I raise up my head and look at the ocean, breathing through my nose while exhaling through my mouth, doing my best to calm my stomach down. I let the soft sea breeze caressing my skin and running through my hair soothe me.
I ignore the whining sounds of my brother’s best friend behind me until I hear heavy footsteps coming near me. I don’t have to turn around to see who it is because I feel his energy anytime he comes within a twenty-yard radius.
He presses his chest against my back and tenderly rubs my arms before he buries his nose into my neck.
“Are you okay?” he softly whispers against my skin.
Am I okay? I just saw the man I sleep with pull someone’s eye out with a fork. I felt like a badass earlier, but right now I feel the complete opposite. He just showed me what he is capable of doing. Showed what he is capable of doing to me. I’m hard, I’m tough, I’m a survivor, and I will never hesitate to kill if it will save my own life.
I’m selfish like that.
But watching him do that without even blinking? Well, it’s messing with my head a little.
“I don’t know, Kane,” I answer honestly.
He lets out a deep sigh, and I can feel his warm breath below my ear. He moves his left arm in front of my neck, gently grabbing my chin, forcing me to look at him.
God, those arctic eyes are mesmerizing.
He narrows them on me, moving them back and forth like he’s looking for something.
“You’re scared of me,” he finally proclaims, a hint of disappointment in his voice.
“I’m not scared.” I’m not scared of him, I think. If I really was scared of him, I wouldn’t have let him do all the things he’s done to me so far. I would have fought him. And I wouldn’t let him touch me now. Or like the way it feels to be in his arms.
I wouldn’t like him.
But I do. I fucking like him; I admit to myself while I feel the nauseating feeling in my stomach be taken over by a thousand butterflies fluttering in my belly.
“I’m not scared, but that was scary,” I whisper while looking at him through my lashes.
He lets go of my chin and cups my face before he presses his forehead against mine.
“You don’t have to be scared of me, baby girl. I will keep you safe.”
30
Kane
One Week Later
I look at the fair skin on her cheeks, delicately brushing it with my fingers while her back is pressed against my chest. The peaceful look on her sleeping face makes me feel insanely protective. I want to keep her safe.
The horror in her eyes after I ripped Fernando’s eyeball out was not something I enjoyed seeing. She seemed freaked out, and I hated it. The unsettled look on her face went straight through my bones, and I didn’t want to make her feel any worse. So I sent her inside after that.
But I wasn’t done with that son of a bitch.
After I unleashed all my frustration on him, I slit his throat and watched him bleed to death. We wrapped him up and put him in the freezer. Julian was not very happy having to grab food out of the freezer with a dead body staring back at him but, yeah, well, we all have to make sacrifices.
I’d originally planned to toss him overboard, but after I heard Callie say she wants all of Spain to know she isn’t someone to mess with, I decided to keep his body. I’ll make sure the entire country gets the message once I hang him in the Plaza de España.
After Fernando, she stopped defying me.
For the most part.
She turns in to hot wax as soon as I touch her, but she still defies me just because she can.
Because she is a little witch like that. She likes to push me, testing me, seeing how far she can go before I throw her against the wall. Although I sometimes think she does things because she wants to be thrown against the wall.
She likes it rough, that girl of mine.
We have developed a routine over the last week. We eat breakfast with Liam; we work out together and have a few sparring sessions; I do some work in my office; she reads a book or watches a movie; we have lunch. Most of the time, I can’t wait any longer after that to drag her ass to bed for the rest of the afternoon.
Liam still doesn’t trust her, but he isn’t trying to kill her anymore. He bitches at her every chance he gets, but I can see she is growing on him.
He respects her.
I bury my nose in the crook of her neck while I tug her closer to my body, my silk sheets covering our bodies. I can barely resist her anyway, but when her sweet scent is mixed with sweat, I’m hooked. I have a ton of shit to do, but I don’t want to let her go.
She softly moans while I place kisses on her neck.
I’m going to fucking miss her when it’s time to let her go.
“Don’t get me horny again, I need food first,” she whines.
“Yeah, I’m hungry too. Open your legs.”
She swats my arm. “You’re such a caveman.”
“Hmm, that sounds like a great idea. Next time I’ll keep you hostage in a cave.”
I scrape my teeth along the skin of her neck, knowing it turns her on like crazy.
“You’re going to downgrade me like that? And. Stop. Doing. That.” She turns around in my arms and scowls. “You’re going to get me too exhausted to eat.”
My hand moves down to stroke the bare skin of her stomach when I notice the black watch covering her wrist. It’s too big to really fit her slender frame, but I like the look of it on her, anyway.
“You little pickpocket.”
“Don’t say that. I hate that word. It feels cheap.”
I reach for her hand and slide it off her wrist.
“Unlike?”
“I prefer magician.”
“Magician? Stealing is hardly magic.” I laugh before I resume sucking on the skin covering her neck.
“Yet you didn’t notice a thing when I took your watch.” I can hear the cocky grin that must be plastered all over her face.
