Men-of-Action-Seres-04 -Saints and Sinners (11 page)

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“I guess I’ve been living on borrowed time. I should have gone with my dad.”

He placed two fingers on her chin and knelt before her in order to be sure their eyes met. “You’re not living on borrowed time and you’re not going to die. I won’t let you die.”

“I’m sorry;” she shook her head. “I don’t know what I’m saying. I guess I’m just freaked out. I keep coming close to death and it’s scary.”

“Your father,” he noted because she would have been in the car then.

“And Troy. I was supposed to be with him that night. He had to stop to pick up a package from a source and then we were going to do dinner. But I had a deadline for an exhibit so I asked him to just come back for me. If I had gone with him…”

“You’d be dead too.”

“Maybe I’m jinxed. You should run for the hills now.”

“Anybody wants to get to you they’ll have to go through me first.”

“That’s what I’m afraid of, Sully. You have—”

“You don’t protect me. I protect you; got it?” She was trying to keep him safe. He didn’t need her to.

“Got it.” She hesitated before continuing. “It’s just that I was that little girl once and I know how devastating it can be to—” He held up his hand. “This is my job, my duty, my career. I’ve learned a lot about keeping myself alive. Don’t worry.” He knew death was always a possibility and he had made the necessary arrangements for Capri Montgomery 97

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Teagan’s well being long ago. Money wouldn’t make up for the loss of her father; he knew that, but he also knew one day she’d understand.

“My stomach feels all twisted up,” She said.

He understood. Stress, fear, seeing the dead bodies in her house, all of it had registered with her, and now that she had time to let it sink in it was impacting her physically.

“Thank you, Sully, for saving my life—again.”

“Don’t thank me yet,” he mumbled. “We’re not free and clear yet.” He pushed her hair back from her face. “I have a lot of questions,” he stated.

“I don’t have any answers,” she replied. “I don’t know what’s going on, or why. I’m so scared, Sully.”

“I know,” he pulled her into his arms. “Trust me to keep you safe,” he whispered. He didn’t need her to worry, although he knew she would.

He needed her to keep a clear head, to be ready to flee at the first sign of danger, just as he would be ready.

“I trust you.” She tightened her grip on him, hugging him closer, harder than before. She was going to be okay, he knew it.

“We need to get a few of your things together,” he pulled her to her feet. “We can’t stay here much longer.” Leaving was their only option.

The sooner he got on the road, the more at ease he’d feel that there wasn’t a second team of assassins waiting to follow them to the safe house.

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laina stood in the small sitting room, suddenly feeling more suffocated by the rustic décor than relaxed. Her mother had left her campaign planning to check on her only daughter—at least that’s what she wanted the appearance to be anyway. Alaina knew differently, not because it was what she expected of her mother, but because her mother’s first words were about Alaina hitting the campaign trail with her. Any other mother would have inquired of their daughter’s safety first...or at least the emotional state of their child. Not her mother. Her mother was only interested in what Alaina could do for her campaign.

“I told you once before I’m not campaigning for you.” She wasn’t even going to vote for her. In fact, she would be more willing to campaign for the opponent, even though she had no interest in politics, had never voted before in her life, and wasn’t even a registered voter—at least not Capri Montgomery 99

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that she knew of anyway. Her mother was sneaky and underhanded; Alaina wouldn’t put anything past her mother’s capabilities.

Knowing the conversation could turn ugly fast, she decided to quickly change the subject. Normally she wouldn’t care, but this wasn’t normal. Sully sat on the edge of the sofa arm, within full view, and audible range, of their argument. She knew the names her mother could call her and she didn’t want Sully to hear them.

“Don’t change the subject. After all I’ve done for you.”

“Ha,” Alaina let out that one response before she had a chance to stop herself.

“You’re so ungrateful. Just like your father, the pathetic man that he was.”

“Don’t talk about my dad.” Alaina felt heat rising in her cheeks.

“He was a good man. As far as I can tell the only mistake he made was marrying you.” Her father had been so unhappy and she knew that. He loved her. He stayed for her. At that moment she remembered what he said to her the morning before he died. “Things are going to change,” he had said. “We’re both going to be happy.” It didn’t make sense then, but it did now. It was as if one giant light blub had gone on in her head and the clarity, oh the clarity, was so bright it was almost blinding.

“He was going to leave you.”

“Shut up!”

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“He told me we were going to be happy and now I understand what he meant. He was going to leave you and he was going to take me with him.”

“You stupid cow! You should have died in that car with him.” Alaina had always known her mother felt that way, but she had never heard her utter the words…until now. “There’s the door,” she pointed. “Don’t let it hit you where the good lord split you on your way out.” She turned; she was ready to walk away before words escalated anymore than they already had.

She felt firm hands grip her arms followed by a hard shove before falling into the wall table; knocking it and the glass vase atop it, over as she fell.

“Hey!” Sully stood.

“This is a personal matter; it doesn’t concern you.”

“I’m assigned to protect her, lady; even if that protection needs to be from you.”

“I could have your job.”

“I don’t give a damn,” he stated calmly.

“It’s okay, Sully. Ms. James was just leaving.” Alaina hated her more now than she ever thought could be possible. She hated sharing her last name. She hated having her blood flowing through her veins.

“This isn’t over.”

“Yes it is. I’m one hundred percent positive your presidential dreams won’t survive a tell-all expose on our mother-daughter relations. I Capri Montgomery 101

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can assure you if you mess with this man’s career I’ll start with Larry King Live and hit every other news program, talk show, paper and anything else that will hear my story of Elizabeth James. Trust me; Mother of the Year isn’t exactly the award you’re going to be up for.” Elizabeth uttered several curses before letting herself out. Sully locked the door behind her while Alaina bent down to pick up the broken pieces of glass from the shattered vase.

