Chapter
SEVENTEEN
Fucking fireworks.
Gavin gritted his teeth. A spray of red and gold flared across the sky from the boat stationed several miles off-shore. The guests gasped and ohhed with astonishment as the display began.
Much as he hated the noise and flare, Gavin took consolation in the fact that everyone, even the kitchen staff and assistants, were all a safe distance from the villa and entirely focused on the surprise of the fireworks.
“All rooms are clear, sir.” John hurried to his side.
Gavin nodded, his attention on the computer displaying the path of the remote sensor they’d sent into the front room. Tension thickened the air. The laser flashed onscreen as the device approached the suspicious package.
“Detecting liquid materials, but no chemical agents, sir,” one of the men said. “No electronics, radioactivity, or smoke either.”
The robot picked up the package as the laser and x-ray scanned the interior. A green light flashed on the screen: all negative for hazardous material.
One of the men moved toward the door. Gavin held out a hand to stop him.
“Sir…”
Gavin’s shoulders tightened. Fuck if he wasn’t going down with his ship, if need be. He knelt beside the package, which the robot had put on the floor. The overly sweet smell hit his nose, the oily patch on the paper spreading. He unfastened the tape and tore it off the package.
The box contained a set of essential oils, incense, and candles. One of the bottles was broken, leaking through the box and paper. Gavin tossed it aside and stood, giving the others an all clear signal.
“Sweep the rest of the area,” he ordered.
He left the villa and crossed to the garden, every one of his nerves still on high alert. They’d done a thorough sweep of the grounds earlier that day, but the fact that something had gotten past him—
Fireworks blazed in the sky, a riotous display of color and light. Music danced through the air along with the hum of conversation and laughter. Gavin took a breath, glad at least that the scare hadn’t affected his friend’s wedding.
He made his way through the crowd, keeping one eye out for Mia while he listened to his men verifying the all clear throughout the villa. Where was she? He was an ass for having snapped at her in the adrenaline-charged moment of discovering something had slipped his attention.
He’d known she was focused on her friend’s happiness, that it wasn’t her job to relay important communications. And yet he’d hated the implication that this wasn’t their project, the one they’d made happen together, with her eye for beauty and his security expertise. A manifestation of their two worlds.
If they could create it through a wedding, then maybe—
He returned to the villa and paused on the terrace, which gave him an overview of the mingling guests. He could have picked Mia out of a stadium crowd. The fact that he couldn’t find her among the wedding guests made him increasingly uneasy.
She had to be outside. He’d ordered her to get out of the villa, and he didn’t care how harsh his order had been. All he cared about was her safety.
He started down the steps. A flash of blue caught the corner of his eye behind a line of trees. He turned, instinctively rounding the side of the house to an area blocked off from the gardens. He froze.
“Get Stone over here.” The young man holding Mia moved into a stream of light. His hand was gripping her throat, the other wrapped around her waist.
Gavin held up his hands in a nonthreatening gesture. Mia was holding the kid’s arm, her expression scared, but not panicking. By contrast, the boy was highly agitated, his pupils dilated and sweat dripped down his temple.
“What’s your name?” Gavin asked.
“Danny.” His gaze darted past Gavin to the crowd. “Where the fuck is Stone?”
“Let her go first, and I’ll get Mr. Stone.”
“No way.”
Gavin’s pulse raced. Danny’s knuckles were whitening on Mia’s throat. Her breathing rasped through the air. The noise of the crowd receded into the distance. He stepped forward. Danny moved, and a knife blade flashed.
Shit. Gavin stopped. Sweat trickled down his neck.
“Don’t fucking try it.” Danny dragged Mia backward, moving his hand from her throat to put the knife blade at her jugular. “He screwed me over, and now you’re all going to pay.”
“You didn’t plant a bomb here, Danny. We both know that.”
“You don’t know shit,” Danny snapped. “That fucker Stone owes me millions. Millions. He stole from me. And if he won’t pay me what I’m owed, I’ll kill his whole goddamned family.”
