Uncensored Passion (Men of Passion)

by Bobbi Cole Meyer

  Kayla managed a smile as she reached out to touch his cheek. “Thank you. I love you all.”

  “And we love you, Kayla,” Lee said, “and nobody is going to hurt you, I can assure you of that. Like Harm said, one of us will be with you wherever you go, even at the office.”

  “Well, I’ve decided to take some time off, so that won’t be necessary. I’d already decided that before Trey’s call. I’ll contact Dr. Avery and get him to take my patients for the next couple of weeks. I don’t think I’m capable of helping anyone right now, and it wouldn’t be fair to them. So I intend to just stay home and get myself together.”

  “That’s good. For damned sure. We’ll make sure the security system is on day and night, and that you’re never alone. Nobody will get to you here,” Luke declared.

  “I think I’ll just go lie down awhile. Guys, I’m sorry our schedule has been screwed up. Maybe after this week, we can….”

  “Hey,” Lee interrupted, “don’t you worry about that. We just want you to feel better.”

  Kayla fought back the tears as she nodded at them, slipped off the stool, and headed for her suite. She almost didn’t make it to her bathroom before throwing up. She sank down beside the toilet bowl moaning, feeling dizzy and weak. She attributed it to nerves, a reaction to knowing Trey had been injured, knowing J.J. might die.

  After emptying what little breakfast she had eaten, Kayla pushed up, washed her face, rinsed out her mouth, brushed her teeth and lay down, realizing it had all finally caught up to her. She felt drained and empty and heartsick.

  She curled into a fetal position and cried herself to sleep.

  When she woke up and glanced at the clock, Kayla was shocked to see that she had slept until almost noon. She slid off the bed and went to the bathroom to splash water on her face, mad at herself for being so out of it. “What’s the matter with you?” she demanded of her reflection.

  Running a brush through her hair, she squared her shoulders and wandered out into the kitchen, following the smell of homemade chicken soup Lee was preparing. The nourishing odors made her empty stomach rumble as she seated herself at the kitchen island.

  “Hey there, sleepyhead,” Lee said cheerfully as he added spices to the pot. “I thought before I headed out I’d make some of my famous homemade chicken soup for you. It’ll do you good. You didn’t eat but a bite of breakfast, so I know you’re bound to be hungry.”

  “Where are the guys?”

  “Luke’s gone to work and Harm is at his computer making some client lots of money probably. Lee came around the island and kissed her, asking, “Feeling better, beautiful?”

  “Beautiful? I look like I’ve been hit by a truck.”

  “You sure don’t see yourself the way we see you.”

  “Oh, Lee, you are all so good to me. I’m sorry I’ve been such a drag lately.”

  “Hon, we love you and want you to feel better. That’s what’s important right now. Don’t worry about all that other stuff with Dr. Romano.”

  “I feel like I’ve let you all down.”

  “What is that part of the marriage vows that talks about in ‘sickness and in health’? I know we didn’t recite those exact words in our vows, but it was implied and understood. And we all took it to heart, Kayla. And speaking of heart, you have ours, you know?”

  Kayla fought back another deluge of tears as she nodded. “I know. And you all have mine.”

  Lee turned his attention back to cooking and Kayla leaned on her elbows on the counter, watching him, thinking about how good and kind he was, thinking about all the men in her life. She did love them and couldn’t visualize her life without them. But the memory she didn’t want to surface rose up, looming above the others.

  Trey Cameron.

  A man she would always love and never have. Was he in pain? She hated the thought of his lying in a hospital room alone. She longed to go to him.

  She glanced at the wall clock. It was just after noon. She wondered what Trey was doing at that moment. His image swam behind her closed eyes, nearly submerged in the damned river of tears she struggled to contain.

  * * *

  Trey had eaten a sparse liquid lunch. His bruised stomach was too sore and raw to allow more. He ached from head to toe. He had lost the argument to leave the hospital today. He’d been told they wouldn’t release him since he had suffered a concussion and lived alone and had no one to monitor him. Now he lay in bed, impatient and mad at himself for being so careless.

  You’re definitely losing your touch!

