Inescapable (Men of Mercy Novel, A) (11 page)

“I need lunch for ten people tomorrow,” he told her after a quick greeting. This was business, he reminded himself; there was no reason to get excited about hearing her voice. God, a week in Mercy and he was turning into a wimp.

Flick was silent for a minute before speaking. “I can do that. What type of lunch? Cooked, cold, starters, desserts? Do you have utensils, crockery? Should I supply any drinks?”

Hell, he didn’t know. Rolling his eyes at his own incompetence, he shrugged before remembering that Flick couldn’t see him. “I haven’t a freakin’ clue. Speak to Jenny, and have it here by twelve thirty tomorrow—lunch is scheduled for one.”

“Yes, sir!” Flick snapped and Kai grinned at her smart mouth. “And, Kai?”

“Yeah?”

“Because it’s such short notice, I’ll have to charge Caswallawn an extra ten percent.” The amusement he heard in her voice punched him in the gut.

But still . . . huh. The shark. “It’s not like I have much of a choice,” he grumbled.

“But because you’re my first client, I’ll give you a ten percent discount. Before I talk to Jenny, who actually knows what’s she’s doing, I want to hear whether that young girl found you today.”

“Reagan told me that someone was looking for Cas,” Kai said, happy to stay on the phone. He felt strangely reluctant to hand the call over to Jenny.

“Uh, no, she asked directions to Caswallawn, but she was looking for you.”

Now that really didn’t make sense, Kai thought as he handed over the phone to Jenny. He didn’t know any teenagers and he definitely didn’t know any teenage girls. Why would one be looking for him?

Weird.

***

Th
e next day, in the slick Caswallawn boardroom, Flick arranged her platters on the conference table. After a brief discussion, she and Jenny had agreed on assorted sandwiches, mini baguettes, mini croissant sandwiches, a seasonal green salad, a pasta salad, and assorted mini cookies and brownies. It wasn’t Michelin-star cooking but it sure was nice to be doing something different, she thought, pulling out sets of utensils wrapped in pretty paper napkins.

Cas, as Kai and Sawyer called their business, was her first client, and she was determined to do a good job for them. It had nothing to do with impressing Kai, she tried to convince herself. This was purely business, the first step on a new career journey.

But if this had nothing to do with impressing Kai, then why had she spent far too much time deciding what she was going to wear, taking time to apply her makeup so that she looked like she wasn’t wearing any at all, and pinning her hair up into a messy style that took the best part of an hour?

And why did her head fly up every time she heard footsteps in the passage beyond the open door? She’d done it so often in the past half hour that she was in danger of getting a repetitive-strain injury in her neck.

Because she was utterly absurd, that was why.

Business.

Flick gritted her teeth. Be professional, play it cool. Unfortunately, cool went out of the window when Kai strode into the boardroom a minute later. Flick had to grip the back of the closest chair as blood drained from her brain and headed south, fast.
Dear God, he shouldn’t be allowed to walk around looking that hot
, she thought, spellbound. Her second thought was that he should always wear solid black.

His spotless long-sleeved black Henley was tight across his chest and arms but skimmed his abdomen, and his cargo pants emphasized the length of his legs and would show off his spectacular butt to perfection, she was sure.
Turn around. Please, please turn around.

His hair was pushed off his forehead and he looked harassed and pissed off.

When the neurons in her brain started to fire up again she managed to find some words. “Hi. You look”—Magnificent? Sexy? Doable?—“stressed.”

Kai looked around to see if anyone was in earshot before replying. “Damn civilians,” he growled. “One of the girls broke a nail and wailed about that, the other said that the protective vest looked ugly. One of the guys got nailed in the thigh and is bitching about how much it stings. He should try getting shot by a real bullet!”

The last drop of moisture in her mouth disappeared. “Have you been shot?”

