The Fifth Season (19 page)

“What debt?”

“Hugh Gallagher saved your life. Nate owed him.”

Stone stood, frozen in place. He barely felt the icy sting of the snow that whipped around his head, nor the bitter breeze that drove it in perpendicular fashion straight into his eyes.

“You’ve got your facts wrong. Again. I don’t know any Hugh Gallagher, and I know for certain my father wouldn’t care whether or not I lived or died.”

“No? Well how do you explain the long arm of Seamus Adams? How do you explain Emma’s presence here?”

He thought about his father. Nate Connor wasn’t a man to take on trouble, in any form. Something must’ve forced his hand, pushed him to raise a parentless teenage girl, but it certainly wasn’t any debt regarding Stone. The memory of facing down a steel barrel convinced him of this.

“I can’t explain anything.”

“Stone, listen to me. It’s really all black and white. Adams isn’t thinking clearly. He’s shipped off Gallagher because you came too close in your investigation of Clover’s activities. He thinks he’s one up. Feeling cocky, he gives the command to eliminate Emma. And here we stand, in front of a smoky ruined resort. What do you propose to do?”

Stone looked straight into the challenging gaze of Rex Lazarus. “Move up the operation.”

A tight smile played across Rex’s face and Stone answered it with one of his own. “I’ll see what I can do,” the smaller man said.

“Let’s go inside.”

“What? In there? Is it safe?”

Stone chuckled. “Yeah. We can sleep in Emma’s quarters. They don’t seem to have been affected by the fire.”

Rex eyed the resort nervously but followed Stone anyway. “If you say so.”

The two men walked through the smoke ravaged rooms. Water stained the walls, floor, and most of the furniture. One glance into his room confirmed that although it was relatively free of damage, the acrid scent permeated the suite, choking the lungs. He closed the door and continued back through the house.

Sliding the partition away that separated Emma’s quarters from the main house, he inhaled the fresh air and quickly hustled Rex through before the stagnating smoke filtered into these small rooms.

“This is where Emma lives?” Rex asked, obviously amazed at the postage sized rooms.

“Yeah, when she’s not in my rooms. But that only happens when I’m a jerk.”

“Which would be always then?”

Stone glared at Rex, causing the other man to bellow with laughter.

“We’re doing okay, considering,” Stone responded.

“I never thought I’d see the day the great Stone Connor crumbled beneath the power of a woman.”

“For that comment,” Stone opened the office door. “You get to sleep in here.”

Rex eyed the room and shook his head. “Where’s the bed?”

Grinning from ear to ear, Stone shut the door and entered Emma’s bedroom. He called back over his shoulder, loud enough for Rex to hear. “There isn’t one.” Laughter bubbled up at the muted curses answering him.

Sitting on the edge of her bed, he ran a tired hand over his face. It felt as if he’d been tossing all the losing dice, not making any advancement in this cruel game he and Seamus Adams were playing. Inhaling sharply, a sweet jasmine scent tickled his nose, making him ache for Emma.

He couldn’t sort out how he felt about his father being CIA. He knew it didn’t change his hatred or his burning desire for revenge. Stone managed to avoid that rather successfully. Revenge didn’t solve any problems. A sudden vision of his men’s faces crossed his mind. This time, they weren’t writhing on the ground in pain, but were laughing as he solidly beat each and every one of them in their ritual one-on-one pre-mission basketball game.

He smiled at the memory and suddenly flashes of better times struck his mind in rapid fire. Stone reached back, caressing Emma’s pillow, feeling her presence in every corner of the room. Even without her touch, she healed.

Lying down, he rested his head upon her bed and closed his eyes against the tears that burned. He pushed a fist against his heart, pressing hard on the pain.

He missed his men.

***

Stone stretched then rubbed his face trying to come to a level of consciousness that allowed thought process. Sun streamed through the window, wiping away the remnants of last night’s storm. He sat up and squinted against the bright glare of light on pristine snow. Muted banging could be heard in the background.

Realizing he still wore his smoke streaked pants and shirt, Stone stripped, grabbed Emma’s robe from the closet and wrapped it around his waist. He stepped into the hall and stopped short as a startled Rex exited the office.

