by Lisa Hughey
Jack had gone to several charity events with Charity but she was hung up on her ex, so nothing ever developed, which Jack now thought was ironic. Bliss had seemed to pick up on the fact that they were a little more than friends, which was one more hurdle to overcome once he finally got her alone.
Fernandez had a wide smile on his face while he waited for Charity to conduct her interview. She reapplied her lip gloss, fluffed her hair, and ran her tongue around her teeth, looking harmless and a little bit flighty. But beneath the beauty queen exterior was a shark waiting to attack.
Jack couldn’t wait for Fernandez’s smarmy smile to disappear.
Fernandez’s expression was a practiced benevolence, as the print reporters snapped pictures. Then totally hot Charity, with her long blonde hair, sparkling blue eyes, and Southern California tan, began her interview.
Her ocean blue eyes sharpened as she pandered to his ego, mentioning all of his former accomplishments. “And how are you feeling about the upcoming Senate confirmation vote?”
“I am hopeful that the Senate will agree that as a champion of a sector of the population that is usually ignored I will have a unique and positive impact on the future of employment for all the people. And especially the people who have supported me over the last eight years.”
The crowd cheered. Whistles and catcalls echoed in the packed house.
Fernandez had perfected the politician’s wave and raised both arms to encourage the crowd to get louder.
Once the noise died down Charity tilted her head, letting her blond hair fall over one shoulder in a flirty sway, then went in for the kill. “What about the accusations that you were involved in the abduction of the four girls? The tragedy that launched your career?”
The crowd hushed.
“Now, Charity,” Fernandez sat back on the metal stool and placed his palms flat on his knees and leaned toward the crowd, all earnest, his brows crinkled in ‘concern’. “Sadly, mental illness is shoved under the rug in our country. I would like to propose that we amend the laws so that people with these illnesses are not stigmatized but can get the help they need. Ava Sanchez, the girl who made those accusations, has…problems.”
“Oh, I wasn’t talking about Ava.” Charity brought the microphone closer to her mouth, and paused for dramatic effect. That was the signal for Maria to start making her way across the stage.
Bliss grabbed his hand and squeezed tight. “This is it,” she whispered.
Maria stepped out from behind the curtains on the stage, surrounded by all four large men, and holding tightly to Ava and Keisha’s hands.
The crowd murmured, the noise growing louder with each second. Maria was still behind Fernandez but he’d taken note of the shift in the crowd’s demeanor and was fidgeting on the utilitarian stool.
“I was talking about Maria Torres,” Charity said, dropping the bomb.
Maria stepped into Fernandez’s view.
Charity turned and asked Maria, “Who was responsible for your abduction and imprisonment?”
Maria was shaking but Keisha whispered encouragement in her ear. Maria lifted her arm and pointed straight at Fernandez.
Fernandez blanched as Charity shoved the microphone back into his swarthy face. “I don’t know who this woman is but I assure you—”
Charity interrupted his denial. “DNA tests have already confirmed that this is Maria Torres who was abducted a little over eight years ago.”
The entire crowd went completely silent. “Then it’s a miracle.” Fernandez lifted his gaze toward heaven, his smile shaky and sweat beaded on his upper lip, his hand trembled as he reached out toward Maria. “Praise Jesus.”
But before he could get anywhere near her, Shane blocked his arm.
Bliss’s nails dug into Jack’s palm and her arm curled around his.
The marshals came from the other side of the stage. “José Fernandez, you are under arrest for the abduction and false imprisonment of Maria Torres.”
“Oh come now.” Fernandez tried to bluster his way out of the situation. “You’re taking the word of this…woman? She could have been anywhere. She could have run away.”
Charity shook her head. “But she claims that you were instrumental—”
“I didn’t have anything to do with keeping her in that basement,” he blurted out desperately.
“We’ve fucking got him.” Bliss squealed and threw her arms around Jack.
