Pass Interference (28 page)

As she stared at it another one rolled in.

“I wil keep u safe and happy. Otherwise u hv no future.”

Immediately another text came through.
“U wil only lev hre with me 2day. Or not leave at all.”

And then a third.

“It’s hlftm. Get up now and walk to elevator. Follow the crwd. Move.”

Tyler was shaking so hard she nearly dropped her phone. Tony plucked it from her hands.

“He’s watching me.” She looked around, trying to see if she could spot any of the three men. “God, Tony, where is he?” Had this miserable bastard had eyes on her since she got there? Maybe even before?

Tony unclipped the small radio from his belt and hit the button. “Rafe, security office. Now.” Then he urged Tyler up from her seat. “Come on. We’re going to the main security office. My radio is set on a closed circuit to Rafe’s so he’d get the message right away.”

She could hardly make her feet move as he helped her up the steps. She thanked God that Tony had a firm grip on her. He hustled her into the elevator and punched the button for the first floor.

The elevator was jammed with the halftime crowd. She and Tony just barely managed to squeeze in before the doors closed and the elevator started down. She hoped the security guards who were watching the three men had a handle on who was doing what because she needed this to be over. Now.

The doors slid open and the crowd surged forward, practically pushing them out into the equally crowded concourse.

“This way.” Tony reached for her arm.

Then something jabbed her in the back, a hand yanked on her arm and she heard a voice she’d learned to despise.

“Let her go, old man,” he growled at Tony. “This is a gun I’ve got at her back, and I won’t hesitate to pull the trigger. I’ve got nothing left to lose.”

“N-Nate?” All the blood rushed from her head, and she was sure she was going to faint. “What’s going on here?”

“I said let go of her,” he repeated to Tony. When the older man still held onto her arm, she felt the gun leave her back for a moment.

A shot cracked in the air as Nate fired up at the ceiling, and then he grabbed her again.

“Let go of her now,” he yelled, “or the next one hits you, old man.”

Around them people were screaming and running in every direction.

“Okay, take it easy.” She knew Tony’s words were meant to be soothing, but he had to shout to make himself heard. He released her arm, giving her a reassuring squeeze as he did, and mouthed the words,
It will be okay.

How could he think that? At the moment, she could only concentrate on not being shot.

Nate kept the gun pressed to her spine with one hand and clamped his other arm around her neck.

“Everyone?” he shouted. “Stay out of my way, or I’ll shoot her and then anyone else near me.”

She had no idea where he was taking her. Behind them were windows overlooking the parking lot. Every access was ahead of them and blocked by crowds, people all trying to get out of each other’s way.

“Nate.” She had to raise her voice to be heard. “There’s no place for you to go. This is stupid.”

“Stupid?” He tightened his arm across her throat. “Are you calling me stupid?”

Oh, hell.

“No. No, I’m not. I’m just trying to point out there there’s no exit this way.”

“They’ll let me out.” Every word was edged with desperation. “I’ve got an exit pass. You.”

She wanted to tell him that if he shot her, the guards would just shoot him, but she didn’t think that would help her cause.

“Everybody move,” he shouted and again fired toward the ceiling.

People scrambled and Tyler could see now that in addition to Tony, others had appeared—some of the Lone Star security guards, her father…
Her father?
And where was Rafe? She didn’t see him anywhere. Didn’t he know what was going on?

Nate continued to drag her backward. The people to either side of them continuing to scatter, until suddenly he stopped.

“This is a gun pointed right at the nape of your neck, Broder.”

Rafe! Oh, thank you, God. Rafe.

“Drop the gun or you’ll be dead in two seconds. Do you know what a bullet in this exact spot can do to a person?”

“I’ll kill her,” Nate threatened again.

“And then you’ll be dead, so what have you gained?”

“It’s all her fault,” Nate shouted. “She walked out on me. Divorced me. Ruined my career.”

God. All this was because of his damn law career?

“And you thought threatening her would bring her back to you?”

“I thought...” Nate paused. “I thought if I scared her enough, she’d come back to me to keep her safe.”

“If you want her to be safe,” Rafe said, his voice unbelievably measured and calm, “then drop the gun now. While there’s still time to end this safely.”

