Back to the Start (Dangerous Love Book 4)

by Elle Keating

  Chapter Fourteen

  Jake

  “Who was that fine-lookin’ lady I saw you smilin’ at from the sidelines?”

  Jake loosened his tie as he and his top wide receiver walked away from the press conference. Talking to the media was the least favorite part of his job. He knew it came with the territory, but he hated it all the same. Some of his teammates, including Tony, enjoyed having their faces splashed all over television. They loved the attention, and on occasion even flirted with the female reporters. But Jake would rather just play ball and go home.

  “She’s off limits,” Jake growled.

  “Like, ‘I’ll cut your nuts off if you talk about that girl again’ off limits or ‘that girl’s married and not available to partake in a handsome gentleman like myself’ off limits?” Tony gave him an elbow to the gut. He knew Tony was just trying to get a rise out of him, but Jake was not in a playful mood.

  It didn’t matter that his team had just upset their long-standing rival. All he could think of was the woman he had fought like hell not to stare at throughout the game. He knew that she would come, but it didn’t prevent the nervousness he had encountered the moment he walked onto the field. He had felt her eyes on him from the first snap and it both excited and scared the shit out of him. What was he doing? He shouldn’t have invited Morgan to his game. She was going to break him again.

  “You like your nuts, don’t you, Tony?”

  Tony grabbed his crotch through his expensive suit pants. “Yes, and so do the ladies.”

  “Stay away from her,” Jake said. The words were out before Jake could stop them. It stunned him; not that he threatened Tony’s nut sack, but how possessive he was being. With a woman who didn’t belong to him anymore.

  “Okay, I read you,” Tony said, not looking the least bit offended. “I got enough honeys to keep me satisfied.”

  Jake was certain that was the case. Tony had a girl in every city they played. “You tore it up out there,” Jake said, trying to lighten things up.

  “Yeah? Well, you make it look easy.” Tony nodded at Jake and then left, probably to find one of his honeys.

  Jake started to walk through the tunnel that led out to the field when he received a text:

  “Only three TDs? Were you distracted by something… or someone?”

  Brennan either called or texted him after every game with some smartassed remark. It was a ritual Jake had gotten used to and appreciated. No matter how busy Brennan was at his restaurant, he would always take the time to razz him or bring him up if he didn’t play so hot. But he had never, not once in their adulthood brought up Morgan, or alluded to knowing that something existed between them… until now. Christ! Did everyone know?

  “You’re a jackass.”

  Jake’s text had teenaged boy written all over it, but he couldn’t come up with anything better at the moment. He pushed Send but then thought of a comeback that would make his brother laugh.

  “Good game, McGinnis.”

  His head was down and he was halfway through his text when he heard his name. He blindly thanked his fan and then looked in the direction of the voice. The woman it belonged to was leaning against the wall of the tunnel with one high heeled foot propped behind her. The woman wore a trench coat and sunglasses and she was looking at him like he was to be her last meal.

  “Have a sec? I would love an autograph,” she said, holding up a pen and waving what looked like a football game ticket in the air.

  Being hit on by female fans, especially after a game, was not unusual. Sometimes he would take them up on their offer. As long as they were okay with a night of sex with no strings, no sleepovers, no exchange of phone numbers, he was game. “Sure.” Jake took the pen and ticket from the woman and scribbled his name on the back of it.

  “You know, I have a hotel room. Just around the corner from here.” Jake looked at the woman. She was his type. Not blonde, no freckles, model body as opposed to athletic and toned. The woman smiled at him as she twirled the belt to her coat in her hand. He would bet everything he owned that she was naked beneath that trench coat. But that thought and the more than willing woman in front of him did nothing for him. Jake glanced over and spotted Morgan and his family waiting for him at the end of the tunnel. Although he had to be at least thirty feet away from them, he saw the look Morgan was giving this woman. He had seen it before...many times.

  “Thanks for supporting our team,” Jake said, handing the pen and ticket back to her.

