Byron-4 (24 page)

“You think something’s funny, Captain Grant?” Agent Fenton asked as he glared down at her. He didn’t look amused.

Byron was surprised by the title, but didn’t say anything. Stranger and stranger.

“No, not really. I was just thinking how the men in this family will surprise you at every turn and about the time you get them figured out, they fool you again.” Byron winked at her and then turned back to the Agent. “My fiancée, please?”

“She and your brother are being processed for crime scene evidence. I could charge your brother with carrying in a hospital zone, but if he hadn’t have acted, then no telling how many would have died.”

“Plus, it’s a terrible blow to your department to know that a Federal Agent was low when a citizen took down the bad guy,” Damon snarled at the agent. “A college professor at that. I’d really hate to put in my report that the officer in charge of guarding a witness in a huge insurance fraud scandal was being pampered by a pretty little nurse when shots were fired.”

“Agent O’Neill was poisoned and you know it! You can’t put lies in your report.

Why...you will be falsifying government records.” Agent Fenton flustered a bit and Byron grinned.

“You play right by mine and I’ll play right by yours. Deal?” Cait’s hand was out and the agent looked ready to break it rather than wanting to shake it, but Cait was never one to back down.

“Deal. But the next time I deal with this department, I want Captain Tucker to do it.

You’re too emotional. Plus, you have a damned family member at every turn.” No one said anything until the man was nearly to the elevators, then Cait sat down hard. Byron pushed her head between her legs and knelt in front of her.

“You bluffed, didn’t you? Cait, what am I going to do with you? What if he’d have called?”

“He couldn’t. I wasn’t lying. I told him it would have been in my report, not the one I gave to him. Go see if they’ll let you see Taylor. I’m sure Jamie could use you about now. They took the body out while we were talking to dick face.” Byron went to the door to her room and no one tried to stop him. Thank goodness, he wasn’t sure he’d have been able to not hurt someone if they had.

When he opened the door, a nurse was helping Taylor from her bed. Blood covered her face and the entire front of her gown. The bed was also splattered with it. There was a pool of it on the floor and the area rug, which had been there this morning, had been removed too. Dizziness swamped him and suddenly, he was pulled into a hug and held onto his brother. Jamie had saved her. It took him a few seconds to realize he was whispering in his ear.

“It’s not hers. It’s his. He didn’t hit her. I killed him. Byron, the blood isn’t hers, I swear. I checked her myself. Are you listening to me? Byron, she’s fine. They have to take her gown for evidence so you can’t touch her. Just hold me. I need...I killed him.

He’ll never hurt her again. She’s fine.”

Byron tightened his grip on his brother and pulled him to his body, brother to brother. They were both crying. Neither said a word, but each knew that whatever else happened in their lives, this one defining moment made them closer than brothers would ever be. Byron walked to the bathroom door where Taylor had been taken and knocked.

“Just a minute. I need to help her in the shower. Then when she comes out you can—”

“You can open the door on your own or I bust it down. Your choice. I’d prefer that you let me kick it in, but like I said...”

He heard Taylor’s laugh and then the click of the lock opening. She was sitting on the toilet with a gown draped over her front. She had a smile that melted his anger away.

“You couldn’t have waited for five more minutes, could you?” The nurse bared the door from him. “Now you have to go back out so that she can get cleaned up. We’ve taken the pictures of her and now she wants a shower.”

“I’ll be giving her a shower. Then she’ll be coming home with me. I suggest you have the proper paper work filled out and signed when we’re done or Damon Grant will be pissed. Now, get out.”

The nurse huffed for a minute, but Taylor and Byron barely noticed. They could only see each other. When the door slid closed behind them, Byron took the gown away from her and tossed it on the floor. And then he started to unbutton his shirt.

“We’re going to take a shower to clean you up then I’m taking you back to my house. I don’t want to hear a word about what happened here right now and I don’t want to hear another word about you leaving me. Understand?”

“Byron, I don’t—”

“Not a word. Then when we rest and I feed you, I’m going to make love to you all day. You’ll not leave my bed for anyone or anything. And as soon as it can be arranged, I want you to marry me. I can’t...Taylor, I love you with all my heart and I need you.

