“You!” She screamed at Nick. “This is all your fault. I hate you. You ruined everything!”
The world seemed to freeze, then started moving again, like watching a film in slow motion, and Gracie saw Cassandra’s finger tighten on the trigger. She squeezed as an officer tackled her from behind, and Gracie didn’t think she’d ever forget the fear and desperation she felt hearing the sound of the gunshot.
“I’m alright, sweetheart. I promise, I’m okay.”
She didn’t realize until that moment that she’d been screaming Nick’s name over and over, thinking he’d been hit. Slumping forward since her knees had turned to jelly, she welcomed Nick’s arms around her.
Cassandra was marched past them, yelling obscenities and blaming Nick for ruining her plans. Jesse walked behind her, subdued and a little forlorn. She couldn’t bring herself to muster any sympathy for either of them, since they’d planned to kill the man she loved.
“How?”
“Mostly it was your clue about Mighty Oaks subdivision. Shiloh was monitoring my calls with Cassandra on another line and he caught it, did a computer search, and came up with this place. It’s only a few minutes from the Riverwalk. Rafe contacted Alvarez, who met me in the parking lot where Cassandra sent me.”
“We didn’t think she could have eyes on him, so we took a chance and sent in a decoy to do the running around in the Riverwalk and we headed here.”
“Decoy?”
“I’ll answer that one.” Douglas pulled her into a hug. “Antonio volunteered. He looks nothing like Nick, I know, but slap a cowboy hat on him pulled low and you can’t tell he’s not a blond.” Nick motioned and Rafe, Shiloh, and Douglas came over and hugged her. “Shiloh found the subdivision, contacted Alvarez, who called out the local cops. We did a grid search, checking with neighbors, and somebody said the white SUV was new to the neighborhood. From there, it was an educated guess, and we set up while waiting for Cassandra to get back on the phone. And it paid off.”
“You okay, sugar? You gave us quite a scare, bolting out of the house like that.” Douglas kept her pulled into that hug until Nick tugged on her arm and moved her to his side, keeping her close.
“We’ll explain everything later. We’re just glad everything worked out and you’re safe.” Shiloh gave her a wink, and went back to typing something on his phone. “By the way, Momma says don’t worry about your shop. She has the ladies set up on a rotation schedule to cover until you feel up to going back to work. And Alice said she’ll work any extra hours you need.”
“Oh. Tell Ms. Patti I said thanks.”
It took several hours to get things settled, go downtown to the police station, give her statement, and see her parents, who Douglas had called. Gracie had no idea how he’d gotten their number, but she was so happy to see them she cried. It felt good to see her mother’s face, feel her daddy’s kiss on her cheek, his hand ruffling her hair like she was still his little girl.
Finally, they headed back to Shiloh Springs. She rode with Nick, who wouldn’t let her out of his sight. Collapsing against his side, she felt the warmth of his skin where it touched hers, heard him breathing, smelled the woodsy cologne that he wore, and allowed herself to be lulled to sleep, knowing she was safe and going home.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Nick pulled Gracieinto his arms, peppering kisses on top of her head, and she burrowed against his chest. He could barely contain the trembling in his body at the thought of how close she’d come to being hurt. They’d made it back to Shiloh Springs safe and sound, and he’d brought them back to Gracie’s apartment. Leaving her alone was out of the question. Sleep would be a long time coming for either of them. Keeping her in his arms seemed to be the answer.
Cassandra Bishop and Jesse Norville had been arrested by Joaquim Alvarez and the local police had taken them down to the station for processing with so many charges they’d be lucky to see the outside of a jail cell again before they were both withered and gray. He doubted he’d ever get the whole story behind their actions, but he’d have to settle for justice being served to both them and their uncle.
Grant Calvin had called with an update, and talked with Rafe and Antonio because Nick had been busy making sure Gracie was alright. Simon Norville was facing a list of new charges that would see him never venturing outside of prison again. He was cooperating and turning over the passwords and sites of all his hidden assets, the ones the government hadn’t seized the first time he’d been incarcerated. He’d done a superb job of hiding millions of dollars of his ill-gotten gain from the companies he’d stolen from. Forensic accountants were scouring through all the old records and Norville’s old computers for hidden caches of files. Nick might not understand all the gobbledegook surrounding technology, but he knew Norville wouldn’t be able to hide anything again.
