Protecting His Heart (A James Family Novel Book 1) Read online

  "These here are my cousins, Aunt Clara's sons. She called them in for backup. Thought we might need a hand should our position become compromised."

  "And it's a darn good thing Mom called us," Kaiden stated. "Obviously, your position has been compromised."

  "Look at you, stating the obvious." Keegan winked at Angelina. "Kaiden fancies himself the smart one."

  "No fancying about it. I am the oldest and therefore the smartest."

  "Taking your first breath seven minutes before I did does not a genius make you," Keegan ribbed his brother.

  Angelina took in the exchange, still seething a little but calmed down considerably. Except for her pounding heart. She wondered if Logan could feel it. Judging by the small smile playing at the corner of his lips she suspected he could. Trying to shrug off his touch only forced him to pull her closer. Angelina did not miss the satisfied look that passed between the twins as they eyed her and Logan.

  "Well, thank you so much for arriving when you did." Angelina croaked out through suddenly parched lips. She stole a glance at Logan. "I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't arrived just then."

  She had a good guess but tried hard to bury the thought deep.

  "When one of our own is in trouble, we circle the wagons," Keegan replied, a smile very much like his cousin Logan's playing at his lips. "Good thing too. That dude was carrying an automatic something or other. He moved so fast, I couldn't catch the make and model but those bullets were a flyin'!"

  "No joke!" Kaiden chimed in. "That dude meant business. You have some nasty enemies, Miss."

  "Yeah, I guess I do." Angelina sighed heavily, defeat and resignation wearing on her soul. "And I cannot keep putting you all in harm's way. I've got to get out of here, find someone in the bureau who can protect me and all of you."

  "No!" Logan snapped a little too quickly. "I mean, you are not going back into witness protection. I don't know much, but I would bet my left arm that it's your witsec agent who sold you out."

  "You can't keep me holed up here forever. Sooner or later, your department will expect you to show up for work. Weren't you in the middle of some kind of undercover gig at the school?"

  "School?" Kaiden's eyebrows shot up. "What school?"

  "Shut up." Logan shot his cousin a warning glance.

  "Logan was undercover as a history teacher in an all girls prep school!" Keegan explained happily.

  Logan shot him an even angrier look.

  "What?" Keegan shrugged. "Mom told me."

  Angelina ignored the exchange and looked up at Logan. "You can't keep protecting me. We need to find a way to stop Salvatore and his hit man for good. I want my life back."

  There was such sadness in her words that even she couldn't miss it. Logan stared down at her for a long time, not saying anything. Even the twins were quiet as church mice. He reached up a hand and smoothed a thumb across her cheek as though wiping away tears.

  "I… we… will get your life back Angelina. If you go out there on your own, you are a sitting duck for that dude. He's gone but he will be back…"

  "Exactly why I need to leave now," she agreed vehemently.

  "My cousins and I will find a way to stop this. I promise you we will get your life back for you."

  Angelina studied Logan's blue eyes, usually so clear but now filled with dark emotions as he watched her. The twins were stoic and silent.

  "Why?" she whispered. "You don't even know me. Why put your family in harm's way for someone you hardly know? Just drive me into town and drop me at the police station. Let the locals handle it. I'll be safe there…. and so will you all."

  "Um, have you forgotten?" Logan pushed her now wild curls back from her face with both hands. "I am one of those locals and I'm not going to trust anyone else to keep you alive."

  "We got this, Angelina," Kaiden chimed in, showing her a badge he pulled from his pocket. "Let us help you."

  "You all would risk your lives to help me? Someone you don't even know?"

  "It's called the thin blue line, lady. We all got to stick together."

  "What makes you think I am a cop?"

  Kaiden grinned again. "Just instinct, I suppose. Am I right?"

  "Currently I am employed as a high school teacher but before witness protection started, yes, I was a cop. In New York City. It's how I got into this whole mess in the first place."

