Page 107 of A Shot at Love
“Looks like everything went as planned,” Rick said when they got to him.
“We didn’t plan on Tiege getting himself killed,” Ky said, letting go of Gemma’s hand.
“Collateral damage,” Bannerman said with a shrug. “You okay?” he asked Gemma, pulling her in for a hug.
She nodded. “My ears are still ringing a little but it’ll pass.”
“Yeah, it will. You did good, Cleo. Your boy here,” he chinned Ky, “says you were very convincing when Winters was pretending to arrest him.”
Gemma snuck a glance at Ky. “That was the plan,” she said.
“You did well,” Ky said. “It was obvious Tiege had no clue we knew he was the mole.”
“If you don’t need us for anything,” Bannerman said to Ky, “I’d like to get out of here.”
Ky turned to Gemma, took her hand and brought it to his lips. “I’ll find you as soon as I can.”
Swallowing, she nodded.
“Thanks for taking her,” he said to Bannerman. “And for…everything else. Without your help we would never have been able to arrange all this.”
Rick nodded and held out his hand. Ky took it.
“Never thought I’d hear myself say this about a bunch of feds, but working with you and your team has been a pleasure. Your partner couldn’t stop singing your praises when I met with him at the hospital. Says a lot about a man when his men respect him like that.”
Ky nodded. With a final look at Gemma, he turned and made his way back to his agents.
Her gaze followed him as he walked away.
“Come on, Cleo.” Bannerman grabbed the hand Ky had just kissed. “Let’s get you home.”
Like an obedient child, she let him lead her away.
Chapter Nineteen
Bannerman drove her straight, without stopping, back to her condo to a waiting Kandy.
The sisters hugged, then Rick kissed her cheek and told her he’d check on her during the week. Once alone with just her older sister, Gemma collapsed in tears.
Over several hours, and fortified with an entire bottle of much needed wine, Gemma relayed everything that had happened to her for the past week, including how her relationship with Ky had gone from professional to personal. As she had for their entire lives, Kandy listened quietly, asking simple questions when she needed clarification, and held her younger sister’s hand. She hadn’t judged, offered advice, or asked Gemma what she was going to do next.
When Gemma’s eyes started to drift closed, Kandy put her to bed and called Josh to come pick her up.
It was the next afternoon by the time Gemma opened her eyes again.
For the first time in what seemed like a lifetime, she reached for her phone. Kandy had plugged it into the bedside charger before leaving and when Gemma typed in her password the phone began chirping incessantly, announcing all the messages and e-mails she’d received while she’d been out of touch.
Gemma silenced the sound and took a quick glance at the screen.
She couldn’t possibly have a thousand e-mails and text messages.
A quick scan through the scores of texts showed nothing from Ky. Gemma sighed and tried not to think about what that meant. Next to the charger was a glass of water with two aspirin.
“God bless you, big sister.”
A long, hot, and steamy shower later, filled with memories of the last time she’d showered with Ky, Gemma dressed and then hit the kitchen.
The stocked refrigerator was a present from Kandy, but Gemma wasn’t hungry for all the delicious food her sister had stuffed it with. She grabbed a bottle of her favorite diet soda and chugged it down.
Within seconds the caffeine hit her bloodstream.
Showered and caffeinated, she took a look around her, happy to see that her living space had been put to rights and cleaned up from the previous attack. With another bottle of soda in her hand, she went into her home office and started answering her e-mails.
Eight hours later she looked from the computer screen to see nighttime descending through the window. She’d answered a good deal of her e-mails, most of it scheduling requests, called her editor at the publishing house and explained about the delay with the Faces book, had spoken with her mother, Kandy, and the rest of her sisters who’d all been worried sick about her. Promises of lunch and shopping dates satisfied their questions that she was, indeed, home now, the threat eliminated.
