She heard footsteps and looked up. Officer Ellis walked down the hall, his face haggard, his eyes cold.
He definitely didn’t look like Opie anymore.
“Ms. Baker. Have you heard anything?”
She shook her head. “Nothing yet. Still in surgery.”
He looked at her clothes. “Didn’t they offer you anything else to wear?”
She looked down and then back up at him. She shook her head.
“Can you tell me anything about tonight?”
“Don’t you think this can wait?” Jack asked as he took hold of her hand. “Damn, Madison, you’re freezing.”
Shock. She knew she was probably in some sort of shock. They had checked her out for a concussion. All it had turned out to be was a very bad, very big bump.
“I can answer questions. Doctor James showed up tonight. He apparently figured out who I was, thanks to our session today. I mean, yesterday.”
“And did he say why he killed Allison?”
She nodded. “They had an affair. She threatened to tell his wife and report him. What did he say?”
“Well, he’s here at the hospital right now. I think your boyfriend gave the bastard a concussion.”
“Here?” she asked, unable to keep the panic from her voice.
“Under guard. He won’t be bothering you anymore.” He hesitated.
“I said you could ask me questions.”
“Your security alarm didn’t sound. Did you put it on before you went to bed?”
She nodded.
“Do you know how he got the code then?”
She thought about the four-digit code and closed her eyes. Even though she thought she was all cried out, the tears still came.
“Zero-nine-seventeen.”
She opened her eyes and found both men looking at her.
“It’s the date of the attack in Afghanistan. He knew it, probably understood that would be the one four digit number I would remember.”
And the bastard had used it.
“That was a risk on his part.”
Before she could ask anything else, there were footsteps coming from the opposite direction. It was the surgeon. The older man looked tired as he approached them.
“Ms. Baker?”
She nodded at the solemn sound of his voice. Her heart almost stopped beating right there and then.
“He lost a lot of blood, probably because he decided to have a fight with someone after getting shot.”
“H-he was saving me.”
He gave her a tired smile. “He’s going to be fine. He was asking for you before we put him under. He also threatened the staff that you should be in his room when he wakes up. He claims you are his fiancé.”
Jack chuckled beside her.
“I’m…” she didn’t know what to say.
“She’s his, I promise,” Jack said.
He nodded. “His family has been informed.”
“Oh, God, I forgot—”
Jack squeezed her hand again. “I called his Aunt Joey. She got a hold of everyone else. Elena, his sister, should be here soon, according to the text I got. And his parents should be here in the morning.”
The doctor nodded. “He’s in recovery right now, so I am going to get a nurse to take you to his room to wait. He threatened to leave the hospital, and I have a feeling he would, if you weren’t there. Seeing that he went above and beyond to save you, it would be a shame if he ruined all my excellent work.”
He turned to leave. “Doc,” Officer Ellis said.
“Yes?”
“Can Ms. Baker have a set of scrubs?”
The doctor looked down at her. She was still only wearing a pair of pajama bottoms and a tank top, which had Dante’s blood staining it. The doctor nodded.
“Well, there you go,” Jack said. “And you’re a fiancé.”
“He didn’t ask.”
“Believe me, as a brother-in-law, you won’t get a request. You’ll get a ring and a date. The man has his mind set.”
She leaned back in her chair and before she knew it, tears were pouring down her face. Jack wrapped an arm around her and let her sob on his shoulder.
He was the only man she had ever loved and she couldn’t imagine life without him. Only a week into their relationship and she knew he loved her. He wouldn’t leave her, but she couldn’t bring him down. She would have to be the one who faced reality. He had a promising career and he didn’t need to be burdened with her issues. The cruelness of the situation was going to leave her soul shattered.
She was going to have to let him go.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Hours later, she was sitting in his room, their fingers entwined and her head on his bed beside him.
She felt a twitch on her hand and she looked up. Dante was smiling down at her.
“You’re here,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper.
“Yeah, I am.”
He moved and winced.
“Oh, don’t do that,” she said, rising up. The sun was peeking through the blinds. Elena had come and gone to grab a bite to eat and his parents were expected at any moment.
“Sure, now you tell me.”
He smiled but she couldn’t smile. She blinked and realized she was ready to cry again.
“Hey, where’s Charlie?”
Of course he asked about her dog. He was the kind of man who made sure she had everything she needed and that everything was taken care of. “He’s fine. Doctor James drugged him. Hannah is taking care of him.”
Then, he lifted his free hand and crooked his finger. “Come here, I wanna kiss you.”
She shook her head. “We have to talk first.”
“Oh, that sounds ominous.”
“You told the hospital staff that I was your fiancé.”
“Well, not technically. But as soon as you say yes.”
She shook her head. “You really have some nerve, Santini.”
“You told me you love me. You’re stuck.”
She drew in a deep breath trying to work up the courage to do what she needed to do. He needed to be free. “You can’t want me forever, Dante. I’m not that kind of woman.”
