by Geri Krotow
A memory popped in her mind. Rio’s scent, a kiss on her forehead, a soft statement.
I’m sorry, he’d said.
What was he sorry for?
“Oh, wait, there was someone else. A nice woman with silver hair named Claudia came by earlier today. She left those flowers over there for you.” Keith held up a huge bouquet of pink peonies for her to see. “They’re from Kayla’s Blooms, by the way.”
“They’re beautiful. Jenny outdid herself.” She longed to be back in her shop, her nose in flowers. Anything besides lying here, waiting to heal.
Waiting for Rio.
CHAPTER 21
“Rio, where do you want me to put these files?” Nika stood in front of his desk.
“Here, I’ll take them.”
“You should have more time for them now, right? Are you wrapping up the Charbonneau case soon?”
“Yes, I’m writing my closing notes on it now, and then all I’ll have left is to testify in court.” At which he expected Cynthia Charbonneau to be put away for life, be it in prison or a mental lockdown facility after murdering two people, Meredith and Mickey, and attempting to kill Kayla and Gloria.
“You did a great job getting Cynthia’s full confession.”
“She’s like every other sociopath. They always want you to know how smart they are.”
“How’s Kayla?” Nika stared at him.
“She’s better. At home.” At her place, since it was safe for her to go home now. He’d missed her presence in his house.
“Have you seen her lately?”
He tried to muster a glare at Nika to remind her that it was none of her business. He failed.
“No. I’ve been busy wrapping this up.”
Nika stared at him a moment longer.
“Don’t wait too long, Detective.”
“Thanks, I’ll keep that in mind. How’s your training going, Nika?”
“I knew you had something interesting going off in your off-hours. I had no idea how much it involved, however.” Nika was the newest recruit to the Trail Hikers.
“You’ll be glad for the training when you have to go into Silver Valley High School undercover.”
“Yes, I will. And it will be my pleasure to bring down those loser drug dealers as soon as I find them, believe me.”
He suspected the drug dealers Nika was going in to root out would end up being connected to the True Believers. All of Silver Valley’s recent problems seemed to lead back to them. But he wasn’t working that case.
“Thanks again for your support, Rio. I know I wouldn’t be in TH without your recommendation.”
“You’ve earned it, Nika.” The use of first names indicated they were both on the same team and same level when it came to the secret agency.
“See you.” She walked off and he stood up from his desk. His restlessness was getting the best of him.
More like Kayla had gotten the best of him. All of him.
He’d been unable to get Kayla off his mind since he’d made sure she’d survived Cynthia’s attack.
Cynthia had tried to kill Kayla before the wedding, too. He’d gotten the confession from her during questioning. She’d been the one who’d fired at Kayla in the parking lot a week before the wedding. She’d seen Kayla’s van at the end of the drive by the Weddings and More Barn and had suspected that Kayla had witnessed Meredith Houseman’s final minutes.
And then she’d admitted to killing Mickey, claiming it was because she was angry at him for having an affair with Gloria. She’d gone on to brag about putting the scallops in the risotto after Veronique had finished cooking it. Solely for Gloria’s benefit.
Obtaining the confession had been satisfying, but Rio couldn’t forget how helpless he’d felt as he watched Kayla lying on the grass, bleeding and unconscious. He hadn’t gotten to her fast enough, and she’d gotten hurt.
After all his attempts to show her that unlike the places she’d lived growing up, the friends she’d made, that he wasn’t going anywhere, that she could count on him, he’d failed her. He’d left her, too.
His cell phone vibrated.
Claudia.
“Rio. Can you meet me in Colt’s office in five?”
“Will do.” He finished up the last paragraph on the report and clicked Save. He thought he’d have more of a feeling of satisfaction than he did at the moment.
Claudia was already in Colt’s office, seated in one of the chairs in front of his desk. Rio nodded to Colt and her.
“Good morning.”
“Have a seat, Rio.” Colt sipped his coffee, his expression relaxed.
Why did it feel as if he was about to be chastised?
“Colt tells me that you haven’t spoken to Kayla since she’s been home, Rio. It’s been two weeks. She’s going back to work at the shop tomorrow.”
“That’s great news. She’s a tough woman.”
Colt and Claudia exchanged a glance that made Rio go cold.
“Is this a meeting to tell me how to run my personal business? I’m an SVPD detective and a Trail Hiker, but my personal life is mine.”
“To a point, yes.” Claudia shifted in her seat so that she could face Rio head-on. “Your well-being is definitely our concern, as is any Trail Hiker’s. Kayla and you need each other, Rio. Tell me you don’t already know that.”
“I know I need her, but she doesn’t need me, not if I can’t be there for her in her time of need.”
“You were there for her. Knock off the martyrdom, Rio. We were all there. The actions of a murderer are never predictable. Have you thought about that?”
Rio gritted his teeth and counted to five before he responded.
“I should have stopped the entire mess.”
“Nonsense.” Claudia picked at something on her pant leg. “You’re not giving Kayla any credit here, Rio. She’s a trained Trail Hiker, even if she’s a novice, and she knew how to handle Cynthia. She kept herself alive.”
“We can argue about this all day.” Colt cleared his throat. “You know I’m not one for getting too personal, but I’m going to tell you this, Rio. If you don’t go after Kayla now, before she gets so pissed off at you for not being there these past two weeks, you’ll regret it down the road. If not sooner.”
Claudia’s eyes were filled with concern, but also...was that amusement? At his angst?