Please, I need you.” He took his pants off and held them in his hand and she still hadn’t said a word. “Taylor?”

“Oh, now I can talk? Thank you so much. First of all, you pigheaded asswipe, I love you too. But I will not be ordered around and I will not just jump when you say do it.

I’m a person. I have feelings and moods and I have a mind. A fucking good mind too. If you don’t like it then you can just kiss my ass. I am going to tell the police what happened now. Not tomorrow when you’ve satisfied some sense of protectiveness, now! I want this over with. I want it finished. Then if you’re really nice to me, I’ll go home with you and I might just let you make love to me. But from here on out, we make decisions, not you alone. Do you understand?”

He just stared at her with a cocked brow. Damn, Byron thought. There wasn’t any mood she didn’t look beautiful in. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the box.

Dropping to one knee, he sat in front of her and took her hand.

“I’ve been to seven different jewelers over the past two days. I wanted to find the perfect ring for you. Today, I helped take my mother home from the hospital and she reminded me that I had my great grandmother’s ring still in the safe at home. I’d forgotten about it. When I saw it, I knew that I’d found the ring for you. If you don’t like it, I can get you anything you want, but with this ring, I want to declare my love for you.” He opened the box and when her face lit up, he knew that he’d made the right choice. “Taylor Mae Bennett, will you please be my wife? Will you be my playmate, my partner? Will you love me forever and keep me sane? Taylor, will you please put me out of my misery and marry me?”

“Byron, I don’t know. What if you meet someone who really rocks your—” He simply cocked a brow at her again. “Okay, yes. I’ll marry you. I love you.”

“Thank God! We’ll get married on Valentine’s Day. That is, if you want to. I’d like for it to be sooner, but Mom said she was going to have a party and you were going to let her do it. I’ve already talked to Ben and he’ll make...with your approval, he’d like to make a dress for you. This is going to be hard.”

“I know, but I have faith in you. And I’ll be more than glad to help you. By the way, I think you have a punishment coming.”

He slid the ring onto her finger and kissed it. Her mouth was still swollen so he gave her the briefest kiss and both hungered for more. But she needed to get the blood off her and he wanted to hold her. He picked her up, pulled her to him, and turned on the shower.

~CHAPTER 24~

“No. I told you this already eight times. I didn’t know Jamie had a gun, but I’m damned glad he did. I didn’t know that Paul was going to come in and try to kill me.

Don’t you think that is by far the stupidest question you’ve asked me—twelve flipping times now? Why the hell would I just be laying there if I knew he was going to come in and try to kill me? If this is the way you guys conduct an investigation, I’m glad I didn’t depend on you to save me. He came in the door demanding that I tell him where his money was and then he started waving the gun around. Jamie had gone to the bathroom to blow his nose, just as I told you the first time you asked me. He came out and when Paul fired at me, Jamie fired back. I didn’t see Jamie’s gun. I was too focused on the one that was currently being pointed at my head. I didn’t see if Jamie had it out when he came out of the bathroom; again, the gun pointed at my head had my full attention. When Jamie fired his gun, Paul sort of exploded. The left side of his head just went...it went everywhere, including on me. Do you have any idea what it feels like to have someone’s brains splattered all over your body? Not a thing I’d like repeated. I think I’ve told you this story enough. I’m tired and I want to go home and have sex with Byron. If that’s too blunt for you, then fuck off.” Damon burst out laughing then tried to cover it with a cough. Devin looked at her wide-eyed for about ten seconds and then he, too, started laughing. She could feel Byron laughing behind her and his hands squeezed her arms in approval.

Taylor had tried to be nice, but they’d been at it for over three hours. She had to smile when she thought of the look on Agent Fenton’s face when he asked who was staying for the interview.

“I’m her lawyer and she isn’t saying a word without me. Damon is her doctor. If you tire his patient, he’ll kick your ass. So both of us.” He turned to Byron.

“And you are?” Fenton had stood up over her and Byron as they lay out on the fresh bed in a different room.

“Staying.” And he had. He hadn’t said a word either. He’d been holding her hand and sometimes rubbing her arms, but he never said a word to the agent.

“Ms. Bennett, the sooner we get this over with, the sooner I can let you go. If you’ll just answer the question the way I want, it’ll be finished. I want this solved as soon as possible too.”

