“The first time I met you, I thought you were an arrogant, reckless, playboy. You set off so many alarm bells in my head, it irked me that I couldn’t stop thinking about you. I hated watching you with those other women…” Those parties had been hell, but like a crowd drawn to an accident, she hadn’t been able to look away. “But underneath it all, you were always a man of honor.
“If you stayed away from me that whole time because you thought it was the right thing to do, then I want you to realize that now the right thing is for you to stay with me. After all we’ve been through, I know Rob would approve.”
Were those sirens? Her ears were still ringing, but she could swear she heard their telltale wailing coming steadily closer. Her heart rate picked up. “They’re coming, honey. Hold on just a little longer for me.” She kissed his lips. “Just hang on.”
Jenna’s efforts to ride to the hospital with Mick were thwarted by the police, who insisted she and the others stick around the scene for questioning and to be looked over by the paramedics. At least they found a spare T-shirt for her.
Afterward, Dan drove her and Tara to the medical center and got them situated in the waiting room, where Kurt was already pacing like one of the big cats at the zoo.
Once Jenna was seated, Dan leaned down to give her a hug. Numbness seeped into her limbs as the adrenaline wore off, and fear clung to her like a stink she couldn’t wash away. “Thank you,” she said. “For everything.”
“You don’t even have to say it.”
He let her go and knelt in front of Tara, who was sitting in the chair next to her. “Are you all right?”
Without looking up, she nodded, hiding behind a veil of disheveled hair. “Fine.”
“Can I get you anything?”
She shook her head, still staring at the floor, her face oddly blank.
With a sigh, Dan gave up; he took a seat across from them, watching Tara with a frown.
Kurt stopped pacing and patted Jenna’s shoulder with one hand. “He’s hanging in there. The doctor told Mick’s mom the bullet didn’t hit anything critical.”
Maybe not, but he still wasn’t in good shape. She sucked in a quick breath. “His mom!” She sat up as shame rushed through her. “I hadn’t even thought—”
“I called her.” Kurt held up his cell phone. “She’s heading to the Columbus airport for the next flight out.”
Jenna sagged with relief. “Thank you. I’m not thinking straight yet.” Mick was a lucky man to have such good friends.
His eyes filled with concern. “What about you? No injuries?”
“Nothing serious.” Just her heart. “I’m fine.”
Kurt shoved his hands in his pockets and pressed his lips together. “Look, I owe you an apology for last night. My team screwed up.” His face flushed red. Was he embarrassed or angry? Probably both, given that his reputation was on the line.
She waved aside his concern. “It’s over now. Are your guys all okay?”
“Everyone’s good. At least physically.”
“Well, it’s over.”
“Yeah, but—”
Jenna put her hand on his arm. “You can’t change what happened. Just learn from it and move on.”
He nodded and squared his shoulders, taking a seat beside Dan.
Jenna turned toward Tara and hugged her trembling friend. “What did the nurse say about Colin?” she asked quietly.
“They won’t tell me anything because I’m not family, but she did say they expect him to pull through.” Tara dissolved into tears, her whole body convulsing with sobs. “He saved me.” She looked up, her face a mask of misery. “He saved us. I didn’t trust him, even after he let us go, but he almost died to help us. He still might.” She hugged her knees to her chest. “How do I live with that?”
“He’ll make it.” Jenna rubbed her friend’s back.
“I love him, but he’s going to jail if he recovers.” Tara threw her hand out in an angry gesture. “Jail! I finally meet the man of my dreams and he’s a freaking criminal. I’m so confused. I don’t know if I could ever trust him again, or if I even want to try.”
Dan glanced over as Tara’s voice rose. He looked tired and miserable.
Jenna squeezed her friend’s hand. She didn’t trust Colin. He was mixed up with the smuggling ring and Rob’s killer, and he’d lied to Tara. But he’d also come through for them in the end. That was undeniable. “You can’t choose who you love.” She should know. “But you don’t have to decide right now either.”
Tara nodded. “I wouldn’t trust myself to make that kind of decision right now anyway.”
