Retribution Boxed Set (Books One and Two) (20 page)

She inhaled, trying to stay calm. How did she say
in words how much she loved him? “We dated.”

“Lovers? The detective arched a brow.

“Yes,” she whispered. And now Xander was in the
hospital.

He made a note on his paper before turning his
gaze to her. “What about Riley Holmes?”

She gasped, horrified that she’d been so
concerned with Xander and herself that she’d forgotten to ask about him. “Oh,
God. Is he okay?”

“We’re not sure if he’ll pull through, but he’s
alive for now. He should be dead with all the blood he lost.”

“He didn’t deserve to get hurt like that. Xander,
either. They were both trying to help me.”

Detective Holden narrowed his gaze. “Would you
care to expound on that?”

Nicole spent the next fifteen minutes recounting
everything she knew about what had transpired, interspersed with the officer’s
intense questioning. They ended with the blood money attached to her name.

“Apparently there’s an offshore account in
Singapore with sixteen million dollars that has my name on it. I just found out
about it today. I guess my aunt was aware of its existence, but she never said
a word.” She still couldn’t comprehend the magnitude of her losses. With the
exception of Stormy, she’d basically lost everyone she loved that night.

“I’m aware of the account.”

“You are? Then why are you questioning me about
it?”

“I need your side of the story. Is part of it
First Freedom’s ten million?”

“I don’t think so. I think it’s money my father
took before he died. Possibly some of it belongs to Xander’s family. I’m really
not sure.”

He nodded.

“I think Mary or the man she works for has First
Freedom’s money. At least that’s what she said to me.” Nicole released a pent
up breath and met his gaze square on. “Detective Holden. I know how this
looks.”

“How’s that?”

“Like I’m guilty. Like I had something to do with
the theft, with Xander and Riley getting shot. But I have proof. On that video.
There’s someone there with me. I think it’s the real thief.”

“I’m aware of the second person. We’re currently
investigating that aspect.” He dropped his pen and leaned forward on the desk. “Ms.
Camden, to be honest, I was certain you were involved. But…Mary broke and gave
her confession in exchange for leniency. She’s willing to testify against
Georgio Donati, and quite frankly, he’s a much bigger fish. If what she says is
true, you are another victim in this case.”

She stared at him a moment, replaying his words,
wondering if she’d heard incorrectly. “You believe me?”

“It appears you’re telling the truth. We still
have more investigating to do. We’ll definitely be chasing down the information
Mary gave us. I’ll need to talk to your aunt and Xander. We’re waiting on more
details from Singapore, which it appears we may get. If the account is in your
name, and we have your cooperation, it should speed things up.”

“Oh, my God.” She couldn’t believe it. “So, I’m
free to go?”

“You can leave.” He stood. “The building, but not
the city, if you don’t mind.”

She tried to laugh at his attempt at humor, but
failed. She stood, her legs still weak and shaky.

“Do you have a phone so I can call a cab? She
hoped she could find a cabbie willing to wait for her to retrieve her wallet
from her apartment since she hadn’t brought it with her.

“I can have an officer drop you home. Your
neighbor is here as well. Janie. She came downtown to make a statement. If
you’d like, you can ride home together.”

“Janie’s here? She owed her so much and couldn’t
wait to thank her.

Detective Holden led Nicole to the waiting room
out front where Janie sat alone in a row of chairs. The moment she spied
Nicole, she hurried toward her, throwing her arms around her.

Nicole responded with a fierce hug.

“Thank God you’re okay.”

“Officer Helberg is waiting out front when you’re
ready,” Detective Holden interjected.

Janie released her and turned to the handsome
officer, holding out a hand to shake. “Thank you so much, detective. Things
would have turned out very differently if you and your men hadn’t shown up.”

The officer took her hand in his, an interested
smile spreading over his lips. “My pleasure, Janie.”

Nicole lifted a brow, surprised at the obvious
attraction sparking between the two. She waited until they finished their short
exchange, and then she and Janie headed for the exit.

“Did I miss something?” Nicole asked as they
headed for the police cruiser waiting for them.