  "And so now we get you out of it. If your witsec agent or any other legal representative is responsible for compromising your cover, well, that really gets my goat!" Keegan exclaimed.

  Angelina surprised herself by laughing at the man's odd outburst.

  "We need a plan," Kaiden stated. "And we need to know how they are tracking you."

  "I really don't have any idea," Angelina answered. "I don't have my purse. My car is on the bottom of a ravine and my clothes are at your cousin's cabin in the woods somewhere."

  "Well, there has to be some way they are keeping tabs on you." Logan interjected. He had moved his arm from her shoulders and now clasped her hand tightly in his larger, warm one. Her mind didn't want to admit how much she enjoyed his touch, but her body was rejoicing, as her nerve endings sparked over and over again from the contact. The James twins eyed her with identical teasing expressions.

  "They aren't the only one keeping tabs on Angelina," Kaiden said.

  "Whatever," Logan shot back, but he tightened his hold on Angelina's hand a tiny bit. She toyed with the gold cross that hung on a chain around her neck. A gift from her mother when she graduated high school, it was the only item she had been allowed to take with her from her old life to her new one.

  The only thing she was allowed to take…

  "Oh no," Angelina murmured letting go of Logan's hand. With shaking fingers, she worked frantically at the clasp.

  "What's wrong?" Logan asked, his voice thick with concern.

  "My cross…" she mumbled, still trying to get it off, panic setting in.

  "Here, let me help you." Logan took over. Removing the necklace in a fraction of a second, he handed it back to her. Angelina dropped it on the ground and stomped on it as hard as she could with the heel of her borrowed boot.

  "Now, why did you go and do that?" Keegan asked.

  Angelina stooped down and grabbed the offending piece off the ground, turning it over in her hand. "Because it wasn't really mine."

  All three men watched her curiously as she worked the cross with her fingers. Suddenly, it split into two pieces.

  "There." She held out her hand. "Do you see it?"

  Keegan nodded slowly. "I do. You see that, brother?"

  "Well, I'll be damned." Kaiden let out a low curse.

  "It's a tiny little tracking device." Logan let out a long whistle. "How did they get that past you?"

  "After the gunfight, I was out of it for a while. When I came to, my necklace was missing and I was already on my way to Virginia. I threw a major fit, demanding it be returned. A package showed up at my new address about three weeks after I moved in. The note from witsec said they didn't see the harm in letting me keep one memento from my past. Especially something as incongruous as a Crucifix."

  "So, someone has been tracking your every movement for well over a year." Kaiden let out another curse. It was obvious that he was the more outspoken twin. Under other circumstances, she might have found the obvious personality differences in the brothers entertaining.

  "Apparently so." Angelina sighed. "And now they know about Clara's hidden retreat because I led them straight here."

  "Now don't you go worrying about our mother," Keegan stated emphatically. "Clara James has always been quite good at taking care of herself and with three lawmen on the premises, she'll be just fine."

  "Actually, it's good they know where we are," Kaiden chimed in. "Easier for us to plan. That dude will be back, with back up. No doubt about that. But, if I had to guess, he's gonna wait until almost nightfall which gives us a little prep time."

  "How are you at build
ing booby traps, cousin?" Keegan asked Logan.

  "Set up a few mousetraps in my day," Logan responded.

  "Good." Kaiden nodded. "Let's head back inside and see what Mom has cooking. I always plan a battle better on a full stomach."

  18

  Logan

  There was nothing quite like the after effects of a gunfight. Logan had been in a few in his day but nothing like what had happened that morning. A flood of adrenaline left him starving and a little on the shaky side. Not that he would have told Angelina, but if his cousins hadn't shown up when they did, Logan wasn't sure he would've made it out of there alive. With nowhere to run, and nothing to duck behind except an old picnic table, it had been a mere matter of time.

