Chapter Twenty-One
Haley
I have been back in St. Louis for two days. Two days.
Forty-eight hours, and the man who had my heart wasn’t here. Jer tried to convince me it had to do with the case, but that wasn’t the whole truth. As always, my agent was using his work to keep the truth hidden from everyone around him.
But I saw right through it.
He hated me.
I broke his trust, after years of begging him to let me in. Jer and Dean should have never seen the contents of that case file, and they did because of my foolishness.
Jer was the one who rescued me, not my agent. Actually, Casey was the one who found me, Jer trying to burn Collin’s house to the fucking ground.
Apparently, Kay ran into James in Boston.
James—
My throat tightened as I put my hands on my body, trying to ground myself. I was currently in the field office, waiting for… who the hell knew. I'd been shuffled around like dead weight for the last week.
When we arrived back in the city where this whole shitshow started, I asked Jer to just take me back to James’ apartment, and he just stared at me. I didn’t like the look in his eyes. They were guarded.
Something happened.
Something bad.
My gut was never wrong.
Instead, he took me to his apartment.
Jer and I bonded over being reckless. Street racing was our thing. It was dangerous and unpredictable. He'd never treated me like I was some fragile princess. Until now.
He wouldn’t touch me. I tried to hug him, and he backed away from me like I was contagious. He quickly made up the guest bedroom for me, told me to rest, and the Bureau would be coming by to check on me. When I asked him where he was going, he told me, “To make sure I don’t lose anyone else.”
My gut told me it had something to do with Casey.
I rested.
I stared out at the city of St. Louis. I watched mindless TV.
I worried. I slept.
I waited.
For James.
He never came.
This morning, Casey showed up with two men to escort me to the field office. Apparently, it was time for me to be debriefed. When I asked Casey where everyone was, she gave me vague answers and avoided looking me in the eye. It was very unlike her.
In the time I had come to know her, Casey Gomez was head strong and fierce. Once I was settled, she practically ran out of the room.
And now, here I was, in an integration room.
Waiting.
Three days ago. Collin's mansion
“You are doing so well, Ms. Austen,” Bella beamed from beside me as we slowly descended the stairs.
One small step for man, a big fuck you to Ray Romano.
I needed to put that on a T-shirt when this was all over.
I smiled at my new friend. “Thank you for helping me, Bella. I really appreciate it.”
Kay and her mafia man had only been gone a few days, but in that time, Bella actually opened up to me a bit.
She confessed that Ray Romano was her distant uncle, and when she was eighteen, he sent for her.
She was brought to him to be married off, but when her mother showed up and told him Bella was infertile, he made her a servant instead.
Thank God, he didn’t sell her. I shuddered at the thought.
When we made it to the bottom of the stairs, a guard came in through the doors. He was tall, dark, and undeniably handsome. He had piercing green eyes that reminded me of Kevin Matthews. He also had eyes for Bella.
“Ladies,” he greeted, his voice polite but firm.
“Mr. Waller,” Bella said as she looked down to the ground, a blush creeping up her neck.
Her accent was gorgeous, just like her. She was shorter than me, with a petite, curvy body.
She had black hair that was usually braided over her left shoulder.
She had dark eyes, like her distant uncle, but hers were different.
Bella’s eyes were kind and gentle. A comfort.
I looked back to Mr. Waller, who was quickly taking her in.
The hopeless romantic in me smiled.
“Mr. Stevens is on the line, Ms. Austen,” he said to me, snapping me out of my wedding planning.
I didn’t even notice him holding a cellphone out to me.
I leaned into the wall next to the stairwell, steadying myself.
I was nearly healed, but hell, Collin had a lot of fucking stairs, and that asshole who kicked me, bruised my hip.
If Collin hadn’t killed him, I would have sent him my fucking medical bills.
“Hello?”
“How are you?” His cold voice didn’t fool me. Big, bad Collin was checking on me. A smile played on my lips, but I contained it, looking up at the guard.
“I made it downstairs,” I bragged, smiling at the obvious attraction between Bella and Mr. Waller.
He was silent for a moment.
“That’s good,” he said, his voice still cold, but the gratefulness in his tone was hard to miss.
“How are you? And Kay? Has she drove you crazy yet?” I asked, trying to keep things casual.
He sighed. Yeah, he was done with my shit today.
“Make sure you rest. Karina says Hello.”
He hung up, and I chuckled softly as I handed the phone back to Mr. I Am Secretly in Love with Bella.
