by Rebecca Deel
Immediately, Alex was there. “You’re safe, angel. I’ve got you.” He sat beside her on the bed and leaned against the pillow so she could bury her face against his neck.
“Just hold me,” she whispered. Maybe then she’d believe he was alive and safe in her arms. She didn’t want to see his death in her dreams anymore.
“Always, baby. I’ll never let you go.”
Finally, in the haven of his arms, she dropped into a deep, dreamless sleep.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Alex slid his arm under Ivy’s head, her cheek pressed over his heart. He stroked her back until she went limp in his arms and her breathing settled into an easy rhythm. He wanted his hands around Evans’ throat or in his rifle crosshairs for hurting Ivy. He was so afraid this would shove her back into a place of fear. But his angel was tough. Nothing would keep her down for long. If this latest attempt on Ivy’s life did derail her, they would claw their way out of the darkness together. He would never let her give in to fear. They had too much to live for, a life to build together, a lifetime of love and laughter to share if she would have him.
He frowned as his gaze dropped to her relaxed face. Would she allow him in her life after this? The possibility she might not sent a wave of ice through his blood. Most women would kick him to the curb, figuring no man was worth this much trouble. His angel, though, had a spine of steel. If any woman could get past this, it was Ivy Monroe.
Two hours later, she stirred as the sun peeked over the horizon. Alex traced the line of her jaw with his finger. “Morning, angel.”
Ivy opened her eyes, smiled. “Morning.”
“How do you feel?”
She was silent a moment, assessing. “Better. Headache’s a dull roar. Nausea is mostly gone.”
“Excellent. I think the doctors are doing rounds already. Hopefully, yours will turn you loose soon.”
Though one of the nurses brought around a food tray for Ivy, his girl’s complexion turned a bit green at the sight. Can’t say that he blamed her. Nothing on that tray appeared appetizing. The scent of food no doubt triggered more nausea.
Without asking if she wanted anything, he took the tray and set it near the door.
“Thanks.” She shuddered. “The only thing I want is toast, maybe a soft drink to settle my stomach.”
“We’ll stop and pick up something for you to eat on the way to the house.”
An hour later, the physician walked in. He smiled. “You look much better this morning, Ms. Monroe. How do you feel?” And so the questions went for a few minutes as he checked her injury and her reactions to light.
“I’ll have your discharge papers prepared. A nurse will bring them in shortly along with instructions on caring for your wound.” He slanted a glance at Alex. “Keep an eye on her, Mr. Morgan. If her headache intensifies, she starts vomiting repeatedly, or she loses coordination, bring her back in immediately.”
“I’ll take care of her.” And if he missed something, he knew for sure Rio wouldn’t. The tough medic had a soft spot for Ivy.
“Good enough. Ms. Monroe, I hope the next time I see you will be under more pleasant circumstances.” With that, he left.
“I want out of here,” Ivy muttered. “I hate hospitals.”
A sentiment he heartily endorsed. He’d spent too much time in medical facilities over the years. Special Forces soldiers saw more than the usual number of injuries. “Can you stand on your own?”
“I think so.”
“I’ll call Josh to bring clothes for you and wait in the hall while you freshen up. If you start feeling dizzy or light-headed, sit down and call out. I’ll leave the door cracked so I can hear you if you need me.”
A light kiss on her lips and he positioned himself by the door. Waiting until he heard the bathroom door shut, he keyed in a call to his partner. “Hey, the doctor sprung Ivy. We need a ride and a change of clothes for her.”
“How’s she doing?”
“Better. Some residual effects. Anything new on the search for Evans?”
“Too early for the financial trail. Nate’s been working on some things he told me not to ask about. Most likely illegal, so I definitely don’t need to know his methods. On my end, Evans has quite a history with law enforcement. Seems our boy is familiar with the inside of a jail cell. For a while, he was a regular visitor. Lots of drunk and disorderly, several speeding tickets, petty theft, one assault and battery that earned him some time on the government’s dime.”