Jack wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her into the curve of his arms, savoring her uninhibited glee. This was the closest she’d been to him in a day and a half.
A single tear leaked from the corner of her honey-colored eyes and trailed over her cheek. Jack cupped her face in his palms and brushed the tear away with his thumb. “You did it.”
His gaze cut to the stage where the marshals were leading Fernandez away in handcuffs. Ava was hugging Maria, tears streaming down both their faces. They needed to get them out of here because the crowd was growing unruly. And Charity had taken the opportunity to try to get a more in-depth interview from Maria.
But Jack was struck with the realization that he had a chance to fix everything.
“My work here is done,” Bliss quipped.
There were still a lot of details to get clear but there was one thing that Jack could do to make sure that he got the chance. “Stay for Thanksgiving.”
“What?”
What he wanted to say was stay forever. But that was crazy, and she’d likely hop a plane back to the East Coast before he could backpedal if he actually spoke the wish aloud.
“Stay for Thanksgiving.” They could talk later about everything but right now he just wanted to get her to agree to stick around for a few more days.
“I don’t—”
“Stay.” Jack entreated, “Please.”
Twelve
They were gathered in Jack’s office, every chair was overflowing. Jack’s sister Jess was sitting on Colin’s lap. Riley and Di were crushed together in the large leather chair kitty corner to the sofa. Connor stood behind Ava who sat in the chair across from the desk. Marshal Garrett, Keisha and Maria were on the opposite sofa. Jack was perched on the edge of his desk. And Bliss was in the other single chair, feeling alone and overwhelmed.
They’d just finished a post-mortem on what had gone right and what they needed to work on.
“We definitely need some alternate way to communicate that isn’t public. And can’t be bugged or hacked.” This was from Connor. He shot Bliss a look. “Especially if you’re going to be out of pocket more often.”
Bliss blushed.
“I’m never leaving my office again.” Jack scowled at his desk.
And everyone snickered.
Clearly Bliss was missing something. The past few hours had been eye-opening. Jack was definitely in charge. And for some reason, it was totally hot.
“Okay, you perverts.” Jack crossed his arms over his chest. “Good news, Fernandez’s brothers have given the DOJ enough to indict Fernandez. And they admitted that they were the ones who tried to abduct Ava.”
Connor curled his arm around the pretty assistant and she laid her head on his shoulder. He bussed a kiss on her curls. “I can’t believe they managed to keep the original crime secret all these years.”
“Family can be a powerful motivator,” Marshal Garrett answered.
All four Stone siblings smiled in complete understanding. Their obvious closeness was beautiful, and Bliss ached for the loss of her sister and father.
“And since we have an eye witness.” Marshal Garrett laid a gentle hand on Maria’s shoulder. “It was in their best interests to cooperate.”
Keisha grinned fiercely at Maria. Keisha had turned into a Mama Bear. She wouldn’t let anyone get too close to Maria.
Tears spilled from Maria’s deep, sorrowful brown eyes. “Thank you all,” her voice rasped. She still wasn’t used to speaking, and every word sounded like an effort to push through her vocal chords. “Will we ever find o
ut what happened to my other friends?”
“Hopefully they’ll give up their contact. And we can find out what happened to the other two girls. But,” Jack paused. “They insist they only dealt with the trafficker once so it may be a dead end.”
The other two girls had disappeared. Likely sold. For whatever reason, Fernandez had felt guilty about abducting Maria. He couldn’t bring himself to let her be sold, he couldn’t kill her, so he had secreted her away in that forgotten basement.
“Ava already has the plan in place to make S.S.A.F.E., Security, Shelter, and Freedom for the Exploited, the next philanthropy that GHR supports. We’ll see if they can help us figure out where to start looking for the girls,” Jack said.
Ava held tight to Maria’s hands.
“I want this guy to pay,” Connor said fiercely.
“Con is still tracing the ownership of Banke of America,” Jack said proudly.
