Bodyguard's Baby Surprise (20 page)

Since his father had died, he'd been the one who'd given the comfort—even to her. Tears stung her eyes. It was bad. Even worse than she'd feared...

“Who is it?” she asked. Who had she lost?

She pulled free of Logan's embrace and peered around the crowded room. Other people might have been there, but she saw only her family.

Milek and Garek Kozminski stood close together, almost as if they were holding each other up. “Are you all right?” she asked them.

Milek nodded.

“Gonna take more than an SUV to wipe us out,” Garek assured her as he pulled her into a hug.

But as she hugged him back, he flinched. He'd been hurt.

They all looked the worse for wear. Gage Huxton had blood smeared on the side of his face, but she wasn't certain if it was his. He would have done anything to protect his sister. Just like her boys would have Nikki.

Nikki—dear sweet Nikki—had already been bruised and stitched. But she wore those wounds like badges of honor. Stubborn girl.

A smile tugged at Penny's lips. She loved her baby girl so much. And she worried about her nearly as much as she worried about Nick.

“Nick?” she gasped his name as she realized who wasn't present. “Where's Nick?”

“Surgery...” The voice came from behind the others. They stepped aside to let Penny through to the chair where a frail-looking Annalise sat. “They took him back right away...”

They must have been at the hospital a while—long enough for Penny to make the nearly three-hour drive. But Annalise's clothes still looked damp from the rain. Or perhaps it was from the blood that stained them.

Penny dropped to her knees in front of her chair. “Are you okay? Has someone checked you out?” She glanced around at the others. Hadn't anyone helped her?

“She refused,” Gage said. And from his tone, it was obvious that he'd given up arguing with his sister.

Penny touched the young woman's hands where they covered her belly. Her skin was as cold as ice. “You need to let someone look at you,” she said. “You need to make sure your baby is all right.”

Her green eyes brimming with tears, Annalise shook her head.

And panic gripped Penny. Had she lost the child? Was that why she had blood on her clothes?

“Get help,” Penny yelled at the others. “She needs a doctor.” Penny worried that it was already too late for the baby.

What about Nick? He'd been in surgery such a long time. Was it too late for him, too?

Chapter 26

N
ick fought his way to consciousness. He'd been out too long. He knew it. Something bad had happened. He could feel it in the heaviness of his heart, which beat slowly with dread. The last thing he remembered was lunging toward Annalise, but he hadn't reached her before the shot had taken him down.

Had she been hit?

Was she safe?

“Annalise!” He jerked awake with her name on his lips.

“Are you okay?” a soft voice asked.

He struggled to keep his eyes open—to focus on the face above his. Penny Payne stared down at him, her brown eyes warm with concern.

His throat was dry, and he tried to swallow, tried to clear it. But his voice sounded gruff when he said again, “Annalise...”

Penny took his hand in hers. Was she offering comfort? Or was she the one who needed it?

He squeezed her hand and urged her, “Tell me. Was she shot?”

Penny shook her head. “No. She wasn't shot. But you were.”

He remembered the flash of pain he'd felt. He didn't feel it now. His body was actually numb. It was his mind that was reeling. And his heart—it hurt, too.

“The surgeon is worried because the bullet was close to the spine,” she said, “too close.”

Nick tensed, his muscles tightening.

She spoke softly and gently as she must have to her kids when they'd had nightmares or missed their dad. “He's concerned that you could have some paralysis.”

Nick squeezed her hand again, and then he kicked at the sheet covering him. “I'm not paralyzed,” he said.

Not anymore.

He'd been paralyzed most of his life—afraid to let himself feel love. But not anymore.

“I'm getting out of this bed,” he said, “and I'm going to find Annalise.”

He needed to make sure she was all right. But more important, he needed to make certain she knew that he loved her. That he had always loved her—he'd just been too scared to admit how much she had meant to him: everything.

Penny pushed him back against the bed. “You need to rest, Nick. You were in surgery for hours.”

So where was Annalise? Had she given up on him?

After all these years of loving him, had she finally changed her mind? Had he waited too long to tell her he loved her, too?

“If she wasn't shot,” he said, “why isn't she here?” Images flashed through his mind. He remembered the way Darren Snow had shoved her to the ground. Had it been hard enough to hurt her? To hurt the baby?

Dread washed over him. “It's the baby, isn't it?”

Penny squeezed his hand again. “Nick...”

He kicked at the sheet again, and this time he managed to swing his legs out of the bed. “I have to be with her. Have to make sure she's okay.”

