Lady Killer (Tangled Desires Book 2) (19 page)

“Well you can cross that off your list of things you never want to do again.” Raze laughs. Then he and Rush drag me toward the fire door while I hop between them.

So many things have happened tonight. Gem’s finally safe. The police are coming and the missing heiress will no longer be missing. What happens now? I thought she’d stay once she no longer had to run, but maybe I’m wrong. There’s a whole other life waiting for her if she wants it.

I dart a glance over my shoulder, searching her out, and find she’s right behind me. Whatever held her back minutes ago is gone, and heedless of my brothers and the hole in my leg she flings her arms around me. She must realize it, too. We keep changing each other’s lives, and we’re not finished being each other’s catalysts. We’ve barely begun to see what we could be. “You’re my world, Gem. I don’t know what I would have done—”

She squeezes me a bit tighter and whispers in my ear, “I love you, Tommy.”

Then she steps back and Mace puts a hand on her shoulder while my brothers manhandle me toward the elevator and off the roof.

Gem

We don’t wait long before the cops arrive, milling around the rooftop while they ask questions and go over the scene again and again. At some point a cup of something hot is placed in my hand and a blanket thrown around me. I don’t do much, mostly watch the scene unfold while Mace swings into action. He’s on his phone, prowling the perimeter of the roof, intense focus the only giveaway that we’re in the midst of something serious. Then he drops his cell in his pocket and marches over to where I’m still trying to answer the detective’s questions. I’m going through the story from before Santiago tried to kill Tom the night I ran. I’m not sure whether anything I say makes sense or if I’m even talking out loud.

Santiago comes round, groaning while an EMT checks him out. He holds his head in his hands, but when an officer approaches him he starts yelling, “I can give you names. I’ll make a deal. I can give you names of law enforcers, politicians, heads of criminal organizations.”

He’s spilling his guts for all of us to hear. Talking about how he got involved with some shady characters. How it had started out with a few kickbacks in the lower rounds, and then turned to drugs. The hole he was in kept getting deeper and deeper.

But he’d grown up with that stuff as part of his life, so maybe it was too easy to buy into the lifestyle. Especially with the money rolling in the way he says it was.

He’s talking faster now. Saying something about how he didn’t touch the underage girls they put in front of him. That he could give names of those who did, though. That there are bigger names than him they can catch.

They’d promised him so much. He was going to go to the top. He was going to be a champion. Throwing a couple matches and taking the hits was worth it for the money in the meantime.

The officer asks him something I don’t hear, and his face twists as he glares at me. “I would have made it if it hadn’t been for her.”

There’s this crashing tidal wave washing through me, as I comprehend he’s no longer a threat. For years I’d been terrified of him, running from him, but he’s no longer scary. He’s just this guy who bought into being the bad guy, mind, body, and soul. He’s not dangerous any longer. We beat him. I took him down. I don’t need to run anymore.

Then two officers hoist him onto his feet and lead him off the roof, the EMT trailing after them.

“I think that’s all for now.” The detective folds his notepad back into his pocket. “I’ve got your contact information, so I’ll be in touch.”

“We’ll be happy to answer any questions.” Mace steps forward and shakes the man’s hand.

They leave as quickly as they came. EMT’s take away the body, as a couple of uniforms usher the two remaining men, now secured in steel handcuffs, off the roof.

Mace and I follow behind, waiting for the lift to come back up again after the others are gone.

“Did you tell them about the thumb drive?” I ask as the doors slide shut.

He bumps my shoulder. “I read the file remember? Money laundering, drugs, underage girls. This is bigger than him. There’s cops involved, but I doubt as far out as Reverence.”

“I thought I’d been so smart when I took it.” I shake my head. “Not knowing who to trust was the hardest part. Keeping several copies of that damn drive was the only thing I could think of to keep me alive. Or at least I hoped the threat of the information surfacing if I died would give him pause.”

“I’m sure they’ll know how high it goes before the FBI get here, if Santiago keeps spilling his guts. It’s going to take the right people to get to the bottom of it.”

“Your contact? McKay? The guy you mentioned before?”

“We fought together. He’s a private contractor, and I asked him to do some digging. Turns out he’s working with the FBI. I sent him a copy of the data on the thumb drive when I took it from your bag. The information’s going to come in handy.”

“What about tonight? We killed someone.”

“All under control, princess. It was clearly self-defense, but the Feds will handle it. You’re safe now. If Santiago had told his bosses you’d run with the information they’d have killed him.”

“He wanted to make sure he got the chance to deal with me himself.”

“That’s my guess, too. But nothing needs to tie you to any of this now. He’s not going to squeal. He’s not going to explain about you to those higher up in this. The information is out there now. He has to know that they’d be more likely to tie him up as a loose end than you. It wouldn’t be hard for them to get someone to take care of him on the inside, but dealing with you would bring scrutiny they don’t want.”

“Yeah.” I exhale, leaning into him, and he takes my hand in his. It’s not weird. More comforting, the way Tom was with Chelsea the first time I saw them together. Only they’re having a baby together. I momentarily forgot while I was anticipating my imminent death. I don’t know how I’m supposed to let go now.

The elevator doors slide open, Hadleys descending on us before we can get a foot over the threshold. Mace pulls me along, leading me out of the hotel along with the rest of them. Lights flash, along with the repetitive click of pictures being taken, but I don’t hide this time. One of the photographers pushes his camera into my face, blinding me when the flash goes off. “Aren’t you Gemma Castle? That heiress that disappeared three years ago?”

I don’t answer, letting Mace shove me into a car while Razer and Claire pile in with us. I catch a glimpse of Chelsea and Tom’s parents loading into a second car. I’m pretty sure I hear the same guy who asked me the question say, “It’s definitely her.”

Then we’re speeding through traffic toward the hospital.