  She gave him a pouty face. “Well, if you ever change your mind… ” She slipped what appeared to be a business card from her purse. Jake didn’t acknowledge it or let her finish. He simply walked away and joined his family.

  “I’m so proud of you, Jake!”

  Jake allowed his mom and one of her hugs distract him and he embraced her with everything he had. After a few seconds, Jake felt a hearty slap on the back and he heard his dad say, “Looked good out there, son.”

  Jake would never get tired of hearing how proud his parents were of him. He knew how lucky he was to have Lucrezia and Patrick McGinnis as parents. Not a day had gone by since his dad’s shooting did he not thank God for his family. Carina and Josh were next to congratulate him on his win.

  “Your dad and I would love to take you all out to dinner… our treat!”

  He loved how happy his mom was, how comfortable she and her dad were financially these days. Growing up, money had been tight. Jake still didn’t know how his dad had provided for his wife and five children on his salary for all those years. Just the food bill alone was enough to make Jake wonder if his dad was a mathematical genius with money.

  But those days of pinching pennies were over. The winery his dad co-owned with Luke was thriving and allowing them to enjoy life. His parents no longer had to choose which bills they could pay each month and which ones they could put off until the next paycheck. And they had done it all on their own with no help from Jake, Luke, Brennan, or Gabe, though each one of them had wanted to pay off their mortgage and buy them whatever they wanted. Even Carina, on her teacher’s salary, had tried with all her might to spoil their parents, but they wouldn’t have it.

  Jake didn’t want to disappoint his parents, but the last thing he wanted to do was go somewhere where he could be recognized. “You know what? How about we have dinner back at my house? I’ll stop off at the Terminal and pick up whatever looks good from the butcher. There’s stuff in my fridge for a salad, if you want to get started on that?”

  His mom flashed him a smile and he knew he had her. She loved to cook and he knew it pleased her tremendously that he had given her a job to do. She was not a good guest. It was best that the woman was given a task, particularly if it involved the kitchen. “Sounds lovely,” she said.

  Jake gave his mom a kiss and told her that he would see them back at his place. Morgan was walking toward Carina when he foolishly said, “Morgan, ride with me.” It wasn’t a question. And he wouldn’t have accepted anything other than a yes, anyway.

  “Yeah, sure,” she said. Her response was meant to be casual, but Jake knew it was forced. She was easy to read, even after all these years. Morgan shrugged her shoulders, as if to solidify the charade, and walked next to him to his car. They were only a minute into their drive when Jake determined that the car was too silent. He was just about to say something to kill the awkwardness when she asked, “Who was that woman?”

  “Just a fan,” he said. Jake looked in the rearview mirror and then glanced at Morgan.

  Her brow was raised and she was giving him a look that clearly said, Don’t fucking bullshit me. Jake put his attention back on the road. “A fan, huh? A fan who I believe would have dropped to her knees in that tunnel if she had been given the green light.”

  He looked over at her. She had pasted on a playful smirk, one that wavered right before his eyes. She didn’t fool him. She never could. She was seething and seeing green and doing her best to play it off. Morgan deserved to feel those unpl
easant pangs of jealousy tear at her gut. But in addition to appearing jealous she looked angry. And that pissed him the hell off. She had no right to be mad! She did this to herself! She had left him, not the other way around!

  “No, that woman was willing to wait to be on her knees. At least until we made it back to her hotel room.” Jake pulled over in front of the Terminal and turned off the ignition. Jake stared at her, but she avoided his gaze. “What? I thought friends could confide in each other?”

  He hadn’t planned on going for the jugular, but he couldn’t help himself. Making her jealous was a skill he had perfected throughout their childhood and then later as teens. But she could give as good as she got. No one infuriated him more or got under his skin like Morgan could. She didn’t even need to try to send him into a silent jealous rage. It happened naturally.

