Dangerous Abduction (O'Connor Brothers Book 2) (8 page)

“I see.” Marina’s smirk said she definitely wasn’t going to leave.

“Okay buddy, lay down.” James took a deep breath and began to sing. He could feel the heat of her gaze on the back of his head. As usual, halfway through the song Mason was out like a light. He glanced at Danny and it seemed the song worked on both of them.

It took everything he had to turn around. Marina had her back propped against the doorjamb and her arms wrapped around herself. The soft glow of the nightlight made her green eyes sparkle and then she smiled.
So God damn beautiful.
He wanted her so badly, but he still felt guilty wanting another woman.

“You’ve got an amazing voice,” Marina whispered as they left the room.

“Thank you.” He closed the door and turned.

“Why don’t you sing with the band?” James was already halfway down the stairs and desperately hoping she wouldn’t ask that question. Why wasn’t he in the band with his brothers? Probably because the thought of singing in front of people made his stomach churn.

He’d had stage fright since high school when he was given a solo with the school choir, but that day he hadn’t been feeling well. When he walked to the front of the stage one of the popular girls in school was sitting in the front row and he had a huge crush on her. He started to sing and when he glanced down at her, she was laughing. It was at that point his stomach revolted and he threw up all over the stage with some of it hitting the girl. He hadn’t been able to sing in front of a crowd since.

“I just don’t like the spotlight.” He turned when he got to the bottom of the stairs. “How about that tea?” She nodded. “Make yourself at home and I’ll bring it into the living room.”

In the kitchen he tried to slow his racing heart. Just knowing she’d heard him sing made him feel that way. The only other person besides his family that heard him sing was Sarah. His grandmother called it stage fright, but he called it not wanting to relive the most embarrassing moment of his life. After all, he was a big strong cop who wasn’t supposed to be afraid of anything or at least Mason seemed to think that. The truth was James was terrified when it came to being around Marina, or maybe it was the overwhelming guilt for betraying Sarah.

James brought the tea into the living room and handed one cup to Marina. He wasn’t a big tea drinker himself, but he poured himself one. She smiled when he glanced at her but it wasn’t hard to tell her mind was still reeling from her house being trashed. If he was being honest, he was concerned about it himself. People just don’t break into people’s homes and destroy everything for no reason and especially not in Hopedale. Not unless it’s personal, and that’s what worried him the most.

Marina’s ex-husband, Marc O’Reilly, put her through more than any woman should have to go through. Just before John and Stephanie got married, Marc tried to break down John’s front door to get to her. Now Marina lived in that same house. Something told him her ex-husband was written all over this.

“Oh my goodness.” Marina covered her mouth to stifle a yawn. “I’m sorry, I haven’t been getting a lot of sleep lately.”

“Well, you can sleep in tomorrow.” James had a feeling her lack of sleep had to do with the nightmare last night. “It’s been a rough evening. I’ll show you to the guest room.” He reached out and touched her hand.
That was a mistake
. James gazed into her eyes and as if a string was pulling him, he leaned forward. The doorbell rang, breaking the spell. James jumped up and almost tripped over the coffee table on the way to the door.
Saved by the bell
.

“Hey, bro.” Aaron sauntered in with his cocky smile and attitude to match.

“What’s up?” James closed the door.

“I just wanted to let you know there’s a cruiser watching Marina’s place.” Aaron followed him into the living room. “I don’t know when she’s going to be able to get back into the house. The place is a mess, but they did get some fingerprints so we should know more tomorrow.” Marina stood up when they entered the room.

“A.J. dropped by with an update.” James nodded at his brother.

“Hi A.J..” Her voice was shaky as she sat back on the sofa.

Aaron filled her in on what he knew and her face drained of all its color. James was about to go to her but Aaron was faster and gently grasped her hand as he sat next to her. In his head James knew Aaron was just trying to comfort the woman, but it made James want to punch his youngest brother in the face.

“We’ll find out who did this, Marina.” Aaron kissed her hand before he released it and stood up.

“You said it’s going to be a while before I can move back, but you don’t have any idea how long?” Her voice was barely above a whisper.

