She was rational enough to recognize she was compensating for what she couldn’t have, but for right now, that was all right with her. She would concentrate on finding another place, maybe even a small house. She would decorate it, pour all her energy into it, and that way, when she came home from a trip, she would actually be coming home.
Early evening came, and even though she’d bought plenty of food at the grocery store, she had no desire to cook for just one. She called out for a pizza.
After that, she had nothing to do but wait on the pizza delivery and make the calls she had been putting off. Her mom was the first one.
“Anna, darling. Tell me everything about your trip. Did you eat well?”
“Yes, Mom.”
“And you took all your vitamins?”
She scrunched her nose. “Not all of them, but some.”
“You have to keep your immune system healthy, Anna.”
“I know that, Mom, but I feel perfectly fine.” With the exception of a broken heart, but that wasn’t something she planned to get into with her mother.
“Have you talked with your father yet?”
“No, you’re the first person I called.”
“I think he’s dating that bimbo again.”
Even though she didn’t want to have this same old tired conversation, it was better than having her mother ask questions about her love life. So Anna settled back, said a lot of “uh-huhs” and “reallys,” which was usually all her mother required when she went on a rant about Anna’s father.
What was Aidan doing now? Had he gone straight back to Virginia, or had he been called in for a mission? Even now, while she was sitting in her quiet, safe apartment, he could be anywhere in the world, heading into danger to rescue someone.
What if something happened to him? The thought that she wouldn’t know until Riley or maybe Noah called and told her slashed at her, adding another pain to her already aching heart. She wasn’t his wife, significant other, or even, as far as anyone knew, a friend. In the opinion of the entire world, she and Aidan Thorne barely knew each other. That was the way Aidan wanted it. He believed she was better off, safer, if no one knew of their brief association.
“But enough about your faithless father. Did you meet anyone on your trip?”
Anna jerked at the question. “What do you mean? I met a lot of people.”
“You know what I mean, Annabelle Bradford. Did you perhaps meet a young, gorgeous doctor who swept you off your feet? Maybe one who’d be interested in giving me some grandchildren?”
Tears sprang to her eyes before she could stop them. How could she tell her mother that she had indeed met a young, gorgeous doctor who had swept her off her feet? She couldn’t, because that would also involve explaining that he had no intention of having anything else to do with her, especially nothing that involved giving her mother grandchildren.
She swallowed past the tears and said, “No. No one like that.” And then because she felt guilty for lying, she said, “How about I come down on Friday, and we can have a girls’ weekend?”
“That sounds lovely, sweetie. I’ll make us appointments at the spa.”
“Sounds perfect, Mom. I’d better go. I need to call Daddy before it gets too late. You know how he likes to go to bed early on weeknights.”
“All right, darling. I’ll see you Friday.”
Anna got her father’s voice mail and knew it was already too late. Her father often went to bed by seven on weeknights so he could get up before dawn. It was one of the many things about him that had driven her mother crazy.
She was about to call Riley when her doorbell rang. Her pizza had arrived. Grabbing cash from her wallet, she opened the door and jerked to a stop. Riley Ingram stood before her, pizza box in one hand, a half gallon of Anna’s favorite ice cream in the other.
“I hijacked the pizza guy.”
The volatile emotions she’d been holding back all day crashed down around her. Without a word, Riley walked into the apartment, dropped the pizza and ice cream on the hall table, and held out her arms. With a sob, Anna went into them.
Chapter Twenty-nine
LCR Headquarters
Alexandria, Virginia
Aidan stood in front of McCall’s desk, unable to sit down. He needed to get this done before he changed his mind.
“You’re sure you want to do this?”
Hell no, he wasn’t sure. If this thing went sideways, he was screwed, and whoever else was working with him would be, too. He had no problem putting his own life on the line, but he damn well wasn’t comfortable putting anyone else in danger.
But as much as he didn’t want to admit it, Anna had been right. One of the reasons he hadn’t agreed to McCall’s offer years ago was because of his guilt. Over Mellie, as well as Kristen and Amy. He would always see Mellie’s death as his fault. He had brought Simon into her life. And he had inadvertently brought Simon into Kristen’s and Amy’s lives. But punishing himself would never bring Mellie back. Would never erase what Kristen and Amy had suffered. There was only one thing left to give all of them, and that was justice.
“I’ve used every other avenue to find him. This is my last option.”
“We’ve discussed this several times before, and you’ve always turned down the offer.” A glimmer entered McCall’s eyes. “Any reason you’ve suddenly changed your mind?”
He and McCall had always been brutally honest with each other and, because of that, had butted heads on more than one occasion. Neither liked to prevaricate or play games.
“Mellie deserves justice. So do Kristen and Amy.”
“Yes, they certainly do.”
“You want me to admit it’s because of Anna? Very well, yes. She’s a big part of it.”
“The only admission I’m hoping for is that you’ve finally accepted that you deserve to have a life. One that includes happiness. You’ve denied yourself too long.”
“Not nearly as long as Mellie was denied it.”
“That’s the guilt talking, Thorne. Regret and guilt have motivated you to do some damn phenomenal things. You’ve saved a lot of lives. But if you let that guilt destroy you in the process, the evil wins. And Simon Cook wins.”
