Forever Mine

by April Zyon

  A knock on her door had her calling out. Her receptionist stuck her head around the door, her eyes wide, a grin on her face. Slipping into Athena’s office, she eased the door shut, and scampered over to her desk. “Doc, you’ve been holding out of on me.”

  “What?” Athena’s voice came out as a croak. “What do you mean?” Oh God, had the woman somehow found out about what was really happening behind the scenes? Had she somehow figured out that there was a lot more trouble in Massey, Texas than others believed?

  “Doc.” She drew the word out way too long. “The hottest piece of man meat is out there in the waiting room. Now he doesn’t have an appointment, but with the last name of Carver, who needs one around here, right? I mean, he said he only needed to see you for a second, but come on. This is definitely not one of the brothers I’ve ever seen. Is he single? Think he’d be interested in a recently divorced, mildly overweight but ready for anything in the sack if he’s there woman?”

  “Carver?” There was only one single Carver male left out there other than the newest Carver child, Levi. “Is his first name Martin?” She felt as if she had been punched in the gut. She knew her legs were shaking. Hell, all of her was actually. “Martin Carver?” Oh shit, The Stallion. She rose to her already shaky legs and stumbled to her window. Once she was there, she pulled the blinds back and let out a squeak of a sound when she saw her—Eris.

  “Oh Jesus,” she whispered. “Thank you. Go ahead and send him back.” She was going to pass the fuck out and knew it. “Oh, and we are done for the day, if you want to take off.”

  Bonita pouted. Actually stuck her lower lip way the hell out, and pouted. “You sure, doc? I mean, it’s not like I have any plans or anything, you know. Besides, I think I should be here in case you need coffee, or tea, or anything else your visitor could dream of.”

  “Thank you, Bonita, but no. I think that I can handle him.” Oh who was she kidding? She couldn’t handle Martin Carver and knew it. He was the one and only man alive that could ever destroy her. He was the man she dreamed of at night, the man that made her dream of things that she’d never had before. He was the man she had stupidly saved herself for, which was so dumb in this day and age. No, she didn’t think anyone could truly handle Martin Carver, but that was beside the point. She needed to convince him that all was hunky dory there or her dad was dead.

  “Pity,” Bonita said. Sighing, she headed for the door. “I was so looking forward to handling him a little myself.” Another pout and she stepped out. Athena could hear Bonita speaking to Martin, and his low rumbled reply. A moment later, he was in her doorway, stepping in, and shutting the door behind him. She barely even registered the soft snick of the lock since she was watching him.

  “Martin Carver.” She was standing behind her desk as she spoke. “It’s been a very long time since I saw you. What brings you back to Massey? You haven’t been back here in ten years.” Oh she knew why he was there and, holy Christ, she didn’t think that she could handle this. “Your mom is well, the family is well, so what brings you back?”

  “You,” he said. A moment later, he tossed a folder with an FBI stamp on the front onto her desk. “I just had a very interesting text from your case agent. Then another one two seconds later from the director. You should know, we’re not going anywhere, and we will figure out how to get your dad out of this mess. Oh, and I’m supposed to tell you that you don’t need to keep calling in when those assholes call. They have the lines tapped. A copy of the warrant’s in there for legal reasons. You can keep it for your records.”

  She dropped her head into her hands and shook her head. “It.” She started and stopped a couple of times. “We.” A long sigh and then she looked at him. “How did you get pulled into this? I thought that you worked for Green Peace or something like that. Everyone in town thought that you were saving the whales or something.”

  He laughed and threw himself into one of her visitor chairs, tossing a leg up over the arm. “Yeah, that was one of my better ones. Personally, I liked the one where I was off building homes in Ethiopia. Though I did do that for a week for cover, and the pictures. I think they took four hundred pictures that I was able to use over a two-year period. I’ve been working for the FBI since I got out of college. Actually, to be perfectly and technically accurate, I’ve been working for the feds since my second year of college.”