“No, but I’ve seen the damage.” A curious mixture of resignation, horror, and sadness crossed Kai’s face and Flick suspected that the memories of what he’d seen still haunted him. He crossed the room to where she stood and reached for a bottle of water. Cracking the seal, he removed the top and swallowed half the contents in one long sip. He hadn’t shaved again today and Flick wished she could rub her cheek against that soft, short beard. It would scratch and tickle—

“This looks sensational, Flick,” Kai said and Flick jerked her eyes to his face. Instead of looking at the food those gold eyes were looking at her and for one minute Flick thought that he might be talking about her and not the food. His next words booted that thought off a cliff. “I love pasta salad. And, God, I think I’m addicted to those caramel cupcakes.”

Nope, he was definitely talking about the food. Sigh. “Glad you like the look of it, but maybe you should taste it first before handing out compliments.”

“Can’t wait. I’m starving,” Kai said. “The group should be here in twenty minutes or so.” They both turned as someone entered the boardroom and Flick was surprised to see the teenager she’d given directions to the day before. She was wearing the same pair of skinny black jeans and the same sneakers, but today she sported a tight red T-shirt under a brown jacket. She also wore an expression of belligerent dread.

“I’m looking for Kai Manning.”

“That’s me. Who are you?” Kai asked, swiping a cookie from the plate in front of him. He ignored Flick’s squawk and popped the whole thing into his mouth.

“Do you remember someone by the name of Jane Pike?”

Kai thought for moment and Flick knew the exact moment when the penny dropped. His Adam’s apple bobbed and his eyes turned speculative as his body went into what she thought might be combat mode. Tense and alert, he looked like he was ready for anything. “Yeah, I do.”

Where from? Who was she? It took a great deal of Flick’s willpower to keep those questions behind her teeth.

The girl’s face was equally blank but Flick saw her hand shake when she pushed her wool cap back, revealing honey-blond curls. “I’m Tally Pike, her daughter.”

Tally pushed that still-shaking hand into the front pocket of her jeans and pulled out a grubby, worn envelope, which she threw onto the boardroom table, aiming it in Kai’s direction. “I didn’t want to do this but she made me promise. Just so you know, I’m eighteen and an adult and I don’t have to do a damn thing I don’t want to.”

She was only a bit more than a decade older than this girl, Flick thought, and she still didn’t feel like an adult, so she thought that Tally might be protesting a bit too much.

Kai didn’t take his eyes off Tally as he picked the envelope up off the table. When his attention was transferred to the paper, Flick saw Tally quickly wipe her mouth with her hand, dropping it when she saw that Flick was watching her. Flick looked at Kai, who was skimming the letter. He frowned and then he seemed to go back and read it again.

Something major was happening, Flick thought, right here and right now. This was a moment that could change lives, Flick realized as she stepped away from the table. She shouldn’t be here, shouldn’t be standing between them. She needed to leave, now.

“Fucking hell.”

Kai’s hard, icy voice pinned her to the spot. She threw an anxious look at him but he wasn’t looking at her. He was staring at Tally, his expression a curious mixture of fascination and horror.

“When did she die?” he demanded.

Tally lifted a thin shoulder. “Four months back. I wanted to get this over with three months ago but you were out of the country and she asked me to give you the letter personally. So here I am.” Tally jammed her hands into her jacket pockets. “So, I did what she asked. I don’t need you in my life and, let’s be honest, the last thing you need is a teenager to look after.”

Kai carefully refolded the piece of paper and slipped it into the envelope, which he slid into the back pocket of his cargo pants. “Where are you staying?” he barked.

“At the motel on the outside of town,” Tally replied, lifting her chin. God, she was so young, but trying so hard not to give a damn, Flick thought.

Kai glanced at his watch. “Stay there. I’ve got some shit to do but I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.”

“Why?”

“To talk this through. That’s what adults do,” Kai said and, judging by the blush that stained her cheekbones, his barb hit its target. “I’ll meet you there at around five, maybe six.”

“I just promised to deliver the letter. I don’t have to hang around if I don’t want to.”

Kai’s expression darkened further, but Flick didn’t think he saw the panic in Tally’s eyes when he suggested that they meet at the motel, didn’t see her biting the inside of her cheek. Flick couldn’t blame her—she would be scared of meeting a stranger in her motel room at night too. Especially one who looked as forbidding and hard as nails as Kai.

