Chapter 39
Daisy floated back to consciousness on a wave that felt a little like when she used to get drunk and stoned on weed in high school, but knew this wasn’t that. She opened her eyes and saw her dad and smiled sleepily. “Hey, what are you doing here?”
Where was she even?
He scratched his forehead and gave a big sigh. He held her hand in his big rough one, and his shoulders slumped.
“Oh, I remember.” She shrugged and felt the constraint of motion in her left arm. Looked down. “I was shot.” She frowned. “Jordan.” Her voice rose anxiously. “Where’s Jordan…”
She swung her head around and found him standing on the other side of the room looking worse than she felt. His blue eyes were bloodshot with worry. Hair standing on end as if he’d run his hands through it a thousand times. Stress had carved deep grooves around his mouth.
She gave him a smile because he looked like he needed one. “I’d hold your hand too, but this one is out of commission.” They’d put her left arm in a sling, but she was able to wiggle her fingers a little. It hurt, but not too much.
“What happened? Did I black out?”
“Fainted.”
“Damn. That sounds girly.”
“You lost a lot of blood.” Jordan cleared his throat. “The bullet didn’t break the bone which is a miracle and didn’t fragment.” He held up the slug. “It made a hole in the humerus, but the surgeon seems confident it’ll heal.”
“I’m going to wear that as a medallion around my neck if the FBI let me. Did you tell Dad we were sleeping together?”
Her dad growled, and she grinned. He deserved this.
“No.” Jordan’s cheeks turned deep red. “I told him I’m in love with you.”
“Oh. Well, I was going to tell him it was punishment for him interfering with my life, but now you’ve gone and ruined it.” It was her turn to blush. “Did you tell him I loved you back?”
Jordan sat on the bed so they were hip-to-hip. “I figured that was up to you.”
Kurt scratched his head and climbed to his feet.
“Okay. Now I’m convinced there’s nothing seriously wrong with you, I’m going to grab Rowena then talk to Novak and Ackers and the goddamned FBI Director about the situation and our national response.
” He bent down to kiss her forehead, then straightened and sent Jordan a warning look.
“I’ll give you guys a few minutes alone if you can behave yourselves. ”
He headed out.
Daisy snorted. “What does he think we’ll do in a hospital bed? Although, I’m sure we could manage.” She glanced up with delight. “Look, there’s even a headboard.”
Whatever pain meds they’d given her were definitely working because she wanted to giggle at Jordan’s slightly horrified expression.
“You’re gonna get me killed.”
She pulled a face. “Never.”
He came around to the other side of the bed and sat down, finally took her hand. “I’m sorry you got hurt today. There’s going to be a major investigation and a lot of diplomatic fallout.”
“As long as that’s the only kind of fallout.
” She grew serious because he looked so miserable, and her teasing wasn’t helping the way she’d hoped.
“So many people died, but it could have been a lot worse. A lot worse. I feel terrible for the facility workers and Les”—memories assaulted her in a cascade that made her want to weep—“but I’m not sorry about shooting Konrad Bocharov, and I’m not going to lie when they ask me about it. ”
“There were enough witnesses wearing body cams that you’ll never have to justify yourself to anyone. Anyone questions you like a suspect, I’ll shoot them myself.” He kissed her knuckles, which was super sweet. His were scraped raw. “I am sorry you had to take a life though.”
“He was a despicable human being, and he deserved to die.” She sucked in her lips.
“You did me a favor by eliminating that scum from the world, but I’m sorry you have to carry that burden.”
“It’s not a burden.” He looked unconvinced, but she wasn’t lying. “I know it probably should be, but after everything he did, and what he tried to do at the reactor…” Talking about it brought it all back in vivid detail. “I thought you were about to die. There was no way I was letting that happen.”
He squeezed her fingers. “I wasn’t about to die. The guys had the situation in hand, but you definitely beat them to the punch with Bocharov. I failed in my promise to keep you safe.”
“I’m here, aren’t I?”
He laughed at her dry tone but still looked like he wanted to weep.
“Crabtree was some sort of deeply planted Russian agent. He bragged how he was going home to a hero’s welcome.”
His jaw flexed. “And I let you walk away with him.”
“He was FBI. We both trusted him.” She raised her hand and rubbed her fingers over the scruff on his cheek. “And here I am, alive and sassy, and those motherfuckers are dead.”
Jordan swallowed tightly.
