“You’re coming with me, and no funny business. I
have a gun, and anyone, including your boyfriend, who gets in my way, is dead. Understand?”
Gina nodded again, feeling sick, hoping to death that Mason was still sleeping. Where were the agents from out front? Why hadn’t they detected Dupree’s presence?
Dupree pulled her out the back door of the cottage and finally released his grip, dropping the knife and sticking the cold butt of a gun in her back.
“Why are you doing this?” she said, walking slowly across the lawn, trying to stall. Someone had to come help soon, didn’t they?
He kept close to the side of the house, where no one could see. Though it was also dusk and the nearest neighbor could never see them from this angle.
“Where do you plan to go? You can’t get away with this,” she added. “They have the book, and they’re looking for you.”
“I know that. I saw them, waiting for me—do you think I’m stupid? Walking into a setup?”
Gina’s heart sank. If he hadn’t shown up, did they even know he had come here? Were they all still in town, waiting?
“We’ll see how much they want you back. I want my son, they want you. They don’t give me Ricki back, you die. I leave the country. Very simple.”
“What about your notebook?”
“Unfortunate, that, but it’s life. Because of your nosy sister, I’ll have to lie low for a while, change my identity again, but it won’t be the first time.”
Gina didn’t say anything. What was there to say? They stood by the corner of the house, and she noticed there was no one in the car parked out front.
“What did you do to them?” she asked, her heart sinking.
“You don’t want to know,” he said threateningly as they walked toward the car. “Maybe I won’t kill you, for a while, anyway. I’ll need some company if I have to go underground. You’d do,” he said in a lascivious way that made her shudder.
“I’d rather be dead.”
“Yeah, well, we’ll see how things work out.”
He pulled her back, put his cheek close to hers, his partial beard scraping. “You never know, you might like to live on the wild side. Being with me would be more exciting than life with your boyfriend in there.” Dupree chuckled, and motioned with the gun for her to open the door and get in the car.
Gina looked toward the house where Mason was, thinking of everything he offered her that she had been so doubtful about. Love, passion, hope.
Every single one of those emotions came back to her in glaring relief, and she knew she wanted nothing more than a chance with him. She straightened her back and resisted Dupree’s attempts to push her forward.
“I’m not getting in this car. You’ll have to shoot me, here, but there’s no way in hell I’m going with you,” she said in a shaking voice, lifting her chin.
“Get in the car, or I will shoot you, and put you there
myself.” But he didn’t shoot her, and looked around warily, keeping his voice down.
Gina forced a smile. “You can’t shoot me. It would draw attention, and if I’m dead, then what leverage would you have? You’ll never get Ricki back, and you shouldn’t. No child belongs with a monster like you—”
Dupree lifted a hand as if to hit her, and she cringed, but then he wiped it over his face, looking desperately at the car, his only way to escape.
Gina realized he wasn’t on solid ground and she pushed her defiance. “You should just let me go. Take the car and go.”
Unfortunately, it didn’t look promising as he lifted the gun toward her and said, “I don’t think so. You’ll be on the phone as soon as I’m out of here.”
Gina flinched as a shot rang out and she ducked, covering her ears, and then opened her eyes. There had been a gunshot, but she was fine.
Dupree was on the ground, rolling on the lawn, holding his shoulder where there was an awful lot of blood. Gina stared in shock, and looked up to see Mason standing by the shrubs on the other side of the yard, a gun in his hand.
“Gina, get his gun!” Mason called, snapping her into the moment as she lunged for the ground, grabbing the gun just as Dupree did the same. He groaned loudly, swearing profusely as he went facedown on the lawn, holding his arm.
“I’m bleeding here,” he said between gritted teeth, as Mason walked closer, never taking the gun off of Dupree.
“Not enough,” Mason said, still watching Dupree closely, never lowering the gun. “Gina, call Kelly.”
She nodded, but had barely taken a step when cars roared up the road, screeching to a stop in front of the cottage.
Gina looked at Mason. “I guess I don’t need to call.”
Agents surrounded them as Mason put down his gun, and they apprehended Dupree.
“Where did you get the gun?” Kelly asked him.
“Off one of the unconscious agents. I woke up and saw Dupree taking Gina along the side of the house. I managed to get out the front first. I thought I’d jump him as he came around the porch, but I didn’t want to take a chance on Gina being shot. I spotted the agents at the side of the porch, and took the gun. I have a license, and I know how to shoot,” Mason added.
Kelly let out a low whistle. “That much is obvious. Thanks for not killing him. I hope we’re going to have lots of nice, long conversations with this guy,” Kelly said, smiling widely and genuinely for the first time since Mason had met him. “We will need you to come in, though, make an official statement.”
