The Devil Inside Part 27

"I had a choice of bribing some old fat white guys into cutting us in on some gambling action, or bribing you into spending the day with me. It wasn't a close contest so here I am. I want to spend hours showing you how much I love you and just how beautiful I think you are."

"Do you have any idea how much I love you?" Emma put her hand behind Cain's neck and pulled her down to claim a kiss. Any insecurities she had of Cain not finding her attractive disappeared when her partner's tongue pushed gently against hers and Cain's hands covered her backside, pulling her closer.

"How about we answer that question in the bedroom, Mrs. Casey?" asked Cain, when they pulled apart.

"That's me, and I always will be."

They had spent so many mornings like that, so many days when Emma had rushed down to Cain's office so she could feel Hayden moving around. Had Hannah been so active? Had the picture of Emma feeding her been as sweet and beautiful? Cain could never live those stories again, and her own Mrs. Casey had stolen them from her.

"I've learned something about myself in the last month, Cain. In the end I couldn't betray you just to regain my son. For the longest time I thought it was a fair trade. You got Hayden and I'd have Hannah, but it doesn't work. We have two children, and each of them needs us for different reasons. I'd love nothing more than for you to forgive me, but if that doesn't happen we need to learn to share them."

"If you were in my shoes, Emma, would you forgive?"

Emma admitted to herself that when she had come back and wanted to see Hayden, Cain had granted access. It wasn't Cain's fault she had left and her son hated her for it, which was her own burden to carry. So she answered truthfully. "No."

"Sweetling, that might be the first honest thing you've said to me in forever."

The endearment and the rest of what she had to confess started her tears. "There's more." Through the hiccups and sobs, she got out the rest. Hayden was gone, Cain was shot, and it was all her fault.

"Who has him?"

"Giovanni Bracato."

Cain forgot the pain for a moment and closed her hand into a fist. "That fat b.a.s.t.a.r.d's going to wish he'd stayed a gleam in his father's eye."

"I've already met with him." Emma leaned back in the chair and wiped her face. She didn't think Cain would coldc.o.c.k her, but she wasn't taking any chances. The medication Cain was on could prove her wrong.

"You? I'm sure he found that highly amusing. What'd you do, ask him pretty please with sugar on top?"

Merrick's arrival was enough to defuse Cain's rampage and allay the nurses. "No, she had Mook knock out his front teeth and the rest of the boys kidnap all Bracato's kids, including his grandson, Little Gino."

Cain turned to Emma, who nodded in confirmation. "I wanted him ready to deal, and I thought his whole family would be worth Hayden."

"Listen to me carefully, the both of you. If you get him killed, start running before his body hits the floor. Run like the devil himself is chasing you, because you'll find you might prefer him to me." Cain glared at both of them in turn, and her voice was pure menace. "Nothing fancy whenever this goes down. You get my son and leave. Understand?"

"Yes," both Emma and Merrick answered.

"But, Cain," Emma said.

"Get out."

Cain was done, but neither of her visitors moved. She leveled a murderous glare at both of them, and her voice dropped to its chilliest register.

"Get the f.u.c.k out."

Chapter Thirty-Three.

Shelby stirred her coffee, hoping two pink packets of sweetener and three creamers would make it taste better. "Why is it you hardly ever blip on the radar Cain's constantly under, Muriel?"

"I'm around, Shelby, so you tell me."

"Cain's your only client?" Shelby watched as Muriel took a healthy swig from the Styrofoam cup and shivered. This one must have the makeup of a killer too if she can drink this s.h.i.t black.

"Is this a coffee date or an interrogation? If your answer's 'date,' you must not do too much of it."

"This is not a date."

"So we'll go with the interrogation, then." Muriel had on her courtroom smile, which was making Shelby nervous.

"Can't a girl be just curious?"

"Most women are, Agent Daniels, but then again most of them don't have the ability to arrest you if their curiosity hits a nerve." With one more gulp, Muriel drained the cup. "What was the question again?"

"I forget."