“Now that I have a lead, I should have something in the next day or two.” Con brushed a lock of hair from his blue eyes, his gaze on Ava and Maria. “Fuck me, but that’s a beautiful sight.”
Jess rested her back against Colin’s chest and tilted her head to grin at him. “If he somehow gets out, I can always shoot him.”
Colin lifted a pale brow and Jess laughed.
Riley only had eyes for the tall, blond-haired woman who sat next to him. Bliss was quiet as they finalized the rest of the details. Maria was going to live with Ava for now. Connor didn’t look thrilled, until Ava leaned over and whispered something in his ear. And his expression changed at her shy smile.
With each revelation and interaction between Jack’s siblings, Bliss’s discomfort grew. The need to escape, flee, fizzed through her bloodstream. She didn’t belong here. Jack had this whole family who clearly worshipped him. And loved him.
“We’re done here.” Jack abruptly closed the meeting.
But everyone continued to lounge around his office chatting among themselves.
“Everybody out.” Jack waved his large blunt tipped fingers in a shooing motion which seemed to be the prod that got people to leave. Keisha and Ava surrounded Maria keeping her cocooned as if to protect her from the world. Riley twirled Diana around and dipped her. Di flushed, but didn’t stop him, a sweet smile curved her mouth. His smooth actions were a curious contrast to Jack’s gruff manner.
Slowly, they filed out of his office. Each sibling shot Jack, then Bliss, a curious look. She gathered up her messenger bag and hefted it on to her shoulder.
“Not you,” Jack growled at Bliss.
Bliss paused. She wanted to be done. She needed out of this office, out of California, and away from Jack. “I can have Jillian give you a call about the mission details.”
“I could give a rat’s ass about Jillian,” Jack dismissed her offer.
“Smooth, Jack,” Riley said as he closed the door to Jack’s office.
“Shut up! I don’t need to be you to get my own girl.” Jack’s face scrunched into a frown. He looked like a little kid who was denied his favorite treat.
His girl? Bliss’s pulse thudded hard.
Jack turned away from the closed office door and took in the surprise on Bliss’s face. He had finally figured out that if he was going to convince her to stay, he was going to have to share some things with her. Jack threaded his fingers through hers and tugged her over to the recently vacated sofas.
“I should probably go.” She hunched her shoulders and tried without success to extricate her fingers from his.
“When I was fourteen my father left.”
Bliss stopped trying to untangle their fingers. “Left, how?”
“He handed over the responsibility of my siblings and my…step mother, for want of a better word, and took off.” He pulled her down to sit close beside him, their thighs pressed up against each other. Jack forced himself to ignore the heat from her body. As much as he wanted to just pull her into his arms and convince her with sex that she should stay, that wasn’t going to cut it.
“Um, Jack?”
“For the next six years, I took care of everyone. It was—” He paused, swallowed. “So, fast forward to when I met you.” He rubbed his index finger along her wrist and then over their laced fingers. “For the first time in my life, I was only responsible for me, and I kind of embraced the idea that I didn’t have to watch out for everyone else.”
“You really don’t have to—”
“I really do.” He lifted their twined fingers and pressed his mouth to her knuckles.
Bliss fell silent.
“I’m a protector,” Jack said.
“I don’t….” Bliss hesitated. “Where are you going with this?”
“I’m baring my soul here,” Jack joked. “Pay attention.”
But his heart was pounding and nerves roiled in his stomach. What if it was too late? What if she didn’t care anymore?
But what if he didn’t do this? He’d definitely lose her.
“When you.” His throat got tight. Jack coughed. “Cut me loose. It was like I lost a piece of me. I had to go through with Basic but I was a fucking mess. You cut me off at the knees, Bliss.”
She opened her mouth but he put a finger over her lips to stop her from speaking.
“Once I got out of the Navy, I knew what I needed to do.” His heart thudded in his chest. “My goal in creating the company was to find a safe place for all of my siblings and to keep us together. We’re stronger together. And honestly, we were all drifting a bit.”
