"Go, Lake! Go, Lake!" the crowd shouted.
He circled Brandon and jabbed him in the kidney. Brandon swung at him. He was fast. The tip of the blade left a line of blood trailing down Lake's right arm. The crowd booed.
"You think I'm scared of you?" Brandon mocked.
Lake knew Brandon should be scared. The fact he wasn't meant he was stupid. And stupid was dangerous. Lake aimed a fist at his shoulder, kicked at this knee and punched him in the stomach to send him back into the wall beside the church. Brandon recovered quickly and lunged at Lake. He turned the knife so that it was point down and sliced at Lake as he came at him. Lake blocked his moves, but Brandon kicked his knee and Lake's jaw clenched with pain. As Brandon passed him, he elbowed Lake in the back, hard. Lake rocked forward, spun and kicked, getting Brandon in the side.
"When I'm done with you," Brandon said, "I'm going out there and I'm going to get Kirsty. I have some unfinished business with her." He leered. "Maybe I should see for myself what it is that she has to offer that's worth fighting for."
Lake jabbed him in the jaw, then threw his body into Brandon, capturing his knife hand. With Brandon at his back, Lake bent the scumbag's right arm in the wrong direction in an attempt to shake the knife free. Brandon wrapped his free arm around Lake's neck in a chokehold. The guy was strong. Brandon stamped on his foot. Lake clenched his teeth, but didn't let go of the hand holding the knife.
"Go, Lake! Go, Lake!"
"Smash his smarmy face in," Betty shouted.
At last, Brandon's grip loosened. The knife fell on the snow.
There was a loud roar of approval.
Lake elbowed Brandon in the stomach, once, twice, three times, pushing him back into the wall. Using his weight, he rammed Brandon against the wall and freed himself from the chokehold. Brandon regrouped. He wrapped an arm around Lake's shoulder and with his free hand punched Lake's kidney until it felt like the blood vessels in his eyes were bursting. Brandon slid out from behind Lake and kicked him hard into the wall. Lake grunted as he felt a rib crack.
"Come on, Lake," someone shouted. "You can do it!"
He took a deep breath and charged Brandon. He grabbed him around the waist and together they flew forward and sprawled in the snow.
Lake was on his feet first.
"Get him, girls," a woman's voice cried.
Before Lake could do anything, Jean launched herself through the air and landed on Brandon. A second later she was joined by two other women.
"Geronimo," screamed Betty as she threw herself on top of the heap.
The town descended on Brandon. Suddenly there was a pile of people where Brandon used to be. For a second Lake didn't know what to do. He stood poised to fight, ready to finish things, and couldn't even see his opponent. He took a step towards them. He couldn't let the women get hurt. He'd pull them off the idiot if he had to. Then he saw one of the men remove his belt and hand it to Heather.
"I've tied his feet," Heather called. "Who's got his hands?"
"Nearly done," came the reply.
"Gag him too," shouted Betty. "I'm sick of his whiny wee voice."
Lake stopped dead. Slowly, he shook his head as he smiled. One thing was for sure, Invertary had never needed his self-defence classes.
Kirsty arrived at the fight in time to see Betty launch herself on the Brandon pile-up. She faltered slightly at the sight then she saw Lake and no longer cared about Brandon, or what the women of Invertary would do with him. She rushed towards Lake as he smiled at the people piled on top of Brandon.
"Lake," she shouted.
Her heart beat so fast it was painful as he turned towards her. She had no words for the look in his eyes. It was just for her. She threw herself at him.
"Oomph," he grunted as he wrapped an arm around her.
"I thought you were dead," she said as she buried her face in his shoulder.
He pulled back from her, still holding her tight, and looked down at her.
"Let me get this straight," he said. "You thought that in a fight, your sissy ex-fiancé would win?"
"No," she said. "I mean, maybe. Well, look at yourself. You're naked and he had a knife. It wasn't exactly a fair fight."
"You're right there. It wasn't a fair fight," Lake told her, clearly offended. "I'm a trained professional and he's an idiot."
