CHAPTER THIRTY

I paced the corridor of the hospital, ready to crawl out of my own skin. I hated waiting.

Why was this taking so long?

Did patching up bullet holes really take so freaking long? Or had the injury been worse than what people were telling me?

I rubbed the sides of my arms, so antsy and full of pent-up fear I wanted to scratch the wicked, terrifying sensation out of me with my bare claws.

“Miss Nolan, er, Randall, er…”

I whirled toward the approaching police officer. “Just Reese,” I assured him with a tense smile. “Did you question Jeremy yet? Do you know how he found me?”

I’d asked this same question earlier when he’d taken my initial statement, but at that point, no one had talked to Jeremy yet.

The officer—Mikrut, I think his name was—nodded. “Mr. Walden confessed that he tracked you through the phone bills he found in your parents’ house when he broke in recently. It took him a few days to get a computer techno friend to trace the extra line to you in Florida, and then it took him another couple of days to drive here. From the gas station receipts we found in his car, I believe he’s been in Waterford for at least seventy-two hours.”

I shivered. That meant he’d already been here when Mrs. Garrison had blackmailed Mason. And he’d been here when Mason and I had hooked up.

Shaking my head, I buried my face in my hands. “So, it didn’t matter that I moved halfway across the country, that I changed my—”

A comforting hand landed on my shoulder. “You won’t have to worry about him again. Not for a long time.”

With a snort, I lifted my face and sent him a disbelieving sneer. “Yeah, until his daddy gets ~this~ trial dropped too.”

Officer Mikrut shook his head. “Not after everything he did today.”

I blew out a breath. “So that gives me what…?”

“Let’s see. Two counts of attempted murder. Firing a weapon in a public school. Breaking and entering. Resisting arrest. I’d say…twenty to thirty years?” The cop shrugged.

I liked that guess. “Thank God.”

He smiled. “Have the doctors come out with an update yet? I really need to question—”

“No.” I shook my head savagely, not wanting to think about why it might be taking the doctor, or nurse, or anyone, so long to come back with an update. “Not yet.”

“Don’t worry so much,” he told me with a soft smile. “I’ve seen people pull through with wounds much worse than this one. I’m sure everything will be fine.”

“Thanks.” I nodded, but I wasn’t convinced.

Officer Mikrut drifted away to speak to a nurse. I hoped he got more information than I’d been getting. Feeling drained, I slumped onto the nearest bench in the quiet hospital hall just outside the stuffy waiting room and rested my head against the wall.

As I closed my eyes, someone sat next to me. “I got you a white chocolate mocha espresso.”

Tears filled my lashes and my throat burned. I shook my head. “I don’t think I could drink anything right now. But thank you.”

I reached out blindly and instantly found a warm hand.

“Come here,” Mason murmured and pulled me into his lap.

I curled into the fetal position and rested my cheek on his shoulder. As I soaked his shirt with tears, he kissed my hair.

“Eva’s going to be okay. I know it.”

I covered my mouth. “I still can’t believe he shot her. He shot my ~cousin~.”

“I know. But she’s related to you; she’s tough. She’ll pull through.”

I clutched him hard. It was all still a lot to take in.

After Jeremy had put two rounds in the ceiling of Waterford County Community College, Mason had managed to elbow him in the face and wrestle the gun away moments before a swarm of law enforcement had shown up. Thanks to Eva.

Apparently, Jeremy had broken into my apartment this morning after I’d already left for class. Eva, running late, had intercepted him. He shot her—I know, I know, I still can’t believe I said that either—and then left her bleeding body lying on the ground outside the Mercers’ four-bay garage so he could find me at school.

According to Officer Mikrut, Eva had been lucid enough to pull her cell phone from her purse, dial 911, and warn them Jeremy would probably be at the college looking for me right before she lost consciousness. That’s why they’d already been on campus when the first errant shot was fired outside my calculus class.

“Did you finally get hold of her parents?” Mason asked, kissing my hair.

“Yes. They’re on their way now.” Aunt Mads and Uncle Shaw had left for one of Uncle Shaw’s work conferences the night before. “They had just gotten off the plane in Phoenix when I reached them.”

“And what about Alec? If she’s really carrying his baby, don’t you think he’d want to know about this?”

I tensed, a little miffed he wasn’t as sure Eva’s baby was Alec’s as Eva had claimed it was. But then, I knew he wasn’t exactly an Eva fan.

“It ~is~ his baby,” I hissed, “and, no. He ~broke up~ with her after finding out about it. I’m not calling that dick unless E. asks me to.”

“Okay, okay,” Mason assured me in a placating voice. “I’m sorry. I just—”

“It’s fine.” I curled closer to him and rested my head on his shoulder. I hoped E. didn’t hate me for blurting out her secret to Mason, but I’d been freaking at the time, worried about her life and her child’s life. He had assured me he’d keep quiet until she wanted the news made public. But I wasn’t so sure there ~would~ be any news after today. Even if Eva survived, what were the chances of her baby making it too? “I just hope they’re both okay.”

