“So?” I asked, popping another one of the sugary treats into my mouth. “What does that prove?”
“It doesn’t prove anything. But it’s a bit of a record, even for you. You can talk to me, Fiona. I’m more than your business partner. I’m your friend too.”
Piper had such a sweet, earnest look on her face that it made me sigh.
“I know,” I said, licking a bit of glaze off my finger. “And I appreciate you wanting to help me through this. But honestly, the only thing that eases the pain is food.”
I reached into the bag for another doughnut. My hand clutched at air. I peered into the bag. Empty already.
Damn.
*
That night, I headed out to the manor, since it was my turn to be on call. Superhero duties went on, broken heart or no broken heart.
I wandered into the library to find Lulu sitting inside. The computer hacker had recovered from Siren’s energy blast, except for the burns on her chest and arms. Even those would heal with time, which meant Lulu was back to compiling information and weaving her web of wickedness on the Internet.
“Where are the others?” I asked.
“Carmen and Sam had some society benefit to go to, and Henry and the chief had to work late.” Lulu didn’t even glance up from her monitor.
“Oh,” I said, feeling deflated. I’d hoped somebody would be around. I’d wanted to go a few rounds in the training room with Sam to burn off some of my pent-up anger and frustration.
Lulu heard the sadness in my tone. “Any word from Johnny?”
I shook my head and started pacing. “Of course not.”
Bored, I grabbed a Rubik’s Cube off Carmen’s desk in the corner and tossed it back and forth in my hands. I put it down when the plastic started to melt. Carmen got a little touchy about people messing with her stuff. But the cube was already too far gone. It slid off the desk and hit Lulu’s knee before falling to the floor and soaking into the Persian rug.
“Watch it!” Lulu said, rubbing her knee. “Some of us aren’t made out of steel, you know.”
I looked at the melted plastic, then at Lulu’s knees. What the hell? My eyes widened.
I leaned over Lulu and hit her leg. I didn’t give her the ole Fist-o-Might, but I smacked her hard enough so that it would hurt.
“Ouch! What did you do that for?” Lulu glared at me.
I hit her again.
“Fiona! What the hell are you doing?”
“I’m hitting your leg. Can you feel it?”
“Hell yeah, I feel it, and it bloody well hurts—”
Lulu’s eyes got as big and round as balloons. “I can feel it. I can feel you hitting my leg. Do it again, Fiona! Do it again!”
I was happy to oblige her.
“I can feel it! I can feel it! I can feel it!” Lulu screamed.
We started laughing. I kept hitting Lulu, and we both kept laughing and screaming and crying until the chief and Henry walked in an hour later.
They thought we were insane. At first.
Once I explained why I was playing pin the fist on Lulu, the chief whisked her away to do some tests. A few hours later, we gathered in the sick bay to get the results.
The chief pointed to some X-rays he’d taken of Lulu’s back and said a bunch of scientific mumbo-jumbo about neurons and electricity that I mostly tuned out. I loved my father, but he could be such a bore sometimes, especially when he was in doctor mode.
“Oh, get to the point, Dad,” I snapped.
“Please, chief,” Lulu begged. “What does it all mean?”
“Well, I can’t be sure without running an extensive battery of tests, but it seems that Siren’s energy ball has kick-started the dead nerves in your spine.”
“And what does that mean?” Lulu asked, clutching Henry’s hand so hard I thought it would pop off.
“It means, my dear, that one day, I think you’ll be able to walk again,” Chief Newman said.
There was complete silence.
Then, we all started screaming.
*
As it turned out, the chief was right. Siren’s energy bolt had done a number on Lulu. The huge amount of electricity she’d been hit with had fired up the synapses and nerves and other things that make up a person’s spine. In short, Siren had jumpstarted Lulu’s body into healing the damage done when she’d broken her back a few years ago. With massive amounts of physical therapy, she should be able to walk again.
