by Mari Carr
Luc closed the door and leaned against it. “Back to bed or breakfast?”
Diego rubbed his eyes as his stomach grumbled. “I’m equal parts hungry and tired. You decide.”
Luc headed for the kitchen. “I feel like bacon.”
“You always feel like bacon.”
Only a few minutes passed before they heard footsteps in the hallway, then Jeannette’s sleepy face peering into the kitchen. “Smells good.”
Diego reached out his hand, delighted when Jeannette took it without hesitation. She was much less skittish around them. He didn’t release her until he’d tugged her into his arms completely, wrapping her up in a big bear hug. Her arms looped his waist and she sighed against his bare chest. “You okay?”
She nodded slowly. “Just feel sort of numb and groggy.”
“You didn’t get enough sleep. What do you say we eat a little bit, then crawl back into bed for a few more hours?”
“I’m supposed to work the dinner shift.”
Luc rolled his eyes. “Jesus, Jeannette. I think your family can cover for you tonight. Your sister, Sydney and Macie were just here. Said they’ll be back this afternoon with some clothes.”
Jeannette slowly pulled away from Diego. “Shit. I forgot about clothes.” She looked down at her bare legs peeking out beneath the t-shirt she had borrowed from Luc. Her shirt had reeked of smoke. “Guess I can’t go to work like this.”
She walked over to the kitchen table and dropped down heavily. “What the fuck am I going to do now?”
Luc took the pan of bacon off the burner before crossing the room. He knelt before her, taking her hand in his. “You’re going to take it one day at a time. We’ll do all the shit that needs to be done together and we’re not going to let it overwhelm you. Today, we’ll call the insurance company and get you some pretty new things to wear. Just those two things. Then tomorrow, we’ll do a couple more things. And eventually, it’ll all be okay.”
She considered his list. “Alright. I can do that.”
Luc smiled as he rose, leaning down to give her a quick, friendly kiss on the cheek. Diego suspected that had been his friend’s only intention, but Jeannette turned at the last second, her lips meeting Luc’s.
The platonic-kiss plan evaporated in an instant. Instead, Luc grasped the back of Jeannette’s head, his fingers threading through her hair as he held her in place for a much different kind of kiss. Their lips parted. Diego could just make out the hungry touch of their tongues. Jeannette’s hands had been white-knuckling the seat of the chair, but as the kiss grew hotter, her fingers rose to Luc’s arms, digging into muscle instead.
Diego made no move to join them, spellbound by the pure intensity of the moment. The shyness, the wariness that typically wrapped itself around Jeannette had vanished. Diego wasn’t surprised. She’d lost everything last night. Desperation had her reaching out for anything she could lay her hands on.
Luc seemed to come to the same conclusion. His friend slowed the kiss, turning the heat down incrementally. Then he stood upright. It took a few seconds for the haze to clear, for Jeannette’s focus to return.
“Why did you stop?” she asked.
“Because you’re tired and upset and not thinking this through. I don’t take advantage of women in weak moments.”
She bit her lower lip. “I sort of wish you would. I wouldn’t mind feeling something right now.”
She glanced away from Luc, capturing Diego’s eye. It took a bit of work for Diego to control his features, to keep his look stern. She was obviously hoping he’d be more susceptible to what she was offering and her sweet innocence made him want to grin. “Don’t look at me,” he said with a no-nonsense tone.
She threw up her hands. “You guys have been trying to seduce me for weeks—no, strike that. Years. Now, when I’m ready for what you’re offering, you—”
“No.” Diego cut her off gently. “You’re not ready. You’re hoping to escape, to forget. I understand that, Jeannette. But believe me, after the deed was done, you’d regret it. And you’d resent us for doing it.”
“No, I wouldn’t.”
She looked so earnest, Diego couldn’t resist touching her.
He pulled her up from the chair and cupped her cheeks in his hands, forcing her to hold his gaze. “I want you more than I’ve ever wanted any woman in my life. We’re going to make love to you, Jeannette. We’re going to take you to our bed and bury ourselves in that sweet, sexy body of yours. Over and over. That’s inevitable. But it’s not going to happen today. Not like this.”