“What do you mean? Janie wouldn’t meet her gaze.

“You two seemed awfully friendly.”

She shook her head. “He’s just doing his job. Besides,
you know I have one man too many already.”

Talk of her loser boyfriend reminded Nicole of
the dogs. “Did Paul get Stormy and Apollo?”

“They’re safe at my house.”

“Thank God.” If only she could say the same for
Xander.

*        *        *

“Hey, dude. How are you doing?”

The sound of Sam’s voice cut through the
medication fog Xander had been enjoying, and he fully opened his eyes. “Hey.”

“The nurses taking good care of you?”

Xander tried to sit up farther in his hospital
bed, but the effort seemed too much and he fell back against his pillow. “No
cute ones.”

Sam laughed. “That sucks.” He cleared his throat
as he sat in the chair next to the bed. “Seriously, though, how are you doing?”

“I’m good. Going home soon. Tomorrow if the doc
clears me.”

“Nicole’s been here, you know.”

He sighed, knowing they had some things to talk
about, but he needed to get his feet under him first. “I know.”

“Like every day.”

“I know, all right? I’ll talk to her. Don’t worry
about me.” He scrubbed the two-day growth on his face. “I think you have more
serious problems right under your nose. Like how did that shadow person
disappear from the video, and how did anyone outside of our group and the
police department know about the sixteen million? I’m pretty sure Donati’s
group didn’t figure it out at the exact same time we did.”

It was Sam’s turn to sigh. “Damn it. I know. The
bad part is there’s a conspirator in the police department. The good part is
this person might provide a direct link and evidence against Donati. Hunter and
I have been wanting to bust him for a long time.

“Looks like we’ve both got a few battles ahead of
us, doesn’t it?”

“It does.”

*        *        *

Nicole leashed up Stormy and Apollo, preparing
them for their last walk of the night. It had been over a week since the
shooting, and Xander had not come to claim his dog. He’d been released from the
hospital, so it wasn’t that. Maybe he didn’t love Apollo like she’d thought. Maybe
he’d never loved her, either.

The first four days after their horrific event,
Nicole had tried repeatedly to see Xander in the hospital, only to be chased
away by some intimidating men telling her in no uncertain terms he wasn’t up
for visitors. The men included the unfriendly guy she’d seen at Xander’s office
and Christian who had been willing to give her a job, but now met her with a
cold stare. When she tried again on the fifth day, she ran into Detective
Holden who’d informed her that Xander knew she’d visited, and he’d get his dog
from her as soon as possible.

She’d walked away feeling like the worst person
ever. If her father hadn’t destroyed Xander’s dad, they would have never met. Xander
wouldn’t have a hole in him from trying to protect her.

Part of her was extremely angry for the way he’d
implanted himself in her life, but the love she felt for him far outweighed her
anger. It might seem irrational, but when was love sensible?

She wished he felt the same way. She’d thought no
one would be able to convince her he didn’t love her, but she was starting to
falter. He’d told her he loved her when he’d thought she was asleep, and she
was sure she’d felt it in her heart. But it seemed they’d both been caught in a
web that had been woven by their fathers, and who knew what the final damage would
be?

She’d prayed they’d find each other now that
they’d disentangled themselves.

But he’d been out of the hospital several days,
and she hadn’t heard from him. Maybe it
had
all been about revenge, and
he didn’t want her or Apollo.

She let the dogs lead her down the stairs of her
apartment, memories of that night fresh enough to nauseate her as she passed
the spot where Xander had been shot. The dogs tried to pause and sniff, but she
forced them on their way. She’d had a heck of a time in her apartment where
Riley had been shot. The cleaning company had done a good job removing visual
traces, but there were some things no amount of cleaner could erase.

Luckily, Riley had pulled through. She still
visited him in the hospital daily, but he’d be going home soon. She had yet to
face her aunt. She’d insisted she needed time, and that was the least the woman
could give her.

A cool breeze hit her face when she opened the
door to the outside. She headed down the sidewalk toward the park trying to
keep her waning hope alive.

