Hell Bound (Seventh Level Book 2) (13 page)

When he gained the strength to move, he quietly closed Cole’s door and prayed he didn’t meet anyone in the hall on the trip back to his room. He couldn’t explain his wounds and he couldn’t lose this job. Wade Collins had him closer to finding Anne than he’d ever been before, but he’d never been more aware of how much his presence might also endanger an innocent child. God help them all.

Chapter Seven

As Morgan used her thumb to pump the shampoo into the palm of her hand, she giggled as the picture of Wade attempting to help her the night before flashed through her mind. She couldn’t believe he didn’t question why she couldn’t do this by herself. It was true the bathroom floor was getting thoroughly soaked with her arm stuck outside the shower, but she was a capable person, and no way in hell was she walking around dirty. It was also true she couldn’t get a bra on one-handed, but she owned plenty of sleeveless sundresses she couldn’t wear a bra with anyhow.

She did her best to hurry. Even though she knew Kathy was there and Cole would be taken care of, she hated she’d been so dependent on everyone else’s help the past couple of days. Luckily, Cole was the kind of child who adjusted well and loved everyone he met, since he’d been thoroughly uprooted from his life.

After finishing her shower, Morgan ran a brush through her hair, then decided to let it air dry as she tugged on a yellow sundress. As she slipped her feet into a pair of sandals, a knock landed on the bedroom door. At her invitation, Kathy peeked her head inside. “Yay! You’re on your feet again.”

“Nothing keeps me down long,” Morgan answered a bit too cheerfully, and she made a mental note to tone it down. Kathy eyed her suspiciously. Morgan cut her off before she could jump to any correct conclusions. “Where’s Cole this morning?”

“Wade took him out back to his studio. They are having some male bonding time.” In spite of her best efforts, Morgan beamed with pride. She loved the idea of Wade and Cole spending the day together. It was more than she ever dreamed. She’d spent so long expecting Wade to be unable to cope with the thought of being a parent, she never dared to hope for anything else.

Kathy nodded her understanding. “He’s doing really great with him. I’m impressed.” Her face fell, and she shook her phone at Morgan. “I hate to do this to you, but I really need to get back home, and you have an appointment today with your orthopedic specialist. Honestly, I don’t know how either of us are going to get out of here after seeing this.”

Morgan glanced at the phone in confusion. “After seeing what?”

Kathy brushed her finger over the face of her phone until she found what she was searching for before handing it to Morgan. “See.”

Morgan gawked at the picture of her as she rushed from her home. Wade stood at her side with one arm wrapped around her waist and Cole held in the other as Mark blocked them from the crowd of reporters. The headline read, “Wade Collins’ secret family?”

With a shrug, she handed the phone back to Kathy. “Do you reckon they could have gotten a worse picture of me?”

Kathy eyed her suspiciously. “Is that all you have to say?”

“What can I say? They’re not entirely wrong.”

Kathy’s eyebrows shot to her hairline and Morgan glanced away hiding her blush as she stammered, “I guess now would be a good time to tell you Wade asked me to marry him.”

“Shut the fuck up!” Kathy cried then covered her mouth. “I mean, go on,” she said after a moment.

“I said yes.”

“Shut the fuck up!” Kathy cried again and Morgan laughed nervously, but Kathy quickly wrapped her arms around her shoulders squeezing her tightly. “I knew it.” Leaning away, Kathy was the one wearing the guilty look now. “I never said this, because I knew you didn’t want to hear it, but it’s why I’ve always pushed so hard for you to tell Wade about Cole. The two of you should have never been apart. Maybe, in a way, you never were. I know Wade needed to figure out on his own he already had everything he believed he was missing. Unfortunately, somewhere along the way you punished yourself for not telling Wade about Cole by not telling Wade about Cole. It’s time for the two of you to stop being stupid.”

Morgan plucked at the hem of her skirt. “But two years, do you think it’s too long to get past?” She asked, giving voice to her biggest fear.