She closed her eyes and released a long breath. “I’m sorry. God, you’re right. This isn’t me. I don’t throw myself at guys.” She tugged away from him. Diego let her go with some reluctance. “I’m fucked-up, aren’t I?”
Luc wrapped his arm around her neck, placing a quick kiss on her forehead. “You’re not fucked-up. You’re running on empty. That’s all. Lucky for you, I have the cure.”
She gave Luc an appreciative smile. “What’s that?”
“Bacon. It makes everything better.”
She laughed. “I can’t disagree with that. You’re right. It does.”
The tightness that had been pressing on Diego’s chest at her distress loosened. Leave it to Luc to dispel a tense moment with humor. It was one of the reasons he loved his best friend so much. Diego was always too serious. Luc never let him get away with that.
Luc returned to the stove and finished cooking the meat before splitting up the pound of bacon between three plates. Then he carried them to the table.
Jeannette giggled. “Just bacon?”
Luc shrugged. “I’ve never gotten the hang of cooking eggs.”
“How about toast? That’s not very complicated.”
Diego got a kick out of watching her tease Luc.
“Burn it, too.”
“Wow. I’m starting to understand why you spend so much time at the restaurant. Part of me thinks I should offer to give you guys cooking lessons, but I’m not going to.”
“Why not?” Luc asked.
“Because I’m afraid you might get the hang of it and stop coming to see me.”
Luc grinned. “Careful, angel. That sounds a hell of a lot like flirting. You keep that up and we might start thinking you like us.”
Her smile didn’t fade, though it became a bit more serious. “I like you.” Though she spoke very softly, the words more breath than sound, neither he nor Luc missed it.
Before Diego could respond, there was another knock on the door. “Dammit. It’s like Grand Central Station here this morning.”
Jeannette gave them a rueful smile. “I have a very big family.”
“Yeah. I’m starting to understand just how big.” Diego walked to the front door, Jeannette and Luc following.
Evan stood on the stoop. “Hey. You guys got a minute?”
Diego moved aside to allow Evan to enter. He saw the flash of a scowl when he discovered Jeannette standing there in nothing but a t-shirt, surrounded by him and Luc, both shirtless. He could imagine what was going through Evan’s mind.
Luckily Jeannette’s cousin was out of uniform, no gun in sight.
Luc gestured toward a chair in the living room. Evan took it as Jeannette sank down onto the couch. Diego joined her, while Luc stood nearby.
“Just got back from your house, Nettie. It was too dark to really determine anything about what caused the fire last night, so Chuck agreed to meet me this morning at first light.”
Diego appreciated the fire marshal’s kindness and willingness to get to the bottom of this so quickly. Chuck Kingston was a decent guy. Like Diego and Luc, he wasn’t a lifetime Maris resident. He’d moved to town only a few years earlier after falling in love with and marrying a local lady, Gladys Harper.
“What did you come up with?” Luc asked.
Evan glanced at Jeannette. “Chuck’s still there, digging around, but he thinks he found something that indicates arson.”
Jeannette
didn’t move, didn’t give the slightest inclination she’d even heard.
On the other hand, Luc was reacting enough for all of them. He exploded. “Goddammit! I knew it!”
Diego felt the same rage as his friend, though his anger turned inwards, heating his blood until it boiled. Neither he nor Luc said what they were really thinking. Jeannette could have been killed in that fire. She could have died.
Whoever was starting all these fires had crossed a very serious line from arsonist to attempted murderer.
Diego relaxed a bit when he saw the same cold determination to catch the motherfucker in Evan’s gaze. Jeannette’s cousin wouldn’t rest until the criminal was made accountable for the crime.
Evan looked at Jeannette. “Can you walk me through what happened last night? How did you know the house was on fire?”
