Killer Curves (Dangerous Curves Book 3) (20 page)

“Because we can only give patient information to family and people whom the patient has authorized us to speak to. Gabriela is not talking, so we have no way of being certain that she’d want any of these…
gentlemen
to know her private medical details.” The sneer on his face matched the one in his voice perfectly.

Maria stared at him, completely floored by this whole thing. King watched her and he could practically
hear
her brain whirring around in that pretty head: she was slowly but surely thinking about losing her shit, he just knew it.

“Then tell me,” she said.

“And you are?” Dr. Walker’s face was closed and suspicious, his tone rude.

Every other man in the room knew that he’d gone too far now, that Maria was done dealing with him and his bullshit. The sweet, shy woman who had walked in to the room just three minutes before was gone now, long gone, and in her place was the woman who had pulled the trigger last night. Strong, furious, cool. Steel and fire and ice. She narrowed those eyes like she was taking aim and to a man, they almost shivered.

“I’m Gabi’s sister, you supercilious little dickhead,” Maria said in a gravely voice that would do credit to Clint Eastwood. “Tell me what the fuck is going on with her. And I mean
now
.”

Dr. Walker’s mouth dropped open and he sputtered.

“I – I’ll get your sister’s chart. We’ll go over it together.”

“You do that. And just by the way? Since I
am
her family,
I’ll
decide who can visit Gabi – and Aidan is at the top of the list and no discussion. We clear?”

He nodded. They watched him hurry out of the room and Aidan turned to Maria.

“I like you,” Aidan said. “I like you
a
lot
.”

“Yeah.” Dillon ran an affectionate hand over Maria’s back. “Don’t mess with a Torres woman, huh?”

“No shit.” King’s gray eyes were amused. “Way to put the fear of God in him, honey.”

“He’s an asshole,” she said, surprising them all again with her odd combination of sweetness and bad-assedness.

“Indeed he is,” Jax agreed. “But you can put him in his place, yeah?”

“Damn right.” Maria sat down now. “So let’s see what he has to say about Gabi and then Aidan, you go in and see her. I’ll wait.”

“Oh, no, darlin’. You go visit your sister.”

“No. You first. I’ll go in later.”

“Thank you.” His voice was soft, almost broken. “You don’t know what it means to me.”

She blinked up at him. “Of course I do, Aidan. You love her.”

“Yeah.” He smiled. “Yeah, I do.”

Chapter Nineteen

Ten minutes later, Aidan was sitting with Gabriela. She was still sedated, thank God and according to the doctor’s notes, she hadn’t been fully awake or aware since she’d arrived at the hospital that morning. The one time that she’d woken up, she’d been damn near hysterical and they’d immediately put her under again.

He stared at her, wanting her to open her eyes but afraid of what would happen when she did. Physically, she checked out just fine which was amazing: some bruising on her chin and cheeks, a bit of dehydration, some damage to her knuckles where she’d obviously been punching the lid of the box. But Aidan wasn’t so worried about the physical.

What had she gone through down there for almost twelve hours? Trapped and in darkness, alone and unheard? Knowing that she was buried alive, that her air was slowly but surely depleting with every single breath that she took? Torn between wanting to scream and kick for help and wanting to stay silent and still to make the oxygen last as long as possible as she prayed for rescue?

Gabriela had been close to death – mere breaths away from it. She’d been in a casket, in a tomb, and she knew it. She may well have given up at some point, he thought. Maybe she’d just closed her eyes and welcomed the blackness with open arms. She may have even begged for it, just to end the terror and escape the suffocating, unforgiving dark. She may have been seeking a quieter, gentler blackness.

Suddenly, she jerked on the bed, twisting and clutching the bed sheets and Aidan jumped to his feet.

“Gabriela?”

She turned in the direction of his voice.

“Baby?” His hands were shaking when he touched her face. “You hear me?”

Those incredible eyes opened now and Aidan almost groaned. They were blank, empty dark holes in her face. She just – she wasn’t
there
. He didn’t see any of Gabriela’s spark or sass, her warmth and humor were gone. She gazed at him as if he were a stranger and that was when he fully understood what had been shining bright in her eyes when she’d looked at him before: pure love. Its pointed absence cut him deeply, all the more so because without it his own life was blank and empty.

She’s still down in the ground… she’s trapped in the dark
.

“Gabriela?”