“They will be. The cop said she was shot in the shoulder. That’s nowhere near the fetus.”

“But—”

“Shh.” He stroked his hand down my spine.

I closed my eyes, soaking up his unquestioning support. I didn’t know how long we held each other like that, with me wrapped up on his lap and our faces tucked close together.

When I heard footsteps drawing close, I lifted my head to see a doctor approaching. “Oh, thank God.”

But the man under me tensed. “Shit.”

I glanced at him, alarmed. “What’s wrong?”

Just as I spoke, the doctor glanced into the nearest waiting room. “Mercer family?”

“Here.” I leapt off Mason’s lap, forgetting his strange behavior, until he reached out and grabbed my fingers as if to draw me back to him.

The doctor turned toward us and faltered in her step when she saw him. “M-Mason?”

His fingers tightened around mine as the woman’s gaze skipped questioningly from him to me and back to him again.

And suddenly, I understood.

I whirled to him and slugged him on the arm. “You have got to be kidding me. A doctor? A frigging ~medical~ doctor?”

He looked as if he were going to be beaten with a whip as he shied back, his face pallid and petrified. “I…I’m sorry.”

The doctor jerked backward as if she was going to run off.

“Hey!” I sliced her a killer glare. “Aren’t you going to tell us how Eva is?”

She paused and cleared her throat, coloring slightly. “Of course. Sorry…” She nervously pushed her platinum blond hair out of her face, making the sleeves of her white coat droop down enough to reveal the Michael Kors watch strapped around her wrist.

Damn, why did all of Mason’s ex-clients have to have such good taste in fashion?

“Miss Mercer is stable,” she said. “Her vitals are strong and she’s awake and lucid.”

“And the baby?” I blurted out.

Dr. Slut nodded. “Still has a heartbeat.”

I slumped against Mason, and he gathered me close, kissing my forehead.

His ex-client glanced curiously between us before returning to business. “You can see her in a couple minutes. Once they have her in a private room, I’ll have a nurse come back and take you to her.”

“Thank you,” Mason said, since it seemed obvious I wasn’t going to speak to her again.

She nodded and gave us a tight smile. “At least now I know why my call was never returned.” Gaze settling on me, she added, “Nice nose ring.”

I turned to pin Mason with a scowl as she hurried off. “Why do all your ex-clients remark on my nose ring?” Even Dr. Janison had said something after class one day when I’d been walking by to leave her Brit Lit lecture.

Mason smiled faintly as he tapped my nose. “Because it reminds them how young they no longer are.”

I frowned, bewildered. That made no sense. “Younger people do not have a monopoly on nose rings, you know. I’ve seen plenty of them on women—and men—of all ages.”

“Ahh, but it looks hot on you.” He paused to nod his head after the departing doctor. “It makes ~them~ look grasping and old.”

Though his words pacified me a little, I still wanted to be pissed. I slugged him in the arm again. “And I thought you said all your clients were bored, rich housewives. Successful doctors, college professors, and landladies don’t exactly fit into that category.”

Mason flushed and glanced around as if I’d screamed the accusation. “I said ~most~ of them were,” he muttered under his breath. “Not all.”

Realizing this wasn’t the place to make a scene, I fell moody and silent.

I thought about Mason’s shady past and how many freaking horny women there were in Waterford panting after him and thinking they owned him. Then I thought about Eva and her baby, Jeremy and his prison sentence, Alec and his impending fatherhood. Actually, I don’t think there was a thought that didn’t swirl through my busy, muddled head.

Mason stayed quiet beside me, holding my hand and smoothing his thumb over my knuckles. He remained my one constant. Despite what had just happened, the assurance of his love steadied me, and by the time the nurse arrived to lead us back to Eva, I was doing okay, breathing easily and ready to see my cousin.

She was awake and sitting up in bed, cognizant and cracking jokes the minute we walked into the room.

After taking one look at the companion at my side, she set her hand over her heart. “Aww. A get-well-soon present already? ReeRee, you shouldn’t have. Is he going to strip and do a little dance for us, or what?”

Mason’s hand tightened in mine, but I only tugged him closer. “Sorry, E. But Mason is retired from all that.”

“Is he?” Her blue eyes narrowed on him with suspicion. “Well, he better stay that way if he’s going to keep hanging around you. I didn’t get shot for you by one douche just so you could get your heart broken by another.”

“It’s too bad the first douche didn’t shoot your sunny personality right out of you,” Mason muttered.

“Okay, okay.” I held up my hands, playing referee. “No more mudslinging. On any other day, I might be able to handle two people I love absolutely hating each other but…not today. All right? Truce?”

Mason winced and had the grace to look regretful. “Truce,” he grumbled, glancing away.

Eva, on the other hand, lifted her eyebrows. “Did you just say the l-word…in reference to the ~gigolo~?”

“She did.” Mason sent her a challenging, hard look. “And for your information, I ~will~ be better for her than the last douche. I would rather die than hurt Reese.”

