A Home for Christmas (9 page)

“Didn’t mean to make you cry,” he said softly,
returning her embrace.

“There’s no falling involved with me, Riley,” she
managed, her lips against his ear.  “I love you.”

After Jenna’s admission, Riley had to choke back
tears of his own, and held her tight in his arms to keep her from seeing that
his eyes were misty.  When they’d both calmed down, they got out and went
back to bed, finally falling asleep in each other's arms.  Having Jenna’s
love meant everything to him.  He could definitely see a future for the
three of them.

He woke that morning to the smell of breakfast
cooking.  Getting up, he pulled his clothes on and went into the kitchen,
a bit bleary-eyed but smiling when he saw her flipping pancakes.  He came
up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, kissing her where her shoulder
met her neck. 

“Good morning, beautiful.”

She looked over her shoulder at him, kissing
him.  “Good morning.  Did you sleep well?”

“I did, yes,” he said, sneaking a piece of bacon
and dashing away when she tried to swat at him for stealing.

“You’re as bad as Cam,” she laughed.  “Sit
down and I’ll fix your plate.”

“I can fix my own, Jen,” he said.

“I know.  Sit.”

He shook his head and crossed to the bar to sit,
but stopped when something outside caught his eye.  There was a black
sedan parked across the street and a man sat in the front, a camera trained on
her house.  Not wanting to alarm her, he told her he needed something from
his truck and went out the front door.  As soon as he stepped outside, the
man pulled the camera back and took off.  Riley noted the license plate
number but also noted that it was a rental car.  Alarmed, he pulled his
phone out and checked for any messages from Colt.  He had a feeling
whatever the man was doing there, had something to do with Wade
Blackwell.  Seeing what Colt had uncovered, he felt his suspicions were
confirmed.

He pulled up Colt’s number and called him.

“What’s up, Blondie?” Colt asked.

“I just chased someone with a telephoto lens
camera from the front of Jenna’s house.  Something Blackwell is into looks
to be leaking over to her.”

“What do you need?”

“I’m not sure.  Run Jenna’s info. 
Let’s make sure there’s nothing there.  I may need a team to shadow
her.  Make sure she’s safe.”

“I’m on it.  I’ll have her info to you
within the hour.”

“Thanks, man.”

He ended his call with Colt then called Mike.

“Hey, buddy.  I need your help.  Can
you come back to Springfield?”

***

Jenna looked out the window when Riley didn’t
immediately come back in and saw him on the phone.  The look on his face
concerned her.  He looked worried.  And he was barefoot outside in
the cold with no jacket, the mother in her noted.  She went to the door
and opened it.  He looked up when he heard the door open and winked at
her, but she could tell he was still worried.

“Riley?” she asked.

“Be there in just a minute,” he told her. 
“No, I want a twenty-four hour watch.  Covert.  Yeah.  Thanks,
Whit.  Yeah.  See ya.”

“Everything OK?” she asked when he came back in.

“Yeah.  Just work.  Breakfast ready?”

She eyed him a minute not sure he was being
entirely truthful with her. 

“Yes.  On the bar.”

He crossed to the sink and turned the water on,
washing his hands, but she noticed his eyes kept cutting over to the windows,
scanning.  When he dried his hands and crossed by her on his way to the
bar, she caught his arm to stop him.

“What’s going on, Riley?  I’m a mother,
remember?  Can’t pull stuff over on me.”

He placed a hand on her cheek and leaned down to
kiss her.  “It’s just work.”

“Do
not
patronize me, Riley Stanton,” she
snapped, eyes narrowed.  “Something has you worried.  Your eyes keep
scanning outside.”

He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. 

“There was a car outside and a man taking
pictures with a telephoto lens.”

“Paparazzi,” she said, not even alarmed.

“What?”

“We get them every once in a while.  Wade is
a big deal at times.”

He considered her words.  Maybe it was just paparazzi
out to catch a glimpse of Blackwell’s family.  Somehow he didn’t think
that paparazzi would have hightailed it when he stepped outside.

“Hopefully, that’s all it was, but I don’t want
to take any chances.”

She nodded.  “OK.  See?  That
wasn’t so hard, was it?”

“Old habits die hard.”

“Relationships are a two-way street, my
friend.  You’ve told me I don’t have to go it alone.  Goes for you,
too.”

