Authors: Brenda Jackson
Pam had solicited Kalina’s help in planning activities for everyone, and Kalina appreciated being included. Her days were kept busy, but her nights remained exclusively for Micah. They rode horses around the property every evening, cooked dinner together, took their shower, once in a while watched a movie. But every night they shared a bed. She thought there was nothing like waking up each morning in his arms.
Like this morning.
She glanced over at him and frowned. “Just look what you did to me. What if I wanted to wear a low-cut dress?”
Micah glanced over at the passion mark he’d left on Kalina. Right there on her breast. There was not even a hint of remorse in his voice when he said, “Then I guess you’d be changing outfits.”
“Oh, you!” she said, snatching the pillow and throwing it at him. “You probably did it deliberately. You like branding me.”
He couldn’t deny her charge because it was true. But what he liked most of all was tasting her. Unfortunately, he had a tendency to leave a mark whenever he did. Hell, he couldn’t help that she tasted so damn good.
He reached out and grabbed her before she could toss another pillow his way. “Come here, sweetheart. Let me kiss it away.”
“All you’re going to do is make another mark. Stay away from me.”
He rolled his eyes. “Yeah. Right.”
When she tried scooting away, he grabbed her foot to bring her back. He then lowered his mouth to lick her calf. When she moaned, he said, “See, you know you like it.”
“Yes, but we don’t have the time. Everyone starts arriving today.”
“Let them. They can wait.”
When he released his hold on her to grab her around the waist, she used that opportunity to scoot away from him and quickly made a move to get out of bed. But she wasn’t quick enough. He grabbed her arm and pulled her back. “Did you think you would get away, Dr. Daniels?”
She couldn’t help laughing, and she threw herself into his arms. “It’s not like I’m ready to get out of bed anyway,” she said, before pressing her lips to his. He kissed her the way she liked, in a way that sent sensations escalating all through her.
When he released her lips she felt a tug on her left hand and looked down. She sucked in a deep breath at the beautiful diamond ring Micah had just slid on her finger. She threw her hand to her chest to stop the rapid beating of her heart. “Oh, my God!
Micah chuckled as he brought her ringed hand to his lips and kissed it. “Will you, Kalina Marie Daniels, marry me? Will you live here with me at Micah’s Manor? Have my babies? Make me the happiest man on earth?”
Tears streamed down her face, and she tried swiping them away, but more kept coming. “Oh, Micah, yes! Yes! I’ll marry you, live here and have your babies.”
Micah laughed and pulled her into his arms, sealing her promise with another kiss.
* * *
It was much later when they left Micah’s Manor to head over to Dillon’s place. Dillon had called to say the Atlanta Westmorelands had begun arriving already. Micah had put his brother on the speakerphone and Kalina could hear the excitement in Dillon’s voice. It didn’t take long, when around the Westmorelands, to know that family meant everything to them. They enjoyed the times they were able to get together.
Micah had explained that all the Westmorelands were making up for the years they hadn’t shared when they hadn’t known about each other. Their dedication to family was the reason it was important to make sure there weren’t any other Westmorelands out there they didn’t know about.
Kalina walked into Dillon and Pam’s house with Micah by her side and a ring on her finger. Several family members noticed her diamond and congratulated them and asked when the big day would be. She and Micah both wanted a June wedding, which was less than a couple of months away.
Once they walked into the living room, Kalina suddenly came to a stop. Several people were standing around talking. Micah’s arm tightened around her shoulders and he glanced down at her. “What’s wrong, baby?”
Instead of answering, she stared across the room and he followed her gaze. Immediately, he knew what was bothering her.
“That woman is here,” was all Kalina would say.
Micah couldn’t help fighting back a smile as he gazed over at Olivia. “Yes, she’s here, and I think it’s time for you to meet her.”
Kalina began backing up slowly. “I’d rather not do that.”
“And if you don’t, my cousin Senator Reggie Westmoreland will wonder why you’re deliberately being rude to his wife.”
Kalina jerked her head up and looked at Micah. “His wife?”
