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Alva took a step forward, tugging Ainsley along with her. Ainsley cooperated, looking over the top of the other woman’s head to meet Santiago’s eyes. She lifted one brow in a subtle gesture, and was rewarded with a flicker of recognition in his green eyes. He moved to let the pair of them pass, stepping to the side.
Once she was clear of Santiago, Ainsley wrapped her arms around Alva and let her body go limp. The smaller woman staggered under the sudden, unexpected weight, and Ainsley tightened her grip on Alva’s shoulders. Alva cried out in alarm as the pair of them crashed to the ground, Ainsley landing on top of her with a satisfying thud.
Brody yelped, his attention now focused on his wife. He reached out to try to help her, remembering a split second too late that Santiago was still in the room.
It was all the time Santiago needed. Ainsley watched as Santiago picked up a chair and flung it into Brody’s chest. Brody lifted his arm in defense and the gun clattered to the floor. The two men hit the ground, each one vying for the weapon. In the meantime, Alva struggled underneath Ainsley, trying to free herself. The older woman kicked and punched, but Ainsley refused to yield. She managed to grab Alva’s wrists, but Ainsley’s hands still weren’t 100 percent on board with responding to her brain’s commands, so her grip kept slipping.
Suddenly, the two men stopped grappling. Ainsley heard a muffled yelp, then someone scrambled to his feet. She looked up to see Santiago with the gun in his hand and Brody tripping for the door.
Don’t do it, she silently pleaded. She knew how angry he was—the emotion was written all over his face. He hated the Woodses for what they’d done to his sister, for what they’d done to her. But shooting Brody wasn’t going to fix things. If Santiago pulled the trigger, she knew it would haunt him for the rest of his life.
For a brief second, she thought he was going to let his anger rule. He lifted his arm, pointing the gun at Brody’s back. Then she saw the shock wash over his face as he evidently realized what he was doing. To her relief, Santiago lowered the pistol.
Brody had just made it to the doorway when Santiago grabbed him from behind. He spun the man around, drew back his arm and landed a right hook to the jaw. Brody went down like a sack of potatoes. Alva started screaming, making Ainsley wince.
Santiago helped Ainsley off Alva, giving the woman a glare that would strip the paint off a car. “Don’t you even think about leaving this room,” he said darkly. “After what you’ve done to Ainsley, I could shoot you and not lose any sleep afterward.”
Alva practically snarled as she knelt by Brody. “You won’t get away with this! Just you wait—I’ll make sure you both pay!”
Ainsley couldn’t resist taunting the woman. “I don’t think so, Alva. I have a recording of you threating me after you drugged me. And of Brody pointing the gun at me, and you two describing your plans for our deaths.”
The color drained from Alva’s face. “How is that possible?” she sputtered.
Ainsley touched the chain around her neck. “Smile,” she said sweetly. “You’re on Candid Camera.”
Santiago laughed and pressed a kiss to the side of her head. “God, you’re the best.”
A commotion sounded from the lobby, shouts of “Police!” echoing down the hall.
“In here,” Santiago yelled.
A few seconds later, the room was full of officers and emergency personnel. Santiago told them about the gun, and someone collected it and locked it away. Ainsley breathed a sigh of relief, allowing herself to relax now that she knew they were no longer in danger. The Woodses were taken into custody, and Santiago waved over an EMT, insisting he evaluate Ainsley.
Spencer pushed his way through the crowd. “What the hell happened here?” he asked, looking from Ainsley to Santiago and then back again. “You two mind filling me in?”
Ainsley looked at her cousin and very nearly started crying. She didn’t think she’d ever been so happy to see him. She tried to speak, but the words wouldn’t come.
Someone squeezed her hand, and she glanced down to find Santiago’s fingers were laced with hers. She glanced up into his warm green eyes,
and in that moment, she knew they were going to be okay. She didn’t have to be afraid any longer. He was here, by her side, and they were safe.
Taking a deep breath, she turned back to Spencer. “It’s kind of a long story...”
Chapter 14
Two weeks later
Ainsley closed her eyes and took a deep breath, counting silently to herself. In, one, two, three. Out, one, two, three.
The faint sounds of birdsong played from her phone. She’d ditched the ocean waves soon after coming home from the retreat; it was too similar to the background noise one of The Marriage Institute counselors had used at the beginning of the group sessions.
Things had moved quickly in the aftermath of the retreat. After explaining everything to Spencer and showing him and the other officers the footage her hidden camera had recorded, the Woodses had been arrested and charged with attempted murder. In the following days, she and Santiago had spent hours speaking to the district attorney, laying out all their evidence and sharing their stories. As a consequence, additional charges had been filed, including fraud and several other white-collar crimes. It was exactly the outcome they’d hoped for, the one they’d worked so hard to achieve.
And then Santiago had left.
It hadn’t been a surprise—Ainsley had known he would return to Phoenix once everything was over. But a small, irrational part of her had hoped that maybe, just maybe, he would change his mind.
She should have known better. After all, she’d told him she wasn’t expecting more than just one night. It wasn’t Santiago’s fault her heart had disobeyed her mind’s orders to stay out of it.
