Chapter Eleven
Shabina and Rainier had a beautiful home.
It was set back behind security gates. There were cameras everywhere outside and dogs patrolling the gardens.
Inside, it was an open-concept design creating space everywhere.
The kitchen opened into a dining room, and that opened into the great room.
Shabina had a long sideboard along the windows in the dining room where her food warmers sat waiting, along with salads and fruit and vegetable trays.
Shabina was an extraordinary chef, and anytime she hosted an event, there was an abundance of food, so everyone could take some home after.
Everyone brought their dogs. Shabina had dog beds scattered around the great room. She always baked fresh dog treats, and the animals knew it. They were always particularly happy to go to Shabina’s house, where they were treated like royalty.
Rainier was nowhere in sight. Neither was Wilder.
Rush, however, personally brought Raine into the house, not in a wheelchair as expected, but carrying her.
He had evidently told Shabina and Rainier what they needed to make Raine comfortable.
They’d waited a week before Rush gave his approval, but he required specific conditions that they all, including Raine, had to agree to.
Harlow couldn’t believe how tiny Raine appeared. She’d always been small, but she’d lost far too much weight, was so pale every freckle stood out and she seemed frail. Shaky even. Harlow could see why Rush felt so protective of her.
“I thought this was a good idea at the time,” she ventured, hovering as Rush arranged wedges under Raine’s legs and pillows behind her back. “Are you going to be all right, Raine? Rush, is she?”
“It’s good for her to be out. If I tried to keep her there any longer, she would have managed an escape. We don’t want her setting a bad example,” Rush said.
Raine gave her a faint grin. “He’s not wrong. I even sent Rainier a list of every weakness I discovered in his very secure hospital. I wanted him to know I could have gotten out.”
“Not without doing damage to that leg,” Rush said. “If you did that after all my excellent work, I’d have to strangle you.”
“You already tried that,” Raine said, with a little smirk lighting up her eyes. “How’d that work out?”
“What happened?” Harlow asked.
Rush gave an exaggerated sigh. “Rainier walked in at precisely the wrong moment and talked me out of it. He said while he sympathized with me, he’d have to shoot me because Shabina would cry for weeks and he wouldn’t be able to take it.”
“She would too,” Raine said. “And you know how Rainier is about her. Hands off, Rush. I can drive you as crazy as I want, and there isn’t much you can do about it.”
“Is that a challenge?”
The little smirk disappeared, and Raine’s gaze met Rush’s. She shook her head slowly. “Nope. Not at all.”
“Little coward,” Rush said.
Raine made a face at him, but she didn’t protest his statement. Harlow raised an eyebrow toward her. Raine refused to look at her. Backing down from a challenge was very unlike Raine.
“She’s always protesting the lockdown.” Rush fussed with a very soft blanket, tucking it around her. “Mostly because she has so many male visitors, and she can’t take not having all that male admiration.”
“If I had a shoe, I’d throw it at you.” Raine narrowed her eyes at him and attempted to scowl.
As far as Harlow was concerned, she looked like the cutest, most adorable pixie on earth.
She didn’t look threatening in the least. The funny part of it was Raine was hell on wheels with just about any kind of gun, knife or other weapon.
Her body was a weapon. She trained daily, or she had before her leg had been shattered by a sniper’s bullet.
“She has male visitors?” Harlow echoed.
“Don’t encourage him,” Raine said. “I don’t have male visitors.”
“I should have said they attempted to see her, but they weren’t allowed. Some pompous general who goes around beating his chest and trying to throw his weight around. Absolutely no.”
“I work for him,” Raine countered.
“He wants in your little sexy panties.”
“Oh, for God’s sake, you think everyone wants in my panties.”
Rush frowned and rubbed the bridge of his nose.
“They do. What about that asshole Luciano Vitale, a known mafia enforcer, who has no business going anywhere near you? You think he isn’t trying to get into your panties?
You shouldn’t even be on his radar. I blame Sam’s father for that.
He should order that bastard to stay the hell away from you. ”
“That would be nice,” Raine said. “I don’t like the man, and he isn’t trying to get close to me to get in my panties. I can assure you of that.”
“What does he want?”
She shrugged. “Probably my silence. He wants to know what I know and if I’m going to make trouble for him.”
The women exchanged worried looks. Rush froze. There was silence while the tension in the room escalated.
