Liberty At Last (The Liberty Series) (49 page)

BOOK: Liberty At Last (The Liberty Series)

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John splashed in the turquoise water and called to me.

“In a little bit,” I yawned, turning over on my chair. He gave up and came up the beach, sinking into the chair next to me, immediately tapping on his phone for dinner reservations and checking his email.

“Don’t you ever relax?” I asked. My voice came out funny. My face was squished against the teak lounge chair and its pillows; I sounded all squeaky and wrong. Relaxing didn’t really suit me, either. We’d been in Turks and Caicos for four days and we were already both feeling antsy.

“I think you know the answer to that,” John said. He closed his eyes and pretended to soak up the sun. “Okay, I admit, I’m bored,” he said. “Can’t we do something exciting?” he asked.

“Like what?” I asked. We’d already had drinks at the swim-up bar, I’d learned to scuba dive, and we’d had sex probably over a hundred times. What else could he think of? Besides shooting people or fighting?

“Why don’t we get married while we’re down here?” he asked.

I sat up and clapped my hands together. “Let’s do it!” I said. “Ian’s better. Let’s fly him down and make it official,” I said.

“Matthew can come, and Mer,” John said. “Jake, Corey, Sean, Ethan, Michael…and Sasha, and Alexandra…and Catherine. If you’re okay with it,” he added.

I nodded at him. “You think she’ll be okay?” I asked.

“You never know,” he said, shrugging.

The number of people he had to call at least gave him something to do, so he wandered down the sand and did that. While he was occupied, I thought about the fact that I’d killed Angel Morales, and all that had happened since.

We’d left Mexico without shooting too many more people, and we’d managed to get Ian into a hospital down there for immediate attention, and then flown to a hospital in Texas. He had a concussion and some other trauma, but he was eventually okay.

When he regained consciousness, Ian had been thrilled to hear that Angel wasn’t an in-law anymore.

Catherine had come with us, at least to California. Then she’d gone home to Eva, getting medical attention and also the time she needed with her mom. She was quiet during the trip. She didn’t mention Angel, or anything else that had happened.

But she said she’d call us, and she had…twice. All she’d talked about was the highlights she’d gotten in her hair, and the fact that she and Eva were doing Pilates on a regular basis, but still. She’d spoken to John directly. And she hadn’t called either one of us a fuckwad in months.

As for me, I felt all the guilt appropriate for the situation. Which wasn’t much. If I had to do it over again…

If you had to do it over again, you wouldn’t have done it,
my inner voice said.
You would’ve gotten one of the guys to do it. So you wouldn’t have to think about Angel’s face at night, before you fell asleep.

But still. He’d hurt the people I loved. And maybe he was more evil than the rest of us. Maybe he made the world worse while he was here. I’d never know.

Despite what my inner voice had said, I knew I’d do it again. To protect the people I love.

Just then John came back up the beach, running on the sand. I marveled at his chiseled, tanned body in his low-slung swim trunks. But I got nervous when he came into focus and I could see the look on his face. He looked concerned. And excited.

“What,” I said, not bothering to make it a question. I needed to know.

“The house in Rhode Island’s been robbed,” he said, breathing hard.

“
What
?” I asked. “When? Is Ian okay?”

“Yes,” he said, leaning over to catch his breath. “Whoever did it knew what they were doing. They just came in and broke into the safe.” We looked at each other for a beat.

“And stole my father’s necklace?” I asked.

“And stole your father’s necklace,” he said.

“Well,” I said, crossing my legs and applying more sunscreen, “why don’t we have everyone down here and get married?” I asked. “It would be awesome.”

“Totally,” John agreed.

“And then we can go home and catch the person who did it!” I squealed, clapping my hands together.

“We can ask questions first…” John offered, sliding onto my lounge chair and kissing me deeply. I could smell the ocean on his taut, suntanned skin.

“We’ll always ask questions first,” I said.

“Always,” he said, and beamed down at me.

“Always,” I said. I couldn’t agree more.

I could not write without the love and enduring support of my husband and my three beautiful, patient, kind children. I am thankful for you every day, even when you are subjecting me to (endless) hours of playoff football and bugging me for snacks.

Thanks to my amazing beta readers, Beth Bawell, Sue Broadley, Jane Lyttle, Amily Moore, Wendy Myler and Amy Warren. You have been consistently supportive, insightful, funny and kind. You are brilliant and wonderful. You are my special little snowflakes. A special shout-out to Amy, who gave me the idea for Catherine’s note. Every time I read it, I think of you and smile.

Thank you to Leigh Berry, who designed the beautiful covers for the
Liberty
books. Leigh, you are an incredible artist. Thank you for making my books look amazing.

Thanks to all the fans, friends, and family who’ve been so supportive of
Liberty.
It’s been intimidating, but also so much fun, sharing my story with you. You’ve all been so kind and supportive. I have to also (always) thank my mom and dad, who support me and root for me no matter how smutty my books have been…I love you guys. You are special people. Thanks in particular to my mom, who is always ready with a pep talk, and who always told me to never give up.

Table of Contents

Table of contents

Preface

Book One: Captured

Chapter One: The Crying Game

Chapter Two: Wide Awake

Chapter Three: Just Give Me A Reason

Chapter Four: Fight For Now

Chapter Five: Leave Out All The Rest

Chapter Six: Lying In Bed

Chapter Seven: What Goes Around

Chapter Eight: Reasons To Be Missed