Mia gasped. The pressure of the knife increased, drawing a thin red line at her throat. Gavin smothered his rising fear.
“All right, Danny,” he agreed. “But you know I can’t leave you alone with her. Let her go, and I’ll go get Mr. Stone for you. I was just talking to him. I know exactly where he is.”
“Exterior circle is clear, sir,” one of his men said into the radio.
“Danny, I need my radio. It’s in my belt. I’m going to reach in and get it, all right?”
“And tell everyone what’s going on?” Danny shook his head, pulling Mia backward. “You reach for your radio, I slash her throat.”
Gavin held up his hands again. He didn’t—couldn’t—look at Mia. If he saw how scared she was, he’d lose his mind.
“Danny, I can’t go anywhere until I know she’s safe,” he said. “At least take the knife away from her throat.”
“Don’t tell me what to do!” Danny yelled.
The knife dug in harder. Mia flinched, her skin draining of color. Adrenaline charged through Gavin’s body. He was a split-second from rushing forward and tackling Danny when Mia spoke.
“I’m sorry, Danny.” Despite her fear, her voice was steady and gentle.
The unexpected remark made Danny hesitate. “What the hell are you sorry for?”
Mia loosened her grip on his arm and stroked her hand across it, her gaze briefly meeting Gavin’s. He knew in an instant what she was doing. Pride flickered beneath his fear.
“I’m sorry for all this shit you’ve been through.” Mia moved her fingers to touch Danny’s bare wrist. “I’m sorry we didn’t get to know each other better sooner. We have a lot in common. We like to have fun, go out, meet new people. And when I told you I was seeing someone, I didn’t tell you it was just a casual fling with a guy who’s the polar opposite of me. A man I don’t have anything in common with.”
Her gaze shifted to Gavin again. He felt like a shard of ice had just penetrated his chest.
“So why did you turn me down?” Danny asked, his grip on her as tight as ever.
“Maybe it was a mistake,” Mia said. “But you and me, Danny, we get each other, you know?” She covered his hand—the one holding the knife at her throat—with her own. “We’re both looking for jobs, starting a career, trying out different things. I’m not surprised you came up with a great idea for a candy product but didn’t get any credit for it. You’ve always been a really smart guy.”
“Right?” He shook his head, his eyes darkening with new anger. “What the fuck is it with people always keeping me down? I didn’t get that sales job either. Fucking entry level. I don’t get something soon, I’ll be slinging burgers for the rest of my life.”
“It totally sucks,” Mia said sympathetically. “You try so hard and no one gives you a break. Except for this one.”
In a move so fast it happened in a blur, she drew her knee forward and slammed her foot back, her sharp, pointed heel making contact with Danny’s kneecap. He yelped in both surprise and pain, his hold on her loosening.
Gavin lunged forward. Mia yanked herself free of Danny’s grip and stumbled back. Danny lashed out with the knife, slashing Gavin across the arm. The blade tore his sleeve, but didn’t penetrate far. Gavin grabbed Mia and shoved her behind him.
Danny turned, his eyes wild with rage. He charged toward Gavin, knife first. Gavin stepped aside, grabbed the younger man into a headlock, and gripped his wrist. The knife fell to the ground.
“You’re done.” Gavin took a pair of cuffs from his belt and latched them around Danny’s wrists.
“You sonuvabitch,” Danny spat, struggling to escape his grip. “You can’t do this. I’ll fucking kill you all.”
“Yeah, I’ve heard that before,” Gavin muttered.
Still holding Danny, he turned to ensure Mia was still behind him. Pale and shaken, her hair a mess, she stood shaking in a delayed reaction. He ran an assessing gaze over her, forcing himself to remain clinically detached. Aside from the cut on her throat, she appeared physically unhurt.
Relief flooded Gavin’s chest, hard and fast. He hauled Danny around to the front to the villa, ignoring his screech of pain, and gestured to one of his men.
“Get him to the police department,” he ordered. “I’ll call in to the chief letting him know what happened and that you’re on the way.”
