Torn (17 page)

With a quiet chuckle he grinned. “Just call
me Kai, Miss Leila.”

“Deal and you just call me Leila, no miss. It
makes me feel old, like
Driving Miss
Daisy
.” Teasing the big man seemed like the way to go.

Jaxon chimed in. “Okay, you’ve seen her,
woke her up
and talked to her. Time to go
now.”

“Wait, what is the other half of this story,
Jaxon? Why are you rushing them off?” My imagination, as always,
ran wild.

“I’ll tell you exactly what’s going on after
they leave and you can call your little buddy here tomorrow to make
sure I told you everything,” he said crossly.

“Really, Jaxon? You need to watch how you
speak to the mother of my child.” Brody puffed out his chest
valiantly and Ruger took notice of the ensuing confrontation.

“Brody, stop. I can handle this. Y’all should
go.” I was perfectly capable of fighting my own battles and I knew
Jaxon was feeling irritable because Brody was here, questioning him
in his own home.

Once we were alone I turned to look at the
fuming man I loved so dearly. “Jax, why don’t you sit down and talk
to me? I know you didn’t mean what you said. You were pissed about
Brody and you let him get to you.”

“I was pissed, but that doesn’t mean that I
didn’t mean what I said. If you don’t believe what I tell you and
you feel the need to verify my story then—”

“Would you just stop and listen to yourself?
Why are you being an asshole to me? The only thing I said is that I
wanted the whole story. I never once said or implied that you
wouldn’t give me the whole truth. And I certainly didn’t mention
asking Brody to substantiate your story.”

He stopped and quietly sank onto the foot of
the bed. It was in that moment I realized he was freaking
out—scared shitless—feelings that had to be so foreign to him.
“You’re my whole world, Lei. The thought of losing you scares the
shit out of me. I guess it all got real when I saw you lying there
asleep, unharmed. That guy downstairs broke in to finish what Drill
started the other day. He was here…” He hung his head and exhaled
loudly. “He was here to take you.”

“What? Take me to Drill? Oh my God, Jaxon,
why? What did I do to him that he has this vendetta out for me?” I
asked, knowing part of the answer already.

“He was told to grab you and meet Drill at
the airstrip. Brody got a ransom note, that’s why he called you, to
see if someone had already gotten to you. We can’t figure out where
the plan got fucked up. Either this guy was late or the kid who
dropped off the ransom note was way too fuckin’ early.” Jax scooted
up the bed and grabbed my hand. “Listen, we have a chance to catch
Drill tonight—”

“No, don’t go, Jax, let someone else do this.
Just stay here with me,” I demanded—actually, I pleaded, but I
didn’t want him to hear that in my voice. No fucking way was I
letting him out of my sight. Jaxon stood and paced the room, deep
in thought. “Besides, what if it’s a setup? What if he is just
waiting for you to leave and go rushing off after him?”

“Wait, what?” He paused and whipped his head
around to gaze at me. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, it seems way too easy. This guy has
brains to electronically siphon off two hundred grand. Why would he
be so stupid as to send a guy in our backdoor at eight p.m., and
have the messenger dropping off the note at five? Three hours
before my planned abduction?” I could see the wheels start to spin.
“He knows that guy would blab and you’d go running out of here guns
blazing, leaving me alone for him to grab himself.”

“Holy shit.” His eyes widened in the
realization that I could very well be right. “I need to get
downstairs. Stay up here.” He ripped the door open and slammed it
before I could say a word or object. Ruger took offense to the loud
noise and barked once.

“Hey, buddy, you wanna come up here?” I
patted the bed in front of me. Ruger hopped up onto the king-size
bed and curled up on top of my shins. “Hey, yo, fatty, you aren’t a
Chihuahua, get off my legs.” He groaned before relocating to the
foot of the bed near the middle as I slipped from the bed to use
the bathroom. While I was in the bathroom I decided to sneak into
the hallway to see what was going on downstairs.

Padding across the bedroom floor to the door,
I slowly opened the door to try to hear what was being said below.
The moment the door was opened Ruger bounded out of the bed with a
huge thud.

“Damn you, dog,” I whisper-yelled as he
looked at me with knowing eyes. He sat and watched me. “Stay.”

