Against the Odds (28 page)

Alex held up a hand. “I don’t want to know.”

Sol just grinned.

“So where’s this half brother now?”

“I haven’t been able to find him, but I’m on it. I’ll let you
know if I get a location. Like I said, I’m not sure Bagley knows anything about
him.”

It was something, not much. “Thanks, kid.”

Sol nodded and went back to work. Alex headed for Sabrina, who
stood up as he approached.

“You’re hurting,” she said. “You need to go home and go to
bed.”

He hadn’t realized he was pressing a hand against the ache in
his side. Since he’d looked as pale as a vampire in the mirror this morning, he
figured that explained the worry in her eyes.

“I’m definitely interested in hitting the bed, if you’ll join
me.” His gaze slid over her T-shirt, jeans and sneakers. She looked like a
red-haired pixie, which shouldn’t have turned him on but did.

“You can’t be thinking of sex. You’re recovering from a bullet
wound, for heaven’s sake.”

“So we’ll take it slow and easy.” He grinned, trying not to get
a hard-on. “I’ll let you do all the work.”

Sabrina propped her hands on her hips. “You’re
incorrigible.”

“Guilty,” he admitted.

Her eyes slowly ran over him head to foot, sending a fresh jolt
of heat to his groin. “You may change your tune, flyboy, once I get
started.”

He just laughed and tried to ignore the suddenly tight fit of
his jeans. “Before we leave, I need to call Becca, make sure everything’s
okay.”

“I’ll be ready whenever you are.” There was a suggestive note
in her voice. He liked a woman who knew what she wanted.

He made the call, found out Joe and Ginny were out in the yard
building a tree house, much to his sister’s chagrin. He told Becca that Sol was
still hard at work trying to locate Bagley, then hung up and collected Sabrina
for the trip to his house.

It didn’t take long to get there. When he walked into the
entry, he was surprised to discover how good it felt to be back in his own home
again. As he turned off the alarm and closed the garage door, he looked down at
the little spitfire beside him and realized how much he liked having her there
with him.

Some of his enthusiasm faded.

He’d told her how much he cared and he’d meant it. But he
wasn’t ready for a permanent relationship. It just wasn’t part of his plans for
the future. Hell, he didn’t have any plans for the future, which was exactly the
problem.

Which meant this thing with Sabrina was going to have to
end.

Alex ignored the ache in his chest that hurt nearly as much as
the wound in his side. He’d worry about all of that later. Right now he wanted
her and she wanted him. That was all that mattered. Alex reached for her hand
and they started up the stairs.

Thirty

T
hrough the new kitchen window that looked
into her shady backyard, Rebecca watched Joe and Ginny. Joe was building a tree
house among the thick branches of the big sycamore in the corner. Ginny squealed
with delight as she handed him the various tools he asked for and he showed her
how to use each one.

It was all Rebecca could do not to walk outside and put an
immediate stop to it. Little girls didn’t wear coveralls and pound nails into
sawed-off pieces of wood. It just wasn’t the proper way to behave.

She tried to imagine herself at Ginny’s age wanting to wear a
T-shirt and jeans and learn how to use a screwdriver. But Rebecca had been
nothing at all like that. Her mother had kept her in frilly little dresses from
the most expensive shops in Guildford. She’d taken ballet lessons and cotillion
and played with dolls.

She’d done everything her mother told her to do in every part
of her life. From as far back as she could remember, Rebecca had never
questioned whether her mother was right or wrong. She just wanted to please
her.

She still did.

The realization hit her like a slap in the face. Virginia
Justice had been a strict, demanding mother. She had commanded every aspect of
Rebecca’s life, how she dressed, what she studied, which college she would
attend, even whom she should date and ultimately marry.

What she hadn’t been was a caring, loving mother.

Rebecca thought of Jeremy, her mother’s idea of the perfect
husband. Virginia had chosen him as surely as she had chosen everything else in
Rebecca’s life. Her mother was the reason she had stayed with him even after he
had become abusive. If it hadn’t been for Alex, she might never have left
him.

She might never have come to Houston. Might never have met a
wonderful man like Joe.

Her heart warmed at the thought of the days they’d spent
together since he had moved into the house. Wonderful days filled with warmth,
laughter and kindness. And a smoldering attraction that burned so hot it seemed
to scorch the very air they breathed.

They hadn’t done anything about it. Not with Ginny’s life in
danger.

At least her brother was back in his home and healing. She’d
panicked when she’d received the call from Sabrina that he had been shot. But
Joe had been there to help her get through those first hours of waiting, and the
doctor’s report had been good.

And it looked as if he was very close to ending the threat
against Sabrina’s life.

Which meant he was back to work finding Edward Bagley. Alex
called every day to report on the progress he was making, which wasn’t much, but
he was good at his job and she believed that with him and the police all working
to find the man, soon this would be over.