“What trouble can you make for him?” There was an edge to Rush’s voice that, for the first time, reminded Harlow of Rainier and Wilder.
Raine shrugged. “I don’t know. He isn’t a priority at the moment.”
“Let me make this perfectly clear, taku taonga, he is never going to be a priority. He doesn’t come near you.”
“I’m good with him not coming near me, Rush. Don’t go all He-Man on me, not over him.”
Rush immediately shrugged. “Are we going to talk about that so-called doctor who thinks he’s going to get into your panties with his fake Irish charm?”
“Briac Brannan’s family is from Ireland,” Raine interrupted Rush’s commentary.
“Maybe so, but he isn’t. Born and bred right here in the United States of America. He’s a naval doctor.”
“You are such a snob. He’s an officer, a gentleman and a perfectly good doctor.”
“If you have a cold, he might be able to diagnose it for you,” Rush said, “but I wouldn’t count on it.”
“You two are hilarious,” Stella said. “You should take your comedy act on the road.”
Daisy, Raine’s little Jack Russell, raced across the room and launched herself at Raine, leaping onto her chest, attempting to give her a million kisses. Raine wrapped her arms around the dog, laughing and turning her face away.
“Calm down, you little troublemaker,” she said, her laughter getting louder. “I’m going to be home now. I missed you. I really did.”
“You can see she missed you,” Zahra said. “I took her running three times a day, but she always has energy. Will you need me to continue exercising her?”
Before Raine could answer, Rush did. “I’ll be staying with Raine for a few weeks to make certain her leg heals properly. I’ll take her running with me. Running’s part of my regular routine.”
“She doesn’t like everyone, particularly men,” Raine said ominously, glaring at Rush.
Harlow couldn’t help but laugh. Obviously, Raine wasn’t entirely on board with having her doctor move in with her.
“Your dog is very discerning,” Rush said. “I agree with her that those men should be kept away from you. At least she knows to run them off.”
“She won’t like you either.”
“She’s always liked me,” Rush denied.
“Try petting her right now. And watch your fingers—she’s liable to bite them off.”
It was a very distinct challenge, and Harlow held her breath. Daisy was very devoted to Raine, and they’d been separated for a few weeks. She might very well protest Rush getting close, even if she liked him.
Rush raised an eyebrow and moved to stand beside the sofa, towering over Raine’s diminutive figure.
Daisy was a very protective dog, especially when it came to Raine.
She whirled around to face Rush. He didn’t extend his hand, but he spoke in a low, mesmerizing tone, almost singsong, speaking softly to her in Maori.
Almost instantly, Daisy’s demeanor completely changed. She wagged her tail and looked up at Rush with a happy, eager expression. He scratched the top of her head and down her spine.
Raine rolled her eyes. “Treacherous animal. Traitor. I was counting on you.”
Rush burst out laughing. “Be good, little troublemaker. If you need me for any reason, you know the signal.”
Raine’s expression went back to the one Harlow barely recognized. Raine had always been extremely confident in herself. She was the one who backpacked alone in the wilderness for weeks at a time, but she suddenly appeared vulnerable, even fragile.
“You’re leaving?”
Was there a tremor in her voice? Her hand had burrowed under the blanket, and Harlow could see she was rubbing her thigh.
Rush leaned close to her, looking more lover than doctor in that moment. “I’ll be in the security room, watching and listening. If you need anything at all, you give me the signal and I’ll come running. You have my word, Raine.”
She nodded uncertainly. “Okay.”
She didn’t sound okay to Harlow or to any of the others. Rush reached under the blanket and came out with her hand. “You don’t have to do this, Raine. If it’s too soon, we can get you home and try again in a few days. No one will be upset with you. Your friends will understand.”
Harlow knew Raine was only there to support her. “Honey, this can wait. I can call Guadalupe and tell her we’ll get together next week. I’ll ask her ahead of time to research the property title and see who actually owns it.”
Raine shook her head, but her gaze clung to Rush. “No, this is a good first step for me. There are two nurses here, and all of you are my friends. It’s a familiar and safe environment. I have to get back to being me. I want to do this.”
She sounded more like she was trying to convince herself instead of them.
But Harlow decided Raine did need this first step.
Rush would never have allowed her to even try it if he didn’t think being with her friends would do her good.
Harlow realized that Raine gave Rush a hard time, but she wanted him close.
She relied on him, terrified she really would lose her leg.
It was one thing to try to be logical and another to believe it might actually happen.