His to Protect (9 page)
He steeled himself against the coming week. First he needed to find the witness and eliminate her, then he’d figure out where the hell to head after that. Maybe Chicago. He had some buddies from the old neighborhood who’d moved up there. The thought of dealing with snow was revolting but anything was better than the heat coming down on him here. Maybe he could move his grandma up there after a few years too. Yeah, that could work.
As he waited for her to finish cooking, one of his cell phones buzzed in his pocket.
5-0 asking about you to the boys. Stay away from the neighborhood.
Translation: the cops were questioning the 19th Street Gang about him and he better stay the hell way from them right now. So he was on his own. Ungrateful fucking bastards.
Kell scrubbed a hand over his face, feeling nervous as hell as he stood on Charlotte’s front porch. He shouldn’t be here. How many times had he told himself that he needed to stay the fuck away from her, that being around her was going to eventually slice up his heart?
But he couldn’t stay away. The woman called to him on a primal level and he was like that proverbial moth to a flame. He knew he’d end up getting burned too. Pretty soon he’d go down in a ball of flames because of his own stupidity and need.
After their last phone call and the weird way she’d been acting, he had to stop by though. It had almost sounded like she was crying, which wasn’t strange considering her circumstances, but he couldn’t help but feel like something else was going on.
He rang the doorbell and tensed as he tried to prepare himself to see her again, to prepare himself for the slam of physical need he always experienced in her presence. Not that it would do any good.
A few moments later the door swung open. Wearing snug jeans and a breast-hugging plain black T-shirt that dipped right between her breasts, she looked good enough to eat. Her face was pale, her dark eyes watery and she looked more angry than sad. She also appeared surprised to see him. “Hey.”
His tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth for a second. “Hey…I probably should have called, but you sounded upset during our last call so…” He shrugged as he trailed off, feeling awkward.
“No, it’s fine.” She stepped back, motioning with her hand for him to enter. “You want to come in?”
Always.
“Sure.” He held up a small white paper bag with pink lettering on it. He’d decided to grab her some petit fours from her favorite bakery. “Brought you something.”
Her dark gaze landed on the bag, then traveled back to him and for the first time since he’d known her he saw lust in her gaze. Pure, raw need.
For him.
He wasn’t imagining it either. He’d seen that look plenty of times from other women. Never from her though. What the hell was going on with her?
She swallowed hard and took the bag, a sad smile on her face. “You’re always so damn thoughtful.” For some reason the words sounded almost accusing.
She set the bag on the small table in the foyer, then leaned up on tiptoe and kissed him. And not on the cheek as she had a hundred times before. No, she kissed him straight on the mouth, her lips molding to his. Kell was so stunned he forgot how to breathe for a second. But only for a second.
Then he was on her, unable to leash the need he’d been carrying around for years. His hands flexed around her hips as she hoisted herself up and wrapped her legs around him. Taking him even more by surprise, she clawed at his shirt, desperate to get it off.
He backed her up against the nearest wall, needing a flat surface as he managed to shrug his shirt off.
Part of him wondered what the hell had brought this on, but he was too damn selfish to question why she’d made the decision to come to him now. He wanted her more than he wanted his next breath.
Grasping the hem of her shirt, he pulled it up her lean body to reveal full, round breasts. The simple black bra she wore was utilitarian but the way it pushed those mounds up for him…he fought a shudder and lost.
He’d been fantasizing about what the color of her nipples would be for so long. He didn’t take her bra off, but pulled the straps down so that her breasts spilled free.
Pale, pink nipples.
Now he could stop guessing. When her fingers slid into his hair, clutching on to his head, he dipped lower, sucking one of her nipples into his mouth. Flicking it with his tongue, he shuddered when she let out a loud moan and arched deeper into his mouth.
She was every fantasy he’d ever had…
A pounding sound had Kell opening his eyes. Confused, he looked around and realized he must have dozed on his couch. Of course he had to dream about
that
night with Charlotte. That hadn’t happened in forever…What the hell was that pounding?
His front door.
Pushing up, he glanced through the peephole before pulling the door open.
Vincent stood there in jeans, a sweater and holding a six-pack of beer. He lifted it up. “Figured you might want the company tonight.”
It was his first night without Charlotte and Reece, and while he hadn’t thought he would want to be around anyone, relief slid through him at the sight of his friend. He nodded. “Come on. I think there’s a game on.”
Turning on his flat screen, he collapsed on one end of the couch and Vincent handed him a beer. “You got any food?”
He nodded. “Help yourself to whatever’s in the fridge.”
After some rumbling around in the kitchen, Vincent returned a few minutes later with a bag of chips, a sandwich and a beer. He sat on the other end of the couch and began to devour his food.
As a football game played in the background Kell glanced at his cell phone on the end table next to his couch. Right now it was hard to concentrate on anything but Charlotte. He was relieved that she was able to stay with Lizzy and Porter, and after talking to her earlier tonight it was clear that she was getting along well with the other woman, but he wanted her here.
Under the same roof. Protected by him. Especially after that fucking dream. He rubbed his hand over his face as if that could erase the memories. That night had been intense, but the next morning…yeah, no need to go there.
“So what’s up with you and Charlotte? Can’t believe you moved her in here so fast.” Vincent crumpled his napkin up and threw it on his empty plate.
“Why?”
“I knew you were hung up on someone when you moved here, but moving a readymade family in like that…” He trailed off, shrugging. “It’s a big change, man. That’s all I’m saying.”
“She’s all I’ve ever wanted and we have a son together.” It was as simple as that. Now that he’d had her under his roof, even if it had only been for a few days, he knew he was never letting her go.
“You love her?”
