Seduced by the Enemy (Blaze, 41) (18 page)

Sunny was due to be released later this afternoon. She'd suffered a concussion and a few ugly bruises to the side of her face and back of her head thanks to Vivien pistol-whipping her into unconsciousness in the airport ladies' room. Sunny had come around long enough to make her way down the concourse, and had been the one to fire the shot that had stopped Vivien. After firing her weapon, Sunny had passed out again, but other than a headache and those bruises, she, too, would see a full recovery.

Vivien Kent wouldn't be quite so lucky. Oh, she would recover from the gunshot wound to her right
shoulder, but she'd be doing so in a federal prison until the legal system finished with her.

Slowly, all the pieces had fallen together to form the big picture. Apparently, Roland Santiago had murdered Jared's partner when Dysert had confronted the aide about the president's short list of candidates for possible Supreme Court justice appointments. Santiago had panicked and had contacted Vivien, who'd been on Phipps's payroll since her days as a field agent. When Santiago had begun making noises about being in over their heads and coming out with the truth, Vivien had killed him. She was also the one responsible for Beth's murder.

Steven Radcliffe, someone Peyton had never heard of until Gib Russell explained his association with Senator Martin Phipps, was guilty of several conspiracy charges, including conspiracy to murder, fraud and obstruction of justice. He'd initiated the cover-up of Santiago's and Dysert's murders, had planted the money she'd been accused of receiving from Jared, and had been instrumental in fraudulent background investigations that had eliminated several upstanding candidates from the president's short list to ensure the HMO cases coming before the Supreme Court would not be heard. In exchange for a lighter sentence, Radcliffe had given up every bit of information surrounding the hell Jared had been put through for the past three years. The shake-up of the political arena would be vast as the investigations continued, Gib had explained to her while they'd waited for word on Jared. Russell had even gone so far as to estimate several long-standing political careers would no doubt be ruined, starting with Senator Phipps's. The public might
be able to forgive Phipps for being arrested in the arms of a high-dollar prostitute, but even in today's political climate, a conspiracy to set the balance of the high court in order to keep his pockets lined with kickback money was something citizens, and especially Phipps's political opponents, would not soon forget.

The heavy wood door swung open just as Peyton stood to work out the kink in her back caused by her cramped position in the chair. Instead of more thermometer-and-blood-pressure-cuff-wielding nurses, or a visit from Jared's surgeon, as she'd expected, Leland Atwood filled the doorway.

He let the door close behind him as he stepped into the room. “I had a feeling I'd find you here,” he said quietly and without censure. “I came as soon as I heard the news.”

Her gaze shot to Jared, who continued to sleep peacefully under the residual affects of the anesthesia, then back to Leland. Seeing them together, she was struck by the similarities in the two men. They were roughly the same height and coloring, but the comparisons went beyond a physical resemblance. She finally understood what had attracted her to Leland in the first place, and was deeply saddened to realize her emotional attachment to him stemmed from the fact that he'd reminded her of Jared, albeit subconsciously. While she might have told Jared over and over again how different Leland was from him, she'd really been in a deep state of denial that had served a purpose in protecting her heart. Their honorable nature and their deep belief that justice would always prevail, with the help of the good guys, was startlingly similar. She couldn't help feeling guilty as she realized now that
Leland had only been a substitute for what she really wanted all along—Jared. She
had
loved Leland, but not in the way he'd wanted, or deserved, to be loved. She couldn't, not when she'd never stopped loving Jared. That little bit of honesty didn't make her feel a whole lot better about herself, either.

“Are you all right?” Leland asked as he crossed the room toward her.

“I'll be fine,” she told him.

He stopped in front of her. “You could've come to me.” He reached out and cupped her cheek in his warm palm.

Instead of turning to the warmth and comfort he offered, she pulled away. Yes, she realized now, she probably could have gone to him, and she understood he would've moved heaven and earth to clear her name, regardless of the disruption it would have created in his own orderly world. But that wouldn't have been fair to either of them, not when her heart had always belonged to another.

She cleared her throat. “Leland, I'm sorry. I never meant for any of this to happen.”

He stuffed his hands in the front pockets of his slacks and offered her a rueful smile. “I know,” he said gently. The understanding in his dark brown eyes heightened her guilt over the pain she was sure she was causing him. “I just came to see for myself that you were all right…and to say goodbye.”

The sting of tears blurred her vision. She tried to blink them back, and failed.

She reached inside her pocket and pulled out the engagement ring he'd given her the night before Jared had returned to her life and ruthlessly reclaimed her
heart, her body and her soul. “I think this belongs to you,” she said, taking his hand and setting the ring in his palm.

His fingers closed around it and he smiled in that gentle way of his. “We could have had a good life together, Peyton. You know that, don't you?”

