What Lies Within (23 page)

S
ee? I told you there was trouble.”

He watched King K step forward, studying the three people exiting the church. Three people seemingly determined to make his life difficult. They’d have to pay for that.

All of them.

“So this lady”—King nodded toward Kyla Justice with his chin—“she’s someone who can help them?”

Such menace in the question. In the gaze King kept trained on the good Ms. Justice. Ah, manipulation. It was a thing of beauty. “She’s eminently qualified—” He bowed his head. “I’m sorry.
Very
qualified.”

The second King K turned to him he knew he’d made a tactical error.

“I know what
eminently
means.” Those dark eyes narrowed. King’s menace
was now aimed squarely at him. “What? You see the way I live, you just assume I’m stupid?”

He kept his gaze down. “No, of course not. I know you’re intelligent. A stupid man could never lead people the way you do. I simply didn’t want to seem pompous in my word choices.”

“Yeah, well, too late for that.”

He forced a smile to his face. “Indeed. But as I was saying, Ms. Justice is a contractor, one of the best. If anyone can pull this job off for the church, she can.”

King K’s gaze swung back to Kyla Justice, who was getting into her car. “Well, we can’t have that now, can we?”

He let himself smile, create a sense of camaraderie. “Indeed, not.”

“It’s done.”

The finality of that surprised him. “How can you be sure?”

“Hey. I
said
it’s done.”

He considered pushing but decided it wouldn’t serve his purposes to aggravate his volatile associate further. That, and the awareness that somewhere on his person King K harbored a knife. Inclining his head, he turned to go back to his own car. “I’ll be in touch.”

“You do that.”

The young man’s glib tone set his teeth grinding. How he longed for the day when he wouldn’t have to put up with this street scum any longer. As soon as he had his way, he’d be on the phone to the police. He’d turned a blind eye to the thefts from his warehouses, but only for so long as he needed the gang.

His lips twisted in a smile. King K and his like were finished.

They just didn’t know it yet.

King K watched the rich fool drive away. Man was gettin’ on his nerves. Yeah, he was good for business. But once this was over, once he and his crew had their payoff, King and the rich man were gonna dance.

“I’m sorry
. Very
qualified.”

Like King had never heard
eminently
before. Yeah, well, no one treated him like an idiot and walked away from it.

No one.

He turned back toward the church and the more immediate concerns. No one was moving in on them either. He’d tried to make that clear. Tried to show the old folks they needed to stop. Ballat’s man did his part, messin’ up the orders and stuff. King and the 22s, they took care of makin’ sure that old saying “Accidents happen” came true. A lot. And then, finally, they set the fire.

King shook his head. These old guys were like that stupid rabbit with the battery in his back that never quits.

Well, time was up. Them thinkin’ they could just keep pushin’, just keep bringin’ people in to help, that had to end.

Now.

He turned and sauntered down the alley.

Yeah. It was time to show the church folks that he and his crew, they’d do whatever it took to protect their turf.

TWENTY-FOUR   

R
afe poured himself another cup of coffee. “It was like I was a crazy man.”

“Rafa, tell me something, okay?”

He stirred thick rich cream into his coffee. “What?”

“¿Por que un hombre no puede ser guapo e inteligente a la vez?”

His spoon stopped midstir. What did
that
have to do with anything? He looked at his sister. “What are you talking about?”

“Just answer the question, porfa.”

Rafe took a sip of his coffee and leaned back in the chair. “I don’t know, Livita. Why can’t a man be both good-looking and intelligent?”

“Porque entonces sería mujer.”

Because then he’d be a woman
.

The thought of tossing his coffee on her drifted through his mind, but he dismissed it. He’d just have to clean up the mess himself. And though they had a break in customers right now, they likely didn’t have long until things got busy again.

“Very funny, Livita. But not much help.”

“Actually, it is. You’re all upset because you acted
a lo loco
with this woman. But Rafa, men, they have trouble thinking straight when things
aren’t right with a woman. You come to a meeting with Fredrik, and there she stands. In a place you know she isn’t safe. So what do you do?” She waved one hand in the air. “You get angry. Say things a
cretino
wouldn’t say. And so? She’s angry too.
Todos
are angry, and nobody’s talking.”

He was all set to argue, but the words died on his lips. She was right. The second he saw Kyla standing there, he’d lost it. Rafe took a long drink of coffee.

“Am I right?”

He hated admitting it, but … “You’re right.” He shot her a glare.
“¿Aqui entre nos, entiendes?”

She laughed. “You think I want to tell anyone my big, brave Marine brother is afraid of a woman?”

“I’m not afraid of her.”

Liv bobbed her head, her long black hair bouncing. “Okay, then, you’re afraid of telling a woman the truth. That you love her with all your soul,
verdad?
”

He considered arguing the point but didn’t have the heart. “Verdad.”

Liv patted his shoulder. “Don’t fear, brother. Love isn’t fatal.” With that, she went back to the counter, leaving him to sit with his thoughts.

