Chapter 18 Bit #2
It would be easy to say that was all I remembered until I woke up in the hospital after being in a medically induced coma for a few days. I couldn’t stop, though. If Eberly was going to be a permanent part of my life, which I wanted more than anything, she had to know as much as I could tell her.
“Tiernan’s eyes,” she whispered.
“Amber irises. I’ll never forget the color.”
Eberly put one of her hands on her stomach. “I can’t believe how close I came to marrying that man. I mean, I know you said he wasn’t who attacked you, but the idea that he’s related to whoever did makes me sick to my stomach.”
“They hog-tied me, then beat the crap out of me. The last thing I remember is something hitting me in the head. That’s when I lost consciousness. I’m sure they thought they’d killed me.”
Eberly shifted forward and wrapped her arms around me. “Thank God they didn’t, Trevino. I don’t know…” I used the pad of my thumb to wipe away the tears that streamed down her cheeks.
“We have a code to send via the security system if I needed to take a break. An alert would go out, and someone else would know to monitor the feeds until I returned. If my cell went out of communication, that code went out automatically. That was how my brothers knew I was in trouble and where to find me.”
“Thank God,” she repeated, this time in a whisper.
“I was in the ICU for a few days, but according to the neurologist who took care of me, the hit to my head didn’t cause permanent damage. He says the migraines will become more infrequent and eventually stop completely. I’ll admit I’m not too sure I believe him.”
“Do you have one now?” she asked.
I shook my head. “The last one was the night of the auction.” I took another deep breath.
“I wasn’t the only person attacked that night.
Two other men broke into my ma’s house, tied her up, and pistol-whipped her.
Addy’s mother, Peg, was staying with her at the time, and when she came to, Peg was gone.
She’d been kidnapped. As it turned out, that’s who they were really after.
Trying to kill me just made getting to her easier. ”
She gasped. “Were they ever caught?”
“Eventually. We were able to figure out it was one of the vineyard workers who sabotaged the system, allowing the four men to get on the property. Turns out the guy was a meth-head and his addiction was why he finally agreed to talk. Maybe he had a reason to believe someone would give him a fix.”
“I had no idea. I mean, there were rumors, but no one knew anything for certain.”
“What Los Caballeros learned was the four men were connected to organized crime. Not long after everything went down, the FBI staged a massive raid on two gangs operating out of Central California. Among the two hundred and fifty people arrested were the men who tried to kill me.”
“Are they in jail?” she asked.
“Yeah, prison. Not eligible for parole for another ten years.”
“How is Tiernan involved?”
“We have theories but nothing confirmed.”
“While you were at the meeting, Uncle Michael asked how I met him.”
“How did you?”
“As I told him, it was at a wine industry event my dad asked me to attend with him.”
“Did your father introduce the two of you?”
Eberly shook her head. “Tiernan started a conversation with me, and since I was otherwise bored out of my mind, I kept talking to him. He asked me out, I said yes. It got intense fast.” She shook her head. “I was such an idiot.”
I raised a brow.
“Was. I’m not anymore,” she quickly added.
“I’ll let that one go.”
“I’m sure you have other questions.”
I cocked my head. “Like?”
“Why an engaged woman was still a virgin?”
“I never thought about why.”
“I know you’re telling me the truth, because I also know you wouldn’t lie, but really?”
“My subconscious chose not to care why.”
“You know what’s crazy?”
I raised a brow a second time. “How much time have you got?”
She rolled her eyes, something else I chose to ignore for now.
“You and Tiernan are the same age. He looks so much older than you do.”
“There’s another thing you should know about him. The name he gave you is an alias.”
“How sad is it that none of this surprises me? What is his name?”
“We haven’t been able to positively ID him yet.”
Her eyes opened wide. “So, you’re like law enforcement?”
I smiled and shook my head. “Not even close. What I should’ve said is the people we work with—men like Decker Ashford—haven’t been able to yet.
” I shut my eyes and resisted rubbing my temple.
“Listen, if you see him again, I want you to be particularly diligent about avoiding him, not engaging in conversation, and definitely do not agree to meet with him on your own.”
“Uncle Michael suggested I meet with him but have you or someone else listen in.”
I shook my head. “Not a chance. I don’t want you coming within a hundred feet of him.”
“If your intention is to scare me, it’s working.”
“I’m sorry, but in this case, I want you to err on the side of extreme caution.”
Eberly’s phone rang, and she gasped. “It’s my father.”