Dangerous Abduction (O'Connor Brothers Book 2)

by Rhonda Brewer

  When he dropped Marina and Danny’s bags at the bottom of the stairs, he motioned for her to follow him into the living room. He was somewhat embarrassed since he hadn’t had a chance to tidy up before he’d left that morning.

  “Sorry about the mess.” James hurried around the room picking up Mason’s toys that were scattered around the room. Hopefully, she didn’t think he lived with the mess all the time.

  “Toys aren’t a mess.” Marina smiled as she handed him a small Matchbox car and sat down. “My mom says if you walk into a house with kids and it’s neat, the kids aren’t happy.”

  “If that’s true, Mason must be damn near delirious.” James chuckled. “I’m just going to bring your things up to the spare room.”

  Marina nodded and turned her gaze towards the window. James stood in the doorway for a moment as he studied her. She always sat with her back rigid and her shoulders hunched. Always as if she was expecting something to happen, but at that moment she looked about ready to jump out of her skin.

  James made his way up the stairs two at a time with Mason and Danny behind him. He wasn’t surprised in the least that Danny knew exactly where Mason’s bedroom was. John had brought Marina’s son over several times to play with Mason and he’d even slept over a couple of times.

  James dropped the bags on the bed in the spare room and then headed to Mason’s room. The boys were head and arms into the toy box. James grabbed a couple of pajamas from Mason’s dresser as they pulled out the huge box of Legos.

  “Why don’t you boys get on these PJs and then you can play for a little while before bed.” They quickly stripped down and pulled on the Spiderman pajamas with each of them needing some help getting their arms into the sleeves. The next thing James saw was Lego blocks being tipped onto the floor. He reminded Mason to pick them up when they were finished, but he knew he was going to be stepping on at least one of the damn blocks before the night was over. The damn things hurt like a son of a bitch too.

  When he got back downstairs, he entered the living room but Marina wasn’t on the couch. James scanned the room and spotted her next to the mantel staring at the pictures lining the shelf over the fireplace. She turned, smiled at him and his heart felt like it flipped in his chest. The way she affected him was still so unsettling.

  “You’ve got a really nice place.” She glanced around the room.

  “It’s nothing fancy but thanks.” He flopped down on the couch. “I forgot you’ve never been here.” Marina sat next to him with a sigh but the nervous silence between them was almost deafening. James sat forward with his elbows resting on his knees.

  “The boys are playing in Mason’s room.” She nodded. “Would you like a cup of tea or something?” James really needed to break the silence before he went crazy. She nodded again as he stood up.

  Marina followed behind him and sat at the kitchen table with her hands folded in front of her. Once he’d flicked on the kettle and pulled two cups from the cupboard, he turned around to see her staring at him. He’d never been so aware of a woman in his life and it was as if her presence enveloped him.

  “Are you okay?” Her beautiful face was pale and her eyes glistened with unshed tears he knew she’d been holding back.

  “A bit confused and worried, I guess.” She dropped her gaze to her hands. He wanted to wrap her in his arms and tell her everything was going to be okay, but if he touched her right now he wouldn’t be able to let her go. Touching her earlier had taken every ounce of strength he had not to keep her tight in his arms.

  “Marina, you’ll be fine here, and we’ll get to the bottom of all this.” Comforting her from a distance was the only option because touching her again was a no-no.

  “I’ve never had anything like that happen to me. I feel violated.” Her eyes filled with tears and his heart thudded in his chest. Shit, if she cries I’m so screwed.

  “That’s understandable.” A change of subject was needed quickly. “Hey, it’s getting late, why don’t we get the boys settled for the night and we can chat a bit afterwards?” The distraction worked because she smiled and followed him upstairs. The tears stopped, at least for the moment.

  Mason and Danny were still excited about having a sleepover and it took quite a while to settle them down. Marina read them a story and then they negotiated a second story from James. Hopefully, Mason was distracted enough to forget their nightly ritual.

