Tamed (Corcoran Team: Bulletproof Bachelors Book 3) (16 page)

“I thought you were working.” He let out a startled gasp as Tyler threw him in a chair. “I wanted to talk.”

Tyler used his free hand to wrap a rope around Jeff’s chest. The movements proved awkward and ineffective, and he finally let the bindings drop to the floor unused. “You won’t be alive that long anyway.”

“What is going on?” Jeff sounded confused and lost, and both emotions were mirrored in his eyes.

For whatever reason—the fear, the panic—she believed him. “I found out Tyler lied. That he’s one of you.”

Jeff spun around and stared at the man looming over him. “You weren’t in the military.”

A crazed look of desperation lit Tyler’s face. “Stop talking.”

All she needed was a free hand, but she couldn’t get one loose, so she kept the men talking, saying anything to avoid a bullet to her heart. “You didn’t know?”

“I would have used it against him.” Jeff shook his head. “I can’t believe this. After all this time—”

“I said stop.” Tyler shifted until he stood at the head of the table between them. He slipped a knife out of the block and pointed at one of them, and then the other. “Let me explain what’s going to happen. Jeff, you are going to kill Makena in a horrible revenge-filled frenzy.”

The color drained from Jeff’s face as he tried to slide his chair away from Tyler. “I would never—”

Tyler linked his foot around the chair leg and dragged Jeff closer to the tip of the blade. “Makena, you’re going to get one good stab in, and it’ll wound poor Jeff here. But I’ll deliver the final blow with the gun I keep for protection.”

He’d clearly written the sick scene in his head. She’d failed to play her assigned role and now he gave her another one. “Like a hero.”

He glared at her. “I am one.”

“This will never work.” Possible solutions ran through her head. She could crash her chair into him... She ran out after that.

“You had your chance. I wanted you to be my partner.”

Her mind flashed on another scenario. One that would save Jeff, too. Her gaze flicked to him. “How did you get here?”

“I followed you.”

She hoped that meant the Corcoran Team had as well. “I blamed you.” The apology stuck in her throat. She couldn’t get it out, not yet.

“He’s a liar,” Tyler said in a reasonable voice that carried over the mix of shuffling and chair moving happening on the floor.

She tried to pick up each sound and figure out what was happening. Jeff kept looking at her and then staring at Tyler’s stomach. She wasn’t sure what he wanted her to do, but she sensed she and Jeff were in this one together.

Jeff shot her one last intense stare. “No one will believe it. I’m not a killer.”

“Unfortunately for you, I am.” Tyler drew back the knife and stabbed it into Jeff’s side.

She closed her eyes but not before seeing Jeff’s pop open. He groaned and his body doubled over. Blood seeped through his white shirt. The room broke into chaos. The window on the side of the family room shattered and a male figure crashed inside. She turned her head to avoid the flying glass and saw the front door explode off its hinges.

Her eyes refused to focus, but she thought she heard Shane’s voice. The yelling ran together with the banging. The last thing she saw was Tyler reaching for his gun, and then a weight knocked into her, sending her and the chair in a free fall to the floor.

Everything happened at once. A drumbeat thundered in her ears and she struggled to loosen her hands, but it was too late. Her body bounced and her head knocked against the hardwood. She heard gunshots as Jeff’s heavy breathing echoed in her ears. Then she couldn’t see or hear anything at all.

Chapter Nineteen

Shane had waited a beat too long. He’d wanted to race in the second Tyler shoved Jeff into the chair. Shane saw the two of them as partners. Sick men who deserved whatever happened next. The full wrath of the Corcoran Team could fall on them and Shane would not suffer one minute of regret. He valued life but not their lives.

Then he saw the blade and Tyler’s gun and silently declared, “Go time.”

The explosives tore the front door apart. Shredded it into sharp pieces and sent them flying. He didn’t wait for the smoke to clear or the space to open, or even for Connor’s signal. Shane ripped the debris out of his way, ignored the cuts to his hands and marched through the door.

He headed for Tyler and didn’t stop. Not when he lifted the gun. Not when he fired at Jeff, who was a blur streaking across the table to cover Makena. Not when Tyler adjusted his aim and the barrel pointed at the general chaos.

He could shoot anyone, looked ready to kill without spending one second thinking about it. He wasn’t a man on the edge. He’d gone careening off it at rapid speed.

Shane didn’t waste time trying to fix Tyler or reason with him. They’d passed that point long ago. To whatever extent he’d ever dealt in reason, he didn’t now. Shane had no choice but to take him down.

He came in firing over the heads of Jeff and Makena, trying to get them to duck and stay down. He wanted to draw Tyler’s fire and keep his mind off the bodies on the floor. In Tyler’s obsessive state, anything could trigger him, and Shane didn’t want to test him.

But Tyler didn’t stick with the plan. He dropped down but kept shooting. He crawled toward Makena, and Shane increased his speed. Breaking every rule and ignoring protocol, he crossed right in front of Cam’s line of fire, heedless of the danger and desperate only to get to her. All those hours of practice and drills faded into the background.

