by Arianna Hart
Yup, her grand adventure was winding to a close. Pretty soon she’d go back to her condo and start hunting for a job. She’d have her quiet, normal life back.
Sure, she’d see Lex, when he was in-between assignments. Maybe they’d even date or something. Her heart lurched at the thought of never touching him again.
Could she go back to being his distant neighbor after becoming so close to him? What if he brought some other woman home some night? It wasn’t like they’d made any commitments to each other.
Lord, she couldn’t handle that. Jane gazed at his sleeping face and felt her heart flip over in her chest. She’d only just realized she loved him. She couldn’t bear the thought of letting him go now.
A lady never chases a man. She lets him come to her.
Oh for the love of little green apples. Who gave a damn about what a lady should do? A woman would go after what she wanted and not give up.
If she wanted a relationship with him, or even the chance to find out if there was something special between them, by God, she’d go after it. She wasn’t going to sit by like some tragic gothic heroine and pine for him.
And with the fires of determination burning inside her, Jane curled into a ball on the chair and fell asleep still holding Lex’s hand.
***
A rush of cool air over his groin—his naked groin—woke Lex from his pain-filled daze. He unglued his eyelids and saw a blonde in scrubs poking at his stomach. She glanced over at him when she noticed he was awake.
“Are you in a lot of pain, Mr. D’Angelo?”
He felt like he’d been hit by truck. Hell yeah he was in a lot of pain, but he didn’t like being out of control so he shook his head. “Nothing I can’t handle.”
His throat felt raw and raspy from the breathing tube. The nurse noticed and swabbed his mouth with a damp sponge.
“I’m afraid you can’t have any liquids for another twelve hours.”
Lex grunted, he knew the drill.
A soft breath of air brushed over his hand, and he spotted Jane’s upper body sprawled on the edge of the bed. That just couldn’t be comfortable, but he wasn’t about to wake her up and ask her to move.
Seeing her safe next to him eased the fist that had tightened unknowingly around his heart. He didn’t know what had happened to her while he’d be under the knife, but it couldn’t have been good. She was covered in bruises and cuts. It killed him to know she’d been fighting for her life while he’d been unconscious.
“Would you like me to have your wife moved to a spare bed?” the nurse asked as she finished marking something down on his chart.
“I don’t want to wake her. Could you put a blanket over her?” His wife? Jane had some explaining to do. Although, he had to admit, he liked the sound of that.
“Of course.”
She slipped out of the room and returned a few seconds later with a thick blanket. As soon as it was laid over Jane, she snuggled into it and curled up in the chair.
“Thank you. She looks much more comfortable now.”
“Sure.” The nursed didn’t seem to think so, but Lex didn’t care.
When he was alone again he let his eyes roam over Jane. He couldn’t stop looking at her. How close had he been to losing her?
Too close.
Hell, he could still lose her. They hadn’t really discussed their future together. Not that that was such a surprise. With everything happening so fast they hadn’t known if they’d see the next sunrise. Now they’d have plenty of time to talk about what came next.
And that scared him a hell of a lot more than Susie’s goons did.
What if Jane didn’t want to keep seeing him after this? What if once they went back to Connecticut she froze him out like before? In the past, on the rare occasion the woman he was with ended things first, he just moved on. Maybe his ego was a little bruised, but his heart remained untouched.
The idea that Jane might give him the brush-off sent a cold chill down his spine. There was no way he was letting that happen. Sure, it might take some convincing on his part, but he wasn’t letting Jane walk away without a fight.
He knew there was more between them than just adrenaline-fuelled sex. The question was, how could he prove that to her? He didn’t think she still thought of him as a playboy At least not seriously. But did she consider him husband material?
Lord, after that last jerk she married, would she even consider getting married again? He was nothing like that cheating bastard, but she didn’t necessarily know that.
Crap, crap, crap.
His heart had never ached like this at the thought of losing someone before. Like a piece of his soul would wither away if she left.