Not many people out tonight. Only a white sedan
and a little black Focus in the parking lot. She wasn’t afraid, though. The
park was well lit, and no one would bother her with Stormy and Apollo in hand.

She started down the first stretch of sidewalk,
stopping to let Apollo take care of business. She used the plastic doggie bag
to clean it and tossed it in the nearby trash can.

“Cute puppy,” a deep voice said from behind,
nearly stopping her heart.

She couldn’t turn, afraid it would be someone who
only sounded like Xander. Apollo tugged on his leash, furiously wagging his
tail.

“Are you not going to talk to me, then?” he
asked.

She dropped her gaze before turning, looking at
his feet first before trusting her eyes enough to raise them. “Xander,” she
whispered when her gaze met his. Tears sprang to her eyes to see him alive and
looking so damn good. “Are you okay?”

He shrugged. “That depends on you. I can heal
from a gunshot wound. Not so sure I can lose you.”

“Oh, God.” She slammed herself against him,
earning a groan from him, as she hugged him as tightly as she could. “I can’t
lose you, either.”

They held each other as the dogs barked and
danced around them, wanting to join in.

“Can you ever forgive me, Nicole? I’m praying you
can understand where I was coming from. I know it’s not a good enough excuse to
not trust the person I love more than anything in the world, but I’d been
messed up by my dad’s death for a long time, and I guess it had a stronger hold
on me than I realized.”

“Of course, I forgive you.” She leaned back,
looking at his beautiful eyes. There was no mistaking they had some distance to
erase between them. “There’s been a lot of hurt and deceit, lies and pain between
our two families, but our future doesn’t belong to them.”

“I guess it’s up to us to fix it.”

She nodded. “I’d like that. We can do what they
couldn’t. Let’s make what we’ve been through count for something.”

He kissed her until every inch of her turned to
molten love. “Thanks for taking care of Apollo. I knew he was safe with you.”

“I wanted to see you in the hospital. I tried. Those
guys wouldn’t let me.”

“I know. They’re a little overprotective.”

“Who are they? Not brothers? They’d been too
close in age and were too dissimilar in looks.

“Brothers of a sort. I’ll fill you in later. Right
now, I’d like to take you home with me. Permanently, if that’s okay with you.”

She widened her eyes. “Oh, Xander. I’d love that.
I didn’t know how I could stay another day in that building where you were shot.
If I had a job, I would have left already.”

“Yeah. I’m not too fond of the place, either.”

“I still don’t know how you knew I was in danger.
Janie called the police.” She narrowed her gaze. “But you’re not an officer. And
how did you find out about the offshore account? I didn’t even know about it.” She
tilted her head from side to side as though that would help her sort through
things. “Although Aunt Claire did.”

He took her chin, kissing her firmly on the lips.
“This is going to take longer than a chat on a street corner. Can you trust me
enough to wait? There are some confidential things, things that might take time
to explain, and I’d like to get you home first.”

Impatience pushed at her, but she trusted her man.
“Fine. But I can’t wait long. I feel like everyone knows everything except me.”

“You’ll know soon enough.” He took the leashes in
one hand and hers in the other as they started walking back toward her
apartment.

“Wait. I actually do know something you don’t.”

“Really? He seemed surprised.

“I have your money. Your dad’s money. At least
most of it. Aunt Claire cooperated and gave the police the information she had
on what was put into that account in Singapore. Some of it was from another
heist my father pulled off. The rest was from your dad. My aunt spent some of
it hiring Riley to look after me and installing a security system at her house.
The police suggested I divide it percentage wise and give it back to both
parties including you and your brother.”

He chuckled. “Actually, I already knew that.”

“What?” she turned to him with a surprised look. “How
could you? I’ve only known for a couple of hours.”

“It’s all part of the story. You’ll have to be
patient.” They reached her apartment, and he paused on the front step. “Think
we can pack it all tonight?”

She laughed. “No.”

“Want to buy new instead? Apparently, we have
millions.”

“Honestly? It doesn’t matter as long as I have
you.” She pulled him toward her, pressing her lips to the man who would hold
her heart forever. “I love you, Xander. I’ll always love you.”