by Siera London
“You can’t be serious. You stole my heart, Troy.” The tremor in her voice was more upsetting to Lina, than the visible shake to her hands.
“Lina, you’ve had my heart from the moment you activated the emergency exit door alarm in the athletic department.”
“I’m talking about the heart necklace you gave to me.” He took a step away from the bed, before turning away from her. Would he walk out, now that she had reminded him of the lies between them? He’d left her, no warning, no goodbye, no contact, until today. Lina didn’t see Troy turn around, but she clearly saw the sculpted hills and plains of his abdomen because the pale blue collared shirt was unbuttoned. She squeezed her eyes closed.
Everything in the room froze in time. Don’t open your eyes. She’d caught a glimpse of shiny metal and everything in her rebelled against the pull it had on her.
“Open your eyes Candy. I told you we would always be together.” She opened her tear filled eyes and there was no mistaking the rose gold colored heart around his neck.
“Your heart is where it was meant to be–next to mine.” Oh God, where was that morphine pump button? She needed a hit of hard stuff because, because this wasn’t fair. He left. He couldn’t show up five years later, saying they had the double heart locking mechanism. It was hard to see the man that she had once wanted more than her next breathe.
“Troy?”
“I’m here.” The sincerity in his tone was more concerning.
“But you shouldn’t be.” She heard herself say.
“I’m not leaving you again.” He moved closer to the bed. She watched in silence as he extended his hand in her direction. Willing her with his eyes to reach for him. His fingers were broad, nails cut short and square, minute scars covered the back of his hand. And she found herself wondering how he received those cuts. He would touch her and all the memories of their time together would come raging back. Confusing her. Troy was her first love.
She could feel the heat of his hand as it approached her cheek.
A shadow moved across the narrow, rectangular shaped window cut in the room’s door. A millisecond later the door was pushed wide and there stood Gideon, all six feet five inches of him. The expression on his face was menacing, and ominous.
“Don’t touch her.” Gideon stormed into the room and crowded into Troy’s personal space. Troy straightened to his full height, which was still three inches shorter than Gideon. Both men stood chest to chest.
“What the flagnoid?” She directed at both men. “No fighting over the patient,” Lina said, her voice a high squealed sound. Gosh, these two had her behaving like a ditzy girl, instead of a diva.
“I wondered what I would do when I met you man to man,” Troy said.
“I guess we both are about to find out,” came Gideon’s graveled response.
“No, you are not.” Lina reached for the remote and raised the head of her bed, her aching limbs opposing each movement.
“Troy, I appreciate you stopping by, but Gideon is here now, so you can go.”
“You invited him?” Gideon turned hard eyes on her.
“What?” His accusation cut her deep. Gideon didn’t trust her. Did Gideon trust anyone?
“You invited your ex-lover here to see you, the minute I turn my back.” Lina felt her brain rattle against her skull. She could hear the blood slow to a crawl in her veins. The pained expression on Gideon’s face hurt more than a physical blow. She had never seen him look so vulnerable, yet ice cold. Something was terribly wrong with Gideon. What happened when he left her hospital room?
“That’s not true and you know it.” She replied in a stern voice. Why would he say something so hurtful to her? “What was the call that took you to the emergency room?”
Gideon shook his head. “You don’t want to know. Not right now.”
“Tell me. I can handle it.” Lina persisted. Why did he insist on shielding her?
“Lina, now is not the time…”
“Just tell me,” her voice climbed two octaves.
“Staff Sergeant Hain was admitted to the intensive care unit for Galaxy ingestion. She may have been drugged.” The pain that had previously been well controlled, roared back to life, but she held herself still trying, but failing to ward off the sharp, jabs of pain to her side and back.
“Candy?” Troy looked at her, while Gideon looked at them both.
“What the hell did you call my fiancée?”
“No Candy, tell me you didn’t agree to marry him.” Tears swelled then, she refused to let them fall. Blinking in rapid succession, she held the tears behind a wall of emotion threatening to overwhelm her.
