He darted a glance to Laina who unconsciously rubbed the sleeve of her sweater.
“Oh, I can’t see it now, but I remember the design from when you were being painted. I’ve never seen a brother and sister with the same tattoo before.” Her platinum bob shook as her glance darted from one to the other.
Jason’s gaze drifted across the pool. He ran a hand through his hair and tugged at his earlobe. Clearly, he wanted Laina to address the tattoo issue. She rolled her eyes. Goddess forbid he should handle the situation.
“Did I say something wrong?”
The muscles around Laina’s lips tightened. “We got them when our parents died. It’s a painful subject.” It was also a lie. Their pack tattoos were inscribed into their skin as part of a sacred ceremony following their first shift, well before their parents’ deaths.
“Oh,” she squeaked in an almost cartoonish voice, placing her perfectly manicured fingers over her lips. “I’m such an idiot.”
“You couldn’t have known,” Jason said with a smile. “Don’t worry about it.”
“Let’s talk about something else,” Laina suggested.
“Yeah. Like, why are you living in the east wing, Anna? Are you sleeping with Kyle Kingsley?”
Laina almost choked on her tongue and started coughing furiously. “Why would you think that?”
“Because the rest of the girls stay in the west wing. You do know you are the first girl ever to stay in Kyle’s private residence. Not just here, but anywhere.”
“I’m training his dog. I have my own room.” Laina scratched her nose and refused to meet Nickie’s eyes.
She leaned back and brushed a hair from her face. “Hmm. I guess I read that one wrong. The day he found that box you left, I thought he was going to blow a gasket. I didn’t see what the big deal was. I had a theory that it was just an excuse to find you.”
Laina stiffened. “Did you say Kyle found the box?” She’d assumed it was someone else, perhaps an ogre or fae who’d been working in the kitchen. Jason made eye contact. She knew what he was thinking. If Kyle could find the box, it meant he wasn’t human.
“No. I think it was Kyle. I didn’t actually see the box—I was still getting painted—but he came into the staging area, yelling about finding it and drilling everyone about you. He’d printed your picture from the security cameras and demanded any information anyone had about you. I told him you went by Anna. What was in the box anyway?”
“I’m not supposed to talk about it,” Laina said.
“Oh.” Nickie shrugged. She snuggled in next to Jason in the water. Laina quickly felt like a third wheel.
“I better check on Milo.”
“I’ll find you,” Jason said, his eyes flashing amber. His vice was out to play, and Nickie seemed more than interested in the prospect.
Laina scooped up her shoes and headed inside, leaving them to each other.
“The housekeeper said I’d find you in here.” Jason entered the library two hours later, looking slightly disheveled but thankfully, fully dressed.
“Enjoy yourself, brother?”
He chuckled. “More than you know. Nickie and I are seriously compatible when it comes to sex. If I wasn’t so concerned about you, I might have followed her home for round three.”
“Concerned about me?”
“What do you think it means that Kyle found the box?”
“I don’t know, but I tested him, and he isn’t under a camouflage spell or enchantment.”
“That doesn’t rule out trouble. He could be a supernatural creature or be working for the enemy. We should call Silas.”
“Don’t you dare. I’ll kick your ass, Jason. I mean it.” She locked eyes with her brother, conveying in no uncertain terms that she meant what she said.
He shook his head. “Shit, Laina. You’re in deep. He really is your vice.”
“He’s a kind, generous, and successful man, and yes…” She looked down at her hands in her lap, almost ashamed to say the words. “He’s my vice. And I’m falling for him.”
Jason groaned. “Don’t confuse it for love, Laina.”
“I’m not confused. Kyle and I, we are similar creatures, Jason. I really think he might be the one.”
“The one?” Jason stared at her in disbelief. “That’s crazy talk. You do realize that even if you two were somehow fated to be together, he’ll be forever relegated to the sidelines. You’re royalty and you’re female. You’d never be allowed to mate with a human.”
The words hit her in the heart like a wrecking ball. “Excuse me.” She rose from the leather sofa and headed for the staircase. To his credit, Jason didn’t come after her.
Eighteen
Laina lay awake well past midnight, staring at the ceiling and waiting for Kyle to come home. He’d sent a message with his driver to say he’d be very late and that she was welcome to sleep in his bed, but she decided to stay in her own. What Jason had said was true. Her relationship with Kyle was doomed. How would she break it to him? She couldn’t tell him the truth. Would she just disappear? Say nothing? Create an elaborate lie to let him down easy? How would she survive after tearing out a corner of her heart and casting it aside?
