“His men work for Alliance Security,” Adam cut her hysteria short. “I’ve worked with a couple of them overseas. They’re SEALs, and they’re damned good, but my guys are better. And I don’t give a shit how tough that nanny thinks she is.”
Shannon held her breath, weighing the risks to the daring plan Adam proposed. She stood to lose everything. What did he have on the line? “I don’t know,” she said, her heart pounding in her ears.
“Then let’s start with what you do know.”
She gulped. What do I know? Fear. Retribution. Betrayal. Stress. Anorexia. Bulimia. The list was endless.
“Do you know how much I love you?” Adam asked, the hurt in his eyes shining again. “Do you know you don’t have to fight your father alone? Come on, Shannon baby, Izza and Connor are pulling for you. Think.”
Rational thought was nearly impossible. “You… you called me Shannon baby. I remember. My mother used to call me that.” Somehow that tender endearment from long ago carried tremendous power at that precise moment. Shannon could almost believe the universe was on her side. That her mother was somehow looking over her and Jimmy.
Adam traced the line of her jaw, the curve of her quavering chin, his eyes searching hers. “You must have been everything to her, too.”
Shannon calmed, trying with all her heart to do as he’d asked. Adam loves me. I don’t know why, and I don’t deserve it, but he does. Maybe, just maybe, I can do this. With him.
“The first time I saw you in the Sit Room, my heart fell to the floor at your feet. Didn’t you see it?” he whispered huskily. “Honestly. I thought I made a fool of myself in front of you—heck, in front of everyone.”
She shook her head. She’d been too much out of her element that day. Too bullied.
“You were scared then, too, but you surprised the hell out of me.”
“I threw up,” she reminded him, her words a reality check in the very quiet limo.
“Yes, but you also made a promise, and you stuck to it, which is more than your father ever did.”
“But I was different. I’m not that person any—”
“Yes, you are. You’re still you.” He put a stop to her belittling rant. “Come on, Mama. Let’s go get Squeaks out of prison once and for all. Let’s save your baby.”
“Okay,” she said softly, her heart calm for the moment and her hands tucked inside Adam’s. He made standing up for herself seem possible. “But this is going to make my father very mad.”
“Good,” Adam declared with a growl. He planted a kiss in the middle of her forehead. “I intend to make him damned mad today. Maybe every day from now on.”
He rapped on the window, signaling Raul to get behind the driver’s wheel again.
“Is everything better now?” Raul asked as he climbed inside. One look at Shannon, and he passed a box of tissues over the car seat.
Shannon looked up from the warm embrace of Adam’s arms, accepted a tissue and wiped her nose. The day of repentance had come. Raul had only ever treated her with kindness. Reaching for his hand, she offered the first of many apologies she intended to make. “Can you forgive me, Raul? I’ve been so cruel to you.”
He lifted her hand to his lips for an undeserved kiss. “Remember who you talk to? It’s me. Your driver, but first, your friend. There is nothing I wouldn’t do for you. You’re my only boss and the only Reagan I love. Only you.”
Tears blurred her vision. Adam offered no help. “You hear that, Mama? You’re my boss, too. Only you.”
Chapter Thirty-One
I can breathe.
Even with his heart pumping like the Clemson U brass band at the homecoming game, the mere act of holding Shannon again calmed Adam to his boots. She trembled like a leaf under his chin, but that would cease the instant she had Squeaks back in her arms.
She’d lost weight, her once nicely rounded bottom now so boney that it dug into his thighs. He didn’t care. That could be remedied just as easily with a thick cut of prime rib, lobster, maybe a glass or two of red wine, and whatever else her heart desired. Heck, the moon and the stars seemed reachable with her in his arms—if she wanted them.
They sat in silence, absorbing each other while Raul pulled the limo into traffic.
“He’ll know something’s wrong when I don’t show at the airport,” she worried.
“Already thought of that,” Adam replied. “Raul? You’re on, buddy.”
With a cheesy smile, Raul winked in the rearview mirror and dialed Reagan Manor on the limo’s smart phone. “Let me talk with Hubbard, please.”
“Where are you?” Hubbard growled over the speaker.