She turned her face away from him this time, stared at the wall. She was silent and unmoving and her hand was limp in his. He clutched it tighter and his heart swelled with every single thing he’d ever felt for her. It swelled until all those things worked their way up his throat and then came out of his mouth in a flow of honeyed, heated words.

“Baby, I know you can feel what I’m saying even if you can’t hear me… so just
feel
me, OK? Feel how much I love you, angel, and know that I’m right here. I’m here and I’m staying with you.”

She blinked slowly at the wall.

“You’re out of the ground and the dark now, Gabriela. You’re up in the air and the sun and you’re safe… you’re with me and the boys are outside and Maria is here. We’re not going to let anyone or anything hurt you ever again. I’m going to spend the rest of my life keeping you safe, just
keeping
you, baby, keeping you in my arms and close to me. You’re going to be warm and happy and loved. So fucking
loved
. You just don’t know yet… but you will be.”

Her eyes closed again, her breath slowed. He watched as she fell asleep once more, just fell back into silence and darkness. Aidan was sure that she hadn’t heard a word that he’d said and the despair was huge and overwhelming.

Please come back to me. We can heal anything together; I know we can. All you have to do is take the first few steps, baby, and I’ll carry you the rest of the way. Just come back.

**

Gabi opened her eyes, squinted at the light.

Light? I’m in the light?

“Gabi?”

She frowned at the soft voice that seemed very close by. Was someone in the ground with her?

“Can you hear me?”

Gabi turned her head and blinked once, twice. Her eyes were adjusting to the sunshine –
it’s sunny here!
– and she slowly focused on the person sitting next to her. It was a woman and she looked very familiar. Gabi stared at the dark eyes and for some reason, she thought of her father’s. They were the same shape and they had the same expression that her father’s had had that time that she’d fallen and cracked her head open. She’d needed seven stitches and that haunted look hadn’t left his eyes for hours and hours.

“Hi,” the woman said now.

Gabi blinked again.

“So I met Aidan,” the woman said bizarrely and out-of-the-blue. “Let me tell you, sis, he is something else, huh? All hot and gold like the sun – and that accent? God, it makes me melt a bit, you know?”

Aidan? She knows Aidan?

“I know we talked about him damn near to death, but you did
not
do the man justice. He’s sweeter and sexier than you said. And what I told you about Dillon? It’s about one-half of what I really feel for him. He’s – I love him. I mean, really
really
love him.”

She knows Dillon too? Wait… I
do
know her. Maria.

Maria touched Gabi’s cheek gently and Gabi felt the sudden urge to smile. Maria was here.
Her sister
was here.

“You love Aidan?” Maria said now.

Gabi nodded.
Yes. Yes, I do. With everything that I have.

“So I was thinking about staying here for a while,” Maria said, her hand so warm and all wrapped around Gabi’s cold one. “In Denver. I want to be here with you and I want to figure some things out with Dillon and I need to – to get away from Open Skies. I need a break from work, you know.”

Maria was babbling and she knew it, but her sister was actually focusing on her now and she was terrified if she stopped talking, Gabi would just drift away again.

“My boss gets back from her honeymoon today, so I’ll call her later and ask for a vacation,” Maria rattled on. “I think she’ll say yes and then I can come and see you every day, here and at home with Aidan. I mean, if you want me to. Do you want me to?”

Gabi nodded.
Yes. Oh, yes. Please stay.

“OK, so.” Maria exhaled and Gabi saw a bit of color come in to her cheeks. “I’ll stay.”

It took a great deal of effort for Gabi to open her mouth, but somehow she did it.

“How long?” she rasped. “How long will you stay?”

Maria jumped a bit. “As long as you need me, sis.”

I like that you call me ‘sis’.

“Really?”

“Yes.” Maria smoothed her hair back.

“I’m going to need you for a while.”

“That’s OK.”

“You won’t get fired?”

“No. No, I’ll be fine.”

She stared at Maria’s golden glow, at her amazing warmth, and that’s when Gabi realized that she had changed in some fundamental way, deep inside. Gabi knew now that something had entered her down in the earth, something dark and cold. It was clinging to her bones, it was squeezing the air out of her lungs, it was chilling her blood. It was death’s shadow, maybe, or fear so all-encompassing that even once it ends, it never really releases its hold on you.

“It was bad,” Gabi said, her throat full of the taste of earth and terror again.

Maria’s face contorted. “What they did to you?”

Gabi nodded. “Do you know?”

“No.” Maria looked afraid. “Do you want to tell me?”

