She wasn’t in much of a gambling mood. Besides, she’d left her rings behind.
What had Conrad thought as he looked at them? Did he have any regrets about pushing to finalize the divorce? How could she have been so wrong to hope he would come around this time and fight for their marriage the way he tackled every other challenge in his life?
God, she wanted to scream out her pain and frustration and she would have had she been alone. She turned to Hillary, who was stretched out on a lounger with a big floppy hat and an umbrella to protect her freckled complexion.
“Thanks for taking me in until Salvatore can clear everything up. Once he gives the go-ahead, I’ll be out of your hair and back to work.”
Hillary looked over the top of her sunglasses, zinc oxide on her freckled nose. “You know you never have to work again if you don’t want. I don’t mean to sound crass, but your divorce settlement will be quite generous.”
Jayne hadn’t wanted Conrad’s money. She wanted the man. “I don’t see myself as the dilettante type.”
“Understandable, of course.” Hillary twirled her straw in the fruity beverage, not looking the least like an undercover agent herself. “During my years planning events, I met many different types of people—everything from conspicuous consumers to truly devoted philanthropists. It’s amazing to have the financial freedom to make a difference in such a sweeping fashion. Just something to think about.”
Like opening a clinic in Africa? Conrad had definitely used his money and influence to change the world for the better. Why the hell couldn’t he accept the happiness he’d earned?
The sound of the French doors opening pulled her attention back to the present.
Hillary sat up quickly, her fingers landing on the folded towel that covered a handgun. “Troy?”
A tiny canine ball of energy burst through in a frenzy of barking. Jayne gaped, stunned. Surely it couldn’t be her little…
“Mimi?”
Her French bulldog raced on short legs in a black and white blur straight into her arms. Oh, my God, it was her dog. Mimi covered her chin in lapping kisses.
Jayne’s heart tumbled over itself in her chest because there was just one way Mimi could have gotten here. Only one person who would have known how important it was to have her dog with her right now.
The final question that remained? Had Conrad delivered the dog in person as a peace offering or just arranged the travel in a final heartbreaking gesture of thoughtfulness? She squeezed her eyes shut and buried her face in Mimi’s neck to hold off looking for a moment longer, to hold on to the possibility that her husband might be standing behind her even now.
Bracing herself, she looked back and found, thank God, Conrad stood in the open doorway. Her heart leaped into her throat and her eyes feasted on the sight of him after a nightmarish day of thinking she would never see him again. He wore jeans, a button-down shirt with rolled-up sleeves—and dark circles under his haunted eyes.
She didn’t rejoice in the fact that he’d been miserable, too—okay, maybe she did a little—but above all she wanted him to be happy. He deserved to be happy. They both did.
A rustling sounded from the lounger beside her as Hillary stood. “Is there word on Zhutov?”
Jayne sat upright, swinging her legs to the side of her own lounger. Why hadn’t she considered he might be here for that reason? If Zhutov had broken Conrad’s cover, ending his career with Interpol, then she would never know if he would have returned to her on his own. Trust would be all the tougher when they already had so much between them.
Bottom line, she wanted what was best for him, his cover safe, even if that meant he walked away from her.
Conrad shook his head. “No word on Zhutov yet. I’m here for Jayne. Just Jayne.”
He stared straight into her eyes as he spoke, his voice deep and sure. She almost forgot to breathe. And while she was disappointed not to have Salvatore give them the all clear, she couldn’t help but be grateful that whatever Conrad had to say wasn’t motivated by losing his work with Interpol.
Hillary grabbed her bag and her hat. “I’ll, uh, just step into the kitchen and make, um… Hell. I’ll just leave.” Her hand fell on Jayne’s shoulder lightly. “Call if you need me.”
Angling sideways past Conrad, Hillary slipped away into the suite, closing the door behind her.
Jayne hugged her dog closer as Mimi settled into her lap. “This was thoughtful of you. How did you get her here?”
He stuffed his hands in his pockets and eyed her warily. “I phoned your friend Anthony and asked for help retrieving the dog.”
“You spoke to him?”
Conrad nodded, pushing away from the door and stepping closer. “I did. He’s a nice guy actually, and he was glad to pick up Mimi and take her to the airport because he knew seeing her would make you smile.” He crouched beside her, one knee on the ground. “Which I have to tell you, makes me feel like a mighty small bastard, because I should have thought to do this sooner. I should have thought to do and say a lot of things. But I’m here to make that right.”
The hope she’d restrained in her heart swelled as she heard him out, her thoughtful husband who knew she would appreciate her precious dog far more than a lifeless diamond bracelet. “I’m listening.”
“I’m sorry for telling you we should make the divorce final. I was certain I would let you down again, so I acted like an idiot.” He drew in a shaky breath as if…nervous. The great Conrad Hughes, Wall Street Wizard and casino magnate was actually anxious. “I’m a numbers man, always have been, ever since I was a kid counting out my French fries into equal piles. I’m not good at seeing the middle ground in a situation. But I’m getting there.”
