He rolled his eyes, shaking his head. “We’re going to talk about this,” he told her. “Hand me the handcuffs I saw in your back pocket.”
She almost laughed as she shook her head. “They won’t do any good.”
“Why not?” he asked but relaxed ever so slightly. Hearing both her amusement as well as the distant sirens told him that she really was okay. They hadn’t harmed her and she was still his soft, sweet, wonderful woman.
“Well, they used them on me and I got out, didn’t I?” she asked, trying to figure out a way to tell him that they were toy handcuffs without announcing it to everyone in the room.
“Brianna, just hand them to me. I’ll make sure they work properly.”
She hesitated and bit her lip, unable to maintain eye contact with him. “Bri, what’s going on?” he asked carefully. The police were at the front door now, but something was very wrong here. She was turning red which meant she was trying to hide something from him.
“Let’s just allow the police officers to use their official handcuffs.”
She heard Stu’s laugh again and her face turned even brighter red. She started to walk out, but a group of men and women burst through the front door, guns drawn, wearing Kevlar vests announcing that they were either from the FBI or the police.
“There are two more in the kitchen,” she told them as they took over and Rocco’s arms wrapped around her, holding her close. She reached up and kissed his neck, ignoring the chuckles of the law enforcement people who had entered the kitchen.
A moment later, when the two men covered in white shuffled through the doors with a police officer securing their handcuffs, each of the officers nodded politely to her, all the while chuckling.
Rocco watched with interest as the two men walked out of the house, both obviously painfully embarrassed and covered in some sort of white substance. “What did you do to them?” he asked, hugging her gently.
She shrugged one shoulder as she buried her face in his chest, breathing in deeply of his Rocco-scent. “I was locked in the pantry until they could trap you here. I couldn’t allow them to kidnap you.” In a voice that only he could hear, she added, “I’m the only one who is going to be putting handcuffs on you.”
He was so startled by her brazen comment, he pulled back and looked down at her. The puzzle slowly started to fall into place and his own eyes widened. He reached down and started to pull the handcuffs out of her pocket but found one of the revolvers still tucked into her waistband. He handed that one to one of the officers. “There’s another one,” she said and pulled the second pistol from the other side of her waistband. The officer grabbed another evidence bag for that weapon. “Wait,” she told the officer who was about to walk away. “There’s more,” and she pulled all of the knives out of her pocket, dumping them into the bag with revulsion.
The officer couldn’t conceal his surprise. And his eyes actually widened even more when she pulled the other knife out of her other pocket. “I think that’s it,” she said, nodding to emphasize that she didn’t have any other weapons.
“You’re amazing,” Rocco said as he pulled her close to him again. “When do I get to use those handcuffs on you?” he chuckled.
“Never,” she said, burying her face once again. “I think I’m going to frame them and look at them every day of my life.”
He laughed and hugged her close. “Let’s get out of here,” he said while the law enforcement officers moved around the house.
Several hours later, Rocco handed her a snifter of brandy, then sat down next to her on the sofa where a fire was crackling. “I can’t believe how close I came to losing you today,” he said as he kissed her gently. “Don’t ever leave the house without at least one of Stu’s men beside you.”
She rolled her eyes and shook her head. “Only if you promise never to take down an international criminal ring on your own.”
“Done,” he said and kissed her again. “One day, you’re going to have to tell me again how you got out of that closet. But give me a little while to get over the fear of learning that you were kidnapped. I think I lost several years off of my life with that scare,” he told her.
She giggled as he nuzzled her neck, wrapping her arms around him and burrowing closer to him. “They didn’t want me. They wanted you. So don’t you go out without Stu and several of his men around you either!”
Rocco chuckled, his hand slipping underneath her soft, blue sweater. “Have no fear. I doubt Stu will let us out of his sight for a long time now.”
A tear formed and threatened to spill off of her lashes. “I thought I was going to lose you today,” she said, lifting her hand and touching his cheek. “I love you so much and the idea of never seeing you again was horrible.”
“I love you too. And you don’t have to worry about that ever again. I promise I’ll be by your side for a long, long time,” he assured her.
Epilogue
Brianna held her breath, trying to keep her hands away from her swollen belly for fear that Rocco would see her and know what was happening. She glanced at her watch, trying to calculate how far apart the contractions were.
So far, she was still okay. They were more than fifteen minutes apart. That was good, she thought as the pain slowly receded once again.
She smiled as she sipped her sparkling lemonade.
“What’s wrong?” Rocco asked, taking her hand in his, gently feeling for her pulse. “Is the baby bothering you tonight?”
The glittering lights overhead and all the sparkling guests blurred into the background as she smiled up at her husband. “I’m perfectly fine,” she said, squeezing his hand so he would stop feeling for her pulse. “Enjoy yourself,” she said with pride. “This is your night!”
Nothing was going to get in the way of Rocco enjoying this night. He was receiving an award for his generous donations to the children’s center which had allowed them to care for over one hundred additional children. It was the same center in which Brianna had been brought after her father’s suicide.
“Thank you for your donation. You can’t imagine how scary it is to think that you’re alone, only to realize that there are so many other kids in a similar situation.”
He squeezed her hand gently. “I just wish there was some way to eliminate the need for such a place.”