by Lisa Childs
“We’re just damn lucky we didn’t get hit in the cross fire,” Ryan said. “What the hell’s going on, Tuttle? You sent us to pick up a bounty—not get shot at.”
Seymour dropped with such force into the chair behind his desk that it rolled back with him and struck the wall. The frames of the pictures on it rattled against the paneling. “I don’t know what the hell’s going on...”
The lawyer had shed a little light on the situation, though. She had admitted to talking to Lillian Davies before the trial was to start. When she’d told the woman that she had never received some flash drive that was supposed to have been delivered to her, Lillian had gotten upset. Then after that conversation, she hadn’t shown up for court.
“That was her lawyer that just left,” Seymour said.
Ryan whistled. “She’s hot.”
Shane snorted and shook his head. “Didn’t today teach you anything?”
“Like what?” Ryan asked.
“That women are nothing but trouble,” Shane said. “Jake nearly got himself killed today over one.”
“He’s getting old and slow, too,” Trick said with a chuckle.
Trick was the youngest of the O’Hanigans, probably in his twenties yet, so his oldest brother, Shane, and Jake, who were in their early thirties, might have seemed old to him. To Seymour, they were all young men.
Young enough to think they were invincible. Seymour knew better. Nobody was invincible.
“Jake’s in love,” Shane said with a snort of disgust.
Seymour shivered as that chill raced over him again. The thought had occurred to him already, but he asked Shane, “Why do you say that?”
“She’s knocked up,” Shane said. “Probably at least eight months along, which would be about how long ago that Jake went after her dad and oldest brother.”
Jake had gotten far more involved with Lillian Davies than Seymour had even realized. This was not good. If that baby was Jake’s, he would undoubtedly do anything to protect it and Lillian Davies.
“Her lawyer thinks she’s innocent,” Seymour admitted.
Shane shrugged. “Does that make a difference? Do you not want to bring her in anymore?”
“No,” Seymour said. He wasn’t going to lose his money—not even over an innocent woman. “But someone obviously doesn’t want to give her the chance to prove her innocence.”
“So that’s why all those guys were shooting at Jake,” Ryan said.
“And us,” Shane said. “They were shooting at us, too. But not like they were Jake. It’s pretty clear somebody wants him dead.”
Damn it...
He couldn’t lose Jake.
“I need you guys to track him down again,” Seymour said. “I need you to bring her in.”
Shane shook his head, then grimaced. He must have taken a hard knock to his head.
“Guess your brother is right,” Seymour goaded him, “you are getting old and slow.”
Shane was probably younger than Jake and certainly more reckless. Seymour doubted that he was refusing to help because he was scared.
“No, this is Jake’s bounty,” Shane said. “And probably his baby, too.”
“He can’t do this alone,” Seymour said. “I can’t lose him. You guys are good, but he’s the best.”
“Guess we’re going to be the best soon,” Shane O’Hanigan said, “because it’s not looking good for old Jake. If we hadn’t shown up when we did, Jake would already be dead.”
And Seymour had no doubt the men would try again. Eventually, Jake’s luck was going to run out and he would realize he wasn’t bulletproof or invincible. But by then, it would be too late.
Chapter 13
“This doesn’t look like jail,” Lillian said as Jake closed the hotel door behind them. He had rented a suite, but since he’d had to pay cash, it wasn’t fancy. But at least it looked clean with freshly vacuumed commercial carpet on the floor and crisp linens on the bed.
As safe houses went, though, it wasn’t that safe. Not with walls in common with other rooms and only the one door in and out. But his safe house was no longer safe, either, since it seemed like everybody in the whole damn city knew where it was. Not only had Kuipers’s men tailed him to it, but the O’Hanigans knew where it was, too. And after the shooting, it was damn likely that the police were sitting on it now, wanting to figure out what the hell had happened there.
“You thought I was bringing you to jail?” he asked, surprised.
But it was clear from the paleness of her face and the way she trembled that she had been scared that he was. She hadn’t tried to talk him out of it, though. There had been no pleading or manipulation. Since they’d left the lawyer’s office, she hadn’t said anything at all, until now.
“We didn’t find the flash drive,” she said. “So you probably think I’ve been lying about it all along.”
Not even a Davies could feign the disappointment that had shown on her beautiful face when the flash drive hadn’t turned up in her lawyer’s office. Tears had welled in her ears, and her bottom lip had appeared to tremble slightly.
“I think you’ve been lying to yourself,” he said.
Her brow furrowed as she stared at him. “About the flash drive? I risked my life breaking into my old office to download those files to it. I didn’t make that up.”
“I know,” he said. And he did. He also flinched at the thought of the risk she had taken—alone—when she’d done that.
“You should have called me,” he said.
Her blue eyes widened in surprise. “What?”
“When you got arrested,” he said. “You should have called me.”
“Why?” she asked. “So you could talk Seymour Tuttle out of posting my bail? He told me that you made him swear to never bail out another Davies.”