“At the moment, I have a flat tire, so I’m—”
“I doubt that. You wouldn’t be moving with a flat tire now, would you?”
“How do you know I’m still moving?” Raul’s brow crinkled in the rearview.
“I know everything,” Hubbard purred.
“Well, if you’re so smart, then you know traffic’s too thick to pull over right now,” Raul snapped. “Wait.” He pulled over to the shoulder. “There. I stopped. Are you happy now?
Hubbard never missed a beat. “Do you require roadside assistance, Mr. Ortega?”
“Don’t you know that, too?” Raul retorted. “Never mind. Some guy just stopped. It looks like he’ll help me. I’ll be back on the road in five minutes. Will that suit you?”
“She mustn’t be late. This meeting means everything to Mr. Reagan.”
“Don’t worry.” Raul’s wink caught the rearview mirror. “Miss Shannon is the only reason I do this thankless job.”
“That can always change.”
Raul hung up on Hubbard’s sarcastic threat. “I didn’t know he was tracking the limo, did you?”
“I’m not surprised,” she murmured, her voice suddenly far away.
“Does he track everything and everyone he owns?” Adam asked, still keeping her snuggled on his lap and his arms around her. She’d calmed, but she sounded lost and apprehensive again.
“I think so. My father has hidden cameras in the house and spies everywhere. Hubbard is one of them.”
“Then plan B it is.” Adam leaned into his two-way again. “You guys back there?”
“Following your every move,” Rory answered.
“Who else is helping you?” Shannon looked so dang cute peering out the back window to catch a glimpse of whoever was running interference.
Adam winked as he responded. “It looks like Reagan’s got a GPS transmitter in the limo. We need a ride.”
“Coming right up.” Rory had no sooner finished speaking than a hunter green SUV pulled in front of the limo and parked, its turn signals flashing.
“Will you be okay?” Adam asked Raul.
He beamed at Shannon. “Don’t worry about me. I was looking for a job when I found this one. It’s been an honor, Miss Shannon. I will never forget you, mi amor.”
She pulled out of Adam’s arms to give him a hug. “He can still hurt both of us, Raul. Please stay safe.”
“I’ll be in touch, buddy,” Adam told the chauffeur. “Don’t you go taking off to the Bahamas or anything crazy like that, you hear?’
“Never.” Raul smiled and released Shannon as he waved them out the door. “Now go. Get your precious son, my sweet fairy princess. Be happy again.”
Adam pulled her out of the limo to her feet, for a moment thrilled to be there with her. Early morning Crystal City traffic whizzed by. It would’ve been the perfect moment, but Shannon fell apart. “I have a breast pump!” she spat at him.
What the hell is a breast pump? Adam didn’t have a clue. Was it one of those painful beauty treatments women did to enhance their figures? It didn’t matter, not to a guy who could fix anything that needed fixing, by hell. If she hated it, he hated it, too.
Shannon raked stiff fingers through her disheveled greasy hair, yanking at it. She used to look so elegant.
“Stop hurting yourself.” He reached for those mean hands.
> “You don’t understand,” she cried. “I can’t even nurse my own baby. I’m just a… a cow!”
Oh, that kind of a pump…
“Shh.” Adam pulled her against him, smoothing a hand over her poor head to gentle her. “You’ll be holding Squeaks before you know it, and you can nurse him day and night if you want. Just wait and see.”
She calmed instantly. “Squeaks? I haven’t heard him called that in a long time.”
“What does he call Jimmy?”
“He doesn’t,” she groaned. “He hasn’t visit much, just enough to change Jimmy’s name to Paul Maximillian the Third.”
“Blah.” Adam stuck out his whole tongue at that awful, pompous name, hoping to at least make her smile. “Names can be changed. Which would you like, Jimmy Malone or Squeaks, because we can—”
Shannon whirled into him, clutching his face in her hands as she crushed her mouth to his. She seemed to be pouring desperation into a frantic kiss that ravaged, bruised, and bit. She climbed up his body, her anguish suddenly out of control—fierce, raw, and feral.