How had this happened? He’d always considered himself immune to falling in love. Apparently not, because if this wasn’t love he’d eat his shirt.
Of course, he didn’t have a shirt right now, but that wasn’t the point. His eyes drifted closed and he didn’t bother to fight the slumber dragging him down. Tomorrow he’d find a way to make Jane realize he was the best thing that had ever happened to her.
Even if he did almost get her killed.
***
The racket of several female voices raised in argument woke Jane from a dead sleep. Someone had put a warm blanket over her and dimmed the lights in the room. What time was it? She rubbed her eyes groggily and read the clock on the wall.
Seven o’clock? But a.m. or p.m.? And what day? Everything was so confused she had no idea how long she’d been in the hospital. Her neck ached something fierce and every muscle in her body throbbed in pain. The spot on her forehead where she’d head-butted the fake nurse pulsed in agony.
Maybe the nurses could give her some of Lex’s pain meds? She saw he still slept soundly and sighed in envy.
“I’m his mother! I don’t care who’s with him, I’m going in!” a voice echoed through the halls.
Other equally loud voices chimed in. Jane couldn’t make out the words in the confusion of shouts. She was sure she heard Italian mixed in with prayers and swears.
A sick feeling twisted in her gut. Didn’t Lex say he had a bunch of sisters living in New York? New York wasn’t that far from Pennsylvania. In fact, it was quite close.
Oh no. That couldn’t be Lex’s family out there. Please God, don’t let that be his mother shouting down the place wanting to get in.
Jane smoothed down the front of her hospital gown and ran her fingers through her hair. It was matted with sweat and probably blood and was in desperate need of a wash. She couldn’t meet Lex’s family like this. She wasn’t even wearing underwear.
Before she could find a place to hide, a tiny, rotund woman pushed open the curtain to Lex’s room. Four mirror images ranging in age from mid-forties to early thirties stood behind her.
All five of them glared at Jane with dark eyes the exact same shade as Lex’s.
“This, this woman, she tells me you’re my son’s wife?” Her voice was low and thick with an Italian accent. “I tell her, no that cannot be. My Luther is not married. He would never break his momma’s heart by getting married and not telling me.”
Jane’s palms began to sweat and she stood up as straight as her aching body would let her.
“Mrs. D’Angelo, please let me explain,” Jane began in a conciliatory voice. Even though she stood a good six inches over the tallest of them, fear snaked down her spine. “I was on assignment with Lex—er, Luther—and as part of our cover we pretended to be married. When we arrived at the hospital there was still a risk of discovery so we kept up the charade. There hasn’t been a chance to straighten things out yet.”
Not exactly the truth but it would work for now. Where the hell was Mac? He should be here talking to Lex’s family, not her. And where were the clothes he’d promised to get?
Mrs. D’Angelo’s eyes zeroed in on her hand holding Lex’s. She raised one salt-and-pepper eyebrow at her and folded her arms over her impressive chest. “That looks a little more convincing than
a cover.” Her mirror images nodded like one.
Jane dropped his hand like it burned her. “Lex and I are neighbors too. We’ve become very close recently. I’ll just get out of the way so you can visit with your son.”
Jane moved away from the bed so the D’Angelo women could flock around their fallen member and shuffled out of the room as fast as she could. As she fled the scene, she heard a babble of Italian whispers and knew they were talking about her. Great. What a way to make a first impression. One of the nurses at the station tossed Jane a sympathetic glance as she fled.
She should save her sympathies for herself. Those women were going to drive the nurses nuts by the end of the day. But Lex would be better protected than if the entire police force guarded him. That thought made her feel a little better.
Sun shone through a wide window so Jane deduced it was seven a.m. She’d slept through most of the last day in one way or another.
What had happened to Mac though? He’d gone to make some phone calls and she hadn’t seen him since. She couldn’t very well go searching the streets for him dressed in a thin johnny and hospital robe. She’d just have to wait for him in the family lounge and hope he returned with some clothes quickly.