He smiled and kissed her.  “I hear
you.  I’m sorry I tried to keep it from you.”

She smiled up at him.  “There may be hope
for you yet, Stanton.”

“Yeah, yeah,” he said, sitting on a stool at the
bar.  “This looks good, babe.”

“This is better than good, my friend. 
Guarantee it.”

He laughed then took a bite.  “OK. 
You’re right.  These are awesome.”

“Told ya.  I need to go Christmas shopping
today since Cam isn’t here.  Come with me?”

He groaned.  “Seriously?  Shopping?”

“Yes.  Tis the Season.”

He chuckled.  “I’ll go anywhere with you,
beautiful.”

“Thank you,” she said, leaning over to kiss him.

“So, what else are you getting him other than the
PlayStation?”

“Some clothes.  Headphones.  A few
games.  Then I have to get something for my parents and my sister, Jackie.”

“You have a sister?”

“Older sister.  She lives in New York, works
for a magazine.”

“Not close to her?”

“No, we are.  Just don’t get to see her that
often.”

“It’s been two years since I’ve seen my
brothers.  Between their tours and mine we just never could get together
at the same time.”

“That stinks.  I see Jackie every Christmas
for sure.  Then it just depends on when she can get away.”

“You never go visit her?”

“Never have time.  Being a small business
owner has its perks but it also has its drawbacks.  Time off is scarce.”

He studied her a moment before turning back to
his food. 

“Do you like cleaning houses?”

She shrugged.  “It’s not my favorite thing
in the world, but it’s not so bad.  The houses that I do myself are easy.
It’s helped me get back on my feet after Wade and kept me from having to go
back to my parents with my tail tucked between my legs.”

“Your relationship with your parents really that
bad?”

“It’s complicated.  They love me, and I love
them, but my plans for my life didn’t mesh with theirs.”

“Because of Wade?”

She nodded.  “Wade and Cam.  My mother was
never a fan of Wade's, but she thought I should turn the other cheek where
Wade’s infidelities were concerned.  Stand by your man, no matter what,
because a divorce equals failure…but that’s not me.  I wasn’t going to
live my life like that; and I was so scared that he had given me some kind of
disease.  I went for every test in the book.  Thank God he
hadn’t.  But it made me paranoid.  No way in heck I was going to go
down that road again.  And don’t get me wrong, I got plenty lonely these
last five years, but until you came along, there was no one I was ever even
tempted to get close to.  Not after what Wade put me through.”

He finished his food and got up to put his plate
in the sink.  When he came back, he stood on the opposite side of the bar
from her, arms folded over his chest.

“I wanted to talk to you about Wade, Jen…I had my
guys run a background check on him.  He’s gotten into drugs, and he’s
gotten into gambling, and he’s starting to get in over his head with both.”

She closed her eyes a moment, shaking her
head.  “I wish I could say I’m surprised, but I’m really not.  Ever
since his career took off, he’s changed.  He’s gotten caught up in the
glitz and glamour of being a celebrity.  When the movie deal came a couple
of years ago…”

“He made a movie?” Riley asked, shocked.

She smiled.  “He had a bit part in a Presley
Preston movie.  But he’s done motorcycle stunt work in a handful of movies
and TV shows and made cameo appearances on a few shows as well.”

“I’m concerned that his activities are starting
to spill over onto you.”

“The man out front?”

“Yeah…and Wade showing up here that day. 
You do know he was stoned out of his mind that day, right?”

“I was pretty sure…another reason why I don’t
want him around Cam too much, and that makes me sad because he has hurt his son
to the point that I don’t think he will ever be able to repair the damage.”

Riley nodded.  “I wasn’t sure if you
realized that he was under the influence that day.”

“I was with Wade for eight years before we split
up.  I can pretty much tell when he’s impaired.”

“Good.”

She got up to clear her own dishes, smiling when
he came up behind her trapping her between his body and the sink.  His
hands began massaging her shoulders and neck, making her moan in appreciation.

“That feels so good,” she told him, closing her
eyes.

“You seemed a little tense.”

“Did I?” she asked, her head falling back against
his chest.

“I know a really great way to relieve stress,” he
said, his lips against her ear.

“Oh, yeah?”

“Mmm, yeah,” he said, fingers curling into the
waistband of her yoga pants, pushing them down her thighs and then completely
off.

“Riley,” she gasped, feeling him remove his own
pants.