“Colt’s right. It’s time for you to take a breather, Detective Ortega. Take a week and get some R & R. Maybe think about taking Kayla with you. She’s only going to work part-time at the shop for the first few weeks, and I’m sure she could be convinced to get some relaxation herself.”
He looked at Claudia, then Colt. Neither budged and their expressions remained neutral. Maybe a little bit encouraging.
“Fine.” He stood up. “I’ll take a week off. But I can’t promise anything else.”
* * *
Kayla stopped to catch her breath at the workbench in the back room. She’d hired another assistant and a delivery person with Jenny’s help. Miranda was learning the front register this morning under Jenny’s careful eye.
It felt a bit unbelievable that she’d been working as a Trail Hiker agent at the Charbonneau wedding only two weeks ago.
The bucket of peonies at her feet reminded her of the flowers Claudia had sent while she was in the hospital.
Her side still ached where the knife had pierced through the Kevlar and resulted in a collapsed lung.
She turned to get Jenny or Miranda and almost slammed into a large man. It was the best pain she’d felt in weeks.
Rio.
“Hi, Kayla.”
“Will you ever not sneak up on me?”
“Jenny let me back here.”
She looked at him, careful not to meet his eyes right away. He was the same and smelled the same. As she gathered the courage to meet his eyes, she saw something she’d never noticed in him before. Uncertainty.
“What do you want, Rio?”
“I was hoping I’d catch you on
a break or even lunch. We need to talk.”
“You could have called.” Irritation trickled into her awareness of him. “A week ago, or better, two, you could’ve called. Or come over to my house and talked to me. I was pretty much stuck on the sofa, watching NCIS reruns with my parents.”
“I met them.” His eyes had a strange light. “They’re very nice. And very devoted to you.”
She shrugged. “Whatever.”
He rocked back on his heels, his hands in his pockets. “Can I take you to lunch?”
“What’s the point? Do you want to hash out the details of the case, for closure? I already did that with Claudia.” Of course he knew that, she was certain. “You’ll be relieved I don’t have to do another Trail Hikers mission—” she lowered her voice “—unless I want to.”
“Do you?”
“Yes,” she replied without hesitation.
He gave her a slow once-over, leaving no inch of her unexposed to his sexy stare. She’d missed him so much when he’d cut off communication these past two weeks. He hadn’t answered her texts or visited, except for the hospital vigil that had made him sainted to her family.
It was no use. She was still hot for Rio.
“What?” She wiped her brow with her gloved hand and attempted an insouciant stance.
“Come to lunch with me.”
She took off her gloves slowly. Why make it easy for him? “Fine.”
He drove them to a local park that was known for its magnificent views of the valley and Appalachian Mountains that surrounded them. They walked a short distance to a picnic table, Rio carrying a cooler.
“Did you pack a lunch for us?” She was impressed with his forethought, but didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of saying so.
“I did. But we’re going to do something fun, Kayla. I think we’ve both learned how short life can be.” As soon as she was seated on the bench next to him, he opened the cooler and pulled out two bowls, into which he scooped vanilla ice cream, then sprinkled some nuts and topped it all with canned whipped cream.
“Those look delicious. Who needs lunch?”
“Wait. We’re missing the best part.” He took a thermos out of the other bag he’d had slung over his shoulder and poured hot fudge over their concoctions.
“You did this all yourself?” She didn’t mean to sound so doubtful of his culinary skills, but the only skills of Rio’s that she’d seen in action were lovemaking and law enforcing.
“Why are you blushing?” His low voice was gentle, and when he touched her cheek she blinked back a tear.
“I hardly know you.”
“I know, and that’s going to change. Consider this our first date.”
“Haven’t we kind of fast-forwarded through that already?” Was he thinking they weren’t going to make love again until they knew each other better?
“Some parts, yes. Other parts, we could use some catching up. I want to know why you chose flowers for a living, why you’ve stayed in Silver Valley apart from the fact that you didn’t want to move around anymore. I want to know how it is a local boy like me has fallen for an international girl. I want to know what kind of wedding you want and how many of my kids you’re willing to have. If any.” He grinned and dug into his sundae.
She couldn’t think of eating her ice cream. Not yet.
“Did you just say...”
“I did. I want to spend the rest of my life with you, Kayla. I couldn’t come here sooner, come to you earlier, because I had to get over my stupid pride.” His eyes grew somber and her stomach flipped. “When I saw you lying on the ground, maybe bleeding out, I felt as if I’d failed you on so many levels. I never want to feel that way again. I love you, Kayla, and I’ll wait as long as it takes to convince you that we belong together.”
She couldn’t see him very well as his face shimmered through her tears.
“I love you, Rio. I wanted to tell you after the wedding. I thought we’d have time. And then when I blacked out, I was certain I’d missed my chance. That we’d had the only chance we were going to have.”
He put down his spoon and drew her close to him, caressing her jaw with his fingers. “We’ve got this chance, Kayla, and I’m not going to let it escape me. I love you, darling.” He kissed her then, and it was so tender it released something in Kayla and more tears slid down her cheeks. Rio’s rough fingers wiped her face and he smiled against her lips. “Don’t cry, babe. This is our happy ending.”
She laughed and for the first time in two weeks, it didn’t hurt.
“It’ll never end for us, Rio. This is where we start.” She kissed him. “Together.”
* * * * *
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ISBN-13: 9781488004919
Wedding Takedown
Copyright © 2016 by Geri Krotow
All rights reserved. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental. This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
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Table of Contents
Wedding Takedown
Back Cover Text
Introduction
Dear Reader
Title Page
About the Author
Dedication
Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
&n
bsp; Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Copyright
BPA