Or worse, would she continue the relationship as a lie? Marry Cameron and keep Kyle on the side, a long-distance crutch to appease her wolf with no chance of ever becoming more than a fling? It depressed her to even think about it. He deserved better.
She was so disturbed by her predicament that when the sunrise finally broke her sleepless night, she decided to take Milo for his morning walk alone, desperately needing the solitude to process her feelings.
Love was a dangerous sport, played without the benefit of safety equipment. She would have gladly paid anything for a helmet that fit her heart these days. For someone who hadn’t had much use for the opposite sex up until then, she’d certainly learned why the term used for fast affection was a crush. Everything about her relationship with Kyle was crushing.
“Good morning,” she said to Gerty as she breezed through the kitchen.
“Would you like some coffee?” the old woman offered, holding up the empty pot. “The matching luggage under your eyes suggests you do.”
“I’d love some, but it will have to wait. I’m afraid we’ll have a Milo-sized accident on our hands if I don’t walk him soon.” She smiled warmly as she snagged Milo’s leash from the coat hook and clipped it to him. On a whim, she decided to take the mastiff out front, unable to face the memories the pool and yard afforded. She needed clarity. Before this thing with Kyle went any further, she had to decide what to do about it.
She hadn’t even made it past the fountain when Milo lifted his leg on a bush lining the circle drive.
“Feel better?” she asked him. He looked up at her, tongue lopping out the corner of his mouth.
A car pulled up beside her, a shiny black cube she realized upon second glance was a Mercedes G-Class. The passengers’ side window rolled down and Nate’s frog-like face smiled at her from behind the wheel. “I see Milo is in good hands.”
“I hope so.”
“Dad loved that dog almost as much as he loved beautiful women. He’d be pleased. Two of his favorite things.”
Not knowing what to say to that, she gathered the leash in her hands. “Milo needs a walk. Nice to see you again.”
“Is Kyle up yet?” he asked quickly before she could move.
“When I left the house, he was still in bed.”
“I’d want to stay in bed all day, too, with a woman like you between the sheets. Only, you’re out here, which begs the question why he’d be in there.”
“I’m here to train the dog. I wasn’t in bed with him,” she said matter-of-factly. “I just noticed he wasn’t out of his room yet.” What was his angle? She and Kyle were mature adults. It was none of his business if they were sleeping together.
He nodded. “Well, that’s a relief. When I walked in on you sitting on Kyle’s lap next to the pool a couple weeks ago, yo
u looked at me like you might bite my head off. I assumed there was something going on. That must have been part of your training program.”
Her stomach sank and the hot flare of a blush burned her cheeks. She shouldn’t be embarrassed but she was. Tongue-tied, she searched her usually quick mind for a clever retort but came up blank.
“Kyle isn’t for you, sweetheart,” the frog mouth said. “In fact, becoming involved with someone like him could be dangerous.” Nate gave her a threatening smile.
“What is that supposed to mean?”
One side of Nate’s mouth curled. “Plenty of girls would kill to get closer to Kyle.”
“Kyle is perfectly capable of deciding who to get close to. Let’s get something straight, I’m training his dog, not marrying him.”
He raised an eyebrow. “He hasn’t been himself since you came here.”
“How so?” she challenged.
“Short fused, reluctant to be photographed with the models, distracted, late to meetings, early to leave, unwilling to party with business partners. You’d think he had a ring around his finger. I don’t know who you are or who you work for, Anna, but I’m watching you.”
As she opened her mouth to tell Nate to go fuck himself, the threat she saw in his expression stopped her short.
“Hey, wait up!” Kyle called. They both turned their heads toward the mansion as Kyle jogged out, dressed in jeans and a Hunt Club T-shirt, with two travel mugs in hand. “Gerty said you needed coffee.” He handed her one of the mugs and gave her a quick kiss on the mouth. “Cream and sugar. I hope I remembered right but if it’s too sweet you can have mine.”
“It’s perfect, thank you,” she said without even trying it.
“Nate, what are you doing here? It’s Sunday, my day off, brother.”
“I invited Tanaka to a formal dinner this Friday night at my place. It’s imperative that you be there. Which of the models would you like to accompany you?”
Kyle glanced at Laina. Her eyes drifted to the leash in her hands. Would he ask her to go? Silas would never allow her to be that exposed. Not to mention, the full moon was Saturday. She’d be cutting it close. An emotional tinderbox.
