Seductive Reasoning (TASK FORCE HAWAII Book 1) (20 page)

His lips twitched. “No, really. I mean it.”

She sniffed. “You do?”

“Yes.”

She smiled and brushed her tears away.

“Are you doing okay?” Randy asked.

She nodded as she reached out for Del’s hand. “Del’s here.”

Sean looked at Del and nodded. “How about we all stay here for a little bit? It will make me feel better.”

“That’s good, as long as Del can stay.”

“Don’t you need to get back to the office?” Randy asked.

He shook his head. “Adam can handle it.”

As they were settling in their seats, Elle poked her head in. “Oh, wow, you have a full house.”

“Elllllllllle.”

The doctor chuckled and stepped in. “I see you’ve had pain killers.”

“Lots and lots of them.”

“You had one dose,” Del told her.

“Del, I hate to bug you, but may I have a word?” Elle asked.

He nodded and leaned over to give Emma a kiss on her forehead. “Behave.”

“Where are you going?”

“Remember Elle? She’s here and needs to talk to me. Sean will come here and hold your hand until I get back.”

“Do you promise?”

He heard the fear in her voice, knew that it was more than the incident tonight. Except for Sean and Del, she had always been left on her own, isolated. He hated it and knew they had a long way to go to settle her mind in that regard, but he could make sure that, at least at this moment, she understood.

Del looked her in the eyes. “I will always come back for you, love. Just like when I first met you. Just like tonight. Without you, I’m nothing.”

He thought he heard a sigh of appreciation behind him, and it was definitely female.

Her smile turned into a grin. She was a mess, with the bruising and the swollen lip, but she was beautiful, and she was his.

“Okay.”

He kissed her forehead again and followed Elle out of the room. He knew this would not be pleasant.

“How’s Jin?” he asked.

“Shaky, but she’s resting right now. They’ve given her a sedative. I’ve fended off the news people, as Tripler is good about that, but I think we need to offer her some protection. This is different from other cases where we can keep the rape victim’s name out of the papers. Everyone knows it’s her.”

He nodded. “And we might need her to testify.”

She sighed and rubbed her temple. “I hope she can do it. It’s early, but she freaked out when she saw McGregor…and she knows him. He told me she’s tried to interview him a number of times.”

“She has no family, right?”

Elle nodded. “Mother and father are deceased, no siblings or extended family.”

“I really appreciate you looking after her.”

She shook her head. “It’s for the best. I’ve put in a call to the support group I work with. I still think it is too early to expect anything from her, but laying the foundation from the beginning will help.”

He nodded.

“I take it Emma is okay? McGregor related what happened.”

“He’s still here?”

“No, he left a little while ago.”

Del nodded. “And yes, she’s fine. A little bump on the head, a gash, a swollen lip. Of course, she almost fell to her death, but hey, all in a day’s work.”

“Don’t do that, Del. Don’t get mad at her.”

“I’m not. I’m mad at myself.”

She shook her head. “Don’t. It ruined my marriage and left me a broken shell. She beat the hell out of him before he fell over, from what I understand. She’s strong, and part of the reason she is that way is because of you.”

Del smiled. “How did you get to be so smart?”

“I survived hell, then dealt with a man who blamed me for it. Don’t do it to her
or
yourself. Be happy. Life is too bloody short for guilt.”

He nodded, then gave her a kiss on the cheek. “Thanks.”

E
mma still felt
as if she were floating above the bed.

“When they let you out, you can come stay with us,” Sean said.

He wasn’t asking, he was telling her. And he was ruining her nice little buzz the meds had given her.
Wanker.

“No.”

“You can’t stay in your condo right now. It’s a crime scene,” Randy said.

Jaime remained silent, which meant she was going to make Emma tell them no again.

“No. I am not staying with you.”

“But—” Sean started, but he didn’t get to finish.

“She’ll be staying with me.”

All of them turned around and looked at Del. She smiled, then winced. Bloody hell, the drugs were definitely starting to wear off.

“You didn’t do a very good job of taking care of her this time around,” Sean said.

“Are you accusing me of putting her in danger?”

Their voices were growing louder and starting to hurt her head. She knew it would only be a matter of time before an orderly showed up to say something to them all.

