Careless (27 page)

“Don’t be a smart-ass or I’ll finish what I
started.” Derek, Smith, and Jones had barely been able to peel Mike off Tori’s
captor when he claimed he didn’t know where she was. “Reach into your pocket
and get them. Now.”

Mike watched him struggle to extract the
key ring with the handcuffs still in place. “This is the last time I’m gonna
say it,” he said, pointing his finger at Joe. “You ever think about callin’,
writin’, or comin’ near here again, and I’ll make you wish you got life, ’cause
inside a cell’s the only place you’ll be safe from me. I’ll hunt you down like
a dog, and I won’t rest until you feel the kind of fear you made her feel. You
got me?”

Joe looked down at his bound hands before
muttering, “Yeah.”

Derek raised his hand as Mike jogged toward
the entrance.

Tori didn’t lift her head until the bell
over the door rang out, capturing her attention. Her mouth fell open before she
pushed out of the booth and launched herself into his arms. “Oh my God, how… What’re
you doin’ here?”

Mike laughed as he buried his face in her
hair. “I got your message. We were already at the cabin. We got him, baby. He
can’t hurt you again.” He set her down and framed her face with his hands
before kissing her lips gently. She looked so tired, so weak, it reawakened all
of Mike’s protective instincts.

There were so many things running through
his mind, but only one seemed to matter now. “I love you.” The words seemed hopelessly
inadequate to describe what he felt for her, but he intended to spend every day
for the rest of their lives showing her how much she meant to him.

“I love you, too,” she said, reaching up to
wrap her arms around his neck. “I was so scared. I kept thinkin’ about you, and
how I might never see you again.”

Mike glanced behind Tori. There were four
people, two wearing uniforms standing behind the counter, and two old men
perched on stools sitting at the counter. He nodded at them as he threaded his
hand through Tori’s and led her to the table she’d been occupying when he
walked in.

“I can’t believe you’re really here,” Tori
said, sliding into the booth beside him and leaning her head on his shoulder.
“I kept hopin’, prayin’ you’d find a way to get to me, but…”

He hated that he’d failed to protect her,
to keep her safe, when she’d needed him the most. He’d spent the last decade
protecting total strangers, but when the love of his life needed him, he hadn’t
been able to shield her from danger, and he knew he’d spend the rest of his
life living with regret.

Tori pressed her palm into his chest, and
almost as though she could read his thoughts, she whispered, “Please don’t
blame yourself for this. There was nothing you could’ve done.”

“Damn it, Tori, this is my job. How the
hell could I have missed something like this?” he whispered fiercely as he
fisted his hand on the table.

Her hand dropped to his thigh. “We all did.
I thought he was my friend.”

He hated knowing she was blaming herself
for this. Mike knew it would be a long time before she could learn to trust her
own judgement again, but he intended to remind her every day she was one of the
smartest and most intuitive women he’d ever met. In time, he trusted they would
both figure out how to put this nightmare behind them. “Tell me he didn’t…” He
struggled to get the words out as the revolting image assailed him. “Touch
you.”

“No,” she said, reaching up to kiss his
cheek. “He didn’t try to force anything, thank God. He kept talking about the
future, about how I would learn to love him in time.” She turned his face
toward hers. “The only thing I could think about was gettin’ back to you.
That’s all that mattered to me.”

He pressed her palm to his lips as he
closed his eyes. “You’re incredible,” he whispered. “I love and hate that you
didn’t need me.”

“I do need you… now.” She sighed as she
closed her eyes. “I’m so tired, mentally, physically, emotionally. I just need
you to… take care of me.”

Mike smiled as he pressed his lips to her
hair. “My pleasure, baby.” Tori was so fiercely independent, and he loved that
about her, but it meant everything to him knowing she could let her guard down
with him like this. “Why don’t we find a hotel, see if we can’t catch a few
hours of shut-eye?”

“I just wanna go home… to sleep in our own
bed.”

