Tempted by Love

by Jennifer Ryan

  “Jay . . .”

  “I’m sorry I let you down.” He’d known something was wrong, had even offered to drop everything and go to her. He should have listened to his instincts and done it. His instincts had kept him alive more than once. This time, his not listening nearly cost him the love of his life.

  “You did not let me down. I believed Noel would never hurt me. I didn’t take into account his partners. It’s my fault. I told you it could wait. I should have driven straight to your house instead of stopping by mine to grab some food and clothes.”

  He didn’t want to dwell on it anymore. “The DEA shut down the pharmacy.”

  Her mouth tilted in a half frown. “I figured they would.”

  “You’ll be the key witness against Noel. You’ll need to testify.”

  “Wait. What? I’m not being prosecuted?”

  “Technically, you turned him in. Your records and notes were specific and detailed. With your background, and having so many DEA agents in your life, the ones in charge of the investigation, along with the FBI, believe you’d have done a much better job covering your tracks if you were involved. The whole thing was blatant but contained to the pharmacy. If Noel hadn’t taken you on as a partner and exposed himself to you discovering what he was doing, then he’d have probably gotten away with it for a long time.”

  “So I get to keep my license?”

  “Yes.”

  “And how much of the DEA and FBI understanding that I had nothing to do with this had to do with you making them believe that?”

  “You can thank your brothers for the major part of that, but I backed them up when the FBI came to question me.”

  Emotion clogged her throat. “You never left my side.”

  “Hell, no. I hoped that if you could hear me, know I was here waiting for you, you’d fight even harder to come back.”

  “Was I really that bad?” Fear laced her words.

  “The cuts and surgery were nothing compared to that head injury.” He closed his eyes on a sigh. The weariness sapping his energy and letting all his doubts and concerns flood back. He had to open his eyes to reassure himself she was awake and talking and even with the bandages and pale skin she was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen.

  “I’m tired and sore, but I’m okay.” She squeezed his hand. “Go home. Sleep. I’m not going anywhere.”

  Jay shook his head all through those words. “I’m not leaving here without you.”

  The gun and badge at his waist told her why. A flash of fear shot through her eyes. “You’re afraid he’ll come to finish me off.”

  “I’m not giving anyone a chance to try. I catch that guy before the cops do, he’ll wish he was dead.” He meant every word.

  She smiled, appreciating the sentiment. “You’re sweet.”

  He felt surly and ready to beat that guy into the ground. Six feet under would make him happy. “About you leaving with me.”

  She settled deeper into the pillow, sleep creeping in as her eyes fluttered. She rubbed her thumb against his palm, the motion growing slower. “I don’t want to go back to my place. I can’t stop thinking about it.” A shiver ran through her, raising goose bumps on her arms.

  He ran his hand over her skin to smooth them away and comfort her. “Stay with me.”

  “Hmm. That sounds nice.” She began to really drift.

  He wanted to get this settled now. “Move in with me.”

  Her eyes flew open. “What?”

  “Say yes.”

  “Jay,” she sighed. “You’re upset about what happened.” She didn’t believe he meant it.

  “Either you move in with me, or I move in with you. Either way, I’m not spending another night without you. So what’s it going to be? Your place or mine?”

  She studied him for a minute. He didn’t back down from his resolve. This was the least of what he wanted, but he’d get to the rest soon enough. He wasn’t proposing to her while she lay in a hospital bed. She deserved special. She deserved everything wonderful that asshole tried to steal away from her and Jay when he almost killed her.

  “How about we make your place our place?”

  He let out the breath that lodged in his chest when she didn’t answer him immediately.

  “Deal.” He practically fell down to her and kissed her softly.

  The door opened behind them. He pressed up on his hands and whipped his head around to see who was there, keeping his body over Alina to protect her.

  Her hand slid up his chest to his scruffy jaw. “It’s just the nurse. I really need those meds now.”

  He nodded down at her. “Sleep. I’ll be here when you wake up.”

  The nurse checked the band on Alina’s arm, the chart, and the syringe to verify they all had the same code. “This will have some kick and work quickly.” She shot the drugs into the IV line.

  It took a second, but then Alina’s eyes went wide. “Wow. That’s got some punch.”

  The nurse smiled and retreated.

  Jay rubbed her arm up and down as her eyes drifted shut again. He’d settle back into his chair and quiet vigil once she was out again.

  Alina sighed and adjusted her position, trying not to move her bandaged arm. “Did you tell me you bought me a present?” Her drug-groggy voice faded with every word.

  He smiled and pulled the velvet box from his hip pocket. “I did. I’ll give it to you when we get home.”

  “’Kay,” she whispered.

  He flipped the box open and stared at the diamond ring he wanted more than anything to slip on her hand. But one glimpse of her swollen fingers and he prayed the doctor was right and she’d regain full use of her hand. They wouldn’t know until it healed and she started using it. No matter what, he intended to keep her safe, marry her, and have a long and happy life with her by his side. Forever was a start.

  First, he needed to find the men who hurt her and make them pay.

