The Right Bride: Book Three: The Hunted Series

by Jennifer Ryan

  Emma’s shaking subsided and the color began to bloom back into her face, but Marti still shook violently. Her teeth chattered so badly, it was a wonder she didn’t chip a tooth. “I’m not very happy with you right now.”

  Cameron put his chin on her shoulder. “I know. I’m not happy with myself either. I’m on the top of my own shit list.”

  He held her to his chest tighter and squeezed the two of them to him. Jack didn’t give him any privacy, standing and watching them. Sam came back in too. He didn’t care. His whole world was sitting in his arms.

  “Don’t ever scare me like that again.”

  Cameron’s warmth sank into her. The water helped, but nothing compared to the warmth of a person’s body heat. Cameron this close created another kind of heat. His hard shaft pressed against her bottom.

  “You’re warm,” she said to the side of his face. His big hand moved up her arm, over her shoulder, and up her neck to cover the side of her head and hold her close.

  “You’re like an ice cube.” He held her tighter to his chest. The shaking subsided.

  Emma stirred and mumbled something. She glanced down and Emma’s eyes fluttered. She didn’t open them but lay against Marti’s chest and burrowed in closer.

  Marti leaned back against Cameron and caught the smell of Shelly’s perfume on him.

  She remembered him walking out of the cabin after leaving her in bed and leaned away. She tried to stand up with Emma, but he stopped her.

  “What’s wrong?”

  She turned her head to him. “You smell like her,” she accused.

  He held her tight. “I know it looked bad, but I didn’t sleep with her. I’m sorry I’m hurting you. I’m hurting too,” he said and leaned his head to hers.

  “It’s not the same when she has everything I want. You’ll all be a family, and I’ll still be alone. I won’t have Emma, and I won’t have you.”

  She didn’t let him hold her down this time. She stood and turned to get out of the stall and saw the blood all over her chest. “Jack, quick, grab a washcloth behind you.”

  He did and rushed to her. He pulled the blood-soaked towel away from Emma’s hand and pressed the clean, dry cloth over the hideous cut.

  Cameron felt the blood drain from his face. He stood, took Emma from Marti, and set her on the floor outside the bathroom, where he kept an eye on Marti.

  Jack used the washcloth to apply pressure to Emma’s hand and stopped the bleeding. The cut was deep, and Emma had lost a lot of blood. Now the bleeding stopped, it looked better.

  Emma started to wake up. He took off her wet dress and bathing suit. Cameron grabbed a dry towel and used it to dry her off and warm her.

  “There’s a T-shirt in the top drawer. Grab one for her. Get her warm.” Marti stood under the hot water, trying to get warm herself. She could barely move her arms. In the end, Sam grabbed another washcloth and used it to wash the blood off her chest. Quite intimate, since all she wore was a bikini top.

  Cameron wanted to skin Sam alive for touching Marti, even if it was only to help her.

  His daughter needed his help. She was the only thing keeping him from going to Marti. She looked ready to pass out. He had no idea how she was still awake. Her legs still shook. Dark circles under her eyes marred her translucent skin.

  Sam grabbed a towel and turned off the water. He helped Marti up and over the ledge and onto the floor. She stood swaying while he dried her with care. He walked her into the bedroom and waited while she took out another T-shirt and pair of sweatpants.

  She stood with her back to Sam and the others and took off her bikini top, pulling the T-shirt on over her head. She tried to undo her wet shorts, but couldn’t get her numb fingers to work. Worse, the material was plastered to her skin.

  She glanced over her shoulder and found Sam ready to catch her if she fell. “It’s your lucky day. I can’t get these off. My hands are shaking and numb. The button won’t go through the swollen material easily.”

  Giving her a cocky grin, he moved closer and drawled, “No problem, darlin’. Come here.”

  When he stood close, she whispered, “I don’t have anything on under these shorts.”

