Calamity Jena

by Janet Elizabeth Henderson

  Matt’s eye twitched. She was too damn nice. Everyone got the benefit of the doubt with his Jena.

  “Those two idiots were the ones who took you.” He tried to keep his tone gentle. It was hard.

  “They wanted me to talk to Frank. Sure, they could have gone about it differently, but they had no intention of letting me get harmed. Grunt was more worried about upsetting Claire than anything else. When Frank became rude and abusive, Grunt knocked hell out of him.” She grinned up at Matt. “You should have seen it. It was like something out of a superhero movie. With one punch, Frank flew through the air and hit the wall.”

  Matt didn’t smile. Nothing about this was entertaining. “Grunt will not be seeing Claire again.” If Matt had his way, the only thing the two goons would see for a very long time was the inside of a prison.

  The door swung open and Abby rushed in. “I left Katy with Caroline at the castle,” she said. “Are you okay?”

  She rushed around the counter, pulled Jena from Matt’s hold and hugged her friend.

  “As I keep telling this guy, I’m fine. Just a little bruise. In fact, I got to clear some stuff up with Frank. You would have been proud of me, Abby—I told him to go to hell then kicked his balls into next week.”

  “Go, girlfriend!” Abby high-fived her while Matt clenched his teeth.

  Why were they acting like this was a fun day out? Nothing about this was entertaining. Nothing.

  “The doctor has checked her out,” he told Abby. “If you could sit with her while I talk to these idiots, that’d be great. I’m worried she’ll go into shock.”

  Jena rolled her eyes. He ignored her. She obviously didn’t realise how serious the situation was.

  “I’ll leave Pete on the door,” Matt said to Abby. “He’ll deal with anyone who turns up. No one else will get in here today. This could take a while. Are you okay with that?”

  Abby nodded. “Katy loves it at the castle. She gets to pretend the baby is a doll, and she treats Josh like another kid she can play with. When I left they were building a fort in the grand room and demanding Caroline bake cookies.”

  Matt nodded. His mind already on the two men he intended to interrogate. He cupped Jena’s cheek as she smiled up at him. “I’ll fix this,” he promised.

  “I know you will, but please go easy on Grunt and Joe. They really weren’t that bad.”

  Matt shook his head. Sure, he’d go easy. If going easy meant throwing them in jail and forgetting where he put the key. They messed with Jena. His Jena. He stared at her. He wasn’t sure she knew she belonged to him. He’d need to make that clear. Later. Right now he had goons to deal with and a story to unravel.

  Not caring that Abby was watching, he pulled Jena off her seat and kissed her hard.

  “Be good,” he ordered.

  She looked a little dazed, which made him feel chuffed.

  “Can we send Pete to pick up some food?” she said. “I’m starving. I missed lunch.”

  “No. No more sending Lake’s men to fetch food. Pete is here to guard you.”

  “Matt.” She put her hands on her hips. “Everyone I know who’s out to get me is in here. Please. I need to eat.” She batted her eyelashes. Like that would work.

  “Fine.” He let out a sigh. “Pete stays here, but you can call the pub and get them to deliver something.”

  She pouted. “The pub doesn’t deliver. Well, not to anyone but you.”

  “Tell them it’s for me, then. Once they hear where you are, someone will be over in record time just to get the gossip.”

  With a shake of his head, he left the women to sort out food as he strode towards his office. His heart pounded painfully at the thought of what could have happened. He could have lost Jena. He didn’t know how he would cope if he lost her. Especially seeing as he’d just found her. He stopped dead at the door as realisation sucker-punched him. He loved her. He looked back at her. She was laughing with Abby, her head thrown back, her cheeks flushed and her eyes sparkling. She was so damn beautiful it hurt to look at her. To hell with this. He spun around and strode back to her. He saw the minute she spotted the look on his face, because her eyes went wide and her mouth made a startled little O shape.

  He clasped the back of her neck and stared her in the eyes. “Just so we’re clear,” he said. “I love you and I’m keeping you.” The look of shock almost made him smile. Instead he kissed her until they were both breathless.

  As Jena swayed gently on her perch, looking stunned and more than a little turned on, Matt said to Abby, “Take good care of her.”

