Deadly Ever After (Hardy Brothers Security Book 6) Read online

  Mandy pulled away from him, rubbing her forehead in frustration. “I can’t do this. I can’t lose him.”

  “Mandy,” Grady warned. “You need to calm down. You look like you’re about to pass out or something.”

  “I need to go home,” Mandy announced, her eyes unfocused. “If I go home, I’ll wake up, and this will just be a bad dream.”

  “You’re not asleep,” Grady said.

  “I have to be,” Mandy countered. “This can’t be happening, so I have to be asleep.”

  Ally pinched Mandy’s forearm. Hard.

  “Ow!” Mandy rubbed her arm, finally snapping her gaze up and focusing on Ally. “Why did you do that?”

  “Because you’re freaking out,” Ally said. “You can’t freak out. You’re the calm one.”

  Grady shook his head. “If you two don’t stop it, I’m going to freak out.”

  “Mr. Hardy?” The secretary was back.

  “Yes.”

  “Your brother is being attended to in the emergency ward,” she said. “There’s no other information than that.”

  “But he’s alive?”

  The secretary looked uncertain. “He was alive when they brought him in. I haven’t heard anything else.”

  Grady nodded, rubbing his jaw. “Where is the emergency ward?”

  The secretary pointed. “Only family is allowed.”

  Grady made a face. “I’m his brother.”

  “And I’m his sister,” Ally said, hands on hips.

  “What about her?” The secretary was focused on Mandy. “She’s clearly not related to you.”

  “She’s my brother’s fiancée,” Grady said. “She is family.”

  “Not in the eyes of the law.”

  “Oh, whatever,” Ally said, grabbing Mandy’s arm and dragging her in the direction the woman had pointed.

  “You can’t go back there!”

  “I’d like to see someone stop me,” Ally shot back.

  FINN felt like he was caught in a bear trap.

  “Can’t you sit still for five minutes?”

  James rolled his eyes, grimacing in pain as the doctor prodded his exposed shoulder. “No.”

  “Mr. Hardy,” Dr. Kirk Marsden chided him. “I need you to hold still. I’m trying to ascertain how much damage has been done.”

  “It’s just a flesh wound,” James said, shifting on the gurney. “Trust me, it’s not a bad wound. I’ve seen bad wounds. This is … it’s nothing.”

  “It’s a gunshot wound,” Marsden said. “It’s not nothing.”

  James pinched the bridge of his nose. “I need to make a phone call.”

  “Who do you need to call?” Marsden asked, shooting some clear liquid into the wound.

  “My fiancée,” James said. “She can’t hear this from someone else. She’ll have a meltdown.”

  Marsden glanced at Finn. “Can’t you handle that for him?”

  “I’m not sure it’s a good idea,” Finn hedged.

  “Why not?”

  “I was thinking that we might as well wait at this point,” Finn said. “If they admit you overnight, then we’ll deal with it. If they release you, it would probably go over better if she sees that you’re okay with her own eyes.”

  James sighed, the wisdom of Finn’s words washing over him. “You’re right.”

  The nurse standing next to James furrowed her brow. “I think your family has already been notified. No one mentioned anything about a fiancée.”

  The nurse had been flirting with James and Finn since they’d wheeled through the doors to the emergency ward, her interest keen and overt. Both men had been steadfastly ignoring her.

  James stilled as her words sank in. “What?”

  “The intake nurse placed a call to your home,” she said. “I’m not sure who she talked to, but your chart says notification has been made.”

  James was struggling to climb off the gurney again. “I need my phone.”

  “Mr. Hardy, you have to sit still,” Marsden said. “This wound has to be cleaned and closed. You’re not going anywhere.”

  “I need to talk to her,” James said. “You don’t understand. She’s going to be really upset.”

  “I’ll call her,” Finn said, digging into his pocket for his phone. “I’ll do it right now.”

  “Let me talk to her,” James said. “She won’t believe you unless she talks to me.”

