Nessa sees the murderous expression on my face. Far from frightening her, it seems to please her.
“I’m glad she has you here,” Nessa says. “You’re going to stay here with her?”
“Yes,” I say, firmly. “I’m not going anywhere.”
“Good,” Nessa says. She leans over and kisses Riona softly on the cheek. “Tell her I came to see her,” she says. “I’ll come back again in the afternoon.”
“I’ll tell her,” I promise.
I’m glad that I’m the only one in the room when Riona finally wakes. I’d hate to sit back and let the others crowd around her. I’d hate to try to hide what I feel.
When her eyelids flutter open, the first thing she sees is my face. I watch her expression. I see the relief and happiness in her eyes.
“Raylan,” she whispers.
Her voice is hoarse because of the tube they put down her throat.
“You don’t have to talk,” I tell her.
“Yes, I do,” she says.
I grab the tumbler of ice water the nurses left, and I hold the straw to her lips so she can take a sip. Once she’s swallowed it down, she can speak a little easier.
“You saved me,” she says. “Again.”
“You saved yourself,” I tell her. “You shot Oran.”
She frowns, that green fire flaring up in her eyes. “That asshole,” she says. “He stole the money, not Josh.”
“I figured as much,” I say. “I didn’t think you shot him just for having bad taste in pocket squares.”
Riona gives a raspy little chuckle. “Don’t joke,” she says. “I can’t laugh right now.”
“I can’t help it,” I say. “I’d do anything to make you smile.”
She’s smiling now. She reaches up and touches my face, gently.
“I can’t believe you came back here,” she says.
“I’d go anywhere for you, Riona. I’d do anything. I know I probably shouldn’t tell you that. You don’t like anything if it’s too easy. But it’s true—you’ve got me wrapped around your little finger.”
“I could say the same to you,” she says, arching one perfectly shaped eyebrow. “I know what Long Shot means.”
“Yeah? Well you were the longest shot I ever took. What do you think? Did I make it?”
“Yes,” she tries to hold back her smile but she can’t. “I don’t know how you did it, but you hit the bullseye.”
I can’t stop grinning. I have to lean over her hospital bed to kiss her. And what was supposed to be a gentle, careful kiss turns into something much harder and deeper. Because I’m flooded with too much emotion—relief that this woman I adore is safe and sound in my arms. Happiness that she wants me here. And that intense desire that’s sparked by the softness of her lips and the scent of her skin. A desire that doesn’t give a damn that she’s stuck in this bed with an IV in her arm. I still want her. I want her more than I’ve ever wanted anything.
I don’t know what I’d do, if the nurse didn’t interrupt us.
“Don’t crush the patient,” she says to me. “You know I wasn’t even supposed to let you stay the night.”
“Well, you’d need a whole lot more nurses to drag me out of here,” I say.
“We’ve got a nurse named Barney,” she says. “He was a lineman for Penn State.”
“Alright,” I grin, stepping back so the nurse can take Riona’s vitals. “Don’t sic Barney on me.”
27
Riona
The nurses make me stay in the hospital for three whole days.
This is almost intolerable—to the point that, despite my gratitude for their excellent care, and all the cups of ice water they bring me, I might have gotten in a serious fight with them. Except that Raylan is right beside me, laughing and joking, smoothing over my grumpiness at having my blood pressure taken for the eight hundredth time.
He’s my rock. The only person who can soothe the pain I feel knowing that Uncle Oran tried to kill me. It’s a betrayal that cuts deep. Not only because I truly respected my uncle, but because I misjudged his character so badly. It puts a crack in my perception of my own good judgment.
But I was right about one person at least: the man sitting next to me. Raylan flew to Chicago to make sure I was safe. He saved me, when nobody else was there to do it. He hasn’t left my side since, except to brush his teeth or use the shower in my hospital room.
We’re so happy to be together again that it’s all we talk about.
We don’t discuss the looming question of how we’ll stay together long-term. I know that Raylan’s family wants him back home. But my family needs me here, more than ever. With Uncle Oran gone, they need me to take over the law firm. Not just as a partner but as managing partner. It can’t go to anyone else—only a family member can be trusted with our most vulnerable secrets.
There’s a more urgent reason that I need to get out of the hospital: I don’t want to miss Dante and Simone’s wedding.
It’s going to be small and intimate—fewer than twenty people in attendance. Including me and Raylan.
Dr. Weber insists on running a hundred tests on me before I’m allowed to leave. At the end of it all, he concludes that I might have some mild liver-damage, but I’m otherwise unscathed by Uncle Oran’s attempted poisoning.
“Watch your alcohol intake over the next few months, and hopefully any damage will heal,” Dr. Weber says.
“I assume that doesn’t include wine,” I tell him.
“It definitely includes wine.”
“What about scotch?”
He shakes his head at me, unamused.
“I’ll make sure she behaves herself,” Raylan says.
“You’re going to bodyguard me against liquor now?” I say, giving him an incredulous look.
“If that’s what I gotta do.”
I fling my hair back over my shoulder. “I’d like to see you try,” I say, coolly.
Raylan grabs my arm and pulls me close, so my body is pressed right up against his broad chest. His stubble scratches my cheek as he leans over to whisper in my ear. “Don’t you think you’re safe, just ‘cause we’re in Chicago, darlin.’ I can find a riding crop, if I need to.”
The wave of lust that hits me almost knocks my knees out from under me. If he wasn’t holding me up with that iron grip on my arm, I’d definitely stumble.
Still, I look up into those bright blue eyes with my haughtiest expression.
“I’m not going to make it so easy for you next time,” I say.
“Easy or rough . . . I’ll take what I want,” he growls.
I have to turn away from him before he sees my cheeks flaming as red as my hair.
Raylan and I part ways briefly, so we have time to get clothes before the ceremony. I can tell he doesn’t want to let me out of his sight, even for an instant.
“It’s okay,” I tell him. “There’s nobody left to try to kill me.”