Adam obliged. This poor woman was that tiny glass Christmas ornament held fast in a wicked vise for too long. Too delicate for the enormous pressure that had been forced on her shoulders, she was coming apart in his hands, shattering all over him. Breaking now that she’d been tossed a lifeline. She just didn’t know which way to fall.
“I’m here, Shannon baby,” he promised for time and all eternity. “You’re not alone any more. I’m here.”
She sobbed and he hefted her off her feet, one hand at the back of her head, the other on her backside, molding her to him. Anchoring her. Whatever she needed to get through this next showdown with her old man, he meant to give it to her. Right there on that busy Crystal City highway.
Smoothing her hands feverishly over his head, she gripped him tight, her nails digging into his scalp, holding him in place while she ravaged his mouth. It was hard to breathe in the midst of this surprise attack, but he was a guy. He managed.
“Save my baby, Adam,” she gasped raggedly into his mouth. “God, oh, God, please save Jimmy.”
“That’s why I’m here,” he murmured around her ravenous lips and tongue. “I’ve got the whole team working to get Squeaks. It’s going to be okay. Trust me.”
“I do,” she said fervently, licking his lips and breathing too fast and too hard. “I really do, I just... I just... God, he’s more evil than you know.”
Adam eased his fingers into her hair until he had a thin handful. Tugging her away from his face, he bumped his forehead to hers, needing her to listen up. “Believe me, Mama, I do know how bad Paul Reagan is, but we get Jimmy back first, then we deal with your old man. Plan on it. Know it down to those strappy heels you’re wearing. Today is Jimmy Malone day. After that, it’s happily-ever-after, got it?”
She pressed her cheek against his nose, her hands still clinging to his head. “I love you so much,” she whispered as she straightened her skirt. “You’re right. I can do this. Let’s get our baby back.”
Zing. Goosebumps shivered up his neck. That single word shot straight into the deepest caverns of his soul. Our. Did she have any idea what she’d just said? What it meant to him?
“Will you two lay off the smooching and get your butts over here?” Ember ordered from where she stood at the SUV, all wide-eyed and watching. “Stop with the mushy stuff. We’ve got us a baby boy to rescue, and I can’t wait to meet him in person.”
Shannon looked to Ember, then back to Adam. “Yes,” he said softly, pressing her knuckles to his lips. “Let’s get our baby back.”
The minute the women were within distance, Ember squealed and grabbed Shannon in a sisterly hug. “You poor thing.”
“Come on, ladies. You can do that later, too,” Rory called from inside the vehicle. “Get your butts in here. We’re losing daylight.”
Adam guided Shannon into the back seat, then eased in beside her.
“This is Rory,” Ember introduced her husband as everyone fastened their seatbelts. “Rory, my very best friend, Shannon Reagan. We’re going shopping for shoes one of these days. Baby boy shoes, too.”
“Hey, Shannon. It’s sure good to see you again,” Rory said brightly, pulling away from the limo, his focus on the traffic. “Today’s the day, huh?”
She nodded. “What’s going to happen now? How will you guys get past Reagan security?”
“We’re not.” Rory’s dark blue eyes sparkled with mischief in the rearview mirror.
Adam hurried to explain. “We’ve already got people inside.”
“You do? Who?”
“Only the best ghost in the business. You’ve met the ghost before. You know who I’m talking about.”
“I do?”
“Sure you do!” He leaned into her hair and whispered one word. “Alex.”
“Your boss? He’s helping me? But... oh no, not him!” She buried her face in her hands, crying so hard that she hiccupped. Then she cried harder. The poor girl was wearing herself out with all these emotional breakdowns.
“It’s okay,” he crooned, trying to undo whatever he did that made her so miserable.
“It’s just that he’s helping me,” she ground that out, like it was a bad thing. “Me!”
“So what? Alex thinks a lot of you. Of course he’s helping. Hell, who do you think’s paying my salary?”
“You don’t understand!” She tipped her head back, her eyes squeezed tight, and wailed.
Adam was smitten all over again. He’d never seen anything cuter in his life. Not that he understood her, but that puckered lip was just plain adorable.
“B-but I’m supposed to be on my way to Texas to—to...”
“To what, darling?” Rory asked gently. “Take your time and spit it out.”
