Guardians of Stone (The Relic Seekers) (23 page)

Nathan nodded. “I don’t know if the box holds the real thing or not, but someone thinks it’s authentic.”

“Authentic enough to kill for.” Jake touched his swelling eye. “Assuming it’s real, how did the Protettori get it?”

“One of the theories is that Hitler hid the real spear before he died,” Kendall said.

“I doubt he hid it here,” Jake said.

“If this box contains the real spear,” Kendall said, “then the Protettori must have switched it and someone has figured it out.”

Jake shook his head. “Just what the world needs, another Hitler.”

“If we’re dealing with the person I think we’re dealing with, he’s probably the most dangerous individual either of you’ve encountered. I can’t let you go after him,” Nathan said.

“Let’s rest tonight. In the morning we can figure things out,” Kendall said quickly, trying to divert another confrontation. “Are you staying?”

Nathan glanced at Jake sitting on the bed. Kendall hoped her boss wouldn’t notice the rumpled covers. “Until morning. I’ll have the jet waiting at noon.”

“Did you bring a suitcase?” Kendall asked Nathan.

“No. I didn’t plan on sleeping here.”

“What about a car, or did you sprout wings?” Jake asked.

Nathan gave Jake a look he might have given an annoying dog. “I left it in town when I saw the crowd.” He stood, hands in his pockets. “Can you give us a second? I need to talk to Kendall. Alone.”

Jake wasn’t pleased, but he rose from the bed. “I’ll go see if Brandi is here. We can make her talk.” As Jake walked past Kendall, he trailed his fingers over her arm. “Don’t get too cozy with my
wife
while I’m gone.”

When the door closed, Nathan glanced at the bed, and then at Kendall’s mouth. Could he tell she’d been kissed? Almost more than kissed. She didn’t know what to do with that. It hadn’t been awful, like some kisses were, with the guy’s entire life in his lips. Jake’s kiss had set her body on fire, in a good way, making her want things she knew she shouldn’t. If Nathan hadn’t showed up when he did, she and Jake would probably still be in bed. Not sleeping.

“If he’s bothering you, I’ll fire him.” Nathan moved closer.

Kendall stood, facing Nathan. She’d never noticed how big he was. Maybe because he didn’t usually stand so close. “He’s just being Jake, and he did save my life. More than once.”

“Maybe I’ll keep him around for a while longer.” A grin played at his lips and it was hard not to stare. She’d never seen him grin. And he still hadn’t shaved. She’d never seen him this disheveled. The look was very sexy. He winced and touched his tongue to the cut on his lip.

“That’s going to hurt tomorrow,” she said.

“It hurts now.” He looked down at her lips and she wondered what he was thinking. If Jake had been standing there with a cut lip, he would have suggested she kiss it better. But not Nathan. “You’ll tell me if he gets out of line?” Nathan’s gaze moved from her lips to her eyes.

She held his gaze, refusing to glance toward the bed. Was it out of line if she wanted what Jake was offering too? But she nodded and Nathan’s eyes grew serious.

“I’m sorry I got you into this mess.”

“You don’t have to apologize. If someone’s trying to use this box for evil, we have to stop them.”

“It’s not worth you getting hurt.” He took her hand in his, and his eyes flashed with something that gave her a weightless sensation in the pit of her stomach. “When I saw that car burning, I thought you were dead.” He’d never made a move toward her and at times even seemed to be avoiding her, but there was something simmering between them that neither of them had addressed. She looked at his hand, just touching hers, and noticed the scrapes on his knuckles.

“Good grief. Did you do this fighting Jake?”

“No. I did it earlier.” He started to pull his hand back when Jake walked in the door.

“I knew I couldn’t trust you to keep your hands off my
wife
,” he mocked.

Nathan frowned at Jake. “I’m beginning to wonder why I ever hired you.”

“That makes two of us. When you want to tell me the real reason, let me know. Brandi’s not here.”

“I’ll track her down,” Nathan said. He walked to the window and made a call.

“Thought you said there wasn’t anything between you two,” Jake said, slipping up behind Kendall.

She turned and faced him. “There isn’t.”

