Dangerous Secrets: Callaghan Brothers, Book 1

by Zanders, Abbie

  Chapter Nineteen

  “About fucking time you called,” Jake hissed over the secure connection later that night. Kane let out a patient sigh. He knew he was going to catch hell when he didn’t report in at the pre-arranged time, though technically, he was still well within the grace period. He’d woken up to discover Kiara spread across him like a heated blanket. The little hellcat had lulled him to sleep, then curled up on him like a cat on a radiator.

  And if that hadn’t been horrifying enough, the realization that it wasn’t altogether horrible, was.

  It had taken awhile to extricate himself without waking her. Then he had spent the next thirty minutes in solitude, reminding himself that he preferred to be alone, that he had neither needed nor wanted anyone to change that.

  But she was a good cook. And if he was honest, he had to admit that he had enjoyed their little game this afternoon. The woman now officially knew more about him than any other soul on earth (with the exception of his brothers, of course). Not important, classified information - but personal things. Like his favorite color. How he liked his coffee. And how and where to apply exactly the right pressure on his back and shoulders to turn him into putty in her hands. God, she’d done wonders on his back – he’d hardly felt a twinge since she’d worked her magic.

  He rolled his shoulders, once again pleasantly surprised by the lack of pain.

  “Your little package is a tremendous pain in the ass,” Kane said, but with only half the force he might have. What bothered him the most was how she had managed to get under his skin so quickly. Kane was the Iceman, the rock. Unshakable. Unaffected. He didn’t have friends, and he didn’t do nice.

  “She tried to bolt, didn’t she?” Jake said knowingly. “You said something that you thought was perfectly reasonable, and you pissed her off, am I right?”

  Kane blinked, his foreign warm and fuzzies fading fast when he recalled the events of last night. He could not allow himself to lose sight of who she was and why she was here. “You couldn’t have warned me?”

  “Thought I did.”

  “Yeah, well, you didn’t.”

  “Look, Kane, fuck these feds,” Jake said over the line, clearly sensing his frustration. “Dad can watch the bar. I’ll be up tomorrow to take her off your hands.”

  Jake’s pronouncement should have had him heaving a sigh of relief. He wanted Kiara - or Taryn, or whatever the hell her name was – gone so he could go back to his peaceful, solitary existence. Right? So why was he even hesitating?

  Kane thought about the little hellcat purring contentedly on his sofa. Yes, she was a pain in the ass, but she wasn’t really that bad, all things considered. Nothing he couldn’t put up with for a few more days to ensure her safety and that of his brothers. If he had to sacrifice his solitude for home-cooked meals, a spotless cabin, occasional pleasant conversation, and nightly massages, well, so be it. He could take one for the team.

  He blew out a breath, not believing what he was about to say. “No, Jake, sit tight,” Kane said. “I’ve got it under control. We can’t risk anyone finding out about her now, not until we figure this out.”

  “She still has no idea who you are?”

  “No.” If she did, she’d probably be planning her next escape.

  “I don’t know, Kane,” Jake said uncertainly. “My gut’s humming again.”

  Kane was pretty sure he knew exactly why, too. Hell, his own gut was performing an entire symphony, but he was averse to sharing that at the moment. “She’s safe, and for right now at least, content to hang here until things settle down a bit. I think the storms have put a healthy dose of fear into her, and it sounds like this weather’s going to be with us for a couple of more days at least.” He hoped.

  “I find it hard to believe something as ordinary as a storm could shake Taryn, Kane. She has already been to hell and back; a little bad weather isn’t going to slow her down. With any luck, I’ll get there before you manage to piss her off again,” Jake told him.

  “Not likely,” Kane mumbled. He seemed to possess a special gift for saying or doing something to rile her. “But she’s not going anywhere.”

  “I owe you, Kane.”

  “Hell yes you do,” Kane agreed wholeheartedly.