Connor swore and Cam yelled. Shane blocked it all. He had to, because she lay tucked and unmoving. Blood covered her, but he couldn’t tell if it was hers or Jeff’s, as they were piled on top of each other.

“Stay back.” Tyler practically screamed the order as he reached for Makena’s arm. He pulled, trying to drag her closer.

She shoved away from him. Jeff trapped her in place, leaving her vulnerable to Tyler’s whims. The gun in Tyler’s hand waved and bobbled. He pointed it in every direction, as if he’d forgotten he even held it.

The man was the ultimate wild card, out of control and raging. He started yelling about his life and all he’d lost. When he spied Shane, his intensity seemed to find a focus.

Perfect.
That was exactly what Shane wanted. He made himself a target on purpose and planned to keep his body there for as long as possible. Let Connor and Cam get into position. Let Tyler make a mistake. Anything to take the attention away from Makena and give them all a chance at survival.

But Shane couldn’t look at her for long. Her eyes were wild with fear as her mouth dropped open. The combined look of pain and fear killed him. So did the way she glanced around and silently begged Cam to do something when Shane didn’t.

But he could. Rather than wait on the defensive, he grabbed a hold of the offensive. Shane held his hands up. “That’s right. You want me.”

Tyler scrambled to his knees. “You ruined everything.”

Shane took a step back, luring Tyler away from the protection of the barricade of the tipped table and pile of fallen chairs. “I did. I went after her when I knew she was yours.”

Makena gasped. “Shane, no.”

For a second he worried she believed him, but the concern on her face suggested something else. She was smart and strong. She’d know this amounted to a plot meant to ensnare Tyler and drag him down.

When Tyler’s gaze slipped back to her, Shane rushed to get it moving again. “I did it on purpose. I didn’t want her, but I really didn’t want you to have her.” He shook his head and pretended to believe the foul words he spit out. “She was a game. I wanted to beat you.”

Tyler lifted up a little higher. An inch more and his head would pop up in firing range. “She wanted me first.”

Shane didn’t even steal a look at her this time. To get through this, he needed to match Tyler’s evil with some of his own. The anxiety pinging around inside him threatened to drop him to his knees, but he kept his attention steady. On Tyler and his gun, waiting for the perfect moment to take him out.

“She did want you. She was all in and talking about you. Thinking you were this hero doing all this amazing work.” Shane forced the words out. “But I made her want me. Convincing her was tough, but I did it.”

Tyler straightened then and Shane did not hesitate. He lowered his hand with exacting speed and fired. Gunshots rang out from three parts of the room and he knew Connor and Cam had taken the advantage, too.

But Shane didn’t care about Tyler. Connor could handle him. Shane’s mind went to the woman who held his heart. Ignoring the aches and pain and the way his bones creaked after all the abuse they’d endured, he slid across the floor and skidded to a stop beside her. He was vaguely aware of Connor dropping down to check Tyler’s pulse and Cam rushing over to lift Jeff.

Shane only saw her.

He grabbed at the ropes binding her to the chair, trying to rip them apart with his bare hands. His strength alone might have done it, but Cam handed over a knife and Shane got busy cutting.

He had her loose in a few seconds and she flew into his arms. Her warmth seeped into him as he fell back against the floor on his butt. He had her cradled on his lap and he rocked back and forth. “I love you. God, I love you.”

He could hear her crying and felt the wet tears against his neck. Sirens whirred to life around them, and car doors slammed shut just outside. Guns came up and people talked over each other. Jeff didn’t move while Cam clamped a kitchen towel against his side and tried to talk with him.

Police burst through the door and Connor stopped them. He held up his hands and the yelling match started. All the noise faded into the background for Shane. He couldn’t help them and didn’t want to let go of her. In this moment he needed her. To hold her, to beg her forgiveness. Everything.

“I’m so sorry.” He whispered the words over and over, into her hair, then against her forehead. He kissed the patches of skin he could see and brushed her hair out of the way to get to her mouth. He was about to ask her something when her mouth touched his.

She kissed him, deep and desperate. Her fingers clawed at his back and she drew him in closer. “I thought you were dead.”

He had to lean down to hear her. “Are you hurt?”

She shook her head but didn’t answer. For some reason he needed to hear her voice. “Baby, talk to me.”

She looked up at him with tearstained cheeks. “It’s Jeff’s blood.”

The reminder had Shane glancing over his shoulder. The man’s eyes were open but glazed over.

“He saved me.” A tremble made her voice vibrate.

“I saw.” Shane had watched in shock as Jeff played the hero. He’d spent so much of his life lying about being one. In this instance, he’d acted like one, and Shane was humbled by the sacrifice.

“Is he—”

“Cam is working on him.” An ambulance crew rushed in a second later.

The small room burst to life. First responders roamed around and Connor acted as traffic guard, moving people here and there. Being in control and running the room. Business as usual.

Makena grabbed a handful of Shane’s shirt and brought his head back down to hers. “Get me out of here.”

