Forever Betrayed: Forever Bluegrass #3 (19 page)

“And I also want you to have this,” Dani reached into her bra and Zain heard something click.

“Mom!”

“What, do you think I’m going streaking?” Dani asked with a mischievous grin.

Zain didn’t know what to think, especially when he saw his mom pull a switchblade from her bra. He was definitely Googling her tonight.

“Here, dear. Take this, too. It has this clip. You can fasten it to your bra right between your breasts. All you have to do to open it is this.” His mother demonstrated how to flick the knife so the blade flipped out. “It’s best to do it all in one motion. That way your attacker will never see it coming. Here, try it.”

“Mom?” Zain asked as if he were seeing his mother in a whole new light.

“Not now, dear. Let me show Mila how to flick this knife open real quick.”

Zain looked over to Jackson and took in his rounded eyes. At lease he wasn’t the only one startled by seeing his mother with a switchblade. And even worse, she knew exactly how to use it. Casually, Jackson pulled out his phone and typed something. Zain watched and his eyebrows shot up as he looked again at Dani.

“Do you have any idea what our parents did before we were born?” Jackson whispered.

Zain shook his head. They were his parents. They didn’t do anything. They were kind of boring really. He knew his father fell in love at first sight with his mother and that Kenna introduced them. He knew Kenna and his mom had worked together in New York City before Kenna came to Kentucky for a job. A couple months later, his mom relocated to Kentucky as well. Nothing exciting about that.

Jackson handed him his phone.

Day two of testimony in the massive corruption and murder case rocking the nation is set to take place today. Danielle De Lucca, a paralegal from GTH law firm, is set to testify on the corruption of FBI Agent Edwards, whom she stabbed in the leg during an altercation in Keeneston, Kentucky, before she and Mrs. McKenna Ashton were shot in an attempted assassination. Further, Miss De Lucca is set to provide testimony connecting Edwards to Senator Bruce and Judge Dick LeMaster. Yesterday’s explosive testimony from Mrs. Ashton, combined with expected testimony from Miss De Lucca, Paige Davies, and FBI Agent Cole Parker, is sure to lead to a conviction.

“What the . . .?”

“Not now dear. We can discuss this later.”

“This has my mom and dad’s name in it, too,” Jackson said as he continued to scroll through the article.

“Not now, Jackson,” Dani snapped. “Now you need to get your head into the game. Put that away. Yes, we weren’t boring women who just sat around knitting and waiting for a man to walk by and ask us to marry him. And, believe it or not, none of you were born through immaculate conception either.”

“That’s not right, Dani,” Jackson said, shaking his head.

“What is right is you have a job to do and that’s to be aware of everything going on around you. Guard our girl here and then we can discuss our previous lives if you really want. Now, Mila, do you feel comfortable with the knife?” Dani asked.

“As much as I can be in a minute of working with it,” she said as she clipped it to her bra.

“Good. I have to get back inside and deal with the bathroom, and you have a summit to finish.” Zain watched his mother walk back toward the house in her summer dress and pearls. His mother had been shot? She had stabbed someone in the leg?

“Come on, let’s get this panel done,” Zain said as he wrapped his arm around Mila’s waist.

Cy met them at the door. “I’m filling in for Abby.”

Mila nodded. “Good. You’re scarier than she is.”

“You have no idea,” Cy grinned.

“No, I do. I’m the only one who did her research.” She winked before sauntering into the room.

Cy chuckled. “I like her. She has spunk. Better than those bimbos you were with before.” Cy punched Zain in the arm and followed Mila into the conference room.

“I like her, too.” Jackson smirked before hitting his arm as well.

Zain shook his head. Yeah, he liked her, too. A lot.

CHAPTER TWENTY

Zain smiled and shook another hand. The meeting had just ended, and his mother was ushering everyone to the dining room for a night of French cuisine. Anton was surely beside himself in the kitchen. Cy was standing behind Mila and giving anyone who walked by the death glare. Seeing him this way was different from the farm owner he’d been since he had married. It also answered the question of whether Reagan and Riley were exaggerating when they said their dad scared off their dates.

Zain headed across the room toward Mila, but the door opened and his father walked in. He expected Mo to come to him, but instead he went over to Mila. Zain’s phone buzzed with a text message. He looked down at it and smiled. His plan was ready. He typed quickly and then headed over to Mila and his father.

Before he got there, Mila threw her arms around his father’s neck and hugged him. “Thank you so much, Prince Ali Rahman.”

“Please, call me Mo.”

Zain stopped next to the group and looked at his father.

“I owed your girlfriend, Mila, an apology,” his father explained.

“You must give a wonderful apology.” Zain grinned with relief. He was filled with pride when his father referred to Mila as his girlfriend.

“I've gotten good at it after thirty years of marriage. You will, too,” Mo winked with
that
look on his face once again. That I-want-to-be-a-grandfather look.

However, this time it didn’t send Zain into a panic attack. The thought of marriage was like a warm glow to his heart. He liked the idea. As he looked at Mila smiling and talking to Cy, the idea took root.

