* * *
Watching as Jesse bounced Liam around the room on his impossibly broad shoulders, the rush of tenderness almost had her doubling over. She couldn’t help but feel slightly nervous that her tiny boy sat up so high, but she knew Jesse wouldn’t let anything happen to him. And Liam’s delighted, joyous laugh warmed her insides in a sorely needed way.
When Beth had come up, for one heart-stopping moment, Eva had thought she might interact with her grandson, but instead the older woman had turned away. Cold, in an unfathomable way as far as Eva was concerned. At two, Liam was too young to understand or be hurt, but Eva would never be able to forgive the way Drew’s parents had treated her boy. Even if they truly believed he wasn’t their son’s child, they had no way of being certain until Jesse and Liam took a DNA test. And even then, how could anyone blame a two-year-old child?
Finally, Jesse lifted Liam up off his shoulders with a huge swooping movement, delighting the boy but making Eva catch her breath. When he set Liam on the floor, Liam stared up at him with an adoring grin. “I like you,” the toddler declared.
Clearly touched, Jesse ruffled the boy’s hair. “I like you too, little squirt.”
“Not squirt,” Liam informed him solemnly. “Liam.”
“I know,” Jesse replied. “Do you know my name?”
Liam didn’t even hesitate. “Jesse.”
“Wow. I’m impressed.” Jesse bent down so he could look at Liam eye to eye. “How’d you know that?”
“Hmmph,” Liam scoffed, sounding way older than his two years. “Mommy says. I hear.”
“Good ears.”
Grinning at the compliment, Liam ran back to Eva, his excitement palpable.
Eva picked up her son and settled him on her hip. It took her a moment to catch her breath, the surreal feeling of watching Jesse and Liam together still flooring her. Seeing them together, she had to admit she could see several of Jesse’s features in Liam’s little face. The nose and chin in particular.
Shaking her head, she glanced at Kara, who once again had her phone out, intent on scrolling. “Kara?”
The younger woman looked up and sighed as she closed out her phone app. “Yes?”
“Keep an eye on Liam. I’ve got a few things I need to work out. He can take his usual nap after lunch.”
Kara nodded and shoved her phone in her pocket before taking Liam from her. “Ready to play some more, little buddy?”
Liam nodded. “Trucks?”
“Sure,” Kara promised. “Let’s go to the playroom.”
With Liam on her hip, the nanny pushed past Jesse and left the room. As she reached the door, Liam raised one little hand in a wave. “Bye, Jesse!”
“Bye, little buddy,” Jesse responded, his gaze tender, his expression soft and eager. For a moment, Eva thought, he allowed his naked vulnerability to show. But then his mask slammed down, firmly back in place.
Seeing this, Eva battled a sudden urge to weep. She blinked furiously, trying to keep the tears that filled her eyes from spilling. Despite her best efforts, one or two escaped and slipped down her cheeks.
She supposed she ought to turn away so Jesse wouldn’t see, but right at that moment she didn’t care if he did. She’d done this, kept their boy from him. In trying to do what she’d believed was the right thing for Liam, instead, she’d deprived him of his father, of a family. What they could have been… The thought made her dizzy.
“Eva?” The pain in his voice matched the pain in her heart. Despite the flood of emotion that threatened to overwhelm her, she needed his touch. She hoped he’d reach for her, because she wasn’t brave enough to walk the few feet that separated them despite how badly she needed him.
He did. Gently and carefully, he gathered her to him and held her. As she’d worried it would, his concern caused the dam to break. Again.
She cried, her attempt to weep silently futile despite the palm she held against her mouth. Jesse didn’t speak, just continued to be her rock, despite everything, exactly as he’d always been.
Finally, she got herself under control. Wiping at her eyes with the back of her hand, she looked up at him, letting him see her raw emotion and her regret.
Rising up on her toes, she pressed her lips to his, silently imploring him to kiss her, because more than anything she needed to be in his arms, to touch him. Instead, he held utterly still, her name on his lips a warning. “Eva. No.”