“Maybe you can meet on more neutral ground,” Flick suggested and Tally’s expression lightened a fraction. “I’d suggest the bakery but we’re closed then, so what about the diner on Main Street? It’s easy to find and Kai can buy you dinner.” Because good grief, the child looked like she needed one.

“I can come to the motel—”

Flick widened her eyes at him and he finally caught a clue. “Oh, okay, the diner. At six?” he asked Tally.

Tally hunched her shoulders. “’Spose so. Though I’m not sure what we’re going to discuss.”

“Six. Don’t make me look for you,” Kai said in a biting voice before striding to the door and walking through it.

After a few seconds’ silence Tally turned to Flick and shook her head. “Holy crap. He’s huge. And scary!”

“He’s all bark and no bite.” Well, that was a lie, Flick thought. She had no doubt that Kai could bite when he needed to.

“Have a cookie,” Flick added when she saw Tally eyeing the platters on the table.

“I’d prefer one of those baguettes.” Tally grabbed a napkin before picking one up and pulling the roll apart. “What’s the filling?”

“Hummus, roasted peppers, black olives, mozzarella, sun-dried tomatoes, arugula, and a Greek salad dressing.”

“Very Mediterranean.” Tally took a bite, chewed slowly and swallowed. “The hummus needs more garlic, and the dressing needs more seasoning.”

Flick frowned. Not many people criticized her cooking and when they did, they definitely weren’t teenagers who needed their attitude adjusted. “You a gourmet?”

Tally shrugged and took another bite. “I cook. My mother taught me. She was amazing . . . instinctual, you know.” Tally put down her roll and cut a piece off the uneaten end and offered the plate to Flick. “Taste, and you’ll see that I’m right.”

Flick did what she was told and popped the piece of roll into her mouth. The kid, dammit, was spot on. The hummus did need more garlic—not a lot but a smidgen more would take it from nice to yum—and the dressing needed salt. “You’re right. I’ll adjust the recipe.”

Tally made short work of the rest of the roll before picking up a cookie. She nibbled at the edge. “But these are amazing.”

“Thanks. I just need to unpack these glasses and I’ll walk out with you. The clients will be coming in to eat any minute, so I have to be quick.”

Tally chewed and swallowed. “Do you want some help?”

“Sure,” Flick replied. She looked a bit more closely at Tally and saw the desolation within the green depths of her eyes, the fear and the fury. She recognized those emotions; hadn’t she experienced all of them in the months after Andy’s and then her mom’s deaths? She couldn’t help her next question—it was who she was, what she did. “Do you want or need some help? If you do, I’m your girl.”

One corner of Tally’s mouth kicked up. “I think that was what my mom was trying to do by sending me to Manning. But I don’t need him, or you, or any help. No offense, but I’m fine.” She banged a glass down on the table with force, and Flick was thankful that it didn’t shatter.

No, you really aren’t
, Flick thought silently. But she knew better than to argue with a teenager. “Okay, but if you ever decided that you do, my name is Flick.”

Flick needed another stray in her life like she needed a hole in her head, but she couldn’t help wanting to help this lost and lonely child.

I’m a nurture-holic
, Flick admitted.
I need a twelve-step program.
On the plus side, at least she wasn’t trying to rescue another loser of a man.

Ch
apter Eight

AbbyM: One Caswallawn partner leaves and another arrives. The new one is scary. Super sexy but super scary. Why is he in town?

WaynesBikes: Don’t care about that but I’d cut off my left nut for that Ducati he came in on. Wicked sweet.

BoredWife: Then you would have no nuts left. Mary Kellman destroyed at least one when you tried to cop a feel at senior prom.

***

He hated autumn, Kai thought as he banged through the side door at Caswallawn and ran up the back stairs to his office. He shrugged out of his jacket and glared at the rapidly descending darkness outside his window. In the last hour the splatters of rain had turned to a hard, cold drizzle, and his clients had looked at him like he was batshit insane when he suggested that they continue with the program, and demanded to know why.

