Sharing Hailey (22 page)

When he answered her, his eyes were hard, his mouth tight. “Mark is claiming you publicly. I can’t.”

Whoa.
She didn’t know what she’d expected, but it certainly wasn’t that—not from her bleeding-heart liberal, pinko commie lover. “Claim me? You’re joking, right?

Tony stared at her but didn’t answer.

“That’s an oddly Neanderthal attitude coming from you.”

“Yeah, imagine my surprise,” he said sarcastically.

“Uhhh, I think you two can settle this without my help,” Mark said as he hastily slipped off his bar stool and stood.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Hailey asked.

His eyes clearly begging for help, Mark looked to Tony.

“It’s not his problem,” Tony said. “It’s mine.”

“You two need some time together,” Mark said. “I’ve got some errands to run.”

She didn’t argue. He was probably right. She and Tony hadn’t been alone since moving into Mark’s house.

After he left, Hailey spoke softly. “You know, I miss you already. I don’t want to leave you here. I love you.”

Tony sighed. “This is more complicated than I thought it would be.”

“Because of Daniel?”

“No. Daniel’s dangerous, but he doesn’t affect how I feel about you. And Mark. Daniel has simply illuminated the complications that stem from those feelings.” He paused. “When we started, this was all about you. It was a way for both of us to love you. But now, it’s more than that.”

“It’s about the three of us.”

“Yeah.”

She smiled gently. “It was about the three of us when we started. We talked about that. Remember? We talked about it before we started and again after you and Mark kissed.”

“Yeah, but it didn’t occur to me that I’d have to hide my feelings for you once we told Jake. I knew there’d be people who wouldn’t accept us, but I didn’t think we’d have to hide.”

“None of us expected to end up in court, where people would legally judge us.”

“You surprised me today.”

She blinked. “How?”

“Telling Beth about us. Of course, I didn’t expect her to ask about your love life. But you didn’t hesitate.”

“Are you upset that I told her?”

“Not just no, but
hell
no. Still, I thought you might have a problem with it.”

She tried to lighten the mood. “I’ve got two men catering to my every desire—sexual, physical, emotional. Why would I have a problem with that? Other than the fact that I can’t button my jeans without sucking in my stomach. I think I eat more when I have someone to share my meals with. Plus, Mark’s a great cook.”

It worked. A small smile played across Tony’s lips and lit his eyes. “Yeah, he’s been working on that. He thought his best shot at you was through your stomach.”

Hailey chuckled. It was a legitimate tactic, but she’d fallen for Mark long before he learned to cook. “He was wrong.”

“I know, but I wasn’t gonna tell him that.” His grin erased the tired lines around his mouth. “He practiced a lot on me, so I wasn’t about to disabuse him of that particular notion.”

Hailey’s bark of laughter surprised her. That she could find humor in anything after the last week amazed her.

That she wanted his cock inside her…now…astounded her. She stared at him for a long moment. God, he was good-looking. His lips were the sexiest, and she found herself focusing on them. As she did, his grin broadened into a smile. Her gaze flickered to his bedroom eyes.

“You want to skip dinner and ‘claim’ me now?” she asked.

His smile got even bigger. “I love it when you read my mind.”

Chapter Twenty-One

A cell phone’s ring roused Hailey. It was still dark. Mark was on one side of her, Tony on the other. She had one arm draped across Tony’s abdomen and a leg tucked between his thighs. The ringing came from his side of the bed. She lifted her head and squinted at the LED on the alarm clock—4:14. In another couple of hours she’d have to get ready for the hearing.

“It’s work,” Tony said, his voice low. “Go back to sleep.”

“I thought Jen was on call,” she whispered, though she doubted Mark was still asleep.

“Yeah, but sometimes more than one surgeon is needed.”

Reluctantly, she let go of him as he turned to grab the phone. Then he swung his feet to the floor and headed to the bathroom, where he shut the door.

Hailey dozed as she listened to the low drone of his voice. He’d probably have to go to the hospital, which meant there was a strong possibility he’d still be in surgery during the hearing.

That was a good thing. It would keep him from pacing in Beth’s office.

The bathroom door swooshed open, and she peered through the dark. Tony crossed the room and leaned over her, already dressed in blue jeans and a sweatshirt. Gently, he kissed her.

“Got a patient.”

She smiled sleepily and touched his prickly cheek. He hadn’t even taken the time to shave. “We’ll call you when the hearing’s over.”

“Be careful. Remember, I love you,” he said.

“I love you too,” she answered and brushed another kiss across his lips.

Mark’s low voice, rough with sleep, interrupted. “We’ll be careful. Don’t worry.”

As Tony strode toward the bedroom door, Mark raised his voice. “Call us when you’re out of surgery.”

His back to them, Tony waved a hand above his head in acknowledgement.

When he was gone, Mark tucked her against his chest, spooning her in warmth. His breathing was already slow and shallow. How could he get back to sleep so quickly? Tony was barely out the front door.

A pop, like a gunshot, startled her, and she jumped.