Anna had said the same thing. His gut told him hers and McCall’s words were right. Knowing it and living it were two separate issues, though.
Needing to move forward, Aidan said, “As much as I’d like to get this done quickly, that can’t happen and look authentic. Simon’s a sadistic bastard, but he’s not a fool.”
“Agreed.” McCall tilted his head toward the chair Aidan was standing beside. “Take a seat, and let’s start planning.”
***
Phoenix, Arizona
“Feel better?” Riley asked.
They sat on the floor across from each other, an empty pizza box on the coffee table between them. A ten-minute crying jag had done wonders for Anna’s appetite. Now if she could only find an easy cure for a broken heart.
“Much. Thank you.” Anna picked up a piece of leftover pizza crust from her plate and crumbled it. “How’d you know I needed you?”
“How do you think?”
“Aidan.” She’d known the moment she’d seen her friend at the door that once again Aidan was trying to take care of her. He knew she would need comfort.
“He called me right after you left the island.”
“What did he say?”
“Just that you might need a friend.”
Her mouth twisted. Aidan knew how much she was hurting. Since he couldn’t comfort her, he had sent Riley in his stead. How weird to be both angry and grateful that he had thought to do this.
“Thank you for coming. He was right. You weren’t on a job, were you?”
“No. After we returned from Colombia, we took a couple days off.”
“I know Carrie’s back home, no one else died, and Julio Garcia is on the mend. Did anything else happen?”
“Not that I know of. I understand Ruiz and Garcia
are still at war with each other.”
Anna shivered. “It’s hard to know who to root for.”
“Neither, from what I can tell. Both families are responsible for multiple murders. Not to mention the death and destruction they’ve caused by trafficking drugs.”
And their homebase was the area that Aidan went to frequently in hopes of finding the elusive Simon Cook. As an LCR operative, he was in constant danger when he was on the job, but Aidan put himself at additional risk by searching for his wife’s killer.
“So you want to talk about it? Aidan wouldn’t tell anyone where he took you. I’m assuming he stayed with you, wherever it was.”
“He took me to the island. And yes, he did stay.”
“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”
“Paradise. Just like you described.”
Riley gave her a sympathetic smile. “And you fell more in love with him than you already were.”
No use trying to deny her feelings. Riley had seen through her protestations long ago and had been kind enough not to call Anna out on them. Besides, denying her feelings for Aidan went against everything within her.
“More than I thought possible.”
“I won’t ask you why you say that with such sadness. It’s obvious something went wrong. Just know I’m here for you.”
Anna reached across the table and squeezed her friend’s hand. “Thank you. Actually, nothing went wrong. Not really. Aidan was upfront with me from the very beginning that once we left the island, it was over.”
Temper flared in Riley’s eyes. “What an arrogant asshole.”
“No, no. It wasn’t like that. I was the one who initiated things.”
She blushed as she thought about that statement. While it was true that she had asked him to make love to her, days before that he’d shown her more than once how attracted he was to her. If not for that, she never would have had the courage to ask him.
“Did he tell you why you couldn’t have a relationship?”
Aidan hadn’t asked her not to talk about what had happened to him, but she didn’t feel comfortable sharing the information even with her best friend. It was Aidan’s story to tell.
“Yes. I won’t say more, other than he feels he’d be putting me in danger if we see each other in the real world.”
Riley’s eyes narrowed with concern. “What kind of danger?”
“Someone hates him enough to go after any woman he cares about.”
“He knows who this person is?”
“Yes, but he can’t find him.”
“Is LCR working on helping find him? He’s got to know that Noah would bend over backward to help any of his employees any way he could.”
Riley would know this better than anyone. Not only had Noah rescued her years ago and helped her create a new life for herself, he and LCR had finally been able to find and destroy the people who’d almost destroyed her.
“He knows that. He just…” Anna had no explanation, really, for why Aidan wouldn’t let LCR do more. He had explained his reasons, but she knew in her gut it was more than his worry of allowing another person to be put at risk. The guilt he still felt over his wife’s death, along with the other women Simon had attacked, wouldn’t let him find peace.
“He just what?”
“I can’t say more without giving you details I’m not sure he’d feel comfortable with me telling.” She drew in a breath and said, “Enough about me. What about you? Have you and Justin found a house yet?”
A pink flush colored Riley’s creamy complexion, but all she said was, “We’ve narrowed it down to three houses. We both want a house with some history—one that housed a happy family.”
“Just like you guys will have someday.”
Riley’s blush deepened to a dark, pink rose.
“Oh my gosh. Are you pregnant?”
“What? Good heavens, no!”
“Then what’s all the blushing for?”
Riley covered her cheeks with her hands. “It’s just super warm in here, don’t you think?”
“No, I don’t think.” She took her friend’s hand again. “Spill it, Ingram.”
Surprising her, Riley pulled her hand away and reached inside her blouse. She came out with a chain holding a gorgeous diamond engagement ring.
Anna squealed with glee. “Oh my gosh! It’s beautiful, Riley! But why aren’t you wearing it? And why didn’t you tell me immediately?”