Because, he’d explained, war doesn’t stop for the weather.

They weren’t at war, they’d whined, and would far prefer to “bond” in a warm bar. Kai couldn’t argue with that, so he’d let them go.

Thank God this stupid day was over. Except that it wasn’t, he suddenly remembered. In an hour or so he had to meet with Jane’s daughter.
Jane Pike.
God, it had been forever since he’d thought about her, mostly because he rarely looked back. In many ways his life had started when he’d joined the Navy, and the rough thug he’d been before that had little in common with the man he was today. He liked it that way.

Kai rubbed the back of his neck, clearly remembering Jane’s words from the letter. They’d practically been branded into his brain.

It’s pancreatic cancer, Kai, and it’s not good. I probably have a couple of weeks, a few months. My fault for all the crap I shoved into my body when I was a kid.

I don’t want that life for Tally, don’t want her anywhere near it. That’s why I’m writing you . . .

You once pulled me out of a dangerous and dismal situation and since you managed to do that, it was a no-brainer that you could keep an eye on Tally, who is so much more together than I ever was. There’s nobody I trust more with my precious daughter than you, Kai. I trusted you when you were a street punk so I know I can still trust the good, successful man you are today.

Good? He didn’t think so. If anything, he was even more fucked up than before. He had money, sure, and he was successful, but he wasn’t good or kind or anything a grieving teenager needed. And, God, the kid was grieving, trying so damn hard to be brave. He recognized the defiant look on her face, the hard-ass attitude.

I can do this alone, even if every day scares the shit out of me. I can get through this, if I keep my concentration . . . and if I keep everyone out. Because I can’t be weak and I can’t break down, because if I do I might never stand up again. If I let one more person in and that person hurts me, I’ll just curl up and die.

Kai looked at his messy desk and sighed. He should be working. He hadn’t picked up his emails today, and neither had he touched the long list of tasks Sawyer had left him. But instead of sitting his ass down and getting on with it, he just jammed his hands into the pockets of his cargo pants and stood by the window, watching the day disappear.

Kai knew kids like Tally. God, he’d
been
a kid like Tally. Harder, maybe, maneuvering his way through a tougher world but, essentially, as alone, as troubled. The Navy had saved him, but who would save her if he didn’t? He didn’t want to. In fact, he wished that he could rewind the hours and rewrite the script of his life, but he couldn’t, so he’d have to deal. And Tally would have to deal with having him in her life. But, God, how was he going to tackle this? Where did he start? He didn’t know anything about teenage girls. The last time he’d had anything to do with them he’d been a teenager himself, and only concerned about getting into their pants. He hadn’t even picked up that Tally had been scared to be alone with him. Flick had realized that, had steered him in the right direction.

And speaking of problems, how the hell was he going to keep ignoring Flick? He’d stepped into the conference room earlier and it had taken one look for his cock to stand up and salute. He still wanted her, wanted her hot and wet around him, wanted to hear her breathless moans in his ear as he sucked her nipples, her sexy groan as he pushed into her.

Staying away from her was nearly impossible. They’d agreed not to complicate their lives any further, but as far as he was concerned, his life was suddenly complicated as shit, and a little sex with a hot woman wouldn’t make that much of a difference. The thought was just starting to fade when Kai felt the energy change behind him and he gurgled a curse as a thick arm pressed into his throat and threatened to cut off his air supply. Instinctively, he slammed his elbow backward and cursed when his opponent lunged to the side, meaning Kai’s elbow merely brushed a leather jacket. He slammed his head backward in an attempt to break a nose but a low laugh caused him to pull his head back at the last minute. The arm dropped and Kai sucked in a couple of deep breaths before turning around.

Bastard
, he thought. He hadn’t heard him sneak into his office—he swore the guy was part ninja and part ghost. And what the hell was he doing in Mercy?

He rubbed his hand across his throat. “What the fuck, Rhodes?”

Axl grinned as he dropped all six feet four inches of himself onto the couch in the corner of Kai’s office. His booted feet dangled off the arm and he placed a thick forearm behind his head as a cushion.