The next night, the members of the Fearless Five gathered in the library to celebrate the good news with champagne and chocolate. I stood a little apart from the others, watching them laugh and talk and celebrate. I was happy for Lulu, truly I was, but I still felt sorry for myself. I wanted Johnny here to celebrate with us. I wanted...I just wanted him. Always. Forever.
Carmen detached herself from Sam and strolled in my direction. I stifled a groan and downed the rest of my champagne. I didn’t have to be a mind reader to know that another unwanted probe of my psyche was coming up. Carmen stood beside me, sipping from her own glass of champagne.
“It’s wonderful, isn’t it?” she murmured.
“It’s just ducky.”
She sighed. “I’m sorry you’re hurting, Fiona. I really, really am. But you don’t have to take it, you know. You can always do something about your situation.”
“What do you want me to do? Beg Johnny to love me?” I snapped. “Johnny has made it perfectly clear he never wants to see me ever again.”
“You’re a fighter. You’re Fiera, for crying out loud. Protector of the innocent and all that. So do what you do best. Fight for your man, Fiona. Fight for Johnny.”
Carmen moved back to Sam. He wrapped his arm around her waist, and she leaned her head on his shoulder.
Suddenly tired, I said my good-nights to everybody and went to my suite. I flopped down on my bed, grabbed the picture of Travis, and stared into his dark, smiling eyes.
“It was always so easy with you and me,” I said. “Why can’t it be that way with Johnny?”
I stroked his face with my fingers, but Travis didn’t have any answers for me.
My fingers stilled. Or maybe he did.
The truth was things hadn’t always been easy for Travis and me. Sure, we’d loved each other, but we’d also had our share of fights and arguments and problems just like everybody else did. But we’d worked through them all. Together.
I thought about Carmen’s words, about how I should fight for what I wanted. I thought about Johnny and how he made me feel. The way he listened to me, laughed with me, loved me.
“She’s right,” I whispered to Travis. “I hate to admit it, but she’s absolutely right.”
It was time to fight. Time for a new beginning.
Starting right now.
I went over to the dresser, shoved aside some of my fashion magazines, and gently put Travis’s picture down in the clear spot. He looked a little strange, a little out of place sitting there, but I knew I would get used to it.
I’d gotten used to the pain of his loss, and I’d found new love in the process. Johnny would never take Travis’s place, but he had an equal share of my heart. He was here now, and we could have a life together. A fabulous life.
All we had to do was fight for it.
I’d never been very good at waiting, and I’d never been a quitter. I wasn’t going to give up on Johnny now. Not now, not ever. Miracles really did happen. Lulu was proof of that.
Now, it was time to make a miracle of my own.
Chapter Thirty-Two
I placed a few strategic phone calls to recruit some spies and put my plan into action the very next night at Paradise Park.
After a leisurely dinner at Quicke’s, Bella, Bobby, and Johnny Bulluci strolled into the park at exactly eight o’clock. While Bobby yammered into Johnny’s ear about something, Bella flashed me a discreet thumbs-up as they walked by. Everything was in place and right on schedule.
I swallowed the rest of my raspberry-flavored
cotton candy and followed the Bullucis as the three of them wandered around the park, keeping a good distance between us. I was also wearing a floppy hat, oversized sunglasses, and a tight-fitting, black trench coat so Johnny wouldn’t spot me. Bella and Bobby chatted and laughed and even played a few of the carnival contests. Bella won every game she played, even the rigged ones. Bobby bought a large funnel cake from one of the vendors and ate all of it, despite his granddaughter’s dire warnings and hot glares.
Johnny just looked pained the whole time. I wondered if he was remembering our first date here. I hoped so. It was why I’d chosen the spot.
Bella pulled Johnny over to the enormous Ferris wheel. The ride stopped, and people filed off. At first, Johnny balked, not wanting to ride, but she whined and pleaded and begged until she got him to the front of the line. I elbowed people aside until I was right behind them. Meanwhile, Bobby went over and talked to the operator, whispering in his ear and slipping him some money.
Johnny sat down in one of the swinging carts, scooting over to the far side. Bella started to get in next to him, but stopped.
