REMEDY: A Mafia Romance (Return to Us Trilogy Book 3) (3 page)

"Do you want me to numb it first?"

I scowl at him. He can be so damn obtuse sometimes. "In all the years you've been fixing my wounds, have I ever asked for anesthetic?"

He purses his lips and gets to work. I grit my teeth as he stitches my chest with his steady hand. The pain is nothing compared to Viktor's pocketknife piercing my skin. God, I enjoyed filling that asshole with lead. Wish I had ten more guns I could've unloaded into him.

"Are you sure you don't want Bernard to do this? He's a plastic surgeon, ya know."

Shut the fuck up, Jett. "No. I'm keeping the scar." He looks up at me. "And I'll speak to you about him later."

He tapes a large gauze bandage over my pec and moves to the staple holes put in my deltoid by Trey. Slicing that bastard's neck was fun too. You fuck with Trip, you pay the price.

"I was coming for you." He doesn't glance up from applying alcohol to my arm.

"Oh, you mean the girls in the background weren't riding your cock?" I heard them when I called.

He shakes his head. "Lindsey and Lizzie. Decoys for the extraction. We were coming in hot and bringing you home."

Of course he was working with Shane. I shouldn't have doubted him. Using women to distract Viktor was a good plan. They just didn't have time to execute it.

"What else?" he says with determination as he finishes with the bandage on my arm and scans my body.

I point to my left foot. Jett picks up my ankle and examines the puncture wounds in my sole. He diligently cleans and wraps it with gauze.

"So, did you get him?"

Careful, Jett. Not here.

"Yeah, he's taken care of." Ivy nailed his face, and I finished the fucker off.

"Any others?"

"Three. Kara was one of them." His eyes widen. "Two of his men."

"I'll send a fixer," he says.

Fuck, Jett. Always so eager to jump in.

I shake my head. "No. Let them take care of it." This is on Boothby and his crew. It's Viktor's mess. Jett's not getting his hands dirty.

He finishes his ministrations and stands. "We'll talk more later. Right now, you need some x-rays and IV antibiotics." He packs his bag and tosses the trash.

"I can't think about myself." I hang my head. "How the hell do I tell her she'll never have kids because of me?"

He stands and slings the bag over his shoulder. "You'll find a way." His eyebrows rise, and he holds up a finger. He checks his pager on his belt. "She's awake."

I grab the top to my scrubs and burst out of the room.

"Room 116!" he calls after me.

Got it.

I'm already there.

***

Ivy

Iridescent fairy dust shimmers on the walls of the tunnel. A warm breeze blows my hair from my face. The billowing cloud I'm sitting on floats to the right and then bounces to a stop.

"Hang on, darlin'." Jude's smooth drawl calls to me.

Jude! Is Jacade here? Is he all right?

"She's stable. Excellent work, Kelch."

"Thanks, Ellis. Glad she pulled through. It's good you called me." A deep male voice answers Jude.

"Thanks for getting here so fast."

Getting where so fast?

"Anytime."

Their voices cease and footsteps fade into the distance. Where'd they go? Hey, guys. Come back! I need to get to Jacade. Please, take me to him.

Nothing.

I curl up on my cloud and wait to see which way the wind takes me.

***

Ivy

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.

My eyes flicker open to the fluorescence of blurry, rectangular ceiling lights. A couple of blinks, and a clock on the wall comes into focus. Five o'clock. Not sure if it's morning or evening. I reach for my face, but a mask covers my mouth and nose.

A blonde nurse stares at me. "Are you waking up?" She grabs her phone and types out a message.

I'm in a hospital gown with an IV in my wrist. A brunette nurse enters the room and fusses with equipment in the corner. I try to wiggle my toes, but my body doesn't respond. Oh no, am I paralyzed?

The brunette nurse runs a thermometer across my forehead and checks the reading. She glances at my door. She does a double take, and her eyes widen.