  “She sounds a like a spazz,” the nurse offered.

  James ignored her. “Finn,” he pleaded. “She’s going to flip out.”

  “Okay,” Finn said. “Just … calm down. You’re giving me a headache.”

  “Hey, I’m the one who was shot,” James grumbled.

  “Stop being a baby,” Finn said. “You were barely shot.”

  Finn was just about to hit the final button on the phone when loud voices in the doorway caught his attention.

  “Ma’am, you can’t go in there. It’s a sterile environment. You have to wait in the lobby.”

  “Don’t ever tell me what to do!”

  Finn raised his eyebrows, meeting James’ weary brown eyes from across the room. “Ally,” the said in unison.

  “Who is Ally?” Marsden asked.

  “Our sister.”

  “Is she going to be a distraction?”

  “She’s always a distraction,” Finn said.

  Marsden started moving toward the door. “I’ll handle this.”

  “Wait,” James said.

  Marsden already had the door open. “What is going on out here?”

  “Who are you?”

  “I’m Dr. Marsden.”

  “Is my brother in there?”

  “Is your name Ally?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then your brother is in here,” Marsden said.

  “Well, are you going to let me in there so I can see him?” Ally asked.

  “Are you going to keep yelling if I don’t?”

  “Oh, you have no idea,” Ally replied, her tone snotty.

  James leaned his head back against the pillow, staring at the ceiling. He had a feeling things were about to get ugly. The flirty nurse hovering by his side patted his healthy shoulder. “Things could be worse.”

  “Not really,” James said. “If he doesn’t let her in here, she’s going to explode.”

  A scuffle at the door caused James to lift his head again. Ally pushed her way in, relief washing over her angular face when she caught sight of him. “You scared the shit out of us.”

  “Watch your mouth, young lady,” Marsden said. “I can have security here in thirty seconds flat.”

  “You go ahead and try,” Ally said, narrowing her eyes.

  Grady swept into the room, lifting Ally off the floor and moving her against the nearby wall. “Sorry,” he said. “She’s dramatic.”

  “And you are?” Marsden challenged.

  “I’m her brother,” Grady said, grinning when he saw James sitting up and watching the spectacle. “And his brother.”

  “Fine,” Marsden said. “If you stand there and be quiet, you can stay. If you can’t keep her in control, then you both have to go.”

  “Understood.”

  Marsden was halfway back across the room when something else snagged his attention in the hallway. “And who are you?”

  Mandy stepped into the doorway, her hands clasped in front of her. When her eyes met James’, a small cry escaped her clenched throat.

  “None of that,” Marsden said. “Get her out of here.”

  Grady shook his head. “Absolutely not.”

  Marsden turned back to James. “Sir, you’ve been shot. Every person you know cannot be in this room with you.”

  James didn’t move his gaze from Mandy. “The blonde stays.”

  “Then everyone else has to go,” Marsden said.

  “Fine.”

  “What?” Ally was incensed.

  Grady and Finn worked in unison to wrestle her out of the room.

  “Let them be,
Ally,” Finn said.

  “He’s my brother.”

  “I’m your brother,” Finn said. “Focus on me.”

  “This is such crap.”

  Once they were gone, Marsden returned to work on James’ shoulder. “Well, Mr. Hardy, you’re very lucky. The wound is through-and-through. In a week, you should have a full range of motion back. You might have a little pain for a day or two, but otherwise you should be fine.”

  “Great,” James said, worriedly watching as Mandy hovered near the doorway. She looked lost. “Baby, why don’t you come over here?”

  Mandy shuffled across the floor, stopping next to James’ bed. She hadn’t said a word since she’d walked into the room, and James was concerned. He reached out with the arm Marsden wasn’t working on and captured Mandy’s trembling hand with his. “I’m okay,” he said. “It’s not a bad wound.”

  “You were shot,” Mandy said, her voice weak.