Kirsty found herself smiling in spite of everything.
"Can we deal with your wounded ego later?" she said. "We have other problems."
"Like what?" He shrugged and she felt the action ripple through her body. "The women have the idiot under control. What more is there?"
"My shop is on fire," she said.
He stilled.
"Don't joke."
"No joke."
She wrapped her arms around him. She didn't want to think about the fire. There was nothing she could do there anyway, except try to put the blaze out with her mind. Others were dealing with it. Right now, she needed to be with Lake.
"We better go see what's happening," Lake told her.
She shook her head against him. She'd deal with the shop later.
"Are you hurt?" she asked instead.
"Cuts and bruises," Lake told her, and pulled her tight.
She squeezed him hard. He groaned.
"There might be a broken rib or two," he added.
She loosened her grip and started to step away from him.
"You could have told me," she said.
He pulled her back against him.
"I want you here," he said.
Kirsty smiled as she let out a deep sigh. This is where she wanted to be too. Here. With Lake.
"Get off that man," Officer Donaldson's voice carried over the crowd. "Or I'll arrest you for obstruction."
"Then I'll sue for stupidity," Betty's voice shouted back.
Lake limped towards the noise, dragging Kirsty with him. Kirsty looked down at the snow and winced—blood. So much for cuts and bruises. She had to find some shoes and clothes for the man. She held him tight. Soon. Very soon.
As the crowd parted, Lake began to laugh. Kirsty felt it vibrate through her. She looked to see what was funny and grinned. Brandon was trussed up like a chicken and Betty was sitting on him, holding the Scottish flag that Jean had been using as a weapon.
"I'm warning you," Officer Donaldson said. "Get off that man."
"Quick," Betty shouted at the crowd. "Someone take a picture so I can send it to the interweb."
Cameras flashed as Betty beamed a wide—and very gummy—grin.
Kirsty looked down at the gagged and bound Brandon. It took all of her self-control not to kick the man.
"He's not worth it," Lake said, as though reading her mind.
"At least he didn't get the necklace," Kirsty said. "Which means I have a whole load of diamonds."
"Diamonds, huh?" Lake said. "That makes sense. I wouldn't get too excited, though—you can't sell illegal diamonds."
"That's just pants," Kirsty said as she snuggled in closer. "I was right about that necklace all along. It is a piece of junk."
Lake chuckled beside her and together they watched as Betty bounced on Brandon.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
The fire had gutted the inside of Kirsty's shop. The smoke had damaged her home upstairs. What didn't suffer flame or smoke damage was ruined by water. Now the interior of her building was a black, burnt-out mess. Kirsty stood in the front window of Lake's shop, surrounded by her family and friends, watching the clean-up. Lake held her tight against him.
"Looks like we won the war," Betty said. "Kirsty's business is dead." Everyone scowled at her. "What?" she demanded. "I'm not talking about anything you can't see for yourself."
"Don't worry," Kirsty's mum said. "We'll help you fix things. I'm sure there's a lot you can salvage."
"Aye," Shona said. "The fire was superficial. The structure is fine."
There was nothing superficial about it. Anything that was left would land in the rubbish skip.
&
nbsp; "You don't get that smoke smell out," Jean said. "Nothing removes it."
Kirsty's mum glared at Jean.
"I'm sure what we can't salvage will be replaced by the insurance company," her mum said with confidence.
Kirsty's heart sank. Lake squeezed her tighter. With his arm round her shoulder, things were slightly easier to bear. Having him there, knowing he was okay, put all material losses in perspective. She looked at the sodden mess that was her life. It could have been worse. Not much worse, but still. She took a deep breath. There was no avoiding this.
"I don't have any insurance, Mum," she said.
She felt Lake stiffen beside her.
"You don't have any insurance?" Her mum's voice was a high-pitched squeak.
Kirsty shook her head sadly.
"I got rid of it to free up money for advertising."
Her mum's mouth fluttered open.