“Keep your hands on the counter,” he told her,
pushing her slightly forward to enter her from behind.

“Yes!  Riley!” she cried, arching her back
and pushing against him.

“That’s it, baby, move with me,” he encouraged.

Jenna held tight to the edge of the sink, meeting
him stroke for stroke until she was trembling with need.  Riley found his
moments later, then partially collapsed against her, his hands covering hers on
the counter.

“I’m beginning to wonder if I’ll ever have my
fill of you,” he confessed.

“I hope you never do,” she said, looking over her
shoulder to kiss him.

“We’d better get going if we’re going to go
shopping today,” he said, handing her pants back to her.

“Mm, yes, we should.”

“And I need to go by my place to get a change of
clothes.”

She smiled.  “I get to see your place?”

He chuckled.  “Yeah…though it isn’t mine,
it’s Jack’s.”

“You live with your brother?”

“I’m house-sitting.”

“You haven’t gotten a place of your own yet?”

“Not yet.  When I first came back, Trevor
needed me to stay at his place.  Then Jack wanted me to stay at his. 
So, now I rotate between the two.  No need for me to get my own place just
yet.”

“I guess not,” she said, but still found it a bit
sad that he didn’t have a home of his own.

“What?” he asked, picking up on her tone.

“Well…I guess I’m a little sad that you don’t
have a place of your own.”

He chuckled.  “No need to feel sad.  When
Jack gets out in another few months, I’ll find my own place.”

She looked up at him.  “Or, you’ll move in
here,” she said.

“Maybe so," he confirmed,  "Come
on, get a move on.  Places to go.  Shopping to do.”

Jenna laughed.  “Yes, much shopping to
do.  Let’s go!”

Shopping with Riley was an event in and of
itself.  Jenna couldn’t remember ever enjoying shopping more.  Unlike
in the past when Wade went with her, Riley didn’t just follow her around and
then stand around looking bored.  He asked questions.  He made
suggestions.  He offered honest opinions about what she was
choosing.  The bottom line was that he just flat out paid attention to
her, something that Wade rarely did, even when things were good in their
relationship.

She’d just finished paying for some shirts for
Cam when her phone rang.  Pulling it from her purse, she saw that it was
Wade.  Glancing at Riley, she raised the phone to her ear.

“What do you want?”

“Where are you?” he snapped.

“Hello to you, too.”

“Dammit, Jenna, I’m not in the mood for your
shit.  I’m at your house.  Where the hell are you?”

“Wade.  Go home.”

“It’s my weekend with Cam.”

“Oh, my God, really?  You’re really going to
try to play that card?”

“What’s going on?” Riley asked, concerned.

She covered the mouthpiece and looked up at
him.  “Wade is at the house.  He says it’s his weekend with Cam and
he wants to know where we are.”

“Let me see it,” he said, his voice low and soft.

“Who are you talking to?” she heard Wade bark
out.

Jenna rolled her eyes and handed Riley the phone,
finding an empty bench just outside the store they exited.

“I asked you a question, Jenna,” Riley heard Wade
growl when he put the phone against his ear.

“And I believe I made it clear to you the other
day that she doesn’t answer to you,” Riley said, his voice low and menacing.

“Butt out.  This is between Jenna and me.”

“When you speak to her as disrespectfully as you
just were, then I become involved.  Your days of pushing her around are
over.  And you don’t just show up and demand to see Cam.  You call
and clear it with Jenna first.  You forfeited this “it’s my weekend” crap
when you failed to see your son for the last six or seven months.”

“That is between me and my wife!” Wade exploded.

“She’s not your wife, man,” Riley told him. 
Taking his phone from his pocket, he pulled up a text to Mike.

Blackwell is at Jenna’s house.  She and I
are out shopping.  I’m on the phone with him.  Need a pick-up on him
ASAP.

“She is my wife!” Wade insisted.  “She’s
always been mine.  Since we were sixteen.”

“She stopped being yours the day you decided to
cheat on her,” Riley replied calmly.

His phone chimed a reply from Mike. 

Keep him talking.  Will have him in custody
in approximately five to eight minutes.

“Where’s my son?  I want to talk to Cam.”

“Look, man, you are stoned.  You don’t want
to talk to your boy right now.  He doesn’t need to hear his dad like
this.”

“Put my son on the phone, you son of a bitch!”

