Honor Unraveled (36 page)

When they headed down the hallway, Casey broke free from Kit and hugged Selena. Selena wrapped her arms around Casey. “You’re gonna be fine now, grasshopper. Your folks are here. It’s all good.”

Casey nodded and stepped back. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“I’m fine. I bleed like this when I get mad, ’s’all.”

Casey laughed. “I guess we better not make you mad, then!”

Selena mussed Casey’s hair, then continued down the hall with Kelan.

“She fucking caught Amir,” Val said as he watched Selena walk away. “Jesus Christ, you guys. She caught him.”

“How’d he get in here?” Kit asked.

“I’ll have to review the tapes,” Greer said. “He didn’t trigger any alarms.”

Kelan reappeared in the hallway. “Figured out how he got in. He was in Selena’s trunk.”

Kit cursed. Ivy couldn’t suppress the shiver that cut through her when she thought how much worse things might have been if Amir had tried to take Casey from the camp.

Selena was right behind Kelan. “Kit—I remembered something else. The boys were on a schedule. One of them told the leader that it was ‘time,’ and then they left us alone. What if they were covering for Amir, giving him time to get in the trunk?”

“How would they know you’d leave tonight?” Owen asked.

“It’s a reasonable guess,” Kit said. “After what happened to Casey, it would make sense that I’d want her brought home.”

“How did he know Selena was Casey’s bodyguard?” Ivy asked Kit.

“Again, a reasonable guess.” Kit looked at Ivy. “She was assigned to Casey’s group.”

“Greer, check-in with Max,” Owen ordered. “He needs an update on this. Don’t know how the boys fit in, but they’re definitely another complication. They can go places where adult skinheads can’t.” He looked upstairs where the women were watching the group. “Excitement’s over for the night. Rocco, Val, clear the premises. Greer, look at the garage footage. Make sure Amir was alone in that trunk. Kit, why don’t you call it a night? I’ll wait up for Selena. Ladies, wait there until your rooms have been cleared.”

“Owen,” Mandy called down from the bridge that crossed over the foyer. She was holding a sleeping Zavi. “The fourth room down is free, next to Fiona. Why not put Selena there for the night?”

“Will do. Thanks, Mandy.” He nodded.

* * *

Kit turned his girls back down the hallway. Rocco and Val had gone ahead of them to clear their rooms. They came out of Kit’s room as the three entered the sitting area. “All clear, Kit,” Rocco told him. He followed Val upstairs to check out Rocco’s suite of rooms.

Kit looked at Ivy. His head was still buzzing with the waning panic he’d felt when he’d walked in to the house and heard Ivy scream. No, the panic started even before then. It started when he’d gotten Casey’s alarm signal. Then Greer had called to say he was sending Rocco out to check out a vehicle parked off the entrance to their drive. The five-minute drive home took fifteen minutes with the jumble of people milling around, waiting for the melee in town to clear.

The peace he’d almost had with Ivy and their daughter was slipping from his fingers. And just tonight, she’d said she loved him. He couldn’t keep them here; she’d been right all along. He was trouble. The get-your-loved-ones-killed kinda trouble. He’d arrogantly believed he could protect them, but tonight was proof he was lying to himself.

“Where do you ladies want to sleep tonight?”

“With you,” Casey answered, unequivocally.
 

“Okay. Get your stuff, then come to my room. You can shower there. We’ll stay together tonight.”
 

He waited in the sitting room while they both went into their rooms for pajamas and toothbrushes. Casey came out first. “Get your pillows,” he suggested.
 

When she came out next, she had two pillows and her stuffed bear, Bo. She hugged the teddy bear. “I don’t take him to camp, but I sure miss him when I’m away.”

Kit smiled. His daughter was a strange mix of child and teenager. Something lovely turning into something beautiful. He was glad he’d gotten to know her this summer. But it was bittersweet, too. Sending her away was going to be like ripping out his own fingernails.

When Ivy joined them, he followed them into his room. “Case, why don’t you jump in the shower first? A quick one. Your mom needs a shower, too.”

Casey took her things into the bathroom and shut the door. Ivy smiled at him, smiled like there was a happy ending to their relationship, smiled like she couldn’t see the long, empty years he was looking at. She stepped into his arms and held him tightly. He forced himself to breathe. To remember the feel of her as she was now.
 

“Thank God Selena was here. She was a perfect choice to send with Casey.”

He cupped the back of her head. His fingers brushed a big bump on the side of her head and she winced. “What happened?” He turned her so he could look closer at the bump. “You were hurt.”

“He was in my room. He made me and Casey leave at gunpoint. I pushed Casey into her room, then tried to keep him away long enough for her to lock herself in the bathroom. He hit me with his gun to get past me. Your daughter’s a very smart girl. She locked the bathroom door, then hid under her bed.”

And there it was. The crux of his issue. If they stayed with him, not only would they always be in danger, but they would have to learn how to live defensively, even in their own home.

That was not the life he wanted for them. And wasn’t that what she’d been trying to tell him all along?

Kit was up before dawn the next morning. Ivy and Casey were still soundly asleep. He’d spent the entire night listening to his girls breathe. He would hold those hours with him always.

He closed the curtains, keeping the room dark so they could sleep in. He dressed, then headed to the kitchen for a cup of coffee. Kathy was already up, bustling about. She and Dennis had spent the night at the house, but he hadn’t seen them with the others when everything broke loose last night, probably because they’d stayed in the apartment over the garage.

“Good morning, Kit!” she said cheerfully. “The coffee’s just now finished brewing.”

Kit poured himself a cup. “Can I pour one for you?” he asked.

“That would be lovely, yes.”

He handed her a mug full of the dark, rich stuff. She fetched some milk from the fridge. “We had some excitement here last night,” he told her. “I don’t know if anyone filled you in yet. Amir sneaked inside the house.”