“I just—”
“No, no, no. Don’t tell me you didn’t because of Aidan. Don’t do that. Sharing your happiness makes me happy.” She jumped up and ran around the table to hug her friend hard. “I am ecstatic for you both. No one deserves happiness more.”
Riley’s blue eyes gleamed like sapphires. “I didn’t even know he was going to ask. I mean…we’d talked about it, but in a one-of-these-days kind of conversations.”
Anna pulled Riley to the sofa and sat beside her. “Tell me everything. Was it totally romantic? Did he get on one knee? Was there music? Flowers? Angels singing?”
Riley snorted out a laugh, and then her face went beet red. “Not exactly.”
“Well, then, what?”
“We were, uh…you know. And he…well. And then I…I…”
Anna burst out laughing. “That’s the most inarticulate sentence I’ve ever heard you say. Let me see if I’ve got this right. You and Justin were making wild passionate love when in the midst of that all-consuming passion, he popped the question. And you, Riley Ingram, besieged with ecstasy, overcome with desire, screamed out yes.”
“Umm…something like that.”
Anna nodded her approval. “Down-on-his-knees, hearts-and-flowers proposals are vastly overrated.”
“To be fair, he was on his knees at the time. And I—”
Anna held out her hand. “Okay, too much information. Let’s save the TMI for when we’re on our second glass of wine or something.”
“The flowers and music came the next night, with the ring. And the next night, we went to see his parents, who flew into town just to meet me.”
“Wow, you have been busy. How did it go? Did they love you?”
“They were wonderful. It’s easy to see why Justin is so kind and good. His mom and dad are so down-to-earth. They both hugged me and cried.”
“I am so happy for you, Riley. Have you guys discussed a date?”
“We’re thinking about November, as close as we can get to Thanksgiving without interfering with anyone’s plans. Neither of us want anything elaborate or large. His family will be there and, of course, my LCR family. And you.
“Speaking of that…” Riley’s expression went uncertain, almost shy. “Will you be my maid of honor?”
Happiness misted Anna’s eyes. “It would be my honor.”
Chapter Thirty
Lake George, New York
Aidan maneuvered around a tree branch that had fallen across half of the road. He remembered a weather report from a couple of weeks ago had mentioned a severe thunderstorm had moved through the area. He was glad he’d come a day early. That would give him time to cut down some dead limbs and clear away the debris.
When he’d called his parents and suggested a get-together for this weekend, they had known something major was up. For the past couple of years, this place was where he and his family came for holidays and the occasional family meeting. Aidan had missed the last few and had never once initiated a meeting.
He’d heard the excitement in their voices. He hadn’t given them any details because he didn’t want to quell their hopefulness. He had no real clue if this plan would work. Either way, he wouldn’t go forward without their knowledge and cooperation.
Aidan pulled up in front of the large two-story structure. Built more than thirty years ago, the house had gone through a half-dozen renovations before his parents had purchased it eight years ago. The place had been in sad shape, but his mother and sister, along with a team of architects and decorators, had practically rebuilt it. This house
, more so than the beach house, had held the happiest memories for him. But now that wasn’t the case. Hands down, his time with Anna at the beach house was the best time he’d ever had.
Anna had given him light he hadn’t anticipated or asked for, but he found himself wanting it with every fiber and cell within him. The few days he’d been able to bask in that light had given him a happiness he hadn’t felt in more than a decade. Maybe had never felt before. He wanted more. He wanted her for all time.
Until this was over, he had ensured Anna’s safety. The Faulkner Agency, the private investigation agency he’d hired a couple of years back to watch over his family, would see to that. He’d made the call to them while Anna was still at the beach house. He had no reason to believe that Simon knew anything about Anna, but neither would he take the chance. When he implemented his plans, the danger would be heightened for everyone he loved. And that included Anna.
He wished he could call and check on her but refused to give in to temptation. He had no guarantee this would work. Letting her know about it would be selfish. If this plan to capture Simon was successful, Aidan would go to her, free for the first time in more than a decade. He didn’t even mind the world-class groveling he would have to do. After the way he had behaved, Anna deserved her pound of flesh.
Riley wouldn’t tell him anything about Anna, other than to say that she was holding her own. Even though she had refused to reveal what they discussed, Riley hadn’t acted angry, which made him believe that, though Anna was hurting, she hadn’t talked badly about him to her friend. Anna had every right to tell her best friend how badly Aidan had behaved. That she obviously hadn’t, reinforced his opinion that Anna Bradford was one of the kindest and rarest people on earth.
More than anything, Aidan wanted this over with so he could go to her and tell her what was in his heart. But first he had a damn big task in front of him.
***
Phoenix, Arizona
She told herself that returning to work would be her lifesaver. Staying busy had always been her way to cope with hurt in her own life. Besides, working with traumatized children had a tendency to put things in perspective. Her psychologist’s mind told her this was avoidance, not healing. Her bruised heart said that was okay for now. By concentrating on others, she would heal. And then the day would come when she wouldn’t hurt quite so much. If she continued to tell herself that, she was sure that one day she would believe it.
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