Family Bonds- Mac and Sidney (Amore Island Book 3)

by Natalie Ann

  “So that’s it,” she said. “No other women pretend in the bedroom like I did? It’s an ego thing. How did you even find me?” It was fight or flee now; calm was out the window and escape was the only plan.

  He growled and moved a few steps forward and she tried to look around the room for any kind of a weapon.

  “A few friends of mine were at the casino a while back. One of them recognized you from a picture I’ve got of us in the apartment.”

  “You’ve got a picture of me in your apartment?” she asked. This was beyond creepy now and she felt chills erupt all over her body. “Bet all the other women you’ve dated loved that.”

  “I told them you were my love and had died. No one questioned it. They thought it was sweet I kept the picture there.”

  Talk about sick. And scary. “And your friends thought they found my twin?” she asked. Rod never knew she had a twin. She’d never told him, which made this all the more bizarre.

  “They came back talking about your doppelganger and wanting to know if you really died or just left me. I had to see for myself and decided to hire a PI to look into it.”

  Again, it didn’t make that much sense to her. As Amanda pointed out, she wasn’t hiding all that hard.

  “Now that you found me, you can leave and forget I exist.”

  “No,” he said. “You’re coming back with me. We’re meant to be together.”

  “And it’s taken you five years to figure this out? No, I don’t believe it. What’s this about?” She needed to understand this. Something wasn’t adding up.

  His eyes got dark like they did the night he hit her. Something was snapping in him again.

  “Bitch,” he said. “You want to know? I had to lie to all my friends that you were gone. That you died. To save face for the fact you ghosted out of my life, I told them you came home to pack your belongings and come back to me permanently and tragically died in a car accident. How do you think I felt when they returned from here and said they were positive it was you and wouldn’t let it drop they saw you on this island with some redneck guy at a poker table. They haven’t let me live it down. No one leaves me unless I want them to!”

  “This girl did,” she said. “And if you think I’m going anywhere with you, you’ve got another thing coming.”

  He moved toward her. “You will leave with me. Even if I’ve got to threaten to harm your parents.”

  “What?” she asked.

  “That’s right. I’ve got a man outside your parents’ house right now.” He held his phone up and it was a picture of her parents’ house and she paled. He’d done his homework, but maybe not enough. “One word from me and he will go into the house and do what I tell him to.”

  “I haven’t seen my parents in years, Rod. We aren’t that close. I think you’re bluffing. If whatever guy you hired to look into me was good enough, he’d know that.”

  His face turned bright red and twisted in a sinister way. Why had she never seen these things before? It was almost like he was possessed now and moving in closer to her. “Don’t push me.”

  “I’m going to push you back just like I did before. I won’t back down from you.”

  He stepped closer and raised his arm to backhand her again, but she knew it was coming and ducked, and then tried to slip by him. Only he was faster and stronger and had her by the waist and spun her into the wall where she hit her head and saw stars.

  40

  Make That Woman Yours

  Mac texted Sidney ten minutes ago and she hadn’t replied and he didn’t like that. He’d told her enough times that he expected a response within one minute or he’d panic.

  She hadn’t wanted to stay with him and since there’d been no sign of Rod on the island he was willing to let it go. There’d been no communication either, other than the flowers a week ago.

  As it stood, the guy hadn’t done anything threatening or against the law. Years ago he did and Sidney had those records, but he wished she would have pressed charges too.

  When he got down Sidney’s street, he noticed a car in the driveway. One he’d never seen before and he didn’t like the fact she might have visitors without him knowing when he’d asked her to keep him up to date on her movements.

  He pulled in front of the house and moved to the front door. He only had one foot on the first step when he heard her scream, then pulled his gun and kicked the front door in.

  Sidney was kicking and screaming and this guy had her pinned against the wall, his hands on her throat. There was blood coming down the side of her face. He wanted to rush him, and bring him to the ground, but he was still an officer of the law.

  “Amore Island Police,” he said. “Take your hands off of her and back up.”

  The guy laughed and took one hand away from Sidney’s throat, giving her enough leverage to wiggle loose, but Rod reached behind and pulled a gun from his belt. As soon as Mac saw metal, he fired, hitting Rod in the shoulder and knocking him back.

  The gun in Rod’s hand fell to the floor and Mac was on him fast, turning and cuffing him, then calling in backup from the state police and EMTs. He knew Jarrett was close by, as he’d just passed him moments ago on the road.

  “Are you okay?” he asked, rushing to Sidney. “My God, I think I just lost about ten years of my life.”

  “You?” she said, coughing and trying to suck in air. Then she burst into tears and he pulled her into his arms.

  That was where Jarrett found them two minutes later when he came in with his gun drawn. “Son of a bitch,” Jarrett said. “You were right.” Jarrett had Rod up and close to the front door away from them in the living room.

  “Right about what?” Sidney asked pulling back.

  “Something felt off about this to me,” he said. “I knew he was more dangerous than you were letting on. Everything I’d found out about him or read about him said he was ruthless to get what he wanted and would go to any length. He seems like two people to me.”

