HIS Desire: An H.I.S. Novel (H.I.S. series Book 1) (28 page)

She made a face at him and was rewarded with a hearty laugh.

“Now,” he sat on the bed, “the doctor said no strenuous activity, but he didn’t say no playing.” Jesse pushed the button to move her bed down before climbing in beside her.

“I hate to start off our relationship with this, but I have a headache.”

CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR

Son of a bitch! He’d failed. Again. He’d waited so long to try again. He seethed at the fact that she remained lucky. The bomb should’ve worked. He’d known Jesse would be in the SUV also, but, at this point, it didn’t matter. He had a job to do, and he always completed his jobs.

There was no more time he needed to finish this.

They were hiding out. He smiled with satisfaction in knowing that big, bad Jesse Hamilton hid out with his women because of him. He never should have let Kate out in the open. He chuckled. Jesse had given him the opportunity to kill her today.

His loose end needed to be take care of. He didn’t trust Ed to keep his mouth shut should the FBI capture him. Someone hunted Ed and had almost found him. It had to be that relentless H.I.S. team. He had an idea where his driver hid out, and he’d find him first and make sure that he had no chance of identifying him.

He sat down on his couch with a cold drink in his hand. He didn’t feel the condensation from the glass wetting his hand or the comfort of the burgundy leather sofa. He leaned back and crossed an ankle over his knee. Things were not going according to plan. He’d never had this problem taking someone out.

He’d ignored the divorce papers and tried to reconcile with his wife again. She’d refused to see him, letting him know she had a new life. One without him. It made him angrier. Jesse and his big mouth had convinced her he was a killer. His life had fallen apart because of Jesse Hamilton.

His mind drifted back to Kate. He needed a foolproof plan to kill her. His past attempts shouldn’t have failed. Jesse had ruined everything. Again. He’d been there to save her each time. He had to separate her from him.

He’d done the shooting himself because he’d wanted to feel the satisfaction of ruining Jesse’s life. The setup had been perfect. He would have been able to fill her body with bullets before she’d known what was happening. But, Jesse had been there and saved her.

He’d built the bomb himself. Having shady contacts had its benefits. She didn’t get into the SUV when she should have. The delay had been timed perfectly. She should have been on the road when it blew. She should be dead. He corrected himself, they should be dead.

And, he had an alibi for every time he’d attempted to kill her.

He stood and stepped to the bar to refill his glass with his sixteen hundred dollar bottle of Glen Garioch forty-six year old scotch. He’d lost count of the number of glasses he’d refilled. He stopped in front of the full length mirror and frowned. Since losing his wife, he’d let himself go. He’d lost weight and had a haunted look about him. Sleep didn’t come easily for him, nor did eating. All he could think about was Kathy and how Jesse had destroyed his life.

He wasn’t sure what his new plan would be. He wanted to walk up to them and shoot her with Jesse standing by. But, he wasn’t going to jail. He couldn’t risk being seen killing her. Jesse may never know who killed the woman he loved, but he would still suffer.

He needed to find out where they were hiding. He’d had to back off following them when they’d left her apartment because of the security that had surrounded them.

He smiled. He thought of a way to find them.

He would not fail again.

CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE

“You have to put more pressure on your informants and find this bastard. This last attempt was too close. It’s a miracle no one was killed in the explosion.” Jesse spoke quietly but angrily to his brother. They stood outside Kate’s hospital room while she slept.

He didn’t need AJ’s help, but since her life was at stake, he’d take anything he could get. H.I.S. pushed harder than he’d ever seen them. They usually remained emotionally detached in order to be at their best. But, they’d come to know and like Kate, a lovable and friendly person, a treasure to know. The men treated her like family, H.I.S. family. And she was or would be.

“Jesse, we’re pushing hard. One of our own is at risk, we aren’t playing around. This last attempt included you. You were supposed to be in that SUV also.”

The bomb blast shattered the windows in the waiting vehicles and the massive front window of the spa. Luckily no one had been killed.