“End it?” Nate’s laugh was tinged with hysteria. “The minute I do you’ll arrest me.”

“But at least you won’t be dead,” Rafe pointed out.

Tyler held her breath for what seemed an interminable moment. Then, as if all the air had gone out of him, Nate released his hold on her and the pressure of the gun eased. Two of the Lone Star guards rushed forward to take control of Nate, and then Rafe swept her into his arms.

“Jesus,
cara.
I nearly had a heart attack.” He was holding her so tight she could hardly breathe, but she didn’t care. “I think I lost ten years of my life.”

“H-How did you get behind him?” she asked.

“Tony radioed me and when I got here there was still enough crowd cover for me to slip behind the two of you.” He tilted her head back and in front of everyone gave her a kiss so hot and passionate it curled her toes. When he lifted his head at last he said, “I may never be able to let you out of my sight again.”

“Do you think I could give her a hug, too?” Her father’s voice, but unfamiliar because it sounded so uncertain.

“Of course.” Rafe released her with obvious reluctance.

Then she was wrapped up in a big bear hug from a man who hadn’t hugged her since she was a tiny child.

“It’s okay, Daddy.” She patted his back. Daddy. She loved the sound of that word. “I’m okay.”

He looked at her, his eyes actually damp with tears. “I’m so sorry, Tyler. I’ve been the world’s biggest ass, but I’m done with that. I have a lot to make up to you for.”

“How about starting with you taking her up to your suite,” Tony suggested. “They need to clear the concourse here and I think everyone would like to get out of the public eye. Cell-phone cameras have been going off like crazy.”

“Great.” She frowned. “I’ll be in all the papers and blogs again.”

“And it won’t matter a damn to me,” Kurt assured her.

“Taking her upstairs is a great idea, Kurt,” Rafe said. “The cops are on their way, and I need to clean up this mess here. I’ll be up in a bit. I need to find out who that asshole bribed to get a gun into the stadium.”

“I’m on it with you,” Tony said. “Whoever it was better find a job in American Samoa. There won’t be one any place else.”

“Good idea.” Kurt actually put his arm around Tyler to guide her. “Tony? You come along, too. The second half has already started. The stadium is flooded with cops. Some people hightailed it out of here, but a lot of the crowd is still here. I think some good old-fashioned football is just what we all need right now.”

Tyler barely remembered the rest of the game. She sat in her father’s owner’s suite, protected and cosseted by him in a way she’d grown never to expect. She had to work hard to control the shakes, and she had no appetite for the food people kept trying to press on her. But somehow she managed to smile and nod politely.

Eventually, helped along by a glass of wine, the shakes subsided and she began to feel a little less tense. She was sure she’d have nightmares for a long time, though.

As she was sipping the wine and trying to relax in one of the seats, Kurt introduced her to a man he said was Nate’s boss at the law firm.

“I’m so sorry about this,” Colin Segar said.

“It’s not your fault,” she objected.

“Maybe yes, maybe no. Nate was on his way out,” Colin told her, confirming the fact that the man had truly been in big trouble. “He promised he’d be getting back with you and bringing in the Hawks as clients.” He made a disgusted sound. “I should have known better. No, I should never have hired him in the first place. I had a feeling he was a loser from day one.”

Rafe returned eventually after handing over supervision of security to his assistant, never leaving her side until the game was over. Tyler wanted to tell him he could go back to work, but she was afraid if he left the suite, her hard-won control would shatter.

The game went right down to the wire, with the Hawks just barely edging the Mustangs seventeen-fourteen on a last-minute field goal. In Kurt Gillette’s suite at the stadium, insanity reigned. The win moved the Hawks into first place in their division and people couldn’t stop screaming and high-fiving each other.

Despite everything that had happened, Tyler soon found herself swept up in the celebration and the excitement. Part of it had to do with her sudden newfound absorption in the game itself. But a bigger part was the way her father had reached out to her. He took great pains to introduce her to everyone in the suite with unexpected pride and went out of his way to make sure she had a good time. But the thing that really made her feel good? During a time out on the field, he leaned close to her and whispered, “I have a lot to make up to you for. I’m not going to waste any more time getting to it, either, if you’ll just give me half a chance.”