"Somehow that seems highly unlikely to me." The smile got wider. "My cousin Derby is my only active client, yes, but I take care of the business as well as her. She's two years older than me, but I hear tell I'm better in bed."

"I doubt it." It slipped out before Shelby could censor it.

"See there, we've come to our first nerve, and unfortunately it's a strike against me. Derby has always had a little better luck with the pretty ones. Must be that gangster thing. Attorneys are more of an acquired taste."

Shelby laughed at Muriel's easy charm. "More like a pain in the a.s.s. I spend my life trying to catch criminals, and people like you spend it trying to let them loose. And I thought I told you to call me Shelby."

"Since your next question was most probably if I've ever been involved in the family business, I thought I should address you accordingly. I wouldn't want it said in court I was disrespectful." Muriel pointed to Shelby's cup. "Another?"

"Just hanging around your family is death wish enough, thank you. Can I ask just one more question? I promise it has nothing to do with business."

"My phone number?"

Shelby shook her head and laughed again. "Maybe later, much later. What I want to know is Emma's story. I wasn't on Kyle's detail when Cain went up north, and she was history before I came to the city."

"I'm sure it's in Derby's file. Why not just read about it?"

"Because I want to hear it from you. Why'd she leave?"

There was no harm in telling the story, but Muriel was so good at her job because she was suspicious of everything. The world didn't revolve around money. It revolved around information. Something said innocently now could later be the final nail in the Casey family coffin, and she wasn't about to be the one to bury Cain.

"The truth is, this is Derby's story to tell, Shelby."

"This is off the record, Muriel. I came today because I owe Cain something. I'm sure I'll get my transfer now, and I didn't want to leave without knowing. Maybe there's something I can do to make her feel better. You know, pay her back in some way."

The confession sounded sincere enough to Muriel. "It doesn't change the fact that it's Cain you need to ask. Cain's not just my client, Shelby, she's my family. A cousin who's gone through more than her share of tragedy, all the while knowing she was being watched like a b.u.t.terfly pinned to a board. The truth is, she trusts me more than most, and she hasn't told me everything about Emma."

"I can respect that."

"Thank you," said Muriel. She watched Emma rush by the cafeteria headed toward the front entrance, followed closely by Merrick. "Would you excuse me a moment. Better yet, why not go back up and visit Cain while I tend to something. I promise I won't be long."

"Trying to ditch me?"

"Of course not, Shelby. Call it comparison shopping. I'm sure you'll go for the younger model, given a chance."

"I'll wait for you upstairs. Don't stand me up."

"And let my cousin win out? Never."

Emma was racing down the sidewalk with a nervous Merrick chasing her down. The family counselor took off in a slow jog, calling out to Merrick so she wouldn't be shot as she got closer.

"Emma, stop or I swear I'll put you over my knee when I catch up to you." Muriel gripped Emma's elbow anything but gently when she did catch her and dragged her back into the hospital and the most secluded place she could think of, the chapel. "Jesus Christ, did you learn nothing from what happened to Hayden?"

"She hates me, Muriel. I lost Hayden and kept Hannah from her, and now she hates me."

With two fingers under Emma's chin, Muriel forced her to look up. "I'd have guessed with all the time you spent up on that farm, you'd have spent some of it thinking."

"What do you mean?" Emma asked in a defeated tone.

"It's simple, Emma. You ran before, and what did it get you? Did you find happiness in anything but Hannah all those years you were gone?"

"No."

"Did you find the woman your mother wants you to be?" Muriel persisted.

"I can't be that person. Even if I could, she said I can't go back there."

"You don't have to go back, Emma, but you've got to stop running away. Derby Cain understands one thing, and that's strength. Show some and start running toward something, instead of away from her. If you don't, you're going to be lonely without her."

"She doesn't want me, Muriel. The sooner I come to grips with that, the sooner I can decide what I'm going to do with the rest of my life."

"One more talk with her is all I'm asking, only this time go in there and act like you belong at her side. You accepted the role Derby gave you as someone to be sheltered and taken care of, and look where it's gotten you. She won't give in unless you give her a reason to." Muriel stood and b.u.t.toned her jacket. Advice on legal matters was much easier to give.

