and Nick couldn’t believe the improvements in Carlie. The doctor gave her the all clear and they began training, practicing karate in Nick’s home gym. They also spent a lot of time working on advanced self-defense techniques.

  Since she reminded him there were no guarantees their enemies wouldn’t find them, Nick felt driven to teach her everything he knew. Her hand improved so much that she’d started baking last week, and Nick figured she could probably handle just about anything. Because of that, he planned to teach her how to shoot a gun next. She had to learn everything he could think of, just in case she ever got into trouble.

  Nick sat in his office, looking over the proposal for a new investment opportunity down in Vancouver. He had felt anxious the past few weeks and more than a little bored. Now that he couldn’t investigate other people and was essentially jobless, he needed to find something to occupy his time. Another restaurant venture seemed like a great idea, at least until Carlie was up to opening a shop. After that, he’d stay busy helping her. He just hoped that was enough to keep him occupied.

  Out in the kitchen the oven timer went off, and Carlie hummed happily while pots and pans banged around. The constant humming while baking told him Carlie was truly happiest when surrounded by bread and cupcakes.