When Love Intrudes (When the Mission Ends) (4 page)

“No, I don’t. Nathan mentioned that he might be able to go home tonight.”

“Maybe. It depends on what his doctor says.” She frowned and tilted her head at him in question. “Why do I get the feeling you’re worried about that?”

“Because you’ve always been too damn perceptive.”

“Aw, Detective, you’re such a sweet-talker.”

He rolled his eyes at her. “Toni, this is serious. We had to let those guys out today.”

Her entire body stilled and tightened. “What? I don’t understand. Why? Why would you let out the guys who hurt him? Don’t you have the evidence to put them away?”

“We’re getting it, Toni, but one of them is well-connected. I don’t think they will mess with Nathan again, but take him back to your place. Keep him with you, if you can.”

Worry filled her eyes, but more than a little anger simmered there, too. “No worries, Detective. That was the plan anyway. I’ll keep him safe, since he’s obviously not a priority to anyone else.”

“He couldn’t ask for a better nurse.” And suddenly, the force pressing on his chest was too much. Memories of her holding his hand through the pain-filled nights after his surgery and the resulting infection overwhelmed him. He couldn’t stay here with her anymore or he’d be on his knees asking her forgiveness. He ignored her widened eyes as he jumped up to leave.

“I have to get back to the station.” He took a step away from the table before he remembered one other thing and turned back around. “Does Nathan have health insurance?”

She glanced away. “It’s fine. It’s all worked out.”

That’s what he figured. She planned to cover it for Nathan and she didn’t have that kind of money either. So he just gave her a quick nod and said, “Okay, I’ll be in touch. Call me if you need anything.”

Then he stopped by the financial department on the way out. It wasn’t much, but he could take care of that for her. He owed her so much more. 

It took twenty-four hours longer than expected to get Nathan checked out of the hospital. His blood pressure was fluctuating too much for his doctor to feel comfortable letting him go with all the bruising to his torso. They kept him an extra day for observation and to make sure something else wasn’t going on internally, but thankfully, nothing ever presented.

Toni sat with him in his hospital room, waiting to leave as soon as they received the final paperwork from the nurse. For the last several hours, Nathan had grown increasingly quiet and Toni couldn’t leave it alone anymore.

“What’s bothering you?”

He glanced around the hospital room before whispering, “How much do you think all this is going to cost?” A nurse walked in so he lowered his voice even more. “I don’t have very much saved. I’m sure it’s not enough to even cover the ambulance.”

“Don’t worry, Nate. I have it covered.” Her credit card would cover the payments, but before she could explain that, the nurse broke in holding out a sheet of paper.

“Oh, honey, you don’t have to worry about it. Someone has already taken care of your bill for you.”

Toni’s shocked gaze swung to the nurse. “What?” She grabbed the paper the nurse offered and searched for a name…
Brian Barnes
. Why would he pay Nathan’s hospital bill?

Nathan saw it, too. “That’s the detective, right?”

She nodded, stunned. This bill had been thousands of dollars and it said right there in black and white that Brian had paid it in full. It didn’t make any sense.

Scowling, Nathan’s lips pressed into a flat line. “Has he been bothering you? Is this his way of getting into your pants?”

“Nathan! No! He’s not that type of guy. I haven’t even talked to him since he questioned you yesterday. Believe me; he’s not interested in me that way.” She looked back down at the bill. “Honestly, I have no idea why he did this, but don’t worry about it right now, okay? Let’s just get out of here. We’ll sort it out later.”

Toni was thankful that Nathan didn’t pursue it any further while the nurse rolled his wheelchair out the hospital door.

He rolled his eyes at her as they exited the hospital. “I don’t know what lies you’re telling yourself, but the evidence says otherwise.” He nodded his head to her car parked curbside. Brian leaned against her car.

In jeans and a leather jacket, Brian took her breath away. His blond wavy hair ruffled across his forehead in the autumn breeze and her fingers itched to touch it, to touch him. Instead she curled her damp hands against her jean-clad thighs.

Nathan muttered under his breath, “Not interested, my ass.”

Brian stood straighter and gave them a cautious smile as they approached.

“What are you doing here?” Toni asked.

The smile immediately disappeared as he glanced around the parking lot. “I called the nurses’ station and they told me Nathan was going home. I just wanted to make sure there wasn’t any trouble.”

“Do you really think they would be stupid enough to come after him again?” She looked around the parking lot nervously.

Nathan’s voice was low and alarmed when he asked, “What are y’all talking about?”

