Page 86 of Guarded from Corruption

“Ah, hun.” Niall wraps his arms around me, and he’s so strong and big and warm I can feel some of my tension draining away. “I just want to make sure you’re staying healthy. I was talking to Dante, and he said stress can have a huge impact on your body. And that getting enough food and rest will help.”

This Niall—the sweet, sensitive man who’ll do anything to make me feel better—is such a contradiction to the focused soldier who came storming in to save me. But I love them both equally.

Emotion swells up and I blink against the tears suddenly threatening. “I love you. So much.”

“Oh, hun. I love you, too.” He pulls me onto his lap and cups my jaw, then kisses me tenderly. His gaze is soft as he says, “I love you more than anything, Jade. And I wish I could take this hurt away from you. I wish I could fix this.”

“You are. Everything you do helps.”

Like they have since I got home, a memory slams into me unexpectedly—this time of my father pointing a gun at Niall, threatening to kill him. My nose burns and I say thickly, “I’m so sorry. I put you in danger. He could have shot you.”

“No.” He jostles me on his lap. “Jade, no. None of this is your fault. You didn’t put me in danger. And there’s no way he would have shot me. I saw the way he held that gun. He’s a novice at best.” A pause, and then more softly, “I just didn’t want you to be hurt in the crossfire.”

“Still. I can’t help thinking I should have known somehow. We weren’t close, obviously, but how did I never pick up on it?”

Guilt darkens Niall’s gaze. “We should have figured it out sooner. Not you. It’s my job to solve cases like this, and?—”

“No.” This time I’m the one adamantly denying it. I squeeze his arm in emphasis. “You protected me. Again. And my father… what he said… he was so careful. I’m not sure anyone… How did Matt figure it out?”

“Jade. Are you sure you want to talk about this now?”

“Yes. I’d rather know the facts than have to wonder about it.”

Niall sighs, his brows pinching into a V. Then he says, “Matt got this hunch—a gut feeling, really—that we were missing something. Everything looked clean, financials, no suspicious connections… But then Matt looked into your father’s history. His time at college. And that’s when he discovered the studies.”

“The studies?”

Another unhappy sigh. “Yes. Your father had been trying to create a mind-controlling drug. He was working with this guy who’d been involved with brainwashing studies with the CIA back in the sixties. And one of the compounds your father discovered… we found traces of a similar drug in some of the women who’d been taken.”

My stomach lurches. “The same stuff he gave my mother. That he wanted to give to me.”

Niall tucks me into his chest. Regret seeps through his voice. “Yeah, hun. It seems like it.”

“It just… it’s so crazy. And…” My gaze dips to my lap as I say quietly, “I just keep thinking… I should have figured it out. I’m in the medical profession. How did I miss it?”

“Ah, sweetheart.” His hand strokes down the length of my hair. “He hid it so well. And why would you ever suspect something like that? He’s your—” Niall grimaces. “Anyway. He’s in custody. And he’s not getting out of this.”

“Are you sure? What if there’s not enough proof? What if he gets out and tries to do it again? What if he comes after me? What if one of the potential clients?—”

I’m talking faster and faster as all my fears come avalanching down. “What if I can’t ever live a normal life, Niall? What if?—”

“Hun, no. That isn’t going to happen.”

“How do you know?” All my vows of staying strong are crumbling. “Am I going to have to hide here forever? You won’t want me around all the time. I won’t be able to support myself. It’ll ruin everything.”

“Hey.” Niall frames my face, holding my gaze. “Jade. I understand where your fear is coming from. But it’s not that bad. Okay? Now that the FBI has your father in custody, they’re doing a deep dive into all his history. Everything. And Matt, Leo, plus some other contacts we have around the country—they’re all searching to find every last bit of evidence against him.”

“But—”

“And we’re going to find all the clients. Potential or not. It may take some more time, and yes, I want you to have extra protection in the meantime, but it’s not forever. I promise. You won’t be stuck here, because you don’t just have me behind you; the entire team has your six. You can go shopping with Rhiannon. One of us can take you to work when you’re ready. And we have a lot of contacts in San Antonio who are happy to help.”

The pressure in my chest is still there, but it’s slowly decreasing. “And you don’t mind? What if… I’m not sure how soon I’ll be ready to leave.”

“Of course not.” Niall turns me so I’m straddling him and presses a soft kiss to my lips. “I love you, Jade. One day, I’m going to ask you to marry me. I want you here all the time.”

“Are you sure—” It takes a second to register. “Marry you?”

“Yes.” His lips curve up. “Not yet, not when everything else is so crazy. But yes. You’re the one, Jade. There’s no doubt in my mind I want to spend my life with you.”

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