“You know what? I just remembered there’s somewhere else I need to be,” Bella said.
She stepped aside. I tossed my hat and sunglasses to Bobby and took her place.
“Hi, Johnny. What’s up?” I slid in next to him and yanked the bar down over us.
“Sorry, folks. This is a private ride,” the operator said to the other people in line.
A groan went up through the crowd. The ride started, and we sailed into the air before Johnny could protest, much less get off. Bella and Bobby waved to us once and then disappeared to check out the rest of the park. Johnny didn’t say anything, but his eyes looked frantic and confused. I smiled. It was always good to keep a man guessing.
We went round one time as the calliope music played. Then, just as we crested the top the second time, the wheel jerked to a halt. We dangled in the air, high above the shrieking carnival goers.
“Why are we stopped?” Johnny asked. “Did you have something to do with this?”
“Of course I did. So did Bella and Bobby. It was really a team effort.”
Johnny sighed. “So how long are we stuck up here?”
“Oh, we’re not coming down until you tell me why you dumped me,” I said in a cheerful tone.
Johnny stared at the city lights around us. “We’ve been through this before, Fiona.”
“Johnny, I don’t care about the past. I only care about the future and you.”
He seemed surprised. “You don’t care that I attacked you? You don’t care that I was a complete ass to you and the rest of the Fearless Five? You don’t care that I tried to kill you? You don’t care that I let my need for vengeance blind me to everything else? You don’t care—”
I put a finger on his lips. “Of course I care. But it’s nothing that we can’t work through. Together. I’m willing to try. Why aren’t you?”
“Because I’m not a superhero. I never have been, and I don’t know that I can ever be one. You’re Fiera, a member of the Fearless Five. You do good things, important things. I’m just Johnny Angel. A guy who rides around the city on a motorcycle and looks cool because it’s what his father used to do, and his grandfather before him.”
“I don’t care whether or not you’re a superhero. As for being Johnny Angel, it’s part of your family legacy, and that’s part of who you are. I understand that, and I don’t want to change it.”
“What about Travis?” he asked in a soft voice.
“What about him?”
“You’re still in love with your dead fiancé, Fiona.” Johnny looked away. “You still have his things. You still have his picture by your bed. You still wear his ring.”
I thought back to my conversation with Bella in the kitchen when she’d accused me of the same thing. The constant looks Johnny shot at my ring and Travis’s picture. It all became clear to me. Johnny thought I didn’t love him. That’s what he was really afraid of. He’d told Bella that, which is why she’d warned me to be careful with him, with his feelings.
I’d made my peace with Travis and his death. Now, it was time for Johnny to do the same.
So, I did something I’d never done before—I took the engagement ring off my finger. A white band marked its place on my hand.
“I love Travis. I always will. But there’s plenty of room in my heart, and it’s time to move on. That’s what I want to do. With you. The man I love.”
Johnny’s head snapped up. “The man you love?”
I nodded and stuffed the ring in my pocket. “The man I love. That would be you, stubborn, rock-headed ass that you are. I love you, Johnny Bulluci. Do you believe me? Or am I going to have to beat it into you?”
Johnny’s eyes lit up. “No, you don’t have to beat it into me. At least, not anymore. I love you too, Fiona.”
We kissed, and everything was fabulous. Just the way it should be.
Just the way I was going to make sure it would always be.
“Have you ever made love on a Ferris wheel?” Johnny murmured, pressing a kiss to the hollow of my throat.
I cupped his head in my hands and stared into his magnificent eyes. Passion, love, and more than a little wickedness glinted in the green depths.
I laughed. “A Ferris wheel? Aren’t you the adventurous one.”
Johnny grinned that sly, crooked grin I loved so well. “Always, baby.”
He leaned over and looked down at the people below. “Exactly how long did you tell the operator to leave us dangling up here?”
I smiled. “Thirty minutes.”
“Well then, we’ve got plenty of time, haven’t we?” Johnny said and reached for me again.
We didn’t come down for a very, very long time.