“Shut up, both of you.”

They turned to her. “I am staying with Del. He can take care of me.”

“
I
can take care of you,” Sean almost shouted.

“No offense, Sean, but I would rather stay with Del.”

He frowned, but she didn’t miss a little hurt flash in his gaze. She held up her hand and waved him back over. He walked over.

“Del will take care of me because he loves me. I want to be with him. I love you, but ya know, not that way.” Her voice came out in a stage whisper.

Okay, the drugs were still not worn off all the way.

“I guess I can let you go.”

“I’m twenty-seven, Sean, I can go where I want. If you want to give me issues, you can bugger off.”

He smiled and leaned down to kiss her nose. “I love you, kid.”

“I love you too. Now go home. In a day or two, when they are still not allowing me to drive, I will need someone to rescue me and take me for sushi. I elect you.”

“It’s a date.”

Jaime and Randy turned to leave. Sean stopped in front of Del.

“Take care of her.”

“With my life.”

He nodded and they finally left them alone.

“Bloody hell. I thought they would never leave,” she said.

He chuckled. “They were worried about you.”

“I have you to take care of me. That’s all that matters.”

He nodded, sitting down beside her, taking her hand again. He kissed her bruised knuckles.

“You really put up a fight, didn’t you?”

“Sean taught me well,” she said, feeling herself start to drift.

Before she fell asleep, she felt his mouth on her hand again, a simple kiss. Content, she let herself relax and dream.

D
el frowned
as they walked up the steps to TFH. He didn’t want to stop on the way home from the hospital, but Emma had insisted. She wanted to see everyone and thank them. He had wanted to get her home so she could rest. Of course, she won the argument.

If she had looked bad the day before, she looked ten times worse today. The bruises had blossomed on her face, but at least Sean refrained from saying anything. Sean, Jaime, and Randy had shown up that morning and helped him check Emma out of the hospital. Del agreed to bring her to their house in a couple of days to keep Sean from following them back to Del’s house. His plan had been to keep her in bed to rest once they got there.

Emma had other plans.

She was still a little wobbly when they reached the door.

“I told you we should go straight home.”

She shook her head. “We have to stop by my flat anyway. I need to get some clothes.”

“Jaime did that for you already. She stopped by my house and left them in a bag.”

“Oh,” she said. “That was sweet of her.”

He nodded. It had been, especially since she had her hands full with two very irritated men, who wanted to take Emma home and watch over her themselves.
Forever
. There had been discussions of taking her to Japan too. Jaime had calmed their tempers and had been instrumental in making sure that Sean did not claim Del’s couch.

Del held the door open for her, since she had her arm in a sling still. He still didn’t like the way she looked.

The entire team was standing in the squad room, and began to clap when they walked in. Emma turned around as if to see who they were clapping for.

“They are clapping for you, love. You caught the killer.”

She shook her head, and he nodded.

“No. I caught the rapist. You all caught the killer.”

Adam chuckled. “She has you there, Boss.”

Adam stepped forward to give her a kiss on the cheek and a gentle hug.

“It is so good to see you looking okay.”

“My heart about stopped when I showed up there and had to help Del,” Marcus said. “I thought I was going to lose you both over that lanai.”

“And you did help us catch the killer,” Cat said.

Emma shook her head. “We all did. It was a team effort.”

“And, we got you a treat we know you love,” McGregor said, picking up a box from Liliha Bakery. “A wee treat for a mighty, wee lass.”

She laughed, and it was music to his ears. She had been somber for most of the day, thinking things over. She blamed herself for not picking up that there had been two perpetrators. He knew it was part of the job, and that she was going to go over it again and again. They all were.

“Thank you.”

Charity walked in then. “I heard there were coco puffs.”

“There are indeed,” Emma said.

“You don’t look too bad,” she said.

“Thank you. My brother said I looked horrible.”

Charity shook her head. “Brothers are the worst.”

“You sit. I’ll get some paper towels,” Del told her.

She smiled at him and then sat in the chair as he went into the break room. He turned and found Adam standing there.

“So, when’s the date?”

“What date?”