  * * *

  “Tell me about Charlie,” Kane said as he sliced a thick steak into chunks and tossed them into a huge cast iron skillet. Kiara peeled potatoes at the table behind him. The rain continued to come down, limiting what they could do outside. She didn’t mind too much. Inside it was warm and dry, the cabin filling with the delicious aromas of frying steak and baking bread.

  She didn’t answer him right away. Talking about Charlie was difficult. “Charlie was ... well, he was one of those rare people who you think can’t possibly be real, because he was just too good. And then, when you finally do believe, it’s time for them to leave. Or for you to.”

  She wiped the potato and sliced it, adding it to the bowl of cold, salted water with the others.

  “He found me, you know, one day when he was out fishing. Charlie loved to fish.”

  “Found you?”

  “Literally. Broken and bleeding, barely conscious. Most people would have turned away, or called 911 and washed their hands of the whole thing, not wanting to get involved. But not Charlie. He took me home, stitched me up, and gave me a hot meal.”

  It was the first time she had ever told anyone that. Why she was telling this huge mountain of a man with a control complex now was beyond her. Maybe, she thought, she just needed to tell someone. And Kane seemed far enough removed from the rest of society that he might not judge her so harshly. He was practically a kindred spirit.

  “What happened to you, Kiara?”

  She frowned, adding another potato to the bowl. “I can’t talk about that, Kane,” she said honestly, the pain in her voice very real. She looked up at him and saw his concern. “But I’m not a drug addict or a criminal, if that’s what you’re wondering.” He looked surprised, as if the thought had never crossed his mind.

  Thankfully, he didn’t press her further on the “what”, and instead moved back to Charlie. “Why didn’t he take you to a hospital?”

  “I wondered that too, and asked him about it – much later, of course. He said that he didn’t know, just that something told him not to.”

  Kane raised his eyebrows. “He heard voices?”

  Taryn smiled. “I know what you’re thinking. I thought the same thing at first. But then I learned to trust Charlie’s ‘voices’. They were usually right.”

  He still looked doubtful, but she couldn’t fault him for that. It had taken her a long time to believe, too. “So then what?”

  “Well, for a while I was too weak to do anything, but as I got better I started helping out a little. You know, I felt like I kind of owed him for all he’d done.” Kane nodded in understanding.

  “Charlie lived alone, ran his own pub. While he worked, I cooked and cleaned. We kind of got used to each other, I guess. Charlie told everyone I was his niece, and that worked. When I was old enough, he let me work behind the bar. I loved it. It was a small place, where everyone knew everybody else. ”

  Her nostalgic smile faded. “It was great for a while. Then he got sick. He was in and out of the hospital for a couple of years. Every time we conquered one thing something else reared up. Charlie used to say that you can’t cheat your Destiny. I took care of him the best I could, but...”

  “He passed away.”

  She nodded, brushing away the tears that had spilled with the back of her hand. “I miss him terribly.”

  In a surprising move, Kane pushed the skillet off away from the flame and kneeled beside her. He didn’t say anything, didn’t really do anything; he just waited. She leaned into his chest and closed her eyes.

  Taryn felt a little ashamed of herself, clinging to Kane as she was. Then again, it felt so good. His chest was hard and warm, his scent – now permanently etched into her pleasure centers – soothing. Maybe it
was because it was only the two of them out here in the middle of nowhere. Maybe it was because he was a loner, much like her, with his own secrets. Maybe it was because he hadn’t once tried to seduce her or get her into his bed. Or maybe it was because he reminded her so much of Jake. For right now, it just felt good, and that was enough.

  “Thank you,” she sniffled with a little smile, pushing away from him.

  * * *

  Kane brushed away a stray tear from her cheek with his thumb, wishing he could take her pain away, but knowing that he couldn’t. It should have felt awkward; he didn’t really know about this sort of thing, or what he was supposed to do. There were probably sage, compassionate words that would be appropriate, but nothing came to mind.