“I’m not blind.”

“It’s not what you think. Have you eaten?”

“You’re not going to distract me with food.” He put his hand over his stomach and she heard a growl.

Nathan came back and saw the two of them standing close. His eyes narrowed.

This was not going to be a fun night. “Have you had dinner?” she asked Nathan.

He shook his head.

“Then we should get something to eat. Roberto has probably told everyone you’re here. I’ll go down and try to make it look reasonable that my brother has joined me on my honeymoon.”

“You’re not going anywhere alone,” Jake said.

“You two can’t go down there,” Kendall said. “You’ve got a swollen eye and he has a split lip.”

Jake touched his eye. “I got it when I fell down the hill on our camping trip and you had to rescue me. Remember? The black eye’s just a late bloomer.”

“What about Nathan’s lip?”

“I ran into the door earlier today,” Nathan said.

Kendall rolled her eyes and sighed. “Maybe it’s best if you do put in an appearance. Behave and act normal,” she warned. As normal as one could with a fake husband and a fake brother.

There were several people in the dining room, where Loretta was holding court in curlers and her muumuu, retelling her
harrowing experience over a plate of spaghetti. “And there I was right in the grave with him. I thought they’d never get me out.”

Kendall was glad the inn supplied American food in addition to Italian. After seeing Thomas dead and wondering if she should have warned him, she didn’t have much of an appetite. She chose a plain sandwich and a soda—she still didn’t trust the water—then she took a seat at Loretta’s table, hoping the woman’s presence would dictate that Jake and Nathan sat elsewhere, giving her room to breathe.

They didn’t. They both grabbed a plate of food and plunked down on either side of her.

“I’ve never been that close to a corpse. Rigor mortis, and all that blood.” Loretta shuddered and took a bite of spaghetti. “Boy, Jason, you got a real shiner. I didn’t notice it before.”

“Just noticed it myself,” Jake said, digging into his food. “Late bloomer.”

Loretta looked at Nathan’s split lip. “What happened to you, Nick?”

“I ran into a door.”

Loretta shook her head. “I declare, this place must be cursed. Dead bodies and open graves, people falling down hills. And on their honeymoon, no less.”

“Don’t say that,” Roberto whispered, joining them. He smiled at Nathan, who gave Roberto his reclusive billionaire smile and then concentrated on his food.

“Well, it’s true,” Loretta said. “I’ve never seen so much bad stuff happening. I hate to think what would have happened if Brandi hadn’t insisted on going to find Kara and Jason.”

Kendall put her sandwich down. “I thought Roberto sent Brandi to find us. She said she had an errand to run and he asked her to look for us.”

Roberto frowned. “I was worried, but it was her idea to look for you.”

Why would she lie?

“Even with the dead body, this is the best tour I’ve ever been on,” Loretta said. “Everybody says so. Even Gilbert.”

“What was the grave doing there?” Kendall asked.

“An old woman in town died yesterday,” Roberto said. “I’m sure it was for her.”

“I don’t think I’d want a used grave,” Loretta said, adjusting her waistband.

“Did the police say who the man was?” Kendall asked, curious who Thomas was pretending to be.

“I heard someone say his name was Thomas Little. He was a tourist.” Roberto shook his head. “So sad.”

So the dead man was using the same alias from the hotel.

“I thought I saw you and Jason when they were pulling me out of the grave,” Loretta said.

Kendall took a small bite of her sandwich. “We’d changed our minds and decided to join the tour after all.”

“Has anyone seen Brandi?” Loretta asked. “I might get her to look at my foot. I think I sprained a toe.”

“I saw her at the back of the crowd,” Roberto said. “She didn’t look well. I haven’t seen her since. She seemed worried today.”

“Well, enough of this depressing talk. What a nice surprise, Kara, having your
brother
show up on your
honeymoon
.”

“He’s always wanted to see Italy,” Jake said. “He doesn’t get out much. He’s kind of...backward.”

“We’ll take him under our wings. He’ll be hootin’ and hollerin’ in no time. Roberto will show him around, won’t you?”

