The Boss's Love (19 page)

"You would like to have me?" she asked.

"Of course," he said. He reached down and stroked her bare shoulder. "You're attractive, fun, and I can relax when I'm with you."

"Are you going to leave your wife?"

"No," he said incisively and raised an eyebrow. "You know that can't happen. You're a smart woman and know why. I can offer you great sex, money, and the title of my mistress. You'll keep me company on nights when my wife is staying in for the night, and you'll be at my beck and call, day or night. That's what I can offer you." 

Her body sagged. "But I want more."

"I can't give you more, Jamie. You know the business I'm in. You know my wife stays for appearance purposes. She's well loved and known by the people in my circle. If I divorce her, I lose too much," he explained. How he despised the words that just spewed from his mouth. Words that would never ring true. Ever. Courtney would never be reduced to a figurehead. That was unthinkable in his eyes. And to take a mistress? Sacrilege. 

"I know," she relented. 

"Jamie," he continued, "I've never offered this to any woman before. You're the first." He continued the build up.

She smiled. "I like that."

Got her. "It's true." 

"I know."

Of course she would know. She knew far too much about him. 

"What will it be, Jamie? I'll treat you good. I promise you'll get everything you deserve," he pushed harder. 

She looked up from the beer, and he knew he had her by the decisiveness evident in her eyes. 

"Okay," she replied.

His lips twitched. "Good girl," he said. "Finish your beer. We're going to find a place for you to live where I can visit when I want."

"I have an apartment," she bristled.

"An apartment that is under FBI watch. I don't think so, honey," he said firmly, not to be argued. "Also, we need to discuss your job situation. What are your plans? Do you plan to work both sides, because I'm going to tell you right now I'm not happy about that. I don't want my mistress investigating me." 

"No, no, Darren. I would never. I'll quit if you want me to. I agree." Her desperation to give him what he wanted
was sickeningly obvious. 

Unable to help himself, he compared Jamie to his Courtney. His wife wouldn't give herself up that freely. 

"Good, so now that you're my girl, what do they have on me and what do they know?" he demanded.  

She hesitated just long enough to know a warning bell dinged in her head. He tried to negate it. "I don't want you to be put into an awful situation where you have to choose between me and the government, baby. You know very well how they work, and what will happen to you. I don't want that for you. I don't want that for anyone close to me,” he said.

Her shoulders visibly lost their tension and she unclenched her jaw. "They don't have anything. They're trying different angles to get something. They came up with a plan to try to get to your wife. They thought she was your weakness. They knew you didn't have a mistress to turn."

He laughed evilly. "Little do they know."

Jamie smiled. "Right."  

"Well, honey, let's
get out of here," he said. He was done. He had all the information he needed. The FBI didn’t have shit on him, and their plan to turn Courtney failed. Yes, it cost him everything, but they played their card and lost. Heads would now roll, starting with the woman next to him. He slid out of the booth. 

"Okay," Jamie said, her face flushed. 

He held out his hand for her to take. Arm in arm, they left the bar. Smith and Derk climbed from their booth and followed behind. They all climbed into a waiting dark tinted window sedan. That would be the last time anyone saw or heard from Jamie, the rouge agent.  

Courtney

For three weeks Courtney had been living at her cousins' house. They managed to settle into a normal, daily routine with the two men doting on her. Though her presence managed to put a cramp on their lifestyle of bringing women home for midnight trysts, they never complained. They loved coming home from work to a smiling, warm female face. Sean cooked for the three of them, Ryan made sure Courtney took her meds, and they both took turns escorting her to doctors’ appointments. Sean started Courtney on a walking program to get her back into shape. Unfortunately she had to start slow and afterwards always needed a nap. As the weeks wore on her endurance rapidly grew. They watched over her like two protective Pitbulls, ready to go for a throat if anyone looked at her cross-eyed.

The downside of living with Sean and Ryan was Courtney often became lonely while they worked. Their long twelve or fourteen hour shifts left her alone with her wayward thoughts
for endless hours. She refused to see her parents or her friends, aware they would be followed by Darren's men to find her. Instead she made contact by phone. No one pressed for her location knowing Courtney wouldn't divulge. 

Bored all
day, Courtney continuously paced the modern decorated living room. Sean and Ryan weren't expected home until later in the evening, leaving her alone once again. While she readjusted a few knick-knacks for the umpteenth millionth time, she found herself missing her husband. She wanted to speak to him, but was unsure if she was in the right frame of mind to have a long conversation. What she was positive of was that she missed him holding her at night. She missed his soft lips on her skin. His sense of humor. She missed the adoring way he looked at her and the way he doted on her. Hell, she missed his overprotective nature. She missed watching him cook while they discussed their day and plans for the week. She just plain missed him. But could she forgive him?  

Her brooding was rudely interrupted by the
doorbell. She glanced at the clock. Noon. Who the hell could that be? She wasn't expecting anyone. What if it was Darren? She wasn’t ready to face him or any of his men if they found her. Well, maybe she would talk to Derrick. 

Tiptoeing
to the front door, she prayed her flats didn’t give away her presence. She glanced through the peep hole and blanched. Anger boiled up in her stomach. Throwing the door open, John Marshall, with a dozen red roses in hand, was scanning the exterior house. 

"Courtney
." He beamed. "You look terrific." 

"John? What the hell are you doing here?" she blurted. Looking past
him, she surveyed their surroundings. 

