Fallen Angels: Beguiled\Wanton\Uncovered (19 page)

Dane had to fight the urge to lunge at Raymond. Only the fact that doing so would put Angel in more danger kept him still, but he didn't like it. Every muscle in his body twitched with the almost unbearable need to do physical harm. “How did you get in here?”

“I beat you home. Yes, that was me following you. Of course, as soon as I realized you had sicked your watchdog on me, I veered off. Mr. Sharpe really is a nasty-looking fellow. He gives me the creeps.”

“Alec's good at what he does.”

“It doesn't matter now, does it?” Raymond smiled his perfect artificial smile. “As I was saying. It was easy enough to swing around and with a heavy foot on the gas pedal, I was able to get here before you. I hid in the bushes. Not very dignified, but then, you gave me little choice. When you started to close the garage door, I slipped a small wedge underneath it, and rather than closing tight, it reopened on its own. I waited just long enough to see if you'd double-check it. But you were in too big a hurry to see your ladylove. Such a hurry in fact, that I believe the two of you will elope.” He grinned, his expression taunting.

Dane tried to calm his racing heart and his anger. He needed a cool head to deal with Raymond. He only wished he'd trusted in his instincts earlier and not given Raymond the benefit of the doubt. He should have beat the details out of him when he had the chance.

Determined to keep Raymond talking, he asked, “Was that you in the bar with Derek the night he died?”

Raymond looked briefly surprised. “You are good. And yes, that was me. I offered to take Derek out slumming, just because he'd become so maudlin with all his investigations and his regret over Ms. Morris. That's how I knew it wasn't over between the two of them. Women threw themselves at your brother, and he turned them all down.”

Angel made a small sound of distress, but Dane ignored her. He didn't want Raymond's attention to waver to her.

“I had hoped he'd confide in me, but he was keeping his secrets to himself that night, no matter how much booze I poured down him.”

Dane suppressed a growl. “Alec was the one who discovered Derek had been to a bar that night. He also dislikes you on instinct. If I disappear, he'll be all over you.”

Raymond looked briefly alarmed by the prospect, then he visually shored up his confidence again. “Once I'm married to Celia, he won't dare touch me.”

Dane narrowed his gaze, trying to figure ahead. “My sister isn't an idiot. She'll never marry you.”

Raymond laughed. “She's anxious to be married.” His gaze flicked to Angel and quickly back again. “And your mother, now that you've defected to the enemy camp, is anxious to turn the company over into my capable hands. In fact, I believe your mother would give me control whether Celia married me or not. But I've decided I want Celia. It seems like nice insurance if anyone should ever discover you didn't elope.”

“I'll kill you.”

Raymond merely laughed at the threat. “Not that your mother will question it, will she, Dane? After all, this won't be the first time you've walked away from your family without a backward glance—both times over a woman. You know, your mother has been trying valiantly to keep her mouth shut, to avoid just such a situation, hoping to make amends. Ah, you didn't know that did you? But I've become something of a confidant for her, and she's told me all about how she regrets the past. Too bad you won't have a chance to forgive her, to put her poor old mind to rest. She'll have to spend the rest of her days with regrets.”

Angel staggered to her feet beside Dane and when he would have pushed her behind him again, she forced her way forward. “You've set yourself up a small problem, Raymond.”

“What's that?” he asked with a touch of amusement. Obviously he believed he had everything well in control.

“I'd already suspected you. And I told people. The police have it on record that I thought someone was trying to kill me.”

“They didn't believe you though, did they?” Raymond's smile was smug. “You didn't have enough proof. And I was careful, even with the smoke-fire, to keep the threats from being too serious, gaining too much attention.” He laughed at Angel's comprehension. “Yes, that was a nice touch, wasn't it? Running you out of your apartment and then intercepting your phone call at the office. You reacted just as I planned, showing up at the company like a wild woman, demanding answers. I had hoped once you knew the truth, that Dane was only using you, you'd have enough pride to walk away from him. That would have made you more vulnerable. But no, you decide to marry the bastard.”