“She did. So, kindly get the hell away from what’s mine.” Lina saw how Troy’s eyes darkened and jaw stiffened before he turned back to face Gideon.
Oh no Troy, don’t do this. Lina struggled to sit forward.
“Troy, no.”
He ignored her.
“You want to challenge me? Listen carefully, Dr. Rice and you’ll discover who Lina belongs to.”
“Troy, don’t say another word.” She pushed herself forward ignoring the pain.
“The condominium she lives in, I paid the down payment, because she loves the water.” That wasn’t what she expected him to say. Gideon’s eyes shot to hers. What was Troy talking about? Why would he say that?
“The designer closet. A birthday gift.” Troy continued on.
“Lina, what the hell is going on?” Gideon raged. She wished she knew. If what Troy said was true, her mother had lied to her.
“The custom painted purple Camaro she drives is a gift from me.” Gideon’s face reddened with fury.
“That’s not true, my mother gave me…” Troy turned to look at her with such conviction she knew he was telling the truth.
“And who do you think gave it to her?” She collapsed back on the bed. This couldn’t be happening. This was the worst day of her life, then the floor collapsed beneath her.
“The baby that grew in her belly was mine.” Troy’s eyes blazed, his muscles bunched with his last statement.
“Baby?” She felt Gideon’s pain, saw the bleakness in his eyes.
“That’s right, everything this woman has I gave it to her.” Gideon pointed at her and she felt a spear pierce her heart. His eyes full of questions and concern. Lina’s heart broke open. She felt the crack as tangible as a physical wound.
“Go away,” she whispered. Troy used her baby as a weapon. How could Troy have taken her sense of accomplishment away from her? He had no right. She’d worked hard to earn her way in the world. To heal. He never came back for her. For them.
“Sweetness, what is he talking about?” Gideon moved toward the bed.
“Both of you go away.” Gideon accused her of contacting Troy. Manipulated by two men she trusted.
“Get out, I don’t want to see either of you.”
“Candy, I’m sorry.”
“If you call my woman Candy again, I’ll shatter your jaw.” That was the last straw. She pressed the call bell. Within seconds a nurse, pushed open the door.
“Did you need something, Ms. James?”
“Yes.”
“Lina, don’t do this,” came Gideon’s plea. “Talk to me.”
“Please escort these two out of my room. Place a no visitors tag on my door.” Lina buried her face in the scratchy surface of the pillow and released a gut wrenching sob. She had her fiancé, the man she loved, removed from her bedside. She pushed back the tears. She never imagined her engagement would start with forcing the man she loved to leave her bedside.
Where was Lina’s baby? Had he proposed to a woman who had given her child up for adoption? These were the questions that replayed in his mind as he sat outside of Lina’s hospital room. Gideon slid a hand in the pocket of his suit jacket. He withdrew the hard object, cradling it in the palm of his hand.
Troy was gone, which was in the man’s best interest. Gideon had to fight his inner Marine to keep from putting that interlop
er in a chokehold until his existence ceased to be a thorn in his side.
“Dr. Rice, Ms. James has been discharged.” He had asked the nurse to give him an estimated time of discharge, there was no way in hell he’d allow Troy Lawson to take his woman home and she was his woman. Lina’s room door opened and she stood, though a little unsteady, balancing a plastic bag in one hand.
“You’re supposed to be in a wheelchair.” He stood, moving forward, but she held up a hand.
“I’m fine. And you are supposed to be anywhere, other than at my door.” He took measured steps until they stood less than a foot apart.
“Lina, I’m going to marry you in four days if I have to do battle with every one of your ex-boyfriends since pre-school.” She gave him a tentative smile.
“You still want to marry me?” Did she have to ask?
“Oh, yeah, in the worse way.” He grinned at her.