Glaring at the shorter man, Stone silently challenged him to comment on the pink silk fabric. Rex successfully suppressed his grin, at least enough so that Stone didn’t feel the need to send a fist into his gut.

“Um, when you’re done doing whatever it is you were about to do, can I have a few moments of your time?” Lazarus asked, his shoulders shaking slightly.

“If you laugh, it will be the last thing that comes out of your mouth today. While I take a shower, why not make yourself useful and scrounge up some coffee?”

Rex nodded and hurried out the door into the resort’s kitchen. Stone ignored the snort and muffled laughter that filtered back through the partition. Before entering the bathroom, he veered off into the adjacent laundry area and rescued a pair of jeans and flannel shirt from the dryer.

Ten minutes later, refreshed and ready to sit down with Rex, Stone emerged into the kitchen. He stopped in surprise as a dozen men traipsed through the upstairs carrying tool boxes, buckets of chemicals and cleaning supplies, and bags of other paraphernalia he didn’t recognize.

“What’s going on?”

“Apparently, Emma called in the troops. A structural engineer is currently poking and prodding the foundation and these people are from a specialized fire damage control unit.” Rex handed him a cup of coffee and signaled that he should take a seat at one of the kitchen tables.

“Where’s Emma?”

Rex shrugged. He handed Stone a stack of papers and pointed to their contents. “You need to sign these.”

“What are they?”

“They’re acknowledgment of your mission and approval to ship a new unit here for training.”

“Here?” Stone gulped down several swigs of the black liquid steaming in his mug. “No way. That’ll never do.”

“What do you suggest?”

“I’ll meet up with everyone at the normal training center.”

“You can’t.”

“Why not?”

“You’ll lose River Run.”

Stone sat back in his chair. He didn’t really care about the estate, but he’d already imparted his feelings to Rex regarding the title transfer to Nate. Unacceptable.

“What’d the lawyer say?”

“If you remain here through the first week of March, he’ll allow you a two week absence to take care of business, but you must return before the first day of Spring.”

“Two weeks?”

Rex nodded. “Apparently, he’s able to bend the rules enough for that trip as long as you spend the majority of this season here at the resort.”

Stone sighed. How was he ever going to explain this to Emma?

“When will my unit arrive?”

“After the first of the year.”

“Mission date?”

“March 7.”

“No sooner?”

“Do you want this resort?” Rex narrowed a look at him, causing Stone to think every aspect through.

“No,” he said. “But I’m not giving it to Nate.”

“Hugh will survive another two months but will you?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Rex leaned close. “It means you’re too emotionally involved. Can you train here with the distraction of pretty Miss O’Malley?”

“Yes.” Stone pushed away from the table, paused then bent and scribbled his name on the documents scattered across the polished wood. “Bring it on.”

The front door flung open and Seth Connor stepped through. Stomping snow from his boots, he pulled off his sheepskin gloves and shrugged out of a heavy denim jacket.

“Mornin’ folks. I see everyone’s here just as Emma indicated.”

“Where is she?” Stone asked, looking behind his cousin’s back and expecting to find a face his heart ached to see.

“Didn’t she call?”

“Call? No. I thought she was with you.”

Seth looked at his feet and shuffled uncomfortably from foot to foot.

“Where is she Seth? Didn’t you take her home last night?”

Worry and concern stabbed at Stone’s gut.

“Not exactly.”

“Tell me where Emma is?”

Seth looked up then cast his eyes quickly down. “She wouldn’t come back to the ranch.”

“Where’d you take her?” Stone became increasingly angry when Seth wouldn’t look at him. He grabbed the man’s shoulder and shook it.

“Tell me.”

Seth tossed a desperate glance in his direction, broke free and headed into the living room. He paused, ran a hand through his hair and sighed like the entire world hung on his shoulders.

“She’s at your father’s.”

Chapter Thirteen

Emma watched the approach of the black Jeep. Her heart hammered in tempo to the vehicle’s headlong push along the bumpy, dirt road.

“What’re you doin’?”

She turned and looked at Nate, a soft smile creeping upon her face. He’d made breakfast and now busily scrubbed the burnt remnants of scrambled eggs and hash browns from his cast-iron skillet. He looked up at her with brows raised.

“Stone’s driving up.”

“How close?”