Mac, the rat, was sitting on a sofa in the family waiting area. He had a laptop plugged in and several disposable coffee cups were spread out around him.
“Working hard?” Jane asked from the doorway. The room was empty, thank God.
“Jane. You’re awake.” He looked at her rather sheepishly and she knew he was the one who called Lex’s family.
“You could have given me some warning before you let Lex’s family descend upon me.” She stormed into the room and dropped into a padded chair next to him. “I’m not even dressed.”
“Here are some things I picked up for you. I had to guess at the sizes though.”
Jane grabbed the bag and dropped it on the floor without even glancing at it. She was annoyed with him, but was grateful to have something to wear that didn’t leave her butt open to the world.
“Why didn’t you wake me up or at least warn me?”
“I tried, but you were dead to the world. I didn’t realize Mrs. D’Angelo would get here quite so fast. They didn’t even stop in the waiting area and call the desk like you’re supposed to. I’ve been here all night so I could keep an eye on who was coming and going but they took me by surprise. They blew right passed me and stormed the nurses station.”
He actually appeared embarrassed—and a little afraid.
Good.
She took the bag of clothes—Wal-Mart again—and opened it without a word. Let him sweat for a bit.
Mac obviously didn’t have experience buying women’s clothing. Jane found a gray sweat suit, a gray sports bra, a three-pack of white T-shirts, a three-pack of white granny underwear, a package of athletic socks, and a pair of white canvas tennis shoes. At this point Jane didn’t care if she was dressed in couture or not, she just wanted to be covered.
“Sheila, one of the nurses, said you could use the shower down the hall when you woke up. There’s a toothbrush and some toiletries in the other bag over there.”
Jane could guess which nurse was Sheila. The bag had tiny sample sizes of shampoo, conditioner, soap, toothpaste and body lotion. She’d have to make sure to thank Sheila the next time she saw her. A shower would do wonders to improve her morale.
“I think I will take that shower. Don’t disappear on me. I want to talk to you.” Jane gave him a stern look and picked up the bags. She wasn’t facing Lex’s family again without reinforcements. When she went back in, she wanted someone with a gun.
Chapter Twenty
Clean, dry and dressed in an over-large sweat suit, Jane felt almost ready to face the combined wrath of the D’Angelo clan. Okay, she’d rather face one of Susie’s goons dressed in nothing but plastic wrap, but she felt better than she had before.
Mac waited for her in the family lounge and they walked through the double doors to the CCU together. Her tennis shoes squeaked on the tile floor, but she could barely hear the noise over the shouts coming from Lex’s room.
Security waited by the nurses’ station and they kept casting threatening looks down the hall. Mac winced at a particularly loud spate of Italian. Wonderful. A former FBI agent was afraid of a group of women half his size.
My hero.
“Ma! Lay off, and quiet down before they throw you out,” Lex’s voice rang above the din.
He was awake. Jane practically ran the rest of the way to the room.
“Jane. It’s about time. Where the hell have you been?”
He sat up in bed and several of the tubes had been removed in her absence. Someone had shaved him, given him a sponge bath and combed his hair. Jane’s heart took another slow roll in her chest as he held out his hand to her.
“Well good morning to you too.” A smile pulled at the corners of her mouth. It was so good to see him sitting up and clear headed.
“Come on, make some room for her. Theresa, why don’t you ask the nurse to take this catheter out of me? And, Sophia, can you find out when I can get the hell out of this place?”
The two youngest D’Angelo’s looked to their mother for permission before leaving to do Lex’s bidding. They both shot Mac and Jane curious glances as they left the room.
“Momma, this is Jane Farmer. Dr. Jane Farmer, and my boss, Steve McLean.” He reached for Jane’s hand and grabbed it as soon as she got close enough. “It’s because of the two of them that I’m alive.”
