Convincing Lina: A Bachelor of Shell Cove Novel (The Bachelors of Shell Cove Romance Book 2) (31 page)

“I’m fine. And you are supposed to be anywhere, other than at my door.” He took measured steps until they stood less than a foot apart.
 

“Lina, I’m going to marry you in four days if I have to do battle with every one of your ex-boyfriends since pre-school.” She gave him a tentative smile.
 

“You still want to marry me?” Did she have to ask?

“Oh, yeah, in the worse way.” He grinned at her.
 

“Come here, you.” She reached for him and the knotted rope abrading his heart fell away. For an instant, when she stood in the doorway, he thought she might reject him. Instead of moving in her arms, he gingerly scooped her off her feet into the cradle of his arms and carried her to a nearby wheel
chair. He watched as she sank down into the chair, closed her eyes, sighing in contentment.
 

“I love you, Gideon.” He was at a loss for words. Had he heard her, correctly?

Gideon was on one knee, bending lower in front of her when she opened her eyes.
 

“Say that again.”

“I love you.” Her casual reply to his request held him in suspended animation.
 

“You love me,” he said it aloud, liking how well the words fit together. Like the two of them. Perfect.
 

“I love you very much Gideon Rice and I look forward to being your wife in four days.”

“Good, because I’d hide us in the hills of West Virginia before I let another man have you.”

“You’re the only man I want.”
 

“Can you stroke my ego this once and let me think you need me.”

“You can think that, but I’ll never tell.”

“Give me your hand.” He said before extending his own. When she didn’t hesitate, his heart expanded beyond its previous border. She loved him.
 

He opened his hand, took the object he held and placed it in her palm.

“What is it?” Her eyes shone bright and he had a feeling she knew what she held without him telling her.

“It’s what you asked for.” He watched as Lina touched the small, oval stone with trembling fingers. “It’s inscribed, Lina.”
He flipped the stone over in her hand. “Read it.”

Her lips trembled now as she read the words craved into the stone. He could see tears pooling in her eyes.
 

“
I love you, Lina.”
Gideon had taken the stone from the river bed before they left Waverly Falls.
 

“Gideon, it’s the most precious gift I’ve ever received.”

“I do love you, Lina, more than life itself.” He reached up, cupping her cheek in his hand. “I’ll gladly shed my blood if you need me to.”
 

Gideon closed his eyes when Lina turned into his palm, placing a gentle kiss on his skin.

“Let’s go home, baby.” Lina said.
 

Music. That’s what he heard, because they were going home together. He said a silent prayer of thanks when her fingers closed around the stone and held her closed fist up to her heart. He would ask about her baby when they got home.
 

“I need to get cleaned up before I talk with my mother.”

“Okay, I’ll drive you over.”

“I’m going alone, Gideon. This conversation is five years overdue.” Taking the bag from her, he searched her personal belongings, until he found what he was looking for. He curled his fingers around the wood, pulling the object free of the bag.

“Keep BEYAS tucked some place safe.” Lina gave him a slow wink. She slid the short stick between her undies and the waist of her jeans.
 

“Is that safe enough?” She teased. Grinning when he licked his lips.

“Yeah, that will do. I like the thought of your wood sword on your body.”
 

“May the Force be with me?” He would be with her if she allowed it. The churning in his gut warned that the danger to Lina was closing in.
 

“You better put some force behind swinging that stick if anyone gives you a problem.”

“Yes, Master Gidoda,” she laughed. He didn’t. Nothing was as it seemed. Each attack was more violent than the last. What would this madman do next?

Chapter 19

Lina felt the doors of a cage slam closed behind her as she entered her mother’s house. Whatever happened here today, she would be trapped somewhere she didn’t want to be. Lina’s hand shook as she regarded her mother in disbelief.
 

“You knew where Troy was for five years and you didn’t tell me?” Her mother sat stoic in her childhood bedroom, which infuriated Lina.

“How could you lie to me?” Her mother jumped as if Lina’s words were a slap against her face.
 

“You were the only person in the whole world I could trust and depend on.” The weight of her mother’s secret threatened to crush her. “You’ve been lying to me.” Lina didn’t stop when tears streamed down her mother’s face. At the sound of the back door opening, Lina turned to find Troy striding toward them.
 

“How did you get in here?” She answered her own question. He knew the location of the spare key. Why wouldn’t he? The fact that he had access to her mother’s house was an obvious indication of mutual trust. Troy was her mother’s confidante. Not Lina. Her own mother didn’t trust Lina with the truth.
 

“Never mind, you both are playing some twisted game that I don’t want to be a part of, but it appears I have no choice.” She turned narrowed eyes on Troy.

“How did you convince a mother to deceive her own flesh and blood?”

“Bernadean didn’t lie to you. She’s been trying to keep you safe for the last fifteen years.”

“Momma?” Her mother didn’t look at her, merely wiped the tears from her blood shot eyes.
 

 
“What is Troy talking about?” Still nothing.

“She won’t talk to me,” she directed at Troy. “Why are you here? I haven’t seen you in years. Five years to be exact. Why did you come back?”

“Your mother contacted me after you told her about the roses. She was worried about you.”
 

“Why would she call you rather than Bishop?”

“Because fifteen years ago she received the same message before your father was killed.” Finally her mother broke her silence.

“I knew when you came home with Troy, trouble had darkened our door once again.” Her mother swung her attention to Troy. “I begged you to stay away from my daughter, but you wouldn’t. Now, I might lose her, too.” Lina lowered herself onto her knees at her mother’s feet.
 

