Guard My Baby

by Rebecca Savage

  Sharon wheezed out, "Oh, dear God."

  Cade rose and handed Eli to Sharon, but he maintained a hold on Eli until he made sure that Sharon had a firm grip on his child. "Do you have her, Sharon?"

  Sharon looked pale and dazed. She remained immobile, except that she tightened her grasp on her granddaughter. Nodding, she continued to appear stunned. Cade put his hand on Sharon's shoulder and turned her gently. "Take Eli into the master bath in Lainie's bedroom and stay with her. Keep away from any windows."

  Sharon nodded again, and then slowly did as she was asked. Cade stepped back into the room, avoiding the broken glass as best he could, but it crunched under his bare feet. There was too much to miss it all. He winced, but he moved ahead, his jaw locked firmly against the pain. It took all his past military training to ignore the danger to himself and the pain in his feet and continue onward, but he did it. He picked Lainie up and carried her out of the trashed bedroom that looked as if a small bomb had gone off in it. He didn't set her down until he had her in the living room, away from the disaster of their baby's destroyed domain. He placed her on the sofa, squatted next to her, and searched her for cuts from the glass. "Are you okay?"

  Lainie looked at him as if he were nuts. "Am I okay? You carried me out of our baby's room through broken glass. You look as if you were run through a meat grinder. You have slits of bleeding, broken skin all over your sliced bare back, and your feet are oozing blood onto my hardwood floor." Lainie laughed hysterically. "Not that I give a damn about the floor. It'll come clean."

  Cade gripped her knee. "I'm fine. I'll mend. I'm more worried about you and Eli, and even Sharon."

  Lainie grabbed his hand and held onto it like a lifeline. "What kind of man, bleeding and bruised, has the gumption to ask if I'm okay? God, you must've seen a lot. Been through a lot. Good Lord. What must you have endured during your lifetime, so that this doesn't even faze you?"

  Cade shoved to his feet and tore his hand from hers. Lainie reached for him and recaptured his hand. She wouldn't allow him to distance himself... not now. "Cade, have you lost your mind? You're the one that's hurt. I'm fine. I wasn't even nicked with a single piece of glass. You shielded me from it, but you... you're bleeding like a sieve." She started to get up. He pushed her back down.

  "Stay," was all he said.

  "Cade, let me up. I have to get the first aid kit, clean up your wounds, and patch you up. You could have broken glass lodged under your skin, especially in your feet. You could get infected."

  She shook, probably with fear. He shook, too, but he wasn't afraid. He was outraged. "Just stay right here for a minute, will you? Just sit still? The police will be here any second." Sirens screamed in the distance even as he said it. "The silent alarm went off. Chuck will probably respond, too. He can take care of my cuts, or I'll do it myself, later." Cade's eyes searched her body again, kneeling next to her. "Are you sure you're not cut?"

  She pushed him down on his butt, and he sprawled on the floor. She managed to get to her feet this time, and she propped her hands on her hips. "I'm getting the first aid kit, Cade. To hell with Chuck's working on your wounds. I'm perfectly capable of taking care of you. I'm not an idiot, you know, nor do I have a weak stomach."

  He stayed where she'd shoved him. He liked the view from that position anyway. He could watch her curves from down here. They moved under the small thin nightshirt that she must have put on after he'd left her and gone to bed hurting. She looked fierce, protective, and beautiful. He wanted her with a vengeance. "I never said you were weak or an idiot, and I don't believe you're either one of those things. I watched you go through the hell of abnormal labor. Remember?" He wrapped his finger around her ankle, ran his hand up her calf, and stopped at her knee. She shivered. "But I don't want you to leave my sight, Lainie. Not even for a minute. Not after what happened."

  Lainie took a deep breath. What was he saying? And why hadn't he included Eli in that not-out-of-his-sight thing? Wasn't she the one he really loved? Better not dwell too long on that one. She might get her hopes up. She cleared her throat and struggled for composure. "In case you hadn't noticed, I'm not really the one in danger here. Eli is. Her bedroom window had a brick flung through it, which means the asshole knows the layout of my home."