  “It is my lucky day,” he teased back. He put his body between her and Jack and Cameron. Unable to see anything, they were busy with Emma anyway. He undid the button and zipper. Before he pulled them off, he caught her eye and tried to make her smile by saying, “Promise not to tell my wife? I have a gun, and she just might use it on me.”

  Just what she needed to ease the tension and let out her held breath. She thought it funny he joked just this morning, wondering if Elizabeth would mind him having an affair with her. And here he was undressing her.

  “I won’t tell her, I promise. She won’t let me eat in her restaurant again. That would be a tragedy in my book.”

  “Mine too.”

  He pulled her shorts off and helped her step into the sweatpants. He tied them off at the waist without another word. Quick and easy.

  Cameron’s eyes bore into his back the whole time, but he didn’t so much as turn around to acknowledge him. Let him sweat and be angry. He’d brought Shelly into his daughter’s life and look what happened. The woman couldn’t be trusted with a child. Cameron would be better off taking the baby away from her than letting her raise it, or Emma.

  “What happened?” Sam watched Marti carefully. Exhausted, she slumped and sat on the edge of the bed. He tried to dry her thick hair with a towel. She looked angry as a wet cat.

  “You were there. Shelly left her alone. She gave her one of the big poles and”—she smiled slightly—“Emma caught a fish. It pulled her right over the rail. The line cut her hand because her reflex was to hold on rather than let go. When I got to her in the water, she was bleeding and I thought every shark in the area was going to come hunting. I tried to hold her out of the water. Near impossible without a life vest of my own.”

  Marti trembled and the fear washed through her again. “If I’d have missed the rope, I don’t know what would have happened. She couldn’t stay in the water, and I was running out of energy.”

  She stood, the fear in her replaced with cold fury, and headed for the door. “I’m going to kill her.”

  Jack grabbed her around the waist and hauled her back up against him. “Calm down, Marti. Let’s take care of Emma first. You can do whatever you want to Shelly. Once the adrenaline wears off, you’ll have your head screwed on straight again, and you’ll decide to kill Cameron instead. I’ll hold him down for you.” Jack smiled and glared at Cameron. This whole mess might have ended in death—either Emma’s, or Marti’s, or both.

  “He’s second on my list.”

  “That’s my girl,” Jack said and gave her a squeeze. She was all right in his book.

  He let her go. She literally fell to her knees beside Emma. She pulled the little girl into her arms and held her tight. He didn’t think they’d get Emma away from Marti any time soon.

  Chapter Twenty

  * * *

  CAMERON RODE IN the ambulance with Marti and Emma. Marti refused to be separated from her. He knew just how she felt.

  He’d held Emma’s hand during the short trip and watched her wake up a little and look from him to Marti and smile softly. She knew she was safe.

  Sam and Jack followed in the limo with Shelly. Cameron could care less at the moment whether Shelly dropped off the face of the earth. His daughter and Marti could have been killed because of her. Everything sank in, and his mind played out every horrible scenario ending with Emma, or Marti, or both of them dead.

  Emma had been checked out, stitched up, and given the all clear. They were keeping her overnight for observation. She was still wearing Marti’s white T-shirt. She looked so cute with the shirt down to her calves.

  Marti was exhausted after the long day. Cameron stepped out of the room to talk to Emma’s doctor and change out of his wet clothes into the dry ones Jimmy brought back for him. He found Marti asleep in bed wit
h her arms around Emma. He wished the bed was large enough for him to crawl in with them.

  In the end, he’d sat in the chair behind Marti’s back, leaned against the bed, and fell asleep with his arm over both the girls and his head resting on Marti’s lower back and side.

  Sam and Elizabeth walked into the room early in the morning. They wanted to check on Emma, but never expected to find Marti asleep with her, and Cameron sleeping on Marti with his arm around both of them.

  Sam exchanged a look with his wife.

  “They look like a family,” Elizabeth whispered.

  “Daddy? Daddy?” Emma’s words came out scratchy, probably from the salt water.

  Elizabeth came forward and touched Emma’s head. “Hey, sweetheart. Your dad is sleeping. What’s wrong?”

