by Mia Taylor
“I was shot at,” Ryker corrected, hanging his head in shame. “And Bryn is right—I took off. I was afraid.”
The statement stunned both mother and daughter.
“Bryn, can I talk to you for a minute?” he asked when no one responded. “I need your help.”
More shock colored Bryn’s fair face and she rose from her chair.
“I guess…” she muttered. “But I don’t know how I can help you out of this mess. You look weak in front of the entire family.”
He gestured for Bryn to follow him out of his mother’s range.
“I know,” he murmured. “I’ve failed everyone.”
His sister’s mouth became a smirk.
“No shock there. I’ve been telling Dad for years that you’re ill-suited to handle this task.”
“But you’re not,” Ryker told her softly. “You’ve always been a natural. Hell, you were literally born into this role. I wasn’t…”
She peered at him, the skepticism on her face evident.
“Why the sudden change of heart, brother? Does it have anything to do with your doctor girlfriend?”
Fury fused through Ryker’s spine but he did not betray his emotions.
“I’ve been doing a lot of thinking since Dad died,” he replied slowly. “And yes, Rui has helped me see that this is not the life I want to lead for myself.”
Bryn’s brow furrowed.
“So what? You think you’re just going to walk away? You know you can’t do that.”
“I can if you help me,” he told her pleadingly. “I want to name you don.”
The interest in her eyes was unmistakable but the doubt was also clear. She was impulsive, angry and devious but she wasn’t stupid.
“That’s not going to fly for so many reasons,” she said but there was a note of hope in her voice which was unmistakable.
“It will if the family doesn’t see it coming,” he promised her. “You will work silently at my side, the way I did with Dad. We gradually work you in, giving you more power until the day they don’t even notice that you’ve taken over.”
“And then what? You’ll disappear with your girlfriend?”
“Something like that. You’ll have the power to stop the family from coming after me then.”
“It’ll take time to earn my stripes,” Bryn said excitedly but there was no reservation in her voice. The idea appealed to her as Ryker had known it would. It was the only thing Bryn had ever wanted, after all—the power of being boss.
She probably thought that killing me would somehow put her up in the ranks somehow. Poor deluded dumbass.
“When do we start?” she asked, and Ryker offered her a weak smile.
“We’ve already started.”
~ ~ ~
Rui stared at him with worried eyes.
“So? How did it go?”
“She fell for it,” he replied, plopping onto the plush double bed. Rui had been staying in hotels, moving nightly until Ryker was certain he had his sister exactly where he wanted her.
“Are you sure?” Rui asked nervously. “I need to get back to work but if she—”
“She wouldn’t dare touch you—not if she wants to stay on my good side.”
“Can I go home now?”
He stared at her lovingly, nodding slowly.
“If by home you mean back to my condo with me, then yes.”
A slow, cautious smile formed on her lips and she exhaled.
“Is that wise? Won’t there be issues from… you know, uh, your employees or whatever?”
“I don’t care,” he told her firmly and he meant it. It was going to take some time to get everything in order but when it was done, he and Rui would be free to live and love each other as openly as they wanted, without the scrutiny of anyone else watching over them.
As if reading his mind, Rui eyed him.
“Are you sure this is going to work, Ryker? If this backfires…”
“It won’t,” he assured her quietly. “You can’t think like that. As long as you can exercise the patience we discussed, we will get out of this free and clear. You just need to trust in me.”
“I do,” she assured him. “More than you know.”
Ryker drew her into his arms and inhaled the sweet scent of her shampoo.
“We really do need to get you out of here,” he teased. “You smell like hotel soap.”
“Then why do you keep sniffing at me?” she shot back jokingly.
“Maybe I’m just a glutton for punishment.”
“You must be if you’re with me,” she sighed self-deprecatingly. Ryker pushed her back and glared at her.
“What have I told you about that?” he scolded. “I don’t settle for less than perfect. Insulting you is insulting me.”
She stuck her tongue out at him.
“There’s that famous ego,” she laughed and fell back against his broad chest.
“Ryker?” she asked after a couple of minutes.
“Hmm?”
“After this is all done, maybe we should look for your real parents.”
He tensed.
“Why?”
She moved her head back to look at him seriously.
“Because I think your blood holds the key to solving a lot of medical problems. If you have some genetic anomaly, I’d like to get to the root of it and see if you can’t do some good with it.”
A pang of nervousness filled him but he kept his face impassive.
“I don’t want to be a lab experiment, Rui.”
Her eyes grew huge and she looked insulted.
“I would never!” she gasped. “Why would you ever say something like that?”
“Because for as long as I can remember, my biggest fear has been that I’ll end up in a cage with a needle in my arm, depleted of everything I am. Isn’t that what’s done to anyone who is different? We’re poked and prodded and—”
“You think I would let anything happen to you?” The hurt in her voice was almost palpable. “I would never let anyone touch a hair on your head. The thought of you…”
She shuddered and Ryker knew she was thinking about the day he’d been rushed to emergency.