Jacade screeches to a stop in the doorway, his bare chest heaving. He holds a shirt in his hands and grips the doorframe. His tattoos bulge on his mighty biceps. The tantalizing
V
of his navel disappears into low-riding avocado scrub pants. His jet-black hair is wet and slicked back. A thick beard covers his strong jaw. My heart stutters. He's like a quarterback exiting the tunnel before the Super Bowl.

The nurses move away and watch me from their station next to the sink. Shane and Jude fill in the minimal remaining space in the entry and peer beyond Jacade into my room. I've got quite the crowd of spectators trying to catch a glimpse at kickoff. I take a breath to speak but cough instead.

Jacade darts to my bedside and lifts the oxygen mask from my face. "Take it easy, sweetheart."

The tender voice from this bear of a man wraps my heart in a warm embrace.

Rough sandpaper coats my mouth. "Water," I croak out.

He pours a cup and raises my head to help me take a sip. The liquid quenches the unbearable thirst in my throat.

He takes my hand in his. "Welcome back, Ivy." His voice breaks with the same words he uttered three years ago when he rescued me from the spine-chilling tunnel.

I'm back. He's back.

I squeeze his hand and close my eyes. Thank you, God, for blotting out my name from the grim reaper's guest list not once, but twice. Thank you for returning me to him.

"Can't move my legs."

"Anesthesia. It'll wear off soon. You're gonna be fine."

He has bandages on his lip, his arm, his chest. "You're injured."

"It'll heal." His warm fingertips sweep a lock of hair from my face.

"Shane?"

"He's hell-bent on staying by that door," he says, tilting his head to the doorway.

"No, he needs to recover too."

"Look at you, lying in the hospital with a gunshot wound—stunning as ever—yet worrying about everyone else."

The nurses whisper and gawk with open mouths at Jacade's ripped physique, his panther tattoo on full display for them. The blonde crosses her arms and presses one hand to her chest.

Avert your eyes, ladies. He's mine.

I tug his hand to draw him closer to me. He bends at the waist, and his eyes search mine. "What do you need, baby?"

"Have mercy on their souls and put a damn shirt on." I cough and point to the nurses behind him.

He looks down and chuckles.

"On it," Jude says as he ushers them out of the room. "Either of you ladies wanna go home with me and watch porn in my mirror?"

The door closes behind Jude, and Jacade shakes his head. "Only Jude could pick up a woman with that line."

When he touches his lips to mine, his bandage brushes my cracked, dry mouth. My eyes squeeze shut to stave off threatening tears. His heart beats, his lungs breathe. My strong, confident man is by my side again. He cups my jaw in his palms and opens his lips, our warm breaths mingling in the tiny space. I tilt my head into the kiss.

Beep
-
beep
-
beep
-
beep
-
beep
.

He pulls away and rests his forehead on mine as we chuckle at the monitors giving me away.

"Lie next to me."

He frowns. "Not a good idea. You're too fragile."

"Please."

He sighs, and the corner of his mouth turns up. "Not fair. You're all too aware I won't deny you anything right now, and I'm desperate to hold you. Still want me to put my shirt on?" He raises his scrub top.

"No way."

I watch his muscles undulate as he swaggers like a king to the other side of my bed. He moves with such grace and stature even though he's been through hell.

He repositions me to the side and slides his mammoth body beside me. The stiff white sheet shifts against the plastic mattress. He slips his right arm behind my head, and I relax into my new pillow. He lies on his side and entwines my right hand with his left.

I tuck my nose into the furnace of his chest, careful not to nudge his bandage, and inhale the woodsy, earthy scent of him. His thumb traces lazy shapes in my palm.

Over then under. Over then under.

"Are we safe?" A foggy mosaic of blood and bodies swims in my head.

"Shh, yes. You're out of danger." He swallows and speaks softly over my head. "I'm so sorry, Ivy. All this time… All I desired was to keep this from touching you." The stubble on his chin crunches in my hair by my ear. "You shouldn't have gone to the farmhouse."

"I couldn't lose you. I'd do it again."