  “Hey,” Cameron said by way of a greeting.

  “Hey, yourself.” Elizabeth let her irritation show in the glare she shot him.

  She loved Emma and wasn’t happy when Sam told her what happened, thanks to Shelly.

  “Make Marti move. She’s heavy.” Emma pushed on Marti’s shoulder.

  Marti’s head kind of rolled, but she didn’t seem to notice or make a sound. In fact, she didn’t acknowledge the nudge at all.

  “Sweetheart, let Marti sleep. She’s probably still exhausted after yesterday.” Cameron removed his arm from over them and took hold of Marti’s shoulder to pull her off Emma. Emma moved away, but Marti didn’t so much as twitch.

  Little devils danced up Sam’s spine. He leaned over Emma and pulled up one of Marti’s eyelids. He ran his fingers over Marti’s head and found a huge bump on the back hidden by her bloodstained hair. She never said she was hurt.

  “Elizabeth, go get a doctor. Quick.”

  Cameron stood and glanced over Marti to see her pale face. “What’s wrong?”

  “Probably a concussion. She won’t wake up.” Sam shook her and patted her cheek to see if she’d respond. “Marti, darlin’, wake up. Marti.”

  Elizabeth and a doctor rushed into the room. Sam picked up Emma and carried her to a chair by the window.

  “Stay put, Emma. Marti needs some help. Okay?”

  “Is she going to be all right?” Emma tried to see Marti around her uncle.

  “The doctor will take good care of her.”

  Elizabeth came over and sat Emma on her lap.

  Cameron stood next to the doctor, who examined Marti. He pushed a button on the bed and a nurse ran in immediately.

  “Get a gurney. We need to take her up for a CAT scan right away. We’ll take her to ICU after we get the scan.”

  “What do you mean, ICU?” Cameron’s heart raced as panic stole every rational thought out of his head. This couldn’t be happening. She’d saved Emma. She was fine. She couldn’t be hurt. He took her hand and rubbed his fingers over her warm skin.

  “Marti, sweetheart, please wake up,” he begged.

  “She’s in a coma. Didn’t anyone know she was hurt?”

  “No, we were so worried about Emma, no one asked Marti if she was okay. She seemed fine. She never complained about anything. She just wanted to be with Emma.” Cameron looked at Marti lying statue-still in the bed. This couldn’t be happening. He brushed his fingertips gently over her pale cheek.

  Sam knew what happened. “The adrenaline kept her going. She was so worried about getting Emma to the hospital and making sure she was okay, she didn’t realize she was hurt bad enough to need medical help.”

  “She fell asleep with a concussion and fell into a coma. We’ll see how bad the concussion is and give her some medication to bring down the swelling in her brain.

  “Are you her husband?” The doctor turned to Cameron.

  “No, I’m not,” he said, disappointed. He remembered what she’d said in the shower.

  She has everything I want. You’ll all be a family, and I’ll be alone again. I won’t have Emma, and I won’t have you.

  Elizabeth and Sam’s eyes fell on him, but he couldn’t answer their unspoken concern.

  Cameron rubbed his hand over the back of his neck and watched them lift Marti’s limp body onto the gurney and take her away.

  “Are any of you family?”

  “No,” Cameron answered again. “She has an uncle. I know someone I can call and find out his information.”

  He grabbed the doctor’s arm before he went after Marti. “Listen, my name is Cameron Shaw. I run the Emma Shaw Charitable Foundation. We donate a lot of money to this hospital and the neonatal unit. Contact the administrator of the hospital. They’ll verify it. I want Marti to have anything she needs. I’ll pay for it.”

  “What’s her last name?” the doctor asked and pulled out his pen to take down the information.

  Cameron stared at the doctor at a complete loss. He had no idea what her last name was, or what her uncle’s name was, or anything. He only knew she was the most important person in his life besides Emma. He needed her.

  “I’ll go call George,” he said and left the room to find a phone. He couldn’t use his cell in the hospital.