“Son, before the summit is over, let’s have a quick chat in the living room,” his father said, referring to the comfortable room with the large TV and overstuffed couches. It had been the cozy room in the massive house. The place where their toys had been spread all over, the place from which they cheered on Kentucky basketball, and the place where they were just an ordinary family.

“Sure, Dad.” Zain pressed his hand to Mila’s back to get her attention. “Why don’t you go back to my place and check on Squirrel. Wyatt said instructions would be left beside the cage. I’ll meet you there after dinner. Jamal may beat me back, so don’t be surprised. Okay?”

“I forgot about poor Squirrel!” Mila grabbed her notepad and shoved it in her purse.

Zain stopped her from running out of the room without a backward glance. “Don’t I get a kiss goodbye?” he whispered against her ear. When he looked down at her face, he saw his future. In that blink of an eye, he knew. He knew it with every fiber of his heart. This was the woman for him. The woman he wanted by his side and in his bed for the rest of his life. He knew it the second she rolled her eyes and rose up on her toes to place a kiss on his lips.

“Now, do you think you can survive until we see each other after dinner?”

“Saucy minx. The better question is if you can think of all the different things I’m going to do to you when I get back.” Zain’s grin widened as she blushed. He loved it. The way she was just her. She wasn’t anyone else. She wasn’t trying to be a model, a princess, or what she thought he wanted. She was just Mila, and he loved her for it.

Zain watched her as she headed out the door. But she stopped and hurried back to him. She rose up on her toes and leaned into him. He thought she was going to kiss him, but instead she whispered into his ear this time. “While you are in your dinner, know that I’ll be naked in your bed.” She gave him a quirky grin and hurried from the room.

Mila couldn’t believe she did that. She wasn’t a flirty type of woman. But with Zain, it was playful and fun. She knew he wouldn’t laugh at her bad attempt at seduction. Instead, he encouraged her to open up even more. She could make all the corny jokes she wanted. She didn’t need to worry about censoring her words, or if she snorted when she laughed too hard. It was liberating being with Zain.

Mila got on the golf cart Cy was driving and thought about seeing Zain again. She watched the two-story federal-style brick house come into view. It was at least a mile from the main house and completely surrounded by horse pastures. It had a good-sized yard from what she could tell and seemed rather homey with flowers blooming in window boxes.

“Stay between us,” Cy ordered as he pulled a gun from beneath his suit coat and unlocked the front door.

Jackson was similarly armed behind her as the three of them slowly entered the house. They cleared the living room and Mila was told to sit on the couch while they searched the rest of the house. Jackson stayed on the ground floor while Cy went upstairs to the bedrooms. It gave her a chance to look around. There were pictures of family and friends on the built-in bookcases on each side of the fireplace. The shelves were also filled with books ranging from political nonfiction to spy novels. Fitting, since she was sitting here with a spy checking the house.

And to think, a week ago she was at a boring D.C. dinner party and now she was sitting in a prince’s house with a spy and a FBI agent. Mila shook her head. In one week, she’d fallen in love, made new friends who seemed more dear to her than the people she’d been working with for the past four years, and gotten fired. Right now she didn’t know if she should laugh or cry. Everything was so up in the air. She’d been strangled by an attacker, pointed at by her colleagues, and made love to by the man she loved.

“Is there a reason there’s a squirrel in the kitchen?” Cy asked as he holstered his gun.

“Squirrel!” Mila hurried to the kitchen and found the little creature curled up in a fleece blanket in a wire dog cage sitting on the counter. A tiny bright-blue cast looked like a band on his front leg as his big eyes blinked up at her. She would have sworn the little guy was happy to see her. “Let’s see what that nice vet has to say about you,” she cooed as Jackson placed their dinner order.

Squirrel had a broken ankle and had been rehydrated. Wyatt guessed he was around eight weeks old and left instructions to keep the water bottle filled and to give him as many apples, veggies, and nuts as he wanted. Mila made her way to the refrigerator and found some kale and carrots. In a bowl on the island, she found some apples and went about making dinner for Squirrel.

By the time she finished, their dinner had arrived from the café. Mila and the men talked while they ate. They were gentlemen through and through. They even held off talking about football until she left the room. After dinner, she made her excuses about being tired and followed Jackson upstairs. He showed her Zain’s room and promised to be right downstairs if she needed anything.

Mila took a slow turn around the large room. A king-sized bed covered with an ivory and chocolate brown comforter filled the middle of the room between two large windows. On the right of the room was a fireplace with a walnut-colored leather loveseat in front of it. To the left was what looked to be doors to closets and possibly a bathroom. Mila opened the first door and found a large walk-in closet. The second door opened to a master bath. There was a tiled shower encased in glass, a double vanity with ivory marble countertops, and a large soaking tub.

Mila peeled off her clothes and turned on the water. She could take a bath and wait for Zain in his bed, just as she promised. Mila stood naked in the mirror as she worked the knot on the scarf. Finally she pulled it free and the reality of the day hit her as she saw her bruised neck. She should have learned from all the fairy tales she’d read as a child that the prince always rescued the damsel after something happened to her. A sleeping spell, locked in a tower with a beast, eating a poisoned apple . . . but this wasn’t a fairy tale. There may be a prince involved, but she wasn’t a damsel waiting to be saved. She might not be tough like Abby, but that didn’t mean she would just sit back and take it either.

