“You’re welcome any time. I have a spare bedroom.”
“You’d best start planning the wedding right away. You know how your mother is about the sleeping arrangements.”
Cal laughed aloud. “I’ll see what we can do.”
Chapter 40
‡
Zach pulled the faded quilt Piper used as a bedspread up over her shoulder. He rolled onto his back, bent his arm, and propped the back of his head in his hand.
The soft early morning sunlight crawled across the bed, touching her arm and cheek with gold, and setting off the reddish highlights in her hair. He couldn’t take his eyes off of her.
In the three weeks they’d slept together, he’d never known her to sleep so soundly or be so relaxed. She literally hadn’t moved all night. While he’d been on the phone with Hawk, filling him in on everything that had gone down, she’d crashed, hard.
He hadn’t asked about her interview with Lester. He didn’t want to know. He knew Lester would be a dick because he didn’t know how to be anything else. But he hadn’t expected to see that terrorized, shocky look in her eyes. Every time he thought about it, he wanted to hunt the asshole down and pound him into the ground. He tugged at the lock of hair that had begun to flop down over his forehead until it hurt.
There was justice, though. If nothing else, Lester must have somehow realized what Zach had told him was true. Otherwise he wouldn’t have had that sick look on his face afterward. Everything Piper’s mother said had only piled it on.
Piled it on for him, too. How had she endured it? Raped, her father killed, her family freezing her out, and Lester hounding her.
Why hadn’t her mother told her what her father had done? Why hadn’t she told the rest of her children? It would have saved Piper a world of heartache. That last painful betrayal might have forever severed any kind of tie she had with her family.
And why the fuck hadn’t any of her brothers attempted to approach her afterward? They left before he and Piper had finished their interview with Captain Terrance. Fuck! What kind of family did that?
Trouble padded to the door and, seeing him awake, came into the room. He rested his large head on the mattress only inches from Zach’s face and panted. Zach ran a hand over the top of his head and caressed his ears. “You need a ticktack, my man,” Zach complained in a whisper. He slipped out of bed and bent to grab his collar and lead him out of the bedroom before he jumped up on the bed in the warm spot he left behind and wake Piper. Once in the hall, he gave Trouble a quick rubdown and urged him toward the living room.
Gracie rose to greet him at the back door and he knelt to pet her. “Need to go out?” Both dogs went into wiggling fits. He opened the back door and Trouble bounded down the steps and out into Piper’s pocket-sized backyard while Gracie followed at a more dignified, three-legged pace. She was beginning to use her back leg again for balance, and even put a little pressure on it.
He stood at the door and watched the two dogs, but his mind covered the same ground it had all night. Eventually, once the shock wore off, she’d realize where Lester got his information. How could she not?
He should have never clued the man into his suspicions about Piper. He’d done what he needed to end things with Lester for her, but guilt was already eating him alive. And she was going to be pissed as hell at him.
Dressed in a sloppy sleep shirt that hit her mid-thigh and panties, Piper padded into the kitchen barefoot. Zach admired her legs while she moved zombie-like to the sink and began to make coffee. She usually wore jeans, and the only time her legs were bare was when they made love, or at times like this. For the most part she covered herself from top to toe. Was it another way of coping with what had happened?
Zach pulled out a chair from the small kitchen table and sat down.she crossed in front of him to get a coffee cup he caught the hem of the T-shirt and reeled her in between his legs. He buried his face between her breasts and breathed her in. She smelled warm and musky, with a hint of the jasmine body wash she used. He ran his hands up the backs of her legs to her buttocks and pulled her in against him.
Piper’s slipped an arm around his neck while she smoothed his thick auburn hair with the other hand. “How long have you known?”
Zach’s hands stilled beneath the shirt. He had hoped to have longer. He continued to hold her but laid his head against her breasts. “Since the first weekend we spent together.” He swallowed. “You hadn’t been with anyone in three years. You were hesitant and unsure sometimes when you touched me. Wary of me being on top. Innocent in a way I haven’t experienced in a long time.”
