The Temptation (17 page)

The three of them stepped into the room. Zane looked concerned, and Ryan appeared to be resigned—to what, I didn’t know. I frowned, wondering what was going on.

Rori sat beside the bed. “I know you’re injured, Lexi, but…” She took a deep breath. “You need to tell me everything. After this, no more secrets.”

Oh. I looked at my brothers for help but they were no use. They just waited for me to explain.

I licked my dry lips. “I, especially, do owe you an explanation,” I said. “I know you think we should come clean with the entire family but we can’t.” I reached out and she took my hand. “It’s for their safety.”

Rori gripped my hand tight. “Tell me everything.”

I sighed. “There’s a lot I can’t tell you, but I’ll tell you this…” I glanced at my brothers again and they each gave a nod. “Zane, Ryan, Nick, and I work for an organization known as RED. It’s the Recovery Enforcement Division, a highly secretive department of the NSA.”

Rori studied me. “What does that mean?”

“We take on operations that most organizations in our government are unable to. We do a lot of the dirty work.” I took a deep breath. “We work in various roles. Sometimes undercover, sometimes behind the scenes. But everything we do is highly secretive. We’re not even allowed to tell our families about what we do, so I’m breaking a vow by telling you this.”

“We all are,” Zane said.

Rori nodded slowly. “So you’re not going to tell Mama and Daddy or anyone else what happened?”

“We can’t.” I looked at her wrists. “We need to come up with a story to explain why you have the marks and scrapes that you do.” I sighed. “That’s not going to be easy.”

“I’ll just stay away from home for another week or so.” Rori gave me a little smile. “I have a flight to Hawaii coming up and work is the perfect excuse to be gone. I’ll just wear bracelets and slacks and that should do the trick.”

“It’s coming in handy that you’re a flight attendant.” I studied her. “Are you okay? Really okay?”

She nodded. “It was frightening, but we’re alive and that’s what counts.”

“Promise to keep seeing the shrink for a while?” I gave her an intent look. “I want to know that you’re going to be all right.”

“Yes.” Her expression turned somewhat sad. “I have to work through killing a man and I don’t think I can do that alone. I still can’t believe you took a bullet for me.”

“You were really brave.” I squeezed her hand. “You saved my life twice. You thought fast on your feet and you did more than a lot of people could ever do.”

Rori glanced at our brothers and then me again. “Maybe it’s because I had some pretty good examples to learn from over the years. To be honest, it’s not surprising you all ended up in some line of dangerous work. Even Troy is a fireman and Evan is a detective. I’m the only one who went for a safe career.”

I laughed. “A flight attendant? No matter how safe they say flying is, I don’t know that I’d have the guts to go up and down in a plane every single time I went to work.” I’d done a lot of flying over the years, but that didn’t mean I had to like it.

“I suppose you need some rest.” She gestured toward my midsection that was bound tight with its dressings. She stood and hugged me. “Love you, Lexi.”

“I love you, too, little sister.”

When she drew back tears glistened in her eyes and I hugged her again.

My brothers also gave me hugs and told me to rest. Zane looked at Nick and said, “Sit on her if you have to.”

Nick gave a nod. “I intend to.”

Chapter 25

Richard

Richard Travis pulled his travel bag behind him and whistled to himself as he walked through the covered airport parking lot to his car. He’d flown the redeye into Boston after a layover in L.A. on his way from Hawaii. He was damned ready to get home.

His cute little piece of ass, Rori Steele, was probably waiting for a repeat of what he’d given her before he left. The threesome with Madeline had been so damned hot. It had taken a little of an Ecstasy-type drug to get Rori to loosen up, but by the time they were finished for the night, he was sure she would be thinking differently the next go-around.

The sensation that he was being watched caused hair to rise at his nape. He stopped and slowly looked over his shoulder.

No one.

He must be more tired than he thought. He turned to head toward his car again—

A big man in black, wearing a ski mask, blocked his way.

“Shit.” Richard took a step back, panic taking flight in his chest.