  Logan dropped on to the large sectional sofa in the living room. His cousins were busy clearing out Aunt Clara's pantry. Angelina had disappeared somewhere, maybe the bedroom Aunt Clara had assigned to her. Closing his eyes, he listened as Kaiden replayed his version of the attack over a huge ham and cheese sandwich. Kaiden was quite the storyteller, always had been. Heroes were always stronger, villains were always badder, and guns were always more powerful when his cousin told a tale.

  Footsteps forced him to open his eyes. Keegan stood in front of him, a half smile on his face. "Boy, that brother of mine can talk."

  "Yup," Logan replied, letting his eyes close again.

  "So, young cousin, are you going to tell me how you ended up involved with a mob hit man?"

  Logan shrugged. "What's there to tell? And I am only two months younger than you so knock off the 'older, wiser' bit."

  Keegan chuckled. "In your case, two months seems to have meant a world of maturity."

  "Whatever," Logan responded, voice laced with annoyance.

  "So, how did you meet the girl?"

  "Aunt Clara told you. I was undercover."

  "Was she your assignment?"

  "No."

  "Are you sure?"

  Logan sat up straight, shooting his cousin a warning look. "I'm sure. Meeting Angelina was pure coincidence. I parked in her spot by accident."

  "Ahhh… the plot thickens…" Keegan teased.

  "Look, since I know you won't let it go… I was driving home from work—the undercover gig—when I came on her. Some idiot ran Angelina off the road and left her for dead."

  "And that idiot turns out to be an assassin hired by the mob?"

  "Yup."

  "Did it occur to you to call the police?"

  "I am the police."

  "Come on, Logan, you know what I mean."

  "My lieutenant knows what's going on. Well, sort of anyway. I didn't have a chance to tell him about this mess yet." Logan sighed. He really didn't have to tell him, he supposed. They weren't anywhere near his jurisdiction but he did have to check in at some point. He could fill the L.T. in then.

  "That was one mean mother out there in the woods today, Logan. We need to get ready, he will be back."

  "I know."

  "Logan?"

  "What?"

  "Is she worth it?"

  Logan stared at his cousin for a moment, very aware of what he was asking. Finally, he nodded, slowly. "Yes. She is."

  "All right then. That's all I needed to know. Let's take care of business."

  Keegan walked back to the kitchen calling out to his twin. "Time to get the things out of the truck!"

  "Two steps ahead of you, little brother. The box is in the corner by the door."

  Logan listened as his cousins bantered back and forth, wondering for the millionth time what it was like to have a brother. Despite the fact that he had spent half his childhood with his aunt and her family, he never knew the closeness that the twins shared. A closeness that he suspected was derived as much from being brothers as from sharing their DNA.

  It would have been nice to grow up in a regular family, with siblings and parents who cared. Like Angelina. He would bet his last dollar she had left behind a big Italian family with Sunday dinners and holiday festivities like they did on television. He could only imagine how hard it must have been on her being away from them all this time.

  The urge to check on Angelina was strong enough to get his adrenaline-exhausted body up off the couch. Ignoring his cousin's stares and whispered jibes, he made his way down the hallway toward the room Aunt Clara had assigned to Angelina.

  Contemplating how reuniting Angelina with her family and her old life would affect his budding, although still mostly denied, feelings for her, Logan stopped short of the guest room door.

  Without bothering to knock, Logan gripped the doorknob and turned, grateful to find it unlocked. Angelina leaned against the center of the headboard, her arms wrapped around her knees. Her head was resting against her bent legs. Logan's heart broke at the sight of her.

  Crossing the room in a few long strides, Logan dropped onto the bed and pulled Angelina into his arms expecting her to resist. She didn't. They sat like that for a long time, Logan occasionally patting her back or smoothing her hair. He couldn't think of anything to say that would come close to consoling her, so he said nothing.

  Finally, when the front of his shirt was damp and Angelina's eyes were red and swollen, she lifted her head and looked at him. "I'm sorry."