  What he did know was that he felt a whole lot better when she’d leaned into him. It sure as hell was better than watching her cry alone at the table. It hadn’t lasted long – a minute at most, but hopefully, it helped.

  “So what are you going to do now?” he asked as they resumed their meal preparation.

  She finished the last potato, then took the whole bowl over to the sink. “I think I’m going to take a page out of your book,” she said, waving the peeler around. “This whole solitude thing, I mean. I think it will be good for me to get away from it all for a while, get back to basics, simplify.”

  Kane directed his attention to the sizzling beef, afraid that she would see the total impossibility of such a future in his face. He felt kind of bad about that. She was really beginning to grow on him, and Kane was of the belief that some people – himself included – were much better off on their own. Hell, if they’d met under different circumstances, he might have even helped her. Depending on what Jake and the others came up with, he still might. If nothing else, these past few days had convinced him that if anyone deserved to throw the rest of the world a great big “fuck you”, it was her.

  “It’s not for everyone,” he warned.

  “No, I don’t suppose it is,” she said thoughtfully. “It is ideal for me, though.”

  He supposed he could see where she would think that. It was hard to live off the grid in today’s society - without a driver’s license, credit cards, or an identity. Sure, people did it all the time, but they were usually criminals with the resources and means to do so. Kiara had no one.

  Well, that wasn’t quite true. She had him, his brothers, his father. She just didn’t know it yet.

  “What would you do for food?”

  “I could stock up on non-perishables, like you do. Plant a garden in the summer, and then can things for winter.”

  “Heat and light?”

  “Firewood and candles. I don’t need much.”

  He grimaced. She seemed to have given this a lot of thought. “Don’t you think you would get lonely?” he prodded.

  Something flashed in her eyes, and he knew he had hit a nerve. But then she set her shoulders and looked at him with renewed determination in her features. “You don’t.”

  Usually, he didn’t. But he had a feeling he was going to feel a lot lonelier when she wasn’t around anymore. It was actually kind of nice having her around. She didn’t talk a lot. Worked her butt off. Never got in his way.

  “No,” he agreed. “But this isn’t my whole life, either. I have a job, and a big family.”

  She pulled the loaf of fresh bread out of the oven, but said nothing.

  “Why don’t you stick around for a while?” Kane suggested casually. “Get a better feel for what it takes to live apart from the rest of the world, see if it’s really what you want.” He’d been racking his brain trying to come up with a way to convince her to stay – willingly, if possible - until Jake came for her, but once again Fate had lit the path for him.

  “I don’t want to overstay my welcome,” she told him. “I mean, you come up here to be alone and you end up saddled with me, simply because you’re a nice guy who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

  A nice guy? Few people were foolish enough to believe that, and those who were, were usually pretty quick to realize their mistake. Odd, though, how he almost felt like a good guy around her. She had spunk and a spirit that he could appreciate.

  Kane gently removed the knife from her hand and turned her to face him. Lifting her chin, he looked directly into her eyes. “First of all, let’s get something straight. I am not a nice guy, not by any stretch of the imagination. Secondly, I think I can force myself to put up with you for a few more days.” He grinned and winked. “Especially if you keep cooking meals and doing that magic thing on my back.”

  She grinned, and the room brightened considerably. “I’ll think about it,” she said, but he saw the answer in her eyes. Inwardly, he breathed a sigh of relief.

  * * *

  Taryn decided she must be crazy, because she was actually considering extending her stay with the enigmatic Kane. She trusted him in a cautious sort of way. The urge to set out on her own wasn’t as strong as it had been a few days ago. Despite his insistence to the contrary, Kane was a nice guy – well, when she wasn’t being a hot-headed bitch, that was.

  And he really did seem sincere about wanting her to stay. A smile ghosted across her lips. He thought he was such a big badass, but he really was a softie. He probably didn’t even realize that he was starting to let his guard down around her a little, giving her a glimpse into that fascinating male brain of his. She didn’t think he did that very often. It was weird how she felt so close to him in such a short amount of time. It wasn’t the burning passion that she had for Jake, but more like an instant friendship bond.