“You were so deep in thought that I could’ve taken one of your kidneys and you wouldn’t have known the difference.”

“Asshole,” Kai stated emphatically before sitting down on the edge of his desk and folding his arms. He decided to ignore Axl’s comment. He’d been miles away, but the fact that Axl had managed to catch him so off guard was embarrassing. That was what thinking about women did to you, and now he had two in his life that were causing him grief.

On what planet was that fair?

Axl gave him a shit-eating grin, but his gray eyes remained cool and assessing. The area surrounding his right eye held traces of yellow and green, and the knuckles of his right hand—his dominant hand—were scabbed. Kai sighed. It didn’t take much to realize that Axl had been in another fight, a pastime that he still hadn’t grown out of. He’d never found a brawl he could walk away from.

Axl saw the direction of Kai’s gaze, looked at his knuckles, and sighed. “I didn’t start it.”

“You never do.” Kai folded his arms across his chest and narrowed his eyes. “Who where you defending this time?”

To his credit, Axl always had a good reason to fight. Somewhere in the story there would be an abused girlfriend or wife, someone who was being mistreated. Axl, the ultimate warrior, had a soft spot a mile wide for badly treated women and children, and was quick—sometimes far too quick—to rush to their defense. He found them everywhere—in bars, in supermarkets, at the gym. Kai was worried that one of these days he’d find himself on the bad side of a pissed-off husband or father pointing the working end of a weapon at his head. He might have superb hand-to-hand combat skills, but he couldn’t stop a bullet.

Not that Kai knew of anyway.

“Well?” he demanded when Axl didn’t answer. He frowned when Axl dropped his eyes and a slight stain appeared on his cheekbones. Axl, embarrassed? Kai had never thought he’d see the day.

“Puppies.”

Kai frowned. “What?”

Axl sat up and his size fourteens hit the floor with a thump so heavy that he probably set off a tsunami in the south Atlantic. “I went for a run and came across this dude throwing a sack in the river. I heard the mewling, grabbed the sack, and he took a swing at me.”

Kai grinned and gestured to his eye. “Looks like he connected.”

“Lucky shot,” Axl grumbled, placing his fingertips on his eye socket. “Now I have three mutts driving me crazy. They pee and chew and bark, all at the same time.”

Kai let his laughter rumble out. He’d never known Axl to be an animal lover—none of them allowed themselves to be, because they simply didn’t have time.

“Do you still have them?”

Axl lifted one huge shoulder. “I dumped them with my housekeeper and I keep getting snotty messages about them.”

“Why the hell didn’t you take them to an animal shelter?” Kai demanded.

“I tried to but . . .”

“You chickened out.” Kai’s laughter rumbled again.

Axl rubbed his hand over his dark brown crew cut. He looked rueful. “She has little enough to do with me never being there, so I figure she can take care of them and find them a home.”

Kai had met Axl’s Mrs. Brewen many times, and he could easily see the sixty-something, pursed-lipped, cardigan-and-brogue-wearing housekeeper coping with three rambunctious animals. She would find a home for them with the same calm, disapproving efficiency she did everything else.

“So, I’m stuck in Mercy because Sawyer needs to sort Doug out again, but why are you here?”

Axl’s eyes hardened. “Because you make crap decisions.”

Kai felt his fist clench and his temper climb a couple of degrees at Axl’s comment. What the hell had climbed up his ass and died? He’d only been here doing this for two days. What could he have done so wrong to get Axl’s panties in a bunch?

Then it clicked. There was only one thing, or one person, who could send Axl from zero to warp speed in the blink of an eye.

“You son of bitch!”

Reagan was standing in his office door, her chest heaving and her bright blue eyes sparking. Axl slowly turned his head and glared at her. “You hung up on me, and then you wouldn’t take my call,” he said.

Here it comes
, Kai thought, resigned. Reagan stomped forward and slapped her hands on her hips, her chin jutted forward. “Because you tried to tell me that I couldn’t take the Knox Callow protection gig.”

“Well, you can’t.” Axl crossed his ankles and looked bored.