He eased back to look up at her and recognized the weary acceptance in her expression. And the hurt.
*
Innocent. Her innocence had been stolen by a hyped-up junkie determined to take what he wanted. Her throat felt dry, and she backed away from him to lean against the cabinets and turned to glance out the window at the dogs. “You didn’t ask me anything.”
“I was a dumb ass. I told you we needed to keep it light, simple. I made it impossible to ask you. And I had a feeling if I came at it straight on, you’d leave and I’d never see you again. I didn’t want that to happen. I hoped once we got to know each other better, you might trust me enough to tell me.”
She half turned, presenting her profile, but avoided looking at him. She’d cried a lifetime of tears, and she wasn’t wasting any more on any of this. This was Zach. He’d believed in her when no one else did. She believed in him, believed he had done it for a good reason. But she needed to know why. “How could you tell the one man who hated me most what I couldn’t tell anyone?”
“It wasn’t like that, Piper. I asked him what crime was guaranteed to cause a man grief while he was in prison if the other prisoners knew about it. And suggested he might have arranged to have you taken care of so it wouldn’t happen. He planted the money before he was arrested, Piper.
“His arrest was a lucky thing. It guaranteed him an alibi. He was always going to send Acosta after you, because he couldn’t reach you himself. If Acosta had come after you at your parents’ house, or your apartment, whoever was there would have been killed. He planned the whole thing.”
She felt a little light-headed and gripped the edge of the sink. She had always wondered. “I thought if the money existed he might have been trying to pay me off. I didn’t want to think he was evil enough to arrange have me killed.” She raked her fingers through her hair, pulling it back from her face. “I suppose I’ve always known it, though. I’m the only one who’s seen him at the moment when he wasn’t able to hide the monster.”
Zach went over and leaned next to her at the counter. “Detective Sherman is working to find a way to charge Henderlight for inciting your father’s death.”
His parole was an event she’d been dreading since he was sentenced. “The statute of limitations has run out. There’ll be no reason for him to come after me again.”
“You don’t know that, Piper.” He ran his fingertips down the back of her arm before gripping it lightly just above her elbow. “I won’t be here much longer. Do you know what it’s doing to me, knowing you’ll be here alone?” His green gaze delved into hers, a look in their depths that threw her stomach into a free fall.
She cupped his face in her hands. “The same thing it does to me, knowing you’ll be somewhere far away, facing off against men worse than he is.” She lifted up on tiptoe to slide her arms around his neck and hold him close. “The first time you kissed me, I didn’t think I’d ever be able to breathe again if you didn’t keep kissing me. You offered me trust. You believed in me. And you gave me back a part of myself I never thought I’d have again. The thought of being apart from you for even a moment…”
His arms tightened around her. “You’ve been through the ringer in the last three weeks. We both deserve some time together that isn’t filled with looking over our shoulders for stalkers and having daily conversations with policemen. Just to be sure.”
Now who was the wary one? But it had only been three weeks. If he wasn’t sure yet…She could give him time. “Okay, Zach.”
A cell phone’s ring carried down the hall from the bedroom. “That’s mine,” he said as he eased away. “No one calls at this hour if it’s not important.” He strode down the hall.
His gait was easier, his movements more fluid. His hip was healing and he’d soon be out the door, training with his team. Between her hours and his, they wouldn’t be able to see as much of each other.
He held the phone against his ear while he wandered back into the room. His responses gave her little clue as to who he was talking to or what they were saying. When he ended the call, he stared at the screen for a long moment. “That was my CO. I’ve been ordered to report to base on Monday morning.” She handed him a cup of black coffee.
Piper pressed a hand to her midriff, trying to ward off the sinking feeling. “Is it because of what happened last night?”
“No. It has nothing to do with that. Officially there was nothing to report. I was just taken in and interviewed, never arrested. This order came from our Captain.”