Mason started to answer, but Gina took Kelly by the arm, shaking off an EMT who tried to get her attention.
“Tracy? Did you find Tracy, and Rio?”
“Yes, I’m sorry. They’ve been airlifted by the Coast Guard to Tampa General. Both alive, though Rio is in critical condition. His wound went septic,” Kelly explained, looking regretful. “They think they might have
caught it in time, though. Tracy is fine, she’s with him. Scraped and bruised, and a little dehydrated, but she’s basically okay.”
Gina brought her hand to her lips, choking back a sob of relief, gratitude and worry for Rio. “Can we go to them?”
“Soon. You have to be checked out yourself first, no arguments,” he said, cutting off her objections. “And then someone will take you. Mason can come with us, meet you later.”
“Can’t I come in and make an official statement tomorrow?”
Kelly shook his head, grimacing. “It won’t take long, but since you shot the guy with an agent’s weapon, we have to deal with that first.”
Mason nodded and reached for Gina’s hand, pulling her in close as Kelly turned away, his attention on the situation going on behind him.
“You go to Rio and Tracy. Call me and let me know what’s happening, and I’ll be there as soon as I can, okay?”
Gina nodded, wanting desperately to go see her sister, but also finding it difficult to walk away from Mason.
“It will be okay, hon. I promise. Right as rain,” he said with a smile and a light kiss to her lips, before they parted, led by agents in separate directions.
Gina felt light-headed, and vaguely answered the EMT’s questions, as well as those of the agent standing with her, but she only felt better once they were in a
car heading toward Tampa, closer to Tracy, but farther from Mason.
It was the first time she’d been away from him in four days. It seemed as if they’d been together so much longer, she thought, thinking about his comments on time feeling condensed. They had gone through more in four days than some people went through in a lifetime.
Traffic was light that evening as they sped along, the agent with her silent and focused. That was fine, as Gina didn’t feel like talking. She saw the lights of Tampa in the distance, and knew she’d see her sister soon. Right now, that was all that mattered.
“I’
M SO HAPPY FOR YOU GUYS
,”
Gina said, lifting her glass in a toast to Tracy and Rio, who was home from the hospital and back on his feet. Tracy had made dinner—with Gina’s help—in honor of the occasion.
The table was beautifully set, gorgeous flowers sitting in the middle and candles burning, providing a soft glow over the festivities. There was just one thing missing: Mason. His place at the table had been cleared when he’d called to tell them he couldn’t make it.
“And congratulations to you on your new job!” Tracy added, taking another sip of champagne.
“Thanks. I’m excited, though it all happened kind of quickly.”
“You’re going to be an investigative reporter, like you always wanted. Way to take the bull by the horns, sis,” Tracy said proudly.
Gina
was
proud of herself, and she was excited about the new position. A few days after everything had settled down, she’d seen the ad was still posted on the Internet, and applied. To her shock, she was called for
an interview and asked to submit a portfolio. She didn’t have much in the way of investigative experience, but her references were good and Agent Kelly put in a good word for her, as well.
“I’m sorry Mason couldn’t make it,” Tracy added, sighing, and closing her hand over Rio’s.
“Me, too,” Gina responded, looking down at the dress she’d bought for tonight, looking forward to the first real evening she’d spend with Mason since their ordeal. They’d bumped into each other once in Rio’s hospital room, and had talked on the phone, caught a quick lunch, but they were both busy catching up with life. When he’d called, asking her to dinner, she was in Miami, meeting with the newspaper executives for the final interview for the job. When she got back, he was in the Bahamas, working out a family situation for Ricki Dupree. She and Mason had just kept missing each other.
Maybe it was fate sending her a message. She’d found the daring red dress, knowing Mason liked her to dress sexy. But that wasn’t the only reason. She liked it, too, she discovered. Dressing this way made her feel more bold, more sassy. It also gave her something more in common with her sister. Though Tracy’s tastes were different, it was fun shopping with her, and finding they had more in common than Gina ever imagined.
Rio broke her chain of thought, and she looked up from her plate.
“Gina, I hadn’t had a chance to tell you, yet,” Rio
interrupted, his eyes sincere, his hand still wrapped in Tracy’s. “But I am so grateful for what you did, and I want to apologize, as well, for everything that happened.”
He and Tracy did love each other, in spite of it all, and Gina believed that. If they were going to make it, though, they’d need the support of people who loved them. She wanted to make sure she helped however she could.
“Rio, you gave us a big scare. I’m so glad you’re okay,” she said warmly. “I’m happy you two are working things out.”
“We are going to make it work,” he said with passion and determination. “I love your sister, too, but I was careless with that love, and I won’t ever be again. I am determined to be a good husband, and hopefully, in time, a good father, too,” he said earnestly, his eyes switching to Tracy. “I hope we can be family.”