My fingers reach up to trace the line of her jaw, gently tugging her face towards me while my eyes are focused on all the small freckles on her nose. Her fair skin and light freckles make the teal in her eyes jump out even more. Like teal emeralds, with the sole purpose of wrapping me around her little finger.
I’m so fucked.
“You look like your mother, do you know that?”
Her eyes widen in surprise, followed by a coy smile.
“What do you know about my mother?”
“You’re still technically my hostage, so I know a lot.”
“Technically? So I could leave if I want to?”
I chuckle at the thought.
“Of course you can. If you don’t mind drowning to death.”
She sticks out her tongue.
“Really funny. Did you know my mother?”
“No, but I have a big file with every single thing that we could possibly find about you and your family. Including your mother,” I admit. There’s no use lying about it. She knows how this works. I’m a criminal, I have files on every person I’m involved with.
Personal, business. Willingly or by force. She is no exception.
Frustration washes over her face, and I let out a sigh in response.
“Are you mad about that?”
She stares at me for a few seconds before she purses her lips and shakes her head.
“No, I shouldn’t even be surprised. Sometimes I just forget I’m not here by choice. This is not some nice vacation. That it will end soon.” Her face falls, and I can tell that her brain is working overtime. I don’t regret taking her, but I don’t want to feel her like this. Not because I want her to stay, I don’t know what I want. All I know is that I feel the same.
“This will only end if we want it to,” I lie, even though it doesn’t feel like a lie.
She narrows her eyes, moving them back and forth as if she is trying to look through my soul. To detect my real intentions before she just rolls her eyes.
“Whatever. Tell me �
� what do you know about my mother?”
I stay quiet, examining her face while my hand strokes the small over her back. I don’t know how much I should tell her. I don’t know how much she can take, so I start small.
“That she was Irish.”
“Hmm.” She nods in response. “What else?”
“That her name was Jacqueline, even though everyone called her Jacky. Like you.”
“Like me?”
“I know your name is Ceallach, which means warrior, by the way, but everyone calls you Callie. I know your parents always had a rocky marriage. I know your father used to hit your mother on a daily basis. I know your mother died in a single car accident even though there were signs of foul play.” I watch her closely, to see her reaction. I doubt she knows the last part because it isn’t in the public record.
“Excuse me?” she blurts out in shock. “What the fuck are you talking about?” She wiggles herself out of my grip and jerks her body up, resting on her elbows. “What do you know that I don’t, Kane?” Her previously relaxed face has been replaced by a troubled one.
I run a hand through my hair before I exhale loudly, thinking about how I should phrase this.
“There was another set of tracks on the road.” I decided not to give it a different spin. She has the right to know what happened to her mother.
Or what didn’t happen.
“Why is this the first time I’m hearing this? Why didn’t the police tell me that? They said she’d drank too much and drove herself into a tree.” She jumps off the bed, out of my grasp, her eyes welling up, laced with panic.
“Calm down, baby. Breathe.”
“Don’t tell me to breathe after you tell me shit like that!” she snaps. “If you want me to fucking breathe, speak. Tell me what else you know.”
I get out of bed and walk towards the liquor tray, pouring us both a two fingered whiskey while she’s impatiently glaring at me.
“Have a drink. Settle down,” I tell her as I hand a glass to her. She stomps over after she grabs the silk sheet off the bed and wraps it around her body.
She looks like a walking ball of fire, straight from the devil’s den. Her fingers yank the glass out of my hand, then she downs the amber liquid all at once.
“There. Settled. Now speak!” she growls.
Although her eyes are beaming in anger, she continues to fight the tears welling up in her eyes.
I mimic her move, pouring the burning liquid down my throat before I make myself another one.
“When was your mother ever drunk, Callie?” I start. Her knuckles turn white as she grips her empty glass, not wanting or able to voice her words.
“Your mother never drank any alcohol because she hated your father for being a drunk fuck, beating the shit out of her. Yet she hits a tree with her car with a 0.2 alcohol percentage and a different set of skid marks on the road? And there is also the fact that she went to a bar with a friend who says she only had one glass of wine. One. Every other person who was in that bar has no memory of your mother appearing drunk or even remotely tipsy.”
“You think she was killed?” she whispers, her voice hoarse.
I lift up my hand to cup her cheek, bending my knees a little so I can lock my gaze with hers.
“Baby, I know she was killed. I’m just not sure who did it,” I admit.
She takes in a shocked breath before the tears start dripping down her cheeks. My other hand cups the back of her head, and I pull her against my chest.
“Shh, it’s okay, baby. It’s okay,” I try to console her while she sobs in my arms. I let her have her moment, knowing I just dropped a bomb on her. I hate seeing her like this. I hate that I had to be the one to break her heart like this.
I run my hand through her hair before I fist it and pull her head back, forcing her to look at me.
“I will find out who did it, baby.”
“Okay.” She nods as she wipes her tears away. “Okay,” she repeats, as if she is trying to tell herself more than she is telling me.
