“With you by my side I’ll never need anything else.”
“May that always be true.”
“Oh, it will.” Emma kissed the shoulder she’d been resting her head on before moving to Cain’s lips one more time. As much as she didn’t want to, they had to get up. Hannah would be waking up from her nap, and Hayden would most probably be finished and coming back in. “Are you ready, or do you want to get a little nap in before you go face the masses?”
“I think I’d better get up. Three weeks is long enough to be lying about doing nothing.”
“Cain, you were shot. Give yourself a break.”
When Cain sat up and put her feet on the floor, Emma pressed up to her back. “It’s true I was shot, but now it’s time to build my strength back up. Want to sneak down the hall and take a shower with me?”
“I wonder how thick these walls are?”
The only answer Emma got was a knock on the door. Cain stood to see who it was and what they wanted, but Emma cleared her throat. “I’d hate to ruin this wonderful afternoon by having to get into a fistfight with whoever is going to ogle you from the other side of that door if you answer it dressed like that. I’m almost positive there’s a robe in the closet.”
The possessive comment made Cain’s chest puff out a little and a huge smile break out across her face. When she looked at the bed, the sight of Emma sitting there with the sheet pulled up just under her arms was enough to make her want to go back and spend the afternoon exploring the skin that lay beneath the thin cover. “Have I told you recently just how beautiful you are?”
“You’re killing me here, baby. Put something on before the whole house knows what we’re doing.” The favor asked almost in a whine prompted Cain to the closet as the person awaiting entry knocked again.
There was only one robe, but when she headed for the closet she watched as Emma picked up the shirt Cain had been wearing and put it on. It was an old habit of hers on most mornings when she felt chilled and found some shirt of Cain’s lying about. The shirt covered as much of her as the robe did of Cain.
When Cain finally made it to the door, Maddie was standing in the hall with an amused expression. She glanced from the woman who was clearly naked under the robe to the bed that looked like it had been put to good use. “I thought you might want to know that your other surprise for the little woman has arrived and is having coffee downstairs. Or maybe he’s down there having his horizons expanded? At this point it’s a toss-up, and here I am not having time to take a cold shower.”
The teasing had been done in a tone low enough for Emma not to hear her. Maddie remembered the young girl who’d always been embarrassed to talk about anything intimate. Hopefully from the scream she’d heard earlier, Emma had gotten over her self-consciousness, at least when it came to Cain Casey. Maddie was amazed as she watched Cain’s blush run up from her neck like a fire through a dry field.
“Please tell me you’re kidding?” Before they’d left New Orleans, through mediation from Maddie, Cain had called Ross from a secure phone and told him what their plans were. He’d said he’d get to the Rath place as soon as their plane landed to see them all back together. “This isn’t exactly how I planned on him finding out just how together we are.”
Maddie peeked in to see Emma picking up clothing and placing the folded items on the bed as she went along. “Honey, as much as he wiggled around in that chair downstairs, the man had a smile about a mile wide the whole time, and please don’t take that the wrong way. He realized a long time ago how happy his little girl is when she’s with you. I just think he’s thrilled that she’s found that happiness again.”
With nothing else to pick up, Emma moved to the door to see what the hushed conversation was about. “Hey, Maddie, is something wrong?”
“No, I just thought you wouldn’t want to sleep the afternoon away, and Hannah should be up soon.”
“Thanks, we’re just going to freshen up. Then we’ll be right down.” Emma noticed Cain’s face, which still bore some signs of her blush, and gave her an easy way out. “Go on in, baby, and I’ll get our stuff together.” She pointed to the bathroom to the right of them. When the door closed and the water started in the shower, she opened one of the bags and pulled out a fresh set of clothes. “So how much did you hear?”
“Enough to be envious.” Maddie laughed and sat on the bed. On the top of the dirty clothes was Emma’s discarded thong. “Good Lord, does this happen often? Your underwear bill must be outrageous. Though how much can this dental floss cost?”
“You’d be surprised. Now leave me alone so I can enjoy the afterglow.”
“Oh, honey, I’m not teasing you…”
Emma arched her brow much like Cain would have done in the same situation.
“Well, not as much as I could. You look like a woman in love, and it looks good on you. Are you sure about this?”
“I’m positive.”
Cain stood in the doorway and wondered if Emma was now the one in need of saving. “Em, the water’s running. Are you coming?”
“Not yet, but with a little luck, I may soon,” she whispered to Maddie, then gave her a wink.
Maddie shook her head and laughed. Her friend had most certainly changed, but it was a change for the good. Emma had come into her own, as the saying went, and as accomplished and strong as Cain looked, Emma was her proverbial match.
The groan Cain let out as Maddie went down the stairs was testament to that.
Chapter Eighteen
“They’re gone?” Shelby tried to massage away the headache that was building behind her left eye. She’d spent the morning trying to get in touch with Muriel, willing to apologize for something she had nothing to do with, if only she’d just pick up. “What exactly does that mean?” she asked the person calling, the guy Agent Hicks had assigned to unofficially keep an eye on Cain and company.
“It’s not a difficult concept, really, or am I speaking too fast? They’re gone, all of them. I took a walk up to the fifth floor this morning when I didn’t see Emma Casey arrive at her usual time.”
Shelby interrupted and hoped this guy didn’t blow apart an already shaky situation. “Did it occur to you that she might just be running late?”
“Gee, I wonder why I didn’t think of that,” he answered tersely. “I waited almost two hours before going across the street sans the coat and tie, and I even picked up flowers in the lobby so I could pretend I had the wrong room. No one was on the door, and the bed was made up and ready for another patient. She’s gone.”
“Why don’t you get back here? You can give us a report about what you have so far.” She was still talking into the phone, but also getting her jacket back on. It was time to visit Annabel Hicks and convince her to put together another team for Cain, as well as Vincent’s and Ramon’s organizations.
An hour later Joe and Lionel were back, along with their old partner Tony. The agent Annabel had put on Cain reported that Emma had left the hospital the night before at her usual time, flanked by at least six guards, including Merrick and Lou. Shelby wasn’t the only one who thought that was more than a little strange. The Cain they’d studied for so long that they knew how she took her coffee was never left alone and vulnerable; she never went anywhere without one of those two a few feet away.
After a fan around the city, they were all shocked to find not only Cain, but also her immediate circle and most of the people on her payroll, and Muriel, gone.
Tony looked at all of them, then lashed out at Shelby. “You wanted to befriend these people. I hope you see now she’s played us like a bunch of assholes again.”