Mila stepped into the tub and sighed. It was time for her to examine all the evidence. Maybe she couldn’t catch the person responsible physically, but she might be able to find some clues that pointed to the culprit.

Mila closed her eyes as the warm water soothed her tense body. She replayed the meetings between Surman and Germany to see if she’d heard anything out of normal. Next she focused on what she’d overheard in the library. She was so into the moment that she even heard the sound of the secret door opening. Mila’s eyes popped open. It wasn’t her remembering the library. Someone had just come into the room.

“Zain?” Mila called out. She heard another door close and thought it was either the person leaving or going into the closet. “Zain? Is that you?”

She heard footsteps as whoever it was walked toward the bathroom. The door that had been half-closed was pulled open as a man strode in. Mila heard her own breath exhale. “That was a mean trick to play on me. You scared me to death."

“Sorry, I didn’t hear you—” He stopped talking when he saw her. Mila tried not to grin and ruin what she hoped was a seductive look.

“I take it from the way you’re looking at me that you’ve missed me.” Mila blushed and decided to go for it. She was going to seduce the hell out of him. She stood up slowly. The water slid over the curves of her body. Zain’s eyes grew wide. “Now get over here and kiss me.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he said with a grin as he hurried over to her.

Mila ran her fingers through his hair and pulled his mouth to hers. The kiss was hot, but it wasn’t making her stomach flip. His touch was rougher this time. Was Zain’s mind elsewhere? Mila pulled back to ask him and paused. “Did you change ties?”

“Change ties?”

Mila narrowed her eyes as she looked at the man holding her and then screamed for all she was worth as she lashed out with a punch.

Zain was exhausted. Dinner had run longer than he thought as debates over some of the unresolved issues flared. He had managed to put the thought of a naked Mila waiting for him out of his head while he and Jamal worked to garner support for agreements between the countries. Once dinner was over, Jamal had offered to stay behind to talk with Tahjad. It looked as if the king might be swayed to support the nanotech lab before the meeting but had insisted on talking to Jamal. Zain left Jamal and a contingent of guards to hammer out the details.

Zain and Dylan pulled up to his house. Cade and Annie were going to take the night shift downstairs. “Thanks, Dylan. Get some rest. I thought this would be an easy assignment for you all,” Zain said shaking his head.

“No big deal,” Dylan said in his normal, less-is-more fashion.

“It
is
a big deal. I don’t know who to trust so you all are having to work long shifts to keep us safe. I’m putting your lives in dangers . . . my best friends.” Zain ran his hand over his short hair. Not only was Mila in danger because she meant something to him, but his friends were, too. The guilt of it had been weighing heavily on him all day.

Dylan shrugged. “This is a vacation for me. You’re our friend. It’s what we do. Now, that’s the extent of my male bonding that doesn’t include a bottle of bourbon and an I-might-die-at-any-second scenario.”

The corner of Zain's lips tilted up as he watched his friend get back in the car. Zain used his key to unlock the front door. Jackson and Cy both had guns trained on him by the time the door opened.

“Hey, guys,” Zain said as he shut the door.

Cy and Jackson looked at each other in confusion. “If he’s Zain, who’s upstairs?” Cy asked a second before a scream ripped through the house. Zain didn’t wait for Cy or Jackson to take the lead. He was already halfway toward the stairs before Jackson sprinted past him with his gun drawn.

“Shh,” Zain heard from his room as the screaming continued. “Why are you screaming? You asked me to kiss you!”

“Shit,” Zain cursed as he shoved by a now-frozen Jackson. He looked into his bathroom and saw why. Mila was completely nude and Gabe stood staring at her in bewilderment.

Cy lowered his weapon as Zain rushed to cover Mila with a towel. “You should have told us it was you. We thought it was Zain and then almost shot your brother when he showed up,” Cy lectured.

Mila shivered as he wrapped her up in a towel. Zain stood in front of her, blocking her from view of the men crowded into his bathroom. The confusion and fear in her eyes had him spitting mad. “What the hell, Gabe?” Zain asked as he shoved his brother out of the bathroom.

Gabe was Zain’s twin in almost every way. His eyes were slightly lighter and he was a smidge shorter than Zain, but that was all. Most of his friends could only tell a difference in the way they spoke. Zain was more serious. Gabe, not so much.

“You told me to come home for an old switcheroo. I just thought a woman who snuck into your room and then ordered me to kiss her wouldn't care if it was me or you doing the kissing.”

“Damn, son,” Cy said as he shook his head pitifully at Gabe.

Jackson covered his eyes. “This isn’t going to be pretty.”

Zain rammed his fist into his brother’s stomach, sending him crumpling to the ground as he gasped for air. Mila cringed as Gabe fell to the floor. She looked between the twins. “I thought your brother was in South America.”

“He was. I asked him to come home this morning. He’s going to be me for a while.”

Gabe coughed as he struggled to stand up. “And I was enjoying that until you punched me. What is going on? You always kick the groupies out.”