With her eyes shut tightly, Kathryn held her breath and choked back a sob.
What if I never see Jake again? What if this is it?
Too many thoughts and memories flickered through her mind. Jake’s body. One second lifeless and shredded with bullets, and the next, alive. So alive. His hands on her skin when she didn’t know who he was. His lips on her mouth. Those dark, penetrating hazel eyes. His warm, musky scent that was part of him—in his car, on his clothes, in his office chair. That spicy mix that always let Kathryn know she was loved and cherished. That she was safe.
“Jake,” she whispered through tight lips behind the darkness of her closed eyes. A tear ran down her cheek as his scent surrounded her. But it wasn’t a vibrant memory in her mind. It was actually him.
“Breathe,” he said low, his words commanding her.
She sucked in a breath and opened her eyes. He held a police-issued Glock aimed right at Andi’s head.
“Andi,” Jake said loudly, his voice angry but controlled. “Because you need the practice, stick the syringe in the pillow, empty it, then get the fuck off her and back away.”
Kathryn bit her lip as Andi complied. As soon as a hundred sixty pounds of lean muscle moved off her, Kathryn rushed behind Jake.
“Here,” he said, pulling her phone from his back pocket. “Julian’s taken point.”
She pressed favorite number two. Spouse.
After half a ring, he picked up the call. “Kathryn?” In just her name, she could hear Julian’s worry and fear.
“Yes, Julian. I’m fine,” she said through trembling lips.
Jake slid an arm around Kathryn’s waist, keeping her close against him. She filled her lungs with air, then let it all out with a shuddering breath as her head dropped onto the strength of his chest.
“Where are you?”
“Send security to . . .” She scanned the whiteboard on the wall and said, “Room 432,” then disconnected the call, staring hard for a second at the length of rope still bound to the siderail on the gurney. The one she’d slipped from to free herself.
“Kathryn?” Jake asked. “What is it?”
Her brow shot high. Wide-eyed, she mouthed the words, “The ropes.”
Jake’s whisper was a rush of heat against her ear. “I’ve got plenty.”
The knot she’d unraveled was one she’d seen at the club. There was a reason Paco wanted to get to the bottom of the case first.
This was the reason.
Not a cover-up. Protection. The same protectiveness that ran as strong through Jake’s veins as it did hers.
With a pen from the table, Kathryn jabbed at the heart of the tight knot, loosened it, then dropped the short length of jute down her blouse, removing a huge bread crumb that would point straight to Club Lazarus.
Jake frowned, that worried crease she knew so well forming between his brows. “You sure?”
His question was valid. Hiding evidence was just the start of a string of lies to the authorities. But that wasn’t what he meant.
“It might be in vain,” he said as he glanced at Andi.
He was right. One word from Andi, and it was game over.
Kathryn met Andi’s dark stare with a penetrating gaze. Could the woman who nearly killed her be reasonable? “Andi—”
“Let me guess. In another minute, if those ropes are still there, they’ll lead the police investigation back to the club, which would give the cops the justification to seize their records. Records that could become public.” Andi’s gaze turned cold. “You’d go this far to protect Troy?”
“Not him,” Kathryn said, taking a step forward before Jake pulled her back, his gun still trained on the dangerous assailant. “Everyone. Everyone who believes the club is their safe place. Their sanctuary.”
“Where our secrets are protected,” Jake said, his voice persuasive and convincing.
“Fine.” Andi raised her hands in surrender. “I’ll leave the ropes and the club out of it.”
“You will?” Kathryn asked, surprised.
“Don’t be so shocked, Nurse Chase. It’s one less piece of evidence against me. And like I said, I never wanted to hurt you. Or anyone. Just the one person who hurt me.”
Two armed guards stormed into the room. Jake discreetly lowered the pistol out of sight, a weapon that belonged to Detective Scott Delaney. A cop’s gun in a civilian’s hand wouldn’t go over well with the police. His move was solely to protect Scott.
Jake ushered Kathryn from the room as they secured Andi. “We’ll need to stick around. Give our statements.” His words were an apology, taking the full weight of everything that had happened to her—and was happening still—on his very broad, unbelievably strong shoulders.
She curled into the reassuring warmth of his hold, finally able to let go of a trembling breath. “Is it your mission to protect everyone?”
Jake’s hand slipped along her jaw, cradling her cheek. “Not everyone,” he said, looking at her so intently, she knew it would be a while before he let her drift more than an inch from him.
Her heart began to pound, a frantic, eager, want you to take me for the rest of my life rhythm she hoped he could hear with his heart.
By his crushing, desperately rough kiss that explored every corner of her mouth, he could.