Deadly Proposal (Hardy Brothers Security Book 4) (4 page)

James nodded, pulling a chair up to the edge of the bed so he could be close to her. The bruises on her face were starting to fill in with color, and her cheek was covered with white gauze. She was still. Too still. She never just sat there. She was usually a bundle of energy and love. He needed that back.

James waited for the doctor to leave them alone. Once he was gone, he took Mandy’s lifeless hand – the one free from the cast – and cupped it between his, brushing his lips to her palm. “Hey, baby.”

She didn’t stir.

“You don’t look so good,” James said. “In fact, you’ve never looked worse. I think you need to wake up and yell at me for being insensitive during your time of need. I’m ready to take it.”

Still nothing.

“The truth is, I need you to wake up,” James said, not fighting the tears as they spilled over. “I need you to wake up right now. I need to see those incredible blue eyes, and that pouty little smile, and I need to hear that sassy little mouth of yours.”

James moved her hand so it was pressed against his jaw.

“I need you to come back to me,” he said. “I need you to wake up and call me an idiot. I need you to do … anything. Just touch me, baby. Move your hand. Do something … anything. Do it for me. Please. Do it for me.”

James choked back his sob as he moved her hand down to his chest, placing it over his heart.

“I won’t survive without you,” he said. “So I need you to do me the biggest favor ever. Just wake up. Don’t … don’t you dare leave me. I’ll never forgive you. I’ll never watch another shark movie again. I’ll never … please.”

James felt her hand shift against his heart. He sucked in a breath, waiting. When she didn’t immediately move again, he prodded her.

“If you don’t talk to me right now, I’m going to burn that entire shark movie collection,” he warned. “I swear it.”

Her eyes didn’t open, but her mouth did. The words, however raspy and strained, were enough to fill James with more love than he ever thought he was capable of feeling. “If you touch those movies I’ll never have sex with you again.”

James choked out a laugh, getting to his feet. He carefully brushed the hair away from her face and pressed his lips to her bruised forehead. “Thank you.” He kissed her again. “Thank you.”

“My head hurts,” she muttered.

“I’ll get the doctor.”

“Wait.”

James stilled.

“I love you,” she whispered, the sound ragged in her smoke-ravaged throat.

“Oh, God, baby,” he sobbed. “I love you.”

After Dr. Fitzgerald checked her over, pulsing a light into her eyes and asking her a few mundane questions, he pronounced her well on her way to recovery.

“I want to go home,” Mandy announced.

James immediately started shaking his head. “Don’t even think about it.”

Dr. Fitzgerald smiled. “Your friend here is right,” he said. “We need to keep you for observation for at least twenty-four hours. That means two full nights.”

Mandy balked. “I don’t like hospitals.”

“No one does,” the doctor said. “You need one right now, young lady. You’re very lucky to be alive.”

Mandy grimaced as she shifted in the bed. “I don’t feel very lucky. My whole body hurts.”

“It’s going to feel worse tomorrow,” Fitzgerald said, his tone serious. “You’re going to be in pain for several days. You might even wish, on occasion, that you had died. It’s going to hurt that much. I’m not going to sugarcoat it.”

“What about work?”

He’d had her back for twenty minutes and James already wanted to throttle her. “You’re worried about work?”

“You’re going to need a few weeks away from your job,” Dr. Fitzgerald said.

Mandy opened her mouth to argue, but James silenced her with a scorching look. “You can’t even type with that cast.”

Mandy scowled. “But … .”

“Don’t you dare argue with me,” James warned. “My poor heart can’t take it.”

Mandy rolled her eyes, flinching at the pain in her forehead. “Fine.”

James shifted his gaze to the doctor. “I’m assuming she’s going to need some medication.”

“And a lot of rest.”

James nodded, rubbing his hand against Mandy’s jaw tenderly. “I can guarantee that.”

“You’re treating me like a child,” Mandy complained.

“Well, some things never change.”

James glanced up at the doorway, smiling when he saw Finn, Emma, Sophie, Grady, and his baby sister, Ally, fluttering nervously at the threshold.

“Once Ally arrived, waiting wasn’t an option anymore,” Grady explained. “She berated the receptionist until they let us back here.”

James nodded. He was familiar with his sister’s brand of annoyance. Ally pushed her way into the room, slipping by the doctor and making her way to Mandy’s side. She looked her up and down, her eyes filled with a mixture of sympathy and mayhem. “You look awful.”

“You’re a bitch,” Mandy countered.

“I am,” Ally agreed, perching on the edge of the bed. “I’m so happy you’re going to be okay.”