He looked briefly beyond anger, almost enraged. Dane braced himself, but Raymond shook off his anger, his smirk once again in place. “I have everything planned. And unfortunately for you, both Celia and Mrs. Carter will back up the theory that you ran off together. Thanks to the information I sold at Aeric, and your sister's cut in the family coffers, I should be able to live rather comfortably from here on out.”

Dane took a small step forward. “You're an idiot, Raymond. Will anyone believe I abandoned my company? Think about it. I walked away from my family, but I never shirked my own responsibilities.”

Raymond shrugged again, totally unconcerned. “So now you're in love. Who's to say what you'd do?”

Grayson made a cooing sound and for the briefest moment drew Raymond's attention. Dane started to move, but the gun was quickly leveled at his head. “Ah, ah. I really don't want the mess of it here in the family room.”

Angel shifted beside him and Dane grabbed her arm. “You're not going to hurt my baby,” she said, her voice low and fierce as she pulled away from Dane.

“I really hesitate to. After all, I'm not a monster. And the child seems to have softened Mrs. Carter quite a bit. But I see no way around it.”

Angel stiffened. When she spoke, her tone was so mean even Dane blinked. “You can't kill us both at the same time,” she taunted. “Try it, and one of us will be on you before you can take a second aim.” She slipped farther away from Dane, spreading out, making it more difficult for Raymond to maintain control.

Pushed past his composure by her goading, Raymond lifted his arm, taking point-blank aim. His eyes narrowed and his mouth drew tight. Dane felt Angel tensing beside him and realized in horror what she intended. She would attack Raymond, giving Dane the upper hand. The little idiot would sacrifice herself. Panicked, Dane prepared to beat her to it, ready to leap on Raymond full force. He could only hope Angel would use the moment to grab the baby and run.

In the next instant, a shrill screech filled the air, loud and outraged. Dane instinctively leaped toward Angel, pushing her behind him as he stiffened for the additional threat. But they weren't in danger.

Raymond, wide-eyed and frantic, tried to turn. He wasn't fast enough.

Celia lunged around the corner from the kitchen to the family room, still screaming and viciously swinging a heavy crowbar. Raymond ducked, but the length of iron connected with his elbow with satisfying force. There was a sickening crunch as bone gave way, and the gun fell to the carpet. Raymond screamed in agony, his arm hanging at a grotesque angle by his side.

“You miserable worm!” Celia yelled, the perfect epitome of a woman scorned. She hit Raymond again as he tried to roll away, this time thumping the bar against his thigh and eliciting more screams. Dane had no doubt the man's arm was broken, and he couldn't be all too sure of his leg. Celia would have delivered a final blow to his head, ignoring Dane's curses as he reached for the gun, but Alec came storming in and grabbed her from behind. She struggled, and Alec had a time of it subduing her, but finally she calmed.

Alec still held on, his arms circling her, making soft hushing noises in her ear until the crow bar fell to the carpet by their feet. Celia turned in his arms, weeping.

Dane looked at Angel. He was breathing hard, the adrenaline still rushing. “Are you okay?”

She had Grayson squeezed tight in her arms, gently rocking him, kissing him. Tears rolled down her pale cheeks. The baby and Raymond seemed to be vying for the loudest cries, Raymond out of pain, Grayson out of upset. Angel's watery gaze met Dane's and she nodded. He could see her body shake as she drew in jerky, uneven breaths. “Yes. We're fine.”

Dane pulled her close and tried to comfort her as best he could, but he himself was shaking with residual fear. Never in his life had anything ever terrorized him like knowing Angel could be shot and even killed. He kissed her full on her trembling lips, verifying her safety, her vitality and warmth. Then he turned to his friend, Angel still tucked safely to his side. He didn't know if he'd ever let her go again.

