Lily's Outlaw (Once a Marine, Always a Marine Book 2) (13 page)

So she started small and civil. “Where is Henrietta? Doesn’t she usually answer the door?”

“I gave her the day off. It seemed—prudent.”

“And giving Robert a key to my home? Did that also seem prudent?”

Virginia gave her daughter a thorough once-over. It made Lily feel like a bug under a microscope, a feeling she was used to. “He wanted his ring back, dear.” She said it as if it were the most obvious answer in the world.

At least she was being honest. “A ring he had no right to have. Even a judge agreed.”

She waved her hand at Lily as if her response were an irritating gnat. “You chose to get a divorce and now he wishes to marry someone more suitable to his lifestyle.”

“You mean young enough to be trained properly. And you decided to help him.”

“Of course, and despite her occasional—exuberance—she has the right pedigree. He needs someone by his side while he runs for mayor. Public opinion is much more favorable for a married man. Bachelors are still frowned upon.”

And, Lord knew, public opinion was far more important to her mother than her daughter. Lily pulled the photo out of the pocket of her camera case and slid it across the shiny desk. It came to rest at the edge. It was the one secret she’d kept from everyone. A picture that put her mother at the same seedy motel with a dead General and a cartel thug known for his viciousness.

“Well, Liliana, you have some claws after all. I didn’t think you had it in you.”

“And I didn’t think you would condemn your only daughter to torture and death.”

Virginia arched an eyebrow at the venom in Lily’s voice. “And what makes you think this picture proves anything?”

“At first I thought it was William involved with the General, but then I realized that your husband never was that smart. And you were the one with the Army contacts, since General Maddox has been one of your political supporters for years. So it had to be you. I just had to wait until you showed up to prove it.”

“This proves nothing. Only that you have an overactive imagination and a decent camera.”

“I thought so too, until I confronted William about it and made the mistake of telling him that I was going after proof. Two days later I was kidnapped. That was your idea, wasn’t it?”

Lily pulled the rest of the photos from her folder and slid them in front of her mother who scanned them all without expression. Even if Lily couldn’t convince the police that her mother was involved in a gun running scheme, the pictures themselves would block her ambitions.

“How could you?” Lily whispered.

All the hurt. All the terror. It was there in that final question. And it was something she had to hear for herself. It was the reason she hadn’t been honest with Jesse. But it didn’t stop there. The years of rejection welled up from deep inside and tears threatened but she held them at bay.

“Why couldn’t you love me?”

Her mother sighed. An annoyed sound that conveyed her disdain of such an emotional question. But Lily couldn’t help it. It was a soul deep wound that she’d tried to reason away. And her driving force in becoming an internationally recognized photographer. She wanted to prove that she was worthy of her mother’s love. Prove it in a very public way. Something she would have to hear about from her social circle.
 

Oh, did you see Lily’s photos made National Geographic? You must be so proud of her. She used to imagine her mother having to show some pride, even if just to appear the loving parent.

“I never wanted a child, Liliana. But an abortion would not have been able to be kept quiet. Some reporter would have dug deep enough to find that little scandal.” She stacked the photos in front of her neatly, almost compulsively unable to leave them in disarray on her tidy desk. “And giving you up for adoption would have been tacky.”

There it was. Bald and painful, but finally, the truth. “So you suffered your child because of your agenda?”

She nodded. “Yes. I did my duty as a mother. I provided a decent education and home to live in. I only required you to be a good child. An obedient child.”

“The perfect child that was seen but never heard.”

“I tire of this, Liliana. What is it that you want? Blackmail?”

What did she want? She’d heard what she needed to. Virginia Richardson-Tate was incapable of loving anyone but herself and her power. Maybe she hoped that she would see something in her mother’s eyes that looked remotely like remorse. But there was nothing.

“I don’t want anything else from you. I will be turning these photos over to the police and telling them my story.”

“I don’t think so.” Lily was puzzled as her mother turned her chair toward the door that led to a small living room area off the den. “Ramon,” she called.

Lily froze at the name and at the sight of the tall Hispanic man that entered the room followed by another, shorter man. She jumped from her chair and backed away, fear crawling into her stomach.

“Jesus, Mother. What is he doing here?”

“He is my business partner and here to make sure all my little problems disappear.”

“Why is he working with you?”

“His employer needs guns, and I need a problem solver. It’s a mutually beneficial arrangement.”

Ramon smiled as he took up post behind her mother’s leather chair. He wore an expensive gray suit and gaudy gold jewelry. He looked even scarier in person. The man behind him stepped slowly to the side. As he did this, Lily could see the gun hanging in the holster under his jacket. She thought it was a deliberate move to terrify her. It worked.

“Those aren’t the only copies of those photos,” Lily said.

“And that is why we need to have the negatives,” Ramon replied. His words were lightly accented. “And any copies you have made.”

It was eerie the way he managed to sound menacing but polite at the same time. Lily continued to back toward the door. She was about to turn and run when she was grabbed from behind. She instinctively struggled to get loose but the iron-hard arms around her waist stopped her.

“Stop.”

One word. Even though the tone was gruff, the voice was achingly familiar and so very welcome. “I’m sorry.” She knew it wasn’t enough but it was all she could manage as she watched Ramon’s hired thug pull his gun out of the holster.

“We are going to talk about this problem you have with jumping into danger.”

“Okay.” And it was.

Jesse had come for her. When it mattered, he’d come and she knew she’d be able to depend on him in a way that she’d never depended on anyone in her life.

Chapter 13

“Well, well. Jesse James Calhoun. What an interesting twist to this little drama. You know, your mother was the best maid I ever had.”