  The doctor left the room and Elizabeth stayed with Emma.

  “Is she going to die like my mommy did?”

  “I don’t think so, sweetheart. She bumped her head really bad and she needs to rest. The doctor will give her some medicine to make her feel better.” Elizabeth held Emma to her chest and kissed her head.

  “If she dies, it will be all my fault, again.” Emma buried her head in Elizabeth’s neck and cried.

  Sam took off after Cameron. He couldn’t listen to Emma blame herself for what happened. They all knew who was at fault.

  He found Cameron in the waiting room on the phone with George. Apparently, he didn’t like what he was hearing. He hung up and rubbed the back of his neck. Sam hadn’t seen him do it this much since he and Jenna were in the middle of a particularly difficult corporate buyout.

  “George is contacting her uncle. He said he doubted he’d come down here. They don’t get along and have recently had some problems. George is coming down to see her. He said not to worry, he’d take care of everything. As if I can’t?”

  “You’re doing a bang-up job so far. Let’s recap, shall we? You meet Shelly, sleep with her because she reminds you of your dead wife—I can’t blame you, she’s a knockout right up until she opens her mouth. She claims she’s pregnant and you believe her, even though we all think she’s lying. You make the situation worse by asking her to marry you when we both know you don’t want to marry her. Hell, she knows you don’t want to marry her, but she’s using the baby to make sure she gets her ticket to easy street and the brass ring to boot, or rather gold or platinum in this case. You meet a really great woman like Marti and you want her, and she wants you. She’s great with Emma and goes out of her way for your daughter.

  “Then she invites you onto her outstanding ship and you show her your appreciation by fucking around with Shelly below deck and Marti finds out. That ship, in case you’ve forgotten, is Marti’s only home. You should have seen her face when she came back up on deck. You devastated her. You threw it right in her face you’d rather be with Shelly than her.”

  Cameron tried to interrupt but Sam wouldn’t let him. He pushed him up against the wall and made him listen.

  “Shelly spent the day being rude to Marti, cataloguing the value of everything on her ship, and stumbling around drunk. She ordered around Marti’s crew like they were her own personal slaves. She was supposed to be watching Emma, and instead left her alone on a boat. No one with half a brain would leave a five-year-old alone on the deck of a sailboat with a fishing pole.

  “After Marti got Emma back on the ship, Shelly completely dismissed the danger Emma and Marti were in and didn’t offer one bit of help.

  “Marti, on the other hand, dove into shark-infested waters and saved your daughter’s life. She didn’t so much as think about her own well-being, but made sure Emma was taken care of at the hospital before she finally collapsed from a concussion and e
xhaustion.

  “Thanks to your fiancé, you almost lost your daughter yesterday. You just might lose Marti today.

  “Your daughter is in there with Elizabeth right now and asked her if Marti was going to die, and said if she did, it would be all her fault—again. Like the death of her own mother.

  “Now, you’re like a brother to me, so I feel I owe you the same thing I would give Jack. You are fucking up your life, and you’re taking your daughter down with you. Fix this. Fix it fast before you lose everything.”

  Cameron was writhing. “Don’t you think I know all of this and have berated myself every second? I saw Marti’s face when I came out of the room after leaving Shelly. I didn’t sleep with her, but I may as well have for all the hurt it caused Marti. I heard her voice when she was in the shower and told me she wants Emma and me. Don’t you think it tore me apart to hear her say those words and know she wants us both? I know no one believes Shelly, but she went to the doctor. She is pregnant. Marrying her is the only option. I have more than just the baby to think about. I’m the president of a company, and I have to uphold a moral standard.”

  “Bullshit. Jenna would never have you marry her to make sure Merrick didn’t lose profits. When Jack fills her in on what’s been going on, she’s going to ream your ass, and you know it.”

  He did know it. He didn’t need another person telling him he was an idiot. Shelly didn’t stay with them at the hospital. She claimed she was tired from the pregnancy and couldn’t be expected to sleep in a chair when she was pregnant.