The Sacrificial Lamb (51 page)

“Yeah.”

“Where’s Bianca?”

“Oh!” he answered, looking surprised at her use of his wife’s name. “Right, Domenic would have told you about her. She’s in Mexico with my mom. Dad and I stayed back, figuring it wouldn’t be as dangerous for us.”

“Yeah, at least he told me
something
that was true,” she mumbled, looking away.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean that he neglected to tell me that he was working undercover.”

“I’m sure there was a good reason for that.”

“He told
you
.”

“Well, he didn’t have much of a choice,” Russell said, grinning at her. “I kind of forced it out of him. Plus, he needed someone on this side of things to let your dad know what was going on.”

Alex snorted, and Russell gave her a speculative look. Avoiding his gaze, she lowered her eyes. While she felt safe with Russell, he had a way of looking at her that made her feel exposed. Those strange silvery eyes pierced and penetrated. It was disconcerting to say the least.

“You care for him, don’t you?”

“Well of course I do! He saved my life,” she said. “A few times.”

“But what you feel goes beyond simple gratitude.”

There was no accusation in his voice, no inkling of judgment, just simple fact. Alex nodded weakly.

“And
he
has feelings for
you
too.
That’s
why he took you with him!” Russell said, looking excited. He got up and paced around, mumbling to himself as she watched in confusion.

“I knew something was up when he decided to take you with him. I wasn’t sure what, and he refused to admit it, but I knew there was something he wasn’t telling me!” Russell spoke as if he had solved a great mystery leading to hidden treasure. Alex hated to be the one to let him know all he’d found was fool’s gold.

“No, I don’t think so,” she replied sadly. “He took me ’cause it was part of his job.”

“No, Alex. You’re wrong. Domenic didn’t have to take you with him at
all
.”

“I don’t understand.”

“He needed to keep his undercover status for a while longer so that they didn’t blow the case. But they had more than enough evidence by then.”

“Okay?”

“Don’t you see?”

“Um…no.”

“With Domenic’s connections, he didn’t need to implicate himself with your disappearance at all. He could have gotten you out, and no one would have been the wiser,” he said animatedly. “But he didn’t. Instead he risked his entire assignment to take you with him and protect you. Why do you think he’d do that?”

“He
said
he was just doing his job.”

“And you believe him?”

Alex opened her mouth to say yes, but her mind kept returning to their time in the cabin. The things he had said to her, the way he touched her, and the way he looked at her with that burning intensity that made her forget about everything else. She thought about him lying on the courthouse steps, bleeding and possibly dying, and how he had kissed her one last time. “Just in case,” he had whispered before his lips brushed against hers. It was the same thing he had said to her each time he had to leave her when she wasn’t certain of his return. Her mouth closed with a snap.

“Alex, I’ve known Domenic most of my life, and up until today I would have told you that there is only
one
person he’d ever willingly take a bullet for. And that’s his sister.”

“Not even you?” she asked, grinning.

“Nah, he’d tell me to stop being a damn pussy and take the bullet myself.” Russell started to laugh then. The sound of it was infectious, and she found herself laughing with him.

For the next couple of hours, Russell regaled her with stories about him and Domenic in their youth. While she was still worried sick, hearing about Domenic growing up helped pass the time. Alex listened in wonder as Russell told her about the boy who had turned into the man she knew and was relieved that she still recognized him in the telling of his life. It cemented the fact that perhaps the man she knew, the one from the cabin, was indeed the true Domenic.

Time passed slowly, but she knew it would have been much worse if she didn’t have Russell’s company. She could tell why Domenic had cared for him so much. They were very different but complemented each other well. While Domenic was intense, Russell was more laid-back. They both had that tough resilience and an inner strength that seemed to shine through. Strangely enough, spending this time with Russell made her ache for Domenic even more.

Alex got up and paced the small room for a while, running her fingers through her tangled hair. Russell watched her sympathetically, remaining quiet while she struggled with her inner demons. She had no idea what to expect when she saw Domenic again—if she saw him again. Russell hadn’t given her the impression that Domenic would die, but he didn’t say anything to make her feel as if he was in no danger at all.

“What’s taking so long?” she asked, turning to him.

“The nurse said this type of surgery can take about three to four hours.”

“Well it’s
been
almost four hours!”

“I know. I’m sure we’ll hear something soon.”

No sooner were the words out of his mouth, then there was a quiet knock on the door. Russell got up and pushed her behind him so that she would be behind the door when he opened it. He placed his hand under his shirt, and she realized he had a gun clipped to his pants. Alex was startled a little when she saw it but remembered that Russell was a cop. He pulled the door open a little and peeked around it. His shoulders dropped instantly as the tension left his body.

“Dad,” he said, opening the door fully and allowing an older gentleman into the room. Dr. Sutherland strode in and turned to face them. He had a similar look to Russell, but instead of blond, his hair was silver. He had sharp features, and he had the same gray eyes that looked at her appraisingly.

“This is Alexis Montgomery,” Russell said, introducing them. “Alex, my father, Miles Sutherland.”

“Pleased to meet you, Dr. Sutherland.”

“Call me Miles, please.”

“How is Domenic?” she asked anxiously.