Her tone and smirk was designed to put him in his place. Or so she thought. But Jesse was proud of his mother and her hard work. She’d raised seven children by herself once his father had passed. That was more of an accomplishment in his eyes than anything Virginia Tate had ever done.

“And you were the biggest pain in the ass she ever worked for, Virginia.” He had the satisfaction of seeing her face flush. His tone was deliberately snide as he watched the three adversaries in front of him.

Lily was snug in his arms, her perfect ass pressed against his groin. It made him relax, which was what he needed. He’d been on the edge of going nuclear, not knowing if she’d been hurt or not. But now he could focus on getting them both out alive.

“Darlin’,” he whispered in her ear, “I need you to move behind me.”

Jesse never took his eyes from Ramon’s as he felt her nod and slide around his side. Once he was fully shielding her, he focused on the people in front of him. Virginia wasn’t the kind of woman who armed herself, so he ignored her. The man with Ramon was just another street punk in the cartel and even holding a gun, wouldn’t dare make a move without being told to.

So he focused on Ramon.

“Who are you?”

Jesse smiled. “I’m the man who’s going to beat you to death.”

“A man with courage. I respect that.”

“I don’t want a crime scene in my home, gentlemen. Ramon, dispose of them far from here, please.”

“God, you are such a bitch, Mother.”

Jesse felt his smile widen. “Such language.”

His fiery flower was finally growing out from her mother’s shadow. She was peeking around him and shooting a glare at the woman who gave birth to her. He was proud of her and he would tell her that just as soon as he was done shaking some sense into her. But even that had to wait until they were safely away from this place.

“You’d better do something because the police already found your husband. And Ramon here just couldn’t help but carve his signature into his chest. It’s only a matter of time before they come here asking questions. And then there’s the dead guy on the front porch.”

Virginia took the news calmly. She looked up at her hired assassin and frowned, but Ramon only shrugged. “There was no time for finesse and Rico can be replaced”

She shook her head. “You should have made time. William’s death was supposed to look like an accident.”

As they began to argue, the focus shifted away from Jesse and Lily. He backed them up a step.

“Why aren’t you armed? And is there really a dead guy on the porch?” Lily whispered.

He just shook his head. There wasn’t time to explain to her about the guard he’d found outside or what was about to happen. He just wanted to be in a place where he could push them both out of the way, fast, if he needed to. He moved them both a step farther away while Ramon’s attention was turned.

“You didn’t have the stomach to take care of her,” Ramon snarled. “And I don’t take orders from you.”

“Until this deal is finished, you will continue to take orders from me,” Virginia hissed back.
 

Without warning, Ramon Garcia slapped the righteous look right off Virginia Richardson-Tate’s face. Her head snapped back from the force of the hit and they heard her teeth clack together. It was a back-handed hit and the look on his face said he enjoyed inflicting the pain.

“Shut up, stupid woman. Let me handle it.” His voice was calm, flat.

Jesse didn’t feel bad as Lily’s mother let out a pained moan and immediately brought her hand up to cover her swelling face. Ramon and his henchman advanced forward as Jesse backed up another step. Lily moved with him, step for step, holding on to the waist of his jeans.

Come on, fellas, just a little farther, he thought.

He held his hand up to show they were empty. “Where’s that knife you like to use, Ramon? Think you can get close enough to use it on me?”

He ignored Lily’s indrawn breath. Taunting Ramon was the only way he could get him to come after him. He never even glanced at the smaller man with the gun, he didn’t matter. Only Ramon did and he was arrogant. Jesse could work with arrogance.

He moved out from behind Virginia’s desk. “Maybe I will just have Enriquez shoot you and use the knife on the puta behind you.”

“But then you won’t know who the better man is, Ramon. And I’ve already beaten you a couple of times. Took her right out of your warehouse, didn’t I? I got away from you in Flagstaff and also found and disabled your bug. Doesn’t seem like you are very good at what you do, Ramon.”

The smile faded from Ramon’s face as he unsheathed a wicked-looking stiletto. The blade was twisted and serrated at the edges. It was a blade that would inspire fear and cause the maximum amount of pain.

“If he runs, shoot him, Enriquez.”

“Si, Jefe.”

But they both moved closer and that was what Jesse wanted. He dropped into a crouch as he pushed Lily back. “Come and get me, Ramon.”

“I am going to enjoy killing you.”

Jesse motioned him forward with a hand. “What are you waiting for, then?”

Ramon shifted the knife from one hand to the other in a tactic used to distract, but Jesse’s only goal was to get him in front of the big windows.

“You going to actually do something or just play with your little knife?”

An ugly grin stretched across the face of his adversary as Ramon stopped what he was doing and got serious. Dropping into a similar crouch, he moved the knife to his right hand and lunged. It happened quickly, but it’s what Jesse had been waiting for.

Suddenly, the glass from the bay window shattered with a loud pop. Jesse turned and grabbed Lily, throwing them both sideways and into the corner away from danger as the front of Ramon’s head exploded in a puff of red mist.
 

Enriquez began firing at the window and running toward his fallen commander. He made it two steps before his head jerked sideways, the force of the bullet throwing his body to the side. He landed less than a foot away from Ramon.

“Are you all right?” Jesse asked.

Lily looked up at him. He expected tears but she once again proved that she was tougher than she looked. “I’m okay. What just happened?”

“You’re safe and this is over. That’s what just happened.”

Jesse hugged her to him but turned when Virginia’s voice reached them. “What have you done?” It was more of a whisper and had none of her previous snobbery in the tone.