“What do you propose?” she asked and saw no hesitation in his eyes as he opened up and answered her.
“Compromise.” He met her gaze full-on, such sincerity in his espresso dark eyes they steamed with conviction. “On my part this time. When we were together before I asked you to do all the changing and insulted you by giving nothing in return.”
And clearly that was tearing him apart now.
“Not nothing. You’re being too tough on yourself. You always are.” She sketched her fingers along his unshaven jaw. Apparently he hadn’t wasted a second getting to her, between arranging to pick up Mimi and flying to the Bahamas. He hadn’t even stolen a second to shave.
“Then you’ll help me work through that.” He pressed a kiss into her palm. “Jayne, I’ve faced down criminals. Made and given away fortunes. But the thought of losing you nearly drives me to my knees. I see you with all that unconditional love in your eyes, a total openness I never gave back. You knew the truth about me and my crooked family, and you loved me anyway. I’d put us in an all-or-nothing life. Well, the past three years of ‘nothing’ has been hell.”
“I completely agree with you there.” Her eyes burned, but with happy tears and hope.
“But back to my compromise. And if it’s not good enough, tell me and I promise you, I will listen to you this time. After you left, I realized I can’t go through this again. I let you go once, and it almost killed me.”
“Conrad? I don’t know what to say.” How funny that she was the one speechless now. She’d hoped for a moment like this, prayed that Conrad could find the peace to embrace a life together, but the reality of it sent joy sparkling through her.
“If you want me to quit the Interpol work, I will.”
“Shh!” She touched her fingertips to his mouth, moved that he would offer, hopeful that he truly was willing this time to make the compromises needed to build a life together. “You don’t have to do that. I just need reassurances that you’re all right.”
He nipped her fingers lightly, smiling his appreciation. “I can do that. I will tell you everything I’m cleared to share about my work with Salvatore. I can promise you I’ll check in every twenty-four hours so you won’t worry.”
“And that’s safe for you?”
“We have t
he best of the best technology. And I intend to make use of it to keep you reassured—and to keep you well protected. I kept pushing you away to keep you safe, but all it did was tear us both apart. I will do better. And if you change your mind about the job with Interpol, say the word, I’m out. I would give up anything to keep you. I honest to God love you that much, Jayne.”
Unable to hold back any longer, she leaned forward into his arms and kissed him, pouring all the love, hope and dreams out and feeling them flow right back to her, from him. There was something different in him now; the restlessness was gone. And while it had shredded her heart to walk away from him again, maybe that’s what it had taken to make him see what she’d already realized—they needed each other. Two pieces of the same whole. Conrad seemed to understand that now. He’d found a new peace and maybe even some forgiveness for himself.
Mimi squirmed to get free, squished between them. Laughing, they eased apart and her dog—their dog—jumped from Jayne’s lap to sniff the balcony furniture and potted plants.
Jayne looked back at Conrad, still kneeling in front of her. “Is it all right to have a dog here?”
“I bought the place two years ago. I can have a whole damn pack of dogs inside if I want.”
“And is that what you want? A pack?” She toyed with the open V of his collar, the fire rekindling inside her.
“Actually I was thinking more like a soccer team of kids. Our kids, babies first, of course.”
Shock froze her. She stared into his eyes and found one hundred percent sincerity.
“I’d like that, too,” she whispered.
She’d learned to leave the past behind and step outside her safety zone without losing the essence of herself. Life wasn’t an all-or-nothing game. It was a blending of the best of both sides. A marriage.
Her marriage.
Just as she started to reach for her husband, the French doors opened and Hillary stuck her head out, cell phone in hand. “Folks, you’re going to want to hear this update from Salvatore.”
Jayne’s stomach knotted. Was it bad news? Could their newfound peace be so short-lived? She felt Conrad take her hand and squeeze reassuringly. She looked into his eyes and realized she wasn’t alone—and neither was he. They truly were a team now and whatever happened, they would face it together.
She turned back to Hillary, and realized the woman was smiling so brightly the news couldn’t be that bad.
Conrad said, “We’re ready. What’s the update?”
Hillary tapped speakerphone and Salvatore’s voice rumbled over the airwaves, “Authorities apprehended Zhutov’s hired assassin and given his confession and the photos he had on his cell phone, we’re certain you two were not the targets. You’re in the clear. Your cover is secure.”
Grinning, Conrad grabbed Jayne around the waist, lifted her from the chair and spun her around. Mimi barked, dancing around their feet. Laughing, Hillary put the phone to her ear and stepped back into the hotel suite.
Jayne grasped Conrad’s shoulders as he lowered her back to the ground again. “Oh, my God, that is amazing news.”