“You have to get over the hero complex, Krychek. You can’t be everywhere.”
“There’s going to be a big shake up and a hell of a lot of digging into Crabtree’s background. Alex Parker’s firm has been called in to do deep dives on all FBI employees.”
“Even you?” She raised a brow at him.
“The FBI knows every damned thing about me including that I’m in love with this incredibly smart, hot, brave physicist. I’m hoping we can figure out a way to make it work.
Thankfully, Richmond and Quantico aren’t that far apart.
I can move so I’m even closer, and if that isn’t enough, I’ll look into positions in Richmond like I said. ”
“You don’t have to move. I like your little cabin in the woods, minus all the surveillance tools.”
“You’re willing to give this thing between us a try?”
She stared at him, this handsome man who went up against armed assailants without fear, but who looked scared to death right now.
She wasn’t scared anymore. Jordan wasn’t the kind of man to make promises and then break them.
And he might argue he’d broken a promise to her father, but despite everything, he’d kept her safe—from climbing the outside of a hotel seven floors up, to pulling her into a helicopter off the roof of a burning building, to strolling into a nuclear reactor full of people who wanted to kill him.
He’d put her first, protected and cared for her above all else.
And that made her melt.
It was a little humbling to realize that, deep down, despite all the years of pushing people away, what she’d really wanted, really craved, was someone to give enough of a damn to take care of her. To rein in the wild-child and nurture the vulnerable woman hidden deep within.
Didn’t mean she was any less capable or independent.
Didn’t mean she wanted to settle down and bake cookies.
It did mean she might let him boss her around in the bedroom occasionally—make that often.
It did mean she’d let him take care of her the way she wanted to take care of him sometimes.
With tenderness. With love. With steadfastness and loyalty.
“I’m more than willing to give this thing between us a chance. But I want us both to be happy, so no giving up careers just yet. Which doesn’t mean it’s going to be easy,” she warned.
“Easy? Where is the fun in easy? We’ll figure it out.” He grinned and the weight of the world seemed to lift off his shoulders. Then he sobered. “I’m sorry you were hurt because of me.”
“This wasn’t because of you. You were the reason we found out about the plot and were able to foil it. Without you, I’d probably be lying in a pool of blood in a nuclear reactor headed for meltdown right about now.”
“Fuck, Daisy. Don’t say that.” His eyes went wide. “I might be sick.”
She smoothed a thumb over the back of his hand.
“I wish I could promise my job will never put you in jeopardy again.”
She squeezed his fingers hard. “I know what your job means to you.”
“I’ll give it up for you.” He spoke so fervently she knew he was telling the truth.
“I don’t want you to.” She shook her head. “It’s because of Dad and his job I know how to take care of myself.”
“Which you proved today.”
“I did. Yes.” She stared down at the white cotton sheets.
“Proving I don’t need you to protect me, but I really like having you around.
” She looked up and caught that blue-green gaze which brimmed with both fear and happiness.
“I know there’s a risk attached to your job.
There’s risk attached to mine too. We’ll both be careful. ”
He swallowed. “I won’t take you for granted, Daisy. If the job becomes a wedge between us, I’ll find another one. I know what’s most important—you.”
He was going to make her cry. She forced back the emotion. “What happens next? With the case?” She braced herself. “Or is it a secret?”
“A big-ass investigation and probably a zillion congressional hearings. Oh, one thing, the FBI wants to keep a lid on the fact that Charlie survived the takedown.”
“Charlie?”
“Charlotte Sumner aka Katya Abramovi?. The other woman who was there,” he explained.
“Cisco called me after she observed her interview. Turns out Bocharov had a wife and child—Emilia Osbourne—who no one knew anything about. I mean there were rumors but never any proof, and we put it down to the myth of the Russian bratva. Charlie claims the Russian authorities made her stay in the US and maintain her cover, even seduce a female agent who Bocharov had threatened into working for him. I don’t think I told you it was former FBI Agent Jenna Stork who betrayed me in Chicago.
She’s the person who got my family slaughtered, not anyone in the Chicago Police Department.
” He stared down at their clasped hands.
“Pretty sure Charlie put a bullet in Jenna’s brain in DC before heading down to meet her husband and daughter for the pièce de résistance—not that she’s admitted any of that yet.
Now that her daughter is dead, she wants revenge on the system that ‘forced her to do all those terrible things’—her words apparently. ”