TWENTY-SEVEN

Once behind the curtain, Allison let Peter carefully remove the gown. After dressing in her silk skirt and blouse, she sat in front of a mirror and unwound her braid. She brushed her hair and thought of Liam. She had actually expected to see him in the crowd. The longer he stayed on her mind, the angrier she became and the harder she brushed. A few minutes later, her hair was shiny and straight, and her anger had subsided. She finally came to the realization that she was being completely irrational. She just wanted to feel sorry for herself. How could she not? she justified. In the last few weeks she’d been told she’d ruined innumerable lives. She had ruined Will’s life because she hadn’t kept him out of prison. She’d ruined her aunt’s and uncle’s lives because she wouldn’t lie for them in court. And, oh yes, she had also ruined Brett’s and Stiles’s lives because she wouldn’t let them steal her work.

Were they all crazy? Or was she? The question merited thought.

She took a cotton ball and some mineral oil and removed the eye shadow. She’d wash off the rest of the makeup when she got home, she decided. The FBI agents would be waiting for her.

The party had moved inside to the ballroom, where the air-conditioning cooled the guests, and food and beverages were in abundance. Giovanni was the star, as usual.

Allison was leaving the dressing room when Peter found her and handed her her purse. “Your boyfriend is here,” he said. “He wanted me to remind you that you’re supposed to wait for him in the garden.”

She started to tell him she didn’t have a boyfriend, then changed her mind. “What did he look like?”

“How many boyfriends do you have?”

“Too many to count,” she answered. “Now, please tell me. What did he look like?”

“He’s kind of tall, with blond tips in his hair, and to be honest, darling, I think you should tell him to stop using so much self-tanner.”

She froze. Oh God, he was describing Brett. He might have been there to threaten her. Then again, he had it in him to be violent. She’d witnessed his temper tantrums. She wasn’t going to panic.

“Are you all right?” Peter asked. “You’ve gone pale.”

“I’m fine,” she said. Peter turned to go back to the party, and she called after him, “Tell Giovanni I’ll talk to him later. I’m leaving.”

“No need to hurry, Allison. I’m here now.” Brett spoke from right behind her.

She started to run for the doors, but Brett anticipated the move and latched onto her upper arm. He jerked her around to face him. They were the only two in the dressing room. Everyone else had gone to the party. There wasn’t anyone to help her.

His eyes glowed with his hatred. “You’re coming with me.”

“Why?”

“You have to fix this mess you created. You stole everything from me. I want you to give it back.”

“I stole from you?” She was so astonished by his absurd remark she had to pause for a second. “You tried to take my work and pass it off as your own.”

He squeezed her arm even harder until she cried out. “I ordered a new car, and now I can’t pay for it, and I bought a condo down in South Beach, but they want the money or the deal is off, and I don’t have any money because of you. You took all that from me, and you’re going to give it back.”

She couldn’t believe how he could justify his actions. “You think saying it’s yours makes it yours? I’m not giving you my work.”

“It’s mine. I worked on that program for a long time, and you can’t prove I didn’t.”

“You’re delirious. You’ll never get away with it.”

She could see panic overtaking him. He shook her hard. She was surprised by his strength. “You humiliated me in front of my peers and my investor,” he said.

“Do you mean Stiles?”

“Of course I mean Stiles. He’s going to see I followed through on my promise to make us millions. I shouldn’t have gone to him. . . . I shouldn’t have asked him for money, but I didn’t realize how dangerous he was, and now . . . Please, Allison.” His bravado was beginning to vanish and now he just sounded pathetic.

“Let go of me,” she demanded.

“All I need is the missing code, and you have to give it to me.”

Brett was desperate. He’d gotten in over his head and now he was drowning. “No.” She tried to peel his hand away, but he wouldn’t let go.

“I already have buyers,” he said. “I can make it worth your while. Just let me have the whole program, and I’ll give you a cut.”

“No.”