The thought of saying any of the words aloud was beyond understanding. “No. Not yet. Is that OK?”

“Yes.”

“I’m not ready.”

“Will you let me know when you are ready? Talk to me?”

Gabi nodded.

“OK, then.” Maria held her hand tighter and Gabi tightened her grip too. “You want to be quiet now? Just breathe?”

And of all the things in the world that Maria could have said at that moment,
this
was the most perfect… she somehow knew that all Gabi could handle right now was breathing. Taking deep, unrestricted breaths in the open air and the sun. Taking them without fear that the next one may be her last, without worrying that she’d just depleted her meagre reserve even more. Gabi needed to start to accept that the very thing keeping her alive was no longer killing her. It was safe to breathe now.

Gabi nodded. “Just breathe.”

“Alright.” Maria kissed her fingers and pressed them to Gabi’s cheek. Gabi closed her eyes at that tender touch. “Whatever you need. I’m here.”

Just breathe with me.

Chapter Twenty
One month later

Mac drove up to the Heart Centre, impressed as hell. Naomi had finished the first round of renovations and expansions in what had to be record time, and tonight was the gala to celebrate stage one’s completion.

He parked his truck in the first available spot and slammed the door, checking out the fancy cars. It seemed that Naomi’s organization was attracting a decent donor base and thank God for that. Her program for autistic artists was amazing, and so were her free art workshops for autistic kids and adults. The woman had worked her ass off to make this work and Mac was thrilled for her.

He entered the lobby, walked on through to the huge open-plan area. Normally, it was full of easels and paints and people working, but tonight, it was full of art on display and interested buyers. Mac saw wait staff circulating with trays of wine and beer, he smelled something delicious and guessed that food was also being served. He glanced down at himself, suddenly self-conscious about the fact that he was in jeans. Yeah, OK, he had on a nice dress shirt but still… with his long hair and tattoos, he was definitely the low-rent gala attendee.

From across the room, Naomi saw Mac and shot over to him. She was in a stunning blue dress that hugged every one of her curves. Her face was glowing and Mac just opened his arms to her and enveloped her in a huge hug.

“Hey, sweet thing,” he drawled. “The place is looking good.”

“Not bad, huh?” She smiled up at him, alight with happiness. “Art With Heart’s doing OK, MacIntyre.”

“Yep, I can see that.” He nodded at Jax, Sarah and Noah, saw King with his niece Callie, idly noted that Jax and King actually owned suits. He looked around at the crowd of people perusing the displayed art and he whistled in admiration. “Any sales yet?”

“Oh, yeah. You gonna buy something?”

“I can’t imagine
not
buying.”

She grinned at him. “Good man.”

He spotted a dark-haired woman over in the corner and he squinted. “Is that Maria?”

“No. She’s not here yet.”

“So she and Dillon
will
be here? And Gabi and Aidan?”

Her face clouded. “Well, Maria and Dillon for sure.”

“Oh, great. She’s doing better?”

Naomi nodded. “Maria’s actually doing pretty damn well. You heard that the investigation in to the shooting up at Open Skies got dropped yesterday, right?”

“No.” Mac shook his head. “I’ve been in New York these past two weeks doing a private consultation and I just flew back this morning.”

“Oh, yeah. King did tell me that, but I’ve been so wrapped up in this gala that I completely forgot. Sorry.”

“No biggie. So what’d the cops say?”

“Well, the cops and D.A.
finally
all agree that Maria was acting in self-defense.”

“Well, no big surprise there, huh? Considering what happened up at Open Skies and with Gabi being fucking buried alive… I can’t see how
anybody
could deny that those boys were out for blood.”

“Yeah, true enough.”

“And the Fallen Angels? Captain was up at the ranch with a gun in his hand, so it’s pretty damn clear that they were a part of this mess.”

“The club is claiming complete ignorance about his involvement. Their lawyer says that Captain was up there on his own accord and Trigger had no knowledge about any of it. Trigger’s claiming to be quite annoyed, actually, that one of his men was engaging in freelance murder-for-hire. Says he doesn’t condone that kind of illegal behavior
at all
.”

Mac sighed. “Fuck.”

“I know. The good thing is they have that one guy from the Open Skies fiasco who’s still alive. He’s talking and King’s police contacts say that he’s throwing
everyone
under the bus.”

“Trigger?”

“Him and also some guy named Al Jensen back in Boston.”

“Jensen?” Mac looked shocked. “Some relation of Kirk Jensen’s?”

“Half-brother, apparently.”

