Summer Kisses (239 page)

He had been attracted to Nicole almost from the start, but until he found her in Virginia and learned her real story did he allow his true feelings to surface. Restrained, but there. When she had put her life on the line to take out Gorgon once and for all, and they stood under the cypress trees after breaking into Gorgon’s house and escaping his men, holding each other, that was the moment things had changed between them. He wanted to be with her, not just this way, having sex, but, spending time with her and getting to know the real Nicole.

Something in his gut said he loved her, but his gut didn’t handle that department. His heart was in charge of that area. The heart she lovingly cradled beneath her palm.

His cell buzzed again. What if the caller was trying to reach him to share the news that Gorgon and his brother Donnie were history? How would his and Nicole’s lives change if that happened? Once this thing was over, would she go back to her family and forget him? He couldn’t ask her to stay here with him under an assumed name, could he? She belonged with her family.

A picture of Laura walking out the door popped into his mind. He’d be left behind again.

“Are you awake?” Nicole peered up at him. The morning light reflected the shimmering golden specks of her still sleepy brown eyes.

Will jumped. “Yeah.”

She stretched and looked over her shoulder, sliding the sheet to just above the rosy nipple he’d suckled only hours ago. “It’s almost six.”

Her left cheek was red from lying against his ribs. “I know. I should leave before Luka wakes up.”

Nicole’s hand skimmed over his stomach and brushed against the grain of his chest hair, causing sparks to skip along his nerves and send a get-ready-for–action direction to his groin.

“He won’t wake for a while. He is not an early riser.” She circled his navel with her pinky and grazed the head of his penis. “Not like you,” she said with a husky tone that made him want to roll on top of her and for the third time make her his.

At the second pinky poke, he swallowed a moan. “How about the neighbors?”

“You moved your car around the block last night.”

The less people that talked about Nicole, the less chance that someone––meaning Gorgon––would find her. That is why he drove the extra twenty miles to an out-of-town, haunted hayride and made the claim that particular hayride was a much better event. He grabbed Nicole’s hand and laid it on his chest, stopping her torment. “You don’t think they’ll see me duck out the back door?”

She sighed before a pout pushed her full bottom lip out and he fought the urge to kiss her.

“I guess you’re right. We don’t want the neighbors to talk.”

“Not yet.” He flicked her nipple—a payback for the things she was doing to him.

“Hey. If I can’t—”

His phone buzzed again and both of them turned their attention to the cell. He looked at the display. “The office.”

“
Hmmm.
Do you need to answer?”

He should answer. “Whatever they want, can wait a few minutes.” He’d call back in a minute.

Nicole pulled the sheets and comforter a little higher and the aroma of their lovemaking wafted around them. She skimmed her silky leg over his and snuggled closer. “Good. Since you won’t let me touch you below the belt, can we talk?”

“About?”

She tilted her face up to him, looking very serious. “Just now, you looked so sad. Why? You’re not sorry we slept together are you?”

“What? Hell, no!”

She moved to shift away, but he tightened his grip on her and kept Nicole tucked securely against him. She didn’t believe him, but telling her what he actually thought would put her on the spot. She knew she couldn’t commit to anyone until all the chips fell and her life was hers again. And to be honest, he didn’t what to jump into the fire, only to back out later. Nicole deserved better.

“I was just thinking how damn much I don’t want to leave you. It’s going to be nice today and I noticed some things around here that need to be taken care of. Man things. How about, I go and catch a few hours of sleep and then I’ll come back around eleven. I’ll bring my tool box and a ladder. Do you have leaf rakes?”

“No. I’ve been meaning to buy one.”

“I’ll grab mine––I have two or three.”

Trapping the sheet against her chest, Nicole rose up on her elbow and swiped her long, silky hair back over her shoulder. “You want to help around here?”

“Yeah. You sound surprised. Why?”

“I don’t know.” She shrugged. “You’re not offering because you feel guilty because we slept together?”

“Okay, now you asked for it.” He rolled her onto her back and climbed on top of her. His heart flipped, listening to her giggle. He trapped her with his weight, enjoying the feel of his cock pressing against her soft folds.

“What are you doing?” She brushed her hair from her face and her round eyes reminded him of chocolate drops.