“You dickhead.” Limping, Danny wrestled futilely with the brawny security officer who led him to the truck. “You’ll never get away with this, and neither will Luke Stone.”
Gavin made a quick call to the chief of police, then checked in with his second-in-command to explain the situation. He returned to Mia. She stood with her arms wrapped around herself.
The sight of her—vulnerable, strong, and more precious to him than breathing—hit him deep in a place he hadn’t known existed. He stopped in front of her, his hands fisting, suppressing the urge to haul her into his arms, hold her tight, touch every part of her to ensure she was okay.
He no longer had that right. He’d vowed that everyone would stay safe on his watch. And yet the one person who had gotten hurt was the woman who now meant more to him than his own life. He hated himself for not protecting her.
“Are you… are you all right?” he asked.
She gave a short nod, her lips pressing together. “I assume we’re not going to blow up?”
“Everything is fine. The package was a present that had gotten broken. Scented oils and incense.”
She gave a faint, humorless smile. “I suppose that could be dangerous, in the right circumstances.”
Gavin’s insides iced over. He couldn’t stand seeing her like this—remote and closed-off. She was in shock, but it was more than that, like she wanted to keep him away. He should have been almost grateful for the fact that she’d already figured out she needed to keep him at a distance, but all he felt was pain. Words tangled in his throat.
“I’m sorry I ignored you for so long,” he finally said. “You didn’t deserve my coldness, not a warm, lovely girl like you. You’re… you’re like sunshine.”
She looked past his shoulder, her eyes growing suspiciously bright. “If only you knew how many times during the past year I wished you’d say something like that to me. Or even just ‘Hello, Mia.’ Anything.”
He started to speak, but she shook her head. A tear ran down her cheek. His body reacted like he was going into battle—everything tightening, locking down. He struggled to breathe.
“I know you t-thought I was this flakey little airhead,” she said, her breath hitching, “but every time I saw you sitting at the bakery, so stoic and rigid with nothing but your laptop and a stupid cup of black coffee, I just felt like you needed me.”
Gavin’s heart almost broke in half. For a second, he didn’t even know what the feeling was. He’d never felt the machinations of his heart as much in his whole life as he had in two weeks with Mia Donovan.
He started toward her. She held up a hand. He stopped.
“Yes, I wanted to get a reaction out of you by flirting,” Mia continued, wiping her cheek with the back of her hand. “But I also felt like you needed… light. You needed to loosen up, have fun, put some sugar in your coffee, for God’s sake. And maybe I was foolish to think I was the one who could help you do all that, but I just liked you so much. I liked your strength, how you’re so dedicated to Luke and Sugar Rush, how successful you are at your job. I liked that you focus so intently on everything you do, how you command such respect from your team. I liked that you give people your undivided attention when they’re talking to you.
“But I didn’t realize until we got together that everything I felt was more than admiration. More than wanting to make you my project and loosen you up. I’ve been falling in love with you for over a year. And the moment you finally kissed me is when I fell in love with my whole heart.”
He couldn’t speak. For a brief, glorious instant, he rejoiced in her confession, ached to return it, to admit that the intensity of all his feelings for her could be distilled into the single word love.
Then that instant was eclipsed by the hard, crushing reality of them. Mia Donovan with her genuine goodness, her natural facility with people, and her longing to create beauty didn’t need a man who would crush her vision with his instinctive, unyielding need to eradicate potential threats. A man who saw danger in helium balloons, pizza delivery, and scented oils. A man who had failed to protect her.
“Mia.” Her name was his breath, the beat of his heart, every single part of him that saw a reason for light and hope. “I can’t…”
“You can,” she said. “But you won’t.”
No, he wouldn’t. Couldn’t.
“I love you, Gavin.” She gazed at him, her eyes filled with an unbearable sorrow that speared him to the core. “But I see now that you’ll never let yourself admit that you just might love me, too.” She turned to the steps of the terrace, her shoulders rigid. “You should get back to your security team. They need you.”
“I need you.”
But by the time Gavin got the words out, choked and twisted, Mia was gone.