He loved the sound of that, sharing a bed,
a home, a life with her. “Okay, I’ll drive, you sleep.”

“No.” She rubbed her eyes with her
fingertips. “I’m sorry, that was really selfish of me. You probably haven’t
slept at all, have you?”

“I’m good. Let me just grab a coffee to go,
and that’ll get me through.”

“Are you sure?”

“Positive.” He kissed her gently, wishing
he could kiss her the way he wanted to, but knowing if he did, they’d
undoubtedly become more of a spectacle than they already were. He tossed a few
bills on the table and eased her out of the booth. “Just let me grab a coffee
and we can be on our way.”

“I should use the restroom once more before
we go.” She smiled. “I drank a lot coffee, sittin’ here, waiting for you to
call me back.” She slid her arms around his waist and laid her head on his
chest. “I have to admit, I never expected you to show up here.”

“Too bad I was too late to—”

Tori pressed her fingertips to his lips.
“You got here right on time, Lieutenant. Just when I needed you most.”

Mike answered Tori’s door and grimaced when
he saw Luc. “We haven’t even been home twelve hours yet.”

Luc laughed as he walked past, slapping him
on the back. “This can’t wait. Where’s my girl?”

“Your wife’s at home, far as I know. My
girl’s in the shower.”

Luc wandered into the kitchen, giving Mike
no choice but to follow. He wasn’t ready to talk about the case, or the tour,
or the fact his services were no longer required. His gut ached when he thought
about letting Tori go out on the road for three months, but he knew he had no
choice. Music was her first love, and he had to respect it was the biggest part
of who she was.

“Can I get you some coffee?” Mike asked,
pointing to the carafe on the counter.

“Sounds good, thanks.”

Mike prepared Luc’s coffee and handed it to
him. “So, I guess you’re here to talk to Tori about the tour, huh?”

“Yeah, and I wanted to talk to you about
somethin’, too.”

“What is it?”

“Obviously, Tori’s gonna need a new head of
security.”

“You want me to help my old man find
someone?” Mike smirked. “Given the job he did the first time around, I hate to
say he might be losin’ his touch, but—”

“I’ve already found someone.”

Mike knew it would be difficult for him to
allow anyone to get close to Tori again. He intended to run background checks
on every last member of the Titan Records team first chance he got. “I want to
meet him before you make any final decisions. If he’s gonna be watchin’ Tori’s
back, I wanna make sure he’s the right man for the job. ’Cause I swear to God,
if anyone ever tries to hurt her again—”

Luc held his hand up. “Won’t be necessary,
you’re the man I want.”

“Me?” Mike eased back on one of the stools
at the breakfast bar. “What the hell are you talkin’ about? I’ve got a job… I
love.”

“As much as you love Tori?”

“Come on, man, that’s not fair. It’s like
askin’ you whether you love Marisa more than your work.”

“If my company went bankrupt tomorrow, I’d
survive. But if I lost Marisa, it would kill me. It’s as simple as that.”

Mike knew what he said was true. He’d spent
years watching them together, and their bond was unbreakable. “Bein’ a cop’s
the only thing I’ve ever wanted, the only thing that’s ever mattered to me.”

“But now something matters more, am I
right?”

He didn’t even have to think about it. Tori
mattered more than his job, his friends, hell, even more than his family.
“Yeah, you’re right. So, what’s your point?”

Luc took a sip of his coffee before he
said, “Okay, here’s the way I see it. You fell in love with a woman whose job
takes her around the world and back. You can choose to be a part of her life,
or not.”

“I am a part of her life.” He crossed his
arms. “That’s the way it is, the way it’s gonna be, and if you’re gonna try to make
her choose between her career and me—”

“I’m tryin’ to give you guys a chance to
have it all.” He sighed. “You’re a great cop, no question about it. But are you
tellin’ me the job doesn’t get to you after a while? It doesn’t mess with your
head?”