Saying the words left her feeling physically injured. Thousands of shards of glass could rip her heart to shreds, and it would hurt less than this. Living in the fantasy had been better than anything she had ever experienced. But, there was one thing Madison understood, and that was reality always crashed in and ruined it. He deserved to be happy.
“But I do want you forever.”
She shook her head and tried to untangle her fingers from his. “You’re high on the meds.”
He tightened his fingers around hers. “Dammit, from the moment I met you, you’ve been trying to tell me what I want or what is good for me. I know what’s good for me and that’s you.”
He dangled that dream, the one she hadn’t dared to have for three long years, right out in front of her. He just didn’t know how mean it was to do to her. Knowing Dante, he thought he was doing the right thing.
“No.”
“Yes.”
She laughed, and it turned into a choked sob. “You can’t understand. I’m damaged. Look what almost happened to you. You could have been killed.”
“Jesus, I’m a Marine, risking my life is part of the job description.”
“Quit talking like that. I understand what you prepare yourself for. Dealing with me at home isn’t something that is easy.”
He studied her for a second. “I wouldn’t have thought a Marine would be such a coward.”
Anger whipped through her. “I am not a coward.”
“I wouldn’t have thought so. But you’re fucking afraid. What do you call it?”
“I said I’m damaged, screwed up.”
“What, you think I want that damned Miss Perfection I met in school? That woman was annoying as hell.”
“Well, thanks a lot.”
“There you go, there’s some of that spice.”
He was smiling at her and she felt herself melting. “Stop trying to use your Santini charm on me.”
“You’re damaged, I get it. You don’t get fucking buried alive and not come back with some scars. So you check the locks constantly, so what? And our electric bill might be high because of your need to have so many lights burning. You might be insane, but you’re also brilliant and beautiful. On top of that, you’re mine!”
He shouted the last words loud enough that a nurse poked her head in the room. “Is everything okay here?”
“Yeah,” Dante said. “Leave so I can convince this stupid woman she’s the light of my life.”
The nurse looked at him then at Madison. “If you don’t want him, I’ll happily throw my husband of twenty-five years over a ledge.” She smiled at Dante. “Don’t take no for an answer, Marine.”
“Oh-rah.”
Madison waited until the nurse had left them alone before she responded. “Good lord, do you always have to make a scene?”
“Yes.”
“Let go of my hand.”
“No. Never. I said you’re mine, Baker, get used to it.”
She blinked, trying to control the tears that threatened to embarrass her. It was useless. Her vision wavered and the tears started to fall. Dante must have sensed her feelings. He tugged her closer to his bed. With one last short jerk, he had her falling on top of him.
“Please, I can’t bring you down with me. It would kill me.” She whispered the words because she was a coward. She was so afraid of having him hate her.
His expression softened as he cupped her face with his hands. “Oh, baby, you don’t bring me down. You lift me up. Don’t you understand? You’re my soft place to fall. Without you, there is no me. Not anymore.”
Then he pressed his mouth against hers. She closed her eyes and let the tears fall as he deepened the kiss. He pulled back.
“Don’t leave me. Don’t ever give up on us, Madison.”
She knew she should say no. She should walk away and let him have a life without her. It would be easier on him. But, she couldn’t. Not when every word he uttered told her how much he loved her.
She swallowed the lump in her throat, then, she let her lips curve. “Well, when you put it that way…”
For a moment, he said nothing. Then, he chuckled, low and easy and shook his head. “Damn, you know how to make a man work for it.”
“Did you ever think I would be easy?”
He smiled. “No, but I don’t want easy.”
He slid his hands down to her rear end.
Even as heat threaded through her blood, she shook her head. “Don’t even think about it, Santini.”
“Thinking about it.”
He kissed her nose.
“Dreaming about it.”
He kissed her chin.
“Doing it.”
He tried to lift his head up to kiss her on the mouth, but she stopped him.
“No. The doc said rest and you have visitors.”
He moved closer, his mouth less than an inch from hers. When he spoke, she felt his breath against her lips. “Tell them to get bent.”
“Nice of you to think of us, Dante,” his mother said from the opened door.
“Oh, God,” she said against his mouth. When she pulled away this time, he let her go, but he kept hold of her hand.
“Mrs. Santini,” she said, then realized there was more than just his mother. His father and Elena were there, along with Carlos, who had flown in.
She looked at Dante. “I am going to kill you for embarrassing me.”
“You can do it after the wedding,” he said cheerfully. “We’re getting married.”
His family looked at her. She shook her head. “I never said yes.”
Carlos laughed. “You might as well say yes. You know Dante will just keep after you until you say yes or you’ll have to haul off and shoot him again.”
She felt a wealth of humor bubble up.
Mrs. Santini came forward. “Dante, let the girl have her hand back so I can welcome her to the family.”
