Fastball (31 page)

Instinctively, Jake threw himself at the guy,
whose eyes popped wide just before Jake’s shoulder slammed into the
man’s chest. Both men went down onto the pavement in a jumble of
limbs. Cursing, the big guy rolled free, but as he tried to
scramble back to his feet, Jake gave him a quick right that grazed
his jaw and sent him lurching sideways.

“You take care of this guy!” Jake yelled at
Nate who had circled around the front of the Tahoe. “I’m going
inside!”

Jake charged into the meat shop, only to find
another man waiting for him in the middle of the room.
Had to be
Nazarian.

“He’s got a knife!” Maddie yelled from off to
his right.

He risked a glance. She was over by the wall,
bloodied and tied to chair but struggling to break free. Suddenly,
her desperate efforts tipped the chair over, sending her crashing
to the floor with a yelp.

A pure, hot rage flooded Jake’s body. His
instincts screamed at him to go to her, but Nazarian lunged at him,
knife extended, and he barely managed to spin aside in time. The
blade sliced his shirt and grazed his left side, but he felt no
pain. He knew the pain would come, but right now he had only one
thought.

I’m going to kill this son of a
bitch
.

Nazarian’s wild lunge had propelled him into
one of the desks against the wall. As he struggled to get to his
feet, Jake whipped around and delivered a kick to the bastard’s
ribcage. Nazarian gasped and Jake was on him in an instant,
slamming the bookie down onto the desk and smashing his knife hand
against the hard surface of the desk until the blade fell from his
grip. Jake swept it away and rained a hard right that connected,
but Nazarian—a strong guy—still struggled like a wild man and
landed a couple of grazing punches to Jake’s head. Jake managed to
lock his left hand on Nazarian’s right shoulder and put everything
he had into a right to the jaw that ended it. The bookie collapsed
back onto the desk and then slid down to the floor.

Jake flung himself over to Maddie, carefully
lifting the chair back upright. She was saying something, but he
could barely hear over the pounding of his heart and the rush of
blood through his veins. He muttered words of reassurance as he
grabbed Nazarian’s knife off the floor and carefully sliced the
plastic ties off her wrists and ankles. “You’re okay, baby,” he
said, his voice thick with emotion. “You’re okay. I’ve got you
now.”

“Thank God. Thank God, Jake,” she said,
barely able to speak. “I prayed you’d come.”

As he helped her stand, she threw her arms
around his neck, and he wrapped her in a fierce embrace. She
shuddered against him and he swore he could feel her terror.

Jesus, he was
never
going to let her
go.

After a bit, Maddie pulled in a few loud
sniffs and rubbed her face against his shirt. Despite himself, he
smiled.

“Took you long enough to get here, though,”
she said in a watery voice.

Damned if she didn’t sound almost aggrieved,
and for the first time in hours he felt like he could breathe. He
eased her slightly away from him, peering into her face. She was a
mess, but the most beautiful mess he’d ever seen. Her normally
smooth black hair had spiked out in messy points, she had raccoon
eyes from smeared mascara, along with a dead-white pallor.

Dead white but for the big smear of drying
blood on her forehead, which pissed Jake off all over again. “Are
you okay?” he rasped. “That shithead hurt you, didn’t he?”

“He was going to, but, no,” she said, wincing
as she touched her forehead. “I got this when I accidentally
smashed my head into Fish’s dashboard. I was so out of it that I
forgot to put the seatbelt on.”

Jake frowned. “Fish?”

“The other guy.” She jerked in his arms. “Oh,
my God! He’s going to get away. We have to—”

Unable to deny his need any longer, Jake
pressed a ravenous kiss to her mouth, silencing her. She whimpered,
than wrapped her arms around his neck, crushing her mouth to his.
The kiss grew hot and urgent, and Jake hauled her off her feet and
against his chest. She returned his embrace enthusiastically,
clearly having forgotten about Fish.

“Sorry to interrupt,” Nate’s voice
interjected.

They broke apart. But when Maddie tried to
move out of his arms, Jake held on tight. She muttered something,
then subsided against him with a long, relieved sigh.

Nate’s gaze wandered around the room before
fastening on Nazarian’s crumpled body. “Well, I guess you don’t
need my help in here. Unless you want help with the kissing part,
that is.”