“Sure it does.” Mike took a drink of his
coffee, staring into the brew a long time before he decided to acknowledge
something he’d never admitted to anyone, including himself. “There are a lot of
days when I think about packin’ it in. When I’m tired or frustrated or just mad
as hell a case isn’t goin’ my way. But then I ask myself, what the hell would I
do with my life if I didn’t have my career? It’s more than what I do. It’s who
I am. It’s the only thing I’m good at, the only thing that’s ever really made
me feel like I’m makin’ a difference, ya know?”

“I’m givin’ you another option, and it’s
not just because I like you or because you’re a good cop. You’re the right man
for this job.” He sighed. “The truth is, your old man’s been makin’ noise about
packin’ it in for a while now. He says he wants to spend more time with Lexi
and the kids, hang out at the cottage, travel a bit… Look, I get where he’s
comin’ from, I do. He gave almost twenty years to the force, another fifteen to
us. He’s paid his dues. He deserves to take a little time for himself, but I
can’t let him go until I know I’ve got the right man to fill his shoes.”

Mike rolled his eyes. “That’s real nice,
Spencer. Now you’re tryin’ to guilt me into takin’ the job?” 

“Hey, I never said I play fair.” He
grinned. “I play to win.”

“Oh man,” Mike said, tipping his head back
as he scrubbed his hands over his face. “I gotta admit, I never saw this
comin’.”

“Yeah, well, that makes two of us, buddy. I
never thought Tori’s head of security would be out to get her. Think about what
I’m offerin’ you…”

How could he not? “I’m listenin’.”

“The chance to be with Tori all the time,
you get to hand select the people who are part of her security team, run
background checks on everybody who comes into contact with her, hire temporary
security for concerts, bodyguards for special events, you get to travel the
world…” He grinned. “Not to mention, you’ll be makin’ five times what you are
now.”

The money was a nice bonus, but he knew it
wouldn’t be enough to make the decision for him. “I’m not gonna lie, you make
it tough to say no.”

“Then don’t.” Luc’s cell phone buzzed and
he spared a glance at the screen. “When you take over Josh’s job, you’d be
makin’ ten times what you’re makin’ on the force, Mike. Come on, you can’t tell
me it’s not enticing.”

“Of course it is.” He ran his hands through
his hair. “But I need some time to think about it, to talk to Tori, my dad,
Derek… get their thoughts on it. This doesn’t affect just me, ya know.”

“Fine, but we haven’t got a lot of time.
Tori’s goin’ back out on the road tomorrow, and she’s got no head of security.
Josh is gonna step up and fill the gap, but I can’t ask him to do it forever.”

“I hear ya. I’ll let you know… soon.”

Tori felt like a new woman by the time she
emerged from her bedroom twelve hours after they arrived home. They’d slept for
hours, made love, ate, showered, and she finally felt ready to face the world.

“No doubt in my mind you’re the man I need,
Mike,” Luc said.

“Too bad, you can’t have him. He’s mine.”

Luc laughed as he picked Tori up and swung
her in a low circle. “Damn, it’s good to see you, girl. We were all goin’ out
of our minds worryin’ about you.”

She pressed a kiss to his bristly cheek.
“I’m sorry I worried you.” She covered her face with her hands when he set her
down. “The tour.” She grimaced. “I’m so sorry—”

Luc held his hand up to silence her. “Those
dates have already been rescheduled. We’re still gonna do the last night in
Louisville tomorrow night, if you’re up for it?”

Mike scowled. “Don’t you think she needs a
day or two to recover before you send her out on the road?”

Tori smiled at him. She loved him for
wanting to protect her, but getting back out there and resuming her normal life
was the best way for her to put this nightmare behind her. The only thing that
made it bittersweet was knowing Mike would have no reason to go with her now.
They were facing three long months apart, and she didn’t know how she was going
to get through it. In a short time, she’d already come to depend on him more
than she thought possible.

“It’s okay, I’m ready. I want to go.”

Mike looked surprised by her announcement.
“You want to go?”