Willing Sacrifice Read online

Page 4

 

  Janet shifted her gaze to Peter, his powerful body squeezed into a chair next to Dana. Since Max was Dana’s primary driver, the men often teased the big man about how similar he was to Max in build and coloring, with his storm-gray eyes and dark-blond hair. Nobody was teasing anyone right now, however.

  Thinking about the men’s similarities, she turned her head to locate Max. He was standing at the corner of the waiting room, ready to help. He met her gaze briefly as she turned, then Janet’s attention was pulled to more pressing matters.

  “Fuck this. ” Matt surged up from the seat and moved toward the hallway. “I’m going to her. ”

  Peter was already in motion, but it was Lucas who was closest and intercepted him, shifting a step ahead of Matt.

  “You can’t, man. You know that. She’s in surgery. ”

  “She needs me. They need me. ” But the emotions beneath the rage said the words Matt was too much of a traditional, stoic male to say. I need them.

  “I know that. But you don’t want to distract them from what they’re doing. They’re doing everything they can for her, and you don’t want them to spare a single second from that, right?”

  Lucas, the voice of calm reason, Matt’s CFO and best friend since college. As an amateur cyclist who regular biked to work, the gray-eyed, sandy-haired, athletic male took his share of ribbing over stretchy shorts and compressed testicles, but his success in the sport reflected the focus and calm thinking he exercised now. He knew Matt so well…they all knew one another so well. The bonds they’d formed, through laughter and tears, were unbreakable. Janet’s fervent hope was the former, or something in a similar positive vein, would prevail by the end of this day.

  She saw Cassandra, Lucas’ wife, link hands with Rachel. The way their fingers tightly intertwined reflected the anguish they felt for Matt, the worry for Savannah. They were all so used to Matt being in total command of himself and everything around him, the undercurrent of agony in his voice twisted something in all of them. Including Janet.

  Ben joined Lucas now, on the opposite side of Matt, a subtly strategic move in case he bolted anyway, but Janet could tell her boss knew Lucas was right. He was simply a man of action. The waiting was killing him. And Ben knew it.

  “Tell you what. Let Marcie go stake out the emergency room and see if she can get somebody going in and out to tell her anything. Best if you stay here, though, in case someone from admin needs anything from you, or if the doctor slips out a different door and she misses her. ”

  Ben was legal muscle for K&A. With his devilish good looks—green eyes, dark hair and silver tongue—he was quite capable of convincing anyone of anything, but Janet understood why he was sending Marcie. Marcie, Cass’ younger sister, worked in corporate investigations for Savannah’s company, and no one was better at convincing people to inadvertently give up confidential information. And the attractive blonde with chocolate-brown eyes was only twenty-three, with a fresh-faced beauty and deceptive innocence that only enhanced that ability.

  When Matt gave a grudging nod, rubbing a hand over his face, Ben glanced toward Marcie. No words needed to be exchanged for her to understand her task, and not just because she was just that intuitive. She and Ben had been an item for less than a couple months, but with such a bonded intensity that they all expected an engagement announcement any day now. She disappeared down the hallway.

  Connections, bonds, fate. Janet repeated the thought to herself. The five men had supported one another through loss and gain, as well as when each man found the woman of his dreams. Those shared experiences, as well as the traits they had in common, like sexual Dominance, had made their relationship far beyond that of simple friendship. It was an unconditional brotherhood. As Janet looked around at the women, seeing faces that reflected a fear of the worst but also a complete commitment to support Matt and their men, whatever the outcome, she knew the women had become part of that inner circle as well.

  She thought of Savannah, the grip of her hands, the fear in her eyes. Whatever happened, Matt would have these people. His link to them would help him survive. But Janet knew what kind of road that was, and she wouldn’t wish it on anyone.

  * * * * *

  Marcie returned with a report that Savannah was holding her own, but that the outcome for mother or child was still in the balance. Janet could tell Marcie wished she had better news, but she delivered it with painful honesty, knowing Matt wouldn’t settle for anything less.

  He nodded, taking a silent seat in his chair once again, staring straight ahead. Ben touched Marcie’s face, gave her a reassuring nod and the girl returned to Dana’s side. The vigil resumed.

  In some ways, Janet knew the news made things worse for Matt, but now he’d lapsed into a raptor-like stillness, staring at something beyond all of them. Just waiting. For the next hour, less than a dozen words were exchanged.

  Finally, Dr. Rosen arrived in the waiting room.

  She looked exhausted. Yet when Matt pushed up from his seat and faced her with the fixed expression of a man locked in stone, she gripped his hands and told him the thing he most needed to hear. “They’re both fine. ”

  Lucas put his hand on Matt’s shoulder as a hard shudder ran through the man’s large body, the stone cracking. The doctor proceeded to explain Matt had a healthy, six-pound baby girl, and that his wife, when she woke from her surgery, would want to see him first thing.