“Try it and die,” growled Jake, pulling
Maddie even closer. She snuggled into him.

Nate let out a short laugh. “You okay,
Maddie?” he asked, his voice turning serious. His gaze cut to her
forehead.

“I’m okay. Thanks to you and Jake.”

She tilted her head back, giving Jake a smile
so blindingly full of love that his heart turned inside out. Unable
to help himself, he swooped down for another ragged, bone-melting
kiss. Maddie was right there with him.

“Gee. This is really touching, guys,” Nate
finally said in a dry voice, “but do you think maybe it’s time we
call the cops?” He stared at Nazarian’s inert body. “Probably an
ambulance, too.”

Jake tucked Maddie against him and then
pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. “By the way,” he said,
almost as an afterthought. “What happened to the other guy?”

“Fish,” Maddie said. “Although I prefer to
call him Mr. Goon.”

Jake frowned. “Um, okay.” He reminded himself
to have a doctor check Maddie for a concussion, and then looked at
Nate. “You took care of him, right?”

“He’s having a little nap beside the
dumpster. He’ll be good as new in a little while. Real tough
guy—put up a good fight.” Nate looked down and examined the
bloodied knuckles of his left hand. “I don’t think Ault is going to
be too happy about this hand, though.”

Maddie curled up in the back seat of Jake’s
Tahoe, waiting for him to finish up with the police. Several squad
cars and the paramedics had arrived at the meat shop within minutes
of Jake dialing 9-1-1. Nazarian had been loaded into an ambulance
and Fish into a police cruiser.

She and Jake had done their best to explain
the confusing situation to the detective in charge of the scene—not
an easy task, given how the evening had snowballed into such a
mess. The cops had made it abundantly clear they were unhappy with
Jake and Nate for going rogue, but at least they were letting them
go home instead of hauling them downtown. In return, all three of
them had promised to report to the station first thing in the
morning to file their statements. Despite that promise, Jake had
still gotten his ass reamed out by one of the detectives, but even
that fun portion of the evening seemed to be winding down.

She rubbed her aching head, exhausted and
ready to collapse into bed. Fortunately, she was pretty much okay.
The paramedics had given her a thorough check, patched up her head,
and offered to take her to the hospital to see a neurologist. She
had declined, even though Jake had been weirdly insistent she go.
Only after repeated assurances by the paramedics that she displayed
no signs of concussion had Jake settled down. And fortunately, the
gash in his side from Nazarian’s knife had turned out to be a
non-threatening, though very bloody, surface cut.

Nate joined her and took the wheel of the
SUV, just ahead of Jake who was finally released by the irate
detective. Jake climbed into the back with Maddie, pulling her into
a sheltering embrace. She settled in with a tired sigh. They had a
lot to talk about, but not until they had some privacy. After a
short discussion, they decided that Nate would drive them back to
Maddie’s apartment. Since it was late, he would then drive himself
home in the Tahoe.

As all three got out in front of Maddie’s
building to say goodnight, Nate gave her a quick hug. “Thanks for a
fun evening,” he said in a wry voice. “Don’t hesitate to call me
the next time you get kidnapped by a dirt bag bookie.”

She let out a strangled laugh as she hugged
him back. “Honest to God, Nate. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to
thank you enough for what you did tonight. I swear I’ll never write
a bad word about you, not even if you give up a dozen hits.”

He laughed. “Then my fiendishly clever plot
worked. Besides, I did have to keep my buddy here from getting his
ass handed to him on a platter, didn’t I? As much as I hate to
admit it, we do need his big bat.”

Maddie pinched his arm, then stood on her
tiptoes and kissed him on the mouth. Nate’s eyebrows shot up, and
his eyes said he’d like some more of that, thank you very much.

At another time and in another place, Maddie
figured Jake might have slugged him for that kind of look. But now
he simply shoved his buddy in the shoulder, then gave him a quick,
back-slapping hug. They exchanged a few quiet words about who would
call Robbie, and then team management, after which Nate got back in
the car and took off.

Jake turned an assessing gaze on her. “Let’s
get you inside before you collapse in your tracks.”