“Goddammit. So Kirk’s brother sends some Boston boys here to clean up a mess created by Kirk’s favorite thug-for-hire and his MC.”

“Incestuous, huh?”

“Urgh. How much of this will stick?”

“No idea, but King says not much. The word of a contract killer doesn’t carry much weight, Santos’ body still hasn’t turned up and Gabi saw nothing when she was grabbed.”

“They’re going to get away with it all, aren’t they?” Mac said softly. “Murder and kidnapping and what they did to Gabi?”

Naomi bit her lip. “Honestly? Probably yes.”

They stared at each other grimly then Naomi shook herself a bit, looked to lift the mood again.

"Anyway,” she said. “Just two days ago Maria found a job here in Denver and she’ll be staying for a while.”

Mac was glad for the change in subject. “A job?”

“Yeah, just something temporary while she and Dillon figure out what they’re going to do. She’s a nanny for a woman who’s new in town and who needs some child care for the next six months. After that, the kid will have a place in a state-sponsored program, but the Mom needs to cover the time until then out-of-pocket.”

“Oh, wow.” Mac thought about Maria’s kindness, her shy smile. “I think she’ll love being around a kid every day.”

“Yeah, she’s pretty happy about it.”

“And Gabi?”

Naomi hesitated. “You haven’t talked to her? Or to Aidan about her?”

“I haven’t seen her since she left the hospital and Aidan doesn’t say much when I call to check in,” Mac said quietly. “Which tells me a lot, of course.”

“Yeah, well.” Naomi sighed. “She’s – struggling.”

“I’m not surprised.”

Naomi bit her lip. “I don’t want to say too much more… I feel like I’m betraying her confidence.”

“She talks to you?”

“No, she doesn't leave Aidan's apartment. But she talks to Maria and I meet Maria and Sarah every Saturday morning for coffee and we all talk.”

Mac was just thinking that those must be some seriously heart-wrenching coffee mornings when he looked across the massive room and saw her. She was standing there staring at him, a cup of something hot and steaming in her hands. She was pale and shaking at the sight of him, shock written bright and bold across her beautiful face.

The last time that Mac had seen her, her hair had been honey-blonde, she’d been fresh-faced and glowing, and she’d lived in loose dresses. Now, her hair was bright pink, her face was covered in dramatic make-up and piercings, she had a tattoo on her neck, her amazing body was covered in tight garish clothes – but it was her, no fucking doubt. One thing about her hadn’t changed and he zeroed in on it.

Mac looked across the room and met Mirrie’s eyes – those perfect violet eyes that he’d dreamt about almost every night for the past four years. Eyes that had bewitched him even before she’d said a word, before he’d even known her name. Eyes that he never thought he’d see again.

What the fuck? I thought she’d left Denver…

Mirrie was frozen, simply unable to believe that Shane was standing in the same goddamn room that she was. Somewhere deep inside, though, she’d always known that this day would come. More than once, she’d glanced up at the door of the café where she worked and seen a man with long blond hair walking in and her heart had stopped dead in her chest. Every single time, she imagined that it was him, that he’d see her, that he’d finally know that she was still in the city. And even after years of imagining this exact moment, she
still
didn’t have the first clue what to say to him.

How do I even
begin
to apologize for what I did?

Naomi saw their held gaze. “Oh, do you two know each other?”

“No,” Mac said, forcing his usual who-the-fuck-cares-anyway drawl in to his words. “Why don’t you introduce us, hon?”

Mirrie automatically tensed, hoping and praying that Noami used the ‘right’ last name. She had told Naomi over and over again that although Naomi and her boss Spider knew her real name, nobody else on the planet did. The surname ‘Kane’ was far too well-known in Denver and everything associated with it was negative and disturbing. She’d paid a lot of money to buy a whole new life almost five years ago – and she’d worked damn hard to make sure that Miranda Kane had disappeared for good.

After the Fallen Angels tried to kill her, I finished the job once and for all. That woman is dead.

“Sure,” Naomi said without missing a beat. “This is Miranda Campbell, a good friend of mine. Mirrie, this is Shane MacIntyre, but we all call him Mac.”

By some goddamn miracle, Mac pulled himself together, crossed the room with his hand extended. “Hi, Miranda.”

Numbly, she accepted his handshake, remembering those incredible hands on her. “Mac. Good to meet you.”

He nodded silently, released her hand. He stepped back now, turned his broad back, turned away. Mirrie tried not to mind too much; after all, she’d done the exact same thing to him years ago.