“Not gonna happen, Blackwell.  You aren’t
talking to him until you are clean and sober.  He doesn’t need that image
of his dad in his head.”

“Give the phone back to Jenna.”

“That’s not happening, either.  I told you
before, your days of pushing her around are over.  You get yourself
sobered up, then I might allow you to see them.  But you get this through
your head right now: whether you see them or not is on my terms now.”

“Bullshit!  They are my family, not
yours!  Where the fu-“

Wade was cut off mid-sentence.  Riley heard
a muffled sound and then Mike’s voice came over the line.

“Got him.  I’ll take him to the offices
unless you want to press charges.  He busted up your brother’s truck
pretty good.  Got the tail lights and headlights.  Back windshield is
busted through.  Front windshield has some nice spider web action. 
Side mirrors are hanging on by a thread.  I’m surprised her neighbors
didn’t call the cops.”

“Me, too,” Riley admitted.  “Take him to the
offices.  We’re heading that way.  I’ll call someone to get the
truck.  Thanks, man.”

“Needed to get out of Tuscany anyway.  My
mother and Gia were smothering me.”

“I can imagine.  Be there in fifteen.”

He ended the call then paced back to where Jenna
sat on the bench.  She was trying not to look upset but was failing
miserably.

“My partner picked Wade up at your place. 
We need to head to my offices and you need to decide what to do about him.”

“What do you mean?” she asked when he gathered up
her shopping bags and helped her to her feet.

“Meaning, he’s stoned right now and I think he’s
a threat to your safety.  I think he has a drug problem and he probably
needs to go into a rehab facility.  Do you have contact information for
someone who can make that happen?”

She nodded.  “I can call his agent. 
Gary and I get along fine. He will listen to me, to a certain extent.”

“OK, go ahead and call him.”

She took her phone from him and scrolled through
her contacts to Wade’s agent, Gary.

“Jenna Blackwell!” he said when he
answered.  “Haven’t heard from you in a while, how are you?”

“Hi, Gary.  I’m good.  Listen, Wade is
here and –“

“Wade is in Texas?” Gary asked
incredulously.  “He’s supposed to be in Phoenix for a publicity event.”

“He was at my house.  I’m not there so he
called me, demanding to see Cam.  Gary, he was high.  It’s the second
time in two weeks that he’s turned up here, stoned out of his mind.  I
have a friend who has had someone pick Wade up and is holding him somewhere
safe, but, Gary, I think Wade needs help.  He’s been calling me his wife
and acting aggressively toward my friend and scaring Cam.  He needs to go
into rehab.”

“Are you kidding me?”

“I wish I was.  Can you arrange it?  He
hasn’t seen Cam in six months and then he shows up here demanding access
without any prior notice?  That’s not going to fly, Gary.”

“I hear you.  Let me make some calls and
I’ll get back to you, OK?”

“Thanks, Gary.”

She looked up at Riley when she ended the
call.  He pulled her to him with an arm around her shoulders and kissed
her brow. 

“It’s gonna be OK,” he told her.

“I’m just glad Cam wasn’t around to witness that. 
How did your friend take him down so quickly, anyway?”

Riley laughed.  “Do you really have to ask?”

His humor in her question made her smile. 
She was, after all, dealing with highly trained black ops guys.  But,
still, she was curious.

“I know you guys are trained for stuff like that
but still, that was fast.”

“We’re trained in a variety of quiet
takedowns.  He could have used any number of methods.  Do you really
want to know?”

She shook her head, a smirk on her lips. 
“Well, not when you put it that way.”

He smiled.  “Wise decision.  You gonna
be able to handle this?” he asked once they were in her SUV.

She took a deep breath and released it
slowly.  “Yeah, sure.  I’ve been dealing with Wade’s crap for a while
now.  Old hat.”

“He wasn’t always into drugs though, right?”

“He drank but drugs are a new development.”

“Will he resist getting help?”

“I really don’t know.  Probably at first,
while he’s high.  When he comes down, who knows?”

He lifted her hand to his lips, kissing her
fingers.

“If you’d rather not deal with him, I can,” he
offered.

“Thanks.  Let’s just go get this over with.”

They rode in silence the rest of the way to the
Orion Securities offices, housed in a very sleek looking glass office
building.  The bottom floor consisted of a beauty salon/spa, that for some
reason, Jenna found amusing.  Just the thought of such a feminine place
being located in the same building that these very manly former special ops
guys had their offices struck her as humorous.  Trust it to the guys to pick
a space where they were assured to see beautiful women every time they stepped
into the lobby.