Embarrassed, aroused and in pain, she stepped away from him.
“This is getting to be a habit,” she managed to say finally, trying to make light of her neediness and the way his strong embrace restored a sense of sanity to her world.
For a moment, Jesse only watched her, the raw need in his gaze matching what she felt in her heart.
“We need to talk,” Jesse said, his quiet tone serious, his hands fisted at his side.
“Okay.”
“I will help you,” he told her. “No matter what happens, I won’t leave you at the mercy of the wolves.”
She frowned. “What wolves?”
“But this—whatever it is—between us,” he continued on as if he hadn’t heard her. “It’s got to stop.”
Swallowing hard, she managed a nod. “Agreed.” Though she really didn’t want to give up the familiar comfort of his arms, pretending nothing had changed would only end up hurting them both. It wouldn’t be fair.
“Strictly business,” he said, though the intensity still burning in his gaze contradicted his words.
“But we can still be friends, right?”
He hesitated. “Are we, Eva? Friends?”
Unsure how to answer, she slowly nodded. “I think so.”
For a moment, he looked away. When he returned his gaze back to her, the remote stranger had returned. “When the other Brothers arrive, we’re going to have a meeting and try to hammer out the best way to keep you and Liam safe. We might even teleconference in Raul. I’m thinking you’re going to have to stay somewhere else for a little while.”
“I’m not going back to Houston.” She crossed her arms, hating that she felt it necessary to explain herself to him once more. “And while I’ll accept the new bodyguards my father sent, I still want no part of BOS.”
“Fine,” he replied, to her surprise. “I don’t care where we go, as long as no one else knows you’re there. That includes Kara. I think it might be time to let her go.”
Since she’d been considering this exact possibility, she didn’t really want to argue. Except for one point. “Surely you don’t think Kara is involved in Drew’s murder and the attempt on my life.”
“Not at all. But she posts to social media. I’m willing to bet if you pull up her Facebook or Instagram account right now, you’ll see something about the bomb.”
Frowning, she grabbed her phone and went to Kara’s page. To her dismay, he was right. Kara had even taken the time to snap a few photos from the landing at the top of the foyer so she could post them.
“If you don’t want to fire her, send her off for a two-week vacation,” Jesse continued. “Up to you. Just get rid of her for a little while. Until we know you’re safe.”
Still stunned, it took her a moment to gather her thoughts and put together an answer. Not only was she shocked and angry, she also felt betrayed. “I can’t believe she’s sharing details about my life. I’m going to have to talk to her about this.”
“Talk away. I doubt she’ll listen. If you think you can handle taking care of Liam full-time, send Kara away now. Tell her it’s for her own safety. She already said she was going to have to rethink working here.”
He had a point. Then and there, she knew Kara had to go.
“I’ll terminate her employment this afternoon,” she said. “For her own safety, of course.” Somehow, she’d scrape together some sort of severance, but with her own financial status uncertain,
it wouldn’t be as generous as she would have liked. She had the household account that Drew had set up for her. Hopefully, there’d be enough money in there to get them through for a while.
Unless he’d emptied that too. Her heart skipped a beat at the thought.
The doorbell announced the arrival of the police.
Eva and Jesse hurried down to meet them. Odd how quickly she’d, at least mentally, begun to think of them as a couple. Dangerous. She needed to be careful to remember he was only her bodyguard.
When she opened the door, she noticed Ted and Beth must have beaten a quick retreat, as their car was gone.
Once Eva had dealt with law enforcement—and this time, they’d called in the ATF and FBI, so it seemed like a ton of people swarming around in her house—Eva went into the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of sparkling water. “It’s too early for wine,” she joked, offering one to Jesse.
“True,” he replied, accepting the water. “I’m not sure how much we can patch up the front of the house. I can nail more plywood across the door and the blown-out window. It’s lucky the blast didn’t destroy the stairs. Hopefully, we can get an inspection to make sure it didn’t make anything structurally unsound.”