“I wish you hadn’t been roped up in this, but I’m grateful you were there with me.” Jenna squeezed her friend’s shoulder. “I don’t think we would have made it without your help.”
“Except that you might not have been there in the first place if it weren’t for me,” Tara said, her eyes downcast.
“Tara.” Jenna waited for her to look up. “The rest of those guys were already watching us. You had nothing to do with that.”
Tara gave a slight nod. “Okay,” she said, and then excused herself to use the restroom.
Jenna sighed. Her friend had already been a mess. Who knew how this experience would affect her in the long term? Or how it would affect any of them?
They spent the night on the uncomfortable chairs, dozing, talking, and drinking coffee. The air smelled like old food, stale coffee, and ammonia when Jenna awoke, stiff and sore from the previous day’s beating. Hushed footsteps, faraway wails, and muffled conversation broke the heavy silence of despair that filled the halls in the early morning.
A doctor eventually alerted them that Mick’s condition had been upgraded, and Jenna could breathe freely for the first time since he’d been shot. She was finally allowed to visit after the police were done talking to him, sometime around ten.
“All charges against me have been dropped,” he said, his eyes never leaving her face. “Beavis and Colin are somewhere in the hospital under police guard. No one else made it.” He grimaced and tugged at the white sheet as machines clicked and beeped ominously around him.
She understood. More blood, more death, some of it at his hands. Men he’d known and worked with, which had to chafe even after what they’d done.
But they were finally free. The police hadn’t pieced together all of Troy Griffin’s plan yet, but based on the explosives found in the Yukon, it wouldn’t have been pretty.
Her stomach turned when she thought about how close Griffin had come to succeeding. She pulled in a deep breath to calm her nerves. Now that he and the others involved were dead or under arrest, she and Mick were no longer targets. The story would get out to the press, of course, but the worst was over.
The fear that had weighed her down for weeks had finally lifted, but there was still a vise around her heart. She held Mick’s cool hand and leaned against the bed rail. Could he sense how anxious it made her to see him hooked up to monitors and IVs, wires and tubes? The sight reminded her so much of Jimmy’s last horrible months.
As if reading her thoughts, Mick said, “I’m okay. I’ll be fine.” He squeezed her fingers. “Thanks to you.”
She swallowed and nodded. If the bullet had hit him any further to the left, it wouldn’t have mattered what she did.
“Thank you,” she said. “For protecting me. For saving us.”
“I wish I’d done a better job. When I saw them pull you into that van…” He looked away.
“But you found me. We’re both safe now.” She tightened her grip on his hand, afraid that he’d slip away somehow if she let go. “It’s over.”
“Yeah,” he said slowly, rubbing his free hand across the stubble on his shaved head. “It’s over.”
Her focus strayed to the oak tree outside his window before seeking him out again. Dare she ask? “What about us?”
“Jenna…” How could he make her understand that he loved her? The problem was that he was scared…more scared
than he’d ever been in his life. What if she wised up and decided she could do better? What if she left after realizing how messed up he was? But then, she already knew that, didn’t she? And he was already living without her. Could it get any worse?
“You wouldn’t be hell to live with,” she said, invoking their conversation in the Land Rover, as if reading his mind. “Not when you’re being yourself. The old playboy Mick—the one who hid behind charm and false smiles—he would be hard to live with. But not you,” she finished softly.
She took a step back, releasing his hand and crossing her arms over her chest. “How is that you’ll jump out of an airplane, or run into a firefight, but you’re afraid to be with me?” Her pretty blue-gray eyes narrowed.
She was right. He was a fucking coward. She’d lost so many loved ones, and yet she was willing to take a chance on him. And he was supposed to be the one who lived for risk?
He held her gaze, hoping she could read the sincerity in his face. “Rob warned me off the first time I saw you. He wanted something…someone better for you. I figured that I could stay away, that I could find someone else, but I was wrong.” God knows he’d tried to find someone to replace her, but those other women had all been poor substitutes for the one he couldn’t have. He’d paraded them in front of Jenna, dead set on proving to himself and Rob that he had no interest in her. But for some reason she was still here, still in love with him.
