The Sacrificial Lamb (45 page)

He began amassing information about them but didn’t know who to trust. Many people in Chicago and surrounding areas were in Carlo’s pocket, and he was frightened for his life. It had been a stroke of luck that he ran into John, for now he could pass the information along to someone he trusted.

At this point, her father pointed out to him that without Santino’s testimony, most of the information he’d gathered would be discounted as hearsay or be otherwise inadmissible in a court of law. Santino became agitated, saying he had a meeting with Carlo and his brothers later in the evening and asked if her father could accompany him, perhaps staying hidden so he had someone to corroborate his story. John had agreed.

They had gone to an old building on the outskirts of the city. It was an abandoned brownstone. John had gone around to the back of the building and found a fire escape ladder running down the side of it that had rusted into place. Climbing carefully, he had drawn abreast of a broken-out window where his friend had been led. Santino stood with four other men, three older gentlemen and a younger one.

Alex’s heart clenched for a moment as he recalled this part of the story. She wondered if perhaps the younger man had been Domenic. If it had been, then it would be much harder for her to secure her father’s help. She bit her thumb nervously until he mentioned the man had been stocky and with a goatee. It must have been Marco, and she sighed in relief.

John could hear snatches of the conversation, but suddenly the younger man grabbed Santino from behind, and he heard Carlo give the order to kill him. Without any hesitation, Marco drew a knife across Santino’s throat, dropping the older man to floor where he died.

Alex could hear the desperation in her father’s voice as he told the story, his hand unconsciously reaching for the weapon usually on his gun belt. She grabbed his hand and held it tightly in her own, knowing it was killing her father inside that he hadn’t been able to help his friend despite the fact he was a law enforcement officer. So he had done the next best thing. He had gone to the police and offered himself as a witness to put away the men responsible. She wondered if he would think it some sort of justice that Marco had died because of her. Retribution of sorts.

Her father sat beside her, and Alex comforted him as best she could. Shane had also stayed silent. He had heard all of this before but understood that her father needed her at the moment and didn’t distract them. After a little while Shane rose from the couch and went to call his parents to let them know that she had been found and returned. Alex stayed on the couch with her father, and he put his arm around her, hugging her close to him once more.

The evening went by quickly, and she didn’t have a chance to talk to her father privately about Domenic. The two deputies remained with them the rest of the night until they were relieved. The men said their farewells and let them know they would see them in the morning. Soon after, her father was yawning and also said good night. Alex debated following him so they could speak alone, but Shane put his arm around her and held her. She felt a flare of impatience and decided she would have to broach the subject with her father in the morning.

Alex felt anxious and nervous about Domenic, but there wasn’t much she could do about that right now. She prayed that he was safe and knew she was going to do whatever it took to help get him out of this mess. In the meantime, she had to talk to Shane. There hadn’t been a chance to decide what she was going to tell him, and to be honest, it was nice to be with him again. It wasn’t that charged electricity she shared with Domenic—not even close—but it was familiar, and she needed that right now. Alex still felt that guilty twinge and knew that she was just going to have to tell Shane everything and face the music eventually, but she didn’t have the strength to do it now.

“Alex,” he said in a low voice, “I was so worried about you.”

She winced, knowing what she’d been up to the last couple of weeks.

“I’m fine, Shane.”

“Did anyone…hurt you?” His voice was casual, but she could tell he was steeling himself against the possible answer.

“No.” Alex felt his chest deflate under her cheek.

“Thank God. I’d kill anyone who ever hurt you, Alex.”

His words were an empty threat—just lip service. Despite Shane’s size, he could never bring himself to kill anyone—he just didn’t have it in him. Not that it mattered anyway. Domenic had already taken care of most of the men who had planned to hurt her. Thinking of him made her stomach clench, and she broke out of Shane’s hold.

“I’m getting tired, Shane. I think I’m going to go to bed.” Alex got up off the couch and started to walk to the other bedroom.

“Yeah, good idea,” he replied. To her surprise, Shane got up and followed her.

“Where are you going to sleep?” she asked and turned to look at him.

“With
you
. Where else would I sleep?” He had a point. Prior to her abduction, they had always slept together, and he didn’t know that anything had changed on her part.

“But my father is in the next room,” she said faintly.

“So?” Shane’s brows lowered and he looked confused. “John knows we sleep together, Alex.”

Alex sighed, defeated. She should have just told him everything right then but was exhausted and didn’t have the energy necessary for the long talk ahead of them. Turning back to the room, she walked inside and sat on the edge of the bed. Shane took his shirt off, and she examined him in a detached sort of way. He was tall, broad, and thickly muscular, but she felt no attraction to him at all anymore. He was the epitome of a Montana farm boy with his clipped blond hair and brown eyes, his face ruddy, never quite losing that sweet babyish quality. Even when he removed his shorts and was standing in front of her almost naked, there was nothing. She wondered if this had been happening over the last little while or if it was only because she was in love with another man.

“You’re going to bed like that?” Shane asked, a look of ever increasing concern marring his usually genial features.

“Huh?” she replied, snapping out of her thoughts. “Oh, right.”

