Keeping Gemma

by KB Winters

  I jerked up my shirt and revealed the black wires running up the ridged planes of my stomach that wound together into a small black box that was recording everything we’d said since I walked into the dingy hotel room.

  36

  “Fuck,” Giovanni cursed under his breath and hung mid step, looking back at O’Keefe. “I told you we should have searched him.”

  O’Keefe flung a hand up to silence his goon. “Do you really think that concerns me Rosen? I’m going to kill you,” O’Keefe growled, his eyes flashing with danger once he connected the dots and came to the sickening conclusion that he’d just been played.

  “You’re not very fucking smart, are you, Hank? You’re just racking up charges, talking out of your ass. Now you’re threatening me on the record? You are a stupid fuck.” I grinned at him, but it didn’t reach my eyes. They were locked on his, shooting fire at him from five paces across the room.

  “You’re alone, Rosen, and I’ll make sure that whatever is left of your wire is thrown into the river along with whatever is left of your body.”

  Giovanni’s heavy brow lifted in surprise, or maybe it was panic, and as my eyes darted, O’Keefe lunged for me. He hit my bad side and the room spun. Somehow, he’d known exactly where to hit, and blood oozed down my side, the stitches in my side no match for the brute force of his blow.

  I knew the FBI would be knocking down the door at any moment, they were parked in a surveillance van around the corner, but I had to make sure I stayed alive until they got there.

  Which would be a helluva lot easier to do if I was conscious.

  O’Keefe’s fist got in another blow, this time inches beneath my wound, and the vibrations ripped through me, stealing my breath. I blocked his third attempt, grabbed his wrist, and with a quick jerk, locked his arm behind his back and pushed him between Giovanni and me, using him as a buffer.

  “Tell him to drop the knife, Hank.” I roared into his ear.

  “Or what? You’re an unarmed man.” O’Keefe sneered.

  Giovanni lunged, and at the last second, I careened left, letting O’Keefe take the point of the knife. It sliced through his bicep and O’Keefe howled. “You fucking idiot!”

  Giovanni’s face registered horror as he realized he’d gashed his boss. “Tell him to drop it. It’s over, O’Keefe. FBI are gonna bust through that door within the next minute. You’re done.”

  “Okay, okay,” O’Keefe hissed. I held his arm tight behind him. His elbow was bent at an awkward angle, and I kept just enough pressure to make sure he knew I was flirting with the idea of breaking it.

  If left to my own devices, there was a lot more I wanted to do.

  “Drop the knife Gio,” he said, jerking his chin toward the table. Giovanni obeyed the order. “There. Now let me go, Rosen.”

  I laughed in his ear. “Not a chance, Hank. I’m going to personally hand your sorry ass over to the feds. I just hope they have a hole deep and dark enough to accommodate you.”

  Somehow, I doubted it.

  The motel room door flew open, pulling me from the revenge fantasy I’d been constructing in my head. We all jerked to attention. “Freeze! FBI!”

  I nudged my chin in Giovanni’s direction. “Come on. Tiny, step away from the knife!” Said one agent. He cut a look to O’Keefe and then backed off. “Time’s up.”

  My body gave me a sharp reminder of the re-opened gash in my side and pain radiated from the wound so strongly that I couldn’t breathe for a moment. “Fuck,” I gasped, catching my first full breath. I dropped my attention from the agents to look down at my side and used my casted hand to snag the edge of my jacket. I peeled it away and saw the dark red seeping through my thin t-shirt.

  Gemma was gonna kill me…

  I sucked in another full breath and shoved O’Keefe as forcefully as I could. I didn’t want him to see my weakness.

  In the split second that I was off-balance, he reared his elbow back and hit me with his full force. Stars burst behind my eyes and I doubled over, unable to suck in a breath. The door opened and raised voices shouted as the agents entered the fray. I couldn’t look up, my eyes remained closed as I put all my effort into getting another gasp of air. It was like my lungs had ruptured and were no longer capable of drawing oxygen into my body.

  “Rosen, get down!”

