And it was love and determination that had forced him to climb the staircase to Summer’s apartment for the second time that night. The elderly woman who lived on the first floor recognized him when he was ready to ring the bell, and had let him in. He had knocked on her apartment door, but when Summer did not answer, he’d tried the knob, and found the door unlocked.
“Are you going to be all right, baby?”
“Yes, darling. Please go and make that call.”
“DEA?” Dumas whispered as blood trickled down his chin. Bright red drops fell to the stark white sheet. It was full minute later that he registered the endearments. “He’s the one.”
She smiled. “Yes, Dumas. He’s the one.”
He managed a lopsided smile. “Well, I’ll be damned.”
“You are,” she snapped angrily. “Selling drugs in a school will get you an extended membership to prison. Coupled with murdering a sixteen-year-old should give you lifetime privileges.”
Dumas wagged his head side-to-side. “No, Summer, you’re wrong. I’m not going out like that. I’m not going down like a punk.”
“You’re going down because you are a punk.”
Before the last word was out, Dumas lunged. The explosion was deafening as the odor of cordite filled the room.
Dumas fell back, the force of the bullet propelling him off the bed. He lay on his back, staring up at the ceiling until blessed darkness descended on him.
Gabriel stood in the corner of the bedroom, arms crossed over his chest as uniform and plainclothes law enforcement personnel crowded into the small room. He’d been asked to leave, but Summer had insisted he stay.
He’d spent the past forty minutes staring at the woman he loved, telling himself he did not know her. They had shared a bed, their bodies, but he still hadn’t known she was living a double life. The man everyone had addressed as Special Agent Shelby kept referring to Summer as Renegade. And it wasn’t until she’d looped a chain around her neck with a badge identifying her as a Special Agent that everything she’d said about wearing masks, she not being able to live in his world or he in hers came rushing back.
Emergency medical personnel had stabilized Dumas from a gunshot wound to his shoulder. His injuries also included a broken nose, jaw, and missing teeth.
Dumas Gellis had met a tiger—and lost!
Summer closed her eyes. She was tired—no, exhausted. She had endured Lucas Shelby’s wrath because there was no more fight in her. All she wanted was for everyone to leave so she could wash away Dumas’s blood.
She wanted to go to Gabriel and tell him everything. Then she wanted to go to the house in Cotuit and stay.
Reaching down, she removed the gun from the holster strapped to her thigh before she removed the chain from her neck. “Take them, Lucas. I’m out.”
He stared at her outstretched hands. “No, Renegade.”
Her dark gaze met his. “I am out now. I’ll come into the division office and officially resign in a few days. I can’t take it anymore. I have to leave now, or I’ll wake up and decide to eat my gun. I wouldn’t do it by slicing my wrists, I’d do it Renegade style by blowing off the back of my head.
“I have a man waiting over there that loves me as much as I love him. And I’m not going to do anything to jeopardize that love. I intend to marry him as soon I can and have his baby. I’m going to stay home with my babies, and tell them every day of their lives that I love them. Renegade is dead, Lucas. She died tonight. But there is one thing I need to know.”
He took the gun and shield. “What is it, Rene—Summer?” He had caught himself.
“Who fingered Dumas?”
“The Boston division got a call from someone in Langley, informing them about someone named Dumas Gellis having several offshore accounts in the Caymans. There was no way the man could’ve amassed that much money playing ball or teaching. We were in the process of securing warrants for several others in his network when I saw you in the diner with Gellis. What I didn’t want was for you to spook Gellis where he would warn them.”
She smiled for the first time in over an hour. Lucas did not have to tell her who at Langley had contacted the DEA, because she knew it was Merrick Grayslake. He had kept his promise to “keep an eye on her.”
“Gellis was too busy trying to get me into bed to worry about calling anyone.”
Lucas shook his head. “I guess he didn’t know.”
“He knows now.” She sobered. “I know it’s time for me to get out because I had considered shooting Dumas in the head rather than his shoulder. I didn’t want to kill him, but execute him.”
Lucas nodded. “Yeah, Summer. It is time you got out.” Leaning over, he kissed her cheek. “Good-bye and good luck.”
She touched his arm. “Will you come to my wedding?”
“Of course.”
“I’ll see you in a couple of days. Now, can you get these people out of here so I can clean up? I’ll move all of my personal items by the weekend. I’ll be on the Cape if you need me. I know I don’t have to give you the address.”
“You’re right. Enjoy your new life.”
“I intend to do just that.”
Lucas gathered all of his men, and together they filed out of the apartment, leaving Summer and Gabriel staring at each other.
She smiled at him. “Now you know.”
He pushed off the wall, closing the distance between them. “Yes, Summer, now I know.”
Tears filled her eyes. “What now?”
He pulled her to his chest. “We’re going to get you cleaned up, then we’re going pack your clothes. After that, I’m taking you home. Then we’re going to call my folks and your grandmother to let them know we’re getting married next week. We’ll spend the February recess in Puerto Rico or Ocho Rios, or anywhere you want before we come back and fulfill our commitment to the grant. After I write the music for that movie soundtrack, then we can make plans for what we want to do with the rest of our lives.”
She smiled up at him. “I like the sound of that.”
“I thought you would,” Gabriel crooned as he lowered his head to kiss her. The kiss was soft, healing, and filled with a love that promised forever.
Epilogue
A year later…
Martin Cole, Joshua Kirkland, Matthew Sterling, and David Cole sat in a circle in the library at the Cole estate in West Palm Beach. Tall, solidly built, silver-haired with faces lined with experience and character they toasted one another.