  “Barely,” James said.

  “You were shot,” Mandy repeated. “I thought … .”

  James pursed his lips. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I should have called you right away. I didn’t realize the hospital did it. If you’d heard my voice, you would’ve known I was okay. I’m not sure where my phone is. I lost it in the stampede after the shooting.”

  “What happened?”

  “Someone was on the roof of the building next to the courthouse,” James said, rubbing his thumb over the top of Mandy’s hand in soothing circles. “I saw them right before it happened.”

  “Who was it?”

  “I don’t know,” James said. “I couldn’t really go and look after … .”

  “You were shot,” Mandy finished.

  “I need you not to freak out,” James cautioned.

  Mandy bit her lower lip. “Too late.”

  James sighed. “I know.”

  “I just … don’t ever die on me. I can’t take it.”

  James smirked. “Right back at you.”

  Three

  “Home sweet home,” James said, sinking down onto the couch and kicking his shoes off with his feet, discarding them underneath the coffee table.

  Mandy dropped the bag of medicine onto the kitchen counter and fixed him with a hard look. “You need to get into bed.”

  “I’m fine.”

  “You were shot.”

  “You need to stop saying that like it’s going to win the argument,” James said, looking Mandy up and down. “Why don’t you come and sit down next to me. You look like you could use a hug.”

  “I’m fine.”

  “Well, I could use a hug,” James countered.

  “You need sleep,” Mandy said. “The doctor gave me some meds to knock you out tonight.”

  “I don’t need them,” James said. “I need a hug.”

  Mandy made a face, but she acquiesced, carefully sliding onto the couch next to him and resting her face against his good shoulder.

  James arched an eyebrow. “That’s not much of a hug.”

  “You’re hurt.”

  “Baby, I’m fine,” James said. “The only thing hurt here is my pride.”

  “That big hole in your shoulder says otherwise,” Mandy said. “And why would your pride be hurt?”

  “I don’t have a hole in my shoulder,” James said. “Well, I guess technically I do. I have a hole in my heart because you won’t hug me.”

  “You’re incorrigible.”

  “I want some love from my girl,” James said, slipping his arm around Mandy’s small shoulders and pulling her in close to his chest so he could drop a kiss on her forehead. “See, I’m perfectly fine.”

  “This isn’t over,” Mandy said. “You’re going to bed, and you’re taking that medication. Don’t even try arguing with me. I’m going to give you exactly thirty minutes to sit here, and then we’re doing things my way.”

  “Well, I’m glad you’re back to being yourself,” James said. “I like you bossy.”

  They were quiet for a moment, James’ words niggling at the back of Mandy’s mind. “You didn’t tell me, why is your pride hurt?”

  “I should’ve realized what was happening,” James said, brushing Mandy’s flaxen hair down so he could rest his cheek against the top of her head. “I saw something up on the roof. It took me too long to realize what was happening. I shouldn’t have been caught off guard, and yet I was. When I realized what was happening, it was too late to warn anyone.”

  “And you decided to jump in the path of a bullet?”

  “No,” James said, shaking his head. “I have no idea why I was the one who was shot.”

  Mandy stiffened. “Do you think someone targeted you?”

  “I don’t know,” James said carefully. “We don’t know anything. Let’s not let our imaginations get away with us, shall we?”

  “That’s not what I was doing,” Mandy protested.

  “That’s exactly what you were doing,” James said. “I know you.”

  “You have no idea what I was thinking,” Mandy argued.

  “I know,” James said. “Just like right now I know you’re trying to figure out how you’re going to trick me into taking that medication.”

  Mandy made a face. “I was not.”

  “Yes, you were,” James said, smiling into her hair. “How about I make you a deal?”

  “What deal?”

  “If you sit here and let me hold you for a half hour, I’ll willingly take the medication and go to bed,” James offered.

  “Really?”

  “Really.”

  “And you’ll be quiet and rest all day tomorrow, too?”