  “Don’t worry, I’m on it.”

  He ignored Abby’s wide grin and headed back to his office.

  As the door slammed shut behind Matt, Jena turned to her friend. “He loves me?” She stared at the closed door. “He did say that, right?”

  “Oh, he absolutely said that.” Abby’s eyes sparkled with delight.

  Jena pressed her fingertips to her swollen lips. She could still taste him, and it was an addictive taste, one she definitely wanted more of. “He’s keeping me?”

  “You are so in a relationship.” Abby laughed hard.

  Pete joined in the laughter. Great, she was entertainment for the mindless masses.

  “When Dougal comes over,” Pete said, “I’m going to change my bet. I think the wedding will happen within the month.”

  As Jena’s head began to clear, she frowned at them. “This isn’t funny and it isn’t a game. That man”—she pointed at the door—“seems to think he owns me.”

  “Ah, but he loves you as well,” Abby said with a grin. “Don’t forget the love.”

  Jena climbed off the stool and started to pace. “He can’t keep me. I’m a person, not a piece of property. Aren’t you supposed to ask a person if they want to be with you before you declare you’re keeping them? Who the hell says things like that, anyway? Men with too much testosterone, that’s who. And love? How can he love me? We haven’t even been out on a date. He’s only staying in my house to protect me from Frank. This doesn’t make sense.”

  She stood still long enough to face Abby. “We can’t be in a relationship. I would have noticed.” She started pacing again. “So what if we slept together? People do that all the time. Men do it all the time and they don’t keep the women they sleep with. This is insane. He can’t drop a bomb like that and wander off. Can he?”

  She shook her head. No, he couldn’t. Where the hell was he? She needed to clear a few things up. She took a step towards his door.

  “Bad idea,” Pete said.

  For once, she agreed. She’d have to wait until he was finished yelling at Grunt.

  “I’m not looking for a permanent man.” Jena resumed her pacing. “I only date because I can’t say no. I never go on a second date, because I don’t want a relationship. I just got out of a relationship. It was awful. I don’t need another one.” She stopped dead, bent over double and groaned. “I live in a dump that will take a century to fix. I’m fast running out of money and my only option for making more is to hold illegal dance classes. My ex-boyfriend abducted me from beside a Dumpster to tell me he wants me to strip in his club and that he won’t take no for an answer. My mother has come to visit for the first time ever and she isn’t even here to see me—no, she’s chasing Josh sightings all over Scotland, and when she has free time she stops off to tell me Frank is the man for me because I’m too fat to get another one. I’m so freaking accident-prone the town calls me Calamity Jena and runs a betting pool on what my next accident will be.” Her head was spinning. She took a deep breath. “And the local cop wants to keep me!”

  She felt a hand on her back, rubbing soothing circles. “Okay, sweetie,” Abby said in her mom voice. “It’s time to calm down now. You’ve had a lot to deal with today. How about some nice hot chocolate? I can get Dougal to bring some. Doesn’t that sound lovely? Pete can call, can’t you, Pete?”

  Jena groaned loudly. She was still standing in the middle of the room, bent dou
ble, facing the floor and wondering how her life had managed to implode without her even noticing.

  “Tell Dougal to bring chocolate cake and ice cream,” Abby told Pete. “Lots of ice cream.”

  Abby grabbed Jena’s arm and pulled her towards the wall. “Let’s sit on the floor. We’ll have a little picnic when the food comes, won’t that be nice?”

  Jena slid down the wall to sit on the floor. She wasn’t sure her legs could hold her up much longer anyway.

  “My life is a mess,” she told Abby.

  “Everything will be okay,” Abby said. She seemed perfectly calm, but there was a hint of panic in her eyes.

  “Yeah, right,” Jena scoffed.

  They sat side by side against the wall. Jena stared into nothing. Her life wasn’t just a mess. It was a disaster zone. The best solution was probably to wipe it clean and start again.

  “Do you love him?” Abby said softly.

  Jena looked at her friend. “I don’t know,” she whispered. “There’s so much going on. My brain is overloaded. I don’t know how I feel about him.”

