"Rosa, I'm in love with Ryland." Lily admitted it in a low tone, but so clearly in the silence of the room, it was impossible not to hear.
Rosa looked up, her attention captured.
Lily tangled her fingers with Ryland's. "I do love him and I want to spend the rest of my life with him. This is your home. It will always be your home. You're my mother and no daughter could love you more than I love you. If you truly don't want Ryland and these men here, we will leave. All of us. I'll go with them."
"Lily." Rosa's eyes swam with tears. "Do not talk of leaving. This is your home."
"It is your home too. I want it to be their home for as long as they need it. I can help them. I know I can. We have a disk, something my father recorded and hid. I'm hoping there's incriminating evidence on it. If so, I'll make copies and give General Ranier one of them. If necessary I can go above him. If it clears their names, all to the good; if it doesn't, we'll keep working to find evidence."
"They have to come after you now, Lily. Colonel Higgens knows he tipped his hand. If he can't reacquire you, he'll try to kill you," Ryland said grimly.
"I know that. He'll find a way to search the house. It won't be easy and he'll never find the tunnels or the men." She looked at Kaden and Nicolas. "You'll have to really guard Jeff. He won't be able to move fast. Who's with him now?"
"Ian and Tucker. They won't let anyone bother Jeff," Kaden assured her with absolute confidence.
"Good. My escape is just going to make Colonel Higgens all the madder. He'll definitely come here with a warrant of some kind. He doesn't like anyone thwarting his plans." She leaned into Ryland. "You were right about him."
"I want to hear the disk," Arly said.
Ryland tossed the tiny disk to the security man. "You have anything that will play that?"
Arly caught the disk and stood up straight, digging through his pockets until he came up with a miniature voice-activated recorder. "Absolutely. I took it with me thinking it might come in handy if we were stopped." He popped the disk into the recorder after removing the blank one.
There was a small silence then a voice jumped out at them. "Take him to the clinic. Pump him full of that shit. Zap his brain a few times with electricity and it will look like he had a stroke. I want him dead by tomorrow." The sound of Colonel Higgens's voice was harsh. "And when Miller takes his sleeping pill tonight, take him to the clinic and fry his brain. I've had all I can take of his insubordination. Get the job done this time, Winston. I want Hollister dead and Miller a vegetable. If that doesn't convince Whitney his experiment was a failure, kill the son of a bitch. Tell Ken I want Miller taken care of tonight."
"Miller doesn't sleep much. We can't go near him if he's awake."
Higgens swore. "Ken can't field Whitney's calls forever. Sooner or later Whitney will get through to Ranier. I can arrange something for Ranier, maybe a fire. It has to look accidental. You can't just kill a general and his wife and not have an investigation. Faulty wiring would do it. First things first. Arrange for Hollister to have a breakdown so we can cause a little brain damage and get rid of that bastard Miller."
There was utter silence in the room. Ryland let out his breath slowly and looked at Lily. "I'd say that would be enough to convince Ranier. Arly, can you make copies for us?'
"No problem. I can make several and we'll keep the original in Lily's little safe room." Arly winked at her.
Lily reached for the phone and called the general's home. After a brief conversation she looked at the others in frustration. "The maid said they were out for the day and would return tomorrow morning. She wouldn't say where they went. At least he's taking precautions."
"Why don't you all get some rest? You were up all night and it's nearly noon now. If we can't talk to Ranier, we may as well take a break." Ryland wanted Lily to sleep. The bruises on her body were becoming more apparent with each passing hour.
"I can cook a meal for everyone," Rosa offered, throwing her support fully behind them in the one way she knew. "And I'm a nurse. Let me see this man who is ill."
"Rosa"-Lily slid deeper beneath the sheet-"make them do those exercises. I'm too tired to see that they do them."
"I thought we were taking the day off," Gator protested. "Kicking back, watching the old bondage films."
"You must never take a day off from the exercises," Rosa scolded. "It's important to do them every day." She started herding the men from Lily's bedroom, but suddenly turned back and marched stiffly to the bed. Glaring at Ryland she snatched up the handcuffs and took them with her.
Arly, falling into step beside her, leaned down and whispered wickedly in her ear. It earned him a slap on the arm but Rosa could be heard giggling as she closed the door behind them.
"Did you see that?" Ryland demanded. "She took the handcuffs."
Lily wiggled out of the robe and let it fall to the floor. "So you wouldn't think about using them on me."
"I wasn't thinking about using them." Ryland shoved a hand through his dark hair, tousling the curls more than usual. "Why does everyone think I'd use metal cuffs? I'd use silk." He leaned over Lily, pressed a kiss between her breasts. "I wouldn't mind tying you up but I'd use silk."
Her laughter was smothered by the pillow when she buried her face in it. "Poor baby, no one will believe you. Rosa thinks you're kinky."
"Well, I am," he admitted. "But just with you. And she took the cuffs and went giggling out of the room with that bondage freak Arly. Now that's scary stuff."
Lily summoned enough strength to smack him with the pillow. "That's disgusting. Don't even think about the two of them doing anything together. Rosa is like my mother and Arly… well… he's Arly." She looked at Ryland. shook her head. "No way. It isn't possible. They would never…" She trailed off again and shuddered.
Ryland laughed at her. "Yes they would. He looks at her with that look in his eye. Men know these things." He dropped his clothes on the floor and slid beneath the sheet, wrapping his body around hers protectively.
"I don't want to know so don't let me in on it if you find out Arly and Rosa are seeing one another. Do you think General Ranier and Delia are really okay?"
"I think Ranier is a wily tiger and Higgens grabbed the wrong tail. He's gone somewhere to stash his wife. That's what I'd do, and he'll come back prepared to fight a battle. He won't stop until he's dead or he's won." He circled her body with his arm, cupping her breast in his palm possessively. "I didn't much like having all those men in here knowing you were wearing nothing but a sheet. We're going to have some serious talks about underwear."
Lily laughed and turned over to face him. Her gaze drifted lovingly over his face. "You're the most beautiful man I've ever seen. When you're around, I can't see anyone else." Her fingertips traced the contours of his face. Found the rough-edged lines, the small scars, his stubborn jaw. All the while she looked at him with love.
"I'll have to make certain I'm always around, won't I?" he said.
"I think that would be a good idea," Lily agreed.
Nineteen
RYLAND came awake just after nightfall. He lay listening to Lily's soft breathing. She lay close to him, her body pressed tightly against his, fitting up against him like a glove. When he shifted, the texture of her skin, rose petal soft, slid over his rougher skin, reminding him always of the beauty of a woman.
He had checked on the men several times throughout the day. Most slept but Nicolas was always awake, always on the watch. He simply grinned or saluted or nodded, but rarely spoke. Ryland stretched lazily, trusting to Arly's alarm systems, but not to the easy way everyone seemed to treat Lily's bedroom.