I pulled the door open and peeked out to see
the stairway clear. Stepping out onto the little landing right
outside of our door, I could finally hear voices discussing meeting
Drill at the airstrip.

A deep gravelly voice disagreed. “We should
leave her here with the walking Redwood. Put them in the panic room
and all clear out. If he’s watching the house like you think, then
he’s seen all of us coming in the front door, but Redwood came in
the backdoor and wouldn’t have been seen.”

“No fucking way,” Jaxon and Brody said in
unison. Shocking, all it took was another kidnap threat for them to
get on the same page
. Five to one it lasts for
less than fifteen minutes
.

“I hate to agree with him, guys, but he’s
right. It’s the best option. We can tap into the camera feeds and
track everything from a street over, but he has to see us all go
flying out of here,” I heard my brother say. I couldn’t believe he,
of all people, agreed with making me bait.

“If we can catch him in the house, then we
pretty much guarantee ourselves a conviction,” the gravelly voice
said with finality.

“I’m glad you’re so comfortable with risking
my daughter and her mother, but I’m not. This is a bad plan,” Brody
stated.

“If they are locked in the panic room that’s
safer than anywhere else. She is the only one who can open that
door. Think about it, man, it really is the best option. She’s my
sister, I’d never agree to anything I thought might get her hurt,”
Drew argued.

“Jaxon, please tell me you’re not considering
this?” Brody asked. “This is fucking insane.”

“Listen, Brody, Drew is right. That panic
room is made of concrete and steel. It’s its own self-contained
unit, if she didn’t want anyone to get in, they wouldn’t. I hate to
say it but the rational part of me has to agree,” Jaxon said.

“So you’re really going to do this? I can’t
believe you. You’d risk her just to get this prick?” Brody sounded
incredulous.

“If I don’t, he’ll just keep comin’ after
her. Don’t you get it, he’s trying to fuck with me and he knows
she’s my only weakness,” Jaxon shouted back at Brody.

“If you would have just left us alone none of
this would be happening. She’d be with me and she’d be safe.”

“Fuck you, Brody. You walked away, not her. I
was simply there to be her friend and help her pick up the pieces
after you annihilated her,” Jax growled.

Hearing a scuffle, I started down the stairs.
Less than fifteen minutes.
Big surprise.
This had to stop. I refused to live like this forever. Just as I
got to the second floor I heard Drew. “Knock it the fuck off, you
two. Have your pissing match another time. It’s almost nine o’clock
and this dipshit, Billy, is supposed to meet Drill at ten. If we
stick to the plan and go outta here like we expect him to be there,
then we need to get this show on the road. Like now.”

I stopped almost at the bottom of the steps
and peered around the corner to see the assembly of men in the
dining room. Kai was the first to notice.

“Miss Leila, did we wake you?”

“I never fell back to sleep, Kai. Who could
when there is a psycho on the loose who wants to go all Hannibal
Lecter on me?” I always make the most inappropriate jokes at the
worst time. Brody, Jaxon, and Drew all groaned in response.

“Sis, how long were you on the stairs?”

“Long enough to hear that you wanna use me
like chum in the water to lure in a great white.”

“Lei,” Jaxon started to explain but Brody cut
him off.

“Why don’t we sneak her out in my car? She
can stay with me until this is over and you’ve caught this son of a
bitch.”

“No,” Jaxon commanded. “She’s not movin’ back
in with you. Ever.”

“Drew.” Brody looked to my big brother for
support.

“Leila, you’ve obviously heard the situation
and our possible resolutions, so I want to hear what you think,”
said Commander Gorden—Mr. Deep Voice.

The smart-ass in me wanted to do my best
Southern belle impersonation and thank him for giving two shits
about what I think. The bitch in me wanted to tell them all to go
to hell and take Brody up on his offer to whisk me away. However,
the rational side weighed in and I knew this was the only way to be
done with Drill. I would have to go back into the infamous
Fortified Room of Terror.

“Well, first let me say thank you, Commander.
I appreciate you giving me the option to weigh in on your plan to
dangle me out there as bait.” He started to say something but he
wasn’t fast enough. “And you two over there making decisions for me
and
my
daughter without so much as a
thought given to what I might want…” Shaking my head, I walked
through the kitchen and opened the refrigerator.