“What do you think?” Kell hadn’t said the words to Charlotte again since that night a year ago and he sure as hell wasn’t saying it to Vincent before her.
“I almost got married once,” Vincent said a few minutes later, his gaze straight ahead on the television, his jaw tight.
Kell’s eyebrows rose. Vincent Hansen had almost been married? For as long as he’d known him the man had been more than a player. He was what their friend Lizzy called a man-whore. “Seriously?”
“Yep. After I got out of the Teams, right when I’d started working for Red Stone. I loved her too. Then one day she up and left without a single fucking word. She was just gone.” Still not looking at him, Vincent cracked open another beer and downed half of it in seconds. “I like Charlotte, but…be careful.”
Kell didn’t respond, just sipped his own beer and stared blindly at the screen. How the hell could he be careful? She already owned him, even if she didn’t know it yet.
* * * * *
Charlotte tugged her long-sleeved pink and white checkered pajama top on and went in search of Reece and Lizzy. Lizzy’s husband was working late, but they had two guards outside the expensive high rise condo.
The tall, beautiful Hispanic woman had offered—well, insisted was more like it—to take Reece off her hands so Charlotte could shower. Since Reece had gone willingly to the other woman, Charlotte had taken advantage.
She found Lizzy on the long white couch in the living room with a laptop on her lap and Reece sleeping in the bassinet next to her. Drapes had been pulled to cover the high windows that in the morning would bathe the living room and kitchen in sunlight. Lizzy looked up and smiled. “He drank one of the bottles and just went to sleep. That kid can sure eat.”
Charlotte smiled and sat on the loveseat on the other side of her sleeping son. “Tell me about it. He’s in the ninetieth percentile for height right now so something tells me he’ll be tall like Kell.” All that could change over the next couple years but Reece was a mini version of his father.
Lizzy’s dark eyes narrowed curiously at the mention of Kell. Without looking at her screen, she typed in a few commands, then shut the laptop, her gaze still on Charlotte. “What’s up with you two?”
Charlotte shrugged, not even remotely sure how to answer. She was pretty sure she’d completely fallen for Kell and had no clue what the right move was, especially considering she couldn’t even see him until this mess was settled. “Ah, I don’t know.”
“I’m totally being nosy so if I ask too many questions you don’t want to answer you won’t hurt my feeling if you tell me to shut up. That said—what made you decide to move in with him? I didn’t even know Kell had a…anyone, until Porter told me you needed a place to hide out.”
“Circumstances didn’t really give me much of a choice.” That was a vague enough answer and all she felt comfortable telling the other woman. “Not that I didn’t want to.” As soon as the words were out of her mouth she realized they were true.
No matter what she wanted to tell herself, she liked living with Kell. Liked being under the same roof as him even if the memory of their hot night together was driving her a little crazy. “Long story short, he deserves time with his son and my alcoholic sister moved back in with my parents. I was already looking for a place to move, but…” She trailed off, not wanting to get into the whole big thing with this woman no matter how nice she was.
Lizzy’s lips pulled into a thin line for a moment then she smiled. “All right, I won’t bother you with any more questions. Not until we get to know each other better…You want some hot tea?”
Charlotte nodded and turned Reece’s bassinet toward her as the other woman got up. Answering a bunch of questions was the last thing she wanted right now but she could definitely do with the female companionship. After she’d gotten pregnant with Reece she’d lost a lot of friends back in DC. She figured some people had known about her husband’s infidelities, but most people hadn’t. Or she assumed they hadn’t considering that people she’d thought were friends had come down so hard on her about something that was none of their damn business anyway.
Sighing, she laid her head back on the loveseat, listening to the sound of the teapot whistle from the other room. Tomorrow was a new day and she just prayed that whoever was after her would be found soon so she could figure out the rest of her life. One that hopefully included Kell.
Two weeks later
“Monique, this is getting really old,” Kell growled into the phone. Monique had been practically stalking him for the past two weeks, calling at all hours of the night and day. Hell, she’d even shown up at his house again a few times. Thank God Charlotte wasn’t there. After what she’d been through with her ex, he didn’t want her to think he actually wanted this woman around. The Red Stone Security guys thought Monique was fucking hilarious and a few single ones had told him to send her their way, but she was grating on his last nerve. With all the shit going on in his life and the fact that he hadn’t been able to see Charlotte or Reece over the past two weeks, his temper was on a hair trigger.
“I think I heard someone breaking into my house though,” she whispered, her voice teary.
For the brief time they’d dated she’d been cool, elegant and almost standoffish—until the last few days before he’d ended things. She’d started acting needy and…weird. “Then hang up and call the police. Stop calling and stop coming by my house or I’m filing a restraining order.” Not waiting for a response, he hung up on her.
He thought he’d gotten rid of his problem by programming his smartphone to send any calls from her number directly to voicemail. Unfortunately she must have figured it out because she’d been calling from different numbers. Up until now he’d tried to be as polite as he could, but that clearly wasn’t working so he had to try a different approach. Especially since Charlotte and Reece were coming home tonight.
The last two weeks without them had been hell. He’d spoken to Charlotte on the phone, but until he’d been absolutely sure the cartel wasn’t a problem, he hadn’t been willing to see her or Reece in person. Now Red Stone, the gang unit and vice from the police department had all confirmed that the cartel had no beef with Charlotte. She was nothing to them other than a confirmation of who’d been behind the killing of Mateo Diaz. If anything, they were probably grateful for her because without her statement to the police, they might not have ever known who’d killed Mateo. And Cecil Talley had fallen off the face of the earth. The cops had questioned his grandmother multiple times and the woman had told them she’d seen him last week and he’d said he was leaving town for good. Supposedly she didn’t know why.