Passion's Dream (The Doms of Passion Lake Book 1) (20 page)

“You mean like water is a little wet?” Leah snarked.  “Or the Eiffel Tower is a little tall?  The sun is a little warm?  Like—”

“Okay, okay,” Clay chuckled, setting her down in a large, comfortable armchair.  “We get it.  You’ve made your point. As soon as we get to the hotel tonight, I’ll give you a full body massage.  I promise that will make you feel better.”

“We don’t need to stay at a hotel,” she protested.  “We can stay at my place.”

“Not safe.”

“Well, can we at least go
by
my condo?  I would really like to get some more clothes to wear.  I only packed for a short stay in Palm Beach.”

“I don’t see why not,” Clay agreed.  “But we’re definitely not staying there.  I’ve already made reservations at the Ritz-Carlton—under an assumed name.  Oh, by the way, you are Mrs. Julian Dane.”

She looked up at him.  “You really think that’s necessary?”

“Trust me, sweetheart.  When you hear what Daniel told me, you’ll think it’s very necessary, too.  Buckle in.  I’m gonna sit in the cockpit with Simon during takeoff.  Will you be all right here by yourself?”

“Of course.  I love flying.”

“Good.  I’ll be back as soon as we’re airborne.”

She fastened her seat belt and relaxed into her seat as the jet taxied to the end of the runway and made a U-turn.  The engine whine became louder.  Then, like a stone shot out of a slingshot, it accelerated in one smooth burst of power, finally tilting upward as it left the ground.  Shortly after the jet leveled off, Clay came back into the cabin, stopping first in the small galley to get a bottle of water and a bottle of acetaminophen.  “Here, baby.”  He handed her the bottle of water and tipped two tablets into her upheld palm.  “This will help until I can give you your massage.”  He watched while she took the medication.  “I just called Daniel to give him our arrival time and to check on your uncle.  He’s still in ICU, but they expect to be moving him to a private suite a bit later, probably while we’re airborne.  In the meantime, he’s resting comfortably.”

“What happened to him?  Why did he have a heart attack?”

“Two words.  Richard.  Gordon.”  Clay sat down in a chair facing her.  He leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees, holding out his hands.  She placed hers in them.  He was pleased to note that they were no longer cold.  And the color had returned to her cheeks.  “Your uncle and Daniel were having dinner last night at one of their favorite restaurants, when your ex-husband approached.  At first he pretended to be remorseful over the way he had treated you and begged Everett to tell him where you were so he could make amends.  When Everett refused, Gordon got angry and started
demanding
to know where you were.  Still hoping to fob him off, Everett finally admitted that you were in Palm Beach, and that’s when Gordon lost it.  He grabbed Everett by the lapels and yanked him up out of his seat, calling him a—I believe ‘fucking liar’ is the way Daniel phrased it.  Gordon knew that you weren’t in Palm Beach, because the guy he’d hired to be your ‘date’ had told him you were gone.  The house was empty.  Richard shook your uncle violently, threatening to kill him if he didn’t tell him where you were.

“At this point, a phalanx of waiters rushed over to the table.  Two of them pulled Richard off of your uncle, who, by this time was holding his chest and gasping for breath.  The maître d’ had already called 9-1-1.  By the time the cops and paramedics arrived, Burke had collapsed on the floor, unconscious.  They whisked him off to UCSF hospital.  Unfortunately, in all the chaos Richard managed to get away and hasn’t been found since.”

Leah just stared at him, listening in mounting horror to his stark narrative.  “Uncle Everett, is he—?”

“He’s going to be fine,” Clay said reassuringly.  “He’ll have a long recovery period, but he’s going to be just fine.”

“I need to see him.”

“I know.  A car and driver will meet us at the airport and take us straight to the hospital.  Daniel Rayburn will be waiting for us.  He’s staying with your uncle in the hospital room.”

Her eyes widened as a thought hit her.  “It
was
Richard!”

“I just told you it was.”

“No, no, I mean, it was Richard behind my phone call yesterday morning, you know, the one setting up my ‘date’.”  Her face crumpled.  ‘Oh, God, Clay, if you hadn’t gotten me out of there, no telling what would have happened to me.  I could’ve been kidnapped!  Or killed!”