  Before the assignment he wished he had never taken, before Kayla, he would never have been that inattentive and brainless.

  He lifted his gaze to the door on hearing a knock.

  “Permission to come in, Captain.” A sandy-haired, freckle-faced man smiled at him from the doorway.

  Trey grinned and was instantly sorry because it pulled at the stitches in his mouth and sent a shard of pain shooting to his brain. “Permission granted, Corporal.” Though he knew his friend was now a Major, Trey used the old rank, and Jerry Finley recognized its use as a fond remembrance of their time of camaraderie.

  He came to stand beside Trey’s bed, shaking his head as he surveyed the damage to his friend’s face. He let out a low whistle. “Damn, they did a number on you, didn’t they? How many were there?”

  “I hate to admit there were only three. Matter of fact, I was just thinking how stupid I was to let them get the jump on me. What’re you doing here, man?”

  “I’ve just mustered out, well, a few weeks ago, so you’re looking at a civilian. I talked with your secretary, Sarah, and she told me what happened.”

  “Sarah? Wonder how she even knew. I don’t work for the firm anymore, so actually she’s my ex-secretary, but a damned good friend.”

  “As for how she knew, well, it seems Sarah has a police scanner and she heard the call, so she told me. She said she checked with the owner of the market because she knew that was your favorite place to shop, and she knew you were in the habit of shopping late. And she also said that she was afraid something like this might happen to you because of this last case you were on. She told me she felt sure it was some Dr. Romero who had hired those guys to ‘beat the living hell out of you.’ And I am quoting there.”

  Trey chuckled. “That Sarah is something. I’ve corrupted her. She didn’t used to curse at all.”

  “She’s really worried about you. We had a long talk. She told me what you’ve been going through with Lieutenant Haines’s uncle, that Gavin Johnson. I wanted to talk to you about that. I think it’s time he knew the truth.”

  “It’s doesn’t matter now. I’m no longer with his firm.”

  “Yes, but he’s still determined to ruin your life. Sarah told me what he’s doing, that he’s calling other firms and spreading lies about you. I’m here to put a stop to it. Want you to know that I’ve got your back, Captain.”

  Trey met his wartime friend’s eyes. They had seen a lot of action together, had always had each other’s back. He suddenly felt overwhelmed that Finley would come all the way to San Antonio, to have his back one more time.

  Like he’d read his mind, Jerry shrugged. “Hey, you’d do the same for me. Hell, you’ve saved my hide more than once. Special Forces guys stick together, remember, so don’t tell me it doesn’t matter because it does. I’m going to set that SOB straight and then, when you’re up and on your feet again, we are going to find the sons-of-bitches who did this to you and show them what a big mistake they made messing with a Special Forces guy.”

  “Sounds like you’re planning on sticking around for a while.”

  “I am. Got a room in a motel not far from here.”

  “You don’t need a room. Stay at my place. The keys to my apartment and my car are in the drawer. Use them both. I guess my car is probably in the police impound lot. I forgot to ask if it had been towed or what but I assume it has.”

  Jerry pulled up a chair and plopped down.

  “
You wanta clue me in on what happened, Captain?”

  “Not unless you start calling me Trey.”

  Jerry chuckled. “Deal, but only if you call me Jerry. Now tell me how this happened.”

  “I went to an all-night market to shop. Oh, that reminds me, there’s nothing at the apartment to eat so you’d better grab whatever you want before you settle in.

  “Anyway, I was jumped when I came out, probably around 0130. I still can’t believe I was so lost in thought that I didn’t even hear the bastards coming until it was too late. They pulled the van up beside me. Three jumped out and slammed me against my car before I could even turn around. I was lying here thinking that I seem to have lost my edge. Guess I’m getting old.”

  “Hell, no. That’s what happens when your mind is too cluttered. Sounds like you’ve had more than your share of things weighing you down lately, pal.”

  They stared at each other. Trey managed a half smile. “Guess so.”

  “Maybe later we can both catch up on everything.”

  “For sure. So what is going on with you? You aren’t going back to Georgia?”

