Page 90 of Healing the Heart

“That is the priority for all of us,” Keiran assured her.

They thought she was talking about Jordan. Or Jordano. Whatever he called himself at the moment. But that was only the half of it.

Val and Esme looked on, tears in their eyes. Did they see both sides? In her heart, she knew they did, and rather than feeling comforted by that, it hurt even more.

Chapter 22

A Funny Feeling

JORDANO PARRA WAS LIKEa ghost. When they thought they had a promising lead, it turned to vapor. He was also smart, eluding the joint investigative powers of Rossi LA, half the investigators in San Antonio, and the LAPD. The feds were also called in because of the identity theft, bank fraud, and a list of crimes longer than her arm that crossed state lines.

Another week passed, and another without a break in the case. They hadn’t even had a sighting—not once since the night she’d witnessed the bloody stabbing in the garage. They suspected with the discovery of his first victims all over the news, he’d gone deeper into hiding. Val, who had really missed her calling and should have been an FBI profiler, suggested, “Or it has released his demons and all hell is about to break loose.”

Noah had arranged for an indefinite leave for her from work. It was unpaid, since she hadn’t been there even a year yet. But he was covering her expenses and dared her to say another word about it. She’d given up her apartment, never wanting to set foot inside it again, even after fresh paint erased the foul words on the wall.

Without work or the club to look forward to, and not allowed out to even the grocery store, it left her with hours to fill every day and not a lot to fill them with. Noah was with her everyevening and through the night, but she saw less and less of him during the day. He relied on one of his Rossi team members to stand guard while he assisted with the investigation.

Val and Esme came to visit, but they worked during the day when she needed distractions the most. And she chatted with Lexie more often, at least weekly, when her new baby boy was napping. She’d become well acquainted with several of the guys, Kai, Jerry, and Tristan, and her favorite, maybe because he’d been the first to welcome her into their close-knit society, Axyl.

It was Axyl’s turn today. He arrived at seven, earlier than their day usually started, because Noah had surgery scheduled for 8 a.m.—the first case of the day.

Fiona reclined on all four of the pillows, hers and his, as she watched him get ready. When it was time to leave, he came to her and sat on the edge of the bed.

“Come here,” he insisted. Too impatient to wait until she scooted from the middle of the king-sized bed closer to him, he grabbed her ankles and pulled her flat, then leaned over her with his hands buried in the plush pillow-top mattress on either side of her head.

When he leaned down to kiss her, Fiona’s heart raced. It happened every time she was close to him, but this morning for another reason. He didn’t want to leave her; she could tell from his lingering goodbye. And from the look in his eyes, which seemed conflicted, when he pulled away.

Troubled now, too, she laid her hand against his bearded jaw and asked, “What is it?”

“I don’t know. A funny feeling, I guess. Be extra cautious today and do everything Axyl tells you to do.”

She traced his lips with her fingers then raised up to kiss him this time. “It’s a rainy day. Perfect for sleeping. I’ll probably still be in bed when you get back.”

“Doubtful. It’s a six-hour procedure.”

“Then I’ll give you a massage and after, we’ll crawl into bed together.”

“Deal,” he whispered softly, echoing her response to an offer she couldn’t refuse in the Sultan’s Chamber, although not with the same intensity or volume. And the smile on his lips didn’t come close to reaching his eyes.

“I’ll be fine,” she assured him. “They wouldn’t have called you in if they didn’t need your skills.” It was a special procedure none of the partners had done but him. “A child needs you, Dr. Richmond. Go change his life for the better.”

He kissed her again, lingering longer than he should have, causing him to rush out or be late.

She stared at the space she’d last seen him, hearing the outer door close with a thud behind him with a finality that left her feeling very much alone.

---