He backed into something hard. His heart felt like it was going to explode when he glanced back and he saw that it was another man in black, equally as big, also wearing a ski mask.

“Wh-what do you want.” Richard’s voice shook. “You can have my wallet. Anything you want.”

Man One in front of Richard grabbed him by the collar. “Make another sound and you’ll regret it.”

Richard felt something hard pressed against his side and he knew it had to be a gun. He almost pissed his pants.

“Understand?” Man Two asked.

Richard nodded, terror racing through him.

The men shoved Richard inside a white van with no rear or side windows. Richard’s travel bag was tossed in after him, hitting him square in the chest, causing air to rush out of his lungs. Man One climbed into the driver’s seat while Man Two held a gun on Richard. The man in the driver’s seat took off his ski mask but Richard couldn’t see his face.

Tires squealed, echoing in the parking garage, as the van backed up and then took off.

Richard couldn’t stop shaking. He had no idea where they were going but it seemed like the men drove on for miles before finally parking in the dark night.

The back door opened and Man One was wearing the ski mask again. It looked dark around him like they were somewhere isolated. He climbed into the van and shut the door.

“So you like to give girls a little Ecstasy and force them to do things they don’t want to do?” Man Two said.

“Huh?” Richard, thrown off by the question, stared at the man.

Man Two grabbed Richard by his collar and jerked him forward. “You gave Rori Steele something, didn’t you,” he stated.

Rori? This was about Rori? Richard swallowed hard. “I—I don’t know what you mean.”

A gun was pressed against his side again from Man One. “Answer the question.”

“Yes.” Richard rushed his words. “I did. I’m sorry. It won’t happen again. I swear to—”

“Shut the hell up.” Man Two narrowed his eyes. “If you ever go near Rori again, I’m going to cut off a certain part of your body that you’re going to miss. Do you understand?”

Richard nodded vigorously.

“You deserve to have the shit beat out of you, but we’re not going to.” Man Two’s eyes had a deadly look to them. “This time.”

“Now strip,” Man One from behind him said.

Richard looked from one man to the other then started taking off his clothing, his whole body shaking.

When he got down to his boxers he stopped. Man One pressed his gun into Richard’s side again. “Everything.”

As soon as Richard was naked, Man Two pulled something out of a black duffel bag that Richard hadn’t noticed before. He brought out an item. When the man held it up, Richard realized it was a leather hood.

Richard shook his head. “I’m claustrophobic.”

“Shut up.” Man Two jerked the hood over Richard’s head.

Richard held back a scream. His breathing came hard and fast as he tried not to hyperventilate. He told himself that the mouth, eyes, and nose holes gave him enough air to breathe.

Just let me out of here,
he begged in his mind.

Man Two shoved a ball gag in Richard’s mouth while Man One tied it behind his head. They secured Richard’s wrists in front of him with metal cuffs. Then Man Two opened the back doors and both men took Richard by the arms and marched him out of the van.

When Richard was on the ground, rocks poked into his bare feet. The night was cool and he trembled as he stood in front of the men. His dick shriveled. He could say nothing with the ball gag in his mouth.

Man One tossed something on the ground. It was Richard’s wallet. “Good luck coming up with an explanation.”

The two men slammed the back doors of the van and both walked up to the front, one on each side of the van. After one climbed into the driver’s seat and the other took the passenger seat, the van’s wheels spun in the dirt and then it took off.

Richard watched as the taillights of the van disappeared, wishing he had never met Rori Steele.

Chapter 26

A little rain doesn’t mean the sun isn’t shining

Outside the rain poured down as we waited for Mama and Daddy to return home from the doctor’s office. I stood at the window watching for them to arrive, everything in the view distorted from raindrops rolling down the windowpane. The clouds were dark and I hoped the rain wasn’t a bad omen.

Nick put his arm around my shoulders and we waited together and looked as the rain soaked the grass and water ran down the street.

In the background my four older brothers were watching the Red Sox as they went neck and neck against the Yankees. Rori, Willow, and my younger brother, Sean, were playing Monopoly, Sean’s favorite game. He seemed to be back from the Dark Side and I hoped he was here to stay.