The shattered look in her eyes gutted Diego. Then Jeannette closed them, cleared her throat, and described the events in a steady, emotionless voice. “I’d just turned off the light to go to sleep when I heard a loud crash and saw a bright flash. I thought it was lightning or a storm or something. I was about to dismiss it when I smelled smoke and my detector started beeping. I ran through the house looking for the fire. When I got to the kitchen, I realized it was in the garage.”
Evan’s face turned to stone and Diego realized her story must have confirmed Chuck’s suspicion.
“I’d called 911 immediately, so that was when I started looking for Penny.” Her voice cracked when she said her cat’s name, revealing the first trace of the horror she’d experienced.
Diego reached out and took her hand in his, squeezing it gently. She gave him an appreciative smile.
“Why would someone want to burn my house down?” she asked Evan. “I don’t have any enemies.”
“I don’t know why, Jeannette,” Evan said. “But you can be damn sure I’m going to figure it out.”
“The house is—” she started before her voice gave out.
Evan didn’t need to hear anything more. “It’s a complete loss. I’m sorry. Jesus. I’m so fucking sorry.”
Evan rose and reached out to her. Jeannette stood, too, and stepped into her older cousin’s comforting arms, though no tears fell. It was as if she’d cried them all out the night before.
After several moments, Evan released her. “I’m going back to look around some more and to confer with Chuck about what you heard and saw. I’ll let you know the second we find anything out.”
She smiled. “Thanks, Evan.”
“Aunt Stella is fixing up your old bedroom for you and the girls are running around getting you some clothes and toiletries and stuff.”
Jeannette nodded. “I heard.”
Diego swallowed heavily, hoping he could convince her to remain here over returning to her family’s home. He felt better having her close. The idea of not being with her as she tried to deal with the aftermath of the fire bothered him more than he could say.
Luc had fallen quiet after his outburst, but there was no mistaking the anger radiating from his every pore. For now, his friend appeared to have managed to rein it in. Diego suspected that unlike himself, Luc would remain calm from now on. While Diego’s temper was more like a simmering boil, Luc’s flashed hot and fast before dying down just as quickly.
Evan saw himself out as the three of them struggled to deal with the information they’d just received.
“You okay?” Diego asked her after the door closed.
She started to nod then changed direction, shaking her head. “I feel like I’ve been punched in the stomach.”
It made sense. Someone had purposely tried to hurt her. Jeannette had spent her entire life surrounded by a loving family in a safe, friendly, small-town environment. Now that trust and comfort had been ripped away from her. Diego’s heart ached. He couldn’t look at her standing there so broken, so alone.
He reached for her, tugging her into his embrace. He wasn’t surprised when Luc joined them, adding his own strength and warmth to the hug. The three of them remained there for several minutes, wrapped around each other.
“Stay here with us, Jeannette,” Luc whispered. “Please.”
“Okay.” She didn’t demur, didn’t bother to pretend that she wanted to be anywhere else. For the first time since Evan had dropped his bomb, Diego felt capable of taking a deep breath. Jeannette began to go limp in their arms, her strength fading fast.
Diego was the first to step away, though it killed him to let her go. “Why don’t you go back to bed, angel? Try to sleep and forget about all this shit for a few hours.”
“I’d like to forget. Will you guys stay with me?”
Luc placed a comforting kiss to the top of her head. “Always.”
Chapter Seven
Jeannette stirred, her eyes opening slowly, taking in the dark room. Since the fire, she hadn’t managed to sleep without waking up several times each night, panic gripping her. The first few nights, she’d jerked awake roughly, crying out, her actions rousing Diego and Luc, who would hold her until she fell asleep again.
Tonight’s panic attack was a quiet one. Her heart raced and a sharp pain pierced her chest. She hated feeling like this. Hated the utter desolation that swallowed her whole in the middle of the night. Hated that the things that never seemed bad during the daytime were completely unbearable at this hour. She tried to remind herself of that, but it didn’t help.
Glancing to each side, she found her slumbering boyfriends. She’d given up pretending they were in the friend zone a few days ago. After all, they’d been living together for two weeks. They hadn’t consummated the relationship or even really discussed the possibility of it, much to her relief. The idea of sex on top of everything else had the potential to push her over the edge.