"That's insane."

"Well, I'm crazy in love with you."

His sigh feathers across my cheek. "I'm crazy in love with you too."

He traces figure-eights on my flesh, gently lulling me into contented unconsciousness.

Ivy

I'm trapped.

My back hits the cement wall. Viktor's feet drag on the floor as he stalks me in the musky, burning depths of his basement from hell. His vacant eyes focus on me as he clutches a butcher knife over his head. My hand scrapes the cold wall in search of a weapon.

His arm swings down.

Slice
.

My eyes fly open.

Jacade grips Jude's arm above our heads.

"Don't sneak up on me like that," Jacade warns.

Jude wrenches free and shakes out his arm. "I came to tell you Ivy has visitors, jackass."

Jacade grumbles and gets up from his place next to me on the bed. He kisses my cheek and stares into my eyes. His thick, dark eyelashes form a smoky kohl rim that makes the indigo in his irises gleam a vibrant electric blue. "Morning, love." His husky voice caresses my ears.

"Morning." I skim his face with my fingertips. Thank goodness the swelling has gone down around his eye, but I'm not happy to see the angry purple bruises on his cheek. What did Viktor do to him? He pulls on his shirt and walks out into the hall.

A sharp poke above my knee startles me. "Ow!" I frown at Jude.

"Did that hurt?" He's smiling at me.

"Yes."

He chuckles and writes on my chart.

Glad you find this funny, Jude.

My toes wiggle when I ask them to. Good. But, ugh, raising my head creates a burn in my stomach that flares into a wheel of pain. I drop back onto the pillow.

"How long was I out?"

"Two years." Jude grips the bed railing and winks at me. "Nah, almost twenty-four hours since you first came out of anesthesia. It's Sunday morning. You needed the sleep."

"I did."

"Doctor's always right." He grins and strides out the door. His firm ass catches my eye. Damn, the DNA mixed well in that family.

Shane glances at me as Jude exits. I wave him in.

"Did you need something, Ms. Summers?"

"Shane, call me Ivy." I'm sure he won't, but it's worth a try. "Last I heard, you were unconscious. How are you?"

"Fine. Back in service."

I smile at him, but his jaw remains tight.

"If you need more time to recover, I'm in good hands. You don't have to stay here."

He lowers his face and pins me with his gaze. "Ms. Summers, with all due respect, I'm not leaving that door until you do."

Okay—dropping that subject. I've gone head-to-head with him enough times to know he won't budge.

"Well, then. Thank you for this and for," I fold the blanket over my hips, "watching out for me."

His lips twitch as he turns away. "My pleasure," he mutters and returns to his post.

In the hallway beyond him, Aunt Helen and Bryn bounce and wave. Jacade motions for them to follow him in. He walks to the window and tips a blind to the side to peer out. Aunt Helen rushes to my side.

As Bryn passes Shane, she bites her lip and skims her hand over his abdomen. Shane sucks in a deep breath, his face stony. She slouches as she stands beside Aunt Helen.

I widen my eyes at her and raise my brows with a tilt of my head toward Shane. She scrunches her brow like she doesn't get my question. I make my eyes huge, exaggerating my head bob toward Shane. I must look ridiculous lying in a hospital bed making googly eyes at my best friend and swinging my neck like a broken paper swan.

Her mouth widens in an
O
of understanding. She shrugs her shoulders. My gosh, all that motioning just to find out she doesn't know what's up with Shane?

Aunt Helen kisses me on the temple and clasps her hands together as she steps back. "Oh, honey! I'm so glad you're all right. I was so worried."

"Praise the lord! Damn good to see you, bestie." Bryn grips my hand. "Don't you ever do something that stupid again." She lowers her face to mine and whispers, "At least not without me."

"What were you thinking?" Aunt Helen blurts out.

What was I thinking? I thought I could outsmart Viktor. I suppose I did.

I look to him standing at the window. Jacade senses my gaze and turns to me. His crystalline eyes dazzle me with their fiery, consuming love. Sometimes it's painful to look at him.