“It’ll probably be a couple of days before we’re finished with our investigation, but it’s a real mess,” Aaron said as James walked up next to him still controlling the urge to slap his brother.

“We’ll help you clean it up.” James nudged Aaron with his elbow and thank God he got the hint, because James really would have punched him if he hadn’t.

“Of course we will. There’s enough of us O’Connors in Hopedale to have it cleaned up in no time.” Marina smiled but it was obvious she was forcing it.

Aaron left after a quick cup of coffee and assured James he’d keep them up to date on the investigation since James was off for a week. A few inappropriate jokes and comments later and James was almost shoving Aaron out the front door.

“Jesus Christ, bro, if you wanted to be alone with her all you had to do was ask,” Aaron whispered when James pushed him through the door.

“Fuck off, A.J,” James growled. He was really going to kick the bastard down over the steps. How Aaron made it to the ripe old age of twenty-six without one of them pounding the shit out of him was beyond James. Not that they didn’t give him his fair share of sly pokes during their younger years, but as the baby of the family his youngest brother always seemed to know which buttons to push with all the brothers and right now he was pushing a major one with James.

“It’s been way to long for you, bro. You should probably do something about that.” Aaron jumped into the cruiser.

“I swear to God, A.J, one of these days...” James never got a chance to finish the statement because Aaron was pulling out of the driveway and he could see the bastard laughing behind the wheel.

He closed the door and turned his attention to the one person that really needed it. Marina was going to need a place to stay until her house was cleaned up, and she was going to argue if he suggested she stay with him until then. With her sister and John out of town as well as her parents, he didn’t see any other options or at least he didn’t want to see one. It was obvious from his quick glance around her house she was going to need new furniture as well. Most of what she owned was destroyed. He was sure between all of his family, they’d manage to come up with enough furniture for her so she wouldn’t have to go out and purchase all new.

As he was running through how to get Marina to agree to stay, James remembered Ian was supposed to be staying with him for a few days. He’d have to call Ian to fill him in on the situation and let him know he could still stay, but he’d have to crash on the couch since James had given Marina the guest room.

As he reached in his pocket to grab his phone, it began to vibrate in his hand. He tapped the screen to see Ian’s number flashing.

“Hey, bro, I was just about to call you.” James slid into the kitchen so Marina wouldn’t hear the conversation. The last thing he needed was for her to feel she was pushing Ian out.

“I guess I saved you the trouble of tapping in the phone number.” Ian chuckled. James heard a muffled giggle in the background and smiled.

“Who’s that?” James asked.

“An old friend. I just wanted to let you know I’m going to stay in St. John’s so I won’t need to stay at your place.” Ian didn’t sound like himself.

“That works out great because Marina and Danny are staying with me for a bit. Her house was broken into and everything is trashed,” James explained.

“What the fuck is with that damn house? When John was there, something was always happening to it.” Ian was referring to the numerous attempts on Stephanie’s life when she and John lived in the house.

“I don’t know. You’re still welcome to stay but you’d have to crash on the sofa.” James told him.

“Thanks, bro, but I’m good.” Another giggle. “Gotta go.” James chuckled when he hung up the phone. Seemed like Ian was getting lucky and he wondered if he’d finally made a move on Sandy. The thought had no sooner entered his head, when a knock sounded.

James opened the door and quickly realized the giggling he’d heard on the phone wasn’t Sandy since she was standing on the other side of the door. Now he was confused, because he knew Ian was crazy about Sandy and it wasn’t typical for him to run off with some random woman.

“Hi, James,” Sandy said as he motioned her inside.

“Hi.” It was odd for her to drop by his house.

“I wanted to see if Marina needed anything.”

“She’s in the living room.” James motioned for her to go ahead of him.

Marina was on the edge of the sofa with her elbows resting on her knees and her hands over her face. It didn’t take long for Sandy to hurry next to her and wrap her arm around Marina’s shoulder. When she lifted her head, James felt a squeeze in his chest. Tears ran down her cheeks and she swiped them away with her fingers. It broke his heart to see her like that and all he wanted to do was pull her into his arms to make her forget all of it.