“Come here, you.” She reached for him and the knotted rope abrading his heart fell away. For an instant, when she stood in the doorway, he thought she might reject him. Instead of moving in her arms, he gingerly scooped her off her feet into the cradle of his arms and carried her to a nearby wheel chair. He watched as she sank down into the chair, closed her eyes, sighing in contentment.
“I love you, Gideon.” He was at a loss for words. Had he heard her, correctly?
Gideon was on one knee, bending lower in front of her when she opened her eyes.
“Say that again.”
“I love you.” Her casual reply to his request held him in suspended animation.
“You love me,” he said it aloud, liking how well the words fit together. Like the two of them. Perfect.
“I love you very much Gideon Rice and I look forward to being your wife in four days.”
“Good, because I’d hide us in the hills of West Virginia before I let another man have you.”
“You’re the only man I want.”
“Can you stroke my ego this once and let me think you need me.”
“You can think that, but I’ll never tell.”
“Give me your hand.” He said before extending his own. When she didn’t hesitate, his heart expanded beyond its previous border. She loved him.
He opened his hand, took the object he held and placed it in her palm.
“What is it?” Her eyes shone bright and he had a feeling she knew what she held without him telling her.
“It’s what you asked for.” He watched as Lina touched the small, oval stone with trembling fingers. “It’s inscribed, Lina.” He flipped the stone over in her hand. “Read it.”
Her lips trembled now as she read the words craved into the stone. He could see tears pooling in her eyes.
“I love you, Lina.” Gideon had taken the stone from the river bed before they left Waverly Falls.
“Gideon, it’s the most precious gift I’ve ever received.”
“I do love you, Lina, more than life itself.” He reached up, cupping her cheek in his hand. “I’ll gladly shed my blood if you need me to.”
Gideon closed his eyes when Lina turned into his palm, placing a gentle kiss on his skin.
“Let’s go home, baby.” Lina said.
Music. That’s what he heard, because they were going home together. He said a silent prayer of thanks when her fingers closed around the stone and held her closed fist up to her heart. He would ask about her baby when they got home.
“I need to get cleaned up before I talk with my mother.”
“Okay, I’ll drive you over.”
“I’m going alone, Gideon. This conversation is five years overdue.” Taking the bag from her, he searched her personal belongings, until he found what he was looking for. He curled his fingers around the wood, pulling the object free of the bag.
“Keep BEYAS tucked some place safe.” Lina gave him a slow wink. She slid the short stick between her undies and the waist of her jeans.
“Is that safe enough?” She teased. Grinning when he licked his lips.
“Yeah, that will do. I like the thought of your wood sword on your body.”
“May the Force be with me?” He would be with her if she allowed it. The churning in his gut warned that the danger to Lina was closing in.
“You better put some force behind swinging that stick if anyone gives you a problem.”
“Yes, Master Gidoda,” she laughed. He didn’t. Nothing was as it seemed. Each attack was more violent than the last. What would this madman do next?
Chapter 19
Lina felt the doors of a cage slam closed behind her as she entered her mother’s house. Whatever happened here today, she would be trapped somewhere she didn’t want to be. Lina’s hand shook as she regarded her mother in disbelief.
“You knew where Troy was for five years and you didn’t tell me?” Her mother sat stoic in her childhood bedroom, which infuriated Lina.
“How could you lie to me?” Her mother jumped as if Lina’s words were a slap against her face.
“You were the only person in the whole world I could trust and depend on.” The weight of her mother’s secret threatened to crush her. “You’ve been lying to me.” Lina didn’t stop when tears streamed down her mother’s face. At the sound of the back door opening, Lina turned to find Troy striding toward them.
“How did you get in here?” She answered her own question. He knew the location of the spare key. Why wouldn’t he? The fact that he had access to her mother’s house was an obvious indication of mutual trust. Troy was her mother’s confidante. Not Lina. Her own mother didn’t trust Lina with the truth.