***

We race down the overbright hallway to Tom’s room. I’m so muddled up, so unsure of what I’m supposed to do now. A million things pound at the back of my skull, but the one who matters glances up at me as I enter the room.

I stall in the door, uncertain. Wanting to touch him, to pull his arms around me and know that everything is all right. But what if I hurt him?

“Come here, pretty girl.” He pats the spot on the bed beside him. “Or I’m going to come get you.”

So I go to him, because that’s what I want, and I can’t let him push himself for me. Not when he’s already taken a bullet.

He smiles, a little off kilter, his speech slightly slurred. “You’re all mine now, Gem. I’m going to marry you, and have your babies. We should start practicing tonight.”

“Morphine.” Rush shrugs. “Though he’s taken out the drip. He’s refusing to stay here.”

“You should stay.” I try to push him back on the bed, but he groans and buries his face in my neck, inhaling.

“You smell as pretty as you look.”

“It’ll wear off soon,” Mace says from the doorway. “Mom and Dad have gone to fill the prescription the doctors gave him. He’s going to be in a fuck-ton of pain when the drugs wear off.”

“I can’t believe you shot him, Mace.” Claire slaps his chest as she glides past him to throw her arms around Tom. “Don’t ever again hide something like this from me because of a stupid party.”

“It was your engagement party, Little Bit. You only get one.”

“You only get one life, dickhead.” She smacks his shoulder. “You’re more important.”

“Did you hear that, Razer? I’m more important than you.” Tom laughs as the doctor comes in to check him over.

“So how does it feel?” Tom leans into me, his body warming mine. “To be able to stand still.”

It should feel fantastic. I should be on top of the world right now, but there’s a hollow sensation in my chest, and a sting that even being this close to him doesn’t ease. When Chelsea sticks her head around the door, her eyes red and watery, I know it’s going to get worse. I don’t know how to tell him that, so I wait until the doctor finishes up, and then we all go home.

The kitchen is a raucous swirl of bodies and laughter as everyone piles in. Mace organizes the coffee pot while Claire and Mona pull pies out of the fridge and replace them with the boxed up cake from the party. Someone else gets plates and they start divvying up the pies for everyone. It’s this crazy whirlwind of love and closeness.

I drink it all in, Tom’s weight resting against me, a crutch under his other arm, as he again reminds everyone that his brother shot him.

Rush wraps his arm around Chelsea’s shoulder, and for a moment I think I could be selfish enough to pretend that I never saw her in the bathroom, never found out she’s pregnant. We could go on as we are, and maybe another Hadley could take Tom’s place as father to her child.

But I can’t. Tom leans more heavily into me. “I want to take you to bed, princess.”

“I think that’s a good idea,” I say. If only to get him off his feet, because there’s no way anything else is going to happen with that hole in his leg.

Mace grumbles under his breath as he takes Tom’s weight from me. “I’ll get him to the bedroom.”

My cell buzzes in my pocket, but I ignore it. For now. It’s not going to stop. It’s been ringing since we left the hospital. Since the photographer who recognized me had time to spread the news about my reappearance.

Mona catches me as I walk out of the room. She hugs me tight, and I almost can’t hold back all the emotions erupting inside me. I’m gaining my freedom, my family. I should be happy, but I’m losing so much more than I ever thought possible.

“Get him to take these. He’s stubborn, I know, but he’s going to feel like hell in the morning.” She presses a glass of water into my hand, the pill bottle into the other.

“I’m sorry,” I tell her. “I’m sorry he’s been hurt so much because of me.”

“It’s not pain I see in my boy’s eyes when he looks at you. You’re special to him, and us.” She smiles, lifts my chin a little. “Now go look after him. Make sure he gets some rest.”

I pass Mace in the hall, and I’m annoyed that I’m teary at the idea of this being the last time I see him. I don’t know what comes over me, exactly, but I slide into him, hugging him, careful not to spill the water as I squeeze my eyes tight. “Thank you.”

“Now, make it worth my while and look after the whiner.” He chuckles. “If I have to hear about how I shot him one more time…”

“I can’t make any promises.”

“You don’t need to. Just keep those feet planted.”

I’m not sure I can. I pull away from him, and try to smile but it trembles and falls from my face as I duck past him and go to find Tom.

He’s lying on my bed in nothing but his boxers, pain tightening his features. I place the water and painkillers down on the bedside table and pad back to shut the door.

“Do you know what I keep thinking about, princess?”

I shake my head as I crawl onto the bed beside him, and pop the pills into my palm for him to take.

He swallows them and gulps water, my fingers trembling so hard while I hold the glass to his lips that a couple drops run down his jaw. Taking it from me, he puts it down and gathers up my hands, pulling me onto his chest so he can claim my mouth. “I could have lost you.”

My throat closes up, and I can’t swallow. I don’t know how to tell him that I’m leaving anyway. I want to stay, want to fight harder than ever for the things that matter to me.

He matters to me, but he and Chelsea are going to have a baby together. They’re so close. If there’s even a chance they could make something of this then I have to let him go. I know that’s what he wants. To raise his child, its mother beside him. That’s her, not me.

“I need to feel you, Gem. To know you’re still here with me. I need to be inside you.”

“No. You were shot,” I whisper. “It’s going to hurt like hell when the drugs wear off.” I’m desperate for him. My body is ready for him. I want to feel that connection one last time, but I can’t do it.

He groans, his eyelashes fluttering as he closes his eyes. “Lay with me then, pretty girl. At least let me wrap my arms around you.”

Lying down beside him, I rest my cheek on his chest, his strong arms engulfing me while I listen to the steady thrum of his heartbeat, until he falls asleep. Then I carefully extricate myself off the bed and find my phone.

My mother answers immediately, sobbing on the other end of the line.