“Marina, everything will be okay,” Sandy told her as she reached for the box of tissues he always kept on the table.

“I’m okay, really.” Marina took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

“Of course you are.” Sandy nudged her with her shoulder. “You’re a tough cookie.”

Marina smiled at the woman sitting next to her. Sandy had become part of his family over the last few years. She worked for Keith and his quiet brother seemed quite protective of her. For a while James thought Keith might have had a thing for the perky woman, but at one of their monthly brother bonding nights it had been brought up about Keith and Sandy. Ian’s face had turned completely red and James remembered expecting steam to come out of his ears. Keith must have noticed it too and made a point of saying Sandy was like a sister to him nothing more. Ian relaxed and it was forgotten but James still wondered why Keith seem to be more protective over Sandy than any of his other employees.

“Sandy’s right, you need a good night’s sleep, and we’ll figure everything out in the morning.” Hopefully they’d know more by then.

“Everything always seems better after a good night’s sleep. I’m going to head home but if you need anything call me.” Sandy gave Marina another hug.

“Thank you, Sandy.” Marina said.

“No thanks necessary, plus I know you’re safe with James and Ian.” Sandy stood up and turned towards James.

“Ian’s gone back to St. John’s.” James wanted to take the statement back right away when Sandy’s face fell.

“Oh. Well... I should go. I’ll talk to you later.” Sandy hurried past James and was out through the door before James could say anything. She was obviously upset, but James didn’t really have time to deal with his brother’s shit right now. He needed to make sure Marina was okay.

“That was odd.” Marina nodded towards Sandy’s hasty exit.

“I guess Ian didn’t mention he was going back home.” James sat next to her.

“She’s head over heels for your brother.” Marina smiled.

“I’ve no doubt the feelings are mutual.” James chuckled. “But right now I’m more concerned about you.”

“I’m fine, really. Just tired.” Her tone didn’t convince him.

“I’ll show you where you’ll be sleeping.” James stood and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. He’d meant it as a friendly, supportive gesture but touching her turned his thoughts more than friendly. It pissed him off that his brain was going there at the moment because it was the last thing she needed, and the way her body tensed let him know that she wasn’t comfortable with the gesture. He dropped his arm and motioned to the stairs.

At the top of the stairs James turned and headed down the short hallway to the spare room. She stopped and glanced towards Mason’s room. As a parent, it was automatic to check your child before turning in for the night. James didn’t even need to ask because he did it without even thinking about it anymore.

“Do you want to check on Danny before you turn in?” James knew the answer before he asked the question.

“He tends to kick off the blankets.”

“I think it’s a kid thing. Mason does the same thing.”

Marina opened the bedroom door quietly and as usual, Mason’s blankets were in a pile on the floor. James smiled and shook his head.
Every single night
. He picked up the blankets and tucked them around Mason. The youngster didn’t stir. He was one of those kids that slept through anything, which was why it was a struggle to get him up in the mornings if he wasn’t ready to get up. James turned to see Marina kissing Danny’s forehead as she pulled the blanket up over him, and it looked as if Danny was a deep sleeper as well.

“I love you, Danny,” Marina whispered before she backed away from the bed. James was standing in the doorway waiting for her. “I know it’s weird to tell him I love him while he’s sleeping but I believe he can hear it even in his dreams.”

“I’ve no doubt.” James smiled when she stifled another yawn. “I think I better show you to your room before you fall asleep standing up.”

“I guess the rush is wearing off.” Marina walked behind him down the hall and he could feel her eyes on him.

“This room is small but it serves the purpose.” James switched on the light. “There’s a bathroom right there.” James pointed to the closed door on the other side of the room.

“Right now I think I could sleep on a clothes’ line.” She stretched her arms over her head and he had to hold back the groan at the sight of her bare stomach. He turned away before he really embarrassed himself, because at the sight, his dick twitched. Seeing Marina’s curves in clothes was bad enough, but getting a glimpse of her milky white skin was not good for his hormones. Aaron was right. It had been a long while since he’d been with anyone, and that didn’t help his urges.