“Did you just threaten my client, Agent Fenton?” Devin moved to stand beside her as he asked. “Are you telling her that if she doesn’t answer the questions the way you want them answered then she is in custody? That’s what I heard. I think this meeting is over. The insurance company is happy and so am I. You’re superior is also happy. I frankly don’t give a shit if you are or not. Now. If you have any more questions for either Ms. Bennett or Mr. Grant you’ll need to contact my office. Gentlemen.” Taylor went to the bathroom and put on the clothes that someone had brought her.

There were some jeans, two shirts, a worn sweatshirt and two pair of socks. Her worn tennis shoes were there. There was also a thick, heavy coat and mittens. There was a beautiful box sitting on the counter and she opened it too.

A pair of the tiniest black panties she’d ever seen was nestled in the tissue paper and a little bra that had underwire and no cups. It, too, was black. Smiling and knowing who purchased them, she slipped them on. She had seen this set in the store the last time she’d been there and couldn’t afford them. She couldn’t wait to show them to Byron. She also put everything else on, including two pair of socks. They were making their way down to the exit when Byron’s phone rang.

“Hello, Mom. I’m just taking Taylor home...yes, to my home. No, I didn’t tell her.

She made me ask her and she hasn’t answered me yet...I don’t know about that either.

Hang on.”

He handed her the phone and no matter how hard she tried to get away, he just overpowered her and she had to take it anyway.

“Hello, Mrs. Parker. How’s your leg?”

“I think it’s high time you started calling me Margaret. It’s fine, dear. I was hoping I could convince you and Byr to come over for dinner. We’ve not had our Christmas yet and we wanted to celebrate.”

“Why haven’t you had Christmas yet? It’s like the twenty-ninth or something, isn’t it? I bet the kids are going nuts.”

“We had to wait on you, dear. It wouldn’t have been Christmas without all my family here, now would it? The children? Well, most of them are very small and Meggie is happy to have another aunt. By the way, I love that you’re making him ask and not tell you, dear. He’s very demanding. So what time should I expect you? Dinner is nearly finished, but we can eat it cold if you want us to wait.” Taylor muted the phone and looked at Byron. “I know where you get it from now.

You are your mother’s son. She wants us to come over and have Christmas. They actually held it for me to get better. Oh and if we make them wait, then we can eat it cold.”

“I have the rest of my life with you, Taylor. I can wait one more day to have you.

But this is going to cost you. You’ll owe me a big punishment for this. I’ll expect special allowances for allowing you this.”

Taylor burned for him and she knew that he could see it in her eyes. She turned back to the phone and told Mrs.—Margaret that they’d be there in twenty minutes.

Then she turned back to Byron. “You have a club close right?” Dinner was a grand affair and when everyone was stuffed to the top, Taylor and Byron had been rushed in the house so quickly that there had been no opportunity to look around. She loved the house; the dining room was big and beautifully decorated for the holidays.

“We kept it decorated for Christmas. Usually, we’re getting ready for the New Year’s Eve bash we have. Some but not all the decorations are taken down and most of the furniture it put into storage. There are too many guests to allow for much else.

You’ll be here, of course. Maybe we can talk to Ben tonight and see what he can do for you as a dress.”

“Mrs. Parker, I like to make my own decisions on my life. I know how to pick out a dress to wear. But I thank you very much.”

“You might as well let her have her way in the dress department or you’ll never hear the end of it. I think she’s making up for not having a little girl to dress up when the boys were growing up.” Dan sat next to her on the huge sofa.

Margaret was on the loveseat, her leg propped up on a few pillows. The woman still managed to look regal and suave. Taylor didn’t feel uncomfortable around her and was surprised and pleased by that.

They discussed family and who to invite. Taylor had no one and looked over at Jamie and smiled. She thought of their friendship and hoped that they could once again be friends, if he’d ever forgive her. She got up and asked to speak to him in private. He didn’t hesitate and that made her happy. They went to the large study.

“Byron asked me to marry him tonight and I said yes. I wanted to know, are you...because if you don’t...I want you to be okay with it. I love you, Jamie, and I don’t want to do anything to upset you.”