“That makes two of us,” James said.

“I think that makes six of us,” Sophie said, smiling.

Dr. Fitzgerald eyed the new guests. “I can see you’re all close,” he said. “And while I’m glad this all turned out so well for you, I have to ask that you all say your goodbyes and leave Ms. Avery to get some rest. She needs time to recuperate.”

Ally was affronted. “She needs me.”

“She can only have one guest overnight,” the doctor replied, not falling for her pouty expression. “I think that slot is already filled.” He shot a pointed look in James’ direction.

Ally sighed dramatically. “Fine. I’m coming back tomorrow, though.”

“I can’t wait,” Dr. Fitzgerald said. “You still need to leave right now.”

Ally wasn’t used to people telling her no. “You’re not a very nice doctor.”

“No,” he agreed. “I am, however, a good doctor. Your friend is very lucky to be alive. She needs to rest, because the next few days are going to be hard on her. She’s going to be in a lot of pain.”

Ally rolled her eyes. “Well, duh. That’s why I’m going to be here to brighten her day tomorrow.”

Dr. Fitzgerald pursed his lips. “I can already tell you’re going to be handful.”

“You have no idea,” Finn muttered.

Fitzgerald smiled. “Why doesn’t everyone say their goodbyes?”

The goodbyes took longer than the hellos, but once everyone was gone, James settled into the chair next to Mandy’s bed. She was drowsy – but fighting it. “You should go home and get a good night’s sleep.”

“We haven’t spent a night away from each other in ten months,” James reminded her. “We’re not starting now.”

“You’ll never be comfortable in that chair,” she protested.

“I’ll survive.”

“Just … just climb up here next to me.”

James was torn. “Baby, you’re so hurt.”

“I’ll be more hurt if you sleep over there.”

James sucked his lower lip into his mouth and then resignedly slipped his shoes off. Mandy nudged over to the far side of the bed, trying to keep her face from betraying the pain she felt from the small movement.

James didn’t miss it, but he didn’t comment either. He settled next to her, rolling to his side and resting his hand on her flat abdomen as he shared her pillow. The lights in the room were already dimmed, and Mandy’s eyelids were losing the battle to stay open.

“I need you to promise me something,” she said.

“What?”

“Stay here with me all night,” Mandy said. “I need you near me.”

James sighed, nodding as he pressed his lips to her cheek. “You can’t shake me now, baby. Just rest.”

She was asleep before he was done speaking.

THE NEXT
morning found James mired in a conflicted hell. Mandy was complaining. Loudly. She didn’t want to spend another night in the hospital – and Dr. Fitzgerald was showing signs of weakening.

“I feel much better.”

“You’re obviously in pain,” Fitzgerald argued.

“Isn’t pain a sign of recovery?”

James knew she’d won before Fitzgerald even answered.

“Yes, but … .”

“But nothing,” Mandy said. “My recovery will be quicker in my own bed.”

Dr. Fitzgerald ran his tongue over his teeth. “How about we compromise?”

James arched an eyebrow. Mandy was big on compromises – especially when she was trying to get her own way.

“What compromise?”

“If you agree to stay here and behave all day – and I mean
all
day – then I’ll agree to cut you loose at six if things still look good on all your tests,” the doctor said.

Mandy wrinkled her nose. “Fine.”

James smiled, rubbing a hand over his stubbly chin. “See, you can get your own way no matter what.”

“I don’t consider it getting my way,” Mandy argued. “It’s more like the doctor is seeing the light.”

“You’re such a pain.”

“I’m the light of your life,” Mandy shot back, grimacing as she shifted on the bed. “I’m also bored. What are you going to do to entertain me?”

“The entertainment reinforcements are coming,” James said. “Emma and Ally are on their way.”

“What are you going to do?”

James leaned to the side, worried about how much he should tell her. Finally, he decided lying wasn’t an option. “I’m going with Finn and Grady to the courthouse. We’re going to watch the video of the explosion.”

Mandy’s face tightened. “Oh. You don’t think the explosion was an accident. I didn’t even consider that.”

“You’ve had other things on your mind.”

“How long will you be gone?” There was a neediness to her tone.

“Not long,” he said, giving her a quick kiss. “I’m going to go to the courthouse, and then I’m going to go back to the apartment and get you something to wear. I’ll even bring you back whatever food you want.”

“The doctor is going to cut me loose,” Mandy reminded him. “I won’t need food.”

“I’ll be back by lunchtime,” James said. “You’re going to want food, and so am I.”

