Gina's Private Police Force [Men of Montana 3] (Siren Publishing Menage Amour) (34 page)

“I’ve been waiting a long time for this moment, baby,” he said with a raspy voice. “You left me to die in that house.”

Swallowing hard, she couldn’t believe that after what he had put her through, he was blaming his injuries on her. A debate within her head went on briefly in regards to whether she should remain silent or defend her actions of that night long ago.

Defense won.

“You have the nerve enough to blame me for what happened to you?” she asked, knowing that arguing with him pointless. But she felt if she was going to die, she would at least go out fighting. “You accused me of something I wasn’t even doing. I can’t believe that you would ever think I was having an affair on you, but then of course, you had to cover your own affair, didn’t you.”

Silence from the man, save for the flick of the lighter, greeted Gina. This was different than other times they had fought. Usually when she spoke back to him or confronted him about something, he was on her immediately, yelling at her or hitting her. This was confusing to her.

“Then, you shot me! I can’t believe you actually shot me!”

“Why did you run away from everything? You didn’t even wait to speak with the fire department or the police. It was like you couldn’t wait to get away, to hide.” He spoke slowly and in broken speech as if it hurt to talk. “I can’t believe you deserted me!”

“What the fuck are you talking about? You started this whole thing, not me! I ran to protect myself.”

Standing, he moved over to the bed, the limp in his gait visible within the shadows of the room. Resting his hand on the calf of her leg, he sat slowly on the edge of the bed. “I believe you have forgotten parts of that night, Virgi.”

A disgusted grunt came from Gina before she spoke. “I haven’t forgotten anything. I remember it as clearly as if it happened last night…”

Wait! That name! Did he just call her, Virgi? Only one person called her that!

The man chuckled. “Yes, Virgi. It’s me. Did you miss me?”

Not knowing what to say, Gina only stared at him. She still couldn’t see him clearly in the darkened room, but she was still able to see his shadow.

“I’ve been through hell trying to find you after the fire,” he said calmly. “I had to recuperate of course, which took a long time. I had an old girlfriend of mine who was a nurse help me. Yes, it would have been better if I had gone to the hospital and gotten help that way, but there would have been too many questions that I didn’t want to answer, or didn’t know the answers to. Like, where you had gone.”

Moving his hand up her leg slowly, he moved it up to her hip joint before stopping. He edged himself up the bed also. Gina prayed he wouldn’t touch her, all the while knowing she needed to find out why he was so obsessed with her.

“I don’t understand any of this,” she said meekly. “Help me understand.”

“You know why,” he rasped.

Shaking her head, she fought back the tears that stung her eyes. “No. I don’t. Please explain it to me.”

“I loved you, Virgi. I loved you from the first moment I met you. Unfortunately, you were married to my best friend. I knew Frank was abusive to you. It was hard not to notice.” His hand shifted to her belly but stopped there. “There were bruises in odd places. There was terror in your eyes. I hated to see you like that. Why did you think I started coming over so much?”

Gina couldn’t answer that. She had often wondered, but then she thought he was lonely and needed the friendship. He had started coming over almost nightly and even when Frank wasn’t home. He had been coming to protect her.

No wonder Frank thought she was having an affair with him!

“Then, how did you get burned?” she asked, still confused.

“Frank confronted me that afternoon about having an affair with you. Of course, I denied it. I had a funny feeling he was going to do something stupid, so I waited outside. When I saw the candlelight in the dining room I thought perhaps you two had talked about it and were making up. Then, I heard the gunshot and you scream. I ran inside to see what had happened, but just as I got to the living room, the place was on fire and you were running to get out. You pushed me out of the way and I hit my head on the coffee table. I must have blacked out because when I came to, my clothes were on fire. My skin was burning me and I had to get out of there. I couldn’t even get to the dining room and the whole house was on fire by then. I got to the kitchen and went out through the back door. I rolled around in the grass to get the fire off of me, but by then I was burned pretty badly.”

Thinking back to that night, she remembered trying to run out of the house, but she was confused. When a man came at her, she thought it was Frank trying to finish the job he started of killing her, so she blindly pushed at him. She never imagined it would be anyone else. Never thought it would be Tim, the man who was trying to save her.

Tears ran down the sides of her face at her realization. “Why didn’t you tell the police what happened? Why didn’t you go to the hospital?”

“Frank told me of his plans to kill you. He told me there would be evidence that I did it because I was jealous and wanted you for myself, but when I couldn’t have you, I shot you. I couldn’t let that happen. I had to hide. I hid until I was well enough to come looking for you. I nearly had you in Sioux Falls, but you left a few days later.”

Sniffling through the tears, she said sadly, “I left because my boss started asking too many questions. I’ve only been able to stay a place for a few months. This has been the longest I have settled down. I will be staying here.”

The hand on her stomach gathered up the material of the shirt she was wearing, out of anger she presumed, for he drew in a raspy breath. “And why is that, Virgi?”

The thought of lying to him crossed her mind, but he probably already knew if he had been following her around. Bravely, she answered. “Because I am in love.”

“You’ve changed so much,” he said, the anger now lining his words. “You turned into a slut. Letting two men use your body. I’m sure if you had told Frank of your unusual desires, he may have let me share you.”

Shock at his words caused Gina to struggle against her bonds. They were unforgiving though she kept up the fight. He had accused her of changing, but he was the one who was now bitter and angry at the course his life had taken. If he hadn’t been so enamored by her, he wouldn’t have been at the house that night and gotten hurt. He apparently hadn’t thought about how her life turned out due to Frank’s jealous rage.

