Wild Irish (Book 1 of the Weldon Series) (37 page)

“
Lex, I—hell I don’t know how to say this.” He raked his hair with an unsteady hand. “I’m not a man who puts golden labels on things and wraps them up in fancy ribbons. This week without you has been the worst of my life and I need you.”

Alexi crossed her arms and leaned against the door as if she wasn’t going to give him an inch. His heart thudded hard in his chest.

“
What does ‘I need you’ mean?” Alexi asked. “You want me in your bed one more time?” She shut her eyes so he wouldn’t see the pain in hers. Her love for him had no basis in reason. She knew that at this moment she’d settle for that one more time to be with him.

He grabbed her shoulders. “No,” he said harshly. “Not just one more time, I want hundreds, thousands, millions if we can. Hell, woman I’m telling you that I’m ready to bite the damn apple for you.”

“
Bite the apple?” She shook her head confused. “What--”

“
The freaking thing Adam did for Eve in the damn pictures I bought. He joined his fate with Eve.”

Alexi blinked. “Are you saying you love me?”

“
Yes, I love you. I want you and I promise to do my best not to suck at relationships anymore. We’re still going to work out the nude picture kink, but as long as we do it together, I think we can reach a middle ground over this trust problem. Do you want to give us a try, Sunshine?”

“
Yes!” She wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tight.

He found her lips and kissed her hard. “I love you,” he whispered. “I love you so much it hurts.”

A chilling laugh sounded from behind them. “How sweet,” said Benny in a high pitched voice. “Too bad you can’t have her. She’s mine, or was mine until you soiled her.”

Jesse swung around, putting himself between Alexi and danger. Behind them, the front door was shut but still unlocked. Benny stood in the doorway to the bedroom with an axe in his hand and a crazed gleam in his eyes.

“
You aren’t supposed to be with him, Alexi,” Benny said. “Now you’ll have to die too.”

“
Benny!” Alexi cried, grabbing Jesse’s arm as if she meant to thrust him behind her. Jesse didn’t budge, but used the distraction she provided to slip his keys from his pocket and speed dial Paul, leaving the phone in his pocket. Paul would hopefully pick up and hear what was going on.

“
You…you can’t mean this…you can’t do this,” Alexi said, trying to make Benny see reason. “Stop now and we can help you…we can fix this.”

Jesse knew there would be no easy way out of this. He pushed Alexi back, managing to shove his car keys into her hand at the same time. He had a gun in his car and a gun in the bedroom, but not one on him. He figured he had about thirty seconds to make this surprise deal work.

“
You should listen to her. Walk away now and the cops can only nail you for embezzling, something they may or may not try to extradite you from another country for, if you make it there. Add murder and you’re SOL. Jordan will hunt you to the ends of the earth.”

“
Not when all the evidence points to Andy. This axe is from the firebox in his apartment building. This is his jacket, his shoes.” He pulled something from his pocket and let it drop to the ground. “His hair. They’ll find all kinds of evidence in the poor, frustrated artist’s workshop when they find his body. You see, he will be so overwhelmed with guilt after your murders that he’ll kill himself with the gun he took from your bedroom, Weldon. Andy is all tied up and waiting for me. As for me, I’ve a solid alibi. As we speak Benny Whitaker is on a flight from New York to Rio. But that flight isn’t going to make its destination intact. Benny will die.”

“
Oh my, God. You’re really insane.” Alexi reeled as if she was about to pass out. Jesse caught her arm.

Shit. Jesse could kick his own ass to hell and back, he’d been so hung up in Alexi that even though he’d seen this train coming, he hadn’t realized how big a wreck it would be. The son of a bitch was going to blow up a plane full of people just so he could disappear.

They were out of time. They had to stop that plane if they could. He shoved Alexi toward the front door. “Car, gun in it, get help to stop plane,” he yelled at her as he picked up the huge coffee table and ran directly at Benny, who was coming their way axe raised. Even if Jesse had to die, there was no way Benny would get out alive.

Benny swung the axe over the top of the table as Jesse plowed into him. The axe cleaved downward, but Jesse was already on his way to the ground as he grabbed Benny’s ankles and threw the man off balance. He heard the axe hit wood and he heard Alexi scream.

“
Get the hell out of here,” he yelled at Alexi. Benny and the table crashed to the side into the bookcase. Glass shattered and Benny screamed with rage, drawing back on the axe and slashing sideways. Jesse let go of Benny’s legs and rolled from the slashing blade.

He expected Benny to be on his feet and swinging by the time he rolled into a crouched and ready position. Benny was up, but he wasn’t aiming for Jesse. The bastard was heading toward the door Alexi had just run through.

Son of a bitch, NO! Jesse’s mind shouted as his heart thundered with terror. He grabbed the closest weapon he could find, an iron lamp and jerked the plug from the wall as he ran after Benny. Just as Jesse crossed the threshold, Benny suddenly turned and swung the axe at Jesse’s head.

Jesse blocked the blow with the lamp and front kicked Benny in the crotch. Benny managed to twist to the side as he swung around and it wasn’t until the axe left Benny’s grip that Jesse realized the bastard was aiming right for Alexi’s back as she raced for the car.

“
Duck, Lexi!” Jesse screamed as he prayed to God she’d follow his command first instead of looking back. His blood turned to ice in the seconds that axe flew end over end right at Alexi.

Alexi dropped to the ground and Paul appeared out of the dark, covering Alexi with his body as the axe smashed into the car window. Glass exploded and the axe bounced away from the car, where Paul deflected it away from Alexi. Jesse slammed the iron lamp into the back of Benny’s skull. Benny dropped like a dead man and Jesse used the lamp cord to tie the bastard up, disappointed that Benny still had a pulse and was breathing.