  Cade used his fingers to trace circles around the back of her knee, near her pressure point, and then move up her thigh. She nearly melted into oblivion. "I know, Lainie, but Eli's with your mother. She's fine. We're going to have to think about how he knows so much about this house. It might be a clue as to who he is, how to find him, and how to stop all this."

  At that moment, Eli let out a loud wail. Sharon entered the living room and took in the intimate scene. Cade remained on the floor, sitting crossed-legged and bleeding, staring up at Lainie, and stroking her leg.

  Blissfully ignorant of what had happened, Eli let everyone know that she was still hungry. Her meal had been rudely interrupted.

  Cade stood. As if he read Lainie's mind, he said with a devastating, adoring smile, "Ah, the advantages of being a resilient infant. Loud sounds don't affect her, at least not for long. And basic needs are all that matter at her age."

  Basic needs were important to him, too. One of which would be fulfilled tonight, if it was the last thing he ever did. He desperately wanted the woman standing next to him, looking up at him as if he were her hero. Dammed if he didn't want to be her hero, too. Now, if only he were hero material.

  Lainie took Eli from Sharon and looked at Cade. "I think the police are here. I'll take Eli and feed her." Lainie drilled him with a menacing, meaningful glare. "And when they're finished questioning us, I'll patch you up. Then I'll take my mom to the airport." Lainie turned to Sharon. "Mom, get packed. You might as well. We're already awake, and my alarm was set to go off in about thirty minutes anyway. This way we can stop for breakfast somewhere on the way."

  Sharon grumbled, "Craziness. I have to get away from all this chaos."

  Sharon did as she was told, and Lainie sighed. Thank goodness. For once, her mother was being agreeable.

  Cade hobbled along at the sound of the doorbell, trying to keep his sticky, bloody toes off the floor. He opened the door for the police officers, who entered and questioned him. The interrogation continued for half an hour, after they handed him enough gauze to stop the bleeding of the worst wound in between his toes, after he pulled the piece of glass from it, that is. They advised him to get stitches, but he had no time for that. He had to watch Eli while Lainie took Sharon to the airport. Then Lainie had a doctor's appointment, as did Eli. Geez. Fatherhood and dealing with family matters were about as complicated as fighting in the jungles of South America.

  The cops had a first aid kit, and he took care of the wounds himself, while they pummeled him with questions. Finally, the investigators checked out Eli's bedroom, taking pictures from several different angles. They gathered evidence, especially the brick, which they slipped into a plastic baggie and marked as a weapon. They went around the house to make sure no one lurked in the darkness and remained a danger to them.

  Chuck showed up, half-dressed, looking half-crazed and worried out of his mind. He'd phoned Cade on the way, and Cade had assured him that everyone was safe, but apparently Chuck had needed to see for himself. Looking Cade up and down, Chuck scowled. "I thought you said you were okay."

  "I am," Cade insisted.

  Chuck turned Cade's back to him. "You've got blood drying all over your scratched-up back. You obviously took the brunt of the particles of flying shards of glass there. You've got a massive bruise forming where you were struck by the brick." Chuck glared at Cade's foot, propped up on a kitchen chair. Cade had put a butterfly-style bandage on it to substitute for stitches and hold the meat together. Chuck's face went white. He spat out a string of curse words in a long, satisfying flow, before growling, "Sit. I'll sweep up the glass in Eli's bedroom and move a bookcase so that it blocks the open window. That'll have to do until we can get a new one put in later tod
ay."

  Cade cocked is head to the side. "I can do it. I know how to put in a window."

  Chuck frowned. "You'll do no such thing. You're busted up."

  Cade shifted under Chuck's scrutiny. He didn't like feeling helpless or obligated - not even to his own brother. "You sure you have time to deal with this mess? I can hire someone to install a new window. I don't care how damn much it costs. I'll pay for the rush job."

  The look Chuck gave Cade shut him up. "No damned way. You're my brother. Eli's my niece, and I'm guessing Lainie will be my sister-in-law someday soon, if you have your way. My business and reputation are at stake here. My company secures and protects this house and the people in it. I won't have that son of a bitch ruining my business."

