Fidelity (Infidelity #5)(9)

Patrick tugged at my sleeve. “Come on.”

“No,” I growled. Whatever was happening, it was big. I felt it in my soul.

Patrick sucked in a deep breath as another fuck flew from his lips.

Fuck was right.

I’d seen the pictures, the surveillance. I knew these damn people better than I knew my own family. The woman leading the way, the first to descend the front steps, was Suzanna, Edward’s mother. Dabbing her eyes, she was a step ahead of the other voices as they made their way toward the bottom of the steps. Slowly the car came to a stop and an older driver walked to the rear and held open the door.

It was as the others came into view that my blood heated, going from ninety-eight to 212 degrees in a second flat. Heat radiated from my skin as my fists once again clenched.

Alton Fitzgerald had Charli’s arm in his grasp and was leading her toward the car. Her steps were tentative as if she were resisting his intentions.

“No fucking way this is happening again,” I vowed.

Her voice was strong. “I shouldn’t be going. We have guests.”

My teeth clenched as my hands balled tighter. Charli’s pleas were the last bit of fuel my body needed, the spark to my already combustible rage. No other sounds registered as I ran toward the limousine.





THEY HAD PLANES specially made and outfitted for medical transport. There were companies that included air ambulances, who boasted of their competence with such perilous dealings. I wasn’t a stranger to risks or dangerous encounters. I also wasn’t stupid when it came to announcing our intentions.

A medical transport would require names and medical records. They would need clearance and authorization. We were without any of that.

The last thing I planned on doing was alerting anyone that I was transporting Adelaide Montague Fitzgerald in an unconscious state across state lines. It wasn’t that I’d ever balked at breaking the law, but this was a federal offense. Even that wasn’t new to me. Murder was a federal offense. If we were to be apprehended, officially this was kidnapping.

Unofficially, this was a rescue.

“Amore mio,” I whispered in Adelaide’s ear as Clayton pulled the ambulance onto the tarmac of the private airport. “Soon you’ll be safe.”

Adelaide didn’t move, even as I smoothed her hair away from her beautiful face. To me, she was gorgeous. She always had been; however, as I stared at her, it was clear to me that her ordeal had made its mark. Her once rosy complexion was now gaunt. Her cheekbones had become too prominent and her skin loose. Since the time I’d last held her in my arms she’d lost too much weight. I knew from the doctor’s notations it had mostly occurred recently. It had been evident as I helped to lift her from her bed to this gurney. Her shoulder and arm bones protruded. My fingers easily surrounded her dainty wrists as I sought the thump of her pulse.

The rhythm was present, though rapid and faint. Maybe it wasn’t faint. Maybe it was that mine was thundering in my chest. I held my breath and counted the beats as my fingers pressed against her frail wrist. I wasn’t a doctor, even if I’d pretended to be one. In fifteen seconds I counted twenty-eight beats—or 112 per minute. Her breathing was shallow. Since we’d left Magnolia Woods each breath seemed to come quicker, yet be less effective.

“Mr. Demetri,” Clayton said from the front seat. “Mrs. Witt said the plane is ready and Dr. Rossi is here, ready to accompany you back to New York.”

I nodded. With each passing day I gained new respect for Deloris Witt.

Eva Rossi was the one physician I could implicitly trust with regard to both Adelaide’s care as well as discretion. She was family. As I’d told Deloris, family is family. The physician Deloris had consulted had proven trustworthy. She’d scoured Adelaide’s records and ordered tests. She was the one who told us how to trick the monitors at Magnolia Woods. She was still on the case, but she wasn’t family. I couldn’t ask her to assist me in transporting Adelaide to New York.

Eva was a Costello, the daughter of another of Angelina’s cousins. Being related to Angelina, she was also related to Vincent.

Angelina’s cousin was still in charge.

I should have hesitated to call. I should have known the repercussions. Vincent and I had made our peace. We’d completed our deals and granted each other space. The world was different today than it was twenty years ago. But it still existed.

As a young man I’d worked hard to belong in the Costello world. Then as an older man, I’d worked equally as hard to earn my freedom as well as Lennox’s immunity. There were few people who were worth the reintroduction to the family life. Adelaide was one.

During my conversation with Vincent, I’d emphasized one thing: I would be the one in debt, not Lennox.

Clayton brought the ambulance to a stop. Though it was night, the tarmac was well lit. The pilots flying our plane needed flight plans and a manifest with names. Even on private planes the FAA had requirements. It wasn’t like we were taking off from a privately owned airstrip.

Our timeline had been tight. I did what Lennox had done. I trusted someone else to make it all work. Now it was time to learn if my trust had been misguided.

As Clayton got out of the vehicle and walked around to the back, I stayed at Adelaide’s side. The holster of my gun rested against my hip as I blindly waited for the back doors of the ambulance to open. My pulse increased with each tick of the clock. I wasn’t sure what I anticipated, but as the rear doors of the ambulance opened, my solemn gaze met that of the woman standing at Clayton’s side.