IF I WERE YOUR WOMAN

by LaConnie Taylor-Jones

  Elijah nodded. “Everything’s set.”

  “I don’t know, brother-in-law…” Zach frowned. “This plan of yours…” He broke off and glanced at the other men with hesitation. “If y’all get caught, everybody’s ass is going to get locked up.”

  Ray winked. “Well, I guess we’ll have to be careful so we don’t get caught.”

  A wrinkle burrowed itself into the middle of Alcee’s forehead. “So, you’re one hundred percent positive Bryant and Nelson hired the men who attacked Laney?”

  Ray leaned back in a leather chair and offered a crafty smile. “Let me put it like this, Pop. If they didn’t, they better start singing like Tweety Bird and tell me who did.”

  Alcee chuckled. “Son, what do you have up your sleeve?”

  Ray sucked his teeth. “It’s called revenge, Pop. Baptiste style.” He walked over and patted his father’s shoulder. “I might not be the same man who left here, but some things never change.” He thought about Laney and the bruises on her delicate skin and pounded his fists together. Rage consumed him. He had to push it away because he couldn’t afford the mistakes rage caused. “If you want to come after me, then come after me. When you drag my woman into the middle of it, that’s where I draw the line.”

  Zach tossed Ray a chastening look. “Listen here, brother-in-law. If I catch wind of y’all doing something stupid, I’ll call the Cordova chief of police personally.” He glanced at his watch. “Gotta run, boys. I promised my baby I’d take her out to dinner.”

  Ray escorted Zach out the conference room and returned a few moments later. With a shoulder braced against the doorframe, feet crossed at the ankle, his gaze zeroed in on the SEAL team with an intensity that caught Marcel’s attention.

  Marcel ordered fiercely, “Find them.”

  A.J. remained silent, but moved his finger back and forth under his neck in a cutting motion.

  Ray gave a thumbs-up to both his brothers. “I’m on it.” He glanced at the triplets. “All right, boys. It’s show time.”

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  Six hours later, the triplets entered The Peabody Hotel in downtown Memphis. They moved quietly through the lobby, communicating by hand signals or whispering into the microphones attached to their clothes. Michael took his position near the elevator. Five minutes later, Ray swaggered across the lobby and headed straight for him. “All systems go?”

  “Elijah,” Michael whispered into his microphone. “How’s it looking?” He nodded at Ray and pressed a card key into his palm. After a moment, he whispered again. “See you in three.”

  Ray entered the elevator and pressed the button. When he arrived at his designated floor, he was met by Elijah. They walked in eerie silence down the hallway toward one of the executive suites. All the rooms except for the one they were headed to were empty. In fact, all the rooms on the floors above and beneath the one they were on were empty, too. Ray had reserved and paid for the rooms on all three floors. There wasn’t a need to disturb the other guests.

  Quietly, Ray inserted the card key and unlocked the door. With Elijah on his heels, he entered the suite. A tingle touched the back of his neck like a cold wind. His gaze connected with Ashton’s first who sat stiffly in a chair near the window. Ray immediately felt an intense hatred directed toward him. Then his gaze settled on Nelson who sat calmly on the sofa. Ray strode across the room and pulled a chair out, straddling it backwards. “Bryant,” he drawled quietly. “Looks like we meet again?”

  Ashton drew to his feet and narrowed his eyes at Ray. “W-what are you doing here?”

  A wry smile turned Ray’s lips. “The only one asking questions now is me.”

  Ashton glared at Ray, then stared at Elijah. “Who is he?”

  Ray flashed a crafty grin. “Trust me, before you leave, you’ll make his acquaintance.” He had only one mission: find out the names of the two men Ashton and Nelson had hired to attack him. Shutting out everything, he hung both arms over the back of the chair.

  Nelson nervously glanced around the room, then attempted to stand.

  With a sprinter’s speed, Elijah made his way across the room until he towered over Nelson. “Going somewhere?”

  Ashton’s head snapped around the moment he heard the opening of a door.

  Peter entered the main area of the suite from the bedroom with a sniper rifle snug across his shoulder.

  Trembling, Ashton’s eyes riveted back to Ray. “A-are you people crazy?”

  Ray peered over the top of a pair of yellow-tinted Prada frames. “Maybe. Now there’s only one thing I want to know. Who did the two of you hire to attack me?”

  “Attack?” Ashton snorted. “I don’t have the faintest idea what you’re talking about.”