Tuttle had broken that promise, so Jake didn’t feel too bad about breaking his to bring her to the bail bondsman’s office. “Yeah, I did tell him that...”
She sucked in a breath like he’d punched her.
“But I didn’t think you would ever get arrested,” he said. At first, he’d been so shocked. Then after that, he had been both disappointed and relieved. He still couldn’t decide if he would rather she had lied to him eight months ago or now...
“You actually would have helped me,” she asked, her blond brows arching with skepticism, “had I reached out to you?”
He nodded. He wouldn’t have been able to help himself, just like he couldn’t now.
“Why didn’t you ever contact me?” she asked, and her voice cracked with emotion.
And he knew that he’d made a mistake—maybe an even bigger mistake than in deceiving her in the first place. But she’d been so furious with him...
“You told me that you hated me,” he said. “I didn’t think your feelings were going to change.” She’d been very upset with him—so upset with him that he’d doubted he could have done or said anything to change her feelings toward him.
But if he’d helped her then...
“That’s why you didn’t call me,” he said, answering his own question. “Because you hate me.”
“And you hate all Davieses,” she said.
“I don’t hate them,” he said.
And he didn’t. Bringing them to justice had never been personal for him. At least not any more personal than it had been with any other fugitive...until he’d gotten involved with Lillian. Then it had gotten too personal.
“But I don’t trust them,” he admitted. “And neither should you.”
She made a noise with her lips and stammered, “But I—I am one.”
“That’s why you should have known better,” he maintained. “And that’s how you’ve been lying to yourself. You must know that your brother never brought that flash drive to your lawyer.”
She gasped now. B
ut she shook her head, too, denying what she had to know was the truth. “No. He knows how important it was to me that he bring it to her. He knew that my freedom depended on it...” Her voice cracked, and her trembling body began to shake even more.
He stepped closer and wrapped his arms around her, trying to hold her together.
But she bristled in his embrace, and instead of clutching him, her hands pushed against his chest. “No, you’re wrong. You’re wrong!”
He was afraid the only thing he’d been wrong about was her. And that was just recently. Despite her arrest, she wasn’t like the rest of her family. She was no criminal. She was as good and sweet as he’d initially thought she was.
And because she was, he was in danger of falling for her all over again. That danger was far greater than even Tom Kuipers’s men shooting at him—because it was clear she would never return his feelings as she once had.
She hated him every bit as much as she had eight months ago when she’d thought he was using her. And even if she was able to stop hating him, he doubted that she would ever be able to forgive him or trust him again.
* * *
Jake stumbled back, making Lillian realize how hard she’d been shoving him. He was so big and muscular that she was surprised she had moved him at all. But he didn’t look like he’d been shoved. He looked like he’d been struck. The color had drained from his face, leaving his eyes looking so dark and intense.
Had he been hit?
Had someone fired through the door behind them? She reached for him now, running her hands over his chest. And she anxiously asked, “Are you all right?”
He shook his head. “Nooo...”
“What’s wrong?”
“I’m sorry,” he said. And he said it so heavily, like it had been weighing on his soul and conscience for a long while.
And for the first time since she’d discovered that he’d been lying to her, she believed that he was actually sincere.
“I never meant to hurt you,” he said.
Was he talking about the past or the present?
She wasn’t sure. And she knew he had no reason to be sorry about the present. He was trying to help her. But like he’d said, she wanted to keep lying to herself. She didn’t want to believe that he was right about her brother and that she was wrong.
But what other explanation was there for her lawyer not getting that flash drive?
She closed her eyes, fighting back the flow of tears rushing to them. But they leaked out the corners and streamed down her face.
His arms closed around her, pulling her against his chest. She didn’t push him back this time. Instead, she clung to him. But she wasn’t seeking comfort.
Passion rushed through her, overwhelming her like the tears. She reached up and pulled his head down for her kiss. She slid her lips over his, nibbling at them, before deepening the kiss. She stroked his tongue with hers.
And he groaned and clutched her back. “Lillian...”
“You won’t hurt the baby,” she reminded him. But he would hurt her if he rejected her again.
“You hate me,” he reminded her.
She wanted to hate him. Then he wouldn’t be able to hurt her again.
“I want you,” she said.
It had been so long since she had experienced the pleasure that only he had ever brought her. If she wound up in jail or worse yet—dead—she wanted to feel that pleasure one last time. She kissed him again, nibbling at his lips, on his tongue. Then she implored him, “Jake...”
He groaned again, then swung her up in his arms. Carrying her as if she weighed nothing, he brought her to the bed. And he laid her down again.
She reached up, holding her arms out for him—to tug him down with her, on top of her.
But he resisted.
And she had the horrible feeling that he was just going to tuck her in to sleep as he had earlier that day. He claimed he still thought she was beautiful. So maybe she could seduce him...