“You’re not in charge of handing out assignments!” Reagan shot back. She jerked her thumb in Kai’s direction. “He is.”

Axl’s hard look promised retribution. “And you thought that this is a good idea?” he asked. Kai shrugged.

“Well, it’s not a bad one,” Kai said, walking around his desk and sitting down in his chair. “She’s qualified, she’s free, and she wants to do it. Win, win, and win.”

“It’s a crap idea,” Axl growled.

“And you climbed on a plane to come all the way here to tell me that?” Kai lifted his eyebrows. “Kind of extreme, don’t you think?”

Axl stood up and loomed over Reagan, who didn’t look even a smidgen intimidated. “I came over here to talk some sense into her!” He glared at Kai again. “And you.”

Nah, you came over here because it gave you a chance to eyeball Reagan, to check her out.
If he wasn’t mistaken, Axl wanted Reagan, the same way Kai wanted Flick.

But it was clear that Axl didn’t
want
to want Reagan. And it seemed that he had no idea how to handle his inconvenient desires any more than Kai did. Kai groaned silently. It was official—they were both pussy-whipped. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t have any fun at Axl’s expense.

“He’s a good-looking guy, this Callow dude. Voted one of the sexiest guys in the world last year by one of those magazines who do that shit.” Now he was just flat-out lying, but the sucking-a-lemon look on Axl’s face was worth seeing.

Reagan tipped her head and her face took on a dreamy expression. She shivered delicately. “I know. Looking after his body is going to be a pleasure.”

Unlike Kai, Axl, in his fury, missed the gleam in Reagan’s eye that suggested that she was a cat toying with a very large mouse. “You’re a professional! Can you act like one?” Axl slapped his hands on his hips.

“You’re accusing me of not being professional? You’re the one who hopped on a plane and crossed the Atlantic to question Kai’s business decision!”

“Because it’s a shit decision!”

“Could’ve told me that on the phone.” Kai quietly stirred the pot, enjoying the scene in front of him. These two just needed to get a room and fuck each other’s brains out. Maybe then they’d get over themselves. Not that he wanted any man screwing—literally or metaphorically—with Reagan, but if there had to be someone, then he’d like it to be Axl. He was, despite the fact that he was presently acting like an idiot, a good man. One of the best Kai knew.

“Shut up,” Axl growled.

Kai was rather enjoying the show, and it sure was a fine distraction from thinking about how to deal with Tally. And what he was going to do about the fact that he couldn’t stop thinking about a certain long-legged baker.

“Maybe you should tell him that you want to join the Morrigans rescue team, Reags.”

Reagan sent him a look of pure frustration. “God, Kai, did you really have to mention that? Now?”

“It’s still a no from me but he might as well know what you’re thinking.” Kai picked up a glass paperweight and tossed it from hand to hand. Axl had gone into warrior mode and was standing statue-still, his eyes just darting between them.

“Explain.”

“I heard about your hostage rescue and ransom unit, and I want in,” Reagan said simply.

Axl opened his mouth to bark out another question but then snapped it shut. He just stared at Reagan, those eyes drilling through her. Kai had to admire her nerve—she didn’t squirm or move at all. In fact, she looked vaguely bored. He’d seen grown men wet their pants after being on the receiving end of that look, but Mike’s sister, she didn’t flinch.

Kai had never been more proud of her.

“When hell freezes over,” Axl said, his voice colder than an Arctic gale.

Reagan just smiled and tipped her head. “We’ll see.” She yawned, and Kai could swear he heard Axl’s teeth grinding. “Anyway, as much fun as this hasn’t been, I’ve got to scoot. Knox is sending me his jet and I’m due to meet it in an hour.”

“Reagan—” Axl ground her name out.

Kai watched, fascinated, as five-foot-four Reagan stepped up to Axl and placed her small hand on his wide chest. He saw the breath Axl sucked in and stifled a chuckle. Yeah, Reagan had him by the balls, all right. She reached up and kissed his cheek in an anything but sisterly way and stepped back. “Don’t be boring, darling.”