“What?” Mark asked groggily.

“Did you hear that?” she whispered harshly.

The panic in her voice must have registered with him. He sat straight up. “Did I hear what?”

“It sounded like a gunshot.”

His feet hit the floor with a thud. He opened the top drawer of his nightstand and gripped the gun inside. Immediately he checked the safety. “Wait here. Don’t leave this room. Stay away from the windows. Don’t turn on the lights. Do you understand me?”

He didn’t wait for her answer, which was just as well, because she was too terrified to speak. He strode across the room, bending over to pick up his sweatpants off the floor but not stopping to put them on.

Hailey barely breathed as she waited. What was he doing? How long did he expect her to wait? She wanted to follow him, to make sure he was safe. Had Tony made it to his car yet? Was he on his way to the hospital? Was he safe?

She scooted to the edge of the bed, unable to stay put any longer.

Mark shouted, “Call nine-one-one. Tell them Tony’s been shot. We need an ambulance.”

Tony? Oh God. Tony.

Hailey grabbed the landline receiver, her fingers trembling so badly she dropped it before she could punch in the numbers. She picked it up again, clutching it tightly.

“Nine-one-one. What is your emergency?”

Panic pitched her voice high. “A man’s been shot. We need an ambulance.”

“I’m sending help. What’s your name?”

“Hailey Anderson,” she screeched.
Oh God, not Tony. Maybe—

“What happened, Ms. Anderson?”

“I don’t know,” Hailey cried as she searched for something to put on. Where was her robe? “I just heard a gunshot. My boyfriend went to check, and he told me to call for help. Tony’s been shot.” She grabbed a sweatshirt lying on the floor. Mark’s.

“Ma’am, I want you to stay calm.”

Slipping the sweatshirt over her head as she held the phone to her ear was tricky, but she managed. Staying “calm” was impossible. She stuffed her arms into the sleeves and, still barefoot, peeked out of the bedroom.

Mark was gone, the front door shut.

“Is the shooter still on the premises?”

“I don’t know. I don’t know,” she cried.

“What is the victim’s age?”

His age? His age. Same as her brother. “Thirty-six.”

“Thank you, ma’am.”

“Is someone coming? Is the ambulance on its way?”

“Yes, ma’am. Can you tell me what happened?”

“I don’t know. I have an emergency order of protection because of my ex-boyfriend. My boyfriend’s a doctor. He just got a call and had to go to the hospital.”

“Where are you, ma’am?”

Oh God, what was Mark’s address? She couldn’t think. She never mailed him anything. “I can’t remember the address.”

“No, ma’am. I have your address. Help is already on the way. Where are you in relation to the victim?”

“I’m in the house. I don’t know where Tony is. I’m going to look. I’m going to try to find him,” she said as she crossed the great room to the front door, blatantly ignoring Mark’s instructions to stay put.

“Is the shooter still on the premises?”

“I don’t know.” She edged up to the side of the long, narrow window to the left of the door and peered outside. The security lights were so bright, it looked like midday. She quickly scanned the front yard.

There. Mark was crossing the yard coming from the garage, one arm supporting Tony. Tony’s jacket hung open, and blood stained the right side of his gray sweatshirt underneath. “He’s bleeding! Oh my God! There’s so much blood!”

“Ma’am, calm down.”

“Ohmygodohmygodohmygod,” she wailed as her fingers fumbled with the door lock. She had to unlock the door and get it open. Just. Unlock. The. Damn. Door. She had to get to Tony.

“Ma’am, what’s going on?”

“Where’s the ambulance? He needs help! Where’s the damn ambulance,” she shouted as she burst through the front door.

“Hailey! What the hell!” Mark shouted, startling her. “Get—”

Gunfire sounded again. Two shots this time. Whoever had shot Tony was still out there. Mark dropped Tony and whipped around. Hailey ducked back inside. Two more shots. Oh God, what if Mark had been shot too?

“Ma’am, did I hear gunfire?”

“Yes,” Hailey cried.

“Was someone hit?”

“I don’t know. I don’t know,” she sobbed. She peered around the doorjamb. Mark was struggling to lift Tony.

“Was the gunfire inside or outside the house?”

Hailey ran across the porch. “Outside.”

“Ma’am, you need to stay inside until police arrive and get control of the shooter.”

“I have to help them,” Hailey argued. Mark had gotten him to his feet and was struggling to get him to the house.

“Ma’am, the police will be there within five minutes. They are on the way. Wait for the police.”

“I can’t,” she sobbed. “This is my fault. It’s my ex. I know it is. It has to be. Why would anyone else shoot Tony? I can’t let him die because of me.”

Just then, Tony looked up so she could see his face. His eyes were open, his expression pained. Still, he managed to speak in a forceful voice. “Get back. Lock the door.”

Like hell
.

Hailey bent at the waist, hoping to make a smaller target, and ran to Tony. The dispatcher kept talking, trying to get her to return to the house, but Hailey ignored her.

Fury mixed with pain in Tony’s eyes.