“A real sweetheart, then.”
“He’s the kind of man no mother wants her daughter to bring home. The assault and battery victim was his girlfriend at the time. Evans is also on some watchlists because some of his pals belong to various militia groups.”
“A wanna-be soldier.”
“If we dig deep enough, we’ll probably find he tried to enlist in the military and failed the psych eval.”
Great. Many men who tried and failed to be a soldier had a chip on their shoulder and went to extremes to prove their toughness. Made him sick that this guy was after the woman he loved with every cell in his body. “Anything else?”
“He’s off the grid.”
“Are you surprised?”
“No, but he’s been off the grid for three years.”
Right after Alex had pulled the trigger on Roger Evans. “Why wait this long to come after me?”
“My guess is it took him that long to make connections with people high enough on the food chain to get him the information. He wouldn’t have been able to find any information while we were active duty plus we never stayed in one place for long. After we mustered out, we reentered mainstream society. We didn’t make a splash, but we didn’t hide, either.”
“So he’s been watching and waiting.”
“That’s my take on it. He might have caught some of the media coverage of our work with the FBI a couple months back. Yeah, we didn’t do any interviews or acknowledge any part in taking down Wright, but the reporters were all over town, especially focusing on Del and Ivy. Neither one of us were far from their sides for weeks.”
Alex blew out a breath. Made sense. And if those pictures Evans must have sent to his father were any indication, his feelings for Ivy were more than evident with his every glance at the woman who captured his heart. Who knew a black ops soldier with years of experience was so transparent when it came to one woman?
“Why contact my father? I haven’t had contact with him since basic training. What was the point?”
Josh was silent a moment. “You said your father had been keeping up with your career. Maybe Evans got wind of it in his inquiries. Once your name surfaced, it wouldn’t take much to figure out you were Senator Morgan’s son. What better way to turn the screws on your dad than to threaten you, then watch him squirm.”
“Wonder if that’s all he wanted.”
“Blackmail?”
“Why not? He already knew he was going to kill Dad, then come after me and anyone I care about. Might give him a perverse sense of satisfaction to drain the Morgan coffers before he killed.”
And in that moment, he knew why half his mother’s paintings were well done fakes. “I need to talk to Porter about the paintings at the house.”
“Why?”
“Ivy says about half of them are copies. My mother would never have a fake anything in her possession. Art is an obsession for her.”
A soft whistle from his partner. “Could be. There are also any number of reasons for copies.”
“We’ll dig into it.”
“Del will pack some clothes for Ivy. We’ll be there soon.”
Alex slipped his phone into his pocket, considered whether the paintings were part of the plot or if something more was happening to the family finances. Porter had been adamant that Alex wouldn’t see any family money. He snorted. He hadn’t needed financial help since the day he left home. Yeah, money was tight in the beginning, but that wasn’t anything unusual. His needs had been simple. Even in lean months,
he’d made himself save at least a little. When he’d put back enough, he invested. Over the years, the balance in his accounts had grown to the point that he no longer worried about money. He had more than enough to take care of himself and Ivy for a long time.
He remained in the hall until Josh and Del arrived a few minutes later. Josh carried a bag in one hand which he gave to Del. His wife knocked on the door and slipped into the room. She closed the door behind her.
“How did she do overnight?” Josh asked as he leaned against the wall by Alex’s side.
“Rough night. Between the nursing staff waking her periodically to ask questions and the nightmares, she didn’t sleep much.” At least not until the last few hours when he’d held her in his arms. He could still feel her head resting against his heart.
“The nightmares will pass, especially after we have Evans behind bars. Right now she’s insecure, afraid he’ll catch her off guard again.” Josh shot him a pointed look. “Ivy’s more afraid he’ll get to you.”
“Not in this lifetime.”
“Don’t get cocky,” Josh said, tone sharp. “Even lousy shots get lucky once in a while.”
“I won’t let my guard down. I have too much to live for.”