True to their word, neither man pushed the issue. Instead, they offered only warm hugs, soft kisses and comforting words.
The night of the fire, she never would have imagined she’d be in their house fourteen days later. Initially she’d been numb and stressed out and not thinking clearly. Now, her thoughts were less jumbled, more coherent. And yet she was still here.
It had taken several days to convince each and every member of her family—sans Macie, who had been absolutely delighted by her current living situation—that she was fine at Diego and Luc’s, and not budging.
But regardless of their kindness and their willingness to have her stay, it was time she started figuring out her next move. She couldn’t keep sleepwalking through every day.
She’d gone on autopilot, moving through her days sluggishly—spending the time at work, filling out the mountain of paperwork associated with her insurance claim, replacing items she couldn’t live without, like her phone, and hanging out with Luc and Diego. She hadn’t returned to her house. Evan had told her there was nothing there to salvage. She didn’t need to see a pile of ashes, didn’t need to confirm it with her own eyes. She’d seen the destruction the night of the fire and it had torn her apart. She wasn’t about to relive that anguish. If she stayed here, she could simply pretend everything was normal.
Evan and Chuck had declared the fire a result of arson. Apparently, someone had lobbed a Molotov cocktail at her garage. The device had crashed through one of the windows on her old garage door rather than smashing against the wood and landing outside. Whoever threw it had to have been close and on foot in order to get it inside. It landed next to and ignited a small gas can she used to fill up her lawn mower, which added enough fuel to produce a large, extremely hot fire that spread fast.
After Evan’s explanation, she’d made some halfhearted joke about the jig being up and her secret life as a mobster revealed. It hadn’t fooled anyone into thinking she was okay. Evan had been working day and night to catch the arsonist, while Luc and Diego had gone into full-time guard duty. They worked when she did and as soon as her shift was over, they were there to pick her up, never leaving her side until they dropped her off the next day.
She sat up slow
ly, trying to find some cool air, hoping it would calm her overwrought nerves. Sleeping between two giants sometimes made her feel like newly molded clay placed in a kiln. She hadn’t had five minutes to herself in two weeks. If she hadn’t been so afraid, it probably would have bothered her. After all, she had lived alone most of her adult life.
However, the idea that there was someone out there who wanted to hurt her had taken root and, despite her belief that she was an independent, self-reliant woman, she’d clung to Luc and Diego as if they were a life preserver keeping her from drowning in the ocean.
“Jeannette? You okay?” Diego’s quiet question caused Luc to rouse as well.
“Sorry. Didn’t mean to wake you.”
“Bad dream?” Luc asked.
She shook her head. “No. Just…same shit, different night.”
“Another panic attack.” Diego’s words weren’t a question. This wasn’t new territory for any of them.
“Maybe I should start sleeping in Luc’s bedroom. I hate that I’m constantly waking you guys up.” She’d made the suggestion before.
Diego instantly rejected it, as always. “No. You’re staying here with us and that’s it.”
She had become accustomed to his domineering comments. Every now and then, she’d call him on one; get after him for attempting to be so heavy-handed. Diego would apologize and try to rein it in, even though she knew it rubbed against the grain. He was a powerful man with the need to take control. Her situation was difficult for him because he couldn’t fix what was wrong. She loved him for trying, so she cut him some slack when he started calling the shots.
She blew out an exasperated breath. “God. I’m so sick of feeling like this. It’s like I’m stuck in fucking quicksand. I just want out.”
Luc tugged on her shoulder, drawing her back down onto the bed. “Maybe you need some distraction.”
She started to ask him what he had in mind, but the question was answered by his kiss. Unlike the gentle, platonic kisses he’d offered lately, this one left no doubt in her mind what type of distraction he meant.
That thought was the last rational one she had as she let herself be swept away by Luc’s kisses. She felt the bed shift next to her and, though her eyes were closed, she was aware of Diego moving closer. The second Luc released her, Diego was there, claiming his own kisses.
