Whirlwind (SAI Book 2) (12 page)

“Can I hold your hand while you tell me the story?”

“Let me get this out.”

Grady cupped her cheek, and she almost lost her resolve. “I can do this.”

“I know. It just makes me feel better if I’m touching you.”

Turning her head, she kissed his hand. “Thank you.” Sitting back, she straightened her spine. “I read letters my mother exchanged with Sal, and it wasn’t hard to figure out that Mom had gotten pregnant after they spent a week together. I also discovered a box of letters that she exchanged with my father, Ken. The best that I can figure out is that they started dating when Mom was six months pregnant. Which is kind of crazy when you think about it. My father was the most straight-laced and traditional person that you’d have ever met. He spent thirty years in the Navy, and
there wasn’t a rule that he didn’t follow. I think dating a woman who was pregnant wasn’t his usual MO. 

“So, your dad must’ve fallen hard for your mom if let go of his traditional ideas.”

“Absolutely. When I looked at their marriage certificate, I discovered that they were married three months after I was born. He must’ve adopted me right away, because every record there is of me has Montgomery as my last name.”

“They never said anything to you?”

“No. I had no idea that things happened the way they did. Why would I?”

“I guess if your birth certificate didn’t say otherwise, why would you think differently?”

“My parents had an amazing marriage. They were affectionate and laughed all the time. My mother was an artist and fairly unconventional. My father was the exact opposite, but they worked perfectly together. A couple of years ago we celebrated their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary. At the party, they looked at each other like they had just fallen in love. I framed a picture from their wedding day and a picture taken at the party, and their expressions are the same. Totally, completely enamored with each other. My mom always said the secret to their marriage was that Dad spent a fair amount of time deployed. But I knew that wasn’t true. They genuinely liked one another, and that never went away.”

“I’m guessing you wanted to meet your biological father, and that’s what got you in trouble.”

“Yes. I regret that trip to Chicago more than you’ll ever know. I had one meal with Sal, and it’s changed my life completely.”

“Tell me what happened.”

“The short version is that I flew to Chicago a year ago and looked up Sal. I wish they would list someone’s mafia connections on Google. It would’ve saved me a lot of grief.”

“You had no idea who or what he was?”

“No. I called him and explained who I was and asked if he wanted to have dinner. He agreed and we met in a small restaurant on the south side of Chicago. During the meal I figured out that he wasn’t a regular businessman. There were two men sitting in the bar, watching us, and I could tell that they were bodyguards. Truth be told, I didn’t want to know what he was into because I had no plans to stay in contact. At the end of the meal, he gave me a locket that had belonged to his mother, and that was it. We didn’t discuss staying in touch, and I was relieved.

“As we walked out of the restaurant, he was gunned down within a foot of me. It was horrific. Seeing a bullet fly into the human body is indescribable. There was blood everywhere. I discovered later that his friends liked to call him the Mover. He was part of the Chicago-based organized crime family called the Outfit.”

She started to shake, and before she knew what was happening, Grady scooped her up onto his lap. “There’s more to tell,” she said through chattering teeth.

“I know, but you can take your time. Let me hold you.”

Grady was such a big man that it didn’t take much for him to envelop her in his embrace. The heat from his skin seeped into hers, and she felt herself relax enough to go on. The story was horrific and she hated repeating it, but Grady had to know if he was planning on sticking around. “I saw the face of the man who pulled the trigger, and I also saw that one of the men who was supposed to be protecting Sal didn’t do his job.”

“Is that why the Outfit is after you? Because you can ID the shooter?”

“That’s part of it. When Sal was shot, the FBI was alerted, and they were on the scene within an hour. I was taken into protective custody within two hours of the shooting. That’s when I met Sammy. He’s head of the task force in Chicago.”

“What’s the other part?”

“Apparently, Sal had a list of names and events that can damage the family. He also skimmed money and has it somewhere in a Swiss bank account. He died hours after being shot and so did his secrets. The capo thinks that I have the password to get into the account that holds the list and the money.”

“Do you?”

“Not that I know of. I only spent about three hours with him. All I had was the locket he gave me. The FBI took the locket and then went through my purse. They didn’t discover anything.”

“So, the Outfit doesn’t want you to testify in the trial, and they want their money and list back.”

“Yep. That’s it in a nutshell.”

“Why didn’t they make a move earlier?”

“I disappeared off the face of the earth. I never returned to my life in Atlanta.”

“You’ve been on the run for over a year?”

“Sort of. I refused to go into WITSEC. I made a deal with Sammy, and he let me disappear on my own. I promised that if things got really dicey, then he could pull me in. For the first month, I traveled around from town to town, staying in small motels.”

“Alone?”

“Of course, alone. It’s not like I had a personal bodyguard.”

“That is fucking nuts. Anyone could’ve gotten to you, and I’m not talking about the mob. Any creep with a bad idea could’ve hurt you.”

“Well, they didn’t. I’m pretty good at blending into the woodwork.”

Shaking his head, he tightened his hold. “Nothing about you blends.”

“Anyway. My grandmother passed away and left me this house. Sammy monitors my old email accounts and telephone number, and when the news came in about my grandmother, he let me know. Grams had a living trust, and she put me on it. There was very little paperwork and no public record. If someone’s looking for me, they can’t trace me to Florida. There are no public records of me. Sammy set me up with an alternate ID, so basically Sara Montgomery has ceased to exist.”

“So that’s why you live such a quiet life and hang out with all the old people on the street.”

“Yeah. It’s safer that way. Gladys and Agnes know because they were best friends with my grandmother. The rest of the people just know me as Bea’s granddaughter.”

“So, now we have to figure out how to end this.”

“If only it were that easy.”