Rori and Willow didn’t watch baseball—Willow’s game was basketball and Rori just didn’t like sports. Sean would play Monopoly over anything if he could get someone to play him. He figured he could always watch the game highlights.

Me, I couldn’t relax enough to do anything or I would have been watching the game. It had been two and a half weeks since everything went down with Bachmann and I had been healing well. My side didn’t hurt much, my split lip had healed, and the bruises on my face were gone.

My parents’ car finally pulled up in the driveway. Daddy got out of the car and popped open an umbrella, then went to Mama’s side of the car and helped her out.

It seemed like it took forever for them to get to the house. As they walked up to the porch, my heart pounded. This had been an important doctor’s visit that could have resulted in good news or bad.

I opened the door for them and rain-fresh air flooded into the house. Mama walked in and wiped her shoes on the doormat while Daddy shook off the umbrella and propped it against the house on the porch. He came in and cleaned off his shoes, too.

Everyone stopped what he or she was doing. Someone turned off the TV and the board game was set aside. Nick and I stepped back to give my parents some room.

Daddy rested one hand on Mama’s shoulder and squeezed. She reached up and put her hand over his as she looked around the room at her brood.

She smiled.

I held my breath.

“It’s in remission,” Mama said. “The cancer is in remission.”

The cheer that erupted in the house was so loud that the neighbors up and down the block had to have heard. We all hugged Mama, one at a time, and I noticed Rori was crying. I felt something damp on my cheeks and I touched them.

I was crying, too.

Tears were rolling down my cheeks.

So much had been balled inside of me and hearing Mama’s news had set it all free.

I was crying from the joy of knowing my mother had kicked to the curb the cancer that could have taken her life.

And then my mother’s arms were enveloping me and I cried against her shoulder. She drew back and rubbed away the tears from beneath my eyes.

“There, there, pet.” She smiled. “Everything is going to be fine.”

Yes. Everything was going to be more than fine.

* * * * *

After our family celebrated my mother beating the breast cancer, Nick drove us to my apartment. The rain had stopped and a ray of sunlight was peeking through the clouds.

“I’m going to take you to Antonio’s.” Nick parked in front of the trip.

“I love Antonio’s. We haven’t been there for a while.” I opened the door to his SUV. “That means changing into something a little more appropriate.”

The corner of his mouth curved. “You look awfully cute in that T-shirt and those jeans.”

I stuck my tongue out at him.

The joy of knowing my mother was going to be okay had me feeling like I was bouncing on air. I was ready to go to the restaurant within fifteen minutes. When I walked out of my bathroom, I was surprised to see Nick dressed in a black collared shirt and black jeans. I hadn’t realized he’d brought anything with him.

He took my hand as we left the apartment and returned to his SUV. We drove to the restaurant and I felt like humming.

It turned out he had reservations and we were seated almost immediately in the busy restaurant.

Dinner was fantastic and the wine Nick picked out was excellent. I did not intend to pass up dessert, so I’d held back on eating too much of the bread that had been served at the beginning of the meal.

While we were waiting for dessert to be served, Nick took my hand on the tabletop. The seriousness in his eyes threw me off a little. Then he released my hand and got to his feet. I figured he had to go to the men’s room so when he just stood and looked at me, I said, “What gives?”

And then he got down on one knee.

A warm flush washed over me as he reached into his pocket and brought out a ring box. Hair prickled on my scalp and my heart beat so fast it felt like it was slamming against my chest.

He opened the box. Inside was a simple diamond solitaire. It sparkled in the room’s light and I felt mesmerized by the glittering stone. Then I looked up into his gaze, my lips parted.

“I love you more than I ever imagined I could love anyone,” he said. “You’re headstrong, a real pain in the ass, and you drive me crazy sometimes. But most of all, you help make me whole.”

I just stared at him, unable to say a word.

“Lexi,” he said. “Will you marry me?”

More warmth rushed through me. For a moment I still felt too stunned to speak. So many things went through my mind. He had moved to Arizona with his only family, Kristen. My career and family were here in Boston.