“I don’t think you will once Megan finds out about this.”
Luke clenched his jaw. “Yeah. You’re telling me.”
I laughed. The whole thing just suddenly seemed comical. Heather punched my shoulder.
“What’s so funny? This isn’t funny!”
I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her down beside me.
“I love you,” I said against her neck, still chuckling.
She just shook her head, glancing at Luke where he was pressing a clean towel against my wound.
“I think he’s gone a little insane.”
“Haven’t we all?”
Chapter 22
Two Months Later
Heather
I stood at the security gate, waiting for the passengers to make their way from the gate to this place. I’d expected Rose and Robert to be here, but I hadn’t seen them yet. Nor their people from church who seemed to constantly follow them around. I wasn’t looking forward to the confrontation that was inevitable, but now that they weren’t here, I was almost disappointed.
The flood began, people coming through the door, laughing and squealing when they saw their family and friends. I stood back, leaning against a wall, trying to look casual even though my heart was pounding with anticipation. When I spotted him dressed in his combat fatigues, my heart jumped into my throat. He’d always been a handsome boy, but now he was a proud soldier. And when he spotted me, his face lit up like a Christmas tree.
James.
I ran to him and he lifted me up, swinging me around. He kissed me full on the lips before burying his face in my shoulder.
“I missed you!”
Tears were rushing down my face. “I missed you, too.”
We stood there for a long while, people watching us with smiles and whispered words that were like white noise around us. He finally set me down and stepped back slightly. His eyes widened when he took in the gentle swell of my belly.
“What’s this?”
“I told you I had a secret.”
“Mom wrote and told me you had a man, but I didn’t realize things had progressed this quickly!”
“You would never believe how fast things progressed! I can’t even believe it.”
“Must be quite a story.”
“You’ll love him, James. He’s a good man.”
He studied my face a moment. “If you love him, I know I will.”
He snatched up his bags and slipped his arm around me. We headed out of the airport toward my car in the parking lot. I couldn’t believe he was here. I couldn’t believe his mother wasn’t.
“Where are your parents? I thought they would have been here hours ago with signs and all the fanfare of some crazy parade.”
“I don’t think I’ll be seeing my parents any time soon.”
“Why not?”
He was quiet for a long moment, watching the ground as we stepped out into the hot Houston afternoon and crossed the asphalt.
“When my mom wrote to me and told me that you had a man and what a slut she thought you were, I just couldn’t take it anymore. I called her and told her the truth about us, about me. I told her that I was gay and that I’d met someone—”
“You met someone?”
He blushed a little. “He’s flying in next week. You’re going to love him.”
“If you love him, I’m sure I will,” I said, leaning into him.
He smiled.
“How did your mom take it?”
He shrugged. “About like I thought she would. She told me she no longer had a son.”
“I’m sorry.”
James sighed. “I knew the moment I realized who I was that my parents wouldn’t understand and that they wouldn’t support me. I convinced myself that they were right, that I was some sort of abomination. But being out of their home at college and then the military showed me how narrow-minded they really are. I’m not an abomination. I’m a human being. And I have a right to live my life the way I want to, as long as I’m not hurting anyone. Falling in love with another human being doesn’t hurt anyone.”
“Exactly.” I squeezed his side. “I’m proud of you.”
He shrugged again. “I just want to be happy. If my mom and dad eventually come around, I’d be thrilled to have them in my life. Until then, I’m just glad to have you.”
“And this boyfriend? Where does he live?”
James laughed. “Here in Houston. Why do you think I was so happy to hear you were here, too? We’ll all be able to live in the same city again.”
“Perfect.”
***
Peter and James were laughing as I walked into the living room, a tray of hors d’oeuvres in my hands. James immediately got up and took the tray from me, setting it carefully on the coffee table.
“He’s fantastic,” he whispered near my ear as he moved up behind me. “If you had to dump me for anyone, I guess I’m pleased it someone as good as him.”
I smiled at Peter. “He is a good man.”
Peter’s eyebrows rose. “I don’t like secrets. Speak up.”
I just laughed and moved into his arms. He tugged me close to him, a soft sigh brushing his chest against me. He started to say something, but his phone buzzed. He tugged it out of his pocket and groaned.
“I’ll be back.”
He stepped out of the room. He was working some case with Hayden and another operative that kept him pretty occupied. But it was good for him. He was better when he was occupied. Megan told me that he was so much better since I came into his life, but we could both see that he was still broken in small ways. Being busy kept him focused. And the impending birth of our baby seemed to help.
“I read up about him on after you told me about this,” James said. There was concern in his eyes. “He went through some pretty tough stuff.”
“He did. And he’s dealing with it.”
“He goes to therapy?”
I shrugged. “He went back to his therapist for a while after Waters broke into the house. But he’s stopped again. He tells me that it’s awkward talking to a stranger about these things. I’ve been encouraging him to find someone else to talk to, and he’s been spending time with his brother-in-law, Luke Murphy. That seems to be helping.”
