by L. A. Fiore
“Rafe. Where’s Nat?”
Looking around I saw Nat and Tyler with Anna and Harold. The cops were swarming, setting up a barricade, not that they’d be able to hold the four of them for long. “She’s fine. She’s with your parents and Tyler. The cops are detaining them.”
“Thank God.” She looked past me to the pier. “I went over the side.” And then she giggled. “Even with my ass.”
She was clearly in shock. “What hurts?”
“My arm.”
More sirens came from the parking lot.
Her eyes shifted to me and in them I saw heartbreak. “You pulled away from me. Why did you pull away from me?”
I answered honestly. “You lost your sparkle and I did that to you.”
Her temper stirred and I preferred that to the haunted look she’d had a moment before. “No you didn’t. None of this was your fault or your dad’s and it’s just stupid of you to think so.”
“You’re right.”
She was getting ready to argue, but stopped; her bewildered expression was adorable. “I’m right?”
I couldn’t wait another second to kiss her, taking her mouth as my tongue slipped between her lips to taste her. The kiss ended way sooner than either of us wanted when two paramedics dropped down next to us.
“Can you tell me what happened?” One of them asked me while the other splinted Avery’s arm.
“She was pulled over the side of the pier.”
It was only then that I looked over and saw the man who had dragged Avery over the side. He was lucky he was dead because I would have killed him.
“Did you lose consciousness?” The paramedic asked Avery.
“I don’t know.”
“Let me check your eyes.” He flashed the light, a few times in each eye. “Equal and reactive. Anywhere else hurt besides your arm?”
“No.”
“Any dizziness, shortness of breath, headache.”
“No.”
“I think you were very lucky, but we’re going to take a ride to the ER and let the docs take a look at you.”
Her free hand grabbed for mine. “Rafe, please don’t leave me.”
“I’m not going anywhere.”
Three hours later, Avery still hadn’t been checked out of the ER. Not long after we arrived, several other ambulances pulled up with accident victims. Since Avery’s injuries were not life threatening, she had been made comfortable while the doctors took care of the critical patients.
Nat had privileges at the hospital so somehow arranged for several of us to be in the room with Avery. I hadn’t left her side, her hand being held in mine.
She looked tired, but other than that you wouldn’t know she’d just gone through the harrowing scene she had. “How are you feeling, sweetheart?”
There was that look again, fucking loved how soft her eyes went hearing that word. She was feeling feisty though when she answered, “I’m good considering my failed attempt at flying.”
I was glad she could joke about it because I sure as hell didn’t find anything funny about seeing her going over the side of that pier. That image wouldn’t be fading for a long fucking time.
“What happened after I fell? Marco had mentioned that your mom gave up Nicholas, a warrant for his arrest was being issued from information supplied by her.”
Dad answered since I hadn’t a clue. My focus had been solely on her. “Lexie’s security team, along with the cops, descended on the scene. Titus was outnumbered, his leverage gone, so he surrendered.”
“How did she know where we were?” Avery asked and I knew Dad felt as I did on that account. Fucking furious.
“She was the one who sent me the disc, the puppet master pulling the strings. You mentioned the disc was in the clock?”
“Yeah.”
“Fuck me.” The ‘A Friend’ I’d been writing to for most of my life had been my mother. Too bad that act of kindness was completely negated when she knowingly pulled Avery and Nat into her drama.
“What don’t we know?” Dad asked.
“I’ve been writing to her most of my life.”
Dad’s jaw clenched. “Too little too late.”
Avery looked from Dad to me. “What do you mean puppet master?”
“She sent me that clock with the disc even knowing what it was and who was after it. She didn’t give me a heads up or a warning and even after Nat was taken, where the hell was she?”
Avery’s face paled even as anger turned her eyes bright. “Do you think she knew about Nat?”
“How else was she there at that pier?”
Avery’s expression changed, sympathy coming off her now as she turned her attention to Dad. “I’m so sorry, Liam.”