  But Janet had been right. This would be their only birth child. They had to remove Savannah’s uterus, a full hysterectomy, but otherwise she was going to make a complete recovery. Amid the tears and congratulations, Dr. Rosen added, “Whoever your driver is, Mr. Kensington, he saved your daughter’s life, and very likely your wife’s. Ten minutes later, and we’d have lost both of them. ”

  Janet turned toward the entrance to the waiting room. Max had remained at that far wall like a soldier on watch duty, prepared for anything, but now he was gone. When she peered around the corner, she saw him striding down the hall toward the elevators. Mission accomplished, right? Though in a far less intense context, it was the same when she planned a major event for K&A. She didn’t usually stay for the event itself, only long enough to confirm she’d exceeded every expectation Matt had for it. For people like her and Max, having accomplished their mission was the victory. They didn’t need to stand around for the parade.

  However, when Max reached the stairs, he stopped and looked back, as if knowing she was standing there. A muscle flexed in his jaw, and he lifted a hand, acknowledging her. Then the fingers curled and his face changed. The flash of regret told her he’d hoped to escape when he had the chance. A blink later, Matt touched her shoulder, passing her to move down the hall toward his employee.

  She didn’t hear what her boss said to Max, because his voice was low, and got lower. She saw him gesturing, then Matt’s hands fell to his sides, conveying a helpless inability to express what was beyond words. Max’s expression transformed, reflecting the empathy a strong man felt when another strong man faltered. He stepped forward, putting his arms around Matt’s broad shoulders. It was a good thing they were a like height.

  Janet had to slide down the wall, her eyes filling with tears. Her legs simply gave way at the unlikely sight of Matt Kensington, the most indomitable man she knew, weeping. Max’s face had that aged granite look as he held Matt. But his gray eyes shifted, locked with hers. Throughout the next few memorable moments, he didn’t look away.

  Neither did she.

  Chapter One

  Six months later

  “Randall, is Max in yet?”

  “Yes and no, ma’am. ”

  She paused by the security desk, arching a brow. The head of K&A security pressed a button on his console, calling up the needed camera angle on the top covered level of the parking deck. “He’s not on until noon, but most mornings, this is where you’ll find him. He won’t mind doing anything you need, as long
as you don’t mind he’s not in uniform. Want me to buzz him? He’s wearing his pager. ”

  “No. I need to stretch my legs. I’ll go to him. ”

  Randall nodded, waited until she was a safe distance down the hall, then murmured, “And fucking fantastic legs they are. Ma’am. ”

  Janet paused at the elevator, a good fifty feet away, and glanced back at him, a glint in her eye. Randall cleared his throat, paid close attention to his monitors and didn’t let out a breath until he heard the elevators close. Jim, the desk guard, gave him a grin. “You’re a brave man. Mr. Kensington says she can hear through concrete walls. ”

  “Why do you think I added the ‘ma’am’?” Randall responded wryly.

  “Should we give Max a heads-up she’s coming?”

  Randall shook his head. “The moment she steps into the parking-deck elevator, he’ll hear it engage. He’ll be tracking where it stops. ”

  Jim studied the video dubiously. “He looks like he’s asleep. ”

  “Trust me. He can tell you how many bugs have scurried across the parking deck in the past half hour, and give you their current coordinates. ”

  “Since she can hear through walls, sounds like they’re made for each other. ”

  Randall pursed his lips. Imagining Janet Albright, Matt Kensington’s terrifying admin, and Max Ackerman, his head limo driver, as a couple wasn’t as unlikely a vision as he’d expected. In fact, it might be a mighty interesting combination. ’Course, an explosion was interesting—if you were outside the blast zone.

  * * * * *

  Janet stepped off the parking elevator, careful not to snag her heels on its metal threshold, and headed toward the back corner of the parking deck. Her glossy brown pumps made a crisp echo on the concrete. Glancing over the wall at the New Orleans business district, she drew in the faintly smoky air, pleased to detect the cool scent of fall beneath the city smells. But as she made the turn toward that back corner, other scenery captured her attention.

  Randall had said Max wouldn’t mind running her errand as long as she didn’t mind he wasn’t in uniform. She wasn’t sure there was a red-blooded woman alive who would mind that. He looked handsome in his various uniforms, everything from the traditional chauffeur’s suit to the more informal black dress jeans and crisp black placket shirt with the embroidered K&A insignia. However, in the blue jeans and dark-blue T-shirt he wore now, he was pure sex.