“Good.” James took my hand between his. “But he’s not the only one who has things to work on. He told me that he arranged for you to go see your mother.”
I shifted slightly, a thrill of panic running down my spine just at the thought.
“I don’t know if I can do that. He thinks it would help me reconcile what she did, but I know she doesn’t want to see me. So why bother?”
“Because I think she does want to see you. She was trying to protect you before, but now that you’re older, now that you understand more of what happened back then, I think she’ll want to see you.”
I shook my head. “She threw me away like I was a piece of trash. Why would she want to be reminded of that now?”
James sighed. “I love you, Heather, but sometimes you can be so dense. Your mother murdered for you. Can’t you see how she’s so much better than my mother ever was?”
I chuckled a little, moving into his arms.
“You were always so much smarter than me.”
Chapter 23
Hayden
“We’ve resolved fifteen cases in a favorable manner this past month, which is impressive. But we didn’t resolve five cases, and that’s five too many.”
I looked around the room at the gathered operatives. Megan and Luke were standing at the back of the room, Luke’s arm casually draped over Megan’s shoulder. It still bothered me, watching this man with Dante Saladin’s face put his arm around Sam’s best friend. Even though I knew he was Luke, had known it for five years, it still bothered me.
He wasn’t the Luke I’d gone through Hell Week with. He wasn’t the man I had trusted with my life in Afghanistan. He was a changed man, a man who shouldn’t have had the right to walk back into his life wit
hout consequence. But he had, and there was nothing I could do about it.
Luke got the girl and the kids—even though he was the one who pulled us all into that CIA-terrorist bullshit that nearly got Dominic and Peter killed. And I got nothing.
I turned back to the room of operatives, my thoughts struggling to focus. Just as I opened my mouth to speak again, Waverly walked into the room.
We’d barely said two words to each other in the past few months. I couldn’t even look her in the eye, the memory of what we’d done too fresh. I could barely look myself in the eye. Almost worse than the sex was how I’d cold-shouldered her in the aftermath. No woman deserved that. And the worst part of it was, I wanted Waverly again.
I couldn’t stop thinking about that moment in the copy room. What a fool I was.
“We have three new clients who signed on with us just today. We expect to have at least ten new clients next week. This business is continuously expanding because of the work you and your coworkers do out in the field every day. You are the best of the best because that is all Dragon hires. Do your best each and every day and you will be richly rewarded.”
I felt like a damn motivational speaker. But Megan had told me this was the way to keep everyone on track.
“You have your assignments. Get to work.”
The room emptied noisily. Megan made her way to my side, a little smile on her full lips.
“You’re getting better at this stuff, Hayden.”
I shook my head. “I hate talking to crowds.”
“This isn’t a crowd. These are your employees.”
“Your employees.”
She smiled just as Amelia, one of our operatives, sidled up to me.
“Hayden, I was wondering if I could talk to you about my case?”
She was staring at me with these big eyes, nibbling at her bottom lip in this seductive sort of way that made something stir deep in my belly. I was a man—I couldn’t help reacting to a beautiful woman. And she was beautiful. But the crush she clearly had on me wasn’t ideal considering our employee-employer relationship. Or the fact that she was a security operative.
“Why don’t you wait in my office, and I’ll be there in a moment?”
She smiled, this knowing look coming into her eyes.
“Better be careful with that one,” Megan said close to my ear as she turned and walked away, too.
When the room was empty, I gathered my things and headed out myself, jabbing the button on the elevator to head up to my office. I didn’t realize I wasn’t alone until the elevator doors closed and I caught sight of Waverly standing to my left.
Was I really that consumed with my own thoughts?
“That was a good speech.”
I shook my head. “It was awkward.”
“You’re better at these things than you think you are. You’re very charming, and that comes out even when you’re clearly uncomfortable.”
I looked over at her, again struck with the impression that that was something Sam would have said to me. I wished she would stop doing that.
“I’ve been meaning to talk to you,” I said slowly, deciding now was as good a time as any. “What happened the night of Peter’s birthday party was unprofessional and irresponsible. I shouldn’t have allowed myself to get so out of control.”
“What’s done is done.”
I turned toward her. “I just don’t want it to cause tension here at work.”
“No tension for me.”
I studied her face, her unique use of eye makeup. She really was an attractive woman. Her hair was jet black, so black that it had blue highlights, and her eyes showed the slight tilt that indicated Asian heritage. She had a delicate little nose, but a strong jaw line that together should have been awkward but was quite beautiful.
She drew on a thin line of eyeliner that had a little flare on the corner and thick red lipstick that begged to be kissed off. And the skirt she was wearing now had a slit so high up her thigh that it gave the impression that she was much taller than she really was.
Gorgeous. It made it difficult to keep my eyes off of her.
“I just wanted to make sure.”
She touched my arm. “If I was going to file a harassment suit against you, I would have done it right after it happened.” She winked. “I won’t tell if you won’t.”
I turned away from her. Her flippancy told me loud and clear that she was still hurt; I knew because it was a tactic I employed. Constantly.