“It would be my greatest honor,” Roberto said. “There’s a cozy little trattoria a couple of miles away with a bar. They have music and dancing.”

Loretta clapped her hands. “We can all go. Gilbert’s quite the dancer. You should see him clog. And the honeymooners need some fun after all this bad luck,” she said to Nathan, who made a movement with his lips that didn’t come close to resembling a smile. Loretta didn’t notice. “Though they spend most of their
time up in that room, so I’m sure they’re managing to have some fun.”

Jake kissed Kendall’s cheek. “That’s what we’re supposed to do.” He smiled at Nathan, who looked like he wanted to scalp Jake with his butter knife.

“Where’s Gilbert?” Kendall asked, wishing she’d never suggested coming downstairs in the first place. How the hell would Jake and Nathan sleep in the same room without killing each other?

“He pulled his back getting me out of that grave. Darn, I forgot. I guess he won’t be doing any dancing. There’s Brandi now.” Loretta motioned to the door of the dining room. “Oh my, she doesn’t look well.”

Brandi looked terrible. Her face was blotchy, eyes strained.

“We did just see a dead body,” Roberto said.

Loretta belched behind her napkin. “You’d think a nurse would be used to dead bodies.”

Just then, Brandi glanced at their table and the color drained from her face. Kendall studied the nurse, trying to read her shock, and slowly became aware of Loretta talking.

“I bet you’ve heard it a thousand times,” Loretta was saying.

“I’m sorry, what did you say?” Kendall asked.

“I said all the girls must envy you, having such a handsome husband and brother. I bet you and Jason will have beautiful children.”

Kendall looked back at the door, but Brandi had disappeared. Kendall stared at the empty doorway wondering why Brandi had looked so shocked to see Nathan.

“Call it,” Kendall said, holding the coin.

“Heads,” Jake said, pissed. He hated this whole mess. He didn’t know what was up between her and Nathan, but he’d never seen his boss touch anyone, let alone hug them.

“Tails,” Kendall said. “Nathan gets the sofa.”

Nathan didn’t bother to gloat. He went to the sofa and started to unfold it. Jake was glad they hadn’t known it made a bed. He liked sleeping with Kendall, even if sleeping was all they did. He watched Kendall carry the sheets she’d found over to Nathan and help him make up the pull-out.

“If you want to take a shower, I’m sure Jake could lend you some clothes. You’re about the same size.”

“He’s not wearing my underwear,” Jake said.

“Doesn’t matter,” Nathan said. “I’m leaving first thing in the morning.”

When Kendall finished helping Nathan make up his bed, she gave Jake a warning look, grabbed her pajamas and headed to the bathroom.

For the hell of it, Jake pulled a blanket from the bed and put it on the floor right beside Kendall’s bed.

Nathan scowled at him. “What are you doing?”

“Making a bed.” Jake grabbed a pillow and threw it down on the blanket. Pissing Nathan off wasn’t smart since he had the power to make his life hell, but Jake didn’t care. He was pissed too. Nathan had put them all in danger without even bothering to tell them what they were getting mixed up in. Kendall could have died. Nathan wasn’t calling anything off. Jake was going to find out who was behind this and stop them. And he was going to find out what Thomas had been doing here and who he was working for.

He turned off all but one light, took off his shirt and pants and climbed into his makeshift bed, fuming. If Nathan hadn’t arrived, Jake would probably be in bed with Kendall doing a hell of a lot more than sleeping.

Across the room, Nathan removed his shirt and slid into bed, still wearing his jeans. His eyes met Jake’s across the room, and Jake felt something cold settle in his spine, as if he were looking at something not human. Then Kendall came out of the bathroom
and tripped over him, accidentally kicking him in the ribs, and all he could think about was breathing.

“What are you doing down there?” she asked, rubbing her foot.

“Trying to sleep,” he wheezed. “Right now, I’d settle for breathing.”

Without even checking to see if he was OK, she stepped over him and got in bed. He listened to the covers rustling as she settled. He looked across the room at Nathan and saw he was watching Kendall. One big damned pajama party without any of the fun. Jake punched his pillow into obedience and closed his eyes, shutting out the smell drifting down from the bed.