The sound of police siren’s filled the air.

Paul was standing but Alexi still lay on the ground. Jesse ran to her. “Is she hurt?”

“
I don’t think so,” Paul said.

Jesse dropped to his knees in the glass. “Lexi, talk to me. What’s wrong?”

She grabbed his hand. “I am so mad, that I swear if I move a muscle I am going to get your gun and unload it into Benny’s black heart. All those people. Dear God. I can’t live with the fact that all of those people are going to die because I didn’t listen to you. You kept telling me that what was going on was more serious and I didn’t believe you. If I had, maybe we could have stopped him sooner.”

“
You don’t know that,” Jesse said, pulling her into his arms. “And let’s hope we’re not too late to stop the plane.” Jesse dug out his phone. He glanced at Paul as he dialed Washington. “How did you get here so fast?”

“
Call it a hunch. You told me to chill tonight, but I just had this feeling that it was all going down too easy. A man doesn’t spend that many years obsessed just to hop a plane. I decided to come watch your back.”

“
Damn good hunch.”

“
Who are you calling?” Paul asked.

“
Deputy Director of the FBI. He owes me. If anybody can save that plane, he can.”

Epilogue

“
Miss Lexi! Mr. Jesse! Did you see me dance?” Lucy came running up still wearing her blue angel ballerina costume. Karin and Lucy’s father—now going by Kevin instead of Jonah because facing his family had freed him from the whale of his self-imposed prison---smiled proudly as they waved from where they stood.

Karin was more relaxed around her ex, less guarded, and over the past eleven months, Kevin had proven himself a changed man. Karin also carried Amanda Lee in her arms. Lucy had insisted the doll be at her first dance recital.

“
We saw you. You danced beautifully.” Alexi bent down and hugged Lucy tight, still amazed at how quickly the little girl had recovered from her kidney transplant—thanks to her father’s donation of a kidney. Lucy had grabbed a normal life with both of her hands and wasn’t going to ever let it go.

Lucy looked at Jesse and giggled. “Mr. Jesse, what are you hiding behind your back?”

Jesse grinned. “Something special for a dancing girl.”

“
A balloon!” Lucy’s eyes sparkled!

“
This little girl is getting way too smart.” Jesse handed Lucy the helium-filled, red balloon and settled his gaze on Alexi’s for a loving hot moment then looked back at Lucy and lowered his voice. “We have an announcement to make and you’re the first person we are telling. We’re going to get married and we want you to be our flower girl.”

“
For real?” Impossibly, Lucy’s eyes became even brighter as Jesse nodded. “Yes, yes, yes!” she cried, pirouetting with her balloon dancing above her head. “When?”

Jesse tapped the balloon with his finger, making it bob up and down.

Alexi smiled. “How does next month sound to you?”

“
Wonderful.” Lucy danced in another circle then stopped, her expression solemn. “Miss Lexi, can I carry Amanda Lee with me down the aisle?”

Alexi’s breath caught and a sudden sting of tears burned the backs of her eyes. She hugged Lucy again. “Yes, Lucy. That would be wonderful.” It would be like having her mother at her wedding, Alexi thought as she stood. She would never forget last night as long as she lived. On his knee, last night beneath the stars, Jesse had asked her to marry him, to make their love a forever thing. Alexi already knew where she wanted to marry him. She wanted to marry at night, under the stars, those twinkling light of angels who caught all of her dreams and made them come true.

“
I’m going to go show my friends my dancing balloon, okay?”

“
Okay,” Jesse said as he slid his arm around Alexi.

She leaned into Jesse’s warmth, breathing in his scent, feeling his nearness.

“
It’s good to see the world right side up,” he said.

She angled back to frown at him. “What do you mean?”

“
Everything is as it should be. Lucy well and dancing. The delayed plane saved and bomb diffused. Benny in jail for life. Roger’s reputation ruined when the Sugar Girl prostitution ring was exposed. It all makes a man believe in justice after all.”

Alexi lifted her brow. “And?” she prompted.

“
And miracles,” he said, the gleam in his eye let her know he was deliberately holding back the answer she was fishing for.

“
And?” she urged.

“
And love,” Jesse said with a smile. “Especially when a woman is willing to rough it for a week-long fishing trip for her man. It’s going to be great. Nothing but you, me, the woods, a tent, and fish over a campfire.”

Alexi groaned, wondering how she had let him talk her into it, several weeks ago. There’d been melted Godivas involved.

Jesse examined Alexi’s expression with amusement. She was in for a big surprise. Enjoying her discomfort, he laughed and dangled a set of keys in front of her nose. “You are packed and ready to leave tonight, right?”

He had to bite the insides of his mouth to keep from telling her where they were really going. Her pained expression was so pitiful.

“
Can we wait until morning?” she said. “I mean. It won’t hurt to start at daylight will it?”

“
Nope. We’re leaving tonight. By morning we’re going to be digging up worms and rolling in fish.

Alexi lifted a brow. “You might be. I’ll be licking my Godivas and reading a hot book.”

Jesse’s body reacted immediately as he remembered the last time Alexi took Godivas fishing. From the satisfied look on her face, she knew it too.

He smiled back. Two could play at that game.

* * *

Fishing trip! Ha. For a week now, Jesse had been the shark and Alexi was bait. She owed him one and today she was going to collect her dues. She quietly picked up her camera and tiptoed outside. Jesse slept; the sun glistened off his tanned, oiled skin in a rich bronze sheen. Dark stubble shaded his rough jaw, and lent a dangerous air to his sleeping body. They were back in France at the villa by the pool and gloriously back into the nude precedent they’d set the last time. She couldn’t remember if she’d worn any clothes at all this week which, considering all she had brought with her was stuff fit only for worms and mud fishing, was a good thing.