She looked back out the window and saw her daughter smiling up
at Joe. Funny, Rebecca couldn’t ever remember being a happy little girl. Not
like Ginny.

Her mother wouldn’t approve of Joe McCauley, she knew. She’d
say he wasn’t refined enough. But Rebecca wasn’t a child anymore. She could live
the life she wanted. Love whatever man she wanted.

It was past time Rebecca realized that neither she nor Ginny
ever had to please Virginia Justice again.

She looked out the window at two of the people she loved most
in the world and felt as if a heavy weight had suddenly been lifted off her
shoulders.

As she started for the door to see how the tree house was
coming along, she smiled.

* * *

Several days passed and Alex was on the mend. Rina
awakened to the feel of the sun warming the room through the curtains across his
bedroom window, Alex nibbling her earlobe. She rolled toward him, looped her
arms around his neck.

“You’re not only incorrigible, you’re insatiable.”

He grinned. “That’s what you love about me.” He started kissing
his way down her neck.

Rina slid a hand into his hair, her mood switching from light
to serious. “I love everything about you, Alex. I’m in love with you.” The words
spilled out as if a dam had broken. She had held back her feelings so long; she
just couldn’t do it anymore. “I didn’t mean for it to happen...it just did.”

He stopped kissing her and rolled onto his back, staring up at
the ceiling.

“I’m sorry. I know that isn’t something you wanted to hear. But
it’s the truth and I can’t hide it any longer.”

He blew out a slow breath. “It’s been good between us, Sabrina.
Can’t we just leave things the way they are?”

She leaned over him, kissed his mouth. “We can. For now. I
don’t know for how long.”

His eyes searched her face. He reached up and looped a stray
curl behind an ear. “I don’t know what to say. I love being with you. I don’t
want to give you up, but I can’t offer you anything permanent. My life is too
unsettled. It just wouldn’t work.”

Her throat tightened. She had known he would say something like
that. “I had to tell you. I’ve wanted to for a long time. I wish you could have
said it back, but I didn’t expect it.”

“You know how much I care.”

She leaned down, softly kissed him. He had been there for her
when she needed him. He still was. “I know.”

They made love with a ferocity she hadn’t expected, a sort of
wild desperation, Alex coming up over her, burying his hands in her hair,
dragging her mouth up to his for a fierce, taking kiss, then spreading her legs
with his knee and driving hard inside her. They moved together, Sabrina arching
to take more of him, Alex thrusting deep, claiming more of her, demanding a
response.

They reached their peak in a frenzy of heat and need, a
powerful climax that spoke of love and loss. From the moment she had said she
loved him, both of them had known it was time for their affair to end.

It wasn’t what she wanted. She loved him so much. She wanted to
stay with him forever.

But Alex was the man he was and she was the woman she was. From
the start, she had known how it would end.

Afterward they lay together, spent and exhausted. She leaned
down, pressed a soft kiss on the bandage over his stitches. “Your wound... We
shouldn’t have done that. Are you okay?”

Alex just nodded. They might have talked, might have tried to
breach the silence that settled over them, if the phone hadn’t started
ringing.

At first, neither of them could figure out whose phone it was,
since both of them were still carrying the disposables Alex had bought. He slid
on his jeans as she grabbed her robe, fished hers out of her purse and pressed
it against her ear.

“Yes?”

“Rina, it’s Priscilla.” Her cousin started crying and Rina felt
a jolt of fear.

“Sill, what is it? Is it Mom?”

“No, no, Aunt Flo is...is fine. It’s...it’s Rusty.”

Alex came up beside her and Sabrina held the phone so he could
hear.

“Rusty...?

“Yes. Oh, God, Rina, Rusty’s the one who screwed up the engine
on the helicopter. He rigged the steering on your car.” She started crying
again.

“It’s all right, Sill.” She flicked a glance at Alex. “Where’s
Rusty now?”

“I kicked him out. After the police were here asking questions
about Henry, I started thinking. I dug through some of his stuff while he was at
work. He kept a metal box with his papers under the bed. I picked the lock with
a hairpin and I found...” She took a shaky breath. “I found his bank statements.
There was a five-thousand-dollar deposit made just before the helicopter crash.
Then a three-thousand-dollar deposit right before your car accident.”

Alex took the phone from her hand. “Where are your girls,
Priscilla?”

“They’re with me. Rusty would never hurt them, but—”

“Do you have any idea where Rusty is now?”

“Probably down at Casey’s Bar. He loves me. He’ll figure I’ll
forgive him. He’ll want to come home.”

“I’m calling the police, Priscilla. Lock your door and stay
inside. Don’t let Rusty in no matter what he says, all right?”

There was a long pause on the other end of the line.

“You need to think of your girls, Priscilla.”

“I won’t...won’t let him in.”

He handed the phone back to Sabrina, went to phone the Uvalde
police.

“You did the right thing calling, Sill. A man like that is
dangerous.”

