Equity (Balance Sheet #3) (8 page)

“Thomas had given me a credit card because I was to always look pretty and presentable even if he called on me the last minute. I also knew where he kept a stash of ready cash. After Thomas left for a late meeting, which was probably a visit to one of his numerous mistresses, I found our passports, the cash, and packed two small bags. I didn’t want the doorman to alert Thomas of our leaving. I had to travel light. And we came home.”

“I ended up on my father’s door with my son in one hand and our bags in another. My mother welcomed us with a hug. My father didn’t. He said I’d made my choices and turned us away. I ended up in Edinburgh lucky enough to finding a small room above a small pub, where I got a job at night waiting tables. It wasn’t much. Too ashamed at my return, I didn’t call anyone I’d known. Cell phones weren’t exactly a common thing and landlines weren’t cheap. Eventually, I made a new friend. She was also in an abusive relationship and ended up sharing my small studio with her daughter Keely for a time. And we remained friends until she died two years ago of breast cancer.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.” I felt bad about my homicidal feeling towards Keely for being at Kalen’s side. Then I asked, “Thomas never came looking for you?”

She shook her head. “No… that’s not true. But it was a long time.”

She paused and I thought that might be the end of it until she spoke.

“Kalen had a rough go of it from the start. The only clothes he had for me to take when we fled were the ones from the academy he attended as a kindergartner. Blazers and slacks. The boys in our new neighborhood and school he attended here were far from the rich boy type. I remember the first time he came home with bloody face and torn shirt. I went to the school and went mad on the administration for allowing my son to be beaten up by what I found out were older boys. Kalen hadn’t complained. Instead he tried to fit in. He began talking in Gaelic like everyone when not in school. It sounded odd with his American accent, but eventually that faded. He never told me again about trouble in school. But I knew things were happening. Barely able to put food on the table, I had little choice about what to do other than taking his fancy clothes to a shop and selling them on the cheap to buy him clothes that other boys his age wore.”

“It sounds like you did your best,” I said.

“Aye, I tried. Yet, he changed. He’d been kind and a little naïve when we arrived. It didn’t take him long to become closed off and not exactly sad, but maybe a little mad at the world. I tried to talk to him and save money to change our circumstances, but there was never enough. I also knew he was probably doing things over the years to help that might not have been lawful even though he denied it. When his father finally contacted us all those years later when Kalen was in secondary school,  I left the choice up to him whether he wanted to have a relationship with his father or not.”

A heavy sigh preceded her next statement. “I think he made a deal with his father to get us out of the debt we were in to survive. He never complained to me ever about all the things we lacked. There were even times I’d show up home to a feast and Kalen had no job. I told him not to do anything illegal. He just smiled. Only once did I get a call to pick him up at the police station. And on the way out, he promised it would never happen again.”

“What was he in for?” I asked.

She shook her head. “Not for me to tell. I forgave him and he’s kept his word. Now he’s made a name for himself and done his best by me and his mates. Griffth is a godsend and like a son to me, just like Keely’s a daughter. And maybe years ago, I had hope Keely would win him over. She hasn’t. He’s only ever protected her.”

Her eye found mine and held it. “He loves us all. But with you it’s different. My son and Griff could have their pick of the lot, but neither talked about the lasses or brought them around. And I saw the way he watched you when you couldn’t see. His love runs deep even if he won’t admit it.”

If she knew the thing I’d done to destroy that love, she wouldn’t be saying that. I shook my head.

“Yes, you’ll have to trust me. He keeps things inside, not one for opening up. He doesn’t want to burden anyone or show vulnerability. But when he does…”

The car rolled to a stop and Keely looked over at me.

“Why are you taking me home?” she asked in Gaelic.

“You have work this morning?” I asked with a teasing tone and an arch of my brow.

She rolled her eyes. “I do.” She hopped out of the car and I took notice of the extra bounce in her step as she tried to have me watch her arse. It worked.

Bugger it. I drove off in sight of my next destination.

I knocked on the door with no response. I rapped a little louder after several seconds and heard muffled curses and grumbles coming from inside.

The door opened at a sleepy eyed Griffin. My best mate squinted as if he wasn’t quite sure he was seeing me.

“Kalen, hou’s is gaun?” he said with one eye open and the other half lidded.

“Aren’t you late for work?”

He grinned because we both knew I was the boss and caught him at home when he should have been at work earning his pay.

Pops and creaks came from his limbs as he stretched. He seemed to wake up more and switched to Gaelic. “We both know you pay me to be your friend.”

When he turned and let me step in, I soundly placed my palm on his shoulder. “We have work to do. Get your arse ready.”

Just then a thin naked girl stepped out of Griff’s room. “What’s all the bloody fuss?” Her accent wasn’t Scottish. It sounded English. And she looked young with skin that could be compared to milk as it lacked all color. But she had perky breasts of the youth I saw in her face.

Griff turned to face me. His grin spoke of things we didn’t have to say. I rolled my eyes.