When she reached him, she claimed the side opposite Mark and stuffed her shoulder under Tony’s arm as she wrapped her arm around his waist. He was cold and heavy, but solid.

“It was Daniel,” Mark said tightly.

Tony groaned, “Hailey—”

“Don’t worry,” Mark said. “I got him.”

“Tony, where are you hurt?” she asked.

“Side,” he gasped.

She heard sirens, an army of sirens, faint but getting closer.

“Let’s get him inside where it’s warm,” Mark said. “Then we’ll do what we can until the ambulance arrives.”

Just inside the front door, they lowered him to the floor.

As they worked, Hailey relayed his condition to the dispatcher. “He’s been shot in the side. He’s conscious.”

“Bullet didn’t exit,” Tony gasped.

Hailey repeated his words to the dispatcher.

Mark flipped on the lights and got a blanket. Tony’s face was white, and his sweatshirt and jacket were soaked in blood now. This was bad.

“He’s bleeding a lot,” she told the dispatcher, trying to sound calm for Tony’s sake.

“Not serious,” Tony groaned. “Just hurts.”

Yeah, right.
“Don’t worry,” Hailey said. “Help is coming.” The sirens were close. Not much longer. She pressed her palm to the wound, trying to slow the bleeding. The blood was warm, slippery.

Oh God. It was Tony’s blood, and there was so much of it leaking out around her hand.

Mark kneeled beside her, draping the blanket over Tony. He’d managed to get his sweatpants on, but his feet and chest were still bare. He had blood on his hands, arms, chest and belly. He still had the gun.

“Mark, are you hurt?” she asked, not knowing if the blood was his or Tony’s.

“What’s happening, ma’am?” the dispatcher asked. “Who’s with you?”

“No. He didn’t hit me,” Mark said.

“Protect…Hailey,” Tony gasped.

“Daniel’s dead,” Mark said, his voice low and calm, soothing. “Or well on his way to dead.”

Tony’s eyes widened. Then his face relaxed and his eyelids closed. The yard filled with sirens and flashing lights.

“Tony! Tony, wake up!” she screamed.

His eyes fluttered but didn’t open. “Just resting,” he whispered.

“Ma’am, who’s with you?” the dispatcher repeated.

“It’s my boyfriend.”

“No, not Tony. I heard another voice.”

“Mark,” Hailey said as two paramedics gently moved her out of the way. “And the ambulance is here.” She glanced through the door. The yard was chaos, blessed chaos. It was help. “And the police.”

“I’ll let you go talk to them,” the dispatcher said. “Thank you.”

The paramedics worked quickly and efficiently to assess Tony’s condition and stabilize him. Mark talked to the police, then two officers broke away from the group and walked toward the garage. Mark joined her, pulling her back against his chest and resting his chin on top of her head.

“You’re freezing,” he murmured. “Go finish getting dressed.”

Hailey shook her head, her attention riveted on Tony, as if she could keep him alive with her gaze. His eyes were closed, but he was talking to the paramedics. “I can’t leave him. Is he going to be okay?”

“He’ll be fine. You can’t go to the hospital half-dressed. Get some clothes on so you can ride with him in the ambulance. I can’t go. I’ll need to answer questions.”

Her legs were bare where Mark’s sweatshirt ended at midthigh. He was right.

“Ms. Anderson?”

Hailey searched for the source of the familiar female voice. Officer Lujan standing in the doorway, her big partner right behind her. Hailey was glad to see her. Officer Lujan knew her history.

“I need to ask you some questions, Ms. Anderson.”

Hailey returned her attention to Tony but nodded. “I was just going to get dressed. I need to hurry so I can go with him to the hospital.”

Reluctantly, she left him and quickly led the officer to her bedroom. While she washed the dried blood off her hands and put on the rest of her clothes, she answered the officer’s questions about what had happened. Before the officer had finished, Hailey led her back through the great room.

Her stomach fluttered when she realized Tony was gone. She grabbed her coat off the couch and jogged outside. The EMTs were sliding Tony’s stretcher into the back of the ambulance.

She sprinted across the yard, panicked they would leave without her. “Wait. I’m going with you.”

One of the EMTs nodded toward the cab of the ambulance. “You can ride in front.”

“I want to stay with Tony.”

“Sorry, ma’am. It’s against regulations. You can ride in front or follow us later.”

Mark took her hand in his and led her to the front seat. “Call me when you know something,” he said as he helped her into the cab and buckled her in. “I’ll get there as soon as I can.”

“You’re not in trouble, are you?” She swallowed hard. “For killing Daniel.”

“Self-defense. Don’t worry about it. We’ve got pictures. Remember? The security system.”

When the driver slid in behind the steering wheel, Mark gave her a quick kiss then slammed shut the passenger door.

Hailey craned her neck, trying to catch a glimpse of Tony, but she couldn’t see his head with the paramedic obstructing her view, and his body was a lump under the blanket. The siren blared as the ambulance shot out of Mark’s yard and onto the gravel road.