The door opened on our floor. I stepped out and started down the hall to my office, aware that Amelia was waiting for me. But something made me turn. I went to Waverly’s office. She was standing just inside the door, almost as if she’d been expecting me.
We didn’t speak. I dropped my armload of paperwork on a chair and slammed the door hard enough to make it vibrate the walls. Then I pushed her back against it, watching her face to make sure this was also what she wanted. I wasn’t so far gone that getting consent first wasn’t uppermost in my mind.
When she nodded imperceptibly, my mouth fused with hers and my thoughts—along with guilt and grief and all the emotions that roiled within me on a daily basis—went out the window for a few blissful minutes.
Chapter 24
Heather
I’d had certain expectations when I thought about what it would be like to visit a prison. I expected darkness. I expected gray walls and ugly furniture. I expected a roomful of crying women and children. But that wasn’t what I found.
The lobby of the prison was actually quite cheerful with walls that were brightly colored and flat screen televisions showing quiet cartoons and lovely furniture that would probably have looked at home in any living room. There were a few other visitors waiting around, and none of them were crying.
Peter held my hand tightly, his fingers laced through mine. “You okay?” he whispered near my ear.
I nodded.
We approached the reception window. A pleasant looking woman smiled at us.
“Who are you here to see?”
“Naomi Bryant.”
Surprise widened the woman’s eyes slightly. “That’s a name I’ve not heard before.”
She turned to her computer and typed a few keystrokes before asking for my identification. I handed it over, a quiver shifting my heartbeat.
“It’s going to be okay,” Peter whispered.
I closed my eyes and thought about the scariest moment in my life. James had taught me a long time ago that the best way to control fear was to think of the worst moment in my life and remind myself that this moment wasn’t anywhere as bad as that had been. When I was a kid, it was the last time my dad beat my mom bad enough to land her in the hospital for a month.
Now, however, it was when Peter was shot and I was alone in the waiting room, waiting to hear how he was doing. Of course, it had been a through and through, as Luke assured us. He had to have fifteen stitches in each wound and three days of antibiotics. But for those twenty minutes, I was convinced that he was going to die and leave me alone. Those were the worst moments of my life.
This wasn’t anywhere near that bad.
A door opened and a man called my name. I turned into Peter and hid my face in his chest for a long moment, taking a deep breath of his familiar scent before pulling away. I followed the guard down a long corridor, then another, following a path that was like a maze. Eventually we came to a tall, heavy door.
“The prisoner will not be restrained in any way. You are allowed to touch, but we prefer if each touch only lasts ten seconds or less. We also prefer that you sit on opposite sides of the table facing one another. Everything you say in that room will be recorded and can be used in a court of law, so be careful what you say.”
I nodded.
“If you feel your safety is being compromised, there is a button on the wall you can press to call for help. I will remain outside the door and will come to your assistance the moment I feel it’s necessary.”
“Okay.”
>
“You have twenty minutes.”
He opened the door and gestured for me to go inside. The room was empty. There were no windows, no light other than the bright fluorescents overhead. The table was a metallic picnic style table that looked terribly uncomfortable. I didn’t want to sit down, but I didn’t know what else to do with myself. I just stood, my arms crossed over my chest, and stared down at the floor.
I’d been thinking a lot over the last few days about my mom and the last few weeks we spent together. I remembered her as a beautiful woman. She was petite with brown hair—like mine—and caramel-colored eyes. She used to come into my bedroom in the middle of the night and curl up in my bed with me. Sometimes she’d tell me stories about her childhood in San Antonio. It sounded like a wonderful place to my child’s ears. When she told me she was sending me there, I was so excited by the idea. Until I realized she was getting rid of me, throwing me away.
She abandoned me just as if she’d left me in a grocery store. Walked away like I didn’t matter. How was I supposed to forgive her for that?
I was here to show James that I could face my fears. I was here to show Peter that dealing with the things that broke us was not as scary as it might seem. But I wasn’t here for answers or forgiveness. I didn’t care why she did what she did. Nothing she could say would change it, so why bother?
The door opened and the guard guided a small woman through the door. My first thought was that someone had made a mistake. This woman was so tiny, so delicate that she couldn’t be my mother. Her hair was gray and thin, cut so short that it almost looked like a military buzz cut. She wore glasses that made her big eyes seem even bigger. Her clothes hung on her like they couldn’t find a size small enough to fit her little frame. And her chin quivered like this was the first time in a decade that she’d been forced to talk to someone from outside the prison environment.
The guard closed the door and left us alone. She wouldn’t look at me. She hovered there by the door, her eyes on the floor.
“When they said you wanted to come see me, I was shocked,” she said in a voice that was so familiar that it sent goosebumps rising all over my body. She glanced at me, only looking at me for a second before her eyes fell to the ground again. “You’re beautiful. Just like you were as a girl.”
DRAGON SECURITY: Volume 2: The Complete 6 Books Series Page 15