A nurse brushed past them, papers in hand, and entered the room. A couple minutes later, she opened the door. “Ms. Monroe’s ready.”
“Thank you.” Alex went in, found Ivy sitting on the bed, dressed in jeans and a teal long-sleeved t-shirt. “Let’s get out of here, angel. First stop is food for Ivy,” he told Josh. “There’s a deli not far from here that will have either toast or a bagel.”
Ivy’s face lit up. “Bagel. Plain, though.”
His friend dropped the SUV keys in Alex’s palm. “Your town, you drive.”
Ten minutes later, he parked in the lot. “I’ll be back in a minute.” Inside the deli, he ordered plain bagels for everybody and ginger ale for Ivy. His teammates could pack away the food. Came with their high activity level. His lips quirked. Wouldn’t do to let the bodyguard trainees out muscle them. Back in the vehicle, he handed the bag to her. “We have a fifteen minute drive. You can either eat now or wait. Your choice.”
“Wait,” she said. “Still feel icky.”
He handed her the ginger ale. “This should help with the nausea.”
By the time Alex parked in the driveway, Ivy’s color had improved. “Better?” he murmured after Del and Josh climbed from the backseat.
She nodded. “Thank you for staying with me last night.”
“I wouldn’t have been anywhere else.” He leaned over, kissed her, taking a moment in the quiet to deepen the contact. When he drew back, Ivy’s cheeks were pink, her eyes sparkling. “There’s my girl. Welcome back, angel.”
Alex insisted she wait for him to help her from the SUV, fearing she might fall. He’d noted her slight unsteadiness as she walked from the hospital to his vehicle. Once she was steady, he tucked her into his side and walked her in the house.
Rio was the first team member to greet them. He hovered in the entrance, gaze assessing Ivy’s careful walk, the sunglasses covering her eyes though the morning was overcast. “Come sit for a minute, Ivy.” He motioned her toward the sofa and knelt at her feet.
To Alex’s amusement, he asked many of the same questions the doctor had and then insisted on seeing the head injury. He carefully shifted her hair, examined the butterfly stitches, nodded. “Looks good. Another war wound to add to your collection, sugar.”
Ivy smiled. “I’ve had more than my quota. I’ll pass on the next offering.”
“Good call.” He grinned. “Think you can handle food?”
“Alex bought plain bagels. I’m going to try that.”
“No butter or cream cheese, sugar. It may not stay down.”
She grimaced. “Okay.”
Alex helped her to stand and walked with her to the kitchen. Durango was gathered around the table and counter. Porter sat by himself against the far wall.
“Ivy.” Stella embraced her, tears gathering in her eyes. “I’m so sorry.”
“It wasn’t your fault. You could have been killed yourself, trying to cover us.”
Nate’s gaze narrowed.
Alex’s lips twitched. Guess Stella had neglected to mention that to his teammate.
“Come sit before you fall down,” Quinn said, pulling out a chair for her. “How’s the head?”
“Hurts, thank you. And according to Josh, I’m liable to be mean for a while.”
“Oh, we can take it, half pint.” He grabbed the bag of bagels from Alex. “So, what’d you bring us?” He peered inside. “Bagels. Perfect. Goes with the scrambled eggs Nate made us a couple hours ago.”
Ivy held up a hand. “Please, don’t mention food for a few minutes, not until we find out if a bagel will stay down.”
The next few minutes passed in general conversation. By unspoken consent, Durango refrained from talking about the hunt for Evans. Alex kept an eye on Ivy as she consumed half of the bagel on her plate.
After bringing Ivy a second ginger ale, he turned, eyed his silent brother who was cradling a mug of coffee between his hands. “How are you holding up?”
“Don’t pretend you care now, Alexander.”
“I never stopped, Port.”
“You have a funny way of showing it. You abandoned us.”
Alex stared at him. “You weren’t at the house the day I left for basic so I’ll let that statement slide. Dad and Mother told me to never darken their door again, that I was a disappointment and was no longer considered their son. If you had been told that, what would you have done?”