He didn’t answer, only lowered his head, but I felt the weight of his pain from where I stood.
Nat, who had been wrapped in Tyler’s arms, moved from her spot. “Avery, are you okay?”
She suddenly looked really pale. “Baby, what’s wrong?”
“My head hurts.”
“How long have you had a headache?”
“Not long. I just need to lie down, Nat.”
I thought Avery was teasing, but she didn’t look to be teasing. In fact, she looked confused. Nat said, “Sweetie, you are lying down.”
Dark circles had formed under her eyes.
“Are you dizzy?” Nat asked.
“A little.”
Nat looked over at me, worry coming off her in waves. “We need the doctor.”
“I’ll get him.” Tyler said and hurried from the room.
“Nat, what’s going on?”
“Blows to the head are tricky. It’s this lucid period that throws people off because they think they’re okay and then they crash.”
“I think I left the stove on. Oh God, Loki’s there. I have to go check on him.” The words were barely out of her mouth before Avery started pulling at the needle in her arm.
Grabbing her hands, I held them in mine. “Avery, baby, Loki’s fine.”
She looked at me like she hadn’t seen me in a while. A smile spread over her face and yet staring into her eyes, ice formed in my blood. Something was wrong. “Rafe. When did you get here?”
“Nat, what the hell is going on?”
“We need that doctor now.” Running to the door, she practically bellowed at the nurses. “Possible epidural hematoma. The patient is crashing.”
When Nat returned to Avery’s side, she wasn’t the sister, but the doctor. My next words were barely audible. “What does that mean, she’s crashing?”
“We need at CT scan because her brain could be swelling and if we don’t stop it, it could kill her.”
Her words didn’t immediately penetrate because Avery’s fall hadn’t seemed significant enough to cause that kind of trauma. How the hell could she be at risk of dying? She had been fine just ten minutes ago. But I couldn’t deny she didn’t look so good right now, she was fading.
“What time is it? I have work.” Avery’s words were slurred even as she grew agitated.
“You don’t have work today, sweetie.” Nat tried to soothe her, but it wasn’t working because Avery was trying again to remove the needle from her arm.
I didn’t want to hurt her, but I didn’t want her hurting herself. I reached for her, and then she just stopped, her hands dropped, her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she fell back onto her pillow.
“What the fuck just happened?”
The doctor arrived, Nat was talking rapidly, nurses came running in and seconds later Avery was being wheeled out of the room.
“She’s going to be okay.” I heard Nat’s voice, but it sounded as if it was coming from a very far distance. Her words meaningless because all I could think about was Avery and the thought of losing her. I never saw her coming and now I couldn’t imagine life without her.
“I’m observing the surgery. She’s going to be fine. I’ll be out just as soon as I can.” She touched my face. “She’s going to be okay.
”
“If you hadn’t been here.” And that’s what I couldn’t get my head around. We were in the fucking hospital and yet if Nat hadn’t kept a close eye on Avery, we could have lost her. “But I was. I’ll be out just as soon as I can.” She hugged Anna, Harold and Tyler and then hurried off down the hall.
Standing in that waiting room, I understood Trace’s aversion to the place. How could you voluntarily enter a place that housed the very worst of your memories? And yet he was here.
A woman came running into the ER, a man and little boy just behind her.
“How’s Avery?” Tears were streaming down her face.
Anna rushed to her. “Oh, Jessica. She’s in surgery. We don’t know anything just yet.”
“She’s going to be okay though, right?”
“Yes, honey. She’s going to be okay.” But Anna wasn’t sure, not even Nat was sure. The brain was a delicate thing and even if Avery lived, she could have suffered brain damage.
I hadn’t realized that Jessica had come to stand right in front of me until she spoke. “You’re Rafe.”
“Yeah.”
She smiled, which I thought was extremely inappropriate for the moment. And then she said, “She got to you.”