  James sighed. “You’re negotiating?”

  “You started it.”

  “Fine,” James said. “If you sit here and let me hold you, I’ll take the medication and I’ll lie around and let you play nurse all day tomorrow.”

  “I’m not wearing a nurse’s outfit,” Mandy warned. “You’ve been shot. You can’t get too excited.”

  “That’s not what I was thinking,” James said.

  “It is totally what you were thinking,” Mandy said. “I know you just as well as you know me.”

  “Oh yeah? What am I thinking now?” James asked, his brown eyes weary and yet still flushed with mischief.

  “You’re wondering if you can convince me to have sex,” Mandy replied. “You’re considering playing up the gunshot wound, but you’re worried that will backfire and I won’t have sex with you until I’m convinced it’s completely healed. You can’t figure out what the best way to go is.”

  James scowled. “How did you know I was thinking that?”

  “Because I know you,” Mandy said. “And, well, I love you.”

  “I love you, too, baby. I love you more than anything.”

  Once the half hour was up, Mandy ushered James into the bedroom, watching as he stripped down to his boxer shorts and climbed under the sheets. The bandage on his arm was bright white against his skin, a stark reminder of how close she’d come to losing him.

  Mandy handed James his pills, watching as he downed them with a glass of water, and then tucking him in snuggly.

  “Satisfied?” James asked.

  Mandy sat on the edge of the bed, running her hand over James’ chest as she watched him. “How are you?”

  “I’m fine,” James said, placing his hand on top of hers as she traced a lazy pattern across his chest. “I already told you that.”

  “How are you really?”

  James growled in the back of his throat. “Are you going to hover?”

  “I’m going to make sure you’re taken care of,” Mandy said. “That’s my job.”

  “You’re only job is climbing in here next to me,” James said.

  Mandy smiled. “I need to go and make sure all the lights are off in the other room,” she said. “I’ll be back in a minute.”

  “Hurry up,” James said. “These pills are already working. I’m not going to sleep well if you’re not next to me.”


  “Go to sleep,” Mandy said, leaning down and brushing a soft kiss against James’ lips. His hand tangled in her hair as he held her there for an extra smooch.

  “If you wanted to do all the work, I could probably muster enough energy to wow you before I fall asleep,” he offered.

  His slurring speech and heavy eyelids told her otherwise. “Go to sleep.”

  After double-checking that the door was locked and turning off all the lights, Mandy returned to the bedroom and found James passed out. The medication had done its job. She touched the side of his face lightly, the pale illumination of the clock telling her that he was dead to the world when he didn’t stir.

  There, alone with the sound of his rhythmic breathing, Mandy sank to the floor next to the bed and finally allowed herself to do the one thing she couldn’t do when James was awake. She cried.

  JAMES woke a few hours later, confusion coursing through his muddled mind. Something was wrong. He knew it. He just couldn’t figure out what.

  It took him a few moments to realize where he was, the dull ache in his shoulder reminding him how close he’d come to shattering several worlds this afternoon. He recognized his bedroom, the white noise of Mandy’s pedestal fan lulling him as the medication tried to drag him back down into slumber. He glanced to his left, frowning when he realized that he was alone.

  He rolled to his side, running his hand up and down Mandy’s empty side of the bed. It was her absence that had woken him. He’d gone from a man who never wanted to spend an entire night with a woman – any woman – to a man who couldn’t sleep without the same woman’s warm body at his side every night.

  James wasn’t sure he would be able to stand if he tried. The medication was powerful, and it wanted him to rest and sleep. He had to find his blonde before he would let it claim him again.

  His eyes landed on something odd next to the bed. It took him longer than it should have to realize what he was looking at. It was the top of Mandy’s head. Why is she on the floor? It looked like she’d fallen asleep with her head resting against the side of the mattress, her back nestled against the hard wood of the nightstand.

  He tugged on her hair to wake her.