“But you weren’t.”  He slid off his chair to kneel beside hers.  “And you won’t be.  I’ll keep you safe, baby, I promise.  Nothing’s going to happen to you.”

She put her hand on his cheek.  ‘You saved my life,” she whispered.

He just smiled.  “Only because I’m a selfish bastard.  I plan to keep you around for a long, long, time.”

“Clay, I’m serious.”

“So am I, Leah.  So am I.  Believe me, I’ve never been more serious about anything in my life.”

She bit her lip.  He covered her hand on his cheek with his hand.  “C’mon, love, we’ve got a five-hour flight ahead of us and you look done in.  This airplane has a bedroom.  Why don’t we go lie down and I’ll go ahead and give you that massage I promised.  Then I’ll just hold you.  With any luck, you’ll fall asleep before I’m even done with the massage.”

“Okay,” she said, after a long pause.  “But I don’t think I’m going to be able to sleep.”

* * * *

She was still awake when the plane landed a little over five hours later.  The car was waiting for them, as promised, and thirty minutes after arriving in San Francisco, they were in an elevator at UCSF hospital, on their way up to the private suite Everett Burke now occupied, having been released from ICU a few hours before.  Leah hadn’t spoken a single word since the airplane had landed.  Nor had she sought Clay’s comforting touch.  She seemed remote, isolated, as if she were afraid she’d lose control and break down completely.

As the elevator door opened, Daniel Rayburn stepped forward to greet them.  He and Clay managed to greet each other with a handshake before Leah threw herself into Rayburn’s arms and dissolved into tears.  While Clay watched Everett Burke’s partner trying to comfort and reassure Leah, he used the opportunity to study the dapper little man.

Daniel Rayburn was probably in his early forties, just under six feet tall and physically fit, with brown hair and a brown mustache.  His eyes were gray and filled with love for the woman he was holding in his arms, his partner’s niece.  He looked up at Clay.  “She get any sleep?”

Clay shook his head.

“She eat?”

“She’s standing right here,” Leah sniffled, wiping her eyes and pushing herself out of Daniel’s arms.  “She can hear every word you’re saying.”  She moved to Clay and let him pull her against his side.  “And she wants to see her uncle.”

Everett Burke was lying in a hospital bed with an IV in the back of his hand and an oxygen cannula in his nose.  A plastic bag around a quarter full of yellow liquid lay beside his left thigh.  Electrodes pasted to his chest linked him to the steadily-beeping machine that was monitoring his heart.  Leah walked over to him and gently took the hand without the IV line attached to it, fresh tears streaming silently down her cheeks.  For the first time since she’d known him, Everett Burke looked every one of his sixty-three years.  The blue of his veins stood out against the pallor of his skin and his features looked sunken.  He looked…old.  And frail.  Her hand flew to her mouth, trying to suppress her sobs.  Without success.  They tore from her throat as she leaned over the railing and placed a kiss on his forehead.  It was cool and dry against her lips.

Then Clay had his arms around her and he and Daniel were leading her over to a small sitting area in the suite.  Clay pulled her down into his lap and held her, stroking her arm.  She sat quietly, only the occasional, hiccupping sob racking her body, while Daniel told them everything Richard had said and done during the confrontation that had led to her uncle’s heart attack.  When he had finished, Clay kissed Leah’s cheek and looked steadily at Daniel Rayburn.  “I wanna run something by you,” he said.  “You and I both know that Richard Gordon will stop at nothing to find out where Leah is.  And when he does, he’s going to try to kill her.”  Both men ignored Leah’s sudden, sharp intake of breath.  “Until then, Everett Burke is also in danger.  I propose we move him to another hospital.  One where he’ll be completely safe.”

“And where would that be?” Rayburn asked cynically.  “On the moon?”

“No.”  Clay hesitated, wanting to reassure the man, without telling him exactly where he wanted to take Burke.  “Virginia.”

“Virginia!”  Rayburn stiffened.  “The other side of the country?  Absolutely not!” 

