Maximum Risk (24 page)

What choice did she have? One of Quinn’s brothers was already dead because of her. She wouldn’t let another die.

Jerking back, she forced herself to her feet and toed off her shoes, ignoring the blood pounding in her ears.

“You dare bring your vile beliefs to our girls. For that you will pay.”

A hood forced over her head. Rough hands holding her down while they tipped her chair back. The pain of having her hair pulled as they wrenched her head back. Water. Filling her mouth, her nose, her face until she thought she would drown. It poured over her, through the hood. Choked her.

“You decide to come in?” Nate hollered.

Her head snapped up. Halfway across the lake Nate bobbed in the water, grinning at her. The air in her lungs escaped in a rush and her knees went weak. She wobbled, but didn’t fall as the memories faded. She gasped for air.

“Hey, you okay?”

“Okay?” she yelled. “No, I am not okay. I thought you drowned, damn it!”

Nate started swimming toward her. It only took a minute or two for him to reach her. When he pulled himself out of the water and onto the dock she smacked him on the chest.

“That was a rotten thing to do,” she accused.

“Avery, I’m sorry. I’m a Navy SEAL. I can hold my breath under water for four minutes. I thought you knew.”

Awe replaced her nightmare. “Four minutes? Really?”

He nodded.

“Well, that’s impressive. But you scared the hell out of me. I thought I was gonna have to jump in and save you.”

Another nod. Repentant.

She lifted her chin. “I would have done it.”

The corner of his mouth tilted. “I know you would. Come on, let’s go get some lunch and I’ll answer one of your questions to make it up to you.”

Avery narrowed her eyes. “Two.”

“One. And I fix lunch.”

Since she didn’t cook and she knew he wouldn’t answer more than one question anyway, she said reluctantly, “Deal.”

****

Dani pushed the food around on her plate. The roasted chicken and vegetables looked delicious, but her appetite had yet to return. Chris had taken over babysitting duty for Evan today but no one would tell her why. They protected her. Even though she knew it had something to do with the woman who got Ryan killed.

Bitterness crept through her and she set her fork on her napkin. She didn’t even want to be here. Chris had insisted they have dinner with his parents. Probably because she didn’t offer to cook for him and her kitchen was bare. Chris had a healthy appetite.

What she wanted was to go back home and lie down.

“You should eat, dear,” Ellen encouraged.

If only food really did heal all wounds. She’d never stop eating. But it didn’t. Nothing did.

The front door opened and Nate and Avery walked in. Dani went rigid in her chair, anger slicing through her. “What is she doing here?”

“I needed to talk to Chris. I couldn’t leave her alone,” Nate explained.

“Where’s Evan?”

“Busy.”

“I can wait in the Jeep.” Avery turned to leave.

Ellen caught her arm. “Nonsense. Have you had dinner? Sit. The boys have business to discuss.”

Feeling betrayed, Dani shook her head. How could they let this woman in their home? Sit at their table? As if nothing had happened. As if she hadn’t gotten her fiancé murdered.

Her body went cold and Dani watched Avery take a seat across from her. Bailey didn’t seem to mind that Avery sat at their table and that rankled even more. Bailey had always sided with Dani against her brothers, saying the women needed to stick together or else be stomped out by all the testosterone. This felt like a betrayal.

Ellen spooned mashed potatoes onto Avery’s plate. Then sliced chicken. Dani watched like an outsider.

“Really, Miss—Ellen, I’m not that hungry,” Avery protested when Ellen scooped peas and carrots beside her roll.

“Like Dani, you’re much too thin. Now eat.”

Dani flinched. Ellen reserved that tone for her cubs. Avery was
not
one of her cubs. She wasn’t the victim. She was responsible.

“How can you serve her?” She turned on Ellen.

Ellen set the bowl down. “Avery is our guest, Dani. Mind your manners.”

Was she really hearing this? Ellen must have lost her mind. “So we’re sitting down to dinner with the enemy now? Treating her like family?”

Ellen shot a hard look at her. “You can’t go on blaming Avery forever for something she had no control over. Ryan knew the risk when he took the job.”

A knife ripped through her chest and she jolted to her feet. Her chair toppled over. She’d never expected to hear those words coming from Ellen’s mouth.

“No. She got my fiancé killed. And shame on you for taking her side.”