“Never mind,” she said, turning her face away. “I’m sorry I brought it up and I’m sorry you don’t trust me but expect me to trust you.”
He admitted she had a valid point.
“Can we discuss this later?” he asked, unsure he had the energy to see through an argument of that magnitude. “I could use a nap with you sleeping right there on my chest like this.”
Before she could respond, he pulled her back on top of him and kissed the top of her head.
“It’s just…”
“What, Rui?” he groaned. “What? I’m special? My blood is special?”
“No.” She sat up and looked at him.
“What then?”
“How much damage have you done in your life? How many people have you hurt?”
He bristled.
“I thought we talked about what I’ve done in my past.”
“We have.”
“Then you have a ballpark figure of how many thousands of people I’ve impacted playing my role in the family.”
“Now think about how many lives you could positively impact to make up for all that.”
The words hit home harder than he expected.
“Rui, we don’t even know if my blood will have any—”
“Which is why I’m asking you for permission to run some tests. What harm can it do, Ryker? I’m not going to force you to do anything you don’t want me to do, but think about it. You could hold the cure to cancer, to Alzheimer’s, to—”
“I get it,” he sighed. He yanked her back to his chest and held her firmly in place.
“Sorry, babe,” she murmured. “I’ve just seen so many people die of terrible diseases. It makes me feel so helpless.”
“I know.”
His arms tightened around her.
“It’s one of the reas
ons I love you so much, Rui. If you didn’t care so much about people, I don’t think I would have the same respect for you that I do.”
She didn’t respond but he felt her breathing slow slightly and he could tell the sound of his voice was making her sleepy.
“You’re right,” he continued, sliding his open palm along her hair. “I’ve done a lot of damage in my life, more than I ever want to think about again. I’ve hurt too many people, including my own mother, and for what? Some misguided sense of loyalty?”
Rui said nothing and Ryker knew she was on the brink of nodding off if she hadn’t already.
“It’s time for me to do the right thing,” he concluded. “Both with the family and with the rest of the world. I’ll give you my blood to sample. God knows, I’ve gotta be better for something other than killing and drug smuggling.”
Rui released a long, deep sigh and Ryker had no way of knowing if she had heard him or not, but he took it as a sign that she forgave him for his past mistakes.
Who knows? Maybe being a freak is a good thing after all, he mused, dropping another kiss on Rui’s head.
All he knew for certain was that the feelings of shame and uneasiness, which had haunted him since his secret had first revealed itself, were gone.
And I have Rui to thank for that.
~ ~ ~
“Make way, please! Step out of the way!”
Ryker hurried down the back steps, keeping his head low as the district attorney, Mick Osler, rushed him through a crowd of screaming reporters.
Their questions muddled together like a crowd of howler monkeys shrieking in unison, but Ryker had a fair idea of what they were asking anyway.
“Move!” a bailiff snapped, shoving one overzealous journalist aside.
“Mr. Luciano, what do you think your father would say about this?” the woman managed to squeal before being cast aside. Ryker had an urge to answer the question but the D.A. hissed in his ear.
“Don’t even think about it, Luciano.”
Shame, that, Ryker thought as he slid into the open door of a waiting town car. There were four lined around the back of the courthouse steps, three of them decoys in anticipation of retaliation.
It’s overkill. Even if they could kill me, the ones who would try are either locked up or on trial.
“How are you doing?” Mick asked as the car pulled away from the curb. “You handled yourself well.”
“Yeah, well, I had four years to prepare for it.”
The attorney cast him a sidelong look.
“Any regrets, Ryker? Don’t you feel bad about selling out your sister like that?”
Ryker scoffed but he didn’t respond, turning his head to stare out the window at the passing scenery.
What the hell does he know?
For four years, he had worked diligently to set up his sister to take the fall for an empire which had been generations in the making.
It had been a dangerous feat and several times, Rui had begged him to call it off.
“It’s not worth doing this if you get caught,” she begged him. “Think about what they’ll do to your mother.”
It was only one of the many things that worried Ryker, and while he had managed to keep meticulous recordings of his interactions with his sister and the capos, his nerves were frayed to their ends when the D.A. finally told him they had enough to fell the entire family.
“They all have to go down. It can’t just be—”
“They are all going down, thanks to you,” Mick assured him but Ryker knew it burned the D.A. badly, knowing that Ryker had not only escaped with full immunity but with witness protection for life.
“My mom is already set up somewhere?” he asked Mick again as they approached Miami-Dade airport.
“She was flown out a week ago to parts unknown,” the attorney reiterated. “As soon as word that you were testifying became public.”
“How is she handling it?”
Mick shrugged.
“I don’t think she’s the happiest she’s ever been,” the D.A. admitted. “But I think she’s proud of you.”
