A sheen of moisture filled her eyes. “But you didn’t and that proved something to me. Something I should have known about you all along.”
“What’s that?” He tipped his head down and their foreheads met and touched.
“You aren’t in it for kicks. Whatever you do, it’s justified and honorable. I can live with that.” She stared up at him. “If you want me to.”
If he wanted her to. Jake shook his head and looked at the woman who held his heart in her hands. The irony was, she didn’t even know it. “Sweetheart…”
Brianne held her breath. She’d laid her heart out to him again, only this time Jake didn’t have any place to run off to. No excuse not to answer. The grim look on his face didn’t bode well for her hopes and dreams, but she forced herself to meet this last challenge with her head held high.
She’d deal with the pain of losing Jake when she was alone. After all, she’d agreed to a short-term affair. It was unfair of her to change the rules now.
She’d reached the point of no return, though, Brianne thought. Or maybe that had come the night Rina made her generous, albeit manipulative, offer. The woman had altered the course of Brianne’s life. She now had both frightening and wonderful memories that she’d have to learn to live with. Even if memories were all she had.
“What is it, Jake?”
He ran a hand through his already messed hair. “I live in a one-bedroom apartment on the West Side.”
That wasn’t the response she’d expected, and she narrowed her eyes in confusion.
“Between us, we can probably afford two bedrooms, unless, of course, you want to move out of the city. Or if your heart is really set on California, once Rina’s back and I know she’s okay, we can consider that, too.”
Brianne laughed, her heart suddenly lighter than any time in recent memory. “The only thing I’m understanding in that sentence is the word we. And after all that’s happened, I’ll take it.”
He grinned and wrapped his arms around her neck, holding her tight. “I love you.” He nuzzled his face into the side of her neck, his breath warm on her skin.
Brianne’s heart was full. She had all the security and love she’d ever wanted in life. “What about that family you once wanted?” she asked a little breathlessly.
“Sweetheart, I want that more than anything. With you. And if we happened to miss that time in the whirlpool, I’m more than willing to start trying right now. I love you,” he said again, his lips hot and moist against her neck. “I should have told you before I walked out earlier.”
She swallowed over the lump in her throat. “I love you, too. I always have and I always will.”
“I’m sorry I cuffed you.” His hand slipped beneath the new shirt she’d changed into after the police had freed her, and slid over her back in a hot caress.
“How sorry?” She tilted her head back and smiled coyly.
Jake didn’t miss the mischievous glint in her gorgeous eyes. “How sorry do you want me?”
She brought her hand out from behind her and dangled his handcuffs in front of him. “I want you contrite. I want you shackled.” Her eyes darkened to a stormy green. “But most of all, I want you mine.”
EPILOGUE
RINA STRETCHED her feet out in front of her in the first-class cabin. She toed off the new designer sandals she hadn’t needed to buy and lifted the glass of Perrier the flight attendant had given her prior to takeoff. As she took a sip of the bottled water, she wondered why regular tap water was something the wealthy disdained, along with honesty and frank talk. Thank God, she was going home.
Mixed emotions flooded her at the thought of returning to New York and the mausoleum of an apartment she’d left behind. Though she’d never admit it to her know-it-all older brother, he was right. The place was a palace and it had only been her home when Richard was there, filling it with warmth. Now the penthouse was as cold as her husband’s body.
Rina shivered but refused to shy away from the truth. After all, this trip had been as much about recovery as self-discovery. She pulled a sheet of paper from her purse. “Number one, list penthouse with Realtor,” she wrote. Satisfaction replaced the yawning emptiness. She’d taken the first step toward a new life.
Just like her brother had, thanks to her. When she’d hired Brianne Nelson as Jake’s physical therapist, she’d hoped she’d be giving them both a summer of fun. Sex and fun, she amended. Even if Rina was in mourning, that didn’t mean Jake had to be. Only a statue could have missed the sexual tension humming in the air around Brianne and Jake, but neither of them had had the guts to act on the attraction. Enough was enough. She’d planned to hook them up for a sexual diversion, but after meeting Brianne, Rina had hoped that her stubborn brother wouldn’t blow it and that the two of them would end up together, for good. Rina knew better than to say or think “forever.”
She’d been down that foolish road once before, when she’d met Richard. But since his accident, the blinders were off. Only fate knew how long two people would have together, which was why she was grateful her plan for her brother and Brianne had worked. They were waiting for Rina’s return to get married, and she knew without a doubt her brother had chosen right this time.
As for herself, Rina had done a lot of soul searching while she was gone. The money Richard had left her would keep her in luxury for the rest of her life, but what would keep her happy and sane?
Living off Richard’s wealth and sitting idle would lead to boredom, and that would kill her. Her parents had instilled a strong work
ethic in their kids. Because he’d seemed to want a stay-at-home wife, Rina had complied—and enjoyed it in the beginning. But boredom had set in and, thanks to the fact that she didn’t need to work, she’d begun talking about starting a new career. Before she married, Rina had always wanted to write, but because freelancing articles for magazines wouldn’t pay the bills, and her job left her too tired at night, she’d never made the attempt. Richard had humored her talk of writing, treating it as a whim that would pass. He’d never taken her seriously. Not since he’d swept her off her feet, out of his office and into his bed.
She had adored him. But she wondered what kind of future they would have had once she let him see how tired she’d grown of doing nothing except waiting for him to come home. Guilt swamped her at the traitorous thought, at the admission that her marriage hadn’t been the blissful state she’d pretended it to be. But she forced herself to acknowledge that, much as he’d loved her, too, he hadn’t understood her. How could he when they’d come from two different worlds?