Then she bolted, grabbing Chris’s keys on her way out the door. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she climbed behind the wheel of his classic Chevy and spun out of the driveway. In the rearview she saw Nate and Chris running after her. Chris looked pissed. Nate shook his head. Frank pointed to Nate’s Jeep. Quinn’s expression was tight with disapproval, which only made everything worse.

She jammed the gas pedal to the floor, marveling in all that horsepower as it growled down the road. They would never catch her. Not in this beast of a car. It would take her away from here before she suffocated.

Wind blew her hair out of its ponytail, whipping it in her face. Led Zeppelin cranked out the stereo.
Freedom
.

She pushed the car faster, harder, wishing it would carry her to Ryan. The countryside blurred by. Cars passed by, honking their horns at her. Ignoring them, she gave the car its head and let it go. Wasn’t that what Chris spent all those hours restoring old cars for? So he could open them up and let them run?

Flashing red and blue lights in her rearview ended her free ride. With a sigh, she reined the beast back in and slowed to a stop on the side of the road. A police cruiser pulled up behind her.

In the side mirror she saw the sheriff climb out and stride toward her. Trevor Lang had only been sheriff for a couple years after retiring from the military. He’d been elected by a landslide after having grown up in Cedar Falls and receiving a Purple Heart in the Army. He was a Boy Scout for sure. Nice guy to the core. Definitely not her type. She’d always liked bad boys like the Wolff brothers.

Pain knifed through her chest and she pushed it down as he approached.

“Damn it, Chris, how many times do I have to tell you to keep it under ninety—Dani? What are you doing driving Chris’s car?”

She met his surprised blue gaze. He seemed taller than she remembered. “I kinda stole it.”

He quirked a dark brow. “You stole it? Well, now, that’s grand theft auto. Not to mention you were going one-hundred-twenty miles per hour in a forty-five. I’m afraid I’m gonna have to ask you to step out of the car.”

Her stomach dropped to her feet. Was he taking her to jail? Oh, God. She couldn’t humiliate the Wolff family like that. They would never forgive her.

Tears filled her eyes. What had she done?

“Dani, I’m kidding. Jesus, don’t cry.”

She blinked. “What?”

Trevor leaned in the window, his expression soft. “I know you just lost your fiancé. I’m not going to write you a ticket, but I am going to escort you home, okay?”

“That’s not necessary,” she sniffed.

“You stole Chris’s car. Trust me, it is.”

She nodded.

“Dani?”

His gaze was gentle when she looked up. “I’m sorry about Ryan.”

Her chest twisted. “Thank you.”

“If you need anything…” He let the sentence trail with a shrug, then returned to his Bronco.

As Dani followed him back to the Wolffs’ she wondered why his offer lingered in her mind.

****

Avery rocked slowly in the old wooden rocking chair, gazing across the peaceful lake. The sun cast an orange glow over the trees as it set for the night. In the distance she could hear birds chirping and an occasional splash of a fish. A pontoon boat floated in the water next to a U shaped dock that needed repair. No wonder Quinn loved it here so much. She wanted to lose herself in her thoughts, in the beauty surrounding her.

But her thoughts were troubled. Filled with Dani and the grief she’d caused her tonight by showing up here. The pain in Dani’s eyes before she’d run off had been raw. Avery recognized that heartache, knew how it felt, and didn’t wish it on her worst enemy. When she lost her parents she’d seen that same look in her own eyes every time she looked in the mirror.

Nate never should have brought her here. Whatever he and Chris had to talk about could have waited until Quinn returned home.

God, she hated this.

The low rumble of Chris’s classic car interrupted her thoughts. Inside the house she heard Frank speaking to Ellen, then Nate’s voice, commanding. The front door slammed and she flinched. Chris.

He’d come in the house spitting nails after Dani stole his car. She thought he and Quinn were going to come to blows, but Frank stepped in and calmed him down before it got that far. Ellen had given Chris a stern, don’t-even-think-about-it look that only a mother could give, and ordered him to go shoot a few hoops.

She’d been surprised when Chris obeyed and minutes later she’d heard the sound of a basketball hitting the cement driveway. Curious, she’d gone out to watch. Chris and Nate were playing a one-on-one game of basketball, but it wasn’t like any she’d seen before. It was brutal. They mostly beat each other up, throwing elbows, body shots. The basketball hoop was attached to the side of the garage, which had dents in it, probably from years of abuse.