He listened to his mother and she found herself pulled into a hug just like the first time she had met his mother years earlier. The remaining family members did the same. She ended with Elena.
“Thank God, I will have a sister now.”
“Madison,” Mrs. Santini said. “Your parents are outside waiting to see you. They felt odd about coming back here.”
The tone in her voice told Madison she didn’t truly understand that. She nodded and turned to leave.
“Madison,” Dante said. “Come here.”
She frowned at him.
“Please.”
She heard his father chuckle as she walked forward. He pulled her down and there in front of his family, he gave her a long, wet kiss.
When he finished, he held her close and whispered. “Remember, you’re amazing.”
She nodded, fighting the tears.
She slipped out the door and found her parents sitting in the hallway. They didn’t notice her so she studied them for a second or two. When had her father’s hair gotten so gray?
“Mom. Dad.”
They turned in her direction. Her mother stood and ran to her. “Oh, Madison, baby.”
She pulled Madison into her arms, and it was then she realized her mother was crying. Madison hugged her back. It felt so good. Tears welled up in her eyes again.
When did she become such a cry baby?
“You haven’t called me baby in a long time,” she whispered.
Her mother laughed and pulled back. “You told me when you were ten to stop calling you a baby.”
She smiled. “I remember.”
Then, her father stepped forward.
He said nothing, just kept staring at her.
“I’m sorry, Dad.”
“You should be,” he said gruffly.
Disappointment crashed down her.
“Christ Almighty, girl,” he said, a little louder.
It irritated her that he could make her feel small like this. She refused. Dante had shown her that she was more than her condition, more than the perfect Marine she used to be.
She opened her mouth to tell her father just that, but instead, she found herself yanked up against his chest.
“Oh, Maddy, baby, don’t ever do that to us again. Almost losing you twice…my old heart can’t take it.”
The words seemed to be ripped from the depth of his soul.
They stood there rocking for a few moments, then she pulled back. “I thought you were mad at me.” She felt her mother drift away, but she turned and shook her head. “No, we all need to have this talk.”
“You thought I was disappointed in you?”
She nodded.
“Oh, damn. I’m sorry, Maddy. I…I couldn’t deal with it. When you got hurt, I felt it was my fault.”
She blinked. “Your fault?”
He nodded. “You went into the Marines because of me. I know I pushed you.”
“First of all, it wasn’t your fault, Dad. It was the bastards who put the IED in my path. And secondly, when have you ever been able to tell me what to do?”
For a second he said nothing, then her mother chuckled. “She’s got you there, John. The girl has your stubborn disposition.”
He smiled as he brushed away her tears. “I have always been so terribly proud of you, Maddy. You went through something that would ruin most people. But look at you. You’re thriving.”
“And getting shot at.”
He chuckled. “There is that.”
The door creaked open behind her and she saw Marcella Santini stick her head out.
“Madison, you need to get back in here. Dante is getting agitated.”
“Tell him to get bent.”
His mother nodded and smiled. “You’ll do.”
/> The door shut.
“What was that about?” her mother asked.
“Dante is a pain in the ass and always wants his way.”
“No, the other thing. Why did she say ‘you’ll do’?”
She rolled her eyes. “Oh, well, Dante is insisting I marry him. He’s trying to use his family to get me to say yes.”
They both stared at her as if she had grown another head. Then, the door opened again. This time it was Carlos.
“Hey, future sister-in-law, he’s threatening to get out of bed.”
“I never said yes.”
Carlos chuckled and waited.
She sighed. “You might as well come say hi to your future son-in-law. He won’t shut the hell up until I get back in there.”
She turned and headed back. She stepped into the room. His mother was sitting in a chair as the others stood around. They left the chair next to his bed open. For her.
His facial features relaxed when he saw her.
“There you are. I thought you might be making a run for it.”
She shook her head. “My parents are here.”
He looked passed her.
“Colonel Baker. Mrs. Baker.”
Her father had followed her mother in. She stopped by the side of the bed, then leaned down, and kissed Dante’s cheek.
“Thank you so much for saving my baby. She’s my only one, and two close calls in less than five years is just too much.”
Her mother was crying again. Her father set a hand on her shoulder. “We really owe you so much. Thank you.”
And of course, Dante used it to his advantage. “Then maybe you can convince her to marry me.”
Her father frowned and got the same stern look in his eyes as he’d lectured her when she was a kid. Oh, not good.
“First, I think we need to talk about why you were at her house in the middle of the night,” her father said. For a moment, Dante’s face went blank, then her father threw his head back and laughed. “Sorry, but you needed to be taken to task for that.”
“Dad,” she said, her face heating.
“What? If I can’t mess with my future son-in-law, what is the world coming to?”
“Great, now you have him on your side,” she said.
Dante grabbed her hand and pulled her onto the bed to sit beside him. “Just give it up.”
ASantiniinLoveMelissa Schroeder Page 12