Page 79 of Ravaged With You

“Simon did?” Jo looked to Red, who nodded and took up the story.

“Apparently she’s the head of the trafficking cell he’s been chasing. Says he and Devlin Saint owes us big time.”

“So this was about trafficking?”

“No,” Red said. “It was about me. She tracked me down. Wanted revenge for her husband. I thought they’d both died, turns out she escaped and this whole thing was a cat and mouse game with our lives, just like we thought. All of it was fake. She arranged for the life insurance. Planted the diamonds. All of it except Mel’s affair, but I’m sure she pushed hard on that front, worked to seduce him. He loved you, Jo. He would never have hurt you.”

“I know,” she said, then reached for him. “Where were we? And how did you guys find us?”

“Abandoned factory,” Renly said. “And you owe Mario for getting us there. Simon had some ideas about the general vicinity, but what led us to you was Mario’s tech. He put a tracker in Mel’s phone and the clones, and Red had it in his pocket.”

“Why?” Jo asked.

Renly shrugged. “I asked Mario that. Said he thought it seemed like a good idea.”

“Can’t argue with that,” Red said.

“I’m going to get out of your hair. Abby wants to see you before we head off on the honeymoon, so we’ll stick around until you’re released.”

“Thanks, bro,” Red said, reaching for his brother’s hand.

“Anytime. For that matter, why not take Damien up on his offer and we can watch each other’s backs regularly.”

“We’ll see,” Red said, not ready to admit that he’d already been thinking along those lines. Part time, maybe. He had a distillery to run after all. And years of catching up to do with Jo.

When they were alone, Jo smiled at him. “I never doubted you’d get us out.”

He made a scoffing sound. “Not a sound bet. I’d failed once before, remember.”

Her grin made his heart sing. “I knew, though.” She squeezed his hand. “I love you, Red,” she said, and he knew that he would never tire of hearing those words. “I’ve loved you for a very long time.”

“Oh, baby. Me too.”

“We both made wrong turns. But somehow we ended up exactly where we’re supposed to be.”

“That’s true. And my first mistake was not grabbing you when I had the chance. But you’re mine now,” he told her. “And I’m never going to let you go.”

Epilogue

One year later

I stand in the surf, Red right beside me, looking out at the Pacific as I hold the urn with my first husband’s ashes.

We’re at The Resort at Cortez for a weekend retreat for all Stark Security personnel and their spouses or significant others. I’m here with Red, of course, even though the boat ride did a number on my first trimester nausea.

“Sorry that took so long,” he calls from across the beach. He’s heading toward me from Damien’s bungalow where he’s just finished a quick call with a client about a recent operation. He hurries barefoot across the sand to my side.

I smile in greeting. “No problem. I was just thinking about what a long road it’s been, and yet I can’t imagine any other one.”

He pulls me close, then kisses my forehead. “You okay?”

“I am. It’s not Catalina, but I think he’d love this place.” In college, we three used to go to Catalina Island at least once a month to eat, drink, and laze on the beach.

“We’re here now more often, too,” Red says. “This way, he’s close to us.”

I nod, then take the lid off the urn where we’ve kept Mel’s ashes since his memorial last year.

“Ready?”