If she'd lost the baby, she would be devastated. Hell, he would be, too. But he was more worried about her.

“Why, Nick?” Penny asked. “Why do you have to be with her?”

Had the woman lost her touch? Usually she understood what was going on with people before they understood it themselves. How could she not know what he had just realized?

“Because I love her,” he said. “I love her!”

“You could sound a little happier about it,” a soft voice remarked.

Penny didn't look surprised at the sound of Annalise's voice. She must have known she had come into the room. She smiled and stepped back from the bed. “I'll leave you two alone,” she said. “You need to talk.”

But Nick couldn't talk. Maybe he
was
paralyzed—because all he could do was stare at the woman he loved. She looked so beautiful, more beautiful than he had ever seen her.

* * *

The way he was staring at her made Annalise uneasy. “Are you okay?” she asked. Maybe she needed to call his doctor. He didn't look right, more like dazed. Maybe it was the drugs.

Maybe that was why he'd said what he had. That he loved her.

Dare she believe him?

“Nick?” Instead of going for a doctor, she stepped closer to the bed. She had been so worried that she'd lost him. That he wouldn't survive the shots he'd taken.

He blinked as if snapping out of a trance. And now he looked at her as if he were truly focusing. His gaze ran over her tangled hair and down her bloodied clothes. And he reached out for her, pulling her into his arms.

She tried to hold back. She didn't want to hurt him.

“It's okay, sweetheart,” he said, his voice gruff with emotion. “We can have another baby.”

Another one? What was he talking about?

“I know you're upset, but we have each other. We'll get married—”

“What?” The doctor had said she was in shock—that was why she'd been so cold, so out of it in the waiting room. It must not have worn off yet. “Why are you talking about getting married?”

He must have known it didn't matter to her what Gage had said. Annalise wouldn't have let her brother force him to marry her.

“I love you,” he said.

And she was as shocked as the first time she'd heard him say it. Was she dreaming? Had she fallen asleep in the waiting room and she was only imagining that she was here—in his arms? She slid her arms around his neck. He felt real to her. Warm and strong despite having been shot.

He tightened his arms around her, pulling her closer yet. “I want to marry you because I love you. So it doesn't matter that you lost the baby. We'll have another—”

Finally realization dawned, and she pressed her fingers over his lips. They were dry beneath her touch. He'd been through so much. No wonder he was confused. “I didn't lose the baby.” And as if to prove it, their son kicked.

Amazement and relief brightened Nick's eyes as he felt it. “You didn't.” He pulled back and stared down at her clothes. “But the blood.”

“It's yours,” she said. “From the park...” And it might have been Darren Snow's, too.

“I don't know what happened,” he said. “You fell and the gunfire began. Is everyone okay?”

She nodded. “Your family took out the snipers Darren Snow had on the rooftops. He was the one who shot you.”

“What happened to him?” he asked.

“He's dead.” She shuddered as she remembered how he'd stared up at her with such surprise.

Nick pulled her close again. And he noticed her wrist. The doctor had wrapped the sprain. That—and the shock—had been her only injury. Now his eyes widened with shock as he realized how she'd hurt her wrist—from the recoil from the old gun. “You shot him?”

She shrugged. “I shot that gun. But I don't know if it was my shot that hit him.” Gage claimed that he'd done it—from one of the rooftops. But she didn't know if he was telling the truth or only trying to make her feel better. He understood her well enough to know that she would struggle with having killed a man.

But she wasn't sure that she would. Nick was alive. That was all that mattered. That and the fact that he loved her.

“And now I love you even more,” he remarked. “There's something I want to ask you.”

He had already said they were getting married. But if he wanted to propose properly, she wasn't going to stop him. Smiling she asked, “Yes?”

“Why do you love me?”

And she laughed.

“I'm serious,” he said.

Realizing why he was asking, pain constricted her heart. Now she knew why he had pushed her away, why he had never accepted her love. He hadn't believed anyone could love him.

“You are the most amazing man,” she told him. “You were amazing even when you were just a boy. You have such honor and integrity. You always want to do the right thing. You always want to protect everyone else.”

And maybe that was why he'd spent so many years pushing her away. He'd wanted to protect her.

“I didn't think I deserved your love,” he said. “I didn't think I was worthy of it.”

“Nick...”

“My own mother couldn't love me,” he said.

“She was an addict,” she reminded him.

“She was all I had.”

Annalise shook her head. “You had me.”

He clasped her closer. “I'm so sorry I didn't realize how I felt sooner. I didn't recognize it.”