“He made it through surgery just fine. He’s in recovery now.”

Alex felt her knees give way as his words sank in. He was alive. Russell grabbed hold of her arm and steered her toward a chair so she could sit down. She might have ended up on the floor otherwise.

“He’s alive? He’s okay?”

“Yes. The bullet just missed his heart, thank God, but it nicked his lung and lodged into one of his ribs. We were lucky it was a small caliber weapon or else it could have done a lot more damage.”

A shiver ran through Alex as she listened to Miles speak. Just missed his heart. If Carlo had been pointing his gun a little higher, Domenic would be dead right now. Luck had been with them today—as far as getting shot and not dying went.

“Can I see him?”

“Not yet, Alexis. He’ll stay in recovery for an hour so we can monitor him, and then we’ll move him to a private room.”

“Then can I see him?”

“I’ll see what I can do,” Miles said with a kind smile. “I’d better get back. I’ll let you know when they move Domenic.”

He left the room, leaving her alone with Russell again. “He’s alive,” she repeated stupidly as if he didn’t have ears to hear for himself. “He made it.”

“I told you he would. No way would my dad let Domenic die. He’s too scared of Bianca,” he said, with a broad grin. Alex laughed shakily, still waiting for everything to sink in.

Domenic was alive. The prospect made her heart soar and scared her silly all at once. All this past week, she had been so caught up in the fact he’d lied to her—she hadn’t stopped long enough to realize what this meant for them. Domenic wasn’t a criminal. He wasn’t going to go to prison. He was a law enforcement agent. Her father would be ecstatic—once he got over her break up with Shane at least.

Alex hadn’t fallen in love with a mobster after all. She had been right when she said she could see through the hard exterior to the good man underneath. Of course she hadn’t known
just
how right she was.

This did still complicate things in another way. Alex still had no idea what had been truth and what had been lies. Russell had given her the impression that Domenic must have feelings for her or else he wouldn’t have acted the way he had. She was still unsure, and the one person who had the answers she sought lay in a bed somewhere in this hospital.

Not quite two hours later, Alex and Russell were shown into a small guarded private room where Domenic lay unconscious. He’d suffered a lot of trauma and would be heavily sedated overnight.

It had been a battle to get in here, as one of the nurses insisted that she wasn’t allowed into the room despite Russell’s protests and hers. The woman was new on staff and was trying to follow protocol, but that didn’t stop Alex from wanting to bowl her over if she continued to get in her way. Finally Miles showed up and pulled the nurse aside.

“Is this the way we treat the fiancée of an injured law enforcement officer?” he asked in a stern reprimand.

It seemed she was a popular choice as a fiancée today, but if it was going to get Nurse Ratched off her ass and let her see Domenic, Alex was all for it. The nurse apologized to her profusely, and Miles dropped her a wink. Alex decided the Sutherland men must be sent from the heavens.

She walked to the hospital bed and sat beside Domenic, taking his limp hand in hers. Russell stood behind her, and she heard him blow out a breath. Swallowing the lump in her throat, she looked Domenic over. His face looked gaunt and pale with dark circles under his eyes. His chest rose up and down with the help of a respirator, and she could see the heavy bandages wrapped around his upper chest and shoulder under the hospital gown he wore.

“Oh, Domenic,” she sighed, reaching out a hand and brushing back the heavy dark mass of his hair. For the first time ever, he looked vulnerable to her. Even when she had watched him sleeping, there was always a vitality that vibrated underneath his skin, making her aware of the subterranean power held barely in check. Although Miles had told her that he would survive, the death sleep of his coma frightened her.

“Do you think I can have a few moments alone with him?” she whispered to Russell, before realizing she could have screamed at the top of her lungs without disturbing Domenic.

“Sure, Alex.”

Russell left the room, and Alex leaned her head toward the bed and kissed the hand she held in hers. She turned it so that she could cup it against her cheek. Closing her eyes, she pretended that they were back in the cabin and he was just sleeping. She tried to remember a time when she had been happier than her time spent with Domenic but couldn’t. Even shrouded in danger, no one had made her feel more alive than Domenic.

“I should have told you Shane was wrong,” she murmured. “I should have told you that I missed you every day we were apart. I was mad. I was mad that you lied to me about being in the mob. Now I know you must have had your reasons, but I was still mad.

“I should have told you I still love you,” she sighed. “They say people in comas can still hear. I know you’re not really in a coma, but I hope you can hear me. Maybe then you’ll get it into that thick skull of yours what you mean to me.

“You know, I keep thinking about our time together at the cabin. Like the first time you taught me to shoot, and then I dropped the gun. Remember? God, you were so mad at me.” Alex laughed to herself.

Don’t you get it, yet? You belong to me,
he’d said.

Alex glanced at Domenic curiously. She had wondered what he had meant by that but brushed it aside as something said in the heat of the moment.

“But you were right, weren’t you. Even then, I was yours.”

Keeping Domenic’s hand against her face, Alex continued to talk to him. She reminded him of all the things they had done and all the feelings she felt. She wasn’t sure who she would find when he awoke, so she took advantage of the time she had and prayed it would be
her
Domenic who came back to her.