"No thought required." I take a deep breath and exhale slowly. "I'm in love with him. He needed me. I was the only one with a realistic chance of getting him out alive."

"Ivy, if I'd have known what you were about to do, I would've tackled you." Aunt Helen's worry lines surface. I hate those.

"Come on, Aunt Helen. No one stops Ivy from doing what she wants to do." Bryn laughs and tilts her head toward Jacade. "Especially if it's him."

Jacade walks to the end of my bed. "Now, ladies, don't get her all riled up."

"I think that statement should be directed to you," Bryn says.

His lips quirk up at the edges. "True."

"Get out of my way!" All eyes in the room turn to the doorway. Uncle Bernie struggles to push past Shane.

Good luck with that. Shane is a Mack Truck. Why won't Shane let him in?

Uncle Bernie wags a finger at Jacade. "You should've called me sooner."

Jacade plants his feet and pulls his shoulders back. "Sorry. Forgot. Weird how that happens."

Uncle Bernie stops struggling with Shane. "Tell your goon to let me in."

Jacade signals with his head for Shane to let Uncle Bernie through. Shane drops his arm. Uncle Bernie bumps Jacade as he stomps to the other side of my bed. Jacade doesn't react.

"Ivy, are you all right?"

"Yes, Uncle Bernie."

He places his palm on my forehead and scans my body. "You're feverish. What are they giving you?" He reads the bag of medication on my IV.

"Uncle Bernie, stop." I lay my hand over his. "It was just a gunshot, and Jude patched me up."

"Just a gunshot? You're so nonchalant about getting shot?"

"Well, it hurts, but I'm here and my family is alive and together. I'm not gonna complain."

Uncle Bernie looks up at Jacade. "We need to talk."

Jacade crosses his arms over his chest. "We do. Not here."

"Call me as soon as she's released."

Uncle Bernie bends to kiss me, and Jacade's shoulders stiffen. Hmm. What is up with them?

"Okay, everyone out," Jacade bellows and points to the door. "You can see she's fine. She needs to rest."

I kiss my family and friends goodbye and rest as instructed.

***

Ivy

The hideous stench of death abrades my nose. Jacade lies face-down and bloodied on the dirt floor of Viktor's dungeon. Rusted chains twist and wrench around his neck and arms. My boots crunch on the ground as I sprint to his side.

Jacade
.
Please
,
god
,
no
!

"Wake up, Ivy. Open your eyes." I wake to Jacade's bright gaze shining at me like an azure sky through the hole in a dank oubliette.

He cups my cheek. "You awake?"

My hand grasps his wrist and encounters the coolness of his watch. "Thank god you're all right." I slide my fingers lower to feel the coarse hair on his warm arms.

"Yes. We're all safe. Just a dream," he says in his deep, confident baritone.

"But it wasn't a dream. You were battered and lifeless on the floor, chains wrapped around your neck. He hurt you." I trace my fingers over the purple and black bruises on his cheek.

"Shh. Don't think about it. I'm fine. We made it through."

He presses his lips to mine. I squeeze my eyes shut and inhale his scent.

He pulls away too soon, my lips waiting in place. With a sigh, I push myself to sitting. Ouch. The burn in my side reminds me why I'm in a hospital. I hide the grimace from my face.

"You need to eat." Jacade wheels a tray of tiny round containers with shiny foil lids over my lap.

I angle my head away from the offensive tray. "Ugh, no. I hate hospital food."

"Start with this. Then we'll get you something more palatable."

"What day is it?"

"Monday. Now, eat." He peels the lid back from a cup of mashed cranberries.

I glare at him with my nose scrunched. I'm not winning this one, so I accept the spoon he offers me. Mmm. Not as bad as I thought it would be. The cool, tart slushiness refreshes my dry mouth.

Shane knocks twice and pokes his head in the room. Jacade walks to him, and his face hardens as Shane speaks into his ear.