  “Naw. I like San Antonio. At least what I’ve seen of it so far. There’s no reason to go back to Georgia. Parents are gone, sister just got married and moved away to Louisiana. There’s no one special there anymore.”

  “Wasn’t there a girl? Someone named LouAnn?”

  Jerry shrugged. “She didn’t even have the decency to write me a ‘Dear John’ before hooking up with another guy, who is now her husband. By the way, what does this Sarah look like? She sounds really nice and sexy.”

  “She is, nice and I guess sexy, too, in a settled kind of way. She’s a little older than me. But hey, since you’re about five years older than me, she isn’t that much older than you. Maybe five or so years. But don’t tell her I said that. Don’t think I could tolerate another beating right now,” he said with a chuckle that caused a shaft of pain to shoot through his side.

  Wincing, he said, “Seriously, though, you couldn’t find a better woman than Sarah. But I warn you, if you hurt her, you’ll have to deal with me. She’s been a great friend.”

  Jerry laughed. “Well I love mature women who really have it together. And I’d better make my seductive move while you’re still stove up.”

  They chatted for another hour then Jerry accepted Trey’s offer of his car and apartment. He got his keys, jotted down his cell number for Trey to call when he was released so he could pick him up, then left.

  Seeing Jerry again stirred up a lot of old memories. Alone again, Trey relived them, beginning with the battles, the near escapes, the moments of exhilarated joy, and the valleys of depression a soldier slugs through in a never-ending war, right up to that fatal day when Dorri Haines had died.

  Trey suddenly remembered what Kayla had said, about the domino effect. If it hadn’t made sense to him before, it did now.

  One thing does fall into another, toppling it, right down the line, shaping who we are, where we’re going, and how we get there. God, if only we could foresee the future. How different our choices would be.

  Trey fell asleep thinking that. His subconscious mind took him through the chain of incidents that had led him to San Antonio, to Nashville, to having Kayla and losing her. From the depths of his drug-enhanced sleep, Trey saw himself standing alone, feeling desolate and defeated, wanting to walk away and forget the mistakes he’d made, but unable to. Rooted in despair, his dream persona stood staring at the wrecked debris of his life, all the toppled dominoes lying at his feet, all face down.

  CHAPTER 23

  The ultimate gift

  Trey settled into the passenger side of his vehicle slowly, grunting with the effort. Jerry shut the door and went around to the driver’s side. But not until they were buckled in and on their way did Jerry speak.

  “I saw Gavin Johnson. Talked with him after I left you at the hospital. I told him the truth, Trey, that Dorri would have been written up, had she survived, and if you had done what you should have, she would have been up for a court-martial for what would be considered a treasonous act. I also told him how instead you swore all of us to secrecy and then wrote up the incident in such a way that she came out a hero.”

  “Let me guess. He didn’t believe you.”

  “You got it. The asshole said I was just trying to whitewash what you’d done because we’d served together. I told him I could parade the rest of the team by him to back up the true story if it took that to make him believe it—”

  Trey held up a hand to stop him talking, saying, “Bet he said they would all just corroborate what you said out of a sense of duty.”

  Jerry nodded. “Man, you really know that crazy dude, don’t you? That’s exactly what he said.”

  “Unfortunately, I do know him. I know Johnson is like a bulldog when he gets his teeth into what he believes is the truth, and he never lets go. He’s been living with his desire for revenge so long that it’s become second nature to him. He doesn’t want to believe the truth about his niece, so he won’t.”

  “At least I think I made him think about it. I told him he should be ashamed for blackening the name of a real hero, one who put his life on the line for God and country every day fighting terrorists in that damned war.”

  “Thanks for trying, Jerry.”

  “Oh, and I took Sarah out for coffee,” he said with a sheepish grin. “She’s nice and lots of fun to be with. And she’s quite a looker. Plus she’s real happy that I’ve decided to settle in San Antonio, so I think I’ve finally met a real woman, thanks to you.”

  “So, you two hit it off?”