  It was during the summer going into his junior year of high school when he had realized that he either needed to get control of his emotions or he was going to do something that could hurt his chances at getting a football scholarship. His parents didn’t have the funds to send him to college. Especially after the incident that had almost taken his dad away from him.

  It had been a typical Saturday afternoon. His mom had just about finished her chauffeur duties for the day and picked up her kids from their practices. Jake remembered how exhausted she had looked. But she had never complained. Instead she had remained on the sidelines, waiting patiently as Carina played softball and Gabe and Brennan tore it up on the lacrosse field. It was after five when they had pulled into their driveway. Jake didn’t think at the time that it was strange his dad wasn’t home from work yet.

  Maybe because his mind had been elsewhere, like on Morgan and the night they had confronted her ass fuck of a father. It had been two months since he had clocked that bastard. His hand had ached for a good two weeks afterward, but it had been worth it. Jake had felt no remorse for what he had done. His only regret was that he didn’t get a few more shots in. How could a man stand before his daughter and say with unthinkable ease that he had left his family for a woman who didn’t like children? It had been clear to Jake, and unfortunately to Morgan as well, that her father didn’t feel bad about his decision. That if given the chance, he would have made the same choice again. Jake couldn’t imagine his dad being so cold and selfish.

  It wasn’t until Jake and his family had entered the kitchen that he felt something was wrong. The answering machine on the counter had been blinking and he noticed that they had ten messages. Not much registered after he had heard the first message. All he remembered was his mom telling him to watch his brothers and Carina as she quickly left for the hospital.

  His mom had called him an hour later with the news. Luke was on his way home from work and was going to pick them all up and take them to the hospital. Panic had set in right around that time. He had heard it in his mom’s voice, though she tried like hell to hide it from him. She had been so scared.

  Jake and his siblings hadn’t spoken on the ride over to the hospital. It was as if they kept silent then it couldn’t really be happening. Patrick McGinnis, the strongest man he had ever known, was not lying in a hospital bed fighting for his life. It just wasn’t possible.

  But as they had filed into the waiting room, reality had set in. His even-keeled, never-rattled mother had cried as Luke took her into his arms and held her. While Brennan and Gabe ran over to their dad’s older brother, Kieran, Jake went to Carina. She had been standing in the middle of the hallway shaking, clearly in shock when she fell into his embrace.

  Uncle Kieran had informed them that his brother had been shot multiple times, twice in the chest and once in the leg. With Carina still in his arms, Jake had asked Uncle Kieran why his dad hadn’t been wearing his bulletproof vest at the time. Unlike some of his dad’s colleagues, his dad had always worn his vest while on the job. His dad had told Jake that it was irresponsible not to, that not only was he putting his own life at risk, but he was putting his family in a bad way if something happened to him. Uncle Kieran told Jake that his dad had just finished his shift and was leaving the precinct when he had been gunned down in the parking lot on the way to his car. His dad had been off duty when some drug-dealing scumbag his dad had arrested a while ago had come out of nowhere and shot him. But according to Uncle Kieran, his dad had been in possession of his gun and was able to fire off his own shot. The fucker had been struck in the head, killing him instantly.

  The doctors had told them that the next few hours would be touch and go. The waiting room had filled to capacity with their extended family and police officers. Morgan and her mother had arrived at some point in the night. Aunt Day had been in her scrubs, fresh from work, and Morgan was still wearing shin guards and cleats. Morgan had run over and consoled Carina while Aunt Day went to be with his mom.

  It was four in the morning when they had received news from the doctor who had been working on his dad. He had made it through the surgery but was not out of the woods. His mom had asked the doctor if she could see him and he had reluctantly allowed it. Luke didn’t leave her side while she went to see her husband. Brennan and Gabe had kept Aunt Day and Carina company, which left Morgan on her own. Jake had been so consumed with anger and worry that he hadn’t realized how this was affecting Morgan. He had walked over and sat down next to her. Morgan’s hair was barely in a ponytail at that point and her knees had been caked with mud. A smudge of dirt remained on her chin and he imagined that she must have been practicing hard when she had received the news that the man she loved like a father may have been taken from her.