“Momma, I’m upset because you’ve been hiding the truth from me. I’m not a child, I can handle whatever it is you’re not telling me. Just tell me everything.”

“How does a mother tell her only daughter that her father was a corrupt cop?” Lina swayed. She didn’t remember much about her father because he was rarely around, but he couldn’t be a dirty cop. Not her father.

“Or that I have known Troy since he was a boy.” Okay, she really did feel faint. But if she hit the floor she would probably fracture a bone.
 

“Your father worked with Troy’s dad on the police force. You were too young to remember them and they didn’t live in our neighborhood. When your father was murdered under suspicious circumstances, his surviving family, us, were left without any means of support. Troy’s father tried to help.” A light bulb went off in Lina’s head.

“Troy, did you purposely seek me out on campus?”
 

“Initially, I watched over you from a distance, then you came through the athletic department and we connected.” She was going to be sick.
 

“Lina, it is not what you’re thinking.”

“Oh yeah. How do you know that, because I sure don’t?” She’d given her virginity to this man. Carried their baby in her body. It was all a lie.
 

“I love you.” He hadn’t looked at her. He delivered the words with the ease of a trained actor minus the emotion.
 

“You don’t love me. You feel some misguided since of responsibility toward me,” she spat at him. Troy’s downcast gaze spoke volumes.
 

“I love you both and I’m here to help.” His words brought little in the form of comfort. The one man he had believed loved her, was merely a protector. A leftover connection from a father she barely knew. Then another thought occurred to her.

Pointing at Troy, Lina said, “You are not here as a family friend. Is what’s happening to me because of my father?” He inhaled a deep breath, lips pressed into a thin line.

“You’re involved in this somehow…Oh, God.” Troy glanced briefly in her mother’s direction before, moving toward her.

“You stay back, Troy. I swear I’ll go Taebo on your ass,” Lina stumbled to her feet.
 

 
“Lina, there’s a lot of stuff happening that you don’t understand,” Troy said. Her mother’s expression was blank, yet tears continued to flow onto her blouse, the silk fabric darker in the areas soaked with watery anguish.
 

“Whose fault is that?” Lina directed her accusation at both of them. He looked contrite. His body stiffened as if offended by her question.

 
“Listen to me Lina.” He didn’t get to tell her what to do.
 

“I’ll listen when you start answering my questions. Why did she call you? A guy I have not seen in years.” There was pain and anger in her tone, but she couldn’t disguise her feelings. He had walked away from her and never looked back.
 

“I’m not some guy.”

“No, you’re the first link in a chain of heartbreaks.” He took on a hurt expression. She would not let herself care about his feelings. She had spoken the truth.
 

“Candy.”

“Stop calling me that. My name is Lina.”

“You are Lina to everyone else in the world. To me, you’ll always be Candy.” She closed her eyes wrestling the memories away behind a wall of hurt. She opened her eyes to find he had narrowed the gap between them. He moved in, his approach was familiar, a reminder of their shared past. It pissed her off.
 

“Don’t come any closer. I’m with Gideon now. We are getting married.”

“Marrying Gideon?” Her mother’s voice filled the room.
 

“Three months ago it was Jace Harper,” Troy said matter of factly. Her breath froze in her lungs as her eyes widened in shock. How could he know about her private life?

“Believe me Candy. I know every detail of your life.”

“Yet, I know nothing of yours. I never knew the real you.”

“You know me better than anyone. I gave you as much as I could. Trust me.”

“Trust you? How dare you come to my home asking me to give you my trust? I trusted you once. I trusted you with the very heart of me. I gave you everything a woman could give a man.”

“And I gave you the same, Candy. It was my baby that grew in your belly. I love you. That will never change. I have always taken care of you.” He should not have mentioned the baby. The foundation tilted on the wall of hurt he helped to build in her heart. She couldn’t stop the tears gathering in her eyes.
 

“How can you say that? You weren’t there when the baby left me. You weren’t there when I needed you to hold everything together. I saved myself. I built my life without you. What have you done? Nothing, but cause me pain.”

“Don’t cry, Candy. We lost the baby. You never lost me.”

“I never had you Troy. Can’t you see that?” God, he was as lost as she was.

“That is not true. You own me.”

“Loyalty is not love, Troy. You’re loyal to my father’s memory. You helped my mother provide for me.” She should have known her mother couldn’t afford their lifestyle without assistance. She’d been blinded to the truth.
 

“Lina, I stayed away to keep you safe. Being with me put you and the baby in danger.”

“How? Why did you stay away so long?”

“I needed time to build my own alliances and establish a network separate from my family’s connections.”

“What do you want from me Troy?”

“I want us. We had a family together. Me, you, and a baby. We could have that again.”

“I can’t do that. I have a life that doesn’t include you, Troy. How did you know all these details about my life?” Lina turned to her mother. How had she been so blind?

“I told you that I never left you. You are mine and nothing, no one will change that, ever.”

“I spent years of my life with you and I never knew the real you.”

“You can get to know me, Candy.”

“I’m the daughter of a corrupt cop that was killed most likely by the same people after me.”

“Your father was not corrupt and I can prove it,” Troy’s voice echoed off the walls.
 

“What?” Her mother’s voice echoed her own.

“Someone inside the Shell Cove Police department set Lincoln up to take the fall. If he hadn’t died in that raid, he would still be working to salvage his reputation.” Her mother sobs filled the room.