“But yes, my dear.”
He’d heard enough. Michael spun into the doorway and faced them.
There were two thugs, men built like stud bulls. They were dressed in immaculate suits, but the image of civility stopped right there. They looked like bouncers at some seedy nightclub, and he thought he recognized one of them from his days on the force. They were thick-necked and heavy-jowled, and seemed to have been squeezed into their suits. With one glance Michael understood Jenny’s fear. One of the men had a syringe, and he was holding it toward Jenny like a gun.
What the hell? Michael’s mind raced. He’d seen syringes in his time, held by drug addicts and wielded like weapons. This one was different, though. These people wanted Jenny’s baby. At worst the syringe would contain an anesthetic and, unless Gloria was a complete fool, it wouldn’t be harmful to an unborn child. Or its mother.
There was no sign of any gun, and why should there be? They wouldn’t need one. Two large men and one woman against a very pregnant Jenny? What were the odds?
Jenny would be no match at all.
Nor was there any guarantee Michael could do better, he thought grimly. He wasn’t carrying his gun. He was fit and well trained, but he wasn’t as tall or as heavy as either of these guys. He moved into the room and stepped aside, leaving the doorway clear. Then he stood still, loose-limbed and watchful.
Unnecessary violence wasn’t his style. Besides which, there was a really good chance he could lose. What he needed here was logic.
“That’s enough,” he said flatly. “You’re scaring the lady, and she’d like you to leave.” His voice was soft, with just the faintest undertone of menace. “Now.”
“Who-” He’d caught them by surprise. Gloria wheeled to face him. “Who are you?”
“I’m Jenny’s husband,” Michael told her. “I’m asking you to go.”
There was a long, drawn-out moment of absolute silence in which it seemed the whole world stood still. Jenny’s face was drained of all color. She’d backed away from the men and stood with her hands behind her to hold the table, as though she had need of its support.
Her eyes had flickered once to Michael as he entered, but her gaze returned to the first thug’s hand. They were fixed on the syringe.
She wouldn’t be thinking the way he was, Michael knew. She’d be terrified of the syringe for her baby’s sake.
But the threat was fading. The guy wielding the syringe hadn’t moved. He was the one Michael had recognized, and there was a trace of uncertainty in his eyes.
“Bruno,” Michael said. “What the hell are you doing here?”
Bruno’s hand dropped to his side. “He’s a cop,” he said into the stillness. “I know him.” It obviously made a difference. Bruno would do a lot for money, Michael thought grimly, but violence-kidnapping and assault-in front of cops was out of his league. Michael had arrested him in a drug bust years back. Just as well Bruno didn’t know he had left the force.
Bruno’s eyes were on Gloria, and Gloria was obviously thinking fast. The lady was diminutive and beautifully groomed, dressed in an immaculate soft gray suit that must have set the estate back thousands. Her dark hair was perfectly coiffed, her eyebrows penciled into lines of permanent astonishment, and her pearls looked to be worth a king’s ransom.
She had the appearance of a woman in charge of her world.
She wasn’t in charge now. Michael could see a whole gamut of emotions race across her features as her sharp, intelligent eyes summed him up. She cast a quick glance at Bruno and saw his uncertainty. It added to her own.
He saw her other henchman’s muscles tense and involuntarily tensed his own. He had to deflect the violence fast. Michael was superbly muscled and trained to use his body to good effect, but there were two against one here, and he was no Superman.
“Yeah, I’m a cop, and I wouldn’t do anything stupid,” he said into the silence. “It’s not worth it. It will achieve nothing and get you into so much trouble your heads will spin. All the money in the world won’t get you out of it.”
And then he waited.
While Gloria thought.
What were her options? he asked himself, his eyes not leaving her face. Keep going? Make her men bash him-if they would-and take Jenny by force?
“Even if you hurt me,” he said pleasantly, “I have a large extended family who will move to protect Jenny, plus the police force. She’s not alone. She has me-her husband-and she has in-laws and connections. If you succeed in taking Jenny out of the country, we’d invoke the full force of the law in having her and her baby returned. The Lords and the Maitlands are a powerful force in Austin. This is our territory, and you’re not welcome.”
Silence. The woman’s face contorted in fury.
“What are you being paid?” she demanded at last, her voice furious.
“I’m sorry?” Michael showed polite surprise, nothing more. His eyebrows arched as if he couldn’t make any sense of what he was hearing.
“What has the girl promised you?”
“I don’t understand.”
“You won’t get any of it. The child stands to inherit, but the girl herself… She’s as poor as a churchmouse.”
“If we’re talking about Jenny-”
“Of course we’re talking about Jenny. My daughter-in-law. But if she’s-”
“You know, I don’t think she is your daughter-in-law anymore,” Michael said evenly, his eyes flicking to Jenny and then moving away. Hell, she looked dreadful. If he kept looking at her, he’d slug someone. “She was only your daughter-in-law while she was married to your son. But she’s no longer married to your son. She’s married to me.”
“You really married her?”
He didn’t just want to slug
“Why on earth-”
“That’s none of your business.” Michael’s voice was flint hard. “Get out.”
“No.” Gloria smiled then, and at her nod, Bruno carefully replaced the cap on the syringe. He placed the sealed syringe in his pocket, and Jenny’s breath came out in a rush of relief. “Not quite yet.”
“Now.” Michael took one dangerous step forward, but Gloria put up two beautifully manicured hands.
“There’s no need.”
“There is.”
“How much do you want?”
It was a raw demand, thrown bluntly into the room, and it had the effect of making Michael stop dead.
“What?”
“I assume there’s money in here somewhere.” Gloria cast a disdainful look at Jenny. “I have no idea what terms you’ve agreed on, but I’ll make it worth your while to forget them. You can say you married her when you were drunk. I’ll pay you off, and we’ll have your marriage annulled. You’ll find me more than generous.”
“Generous?” Michael’s eyes were watchful, carefully assessing.
“More than generous.” Gloria’s mouth twisted into the self-satisfied smile of someone who knew everyone had his price. “Say two hundred thousand?”
“American dollars?”
“Pounds sterling.” The smugness grew more pronounced. “That’s about three hundred thousand of your-”
“I know what it’s worth.” Michael’s eyes narrowed. “You’d pay that much? You must really want her.”
“I want nothing about her. I just want the baby.”
“I’m not-” Jenny spoke from the other side of the room, but Gloria turned on her like a snake.
“Quiet, girl. We’re talking business.”
“How high will you go?” Michael asked idly, and waited.
Gloria looked at him assessingly.