She reached for the buttons of her blouse and tugged them free. The pink cotton parted, revealing the swell of her belly before falling away from her bra. Her breasts nearly spilled over the cups; they were so much fuller with her pregnancy than they’d once been.
Jake’s eyes darkened as he stared at her. And she could hear him breathing; it was as if he was panting for air. “Lillian...”
“Jake,” she parroted. She shrugged off the blouse, then she reached behind her and unclasped her bra. It fell away from her breasts.
And he groaned. Like his apology, it was heavy and sounded as if it had been ripped from his soul. That guttural groan must have been the sound of his control snapping because now he moved. He undressed quickly—only taking time with the holster that he set on the table next to the bed. His clothes he just let drop to the floor until he stood before her, naked and so very obviously aroused.
He hadn’t lied. He still found her beautiful. Desirable.
Her heart warmed as her flesh heated, and her blood felt as though it had caught fire, rushing hot through her veins. She found him so beautiful. So desirable...
His skin stretched taut over all his rippling muscles. She wanted to touch him. To taste him...
She reached out for him. But he caught her hand and held it away from him.
“No,” he said. “It’s been too long. If you touch me, it’ll be all over.”
Too long? Too long since he’d been with her? Or too long since he had been with anyone at all?
She wanted to ask. But he had leaned down to kiss her. And she didn’t care about the past or the future.
She cared only about the present and the pleasure she knew Jake would give her. He took his time kissing her, skimming his lips over and over hers before he deepened the kiss.
His tongue stroked across hers, teasing and tasting her. And she moaned at the exquisite torture.
Then he touched her, running his hands gently over her body—including the swell of her belly. The baby must have been asleep now because there was only a faint flutter of movement. Then Jake cupped her breasts.
A cry of pleasure slipped between her lips. Her breasts were even more sensitive than they’d been before. And they had always been sensitive to his touch. When he flicked his thumbs across her nipples, heat radiated from her core. She wanted him so badly that she whimpered with her desperate need.
“Jake...”
He lowered his head to her breasts and kissed the swollen flesh before closing his lips around one of her nipples. He tugged gently.
And she cried out again at the pleasure. But it wasn’t enough, not when she knew he could give her so much more. She reached out and tugged him toward her—toward the bed.
But he shook his head. “I don’t want to crush you.”
A smile tugged at her lips. “Then I guess I’ll have to be on top.”
He chuckled because he knew that was no great hardship for her. She had loved being on top, had loved being in control. And in the bedroom, he had had no problem turning over control to her before.
But that was then.
What was now?
Finally, he joined her on the bed, but he lay on his back. She straddled him, guiding his erection inside her. He was so big, but she arched and took him deeper. Her inner muscles already began to convulse as she came at just that first tentative thrust. He moved—but slowly and gently—and she knew he was still concerned about the baby.
And he didn’t even really believe that it was his.
Jake was a better man than her family thought he was. A better man than she’d thought he was. Maybe even a better man than he knew he was.
The slow rhythm drove her out of her mind as she came again and again. His name slipped through her lips as she cried out in pleasure.
Then he tensed beneath her. And he came, too.
She ea
sed off him and dropped onto the mattress next to him. And as she had all those months ago when they’d slept together, she settled her head into the nook between his shoulder and his neck and she closed her eyes.
She wasn’t sure if she could sleep for fear that the nightmare that was her life would come rushing back to her. But with Jake’s heart beating beneath her ear, she was lulled to sleep with a sense of security. He would keep her safe.
From those men...
But he couldn’t keep her safe from getting hurt again. Lillian feared it was already too late for that. She was afraid she’d fallen for Jake Howard all over again. Or maybe she’d fallen for him for the first time, because now she knew who he really was.
* * *
“Who the hell is he?” Tom Kuipers demanded to know from his chief of security.
Archie Wells sat in the chair in front of Tom’s desk. The two of them having a meeting would raise less suspicion if it took place here rather than in the warehouse during the day.
Archie was probably about Tom’s age. But Archie looked it because he’d let his hair go gray, whereas Tom dyed his a chestnut brown. He kept his longer, too, so it would wave. Archie wore his in the same military brush cut he’d worn in the service. He was a former marine or navy SEAL or something.
Until now, Tom had respected him. But he’d let that damn guy and Lillian Davies get away.
Archie shook his head. “I don’t know who he is, but I think I know what he is...”
“What?” Tom asked. “A bodyguard?” Lillian Davies probably didn’t have the resources to hire one of those, though—even with what Tom had paid for that damn flash drive he’d never received. “A bounty hunter?”
That made more sense. Since she hadn’t shown up for court, she’d skipped out on her bail. And the guy who’d bonded her out, Seymour Tuttle, had a reputation for caring only about money. Since he hadn’t heeded Tom’s threat to let her go, that reputation must have been earned.
The guy would rather die than give up a buck.
“I don’t know for sure what he does. But I think he’s indestructible,” Archie replied. “He’s such a damn good shot. And his reflexes and his instincts...” The security chief trailed off with a sigh.