KanesBounty (18 page)
Authors: A.S. Fenichel
“It’s no life for a family man.” He reached out and touched
her flat stomach.
Her body hummed at his touch. “Is it what you want?”
He stepped closer and the full force of the rain showerhead
poured over them both. “I want you.” He touched the side of her head. “When
you’re ready, I want this.” His fingers trailed down to her abdomen and
lingered there. “I want the life we saw in the vision.”
“I…I want that too.” Her words were breathless and
stuttered.
There was a knock at the bathroom door. Joshua’s voice
called, “Um, you two should save whatever you’re doing for another time. We’re
on a bit of a clock here.”
Kane smiled down at her. She started to giggle and couldn’t
stop.
“We’ll be out in a minute,” Kane called back.
They didn’t talk as they rode the elevator to the top floor,
nor did they wait for the receptionist to announce their arrival. The Lakeland
brothers, Agent Blake and Lena walked into Oscar Thorn’s office and closed the
door.
Oscar stared up at them. His eyes focused on Lena in her
burnt-orange silk dress. Her hair was pulled up in a French twist and she kept
a look of serenity on her face.
Lena walked forward and sat in one of two leather chairs in
front of the desk. Blake took the other one. Kane and Joshua stood by the door.
“What the hell are you doing here?” He said it to the room,
but his eyes stayed on Lena.
“Agent Blake has been kind enough to allow us to come
along,” Lena said.
Blake cleared his throat and took a piece of paper from the
inside pocket of his jacket. “It seems you’ve been using your influence to do a
bit of insider trading, Thorn.”
Oscar smiled and looked from Lena to Kane. “I’ll be out in a
year and I’ll come after you. If she testifies against me, you’ll always be
looking over your shoulder. You don’t want Banta coming after you.”
Kane pushed off the wall and took a step closer to the desk.
Lena saw him out of the corner of her eye. She didn’t turn to see his face, but
from the way Oscar pushed his chair back, she knew Kane looked deadly.
“Banta has been neutralized. You will be in prison for the
rest of your life. You see, some bodies have been discovered on some of the
properties you own. I’m afraid the charges against you will hold far longer
terms than just insider trading.”
Oscar’s face turned a pale white.
Blake said, “Oh yes, the FBI will be charging you with the
insider trading, but there are some local law enforcement agencies waiting
outside to take you into custody.” The agent shrugged. “Their jurisdiction, I’m
afraid.”
“Lena, you can’t do this to me.”
She got up from the chair. “You did this to yourself, Oscar.
The conversation we had yesterday was recorded. You may have thought you paid
off all the right people, but most of them were working for the FBI.”
Oscar rose as if to jump across the desk. Then his face fell
and he sat back down heavily.
She walked toward the door, stopped and turned. “By the way,
the deal that John Porter was making with Cross Lending? It never happened.
Just one of those things, the stones must have been wrong.”
“Wha…” Oscar sat with his mouth opening and closing, but no
words came out.
“I’ll bet those people you were dealing with will be
disappointed when they find out you had your information all wrong and they
lost millions on the deal.” She continued out the door with the Lakeland
brothers flanking her. Several police officers walked in behind her and she
could hear them Mirandize Oscar as they made their way to the elevator.
Lena didn’t exactly feel joy, but she felt pretty good.
* * * * *
“This is where you live?”
She brought him to her small condo in New Hope,
Pennsylvania. The quaint town was full of artsy types with galleries and shops.
She could live there, do her readings and no one really thought anything about
it. The main drag ran one block in from the Delaware River. Her condo was six
blocks off Main Street. She liked that it was partway up a mountain and had a
view of the land below. “This is where I live.”
“I thought you said New Jersey.”
“I said I was from New Jersey. I’ve lived in Pennsylvania
for a couple of years.”
He walked around the living room and dining room, then through
the kitchen. He touched the table, the couch and ran his hand along the blanket
she kept on the back cushion. He opened cabinets in the kitchen before walking
to the only bedroom. She waited for him to return to the main area. After a few
minutes, he did return. “Is it important to you that we live here?”
“Is it important to you that we don’t?” she countered.
He shrugged. “It’s not going to be big enough once the baby
is born.”
She couldn’t help the laugh that burst out of her mouth.
“I’m not even pregnant yet.”
He crossed to where she waited by the entry hall. “You could
be.” He pulled her into his arms.
“I suppose that’s true. If I’m pregnant, we will need a
larger place,” she admitted. “Do you have a house?”
He nodded. “In Colorado.”
“It’s awful far away from Gran.” She thought about moving
across the country from her only blood relative. A knot formed in her stomach.
“I didn’t say we had to move there, Lena. I know how you
feel about your grandmother. We can keep it as a vacation home.”
“So where do you want to live then?”
He bent his head and sucked her bottom lip into his mouth.
“I want to live wherever you are.”
“I like it here because it’s only an hour to see Gran in
Cherry Hill, plus Philadelphia is pretty close, but I could live anywhere.”
“We don’t have to decide right now. I only need you to
decide one thing today.” His face was serious and the line between his eyes
deepened.
She smiled. “What’s that?”
To her utter surprise, he dropped to his knees. “Will you
marry me?”
Tears were threatening to push their way out. She could feel
her bottom lip trembling. “You don’t have to do this, Kane.”
“Is that a yes or a no?” He held up a small back box. “Will
this sway your decision?” He opened the box and exposed the large round diamond
set in platinum.
She reached out one hand and touched the sparkling stone.
“When did you do this?”
“I had some help.” He frowned. “I’m on my knees here, Lena.
I’ll give you all the details later. Are you going to marry me or not?”
She dropped to her knees. “Of course, I’ll marry you.”
He wrapped her in his arms and devoured her mouth with his.
Her body trembled as he broke the kiss.
His smile lit the entire condo. “You have no idea how happy
you’ve made me. I never thought, never believed, I could have this kind of
life.”
A bubble of laughter made its way up from her chest and
erupted as a giggle. “You’re not going to get all boring on me. I told you, I
enjoy a little excitement in my life.”
He flipped her onto her back before she had time to protest.
His hand eased her head down and he straddled her hips. “I don’t think you have
to worry that we are going to be a boring couple, Lena.”
For the first time since Banta had raped her mind, Lena let
her defenses down completely. She opened her mind to Kane and nudged him
mentally.
His eyes widened. “Are you sure?”
“Absolutely. After all, you brought me in and didn’t even
get to claim your bounty. You should get something for your trouble.”
He leaned down and kissed her. His tongue slid inside her
mouth and made love to her lips, teeth and tongue. When he broke the kiss, they
were both breathless. “I have all the bounty I will ever need, right here.”
A.S. Fenichel adores writing stories filled with love,
passion, desire, magic and maybe a little mayhem tossed in for good measure.
Books have always been her perfect escape and she still relishes diving into
one and staying up all night to finish a good story. Originally from New York,
she grew up in New Jersey. She now lives in the southwest with her real-life
hero, her wonderful husband. When she’s not reading or writing, she enjoys
cooking, travel, history and puttering in her garden.
A.S. welcomes comments from readers. You can find her
website and email addresses on her
author bio page
at
www.ellorascave.com
.
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A.S.
Fenichel
Mayan
Destiny 1: Mayan Afterglow
Mayan
Destiny 1 & 2: Mayan Saviors
Ellora’s Cave Publishing
Kane’s Bounty
ISBN 9781419945052
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Kane’s Bounty Copyright © 2013 A.S. Fenichel
Edited by Briana St. James
Cover design by Syneca
Cover photography by Sergy Mironoz
Electronic book publication May 2013
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