The Firefighter’s Secret Baby

by Anna DeStefano

  “A shadow?” she forced out.

  “An agent not on the U.S. Marshals Service’s payroll has been watching you. Protectees are relocated and ones as high profile as Sam are carefully monitored with regular check-ins. But my team wasn’t approved for continuous observation until after your accident.”

  “So who approved Sam being tailed?” Randy asked.

  “The federal prosecutor,” Sam offered. “Or someone he works for who thought I just might be enough of a wild card to draw my brother out. Looks like they were right. All they had to do was postpone my hearing before the grand jury long enough for me to come completely unglued.”

  Max hesitated.

  Then he nodded.

  “I was only made aware of it today,” he said, “when we arrived here. I was debriefed while you two were…cleaning up. There are logs of every move you’ve made since coming under our protection, and corresponding records of when your brother’s operation picked up your trail in Macon—using a tap on your sister’s phone. I was only notified of a possible breach after enough time had passed to lure your brother’s men closer in. By then, you’d already run, Sam. I’m not sure how they tagged your car so quickly, but—”

  “My brother has eyes everywhere. Less than half an hour after I called Gabriella, there was a car I’d never seen before parked across the street. It followed me to the grocery store. It followed me back home. Not too close. Never completely out of sight. So I…I ran. Again. While the federal prosecutor who was supposed to be protecting me waited to see what would happen. Just like when I ran from Luca in New York.”

  Just like when Luca had killed…

  “Peter?” She felt behind her for the bed as her legs gave out again. “Were they…was someone watching me back then? When Luca…Were they there when I ran from my fiancé’s bed?” She glared at Max. “You bastards were there, even then, weren’t you?”

  “It wasn’t the Marshals Service,” Max started to explain. “We wouldn’t have—”

  “Of course you would! Someone watched while I ran and talked myself into asking for help. Then the prosecutor swooped in to save me. But he didn’t bother to stop Luca before he killed Peter, did he? Not when he could build a better case once I was alone and willing to do anything to get Gabby out.” Sam found herself in Max’s face. “All this time, I thought I was fighting to be free, and you people were just playing me to get what you wanted.”

  Randy pulled Sam away and settled her back to the bed. He knelt in front of her. He brushed back the hair that her tears had matted against her face.

  “You’re not alone,” he said. “Never again. I’m here.”

  And he wanted to always be there. But that couldn’t happen. Not while Sam’s brother was hunting her.

  “Another agency was monitoring you in New York,” Max admitted. “Their parameters at the time were only to follow you when you left your home. No one knew Peter Grant was dead until after you’d run, and by then Luca had covered his tracks. The only way to prosecute him was to convince you to testify to witnessing the murder. My agency came on board then. Hiding you until your testimony became my job. You were green-lighted for federal relocation. I had no idea other agents would continue monitoring your movements and your communications. Or that years of delay would keep you and your sister from moving on with your lives. You have to believe me, Sam.”

  “Actually,” Randy stood with an ease that mocked the nausea and weakness creeping through Sam. “She doesn’t. She doesn’t have to do anything with you people anymore. No more blindly following your bogus protection guidelines while the government uses her as bait. No more guarantee that she’s going to testify for the prosecutor. No more believing you have her and her sister and now her baby’s best interests in mind. No more believing anything you people try to pass off for the truth. She—”

  “How soon?” Sam asked.

  “What?” both men said.

  “How soon do you want to take me back to Atlanta Memorial?” she asked Max. “I’m assuming that’s the easiest place for me to pop up on Luca’s radar. How quickly can you pull a plan together?”

  “You’re going to let these people throw you at your brother again?” Randy was staring at the floor instead of looking at her.

  Keep believing in me, she silently begged him. Please give me a chance to make this right.

  “I’m done pretending that anything else will work but facing my brother,” she said out loud.

  Randy had every right to walk away from her. From all of this. But she knew now that she’d never stop needing him. Wanting him. Loving him.