  Cade chuckled, feeling better with his little brother around to lighten things up, even though Chuck's grumpy attitude wasn't exactly as happy-go-lucky as usual. Cade patted Chuck on the back, reveling in brotherhood and all it entailed. "Thanks, bro. I'm glad you're on my side, man."

  "We're family, Cade. We should be on each other's sides." Chuck whisked himself off to do his brotherly duty.

  Cade blanched. Their family hadn't always been that way. Their family was about as messed up and dysfunctional as they come. Their childhoods had been marred with abuse, neglect, fighting, upheaval and domestic violence. They'd constantly moved from city to city, and they'd had a mom who'd been forced to work too many hours to be there for them. The live-in men who'd come around, sniffing at their mom's skirts, had been worse than useless, and more recently, their family had been more than broken. It had been shattered by the loss of Rachel and Brianne.

  At least their mother lived alone now. She was still in St. Louis, though, and she spent a lot of time in bars, picking up men, and looking for attention that wouldn't satisfy her. She needed more than attention. She needed love, and she'd not find it in the kind of men she usually got herself mixed up with.

  Suddenly, Cade realized that what he prescribed for his own mother was what he should look for himself. No. That wasn't it, exactly. He'd already found it in Lainie, a good, wholesome woman, who'd as much as said she could love him, but could she? Really? He'd seen the look in her eyes. He harbored doubts, but he had started to hope that Lainie could really love him, someday, if he let her get close enough. If he let her love him. If he let himself love her.

  He shook his head and listened to Chuck give the police officers final instructions before they left. Cade stood by while Chuck installed the new security codes. This incident, in Chuck's mind, necessitated heightened security efforts.

  Cade's thoughts drifted. Chuck had found a good woman in Trish, if Chuck allowed that relationship to flourish. Cade truly believed that Trish was a good woman, now that he knew her better. Trish was Lainie's best friend. Lainie thought the world of Trish, and he doubted that Lainie could be wrong about Trish's character. Although Lainie had managed to get herself mixed up with him, and he had his bad points - bad points galore. He'd fought, he'd maimed, he'd killed, and he'd failed his sister, his niece, and his mother. He even failed his first attempt at having a child. Then he'd failed Lainie. He'd lusted after her, and then he'd abandoned her.

  Yes, he had plenty of flaws and failings. He could count them more easily than his good points and successes. At least he chose to do so. Why? He had no idea, but he'd racked up bad things in his life. It was safer to be negative than to try to make himself look good, even in his own eyes. He preferred brutal honesty over trying to turn himself into something he wasn't - a perfect-spouse-material kind of guy.

  Cade sighed. If it was the thought that counted, he'd be worth a mint, because he sure as hell wished he'd never killed a single soul. He wished he'd been able to save his sister and his niece. He wished he'd been allowed to raise his child with his ex-wife, and he wished he could take his mom away from it all and give her a decent life.

  Problem was, wishes didn't always come true, and a man can't always convince the mother of his own child to marry him.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Lainie took her mom to the airport, and Sharon didn't say much on the way. It was the first time Lainie had seen her mother mute and pensive.

  Finally, Sharon Blanchet spoke, breaking the silence and shocking Lainie. "I'm sorry, honey. I might have... misjudged Cade. He might make you a good husband after all."

  Lainie nearly swerved off the road and wrecked her car. "I... I don't know that we're getting married, Mom. But... we'll see."

  "I think you should consider it. He really loves Eli, and I think maybe he loves you, too. I've never seen anyone take the kind of abuse he took, and then carry a woman out of a room like that - stepping on broken glass and risking his own health to protect his woman and child." Sharon shook her head as if in a trace. "It was the most insane and amazing thing I've ever seen in my life." Sharon let her eyes fall on her daughter. "He's also put up with me, and he's still here. That probably makes him a saint."

  Tears threatened, but Lainie held them back by sheer force and stubbornness. She could hardly see to drive with them swimming in her eyes. "Mom, Cade's a brave man. He's seen a lot. Done a lot. I doubt the little bit of glass he suffered through earlier compared to the battles he's fought in the jungle." Lainie glanced sideways at her mother. "And you're no picnic, but I still love you."

