Worth the Risk(62)

How does someone function after something like that?

“Eventually she went home, though she had so many surgeries it didn’t seem like she was really home. Drugged out of her mind. Screaming from nightmares, from the dark. Even screamed when we touched her. Jesus Christ, she was like my child and I couldn’t even hug her.”

Nick’s voice shook, mirroring what Stephen felt inside.

“Did he…” He couldn’t say it and thankfully Nick knew.

“No. They don’t think he could. But he did…other things.”

“Is he alive?” The words burned on his tongue.

“Yes. Doing life in Connecticut state pen, though there’s rumblings of moving him to a downgraded mental facility. I’m not going to let that happen. You know, he got more time for killing his mother than for what he did to Hannah?”

So Nick hadn’t killed him. He wanted to ask why. And what would Special Agent Walker think if he could see inside Stephen’s own mind?

“The FBI thought it best to get me to another state, probably right. And it was best for her as well, but believe me, I’m counting the days until he dies. And right or wrong, I will rejoice. To know that sick motherfucker is still breathing air in this world…” Nick shook his head.

Neither man spoke for several seconds. “I want to take her away from here,” Stephen said when Nick finally looked at him. “Out of town. I don’t need your permission, and I didn’t have to come to you, but I figured it would cause Hannah less grief in the long run if I did.”

“Where?”

“I have a business thing in Vegas. Just for the night. It’ll be fun for her, good for her.” Or that was the plan.

Nick heaved a weary sigh. He picked up a different mug and put it down.

“I get it,” Stephen said. “The hostility. The anger.” It all made sense. Hannah’s body always covered, her apprehension, her fear. Luke losing it over her going to a stranger’s house. She was more child to them than sister. “If she was my sister, I’d want to wrap her up, hide her away. But she wouldn’t be happy like that. I even get that you might not care. But I’m taking her.”

“I swore I’d never let another man hurt her. You can take that as more than a warning. It’s a promise.”

Stephen gave a small nod of understanding and left Nick’s office. If he did hurt her, he’d deserve whatever he got.





Chapter 27


With a satisfied smile, Stephen watched Hannah take in the suite. The owner’s penthouse in five-star hotels tended to be lavishly over-the-top. His was no exception. Leather and glass. Marble and chandeliers. Giant sprays of flowers and assorted white candles. An enormous fireplace rose two stories to the ceiling, and there was another in the bedroom, still another in the bath.

And making use of that could be fun. Hannah in bubbles.

Thirty-eight-hundred square feet of sophisticated opulence and Hannah walked past it all and directly to the wall of glass overlooking the city. So like her, looking outside instead of in. Looking around her and not seeing herself, how beautiful she was. How special.

It had been the same on the flight here aboard the company’s Twin Star. The cream leather interior, full bar, and hors d’oeuvres had impressed even his most discerning companions. But not Hannah. She’d politely declined the champagne, more interested in the clouds outside than anything within. Until he kissed her. Then he was graced with one hundred percent of her attention and he couldn’t get enough.

He took another minute to watch her. A simple long-sleeved blouse billowed around her arms, thin pants outlined her shape. Sexy, elegant, and covered as always. It was his mission to change that.

He stepped behind her, ran his hands over the curve of her hips, then around to her stomach until she was wrapped in his arms. Instead of flinching away, she leaned back against him, covered his hands with hers. They stood as one, looking out the glass, and he was struck with awe that she could trust him. That she’d suffered at another man’s hands yet didn’t move away from his own. The knowledge of that both heated and soothed.

“It’s beautiful,” she said.

And it was, the sun setting over the Rockies as the human side of Las Vegas came alive. But not half as beautiful as Hannah. Not half as alive as she made him feel. He’d been with a lot of beautiful women, but none compared to her, and more than that, it did something to him that she didn’t see it.

“Thank you for coming with me.” He pressed his face into her hair, nuzzled it out of the way until he found skin.

“You’re welcome.”

“How hard did Nick try to talk you out of going?”