Half a chance? She’d give him a whole chance. Tony Castillo had made a couple of comments that she’d had to think about. Looking at it as objectively as she could despite years of emotional pain, maybe her father hadn’t been able to deal with his grief. And maybe his answer had been to shut her out completely. But he’d begun to reach out to her when the situation with her stalker had blown up. So maybe the “new” Tyler could try to meet him halfway.

Rafe explained to Tyler he’d have to take her to the police department in the morning to file an official complaint. He also insisted on telling Kurt about the episodes with Chad and Ed.

“I’m going to have a very long talk with Chad,” Kurt said after Tyler told him everything that had happened with that man. “His behavior has been unforgiveable. If he can’t get his head straight, I don’t need him out there with the media.”

“He really surprised me,” Tyler said. “I don’t know where that possessive steak came from.”

Kurt grimaced. “I may have given him the wrong impression when I asked him to be your permanent escort to all those functions. I just thought the media relations director would be the best person. I had no ulterior motive where the two of you are concerned.”

“I couldn’t believe how antagonistic he got when I told him Rafe was taking me last night.”

“I think it’s a case of getting too big for his britches.” Kurt shook his head. “We’ll see how our little chat goes. Ed Spinelli is on my list, too. He doesn’t work for me, but he knows I carry a lot of influence in the world of pro football. He won’t want to get on my bad side.”

At last the game was over. As Rafe led her away, her father came over to give her another hug.

“Tomorrow we’re having lunch,” he promised, “and I’m going to start making up for the fact that I’ve been the world’s worst father for twenty-two years.” He kissed her cheek. “You go home with Rafe now. He’s a good man. He’ll take care of you.”

Which was exactly what she needed.

By the time she and Rafe finally returned to the town house, she felt she’d been through ten wringers.

“I think I am beyond exhausted.” Tyler flopped down on the couch in her great room.

“No wonder.” He lifted her in his arms, sat down, and placed her in his lap, still holding onto her. “I nearly lost you today,
cara.
I’m not ashamed to say I was scared shitless.”

“Me, too.” She nestled her head in the crook of his neck.

“I wanted to tear that fucking bastard limb from limb.” He sighed. “But knowing he’ll spend a good many years in jail is almost as satisfying.”

“I still can hardly wrap my head around it.”

“I’m glad to see a change coming up in your relationship with your father,” Rafe commented.

“Me, too.” She smiled. “I’m having lunch with him tomorrow. He said we have a lot to talk about.”

“I’d say he’s right.” Rafe nodded at her. “He made a lot of mistakes, for whatever reasons, but he knows it.”

“I did, too,” she admitted. “I’d like to think he and I can get past all this.”

“You can if you want to,” he told her. “I realized something else today, too.” His words were soft, his lips pressed to her cheek.

“And what’s that?”

“If I’d lost you, I would have lost the one woman who could give meaning to my life. They say it takes a shock to make you realize the truth. Today I believe it. My truth is, I’m in love with you, Tyler. Maybe I have been forever. I was just…” He paused, as if not knowing what to say.

“The past is the past, Rafe. Maybe this is the wakeup call we both needed.” She curled more tightly against him. “I think I’ve always been in love with you. Does that scare you off?”

“Not even a little bit.” He touched two fingers to her lips. “What’s past is past. There’s an old saying that out of death comes the affirmation of new life. I’d say the threat of death is almost the same thing. Let’s go upstairs and celebrate it.” He stood up with her in his arms, studying her so intently she wondered what he was looking for.

“I’m all for that.” Yes, she definitely was.

“We’ve got something really good going here, Tyler. Sitting at the fundraiser the other night, I realized how much I want what the Reillys and the other couples have. I want to explore what you and I have and see if this is something that’s going to stick.”

“Me, too.”

He carried her up the stairs and into her bedroom, setting her down beside the bed. Very slowly he lowered his head and pressed his mouth to hers. His tongue slid across her lips before he prodded them to open and swept inside. She slipped her tongue over his in an erotic dance, tasting every bit of his mouth, sucking hard on his tongue. Rafe captured her head with one hand, holding it in place while he slid the other down to the curve of her ass and pressed her body hard against his. His thick cock was a hard length pressed against her sex. Moisture seeped into her panties and her inner walls flexed as desire coursed through her.