  Jake had taken her hand and she looked up at him. He had noticed that she had kept it together the last few hours, appearing brave, being Carina’s rock. But now in front of him, like she always did, she let go and allowed him to see her, how vulnerable she was. He had hugged her as she sobbed into the crook of his neck.

  The sun had just come up when his mom and Luke had emerged from his dad’s hospital room. Morgan had fallen asleep, her head on Jake’s lap. Jake had looked not at his mom but Luke. Jake had needed the hard truth, not flowery optimism. And he knew he would get what he wanted from Luke. Luke had announced that his dad was awake and for the first time in twelve hours, Jake had felt his entire body exhale.

  It would be weeks before his dad was well enough to be discharged. Although he had been physically improving every day, his dad’s spirits had plummeted. His career was essentially over. Even with physical therapy, his dad would never get back what he had lost. He would most likely be left with a limp, as the bastard’s bullet had completely shattered his knee. Jake’s dad had loved being a cop; it was all he had ever known. His dad had quickly sunk into a deep depression as he tried to accept the fact that he could no longer perform his job.

  But his mom didn’t tolerate it for long. After her husband had received the good news from his doctor that the two wounds in his chest were healing nicely, his mom had told the family that they were going to Italy for a month. Jake had no idea why she would want to uproot everyone and fly across the world to stay with her sister and her family on Italy’s west coast. All she had said was that they needed a reboot, that their family needed to go away and discover what was important. No one, not even his dad, had dared to question her and three days later Jake and his family had hopped on a plane and flew to a country he had never been to before.

  Only days into their trip, Jake had understood why his mom had made what seemed like a rash decision. The weeks away had proven to be the medicine his dad had needed, the kind he couldn’t get back home. Physically he was the same, but emotionally his dad had turned a corner and he started to smile again, become the strong and determined father Jake had admired since he was in diapers. But his dad wasn’t the only one who had benefited from the trip. His brothers had found themselves in Italy. Brennan had discovered his love for cooking and Gabe… well, no one could pry him away from the ocean. His dad had walked his boys down to the docks one morning and as luc
k would have it, they had made it just in time to see the fishermen come in with their catch. Gabe had watched in awe and it was clear that he wanted that life, that it was made for him.

  Although Luke was entering his senior year of high school, he had been working part time for a landscaping company and was planning to attend community college upon graduation. Up until that point he still wasn’t certain what he wanted to major in or do with the rest of his life. But after that summer his purpose in life had become crystal clear. He had become captivated with their aunt and uncle’s winery. Luke loved learning about the process of turning grapes into wine. He had spent most of those weeks in the fields next to the workers, asking them questions, getting his hands dirty as he studied their craft. Jake knew that it would take hard work and startup money for Luke to have his own winery one day, but Luke would figure it out. Jake never doubted Luke’s resourcefulness.

  Surrounded by a half-dozen cousins all day, every day, Carina had uncovered her inner schoolteacher. She had been fascinated by her younger cousins, how they listened to her as she read and sang songs to them. Jake recalled how she had glowed when she taught four-year-old Brianna to recite the alphabet and then later, by the end of the trip, how to blend the sounds together to make words.

  His family had healed because of that trip, because they took a moment, a sabbatical from life and discovered what was important. Although he didn’t discover his career in Italy, he learned what he had to do to achieve his life-long dream of being an NFL quarterback. He had to do what his mom had said all those years ago. He needed to work hard. All his focus had to be on that one goal. His attention could not be divided if he wanted that scholarship, his only ticket to the pros. His family needed him to succeed. His dad had improved tremendously, but there was no doubt that the family would struggle financially. The disability checks his dad would receive would only go so far. They would not begin to cover the cost of college for any of his children. That was where Jake would come in. His plan was to bust his ass, hopefully be drafted midway through college and make the money that would secure his family’s dreams.