  The panicked voice rose through the madness and my eyes popped open. I looked up just in time to see O’Keefe cocking a pistol—before I could get out a word or make a move, the sounds of gunfire blasted through the room. And I hit the floor.

  Before I could figure out where the pain was coming from, my eyes slammed closed, and the voices and chaos faded to black nothingness.

  37

  “Aaron? Aaron come on. Open your eyes…please baby…please.”

  Gemma was calling for me. I wanted to see her face. But I was surrounded by darkness. Lost. Alone. I tried to force my eyes open, but they were too heavy. I tried to move my hands, to open my mouth, to smile, but I couldn’t tell if any of it made a difference.

  “No…nothing’s changed,” it was Gemma again, her tone dejected and sad. “I’ll come back later to check on him.”

  Her voice faded and I was left alone in silence.

  I’m here, Gemma. Come back!

  “Wait! Gemma, come back!”

  Yes, yes, it was working!

  “What?”

  “Did you—he moved! I saw it!”

  “He did?” Gemma’s voice sailed into hopefulness.

  I needed to figure out how to move again. I channeled all of my energy into replicating whatever I had done moments before, but I couldn’t feel anything. Please, wake up. Open. Your. Fucking. Eyes.

  “There! He did it again! Get Dr. Ryan,” Gemma directed, her tone shifting back to business.

  Light cracked through my skull, the intensity tore through me, and it felt like my head would explode, but I pressed on. I had to see her. I had to show her that I was going to be okay.

  God, I’d been so selfish. I cringed against the flood of thoughts filling my head as all the pieces of the standoff came back to me. Each fragment was a screaming reminder of how idiotic I’d been. I’d let my temper and rage take over and I’d very nearly paid the ultimate price for it.

  And for what? My pride? To prove some point?

  “Aaron? Can you hear me?”

  I forced my eyes open another sliver, pushing beyond the pain of the bright lights. The only thing that mattered was Gemma. Seeing her face.

  “Oh my gosh…” She came into focus just as she lifted a hand to cover her mouth. My eyes found hers and my heart twisted at the sight of tears streaming past her lashes and over her cheeks. “Aaron. Baby.”

  I drank her in, letting the sight of her soothe away the pain from the near blinding light. After a few moments, my eyes adjusted and I slowly took in the rest of my surroundings. I was very clearly in the hospital again. The all-too-familiar beeps of the monitors pounded just above my head. Gemma was wearing a black sweatshirt that fell off one shoulder and her hair hung around her face. Her eyes were red and streaked with black smudges. No baby don’t cry. I’m here. I’m okay.

  “We’ve got to—” I paused, my throat dry and scratchy. I swallowed hard before continuing. “We’ve got to stop meeting like this.”

  Gemma laughed, the sound more like a relieved sigh. “I couldn’t agree more. Although it is convenient for me, no commute to visit after my shift.”

  I wanted to smile, to laugh, but I wasn’t sure it all worked. I was disoriented from my body, feeling more like a floating head.

  “How long?”

  “Six days,” she said, her voice small.

  Six days…I marveled at the piece of information.

  “My God.”

  Gemma nodded and licked her lips nervously. “We weren’t sure…it was dicey for a while there…” a sob cut off the rest of whatever she’d been about to say, and I’d never needed to hold her more.

  “What happened?” I test
ed my fingers again, and though I couldn’t see them, they felt like they moved. Gemma looked down and smiled at my hand. She wrapped her fingers around mine before bringing her attention back to my question.

  “We can talk about everything later. Right now, you need your rest. Dr. Ryan will be here shortly to check on you.”

  I wanted to argue with her, to demand that she tell me everything, but before I could, a wave of confusion and exhaustion came over me and everything went hazy again.

  I had no way of knowing how much time had passed before I woke up again. This time, I was more coherent, but the room was empty—or at least appeared to be. The lights were dim and it took less effort to adjust my eyes. My body also felt lighter, more mobile, and within a few minutes, I managed to work my hand over to the control panel and raised the bed.