She looked down at herself and wondered what to do. Usually Alex would put on pajamas, but she had nothing with her. Also she was loath to remove Domenic’s clothes. They were all she had left of him. She reached under the back of her shirt and unclasped her bra. Being careful not to show any more skin than necessary, she yanked the straps through the sleeves of her shirt so she could remove her arms from the garment. Grabbing the bra under her shirt she pulled it out. Then she shimmied out of her shorts, making sure the long shirt covered as much of her as possible, before dashing under the covers.

Shane watched her with growing alarm. He must have been confused at her behavior, and she prayed that he wouldn’t question her about it. Unable to face him, Alex turned onto her side and faced the wall. Without saying a word, Shane shut off the light and joined her in bed. He spooned behind her, and she jumped as if electrocuted.

“What are you doing?” she asked in a high, querulous voice. Shane sat up and stared at her.

“I just wanted to hold you, Alex! What the hell is going on? I know we haven’t seen each other in a while, and all this shit happened, but you’re acting as if I’m a stranger! It’s just me, Shane! Are you sure nothing happened to you?”

“Yes, something happened to me!” she cried out. “I got kidnapped! I was stuck in a filthy warehouse, convinced I was going to die! Men chased after me and tried to kill me! Yes,
something
happened, Shane!”

By this point, Alex was crying again and covered her face with her hands. She should have told him the rest but couldn’t hurt him like that. It wasn’t Shane’s fault that somewhere along the line, she had stopped loving him. He gathered her in his arms, and she pushed at his chest feebly.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry…Shh, Alex. I’m sorry.”

She wanted to yell and scream at him to not be sorry. He had nothing to be sorry about—she was the one who had come back a stranger. While there were several reasons to be distant, he didn’t know the
real
reason why she was acting so out of sorts. Her tears subsided, and Shane still held her while she calmed down.

“Please, talk to me, Alex,” he pleaded.

“Shane, I’m so tired. I just want to sleep. Can we talk in the morning?”

“Okay, baby.”

Shane let her go, and she lay down once again, curling on her side, with her back to him. He sighed, and Alex knew he was staring at her back, wondering what to do about her. Finally he shifted on the bed as he got comfortable. He didn’t try to touch her again, and after about fifteen minutes, his breathing deepened, signaling he had gone to sleep. Tears had continued to leak from the corners of her eyes, and she could no longer breathe through her nose.

Silently Alex went to the washroom, splashed water on her face, and tried to blow her nose as quietly as possible. She missed Domenic desperately. She had no idea how she had fallen for him so hard in the last few weeks, but somehow she had. Coming back to her father and Shane just made her realize that what she’d been feeling was the real thing and not just some odd reaction to being locked up together in a dangerous situation. Perhaps that had exacerbated everything, but loving him had been inevitable. There was no denying the attraction between them, not just physical, but emotional as well.

Tomorrow Alex would have to find a way to tell Shane what had happened. With that firm resolve, she returned to bed and soon fell asleep.

She was back in Domenic’s arms. He was kissing her hair and whispering to her, and she smiled. But something was wrong. Something
felt
wrong. He was too broad, there was more hair on his chest, and he smelled different. More earthy and musky.

Starting awake, Alex realized what the problem was. She wasn’t in Domenic’s arms at all. Sometime during the night, she had curled up against Shane, and he was now holding her against him. Her face flamed red as she felt his erection pressed between them. It was just a normal guy thing, but it was still awkward and uncomfortable. Luckily he was still asleep and remained that way as she wriggled out of his grasp. If there was one thing she could count on, it was that Shane slept like the dead.

Bending down, she grabbed her shorts and bra and tiptoed out of the room. Alex ran into the bathroom and leaned back against the door. Taking a shaky breath, she pushed away and went to the toilet. Making a face, she realized that her monthly friend had indeed made an appearance. She was almost sad, thinking about the one time she’d had unprotected sex with Domenic. She had known that she wouldn’t get pregnant but now wondered if it would have been such a bad thing.

Considering the potential father of her potential child was now incarcerated—and she had no clue if she’d ever see him again without a glass wall between them—she should have been relieved that she’d gotten her period, but somehow she wasn’t. She took a hasty shower, got dressed, and left the sanctuary of the bathroom.

Her father was up and drinking a cup of coffee. Alex couldn’t even remember the last time she had drank a cup, and her mouth watered at the thought. Filling a mug with the warm, rich liquid, she inhaled deeply, sighed in contentment, and sat across from her dad. He glanced at her surreptitiously over his own mug. Making a snap decision, she decided to ask her father about Domenic.

Just as she was about to ask, the bedroom door opened and she cursed internally. Shane came ambling into the kitchen and dropped a kiss on her head. “Morning,” he mumbled.

Alex decided that enough was enough. The deputies weren’t around and Shane would know soon enough how she felt about Domenic. She was sick of not knowing what was happening to him and needed to know if her father would help get him into Witness Protection with them. She gathered up her courage before she could chicken out again.

“Dad? What’s going to happen to Domenic D’Angelo?” she blurted out.

“What do you mean
happen
to him?” her father asked, looking at her over the rim of his cup with a perplexed expression.

“Is he going to prison?”

“Prison?”

“Yes, prison!” she said, exasperated. “You can’t let that happen, Dad. He helped me escape! He was the one who kept me alive when those men were going to kill me!”

“I know,” her father said with care, still looking confused.