Chapter 18
Hannah sat in a hospital bed, Brady curled up against her side. She stroked his silky hair, her eyes trained on the storm beyond the window as she worried over Noah and what was taking him so long to return.
Please let him be safe.
She was weary from this hurricane, tired of the weather that threatened the island and turned everything into a scene of destruction and fear. She longed for sunny days and warm breezes, for the life she used to have, filled with the people she loved and the sense that they were blessed. Lucky.
She certainly didn’t feel lucky now.
She felt forgotten, as if the whole world had fallen to pieces around her—she, Noah, and Brady the sole survivors.
And whoever the hell is inside this hospital.
She told herself not to worry, that Noah was a Navy SEAL who could take care of himself, but now that she knew her husband’s death was deliberate, no one’s safety seemed assured.
Her laptop was sitting on the tray table nearby, closed.
She’d found what she’d been looking for.
All the strange findings from Joe’s organ slides could be attributed to administration of the same compound.
She felt certain her husband had been poisoned with a drug called atryptoglycol that destroyed certain sensitive tissues before triggering full cardiac arrest.
Her beloved Joe had been murdered.
Further toxicology tests on the blood samples in the pathology lab would confirm her suspicions, but in her heart she knew she’d finally found the answer she’d needed for so long.
She sat in the dark, thinking about her son, who would forever grow up without a father despite the depth of her husband’s love for Brady.
Sometimes life wasn’t fair.
And what about you?
She let herself feel the self-pity she usually kept at arm’s length. She’d lost so much, too. The love of her life, the only man she ever wanted to be with. Her mind conjured an image of Noah unbidden, and she admitted to herself that she wanted him physically.
It wasn’t love. Her feelings for the dark and dangerous Navy SEAL had nothing in common with what she’d felt for her husband, but he certainly managed to rouse the aching emptiness in the pit of her stomach.
The part of her that needed a man to feel alive.
The thunder rolled and she let herself imagine she could take what she wanted from him, no strings attached. A single night to indulge her body with another, to feel his hands on her skin—so desperate for his touch.
Would he be a considerate lover? She frowned. Would the experience be the balm she needed for her soul, or would it chafe against her battered heart? It was a terrible idea, but how she wanted to make love again, to share that kind of intimacy with another.
She’d never been one for casual sex, never allowed a man into her bed outside of a committed relationship, but she’d already shared so much with Noah it seemed like they were at least as close as some of the earlier lovers in her life.
What are you doing?
She closed her eyes and inhaled her son’s scent, grounding herself back in reality.
Noah would be out of her life in a day or two—tops—and she would go back to being just a lonely widow without anyone to look at her like he did with those smoldering gray eyes.
A knock at the door had her and Brady sitting up straight. “Stay here,” she said, sliding off the bed and heading for the door.
“Hannah, let me in.”
She exhaled a breath she hadn’t known she was holding and unlocked the door. The tension coming off him was palpable. “What happened?” she asked.
“Eric Manning is dead. He fell off the roof. Maybe he jumped. I don’t fucking know.”
“Oh my God…”
“He admitted to his involvement in the drug theft, but he claimed he only looked the other way and allowed it to go on.”
“Then who’s in charge of it?”
“He died before he could answer that.” He dropped into a squat and opened his arms. “It’s okay, buddy. Come here.”
Brady went into his arms. She watched Noah’s strong arms wrap around her son, saw him stroke Brady’s hair and back.
Instead of being angry or upset, she was surprised to realize she wanted his arms around her, too.
She hugged herself. When Noah stood, Brady put his head on Noah’s hip and hugged his leg.
“We should head back to the condo,” Noah said. “There’s no point in staying here and I don’t feel I can properly secure the area like I can back at Lizzie’s.”
“What about the storm?”
“We’ll be okay. It’s the lesser of two evils right now. How’d you make out with your research?”
“I think I found it. A chemical compound that causes all of the damage I documented, culminating in cardiac arrest.”
“So they were both killed.”
She nodded. “You were right.”
“I’m sorry, Hannah.”
She shrugged, fighting off an unexpected wave of emotion. “I’m sorry, too. Not that it does a damn bit of good, unfortunately. They’re still gone and we’re still here without them.”
He opened his arm to her. She hesitated, then leaned into him. The muscular column of his neck smelled masculine and sharp, stress and adrenaline clearly present in this man. His arm was around her back, just as she’d wished it would be, and a jolt of sexual awareness ran through her body.
She leaned back. His eyes were focused on hers, his gaze intense, and she knew she was not the only one who felt it. She was conscious of Brady watching her. “We should go,” she said. “Let me get my computer.”
The flush of sexual arousal heated her cheeks, the room air cool against them as she crossed the room. She wasn’t entirely sure what was happening between them, but it felt good. Too good.
If she had any sense, she’d stay away from this man, but all she could think about was what might have happened if they’d been alone.