“You think everything is okay, then?” She sipped her own coffee cautiously, allowing relief to soothe her. Would she ever stop expecting a crisis around every corner?
“Everything’s fine.”
Another phone rang and they looked at each other. She set aside her coffee and rushed into the bedroom to retrieve her cell. It was Detective Sherman. Did the man never sleep?
“Lester has resigned.”
The news was spoken so baldly it took a moment for her to take in the words and recognize their importance. “Really?”
“Yeah.”
“I have no idea how to feel about that. Relieved, of course, that he can’t send policemen after me whenever he gets the notion, but I don’t know about the rest.”
“It will take some time. And your car is being returned to you. The taillight has been repaired, free of charge, by the SDPD. Patrol officers should be at your front door any moment with your vehicle.”
“Oh. Thank you, Detective.”
“I just want to say…I’m sorry for everything he put you through, Dr. Bertinelli. I’m sorry for every moment you didn’t get the support from us you deserved. I’m going to make it my business to monitor David Henderlight. We’ll try to keep him as far away from you as possible.”
Why would he have to monitor David? He was in prison. Or was he? Tears welled in her eyes and for a moment she couldn’t breathe, let alone speak. She forced the words from a throat gone dry as windblown sand. “Thank you, Detective Sherman. For everything.”
“Good luck to you and Ensign O’Connor. Tell him if he ever decides to leave the SEALs, I’ll put in a good word for him with the brass here.”
“I’ll tell him.”
When she ended the call, Piper sank down on her bed. It was finally over. The hand, forever clamped over her shoulder, ready to jerk her back, had been lifted. But another had taken its place. What if he came after her?
She curled in on herself and rocked. He’d have no reason to. The statute of limitations had passed. He couldn’t be charged for the rape. Even if the police had saved the kit. He would not come after her. It was going to be okay.
The tap at her front door had her scurrying to slip on her robe.
Zach came to the kitchen door when she opened the door to find a uniformed officer standing there with her keys. She looked past him at her car and the patrol vehicle parked in front of it.
“Special delivery, ma’am,” the young patrol officer said with a smile, offering her the keys.
“Thank you, officer.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a car in the impound delivered back to its owner before.” Curiosity burned behind his gaze. He looked young, but he was probably close to her age.
Piper thought how she might explain. “A SDPD officer damaged the back taillight during an undercover operation and was nice enough to have it repaired. It was probably parked at the impound because it’s safe there. I don’t suppose they would have handed it over to me if I’d come to pick it up without his intervention.”
“Probably not. You usually have to sign away half your bank account to get them back. Thanks for satisfying my curiosity.”
Zach turned from the stove where he stirred scrambled eggs in a skillet with a fork. His thick brows rose in inquiry. A wave of love and tenderness struck her. Her gaze moved downward and a clenching heat of desire rushed from breast to thigh as she took in his bare chest sprinkled with rust-colored hair and the muscular slope of his stomach, his pajama pants riding low on his hips.
“That was a smooth way of explaining the situation without lying,” he commented.
“I’m a terrible liar. But he was so curious, I hated to send him away without some kind of explanation.”
“You don’t hold any animosity toward the other officers for what Lester did?”
“No. But if Detective Sherman hadn’t called and told me they were coming, I’d have been anxious about opening the door.”
She slipped in against his side when he lifted the skillet off the burner.
“I don’t have to work today. It’s Ryan’s turn to take the half-day rotation. I want to cook.”
“Sure. But I’ve already fixed eggs.”
“No. I mean cook. Do you think Bowie and Flash and your commanding officer would like to come to dinner tomorrow night—with their wives and girlfriends, of course? Your sister will be back by then, too. She knows them, too, doesn’t she?” She looked over her small kitchen. “Well, maybe your back patio would be better. I don’t think four people would fit inside my dining area.”