My words nearly got stuck in my throat because she really had. “Yes she did.”
“You’re in love with her.”
“Yes, I am.”
“And she’s in love with you. I’ve never heard her as happy as she’s been these past couple months.” She then reached for my hand. “She’ll get through this. Surely you know by now, Avery is tenacious.”
And even during my lowest moment, thoughts of Avery made me smile.
A little while later, Dad came to stand at my side. “You need anything.”
“Just Avery.”
“I’m not going to lie and tell you everything is going to be okay, because we don’t know that. But I will say, whatever happens, we’ll get through it. I’m here for you, son.”
The reality of a world without Avery was crushing. I wasn’t sure I wanted to get through it, if that meant a lifetime without her.
Ember and Trace approached, cups of coffee in their hands. I took one absently, didn’t taste it when I took a sip.
“You want anything to eat?” Ember asked softly.
“No, thanks.”
“She’ll find her way back. She has a lot to live for.”
And coming from someone who had, I believed her. “Thanks, Ember.”
She moved away to check on Anna and Harold. Trace stayed where he was. “I know what you’re going through, and I’m so fucking sorry you have to, but Avery’s tougher than she looks. She’ll beat this.”
“How can you stand being here, being forced to remember?”
Trace looked over at Ember. “Because I do remember how close I came to losing her. I’m here for you brother. We all are.”
And then a movement from the nurse’s station caught my eye. It was Nat and she was crying but they were happy tears because she was smiling. Relief so profound nearly brought me to my knees. Closing the distance, Nat grabbed my hands, her smile growing even bigger. “She’s fine, Rafe. She’s awake.”
Thank fucking God. “Is she talking?”
“Amazingly, she is. There may be motor function issues that she’ll need therapy for, but her speech wasn’t impaired from the surgery. Her first words…’she’s buying the fucking Camaro. Life is too short.’”
My response was unconsciously done. I roared with laughter and realized the rest of the waiting room was too.
Rafe walked into my room and I had never seen a sight more beautiful. “Hey.”
He surprised me when he settled on the chair beside me and pressed his face in my stomach. Rafe McKenzie was crying, again.
“I’m fine, Rafe. Really. I mean I have a headache and I broke my damn arm which means not even celery is going to help me perform my work—”
I didn’t get to finish because his mouth was on mine, his salty tears flavoring the kiss, his tongue plunging deep into my mouth—savoring.
His lips were still on mine when he said, “I love you.”
Everything inside me went gooey. “I love you.”
And then I remembered Titus, that bastard. “Where’s Titus?”
“He’s been arrested.”
“And Marco?”
“Dead.”
“Asshole pulled me over the side. I mean, in a way it’s kind of cool that I was light enough to go over with him, but still.”
Rafe’s shoulders shook and I wasn’t sure of the cause until his head lifted and laughing eyes looked down at me. “Even with your ass.”
“What?”
“You said that, after, how easily you were dragged over, even with your ass.”
I vaguely remembered that, but then I remembered what Nat said after the surgery and now I was getting pissed again. “They shaved part of my hair, I’m bald in the back.”
“You could be completely bald and you’d still be beautiful.”
“That’s not going to work, Rafe. You love my hair.”
He turned serious, the smile fading from his face. “I could have lost you. You’re alive, Avery. I don’t care if your hair ever grows back.”
The high I’d been on crashed, the humor I used to hold back the reality of what had happened died as my body shook and tears burned my eyes. Rafe seeing the change somehow managed to climb into bed with me without messing up the tubes and wires. When he pulled me close, I sighed.
“Don’t let go.” I whispered.
He held me tighter. “Never.”
Dad and I had been called down to the police station. The detectives were closing Nat’s kidnapping case; Alexandra had been in with the detectives fine-tuning the case against her dad and Nicholas. She asked to talk to Dad and me, wanted to explain. Jax gave us one of the interrogation rooms. Dad stood by the door, his thoughts his own. I sat across from the woman who was my mother and felt nothing except fury that her shit almost cost me Avery, but unlike Dad, I had questions.