“Nothing is impossible. Just give me some time and I’ll figure out a solution. In the meantime, know that you are safe.”

Being held against Grady’s strength made her feel like his words were possible. “I don’t want to make my problems your problems.”

“Too late, honey.” He smoothed back her hair and lightly touched his mouth to hers. “Trust me to handle this.”

“I’ll try.”

“That’s all I can ask.” Rolling her under him, he held her face. “Thank you for telling me your story.”

“I hope you still feel that way when the mob is gunning for me and you get caught in the crossfire.”

“It’ll just make things exciting.”

“That’s what I’m afraid of.” All the arguments she was about to mount were lost when he kissed her. That’s all it took…his mouth against hers. Exciting wasn’t going to be a problem with Grady around.

***

Grady and Dane stood together on the patio at the McDades’ Fourth of July bash and stared at the group of women gathered under the tree. “Do you think they’re talking about us?” Grady asked.

“Doubt it,” Dane replied. “We’re not that interesting.”

Joel joined them with his daughter in his arms. “My sweet daughter is battling her nap with everything she has. I might be irritated if I wasn’t so proud to see her fighting spirit.”

Grady opened his arms. “Give me my beautiful goddaughter. I’ll walk her around and see if I can get her to go down.”

Joel handed him Tory and grinned. “I wish you luck, because she has all her mother’s stubbornness.”

“Or her daddy’s,” Dane added. “Where is Jordan?”

“TT is putting him down over at the guest house. Ronnie and Chase’s twins are already asleep in the playpen, so she’s keeping an eye on them while they nap.” Joel glanced up and saw Vivi signaling to him. “Better go.”

Dane watched Joel stride in the direction of his wife and laughed. “They make it look easy.”

“Maybe it is when you find the right person.” As he rocked sweet Tory in his arms, he stared across the pool and studied the woman who might be the one for him. “I’d like to think that the right girl makes that possible.” Shaking his head, he thought of Ang. “I had the wrong person, so I know what to avoid.”

Chase and Ronnie strolled up to them with drinks in their hands and relaxed smiles. “You two look happy,” Dane commented.

“We are. The kids are napping, so we have about an hour to enjoy ourselves and relax,” Chase replied.

“I’m going to drag him off in a minute and see if he’ll smooch me. Since the twins have arrived, we have to be creative in finding time together,” Ronnie said.

Grady and Dane glanced at each other and laughed. “Don’t let us keep you.”

Ronnie winked and then took her husband’s hand and tugged him in the direction of the house. “See you all later,” she called over her shoulder.

The smile that Chase had on his face told anyone who cared to look that he was a well-taken-care-of husband. “They make it look easy, too,” Grady said. “And we both know that Ronnie is anything but easy.” He glanced down and noticed Tori had finally given up the fight and fallen asleep. “I’m going to put her in the playpen.” He stalked off across the yard and waved to Sara as he passed. She gave him a sweet, sexy smile, and it made him think about how they were going to celebrate the holiday. Fireworks might be his new favorite thing.

***

Grady stood next to Sara’s pool and waited for her to emerge from the house. They had about thirty minutes before the fireworks began, and he was ready to get their celebration started. The party at the McDades’ had been fun, but torturous.

His famous control over his body, mind, and feelings had been noticeably absent since Sara had mentioned fireworks. He’d been on edge ever since, and that was thirteen hours ago. Just as he was about to look for her, he heard her voice.

“Grady, turn around.”

“I’m going to see everything in a minute.” Sara unwrapped her towel and jumped into the pool. She had turned off the pool lights earlier, so he couldn’t see much. He dropped his swim trunks, dove in, and swam in her direction. As he got close, she swam away. Naked as babies, they floated in the water. “Why are you swimming away?”

“Because I need a moment to prepare myself. You’re looking at me like a wolf, and it’s overwhelming. It’s been a long time, and I’m nervous.”

“Come here.” His voice sounded rougher than he wanted it to, but he had never craved a woman as badly as he did now. He took a couple of steps in her direction and scooped her into his arms. Ravaging her sweet mouth, he slid his hand up and cupped her breast. Her galloping heartbeat and stiffened nipples told him that she was as excited as he was. “You’re so fuc…sexy.” Bending, he took a nipple in his mouth. Her skin tasted sweet like coconut ice cream, and he knew that he was going to become addicted. As he ran his tongue over her skin, she arched into him. Silently begging for more.

“Oh…wow!” Her shuddering groan rewarded him and tightened everything inside him, making him throb. He switched to the other breast and sucked that nipple into his mouth. Her fingers contracted on his shoulders, digging hard into his muscles. Before he lost complete control, he moved to the side of the pool and carried her out. “Don’t want to miss the fireworks.”

“I’m already starting to see fireworks.”

He laid her gently on the double lounge and kneeled above her. “Just getting started.”

“Grady…” She said his name as a soft moan of eagerness.

Slowly, so slowly that it tormented them both, he used his fingers to explore her, and found her hot and damp. When he parted her and pushed one finger in deep, she cried out and arched into him.

Damn, she was pulsing around his finger before he even had a chance to find the magic spot. Her wetness and slick heat coated his fingers as he built her need. She was close, so he withdrew enough to slip a second finger in and felt her clench. “You’re close.”

“Please,” she wailed.

He kissed her parted lips and moved his thumb to her bud. Her eyes closed and her head fell back as she held on. Her stiffened nipples rubbed against his chest, and he kept up a steady rhythm. Her expression tightened as her release took over her body. Sara wasn’t a screamer, but her low, throaty moans and gasping breaths were a huge turn-on. Hearing and feeling her respond, set him on fire. He wanted to own her pleasure and would do anything to make it possible.

Spent, she went limp in his arms. Raising her arms above her head, she smiled, and it affected him like a well-placed lick.