The valet stand had protected the valets. He, Ariana and the agents were far enough away from the blast to avoid serious injury. He swallowed the lump in his throat. Kate had been too close to the SUV. He hadn’t stopped her in time. He never should have let her shake out of his grasp. He should’ve held on. She’d caught him off guard when she’d wrenched away and briskly walked off. He’d started after her, but he hadn’t caught up to her in time. A moment before he’d reached her, the explosive happened, and she’d fallen on the marble curbside.

“I know you’re doing all you can. It’s frustrating knowing someone out there is after Kate and none of us can find him.” His every muscle remained tense, on edge.

“We’re going to catch him.”

“But, will we catch him in time?” He’d never felt helpless in an investigation. He’d never been this personally involved in one either. “I want the information on that bomb as soon as you can get it to me, AJ. If it’s going to take too long to process, I’ll pay to have it processed at the fastest lab money can buy.” Money didn’t matter to him where Kate’s safety was involved. “This might finally be our break. There’s bound to be a signature there. Something to lead us to him.”

H.I.S. hadn’t waited for the FBI to find clues to the bombing. Devon had pulled local surveillance tapes hoping for a glimpse of their killer, and H.I.S. team combed the area for any other clues. Joe followed another lead to Ed. And the men on the street dug in deeper.

The bastard couldn’t stay hidden forever.

“How do you think he found you?”

Jesse never should have let his men go on the other assignment. He’d had to rely solely on the FBI detail. They’d let someone follow them. Hell, they’d let someone almost blow them up. They’d let Kate get hurt. He wanted to kill the two of them. “I think you know what happened.”

AJ nodded, knowing his team had been at fault.

They’d already argued about the new men AJ had assigned. Jesse threatened to shoot them himself if they got near Kate.

AJ stared down the desolate hospital hallway, visiting hours over long ago. He cleared this throat before he spoke, “I’m worried about something.”

Jesse chuckled. “Only one thing?”

AJ looked at his brother with a concentrated frown on his face. “His threats have been directed at Kate. On both previous attempts he could have killed both of you, but this time, he
planned
to kill both of you.”

“I still think he was after Kate the first time and didn’t expect me to be there. We haven’t given him a shot at Kate alone. He may not have felt he had any other option but to include me this time.” It didn’t make sense to him either.

This bomb changed everything. With Jesse also targeted, his brothers were going to tighten the net around him. They’d try to push him out of the investigation. He’d never let that happen. He was protecting Kate. There would be no arguing about it.

“Are you going to take her to the safe house now?”

Jesse looked down the hall. The stuffy smell of sickness hung in the air, the dimly lit corridor quiet. Besides him and his brother, only two H.I.S. men, both carrying concealed weapons against hospital policy, with hostile stares at the FBI agents standing across the hall and a plump, sleepy nurse at the nurse’s station were outside the closed doors of the hospital rooms.

He looked back at AJ. “No. We’re going to my house, and she’s staying put.” He’d keep her there even if he had to tie her down. That brought a visual of her tight naked body on his bed, her dark, brown hair spread out on his pillow, her arms bound above her head automatically pushing out her creamy breasts. His cock twitched thinking about sinking deep inside her. He needed a good kick in the ass. She lay in a hospital bed, had a killer after her and he was thinking about fucking her.

Before they said good night, he reminded his brother, “Don’t forget to take your team with you.” He’d refused to allow them to be included in Kate’s protection.

AJ sighed. “I can’t do that, Jesse. But I’ve informed them that H.I.S. is the lead and they’re backup. They won’t screw up when you need them.”

He grunted and glared at the unknown FBI agents then nodded at Danny and Mike before he entered Kate’s room. Sound asleep, she looked peaceful, no hint of worry about a madman trying to kill her and almost succeeding today.

He plopped in the chair beside her bed. Today had been too close. He never should have let her go to the spa without his team. Hell, he never should have let her go to begin with, but he had a hard time telling her no. Besides, he doubted he could have stopped her. She would have had the FBI detail take her or gone alone. She’d been that adamant about meeting her sister. If she’d gone without him, she’d be dead.

His team would never have made that mistake. They never would have let his SUV out of their sight. But all he’d had at the time to protect her had been the FBI detail. He’d been FBI, knew the men and trusted them. But they’d become lazy, complacent. Now, he didn’t trust the life of the woman he loved with anyone but his brothers and his team.