“Never mind, you both are playing some twisted game that I don’t want to be a part of, but it appears I have no choice.” She turned narrowed eyes on Troy.
“How did you convince a mother to deceive her own flesh and blood?”
“Bernadean didn’t lie to you. She’s been trying to keep you safe for the last fifteen years.”
“Momma?” Her mother didn’t look at her, merely wiped the tears from her blood shot eyes.
“What is Troy talking about?” Still nothing.
“She won’t talk to me,” she directed at Troy. “Why are you here? I haven’t seen you in years. Five years to be exact. Why did you come back?”
“Your mother contacted me after you told her about the roses. She was worried about you.”
“Why would she call you rather than Bishop?”
“Because fifteen years ago she received the same message before your father was killed.” Finally her mother broke her silence.
“I knew when you came home with Troy, trouble had darkened our door once again.” Her mother swung her attention to Troy. “I begged you to stay away from my daughter, but you wouldn’t. Now, I might lose her, too.” Lina lowered herself onto her knees at her mother’s feet.
“Momma, I’m upset because you’ve been hiding the truth from me. I’m not a child, I can handle whatever it is you’re not telling me. Just tell me everything.”
“How does a mother tell her only daughter that her father was a corrupt cop?” Lina swayed. She didn’t remember much about her father because he was rarely around, but he couldn’t be a dirty cop. Not her father.
“Or that I have known Troy since he was a boy.” Okay, she really did feel faint. But if she hit the floor she would probably fracture a bone.
“Your father worked with Troy’s dad on the police force. You were too young to remember them and they didn’t live in our neighborhood. When your father was murdered under suspicious circumstances, his surviving family, us, were left without any means of support. Troy’s father tried to help.” A light bulb went off in Lina’s head.
“Troy, did you purposely seek me out on campus?”
“Initially, I watched over you from a distance, then you came through the athletic department and we connected.” She was going to be sick.
“Lina, it is not what you’re thinking.”
“Oh yeah. How do you know that, because I sure don’t?” She�
�d given her virginity to this man. Carried their baby in her body. It was all a lie.
“I love you.” He hadn’t looked at her. He delivered the words with the ease of a trained actor minus the emotion.
“You don’t love me. You feel some misguided since of responsibility toward me,” she spat at him. Troy’s downcast gaze spoke volumes.
“I love you both and I’m here to help.” His words brought little in the form of comfort. The one man he had believed loved her, was merely a protector. A leftover connection from a father she barely knew. Then another thought occurred to her.
Pointing at Troy, Lina said, “You are not here as a family friend. Is what’s happening to me because of my father?” He inhaled a deep breath, lips pressed into a thin line.
“You’re involved in this somehow…Oh, God.” Troy glanced briefly in her mother’s direction before, moving toward her.
“You stay back, Troy. I swear I’ll go Taebo on your ass,” Lina stumbled to her feet.
“Lina, there’s a lot of stuff happening that you don’t understand,” Troy said. Her mother’s expression was blank, yet tears continued to flow onto her blouse, the silk fabric darker in the areas soaked with watery anguish.
“Whose fault is that?” Lina directed her accusation at both of them. He looked contrite. His body stiffened as if offended by her question.
“Listen to me Lina.” He didn’t get to tell her what to do.
“I’ll listen when you start answering my questions. Why did she call you? A guy I have not seen in years.” There was pain and anger in her tone, but she couldn’t disguise her feelings. He had walked away from her and never looked back.
“I’m not some guy.”
“No, you’re the first link in a chain of heartbreaks.” He took on a hurt expression. She would not let herself care about his feelings. She had spoken the truth.
“Candy.”
“Stop calling me that. My name is Lina.”
“You are Lina to everyone else in the world. To me, you’ll always be Candy.” She closed her eyes wrestling the memories away behind a wall of hurt. She opened her eyes to find he had narrowed the gap between them. He moved in, his approach was familiar, a reminder of their shared past. It pissed her off.