Mine To Hold (27 page)

Noah’s head lifted. “Fucking asshole!” And he
tried to charge at Austin.

Claire threw her arms around Noah. He was
alive. He was safe. They were
both
alive. “I love you.” The
words burst from her.

Noah stiffened. His arms tightened around her
then, squeezing her so much that he stole her breath.

“No!” Austin’s snarling voice. “You don’t
escape, Claire! Not this time!”

She tried to look back, but Noah grabbed
Claire and shoved her behind him.

“Neither of you escape,” Austin shouted.

Noah had put his body in front of Claire.
He’d yanked the gun from her hand.

Gunshots filled the night.

But…

Austin’s gun had been equipped with a
silencer. She shouldn’t have been able to hear so many shots.
Claire craned her neck to see around Noah.

“
No one shoots my partner.
”

She looked to the left. Lane was there,
standing on the balcony, his weapon still drawn. Pointed at
Austin.

Her gaze flew back to Austin. He was on his
feet, but staggering. Under the lights of the balcony, she could
see the dark balloon of blood on his chest. From several
wounds.

Noah had a gun aimed at Austin, too. Noah and
Lane had both shot the guy. That was why she’d heard the sound of
so many gunshots.

Austin sank to his knees. “Claire…”

“Go to hell,” she whispered back to him.

And, he did. Austin tumbled back, and the
blood pooled beneath him.

***

“You’re going to be okay.”

Claire’s head turned at the husky words. Gwen
had just been loaded onto a stretcher, and Lane was right beside
her, holding tightly to her hand.

“It’s barely a scratch, love,” Lane told her.
“Just another kick-ass battle wound for you to show off to the guys
back in D.C.”

Claire stepped toward them. Gwen’s eyes were
open. She whispered something to Lane—

“I love you, too,” he told her as he bent to
kiss her hand.

Then the EMTs wheeled Gwen out of the suite.
Claire watched her go, frozen, heart-sick. Gwen had been hurt
because of her. A hotel bellman had been found with a gunshot wound
to the head. When Austin had said that he had tied up loose ends,
the sonofabitch had meant it.

His body was still out on the balcony. Cops
and crime scene techs swarmed around him.

“Are you okay?” At the gruff question, Claire
looked up and found Drake standing near the doorway.

She nodded.

“Claire…” He sighed her name. “Stop trying to
bullshit me.” Then she found herself being yanked into his arms.
“You look like you’re about to shatter.”

She felt that way. “I-I thought Austin wasn’t
like them.” Maybe that was what hurt the most.

“Noah wants you out of here.” Easing back,
Drake stared down at her. “He has to talk with the cops, but he
wanted me to take you downstairs so you’d be safe.”

And all she wanted was…Noah.

She’d told him that she loved him. She hadn’t
meant for those words to spill out. In that one instant, she’d just
been so afraid and her guard had lowered.

“The cops will want to talk with me, too.”
Her gaze darted back to the balcony. Noah was out there with the
cops.

“Come with me, Claire. You don’t need
to—hell, you don’t need to watch them bring out the body.”

No, she didn’t want to watch that. “Noah
killed him.” Her voice was just for his ears. “Didn’t he?”

“He told me they didn’t know yet if Lane’s
bullet or his ended the bastard. Either way, I figure it’s good
riddance.” He turned, and with a steady hold on her, Drake led her
to the door.

She didn’t look back when they slipped out of
that suite. The EMTs and Gwen were already gone. Claire glanced
down and realized she still had blood on her hands.

A few moments later, the elevator dinged. She
and Drake slipped inside when the doors parted. Then, as soon as
they were alone and on their way down, Claire confessed, “I didn’t
want him to do it.”

Drake lifted a brow.

“I never wanted Noah to kill for me.”

“I know.”

She sucked in a gulp of air. “Why did it have
to happen like this?”

With his eyes on her, Drake shook his head.
“You’re not responsible, got it? Austin Harrison is to blame. The
man was twisted, and he needed to be put down.”

“It’s not that simple.”

“To me, it is. And for Noah, the choice was
kill or be killed. He did just what he’d been trained to do.”

I love you.

