Close Cover (Masters and Mercenaries #16)(94)

The Italian pulled Remy off her with a groan. She could suddenly breathe again. She scrambled up, the gun still in her hand. An assassin had Remy. He had Remy and there was nothing she could do.

“Bella, please lower that. I have no wish to harm you. Who do you think took out the other man?” Biondo laid Remy out.

“He’s good, chèrie. Come here and hold my hand.” The words were the sweetest she’d ever heard.

Biondo held out a hand and helped her onto the dock. “You did a good job with the other. He fell back into the water, but the shot was true. Tell the authorities he went over on that side and they should be able to pull him out. Also, tell the authorities that he was working for the federal prosecutor.”

Blue and red lights lit up the north side of the building.

“Biondo? Take the boat. There’s a place marked on the map. Meet me there dawn Friday and you’ll have your account. I promise,” Remy said. “And thank you.”

Lisa clutched Remy’s hand as Biondo nodded down at him.

“I will be there.” He hopped into the boat and started it up. He slipped into the bayou as the door to the patio came open.

“Hold on,” she said, hoping the Italian was right.

He squeezed her hand. “I’m okay. Won’t be using my left arm for a bit, but I’ll recover as long as I have the right nurse with me.” His eyes went stark. “Is my brother alive, Lisa?”

She held his good hand to her heart as one of the EMTs raced out and prayed the answer to his question was yes.





Chapter Fourteen


“We do this far too often,” Taggart complained. “I hate hospitals. Why do I get called to them all the damn time?”

Lisa looked up from her chair in Remy’s room. She’d spent the early morning hours going back and forth between rooms in the small hospital. Remy’s surgery had been simple. Zep’s had not. Eight hours of complex surgery had been required to remove the bullet and its fragments from close proximity to his spine.

It had been a long night, but they’d all breathed a sigh of relief when Zep had come out of anesthesia and managed to wiggle his toes.

Delphine and Sera were sitting in his room, holding hands and thankful it hadn’t been worse. She’d been dozing when Texas had invaded.

“Maybe you need to hire people who don’t get shot,” Mitch said as he strode through the door.

Will merely walked in and started looking at Remy’s chart. “Has he had a CT? From what the police report said, he landed pretty hard a couple of times. For that matter, Lisa needs one, too.”

Oh, no. “You are not in charge here, Will. You don’t even have privileges in this hospital, so don’t think you can order up a battery of tests. I’m fine. Remy’s fine now. And he took that bullet for me. He made sure I was in front of him when we were running away from the hired killers.”

“That wasn’t merely my job.” He brought her hand to his lips. “It was my privilege.”

Will set the chart down and she watched the moment he gave up the fight. His face flushed and he strode over to her, holding his arms open. “Thank god you’re alive.”

She got up and let her brother envelop her in a hug. “Only because of him. And because my family hired him. By the way, you hired him to save me, but he’s really awesome in bed. I think I’m going to keep him.”

Will groaned but he was smiling when he pulled back. “I did not need to know that.”

“I think it’s the other way around,” Remy said, reaching for her again. “She’s not only the most beautiful woman in the world, she’s also the best manager. I’m the one who’s keeping her. And Will, that money was a loan. We’re going to pay you back.”

“No, it was an investment in my sister’s future,” Will corrected. “And I told you it could be a wedding gift. I am going to assume there will be a wedding.”

“Don’t expect a big thing.” She didn’t want to wait months and months. “We’ll go to the justice of the peace.”

Remy’s head shook. “Not once my momma and Seraphina find out. But don’t worry. They can plan something fast. I think you’ll discover the whole town wants to be in on it. We don’t let a reason for celebrating get by us down here.”

She was going to marry that man. She was going to be a part of this town and this family.

“I believe this means everyone owes me,” Taggart said. “I took the way under on that bet. Which is a good thing because I got bills, man. Charlie wants to send the girls to school and that involves all sorts of expenses. Do you have any idea what school supplies cost? I say put one pack in the center of the kindergarten room and let them fight it out Hunger Games style.”

Lisa was glad he wasn’t the head of the education department. “You scare me.”

Taggart’s whole face brightened. “Thank you. That is the nicest thing anyone has said to me in forever. You know, it’s like people think because you’re the king of the world you don’t need a few compliments.”

Remy groaned and let his head roll back. “Will someone give me the rundown of what’s happened? Were you able to connect any of the dots I gave you?”

Even as they’d prepped him for surgery the night before he’d been on the phone with his boss, explaining everything that had happened, telling him everything he knew.