His smile fell. "I'm sorry. You aren't up for visitors." 

"Come in," she snapped. She ushered him into the house and closed the door behind him. Why was he here? Maybe Darren sent John. Maybe he was here on his own. Was she being set up? 

Courtney turned to catch John scanning the
interior of the home. Those quick eye movements were of someone who rapidly took in his environment. Sean and Ryan constantly did the same thing.

She alertly watched John finish scrutinizing his surroundings. When done, he refocused on Courtney, his features changing to pure delight. 

"For you." He handed her the roses. 

"Thank you," she said curtly. "Follow me. I'll put them in a vase." 

Just as they started down the hallway, the front door to the house flew open and Ryan stepped inside. He stopped at the sight of his cousin with a man he'd never seen before.

"Courtney?" he asked, changing from
NICU nurse to
G.I. Joe
in the blink of an eye. 

"This is John Marshall, Ryan." Courtney motioned to John
. "John, this is my cousin Ryan." 

Ryan glowered and glanced at the roses. 

"I was about to put these in a vase," she said. A small jerk of her head hinted she wanted her cousin to follow. "What are you doing home?" she asked, making her way to the kitchen with both men in tow.

"I came home for lunch to check on you." He glared John's direction.  

"I'm good," she said, busying herself with the flowers.  

"How do you know Courtney?" Ryan turned to their uninvited guest. 

"I bought a home off her. We met at happy hour one evening," John explained. 

Courtney tried to pretend she wasn't paying attention. Her cousin would remember her conversation about her former client.

"Oh, interesting." Ryan eyed him. "And how did you find out she was here?" he asked, his face a mask of barely contained fury.

"I asked some of the nurses at the hospital. They were kind enough to help me," John answered. 

She flinched. The man was lying. There was no way the nurses told
John
, who was of no relation to Courtney, where she was staying. If the hospital refused to tell her mafia husband of her whereabouts, then they unquestionably weren't about to tell this guy unless he had some pull.

Ryan shot her a
side-glance. Man, he was pissed.   

"What do you do for a living, John?"
Ryan asked, his hands clenched into tight fists. 

"I work in finances. Selling stocks, bonds, 401
K's,” John answered.

"Well, John, why are you here?" she asked. She needed to grab control of this conversation before her cousin went upstairs, grabbed his Glock, and came back down to put a bullet in John's head.  

"I wanted to check on you and see how you were doing. I feel so awful about that entire night, Court," John said.

Briefly
she believed his sincerity. 

She held up her hand. "Don't, I'm not ready to talk about it."

"Court?" Ryan snapped.

Good
lord, her cousin was flipping his shit.  

Ryan's cell phone rang and interrupted the palpable tension
. He pulled it out of his scrubs pocket and looked at the caller ID. 

"I have to take this," he growled
, then stalked out of the kitchen for privacy. 

"A bit protective isn't he?" John asked, his eyes following Ryan's departure.   

"He's more like a brother to me than a cousin. I grew up with him and his brother Sean." She shrugged. "I love them." 

John smiled. "That's nice you have family to turn towards."

"It is."

"Have you seen your husband?" he blurted.

"I don't think that's any of your business, John," she bristled.

"I'm just worried about you, Court. I refuse to let him hurt you," John said. 

"You mean like setting me up by showing my husband in a compromising position, upsetting me so my blood pressure sky rockets, lose my baby, and almost lose the ability to have more children?" She raised a censorious eyebrow. 

He was gracious enough
to flush and look away. 

"You have no idea how upset I am over that entire incident. I will never forgive myself for what I did. I hope you can forgive me," he said. 

How did she handle the situation? What would her husband or brother-in-law do?  

"I do, John.
I knew what my condition was and knew that I needed to remain level. Darren tried to calm me down but I wouldn't listen. I truly have no one to blame buy myself," she said, partially believing her own words. How was a woman supposed to calm herself when she caught her husband in an intimate embrace with another woman?

A part of her blamed John for that two in the morning phone call that lured her to the bar. In fact, his appearance on her cousins' doorstep threw a serious curveball into her anger at her husband. Darren hadn't sent John. Maybe there
was
something to what Derrick had said. That she needed to know their truth. John's unannounced presence wasn't adding up. 

Ryan stalked back into the kitchen. "Courtney, honey, you need to rest. I'm going to get you your meds and something to eat, then I want you to get some sleep." He turned to John. "She hasn't been sleeping well," he ground out through clenched teeth. 

Her cousin was ready to explode. 

John nodded. "I'm leaving. I just wanted to make sure you were all right, Courtney." He made a bold move by stepping around the island and kissing her cheek. "I'm glad to see you are doing well." 

Ryan's intimidating muscular frame jumped between them. In all their years, Courtney had never seen him about to lose his mind like he currently was. Fists tight at his sides, chest puffed, and short breaths said he was ready to go fisticuffs. She'd place money on her cousin.  

She watched Ryan place a hard, heavy hand on John's shoulder, spin him away and give him a
solid nudge towards the exit. John could never match her cousin's brawn and strength. His body stiffened but didn't fight being manhandled.  

Intrigued, she followed her cousin
. Her interest in the scene overtook her sensibilities. After Ryan shoved John out the door, he stood menacingly on the doorstep, beefy arms crossed over his broad chest, shooting daggers until the man was in his car and out of sight. Courtney kept a giggle to herself. Knowing Ryan, if he could get away with legally killing the man he would pull out his military training and accomplish the task in seconds.