He could do that. He owed her that much. More, actually. Because of him she’d played the role of decoy. He’d put her in direct danger and then almost stepped in too late to save her. It was every nightmare brought to life. He’d stayed away to keep the ugliness of his work out of her life but ended up doing the exact opposite.

“I’m sorry.” He said it because he had to. No other words would come out without a push.

Her hand trailed down his cheek. “You’re my hero.”

“I’m not, but you’re alive and that’s all that matters.”

He stood up and lifted her into his arms. He knew she needed to see a doctor and get checked out. That would all happen, but he needed to hold her for a few seconds first.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and whispered into his neck, “I love you.”

The guilt trapped inside him escaped. “You shouldn’t.”

He’d never meant the words more in his life.

* * *

I
F
ANYONE
HAD
told Makena she’d be sitting at the hospital bedside of Jeff Horvath one day, she would have laughed. Maybe not even that. The idea was so ridiculous it didn’t even sound like a joke.

She’d taken the position that Jeff had gotten what he deserved. Somewhere she’d forgotten that he was a human being and had tossed his feelings aside. He deserved most of what had happened to him, but his actions at Tyler’s house showed that he could be redeemed. That there could be decency inside someone like him. Once guilt stopped punching her, she’d appreciate the lesson.

Until then, here she was, watching the machinery work to keep him alive and get stronger. The room filled with beeps and strange sounds. Something clicked and an automatic blood-pressure monitor spun to life and checked him every few minutes. He had oxygen and tubes connected to him.

He hadn’t opened his eyes, but the doctor said he’d survived the worst and was improving. She had no idea how anyone could tell.

She leaned back and continued to stare, willing him to get better and hoping he had the strength to do so. She did it for him and for her. Concentrating on Jeff helped her to forget Shane’s last words to her.

You shouldn’t.

After everything, all the pain and death, the terror and anxiety, he held on to his lone-wolf stance. In her horror-induced stupor, she’d thought she heard him utter the words she longed to hear. She’d told him she loved him, but he’d said it first...or had he? Those moments blurred together in her mind with Tyler’s manic tone and Jeff’s death rattle as the knife slipped inside him. Thinking about it had her eyes popping open.

“How is he?” Connor asked as he stepped into the room with Shane behind him.

“Better.” But she barely heard the question.

Her gaze traveled over Shane. He had a bandage on his arm and neck, and one arm hugged his ribs. Connor had insisted they all take a trip to the hospital. She’d long ago been released. Shane had had to stay overnight and had slept through it all as she switched back and forth from his bedside to Jeff’s.

Shane frowned. “That’s a miracle.”

It all was. Makena couldn’t believe any of it. If she tried to explain it—and she had during a telephone call with Holt, who was ripping apart airports on his flights across the country to get to her—it all sounded so fantastical and unrealistic.

So did Jeff’s sacrifice. “How could a guy who would lie about who he was step up like that when to do so risked his own life?”

Nothing about what Jeff had done and the choice he’d made fit with the other things she knew about him. He’d spent so much time pretending to be a hero when he had had the instinct for decency inside him all along.

Connor crossed his arms in front of him. “I like to think a lot of people would do the right thing if confronted with the opportunity.”

Shane scoffed as he came over to stand beside her chair. “I think Connor is naive.”

She kind of agreed. “I owe him.”

“Connor repaid him.” Shane’s hand fell to her shoulder and squeezed.

The touch warmed all the chilled places inside her. She wanted to grab on to his hand and not let go. But now wasn’t the time or the place.

Her gaze switched from Shane to Connor. “What did you do?”

“There will be a feature in the news about Jeff, touching a bit on his past for perspective but talking about how he turned his life around and saved you and other people during a wild shootout in a house.”

“Connor left out the parts about Jeff stalking you,” Shane added.

Connor shrugged. “It didn’t fit with the rest of the story.”

She gave in and touched her fingers to Shane’s. “I’m sort of happy he did stalk me that last time.”

He glanced down at her and winked. “Me, too.”

With one last look at Jeff, Connor headed for the door. “I’m going to leave you two—”

“No.” Shane snapped out the answer before Connor took his next step. Before she could agree.

She dropped her hand to her lap. “No?”

“I need to head out.” Shane didn’t make eye contact as he spoke. He glanced around as he moved away from her.

After spending so much of his life putting an emotional wall between them, this time he added a physical one. He was running away from her in every way she could imagine, both physically and emotionally. Even Connor stared at him with narrowed eyes as if trying to read his mood.

“Fine.” That was all she could muster.

Shane hesitated as he watched her. “I’ll call you.”

Yeah, she wouldn’t sit by the phone and wait for that call. In fact, she was done waiting for Shane at all. If he couldn’t see that he could abandon his past and his fears, and be happy with her, she’d give up. They’d been in this highly stressful situation and managed to survive not by staying away from each other but by finally being together.

That left only one thing for her to say. “Goodbye, Shane.”

And this time she meant it.