“Aye, Darlin’.” Griff spoke the word
darling
like he was a true Southern American. He had the drawl down to a tee. He heard that word by a Texan who showed up in the wrong place many years ago. I blinked away the memory as the girl realized she and Griff weren’t alone.

“Aren’t you going to introduce me?” she asked sweetly. I tried to focus on her face and not her lithe body that moved towards me with a hand extended as if she wasn’t the only one who stood naked.

 “Kalen,” I offered when she reached me.

“Lilly,” she said and winked before she turned to head back to Griff’s room.

She had a sweet little arse that swayed as she walked. If my head wasn’t in a certain redhead, I might have taken her up on her unspoken offer. Griff and I had shared more than a few girls in the past.

Griff turned back to me and said in a thick brogue, “Whi djae wa’mae ‘ae dae ‘e noo?”

It wasn’t Gaelic, but clearly he didn’t want the lassie to understand him.

I arched a brow, silently answering his question of what I wanted to do now. His smile broadened. I shook my head and he understood it was a no. He shrugged. So went our unspoken conversation. He followed the girl in the room and I stepped further in allowing the door to shut behind me. I hoped he was sending her home. I didn’t want to be here for their round two, or two hundred knowing Griff.

The couch held promised until I wondered if it was safe to sit on or if Griff had used it with the lassie. The bedroom door opened. Lilly stepped out dressed in a clingy oversized shirt that gripped her mid-thigh by a wide band.

Griff followed and kissed her at the door. I changed my focus to give them some privacy. “Later, Darling,” he said with a wave.

Just like that, Griff switched to our native tongue. “What brings you home?” he said, landing a hard hand to my shoulder paying me back.

“I’ll tell you on the way.”

“Bro, are you here for a bromance?” Griff was one who liked to test out international slang. I wasn’t sure where he got it from—the lasses he bedded, TV or movies. Whatever it was, you could never be sure what he might say next.

“Bro? Bromance?” I asked not sure where he was going with this.

“You know, the video that went viral on YouTube? Bromance?”

Then I remembered. “That was like a few years ago.”

“Really? I just saw it the other day,” he said, looking disappointed that he was late to the bro party. “It was bloody fantastic.”

“Get your arse ready. We have stuff to do.”

Griff started walking backwards and serenaded me with lines from the song along the way. “I love you in the most heterosexual way.” And he pointed at me before blowing me a kiss. As much as I wondered why, I had to love him for being such a goof ball.

A bark of laughter left me that felt so good that I realized this was one good thing about this trip. He had a way of making me forget the shite in life and look at the bright side.

After Griff took a quick shower, we headed out. It had been because my father had a base of operation in Scotland that led him to meet my mother. And that company survived his death. The first thing I did upon arriving at the office was to take a tour and meet with key people because I hadn’t been around in many months. Griff, on the other hand, went to look for security breaches in our intranet and web servers.

By the end of the day, we needed a break and headed to the pub near home.

Stepping through the doors, my smile fell when I spotted a man-sized hand on a very familiar arse. By the time I glanced towards the face, she was walking away and through the double doors to the back where the food was made.

Next to the bar to my right, I spotted Ennis and prepared to ask him about the spot of red hair that ducked out of sight. Before I could ask, a dark haired beauty blew through the door.

Keely stopped at our table before heading to the bar for an apron. With a roll of her eye, she breezed by without a word.

Griff caught sight of me. I could feel the frown on my face. “Since when has she started working here?” I asked.

“She never stopped.” He huffed as if I should have known better. “What’s crawled up your arse?”

I looked at my best mate. “Nowt,” I growled, using another word for nothing.

He rolled his eyes and flagged down Ennis who stood stoic at the bar. “Ale,” He shouted to be heard over the crowded room.

Seconds later Keely strolled from nowhere and slapped down the ale, foam spilling over onto Griff’s lap. “Whi that noo’?” he protested.

Keely’s temper was directed at me as she hadn’t once looked away from my face. “I’ll tell you whi’s wrong with the eejit. He’s aff his heid
over that redhead lass.”

The door that led from the bar to the kitchen area opened and that redhead lass popped through, holding a tray full of food and looking pleased with herself.

“Whi’s she daen?” Keely asked.

I said nothing and they both turned to me as my jawed dropped. Bailey began to serve food with a brightness I didn’t much care for. It wasn’t so much the smile as it was that it wasn’t aimed at me. She hadn’t yet spotted us and I watched like a voyeur, not letting my eyes stop from drinking her in. I hadn’t seen her happy since before she had left that motel room.

Griff said, “So that’s the lassie that has your arse up in knots?”

I hadn’t told him about Bailey. I wasn’t sure why. I wasn’t trying to keep her a secret. It was possible I hadn’t told him because he would know. He would see through all my bull shite and know exactly what my feelings were for her. And he’d laugh his arse off if he knew she’d dumped me for another guy.

“Oh, he hasn’t told you, eh?” Keely said, her scowl deeply rooted in her pretty face. “She must be...”

