by Jill Sanders
Brenda smiled at her and suggested, “Why don’t you go back first?”
Carrie handed her coffee cup to her mother and followed the nurse towards the back.
Josh was lying in bed hooked up to machines, much like she’d been last week, and she burst into tears. She rested her head on his arm and cried until her eyes dried up, then she cried some more.
She kissed him and wished more than anything that he would open his eyes for her, but she knew that he was probably too drugged to wake up. When the nurse asked her if Josh’s mother could see him, she followed her back out to the waiting area.
Her mother was there to wrap her arms around her and hold her until it was her turn to go back again.
Her father stood in the corner talking to Mason, then disappeared for a while. When he came back, he walked over to her.
“I thought you should know, Camilla Kincaid turned in her rental car less than half an hour ago in Portland.”
“Camilla…” The name sounded familiar. Then it dawned on her. The woman that had been in the picture with Josh in New York.
“In the trunk of the rental car, they discovered black tape over the emergency release and a missing crowbar. The car matches the one that someone saw outside Josh’s business the night it was broken into, and the one that just shot at you.”
“She… Why?” She shook her head.
Mason stepped up. “It was Sophia,” he said as if that explained it all.
“What?” She shook her head.
“Camilla Kincaid is Sophia. She was pretending to be interested in me, so she could get close to Josh. She lied to me.”
“Oh.” She walked over and hugged Mason. “I’m so sorry.”
“No.” He shook his head. “It’s all my fault. You, getting kidnapped, Josh getting shot, the break-in. All of it, because I fell for a pretty woman and thought I felt something.” He closed his eyes.
“Mason.” She hugged him again. “She fooled us all. I met her, remember? I even saw that photo of her and Josh and didn’t recognize her.”
“The police picked her up at the airport. We’re not sure how she got her hands on a gun, but there wasn’t one on her when they picked her up. She most likely purchased it with cash and ditched it somewhere along the way.”
“Why?” She shook her head again, searching both her father and Mason’s eyes.
“Josh caused her father’s business, XSecure Inc., to go under.”
“She blamed him?” she asked.
“We can’t be sure until they get a confession from her, but it would appear she thought he owed her one way or another,” her father said.
Josh’s mother, Brenda, came back into the waiting area. “Carrie, Josh is asking for you.”
Carrie rushed from the room. When she walked into his room again, he watched her, and his eyes filled with tears as she leaned in and kissed him.
“Don’t ever scare me like this again,” she said at the same time that he said, “I’m sorry.”
“You have nothing to be sorry about.”
“I didn’t keep you safe. I should have known it was Camilla Kincaid.”
“How would you? I didn’t even recognize her from that picture.” She shook her head and wiped a tear from her cheek.
“You met her?” Josh asked.
She nodded her head. “Once. I served them on their first date. Then I saw her again the day I visited Mason at your shop. It must have been the day before the picture was taken of you two in New York.” She thought about it. “Mason was telling me how they were going to spend the week together, then I mentioned you were in New York and she went to the bathroom and came back saying she had an emergency in Portland and had to leave. I bet she went to New York that night to bump into you the following day.”
Josh sighed. “We played right into her plans.” He closed his eyes.
“Rest. Dad says they’ve caught her at the airport.” She sat beside him.
The nurse walked in and told her they would be moving him into a private room and she had to wait out in the waiting room with everyone else.
She leaned down and kissed him again. “I’ll see you soon.” She smiled.
“I’ll be here,” he said groggily.
* * *
Two days later, Josh was propped up on several pillows while their living room was once again, filled to the brim with friends and family.
Instead of everyone bringing food, the place was filled with pizzas from Baked.
The brothers had donated enough food to feed the entire town.
“It was the least we could do for our neighbor,” Corey told Carrie. “After all, it appears we moved in next to Mr. and Mrs. Smith,” he joked.
“Hopefully, this will be the last exciting thing that happens to us,” she replied.
“Last dangerously exciting thing at least,” Josh corrected.
Josh had been lucky. The bullet had grazed a rib but missed all vital organs. He was fortunate that he’d been turned the way he was, or the bullet might have destroyed his kidney.
“You’re tired,” Carrie said, when she noticed his head dropping. She motioned to her mother, who had the house cleared out quickly.
He hated being so weak, but in truth, the noise of everyone crammed into such a small space was near deafening.
“Thanks,” he sighed when they were once again alone.
“We’re going to clean up, then leave you two alone,” her mother said from the kitchen doorway.
“Thanks,” Carrie called after her.
“So.” He pulled her close to his good side and held onto her. “I was thinking about it while staring up at the hospital ceiling.”
“What?” she asked.
“How do you feel about a fall wedding?”
Her eyebrows shot up. “This fall?”
“Sure. I mean, there really isn’t much to do. Buy a dress, rent a tux…” He smiled. “We can have the wedding in town, or at the church, or even in our own backyard. I don’t care where we say our vows, only that we say them and soon. Before someone gets hurt again.”