Martin’s dark eyes sparkled like polished onyx. “I’d say we haven’t done too badly with our kids.” He smiled at his brother, David. “I know we’ve been teasing you for years about your children not giving you grandchildren, but I must say that Gabe and Alex have done you proud. I think you hold the record for two grandbabies in one year.” Merrick and Alexandra had welcomed a daughter, Victoria Grayslake, while Gabriel and Summer celebrated their son’s birth on Christmas Day. He wasn’t expected until the beginning of January, so they decided to name him Emmanuel David Cole.
David flashed a smug smile. “Now that Ana has found a boyfriend we don’t have to threaten to break either his neck or kneecaps, I think Serena and I can look forward to another wedding and a few more grandchildren. And because I have the twins, there is the possibility there may be more twins in the future.”
Matthew Sterling’s gold-green eyes narrowed. “Hey, you’re not the only one with twins. Remember Sara gave me twin granddaughters. I have twin sisters, so if Sara and Salem decide to have one more—maybe, just maybe I will have more grandchildren than Joshua.”
Joshua Kirkland’s impassive expression did not change. His light-green eyes surveyed his two brothers and his lifelong friend whom he had come to think of as a brother. Retired horse breeder Matthew Sterling had come to the aid of the Coles more times than they could count, but he had finally joined the family when his stepson married Joshua’s daughter.
“You’re not going to ever catch up with me,” Joshua stated in
a deep, quiet voice. “Chris and Emily have three, and now with Michael and Jolene on their third you can’t possibly catch up. They told Vanessa and me that they’ll stop at six.”
Matt whistled softly. “Damn.”
“Who we don’t want to catch up with is our sisters,” Martin said, laughing.
“Oh, hell no,” David sputtered. “Nancy and Josephine had nine children between them before we even thought about making babies.”
Martin raised his glass again. Attractive lines fanned out around his eyes. At eighty-three, he still was a man who could walk into a room and turn heads.
“To our family. And to the legacy we have created because we were never afraid to risk everything for love.”
The four men tossed back their drinks, stood up and hugged one another. Tears shimmed as they took turns kissing each other on both cheeks.
Gabriel walked into the library, coming to a complete stop when he saw his father and uncles, offering hugs and kisses. He stepped back at the same time his father glanced up and saw him.
David smiled at his son, winking. Gabriel returned the smile, then turned and walked away.
It was apparent the older warriors were bonding and celebrating again. It was something they did more often now. If was if they knew the circle would be broken one day, but Gabriel hoped it wouldn’t happen for a long time.
He walked down a wide hallway to the dining room where he would find his wife and infant son. He had stayed on at Weir, teaching music and encouraging the students to become the best they could be.
He loved teaching, but his greatest joy was when he arrived home to find Summer waiting on the porch for him. It was a tradition they had established—one he hoped would continue for an eternity.
Walking into the dining room, he saw Summer holding Emmanuel to her breasts. His son had fallen asleep. Moving closer, he took the tiny infant from her.
“Come, let’s put him to bed, then I want to show you something.”
Summer gave him a questioning look. “Where are we going?”
“I walk you to join me for a walk in the garden.”
“And do what, Gabriel?” He gave her a lecherous grin. “No!”
“Come on, baby.”
Summer stared at him, then smiled. Tyler had just given her medical clearance to begin sharing her body with her husband again. “I’ll do it, but I’m not going all the way.”
“All the way? What the hell do you mean by not going all the way?”
“Put the baby to bed and join me in the garden, and I’ll show you.”
Serena Morris came up behind Gabriel, tapping his shoulder. “Please give me my grandson and do what your wife says.”
Gabriel stared at his mother. “You heard?”
Serena smiled into a pair of eyes so much like her own. “Yes, I heard. Now, give me the baby.”
Gabriel placed Emmanuel into Serena’s outstretched arms. Leaning down, he kissed her. “I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
She watched his tall retreating figure as he followed his wife. She and David had done well. Their children had done well, and she was willing to bet their grandchildren would do very well.
Cradling Emmanuel to her chest, she headed for the staircase and into the room where many a Cole baby had slept. She lowered him to a crib, staring at the little boy who was all Cole.
Serena sat down on a rocker near the crib. Closing her eyes, she smiled and thought of the time when she saw David Cole for the first time, not knowing the joy his love would bring.
The love in her son’s eyes when he looked at Summer was similar to the one still burning in her husband’s dark gaze.
The Cole men were really something else, she thought. They offered a woman their protection, passion and a love that promised forever. Yes, she mused, Summer was very lucky because she knew what was in store for the young woman. She had reunited with her parents, but she also had a new family who had claimed her because she was now a Cole.
And being a Cole was all that mattered to the generations of men and women who dared to risk everything for love.
About the Author
Rochelle Alers has been hailed by readers and booksellers alike as one of today’s most prolific and popular African American authors of romance and women’s fiction.
With more than sixty titles and nearly two million copies of her novels in print, Ms. Alers is a regular on the Waldenbooks, Borders and Essence bestseller lists, regularly chosen by Black Expressions Book Club, and has been the recipient of numerous awards, including the Emma Award, Vivian Stephens Award for Excellence in Romance Writing, the Romantic Times Career Achievement Award and the Zora Neale Hurston Literary Award.
She is a member of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc., Iota Theta Zeta Chapter and her interests include gourmet cooking and traveling.
A full-time writer, Ms. Alers lives in a charming hamlet on Long Island.
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