  Every night before Mason went to sleep James sang to him, a song Mason called ‘the tough boy song.’ James was uncomfortable singing in front of anyone outside his family. His brothers, with the exception of him, Ian and Keith sang in a band they’d formed to help raise money for different charities around the province. James hated the spotlight so he only sang to Mason and his grandmother on her birthday.

  James kissed Mason’s forehead and was almost out of the room when Mason sat up in the bed.

  “Daddy, you forgot the tough boy’s song.” The word forgot sounded more like fordot. James groaned inwardly because the kid wasn’t going to settle down until he heard the song. James glanced at Marina and she was staring at him with a raised eyebrow. His face heated because by the cute grin forming on her face, she had no intention of leaving the room.

  “It’s a Gary Allan song, Tough Little Boys.” James sat on the bed next to Mason and tried to act as if it was no big deal. “I sing it to him every night.”

  “I see.” Marina’s smirk said she definitely wasn’t going to leave.

  “Okay buddy, lay down.” James took a deep breath and began to sing. He could feel the heat of her gaze on the back of his head. As usual, halfway through the song Mason was out like a light. He glanced at Danny and it seemed the song worked on both of them.

  It took everything he had to turn around. Marina had her back propped against the doorjamb and her arms wrapped around herself. The soft glow of the nightlight made her green eyes sparkle and then she smiled. So God damn beautiful. He wanted her so badly, but he still felt guilty wanting another woman.

  “You’ve got an amazing voice,” Marina whispered as they left the room.

  “Thank you.” He closed the door and turned.

  “Why don’t you sing with the band?” James was already halfway down the stairs and desperately hoping she wouldn’t ask that question. Why wasn’t he in the band with his brothers? Probably because the thought of singing in front of people made his stomach churn.

  He’d had stage fright since high school when he was given a solo with the school choir, but that day he hadn’t been feeling well. When he walked to the front of the stage one of the popular girls in school was sitting in the front row and he had a huge crush on her. He started to sing and when he glanced down at her, she was laughing. It was at that point his stomach revolted and he threw up all over the stage with some of it hitting the girl. He hadn’t been able to sing in front of a crowd since.

  “I just don’t like the spotlight.” He turned when he got to the bottom of the stairs. “How about that tea?” She nodded. “Make yourself at home and I’ll bring it into the living room.”

  In the kitchen he tried to slow his racing heart. Just knowing she’d heard him sing made him feel that way. The only other person besides his family that heard him sing was Sarah. His grandmother called it stage fright, but he called it not wanting to relive the most embarrassing moment of his life. After all, he was a big strong cop who wasn’t supposed to be afraid of anything or at least Mason seemed to think that. The truth was James was terrified when it came to being around Marina, or maybe it was the overwhelming guilt for betraying Sarah.

  James brought the tea into the living room and handed one cup to Marina. He wasn’t a big tea drinker himself, but he poured himself one. She smiled when he glanced at her but it wasn’t hard to tell her mind was still reeling from her house being trashed. If he was being honest, he was concerned about it himself. People just don’t break into people’s homes and destroy everything for no reason and especially not in Hopedale. Not unless
it’s personal, and that’s what worried him the most.

  Marina’s ex-husband, Marc O’Reilly, put her through more than any woman should have to go through. Just before John and Stephanie got married, Marc tried to break down John’s front door to get to her. Now Marina lived in that same house. Something told him her ex-husband was written all over this.

  “Oh my goodness.” Marina covered her mouth to stifle a yawn. “I’m sorry, I haven’t been getting a lot of sleep lately.”

  “Well, you can sleep in tomorrow.” James had a feeling her lack of sleep had to do with the nightmare last night. “It’s been a rough evening. I’ll show you to the guest room.” He reached out and touched her hand. That was a mistake. James gazed into her eyes and as if a string was pulling him, he leaned forward. The doorbell rang, breaking the spell. James jumped up and almost tripped over the coffee table on the way to the door. Saved by the bell.

