Read Convicted (Entangled Ignite) Online
Authors: Dee Tenorio
Convicted (Entangled Ignite) (20 page)
“Like that’s any better…” She kept going, saying something about both of them working together from now on, but Cade pretty much stopped listening. He had the oddest feeling. Like laughter bubbling in his chest. It was only when he noticed Trina was smiling at him, her cheeks that pink he so rarely saw on her face, that he realized he was actually doing it. Laughing.
“You hit your head in the blast, didn’t you?” she asked, matter-of-fact, her hand gently patting Rick’s shoulder.
“Not even once.” It was just that, for the first time in he didn’t know how long, he knew everything was going to be okay. There was going to be a lot to work out—and shit, the paperwork was going to make his eyes bleed—but he knew it. It was a feeling he never thought he’d have again.
Katrina watched him, a slow smile spreading across that beautiful mouth. She must be able to feel it, too, he decided, because there was relief in that smile. And love. He basked in it, hoped to God she felt how much he loved her back. If she didn’t, well, they had all the time in the world for him to show her. All the time in the world…
Epilogue
“So, do I call you
Sheriff
Staff Sergeant
or
Staff
Sergeant Sheriff
?”
Cade rolled his eyes as Trina fussed with his tie.
“You could always call him Sergeant Pepper,” Rick called helpfully from the living room of the house they’d built last year. Brand new, with not a scrap of baggage or bad memories.
“You two are this close to losing your invitations,” he grumbled.
“Yeah, fat chance of that. You have no idea where they are.” She finally finished trussing him into his dress uniform. Not the de
ep blues he’d known for so long, but a dark green coat that felt much the same.
“I have no idea why we have to dress up, it’s not the goddamn presidential inauguration.” He couldn’t complain too much, though. Getting Trina into a dress, especially this blue one that hugged her lush figure and swished playfully around her calves, was almost worth the rigamarole.
Her eyes twinkled at him as she stepped around him to start out of their bedroom. Two years together and he still liked the sound of that.
Their
bedroom.
Their
house.
Their
anything. He followed her, the distaste at being in the public spotlight returning almost immediately.
“The town wants to give you this award, Sheriff,” Trina reminded.
“
Staff S
ergeant Sheriff
,” Rick corrected as they made their way into the living room, where he waited with his cane. It bugged the shit out of him that he still needed a cane from time to time, but they all knew it was only a matter of time before even that was gone. He wore his dress uniform, too, but even with his new scars, the pretty boy looked better than Cade did.
Things hadn’t been easy for Rick the last two years. Surgery and physical therapy to rebuild his leg had been bad enough, but letting Shana go had taken the hardest toll. She’d agreed to testify in the federal case against the Scarapaccis, provided she and Jimmy be taken into Witness Protection. It was best for her to leave the nightmare of her life in Marketta behind, Cade knew, but Rick took it hard. More than once, he’d worried it would be the last straw, but his friend had surprised him. He’d fought his way back, started over along with the rest of them.
“So you’re going to go out there,” Katrina continued. “You’re going to take your office the way you promised you would and you’re going to like it.” She picked up her purse off the end table, fidgeting with the strap before putting it on.
“You hate this dressing up shit more than I do,” he reminded her. His Trina lived in jeans and leather and damn if he wanted her any other way.
“Yes, but I like that this town is doing its job and saying thank you to the two of you.”
Nice of her to forget she was getting her own medal.
It was still funny to him that she’d wanted to settle here in Marketta. It had been rocked by the events that had ripped Wheels of Pain out of business and out of their lives. She’d had no real love for the town, but she did have a dedication to helping it heal. Without the stain of her uncle and the truth of what she’d been doing with Rick becoming a much-publicized fact of the investigation, people had finally opened their hearts to her. She’d been wary, of course. Trina was always wary, but little by little, she’d discovered this place could truly be her home.
After Frank had spilled his secrets to both the DEA and the feds—his decrypted flash drive doing most of the work—layer after layer of corruption had been uncovered throughout the county legislature, meaning a lot of people had to step in and help put the town back to rights. It still stung that Frank had disappeared into federal custody, but his testimony had at least given them a roadmap for cleaning out the infrastructure.
It wasn’t perfect and it had been a damn lot of work, but they were all finding their feet again. Cade was proud of what he saw in the town now, of what it could someday be.
That didn’t mean he needed a fucking parade. “All I did was win an election.”
“And trust me, they’ll be griping about tickets and graffiti and whatever annoying shit they can come up with tomorrow, when you officially take over your title. Today, the two of you are getting your asses in the truck and driving me to get my stupid medal so I can wave from the back of a fucking float like an idiot. Then, you’re buying me a steak dinner.” She strode out of the house, he guessed to wait by the truck.
“Admit it,” Rick said, rising carefully to stand next to him. “You rile her up just so she’ll shake her ass like that on the way out the door.”
Cade grinned. “Wouldn’t you?”
He locked the door behind them, stepping off the porch and into the sunlight. It was warm on his face, soothing away the few traces of nightmares it used to cause. The breeze blew and sweet mountain air tickled his face.
He put on his hat and smiled. “Ooh-rah.”
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About the Author
Dee Tenorio
has a few reality issues. After much therapy for the problem—if one can call being awakened in the night by visions of hot able-bodied men a problem—she has proved incurable. It turns out she enjoys tormenting herself by writing sizzling, steamy romances of various genres spanning paranormal mystery dramas, contemporaries and romantic comedies. Preferably starring the sexy, somewhat grumpy heroes described above and smart-mouthed heroines who have much better hair than she does.
The best part is, no more therapy bills!
Well, not for Dee, anyway. Her husband and kids, on the other hand...
If you would like to learn more about Dee and her work, please visit her site at
www.deetenorio.com
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