  If there was even the slightest chance she could have that kind of love in her life, to have Randy and their daughter with her for real…

  It was a dream Sam was going to fight for.

  She looked around Randy to Max.

  “Tell me how and when this can happen. And don’t even think about bullshitting me. I’ll do whatever you need me to do to draw Luca out. But you take care of him for good this time. And once Luca’s focused on me, you get my daughter to a specialist. Tell me how you’re going to protect the Montgomerys and Gabby and the baby and Randy. Tell me how you’re going to get them all someplace safe while we do this, and you better make it damn convincing. Because if I’m not satisfied with your plan, I don’t move from this spot. And the federal prosecutor can forget about my testimony. We either do this right this time, or I’m done for good.”

  HER BROTHER.

  Luca Gianfranco was Sam’s brother, and she was determined to take him on.

  Randy closed his eyes as he listened to Max Dean work the angles with his team. Randy and Sam were sitting on opposite sides of the suite’s den. She hadn’t looked at him since giving Dean her ultimatum—since she’d lumped Randy in with everyone else she expected the feds to protect while she went on the offensive against the mob.

  She was digging deep for the courage to make her stand. To fight back. Maybe even to fight for them. But she still wanted Randy out of it. She was convinced she had to do this alone. That he couldn’t possibly understand what she was facing or know what he was getting into by confronting the danger with her.

  He approached her, hurting for both of them. He hadn’t been here in a long time, desperately needing someone and not knowing if he could have her. Not since he’d watched the police drag his mother to jail, then the court officers take her to prison. He didn’t know how to handle the doubt and fear raging through him, any better than he had when he’d been a child. All he knew was that shutting the feelings away, keeping things in-control, wasn’t going to reach Sam. And if he didn’t reach her now, he was going to lose her for good. That he was certain of.

  She was sitting on one of the den’s couches, her legs drawn to her chest, her good arm hugging her knees close. When he sat beside her, she let her body fall toward him. As if it was the most natural thing in the world for her to want to be held by him.

  “How dangerous is your brother?” He kept his voice pitched low, while Max and his team continued to strategize.

  Sam looked up, fear clouding her bright eyes. She reached for his hand.

  “Luca told me to stop dating Peter,” she said. “Not because Peter was a threat to the business, or even because Luca didn’t think he was good enough for me. It was a test. My brother has to know that everyone around him is one hundred percent loyal. It’s the way his world functions.”

  “A test?” Randy rubbed his thumb over the satin of her palm.

  “Would I give up what I wanted most for my brother? For the family? Would I give Luca my dreams, if he asked me to?”

  “And you wouldn’t.”

  Just like she was refusing to now.

  “I was so young.” Sam smiled, as if she pitied the woman she’d been. “It was only two years ago, but it feels like a lifetime. I didn’t realize what I was risking when I went to Peter’s that night. I swear. I just knew I wanted out for good. And I believed Peter could protect me.”

&nbs
p; “And your brother—”

  “Luca was going to have my undivided devotion. Otherwise, I was nothing to him. My life, Gabby’s life. They’re just pawns in this game my brother’s been playing since my father died. And…”

  “And after your brother destroyed your life, you decided you’d never let anyone close enough to hurt you like that again.”

  Just like Randy had learned to push everyone away. He’d reunited with his siblings. He’d let them in enough to relearn how to trust them. But trusting his heart to someone—he hadn’t believed that depth of love was possible for him. Until now. But could the woman he was falling for believe along with him?

  “Tell me you’re going to let me in, Sam. Let me fight through this with you and be there when it’s over. Tell me you can believe in us enough not to give up now.”

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  “THERE HAVE BEEN CALLS?” Luca Gianfranco asked the man who was standing in front of his desk trying not to look terrified. “How many? About what, specifically?”