  Ray shook his head. “Wrong answer.

  Sweat beaded across Nelson’s forehead. “W-we weren’t involved in any kind of attack.”

  “Oh, hell no,” Ray shouted out and was on his feet in an instant. “I’m too tired to play games with either of you.” He glanced at Peter. “Take both of them out!”

  Slowly, Peter crossed the room, went down on one knee and raised the rifle to his shoulder. He sighted through the scope, not for a shot. The powerful scope plainly revealed the agony on Ashton and Nelson’s face.

  Ray cleared his throat. “Any last words?”

  “You won’t dare,” Ashton nervously chuckled.

  “Shut up,” Ray growled. “The next words out of your mouth better be the names of the two men you sent after me.” He looked down at Peter. “Can you make the shot?”

  Peter answered with a cold, murderous smile.

  “Do it,” Ray ordered.

  “N-no, please don’t,” Nelson cried out.

  “Talk to me then,” Ray warned in a dangerously fierce tone.

  Nelson’s eyes were wide with fear. “If I-I give you the names, will you let me go?”

  Ray’s expression was vacant. “Maybe.”

  “Don’t you say another word,” Bryant ordered.

  Nelson whipped his head around toward Bryant. “I’m not going to be the fall guy for something you wanted to do.”

  Ray tapped the crystal on his watch. “Gentlemen, I’m waiting.”

  “T-their names are Kenneth Mason and Will Manner,” Nelson nervously admitted.

  Ray stood in front of Nelson and braced both hands on the arms of the chair. “Where can I find them?”

  Because Ray was leaning in so close, Nelson had to tilt his head back to see Ray’s face. He gave them the address of where the two men were located.

  Ray straightened and pulled his cell phone from the case at his waist. He punched in a number and waited. When he heard Alex’s voice, he relied the information he’d been given. He focused intently on Nelson again. “If I find out you’re lying, you’re a dead man.”

  “I swear, I’m telling you the truth.” Nelson attempted to get up. E-everything went wrong that day—”

  “Shut up,” Bryant shouted. “That half-breed bitch has gotten us into enough trouble as it is.”

  Ray lifted his brow. “What-did-you-say?”

  “You heard me,” Ashton spat out. “All of you people are just alike.” Then he turned to Nelson. “I should’ve known better than to trust you to do this right. You find the people to do the job and what do they do? Screw it up!”

  Ray nodded stiffly, but didn’t utter a word. He glanced at Elijah and tilted his head at Nelson. The telepathic request had been transmitted. Elijah placed a strong hand under Nelson’s armpit and escorted him toward the door.

  Elijah glanced over his shoulder at Ray. “I’ve got this one.” He jerked his head at Ashton. “I’ll leave that one for you.”

  Ray nodded slightly and glanced over at Peter. He lifted his left hand up and pointed his index finger at the door, an indication for Peter to leave, too. When he and Bryant were alone, he took off his jacket and tossed it somewhere near the sofa. Rolling back his sleeve, he flashed a mirthless smile. “Remember what I told you I was going to
do the last time I saw you?”

  Confused, Bryant shook his head sideways.

  “Well, I do.”

  ~ ~ ~

  “Mr. Baptiste, I-I don’t know what to say,” said the chancellor of The University of Tennessee Health Science Center. “This is a very generous endowment.”

  Two hours later, Ray sat across from the chancellor after he’d made arrangements to meet with him to present his personal donation to their cancer research program. In addition to what he’d just given and what Evangeline would be adding, the project would be well funded for several years.

  Ray nodded. “And there’s more where that came from as long as Dr. Houston serves as the principal investigator on all of the projects.”

  The chancellor beamed with delight as he glanced over at his staff members and two other members of the board of regents seated around the table. “Oh, absolutely. We pride ourselves by staffing our projects with the best researchers in the world.” He turned to the two members from the board of regents. “Perhaps we should include Dr. Bryant on this project as well.”

  Ray grimaced. “Uh, doc, you might want to hold off on that for a while.”

  “Mr. Baptiste, I can assure you that Dr. Bryant will be a valuable asset working under the direction of Dr. Houston.”

  “I’m sure he would, but he’s taking a little R&R for an extended period of time.”

  A frown marred the chancellor’s forehead. “I didn’t know Dr. Bryant had a vacation scheduled.”

  Ray shook his head. “Uh, no, doc. You’ve got things a little confused. Dr. Bryant won’t be on the R&R you’re thinking of.”