“I took a phone call from your mother. Seems that she couldn’t get hold of you today, and called here looking for you.”

Damn
.

“And?”

“She said, tell him I have his grandmother’s ring, and will send it to him as soon as he wants.”

He shook his head. Geraldine Delano did not know how to keep her mouth shut. He’d called her this morning while Emma was taking a nap. His mother was on Eastern Time, so she was up before the crack of dawn Hawaiian time. She had promised to get his grandmother’s ring out of the safety deposit box and get it to him. He thought it might take her several days, not several hours.

“Listen. Don’t say anything yet. I haven’t had a chance to ask. What with the whole serial killer trying to kill her thing.”

“So, did she say yes?” Marcus asked when he came in.

“What the hell, Adam, did you tell everyone?” He looked at them both. “And there better not be a bet on whether or not she will say yes.”

They both suddenly found the ceiling interesting.

“Hey. I mean it.”

“Okay, sure, Boss,” Adam said. Del didn’t feel that reassured.

He sighed and walked out into the squad room. “Oh, one thing.”

He turned to face Adam. “They moved Stanton over to HPD, then they will transfer him to Halawa.”

Del nodded.

“They have him on suicide watch,” Marcus said. “That is one crazy fucker. You should have heard all the stuff he was spouting off about the goddesses and how they must be destroyed.”

“And Morgan wasn’t much better from what Emma told us. The idea that those two found each other out of all the millions of people in the world turns your blood cold.”

“Yeah, it does, but thank God we stopped him before he got out of Hawaii,” Adam said.

“Did you see Jin before you left the hospital?” Marcus asked.

“No. Elle was returning as we left. Said they are keeping her there, mainly for her mental situation, but also because she was severely dehydrated. She’s going to stay with her and help her get counseling.”

But they all knew that the emotional scars wouldn’t completely heal because of the memories. They would all be there for as long as she lived.

“Where are those paper towels?” Emma called out.

“Look, she’s already ordering him around,” Marcus said with a chuckle.

As Del walked out into the squad room, he stopped. They were all sitting around the table, chatting and laughing, and they looked like...a family. They were in a way, and from all the good wishes—not to mention the constant text messages in the hospital—he knew they accepted her as one of their own.

And now he had to step up his game before one of those idiots told her about the ring.

I
n the early evening
, Emma and Del sat on his small lanai, which looked out over the Hawaii Kai canal. She liked where his house was situated. It was close enough to the beach that she could feel the ocean breeze, but it was quiet, as if it were in another world.

“I like it here,” she said.

He glanced at her. “I think you took too many pain pills.”

She rolled her eyes. Emma was still embarrassed by her behavior the night before. She had never had pain pills or even liquor.

“I did not. And I like it here. I liked it when I stayed here before.”

He took a long draw off his beer.

“Then why did you move to Waikiki?”

She had to fight a smile. He might think of himself as an outsider, but he already thought like a
Kamaʻāina
. Hawaii Kai was less than forty minutes from Waikiki on a good traffic day. Only a local would refer to living in Waikiki as if she had moved to another state.

She shrugged. “Sean found the condo. I looked here, but there was nothing that would work.”

He slanted her a look. “I thought you didn’t like me then, but you wanted to live in my neighborhood?”

“I liked you, but you didn’t like me.”

He smiled. “You did hit me with a two-by-four.”

She asked, “Why do you keep bringing that up?”

He gave her what Jaime called puppy dog eyes. “It really hurt.”

“Yeah, right.”

“It did. I still have issues with the injury.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Been knocked senseless ever since then. First the board, then that amazing mind, and, finally, your sweet heart.”

She blinked, as tears filled her eyes. “Oh, why do you say things like that to me, Del?”

“Because I love you. And, you love me. You yelled it at me last night.”

She blinked. “I did?”

He nodded. “Yes, you said you didn’t know why you loved me.”

“Well, that’s rubbish.”

His smile faded. “What the hell does that mean? Everyone heard you yell it at me.”

“What I meant was that I know exactly why I love you.”

His expression eased. “Yeah? Why?”

“You’re tough, smart, kind, and you think I’m beautiful, even when my face is a mess. On top of all that, you make my brain melt when you kiss me.”