He looked desperate. “You’re coming with me, and you’re giving me the entire program. He’ll kill me if I don’t get it.”

“You’re going to have to drag me out of here, and there are two men outside who aren’t going to let you do that.”

“I’ve seen them. You don’t think I haven’t planned a way out?”

“In about five seconds I’m going to start screaming.”

“I didn’t want to do this,” he said. He pulled a pistol out of his pocket and showed it to her before putting it back, with his hand on the trigger and the barrel pointing at her.

“Where did you get that gun?” She was so shocked she could barely think.

“Stiles gave it to me.”

“My God, Brett. You aren’t a killer. You need to get away from him,” she said. “And get rid of that gun.”

He acted as though he hadn’t heard a word she’d said. “I swear I’m going to shoot you if you don’t get moving. If I can’t have that program, you’re not going to be able to sell it, either. I don’t have any problem killing you.”

He pressed the gun into her side and pushed her toward the doors that led to the garden. She opened the doors, took a step through them, and stopped.

“Move,” Brett ordered as he gave a shove to her ribs.

“I’m sorry, Brett,” she said.

“For what?” he asked sarcastically. “Making my life miserable?”

“No, I’m sorry you’re about to get shot. I imagine it’s going to hurt like the blazes.”

Brett took a step forward, and that was when he saw Liam standing outside the door with his gun drawn.

“Get out of my way,” Brett shouted. “I’m not going to hurt her. We’re just going to work on our program, and I’m driving her home.” He was scrambling for words, his hand still on his gun.

“Let go of her and put your hands up,” Liam ordered.

Brett shook his head and pulled Allison closer.

“He has a gun,” she warned.

“I know.” Liam’s voice was calm and steady. “Put your hands up,” he repeated.

Brett reacted. He yanked the gun from his pocket and was raising it when Liam fired. Before Brett finished his first howl of pain, Liam had grabbed the gun from his hand and pulled Allison away from him.

“You shot me,” Brett cried. “You shot my arm.”

Liam nodded. “Yes. Yes, I did.”

The other two agents came running. Allison moved close to Liam and watched Brett being handcuffed. As one of the agents carted him away, Brett clutched his arm and demanded to be driven to a hospital. The second agent turned to Liam. “We’ll take it from here,” he said, and then turned to Allison. “I can send a car for you.”

“I’ll take you home, Allison,” Liam stated in his no-nonsense, “don’t argue with me” voice.

“Wait a minute. What are you doing here?” she asked. The fact that he had appeared out of nowhere had just hit her. “Did you know Brett was coming?”

Liam wanted to get out of there and tried to pull her along, but she wasn’t cooperating. Seeing that she wasn’t going to wait for an answer, he decided to give in. “I came here for you,” he began, and before she could react, he continued. “I knew someone was going to come after you, and I wanted to get you out of here and make sure you were safe. If anything ever happened to you . . .”

He couldn’t go on. The thought of losing Allison was almost too much to bear. He pulled her into his arms and held her tight against him.

She could feel him shaking. “You were worried about me.”

“Hell yes, I was worried.” He kissed her forehead, then pulled away from her. “The man who ran you off the road works for Stiles. His name is Jud Bronsky, and he’s going to turn state’s evidence against the bastard. He’s got a lot to tell.”

Astonished by the lengths Stiles had been willing to go to, she whispered, “He gave Brett the gun. I don’t know if he would have shot me or not.”

“I’m certain Stiles or one of his men wouldn’t have had any qualms about killing you. He not only wanted your laptop; he wanted you. He was sure he would be able to force you to give him the rest of the code for your software. You’d disappear and he’d sell your work and make a fortune.”

She was having trouble taking it all in. “Where is Stiles now?”

“I just got a call. Bronsky was able to give enough information to track him down. He’s in a gated enclave about a half hour out of Boston. Agents are picking him up right now.”