“Damn straight it is.” He hauled her to his chest, a sigh of relief rattling through him. “And Lord willing, the day’s about to get even better.”
Stepping back again, he pulled his hand out of his pocket, their wedding rings rested in his palm. “Jayne, I’ve loved you from the first time I saw you and will love you until I draw my last breath. Will you please do me the honor of wearing this ring?”
She placed her hand over his, their rings together in their clasped hands. “I’m all in. I want to be a part of your big, bold plans for the future, to help others in the clinic in Africa and build more clinics in other parts of the world. I accept you, as you are… I love you as you are.”
His hand slid into her hair, and he guided her mouth to his with a fierce tenderness that reached all the way to her soul.
The stakes had been high, but she knew a winning hand when she saw one.
Smoothly, Conrad slid on his wedding band and then he slipped hers back on her finger. Where it would stay put this time.
Because one pair, the two of them, had won it all.
Epilogue
Two months later
Coming home to his wife was one of life’s greatest pleasures.
Conrad parked the Land Cruiser beside the clinic where his wife worked. Their clinic, in Africa. He’d offered Jayne diamonds and a splashy jet-set lifestyle, but his wife had chosen a starkly majestic home in Africa, caring for the ill and orphaned in the area villages.
God, he loved her and her big, caring heart.
His eyes were drawn to her like a magnet to the purest, strongest steel. He found her on the playground with the kids, kicking the soccer ball, her hair flying around her.
She’d stepped in to help run the foundation that oversaw the clinic. In the two months since she’d relocated here, she’d already come up with plans and funding to add an official childcare center so when adults came for treatment they didn’t have to bring their kids inside where they could catch anything from pneumonia to a simple cold.
He’d tried to tell her she didn’t have to work this hard, but she’d only rolled her eyes and told him they could sneak away for an opera once a month—if he promised to be incredibly naughty before intermission. In spite of his efforts to pamper her, he’d discovered his wife had grown fiercely independent. The way she took charge, her visionary perspective, reminded him of Colonel Salvatore.
Zhutov was no longer even a remote threat. One morning a month ago, guards had found him dead in his bunk, smothered. Most likely by someone as payback for any one of his criminal acts over the years.
Life was balancing out.
Conrad started toward the soccer field. Now that the loose ends had been tied up this past week he’d spent at Interpol Headquarters in Lyon, France, he was free until the next assignment rolled around.
He liked coming home to her, here. He could manage his holdings from a distance with good managers in place, and he could jet over with his wife whenever she was ready to take in an opera.
Right now, though, he just wanted to have dinner with his wife. The soccer ball came flying in his direction, and he booted it back into play. Jayne waved, smiling as she jogged toward him.
“Welcome home,” she called, throwing her arms around his neck.
He caught her, spinning her around under the warm African sun. Already, she whispered about her plans for making love in the shower before supper and how good it would be to sleep next to him again.
And he had to agree, his insomnia was now a thing of the past. Everything was better with her in his life. He knew, in his wife’s arms, he’d finally come home.
* * * * *
Keep reading for an excerpt from One Winter’s Night by Brenda Jackson
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One
A blistering cold day in early November
It had snowed overnight and a thick white blanket seemed to cover the land as far as the eye could see. The Denver weather report said the temperature would drop to ten below by midday and would stay that way through most of the night. It was the kind of cold you could feel deep in your bones, the kind where your breath practically froze upon exhale.
He loved it.
Riley Westmo
reland opened the door to his truck and, before getting inside, paused to take in the land he owned. Riley’s Station was the name he’d given his one-hundred-acre spread seven years ago, on his twenty-fifth birthday. He had designed the ranch house himself and had helped in the building of it, proudly hammering the first nail into the lumber. He was mighty pleased with the massive two-story structure that sat smack in the center of his snow-covered land.
He was probably the only one in his family who welcomed the snowstorms each year. He thought the snow was what made Denver the perfect place to be in the winter and why his home had fireplaces in all five of the bedrooms, as well as in the living room and family room. There was nothing like curling up before a roaring fire or looking out the window to see the snowflakes fall from the sky, something he’d been fascinated with even as a child. He could recall being out in the thick snow with his brothers and cousins building snowmen. These days he enjoyed moving around the mountains on his snowmobile or going skiing in Aspen.
Riley got into the truck and after settling his body on the leather seat he snapped the seat belt in place. There really was no need for him to go into the office since he could work from home. But he had wanted to get out, breathe in the cold, fresh air and feel the chill in his bones. Besides, he did have an important appointment at noon.
Since his oldest brother, Dillon, had slowed down now that his wife, Pam, was close to her delivery date, a lot of the projects on Dillon’s plate at their family-owned business, Blue Ridge Land Management, fell on Riley’s shoulders since he was the next man in charge of the Fortune 500 company. The next thing on the agenda was the planning of the employees’ holiday party next month.
All or Nothing Page 15