Jacade strides back to my side with his lips pressed into a tight line. He moves the tray out of the way. "The FBI is here to talk to you."

The FBI is here to talk to me? Crap! I shoot Jacade a worried look. Are we in trouble?

He reads my concern and lowers his face to my eye level. "Don't worry. Our case is solid. It was self-defense. Just tell the truth."

"But what about…" the
not the Mafia
organization?

"It's all good, Ivy. I'm secure."

He's secure? How? I hope so because the fricken FBI is here to talk to us.

Shane allows a tall, blond man wearing a polished silver suit to enter.

Hmm. He looks familiar.

No way. It's Ken Amboy, the office-supply salesman! The cutie patootie in the Burberry suit.

Jacade takes a protective stance on the far side of my bed and grabs my hand.

Ken approaches from the other side and offers me a business card. "Agent Hunter Drake," he says in his rich, resonant voice. I check out his card.

Special Agent Hunter Drake
.
Federal Bureau of Investigation
.
Midwest Division
.

Hunter Drake? Now that's more like it. I knew he was too hot to have a name like Ken Amboy.

So he was undercover trying to sell me office supplies? Did he get any info from me? Nothing I can remember except Jacade telling him I drank mouthwash and masturbated on his desk! I'm sure Agent Drake didn't glean much intel from my ass in the air as Jacade caveman hauled me down the hallway.

"Ms. Summers, I'm aware you're recuperating, but I'm investigating Merrill Karson—known on the street as Viktor—and wanted to ask you some questions."

Viktor's real name was Merrill? I stifle a laugh.

As he's pulling a notepad, pen, and voice recorder from the pockets of his jacket, Jacade responds, "Our lawyers have already given you her statement."

The statement. Don't remind me. The foggy mosaic in my mind transformed into terrifying images as I recounted the story to Jacade's lawyers and Colonel Mahoney.

Ken—I mean Agent Drake—looks at Jacade and replies with the voice of a patient teacher. "I know. I've read it. I'd like to speak to her directly, if that's all right with you."

The muscles in Jacade's neck tighten, but he gives a reluctant tip of his head to Agent Drake.

"Ms. Summers, I'd like to know why you went to Mr. Karson's property Friday evening."

I bite my lower lip. "Well, Jacade was missing, and I thought he might be there."

"Yes," Drake responds with the same tolerant tone. "But why did you go alone? Why not call in the authorities?"

"I couldn't chance it. I knew Viktor wanted me to come for Jacade by myself."

"You put yourself in grave danger."

"I guess I did, Agent Drake, but it was worth it." I squeeze Jacade's hand.

"And the Beretta Pico was yours?"

"The report clearly states the Beretta is registered to me." Jacade responds with a sharp edge in his voice.

"I'm aware of that, Dr. Jordan. I'm asking her how the gun got to the scene considering you were not carrying it at the time you were taken captive."

A muscle twitches in Jacade's jaw. Oh boy, Agent Drake is rousing the panther.

"I- I- knew I would need a weapon if I wanted to get Jacade out alive. So I concealed it in my hair."

"In your hair?" Agent Drake laughs. His eyebrows rise, and he looks back and forth between us. "Oh, you're serious." He shakes his head as he scribbles on his notepad.

"Dangerous and foolish, Ivy." Jacade glares at me.

"I had to do it, Jacade." Emotion wells in my stomach and moistens my eyes. "I couldn't lose you."

His face softens, and his dimple appears for the first time since he was kidnapped. God, it's good to see that adorable dent in his cheek again.

"And could you possibly shed some light as to how Viktor sustained an injury to his, uh, pardon me… genitals?"

Jacade's eyes get wide, and his dazzling smile vanishes. Thanks, Agent Dick—I mean Drake—for interrupting my reunion with Jacade's dimple.

"Well, umm." Shoot. Drake caught me. No way to keep the details from Jacade now. "Viktor got me alone in a bathroom and he sort of uh… forced himself on me from behind."