“Just hear me out, okay?  The hospital I want to take him to is small, but it’s an excellent facility and it’s only around thirty miles from my ranch.  The head of the cardiology department is a friend of mine, a former SEAL teammate.  The police chief is my former CO.  The man I occasionally work for was his XO, and more than a dozen former teammates live in the town where I live.  As long as Burke’s there, I can arrange to have men watching him around the clock.  As soon as he’s released he’ll come stay at the ranch with us until he’s fully recovered.  Or until Gordon is caught and brought to justice.  You’re welcome to come, too, of course.  We have plenty of room at the house for both of you”

Daniel Rayburn thought for a long moment, then said, “Will you give me a while to think about it?”

“Sure.”  Clay nodded and rubbed his hands together before straightening in his chair.  “But I’ll need your answer first thing in the morning.  The longer he’s in this hospital, the more danger he’s in.”  He paused, tapping his fingers idly at the fabric on the arm of the chair.  “How soon do you think I’ll be able to speak to Burke’s doctor?”

“Not sure.  He said he’d be back in the morning, but he didn’t specify a time.  Probably early.”

“We’ll be here.”  Clay rose and assisted Leah to her feet.  “C’mon, baby, you’ve seen for yourself that your uncle is doing fine.  I’m taking you to the hotel.”

“Oh, but—”she turned her head toward the figure in the bed, trying to tug her arm out of his grasp.

He stopped her.  “There’s nothing you can do here tonight,” he pointed out reasonably.  “He’s in good hands.  And you’re dead on your feet.”

“But what if he wakes up?”

“Daniel will be here.”  Clay quirked a brow at the older man, who nodded.

“But what if he asks for me?”

“I’ll tell him you’ll be here in the morning,” Daniel assured her.  “Go get some sleep.  You don’t want Ev to see you looking this tense and exhausted.  He’ll start worrying about
you
.”

Leah bit her lip.  She had to admit Daniel had a point.  She certainly didn’t want to give her uncle anything more to worry about than he already had.  That meant she’d have to hide her fears and project confidence and cheer.  God help her, she wasn’t sure she could do that.

“Clay—”

“No more arguments, baby.”  His tone was gentle, but there was a steel edge to it that forbade resistance.  “We’re going to the hotel.”  He shook hands with Daniel Rayburn.  “We’ll be back around six.  I don’t want to risk missing the doctor.”  He waited while Leah gave Daniel another hug.  “He’ll be fine,” Clay reassured her all the way back down to the front lobby, where their driver was waiting.  Their hotel was nearby and after signing in as Mr. and Mrs. Julian Dane, they were on their way up to their room on the thirtieth floor.

As he ushered her into the luxurious suite, Leah gasped.  They were in a sumptuous antique-filled living room with French doors leading into an adjoining bedroom with a king size bed.  There was even a separate dining room with seating for eight.  Enormous windows afforded a panoramic view of the city, Coit Tower, and San Francisco Bay.  “Wow.  Mr. Dane.  You must be loaded.”

Clay just grinned.  “I do all right.  You haven’t eaten a thing all day except some peanuts on the plane.  Are you hungry?  We can order something from room service.”

Leah shook her head.  The thought of food made her nauseated.  “I couldn’t eat a thing.  My stomach is tied up in knots.”

“C’mon, Mrs. Dane.  The best is yet to come.”  He took her hand and pulled her through the French doors, through the bedroom and into the elegant en suite bathroom, which was all marble and glass tiles and gold faucets.  And…

“A Jacuzzi!” she exclaimed.  “Oh, Clay, how thoughtful.”

He sat on the edge and turned on the water to start filling the tub.  “Get those clothes off, baby.  This will help get rid of those sore muscles.”

As soon as her clothes lay in a pile on the floor, she stepped into him, putting her hand flat on his chest.  “The massage you gave me on the plane has already helped, sweetheart.  I don’t believe I thanked you for that.  At least, not properly.”  She lifted her head and rose up on tiptoes, placing her lips against his.

His arms went around her, lifting her up off the floor and twirling her around as he kissed her slowly, tenderly, infusing the kiss with every bit of the love for her that filled his heart.  He was lost to her and he knew it.  She might be the submissive in this relationship.  But he was the one who was owned.  And if she decided to leave him and come back to San Francisco, he knew he would never survive the pain.  He lifted his head, looking down at her face flushed with pleasure.  “That’s enough, imp.  Into the hot tub with you.”  He lifted her legs over the edge and she lowered one toe into the water.