Micah couldn’t hold back his smile any longer. “Yes, his wife. That’s Olivia Jeffries Westmoreland.”
“But you had me thinking that—”
Micah reached out and quickly kissed the words from Kalina’s lips. “Don’t place the blame on me, sweetheart. You assumed Olivia and I had something going on. I never told you that. In fact, I recall telling you that there was nothing going on with us. Olivia and Reggie had invited me to lunch while I was in D.C., but it was Olivia who came to pick me up that day. I couldn’t help that you got jealous.”
She glared. “I didn’t get jealous.”
“Didn’t you?”
He stared at her, and she stared back. Then a slow smile spread across her face, and she shrugged her shoulders. “Okay, maybe I did. But just a little.”
He raised a dubious eyebrow. “Um, just a little.”
“Don’t press it, Micah.”
He laughed and tightened his hand on hers. “Okay, I won’t. Come on and meet Reggie, Olivia and their twin sons, as well as the rest of my cousins. And I think we should announce our good news.”
* * *
The christening for Callum Austell II was a beautiful ceremony, and Kalina got to meet Micah’s cousin Gemma. She couldn’t wait to tell her just how gifted she was as an interior designer, which prompted Gemma to share how her husband had whisked her off to Australia in the first place.
It was obvious to anyone around them that Gemma and her husband were in love and that they shared a happy marriage. But then, Kalina thought, the same thing could be said for all of Micah’s cousins’ marriages. All the men favored each other, and the women they’d selected as their mates complemented them.
After the church service, dinner was served at the big house with all the women pitching in and cooking. Kalina felt good knowing the games she had organized for everyone, especially the kids, had been a big hit.
It was late when she and Micah had finally made it back to Micah’s Manor. After a full day of being around the Westmorelands, she should have been exhausted, ready to fall on her face, but she felt wired and had Micah telling her the story about Raphel all over again. She was even more fascinated with it the second time.
“That’s how Dillon and Pam met,” Micah said as they headed up the stairs. An hour or so later, he and Kalina had showered together and were settling down to watch a movie in bed, when the phone rang.
He glanced over at the clock. “I wonder who’s calling this late,” he said, reaching for the phone. “Probably Megan wanting to know if we still have any of that ice cream she bought.”
He picked up the phone. “Hello.”
“Are you watching television, Micah?”
He heard the urgency in Dillon’s voice. “I just turned it on to watch a DVD, why?”
“I think you ought to switch to CNN. There’s something going on in Oregon.”
Micah raised a brow. “Oregon?”
“Yes. It’s like people are falling dead in the streets for no reason.”
Micah was out of the bed in a flash. He looked at Kalina, who had the remote in her hand. “Switch to CNN.”
She did so, and Anderson Cooper’s face flared to life on the screen as he said, “No one is sure what is happening here, but it’s like a scene out of
Contagion
. So far, more than ten people have died. The Centers for Disease Control has…”
At that moment Micah’s phone on his dresser, the one with a direct line to Washington, rang. He moved quickly to pick it up. “Yes?”
He looked over at Kalina and nodded. Her gaze held his, knowing whenever that particular phone rang it was urgent. “All right, we’re on our way.”
He clicked off. “They’re calling the entire team in. We’re needed in Oregon.”
Eleven
M
icah looked around the huge room. His team was reunited. Kalina, Theo and Beau. They had all read the report and knew what they were up against. The Centers for Disease Control had called in an international team and the three of them were just a part of it. But in his mind they were a major part. All the evidence collected pointed to a possible terrorist attack. If they didn’t get a grip on what was happening and stop it, the effect could make 9/11 look small in comparison.
It didn’t take long to see, from the tissue taken from some of the victims, that they were dealing with the same kind of virus that he, Kalina and Theo had investigated in India just weeks ago. How did it get to the States? And, more important, who was responsible for spreading it?
He felt his phone vibrating in his pocket and didn’t have to pull it out to see who was calling. It was the same person who’d been blowing up his phone for the past two days. General Daniels. He was demanding that Kalina be sent home, out of harm’s way. Like two years ago, a part of Micah understood the man’s concern for his daughter’s safety. He, of all people, didn’t want a single hair on Kalina’s head hurt in any way. But as much as he loved Kalina and wanted to keep her safe, he also respected her profession and her choices in life. That’s how he and the old man differed.