A line appeared between Kathy’s brows. “Why would I think such a thing? I know you and I know Wade. If there were ever two people who just fit together like puzzle pieces, it’s you two. You’re looking at this wrong way. You’re like a soldier’s wife.” Kathy added a sharp nod as if emphasizing her wisdom.

“What?” Morgan asked feeling her confusion grow.

“Wade has been working. He’s been on tour trying to make a better life for you, and you’ve stayed behind holding down the fort. Soldier’s wives are away from their husbands for long stretches too, and no one questions it. Why are you?”

In a strange way, Kathy’s words wiped away every concern she had. There were things they would have to work through, but the love was there and it wasn’t changing.

Morgan gave her a short nod. “Okay. Remind me how to get to this studio and I’ll figure out how to get you home.”

*

Following Kathy’s directions, Morgan easily found the recording studio. Although the building had been pointed out to her the day before, she didn’t have any idea what to expect. It was a lot more high-tech than anything she could’ve pictured. The front room was a bit dark, lit mostly from several computer screens along one wall. The blue light bounced off the black leather couch on the opposite side of the room, and even in the low lighting, she could tell it was expensive. Below the screens, some sort of metal dashboard with thousands of dials, buttons and lights ran almost the entire length of the room. Three chairs sat unoccupied at the board and several speakers hung from the ceiling. Above the computer screens was a window into the other half of the building. Morgan peeked through the glass catching sight of a few microphones hanging from different directions above all the band’s instruments.

Wade sat on a metal stool with one booted foot propped on the bottom rung of the chair and his guitar resting on his knee. She could tell he’d been laughing by the way his eyes shone. The breath caught in her throat in the face of his happiness and butterflies stirred in her stomach. Tearing her eyes away, she chuckled at the sight of Cole. He stood balanced on Tex’s thighs behind the drum set. Tex kept a tight hold on his waist as Cole banged happily on the drum closest to him.

She watched the three of them together for a moment longer before opening the door separating the two halves of the building and intruding on their fun. All three heads turned in her direction, and Tex stood, clutching Cole to his chest as he moved in her direction. His dark hair and blue eyes were a combination doomed to make women sigh, but for Morgan he always seemed more brotherly.

Tex gave her a quick one-armed hug. “This is seriously one cool kid you’ve got here. He’s going to be an awesome musician.”

Cole threw himself toward Morgan and Tex helped her settle him onto her hip. “Thank you. He does have a good set of lungs on him,” she agreed. Switching her attention to Wade, she added, “I’m sorry to interrupt your practice, but Kathy needs to go home and there’s a ton of things I need to do, as well.”

“You’re never interrupting me, baby. I’ll get someone to take Kathy home, and whatever you need, I’m up for it.” She didn’t miss the double entendre, but she chose to ignore it since they weren’t alone. Tex glanced at his phone. “Well, I need to get going anyhow. You kids have fun.” He gave Morgan a quick peck on the cheek and ruffled Cole’s hair before jogging from the room.

She winced and Wade jumped to his feet plucking Cole from her arms. Touching his lips to hers, he backed quickly away before things got out of hand. She flashed him a grateful smile as he settled Cole onto his lap. “I really am sorry. I’d call a cab or something, but honestly, I don’t even know the address here.”

“You’re not calling a damn cab. Plus, the media would eat you alive the first moment you stepped off the property.”

Morgan growled. “I have a doctor’s appointment and Cole needs things from the store. Not to mention, I have to figure out what to tell my boss at the bonds office since he only gave me three days off. I’m set to go back to work tomorrow.” That thought led to another. “And what about the guy who attacked me? Don’t I need to fill out a police report or something?”

The incredulous look on Wade’s face might have been funny if it wasn’t directed at her. “Are you kidding me?” He asked after a moment of shocked silence. His tone gave the first hint he was losing his temper.

“About which part?”

“About any of it,” Wade answered immediately. He ran his hand over his face as if calling on his patience. “Morgan, you never have to work again, you realize that, right?” If she was being honest, she’d not realized any such a thing. It went against everything Morgan had known her entire life to think she would never need to return to work. At her silence, Wade sighed. “Seriously?” he added.