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Jay approached the abandoned house with the other officers from the local PD and the two FBI agents overseeing the multi-jurisdictional case. The tip came in an hour ago and Jay hoped the neighbor who spotted a man limping badly going into the slanting building with the sagging porch panned out. Noel wasn’t the threat Brian posed, and Jay wanted that bastard locked up or six feet under immediately.

  Overgrown bushes crowded around the house. Most of the windows were boarded over or missing. The approach left them in the open, but Jay hoped they kept the element of surprise.

  One of the officers held the battering ram, but they didn’t need it. The front door hung open six inches from one hinge. Jay and the team members held their breaths, listening for any sound inside. Jay had done this more than a hundred times, but he found it hard to hold back the adrenaline rush and need to shoot on sight. He sucked in a breath and focused on the job. He wanted to go back to Alina and tell her he’d found the bastard who hurt her and she was safe.

  She’d woken him in the night, caught in a nightmare that had her thrashing in the bed and screaming in her sleep. It took him ten minutes to calm her down enough so the nurse didn’t have to sedate her. That chilling scene alone made him want to put a bullet in the stupid prick who should have known better than to go after a DEA agent’s family, his girlfriend, and the most important person in Jay’s world.

  The fucker had to pay.

  The officer ahead of him shouldered the door open and against the wall, allowing Jay and the other agents and officers to enter, guns drawn.

  Jay met Caden in the open living area as his team came through the back. Jay stared down at the bloody rags on the broken wooden table. The other officers and agents fanned out and checked the single bedroom and bathroom. They had more people than they needed, but everyone in law enforcement wanted this guy because Alina was tied to Jay and her brothers. Law enforcement looked out for their own. He’d put his life on the line for any one of them if it was someone in their family.

  “Clear,” rang out several
times, a note of disappointment in all their voices.

  “He’s not here, but I think this is our guy.” Jay swore. “He’s bleeding badly. Did the neighbor spot a red-and-white truck?”

  “No,” one of the officers who’d covered the back said. “But there are tracks in the dirt. If he parked out there by the tree, no one would have seen it unless they went around the back of this dump.”

  Jay swore again. “The call came in an hour ago. He couldn’t have gotten far.”

  The FBI agent—Jay couldn’t remember any of their names, he was so tired—answered. “We set up roadblocks in conjunction with coordinating this. We hoped to arrest him here, but made contingency plans just in case he left before we got here or he escaped. I’ll check in with the teams, see if they’ve spotted the truck or our guy.”

  Jay walked around the living room and kitchen, looking for any clue to tell him where this guy had been or was going.

  Aside from wrappers from two frozen burritos and a small chip bag, they didn’t find anything else.

  “Do you think he ate them frozen?” Caden asked.

  “Gas station grab and go. He nuked them there, then found this place to lie low for the night.” Jay slammed his fist on the scarred and sticky counter. A mouse ran out from under it and skittered across his boot and the dusty wood floor. “I can’t believe we missed him.”

  “I’ll have Agent Williams coordinate with the local PD to check out all the convenience stores in the area to see if our guy stopped for gas and food.”

  “That will tell us where he was. I want to know where he is right now.”

  Caden clamped his hand on Jay’s shoulder. “So do I. I want this guy as bad as you do.” Caden slapped him on the back. “You better get back to the hospital. I’ll keep you posted. Alina needs you right now.”

  Jay needed her. Tired to the bone, he wanted to take her home and get her settled. He wanted to hold her in his arms and reassure her everything would be okay.

  More than anything, he wanted to tell her this was over.

  But this cabin was only fifteen miles out of town. If the dumbshit hadn’t run and gotten as far away as possible by now, it could only mean one thing: he wanted to finish what he started.

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Alina held both hands on the tray table over her bed while Ashley painted her nails a pretty, soft lavender. Beck sat in the chair beside her, staring at all the people walking by staring at his famous wife, but she knew better. He was watching out for her because they’d finally coaxed Jay to go home this morning to shower, eat a proper meal, and, she hoped, get some sleep.

  Or so they’d told her.

  Beck checked another text and grumbled under his breath and typed out a reply.

  “So they didn’t get him, huh?”

  “No.” Beck stopped typing and swore. “I need to go back undercover. I’m losing my touch.”

  “Where is Jay, really?”

  “We got a tip that someone matching Brian’s description was squatting in an abandoned shack.” Beck looked up at her. “Don’t tell him I told you.”

  “I take it Caden is with him.”

  Beck didn’t look at her. Ashley nodded confirmation.

  “Jay was supposed to go home and rest. He’s barely slept the last four days.”

  Beck tilted his head and met her annoyed glare. “He wants to catch these guys before they hurt you again. I’ve never seen him like this. He’s always driven, but for you, he’s a man on a mission. Even from here, he kept track of the investigation and hunt for these guys.”

  “Do you know how Lee is doing?”

  Beck’s eyes grew troubled. “She was here yesterday for her treatment. I spoke to her briefly. She’s devastated.”

  “I can only imagine. One day her husband goes to work, then doesn’t come home and the cops show up, you think the worst, but you discover there’s more than one kind of worst and your husband is a drug supplier—and not the kind you thought.”