“I know that now. But not to me or...or the girls. I think he
did it for us. He’s been buying me stuff lately, buying stuff for the girls.”
She sobbed into the phone. “I’m sorry, Rina. I didn’t know, I swear.”

Rina’s eyes welled. “I believe you.” She wiped a tear from her
cheek. “Everything’s going to be okay, you hear me? I promise. Alex will take
care of everything.”

“He’s a good man, Rina.”

“I know. We’ll let you know when they’ve got Rusty in
custody.”

Priscilla started crying again and the phone went dead.

Rina hurriedly dressed and joined Alex in his study just as he
hung up the phone.

“They’ll call when they pick him up,” Alex said, “assuming he’s
still in town.”

“I feel sorry for her.”

“You think she’s telling the truth? You don’t think she had any
part in it?”

“No. Do you?”

“My gut says no. I hope for her sake and yours she’s telling
the truth.”

Rina said nothing, just went into the kitchen and started
making coffee. They were on the second pot when the police called.

They arrested Rusty Jenkins at Casey’s Bar, where Priscilla had
said they would find him. He confessed to sabotaging the chopper and destroying
the steering on the Toyota. He said he needed the money. He said he loved
Priscilla and he was sorry.

He said Henry Mullins paid him to do it.

* * *

Another day passed and still the police hadn’t located
Edward Bagley. The day had been a long one. Rebecca was grateful when it was
finally time for bed. But as the hours ticked past, sleep did not come. Still
wearing her blue silk robe, she lay on top of the covers, staring up at the
ceiling. Ginny slept in the room across the hall and Joe was sleeping in the
guest room.

She thought of him lying there beneath the ceiling fan, his big
body sprawled on the mattress. She wondered if he slept in the nude, imagined
that he did. She remembered the way he looked when he worked with his shirt off,
the thick slabs of muscle across his shoulders, the heavy biceps, the wide,
muscled chest with its curly dark chest hair.

Just thinking about him turned her body liquid and warm. Every
night since he’d moved into the house, after Ginny had gone to sleep, he had
walked Rebecca up to her room and kissed her good-night. A long, simmering,
erotic kiss that had her heart pounding and her body pulsing. Joe was usually
the one to pull away.

Tonight had been the same and yet different. She had felt his
hesitation, felt his burning need for her, his desire to step through the
bedroom door, sweep her off her feet and make love to her. She had fought her
need for him.

Why hadn’t she taken that single step back and invited him into
her room? Why hadn’t she taken what he offered, given them both what they so
badly wanted? Ginny was a sound sleeper. She never woke up before morning. And
both of them had waited long enough.

As if he read her thoughts, she heard the creak of hinges, saw
the door slowly open, recognized the outline of Joe’s solid body as he stepped
into the room in only a pair of jeans.

His eyes found hers through the darkness illuminated by a faint
sliver of moon coming in through the windows.

“I want you,” he said. “I ache with wanting you, Becca. I want
to spend the night in your bed more than I want to breathe, but I’ll leave if
that’s what you want.”

Her eyes burned. She came up off the bed and went to him,
walked straight into his arms. “Don’t go. Stay with me. Make love to me,
Joe.”

He closed the door behind him, bent his dark head and kissed
her, a hot, fierce, burning kiss that loosened every bone and muscle in her
body. The kiss went on and on, teasing then taking, demanding then giving. His
tongue slid over hers and she could taste the maleness of him, the coppery tang
of his desire.

Her bones turned to butter and she completely melted against
him, felt his hard muscles bunch as he lifted her into his arms and carried her
over to the bed.

She thought he would rush, that he would take her in the same
fierce way he had kissed her, but instead his movements slowed.

“I won’t rush you. No matter how much I want to be inside you,
I won’t hurry. Not tonight.”

The tears in her eyes rolled down her cheeks. She felt
cherished, worshipped. “Joe...”

He took her mouth in another ravishing kiss. Rebecca didn’t
resist when he peeled off her robe, then unzipped his jeans and slid them down
over his hips. Her gaze ran over him, saw that the rest of his body was as
strong and hard as she had imagined.

She found herself glancing away from his powerful erection as
he joined her on the bed, for the first time feeling shy.

“I know it’s been a while for you,” he said, coming up over
her. “We’ll take it easy. You can trust me to make this right for us,
Becca.”

She swallowed past the lump in her throat. “I know. I trust
you, Joe.”

He kissed her again, began to caress her breasts, first one and
then the other, kissed his way down her body then returned to her mouth. As he
stroked and teased and tasted, as the pleasure built until she thought she
couldn’t stand it a moment more, she knew he would keep his word.

When he took her with such gentleness and skill, with such iron
control, Rebecca gave herself up to him, let his deep strokes carry her to
fulfillment. When the first climax hit her, the pleasure was sweeter than
anything she had ever known.

And in that moment, Rebecca understood what the power of love
could do. Understood that she was deeply in love with Joe McCauley.

* * *