  “You what?” Now that was a surprise. “How? I mean, what?” She shrugged and smiled. “Then again, this is you that we are talking about. I can’t see anyone better fit to be an agent than you are. You’ve always been the kind of man that would one day save the world. Does your mom know?” She didn’t think that the woman did. She was too vested in Martin’s covers for her to know.

  “Fuck no. Mama knowing anything is like a death sentence. She doesn’t know, and she never will know if I have anything to say about it. Frank’s always known, and Brant figured it out about three years ago. But the rest of the family is completely, blissfully in the dark about it, so not a word to them. Now, you want to tell me what the fuck is going on around here since you took over, Athena?”

  “Evidently, Daddy got into bed with the mafia when Mom was in the last months of life.” She frowned. “I was still in freaking school.” She was ten. “He tried to get me to take on another role, another life than this one. Now I understand why.” She watched Martin carefully. “He didn’t want me to take over his practice. Even when I came out of school and started working alongside him, he didn’t want me to look at the books, check out anything. Then he had his stroke and I took over. Honestly…” She was going to tell him something no one knew. “Eighteen months ago, Daddy had another stroke and with that attack, he lost his memories. I don’t think he honestly recalls the trouble he had gotten himself into. I think that’s the one and only reason that he retired. Now, the troubles are on my shoulders.” She sighed. “So that’s how I ended up being in this hot mess.”

  “Shit, I’m sorry about your dad, Athena. But you’re in more than a ‘hot mess,’ as you put it. You are eyeball deep in one hell of a shit hole. These guys play for keeps, especially when it comes to their money. Want to tell me what the call was about?” he asked. “I could wait for the tapes to come through, but I’d rather hear it from you, get your take on all of it.”

  “He said that he wanted me to call off the feds and that if I didn’t, he would ensure that Daddy paid for it. They found him.” She closed her eyes and rubbed her temples. “In Finland. How the bloody heck could they have found him? We changed his name, changed everything. So how? If I do this with you, they will know. They will know and he will pay for it. I’m sorry, Martin, but I can’t chance it. He’s all I have left.”

  “They aren’t going to know a damned thing, Athena. I’m a good old boy come home to visit. Reconnecting with the family after all my do-good work in the world, reconnecting with a woman who he knew back when she was still wearing pigtails. They aren’t watching your office, though they are bugging your phones. They do have someone do the occasional drive-by of your house, though, so you’ll need to be careful there. But I’m going to work this. I’m going to find these assholes, and I’m going to figure out how to keep your dad and you safe while doing all that.”

  “Good luck with that.” She sighed once more. “I don’t know how you are going to do that. The only thing that I can think is that I do what they want me to. I hate it, I really do, but I think that it’s needed. Besides, you won’t be able to spend a lot of time with me, so I have no idea how you are going to keep me safe.” She would just have to keep herself safe. Somehow.

  He snorted and shot her a look. “Athena, dearest. I have kept my mother, the woman who gave birth to me, and knows when I have the sniffles before I do, from ever figuring out what I do for a living. You really think I can’t keep a bunch of mob thugs from cluing in? I’ve been building my cover since I started at the FBI. I’ve never even been in the building at Quantico. Not once. Couldn’t tell you where anything is i
f I tried. It’s part of the cover. For all intents and purposes as far as the world is concerned, I’m a do-gooder. No one can break a cover they aren’t even aware exists because it’s more than a cover. It’s part of my life. So don’t even think about protesting. Trust me, at least a little, to know what I’m talking about.”

  “Okay, I trust that you know how to keep yourself safe, keep your family safe.” But it still left her out in the lurch. Oh well. “And my father?” she asked quietly. “What about him? Who will keep him safe? If I seemingly do what they tell me to do, I should be fine, but what about him?”