“Lucky.” She took a swig of water. “This feels like I’m living in another dimension or something. As if none of what’s happening could possibly be real.”
“That’s shock.” Grimacing, he slugged back some water too. “I get it.”
Wishing she didn’t feel such a sense of camaraderie with him, when her cell phone rang, she welcomed the distraction. Caller ID showed Unknown Number, but ignoring her usual policy of letting such calls go directly to voice mail, she answered. “Hello?”
“I know what you did,” an unfamiliar voice rasped. “Even better, I have real evidence that you killed your husband.”
“Who is this?” she demanded. “And I had nothing to do with my husband’s murder.” She sucked in air, fury rising in her. “Are you the one who shot out my window? And sent the bomb?”
The caller laughed. “No, but I know who did. I’m thinking I’ll take him out next. I need you alive, at least for now. If you’re dead, you can’t give me the information I need.”
“What information?” Gripping her phone, she could barely keep up. None of this made any sense.
“Unless you tell me where Drew stashed my money, I’m going to the police.”
“Money?” A headache had begun to pulse behind her temples. “I don’t have any money. And if you know who’s trying to kill me, you need to tell the police.”
“Liar.” His flat tone told her that he truly believed it. “You have forty-eight hours. I’ll call again. If you don’t locate my money, you’ll be arrested for murder. Oh, and by the way…cute kid. Love that T-shirt with the trains on it. That nanny is pretty hot too, though her pink shirt is a bit low cut, don’t you think?”
Then, while she was still trying to process that, he ended the call.
“What was that?” Jesse asked.
Instead of answering, she pushed down panic and sprinted for the playroom. Sure enough, Kara wore a bright pink V-neck T-shirt. And Liam had on his favorite Thomas the Tank Engine T-shirt. She gasped out loud, swiveling around the room, as if she thought she’d suddenly spy a camera.
Of course she saw nothing like that.
Kara and Liam both looked up when she rushed into the room. They watched her as she pivoted, Kara frowning. “Is everything okay?” Kara asked, worriedly.
“Just fine,” Eva managed, pasting what she hoped was a convincing smile on her face as she backed out the door. “Sorry to interrupt you.”
She backed right into Jesse in the hallway.
“Eva?” Jesse grabbed her arm. “What’s going on?”
Keeping her voice low, she told him everything the caller had said. “He’s watching Liam. He knew what both he and Kara were wearing. I can deal with watching out for myself.” Her voice rose. “But I can’t let anything happen to my son.”
“I understand.” He pulled her close. “Listen to me. Go back into the playroom and tell Kara to take Liam down to the kitchen. Or somewhere else in the house. I don’t care what reason you give her. But I need them out of there so I can search that room. If there’s a camera, I’ll find it.” He sounded 100 percent certain.
She needed to hear that confidence. Taking a deep breath, she went back into the playroom. Smiling that same fake smile, she hoped the nanny would see the seriousness in her eyes or hear it in her voice. “Kara, why don’t you and Liam go down to the kitchen and get snacks.”
Kara opened her mouth as if to argue but nodded instead. “Come on, Liam.” She held out her hand. Liam took her hand and grinned at his mother as he walked past. When he caught sight of Jesse, his grin widened. “Hi, Jesse!” he bellowed.
“Hey, little man,” Jesse replied. He bent down and held out his hand for Liam to high-five.
As soon as they were gone, Jesse headed into the playroom. Eva followed, though she stopped just inside the doorway, taking pains to stay out of his way.
He searched the room like he’d done it before, like a professional. She watched as he methodically went through everything, from the toys and pillows to the ceiling fan and lamp. “Nothing,” he muttered. “It’s got to be here somewhere.”
Finally, he pulled a chair over and eyed the air-conditioning vent in the ceiling. Digging in his pocket, he pulled out a pocketknife and used it to remove the screws. “Got it,” he declared. He took out a small camera, examining it with interest. “Pretty damn sophisticated. We need to look for these in the rest of the house.”