His lips curved as he leaned closer to her. “That sounds good.”

He brushed his mouth over hers, slipping his free hand up to cup her face. He pulled back a few inches. “Marry me, Emma.”

“Oh…marriage?” Panic filled her at first. Marriage meant forever, until the end of time. She didn’t do forever with anyone.

“Yeah.” He studied her for a long moment. “And that is not what I thought you would say.”

“It’s that…marriage. I never thought I would marry.”

“Well, think about it.” He popped up out of his chair and started to pace. “Damn, woman, I get all romantic, blah blah, and you do this.”

She bit her lower lip and tried not to laugh.

“What? Don’t you dare laugh at me.”

Then, she let the giggles spill out of her. Only a man who understood her and loved her would still be around. She’d hit him with a two-by-four, walked out on the job, and drove him crazy on a daily basis.

“Yes.”

“Yes, what?” he asked, his voice distracted.

“Yes, I’ll marry you.”

He stopped and looked at her. “You will?”

She nodded. He set his beer on the table, then scooped her out of the chair.

This time, he kissed her loudly. “Ow.”

“Oh, sorry,” he said, his voice filled with regret as he kissed her gently.

When he pulled back, she said, “But nothing big. Justice of the Peace.”

“No. We have to at least have a ceremony. My mother will want to be here.”

Oh, lord, the mother. A whole other reason to panic.

He laughed. “I don’t think I have ever seen that particular look on your face before.”

“It’s just, I never had a real relationship before, and I definitely didn’t meet a mother.”

He cupped her face. “She will love you.”

“How can you say that?”

“Because, I love you, and you are going to give her grandbabies.”

She felt slightly dizzy. “Babies. I hadn’t thought about that, either.”

“Whoa, there, Emma. You look like you’re going to pass out.”

“I am not so sure about this baby thing.”

He frowned. “You don’t want kids?”

How did she explain this? “I’m like my mother. A lot like her. My issues come from hereditary genes.”

Understanding filled his expression. “First of all, I do not think there is anything wrong with you.”

She took a step back from him, the air seemingly evaporating in her lungs.

“I have meltdowns if things get too overwhelming.” Like right freaking now. She was about to have a meltdown. Her first thought was to run. This was dangerous, this could hurt. He could turn away from her when he realized that she would produce children that had her personality.

He nodded and slipped his hands around her waist and held her tight.

“First, I don’t find that too challenging. I once had a girlfriend who had to have her sheets match her underwear.”

She opened her mouth, then snapped it shut. “You did not.”

“I did. She wasn’t that smart, but she did have about ten sets of sheets.”

A giggle tickled her throat, but she fought it. This was too serious to joke about.

“Face it, Del, living with me forever, or a whole bunch of little Emmas, is going to be difficult.”

“My father always said to marry a difficult woman.”

“Now I know you’re lying.”

“He did. He said that women who always agreed with you and were easy to please were boring.”

“Still...”

“Besides, my genes are far more superior since I am Italian. You’re kind of a mutt, and probably not as strong in the hereditary line.”

She blinked again. “Excuse me?”

“You know, survival of the fittest, and all that crap.”

“All that crap?”

“Yeah. What do you have in there? Some Thai, English...what was your father? Doesn’t really matter, because I’m just about one hundred percent Italian, so there is a good chance those kids will take after me. Add Sean into the mix and you definitely have inferior genes.”

Irritation and amusement threaded through her. “That is a bunch of rubbish.”

He grinned. “Yep, it is. Because the truth is, I don’t care if we have five little Emmas running around our house spouting theories, or telling me why American football is just stupid. Or five very handsome Martins showing you why you are wrong. All that matters is that we are together.”

Her vision wavered, and she knew she had tears in her eyes again. “Yeah?”

He nodded and kissed her. “They will be beautiful and brilliant, just like their mother. And they will all know how to beat the hell out of anyone, as long as they have a two-by-four.”

She laughed. “That’s true.”

“Emma, marry me.”

Joy exploded within her as she rose up on her tiptoes to brush her mouth over his.

“Yes, let’s get married.”

And there, with the sun setting over the Pacific, she kissed him, knowing that she had finally found her home.