I bend my legs and place one arm under her knees while the other supports her back, carrying her back to my bed.
“What are you doing, Kane?” She lightly chuckles, still wiping away her tears.
I slowly drop her on the bed then lay down next to her, unwrapping her from the sheet and covering her with it.
It’s like I can’t think straight with this girl by my side. I want to make things better for her. I want to kiss her sorrows away. I want to hear her laugh.
I want her in every possible way I can.
She gives me a genuine smile, looking at me under her lashes.
“What am I going to do with you?” I feel her breath fanning my face.
“What do you want to do, baby?”
She stays quiet while she moves her body towards me, her head resting on her arms.
“Being with you is like chasing fire. I’m drawn to the heat, the sparks, the beauty of the flames,” she confesses.
“But?” I ask, wondering what comes next.
“But if I get too close, I’m bound to get burned. You will burn me.”
I smile at her answer, thinking she has no idea. She has no idea, and until just now, I don’t think I even knew. But hearing her put it into words, voicing whatever this is? Makes me realize I do know.
“Baby girl, you’ve already burned me,” I confess before my lips crash into hers.
31
Callie
Present Day
I asked to be alone after Kane dropped that ‘your-mother-was-killed’ bomb on me. I needed time to process it. Process the fact that someone could have been after my mother. That he is convinced someone killed my mother when I had just made peace a year ago with the fact that my mother was never coming back. After I cried my eyes out, the anger came rushing through, and I made a list in my head of all the people who might have wanted her dead.
It drove me fucking nuts.
My mind went mental for half an hour until I broke down again, deciding to give myself a break and closing my eyes for a quick nap.
A few hours later, I wake up with a headache and a growling stomach, telling me it is time for dinner. I change into black jeans and a dark green hoodie before I make my way over to the dining room.
Liam and Kane are both seated at the glass table, shirtless and handsome as fuck. I hate that I think Liam is just as attractive. No, I don’t want to jump him like I do Kane, there’s no sexual chemistry, but there is no denying the handsome features the man holds. It would be easier hating him if he looked more like Fernando or Ronnie.
Their faces show signs of fatigue, and their skin shines in sweat.
That must have been some sparring session.
“Jesus, couldn’t both of you put on some clothes?” I suggest, rolling my eyes while taking a seat across from Kane. For the last few days, we’ve always sat like this.
Liam at the head of the table, Kane on his left, me on his right.
It feels strangely comfortable, like we’ve been doing this for the last few years instead of days. Liam stops eating and shoots me a dull glare.
Fucking asshole.
He doesn’t try to kill me anymore, but I know he’d still rather see me fed to the sharks.
“Just be happy we’re handsome. We could be old, wrinkly, and raping you every day,” he chides while giving me a smile that doesn’t match his eyes.
“Again with the rape,” I rebuke, rolling my eyes.
The sound of Kane clearing his throat snaps me out of my glaring at Liam. He folds his arms in front of his body while he leans back in his chair, giving his brother a stoic look.
But I know better.
He is pissed about something else. After almost two weeks, I can usually translate his facial expressions. He may look unemotional to anyone else, but I can still determine his mood by his eyes.
Right now, he looks like someone killed his dog. Or he just killed a dog. With his resume, it could be either.
&nbs
p; Liam locks gazes with his baby brother before he rolls his eyes.
“Whatever.”
Kane moves his eyes to me and gives me a wink while Julian sets down a plate in front of me.
The white porcelain is filled with vegetables, small potatoes, and a big steak, so I eagerly grab my cutlery and start eating. It’s quiet for a while, the three of us enjoying our meals, until Liam breaks the silence.
“So I had a phone call this afternoon,” he starts. We both look at him, waiting for the rest of whatever is going to come out of his mouth.
“It was quite interesting.” His eyes are focused on me like I should know what he is talking about. My eyes widen in anticipation while I drop my cutlery on my plate.
“You see, I have a buddy with the CIA. He called to give me an update about your daddy. He didn’t have one, because, apparently, your father has vanished into thin air. But you already know that.” He cocks his head, waiting for a response.
Instead, I just stare at him, my face expressionless. I’m on their team, but I’m not going to show him my hand just yet. I’m a better poker player than that.
“Anyway, he didn’t find your dad, but he did tell me that he had a request a few days ago. Apparently, the Italians are looking for a girl. A strawberry blonde with a sassy mouth going by the name of Callie Reyes. They’re offering five million if she’s brought to them in one piece. Alive.” He smirks. “Care to explain, Reyes?”
I crack my knuckles, trying to ignore Kane’s eyes piercing a hole through my skin as he listens to his brother’s words. I knew being stuck in the hands of the Carrillo brothers wasn’t going to do any good for my debt to Ronnie. It would only make it worse, since I lost all this time on the yacht when I should’ve been looking for ten million in jewelry. I’ve chosen to ignore that fact since I am stuck here, convinced I will find a way as soon as Kane lets me go.
If he ever does.
Chasing Fire (The Fire Duet Book 1) Page 23