Epilogue
Three months later
Johnny and I lay sprawled on the floor in the underground kitchen at Sublime. I put my arm over the beach towel covering our bodies and snuggled closer to him.
“Super-duper once again, Mr. Bulluci,” I purred, nibbling on his ear.
“I agree. Super-duper once again, Mrs. Bulluci.”
I flashed the square diamond on my hand at him. It was almost as big as Joanne James’ was and more precious to me than anything—except Johnny himself. “Not Mrs. Bulluci just yet. We only got engaged last week. And I’m keeping my name. Or at least hyphenating it.”
Johnny grinned. “Fiona Fine-Bulluci. I like the sound of that. Especially the last part.”
Johnny put his arm around me and pulled me closer. I rested my head on his shoulder, happy, content, and suitably satiated. After taking a dip in the pool, we’d come to the kitchen for a midnight snack. But, of course, things had gotten a little heated between the two of us, especially since I made a point to keep a couple of cans of chocolate whipped cream in the refrigerator at all times now.
The door to the kitchen creaked open, and a walker appeared, followed by Lulu. She shoved the metal device forward and dragged her feet toward it. Lulu couldn’t walk on her own yet, but she was getting a little stronger every day. Her hands clenched around the frame, and her face was set and determined. Henry followed along behind her.
“Why don’t you just use your wheelchair? Just for tonight?” Henry asked.
“No,” Lulu snapped. “Using the walker is part of my physical therapy. You know that. Besides, I made a promise to myself that I was going to walk down the aisle at our wedding, and I intend to keep it. No matter how much it might hurt right now.”
“But Lulu—”
The words died on Henry’s lips as he caught sight of Johnny and me lying on the floor. Lulu spotted us a second later.
Lulu put a hand over her eyes. “Don’t mind us. We just came in to get some coffee. We don’t see a thing.” She peeked between her fingers. “Well, not much. Nice abs, Johnny.”
“Thanks, Lulu.”
I not-so-gently punched him in his perfect abs. Johnny just grinned. Henry stared at us while
Lulu rustled around in one of the refrigerators.
Henry straightened his ever-present, polka-dot bow tie. Then, he turned to Lulu and picked her up.
“Henry!” she squealed. “What are you doing?”
He pressed a quick kiss to her lips. “I don’t think I’m in the mood for coffee anymore. Are you?”
Lulu looked at Henry, then down at us.
“Ohhh,” Lulu drawled. She wrapped her arms around his neck. “Well, when you put it like that, I think I’ve had enough coffee tonight too.”
Henry headed for the door. Lulu waved at us.
“Hey, Fiona,” she called out just before the door swung shut behind them. “Try not to melt the floor tiles again, okay?”
I sat up, fingers sparking, ready to light Lulu’s hair up like a firecracker. But before I could focus my power, Johnny pulled me back down on top of him. His hands moved down my body, and I started thinking about a different sort of fire.
“Let them have their fun, baby,” he whispered, stroking me. “So we can have ours.”
I threw my head back and enjoyed the liquid fire coursing through me. Then, I reached for the almost-empty can of whipped cream we’d dropped in our haste.
“Well, let the good times roll,” I said.
JINX – BOOK THREE
Thanks to her unwanted superpower, fashion designer Bella Bulluci may be the luckiest woman in Bigtime, N.Y. But luck can be good or bad, and it seems like just as many embarrassing things happen to Bella as do positive ones.
Like when a charity event that Bella plans get crashed by Hangman, a deadly ubervillain who’s after a prize sapphire that’s on display. Hangman almost succeeds in stealing the jewel for his evil ubervillain boss, Prism, but Bella’s luck helps her escape with the sapphire—along with some help from the suave and charming Debonair.
Debonair’s not an ubervillain, but he’s not really a superhero either. Still, Bella can’t help but fall for him, despite her personal vow to have as little to do with heroes and villains as possible. But with Hangman and Prism still after the sapphire, Bella’s going to need every bit of her luck power just to survive....