“Lei, what are you doing?” Jaxon asked from
right behind me. Damn, that man moved like a cat.

“It just so happens that the baby is hungry
and I’m going to get something to eat since it would appear that
I’ll be spending my night with Kai in our godforsaken panic room.
Is that okay with you?” I grabbed the container of cream cheese and
opened the meat drawer for the Genoa salami.

“I’m not staying around to watch this
situation go from bad to worse. Drew,” Brody turned to my brother,
“call me when you have this guy and she’s safe.” He turned to me
and placed his strong, steady hands on my belly. “Are you sure you
want to do this? If you aren’t comfortable with this, then you can
come with me. We still can sneak you out of here and leave Ikaika
here to confront this guy.”

With a sympathetic smile I set the food down
on the counter and grabbed his hands. “I love that you are trying
to look out for me and the baby, B, but I have to do this or I’m
going to always look over my shoulder and wonder when he’s coming
for me. Besides,” I nodded to Kai, “your boy over there looks like
he could take on a football team without breaking a sweat. I’m sure
I’ll be in good hands.”

“There’s nothing I can say to change your
mind?”

“Jesus, man, she said no. Leave
my
fiancée alone. She made her decision, just accept
it.” Jaxon grabbed the food from the counter and handed it to Kai.
“Babe, we need to get you two into place so we can make our
move.”

“Right.” Swallowing hard, I looked from face
to face and saw worry and tension.

“I want Kai to go up first and wait just
outside of the bedroom. Lei, you’re gonna walk me to the door, kiss
me goodbye, then lock up. When you go upstairs, turn on the TV, if
you don’t already have it on, grab anything you might need for the
next hour or so and then get yourself, Ruger, and Kai locked in the
panic room. Take your cell phone, I doubt it will work, but it
might. Brody,” Jaxon nodded to the back door, “a word.”

“Jax…” Worried about where he was going with
his little sidebar, I tried to stop him.

“Babe, its fine. Just a talk, I swear,” he
promised.

Sighing loudly, I watched Brody and Jaxon
exit the back of the house. I couldn’t make out what was said, but
I noticed there was no yelling, pointing, hitting, or referee
needed. As they walked back in I caught the last few words.

“…your man, hope you’re right,” Jaxon
muttered.

“What was that about?” I asked Jax.

“Just makin’ sure Brody’s got his shit in
check.”

Well what the hell does that
mean?
I didn’t have time to find out because everyone
started for the door, which meant I needed to kiss Jaxon goodbye
and get my pregnant ass up the stairs before Drill came
a-calling.

“Please be careful,” I whispered to Jaxon as
he kissed me goodbye.

“Go get in the safe room and stay there.
Remember the word. I love you, Lei. This is all gonna be over after
tonight,” he reassured me.

“I love you too, Jax.”

Drew was right behind him. “For the love of
God, Drew, please be careful.”

“Always.”

They left and I locked the door. My hands
were shaking as I climbed the stairs. I found Kai standing on the
landing just outside the door, the food in a pile by his feet.
Dressed in a black suit with his hands tucked behind his back, he
reminded me of a soldier.

“It sounds like the TV is already on. I think
you should have enough time to use the restroom should you need to,
ma’am.” Kai’s voice was gentle and kind. He scooped up the food,
opened the door for me, and was greeted by a not-so-friendly
growl.

“Ruger,
pfui
. Stop
it. There is a small bathroom in the room so I should be fine, but
good thinking. I’m just going to grab my iPad.” I nodded toward the
bed.

After retrieving my tablet, I showed Kai to
the walk-in closet where the safe room was located. I didn’t know
why it’s called a safe room. I sure as shit have never felt safe
when I was in there. Well, I knew I was safe from the danger
outside, but the reason I was in there wasn’t a safe one. Yeah, I
was rambling in my brain.

“Last chance to run screaming from the
house,” I teased.

“No, ma’am, I’m sure everything is going to
be just fine. I’ve been in far worse.”

Part of me wondered what could be worse, the
other part of me started playing out several different scenarios in
my head that were far more depraved than my current situation.