  “Looking back, I started to see sides of him too. The one where he was pursuing me, being charming and trying to win me over. Gifts and fancy dinners. Then he’d talk down to me in front of others. He’d make comments about me being stupid or dumb, not good enough for him. Or that I should be thankful for him. His friends would joke he always had to win. He always had to be the best. I just started to think he had some mental issues, but I’m no doctor either.”

  “There were things I read about his cases. How he is as a lawyer. I just knew if he was pushed he’d be violent. More violent than before. If you dug deep enough there were articles on him throwing fits in the courtroom, then sucking up to the jury. Maybe that’s his style, but my gut told me otherwise. And I knew you’d push every button he had.”

  “It’s the way I am. I’d never go down without a fight. But I had no idea he had a gun on him. He was facing me the whole time. I wonder what could have made him snap like this. I just don’t get it.”

  “No. It’s the way you are and the woman I love. Even if it aggravates me. You never know how someone will react when they are pushed to the limits. When they are used to having everything and then think they can’t have it anymore. He seems very unstable from everything you’ve described. But it’s over now.”

  “I’ve got backup meeting us at the hospital,” Jarrett said, opening the front door for the EMTs. “I’ll follow along and then we’ll transport him to the barracks and off the island to Boston and go from there. Attempted murder of a civilian and a police officer is going to put him away for a long time.”

  “I need to get you to the hospital too,” he said to Sidney, his finger coming up and wiping at the blood coming down the side of her face.

  “I’m fine.”

  “Don’t argue with me. This needs stitches and your throat needs to be checked out.” He could already see the bruising.

  “I was fighting him, but I don’t think I would have made it if you didn’t save me,” she said crying and hugging him. “I don’t know what I’d d
o without you.”

  “You won’t have to worry ever again. I’m not going anywhere.”

  He picked her up and carried her to the car to bring her to the hospital. When they got there, Rod was being prepped for surgery. It was a small hospital and they had a surgeon on call on the island. Dr. Michael Mills, Ava’s father, would get the bullet out.

  “I don’t need to go to the ER,” Sidney said once again. She’d been saying it the entire drive there.

  “You do. Stop arguing with me. We’ll get in and out fast. They will put a rush on it.”

  “Trying to pull weight,” she said, forcing out a laugh, but she winced.

  “Yes. It’s all family working most likely. Not only that, you probably have a concussion.”

  “Probably,” she said, shutting her eyes.

  When he carried her into the hospital from the car, she grumbled, “There is nothing wrong with my legs.”

  “Bring her in here,” his cousin Hudson said. Ava’s older brother and the ER doctor working. “You can leave us alone too and I’ll take care of her.”

  He wanted to argue but knew enough to listen. Besides, he needed to get some air and regroup after the past thirty minutes.

  When he came back, Hudson was stitching her up. “I want her to stay overnight for observation, but she’s giving me a hard time.”

  “Listen to Dr. Mills,” Mac said. “He knows what he’s saying. I can stay with you.”

  “I don’t want to stay here if Rod is here,” she said and started to cry. He’d never seen her so vulnerable before and it was breaking his heart.

  “He’ll be gone as soon as he’s up from surgery,” he said. “Jarrett is here along with another trooper and they are outside the OR waiting to bring him to the barracks and airlift him out. You’re safe.”

  “Are we in agreement then?” Hudson said.

  “Yeah,” Sidney said and he realized that she just didn’t have much fight left in her.

  “I’ll call Amanda and have her get you some clothes. I need to get back to the office and finish things up and then I’ll be back. I promise.”

  “I’ll be here,” she said. “Have Amanda get my phone too. I need to call my parents and make sure they are okay. He threatened them. He had a picture of their house on their phone. I called his bluff and that is what set him off. I just remembered that.”

  “I’ll take care of contacting your parents. I’ll go back for your phone and deal with it.”

  “Thank you, Mac. I love you.”

  It was one of the first times she’d ever said it to him first. “I love you too.”

  After he’d gotten her phone and called Sidney’s mom, he found out they were safe and there wasn’t anyone around, but he placed a call to the state police there to have the area checked out and said Sidney would call them soon.

  He was back at the station when his phone rang. He saw it was Eli calling and was going to pass it to voicemail, but decided to take it. “Hey, Eli. What’s up?”

  “I heard what happened. One of my front desk girls came to my office crying. She said she called it into the station that she saw his name trying to check in and wondered if she was too late and it was her fault.”

  “What?” he asked. “What do you mean?”

  “She called the station hours ago. He came in under Douglas R. Enfield. The last name triggered it, but then with the accent, she just figured Douglas was his legal first name, with the middle initial matching up, and called right away. She spoke with Chris.”

  “Thanks for letting me know. I’ll find out what happened.”

  He pulled up the logs and noticed it wasn’t even registered as a call coming in, then got on the radio right away to call Chris back to the station.

  It wasn’t even five minutes before Chris came in. “I just heard. Damn that is scary.”

  “It sure the hell is. What I want to know is why you got a call he was on the island and not only didn’t log it in, but didn’t report it to me, let alone look into it yourself.” He was trying to control his temper, but at this point there was no use.