“Are you okay?”

“No,” she refused to turn to look at him. She was so embarrassed, and hurt, and lost. She had no one and that realization alone made her heart break even more. It wasn’t as if she ever felt a connection to her mother, or even thought that she would. But until now, until that moment she never thought about her reality. The reality was she never had a mother; she never would have a mother and without her father she never would have a family.

Alaina sat the shards of glass on the coffee table so she could pick up the knocked over wall table. She needed the broom and a vacuum to pick up the little pieces, a garbage bag for the big pieces, and a quiet place alone where she could try to pick up the pieces of her life.

Sully obviously had different plans. He pulled her into his arms and held her so tenderly, so possessively that she broke. Tears poured from her eyes as the anguish escaped her in a violent cry. He didn’t try to quiet her. He didn’t tell her it would all be okay. He simply held her, Saints and Sinners 102

encased her in his masculine arms; held her pressed against his firm chest; supported her with a single lazy stroke of his hand through her hair.

She felt weak, vulnerable, and she hated it. She hated needing to be held, to be touched, to be loved; but she did need it, all of it and that need wouldn’t let her pull away. “Oh God,” she sobbed. “Why does it hurt so much?” It hurt more than it should. She had suppressed the pain for so long that she had forgotten; forgotten what it felt like to feel this pain cutting to the core of her soul.

“Because you’re human,” he said before lifting her in his arms.

She wrapped her legs around his waist and allowed herself to be cradled.

Something had changed between them. She didn’t know when, but it had. He was nicer. And the other night…the night she had nearly kissed him. She was certain he wanted her too, but now she wasn’t sure. Maybe he just felt sorry for her. Maybe he was going to give her a sympathy lay as if providing some therapeutic service. She wasn’t sure, and right now she didn’t want to find out. Right now she just wanted to be held. She didn’t care why he was doing it; all that mattered was that he was.

Alaina felt as if she had been crying for hours. The emotional storm raging inside her was finally starting to subside, but it had already taken its toll on her. She was starting to get a headache; she felt nauseas and shaky. Despite her feelings she willed herself to lift her head from Sully’s shoulder. He had taken a seat on the wooden dining room chair.

For the first time since he’d taken her in his arms she realized just how inappropriate her position was. There she sat; her legs straddled Sully’s Capri Montgomery 103

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body, chest pressed to his and arms draped over him as if she had a right to hold him so possessively.

“I’m sorry,” she tried to pull away, but his arms seemed to tighten around her.

“It’s okay,” he said, but she wasn’t sure to what he was referring; her breakdown or her position on his lap. Then again, she wasn’t exactly sure for what she was apologizing.

“I’m not usually this bad at keeping a reign on my emotions.” Normally she didn’t allow herself to breakdown, not in front of people.

She had cried the night Troy died, but she held it together at the funeral.

After her father died she learned quickly to contain her emotions; partly because she knew there was nobody there to comfort her, but mostly because she refused to give her mother an edge over her.

“You don’t have to keep your guard up with me.”

“Yes I do.” She couldn’t afford to feel for him what she had already begun to feel. He had a life, a family, and neither included her no matter how much she wanted it to.

“No, you don’t.” He looked into her eyes and once again she felt vulnerable, as if he could see through her. “Talk to me.”

“In Central America you wanted me to shut up.” He exhaled slowly. “In Central America I was an ass.” She wouldn’t deny that fact, but he was there to save her life, not chit chat; she wouldn’t hold a grudge for that.

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“Well if we’re going to talk perhaps I should sit in my own chair.” She started to move, and just as before his hold on her increased. “Or I can just sit here.”

“Good idea,” he said as calmly as he seemed to say nearly everything else.

She couldn’t be misreading his touch; could she? Maybe she wanted him so much that her mind was making the proverbial mountain out of a mole hill. She wasn’t going to make a fool out of herself by asking, and she certainly wasn’t going to be anybody’s sympathy lay. She could, however; use somebody to talk with and he seemed to be willing to listen.

“Oh,” she pushed her hands through her hair, sending soft curls on to her back. “My family life is so screwed up. It’s like Days of Our Lives on crack.”

He chuckled.

She placed her hands on his shoulders. “I’m sorry you got tossed into the madness. If you want out…”

“I don’t.”

“I’d understand; if you did want out I’d understand.” She needed him to know he was clear to leave. “No hard feelings. I promise.”

“I’m not going anywhere. Besides,” he ran one finger across her shoulder. “I have a feeling there’s a lot more going on than either of us are being told. I plan on keeping you alive, which means we’re going to have to figure this out.”

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“We? As in together? You want me to work with you?”

“I want you to do a lot of things with me. Work just happens to be one of them.”

“Things have changed,” she said, “between us. You don’t hate me anymore?”

“I never hated you. I was just angry and I let that anger cloud my judgment. I’m sorry.”

She rested her head on his shoulder; her face nestled against his neck and she inhaled his masculine scent. “I’m sorry she hurt you.” He stroked a lazy line down her spine. “Things weren’t roses between us for a long time, but I never expected what she did—not to me and certainly not to Teagan.”

“She broke your trust.”

“Yeah,” he mumbled. “But that’s no excuse for my actions.”

“Don’t be so hard on yourself. We all make mistakes;” she placed a soft kiss on his neck. His skin felt warm against her lips. She wanted him. Judging form the growing bulge in his pants he wanted her too. That is he wanted her sexually; she wouldn’t be quick to say he wanted her for more. Perhaps just this once she could allow herself this pleasure.