She smiled up at him. “Two months,” she said. “That’s all I need.”
“Oh?” He rested his head on hers. “Two months sounds good.”
“I hate to interrupt.” Robert stood in the doorway. “But I thought you’d like to see this.” He handed him a folder.
“What is it?” Carrie asked.
“Camilla Kincaid’s confession.”
Josh opened up the folder, and they quickly read through the handwritten message.
“She’s crazy,” Carrie said from next to him.
“She sounds like a spoiled little rich girl,” Robert said. “Someone who obviously didn’t get spanked enough as a child.”
“She really believed that you deserved to suffer as much as she had.” Carrie sighed and rested her head on his shoulder. “I’m sorry I didn’t see crazy dripping from every pore of hers.”
“Poor Mason,” he said. “The guy was crazy about her. He was just telling me how serious he was when you came back in with the pizzas.”
“You saved my life, again,” Carrie smiled up at him.
“I’d do it a million more times.” He smiled at her.
Her eyes narrowed. “Speaking of a million. Just how much money do you have?” She leaned up and looked at him.
“We’re done in here.” Carrie’s mother walked in and grabbed Robert’s arm. “We’ll leave you two alone.”
Louie followed them to the door, then whined when they left.
“He’s spoiled now. He’ll expect visitors like this every day,” he joked.
“Josh,” she waited, and he sighed.
“My latest contract with GLO was for twelve million.”
“Dollars?” She stared stupidly.
“Yes, it’s the kind of business. Trust me, I gave them a great deal because I believe in what they’re doing.”
“But, you’re just a security firm.”
He chuckled. “If
you say so.”
She shook her head. “You only have Mason working for you.”
He pulled her close. “No, I only have Mason working out of my home office. I have six other offices, not to mention all the virtual offices where employees work from home.”
“How many?” she asked.
“What? Employees?” He shrugged. “Now, recently we’ve hit close to two hundred or so. But, the business runs itself, really. Mason does a lot of what I need, acts as my liaison, and I have an assistant—”
“Wait.” She held up a hand and looked around. “Who? Who is your assistant and why haven’t I ever met them?”
“Because they work out of the New York office. I text them all the time.” He pulled out his phone.
“Brad…” She frowned. “Your assistant’s name is Brad?”
“He’s been with me for about a month.”
“I have a serious gap in my knowledge of what you do. It was a lot easier when you were a chef.”
He laughed and rested back. “Tell me about it. I didn’t have people trying to kill me or kidnap the woman I love back then.”
She sighed and rested her head against his shoulder.
“Not that I’m complaining, but now I want to know everything there is to know about Internal Security.”
He ran his hands through her hair. “We have plenty of time for you to learn.” He glanced down at her. “So, are you going to let me build your new sanctuary?”
She sat up and smiled down at him. “You bet I am. Only now that I know how rich you are”—her smile grew— “it’s going to be the best and biggest animal sanctuary in the state.”
He laughed hard, and winced, grabbing his side.
“It’s a deal.” He pulled her back down and kissed her.
Also by Jill Sanders
The Pride Series
Finding Pride
Discovering Pride
Returning Pride
Lasting Pride
Serving Pride
Red Hot Christmas
My Sweet Valentine
Return To Me
Rescue Me
* * *
The Secret Series
Secret Seduction
Secret Pleasure
Secret Guardian
Secret Passions
Secret Identity
Secret Sauce
* * *
The West Series
Loving Lauren
Taming Alex
Holding Haley
Missy’s Moment
Breaking Travis
Roping Ryan
Wild Bride
Corey’s Catch
Tessa’s Turn
* * *
The Grayton Series
Last Resort
Someday Beach
Rip Current
In Too Deep
Swept Away
High Tide
* * *
Lucky Series
Unlucky In Love
Sweet Resolve
Best of Luck
A Little Luck
* * *
Silver Cove Series
Silver Lining
French Kiss
Happy Accident
Hidden Charm
A Silver Cove Christmas
* * *
Entangled Series – Paranormal Romance
The Awakening
The Beckoning
The Ascension
* * *
St. Helena Vineyard Kindle Worlds
Where I Belong
* * *
Haven, Montana Series
Closer to You
Never Let Go
* * *
Pride Oregon Series
A Dash of Love
For a complete list of books: http://JillSanders.com
About the Author
Jill Sanders is The New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Pride Series, Secret Series, West Series, Grayton Series, Lucky Series, and Silver Cove romance novels. She continues to lure new readers with her sweet and sexy stories. Her books are available in every English-speaking country and in audiobooks and have been translated into several languages.
Born as an identical twin to a large family, she was raised in the Pacific Northwest and later relocated to Colorado for college and a successful IT career before discovering her talent as a writer. She now makes her home along the Emerald Coast in Florida where she enjoys the beach, hiking, swimming, wine tasting and, of course, writing.