But still…
“That’s all for now. I’ll give everyone an update when I get one from Washington. Stay safe.” Micah then glanced over at Kalina. “Dr. Daniels, can you remain a few moments, please? I’d like to talk to you.”
He moved behind his desk as the others filed out. Beau, being the last one, closed the door behind him. But not before giving Micah the eye, communicating to him, for his own benefit and safety, to move the vase off the desk. Micah smiled. Beau knew of Kalina’s need to throw things when she was angry. He had tried telling his best friend that the vase throwing had been limited to that one episode. It hadn’t happened again.
“Yes, Micah? What is it?”
He pulled his still-vibrating phone out of his pocket and placed it in the middle of his desk. “Your father.”
He then reached into his desk and pulled out a sealed, official-looking envelope and handed it to her. “Your father, as well.”
She opened the envelope and began reading the documents. Moments later, she lifted her head and met his gaze. “Orders for me to be reassigned to another project?”
“Yes.”
She held his gaze for a long time as she placed the documents back in the envelope. He saw the defeated shift of her shoulders. “So when do I leave?”
He leaned back in his chair. “I, of all people, don’t want anything to happen to you, Kalina,” he said in a low voice. “I love you more than life itself, and I know how dangerous it is for you to be here. The death toll has gone up to fifteen. Already a domestic terrorist group is claiming victory and vows more people will lose their lives here before it’s over, before we can find a way to stop it. I don’t want you in that number.”
There was an intensity, a desperation, in his tone that even he heard. It was also one that he felt. He drew in a deep breath and continued, “You are the other half that makes me whole. The sunshine I wake up to each morning, and the rock I hold near me when I go to bed at night. I don’t want to lose you. If anything happens to you, I die, as well.”
He could see she was fighting the tears in her eyes, as if she already knew the verdict. She was getting used to it. She lifted her chin defiantly. “So, you’re sending me away?”
He held his gaze as he shook his head. “No, I’m keeping you safe. Your father doesn’t call the shots anymore in your personal or professional life. I’m denying his orders on the grounds that you’re needed here. You worked on this virus just weeks ago. You’re familiar with it. That alone should override his request at the CDC.”
She released an appreciative sigh. “Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me. The next days are going to be rough. Whoever did this is out there and waiting around for their attack to be successful. There have been few survivors and those who have survived are quarantined and in critical condition.”
She sat down on the edge of his desk. “We’re working against time, Micah. People want to leave Portland, but everyone is being forced to stay because the virus is contagious.”
Already the level of fear among citizens had been raised. People were naturally afraid of the unknown…and this was definitely an unknown. Each victim had presented the same symptoms they’d found in India.
“I wish the CDC hadn’t just put that blood sample I sent to them on the shelf,” she added. “It was the one thing I was able to get from the surviving—”
Micah sat up in his seat. “Hey, that might be it. We need someone to analyze the contents of those vials, immediately. I don’t give a damn about how behind they are. This is urgent.” He picked up the phone that was a direct line to Washington and the Department of Health and Human Services.
* * *
Four more people died over a two-day period, but Micah put the fire under the CDC to study the contents of those vials that Kalina had sent to them weeks ago. He had assembled his team in the lab to apprise them of what was going on.
“And you think we might be able to come up with a serum that can stop the virus?” Beau asked.
“We hope so,” Micah said, rubbing a hand down his face. “It might be a shot in the dark, but it’s the only one we have.”
At that moment, the phone—his direct line to the CDC—rang, and he quickly picked it up. “Dr. Westmoreland.”
He nodded a few times and then he felt a relieved expression touch his features. “Great! You get it here, and we’ll dispense it.”
He looked over at his team. “Based on what they analyzed in those vials, they think they’ve come up with an antidote. They’re flying it here via military aircraft. We are to work with the local teams and make sure every man, woman and child is inoculated immediately.” He stood. “Let’s go!”