Divine Charity (39 page)

She nodded slowly as she beamed up at him. “Mmm-hmm. I’ll be right here when you get back, sexy.” He kissed her one more time and left the two of them to sit with her.

Charity looked up at him and Ransome and said, “I still can’t believe that happened. I’m so pissed.”

Guilt continued to plague Val as all the what-if scenarios for how the situation could’ve played out flashed through his mind. On the way there, he’d imagined the look on her face when the bastard had shot her. Pictured her lying on the ground, bleeding. He pressed his lips to her knuckles and whispered, “I’m so sorry, babe.”

“Huh?”

Ransome took the chair on the opposite side and clasped her other hand in his. He made eye contact with Val, his brown eyes dull. They’d weighed the pros and cons before they’d moved to Divine. Thought they’d had all their loose ends tied up in nice, neat knots, so they wouldn’t come unraveled.

Ransome said, “That guy was here because of us. What happened to you is on us.”

“How do you figure that?”

Val explained to her that they’d always been careful to shield their families from their jobs, fastidious about working anonymously when in the presence of their “pickups.” In their effort to take care of Jessica, he’d let their names slip, something they never did. That had to have been how Trevor had traced them, because Val had told Jessica within his hearing that he and Ransome would help her if she ever needed it.

“That’s not what I’m pissed about, guys,” she said as she squinted at them.

A little confused, Val asked, “What’s got you pissed, baby?”

She pointed at her handbag and Ransome handed it to her. “I’m pissed because that motherfucker shot a hole through my brand-new studded leather handbag.” To demonstrate, she reached in her purse and stuck her finger out through the bullet hole. “I
loved
this purse and now it’s ruined.”

Ransome didn’t say a thing as he lifted the bag and exchanged a look with Val. It could very well be that the handbag has slowed the bullet enough so it didn’t do more life threatening harm to her. Ransome mouthed, “
Fuck
.”

She tried to sit up in the bed again until she grimaced in pain. “Ow.”

“Angel, stop moving around,” Ransome said, reaching for the button to adjust the bed. “Let me fix the bed for you. You’re just aggravating your wound.”

“I hate being medicated like this,” she said in a low voice. “It makes me loopy and silly. Listen to me, guys. Dornan found out where Jessica was on his own.”

“How?”

Charity put her hand over her mouth and yawned. A small, vulnerable sound that made him want to cuddle her up into his lap, to hold and protect her while she rested. “Grace told me earlier that Jessica’s apartment was broken into. The only thing missing was her desktop computer. You didn’t
lead
him here. He put the pieces together using information he found on her computer. He’s a misogynistic asshole who was supposed to be in prison. Do you know he was planning to steal Grace and keep her until she had the baby?”

Disgust and horror mingled in Val’s gut as he nodded at her and he saw similar emotions in Ransome’s eyes when he looked across the bed at him. The guy looked ready to jump up from the bed and go down to that isolation room and make good on the revenge they both wanted.

Footsteps sounded on the aisle, outside the curtain, and the sound of soft voices trailed along with them. A moment later, Hank Stinson poked his head in between the drapes.

“How’s tall, blonde, and dangerous?” he asked with a smile, although he looked like he’d seen better days. “Wyatt told me how you stood up to Dornan, and how you defended yourself.”

Charity grinned. “I had a great teacher. I did just like you taught me and struck when my opportunity came. Wyatt was no slouch, either, taking him down.”

“I’m sorry to hear you got shot in the process, though. Dornan’s already convicted of kidnapping, rape, and other charges. Now with that deputy in Louisiana’s blood on his hands and aggravated attempted kidnapping and attempted murder, he’ll never get out of prison. His brother, Brian, has also been picked up as an accessory. There’s solid evidence that he was helping Trevor in trade for whichever woman he kidnapped, after the baby came. When he was searched after being arrested, they found his notebook, detailing his plans and his brother’s involvement. Disgusting assholes.”

Val recognized the haunted look in Hank’s eyes that he tried to hide behind a weary smile and understood the toll such a job could take on a man.