  Abby wrapped an arm around Jena and tugged her so that she rested her head against Abby’s shoulder.

  “Don’t worry,” Abby said. “It will all work out.”

  Jena appreciated the sentiment, but she wasn’t so sure. In her experience, when things went to the dogs, the only thing that happened was you got bit in the ass. And she felt like she was standing with her ass hanging out, waiting for that agonising chomp.

  29

  “Start talking,” Matt said as he entered his office. “Don’t stop until I tell you.”

  The men were cuffed with their hands behind their backs. They sat on metal-framed chairs in the centre of the room. Lake, Jason and Rusty stood at different points around the room, their focus on the Americans.

  “We’re happy to cooperate,” Joe said.

  “Aye, I got that from the way you abducted my woman.”

  “There was no other choice. We’re trying to work with you here.”

  “Don’t know if you noticed, but we aren’t partners in this. You’re the one in cuffs.”

  Joe sat lazily in his chair. He smiled. It was deadly. “That wouldn’t have stopped us if we wanted out of here. We’re here through choice.”

  Matt was about to roll his eyes when Joe went from lazy to deadly in the blink of an eye. One second the cuffs were behind his back, the next they were in front of him and he was brandishing a chair. Every man in the room, except for Grunt, who was still stretched out in his chair, took a step back.

  Joe cocked his eyebrow at Matt. “Did I make my point?”

  “Sit your arse back down, Rambo.” Matt pointed at the chair.

  With a grin, Joe did as he was told. Making it clear with his relaxed acquiescence that he had chosen to comply instead of doing as he was ordered.

  “We know all about your time in the service.” Matt perched on the edge of his desk and folded his arms over his stab vest. “What we don’t know is why two ex-marines are working for the New Jersey mob.”

  “We’re not working for the mob. We’re working for Frank Di Marco. He wanted two guys to come with him to Scotland. As far as we were aware, it was nothing more than a show of strength. Intimidate by presence. He wanted to look like the big man for his ex-girlfriend.”

  “I’m still not picking up why you took the job,” Matt said.

  “Money. A free trip to Scotland.” Joe sat forward and placed his elbows on his knees. “Sure, it wasn’t the smartest decision we’ve made, but we didn’t know Frank would go postal when he got here. We thought he was a blowhard. Thought we’d spend a little time here enjoying the sights while he puffed hot air and tried to talk Jena into stripping for him. Nothing more. The guy is an asshole. You know that. Hell, everybody knows that. I thought the hardest part of this job would be putting up with the crap coming out of his mouth. Instead we’re running around doing damage control.”

  “By kidnapping Jena?” Matt’s fists clenched as he fought the urge to hit first and ask questions later.

  Joe noticed the action and let out a heavy sigh. “Frank made it clear if we didn’t pick Jena up, he would. He planned to lock her in his trunk and drag her to the continent, where he’d persuade her to get on a flight to the States. He would use whatever means necessary to get her to do what he wanted.” He gave Matt an apologetic look. “He was going to hurt her. We couldn’t let that happen. The only way to stop it was to pick up Jena and stick close to her.” He rubbed his chin awkwardly with his cuffed hand. “As soon as things started to go south, we bailed. Grunt stood between Jena and Frank. If we’d known he was gonna smack her, we would have stopped him.” Joe’s eyes turned deadly. “Trust me when I say I’m not pleased about being too slow to catch him before he hit her.”

  Matt pinched the bridge of his nose. “Neither am I. You idiots let my woman get hurt. Your reasoning sucks. Why didn’t you come to me? Tell me what Frank was planning?”

  Joe barked out a mirthless laugh. “And you’d have done what? Arrested him for talking crap? Locked Jena away for the foreseeable future? We both know there’s nothing you could have done. We controlled the situation. Trust me, the last thing you want is for Frank to go off doing things on his own. The guy is unstable. And he’s an idiot. Those two qualities do not go well together. At least with us doing his dirty work, he was being contained.”

  Matt caught Lake’s eye and saw his agreement. He hated to say it, but Joe was right. He couldn’t have done anything except issue empty threats and try to hide Jena until Frank left the country. Knowing there was nothing he could have done made him feel sick. Helpless and sick. It wasn’t a pleasant feeling.