Riley led her to the elevator and pressed the
button for the tenth, and top, floor.  When the doors closed, Riley took a
step closer to her and touched his lips to hers in a brief but passionate kiss,
so that when the elevator slowed and the doors opened, Jenna was in a definite
Riley-kiss haze.  The man who greeted them once they stepped into the
office had the haze fading right away.  She couldn’t decide if he was
handsome or just downright scary.  She couldn’t make it past his
eyes.  She wasn’t sure she’d ever seen eyes quite like his.  They
didn’t look at you; they
pierced
you.  They were a really, really
pale blue.  So pale, they were almost translucent.  And they were
like absolute ice.  He had dark hair and olive skin, making those eyes
stand out even more.  He had a scar that ran across his nose to just under
his left eye, making it seem as if perhaps someone had tried to cut his eye
out. Involuntarily, Jenna clutched Riley’s hand tighter and moved closer to
him.

“He’s in the back,” the man said, his voice soft.

“Jenna, this is Mike Casiano.  Mike, Jenna
Blackwell.”

Jenna couldn’t contain the small gasp that
escaped at hearing this man’s name.  This was Riley’s best friend and
former team leader.  The man who’d allowed himself to be captured so his
men could retrieve the body of their fallen teammate.  He’d been tortured
for twelve hours, she remembered.  In light of that realization, she
re-evaluated her knee-jerk reaction to him.

“I’m pleased to meet you, Mike,” she said,
surprising him by giving him a quick embrace.  “Thank you for bringing
Riley home safe and for all you have done for your men,” she said softly into
his ear.

“
Siete benvenuti,”
he murmured, then seemed
to catch himself and whispered, “you’re welcome.”

She kissed his cheek then stepped back, meeting
Riley’s stunned, questioning gaze.

“It’s between me and Mike,” she said simply,
winking at Mike.  “Where is Wade?”

“He’s back here,” Riley said, motioning toward
the double doors leading to the back hallway.

“I’ll be in my office,” Mike told them as Riley
led Jenna through the doors.

Riley nodded to Mike and then shut the doors
behind them.  He gave Jenna an odd look that had her stopping in her
tracks.

“What?” she asked warily.

Riley pulled her into his arms and kissed her
until she was breathless and clinging to him, lifting her so that she wrapped
her legs around his waist.

“You. Are. Amazing,” he said, accenting each word
with a kiss.

She smiled, toying with the hair at the nape of
his neck.

“Why, thank you.  But what did I do to earn
this gratitude?”

“Mike alarmed you at first but then you hugged
him.  He doesn’t like to be touched but he returned your embrace.”

“He’s a very intimidating looking guy,” she
said.  “But then, when I knew who he was and I remembered all you told me
about what he did and what he went through, I had to hug him.”

“And that’s why I say you are amazing,
babe.  Thank you for being kind to him.”

She narrowed her eyes at him as he put her back
on her feet.  “Do not make me cry right now, Riley Stanton.”

Her phone rang before he could reply and she saw
it was Gary.

“Hi, Gary.”

“I’ve got him set up to go into a facility there
in Dallas.  Give me the address where he is and I’ll have someone come
pick him up.”

“Thank you.  I really appreciate it.”

“I’ve been trying to call him and he isn’t
answering.  Are you with him?”

“I’m about to go in to see him.”

“Call me back and let me talk to him, OK? 
I’ll try to smooth the way.”

“I will.  Thanks again.”

She told Riley that the rehab facility was set up
and that they would be coming to pick Wade up soon.  He led her into a
small dark room with a window so she could see Wade slumped in a chair in what
looked like a police interrogation room.  He looked bored and belligerent
and so far from the Wade she had married years ago, it really saddened
her.  His hair was all over the place, standing on end from his hands
constantly raking through it.  His eyes were bloodshot and he just looked
haggard. 

“I’m so glad Cam wasn’t around to see him like
this,” she said.

“You don’t have to talk to him.  I can
–“

She shook her head.  “No, it’s OK.  Let
me go in with him.”

“OK, but I’ll be right here watching in case he
gets out of hand.”

She nodded then, taking a deep breath, walked
into the room with her ex.