“I want to get one thing straight I never have to hear that question again. I would not take back last night for anything. I made love to you because I wanted to. And you have my permission to jump me any time you want.”

“Really?” Her eyes took on a sly slant while her soft hands drifted over his back and cupped his ass. She wiggled her hips against him and Will felt all of his blood flow south. “I say when?”

“Yes.” He moaned.

“Okay. Now.”

Will grinned and fulfilled her wish.

~~~

A half-hour later, while Nicole was in the bathroom, Will dressed and then grabbed his cell phone and called the office.

“Where the hell have you been?” Aden barked. “I’ve been trying to reach you for the last few hours.”

“I forgot to charge my battery.” The excuse was the first thing that popped into his head and he went with it. “Died last night while I was sleeping, I guess. I’m plugged into the wall now. What’s up?”

“We got word old man Yegor turned up in upstate New York, yesterday. He was seen exiting a gas station restroom.”

“By whom?”

“An off duty cop. He thought he recognized Yegor and when he went on duty last night, he checked the wanted postings.”

“Damn. Why didn’t he check right away?” Will’s jaw locked.

“He was off duty and coaches his son’s football pee-wee team. He was on the way to a game.”

Will couldn’t blame the cop for having a life. Didn’t he just not answer his phone because he was busy building his own? “Where was Yegor headed?”

“The cop followed him a bit. He said he got onto the NY expressway and headed south.”

At least the guy had followed his gut and got some worthwhile information. “Gorgon and Donnie are still in New York then.”

“I’d bet my paycheck.”

“Something is up if the old man came back.” The hair on the nape of Will’s neck pickled. “Something big.”

“Yeah, that is what we were thinking. So what do you want to do?”

“Let the guys in New York know. Circulate Yegor’s, Donnie’s and Gorgon’s picture again in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Include Maryland and Virginia too, just in case they moved south a bit. We can’t do much more until one of them is sighted again.”

“Okay. Anything else?”

“Yeah. Request a twenty-four hour guard on Gary’s room and his family.”

“You think they’d go after them?”

“Like I said, something big is stirring and they might assume Gary knows where we’ve stashed Nicole and Luka. If the commander gives you a hassle about man hours, tell him I don’t give a fuck and if he doesn’t want me leaning over his desk, he better approve the guards.”

Aden chuckled. “I’ll tell him that first.”

“In the meantime, I think I’m going to stay here in Logan’s Summit and keep an eye on Nicole and Luka.”

“Need help? I mean I wouldn’t mind watching over her.”

Will rolled his shoulder at the wince of jealousy stabbing him in the back. “You just stay where you are, kid. I’ve got this end covered.”

“Nice end.”

Will’s hold on the phone tightened. “Hey, show some respect.” He disconnected without another word. He couldn’t wait until Gary was back and sent a prayer to heaven that he could be patient and not nail Aden for his off-color comments before his partner was back on the job. He knew the kid didn’t mean anything by them. Just man talk, but the innuendo still rubbed him the wrong way.

The bathroom door opened and he studied Nicole’s face, searching for how much of his conversation with Aden she heard.

“Do you have to go in?”

“What?”

“To the office. Has something happened?”

He shook his head. There was no reason to get her upset when he didn’t know what was going on. “No. Aden was just checking in. He’s fairly new to the team and just got nervous when I didn’t answer.”

“Oh, so nothing new on Gorgon?”

“No. All is quiet. Maybe Gorgon decided to take a hike.”

Her chuckle was filled with resentment. “Yeah, right. You don’t know Gorgon.”

“Look, let’s not go there.” He laced his arms around her waist and pulled her close. “I just had the most amazing night of my life and I don’t want to think about anything else.”

She melted against him. “Yeah, it was pretty nice.”

“Just pretty?”

She titled her head side to side as if weighing her thoughts before saying, “Okay, nice.”

He squeezed her. “Just nice?”

“Amazing.” She smiled. “Let’s do it again.”

“Tonight. After we get the work done around here.”

Her brow arched. “You’re staying?”

“No. I’m coming back.” He kissed her nose. “One question though.”

“What?”

He let her go, knowing he could get punched. “What’s for dinner?”