“Honey, there’s not a SEAL alive who’ll turn down free food. And Kathleen’s been dying to grill you about whether your intentions are honorable.”
Piper laughed. “I want to celebrate, and I don’t have that many people to celebrate with. My partners, maybe, but they’re more colleagues than friends.”
His expression telegraphed what he was thinking before he spoke. “Maybe if you make the first overture, Piper.”
She shook her head and shoved away the aching grief that threatened to swallow her mood. “I don’t have the emotional energy for their drama, Zach. It was all about their loss the whole time. It will continue to be. I haven’t been a real part of their family for a long time. It was too easy for them to…I just need things to be…simple right now. I just need to breathe.” Would she ever get over this?
“Okay.” He brushed his lips over her forehead. He divided the eggs and put two slices of toast on each plate.
She got silverware from the drawer, reached for the coffee pot to freshen their cups, and poured two glasses of orange juice. “What should I fix? What do you think they would like?” She placed the glass of juice next to his plate.
Zach chewed and swallowed. “I’ve been eating your cooking for three weeks now, and I can say with confidence, they’ll love anything you fix, honey.”
“What has been your favorite thing I’ve fixed—” she held up a finger “—besides steak and loaded potatoes?” The eggs were a little overcooked, but she ate them anyway because he’d fixed them, and it was her fault for distracting him.
He grinned. “Your lasagna and that chicken dish you fixed the other day.”
“Chicken Caprese. Lasagna is so common. I’ll fix the chicken instead.” She rose to check noticed the dogs with their noses pressed against the storm door, and got up to let them in. She gave each one a treat and shooed them into the living room.
“To start with, bruschetta,” she said when she sat back down. “And stuffed mushrooms. Then the chicken, baked orzo with garlic, spinach, tomatoes, and mozzarella, parmesan-crusted zucchini, and bread sticks with marinara sauce or garlic cheese sauce. And for dessert ricotta pie with chocolate chips.”
Zach paused with the fork halfway to his mouth. “Jesus, Piper!”
“I can fix the pies, bread sticks,
stuffed mushrooms, and the sauces today and put the chicken in the marinade. Then all I have to do is fix the orzo and slide everything into the oven to bake before dinner. While you grill the chicken, because you’re so much better at it than I am, I can fry the zucchini and bake the bread sticks just before I serve them.”
“Won’t you need two ovens to cook so many different things?”
“No, the secret’s in the timing.” She sipped her juice.
“I guess we’ll have to hit the market once we’re done here.” He finished the last of his eggs and took a swallow of orange juice to wash them down.
“There’s something I’d like to do first,” she slid from her seat into his lap. “Lester has resigned.” She brushed his thick hair back from his forehead.
His brows shot up. “No shit?”
“No shit.”
“That probably saved both him and the SDPD embarrassment, and saved them having to rehash every arrest and prosecution he’s been involved in.”
“Probably.” She nibbled his earlobe to get his attention refocused and smiled when he shivered and his breathing hitched. “There’s no horrible shadow standing between us now. No police officer stalking us. It’s because of you all this happened. I don’t think any other man would have stood by me. No other man ever has. Not since my father.” The tears rose up, but she pushed them back down. “I want to start here…” she kissed his forehead, “and kiss every freckle on your body.”
His quickly inhaled breath made her smile.
“That would take at least two weeks,” he commented. “Why don’t you just try to hit the spots with no freckles instead?” He pointed out his lips with an index finger.
She kissed him. He tasted of orange juice and Zach. He scooted back from the table and rose with her in his arms. She looped her arms around his neck.
“I’m so glad your hip is better. But on Monday, when you go to see your captain, limp a little more so they won’t want you to go straight back to work.”
Zach laughed and carried her through the hall and into the bedroom. “I can’t do that, honey, but if I was tempted to do it for anyone, it would be for you, Piper.”
Breaking Out (Military Romantic Suspense) (SEAL Team Heartbreakers Book 6) Page 37