He dipped his chin to me before he turned to her. “Have a good afternoon, Ms. Bella.” His voice was softer when he spoke to her.
Yeah. I was planning this wedding, and I would cry at this wedding.
Just call me Haley the Wedding Planner.
She blushed even more at his words and nodded. Once he was out of earshot, I leaned into her. “You should go for it.”
The woman beside me gasped. “Oh, no! I—I couldn’t!”
We began walking to the kitchen, arm in arm. When walking on flat surfaces, I really didn’t need her, but I was seeking out comfort, and I knew she needed it too. “Why not? He's handsome and clearly into you,” I said, smiling at her.
For the first time in a long time, I felt content. I had Collin to thank for that.
I wondered when everyone else would realize he wasn't the villain in this story.
She looked at me, her brown eyes shining. “I cannot give him children, Ms. Austen. If he knew that, he would run far away from me.”
Anger boiled in my blood at her statement. “That shouldn’t matter. There are other ways to have children, Bella. This is the 21st century, after all.”
She shook her head, leaving me by the giant island as she walked to the fridge. “My body can’t do what it was made to do, Ms. Austen—”
“—Haley,” I said. I considered her a friend. She earned the right to address me by my first name.
“Haley,” she said, pausing for a moment. “A man like that wants a woman whose body actually functions right.”
“Bella,” I snapped. She looked back at me, her kind eyes holding mine.
“You are beautiful. You are kind. You are intelligent. That man is lucky to fucking breathe around you, and if he doesn’t want you because of your infertility, then he isn’t the one for you!”
Suddenly, the man in question was running back into the room, sweeping me off my feet and grabbing Bella.
I let out a “What the hell?” while she yelped.
He dragged us into the pantry, sitting me down gently on a bag of flour before he turned to Bella.
She was leaning against the wall, staring up at Mr. Waller with wide eyes.
He looked at me and then back to her. “The redhead has a point. I would be an idiot not to want you,” he said to her quickly before turning serious. “Stay here until I come get you. Don’t open that door.”
The panic already shooting through me turned up a notch. “What’s wrong?”
Mr. Waller’s green eyes pierced mine.
“There is a boat approaching the island. It’s not Mr. Stevens or Mr. Romano’s.”
Bella put her hand to her mouth. He took a step closer to her, bringing the back of his finger to stroke her cheek. “You are safe with me, darling.”
Then, he was gone.
It was silent for a moment, and then gunshots rang out as I stood. No, no, no.
Not again.
Memories of that night came rushing up from the depths. Men grabbing me, pulling at me. Me running, firing a gun that wasn’t mine. Fighting for my life.
The sound of something crashing outside the door caused Bella to scream before I covered her mouth with my hand.
“Shh,” I soothed, pushing aside my own PTSD to help her. “It’s okay. We are going to be okay.”
“Cameron,” she cried, her voice muffled against my mouth. Tears filled her eyes.
“Mr. Waller?”
She nodded frantically.
More gunshots. More crashes.
I pulled her to me, wrapping my arms around her. “He's a big boy. I know he can handle himself. Collin wouldn’t have left him to protect us if he couldn’t do his job,” I said softly, trying to calm her.
The truth was, I was terrified.
What if Romano’s men had come for me? To finish the fucking job? Would Bella and I be sold like cattle? Would I ever see my family again? James?
Tears began to form, but I blinked them away. There was a time for tears and a time for fists. This was a time for fists.
A male voice shouted, causing us to jump.
Time to fight. I pushed my friend behind me and raised my fists.
I wasn’t going down without a fucking fight. Romano would have to take me kicking and screaming.
The door burst open, bouncing back against the shelves. Bella screamed for Cameron, and I widened my stance ready to fight the bastard –
“Haley?”
My fists slowly dropped as the light above us flicked on, and Casey Gomez walked through the door. She immediately lowered her gun after glancing at Bella who was peeking around me now.
Casey pushed her glasses up her nose as she smiled at me.
“Good to see you, Haley,” she breathed.
I lunged for her, not knowing what the fuck came over me. She greeted me the same. We collided in an embrace that had never happened before. Trauma would do that to you, I guess. She pulled away and pressed a finger to her ear.
“Found her. Pantry in the kitchen, left side of the house. Unharmed.”
She listened intently to the other person on the side, and I couldn’t help myself.
“Is he here?”
“Haley, who is this?” Bella asked from behind me.
Casey ignored my question and focused her gaze on my new friend. “Casey Gomez, FBI.”