"Well, that was bloody stupid," Betty said loudly.
Kirsty couldn't disagree, so she kept her mouth shut.
"We'll figure something out," Lake told her as he kissed the top of her head. "We'll all pitch in. It'll be fine."
He sounded so sure of himself that Kirsty found herself believing him, even though logic told her that it really wouldn't be fine.
"What about the war?" Betty demanded. "What about not helping the enemy? What about winning?"
"The war's over," Lake said evenly.
The look he gave Betty made her clamp her lips shut and fume. Kirsty squeezed him in thanks and heard him grunt. She'd forgotten about the ribs, and even though they were both bandaged and strapped, they were still fragile. She patted the cable knit jumper he wore instead, looking at him instead of the shop, because she honestly didn't know how she was going to get up in the morning and find the energy to deal with this. She sighed heavily. She would deal with it the way she'd dealt with everything else—one thing at a time. That was all she could ever do. Lake kissed the top of her head and her heart warmed. At least this time she wasn't alone. This time she had her mum, the women of Invertary and Lake. Already things were looking up.
As Lake watched the smouldering mess that was Kirsty's shop, he badly wanted to beat Brandon all over again. Unfortunately he was locked up in Invertary's only jail cell and Officer Donaldson had been clear about Lake not being on the visitors' list. He shook his head grimly. It was going to be one helluva clean-up and he had no idea how they would rebuild without insurance money. He flicked through a list of guys he could call for help. People owed him favours. That would make a big dent in the refurbishment, at least.
The door to the shop crashed open and Alastair rushed in, out of breath and frantic.
"What is it?" Lake called to him.
He knew this wasn't going to be good. Kirsty shifted in his arms to see who he was talking to.
"Have you seen Rainne?" Alastair said.
The women turned. As soon as they set eyes on Alastair their smiles turned to frowns of worry.
"No, I haven't," Lake said. "I thought she was with you."
"She was." The boy spat out the words.
He stalked across the shop floor and thrust a piece of paper at Lake. As Lake read it his anger grew. Kirsty stilled beside him as she realised what the note meant.
"She's run away," Lake said.
The women gasped.
"Oh my goodness!" Kirsty's mum said.
Alastair threw up his hands in despair.
"How could she do this?" he wailed. "I told her to stay here. I told her that I would look after her, that we could have a fine life together. Why would she do this? Why would she sneak away in the night as though she's ashamed?"
He stood with his hands on his hips, glaring at Lake, expecting an answer.
"She might have left with her mum and dad?" Kirsty said.
The boy shook his head vehemently.
"They're at the campsite on the edge of town. I already went there. They were waiting for her to turn up and leave with them. She didn't."
Kirsty's jaw dropped. Lake clenched his. It wasn't anything he didn't already know about them.
"Maybe they didn't know you were hurt?" Kirsty said hopefully.
He loved her for thinking that, but he knew different.
"They knew everything," he said. "It's the only story in town. They thought the fire would send Rainne running to them. They were waiting for her."
Kirsty and her mother exchanged a look. Lake could see that they didn't understand. He knew for a fact that Kirsty's mother would have clawed through the burning rubble to get to her.
"They are shameful people," Betty said with a disgusted shake of her head.
"Where is she?" Alastair wailed. "Why would she run away like this?" He rounded on Lake. "This is your fault," he said as he pointed at him. "She said that you and her parents were fighting over her. What did you do?"
Lake looked down at Kirsty. This wasn't the time to talk about that. He needed to think things through before he talked to Kirsty. His plans had changed. He had changed.
"It doesn't matter now," he said at last.
"It matters to me," Alastair shouted. "Tell me. Tell me what you said that made her run away from me."
Lake closed his eyes briefly. When he opened them the women of Invertary were glaring at him. They already knew that they weren't going to like his answer. Betty pursed her lips.
"It's between me and Rainne," he told the boy tightly.
"No, it's not. It has to do with all of us," Betty said.
"Betty," Lake warned.