Sighing, he leaned forward, put his elbows on his thighs and covered his face with his hands. He loved her. There was no question about it. Almost losing her today made him realize his true feelings for her. He swore he would never love again, but he couldn’t help but love her. His Kate. A stubborn, frustrating, independent, kind and compassionate woman, all wrapped into one beautiful package.

She’d impressed him with how she excelled as an FBI agent. She and AJ had closed more cases than anyone else at their field office. She’d be an asset to H.I.S. if he could get her to leave the FBI and join them. She might be as devoted to the agency as his brother though. They’d tried to recruit him to join H.I.S. when they’d created it, but he’d refused. Still refused.

Her benevolence toward the children at the Children’s Hospital humbled him. She’d make a great mother for Reagan. His daughter loved her and had asked him if she was going to be her new mommy. He hadn’t known what to say. At the time, he’d planned to have Kate move in with him. How did you explain to a five-year-old that you planned to shack up?

Kate had taken his heart and turned his world upside down, and he wasn’t sure what to do at this point. She didn’t love him. Sure, she cared about him, liked having him in her bed, but she held something of herself back. Until he figured out what it was holding her back from loving him, he couldn’t tell her that he loved her. He wouldn’t put his heart out there to be squashed, destroyed. If she wasn’t ready to hear it, she’d send him packing.

There was only one thing to do. Make her fall in love with him. Trust him. Be his wife.

He felt as if he cheated Jen’s memory by falling in love with Kate. The thing about it was he loved Kate more than he’d ever loved Jen, and he didn’t think that could have been possible.

His chest tightened. Falling in love with her placed him in a similar situation he’d lived through before. The pain of his wife’s death and his not saving her had torn him up for years. Hell, it still did. Talking with Kate had helped him deal with what was inside him, but the memory still existed.

He put his chin in the palms of his hands and looked up at his sleeping woman. He had her to protect. But unlike with Jen, he knew a killer came after Kate. He had his chance at redemption. This time he would save the woman he loved.

He stood and leaned over the bed to lightly kiss Kate on the forehead. He whispered, “I love you, Kate.” He stiffened when she moaned and turned to her side. When her eyes didn’t open, he relaxed and moved to the couch and tried to get comfortable. He trusted the men outside the room with her life, but he still wouldn’t leave her side.

* * * * *

Looking up from her plate of uneaten scrambled eggs when Brad and Matt entered her hospital room, Kate couldn’t hide her disappointment that they weren’t the doctor. “Good morning.” She forced a smile on her face tugging at her headache that with the medicine she’d taken was bearable.

“Mornin’, Kate.” Matt’s smile was bright. “How’re you feeling?”

“Here.” Brad placed an overnight bag on the side of her bed. “Em put it together for you. Thought you might need some clothes.”

Her pasted smile turned into a painfully, joyous smile. She finally had clothes to wear, clothes that weren’t torn, dirty or gaping in the back. Thank goodness they had a sister who kept them in line.

“Turn around.”

The twins rolled their eyes but turned.

She didn’t want the gown to open in the back and her flash them.

Jesse didn’t turn, but whistled when she removed her hand from the back of her gown to open the bathroom door.

She leaned against the closed door in the bathroom to steady herself. She still had some dizziness that accompanied her headache, but she’d leave the hospital this morning. She looked at herself in the mirror and cringed. Her waves of hair on her right side had frizzed out while the waves on her left side had flattened from sleep.

Scratches and bruises decorated her right cheek. A shiver surged down her spine. Had she not looked at her sister’s car arrive, it would have been the front of her face, maybe even her eyes.

This time the killer had gone too far. He’d tried to kill Jesse too. He could’ve killed Ariana at the same time.

She should’ve waited like Jesse had insisted. She’d let her guard slip like the agents had. All three of them had disregarded their FBI training and made stupid mistakes because they felt safe at the spa. No one knew Kate planned to be there, and according to the agents, no one had followed them. The three of them never expected a time delayed bomb to be attached to Jesse’s SUV.