Turn On A Dime - Kade's Turn (5 page)

She was alive. Fabulous. He was going to kill her.

The second she’d slammed the car door, he had his hand on her arm and spun her around.

“Where the
fuck
have you been?”

She gasped in surprise, her back flat against the car as she stared up at him.

“I-I’m sorry,” she stammered. “I had some errands to run. And you were sleeping. I didn’t want to wake you.”

Bullshit. She was too goody-two-shoes to be anything less than truthful and Kade could tell immediately that she was lying to him. It shouldn’t have bothered him, but it did.

“Errands that took all fucking day?” he prodded, wanting her to tell him the truth, to trust him.

“It’s the weather! Traffic is horrible. I didn’t mean to be gone so long.”

Kade stared at her. That part looked to be true, but she was still lying about where she’d been. He changed tactics. “I had to lie,” he growled, “and normally, I wouldn’t care. But I had to lie to Blane when he called to check on you.” He leaned closer to her. “I detest lying to my brother.”

Fire sparked in her eyes. “Then don’t,” she snapped. She pushed away but Kade grabbed her arm again, pulling her to a halt. He leaned down so their faces were mere inches apart.

“If you pull something like that again, I’ll save someone the trouble and kill you myself.”

His hissed words seemed to get through to her. Her eyes were wide and fearful and Kade saw her throat move as she swallowed. That knot in his gut twisted again. In spite of himself, he hated to see her afraid of him.

“Let’s go,” he said, tugging her with him toward his car.

“Wait! Where are we going? I wanted to see Blane.” She tried to pull against him to stop her forward momentum, but wasn’t nearly strong enough.

It shocked Kade at how much he hated hearing her say Blane’s name.

“Blane can’t come. He said he’d call later.”

Kade unlocked the passenger door and none-too-gently shoved her into the seat. In another moment, he was sliding behind the wheel.

“What are you doing?” she asked. “I can take my car and you can follow me.”

Fat chance of that happening. “Forget it, princess. I don’t trust you.” The nickname sprang to his lips before he could censor himself, but she didn’t seem to notice, or if she did, she didn’t mention it.

“You can’t just leave my car here!” she protested as Kade drove out of the lot.

“No one will steal it, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

She seemed to take that as a personal insult on her car, not that Kade cared. He was still trying to get a handle on his roiling emotions. Anger, worry, jealousy, guilt, desire. They were a tangled web in his mind.

It was silent in the car for the drive to her apartment, the atmosphere thick with tension. Kade gripped the steering wheel so tight, his knuckles were white, and as soon as he’d parked in her lot, she was up and out of the car.

That sparked another flame of fury and Kade was on her before she’d made it halfway up the flight of stairs, snagging her around the waist and tossing her over his shoulder. Just what he’d thought. About a buck ten.

She squeaked in surprise. “What the hell?” she yelled, grabbing his jacket as he finished climbing the stairs.

“If you’re not going to wait for me to play bodyguard, then I’ll have to keep doing things my way,” he said.

“I don’t want a bodyguard,” she fumed.

Kade swung her back down onto her feet, keeping his hands on her waist until he was sure she was steady. “Then we’re in agreement,” he snarled, “because I don’t want to be one. Now give me your keys.”

Kathleen stared daggers at him, but dug out her keys, shoving them into his waiting palm with enough spunk to make his lips tip up at the corner. Shit, she was even more beautiful when utterly pissed off, her blue eyes flashing sparks.

Pulling his gun from its holster, Kade unlocked the door and stepped inside, carefully sweeping the place before going back to the door. Kathleen very obviously made certain she didn’t touch him as she hurried past him. A moment later, she was slamming her bedroom door shut.

Kade glanced at the dog and cat snuggled together on the obnoxiously pink pet bed.

“She might be pissed,” he deadpanned. “It’s hard to tell.”

The animals didn’t react to the joke, the dog’s tongue lolling as the cat blinked lazily at him.

With a sigh, Kade tugged off his shirt and took some clothes from his suitcase. A shower would be good, and a shave. Kathleen hadn’t given him the grand welcoming tour, so he made himself at home in her bathroom, stripping off his clothes and stepping under the steaming spray.