She stood straighter and crossed her arms over her chest. “Depends what you’re cooking?”

“Huh?” He splayed his hand over his heart. “I’ve got to do all the repairs and still make dinner.”

“Okay, I’ll help, but we’ll eat later, after Luka is in bed…” She walked up to him and wound her arms around his neck.

His scalp tingled as she combed her fingertips through his hair. “Yeah.”

“I get to do to you what I want.” She said each word between carefully placed kisses.

“
Hmmm.
You got it, babe.”

The doors to the bedroom suite opened and crashed against the wall, startling Gorgon from a sound sleep. He scrambled and dropped off the bed’s edge, still in a stupor. A moving target was much harder to hit.

His guard’s name edged his tongue, but Gorgon didn’t call out. If the intruder was here, in his bedroom, his man was already dead. Instead, he huddled against the mattress for protection and skimmed the bed beneath the hotel’s plump pillow for his Glock while feverishly blinking away the sleep from his eyes. His movements felt sluggish. He shouldn’t have taken the sleeping pill last night, but memories of his Katrina had haunted him.

His fingers found the gun and swiftly he took aim and squeezed the trigger a fraction before Donnie cried out. “Gorgon, stop. It’s us.”

Gorgon eased off the trigger and focused past the barrel of his gun. His father stood in the center of the double door’s threshold with his own Glock pointed at him. The coldness of Papa’s stare left no doubt in Gorgon’s mind that his father, if given no choice, would’ve killed him for self-preservation and for the good of the family. Everything Papa did was for the good of the family.

Gorgon released the breath lodged behind the lump in his throat and lowered his gun. His knees shook—not from fear, he didn’t fear death. They wobbled on the high of adrenaline while he stood to his full height.

Papa’s nose wrinkled.

Gorgon followed the line of Papa’s stare to the long red scar which ran from his breast bone into the hairs of his manhood and the scars which marked his side where drainage hoses had been inserted. Apparently his father was appalled at the state of his body. Fuck him.

Gorgon squared his shoulders and met his father’s scowl. “What are you doing here?”

The old man nodded toward the gun hanging at his son’s side.

Gorgon tossed the weapon on the bed.

Papa slipped his gun into his belt holster. “I came to take you and Donnie home.”

“Donnie can go, but I’m staying.”

Concern tightened Donnie’s features and Gorgon wondered if his brother had called their father.

“Leave us,” Yegor said to Donnie and Donnie left the room without a glance in his direction.

He was to stand alone against the old man. Gorgon snatched up his sweat pants he’d thrown across the chair the night before and stepped into them.

“I have given you the time you asked for,” Yegor said in an even tone. “It’s over. You will return home with us.”

Gorgon yanked the strings at his waist and tied them off. “I am not a child, Papa, that you can order me.” He grabbed his T-shirt and slipped it on.

“No. You are a man who is crazy.” Yegor thumped his head with the heel of his palm. “Katrina has disappeared. Three months have gone by since you’re out of the hospital and started your hunt, and still you have not found her.”

“I will find her. It took time to set things up. The ads have been out for only two weeks.”

“Ads?” Yegor chided and frowned. “No one looks at those things and in the meantime, you hide. Look at you. You are as pale as a babe’s behind. You can’t walk down the street and feel the sun on your face for fear you’ll be spotted by the Marshals who hunt you. The woman is not worth your life.”

“And my son?” Gorgon’s hands curled into fists. The pressure on his neck veins caused his temples to throb. “What about his life? My blood. Your blood. Your father’s blood runs through Luka’s veins. He is my son and I want him with me.” He pounded his fist against his chest.

“I know your pain.”

“Do you? How could you? Donnie and I, we are here.” Tasting the bitterness of his father’s betrayal at dismissing his son’s existence lacing his tongue, Gorgon turned his back on the old man and walked to the window. The sun was a sliver of yellow breaking through the murky, gray sky above the Atlantic Ocean. Somewhere out there, Katrina and Luka slept soundly. She thought she was safe. She thought she had seen the last of him. She was wrong.

He inhaled deeply and turned to face his father. “Take Donnie and go. I’m staying and when I have Luka back, then maybe, I will come home.”