  “Hey, bro.” Aaron sauntered in with his cocky smile and attitude to match.

  “What’s up?” James closed the door.

  “I just wanted to let you know there’s a cruiser watching Marina’s place.” Aaron followed him into the living room. “I don’t know when she’s going to be able to get back into the house. The place is a mess, but they did get some fingerprints so we should know more tomorrow.” Marina stood up when they entered the room.

  “A.J. dropped by with an update.” James nodded at his brother.

  “Hi A.J..” Her voice was shaky as she sat back on the sofa.

  Aaron filled her in on what he knew and her face drained of all its color. James was about to go to her but Aaron was faster and gently grasped her hand as he sat next to her. In his head James knew Aaron was just trying to comfort the woman, but it made James want to punch his youngest brother in the face.

  “We’ll find out who did this, Marina.” Aaron kissed her hand before he released it and stood up.

  “You said it’s going to be a while before I can move back, but you don’t have any idea how long?” Her voice was barely above a whisper.

  “It’ll probably be a couple of days before we’re finished with our investigation, but it’s a real mess,” Aaron said as James walked up next to him still controlling the urge to slap his brother.

  “We’ll help you clean it up.” James nudged Aaron with his elbow and thank God he got the hint, because James really would have punched him if he hadn’t.

  “Of course we will. There’s enough of us O’Connors in Hopedale to have it cleaned up in no time.” Marina smiled but it was obvious she was forcing it.

  Aaron left after a quick cup of coffee and assured James he’d keep them up to date on the investigation since James was off for a week. A few inappropriate jokes and comments later and James was almost shoving Aaron out the front door.

  “Jesus Christ, bro, if you wanted to be alone with her all you had to do was ask,” Aaron whispered when James pushed him through the door.

  “Fuck off, A.J,” James growled. He was really going to kick the bastard down over the steps. How Aaron made it to the ripe old age of twenty-six without one of them pounding the shit out of him was beyond James. Not that they didn’t give him his fair share of sly pokes during their younger years, but as the baby of the family his youngest brother always seemed to know which buttons to push with all the brothers and right now he was pushing a major one with James.

  “It’s been way to long for you, bro. You should probably do something about that.” Aaron jumped into the cruiser.

  “I swear to God, A.J, one of these days...” James never got a chance to finish the statement because Aaron was pulling out of the driveway and he could see the bastard laughing behind the wheel.

  He closed the door and turned his attention to the one person that really needed it. Marina was going to need a place to stay until her house was cleaned up, and she was going to argue if he suggested she stay with him until then. With her sister and John out of town as well as her parents, he didn’t see any other options or at least he didn’t want to see one. It was obvious from his quick glance around her house she was going to need new furniture as well. Most of what she owned was destroyed. He was sure between all of his family, they’d manage to come up with enough furniture for her so she wouldn’t have to go out and purchase all new.

  As he was running through how to get Marina to agree to stay, James remembered Ian was supposed to be staying with him for a few days. He’d have to call Ian to fill him in on the situation and let him know he could still stay, but he’d have to crash on the couch since James had given Marina the guest room.

  As he reached in his pocket to grab his phone, it began to vibrate in his hand. He tapped the screen to see Ian’s number flashing.

  “Hey, bro, I was just about to call you.” James slid into the kitchen so Marina wouldn’t hear the conversation. The last thing he needed was for her to feel she was pushing Ian out.

  “I guess I saved you the trouble of tapping in the phone number.” Ian chuckled. James heard a muffled giggle in the background and smiled.

  “Who’s that?” James asked.

  “An old friend. I just wanted to let you know I’m going to stay in St. John’s so I won’t need to stay at your place.” Ian didn’t sound like himself.

  “That works out great because Marina and Danny are staying with me for a bit. Her house was broken into and everything is trashed,” James explained.

