But it was too late.
* * *
Reese knew he'd lost the element of surprise the second the lock buzzed. But by the time he entered the space and saw Dillon about to slain Jade's head into the deck, he didn't care. Because pure, undiluted rage carried him through.
He was across the space before Dillon could finish turning his head. He snarled his fury as he crushed his fingers into the bastard's throat, ripping him off of her and slamming him down on the closest desk. Then he pounded him some more.
Reese paused to pick Dillon up by his shirt and pitch him over the desk. The man smashed onto the other side with a satisfying thud. Reese vaulted over the desk for another round. He was barely aware of the lock as it buzzed again, and by the time Coffey reached him, it took him and two other guys to pull him off Dillon's limp body.
He growled out one last curse as he stood. But as he turned to go, Dillon groaned and slid his hand underneath the desk. Reese shot out a foot, stomping the bastard's wrist into the deck as he leaned down to cram his Glock into Dillon's face. "Go ahead. Give me a reason. Please."
He didn't.
Dillon dropped whatever was in his hand, and Coffey snaked his underneath the desk and pulled up a gun.
Reese turned his back on Dillon's moans and vaulted back over the desk to Jade. Her eyes were closed, and the only color left in her face came from the bruises already darkening her forehead. He lifted her gently, not even caring if anyone saw the tears scorching his cheeks as he cradled her close. His voice was hoarse as he glanced back at Coffey. "Find Karin. Tell her I'm coming. And then keep this bastard here until TJ arrives. Don't let anyone touch anything."
Coffey nodded grimly as he reached for the phone. "You got it, buddy."
* * *
"I'll be right there." Karin slammed the phone back into its cradle and tore out of the wardroom, the only thought in her head that never before had she heard that note in Coffey's voice. But she'd recognized it instantly.
It was fear.
And it was about Jade.
She rounded the corner in the passageway and ran smack into something solid and alive. She tore at it blindly, not even bothering to use manners—let alone apologize—as she yelled "Move!"
When it didn't, her adrenaline kicked into hyper-drive and she flattened the muscle against the bulkhead and careered past, ignoring the sharp oomph and Spanish curse that followed.
Too bad.
And if anyone else got between her and Jade, they'd suffer the same fate—if they were lucky.
She nearly ripped the door to Medical off its hinges as she smashed it open. The duty corpsman was waiting, pointing to the first exam room as she barreled past. Seconds later, the exam door suffered a similar fate.
"Oh, my God!" The words tumbled out before she had a chance to reign them in. Fighting back tears of fear and fury, she leveled a glare on Reese as she approached. "What the hell did you do to her?"
Jade fought the dizziness swirling inside her brain long enough to turn her head on the exam table and focus on Karin. Surely she didn't think Reese did this? She squinted her eyes at the rage blazing across Karin's face.
Oh, Lord, she did.
And Reese wasn't even denying it.
She swallowed the sawdust in her throat and croaked, "Not him."
The denial didn't seem to faze Karin. She just pointed to the door. "Out."
Reese stiffened, but he didn't move.
Jade squeezed his hand. "It's okay. I'll explain."
"Are you sure?" His gaze softened as he stared at her.
She nodded.
Only then did he leave, though obviously still not enthralled with the idea.
Karin was running her hands down Jade's body before the door even closed, probably checking for broken bones. She was fairly sure she didn't have any, though quite a few bruises felt like it. Jade gasped as Karin found one.
"Oh, honey, I'm sorry." She wiped back a tear and picked up her stethoscope.
Jade managed a smile and found her hand. "It's okay. Now, listen—Reese didn't do this."
Her fingers fumbled over her pulse. "I don't understand, Greg said—"
"I don't care what he said. Reese didn't do it. Dillon did."
"Dillon?"
She swallowed another lump of dust. "He decided to play one last game of basketball before he jumped ship. Unfortunately, he used my head as the ball. Besides, I know you. You didn't wait for the whole story, did you?" She almost managed a chuckle as Karin flushed—but it came out as a cough, followed by a groan instead.
The blush faded as Karin began the exam in earnest. "Hush, not another word until I finish."
* * *
Reese paced the narrow passageway outside the exam room for the hundredth time. What the hell was taking so long? He glanced at his watch and growled. At this rate, Dillon would be serving his prison term by the time Karin finished. He reached the end of the corridor, spinning around as a door opened.
TJ.
Damn.
"Nice to see you, too, amigo."
Reese cut him off with a glare. "Don't start."
TJ was smart enough not to push. "Sorry, man." His partner ran a hand through his shoulder-length black hair as he met up with him at the door to the exam room. "Your lady, she's okay?"
"I don't know." And it was driving him insane. He took a deep breath, desperate for anything that would keep his mind off the wait. "What have you got?"
TJ flashed his crooked grin. "Plenty. Seems Dillon's homeboys aren't as loyal as he thought. As soon as Ricky showed up with the warrant, one of the guys started composing a song—and didn't quit till the end. Upshot is, the heroin was weighed down and dropped off the side of the pier before the ship pulled into Korea. The diver dude would snag it during routine maintenance, stash it in his gear and pass it off to his buddy in engineering—"
"So it was packed in the coolant valves."
TJ nodded. "Looks that way."
Son of a gun. In spite of his mood, Reese smiled. They really should consider recruiting Jade. She was good.
TJ joined him in pacing the passageway. "We're still waiting on the statement from the guy in Engineering—but from the look, on his face when he found out the outside was radioactive, I'd say yes. Especially after he begged to see a doctor when he discovered he'd handled it himself, however briefly." His smile turned grim. "It would serve the bastard right if he was contaminated."