  "For what, exactly?"

  "For dragging you into my own personal hell. For putting your life and your family in danger." Angelina jumped up off the bed and began to pace the room. "For constantly bawling like a little baby."

  Logan, figuring she needed to burn off pent up frustration, remained on the edge of the bed, watching the many emotions that clouded her pretty features.

  "You didn't drag me anywhere. I thought we talked about this already. This is what we James's do," Logan said softly.

  "I have to call witsec. Turn myself into them. They can protect me and by default, all of you."

  Logan jumped up off the bed, planting his feet firmly in Angelina's path. Taking her by the shoulders, he forced her to stop her frantic pacing. "Like they protected you before?"

  Angelina's shoulders slumped. "What other choice do I have? I don't want any of you getting hurt on my account."

  "You are that certain that my cousins and I can't hold our own against a couple of thugs? I told you, we are all in this together."

  She shrugged. "I don't know. I mean, this is my problem. Not yours. None of you should have to hold your own to begin with."

  Logan took her by the hand and led her over to the bed and settled her on the edge of it. He knelt down in front of her and took both her hands in his. "You've been alone and in hiding for a long time. You're used to looking out for yourself, I understand that. But you don't have to handle this alone. Let us help you. We want to help you. My cousins absolutely live for this kind of excitement. Why do you think they are government agents?"

  A single tear left the corner of her right eye and traveled slowly down her cheek. Logan reached up and brushed it away with his thumb.

  "I'm so tired of being afraid," she whispered. "I have spent every day since that night at the pier looking over my shoulder and expecting Salvatore to be standing there. My worst nightmare is coming true. And the worst of it is, my family already thinks I'm dead so when I turn up that way again...do you know what that will do to my mother?"

  "Nothing. Because we won't let them kill you."

  "More will come. Mark my words, Salvatore won't give up."

  "Well, then we will just have to outsmart him. Once we peg your agent with the tracking device, Witness Protection can relocate you."

  Just saying the words hurt. He had only known Angelina for a couple of days but the thought of her disappearing without a trace upset him.

  She shook her head, more tears rolling down her cheeks. "I'm tired of running." She swiped at the tears. "I hate what I have become. I'm not supposed to be a victim."

  Logan took her face in both his hands to force her to look at him. "You are not a victim, Angelina. You were doing your job—a very difficult, scary job—and thing
s went bad. But you saved a lot of women, shutting down a human trafficking ring. There is no shame in survival. It's human instinct. That's what witness protection is supposed to be there for."

  "Unless the agent assigned to your case gets on the payroll of the scum who is out to get you."

  "Lucky for you, you have three talented lawmen and one gun crazy old woman willing to serve up justice in spades."

  "What about Mulholland? How do we prove he is at the heart of all this?"

  "I'm going to check in with my lieutenant and tell him what's going on. We will figure out a way to bust him. Don't you worry."

  Angelina nodded and Logan stood up. He was almost to the door when Angelina called out to him. "Logan?"

  He stopped and turned around. Angelina was right there behind him, looking up at him through damp eyelashes. "Yes?"

  "Thank you."

  "For what?"

  "For everything."

  Logan didn't plan to kiss Angelina right then. He crossed the room in three long strides and had her in his arms before he had time to think.

  There was a sense of urgency in her movements as she trailed her fingers up and down his back, pressing closer as his tongue gently probed her lips for entrance. Angelina responded with such passion that he was instantly on fire. Logan scooped her up and lay her down against the pile of pillows on the bed. Angelina's soft moan did things to him that he was at a loss to describe even if he wanted to. Positioning himself on the bed beside her, he explored every inch of her mouth with his tongue while his hands, desperate for contact with silky skin worked their way up under the borrowed top she wore.

  "Logan…" She moaned against his lips. "We should go… help your cousins…"

  "Shhh… it's okay. The twins are more than capable of setting a few booby traps and wiring a couple of explosives."