"Lake here," Betty said, ignoring him, "told Rainne that he plans to put the shop on the market come Monday."
Lake shook his head as shock rippled around the room. Although Kirsty still held him, he could already feel her put distance between them. Under his breath, he cursed Betty.
"It's not settled," he said.
The truth was that he didn't know what he was going to do yet. All he knew was that his plans to leave Invertary weren't as pleasant as they'd been months earlier.
"He's leaving us," Betty told everyone. "He's leaving all of us."
Kirsty dropped her hand from his waist.
Kirsty took a step back from Lake. He was leaving? He'd been planning to leave and he hadn't told her. She looked at her mother. There were tears in her eyes.
Alastair's eyes flashed and his fists clenched. It looked like he wanted to hit Lake. Kirsty looked up into Lake's concerned eyes.
"You're selling the shop?" Kirsty said. "But it's a success. Isn't that what you wanted?"
He shook his head softly.
"I never meant to keep it," Lake told her. "I was going to tell you, but then things changed."
"When were you going to tell me?" she said. "When you were packed and ready to go?"
Lake started to speak, but Alastair strode forward and poked him in the chest. It took serious courage on the boy's part. Lake raised an eyebrow at him.
"Why are you selling Rainne's shop?" he demanded.
"One, it's not Rainne's shop. And two, I wasn't helping her," Lake said. "I was only doing what our parents did. She needs to learn to stand on her own two feet. And I need to get on with my life too."
"Selfish bastard," Alastair said.
Lake nodded - that was probably true.
"You mind your language," Betty told Alastair. "Lake here has bent over backwards to help Rainne and all he's gotten for his trouble are complaints and problems. You're just angry because the lass didn't want to stay with you."
The fight went out of Alastair. He snatched the note from Lake. He read it again, with obvious hope that the words would change, that there would be a hint in the note as to why she ran out on him.
"I love her," he said softly.
Kirsty's mum patted him on the back and cooed soothingly.
"It's always hard," she said, but her eyes were on her daughter.
Kirsty couldn't look Lake in the eye anymore. He took a step towards her.
"We need to ta
lk about this," he said. "Alone."
She shook her head.
"What will you do?" she asked him.
"I was planning on taking a partnership in a security firm—high-end bodyguard work, stuff like that."
"So you're leaving?" she said softly.
There was silence. Everyone except Alastair watched the interaction as though they were watching a train crash in slow motion.
"Let's go somewhere and talk. Nothing is set in stone. We can work something out."
"Like what?" Kirsty looked up at his beautiful blue eyes. "My life is here." She scoffed. "What I have left of it."
"There are other options," he said stiffly.
Kirsty walked over to stand with her mother. This was more than she could bear. She was losing it all. Everything. Her life. Her income. Now she was losing Lake too. Well, she wasn't going to sob. And she wasn't going to fall apart. Not this time.
"Of course," Kirsty said. "It makes perfect sense to leave. Why would you stay here and run a lingerie shop?" She looked up at Lake. "Good for you. That's great. It's the right decision. A security business, that's perfect."
She stepped back towards the door.
"It's absolutely perfect."
Lake reached for her.
"We need to talk about this," he told her again.
She stared at him. What could there possibly be left to say?
"Honey?" her mother said. Her voice shook.
"It's okay," Kirsty said. She felt a smile appear on her face. "Lake's doing the right thing. I just wish I'd known."
Lake folded his arms. His jaw set. Waiting. It took her a minute, but she got there. Kirsty's shoulders slumped.
"It was the lingerie war, right?" she said. Stupid. Of course it was. "You knew I wouldn't fight back if I thought you were leaving anyway, and you wanted the publicity. You wanted to raise the profits and profile of the shop. It was a great idea. You did a great job. The shop must be worth selling now. Well done." Her voice trailed off. "Great."
Lake took a step towards her.
"I don't want to do this here, with an audience. Let's go upstairs."
Lingerie Wars (The Invertary books) Page 28