She was weak with relief. “Brett told me he was afraid of Stiles. Now I understand why. I can’t help feeling sorry for Brett.”

“Oh, hell no.”

“What?” she asked, confused by his reaction.

“You are not going to try to make a deal for Brett or plead on his behalf. He had a gun on you. I’m never going to forget that.” He took her hand and started to walk toward the lobby. “I don’t like you wearing all that makeup,” he said, hoping to change the subject until he could get his nerves under control.

“And I don’t like you looking half-dead.”

“I don’t like seeing anyone pointing a gun at you.”

“I didn’t particularly like it, either,” she replied.

“It scared the hell out of me.”

She glanced up at him. “Me, too.”

They were in the middle of the lobby when he stopped and turned to her. “I’m never going to let anyone hurt you.”

“I know.”

He leaned down and kissed her. Now was neither the time nor the place, he told himself, but it didn’t seem to matter. “I love you, Allison.”

“I know you do.”

She tried to keep walking, but he stopped her. “That’s all you have to say to me?”

“I love you, too, Liam.”

He kissed her then. His mouth covered hers in a kiss that held nothing back. They were both having difficulty catching their breath when he lifted his head. She tried to take a step back. He wouldn’t let her.

“Isn’t this where you tell me you have to leave tomorrow, and a life with me could never work because of your job and the demands on you?” she asked.

His arms were wrapped around her waist, and he stared into her eyes as he answered, “Yeah, that’s pretty much what I used to believe . . . until now. I can’t seem to stay away from you. Have you noticed?”

“I have noticed.”

“What do you think we ought to do about it?” he asked.

She had a sly twinkle in her eyes, and he couldn’t wait to hear what she would say.

“You’re conflicted, Liam, but I’ll be happy to clear it all up for you.”

“Conflicted, huh?”

He didn’t let her explain. He was suddenly eager to get her back to her apartment so he could show her how much he loved her. He had quite a bit inside him to say to her, too. It wasn’t until they were on their way that she finally got his full attention.

“I’m not going to stay around and watch you work yourself to death. I won’t do it, Liam. I’ve been working eighty-hour weeks for Phillips because of that stupid contract, but as soon as the six months are up, things are going to change. I need a life outside of my computer.”

He nodded, but neither one said another word until they were back in her apartment. His silence was making her extremely anxious.

“What do you think?” she finally asked.

“I need a life, too.”

Tears came into her eyes. “You do?”

“Know what else I need?”

“What?” she whispered.

“I need you.” He put his arms around her waist and pulled her close. “I love you.” He paused for a second and then said, “I quit my job.”

“What . . . You what?”

“I’ve been giving it a lot of thought the last couple of weeks. It took some hard-nosed soul-searching, but I finally figured out what I want. I told the bureau I was going to hand in my resignation Monday.”

Flabbergasted, she stepped back so she could poke him in the chest. “But you love your job. And you quit? What is wrong with you? Don’t you know how to do anything in moderation? Does it always have to be all or nothing with you? Stop grinning at me. I’m trying to make you think about your future.”

“I am thinking about my future,” he insisted.

She let him kiss her before she asked, “When you told them you were quitting, what was the reaction?”

“I got promoted.”

“Promoted?” she repeated. “You got promoted?”

He shrugged. “Go figure.”

“What does that mean?”

“Hell if I know.”

He took her hand and led her into the bedroom. “I won’t be traveling much with my new position. I’ve really grown to dislike it, anyway, and I’ve trained enough agents who can get the job done.”

Astonished by what he was telling her, she turned to him, speechless.

“Sweetheart, if you don’t take your clothes off, I can’t ravish you.”

He was desperate to touch her, but he let her wash off the makeup first. When she returned to the bedroom, they set a new record for disrobing. He wanted to go slow, but the passion was too strong. All the feelings he had been holding inside for so long exploded in a glorious moment of ecstasy.

Later, when she was lying next to him, Allison started laughing for no other reason than she was deliriously happy.