She stared at her blood-stained hands.
“What’s going to happen now?”

“I’d say that’s up to you and Noah.”

Noah hadn’t said much. That was the problem.
After Austin had fallen, Noah had pushed her inside the suite as
fast as he could. His hands had roamed over her, checking for
injuries, and when he’d been satisfied that she was unharmed, he’d
let her go.

I love you.
“I think I made a
mistake.” She straightened her shoulders.

The elevator stopped. The doors opened, and
she hurried to exit. But Drake caught her shoulder. “What
mistake?”

Swallowing, Claire looked over at him. “I
fell for Noah.” He’d gotten right past her guard. “Austin wanted to
hurt him. I couldn’t let that happen. I-I was the one to fire the
first shot.”

“Because you were saving Noah.”

She had saved him, barely. Austin’s bullet
hadn’t hit Noah. She licked her lips. “I shot first because I love
Noah.”

And everyone I love gets hurt.

***

“Austin Harrison.” Lane shook his head as he
watched the body get bagged and tagged. “Never seen crazy run in a
family as much as it did in that one.”

A thick knot of tension curled at the top of
Noah’s spine. “He was going to kill Claire.” Every time he thought
of just how close he’d come to losing her…
I’ll have nightmares
forever about that moment.

His hands fisted.

When he’d rushed into the suite, he’d found
Gwen on the floor. There’d been so much blood around her, but her
eyes had been opening. She’d been whispering for Claire.

Noah had been shouting for her.

He’d burst onto that balcony. Seen Austin
with his gun—

Then Claire fired.
Her bullet had
found its mark, and Austin’s shot had gone wild.

She’d fired and then run right into Noah’s
arms.

“I think Claire is finally going to be free,”
Lane said, his eyes still on the black body bag. “There aren’t any
Harrisons left to try and wreck her life anymore.”

So it would seem.

“The New York detectives are going to be
taking over.” Lane finally pulled his gaze off the body bag and
inclined his head toward the two suits in the corner. “The press
will go wild, but I figure a guy like you is used to handling the
press.”

“I am, but Claire isn’t.” His eyes locked on
the New York detectives. “After we answer their questions, I’m
going to take Claire away from the city. I don’t want her steps
dogged by every reporter within a fifty mile radius.”

“I’d do the same damn thing in your
position.” Lane offered his hand. “I know we didn’t exactly get off
on the right foot, York.”

“You mean because you thought I was a
killer?” Noah took his hand. Shook it once.

“Hell, I
know
you’re a killer. I’ve
got friends at the Pentagon, so I got my hands on your military
records.” Lane gave him a hard grin. “I mean because I thought you
were a pompous rich jerk who was playing games in my city.”

Noah smiled. “I like you, Detective.”

“No, but you respect me, and that’s just as
good.” Lane hesitated. “I really hope my bullet was the one that
ended that bastard’s life.” His jaw hardened. “
No one hurts my
Gwen.”

And no one hurts Claire.

Noah realized that he and the detective had
quite a few things in common.

When the detective walked away, Noah glanced
around the suite. He’d seen Drake leading Claire away minutes
before, and he was glad that she had escaped from the death that
clung to that place. Claire had seen enough death.

It was time for her to live.

I love you.

Those words had been so soft that Noah hadn’t
been sure he’d heard them, not at first. Then he’d looked into
Claire’s eyes and
seen
her love.

“Mr. York?”

He glanced to the right. One of the New York
detectives was coming toward him. More questions. He and Claire
would both have their turn being grilled. But as soon as they got
the all-clear…

I’ll get you out of here, Claire.
They’d go back to the Hamptons. They’d walk on the beach. Fuck on
the balcony.

Live.

And there wouldn’t be any more fear for
Claire. Because Noah wasn’t going to let her out of his sight
anytime soon.

Seeing her on that balcony had scared a good
fifteen—
twenty?—
years of his life away. In that one instant,
when Austin had swung with his gun up, Noah had realized one very,
very important fact.

I can’t live without Claire.

Love or obsession? Claire had asked the
question once. She’d wondered if there was a difference between the
two things.

For a while now, Noah had thought that he
would kill for her.