Eva eyed him for a long, scrutinizing moment before she sighed and relaxed back against her pillow. “If you lie, I’ll be putting a bullet hole in ~you~, buddy. And trust me, they’re not fun.” She winced, suddenly bringing it to my attention how pale she was. “I swear to God, this pain reliever they gave me isn’t working ~at all~.” She shouted the last two words toward the doorway as if she wanted everyone in the hospital to hear how miserable she was.

I panicked. “Do you want me to find a nurse? I’m sure they can give you some more—”

“No.” E. set her hand protectively over her stomach. “The less drugs they pump into me, the better it will be for the baby.” Then she sliced a wide-eyed look toward Mason and narrowed her gaze threateningly. “You didn’t hear that.”

He shrugged—the good man. “Hear what?”

The mention of her baby made me think of its asshole father. “I didn’t call Alec. I didn’t know what you wanted done there.”

“Don’t.” She reached for my hand. “I don’t want him here.” Her chilly fingers wrapped around mine. “I just want you…and I guess your gigolo boyfriend can stick around too, if he behaves.”

I smiled and rolled my eyes. It was going to be useless to tell her to quit calling him that, wasn’t it?

“I mean it, Reese. I know I can be a total bitch, and…and pretty full of myself.”

Mason snorted; we both ignored him.

“And you should probably hate me for the way I came onto your boyfriend—even though I really did do that to show you he would be an unfaithful bastard. But you’re still the best friend I ever had.” Tears welled in her eyes. “Thank you for being here for me. I love you.”

Wow, near-death experiences truly brought out the best in my cousin.

With that, I turned into watering pot number two. “I love you too, E. Always.” We hugged and bawled all over each other. Mason stepped out of the room, pretending to use the bathroom.

When he returned, Eva and I had settled some, but we still kept dabbing tissues at our moist eyes and then laughing at each other.

Mason and I stayed with her until Aunt Mads and Uncle Shaw arrived. When Eva gave me a look, letting me know she was going to drop the baby bomb on them and wanted to do it by herself, I took Mason’s arm and ushered him from the room.

As we walked out of the hospital, hand in hand, he was quiet. Contemplative. But seeing Eva and actually getting to talk to her gave me a certain relief, and I was ready to talk.

I bumped my shoulder into his. When he glanced over, I held up a hand in a universal what’s-the-deal signal.

“I’m sorry,” he said again, letting go of my hand to wrap his arm around my shoulder and pull me tight against him.

I set my fingers over his heart, already trying to soothe him. “About what?”

He glanced away. “I had no idea Dr. Masterson was the one taking care of Eva.”

“Mason,” I interrupted when he opened his mouth to say more. He looked so sick with regret that I leaned up and kissed his chin. “I need to confess something.”

He paused and crinkled his brow with a confused frown. “Okay.”

I pulled him to a bench by a small ornamental tree in front of the hospital and sat us both down. Taking each of his hands, I looked him in the eye. “When you tackled Jeremy today and that gun went off, my heart stopped. I swear, it literally stopped in my chest. I thought…I thought he’d shot ~you~, and I was ready to die right along with you.”

Pausing to wipe at my dry face, I blew out a deep breath and shook my head. “Then it went off again, and I was certain you were dead.”

Mason didn’t say anything; he just tightened his grip on my hands.

I sent him a watery smile. “You cannot believe how relieved I was to see you roll off of him and take control of his weapon. I couldn’t believe you were actually alive, that I was so lucky. Even after I found out about Eva and I paced the halls of the hospital, wondering if she was going to make it or not, I still felt…lucky. I’m just so glad it wasn’t you.”

Eyes glistening with love, he breathed out a reassured sound and yanked me close for a hard embrace.

“Do you understand what I’m saying?” I asked against his neck. “It doesn’t matter how many women paid you for sex. I won’t leave you because of them. I don’t think I could ever leave you for any reason.”

He kissed me, tasting of relief and devotion. His lips told me he didn’t think he could ever leave me either.

“But running into your old—and I mean, like, five years younger than God, old—clients is beginning to get annoying. We might have to move away from Waterford County, where no one knows how much you used to charge.”

Mason lifted his eyebrows at my suggestion. “Where exactly did you have in mind?”

“Well.” I bit my lip. “I’ve been missing Ellamore. A lot. They have a great medical program at their university, and I’m sure their engineering department rocks too. Besides, it didn’t matter how far away I ran; Jeremy still found me. So I’m done running. I want to go home.”

He winced. “But ~Illinois~? What about Sarah and my mom?”

I only had to think about that for half a second. Snapping my fingers, I grinned. “I got it. We could bring them with us. My mom manages a hotel. She’s always looking for good, dependable employees. She could get Dawn a job no problem.”

Mason shook his head, his eyes sparkling with a reverent glint. “You have a solution for everything, don’t you?”

When it came to keeping us together, I would definitely find a solution. I fluttered my lashes at him. “So what do you say? If we can get your mom on board, do you want to look into enrolling at Ellamore in the spring?”

His mouth cut me off. “Yes.” His lips pressed against my neck next. “Yes. If it makes you happy and keeps us together, my answer will always be yes.”