She hadn’t told him the men who attacked him had been set free. She didn’t want to scare him, not when he had other things to worry about with his recovery. And his nightmares were bad enough already.

Toni raised a hand to placate him. “Relax, it’s okay. I’ll explain everything when we get home. Let’s just go, okay?”

Nathan nodded hesitantly as he got into the passenger’s side, wincing at the pain the movement caused his bruised ribs.

Toni thanked the nurse and turned to get into the car. Brian stopped her with a hand on her arm. That slight touch sent alarming tingles of awareness across her skin. She couldn’t let him affect her again. That way would just lead to more heartache.

“I’ll follow you back to your place.”

She resisted the urge to argue with him. She needed to talk to him anyway about the hospital bill. So she just bit her tongue and nodded, hoping this over-protectiveness wasn’t the sign of a larger threat coming at them.

As she pulled out of the parking lot, a big grey truck pulled in behind her. It had to be Brian. It struck her as odd that as much as they’d been through together, she didn’t even know what he drove and he’d never been to her apartment, or met her Lab, Sam. She’d never been to his house, either. He’d kicked her out of his life while he’d still been recovering in the hospital.

Glancing over at Nathan, she was surprised to find him scowling.

“Do you want me to get rid of him?” he asked.

“The detective?”

“No, the Easter Bunny.” Nathan rolled his eyes at her. “Yes, the detective. If you don’t want him around, I’ll make sure he leaves us alone.”

Exasperated, she gaped at him. Testosterone was a crazy thing. “And what do you think you’re going to do? You just got out of the hospital and can barely move.” She smiled gently. “I don’t think you’re quite up to defending my honor yet.”

“Damn, knock a guy when he’s down. You don’t think I could take the alpha detective?” He smirked at her and the sight of those shining eyes smiling at her through the bruises on his face made her stomach tumble. She would not let this kid get hurt again.

“I’m sure if you were one hundred percent, you’d have no problem with him,” she said, placating him. “But let’s not test it, okay? Brian isn’t a bad guy. He’s just trying to help.”

“He hurt you before.”

Toni swallowed, before glancing back over at the kid. “I was in a really bad place then. He wasn’t in top form, either. What happened wasn’t his fault. Take him out of the equation and I still would have been a mess emotionally.”

“That may be so, but he certainly didn’t help the matter,” Nathan grumbled.

What could she say to that? Not much. Brian hadn’t helped, but he had been so sick. He had hated that she wanted to help him in his recovery, but he hadn’t had anyone else to sit with him at the hospital, make sure the nurses stayed on top of his pain meds, or to sneak him in contraband food. He didn’t have any family and his friends were all guys who didn’t have the first clue about how to help with his nursing care. Not that Toni knew much either, but she had that feminine nurturing thing down.

She’d just wanted to use some of that on Brian. She couldn’t stand the idea of him spending those weeks all alone in the hospital, but he didn’t want her there. In fact, he’d forced her to leave after two weeks. Then she had to go home and face her own demons, the fact that she’d killed a man. A man she was supposed to care—

“Toni, look out! The light is red!”

Slamming on the brakes, Toni reached across the car to hold Nathan in his seat. The squeal from her tires echoed across her eardrums. She winced as she glanced at Brian in her rearview mirror. He looked furious, but he couldn’t give her a ticket. She’d managed to stop before the light. Barely.

Turning to Nathan, she realized she had still had her hand holding him across his chest.

He snickered as he looked down at it. “You’re going to make an awesome mom. You already have the car thing down. Is that something they teach women in driving school? You know, rather than actual safe driving?”

She pulled her hand back and gave a short, nervous laugh. “Smart-ass. I’m sorry. Are you okay? That couldn’t have helped your ribs any.”

“I’m fine, but I really can’t afford any more hospital visits so keep your concentration on the road not on the guy behind us, okay?”

Her face heated as she blushed. Busted.

Finally, they arrived at the apartment complex. Toni helped Nathan ease out of her car. Brian came up behind her, moved her out of the way, and propped himself under Nathan’s arm to provide support.

“Go unlock the door,” Brian instructed. “I’ll make sure he doesn’t pass out on the way.”

“You’re a regular saint, aren’t you?” Nathan harassed him, obviously disgruntled about the fact that he needed anyone’s help. “I’m fine. I think I can make it to the door by myself.”

As they moved gingerly toward the door, any color Nathan had left in his face, besides the bruises, leeched away. Yeah, he was fine. Not. If Brian hadn’t been holding him, she had no doubt he would have face-planted halfway between the car and the doorway.