Not fatal, eh? You couldn’t tell it by him. Right now it felt like it was cutting him to pieces. Kyla Justice had been part of his life for as long as he could remember. First as a baby-sitter, who cuddled him and read him stories as he drifted off to sleep. His smile broadened. Ah, the blissful heaven of childhood.

Then, when Rafe and Annie struck up a friendship, Kyla was his buddy’s older sister. The five-year age difference between him and Annie never seemed to matter much to the two of them. They just liked hanging out together. As for Kyla, he knew she was there, on the fringes of his world, but he never really thought about her that much.

Then came that fateful day when he saw Kyla—really saw her—for the first time. When he realized she wasn’t just a neighbor, but something beautiful and fine. He’d been outside, playing croquet with Annie. The sun was just beginning to set, and Annie had just beaten him for what was probably the tenth game.

“You lose, Rafa. I’ll take ice water this time.”

He tossed her a mock grimace, but he didn’t really mind. It was the rule: losers fetch drinks, and he’d definitely been the loser that day. So he trotted
to the house, pulled the sliding-glass door open, went into the kitchen—and the sight that met his eyes stopped him in his tracks.

Kyla was there, standing by the sink, looking out the window. The colors of the sunset streamed in through the glass, touching the highlights in her auburn hair with fire, caressing her face with light. It was though she was bathed in gold.

Eyes closed, soaking in the warmth, she looked so serene, so incredibly beautiful, that it took his adolescent breath away.

Even now, all these years later, the memory of her that day moved him.

That was when everything changed. When he could no longer look her in the face, for fear she would recognize his feelings. When he ached to see her, even as he dreaded it. And since Rafe’s family lived a few houses down from the Justice family and Rafe and Annie were pals, he got to see her often. A fact that both delighted and tortured him.

He had one ally in his struggle: Annie. One look at him as he stared at Kyla, and she knew the lay of the land. Imp that she was, Annie did everything she could to throw Rafe in Kyla’s path. More than once he threatened to pound her, but she’d just grin at him.

Of course, Kyla was oblivious. At twenty, she was making her mark in college. To Rafe’s deep relief, she decided to commute rather than live in the dorms. But then disaster struck.

Kyla started dating Rafe’s jerk older brother, Berto.

He couldn’t believe his eyes the first time he saw them together. Sure, Berto was handsome and the girls flocked to him. But Kyla? She was smarter than that!

And yet, there was Kyla, tall and confident beside Berto. Rafe’s one consolation was that she didn’t hang on his handsome brother’s arm like most of his simpering girlfriends. That and the fact that he knew, deep inside, it wouldn’t last.

Because Kyla was special. And Berto didn’t treat her the way he should.

Unfortunately, Rafe was as outspoken at twelve as he was now, as determined to speak truth without the garnish. So whenever Kyla came to their house, Rafe let it be known he didn’t think she should date Berto. Which had the effect of convincing Kyla that Rafe didn’t like her.

Which was as far from the truth as it got.

Rafe shook the memories away. No point going over it again. He’d accepted long ago that Kyla Justice was as out of his life as she was out of his reach. That didn’t keep him from staying in touch with Annie. They’d been e-mailing each other since he left home. She even stayed in touch while he was overseas, which mattered more than she knew.

But for all of his friendship with Annie, Rafe knew he had to accept the facts: Kyla was out of his life.

Which was why he’d been so stunned when she walked into Cuppa Joe’s a few months ago. He’d recognized her the moment she came in. Age, hairstyle, clothes … they were all different. But it was Kyla. She still had that look about her, the look that told him she was something special. And the sight of her gave him that same jolt.

And then some.

He’d stood there, waiting for her to look at him, to remember—but she never did. At first he was disappointed, and then two noteworthy points set in.

She didn’t recognize him.

He was no longer a kid.

Suddenly opportunities seemed endless, so he gave her a warm smile and fixed her the best mocha he’d ever made. She’d been coming back almost every day since. He hoped it was as much for the smile as the mocha.

“Rafa, if you’re done daydreaming, you have customers waiting.”

He looked up. Sure enough, three people were standing there. He hadn’t even heard them come in the door. Gripping his coffee like it was the elixir of life, he stood and headed to the counter, painfully aware he didn’t have any answers where Kyla Justice was concerned. But he’d better find them. Soon.

Before his feelings drove him straight over the edge.

TWENTY-FIVE   

S
am Ballat walked into his office, headed straight to the bar, and poured himself a brandy. It was good to be back on his own turf, to steal a colloquialism from the King K.

He settled into the leather executive chair behind his desk, letting his fingers tap out his thoughts on the side of the tumbler. King K had been quite definite. Still, the thug and his gang had let him down a number of times already. As much as he’d like to believe this new wrinkle was taken care of, he didn’t dare.

He hit the intercom. “Susan, I need Mr. Wright on the line. Now.”