  “We’re going to keep him safe. You, me, and the entire FBI. As well as some of our overseas assets. We are going to track him down, get him out of there, and then stick him somewhere nice and safe under twenty-four-hour watch for however long this takes to resolve.” He slid his leg off the arm of the chair and turned to lean his elbows on his knees. “Athena, you are going to do exactly what the guy told you to do. To the letter. You will not deviate even a little. Because it will help us to figure out what they are up to, where they are, and how the fuck to nail them to the wall. We will be cataloguing everything. Every single move you make that benefits them, it will all be evidence in the end. Now, I want you to tell me what they want you to do first, after the bit about tell the feds to go and shove their help somewhere uncomfortable. Details, sweetheart, details.”

  Athena took a deep breath and nodded. “I’m supposed to call in prescriptions to three different pharmacies that I know don’t exist for patients that I don’t have. I also know that they want me to reverse funding for ten patients that I’ve never seen before. They wired the money into my account and want it to come back out clean. I don’t know how all of that works.” She shrugged. “I’m supposed to meet with them in two weeks’ time, a meeting I’m scared crapless about to be truthful.”

  “You should be, but you don’t need to be. I’ll be there. They won’t see me, but I’ll be there with some backup. You will be perfectly safe the entire time, but we’ll get to that later. For now, though, when do they expect you to call in these prescriptions by?” he asked. “Oh, and what are the fake pharmacy names? Hell, write down all the details. The name of the patient, the prescription they are getting called in, and which pharmacy. We need it all so we can track it, and then use it as nails in their coffins.”

  “I have it all written down already,” she told him quietly. Pulling the yellow notepad, she passed him the slip. “This is the original one. I have a copy myself. There are the details in there about the money, prescriptions, and where I’m supposed to meet them in two weeks.” She was nothing if not meticulous in her notes.

  Taking it from her, he gave it a read and nodded. “Even the phone numbers for the pharmacies, nice. You were always the best note taker, probably why everyone in school desperately wanted to be your partner for anything that required one.” He gave her a grin and got to his feet. “Call them in. I’ll be getting a copy of this to headquarters so they can start doing their bit in this operation. Follow their script to the letter, Athena. The biggest thing we need right now is time. Here, in case you need to call me, do so at any hour of the day.” He pulled out a card with only a number on it. “It is never off and never more than two feet from me at any time. I mean it, Athena. I don’t want to know about something happening with you from headquarters before I hear it from you unless you happen to be stuck on the phone with these assholes. We clear?”

  “Yes.” Athena just looked at the number on the card and sighed. “As long as you are sure. I know that coming home will be difficult for you, reconnecting with everyone from the past.” She took another deep breath and then smiled. “Helen Vice is still single, I’m sure she will be happy to see you again.” Helen Vice had been his girlfriend in high school, a woman that told the world she would marry Martin Carver.

  “Given what I know of Helen Vice, she can suck my tail pipe fumes and nothing more. Don’t believe everything that comes out of that particular viper’s mouth, Athena. Actually, don’t believe anything she says, ever.” He picked up the folder he’d dropped on her desk and headed for the door. Unlocking it, he stopped and turned to look at her. “One other thing, Athena. It’s really great to see you. It’s been way too long, but at least there’s one person here in Massey I’m actually glad to reconnect with. Later.” With a smile, he slipped out the door, shutting it softly behind him.

  Athena just stared at the door. She took a deep, shaky breath and shook her head. “It’s good to see you, too.” She spoke to the empty room. “I’ve missed you.” She spoke from her heart. “If only you came back for me and not because of me.” At least she knew where she stood. She was a job. She knew it. He knew it. Shaking her head, she finished closing down for the day and headed off toward her home.

  Chapter Four

  Martin shot his brothers pleading looks. They all sat there with smirks on their faces while his mother alternated between berating him and crying all over him. Rolling his eyes, he hugged her for at least the tenth time since he’d walked in the door. She was killing him with the tears. How women knew the effect tears caused on a man he’d never understand, yet every woman he’d ever met knew how to use them as an effective weapon. It was pure evil.

  “Mama,” he said again. He’d lost count of how many times.