“Who was Jeremy Paddington?”
“He was the man my father hired to run a phone tap on Nicholas’s phone. Dad wanted to get proof of Nicholas ordering the hit on Dominic Bennett, a partner in Morton Shipping who became a liability.”
“And Nicholas Titus?”
“My father needed his money to get the company off the ground. Marrying me off to the man was his attempt at keeping a measure of control over him. Nicholas only agreed to the wedding because my father had put a large portion of his buy-in for the company in my name for tax purposes. Married to me, Nicholas had access to those shares.”
“Jeremy ended up dead and I’m guessing that wasn’t a coincidence.”
“I wanted leverage, so I approached Jeremy sometime after he’d cut the deal with Dad. He was holding the disc in a security box, at the request of my father. I wanted it, so I paid him for it and he was all too happy to take my money. But then he quit, now floating on a sizable amount of money and since Dad had been holding the evidence over Nicholas’ head, it didn’t take much for Nicholas to put two and two together, especially after his source confirmed Jeremy had taken out the security box shortly before he quit his job. Nicholas had Jeremy killed and then he arranged the bank job.”
“Lucas approaching Dad, who set that up?”
“Nicholas. He was trying to keep me in line by coming at both of you. After Liam was sent away, he told me he’d focus on you if I didn’t toe the line. I tried to stay in touch, even got you into St. Agnes, but it was the most I dare do.”
“When did you learn the disc had been corrupted?”
“After I paid Jeremy for it, I hired Prescott and his security firm to help me expose my father and husband, they were the ones to discover the disc was useless. No one but the team and me knew that, so I kept my silence. Lucas and Jackson ended up dead, Nicholas tying up loose ends. He intended to kill you too, but then you turned yourself in. With the disc miss
ing and the only other person involved in jail, Nicholas thought he was in the clear.”
“Then Dad gets out of jail and Nicholas resumes the search for the disc before Dad could use it against him.”
“Nicholas is arrogant and believes he’s invincible. I don’t think he’s even thought about that disc in years, however he learned recently that an arrest warrant was pending. My father is dying and for once in his life he’s doing the right thing. He’s a ruthless man but he loves his company and seeing it, year after year, pulling farther away from him, skirting and stepping over the lines of legal practices all pioneered by Nicholas, my father has agreed to testify against him. His motivation is selfish, because his ultimate goal is seeing the company publicly traded. I think he’s being naïve to believe that will still happen, but he wants to try even knowing his testimony will shine guilt on him as well. Unlike Nicholas though, my father won’t live to serve his sentence. Nicholas was scrambling to find the disc—why he took Natalie—so father’s testimony regarding the murder would be hearsay. He doesn’t realize the disc is useless. He really believes destroying the disc will save him from seeing the inside of a jail cell since he’s convinced the other charges won’t amount to anything. He’s very wrong about that.”
“What do you have on them?” I asked.
“Laundering, insider trading, a bevy of other white collar crimes. He’s going away for a long time.”
“Why did you send the disc to me, especially since it is useless?”
“It seemed the safest with you. Hindsight, I never would have sent it to you and placed you in the middle. I’m very sorry. I had thought to retrieve the disc, approached Avery that night at Clover with the intent of doing so, but I was afraid to draw more attention especially since we were getting so close to nailing Nicholas.”
“And yet when Nat was taken, you still didn’t step in. He was holding her at gunpoint and a call from you would have found us that disc sooner than later and yet you said nothing. I really need to understand why?”
She had the sense to look contrite and yet there was belligerence coming off her too. “I had lived in Hell for so long. I wanted them both to pay. And with the disc being useless, Prescott and his team had to build the cases against them. It took time and tons of resources, but we were so close to nailing them I didn’t want to risk screwing that up.”