“Next time we’ll take it slow, I promise,” he said, and then he laughed because he knew with Allison, that wasn’t possible.

He leaned up and took her hand in his. “I’ve been thinking. . . .”

She waited, and when he didn’t continue, she said, “Yes?”

“What?”

He looked pensive. What was going on in his mind? “You said you’ve been thinking.”

“That’s right. I’ve been thinking you’ll want me to come home to you every night.”

She smiled. “Yes, as a matter of fact, I do expect you to come home to me.”

He was searching for the right words, feeling awkward and unsure, which was completely foreign to him. But he wanted it to be right, and he had to get it said now.

“And I’m thinking you’ll want to sleep in my bed every night, so it should probably be our bed.”

“You’re right again. Liam, what are you trying to say?”

He shrugged. “I’m thinking we should probably get married.”

“Yes, we should.”

He grinned. “Okay, since you asked, I’ll marry you.”

“I did not ask you—”

“Sure, you did. Just now.”

“I should warn you, it’s not going to be normal.”

“Sex or our marriage?”

“Our marriage.”

“I didn’t expect it would be.”

“I’m not normal,” she whispered. “You need to know that.”

“Sweetheart, I figured that out five minutes after I met you. You’re far superior to normal.”

Her eyes filled with tears. “That’s the sweetest thing you could have said to me. What’s the matter with you?”

“I love you. That’s what’s the matter.”

She cuddled up against him and closed her eyes.

He gently stroked her hair with his fingertips. “I guess we should start looking for a town house somewhere in Silicon Valley.”

“About that . . .”

“What?”

“I’m thinking we should live here in Boston.”

“Yeah? With the new job, living here would be perfect for me,” he admitted.

“I’ll still take on the boys,” she said. “As soon as I’m finished with my newest weapon, they’ll all want it. The FBI gets it first, though.”

“Will you set up your company in our home, then?”

“About that . . .”

She sounded so earnest he braced for the next announcement. “Yes?”

“I’d like to keep working for Phillips.”

“You’re serious?”

“Go ahead and laugh. I know you want to.”

He did exactly that. Once he calmed down, she explained that she was still going to run her company with Jordan. “Please don’t tell Phillips.”

“He’s going to notice when you keep coming to work.”

“He’s going to gloat.”

“Yes, he will.”

“The working conditions will have to change, of course. I’m only going to be available part-time. And I don’t want him pointing to the chair any longer. It’s just plain rude.”

“He loves pointing. You’re going to take that away from him?”

She sighed. “Okay, I’ll let him point to the chair.”

“You’re such a pushover,” he laughed.

“Hey!” She jabbed his shoulder with her finger.

Liam grabbed her hand and kissed it. “When will you tell Charlotte you’re going to stay in Boston?”

“About that . . .”

“You want me to tell her.”

“I’ll tell her we’re getting married first, and then I’ll slip in that we’re staying in Boston. I’ll probably blame you.”

“That’s fine with me. Are you going to tell her you finally confronted your aunt and uncle and really let them have it?”

“Probably,” she said. “Letting them have it didn’t seem to do any good. They’re both still calling. Uncle Russell is always drunk and always shouting.”

“You’ve done enough,” he said. “I’m begging you. Let me have a turn. I can get them to stop. I promise.”

“Sure. Why not? Take a turn. Then they can start calling your number.”

“No, they won’t,” he said with complete confidence.

“You mentioned with your promotion you can take a step back and let other agents you’ve trained handle more of the work.”

“That’s right.”

She raised herself up on her elbow and propped her chin in her hand so she could stare into his amazing green eyes. “And exactly what is that work?”

He answered, “Maybe someday when we’re old and gray, and we’re rocking on the front porch watching our grandchildren, I’ll tell you all about it.”

She kissed him on the cheek and laid her head back down on his chest. For the first time in her life she knew how it felt to love and be loved.

“Sounds good to me,” she whispered.