Mandy closed her eyes briefly, fighting the urge to argue. “How about Lebanese?”

“That is your favorite,” James said. “You want your regular?”

“Yes.”

“Do you want some trashy magazines, too?”

“Yes.”

“Do you want anything else?”

Mandy’s eyes narrowed. “Are you going to give me anything I want?”

James couldn’t fight the smirk. “Pretty much.”

“Just bring yourself back when you can.”

James’ heart pinged at the naked emotion flitting through the depths of her blue eyes. “I wouldn’t be leaving you if I didn’t think it was important.”

“I know.”

“I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

“I know.”

James was still torn, worried, but he gave her another quick kiss. “I’ll bring you a present anyway.”

FINN
and Grady were waiting for James in the lobby of the courthouse when he arrived. He was still wearing his tattered suit from the night before, so he was drawing a number of curious stares.

The courthouse wasn’t normally open on a Saturday, but Judge MacIntosh had pulled some strings. Because of his efforts, the police officers investigating the explosion were using the lobby as a command center – and the handful of court personnel on hand were busily milling about.

The explosion was big news in the county, Sophie supplying most of the information in a dual byline for the Daily Tribune. James wasn’t surprised to find her in the lobby when he entered.

“Are you here in an official capacity?”

Sophie looked tired, the dark rings under her eyes highlighting her fatigue. “Kind of,” she said. “I’ve been here all night. I wanted to be around if they found anything. It’s part of the job and, well, it’s part of being a member of this family.”

Grady was standing next to her, his shoulder brushing against hers. He didn’t reach for her, though, and James knew it was because Sophie desperately needed to appear professional in front of the assembled police presence.

“Thank you,” James said.

“How is Mandy?” Finn asked.

“She’s better since Emma and Ally got there,” James said. “I’m sure they’ll keep her distracted. The doctor says she can go home tonight if she stays stable.”

“You don’t like that, do you?” Finn asked.

“I would feel better if she spent another night in the hospital,” James admitted. “She’s just so … hurt.”

“She’ll get better,” Grady said. “We need to take this whole situation as a win. Things could have been a whole lot worse.”

“I keep telling myself that,” James said. “I’m still a little … unsettled.”

“Anyone in your position would be,” Finn said. “You need to take care of yourself. Once you get her home, she’s going to be
your
patient.”

“I don’t know if that’s going to be better or worse,” James said. “Don’t get me wrong, I want her home. I
need
her home. Although, truthfully, the doctors being so close is somehow comforting. It makes me not have to deal with things.”

Grady nodded sympathetically. “In a few weeks things will be normal again.”

“Will they? We still don’t know why the car exploded.”

“That’s why we’re here,” Finn said. “There were cameras in the parking lot. This is going to tell us what happened.”

“Maybe,” James said. “It might just be another mystery.”

“We’ll tackle that if it becomes a problem,” Finn said, moving his arm to direct his brother toward the back of the lobby. “Let’s take it one step at a time.”

When the brothers got to the security office, James wasn’t surprised to find a familiar face waiting for them. Clint, one of the courthouse’s fulltime security officers, was sitting behind a computer.

James had only seen Clint once since he’d found the man in a pool of his own blood on the lobby floor. Despite growing up in the same small town with Mandy, James hadn’t reconnected with her until her stepbrother, Troy, started threatening her life. She’d come to Hardy Brothers Security out of necessity, and love had kept her from ever leaving.

Of course, James hadn’t figured out who was trying to hurt her until it was almost too late – and by then his heart was already claimed. Before he’d managed to find her, James had discovered Clint’s body on the floor of the lobby – a victim of Troy’s misguided attempts to get rich.

Mandy had taken James to the hospital to visit Clint in the days after he’d killed Troy in a protective rage, and Clint’s recovery had been long and arduous. Seeing him now filled James with guilt. The man had tried to protect Mandy, but James had never viewed him with anything but suspicion.

Now, here he was, helping again.

“Hey, Clint.”

“Mr. Hardy,” Clint said stiffly. “I’m glad to see you. How is Mandy?”

Clint had been harboring a crush on his girlfriend for years. James reminded himself that the man was not a threat, and forced a smile onto his face. “She’s going to be okay.”

“I hear she’s really banged up.”

“She’s going to take some time to recover.”

“I’m just glad you were there.”

James stilled. “I didn’t save her. The paramedics saved her.”

Clint pointed at the computer screen he’d been watching. “You called her away from the car,” he said. “If you hadn’t, she would have gotten inside and then she would have been blown into bits.”