  “Several within the last few hours—to the hospital’s top neonatologist. One of the nurses on the floor has been brought in to consult. And the chief of staff. All about a case no one will confirm exists. Our sources there say security’s on overdrive, but there’s no apparent reason. Something big is rumored to be happening tomorrow morning.”

  Luca sat still as stone in his leather chair. The lights of the Atlanta skyline rose in stately grandeur outside his office’s windows. Atlanta was one of half a dozen cities that his organization operated from. It was key to have a strong presence in top U.S. locations, as well as several in Europe, Asia, Canada and South America.

  And thanks to his southeastern contacts, intel was pouring in hourly. He had no doubt that he’d have what he needed to shore up the holes Sam had punched in his reputation. But the man cowering in front of Luca had damn well better be doubting whether Luca would allow him to continue breathing.

  “Tomorrow morning?” Luca asked him. “Given everything our sources have been able to dig up, you’re sure that’s the time to strike?”

  “Yes,” replied one of Luca’s childhood playmates. “I’m certain of it.”

  “You were certain when you located Sam in Macon and pursued her without authorization. You were certain she was taken care of when you instigated her accident. Then you informed me that she’d died at the hospital, only she turned up alive, back in protection with a baby in tow. You pinpointed her next location and were certain that you and your men could take care of Sam and her handlers before I could arrive on the scene and give my own orders. You want me to believe you didn’t even know she was pregnant in the first place. Tell me why I should stake my organization’s future on the information you’re bringing me now?”

  Carlos Forrelli had the good sense to pause before answering. He was a smart man. Smarter than Luca, as a matter of fact. But wisdom wasn’t the same thing, and the Forrellis had always been on the losing end of that spectrum.

  “Certain enough to stake your life on it?” Luca wondered out loud. “Because that’s what you’re asking me to do. To trust your loyalty and commitment to me, enough to act on this latest information. And you’re standing there looking less than certain now. As if you don’t want to be here, facing me after all the problems you’ve caused. Maybe this is another mistake?”

  “I’ve confirmed with three different sources. Inside the hospital, the APD and our man in the marshals service.” Carlos squared his shoulders and morphed back into the confident, dangerous man Luca had once respected. “These are people who have our organization to thank for their homes and their children’s private schools. We’ve paid their debts, paid for their rehab, and paid for their habits when they fell off the wagon. We know every detail of their lives. Their loyalty to us is unquestionable. Your sister and her sick newborn are due back at Atlanta Memorial tomorrow morning.”

  “And these same loyal, dependent sources will be able to provide me with logistics about the best way to introduce myself to my niece? That little girl belongs with her family. Her mother has to be stopped once and for all.”

  “You’ll have all the information you need. We’re receiving hourly text messages. Our men are analyzing all possible entries and exits from the hospital complex. Wherever they take Sam, we’ll get to her. I’d stake my own son’s life on it.”

  “You’re that certain.” Luca smiled reassuringly. “I want to give you this last chance to make things up to me, Carlos. Your wife and your son—they’re precious parts of my family. I wanted to give them this one final opportunity to be proud of you. We all want you to succeed. Is that what’s going to happen this time?”

  “You have my word,” Carlos promised. “Come tomorrow morning, nothing will stand in your way.”

  “Excellent work. Well done.” Luca lifted his father’s automatic from where he’d held it hidden in his lap and fired three quick rounds—two into Carlos’s chest, the final one a head shot. As the stunned man dropped, Luca added, “Rest assured that you have my word. Your family will be under my protection for the rest of their lives.”

  “I’M GOING TO BE at Atlanta Memorial in the morning,” Charlie repeated. “Any feds standing in my way are going to get knocked on their asses on my way out of the door.”

  It was a good line. Too bad the petite woman challenging his decision was a whole lot scarier when she was mad than any federal marshal. And Emma was spitting mad.