Gina smiled and left her chair to offer hugs to them both. “We already are.”
“Thank you,” he said.
Family or not, Gina very suddenly felt like the third wheel, and it was clearly time to leave the lovebirds alone.
“Listen, I have to get home,” she excused herself tactfully. “Since I’ll be starting the new job next week, I have to finish up some of my freelance work, get things in order.”
“You’re sure?”
“Yes, but I’ll call tomorrow. Thanks for a great dinner,”
Gina said heartily, trying not to let her disappointment and her hurt show that Mason had canceled. Tracy, who suddenly seemed to have become very perceptive, watched Gina closely and followed her to the door.
“Don’t be so upset that he’s not here. He’s just busy. It doesn’t mean anything. You two are clearly crazy about each other,” Tracy insisted.
“I’m okay, Tracy. I thought we might have had something more, but it was a fantasy. That was all, I’m afraid,” Gina said, shrugging.
Tracy walked her to the door. “Nonsense. I saw how he looked at you that day when we were all visiting Rio. He looked like he could swallow you whole.”
Gina appreciated the support, but she really just wanted to go back to her house, put on comfortable clothes and move on. She’d had the fantasy with Mason, which was more than most people had and now she knew she could reach out and live her real life to the fullest.
She hugged Tracy good-night and walked to her car, but paused, looking back at the warmly lit windows of her sister’s home. Now a very happy home, because Tracy had been willing to risk everything to be with the man she loved.
Standing in the cool night air, the silk of her dress floating around her thighs, Gina looked down at her new, killer shoes and remembered Mason saying that she should go after what she wanted. Make her own luck, her own opportunities.
She’d taken a few steps in that direction. A new job,
some new clothes. But those were just the window dressing. Had she really changed?
Yes. The dress was fine, but inside, she had changed. She’d sat on the sidelines for too long, wasted too much time. Why was she wasting more?
Hopping in her car, she headed toward Mason’s house. He wasn’t home; he’d left a message from the airport saying his plane wouldn’t be in on time for dinner, but she was enterprising. She’d sneaked into his house once before, she could do it again.
M
ASON MIGHT HAVE DRESSED
AS a vampire for his Halloween party, but as he grabbed his suitcase and headed up the walk to his home, he really did feel like the walking dead.
He’d shuttled so many times in the last week between Barbados and the Bahamas then back to Tampa that he was forgetting where he was. But now it was done.
Ricki was safe with one of his mother’s sisters on the Grand Bahama, and Mason had worked with Agent Kelly and Child Protective Services to make sure the boy would be well cared for. As they searched through Dupree’s assets and belongings, any legitimate funds would be court ordered into a trust for the boy, and child support paid to his aunt. Mason had seen to that. Dupree was never getting out of jail, so he was no threat, not anymore.
Now Mason could catch his breath, and get back to normal life. Closing the car door and turning to walk up the drive, he saw a car parked across the street.
Gina’s car.
His heart beat madly. He’d thought of going to her house on the way home, but figured she’d still be at her sister’s, and Mason was too tired to be a party crasher.
He saw the light on upstairs and smiled. They had some serious catching up to do. His exhaustion dropped away. Opening the door, he heard music playing somewhere in the house, and he followed it through the rooms. She’d lit candles, and he saw a chilled bottle of champagne sitting on the desk in his office. And her bra hanging over the back of the chair next to it.
“Gina?” he called, stepping into the room, but she wasn’t there. He saw a note sitting on a pile of clothes.
It was a costume. The note simply said Put It On.
He looked at the getup. Black pants and shirt, a cape, hat and Zorro-like mask. Looking at the dress, he wondered what she was wearing. Or not.
So they were back to the start, reigniting the fantasy. He couldn’t deny his excitement, the anticipation of whatever it was that she had planned. He donned the outfit quickly and then looked down, noticing how rose petals scattered on the floor formed a path. One he was supposed to follow, he presumed.
“Okay, I’ll play,” he said aloud to the room, following the path to the main room, where a silky red dress hung from a doorknob, showing him the way.
He opened the door to his great room, where they had had the party. It was pitch-black…until one light came on, just a single ceiling lamp positioned to throw a
column of warm light, effectively highlighting Gina. She stood in a classic cabaret pose, still, until he said her name in a hushed tone. Then she began slowly unfolding and coming to life, turning to face him as the music grew louder.
He had no idea how she was doing it, but it was breathtaking. She was dressed in the same costume he’d seen her in that first night, and it turned him on just as much as it had then.
Opening those luscious brown eyes, she smiled and bent forward, displaying a generous amount of cleavage for him. His cock sprang to life, his blood sizzling in his veins.
“Stay right there, Zorro,” she cautioned, smiling a wicked smile, and tapping her foot on the wood floor. “And enjoy the show.”