Yet in that one, desperate moment, he’d been
ready to die for her.

Love, Claire. It’s love, not just
obsession.

Chapter
Fourteen

The last twenty-four hours had been hell.
Claire climbed the steps to Noah’s beach house, feeling exhaustion
pressing over every inch of her body.

There had been questions. Then more
questions. Detectives who grilled her. Detectives who seemed to
comfort her.

There had been reporters. Dozens of them.
Camped out around the hotel. Waiting outside of the police
station.

They’d shouted at her. Snapped images.

She’d already seen a few newspaper headlines.
Another Harrison Driven to Kill?

She hadn’t driven Austin to do anything.

But the press loved a story about sex and
murder. Claire knew she’d be in the headlines for a long time to
come.

“Claire?” Noah’s fingers brushed over her
arm. She realized that she’d just stopped in front of the door.
“Baby, what is it?” He turned her in his arms so that she stared up
at him.

Night had fallen again, but the house was
lit. Gleaming from within. Noah had called his caretaker earlier
and told him to prepare the house.

She knew he’d wanted her to have a place to
hide.
Escape.
“I’m sorry that my nightmare spilled over onto
you. Sometimes, I know you have to wish that I’d never walked into
your hotel.”

He shook his head. “I never wish that. The
day you walked into my hotel was one of the best days of my
life.”

What?

His head lowered toward her, and Noah’s lips
took hers. The kiss was long, slow, and so thorough. So…Noah.

When he ended the kiss, he stared down at her
with eyes that seemed to blaze with emotion. The problem was that
Claire couldn’t read that emotion. Need? Lust? Or something
more?

She wanted it be to something more so
badly.

“Let’s go inside, or I’ll take you right
here.”

Her own eyes widened at that, and Claire
hurried to get inside the beach house. Noah locked the door behind
her, and she stopped by the couch, wondering—

“You scared me.”

He’d said the words like an accusation.
Claire turned and blinked at him. “I, um, didn’t mean to.” She’d
been trying to save him.

“You shot Austin. A damn ballsy move, but
then you ran toward me.” His eyes glinted. “The guy still had his
weapon. I could see him trying to get it up and aimed, and you were
between him and me.
He could’ve shot you.
”

“That wasn’t his plan.” Noah hadn’t been
there when the cops questioned her so he didn’t realize… “He wanted
me to jump from the balcony. A bullet to my head wouldn’t have
worked with the suicide story he was trying to create.”

“Suicide?”

“I broke once, so he thought everyone would
easily buy the story that I broke again.”

Only about five feet separated her and Noah.
He started walking toward her,
stalking
forward, and he
eliminated that space quickly. His fingers closed around her
shoulders. “I never would’ve bought that story.”

Still trying to understand the emotion in his
eyes, Claire searched his gaze.

“I haven’t been afraid for a long time. Not
in the military. Not during my…extra stints with Trace and Drake.
Hell, not since that boat sank and my world changed. I was afraid
then. Fucking terrified, and there was nothing I could do to save
the people I loved most.”

Her heart ached for him.

“I’d planned to kill the man who was after
you.” He said this bluntly, easily, as if death didn’t matter to
him. “It was an easy choice. Someone was hurting you. I had to stop
him. So I used the engagement, thinking that it would draw him
out.”

“It did.”

“
It drew him to come after you, not
me.
” His hold on her tightened. “That was never what I
intended. I never wanted you to be hurt or to be afraid or—”

“I know,” she said, cutting through his
words. And she did.

But Noah shook his head. “I’ve screwed up a
lot with you. Made mistakes. Blundered my way around, and that’s
not my way. I can usually charm women, but when I’m with you, I
feel like I can barely speak sometimes.”

That didn’t sound like Noah. “You seem so
confident to me.”

“It’s a lie. Most days with you, I’m just
trying to figure out what I can do to keep you close.” He exhaled
slowly. “After we met in Chicago, I…wanted to see you again. But
you vanished after Sara’s funeral. You just disappeared. I figured
that was a sign you weren’t interested in me, and that I should
just forget about you.” He paused. “But you’re not easy to
forget.”