Her throat burned with the tears she tried to withhold. “I know,” she admitted in a choked whisper. Leland may have been a good choice for her, but he wasn't the choice her heart had made. That was a decision that had been taken out of her hands by the love of another man many years before.

You can't choose who you fall in love with.
No words could have rung more true for her at this moment.

He lifted his hand and rubbed the pad of his thumb along her cheek. His own eyes were suspiciously bright. “Don't cry,” he told her. “You should be happy. Most people only have one chance to find true love. You've been given a second chance, Peyton. Make the best of it.”

He leaned toward her and placed a tender kiss on her cheek. Turning, he walked out of her life, and never looked back.

She turned to the window and stared at the horizon, now bright with the kiss of morning sunshine. Pulling in a shaky breath, she let it out slowly as she struggled to keep more tears at bay. Leland may not have been the
one,
but that didn't mean she didn't feel a sense of loss.

A movement from the bed caught her attention. She looked over her shoulder and right into Jared's green
eyes. He looked a little groggy, but alert enough to know what was going on around him.

She turned and propped her backside against the window ledge. “I take it you heard that,” she said, folding her arms over her chest. The cad, eavesdropping on such a personal conversation, even if it had taken place at the foot of his bed.

A slow grin spread across his delicious mouth. “Every last word.” His voice, while scratchy, still made her pulse pick up speed. “Atwood was a hell of a lot more understanding than I would've been.”

She shook her head and pushed away from the window. “I told you he was a good guy.” She stopped at the foot of the bed and smiled down at the man who'd stolen her heart and refused to give it back.

His grin turned wicked. “Yeah, but good guys don't turn you on.”

“How are you feeling?” she asked, hoping to change the subject. “Are you in pain?”

A frown puckered his brow. “Hell, yes, I'm in pain. I was shot, you know.”

“Hmm, yes, I do know.” She slowly made her way to the side of the bed. The railing came down easily and she sat carefully beside him. “And you scared me to death. I thought I'd finally lost you for good.”

He reached for her hand and brought it to his lips. “Ah, sweetheart, there wasn't a snowball's chance of that happening.”

She appreciated his attempt to lighten her fears, but nothing could change the fact that she'd suffered a staggering blow when he'd been shot. “So where do we go from here, Jared?”

“You know, I just happened to be thinking about
that when Atwood walked in the door. I guess since he dumped you, that means I should probably marry you so you can save face.”

Despite the lightness of his tone, his eyes spoke of another emotion, one that ran much deeper and into serious terrain. The truth of the matter was, regardless of the severity of the situation, she appreciated this side of him, the one she hadn't seen in far too long. The one that teased and appeared on the surface to never take anything too seriously. But his eyes told her another story, one that included a lifetime together now that the horrible nightmare their lives had become had finally drawn to a close.

She smoothed a lock of sable hair from his forehead. “Think we can wait a little while before making that kind of decision, or were you ready to call a priest?”

“Big wedding, huh?”

She'd marry him in a parking garage, if he wanted the truth. “No. It's just that…well, nothing has changed,” she said, straightening. “You left and didn't even have the decency to tell me you were leaving, where you were going, or even what you were planning. Nothing, Jared. Not a single word other than to tell Harry to baby-sit me while you traipsed off to save the day all by yourself. Do you know what that does to a person with severe abandonment issues?”

“I'm sorry,” he said, and she knew that he meant it. But that still didn't change the fact that he'd frightened her and left her worrying—again.

“It's something I'll have to work on,” he admitted sheepishly.

“Do you have any idea what I went through?” she
told him, suddenly angry with him. “For those few seconds when I thought Vivien had killed you, I died inside, all over again. How many more times do you expect me to go through this with you?”

He grinned. She wanted to strangle him.

“Does that mean you won't marry me?”

“Oh, Jared. Can't you be serious for just a minute?”

“Sweetheart, I think we've both had a little too much seriousness the past couple of days,” he said. “Marry me, Peyton. Let's spend the rest of our lives loving each other and making up for the time we lost.”

She picked up the hand free of an IV needle and laced their fingers together. “That's my problem, Jared,” she said in a more reasonable tone. “I do love you. I love you so much I'm terrified of losing you all over again.”

His fingers squeezed hers reassuringly. “Baby, I can't give you any guarantees, no more than you can guarantee me that something won't happen to you. No one can do that. Do you really want to spend the rest of your life afraid to take a chance because of what might or might not happen?”

She really,
really
hated it when he was right. She couldn't even find a decent argument against his reasoning. Did she really want to let her fears cripple her to the point they were all she'd have for company in her old age, along with long, lonely nights spent wondering what if? That wasn't living, not by any stretch of the imagination.

She knew the grin she gave him was filled with
caution, but she couldn't help it. “One day at a time,” she told him. “It's all I can give you right now.”

He tugged on her hand and urged her mouth closer to his. “As long as you spend every one of those days with me, you got yourself a deal.”