Water was running in a warm cascade down his back when he heard the screaming.

He was out of the shower and yanking on his pants in the next breath, not bothering to fasten them, then out the door with gun in hand. Kathleen was still screaming.

Adrenaline flooded through him as he flung Kathleen’s bedroom door open. She was standing with her back to the wall and as far away from the bed as she could get, wearing nothing but her shirt…which had blood smeared on it. Kade was in front of her in two strides and she stopped screaming.

“Kathleen, what happened? Where are you hurt?” He couldn’t see any visible marks, and yet the blood was fresh. Frantically, he searched her skin, but her arms, legs, head were all unscathed.

She glanced down, seemingly unaware of what he was talking about.

“Get it off! Get if off me!” She was crying now, and yanking at her shirt until it was off, then flinging it away. Her knees suddenly gave out and she slid down the wall to the floor.

Kade dropped down in front of her, focusing his eyes on hers. She was hysterical, sobbing and shaking like a leaf.

“Kathleen, talk to me! Are you hurt?”

She gave a shake of her head. “The blood’s not mine. It’s from the eyeball.”

What the fuck? The eyeball? “From the what?” he asked, but she only pointed.

Turning, Kade got up and saw a box on the bed and something on the floor where Kathleen had indicated. Crouching down, Kade saw a human eye, still bloody and intact. Grabbing the box, he used it to get the eye off the floor, then saw the packaging it had come in. There was no return address, but a scrap of paper was still inside. Taking it out, Kade read:

Kirk
—
your girl’s baby blues are next. I’m always watching.

Blane had been right. There really was a sick fuck targeting Kathleen.

Returning to Kathleen, she asked, “What did it say?” Kade handed it to her. She read it without comment, though what little color remained in her face drained away.

There weren’t many women who could’ve handled something like that, and yet Kathleen had. She’d stopped crying. The only indication she was upset was the terror in her eyes and the tremors wracking her body. Her knees were pulled tight to her chest, as though to make herself as small as possible.

Kade sat down next to her, taking the paper from her hands and setting aside the box and his gun. He pulled her into his arms, wishing there wasn’t a sick part of him that enjoyed the feel of her skin against his despite the gruesome circumstances.

“You all right?” he asked. He couldn’t help sliding his hand down her naked back. It was a gesture meant to be soothing, though he found it was far from that for him.

She nodded. “I’m fine,” she said in a small voice.

Somehow Kade thought that would be her response no matter how badly she was hurting, upset, or afraid. But she wasn’t fine. Her whole body trembled as she curled into him.

“Sorry for the screaming,” she said, her voice slightly hoarse.

The fact that she felt she needed to apologize to him because he might be angry with her for losing it made him wince. “You’re entitled,” he said. An understatement.

Kade thought he should probably move, should probably stop touching her, but he didn’t. Her skin was like silk beneath his fingertips as they trailed lightly up and down her spine, brushing over the thin strap of her bra. He tried not to think of how easily he could undo the clasp, a skill he’d honed way back in high school, or how her naked breasts would feel pressed against his chest.

Kathleen tipped her head back and Kade automatically looked down at her. As soon as his eyes met hers, he knew he was in trouble.

“Thanks for being here,” she said, her blue gaze so trusting, it made his gut ache.

“No problem,” he replied. Though it was a problem. A big one. And if he gauged the tension between them in any kind of accurate way, it wasn’t just
his
problem. She had to feel it, too, the attraction and energy.

He couldn’t help lifting his hand to brush her hair back from her face, the clear blue of her eyes steady on him as the strands sifted through his fingers. Kade couldn’t look away from her, only too aware now of the lack of adequate separation between his hands and the parts of her body most off-limits to him.

Who the fuck was he kidding?
All
of her was off-limits, but that didn’t stop him from touching her. Her hands rested lightly on his chest and his dick was hard as a rock inside his jeans.

Her gaze drifted down his neck and chest, and suddenly Kade was glad for the hours he spent staying in shape. The line of her throat moved as she swallowed and her eyes again lifted to his. Kade’s self-control was slipping, the pull she had on him strong enough to make him forget all the reasons he had for keeping his distance. He didn’t have it in him to push her away, not when every muscle was screaming at him to pull her closer. She’d have to do it.