Deciding to try to reason with him, she stopped her struggles. “Listen, Tim. We have both been horribly hurt by Frank. This was all his fault. I thought you were him when I pushed you. If I had realized it was you I would have stopped to help you. Do you really think I am that callous that I would leave you to die in a fire?”

As if weighing her words, he thought long and hard before he laughed manically. “You almost had me there for a minute, Virgi. I think you felt that I was just like Frank and you left me there to die, just like you left him. Why else would you leave before the police came?”

Standing, Tim walked over to the curtains. Fingering the velvety material briefly, he flipped open the lighter lid. Striking the igniter, he brought forth the flame. Staring at it for nearly a minute as if hypnotized by the orange flame, he finally moved it, laying it upon the material. Within seconds, the curtains were on fire, the blaze moving upward.

Gina began to struggle again, seeing this time she wasn’t going to be able to escape. Tears ran down the sides of her face as she thought of the three most important people in her life that she was going to miss. She couldn’t believe that after all she had gone through to keep Nathan alive and well was going to be dumped by the wayside by the same predicament that started the whole thing.

Then, there was Connor and Jared. She had been in love with both of them since the night they had the meeting to catch Angela’s stalker. It had shocked her that not just one man was interested in her, but two men, but she also was shocked that they caused her pussy to get excited whenever they were around. There had been times after they left from eating at the diner that she had to take a bathroom break just to go in and clean up the juices that leaked from her, afraid someone might notice or smell her arousal.

From the beginning she knew they were men she could trust but she was too afraid to put her trust in a man again after what happened, but then, she was also afraid she would go to prison for Frank’s death. Now, Tim was her judge and jury and had ordered her execution. She was going to die by fire, a fitting end to her life.

Smoke filled the room thickly so she was unable to see where he had gone, but she sensed he was close. The crackling of the blaze was all around her and the heat had become unbearable. Her lungs filled with the cruel smoke and she had to hope that she died of smoke inhalation before the flames got her.

Crying out, she declared her love as if the recipients could hear her. “I love you, Nathan! Momma loves you! I love you, Connor! I love you, Jared! I always will!”

Coughing as the smoke got into her lungs, she heard Tim question her. “Who’s Nathan?”

There wasn’t any sense hiding him anymore. “He’s my son,” she coughed. “He’s the reason I left that night and didn’t wait for the police. Frank shot me in the stomach and wounded the baby. I got to help and then we went into hiding. I thought the police would arrest me for Frank’s death. I had to protect my son.”

By then the coughing had turned to wheezing as her breath began to wane from the lack of air and before long, everything went blank. Her body relaxed upon the bed as he stared down at her.

* * * *

This is what he had wanted for the past year and a half. A year and a half of agony for him from the pain of the burns and the pain in his heart that led him on this journey. Now, as he stood over her limp body, he had to wonder if it was worth it.

Was what she had said about her son be true? Had what she said about what happened that night been the truth? Feeling his face, he didn’t want to believe her. He had suffered unmentionable pain and disfigurement because of that night.

But according to Gina, so had she. She could have lost the baby. Frank could have killed him, but instead just wounded him.

There was one question that haunted him though after her declaration. If it had happened the way she had told him, then why hadn’t she come looking for him? He thought deep inside himself that she had feelings for him even though she was married to Frank. Had he read them incorrectly?

His self-pitying heart said no, he hadn’t. But his conscience told him otherwise.

Removing the knife he had strapped to his belt, he cut the ties on her arms and legs. By then his breathing was erratic but he knew he had to get Gina to safety. Picking her up in his arms, he struggled with her as his muscles were all but gone in his now deformed body.

Trying to make it to the door, an ominous creak above him told him something was going to fall from the ceiling so he tried to move faster. Several studs crashed down to the floor and one struck Tim on the back of his head, knocking him to the floor, unconscious.

Both bodies hit with a thud as the room continued to burn, both oblivious to the fire.

* * * *

Connor and Jared were on their way home when they saw the smoke billowing from the house. Luckily they were already on the gravel road that led up the house so they only had a short distance to drive. Coming to a screeching halt in front of the porch, they were both out of the truck in a flash and up the steps to the front door.

Lawrence was just coming out, carrying an unconscious Angela, worry etching his features. Both Connor and Jared wanted to ask about Gina, but knew he needed to take care of his woman. Stepping into the living room, they headed toward the hallway as the fire seemed to be contained to the back end of the house and met up with Derek, the foreman, carrying Gina in his arms.

The sound of fire extinguishers could be heard in the direction of where the fire burned the family home, but Connor only was concerned about their woman. Helping Derek out the front door, the man carried her to the front lawn where Lawrence was already tending to Angela. Laying her down gently, the cowboy stepped back to let both men surround her, watching the scene unfold in front of him.

“Dammit! How did this happen?” Connor said, not really expecting an answer.

“I got stuck with a needle from behind, boss,” Lawrence said as he patted Angela’s cheek. “I’m not sure what he did to Angela.”

Green eyes fluttered open at that moment to gaze up into the surfer-looking man. The relief on Lawrence’s face was soothing for her as he pulled her up into his arms and held her. “Thank God, you are all right. I was so scared.”

As if remembering what happened, Angela panicked momentarily as she rubbed her neck. “Gina! What happened to her?”

“She’s right here, Ang,” Connor said as he checked his woman’s body for burns. Not finding any, he looked up at Derek questionably.

“I found her right outside the bedroom door. The fire is contained to the room itself so it looked like she got out just in time,” the cowboy explained. “The helicopter is on its way to take her to the hospital.”

“Boss!” called another cowboy from the front door. “You’ll want to see this!”