Porter’s face reddened. “You didn’t even try.”
“I wrote letters for the first year. Each was returned, unopened.” He sighed. “Look, this is ancient history, Porter, and I won’t live in the past. Have you seen Mother this morning?”
“She’s devastated. I encouraged her to stay home and out of the public limelight until the funeral.” A hard glare at Alex. “I don’t want to lose another parent because of you.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
“That’s enough,” Ivy snapped.
Members of Durango and Alex’s brother stared at her, stunned. Shocked them, huh? Well, they could get over it. She was tired of Alex’s family treating him like dirt. Her fists clenched and her cheeks burned. “No one has the right to show him that kind of disrespect. He put his life on the line over and over again to protect American lives, including yours. You should be proud of his bravery and courage, not angry because you believe he abandoned you. I could excuse you for those feelings when you were a kid, but you’re an adult. You should be mature enough to see and acknowledge the truth despite your parents’ biased opinions. You no longer get a free pass. I won’t tolerate anyone treating him as less than the honorable man he is. Not even you.”
Nate grinned at Alex. “Your tiger is no longer in training, buddy. She’s got full-fledged claws.”
Ivy lifted her chin. “And I’m not afraid to use them on anyone who deserves it.”
“It’s okay, angel. I expected the emotional upheaval. You don’t need to defend me.”
“Not defend, protect. You are mine to protect and care for.”
“Go, Ivy,” Del said. “There’s that fire I’ve been waiting to see.”
A surge of satisfaction swept over Ivy. Lee might have beaten her down, but she wasn’t out. The real Ivy Monroe was coming out of her cage of fear and no one was going to force her back in. Not Lee Hall, her idiot ex-boyfriend, not hateful Porter Morgan, not vengeful Neil Evans, no one.
“I need to consult with Mother about the funeral service,” Porter muttered. Silence reigned until he was out of the kitchen.
“Nice job, Ivy,” Rio said.
“Couldn’t have said it better myself,” Quinn added. “You are priceless, Ivy. If Alex is stupid enough to let you slip through his fingers, I’ll be happy to step in and give a relationship with you a try. I’ll treat you like a princess
, I promise, and I’m a lot more charming than Alex.”
Alex growled, scowling at his spotter. “Hands off.”
Ivy laughed, breaking the tension lingering in the room. Joy bubbled in her blood despite the nagging headache and lingering nausea. For the first time in long months, she was beginning to feel like herself again. “So what can I do to help catch creepy Evans? I don’t want to be looking over my shoulder for the foreseeable future.” Her gaze locked on Alex. “I have plans.”
Josh chuckled. “If Alex agrees, you could chase down the art leads. There may be nothing there, but you’re the best qualified of all of us to make that call. Do you have contacts in the art world? If not, the wife of the Fortress logistical coordinator might be able to help.”
“Sophie Winter?” Nate asked.
“That’s right. She’s a woman of many talents and connections. Her sister was Sierra Valero, the artist.”
Ivy’s eyes widened. Sierra Valero was legendary in the art world. Her paintings were unbelievable. Warm, vibrant, full of life. Her death had been a great loss to the art community. There were also rumors about jewelry going missing anytime Sierra was around that surfaced from time to time in darker segments of the art world, though nothing had been confirmed. “I’ll see what I can scare up first. If I strike out, I’ll get Sophie’s contact information. Is there a laptop available?”
“You can use mine,” Alex said. “Any other information to report yet?” he asked his teammates.
“Still digging,” Quinn said. The others nodded in agreement.
“We’ll get together at lunch, hash out what we know.” Alex turned to Ivy. “Come with me, angel.”
He led her up the stairs to his room, shut the door and wrapped his arms around her. Lifting her chin, he claimed her mouth in a hot, deep, no-holds-barred kiss that lasted long minutes. Ivy’s knees weakened to the point she would have dropped to the floor in a boneless heap if Alex hadn’t been holding her up.