“So!” Naomi said brightly, not noticing a thing. “You want a tour of the new work areas, Mac? Seeing as you contributed to the organization and helped me to get these renovations done, I figure you’ll want to see where your donation went?”

“Of course I do.” He grabbed a beer from a passing waiter. “Lead on, yeah?”

Mirrie watched them go, her throat closed and tight with emotion. The day of reckoning was here at long last – and she wasn’t anything
like
ready for it.

**

An hour later, Mirrie was in the staff kitchen making some more tea. She had her back to the buzz and activity in the main room and she was gazing out the window. God, the mountains were so beautiful; they were hands-down the best part about living in Denver.

She was lost in thought, just feeling relaxed and dreamy and that’s when she heard footsteps behind her. The kitchen door closed and the air changed and she just
knew
.

“Hi, Shane,” she said without turning around.

“Hi, Mirrie.”

She faced him now, bracing for maximum impact. She’d fantasized about him so many times and for so long, she thought that there would be
no way
that Shane MacIntyre in the flesh could stack up to her dreams and memories. But she was wrong –
way
wrong. Her dreams and memories of him were
nothing
compared to the reality of the man standing in front of her.

Shane was bigger, more gorgeous, more powerful. His long blond hair framed that handsome face… a face that she’d watched sleep, a face that had been so open and soft every time he’d looked at her with those clear blue eyes. Not now, though. Now his face was hard and closed to her and she crossed her arms against it.

“I waited for you.” Despite his furious expression, his voice was small, hurt. “I waited up at my cabin for three days.”

Mirrie flinched. “I’m sorry.”

“Why didn’t you come? You said you’d be there.”

“My life was – complicated then.”

“Yeah, I knew that part. Why didn’t you talk to me about it?”

“I – I…” She looked away. “I didn’t know how.”

“You open your fucking mouth and you use your words and you
talk
.” Here came the anger now and Mirrie welcomed it. Anger was hurt’s twin sister, she knew, but it was still easier to handle Shane’s naked aggression than his naked pain. “I knew that you’d been through something hellish, Mirrie, I knew that better than anyone. I wanted to be there for all of it and I said so. I said I’d wait until you were ready to confide in me. So why didn’t you?”

“I just couldn’t.”

“So I get a fucking e-mail instead? Three lines, saying that you need a fresh start and that you’re leaving Denver and thanks for everything? Where did you go, anyway?”

Mirrie hesitated. “I – I never left.”

Mac stared at her, stunned. “You never left.”

“No. I’ve been in Denver this whole time.”

“And you never made contact?”

She shook her head.

“I don’t get it.” He ran a large hand over his face, looking weary. “How could you do that to me? After everything we had together?”

“Because.” Mirrie’s voice came out raw and torn. “Because the Miranda Campbell that you knew was a fabrication, Shane.” She swallowed. “Nothing that I ever told you was true. Every single thing that you think you know about me is a lie.”

“Bullshit.”

“What?”

“What you felt for me was real and I fucking
know
it. The way you touched me, kissed me, looked at me… none of
that
was a lie. Was it?”

She looked away.

“Mirrie? Was it?”

“No,” she said quietly. “No, I never lied about my feelings for you.”

“So start talking and I mean right now.” His voice rose. “You owe me at least that much.”

“Can’t we just – just forget that we saw each other again? Just pretend it never happened?”

“Are you fucking kidding me?”

“What will it accomplish to rehash all of this?” She was almost begging with him now. “It’s been over four years and I’m assuming we’ve both moved on… what good can come out of dragging it all in to the present?”

“What
good
?” His eyes were wide with disbelief. “You still don’t fucking get it, do you?”

“Get what?” she faltered.

“You broke my goddamn
heart
, Mirrie. Don’t you know that? You – you killed a part of me and I want to know why you did that and I want to know
now
.”

“No.” She started to inch towards the door. “Just let it go.”

“You think I can’t find you, now that I know you’re still here in Denver?” Mac said suddenly. “I’m guessing you know exactly who King is – you think that I’m above sending some of his people after you?”

Mirrie paled. “Shane…”

“Nuh-uh. No fucking way. You owe me a conversation and I’m going to get it. You can either give it to me willingly and on agreed-upon terms, or I can show up where you work or at your home and stand there until you open that little mouth and start talking.” He glared at her and the anger in it almost knocked her off her feet. “So what’s it gonna be?”