  Fences were being mended between herself and her mother, and she had Cade to thank for one more thing. She'd seen his wounds. He had lots of them. The shattered glass added to the many pale scars he had on his back and his chest - scars that added to the dangerous look of him and made him more appealing to her. The marks on his body proved his willingness to serve his country, no matter what the cost. They showed his courage, and it terrified her to know that he'd go to such brave lengths just to make sure that he completed his mission.

  This time, his mission was the safety and protection of his child, and her, the mother of that child. Tonight, his mission would be to make love to her, to pleasure her, and that was one mission she'd make sure he accomplished.

  Lainie's goodbye at the airport to her mother was more tearful than she'd thought it'd be. She and her mother had finally come to some sort of agreement: an understanding.

  They loved each other. Lainie loved Cade. They all loved Eli. Since family mattered so much, Sharon Blanchet seemed finally to have accepted that Lainie would work this out, however Lainie thought best, and that Lainie's choice would be the right one in the end.

  Lainie began thinking best would be to marry Cade, even if he didn't love her. Maybe Cade was right. Happily ever after didn't have to be about a poetic kind of love. Maybe it just had to be about being together, respecting each other, compatibility, and having something in common.

  In this case, they certainly had something common. They had Eli. Raising her to know both her parents was as good a reason as any to marry Cade. Throughout history, people had lived in loveless marriages, even arranged marriages. Hadn't they? So she could do it, too. Couldn't she?

  She sighed. Her mother's plane ascended into the air. A one-sided love wasn't what she wanted, but she might have to endure it, unless she could get Cade to love her. He'd always take care of her. He was that kind of honorable man. He took his responsibilities very seriously, and he was quite capable of doing so. He'd proven that to her this morning. He'd gone above and beyond the call of duty, and he'd gotten hurt in the process. He'd shown concern for her and Eli the entire time, and the stubborn man still hadn't let her patch him up.

  Cade drove Lainie and Eli to their respective doctors' appointments. Eli's six-week check-up was first, and Cade held Eli while she got her shots, which barely caused her to flinch.

  "Tough kid." Dr. Tolly remarked, grinning.

  Smiling, Lainie winked at the doctor. "She must take after her thick-skinned father."

  If Lainie had known how many times he'd secretly winced and silently cursed the pain in his feet when he'd pulled his shoes on, she'd think him a major wimp. The wound between
his toes hurt like hell, and he probably needed stitches, but there was no time for that. He'd be glad when he could take his shoes off, along with all his other clothes, and make love to Lainie, tonight, if she'd still let him.

  Cuts or no cuts, he had a mission to accomplish tonight, and he'd accomplish that mission - the satisfaction of Lainie, and himself in the process - to the best of his ability, come hell or high water. He grinned in anticipation, but his grin disappeared quickly. The way his body looked, she might not want him touching her.

  God, he hoped she would.

  Lainie went to her appointment with Trish, and Cade agreed to keep Eli in the waiting room while Lainie saw Trish, who released Lainie and gave her the thumbs up for having sex. Lainie blushed profusely and refused to look Trish in the eye. "Yes, well, we'll see."

  Trish laughed loudly, knowingly, and winked at her with a sheepish twinkle in her eyes. "Yeah. Right. I saw the way you two gawked at each other out there in the waiting room. You practically dripped drool all down your chin, and Cade looked as if he could eat you alive right there on the leather chair in front of God and everyone. I think maybe this morning scared the life out of him, you know? Maybe even more than it scared you."

  Lainie shuddered. "I don't know how he could've been more terrified than I was, but he remained competent through it all, to say the least."

  Trish huffed, "I'd say he was heroic, by the way Chuck talked about him. Chuck thinks he walks on water anyway. Big brother thing, you know. And maybe he's right. Cade has pretty much leaped right in and taken over. He's been there for you, Lainie, I'll give him that. He was there for labor and delivery, and from what you say, he's been there for diaper changings and all-hours-of-the-day-and-night feedings, even though you breastfeed most of the time. There can't be too many guys that look like him that are willing to be the kind of daddy he obviously is."