  “I’m fine, sit, sit. I’ll get you a plate,” she said, pulling back. Touching his cheeks, Theresa Carver burst into tears again and headed for the kitchen.

  “You really should come home more often,” Joshua said.

  “Shut up,” Martin muttered.

  “He has a point, bro. If you turned up more than once a decade, she wouldn’t get all goofy on your ass,” Travis said.

  He knew they were right, and he did feel bad. But he thought she would be okay with seeing him again. After all, they did talk every Sunday. Obviously, he’d misjudged. He didn’t point out to his brothers he had been home once in the ten years since his departure. No way in hell was he bringing up the reason as to why he’d come back. Not with his mother already in a weepy mood.

  Smiling at Mercy, Brant’s wife, when she came into the room, he took his nephew from her. The little guy was too fucking adorable. He already had two teeth growing in with a rumored third one on the way. He looked a little like a jack-o-lantern, to be honest, when he grinned. Lifting Levi up, Martin gave him a bunch of kisses on his neck so the baby squealed in laughter, kicking his feet as he squirmed. “And where is my little niece?”

  “She’s sleeping, so please keep it down? She’s not feeling the best right now,” Mercy told Martin, and smiled down at her son.

  “He’s adorable, you two,” he said to his brother and sister-in-law. “Who’d have thought Brant would actually manage to have cute kids?”

  “We didn’t,” Frank said. “I keep telling anyone that listens that Levi and Angel got lucky. They got all their looks from Mercy.”

  “Lucky little ones,” Travis put in. “He could have been as butt ugly as his daddy. Instead, he’ll have the girls lining up for tickets just to get within his sphere of influence. And then we have Angel, who will have all of us waiting up long nights and ensuring that the boys that come around are worth breathing the same air as her.”

  Brant hurled a pillow at his brother, catching him upside the head. “Quit bad mouthing me in front of the kid. Besides, Levi’s got the Carver Vortex working for him.”

  “Kid’s going to need to beat the ladies off of him,” Joshua said with a grin. “Either that or mama Mercy will need to be waiting out on the porch with the shotgun at the ready for when he comes home with the girls chasing him. Thank God that there isn’t a Carver Vortex for the girls or you would have even more trouble than you already will have with the little sleeping beauty.”

  “Mama Mercy, huh?” Mercy asked as she moved around the kitchen. Martin could see her shooting him looks from time to time. “Please don’t bounce him. I think he’s got an ear infection. Angel has a
stomach bug, but thankfully, Levi hasn’t gotten it yet.” There was genuine worry in her tone.

  “It’s probably from his teeth,” Martin told her. He settled Levi in front of him so he could watch everyone. “I know Joshua got the same thing when he was teething.”

  “It’s true,” Theresa said. “The boy had an earache every damn time he had a tooth cutting in. A little extra cuddling helped him get through it. That and a nice cold teething ring, a little extra warmth around him during the worst, and we all survived. As for little Angel.” Theresa looked toward the direction where her granddaughter slept. “That poor baby girl has the flu. I have a feeling we will need to keep her from anyone who’s ill from here out so she doesn’t get whatever they have.”

  “Thank you, Mama Carver,” Mercy said, and then looked at Martin. “I think that your pocket is going to explode or something.” She was eyeing his pocket. “The lights are going off.”

  “Just happy to see you is all,” he said. Throwing her a wink because it made Brant growl, Martin chuckled. Pulling his phone out with one hand, he put it to his ear. “Carver.” He knew it was Athena, but he didn’t want to say her name around the others who might think something was up. Frank obviously did. He was eyeing him up and down in that odd way the older brothers all had.

  “I have trouble,” Athena whispered into the phone. “Someone was in my house last night. I only know because I have a cat and I am very particular with the house. I put the food out only at certain points and put it up before bed. This morning, there was tuna in the dish. I never feed him tuna.” There was fear in her voice he could hear. It was heavy in her tone. “My briefcase has also been moved.” He could recall just how OCD she was with putting her things away, part of why she was such a great note keeper.