He didn't recognize love because he'd never felt it before. Her heart ached for all he had missed. “I'm not the only one who loves you, Nick,” she assured him. “You have a family out there who is frantically worrying about you.”

He smiled. “I'm sure Penny has assured them that I'm fine. Right now she's probably getting them all fitted for tuxes for the wedding.”

“It's too soon to worry about fittings,” she said.

“I'm marrying you as soon as I get out of the bed, Annalise.” And he tried to stand again.

“I've spent my life waiting to marry you, Nicholas Rus,” she told him. “I think I can wait a little longer.”

“I can't. I want to marry you right away. I don't want to waste another minute of time that I can be with you.”

Tears stung Annalise's eyes. She'd always known she'd loved Nick. But she hadn't known Nick could love like this—as completely as she loved him.

“Shh...” he murmured. “I don't want you to cry.”

“I've shed a lot of tears over you,” she admitted.

He grimaced. “I don't ever want to make you cry again.”

She leaned forward and pressed her lips to his. They kissed softly, tenderly. He lifted his fingers to her face and wiped away her tears.

“You'll make me cry again,” she said. “Because these are happy tears. And you've made me so happy...”

She'd thought all she'd wanted was for Nick to survive his gunshot wounds. She hadn't realized how badly she'd wanted him to love her—until finally she had her wish. Her dream was realized.

Nicholas Rus loved her as much as she loved him.

“Make me happy,” he said.

She tensed. “You're not?” she asked. Of course, he was probably in pain. He'd just had surgery. She tried to pull back, but he held her tightly.

“I will be,” he said, “when you finally agree to become my wife. Marry me, Annalise. Right now.”

She laughed. “I guess I'm the one who will need to teach our son patience.”

“You have been patient with me,” he said. “For so many years. That's why I don't want to wait. I don't want you finally to give up on me.”

“Never,” she assured him. “I will love you for the rest of our lives, Nicholas Payne.”

“And I will spend the rest of our lives loving you.”

* * *

Nikki smiled with pride. Even though she worked for Cooper, Nick had given her another assignment. She would have thought it would have gone to Gage—who'd known him longest. Or to the FBI agent he'd roomed with in Chicago—Jared Bell. Or even to one of the brothers he'd just recently discovered. But she was the one he'd asked to be his best man.

After all the times she had been a bridesmaid, it felt good finally to wear a tux instead of a damn dress. Her mother had been sad, though.

Not about the marriage. She had been thrilled to throw together Nick and Annalise's wedding. She had even been happy that Nikki was his best man.

But she'd admitted that she wanted for Nikki what Nick had with Annalise. She wanted her daughter to be as happy as all her sons were.

From her place at Nick's side at the altar, Nikki stared out at everyone gathered in the church. It was good to see her brothers so happy—with women they'd made as happy as they were.

But her mother stood alone—as she had for so many years. And Nikki realized that Penny needed to worry about herself instead of her. She was the one who needed to find someone to make her happy, someone who finally and truly deserved her.

Nikki was happy. Her brothers were finally taking her seriously. She wasn't going to be strapped to a desk anymore. She was going to do fieldwork.

Probably.

As soon as she was fully healed.

It had been only a couple of days since the shoot-out at the storage units. She was surprised that Nick could even stand after the surgery on his back.

But he stood tall and proud beside her, staring at the doors of the church. Music began to play, and everyone stood and turned toward the back—to Annalise starting down the aisle, holding on to her brother's arm.

Her parents hadn't been able to get a flight out of Alaska in time for the service. But they would make the reception later.

Annalise wore the same wedding dress so many other Payne brides had worn. Penny's dress.

It was lace and satin, very vintage and graceful. If Nikki ever married—and she doubted that would happen—she wouldn't wear that dress. But Annalise looked beautiful in it. The empire waist hid the swell of her belly.

Beside her, Nick gasped. And Nikki grabbed his arm in case he toppled over. He wasn't in pain, though. He was in awe. “She's so beautiful,” he murmured.

“She is.”

The kind of beautiful that radiated from the inside out. As she drew closer, it was clear to see that love radiated from Annalise, as well.

She loved Nick with all her heart—the same way he loved her.

Nikki felt a flash of envy for that kind of happiness. But she didn't need love. All she wanted was to be taken seriously. She had that now—thanks to Nick.

So she pushed aside that momentary lapse and focused on being the best man. She handed over the rings with a steady hand.

Nick slid a diamond band on Annalise's finger. She slid a silver band on his. They repeated their vows in strong, certain voices. They had no doubts—only love. They would love and honor each other forever.