He understood from the beginning that they were stronger together than they were apart. They each brought a skill and a unique perspective to the table and their family. Unfortunately his siblings didn’t always get what he was trying to do. He was intuitive enough to understand that Jess still felt like an outsider and that Connor was still trying to prove himself. Riley he had never figured out. But he knew to the depths of his soul that Riley was the loyalty and heart of the Stone family. They just needed Jack to bring them all back together.
Jack took a breath.
“I figured out after a few months, that I needed them just as much as they needed me.” He toyed with the top button of her plain white button up shirt.
“That’s really beautiful Jack but I’m not sure what that has to do with me.” Her face was impassive, her expression merely curious.
He was confessing things he’d never told another soul. In a roundabout way, he was trying to tell her that he needed her, just as much as he needed his siblings. But he was also terrified of how much he felt for her.
Objectively he watched as her heart beat hard in the hollow of her throat. The strength of the shimmy in her breasts as the organ pounded gave him hope. She wasn’t as unaffected as she tried to appear.
“The company has exceed, maybe even surpassed, my vision when I came up with the idea.”
Her smile was bittersweet as she brushed her thumb over his scarred eyebrow. “I’m happy for you, Jack.”
Her honey eyes were glassy and she’d started trying to tug her hand away again.
“Yeah, but my vision was missing something really important.” Jack flattened her fingers over his heart.
“I, I—” Bliss shot off the sofa. “I need to go.”
“You need to stay,” Jack countered and stood. “My vision was missing you, Bliss.”
“That’s crazy.” Bliss tried to back away, but Jack wasn’t letting her go this time. Her eyes were panicked, and her pulse fluttered, and her breath came in quick pants.
“When I hired Ava she made me remember what I’d forgotten. To seize each day. Not to take anything for granted. Because tomorrow it could all be gone.”
“Great words to live by.” Bliss was practically hyperventilating. “Got to go.”
She beelined for the exit.
But Jack beat her to the door, and backed her up against the closed wood panel. “I’m not letting you go. Not again. I’m going to seize the day. I’m going to seize you.”
Jac
k curved one palm against her cheek, wrapped the other arm around her waist, and pulled her flush against his body.
“Please don’t shut me out again.” Because that’s what he’d realized after their conversation the other night. She’d been terrified of their intimacy.
Bliss dropped her forehead to his chest. Her breath puffed against his pecs. “I was only trying to protect myself,” she whispered.
“You should have let me protect you. That’s what I do,” he whispered back.
And finally, she curled her arms around his waist and held him back.
Jack stood to his full height, twirled her around, and started walking her backwards toward his desk and away from the exit. “God, I promise never to take this for granted.”
“What?”
“You. Us. Finding you again.” Jack knew it was sappy. Knew he was baring his soul so deep that he’d never survive if she walked away. But he knew, just knew, that if he did this, a greater reward awaited. “Promise me you’ll always tell me what’s in your heart.”
Bliss put her hand over her chest, like a little kid and crossed her index finger in an x. “I promise. As long as you promise the same. So we don’t repeat the mistakes of the past.”
“I promise.” His voice was deep, thick as gratitude overwhelmed him. “I love you.”
“I love you too.” Her honey eyes were warm and overflowing with that love.
The past was over. But their future was bright, happy, unlimited as long as they had each other.
And then he looked at where Bliss was standing, his body swelled with happiness and the lust he’d worked hard to suppress while he confessed he needed her.
“What are you thinking about right now?” Bliss dropped back to perch on his desk, a bright smile lit her face. A deep satisfaction brightened her honey eyes and made them sparkle.
Jack slid his arms around her shoulders and nudged his way between her thighs. A lightness filled his heart, a lightness that had been missing for thirteen years. “You’re on my lucky desk.” At least it was about to be his lucky desk. Why not? It had worked for his sister and brothers.