  A week ago she wouldn’t have believed there were half a dozen decent, good men left in the world. In the last week, however, she’d already come in contact with more than that. Maybe the universe figured she was due for a little good karma.

  And what he’d said actually made sense. She could learn a lot from him. Though his cabin was well-equipped with all the comforts of home, he obviously knew something about how to survive on his own. She hadn’t been kidding when she said she really didn’t need much. As long as she had the basics, she’d be content.

  He’d doubted her when she had told him as much, but it was true. She had been tossing the idea around in her head for longer than he could possibly imagine, and was certain she could make it work. He’d thought he could dissuade her with talk of loneliness, but since Charlie’s passing, loneliness had become as much a part of her life as breathing.

  What he didn’t understand was that feeling lonely was nothing compared to watching those you loved hurting or dying, knowing you could have done something to prevent it. She would never put another person at risk again. If that meant a solitary existence, then so be it.

  Chapter Twenty

  “She’s agreed to stay?” Jake said, the disbelief in his voice morphing quickly to suspicion. “You used your tranq gun, didn’t you? Goddamn it, Kane, I -”

  “No, I didn’t,” interrupted Kane, slightly irritated that his brother assumed that was the only way he could get a female to agree to such a thing, no matter how close that theory might be to the truth. Kiara was different. She actually seemed to like him.

  “Then how did you –“

  “Does it matter?” Kane growled into the phone, keeping his voice low enough that Kiara didn’t overhear. “You wanted her here, she’s here. End of story.”

  There was a long silence on the other end of the line before Jake spoke again. “She’s more than just a package to me, Kane.”

  “Yeah, I got that.” If the faraway look he sometimes saw in Kiara’s eyes when she let her guard down was any indication, Jake wasn’t the only one that felt that way.

  “I’ll be up in three days.”

  “Whatever. We’ll be here.” Kane disconnected the call, mumbling under his breath.

  It didn’t take long for Kane to become used to having Kiara around. They didn’t talk much – for which Kane was infinitely thankful - but her presence was comforting. They set
tled into a comfortable, mutually beneficial routine. He would rise early and double-check the perimeter; by the time he returned she would have the cabin tidied and breakfast ready.

  After breakfast, they’d work together outside for most of the day, weather permitting. She was a hard worker, too, and didn’t mind getting her hands dirty. She carried wood, helped him clear the trail, never once complaining about the dirt or mud. He pushed her harder and harder in an attempt to make her realize that this was no life for a single female, but she had yet to admit defeat.

  When the chores were done, they’d take turns showering, then prepare dinner together. She was an excellent cook, and he’d become addicted to her homemade bread - especially when she slathered it with butter, just the way he liked it.

  His favorite part of the day was fast becoming evening, when they would sit in front of the fire together, mostly in silence. She hadn’t shared much more about her past, and he didn’t ask. She usually curled up with a book while he cleaned his guns and sharpened his blades. If she thought there was anything unusual about that, she didn’t say so.

  Then, right before bed, she would redress his wounds one last time – after he did her hand - and then straddle his back and give him a massage until he drifted off. Inevitably he would wake up with her blanketing him, but he didn’t mind quite so much as he had at first.

  * * *

  “Are you sure you should be doing that?” Taryn asked as Kane swung the massive double-bladed axe as if it were a toy, slicing through the hardwood easily. Still, it couldn’t be too good for his healing incision.

  “I’m fine.” He put another log on the stump and swung again.

  “Maybe I could do some,” Taryn suggested, picking up the pieces and stacking them neatly.

  Kane shot her a look of disbelief. “Now you’ve just gone and insulted me, woman.”

  A corner of her mouth quirked. She had a feeling pretty much everything she did annoyed, irritated, or insulted his manly pride in one way or another. “How did I manage to do that?”