That said, he got down from the chair, dropped the camera on the floor and crunched it to pieces under his boot.
It turned out there were six more cameras placed in vents all through the house. The one in her bedroom bothered her the worst, though she supposed she should count her blessings that Jesse didn’t find one in her bathroom.
He destroyed every single camera. “I wonder how long this SOB has been watching you.” His voice simmered with anger.
“I don’t know.” She caught herself about to chew on her fingernail, a habit she’d broken herself of years ago. “But right now, I need to figure out a place to go. I want out of here.”
“Shh.” He put his finger against her lips. “We’ll come up with something, but don’t discuss it in here. Just in case I missed one.”
Heart skipping a beat, she fought the urge to lean into his touch. Instead, she collected herself and managed to nod. Part of her—the fierce fighter she’d buried deep inside—refused to let herself be scared away. She’d done nothing wrong. This was her home. “From what the caller said, it sounds as if I have two enemies—or Drew did. The caller who wants some mysterious money, and the other person who is, for whatever reason, apparently trying to kill me.”
He nodded. “Eva, Drew had more enemies than you could ever guess at.”
Stepping back from him, she cocked her head. “How do you know? As far as I could tell, people seemed to like and respect him.”
“Come on. Think about your father. Raul surrounds himself with protection. When you get to a certain level of power, there are always people waiting in the wings to try and take you down.”
She knew this. And in addition to his own ventures, Drew did have numerous other business dealings. In addition to those concerns, he’d gone and added politics to the mix. Maybe all of it combined had become a tinderbox waiting to ignite. Still, she couldn’t help but wonder if whatever he’d been involved in had been worth the ultimate price—Drew’s life.
And, since she knew none of the details about any of these dealings, why had Drew’s enemies suddenly become hers?
“I get that, but I don’t understand why they’re taking it out on me and Liam. Liam’s just a baby.” Even as she protested, she realized she probably kne
w the answer already. Men like the caller and the bomber considered a wife and a child collateral damage, nothing more.
CHAPTER 7
Watching his beautiful Eva continually struggle not to fall apart just about destroyed Jesse. She’d always been one of the strongest women he’d ever met. He’d give just about anything right now if he could help her feel safe again. Hell, he’d settle for the right to pull her close and hold her, letting her draw what comfort she could from his embrace.
Fool’s dreams. He’d had over two and a half years to get over her. She’d never know how close to rock bottom he’d come, having to let her actually believe that he’d ever choose the motorcycle club over her. Watching her pack that old Impala with all of her earthly belongings, her lush mouth a grim line as she’d avoided even a single glance his way. His shattered heart had left him a hollow shell of a man, yet still he’d stood there and took his punishment, standing in one of the empty garage bays until her taillights disappeared, taking her from his life forever.
Now it seemed they both had been keeping secrets. She’d most likely been pregnant when she’d left, though she might not have known yet. It should have surprised him that knowing she’d kept this secret from him for over two years in no way diminished his love for her, but it didn’t. After all, he had his own secrets. No doubt he’d go to his grave loving Eva.
Sometimes, he suspected Raul knew. During the time he’d been apart from her, Jesse had thought he’d kept his pain buried, hidden deep inside, but sometimes he’d caught Eva’s father watching him, a thoughtful sort of sympathy on his craggy face. And when Raul had ordered him to go north to Anniversary and become his daughter’s bodyguard, Jesse felt certain Raul had known.
Yet Jesse wasn’t sure how he’d survive, being around his Eva and her new husband. He’d always considered himself a strong man, but watching the woman he loved with another man would sorely test the limits of that strength.
He could have turned the assignment down, might even have done so, but his handler at the ATF had been thrilled with the idea. Drew Rowson had been on their radar for a while and they jumped at the opportunity for an “in” with him. Since Jesse had given up everything for his job, he’d had no choice but to go.
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