“Why do you think that?” Ryker asked in disbelief. “She must hate my guts more than she did before!”
Mick offered him a wry smile.
“I think your mom hated the mob life more than you can imagine, Ryker. I think you offered her a way out when she couldn’t find one for herself.”
Ryker didn’t know how true the lawyer’s words were, but he appreciated them nonetheless.
The best thing he could hope for was that his mother found happiness when her life had been filled with disappointment and heartache.
“You don’t have to worry about her or Rui.”
Mick cast him a sly smile and Ryker felt a twinge of excitement at the thought of seeing her again.
She had been sent to their location in witness protection over a year earlier and he hadn’t been able to see or hear from her until the testimony was concluded and he was sent to meet her.
God, a year is so long. I can’t wait to kiss her again.
He steeled his thoughts away from Rui, knowing that the D.A. didn’t have any information about her. Only a select few U.S. Marshals knew where he was headed. It was safer for everyone that way.
“And my sister will rot in prison?” he asked, the question rolling around in his mouth like glue.
“I had hoped for the death penalty, but she’s a woman,” Mick grunted. “Life in prison without parole for Bryn.”
Ryker shuddered slightly. Despite what Bryn had done to him, he didn’t want her dead.
Prison will be worse for her anyway. Let’s see how tough she is now.
“You understand that you can’t contact her, right?”
Ryker stared at him balefully.
“Why the hell would I want to do that?” he demanded. “If she had her way, I’d be dead right now.”
“But you can’t be killed, can you, Ryker?”
The query seemed ominous to Ryker’s ears and he looked at the D.A. curiously.
“Everyone can be killed,” he retorted flatly. “You just have to know their weakness.”
Mick grunted again and this time it was he who turned to look out the window, apparently done with their discussion.
The airport loomed before them and again, Ryker was met with the giddiness of a teenager on the way to prom.
She must be out of her mind with worry and boredom wherever she is right now, he thought, shaking his head. I wonder if she’s found something to do.
He knew nothing about the woman who was waiting for him in whatever state he was going. He had hoped she had been able to continue practicing medicine, as that was her passion, but there were no guarantees. He had no clue what name she had been given. He didn’t even know how she had altered her appearance.
What if I don’t recognize her? he jested to himself, but he knew that was impossible. He would know Rui under any name or hair color. She was his mate and they belonged together.
Even if I wasn’t about to board a plane directly to her right now, I would find her anywhere, he thought confidently as the car rolled to a stop on the tarmac next to a private plane.
Two marshals waited in blue jackets and Ryker glanced at Mick Olsen for what would be the last time in his life.
“You know,” Olsen said, “when you came to me with this harebrained idea, I thought you were screwing with me. I wanted to punch you in the face and kick you the hell out of my office.”
“Bet you’re glad you didn’t now, huh?”
“No,” Mick replied, smirking. “I still want to punch you in the face, Luciano, but I guess I owe you some thanks for bringing some semblance of justice to Miami.”
Ryker accepted the half-baked apology and extended his hand.
“May I never see your mug again.”
Mick snorted.
“The feeling is more than mutual. Say hi to that beautiful wife of yours.”
~ ~ ~
“Your name is
Andrew Parsons, wife’s name is Alison,” the one marshal intoned, handing him a file as he boarded. “All the background information you need is here but you can’t carry this with you. Memorize it or don’t. If you don’t, you better be damned good at keeping your lies straight because one small move might get you both dead.”
Ryker glowered at him.
“Nothing is going to happen to us.”
He turned his attention back to the pages in the manila folder, his eyes growing wide with interest.
“San Francisco?” he asked, pleased with the destination.
“Beggars can’t be choosers, Andrew.”
That’s going to be a bit of an adjustment, he thought as he continued to look through the file. Andrew Parsons. I sound like a minister.
He scanned through the words, looking less for information on his new life and more about his wife.
I guess we’re still married. That’s good.
They had tied the knot just before the bust had taken place, pledging their commitment to one another in a small civil ceremony which no one was invited to but two strangers they had paid to witness.
Rui had been worried that getting married before everything was done was cursing the entire affair. Ryker said it was solidifying their chances at getting out alive.
He still remembered every detail of her dress, the simple white lace and satin number she had bought on a whim at Macy’s.
“It was the closest thing I could find to a wedding dress without it being a wedding dress.”
“You look stunning,” he told her.
“So do you.”
And no one would have known they had eloped or that they lived perched dangerously on thin ice every day of their lives.
The plane took off and a flight attendant offered them a drink which Ryker took willingly.
“Don’t get smashed,” one of the nameless agents warned. “You don’t want your wife divorcing you while you’re in the program. It’s a bitch.”
Ryker ignored him, still looking through the papers for more data about Rui.
Alison Parsons, pediatrician.
He exhaled with relief.
That beats the hell out of watching cancer patients die all day long.
“You might want to get some rest, too,” the other marshal quipped. “You look like hell.”