He drew their lips together in a kiss, one of those toe-curling numbers that made it impossible for her to resist him. And she wouldn't. She couldn't. Because that was one segment of their history together she never had any intention of changing.

One week later

J
ARED STILL HADN'T MADE
any decisions about returning to his old job at the bureau, although Gib and Dawson Craig assured him the job was there if he still wanted it. He admitted to being tempted, but maybe it was time he stopped putting his life on the line. Still, he had no clue yet what he'd do if he didn't continue with a career in law enforcement.

The week he'd been forced to remain in the hospital, Peyton had been by his side most of the time. When she started looking a little worse for wear, he'd insisted she go home and get some much needed rest of her own. She had argued, but finally relented, only to return before the sun rose the following morning.

“I think we need a bigger car,” he said, as Peyton took the exit that would take them to her home in Arlington. “I got used to that truck we stole.”

She smiled at him, then shifted her attention to the road. “I happen to like my car, and was grateful to have it returned to me. Besides, since we turned over the money in those fraudulent accounts to the government, I think one of those big Expeditions is a little out of our price range.”

It was his turn to smile, and not just because she
continued to refer to them as a couple. “Didn't I tell you? There's a little matter of back pay that apparently the government feels is owed to me.”

“How on earth did you manage that?”

He reached over the seat for her hand. “It helps to have friends in high places.” It also meant he'd have enough money to make a fresh start even if he chose not to remain with the FBI. Something else to consider, he mused as Peyton made the last turn onto the street where she lived.

She pulled into the driveway next to a dark Ford truck. He didn't have time to ask about the vehicle in the driveway as the front door to Peyton's house swung open and his sister, Dee, emerged. Chase followed not far behind.

“My God,” Jared whispered. “She's really here?”

Peyton nodded. “She wanted to be here when you came home.”

Home.
A word he'd thought for too long would never belong in his vocabulary again. His heart overflowed with love for the woman beside him. “I love you, Peyton.”

She offered up a watery smile as tears moistened her eyes. “I know,” she said. “I really,
really
know.”

He leaned over and kissed her quickly before his sister yanked open the car door and assisted him from the vehicle.

Dee's arms surrounded him and she held on tight. “Thank God you're alive,” she whispered. “I think the past few weeks have been the worst.”

He held Dee, afraid to let go for fear he'd wake up to find the last days were nothing but a vivid dream. They'd seen each other for the first time in months
only a few weeks ago, but this was the first time since the nightmare began that he'd been able to see her and talk to her without fearing for both of their lives. He had Chase to thank for putting his own butt on the line by giving him the information he needed to finally put the past to rest.

Jared pulled back and looked down at Dee. Tears stained her cheeks, and he smiled. “Hey, what's this? Romines don't cry.”

She laughed and shook her head. “They most certainly do, especially when they're as happy as I am right now.”

His own throat felt more than a little raw and thick at the moment.

Dee sobered as she looked up at him. “You know, Jared, Mom and Dad weren't right about everything. We aren't islands. Even Romines need someone once in a while.”

“Amen to that,” he said. With his arm still around his sister's shoulders, he turned toward Chase and Peyton. “Have you met my future bride?”

“I haven't agreed just yet,” Peyton said, but the loving glance she tossed his way said what her words did not. She loved him and there was no way she was letting him out of her sight. The thought warmed him considerably.

“We've met,” Dee told him. “You did good, Brother.”

“I couldn't have done it without a little help from my friends.” He let go of Dee to shake Chase's hand. During his hospital stay, Peyton had told him about Dee's engagement to Chase, and his involvement in bringing an end to the nightmare that had consumed
their lives for far too long. In Jared's opinion, Dee had made a wise choice.

“What do you say we go inside,” Jared suggested. There was a small crowd gathering across the street, and he really wanted to have some privacy with the people he loved and cared about. “I haven't even seen where I'm going to be living yet.”

“That's something else we haven't agreed upon,” Peyton said, moving toward him.

Dee laughed and slipped her arms around Chase's waist. “You might as well give in, Peyton. You'll never survive being seduced by the enemy. I know I didn't stand a chance.”

Jared wasn't worried. He knew Peyton would marry him, just as he knew deep in his heart they'd spend the rest of their lives together. They were fated to be together, and no one, not even a gorgeous, stubborn lawyer who'd stolen his heart, could argue with fate.

Together the four of them walked toward the house. “She doesn't want to give up her maiden name,” Jared said.

“That's not true,” Peyton said, helping him up the brick steps. Not that he needed assistance, but he wasn't about to let her know it.

“Sweetheart, I don't mind if you hyphenate,” he teased, and laughed when Peyton rolled her eyes as they stepped inside the house. Together. Because Dee was right. Romines weren't islands. They needed someone to love just like the rest of humanity.