Into the Fury (BOSS, Inc. #1)(94)

“I know if he means something to you, he has to be a very special man,” her mother said. “We can’t wait to meet him.”

Some of the tightness loosened in her chest. She thought of Ethan and how much he loved his little girl. She thought of the way he had risked his life for her, thought of the fierce way he protected her.

“He is special, Mom. I’m not sure what’s going to happen between us, but I’d love for you to meet him.”

“Glory hallelujah,” her father said. “And he damned well better be good enough for my little girl.”

Val laughed. It felt unbelievably good. “We aren’t close to getting serious, Pops, so you don’t have to worry. Look, I have to go. We’ll talk again soon, okay? Love you both.”

“Love you, too, honey,” they said in unison, and Val pressed the End button on the phone.

Blinking back tears, she took a minute just to absorb the love they’d sent her with every word they’d spoken. She had been on her own for years. Been away at college, had her own car, her own home, her own life. But when things got tough, her parents were the ones she turned to, and they were always there for her.

She sat down on the weight bench to make another call. “It’s me, Meg. Can you talk?”

“I’ve been trying to call you. Your phone keeps going straight to voice mail. Is everything okay?”

“Not exactly. I’m surprised Matt Carlyle hasn’t called.”

“He probably has. Charlie wandered off with my cell phone and I haven’t had time to track it down. What’s going on?”

“You remember I had that anniversary interview for David Klein this morning on the local CBS station?”

“I remember. What about it?”

“Well, when I got back to my house, someone tried to shoot me.”

“What!”

“Or they might have been shooting at Ethan. We don’t know for sure. We’re staying somewhere safe until we can figure things out.”

“Oh my God!”

“I know. I . . . umm . . . got shot in the arm, but I’m okay.”

“You got shot, but you’re okay? Oh my God!”

“Really, it’s all right. Ethan’s guys, his team from La Belle, they’re helping us stay safe. They’re probably outside right now. You have someone there with you, right?”

“Dirk took care of it. There’s a man from Brodie Operations in front of the house twenty-four seven.”

“That’s good. I’m sure your security guard knows about the shooting by now.”

“They’re very efficient.”

“That’s right, and that’s a good thing. If the guy who shot at us is The Preacher, he could be after any of us.”

“Oh, God, I hate this.”

“Me too.”

“At least you have Ethan. Is Dirk there, too?”

“Dirk took his Harley and went out of town for a couple of days. He was hurting, Meg. He didn’t want to lose you.”

“I didn’t want to lose him, either, but . . . I just . . . I did what I had to.” There was no way to miss the tears that sprang into Meg’s voice.

“I know you did. I’m not ready to give up Ethan. I probably should. I don’t know if it can work. I don’t know if I can handle his job. All the violence . . . I’m getting to see it firsthand.” She sighed. “Maybe I don’t need to worry about it. I really have no idea what Ethan feels for me. He cares about me, yes. But maybe that’s just his protective instincts kicking in.”

“Maybe. Or maybe he’s in love with you.”

Her stomach clenched. Was it possible? Because it was becoming very clear that she was in love with him. But even if they loved each other, that didn’t mean it would work.

“Does Dirk know about the shooting?” Meg asked.

“Ethan called and told him. As I said, he’s out of town. Ethan’s brother, Luke, says he’ll back Ethan up. I have a feeling Luke’s a very capable man.”

“If he’s anything like Ethan and Dirk, I’m sure he is.”

“As I said, the guy out front probably knows about the shooting, but you might want to make certain.”

“I can see him out the window. I’ll call him.”

“Listen, I’ve got to go. Take this number down. We aren’t using our own phones. We don’t want the people after us using GPS to track us.”

“You don’t want the people after you . . . oh my God! This is all so scary. I can’t help wishing Dirk were here.”

“If you called him—”

“No way. I’m not doing that.”

“All right, I get it.”

“Let me find a pen.” Meg returned and wrote down the number of the throwaway phone. “Call if you need anything—and I mean anything. Okay?”

“Same here.”

“In the meantime, you both stay safe.”

“Thanks, Meg. You, too.” Val disconnected the call and headed back to the living room.



Two days passed. Early morning rain pounded on the roof and a gust of wind rattled the window, rousing Ethan from a deep, erotic dream. In the dream, Val had awakened him with soft kisses that traveled from his chest to his navel, then went lower. He could almost feel the silk of her hair brushing his skin as she worked over him.