She was perfect.
From the first lyric, he was mesmerized, just as he had been then. Maybe even more so now, because he knew the woman behind the song. In this case, “Love to Love You, Baby.” Slow and sensuous, her body moved with the seductive grace he couldn’t get enough of.
She made it halfway through the song when he couldn’t take it any longer. They’d been apart for more than a week, and while he’d been busy with work, she’d always been in some part of his mind. Now she was here, just a few feet away, and in spite of her sexy command, he wasn’t going to stay away for one more second.
“Hey, you’re interrupting my song,” she objected, laughing as he grabbed her around the waist and pulled her close for a long, hot kiss that could never go as deep as he needed to go, never take him as close as he wanted to be. That would take a lifetime.
When he released her, her hat had fallen off, the sexy sable curls he loved framed her face. Her lips were glossy with sexy red, most of which he’d kissed off, and there was a bit of glitter on her eyes.
She ran a foot up and down the back of his leg, and he pushed his fingers into the silk of her hair, kissing her again.
“I missed you like crazy,” he said. “This is quite the welcome home.” She was warm and soft and incredible….
And his.
She smiled lovingly. “I missed you, too. I know you’ve been busy, and I wanted to surprise you.”
“You succeeded,” he said into the silky slope of her neck, peeling away the skinny spaghetti strap of the outfit and planting kisses all along her shoulder and throat. He was gratified to see the pulse hammering at the base.
“We never really had our fantasy night—not the way we planned. I thought it was time,” she said, her hand on his cheek as she kissed him back. “One more crazy night,” she promised with a sexy smile.
Mason stopped. “One night?”
Gina looked at him, and now he could see confidence warring with the uncertainty in her eyes.
“The fantasy night we bargained on. Unless…” she said, sucking in a breath, letting the word hang between them. “Unless you want more.”
A
S THEIR EYES MET, DESIRE AND
something dangerously like hope flooded Gina’s heart. His tousled onyx hair made him even more roguish and appealing. She dropped her gaze lower to see that he was obviously as aroused as she was.
She held her breath, waiting for him to respond. What did he want? One night, one more time for them to explore the passion that they shared for those few days? Or maybe something else? Maybe something more? Either way, she needed to know, for them to make a choice, and not hang in limbo.
“I love you,” he said hoarsely.
That flattened her.
She gaped, not having expected that bald declaration. The mask framed his focus on her, emphasizing his eyes and all of the emotions she saw there. His hands were on her shoulders, and he shook her lightly, out of her surprise.
“Did you hear me? I said love you, Gina. I know it in my heart as surely as I’ve known anything. I don’t want one fantasy night. I want lots of them,” he said, bestowing kisses on her forehead, eyelids and then lightly on her lips. His arms slid around, gathering her in until they were pressed together, fitting perfectly.
“You love me?” Gina could only repeat.
“Completely. Utterly. I knew it from the start, but there was so much going on. When I saw Dupree holding that gun on you…well, I knew that without you in my life, nothing would be right again.”
“Oh,” she murmured, caught between the sensations his hands and lips were creating, and the mind-blanking happiness his words had created.
He loved her.
Mason’s chest rumbled lightly against her own and she looked up to see him chuckling.
“That’s all you have to say?” he said incredulously. “Oh?”
She grinned back, the happiness and hope that she’d held back bursting forward. She’d taken a risk helping Tracy, and it had paid off. She’d taken another, going after the reporter job, and it had gone well, too.
Somehow, taking risks didn’t seem all that scary anymore, especially when Mason was there by her side.
“I love you, too,” she said passionately, staring into his gorgeous green eyes and knowing she wanted to look into those eyes every day for the rest of her life.
“Wow, you had me worried there,” he said.
Then his mouth was on hers, his hands everywhere. They’d had four intense days together, and then nearly nine apart. Desperation followed their declarations, costumes being stripped, clothes in a puddle on the floor at their feet.
When Mason reached for his mask, she stopped him. “No, leave that on. It’s hot,” she said, smiling.
“Whatever my siren wants…” he replied, just as he did the first time they were together.
“I want you, always,” she answered.
He bent down and she gasped in surprise when he lifted her off of her feet, holding her close, his mouth covering hers as they walked upstairs to his room.
When he put her down on the bed, his eyes caressing her everywhere, she held her hand out for him to join her.
“I love you,” she said again, enjoying the freedom to say it, not having to hold back anymore. He let her draw him down on top of her, cradling him with her body, enjoying the way he covered her. “Whatever life brings, it will always be exciting because of you.”
“Yes. I love the costumes, the playtime, but all I want is you. You’re everything that I’ve ever wanted,” he confessed, his eyes on her. “And more.”