He’d reluctantly agreed to disclose everything to the team in exchange for a lighter sentence for Alexandra Bishop, his niece. She’d serve jail time for her part in the escape plan and for drugging the prison guard, but her sentence would be far more lenient than Cassandra and Jesse faced. And they had nobody to blame but themselves. They’d terrorized an innocent woman because of their hatred of Nick and their greed.
“I’m so glad you came for me,” Gracie whispered against his chest.
“I’ll always come for you, sweetheart. None of this would have happened if I hadn’t fallen in love with you. It made you a target.”
Shifting in his arms, she gazed up at him, her eyes shiny. “You weren’t the only one who was falling. It scares me how easy it is to love you. It’s like two wounded souls who found each other despite everything the world threw at them.”
“I hate you were hurt. I’d wrap you in bubble wrap and hide you away from the whole world if it meant a single day you were kept from harm.”
Laughing, she patted his chest and snuggled closer on his lap. He was having a hard time letting her go. He’d barely been able to let her out of his sight ever since she’d broken free of Cassandra. Closing his eyes, he could still see Gracie running toward him. He could still hear the echo of the shot as the gun was fired. It was a miracle the bullet missed. But he wouldn’t forget, not for a long time, the feeling he could have lost her forever. His arms tightened around her. Never again.
“I need to tell you about Jeremy. You deserve to know.”
“Shh. You don’t ever have to tell me if you don’t want to. Brewster is your past, sweetheart. I mean to be your future. I want to be the one who holds you at night when the nightmares creep in. To be the one who wraps you up in a warm blanket when you’re cold. Brings you breakfast in bed every morning before you head to the coffee shop. I want to be the one who sits by your side when you’ve had a bad day. To celebrate the milestones and achievements when things go right. I’ll be the one in the rocking chair beside you when we’re old and gray. If we’re lucky and blessed, that will be many decades from now, and when the time comes one of us is gone, if I go first, I’ll wait for you on the other side. I love you, Gracie Medeiros. I adore everything about you, the good and the bad, all the pretty things as well as the ugly stuff, because it’s part of the whole package that makes you who you are. If you want to go back to your old name, Carolina Francesca Suarez, I’ll love you still. Just promise you’ll be with me. Always.”
Tears were running down Gracie’s cheeks when he finished speaking, and he brushed them away with his thumbs. He hadn’t meant to make her cry, but he wanted her to know that her past didn’t matter. Whatever it had been, she wasn’t that person anymore. She’d had a rebirth when she’d moved to Shiloh Springs, had grown and made friends, claimed a new family in the Boudreaus. Like a phoenix, she’d risen from the ashes of her past, a glorious new beginning for her, and he hoped and prayed he could be a part of it.
“Nick, I love you so much. I want everything. All of it, as long as I’m with you. I know we haven’t known each other long, and people will say we are rushing into things, but I know in here,” she pointed to her heart, “this isn’t a mistake. We aren’t a mistake. I can’t believe I’m getting a second chance with someone as wonderful as you.” When he started to protest, she placed a fingertip against his lips. “You are wonderful, don’t try to deny it. You never gave up trying to find the person responsible for shooting Antonio. You could have been killed in the car bomb. When Cassandra held that gun on you, I thought—I thought my world was coming to an end, because I was going to lose you. I think I’ve been in love with you since the night saw you in the hospital waiting room. It just took something like this to make me see that I don’t want to spend another minute without you.”
Leaning forward, his mouth touched hers. First tentatively but when he felt her response, he deepened the kiss, pouring everything into it, wanting her to feel the overwhelming love he felt. Her lips moved beneath his. This kiss felt different, more intense, more passionate. It was bigger, immense, shattering. More than the sweet gentle brushes of their lips, the teasing, flirting whisper soft caresses. He knew what made the difference. Love.