  “We did. And the age difference doesn’t bother me at all. Man, I’m sick to death of some of the younger women I’ve been dating, who really can’t relate to things I’ve experienced. We really don’t communicate well, so it’s relaxing to interact with a woman like Sarah. Know what I mean?”

  “Yeah. I do.”

  “So tell me, Trey, who floats your boat?”

  “Floats my boat?”

  “You know what I mean, man. Who does it for you? And where is she?”

  Trey turned away, looking out the window, his jaw clenching. Jerry shot him a look and saw he’d hit a nerve.

  “Damn, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bring up bad memories.”

  “Not bad memories. Mostly, it’s a great memory. But now it’s just that, and I don’t want to talk about it.”

  “Sure, man.”

  They lapsed into silence for the rest of the trip back to Trey’s apartment, Jerry wondering who the woman was, and Trey lost in the memory of Kayla’s wild abandonment in bed and aching with wanting her.

  Jerry pulled into Trey’s assigned parking spot with the comment, “Well, here we are, back home at last. Bet you’ll be glad to be back in your own bed.”

  Trey nodded mutely as he opened the car door and grunted with the effort of getting out of the car. He had to just sit with his legs out the door for a minute, catching his breath, gritting his teeth against the pain before standing. Jerry came around to steady him when he swayed.

  “Easy there.”

  “Hate to be putting you on the sofa,” Trey said as he and Jerry entered the apartment.

  “I’m just thankful it makes out into a bed, man. It’s a hell of a lot better than a foxhole or behind a sandy ridge. We’ve both slept on much worse.”

  “Right.”

  “So, are you hungry? I can whip up a mean omelet. Oh, and I stocked the pantry and the freezer. Thought tonight we’d have steaks and salad.”

  “That’s sounds good. But I’m not hungry now, Jerry, and you don’t have to wait on me, man. I’m all right. Give me a couple of days and I’ll work through the soreness.”

  Trey knew Jerry was feeling awkward, not knowing what to say or how to act to make things better. He managed a smile. “But I appreciate your being here. Let’s just chill. Have a beer. Watch a little TV. So tell me, when are you seeing Sarah again?”

&nb
sp; “Well, tonight maybe. I thought, if it’s all right with you, I’d invite her over for dinner.”

  “Sarah is always welcome here.”

  “She’s been so worried about you. Said she visited you once but you were asleep and she didn’t want to wake you up, but that you looked awful and it broke her heart. She said she couldn’t stand to see you like that. Man, I’d be jealous if I didn’t know better, thinking the two of you had something going on. Anyway,” he said with a chuckle, “I thought it would put her mind at ease if she saw that you’re now on the mend and gonna live. Even though you kinda resemble Frankenstein’s monster with all your stitches and your blackened, closed eye.”

  “Thanks a lot.”

  “Anytime, bro,” Jerry said laughing, as Trey went to the bathroom.

  When he’d closed the door, he stood staring at his reflection, thinking, hell yeah, I do look like Frankenstein’s monster.

  Grimacing with pain as he rolled his head to try and relieve the knotted tension in his neck, Trey’s eyes narrowed in suppressed rage as he thought about the guys who had worked him over. And that thought segued to Dr. Romero, then to J.J., and back to Kayla.

  Everything goes back to Kayla. God, I can’t stop thinking about her and wanting her. Why does she have to live such a screwed up life?

  The cell phone ringing startled him. He fished it out of his pocket and answered, “Hello.”

  “Trey?”

  Trey’s heart lurched. It was as if he had conjured her up!

  “Hello, Kayla.”

  “How are you?”

  “Sore, but okay. I’ve been through worse.”

  “I feel so—so responsible. For J.J. and for you,” she murmured, almost too low for him to hear clearly.

  “You aren’t responsible for what other people decide to do, Kayla. We all make our own choices and just have to live with them,” Trey reassured her, though he didn’t actually believe that entirely.

  Her lifestyle, her accepting J.J. into it, and his butting into it all had ultimately led to J.J.’s breakdown and suicide attempt. But he knew she didn’t need to hear that. She didn’t even need to think that. Yet he knew she was thinking that because Kayla Saradon was smart and intuitive. “Trey, I—I miss you.”