How Ellen Wolff managed to stay sane with six boys, she had no idea.

Figuring it best for her to stay out of sight, Avery remained in her chair, watching the sun set over the lake. The last thing Dani needed was to see her. Best she let Quinn handle Dani. He seemed to be avoiding her anyway, which she’d let him get away with at his parents’ house, but not when they got home.

Minutes passed before she heard voices in the house.

“No. I need to talk to her.”

Avery stopped rocking. The door opened behind her and Dani stared down at her. Her brown hair fell in disarray around her shoulders and there was a touch of color to her cheeks that hadn’t been there before.

Uncertain, Avery waited for her speak.

“You were the last one to speak to Ryan.”

Surprised, she nodded.

Dani glanced over Avery’s head. “You can go now. I’m not going to attack her.”

She didn’t have to look to know Quinn had gone back inside, but he left the door open. Ridiculous, since she could defend herself.

Dani sat in the chair next to her and drew in a deep breath. “Tell me what his last words were.”

Knowing how important this was to her, Avery didn’t refuse. Closure, no matter how painful, was necessary in the grieving process. “All he could talk about was you. He loved you very much. You’re a lucky woman.”

Tears filled Dani’s eyes but she pushed forward.

“He was planning a honeymoon for the two of you. A trip to your favorite place. A surprise.”

Dani met her gaze, tears flowing freely now. “To Ireland,” she whispered. “He told you that?”

“You knew?”

A small, sad laugh escaped Dani’s lips. “Yes. He never could keep a secret.”

Avery reached over and covered Dani’s hand with her own. “I am so sorry. I never meant for any of this to happen. That bullet should have hit me. If I could change things, I would. I’m sorry.”

Before her own tears fell, Avery shot to her feet and sprinted across the yard toward Quinn’s truck. She clambered inside and slammed the door. That was the first time she’d ever said those words out loud. And she meant every one of them. It should have been her that took that bullet. Then this family wouldn’t be suffering. Their lives wouldn’t be torn apart and she wouldn’t be to blame.

Suddenly very tired, she laid her head against the seat and closed her eyes. When the door opened and Quinn climbed in, she wished he would pull her into his arms. Then cursed the weakness. She’d never leaned on anyone. Never needed anyone.

“You okay?” Quinn asked.

“Just take me home.”

It wasn’t until they pulled up in front of Quinn’s house that she realized what she’d said.

****

Inside the house, Quinn headed for Avery’s room, but Avery held tight to his hand, gazing up at him with vulnerable eyes. “I don’t want to sleep in the room where you were stabbed.”

“It’s only a scratch.”

“You could be bleeding to death and it would only be a scratch. I’ll sleep on the couch before I sleep in that room.”

Quinn tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. Then pressed a kiss to her lips and led her upstairs. He undressed her slowly, then shucked his clothes and lowered her to the bed. A soft sigh escaped her lips when he positioned himself on top of her. Her hands splayed over his back, drawing him closer.

He claimed her lips, explored her mouth. Avery met him stroke for stroke, surging against him, tugging on his hair when he pulled away. The feel of her body beneath him, her soft curves, her warm skin had him reaching into the bedside table for a condom.

Avery took it from him, pushed him onto his back and rolled it on. He watched her hands circle the length of him, bucked beneath her touch. His breath caught in his chest when she rose above him, then took him inside her.

He gripped her hips as she rode him. Marveled in the way her hair brushed across her breasts with each sway of her hips. Her lips parted on a gasp as he surged inside her, his fingers digging into her flesh as he neared the edge.

She threw her head back, taking him in fully, increasing her pace. He had never seen a more beautiful sight in his life. A flush spread across her chest and her head snapped back down. Their eyes met.

Quinn took her over the edge with him, holding her gaze until she collapsed on top of him, limp.

As he waited for his breathing to return to normal, he wondered what hold Avery had on him. He sure as hell couldn’t shake it.

****

Dani’s knees gave out and she fell on top of Ryan’s grave. Pain so deep her chest heaved with the ache, she pressed her face to his gravestone. Warm soil heated her cheek, soaking up the tears that fell freely. In her hand she held his dogtags, wrapped around her palm so tight the beads cut into her skin.