  “It was a different name,” Chris argued.

  “Are you fucking kidding me! Even the clerk knew enough to report it and you brushed it off. Why?!” Chris looked shaken. “He was choking her. He was going to kill her if I didn’t show up on time. That’s on you! You could have prevented this had you done what you were instructed to do. I want to know why the hell you didn’t!” he yelled.

  “I thought you were overreacting. I didn’t realize it was this serious.”

  “I bet you don’t think that now. Turn your badge and gun in. You’re being suspended. If you know what is smart you’d retire now before I fire you.”

  Chris took his badge off and gun. “I’m not cut out for this anymore. I realize it now. It’s time to be done.”

  “You’re damn right it is. And you’re lucky Sidney is safe. Get out of my face.”

  Chris walked out and Mac put his fist through the wall. “I hope you are going to fix that yourself as I’m sure taxpayer money isn’t going to.”

  He turned to see his father standing there. “You heard what happened?”

  “Everything. Even down to the exchange with Chris. He’s an ass and he’s lazy, but he wouldn’t want harm to come to anyone. I’m just glad Sidney’s fine. He’s going to have to live with what happened today and he’ll be thankful it wasn’t worse.”

  “I’m sure,” Mac said, knowing his father was right. It didn’t make it any better though.

  “How are you holding up?”

  He shook his fist off. “What do you think?”

  “I think you need to make that woman yours now,” he said. “You’ve waited long enough. What’s taking so long?”

  He laughed. “It’s only been a few months. That’s not fast?”

  “Not when it’s right and you know it.”

  “I know. But she needs time. Especially after today. A controlling man isn’t someone she wants nor do I want to be that. She’ll have to figure it out on her own.”

  His father laughed. “Give her credit, Mac. She wrote a book about you. I think that says it all.”

  He hadn’t seen the book to know for sure. Not the final copy, but he’d seen enough and his father was right.

  He finished up what he could and then left to go to the hospital. When he walked in, Amanda was with Sidney in a room. The two of them were laughing.

  “What’s so funny?” he asked, trying to figure out how anyone could find anything humorous right now.

  “Amanda suggested that I turn this into a book. How to get away from an attack. I said it might be a little much for a kid.”

  He smiled. “I’m not sure any of us want to relive this let alone have a child read it. It might not be a bestseller.”

  “No,” Sidney said. “That was the joke. I’m looking for bestsellers.”

  “I’m going to leave you two alone. Bri should be home by now and I’ll fill her in.”

  “Hey you,” he said. “How are you feeling?”

  “Better. Pain pills are a wonderful thing.”

  He smiled and sat on the bed, then threaded their fingers together. “Did you talk to your mom?”

  “I did. They are upset and scared. They’d planned on coming to visit in a few weeks anyway, you know that, but want to come sooner. I told them no. I don’t want them to see me like this. It will only make it worse. I’m fine and assured her of that.”

  “It’s got to be hard on them.”

  “Especially after losing one child. Which is why I don’t want them to see me like this. I played it down.”

  “I’m not sure you can play this down, but you know your parents best.”

  “I do,” she said. “Just like I know you. I was scared and thought I was going to die and my first thought was you. Would you know how much I really loved you? Then I told myself you’d get to me. I knew you would.”

  “I don’t know what made me check on you. I don’t even kn
ow why I texted you when I did. But you didn’t reply and I told you I’d check on you if I didn’t hear within a minute.”

  “Fate, Mac. I’m not sure if what we had is love at first sight, but I’m damn well calling it fate. One or the other is tied to this island.”

  “It is tied to the island. It’s tied to me. Fate, love at first sight. I don’t care what words you put to it. All I know is I love you and I want to be with you.”

  “And you will,” she said.

  Epilogue

  “My parents love it here,” Sidney said a month later. Amanda was slowly moving out of their rental house and Bri decided to move back to Providence saying she was giving up finding love here and had a better shot on the mainland. She thought things were going well with her current boyfriend too.

  Personally, Sidney felt Bri was upset everyone in the house had someone serious but her. And with Amanda moving out, there was fear in where Bri would stay. Sidney had been talking about taking over the lease but Mac kept telling her to hold off.

  As much as she wanted to ask why, she didn’t argue. Especially since she was spending more time at Mac’s house anyway now.

  “Do you think they will visit more often then?”

  “They said they will. They are here for a week and I’m glad I’m all recovered too. They don’t have to know all the details of what really happened. Rod is fighting to be sent back to England, but you don’t think it will happen, do you?”

  “No. He’s going to prison here. He can get his team of lawyers all he wants, but he’s here for the time being. It helped to have your reports from the past too. He won’t hurt you again. You can count on it.”

  “Because you saved me,” she said, moving into his arms.

  They were sitting on his back deck enjoying the late May night while she grilled burgers for them. Her books were moving along and Your Friendly Officer was set to go up for preorder under the publishing house soon. Her first advance came in and she told Mac that after this summer she’d cut back her hours to just a few days a week.