  I smiled at the crumpled form curled up in a reclining chair in the corner. “Gemma,” I breathed, wishing I could raise my voice loud enough to get her attention. “Gemma?”

  When it was evident that her sleep was too deep to be disturbed, I laid my head back against the pillows and stared up at the ceiling. I’d gathered bits and pieces of information from the last time I’d roused. I’d busted out my stitches and lost too much blood. I’d had emergency surgery to repair my wounds and had been kept under an induced coma to let my body stabilize.

  The story was…I was a hot mess.

  Luckily, being in a coma helped me heal and I was on the mend, although I had no idea when I would be released or when I could even dare to think about returning to a normal life.

  Whatever was left of it.

  I hadn’t been able to ask Gemma the list of questions that grew by the minute in my mind. I was pouring through them, cataloging them one by one so as not to forget anything, when a nurse came into the room, doing her normal rounds, but Gemma slept straight through.

  “Poor thing,” the nurse commented, glancing at her in the chair after she’d checked all the monitors and asked how I was feeling.

  “How long has she been sleeping there?” I asked.

  The nurse smiled down at me. “She’s been there every night since you got here.”

  My heart swelled like a balloon, overwhelmed with the flurry of emotions the nurse’s statement kicked up inside my chest. “Do you want me to wake her? I know she wants to see you.”

  I shook my head. There was nothing more in the world that I wanted than to see her eyes and talk to her. Maybe even say something stupid and make her laugh. But it would have been the selfish choice, and I was done taking that road.

  It had already cost me too much.

  “No but thank you.”

  She nodded and gave me a soft, motherly smile, before turning and leaving the room. I watched Gemma sleep and somewhere along the way, I drifted back to sleep myself.

  The next time I woke up, the cast of characters had changed significantly. This time, Gemma was joined by Agent Montgomery and Gary with the FAA.

  “Aw, shucks guys, you didn’t have to throw me a party,” I muttered, giving the two stern looking men my best smile.

  Gemma sighed. “Aaron, I tried to tell them to leave you alone, but—”

  “It’s okay, baby. I want to know what’s going on.”

  She nodded and came around to take a seat on the edge of the bed. I gave her my hand and then turned my attention to the two men as the hovered near the foot of my bed. “All right, guys, spill.”

  Agent Montgomery began, after a quick glance with Gary, “First of all, while we are happy you’ll make a great recovery, we do need to let you know O’Keefe will not. He and Mr. Giovanni were both killed in the ambush. The rest is up to the FBI.”

  “Wow, I didn’t—” My heart ached. Because of O’Keefe’s greed—more people had to die.

  “I’m not sure how this helps right now,” Gemma muttered.

  “Wait,” I interjected before she could get too fierce in her defense of me, although I had a feeling she was angry with me for my actions. “In hind sight, it was a completely moronic and selfish move. But I got so caught up in O’Keefe’s bragging and threats—I just wanted him to suffer. But I’m sorry someone else had to die.”

  The two men seemed surprised and exchanged another quick glance. Gary cleared his throat. “We’ve concluded our investigation and the museum is cleared to reopen for business as soon as you’re able. All of the evidence we retrieved has been turned over to the FBI who will be in charge of Mr. O’Keefe’s estate.”

  “Thank you,” I replied, nodding at him. We may not have always seen eye to eye, but I was thankful he’d always listened. While he was gruff, he had never been rude or derogatory to me, even when I’d been running my mouth like a spoiled teenager. “I appreciate your help. Hell, without your findings, I’d probably still be blaming myself for everything that happened that night.” But, even as I said it, the emotions of the crash came back. The intensity had faded with time, but there was a small part of me that knew I would always carry some kernel of guilt over Talia’s death.

  Gemma squeezed my hand.

  Agent Montgomery gave us both a curt nod. “We wish you the best and will be in touch if further assistance is needed.”

  Gemma waved as the two men turned and left the room. Once the door was closed, she lay back against the sliver of bed not occupied by my body and tucked her head against my shoulder. She let out a long sigh, vocalizing the way I felt as I watched them leave.