He let out a long, slow breath. “I couldn’t get you out of my head. Every time I came home, I’d think, ‘Maybe this is the time you’ll be over Jenna.’ The reality couldn’t possibly compare to the way I’d built you up in my mind.
“And then I’d see you again and it was like a shock to the system. If anything, you were more beautiful than I remembered, more irresistible.” His voice was tight with frustration. “The only way I could deal with it was to go away again.”
Tears glistened on her cheeks, and when he held out his hand, she took it and moved to his side.
“Loving you is not what scares me,” he whispered. “It’s far too late for that.” Releasing her hand, he cupped her face with his palm and caught her gaze. “I’m afraid of loving you too much. I’m afraid of driving you away with my craziness.” He wiped her tears with the pad of his thumb. “But I don’t want to live without you. I probably don’t deserve you, Jenna, but I’m feeling pretty selfish. I want to be with you anyway.”
She smiled and his heart soared. “You’re not going to drive me away,” she said. “If you were capable of that, I would have moved on years ago.”
He closed his eyes and exhaled the last vestiges of his fear. I’ll be good to her, Rob. I promise. Then he looked into Jenna’s beautiful face, the face of his future. “Will you marry me?”
She turned her head to the side and kissed his palm, then cradled his hand in her own. “Yes. Just name the date.”
“What’s today?”
She laughed and warmth spread through his body. “How about we wait until you can stand?”
“Standing’s overrated.” He pulled her in for a kiss, wishing he was in shape to do more. “Besides, you said you’d like to be on top, and since I’m stuck on my back…”
She straightened and shook her head, but couldn’t hide her smile. “You’re incorrigible.”
“You love me anyway.”
“I do,” she said, giving his hand a squeeze. Then she leaned down and kissed him.
And for the first time in a long time, all was right with his world.
THANK YOU!
Thank you for reading Blind Fury. I hope you enjoyed it!
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Thanks!
Gwen Hernandez
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I owe thanks to so many who helped me bring Blind Fury to life.
Absolutely first is my husband and my two boys for their unwavering support.
Thanks to my mom who taught me to love reading, and to my dad who didn’t even blink when I told him my books had sex in them.
To my good friend, Michelle Bridgeforth, my first fan and ardent cheerleader. And many thanks to her husband, Brandon, who’s been letting me bug him with law enforcement and gun questions for years now. If I got anything wrong, don’t blame him. He tried.
Piper Rome was kind enough to share insights from a scary car ride. Thanks!
I also owe Laura Hayden for encouraging me to write my favorite kind of book: romantic suspense.
I wouldn’t be here without the love, support, and cheering of all of my Kiss & Thrill sisters: Sharon Wray, Krista Hall, Rachel Grant, Lena Diaz, Manda Collins, Diana Belchase, Carey Baldwin, and Sarah Andre. Special thanks to Rachel and Sarah—along with my friend Maura Troy—for their early reads and fabulous feedback!
My editor Angela Polidoro made this book so much better, pushing me to stretch myself, my characters, and the story to a new level. I owe Ava Miles for connecting us, and for just being her wonderful self.
Thanks to Kimberly Killion for a better cover than I could ever envision on my own.
And, finally, to my golden retriever, sweet Zoe. For putting up with forgotten walks and late meals, and for hanging out near my favorite writing chair.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Gwen Hernandez was a manufacturing engineer and programmer before she turned to writing romantic suspense. She’s also the author of Scrivener For Dummies and teaches Scrivener (writing software) to writers all over the world.
She loves to travel, read, jog, practice Kung Fu, and hang out in northern Virginia with her Air Force husband, two teenage boys, and a remarkably lazy golden retriever named Zoe.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
Copyright © 2014 by Gwen Hernandez
All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the author is unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like to use material from this book (other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained by contacting the author at [email protected]. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.
www.gwenhernandez.com
First edition: February 2014
Cover design by Kim Killion.
This book was written and formatted in Scrivener.
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