"Why?"

"Why do I care?"

Emma nodded.

"Because she loves you more than she hates you. You f.u.c.ked up, Emma, but so does everyone. Granted, yours was a f.u.c.kup of a magnitude you don't often see, but"

"Okay, I get it. Any more trying to make me feel better and I may start crying again."

Laughter was coming out of the private room the nurse in ICU directed Muriel and Emma to, enough laughter for Emma to shed her doubt and find her anger. She was used to women flirting with Cain, but Cain usually rebuffed them. This sounded like Cain was responding accordingly.

The biggest shock was that it was Agent Daniels her ex-lover was playing with. "Agent Daniel, would you please excuse us," said Emma in way of a greeting.

"Sure, I was just waiting for my coffee date." The tension in the room was thick enough to make Shelby want to leave. The last thing she needed was for her superiors to read about her getting into a catfight over Cain Casey.

With a soft click of the door, Emma and Cain were alone again. Emma watched Cain take as deep a breath as she could, knowing it was the buildup to the storm.

"What in the h.e.l.l was that?" Cain's question came out in a rush.

"Shut up."

"Excuse me?"

"I said shut up. It means be quiet and listen." She moved to the bed and fought the urge to poke Cain in the chest. "I'm not going anywhere, and I refuse to be left out of the loop anymore, so get used to it. Call it a hunch, but New Orleans is big enough for both of us because I'm not going back."

She stopped to take a breath and went with poking the air in front of Cain's chest. "You're going to spend time getting to know your daughter, as I will our son. That means we'll be spending time together, sometimes even in the same room maybe. I'm sorry for what I did, I truly am, but it's the last time I'm going to say that."

"Did you just tell me to shut up?"

She couldn't help it and hoped Cain had no head injury when she slapped the top of her head. "For G.o.d's sake, is that all you just heard?"

"No, I heard the rest. Don't worry. You hit me again, though, and injury or no, I'm putting you over my knee."

"Too late, your cousin's already threatened that." Her father's words about taking chances made her roll the dice. "Tell me you don't care anything about me, and I'll walk out now. We can arrange something with Muriel to see the children. You tell me, though, or I'm not leaving."

"Emma, you know I can't do that. You're the mother of my children, and I have to respect that."

"For once forget about your traditions and your honor. This is about you and me. Tell me you don't care."

Cain closed her eyes and tried to force herself to say the words "I don't care." It would be so easy to never look at the greatest betrayal she'd ever experienced again. "I can't. As much as I want to, I can't."

The joy in Emma's eyes came back when Cain spoke her heart.

"But that doesn't mean we can go back. I can't do that either."

"I don't want to go back, Cain. I want to move forward." Emma took another chance and held her hand out to Cain, not expecting too much. She blinked back tears when Cain took it. "If all else fails I'll spill a bunch of beer on you, since it worked so well for me in the past."

"I'm willing to be civil, Emma. Don't expect too much else. We had our chance, and we blew it."

"Is it Agent Daniels?"

"It could be anyone, but our time has pa.s.sed." Emma began to pull away, and Cain squeezed her hand. "I can't, Emma. I barely survived the first time. I won't set myself up like that again, and I've got Hayden to think of."

"Fair enough. My fault, right?"

"Tell me more about Hannah?" A safe topic was what they needed to defuse the moment. Just because Cain had spent years cursing Emma's existence didn't mean she'd forgotten how soft her hands were, or how wonderful she smelled. Being this close was dangerous, but the part that did still care couldn't turn her away.

"How about I let Hannah tell you about Hannah? It's her favorite subject, after all. Unless you're tired." Emma moved her other hand to Cain's wound. It seemed like just a few hours earlier that she had looked so fragile.

"It hurts, but no more drugs. I'm alive and I can move all my parts, so the rest is just an inconvenience."

Forty minutes later Hannah had fallen asleep on Cain's bed after covering all the highlights of her life with great animation. From the moment the blue eyes turned her way, Cain lost her heart, and the past four years almost didn't matter.