Her words trailed out into a space I could no longer hear. My vision blurred with a familiar red haze. I stood, my chair scraping the floor with my sudden movement. I began to move forward with determined strides. Keely moved fast and removed the tray from Bailey’s hands just as I reached her. She stood at the table of four men where one previously had his hand on her arse.

With a shove, I pushed Bailey behind me. She protested, but I didn’t hear a word she said. Griff appeared, blocking my vision. “Whoa.” Griff’s hands were up, trying to calm me down. As much as I wanted to knock heads, I respected Ennis’s place. So I turned and ushered Bailey back through the doors she’d just come, surprising the cook. Then I shoved open the side door, leading us outside.

Bailey slapped at my grip once we were alone.

“What is your problem?” she asked, turning angry eyes up to me.

“What’s yours? Why are you here working?” And that was it, wasn’t it? She was mine and she had no business working where everyone would assume I couldn’t take care of my own.

“I wasn’t working,” she stated, shoving at my hands while I still held her.

My muscles bunched with the urge to strike something. Not Bailey, but rather the wall. I should step away, but it had been far too long and I’d crossed over the edge. I caged her in. I wanted her and I hated myself for it. She’d chosen someone else. So why the fuck was I out here with her in reach yet her heart so far from mine?

Her breaths were coming fast and she looked at me with frighten eyes. The urge to sooth took over. The back of my fingers made contact with her cheek. However, the need to kiss her made me take a frustrated step back.

We stood in a battle of iron wills. I searched her eyes for something. Anything that would tell me what was going on in that lovely head of hers. She searched mine and I kept my face blank, void of all the emotions that gathered deep in me. I couldn’t let her know just how far I’d fallen.

She’d obviously found what she was looking for because she turned and headed for the door.

“Don’t,” I said dangerously.
Don’t leave,
I almost added but wouldn’t say it. She had enough power over me as it was.

Her voice was sharp and cut into me more than she’d ever know. “Don’t what?”

Don’t fucking leave and break my heart all over again. But I didn’t say that either. “Why are you letting some arse put his fucking hands on you?” I used the full force of my brogue on her, channeling the warriors of old who would have tossed the lass over their shoulder, taken her to bed and had their way with her.

“My ass isn’t yours,” she spat as if I didn’t know that already.

“Have a care,” I said.

“What the hell does that mean? I care, I care that you made me look like I’d done something wrong in there.” She pointed her finger like it was a deadly weapon.

“And what would Turner think if he’d seen what you did?” I said triumphantly. She crossed her arms over her chest and looked away. “Why are you here working of all things anyway? I can provide you with all you need.” I could take care of her always, if she’d let me.

She flung her hands to her sides, balling them into fist. Her face flushed red, but not in embarrassment. She was preparing herself for the verbal assault I felt coming.

Her eyes tunneled into me with a fierceness I’d felt pride over. “I was bored, alright? You were out with your new girlfriend and I had nothing to do.”

I quirked a brow. It was almost cute. “Jealous?”

“No, I’m not jealous. You’re free to do whatever the hell you want. So why don’t you go back and leave me alone?”

There was a moment for me to do the right thing and leave her be. However, her jealousy gave me irrational hope. I stepped back into her and gave her little retreat to the wall at her back. I leaned in and did what I wanted to do. I pressed my lips to hers in an onslaught of need.

She started to move, so I caught her around the waist, holding her there as she melted into me. Her hand slid up my chest and fisted in my hair. Prepared to hoist her up so she could wrap her legs around my waist, I positioned my hand at her thigh.

The tug was sharp and caused me to curse under my breath. I pulled back and gazed into frosty eyes. “This can’t happen,” she declared before storming back inside.

I stood panting, trying to work out my frustration. I shifted on my feet, trying to adjust the strain in my pants. I took a shot with my fist against the wall, feeling my knuckles split against the stone. The pain was release and killed the lust in less than a second. I planted my head on the cool stones, wondering what the hell I was doing. I’d made an arse out of myself for nothing. I still lost the girl.

When I walked in, I didn’t immediately see her. I took my seat while Griff eyed me.

“So I ask again. That’s the lassie that has you all pent up?”

I nodded, not bothering with a lie. The group of men that had been flirting with my girl stared daggers at me. I felt my chest puff up, spoiling for a fight. I needed to vent my anger, and what better way that knocking heads like the old days? I knew Griff would have my back and we’d easily take the four. We had more times than not been outnumbered with worse odds.

Then she appeared. I found myself lost in her movements. She was graceful in a way I’d never noticed before. She pointedly didn’t look my way.

“Why is she here taking over my job?” a voice said from over me. I faced Keely, whose frustration seemed to rival mine.

I shifted back in my seat and pulled her into my lap. Bailey turned in time to catch Keely’s giggles. Without taking my eyes from the woman I loved, I kissed Keely with everything that belonged to the redhead half a bar away from me.

Focused on her through it all, I watched Bailey’s eyes grow wide. Then she turned and ran out the back. She was most certainly jealous.