  “What now?” Joe asked.

  “Now, we send you lot back home where you belong. I could charge you, but I’m guessing Jena wouldn’t want that. She’ll probably just want Frank gone. I’d feel a whole lot better with all your arses back in the States.”

  Grunt sat up straight. His eyes narrowed. “I’m staying here.”

  Joe groaned as Matt frowned at Grunt.

  “You kidnapped my girlfriend—think yourself lucky I’m just sending you home.”

  “This is home now,” Grunt said. “I’m sticking with Claire.”

  Matt shot to his feet. Maybe he’d get to hit someone after all. Lake took a step towards Grunt—whether to protect the American or help Matt pummel him wasn’t clear.

  “You’re leaving on the first plane out of here. This thing you have with my sister is over.”

  Grunt rose slowly. He faced Matt, somehow managing to look formidable, even though his hands were cuffed behind his back. Matt had no doubt his restrained arms would in no way hinder him in a fight.

  “Claire is mine.” His voice was a deep rumble of menace.

  “Not this again,” Joe said, groaning.

  Matt faced off with Grunt. “Claire is my sister. You’re only a passing interest. One she’ll forget about easy enough. She does not belong to you.” He took a step closer to the snarling man. “You’re going home to Atlantic City, or you’re going to jail. Your choice, but your time with Claire is over.”

  Grunt roared. His head shot back before crashing forward into Matt’s forehead. Matt rocked backwards. It was like being hit by a wrecking ball. His fist shot out, catching the mountain in the jaw. Grunt grunted. His head went down, then he growled and charged. Straight at Matt, taking him off his feet and ramming him into the wall. Shelves crashed to the floor. Chairs toppled. Men tried to pull Grunt off Matt. It took four of them. Matt shot to his feet, rammed his shoulder into Grunt’s stomach and jabbed at his kidneys.

  “Cut this crap out,” someone shouted.

  Matt didn’t care. He kept his hold on Grunt as he hit at him. Feeling the satisfying thud of flesh on flesh.

  “Claire is mine,” Grunt roared.

  Grunt kicked Matt’s legs, and they shot out from under him. He landed with a thud on his back.

  “Grab him before he
flattens Matt,” Joe shouted.

  Matt fought to get to his feet. Lake’s arms clamped around him, dragging him away from Grunt. Matt was disgusted to see it took three guys to hold Grunt back and only Lake to stop him. The men struggled to get to each other. Snarling like beasts. The debris of what used to be his office was scattered around their feet.

  “What the hell is going on?” Jena’s voice cut through Matt’s rage.

  As one, the men turned to the open doorway, where Abby, Jena and Claire were gaping at them.

  Claire focused on Grunt. “You kidnapped Jena?”

  Outrage emanated from Matt’s little sister, but there was hurt in her eyes. She really did care for the big guy, maybe even loved him. Damn. The wind went out of Matt. His sister was falling for Grunt. And there was nothing Matt could do to stop her.

  Grunt took a step towards Claire, but was halted by the three men who held him. He growled at them before turning back to her. He almost looked contrite.

  “Baby,” he said.

  Claire pursed her lips as she glared at him. “Don’t you ‘baby’ me, Samuel Dayton. You grabbed Jena off the street and now you’re beating on my brother. I don’t know you at all, do I?” She turned her back on him, then looked over her shoulder. “Go back to America. We’re finished with each other.”

  “No!” Grunt roared as Claire walked away.

  Matt wiped the back of his hand over his bloody mouth as he watched the big man lose his mind. He almost dragged three huge guys in his wake to get to Claire. And the look in his eyes was sheer agony. Double damn. His mum was right. The monster loved his sister.

  “I hope you’re pleased with yourself,” Jena said to Matt. “You got to hit someone. Well done, you. I’m going home. If you lot are going to act like possessive little boys fighting over their toys, then there’s no point in hanging around here. Idiots.”

  She linked her arm with Abby’s and the two of them followed Claire out of the station.

  “Wow,” Joe said with a grin. “Looks like you two aren’t getting any tonight.”