“I’m fine,” she protested as he steered her
into the lobby of her building. “You’re the one who’s hurt.”

He made a scoffing noise, but she didn’t
bother to respond. She
was
exhausted, but felt shaky and
restless, too. That was obviously the aftermath of the adrenaline
overload. Once inside the apartment, she kicked off her shoes,
almost falling over in the process. Jake grabbed her, holding her
gently by the hips.

“Bed, now,” he said in a firm voice. “You’re
beat and probably still in shock. I’ll make you a cup of tea to get
you nice and warm, and then after you’re in bed I’ll bunk out on
the couch.” He paused, watching her as she began to undress. “That
is, if you want me to stay.”

Maddie furrowed her brow. “Did Nazarian hit
you in the head? Of course I want you to stay with me. And you
don’t have to bunk on the couch, either. I want you to sleep with
me.” She pulled off her jacket and threw it on a chair, then
started on the buttons of her blouse.

He stood in the doorway to her bedroom,
looking awkward. “Whatever you want,” he said in a carefully
neutral voice.

Her stomach took a sickening flop as she
stared back at him. “Jake, don’t you want to stay with me?” she
said, forcing the words past her tight vocal cords. Oh, God, maybe
she’d been misreading this all along. Just because he’d come to her
rescue didn’t necessarily mean he wanted to be with her again.
They’d both said some truly harsh things to each other, things that
might still be standing between them.

The hard set to his jaw seemed to ease, and a
few quick steps brought him to her side. “Maddie…sweetheart, of
course I want to stay with you.” He took her into his arms, hugging
her against his powerful body before loosening his grip. “And I
really do want to give you whatever you want. Whatever you need.
But you’ve got to tell me what that is. I’m just a dumb hick from
farm country. Smart city girls like you are way above my pay
grade,” he said with a wry smile.

Maddie wrapped her arms around his waist,
reveling in his warmth and the comforting strength of his love. She
knew now it was the most precious gift anyone had ever given her.
“This is what I need, Jake. You, right here with me.”

“You’ve got me,” he said in a husky voice.
“All of me, for as long as you want.”

She sighed and snuggled in close. “I think I
want it forever.”

He kissed the top of her head. “Forever
sounds about right to me.”

They held each in that easy yet powerfully
heartfelt embrace as they let the nightmare of the last few hours
fade away. Maddie was tempted to avoid everything else she had to
say to him until the morning. But that would be the coward’s way
out, and she was done with being a coward.

“I need something else, Jake,” she said
quietly.

He heard the somber note in her voice,
pulling back slightly again to inspect her face. His brow creased
with a worried frown. “Tell me.”

She met and held his gaze. “I need to
apologize to you. For not listening when you tried to warn me about
Robbie and Nazarian.” She shook her head. “You could not have been
more right about them. But I was so pissed off, so righteously
outraged, that I ignored what you were saying to me. That was
disrespectful and stupid, and it wound up putting us both in
danger.”

“Yeah, well, if you’re stupid then I’m a
complete and utter moron,” he said with a bitter smile twisting his
mouth. “You were totally right about Robbie. He’s a scumbag, and he
was using me. You tried to make me see that, but I was so damn
convinced I could control the situation that I didn’t listen. If
I’d done what you said and gone to management, Nazarian would never
have gotten his hands on you.”

He shuddered and pulled her in close. “When I
think what could have happened…”

“Well, it didn’t happen, thanks to you,” she
said, her voice muffled against his chest. “I guess we were
both
idiots in our own ways. I had a lot of time to think
while I was stuck in that dark little room, and my mind kept
turning back to you, no matter what. Not to my job, not to how
great a story this was going to be if I could escape. None of that
mattered.”

She twisted back a bit so she could see his
face. His gaze burned bright and fierce with love, and her entire
body trembled with the joy of it.

“Only you mattered,” she said softly. “And I
realized that I was tired of holding back, tired of not taking
risks when it came to my own life. It’s not that I don’t love my
work. I’m crazy about it. But work isn’t going to hold my hand when
I sit by my mother’s bedside. Work isn’t going to be there for me
when I come home at night, or be beside me when I wake up in the
morning. But I think you could be, if I give you—give
us
—a
chance.”