Adam caught the exasperated look from Rory in the rearview mirror that plainly said ‘women!’ “It’s no big deal, Rory. Shannon was just on orders to destroy Alex and his business today. That’s all.”
“That’s all? That’s all!” Shannon cried, but she didn’t get the time to elaborate. The regal stone archway over the wide circular driveway beckoned at the end of the street. Black iron pillars joined with the stone fence to offer an intimidating invitation to enter. Or not.
“We’re there,” Rory prompted. “Let’s keep it together, folks. We’ve got work to do and people to meet.”
“Oh no. What do we do next?” Shannon asked breathlessly.
Adam studied the logistics, immediately planning an alternate escape route for the agents they had inside the manor. Or a rescue. “We wait. Our man inside will contact us. When he does—”
“You mean Alex?”
“Yes. When Alex gives us the signal—”
“What’s the signal?”
With a finger to her overactive lips, he explained before she could interrupt again. “The signal could be a phone call or a—”
“Is that a baby blanket?” Rory pointed to the front of the house where a white piece of cloth now draped from an opened window.
Ember giggled. “Leave it to the boss.”
Adam turned Shannon to face him. “What would you say to your father if Jimmy wasn’t stuck inside Reagan Manor?”
Shannon swallowed hard. He read disbelief with every wide-eyed blink. “I’d, umm, tell him I was leaving, and I wouldn’t even pack. I’d just walk out the front door, and I’d run as fast as I could, and I’d never look back and... why?” Her breath caught. “Do I have to talk to him? Is that why we’re here?”
“No, Mama. You don’t have to talk to him ever again.” He nodded toward a man walking away from her father’s house with quick, long strides. Like an arrow, he didn’t deviate from his target destination by one step. “Open your door, Shannon. This guy’s with us.”
Adam kept his hand in the middle of her back. The poor woman was shaking so hard, she couldn’t get the door open. It didn’t matter. The moment he reached them, Alex pulled the door open and slid in next to S
hannon. He made that leather bomber jacket he was wearing look damned good. A little snug maybe, but good.
By now Rory and Ember were both hanging over the back of the front seat. All eyes were on Shannon and Alex.”
“I see you’ve got your package,” Alex said, amusement crinkling the corners of his eyes. The cocky guy wasn’t even winded.
Adam circled one arm around Shannon’s back and shoulder. “You bet. Had a little trouble at Terrence Moore’s, but he’s en route to fulfill his part of the mission.” Adam checked his watch. “He ought to be there by now. Harley’s got his six. How about you? Any trouble inside?”
Alex glanced back at the supposedly unbreachable Reagan Manor. “Not yet. I had a little talk with your friends from Alliance Security. They won’t be working for Reagan Industries any more. Connor took the butler out easy, but Izza had to suppress the nanny. Damn woman was strong as an ox. She went down fighting until Izza tasered her. Damn. I have got to give that agent another raise.”
“Will they need a ride?” Rory asked.
“No. They’ll meet us back at Mortimers’.” Alex turned to Shannon on the seat beside him. “I have something for you.”
Adam placed his hand at the base of her neck to steady her. Still, she trembled. The poor girl was holding her breath, and he honestly didn’t understand why. Alex would never hurt a woman, least of all Shannon. If she only knew how much he’d offered up in time and money to get to this day, she’d be hugging him instead of berating herself.
A tiny voice murmured from within the leather hideaway. Shannon choked, and covered her mouth with one hand. Very gently, Alex pulled the zipper of his jacket down to reveal the chubby little boy of her heart.
“Ahh!” Shannon cried, and Jimmy Malone tumbled into her waiting arms, his fist stuffed in his mouth and his two bright eyes taking in his new world.
Tears blurred Adam’s vision when she gathered her baby to her chest as if she’d just found her reason to live again. He knew the feeling. He didn’t care who saw. He pulled his little family onto his lap while he and Shannon cried over Squeaks together.
By the sounds of the sniffling coming from the front seat, they weren’t the only ones. In short order, the SUV pulled away from the curb. The happiest mother on the planet had her precious baby back, but Adam knew damned well.
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