  “He’s more than that. He’s implicated in those two home invasion deaths and your attempted murder.” Beck read another text that only made him frown harder.

  “Don’t mind him. He’s just mad he’s not out there with the guys.” Ashley blew on Alina’s wet nails and screwed the lid back on the nail polish bottle. “Done. So pretty.”

  Alina admired her perfect nails. “You know, if the whole acting thing doesn’t work out, you could open your own nail salon.”

  She and Ashley laughed together. Ashley was used to having people fuss over her on a movie set. It made Alina feel a bit strange to have Ashley fuss over her. With two older brothers, she’d grown up more tomboy than girly-girl. But the distraction helped keep boredom at bay and the nightmare of what happened from swamping her mind and sending her into a full-blown panic attack. Her hands shook when she thought about it. That one image of her holding the knife in Davy’s chest and him slipping to the floor sent chills up her spine.

  “Alina!” Jay snapped to get her attention.

  Davy’s dead eyes vanished from her mind. She shook free of the fear clawing at her insides and stared up at Jay standing next to her. “Hi.”

  Jay cupped her face. “You okay?”

  “Yeah, fine. How was your shower and nap?” She eyed his still scruffy face and bloodshot eyes.

  He rubbed his hand over his thickening beard. “The thing is—”

  “You lied to me.”

  Jay glanced at Beck and Ashley, their avid audience. His gaze turned frosty on Beck. “I didn’t want to worry you.”

  “Don’t blame him. You said you were going home. You need to sleep.”

  “I need to find those bastards,” he snapped, his frustration getting the better of him.

  She leaned into his hand. “Okay. But you don’t need to lie to me about it.”

  “After what you went through, the way you looked when I walked in here . . . I don’t ever want to see that kind of fear in you. I need you to be safe. And more than anything I want you to feel safe.”

  “I do, when I’m with you. So take me home. Be with me.”

  Jay cocked his head. “They discharged you already?”

  “Half an hour ago. Beck refused to take me by my place to pack some things. He said I had to wait for you.”

  Jay and Beck exchanged a look only they understood.

  Ashley headed for the door. “I’ll go tell the nurse you’re ready to go home.”

  “Great, she’ll probably start a riot in the halls.” Beck went after his famous wife. No fewer than fifty people had traipsed past Alina’s hospital room, trying to get a peek at Ashley.

  Jay brushed his hand over her hair. “Are you feeling well enough to leave? How’s your head?”

  They’d removed the massive bandages around her head and on her arm to allow her a quick shower this morning. She felt clean and almost human again. But the sight of all those stitches across her forehead and over her arm made her heart sink and stomach ache. She didn’t want to be reminded of what happened every time she looked in the mirror. The doctor assured her the scarring would be minimal and would fade over time. He said the same about the punch the memories had when they came, too.

  “The headache is gone.” She held up her arm. “They wrapped it but said I could take it off in a day or two.” She touched just under the line of stitches on her head.

  Jay read her upset. “It’s okay, sweetheart. In a couple of days when the swelling subsides and the bruising fades, it won’t be so bad.” To distract her, he held up her good hand. “This is nice.”

  “Ashley painted them while we waited for you to get back from hunting bad guys.”

  “I’m sorry, sweetheart.” He yawned and covered his mouth with his hand.

  “You can’t keep me in the dark on this, Jay. If I know what’s happening, then I won’t let my mind spin out on all the what-ifs.” She could control the overwhelming fear and anticipate the consequences.

  Jay yawned again and reluctantly said,
“I’ll keep you in the loop.”

  “What did the cops say after they interviewed me this morning?” She’d recounted her story for them with minimal elaboration on the gruesome details. She’d just wanted it to be over.

  “Alina.”

  She stared at her lap. “Yeah.”

  “Look at me.”

  She did what he said, though it was hard to see the depth of his concern. “You are not in trouble for what happened.”

  “You mean for killing that guy.” Her heart throbbed with a punch of regret again.

  “You did what you had to do to save yourself, Alina. They were going to kill you. It was self-defense and everyone knows it.”

  Guilt made her want to fix it. “I feel like I should do something for his family.” She desperately wanted to tell them how sorry she was for taking him from them.

  “He was there to kill you,” Jay snapped.

  She knew that, but it didn’t lessen the depth of her remorse.

  Jay brushed his hand over her hair. “You need to try to accept that you did what you had to do. The guy was no saint. His family knew what he was and, though they hoped it wouldn’t end this way, knew the possibility existed because of the way he lived his life. Let them grieve, Alina. I know you’re used to taking care of everyone. You have such a big heart. But right now, you need to take care of you.”

  “I need to take care of you, too.” Which meant getting him home before he fell asleep on his feet.

  She slid off the bed when the nurse came in with the wheelchair followed by Beck and Ashley. She slipped her bare feet into the sandals Ashley brought from her apartment along with her favorite pair of leggings and the super soft French terry pink tunic made for lounging on the couch. Ashley had also grabbed a few other outfits and toiletries since Alina had no idea how long it would take her to be able to go back to her place.