Reese stopped short, doing an about-face as another door opened. Relief flooded him as Karin poked her head out and waved him in. Thank you, God.
But he hadn't taken more than a step before TJ sucked in his breath and grabbed his arm, nearly wrenching it from the socket.
Reese glanced back, managing a grin—because Karin smiled before she slipped back inside. His grin deepened as he stared at his partner. "I'll give you an intro later, Romeo—now, get lost." He didn't wait for TJ to argue as he headed back into the exam room.
Karin stepped back from the table as he entered. "She's going to be okay. I'd like her to stay aboard tonight so I can keep an eye on her, though. But we can discuss that when I return, Mr. Garrick." That last let him know she'd had a few other things she wanted to discuss as well. He didn't care. Later, he'd tell her his whole damn life story if that's what she wanted—as long as she gave him a few minutes alone with Jade now.
She did.
He slipped his hand into Jade's as the door closed, smoothing his other down her bruised cheek, wishing he'd gotten a few extra whacks into Dillon before Coffey had pulled him off. She was so damn pale—where she wasn't purple—he was afraid to speak.
And then she smiled.
He was nearly overcome with the urge to pick her up off the table, carry her out of Medical and off the ship. He wanted her home. In their home—and it was her home, too. Hell, she already had his heart, she might as well take everything else he owned.
As long as she took him, too.
Oh, God, he did not deserve her.
Not after the way he'd lied to her. But God forgive him, he wasn't letting her go. He couldn't. Not now and not ever.
He took both her hands in his. "Jade, I'm so sorry. I—"
She shook her head and pressed her fingers to his lips. "Shh. It doesn't matter."
He kissed her fingers and brought the hand down, squeezing it gently. "Yes, it does. I just don't know where to start. I could tell you what I'm supposed to tell you—what I was ordered to tell you. That no one was supposed to know about my father because of the case. But I can't. Because that's not the truth—at least not the whole truth."
He took a deep breath, drawing strength from her as she squeezed his fingers back. "Honey, the truth is, I was scared. Scratch that—I was terrified. By the time I realized I'd gotten in over my head with you, I knew you well enough to know you wouldn't put up with my prejudices about the Navy. I also knew I couldn't ask you to get out. But I couldn't let you go, either."
"Why not?"
It was now or never. He knew that. But what if she wasn't ready? What if she was never ready? He stared into those gorgeous gray eyes for a few more moments, then cleared his throat. It was time to find out. "Because … I love you."
She took a slow, deep breath and then exhaled just as slowly—but by the time she finished, her eyes were glistening just as brightly as the hair slipping through his fingers. "I suppose that's a good thing—since I happen to love you, too."
He closed his eyes, savoring the words. It didn't matter that Coffey had already told him. He'd needed to hear it from her. And frankly, they sounded a hell of a lot sweeter coming from her lips. So sweet, he leaned over and kissed her. He grazed his thumb across her bottom lip as he pulled away. "So what do we do now?"
"Get married?"
He froze. "Did you just say what I think you did?"
Jade's heart stopped as Reese stared at her, obviously in shock. Oh, God. Why did she say that? It was her head, that was it. She must have taken one whack too many because now she'd gone and blown it for good. Why did she have to assume just because Reese said he loved her, he wanted to marry her? She was such an idiot! He couldn't have made it more plain than he already had. He wasn't taking on the Navy.
Ever.
She swallowed another lump—this one of tears and not sawdust. "I'm sorry. I—I shouldn't have said that. You just told me you couldn't live with the Navy."
He cupped her face as he leaned close. "Yes, I'll marry you." Then he stunned her again as he grinned. "You'll have to forgive me—and my surprise. I was all set to convince you we had to get married, but you beat me to it." He took a deep breath and squeezed her hand, firmly this time. "And I can live with the Navy. I know that now. What I can't live without is you. Just, please, don't ever ask me to join the Navy Wives Club."
She chuckled through a fresh wave of tears. "I don't think they've called it that for years. But, okay, I promise you—I'll never ask you to join." She sighed as he leaned over and kissed her again—though he ended it much too soon as far as she was concerned.
"Good. Then it's a done deal." He smiled that gorgeous smile of his, the one that warmed her from the inside out. It actually caused the pain in her head to ebb. "Besides, how can I turn down a lifetime with the most incredibly sexy woman on this planet, who drives a ship better than any man I know, can blush one minute and turn into a tigress the next—and thinks my kisses rate a twenty?"
"What?"
Karin. There was no other explanation.
She struggled to sit up. "I'm going to kill—"
"I eavesdropped."
She blinked—and then laughed.
He folded both her hands into his and leaned close, staring deep into her eyes. "And, for the record, I did not make a bet with Dillon. He did that all on his own."
She flushed. "I know. I figured that out about ten seconds after I left the club, but I was too stubborn to go back in and tell you."
He hugged her gently then, lifting her up off the exam table and into his arms as he buried his face in her hair. She wrapped her arms around him as he shuddered. "God, I will never forgive myself for not being there for you."
"But you were there."
He drew back and stared at her, as confused as she had been when it happened. But she wasn't confused anymore. Jeff was wrong. She knew that now.
She didn't have to put a man first.
But if she ever did, she now knew she could. It just had to be the right one.
This man.
She nodded, smiling. "You were there, Reese. In my mind. I guess I was so scared I'd never see you again—that I'd never be able to tell you I loved you—that I just conjured you up."
She forgot to breathe as he lowered his head and stared deep into her eyes, his own burning steady and blue as his grin lit up her entire world. "I love you, Lieutenant Jade Parker. I love you."
And then she cupped his face and kissed him. Because that was all she needed to hear.
* * * * *
FOR HIS EYES ONLY Page 22