“Damn, but I'm glad to see you, Alec.” It didn't matter that his voice shook, that his eyes felt glazed and moist. All that mattered was the feel of Angel beside him, safe and sound.

Alec smoothed his big hands up and down Celia's back. “I followed her. I don't know how she knew what was going on, but I could tell she was upset.”

Celia pushed back from him. “You followed me?”

Alec looked down at her, pushed her head back to his shoulder, and said, “Yeah.”

Dane grinned. In the midst of all the chaos, he found Alec's actions incredibly humorous. “Well, I'll be.”

“I already called the cops,” Alec said, ignoring Dane's laughter. “They should be here any minute. Dammit, will you shut up?” he said to Raymond, while maintaining his tight hold on Celia. “You're lucky I didn't let her kill you.”

Again Celia pushed back. “Why didn't you? He deserves it.”

“It would have complicated things, especially for you.”

“Oh.”

Angel stepped away from Dane, then cautiously around Raymond, who was obediently silent. When she reached Celia, she touched the woman's shoulder. “Thank you. You saved our lives.”

Celia sniffed and pulled away from Alec's masculine embrace while still standing very close to him. She wiped away her tears and then frowned at Alec, as if some of the drama was his fault. With an obvious effort she returned her attention to Angel. “I caught Raymond making a phone call today, but he hung up real quick when I came in.”

Angel gave a quick peek at Dane and he frowned. Had she gotten a call and not told him? “Angel?”

She shrugged, but he could tell the careless effort cost her. “He didn't say anything, Dane, so I thought it was just a wrong number. I was going to tell you, but we got…distracted.”

Dane would have had more to say about that, but Celia sniffed again. “Several times now Raymond's not been in his office when he should be. He was acting funny the last few days. I thought he was cheating on me. I knew he was up to something, but I thought it was just another woman, not…not this!” She indicated the entire mess with a wave of her hand.

Alec grunted. “Why the hell would he be after another woman?”

“How should I know?” she snapped. “He was sneaking around, showing up late. But then I had his letter of recommendation from Derek checked and found out it was forged.”

Alec looked livid. “So you just decided to follow him and could have gotten yourself killed as well!” He bent down so he could stand nose to nose with Celia. “What the hell did you ever see in him in the first place?”

Angel grinned at Dane while the other two continued to argue. Dane shook his head and pulled Angel close again. He was almost afraid to stop touching her, reassuring himself she was truly okay. “If this isn't the most bizarre thing that's ever happened, I don't know what is.”

As Dane spoke to her, Angel turned her gaze on Raymond. He wouldn't be walking any time soon. Angel shivered, and that made Dane furious all over again.

“I'd like to kill him with my bare hands.”

Angel touched his mouth. “Shh. Don't say that, Dane. It's been awful, and you've lost so much, but I want it to end now. For all our sakes.”

Grayson gave a last shuddering sob and snuggled close.

Dane pressed his lips to the baby's forehead. “Me, too. God, I was afraid for you and Grayson.”

Angel sighed. “Oh, Dane. I feel awful. Your brother wasn't the villain after all. He was trying to protect me.”

He smoothed her hair back from her face. “That'll be a comfort to my mother, I think.”

“Your mother!” Angel blinked up at him. “Raymond said she was sorry, that she wasn't ignoring us because she was mad, just being careful not to say anything that might drive you away again. You need to talk to her, Dane. When I think of her suffering…”

Police sirens sounded in the distance. “I'll settle things with my mother, honey, just as soon as we get things taken care of here. And then,” he added, cupping her face and holding her close, “you and I are going to talk. I have a few things to say to you, Angel Morris, and no matter how angry you get, you're going to listen.”

 

A
NGEL WATCHED DANE
pace around the bedroom as Grayson began to doze in his strong arms. Dane wore only his slacks, and those were undone. His bare feet left impressions in the thick carpet and the flexed muscles of his forearms left an impression on her.