Dangerous to Her Read online

  “My shoulder,” he gritted from between clenched teeth. “I think I dislocated it trying to get the hell out of that room.”

  “Oh, no.”

  He shook his head and put his good arm around her, pulling her back toward him. “I’ve been hurt worse. It’s nothing compared to how I felt when I couldn’t get to you.” He leaned forward and looked at Tony, whose head was tipped back, his eyes closed. “Tony was really brave. He wasn’t going to let anything happen to you. I couldn’t have asked for a better partner.”

  Tony smiled slightly. “You’re just saying that because I’m going to be your—” he hissed with pain as he shifted his legs “—your star witness as soon as the district attorney charges Cam with a whole helluva lot of crimes.”

  “Not my star witness,” Dom said. “I’m not talking you into anything, Tony.”

  When he looked at Mattie, checking for her reaction, she smiled. “It is Tony’s decision, but I trust your advice, whatever that is.” Careful of his shoulder, she laid her head on his chest, her hand covering his strong heartbeat. A few minutes later, when they heard the sirens in the distance, Mattie turned her face into his neck. “I—I killed him. I shot Sabon.” Her voice wavered as shock settled in.

  “Good,” was Dom’s only response. Closing her eyes, she clung to him even tighter.

  To the man who cared about her safety above all else.

  Chapter 19

  Mattie was a killer but she couldn’t feel remorse for her actions. Michael Sabon had tried to hurt her and her family, and she wouldn’t hesitate to kill again in order to stop him. Unfortunately, however, when you killed the brother of a renowned drug king, especially when your brother was already wanted by the same drug king, it tended to complicate things.

  Even though Linda had regained consciousness several days ago, she was still pumped full of drugs. Sleeping now in her hospital room, she wouldn’t remember Tony’s tender kiss. He slipped an envelope that contained both Mattie’s letter and his own, under her pillow.

  Dom had been right. Cam hadn’t had anywhere to go. Police had found him and booked him into jail. Even though he’d been given protective custody as a former police officer, he’d been killed in his cell, his throat slit. Although his cell mate had claimed self-defense, no one doubted that he’d been acting under Guapo’s orders.

  As for them, Mattie, Tony and Jordan were officially being entered into the witness protection program. They couldn’t be certain that, before he’d been killed, Cam hadn’t told even one person that Tony was the confidential informant who’d sold Guapo out. It was either witness protection or spending the rest of their lives fearing that Guapo’s men would someday come for them. They’d be leaving Sacramento tomorrow morning.

  “We should be going,” Mattie whispered to Tony.

  Together they walked to the door. “I’ve always wanted to see more of the United States.”

  She nodded and linked arms with him, trying to be brave just as he was. “It’ll be exciting, not knowing where we’re going. An adventure.”

  Out in the hallway, Dom and Jordan barely looked up from their game of thumb wars. Jordan giggled when Dom “lost” and feigned outrage.

  “You’ve got a ringer here, Mattie.”

  “Don’t I know it.” She ruffled Jordan’s hair, so proud of her daughter and the man she loved. When he’d told Mattie and Tony about the witness protection program, he’d thrown in one other detail—that he wanted to come with them. “Can you be a cop in the witness protection program?” He’d looked at her with steady eyes and said, “I don’t see why not. But even if I can’t, I still want to come with you anyway.”

  It shouldn’t have been enough. Law enforcement was in his blood, and even if he quit altogether, he’d likely made enemies that might come after him. No one doubted that if Guapo ever found out where Mattie or Tony were, anyone with them would be in danger, too. But instead of bringing that all up, Mattie had done what Dom was finally doing—she’d trusted their love to get them through anything.

  They were waiting to tell Jordan that Dom was her father simply because it might be one change too many for her to handle. But in the past week, Jordan had already formed a strong bond with the man she called “Dommy.” It would only get stronger with time.

  Dom stood, gave her a hug, then nodded at Tony. “Everything go okay in there?”

  “She never woke up. I only wish I could tell her…” Tony shrugged. “Even with the letter I left, she’ll never really know how much she meant to me.”

  Mattie took his hand. “She’ll know, Tony.”

  After squeezing her hand, Tony tickled Jordan, eliciting squeals of laughter, then began walking down the hall backwards. “Come on, squirt.”

  Watching them, Mattie couldn’t help but sigh.

  Dom tipped her chin up. “Hey there. No worrying now. It’ll be good for him. A whole new start. Plus, with all the kids we’re going to have, he’s not going to have much time to get into trouble.”

  She was drowning in the brilliant blue of his eyes. The color still reminded her of the sea—turbulent at times, peaceful at others, but always rocking. With Dom, her life would never come with guarantees, but she knew a good bet when she saw one. Mattie smiled. “Oh. Lots of kids, huh?”

  “Sure. A dozen at least.”

  “And you know this how?”

  “The future’s looking pretty clear to me right now. In fact, I’m sensing something else.” He gave an exaggerated frown and lifted a hand to his forehead. “Wait, it’s something about where we’re going to be living soon.”

  She slapped at his arm. “Did you find out where we’re going?”

  He lowered his arm only to place both hands on her shoulders. “No, babe. That’s not how it works. But it doesn’t matter where we go, as long as the state meets some simple requirements.”

  “Which are?”

  “Don’t you know?” He leaned down, kissed her gently, and whispered in her ear, “Broad streets, a wraparound porch, blue shutters and—”

  “—the best apple pie ever,” they finished together.

  “I love you, Mattie. I’m so lucky to have found you again.”

  “And I’m so lucky you found me.”

  Hand in hand, with Jordan and Tony in front of them, Mattie’s family walked toward home.

  ISBN: 978-1-4592-1250-3

  DANGEROUS TO HER

  Copyright © 2011 by Virna dePaul

  All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario M3B 3K9, Canada.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

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  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chap
ter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19