She got the door unlocked, stepped in, and grabbed Sam’s collar. Excited because she hadn’t been home in a couple of days, he made sure she knew she was missed as he twisted around her legs. Her boss, Jake, had been checking and walking him, but Sam was never happy if Toni wasn’t around.

As Brian anchored Nathan more securely to his side so he wouldn’t be tripped up by the excited dog in case he got away from Toni, he asked her, “Where do you want him?”

Nathan looked about to drop so she pointed them toward her bedroom.

Brian half-carried Nathan through the door with Toni and the overjoyed Sam right behind them. Gently, he lowered Nathan to the bed. He straightened and glanced around the tiny apartment. She could see the wheels spinning in his head.

“This is just a one-bedroom, isn’t it?” He didn’t even wait for her response before he went on. “If he takes the bed, where are you going to sleep?”

“I’ll be fine on the couch. I fall asleep there half the time anyway.”

Brian pulled the covers to cover Nathan, taking a moment to examine the boy whose eyes were shut. His face had paled even more. The small move from the hospital to apartment had exhausted him.

Brian frowned at his prone form and then glanced back at the dog that Toni still held to keep him calm with all the visitors. “How do you manage a dog that big in an apartment this size?”

“We take lots of walks.” She was starting to feel defensive as Brian asked more questions. No, this wasn’t ideal, but they would manage to make it work.

“What happens if Nathan needs something or those guys come back while you’re out on a walk?”

Nathan’s eyes flew open. She thought he’d fallen into an exhausted sleep, but he’d obviously been listening to them.

“That’s the second time you’ve said something like that. I thought they were in jail.” He gingerly sat up against the pillows. “Why would they come back?”

Brian exchanged a cautious look with Toni. “We had to release them, but don’t worry, they’ll still go to trial. I just worry about retaliation in the meantime.”

Nathan’s eyes widened and he looked to Toni for some sort of reassurance.

She patted his leg, her stomach sinking with how much he counted on her to keep him safe. What if she couldn’t do it? What if those guys came back and tried to go at him again? She tried to smile despite the ice flooding her veins, but it felt brittle.

Brian took a deep breath and sat on the edge of the bed. “Listen guys.” He looked around the apartment again. “I’ll be honest. The ring leader of this bunch is bad news. I don’t get the feeling he’s going to leave this alone and his dad isn’t much better. I don’t like having you both here.
Nathan, you’re still recovering, the apartment complex security sucks, and this apartment is too small for the both of you plus your mammoth dog.”

All of a sudden, Toni knew how Alice felt as she fell down the rabbit hole. What was Brian proposing here? It’s not like they had a whole lot of options.

“I’m sure we’ll be fine. We’ll make it work.” Toni glanced over at Nathan for support, but he still looked a little shell-shocked at the idea that the guys who assaulted him could be coming back for more. She hated the fear in his eyes.

“Toni,” Brian pulled her attention back from Nathan, “I live in a big old farmhouse out on the edge of town. It’s a four bedroom so there’s plenty of room for all of us plus it’s on a couple of acres so there’s room for Sam to roam, too. It’s not even that far from the airport so your commute to Mad Rob would be shorter.” He looked back over to Nathan. “I have an Xbox360 and there’s a pond out back where you can go fishing, if you’re into that sort of thing.”

“You think Nathan would be safer there?” Toni bit her lip, really tempted. She’d never forgive herself if Nathan got hurt again.

Brian took a deep breath and nodded. “The entire property is fenced and there’s a gate on the drive so it’s secure, too.”

She turned to get Nathan’s opinion. She knew he had concerns about Brian. Hell, she had her concerns, too, but if it meant keeping him safe, she could resist the pull to the handsome detective. “What do you think? Until your arm heals, you’re not going to be able to work at the coffee shop or ride your motorcycle. No one would think to look for you there, so you’d be safer.”

“I’ll still need to be able to work on my computer programming. I can’t go very long without making some money.” Nathan cocked his head at Brian. “What’s your Wi-Fi like?”

“I have the fastest system we can get in this area of the country.”

“Okay,” Nathan sighed tiredly and then exchanged one more questioning gaze with Toni. “If you think it would be better, I’m okay with it,” he told her.

“Brian, are you sure?” Oh God, was she making a huge mistake even considering this? “We would definitely be encroaching on your space and I know how you feel about that.”

His gaze lowered, as did his voice. “That was a totally different set of circumstances.” His eyes pleaded with her when he met her gaze once again. “This time, I’d be taking care of you, not the other way around. Let me help. Please?”