  “He won’t?” The chancellor scratched his head. “Well, when people go on vacation, they usually enjoy a little rest and relaxation. Right?”

  A cynical smile made the corner of Ray’s mouth quirk up. “Usually. However, in this case, Dr. Bryant’s R&R will be more along the lines of recover and recuperate.” Ray clapped his hands together. “Well, I believe this is a win-win situation for everyone involved.” He peered over the top of his glasses. “Right, doc?”

  “Recover and recuperate,” the chancellor muttered under his breath, confused.

  “Hmm-umm. And it’s gonna be a long one.”

  ~ ~ ~

  Laney was curious. It had been two days since Raphael had returned and brought her back to his house. During that time, he hadn’t discussed a single detail of what he’d done while he was gone. She suspected her first cousins Elijah, Michael, and Peter were somehow involved, but getting any information out of them was worst than getting information out of Raphael. The only thing she knew for certain was that Ashton had submitted a letter of resignation.

  She calmly waited until he had left to go out for his morning jog and packed her suitcase. She made every effort to remain under control. She loaded her things into her white Escalade and waited for Raphael to return home.

  Forty-five minutes later, Raphael staggered through the front door breathing heavily. Bent at the waist, he clutched his thighs and sweat dripped down his face. Finally, he limped to a nearby chair complaining of a cramp in the calf of his leg and closed his eyes. He was in a foul mood.

  Laney offered him a half-lazy smile. “I’ve decided to go back to Olivia, but I wanted to wait until you returned so I could say goodbye.”

  Slowly, Raphael turned and looked up at her. He spotted the suitcase nearby, but remained silent.

  Laney had been so focused on maintaining control, she hadn’t noticed the savage expression in Ray’s eyes. She smiled again to break the mounting tension since he hadn’t uttered as much as “I’ll see you later.” She turned and headed for the front door. She’d only taken a few steps before a hand clamped down on her shoulder and spun her around.

  “I’ll be damned if you’re leaving this house.”

  This was the first time she regretted that she only reached his shoulder. He was so close she had to tilt her head back to see his face. “I can’t continue to live…”

  “Ice it, Red,” he roared.

  “Now see here…”

  “No, you see here. You’re not going anywhere. In fact, just as soon as I get out the shower and dress, we’re going downtown and get a marriage license. We’re getting married as soon as it’s legally possible to do so. So, you need to take your suitcases back to wherever you got them from.”

  His expression would cause most men to back up, but Laney folded her arms over chest. “I’m not marrying someone who doesn’t love me.”

  Ray sucked his teeth. “Roll that by me again.”

  Laney wrinkled her nose. “I said I’m not marrying someone who doesn’t love me.”

  “I don’t love you,” Ray shouted and jerked her up next to him. “Girl, you’ve been wrapping me around your little finger from the first day I met you, and you have the nerve to stand here and tell me I don’t love you!” He stepped back and jammed his glasses on top of his head. “I’ve spent nearly every dime I’ve got funding your next research project and buying back Universal Entertainment. Hell, I might not have enough left to pay the light bill when it rolls due next month. And if Bryant ever nuts up and tells the police what I did to him, my ass could be locked up somewhere doing five to ten. So don’t you ever say I don’t love you!”

  It wasn’t exactly romantic, but it was definitely exhilarating. Laney offered him a private smile. She went up on tiptoe and looped her arms around his neck. “I love you, too, darling.”

  Ray looked down a Laney and noticed how pretty she looked, her eyes twinkling with mischief. Doggone her pretty freckled-faced soul. She’d done it, again. She’d gotten him to tell her what had transpired over the last two days. So smooth, he never saw it coming. He closed the gap between them and buried his face in the hollow of her neck, breathing in her baby-fresh scent. “God, I love you,” he whispered.

  Nothing in his wildest dreams ever made him believe he’d love any woman. He’d been blessed with this slight, delicate creature that’d waltzed into his life and had completely and unequivocally changed it.

  “I want lots of babies.”

  “Yeah,” Ray muttered with delight.

  “I think we should try for six.”

  Ray frowned. As petite as she was, he wasn’t sure she could go through that many pregnancies. “Let’s start off with one.” He grabbed her by the hand and headed for the staircase. “You know a man normally has…”

  She listened to his words rustling in her ear. While she loved their trivia games, she wasn’t in the mood to play it now. “Why so many when one already did the job?”