  “What the fuck is with that damn house? When John was there, something was always happening to it.” Ian was referring to the numerous attempts on Stephanie’s life when she and John lived in the house.

  “I don’t know. You’re still welcome to stay but you’d have to crash on the sofa.” James told him.

  “Thanks, bro, but I’m good.” Another giggle. “Gotta go.” James chuckled when he hung up the phone. Seemed like Ian was getting lucky and he wondered if he’d finally made a move on Sandy. The thought had no sooner entered his head, when a knock sounded.

  James opened the door and quickly realized the giggling he’d heard on the phone wasn’t Sandy since she was standing on the other side of the door. Now he was confused, because he knew Ian was crazy about Sandy and it wasn’t typical for him to run off with some random woman.

  “Hi, James,” Sandy said as he motioned her inside.

  “Hi.” It was odd for her to drop by his house.

  “I wanted to see if Marina needed anything.”

  “She’s in the living room.” James motioned for her to go ahead of him.

  Marina was on the edge of the sofa with her elbows resting on her knees and her hands over her face. It didn’t take long for Sandy to hurry next to her and wrap her arm around Marina’s shoulder. When she lifted her head, James felt a squeeze in his chest. Tears ran down her cheeks and she swiped them away with her fingers. It broke his heart to see her like that and all he wanted to do was pull her into his arms to make her forget all of it.

  “Marina, everything will be okay,” Sandy told her as she reached for the box of tissues he always kept on the table.

  “I’m okay, really.” Marina took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

  “Of course you are.” Sandy nudged her with her shoulder. “You’re a tough cookie.”

  Marina smiled at the woman sitting next to her. Sandy had become part of his family over the last few years. She worked for Keith and his quiet brother seemed quite protective of her. For a while James thought Keith might have had a thing for the perky woman, but at one of their monthly brother bonding nights it had been brought up about Keith and Sandy. Ian’s face had turned completely red and James remembered expecting steam to come out of his ears. Keith must have noticed it too and made a point of saying Sandy was like a sister to him nothing more. Ian relaxed and it was forgotten but James still wondered why Keith seem to be more protective over Sandy than any of his other employees.

  “Sandy’s right, you need a good night’s sleep, and we’ll figure everything out in the morning.” Hope
fully they’d know more by then.

  “Everything always seems better after a good night’s sleep. I’m going to head home but if you need anything call me.” Sandy gave Marina another hug.

  “Thank you, Sandy.” Marina said.

  “No thanks necessary, plus I know you’re safe with James and Ian.” Sandy stood up and turned towards James.

  “Ian’s gone back to St. John’s.” James wanted to take the statement back right away when Sandy’s face fell.

  “Oh. Well... I should go. I’ll talk to you later.” Sandy hurried past James and was out through the door before James could say anything. She was obviously upset, but James didn’t really have time to deal with his brother’s shit right now. He needed to make sure Marina was okay.

  “That was odd.” Marina nodded towards Sandy’s hasty exit.

  “I guess Ian didn’t mention he was going back home.” James sat next to her.

  “She’s head over heels for your brother.” Marina smiled.

  “I’ve no doubt the feelings are mutual.” James chuckled. “But right now I’m more concerned about you.”

  “I’m fine, really. Just tired.” Her tone didn’t convince him.

  “I’ll show you where you’ll be sleeping.” James stood and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. He’d meant it as a friendly, supportive gesture but touching her turned his thoughts more than friendly. It pissed him off that his brain was going there at the moment because it was the last thing she needed, and the way her body tensed let him know that she wasn’t comfortable with the gesture. He dropped his arm and motioned to the stairs.

  At the top of the stairs James turned and headed down the short hallway to the spare room. She stopped and glanced towards Mason’s room. As a parent, it was automatic to check your child before turning in for the night. James didn’t even need to ask because he did it without even thinking about it anymore.

  “Do you want to check on Danny before you turn in?” James knew the answer before he asked the question.