Hank looked down the hall, toward the isolation room, and said, “I’m being paged. Talk to y’all later.”

Charity turned back to the two of them and said, “See? You weren’t to blame for Dornan tracing Jessica to Divine, any more than Jessica was to blame for him gaining access to her computer, Val. He was determined to find her.”

Ransome said, “We’ve always worried that our careers as bounty hunters might blow back on the family. We never wanted that.”

“I wanted you in our lives, though. The whole family would agree that the reward is worth the risk.”

Justin parted the curtain again, with a smile on his face.

Charity asked, “Did you make your calls?”

“I did. Summer wanted me to know she was sending a potential customer my way. They wanted to buy the sculpture she and the guys bought to display in Discretion. Violet has a couple of ‘highly interested’ collectors and she needs more pieces. She wanted me to tell you she’s relieved that you’re going to be okay. I talked to Jack and he has a crew that’ll be ready to start our addition and renovation next Monday morning.” He smiled when Charity cheered and gently clapped her hands. Val knew how crowded she felt in the small bedroom, which had been made even smaller by the arrival of their custom-made bed. “And there’s a couple of large, official-looking black SUVs parked outside the entrance so I’m assuming Dornan is being picked up.”

A door opened down the hall and then they heard the soft, rhythmic chink of chains. A voice suddenly boomed in the space. “
You
!”

Justin’s demeanor changed as he stared down the aisle, toward the voice and commotion. He even seemed to grow a little taller and looked like he was barely containing the urge to beat the ever-living shit out of the owner of that voice.

Val noticed the way Charity startled and reached to pull them closer. They moved to sit on either side of her on the narrow bed, ready to block her with their own bodies at a moment’s notice.

She tightened her grip on his hand and said, “It’s him.”

He whispered, “He’s in chains, baby. He can’t do anything to you now.” She nodded and seemed to relax a little.

Angry words echoed in the suddenly quiet cubicles surrounding them. “If it wasn’t for those two bastards, and
you
and that bitch, I’d have my kid right now and everything would be fine!”

Throwing her earlier caution to the wind, Charity snorted and called, “That’s Ms. Bitch to you, remember?” Val rolled his eyes and shook his head at their irrepressible woman.

Standing at six foot seven, Justin stared down the aisle, challenge in his dark eyes and stiff jaw. “You blame the world for all your problems, don’t you, Dornan?”

Val heard a struggle going on, which created a draft so he got a glimpse of Dornan when the curtains parted for a moment. He was scraggly and disheveled, being led by two big dudes dressed in jeans, boots, cowboy hats, and dark sunglasses. They nodded as they dragged him past.

“This is your fault!” Dornan growled once more, glaring at Val.

“Shut up, Dornan,” one of the officers growled. “It’s not their fault you kidnapped and raped that poor woman and then stalked her and her friends. We’ve got you for murder in Louisiana, and with all the evidence against you here in Divine, and witnesses willing to testify, I’d get comfortable with being known as Trevorina from now on if I was you. Don’t make us gag you.”

Charity waved and called, “Buh-bye, Trevorina!” Val gently laid his hand over her lips and shook his head, fighting laughter. Her eyes sparkled as she looked up at him and then her little teeth gently gripped his hand and she batted her eye lashes at him.

The officers dragged Dornan cursing and hollering down the aisle until the sound was suddenly cut off. Justin smiled and looked back into the cubicle. “I’d pay to see him getting gagged.”

Charity relaxed against Val and said, “I want to go home.”

All three men chuckled and Justin sat down at the foot of her bed and said, “Sorry, baby. The doctor wants to keep you overnight.”

She was adorable when she was spaced-out and whiny.

Ransome helped Charity back to the bed with her IV pole after she’d taken a sponge bath in the hospital bathroom. Justin had predicted that she wouldn’t want to stay in the hospital and that was why Ransome had offered to stay the night with her while Val and Justin had gone home.

Beau and Justine had come by the hospital to see her after school, understandably freaked out but relieved to see for themselves that she was going to be all right.