  “All right, I guess it’s your turn now,” I said to her, mentally bracing for a reaming.

  “My turn for what?”

  “To rip me a new asshole about how stupid I was for showing O’Keefe the wire and going rogue.”

  “Honestly? I probably would have done the same thing.”

  I chuckled, surprised at her reply. “You really are perfect, aren’t you?”

  She laughed and shook her head. “Far from it, but I do have a bit of a temper. I don’t know…maybe you’ve noticed?”

  “Nah.” I shook my head and then dropped a kiss to the side of her head, breathing in the gentle floral scent of her shampoo.

  “So, what now?” Gemma asked, propping her chin on my chest and turning her eyes up toward mine.

  “Well, first thing on my to-do list is to get out of this place once and for all.”

  “Good. Solid plan.”

  I laughed. “Be straight with me. How long am I gonna be stuck in here?”

  “That really depends…”

  “On?”

  She grinned. “On whether or not you’re going to behave yourself once you’re released. You’d already set the record of stitch popping from the first time you were in here. Now you have over twice as many stitches. I’m not sure I trust you to go home. At least not unsupervised.”

  “You volunteering for the job?” I asked, twisting my fingertips through a stray strand of hair that had fallen from her loose ponytail.

  “Ha! Lord knows I can’t keep you in line.”

  “I think you can.”

  She laughed softly. “We’ll see. It’ll probably be at least a few more days.”

  I groaned. “Got any ideas for keeping me entertained?” I asked, a wicked grin tugging the corners of my mouth up.

  She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, that’s out of the question for a long, long time.”

  “Damn. That’s gonna be pretty near impossible with you looking so smokin’ hot all the time.”

  “Oh my God. I think that’s the drugs talking.” She looked down at her outfit to emphasize her point. “I don’t even remember the last time I showered. Between work and being here—”

  “Dirty girl,” I drawled.

  She pushed my arm but then snuggled back against it.

  “Thanks for being here for me, baby. I can’t even say how much it all means to me.” I reached for her hand and held it tightly.

  “Of course, Aaron.”

  “I’m sorry if I scared you.”

  She bit her lip and nodded. My guts twisted at the pai
n on her face. “I thought you were gone…when I heard the shots fired…I broke loose from the other agents. I punched one in the face actually.”

  “You did?”

  She nodded. There wasn’t even a hint of pride in her expression. “I had to get to you. To see you. And then…there was so much blood everywhere and you were unresponsive—I thought you’d been shot. It was like one of those movie moments. Everything in slo-mo, but my mind was racing a thousand miles a minute—I couldn’t think at all.”

  I kissed the side of her face again, wishing I could erase the terrible memory from her mind. “I’m so sorry, baby. I promise I’ll never do anything like that again.”

  She nodded and a tear slid down her cheek.

  I tipped her chin up and swiped away the stray tear. “Marry me, Gemma.”

  She smiled softly. But shook her head.

  “What? Why not?”

  She leaned over and pressed a soft kiss to my brow. “Because right now, you’re high on pain meds. You don’t know what you’re saying. Call me old-fashioned, but when I get proposed to, I want it to be when the man I love is lucid.”

  “Gemma, I swear—”

  She placed a finger on my lips to silence me. “Ask me again in a week.”

  I tried to argue, but she kept her finger firmly in place.

  Resigned, I nodded my agreement and she replaced her finger with her lips, sweeping a sweet kiss over mine, before she turned to leave.

  As soon as her footsteps faded from the room, I closed my eyes and began plotting the real proposal that she deserved.

  She might roll her eyes and think I was kidding, but I’d find a way to show her that she was wrong.

  I’d made up my mind.

  38

  “Are you ready to head back? You don’t want to push yourself too hard your first time out,” Gemma said, glancing behind us to see our progress. She’d accompanied me for my first outing to the beach since being released from the hospital.

  Even the short distance we’d covered had me huffing and puffing like I’d run a fuckin’ marathon. Her suggestion to turn back was tempting, but I pushed on. “Just a little farther,” I insisted, tugging lightly on her arm to get her attention.