He slipped his hand further down her back to where the thin satin covered her incredible ass. “You know, if I didn’t know what a shitload of trouble you were, I might be persuaded to get the wrong idea,” he murmured, forcing his lips into a smirk.

Kade’s thinly veiled insinuation had the desired effect. She was on her feet and running for her closet in two seconds flat while Kade admired the view.

“You’re vile and repulsive,” she spat at him, pulling on a robe on and belting it tightly.

Check and check.

“I’m not the one throwing themselves at me,” he said, insolently shrugging.

As expected, that sent her off the deep end.

“
Throwing
themselves?” she spluttered. “You bastard! And to think I
thanked
you for being here!”

Kade got to his feet, then ducked as she launched one of those heavy, scented candles at him. She’d already sent another projectile his way and was looking for more when the candle hit the wall.

Yeah, he’d guess he wouldn’t be touching her naked back again anytime soon. But seeing her mad was better than seeing her terrified, and after she’d gotten some of it out of her system, Kade dodged the barrage and grabbed her.

Pressing her body against the wall, he pinned her arm over her head. Her wrist felt way too fragile in his grip.

“Enough,” he ordered.

“Fuck you.”

Okay, that was hot.

Her snarled insult was a pleasant surprise, and a turn-on. God, he loved a woman who could go toe-to-toe with him. He shoved the thought aside.

“You feel that?” he said, getting close enough to smell her lingering perfume. “You feel that rage inside? Burning hot in the pit of your stomach?” He’d felt it from the time he was six years old.

She nodded, her brow furrowed in confusion.

“That’s what’s going to keep you alive. Hold on to it. Fear will only sign your death warrant. Stay mad, princess.”

In the end, he couldn’t resist pressing his lips to her forehead, the satin of her skin as intoxicating as the scent of her hair. She didn’t move and he made himself grab the box and walk out of the bedroom.

Time for a cold shower.

Kade made quick work of it, bypassing shaving for now. The five o’clock shadow was more than a shadow, but it’d have to wait. After dressing, he dialed a number on his cell.

“Donovan, hey, it’s Dennon,” he said. “Listen, I have a…bit of a situation. Was hoping you could help me out.”

In a few minutes, he explained what was going on.

“I got a handle on it,” he said, “but I could use some forensics on the eyeball.”

Grabbing a pen, Kade scrawled an address on a notepad left on the kitchen counter.

“Got it. I’ll be there shortly,” he said, his cell beeping in to inform him of another call. He switched over. It was Blane.

“What a shitty fucking day,” Blane said by way of greeting. “Tell me everything’s okay with Kat.”

“Everything’s okay with Kat,” Kade echoed. He decided to hold off on telling Blane about the eye.

Blane sighed heavily. “Good. One less thing to worry about. I had an idea to throw off whoever’s watching.”

“What’s that?”

“No time to explain. I’ll show up at the bar tonight. Just tell Kat to play along, okay?”

“Will do.”
Play along
. That sounded like something Kathleen wasn’t going to like very much.

“Thanks. Gotta go.”

Kade ended the call just as Kathleen emerged from her bedroom.

She was in her work uniform of black pants and a black shirt, the neckline low enough to make his mouth water. Her skin looked like cream against the dark material, the color making her hair shine like rose gold in the ponytail she’d put it in. But the set of her lips was grim and the circles under her eyes couldn’t be fully concealed with makeup.

“I called a buddy of mine who works for the FBI,” Kade explained. “He’s going to get the eye and note examined, see if there’s anything we can find out about where it came from.”

She nodded, then hesitated before saying, “The person…the eye…they’re dead, aren’t they.”

Ah, the bleeding heart. He should’ve known that she wouldn’t be thinking about herself and the danger she was in, but about the person who’d likely died at the hands of the sick fuck who’d sent the package.

Kade’s fingers itched to touch her again and he didn’t resist the compulsion to step closer to her. She swallowed, her gaze lifting to his.

“I’d say so, yeah.”

Another nod, and he saw her hands clench into little fists. Time to change the subject.

“I talked with Blane. He’s had a bad day.”