“So, I’m just supposed to sit around and be useless all day?”

“First off,” Wade said angrily. “You could never be useless, and second, not if you don’t want to. I’d love your help at Champ’s. I want you at my side, but also I want to take care of you. The thing with the guy in the alley, I have lawyers handling it. You might have to sign some things but you’ll do it from here. Otherwise, it’s handled.”

In the face of so much change, Morgan could do no more than gawk at Wade. When she finally managed to find her voice, she asked, “You want me to help with Champ’s?”

Cole happily played with his shoes in Wade’s lap, while Wade gave her his best puppy dog look. “Please Morgan? Let me have this.” He gave Cole a tiny squeeze to get his attention. “Come on, Cole. Help me win momma over.”

Cole glanced over his shoulder at Wade and then back to Morgan. Tilting his head to the side, he mimicked Wade’s expression. His adorable baby dimples peeked out at her as he smiled so widely his eyes closed. “Please mommy,” he begged, and Wade smiled triumphantly.

She shook her head blown away by the mutiny. It was a lost cause. She couldn’t say no to them. “Y’all can’t be ganging up on me like this for the rest of my life.” Cole giggled, openly enjoying the game. Morgan threw her arms up in defeat. “Fine!”

Content with his win, Cole wiggled out of Wade’s arms and abandoned them in favor of exploring the room. Morgan noticed Wade kept one eye on him even as he snagged the hem of her skirt towing her toward him. She moved to stand between Wade’s knees and he wrapped his arms around her waist.

“Maybe one of these days, I’ll be content with only a few hours a day of your time, but I don’t see it happening,” he said without showing a hint of shame. “I want to be part of everything with you from now on. I want to help you pick out a wedding dress and argue over where to spend our honeymoon.” She smiled at the thought of him picking out a dress. “Every doctor appointment of yours and Cole’s, I want to go with you. I want to shop with you, work by your side, and watch TV with you. Are you going to fight against having a normal life with me?”

She wanted all of those things and suddenly wondered why she was arguing against it. “We’re really getting married,” she said, hearing the happiness in her own voice. A loud crash rang through the room and Wade locked his arms around her preventing her from turning around. His eyes danced with laughter.

“Trust me. You don’t want to know.”

Morgan’s heart fell. “At least tell me whatever it was, it wasn’t expensive.”

“Are you feeling an overwhelming need to be lied to today?” he asked in return causing her to let out a loud groan. He buried his nose in her crook of her neck, inhaling her scent. “I see you managed a shower without me.” Even as he said the words, she could feel his smile against her throat.

“Um,” she said, searching her mind for an excuse, but his chuckle saved her from lying.

“You’re still slightly evil. I like it,” Wade admitted as he stood. “This whole place is going to need some serious child-proofing,” he added, moving to intervene in another Cole disaster.

* * * * *

Sneaking off the property wasn’t easy since Wade had alerted the press of Morgan’s presence, but the dirt road he kept hidden behind the stables was there for just such a purpose. It led to the edge of the property and back out onto a main road.

By the time they made it back home, the sun was long gone, and Cole was sleeping soundly with his duck clutched to his chest. Wade managed to sneak him beneath the covers without waking him, but Cole’s childlike grumbles over the loss of Wade’s warmth caused his heart to turn over in his chest. After spending a few minutes simply watching Cole sleep, Wade went in search of Morgan. He found her sitting alone in the darkened living room with her feet curled up underneath her on the couch.

Leaning his shoulder into the doorframe, Wade crossed his arms over his chest wondering how long it would take her to notice his presence. Barely a minute passed by before her voice cut through the darkness. “Do you plan on hovering in the doorway all night?”

As a smile pulled at his lips, Wade took note of the soreness in his cheeks, and he realized he’d not stopped grinning all day, and it didn’t look as if he would any time soon. Instead of answering her question, he said, “I want to take you someplace once we’re married, where I can make you scream and no one will hear it.”