  “Randy’s off playing hero with a woman he barely knows, while some maniac’s trying to kill her. Now you’re dead set on chasing danger back to Atlanta, too, thinking you being there is going to somehow make things better. Get over yourself, little brother.”

  It was true. Charlie likely couldn’t do anything more than the professionals executing the deadly bait and switch at Atlanta Memorial. But—

  “I have to be there.” He couldn’t shake the feeling. “I promised Randy I’d have his back. You and the baby are safe here. And…I have to be there.”

  Emma sighed, the fight going out of her. She gave Charlie her non-smile and patted him on the shoulder on her way to the tiny hospital bed. Their niece was sleeping. Breathing better. But still not out of the woods.

  Emma had raised three teenage boys and a daughter of her own. She knew better than to hug and cling and beg one of them to be reasonable, once their minds were set. Top that with her being the toughest public defender in town, and she understood Charlie and his brothers’ compulsion to follow their instincts and put everything on the line.

  “Glinda said Randy wouldn’t be going with Sam,” Emma reasoned. She pulled the baby’s blanket higher to combat the hotel’s prevailing chill. “He’s supposed to be transported here, to be with us once Sam’s en route.”

  Charlie stared down at a soft, fuzzy duck he was holding. One of the baby’s rattles. He was the oldest brother, only five years younger than Emma. He’d been eleven when their lives had been blown to hell. Surviving Family Services had ripped away what was left of Charlie’s childhood. The trauma of all of it had obliterated his memories from before that.

  All he’d known once they had become a family again, was that his life was going to be about preventing the kind of emptiness that still lurked inside him from happening to other kids. Other families. He and his brothers had all become firefighters to save strangers. But also to save themselves. To be there in a crisis and to fight, where they’d once felt powerless. To protect and to remind themselves daily that they could control the uncontrollable, no matter how improbable the circumstances.

  “I don’t care what’s happened between Randy and Sam in the last twelve hours, or what Glinda said about her team’s plans.” Charlie loosened his death grip on the rattle. “Do you really think for a moment that Randy’s going to walk away from Sam? The woman he’s dragged away from two disasters now, after not being able to get her off his mind since their one-night stand?”

  Emma stared at Charlie from across the tiny hotel room. “Pr
obably not.”

  “No way is Randy coming here,” Charlie insisted, “while Sam faces this Luca character.”

  And no way was Charlie going to sit on his hands and wait to hear whether his brother had gotten himself killed. Randy had a chance now. A chance to hold on to a family of his own that he deserved. He couldn’t lose that. Charlie had to make sure of it.

  “They’re not going to let you out of here,” Emma said. “No way are they going to let a fireman barge in on their operation back in town.”

  “Who’s waiting for an invitation?”

  Charlie had a brother-in-law back at the hotel, grilling the federal marshals about tomorrow’s plans. He had the rest of his family to run interference, including his larger-than-life brother and adorably sneaky niece, both of whom could distract a saint into accidentally giving Satan a hall pass to heaven. What better cover could a guy ask for?

  “I’m going,” he said. “And I need help, Em. I need you with me on this one.”

  He could sense his sister’s fear. He could see the traces of panic crowding her normally unflappable optimism. Then, just as quickly, the hands she’d been wringing snapped to her hips. She shook her head at him, and there was a flash of pride in the smile that followed.

  “You boys are trying to do me in,” she said.

  It had been her chief complaint all those years, her only complaint. And every time she said it, each of them had known what she meant was, I love you. I’ll do anything for you. Anything…

  “I’m assuming you’re going to want Rick’s help giving our security the slip?” she surmised. “Maybe Martin Rhodes or some of his buddies could be waiting at a side entrance to the hospital, to get you into town quickly?”

  Kate’s husband, Martin, was on permanent disability from the APD, but he was a big dog at the police academy. What they were about to ask him to do would cost him dearly. But Charlie had no doubt the guy would be there. That’s what families did. And it had never been clearer just how large the Montgomerys’ extended Atlanta family had become.