“Better?” Ransome asked as he arranged pillows behind her on the bed and lingered for a moment so he could kiss her neck. “You smell good.”

Charity chuckled. “I do not. I hate sponge baths. I’d be fresh from the shower and in bed at home right now if it wasn’t for these stupid stitches and that shithead Dornan. Fucker.” The earlier pain medication had worn off, which the nurse had replaced with something a little less intoxicating, much to his disappointment.

“Look at it this way, angel. You have me all to yourself.”

With a scoff, Charity said, “And I can’t do what I want with you.”

“But I can do whatever I want with you,” Ransome said, all kinds of ideas coming to mind.

Charity stifled a giggle. “Yeah, you can. But Justin and Val are sleeping alone tonight. That great big bed all to themselves.”

“It is a monster,” he said, picturing the massive bed they’d recently put together in the master bedroom. “But you know they wouldn’t want you dwelling on that.”

Charity smiled as he lowered the head of the bed for her and she scooted over a little and patted the bed invitingly. “No, I guess they wouldn’t. I want to ask you something and I want your honest answer.”

“Okay,” he replied, wrapping his hand around her ankle as he took a seat on the bed. To see her measuring her words like this told him it was important.

“Do you have lingering anger toward Justin…or me, about not forming a ménage sooner?”

“What? No.” What was she getting at?

She stroked his thigh as she gazed at him. “I’d understand if you did. I know there were strong feelings to work through years ago. I just wondered, in retrospect, if you resent not being invited to join us sooner.”

Letting out a breath, he said, “Would I have joined with you sooner? Probably, yes. But that’s not the path our lives took. Our jobs kept us on the road a lot.”

“I would’ve understood about that.”

“I know you would’ve, but what we did for a living was dangerous. We dealt with society’s underbelly. Lots of lowlifes but also lots of people with powerful connections. Our major concern, even in coming to visit on holidays and birthdays, was that our work might somehow come back to haunt you and the kids. We couldn’t do that so we stayed in Houston.”

“I missed you. Both of you.”

“You may not realize it but you’re proving my point for me. If we’d moved back to Divine sooner, would you have pushed for a ménage?”

Her cheeks became rosy and she took her time answering. “No. I wouldn’t have refused you but I wouldn’t have pushed for it, either. Not with a marriage that had such a good track record.” She looked up at him with her regret in her eyes. “But I always wanted both of you to be a part of it. I did. I’m sorry, Ransome.”

Ransome shook his head. “I wasn’t trying to make you feel guilty. I’m trying to show you that we all made mistakes. Any of us could’ve spoken up sooner. We didn’t. But we have today, and every day after this, and we’re not going to waste any more time.”

She gave him a soft smile and traced a pattern on his thigh. “I feel that way, too. But I will always have regrets.”

“Never regret your family and the life you built, angel. Those regrets are tied up with some really good years.”

“I thought about a ménage a lot right after Grace got together with Jack, Ethan, and Adam, but the memory of Justin drawing that line twenty-two years ago was so vivid. I’d never hurt him by asking for what I knew he’d give me because he loves me, because I’d never know for sure if it was what he wanted, too.”

“This way, we know. We can trust in how things turned out,” he said, stroking the top of her hand on his thigh.

Twining her fingers with his, she asked, “How did he approach you with the idea of a ménage?”

Ransome smiled, remembering Justin staring down at the bed he shared with Charity, and wondering where that conversation would lead. “He started with an apology. Then he told us he wanted to give you what you needed. He knew you well enough to know you’d never ask, for fear of hurting him. So you see, I could never be mad at you for being loyal. And there wasn’t really anything to forgive Justin for. When we were teenagers, we didn’t know anything about life, or making relationships work. And who’s to say we wouldn’t have screwed things up? We’re here now, and it’s
good
. I have no regrets because the years made me who I am. Val might make some smart-assed comment but I think he’d tell you the same thing. I don’t want you to have regrets, angel. Life’s too short for that.”