“No! Is that why Rocco and Val came to our room last night? I was already asleep. I thought they were looking for the cat.” Kathy gripped the edges of her collar and stared at him with wide eyes. He knew she was remembering being Amir’s captive a couple of months earlier. The bastard had made Kathy and Dennis toss Blade into a ravine full of rattlesnakes.
 

“He was captured. We have a new fighter here with us, for a little while anyway. I had assigned her to be with Casey at camp. She caught Amir.”

“
She
did? A woman?”

Kit shook his head. “Not sure you can call her a woman. She’s tough as nails. But Amir shot up Casey’s bathroom.”

“Oh, no. Was anyone hurt? Is your daughter all right?”

“Everyone’s okay. I just wanted you to know that we had some excitement here last night and that Casey and another fighter are with us. Dennis might want to see about getting repairs done to Casey’s bathroom.”

“Yes, of course. And thank you—I appreciate the update. I can’t believe that happened and we slept through it!” She studied his face.
 

He gritted his teeth, then dropped his gaze to his coffee mug, suddenly feeling as transparent as a windshield. With a lot of bugs and crap sticking to it. “I won’t keep you from your work.”

“Should I cook more this morning?”

“Oh, no. You make more than enough each morning. There’ll be plenty.”

“You don’t seem yourself, Kit. I’m a good listener, you know.”

Kit sighed. “Not with this, I’m afraid.”

Kathy came around the counter. She set her hands on his shoulders. For an instant, he felt like he was sixteen again caught stealing food from the kitchen for him and Blade.

“I’ve known you a long time, Kit Bolanger. When everyone else in town thought you were a juvenile delinquent, I saw in you the man you’ve become. You’ve been a good friend to Ty. A true, lifelong friend. I have no doubt that whatever problem you’re wrestling with, you’ll come out right with it.”

He huffed a little cough, then pulled Kathy in for a hug. “That’s what I’m afraid of.” He was going to do the right goddamned thing. Finally. And it was going to fucking kill him.
 

Kit took his coffee and headed down the hall to the den. Owen seemed to sleep the least of any of them, a habit he was glad held true this morning. Owen was standing at the open French doors, his hands in his pockets. He turned when he heard Kit come into the room.

“How’s Selena?” Kit asked.

“Grouchy as a bear. Twenty stitches in her chin. That’s one woman I’ll be glad to see the back of.”

“About that. I think you should add her to the team.”

“No.”

“Hear me out. She’s badass through and through. She can offer the women better protection than we can. Or, at least, less invasive protection. It might be easier for them having another woman around than always having one of us. Especially if they want to go out somewhere.”

“That woman is more feral than a barn cat. You want her here, we’ll all end up with cuts and bite marks. And fucking rabies.”

Kit laughed. “Trust me, I won’t be getting that close to her. Just give it some thought.”

Owen sighed. “Okay. So what’s got you so glum this morning? With Amir in custody, I would have thought you’d be jubilant.”

“I need another favor.”

“Go on.”

“I need to make arrangements to move Ivy and Casey somewhere else. New identities, the whole shebang.”

“Why?”

“They aren’t safe here. With me.”

“What about Fiona. And Mandy? Eden? Why is it safe enough for them, but not Ivy and your kid?”

Kit shrugged. “They aren’t my women. I can’t make that call for them. And Eden’s doing what she’s been trained to do.”

“Mandy’s your sister. Do you care for her less than you care for Ivy?”

“I care for her differently. Are you going to help me or not?”

“Have you talked this through with Ivy?”

“I want it to be a done deal when I present it to her.”

Owen studied him for a few long and uncomfortable moments. “I know a guy in Denver. I can have him up here before lunch.”

Kit held out his hand to shake with Owen. “Thanks.”

“Can I ask you something?”

“Yeah.”

“You lived without her for over a decade. Why would continuing to do so cause you any pain?”

Kit didn’t want to answer that. He wasn’t sure he had an answer. But then, the truth hit him. Because of Ivy, he’d opened the door to heaven and looked inside. He’d seen light more brilliant than the sun, colors he never knew existed. Because of her, he heard the song of life, a sound he’d never listened to before. Having become aware of what is, he couldn’t go back to what was.
 

“Truth?”

“Truth,” Owen answered.

“Because I can’t be without her and be a whole man.”

“Then you’re a fucking idiot for sending her away.”

* * *

Ivy sat at one end of the leather sofa in the den, Kit’s associate at the other. Kit was in the club chair nearest Ivy. He was leaning forward, watching the man intently. The man was talking, but Ivy was having a hard time following what he was saying.
 

Her heartbeat was drowning out his words.

“…It’s a small town in Nebraska. Its biggest claim to fame is that it is well situated on an interstate. We can get you set up with a diner there. Your new situation has all the features we think you’d want. A small, safe town. A diner in an active and supportive community. Complete anonymity from Kit and his work. It’s a new start.”

A new start. Without Kit.
 

“No. This won’t do at all.” She shook her head and looked at her knees. Her hands rested there, her fingers woven together in a white-knuckled grip. “No. I don’t want this.”

“Ivy—it’s for the best.” Kit shifted his focus to her. “You were right. Casey deserves a normal childhood. Last night proves what you’ve been saying; I’m bad news.”

“I was wrong.”

“You’ll have everything you need at your new location,” his man said in a comforting voice. “We’ve selected a house for you in a nice, established neighborhood near the school.”

Ivy shook her head again. They weren’t listening to her. They were calmly laying out a future that was the opposite of what she wanted. One with empty, long years of meaningless moments. She stood up and marched across the room and out the door.
 

Kit hurried after her. “Ivy! Ivy, stop!”