“All the credit belongs to Jane,” Mac said. “She got you to safety and alerted us to the possibility of further danger.” He didn’t mention Susie’s name or anything about the mission.
Jane took the hint and made a mental note to keep the information to herself as well.
“My family and I thank you for saving Luther’s life. I apologize for speaking to you like I did when I first saw you. I was a little scared.”
Her accent was barely noticeable now and Jane saw warmth fill her eyes as she gazed at her son.
“That’s perfectly understandable. You had just heard your son had been shot and there I was posing as his wife. It would get anyone upset,” Jane soothed, using her best therapist voice.
She couldn’t believe the difference in Mrs. D’Angelo. Talk about rapid mood shifts. Barely an hour ago the woman had been ready to ride Jane out of town, now she was apologizing and looking at their joined hands with affection. She’d seen more emotion in Lex’s mom in one hour than she’d seen in her mother in thirty years.
“You’re a nice girl.” She patted Jane’s cheek with work-roughened hands. “Where are you from?”
“Connecticut, ma’am.”
“What about your family?”
“Ma!” Lex seemed almost horrified at his mother’s interrogation. “Do you think I can have a few minutes alone with my boss and partner? There are some things we have to clear up. Work stuff.”
Mrs. D’Angelo’s eyes narrowed and she gave her son an assessing glare. After she fawned over him a bit, she leaned over and kissed him on both cheeks before whispering something in Italian.
Lex glanced quickly at Jane and answered back in Italian. The sound of his voice spilling those rounded syllables sent a burst of heat through Jane’s system. What would it be like to hear him whisper love words to her in his mother’s native language?
A blush filled her cheeks and she shifted her feet nervously. She really shouldn’t be thinking about sex with Lex when his mother was right next to her.
“You’ll come to dinner when Luther gets out of the hospital? I’ll make manicotti. You need a good meal.” She kissed both of Jane’s cheeks too and gestured to her daughters to follow her out.
Jane looked at Lex, bewildered. “What was that all about?”
“I told you my mother would want to feed you. Anyone who doesn’t have hips the size of a Chevy, she wants to fatten up. Don’t worry about it.” He pulled her closer to him and kissed h
er knuckles.
The feel of his lips on her hand sent tingles all the way down to her toes. He obviously felt better today.
Mac cleared his throat behind them and Jane’s head snapped around. She’d forgotten he was still in the room.
“Now that I have you both here and not under sedation, I’d like to hear the whole story.”
Jane sat in the chair next to the bed and let Lex handle things while her mind spun. He wasn’t acting like she’d expected and she needed a minute to sort it out.
She didn’t know what she thought would happen when everything was over. Maybe he’d shake her hand and move on or give her a lame one-liner like “I’ll call you sometime.”
In her mind she was the one who was going to have to convince him to continue their relationship. During her shower she’d practiced arguments until she could counter anything he threw at her.
She wasn’t prepared for him to want to have her around. He couldn’t really want to continue their relationship, could he?
Lex’s voice broke into her frantic thoughts. “I couldn’t have done it without Jane’s help. She played Jim Bob like a pro. And it was her quick thinking that got us out of the lab too.”
“I really didn’t do much. Honestly, I thought James Robert was behind the whole thing until Susie caught us in the office.” Jane’s stomach bottomed out as she remembered seeing Susie holding the gun on them. “I was mostly window dressing.”
“Bull.”
“I agree with Lex. You were an integral part of the success of this mission. It’s never easy to act without backup or resources. The two of you managed to not only bust open a national drug ring, but also discover the mole at EIS. For which I’m especially grateful.”
Mac didn’t say it, but Jane could tell the idea of a traitor in his midst had bothered him a great deal.
“Hey, what happened with Alice anyway?” Lex asked.
“After Jane confirmed my suspicions, I pulled her hard drive and called the police. They found her at the airport, waiting for a flight to Aruba.”