“He’s almost here.” She turned back to the window. The Jeep maneuvered around a particularly slick turn and plowed forward, refusing to give an ounce of speed to the deep snowy trenches.

“You’d better get your stuff together.”

Emma moved away from the paned glass and shook her head. “I’m not going anywhere.”

“Yes you are.” He slammed the skillet on the countertop and walked around the kitchen island. “I don’t want trouble with my son. Get your stuff together.”

“I…” She couldn’t finish her sentence. Nate’s words stung. She felt lost. Narrowing her eyes, Emma nodded. “Fine. I’m sorry to have caused you any discomfort.” She spun around and gathered the smoky ruins of her evening gown. “I’ll change and leave these sweats in the bathroom.”

“Emma…” Nate’s voice trailed after her, but she slammed the door shut, silencing his protests. She couldn’t believe Nate was kicking her out. If anything, she thought he’d be happy to shelter her from Stone.

Hearing the Jeep door close with a bang, Emma folded Nate’s sweats in a neat pile and straightened the tattered velvet that hung haphazardly off her shoulders. She stalked out of the bathroom, slipped on her high heels, cast one last glance at Nate and walked out the door into the bitterly cold morning.

Stone stood in front of the vehicle, his arms crossed over his chest and thunderbolts of anger crashing from his eyes.

“Are you ready to go home?” His voice was calm, but Emma didn’t miss the tightly controlled fury that laced his words.

“Yes.” She walked past him and jumped into the passenger seat of the Jeep. Shutting the door securely behind her, he walked behind the vehicle, climbing in next to her. His eyes never once strayed to the figure on the front porch of the cabin.

Emma refused to allow her heart to melt at the sight of Nate. His hands were shoved deep into his pockets as he watched them pull away, a weary expression deepening the wrinkles along his brow.

He stood alone. A solitary figure framed by an empty house.

As the vehicle jostled her, she resisted reaching for Stone’s arm to steady herself, to confirm her existence.

She didn’t want to end up like Nate Connor.

“What were you thinking?” Stone yanked the wheel to the left and down shifted around a slick ice patch.

“You told me to go.”

With a violent toss of some extremely creative swear words, he slammed on the brakes and shut the engine off. “So you ran to my father?”

“Yes.”

“You tell me you love me, and then I discover you went to a place you knew would turn my guts inside out. I don’t understand.”

Emma’s anger burned her throat. He’d twisted everything around. “You made it quite clear last night that River Run was your priority. I left to let you to deal with your precious property.”

“My precious property?” Stone spit the words at her. “I don’t care about River Run. I wanted you somewhere safe. You looked exhausted.”

Emotions rolled in her chest, tangling and tying into snags and snarls of confusion. She’d overreacted. Again. Why did she let him do this to her? Her vulnerability suddenly seemed to loom higher than any obstacle she’d ever had to climb. The thought that he’d come for her. That he’d driven upon land that probably burned his feet like acid to collect her sorry ass meant she was clearly an idiot.

She turned from staring at the piles of snow heaped around scarred birch tree trunks and gazed into a face that demanded answers. “Your tone dismissed me.”

Stone continued to glare at her, and she noted the slight flush that crept up his neck. “It did not. If I remember correctly, I kissed you right before sending you off with Seth.”

“It felt like you dismissed me.” Emma tried to hang tight to her convictions.

Replaying last evening in her mind, she couldn’t believe she’d actually asked him to leave. What possessed her? It didn’t matter if a nuclear missile locked on to River Run, Emma craved Stone. He encompassed her soul.

He dropped his gaze and banged his head upon his hands wrapped tightly around the steering wheel. “You’re making me crazy, woman.”

“Do you want me to leave?”

He slanted her a look that almost forced laughter from her chest. She tried not to smile.

“No.” Sitting back, he reached over and pulled her roughly into his arms. “What I want is you in my bed.” Without waiting for a response, Stone bent his head and plundered her mouth. His kiss cauterized her hurt, pumped blood into her veins and had her head spinning in wild circles.

His hands were hot on her skin. The silence of the Jeep echoed with their gasps of delight and groans of hunger. Emma pulled back. Stone’s blue eyes were dark with passion, and she smiled knowing exactly how to deepen them even further.