“I’ll go alone this time,” Kyle said.
“No.” Nate shook his head. “Absolutely not. Out of the question, Kyle. It is not within the Hunt Club brand for you to be seen alone.”
Kyle braced himself against the hood of the car, eyes darting toward Laina. “I’ll give you an answer by the end of the day.”
Nate nodded. “How’s Milo working out? I wasn’t sure what you’d be dealing with, considering.”
“He’s settling in just fine, thanks.”
Nate nodded. “Care to join me for lunch? Personal, not work.”
Kyle glanced at Laina and back at Nate. “Uh, not today. Sorry, I have plans.”
With a curt nod, Nate shifted the Mercedes into drive and waved at Laina, his eyes drilling into her. “A pleasure, as always.” His gaze shifted to his brother. “I’ll catch you later, Kyle.” He pulled around the circle and drove off in the direction of the gatehouse.
“I’d better give Milo some exercise. He’s getting restless,” Laina said. In fact, the mastiff was pulling against her wrist and weaving from one side of the walkway to the other.
“Let me,” Kyle said, shifting his coffee into his opposite hand to take the leash from her.
“You don’t have to.”
“Didn’t you say that walking him was a key part of earning his trust?” His hazel eyes twinkled in the late-morning light.
She nodded and fell into place beside Kyle, Milo positioning himself properly between them without correction. He knew as well as she did that they were well beyond that point. Milo trusted him implicitly.
“I hope you didn’t turn down lunch because of me,” she said.
Confusion morphed into disappointment before Kyle’s polished grin snapped into place again. “I thought we could spend the day together.”
“I would love to. I just know you both recently lost your father. Family is very important. When my parents were killed, my relationship with my brothers was instrumental in helping me heal emotionally.”
“Thanks, but it’s not the same for us.” He glanced in the direction Nate had driven.
“Speaking of brothers, what made you invite Jason?”
He looked down at his coffee. “When we were in the tree house yesterday, your story about your family made it occur to me that Jason might not be safe at Monty’s. We have much better security here.” He took a sip of his coffee, sizing up her reaction before adding, “I want you to stay with me, Laina. I thought it would be easier for you if Jason was here too. He can stay as long as he wants. Silas is welcome as well. I would have sent for him, too, if you’d said where to find him. Where is he staying?”
Laina frowned. She was sure Kyle was trying to be helpful, but sending for Jason without talking to her first crossed the line. She ignored his question about Silas and jumped to the point of the matter. “But, you know Jason will have to go back. We both will. I can’t stay here permanently.”
“Why not? If I haven’t made it obvious, as far as I’m concerned you never have to leave.” His face lit up with hope.
“I’ll have to go home to New Hampshire eventually, once this is all sorted out. I have a business, a life. I can’t stay forever.” She hadn’t wanted to do it this way, not now, but Nate had made her realize the effect she was having on Kyle. She had to be honest with him. Leading him on would only make the inevitable worse.
He scratched the back of his head and stared at her. “I’m sure we can figure something out. You’re important to me, Laina.”
Laina walked faster.
“Will you go with me Friday night? To the Tanaka dinner at Nate’s?”
She looked at him, jaw going slack. “I can’t. Who would watch Milo?”
“No one needs to watch Milo. He hasn’t chewed anything in over a week. One of the models can give him his evening walk. I’ll ask Nate who he was expecting to use as my date. If she was free to spend the evening with me, she should be free to walk Milo.”
Laina laughed. “I’m sure that won’t burn,” she said sarcastically.
“Please. I can’t go with someone else. Not now. It wouldn’t feel right.”
She sighed. “This thing between us, Kyle, I want it to work, but…”
He shook his head. “You can’t deny we have a connection. I’ve never felt anything like this. No way am I quitting because of geography.” Emotion made his voice crack.
“I don’t want to quit. We do have a connection,” she said.
“Then what is it?”
“He said it was dangerous,” she murmured, thinking of Nate.
“Who’s dangerous?”
“Your brother,” she said, choosing to share what truth she could. “He implied I was distracting you and said it would be dangerous for me to become involved with you.”
“That asshole!”
“He would have probably preferred I keep that to myself.”
“Forget about Nate. He’s a dick.”
“But maybe he’s right, Kyle. Maybe I’m not what you need. I don’t fit here.”
Silence wedged between them, their feet crunching rhythmically on the stones. They turned the corner of the drive that led to the gatehouse. Kyle slowed his steps. The picketers from Eternal Light Ministries were back, lined up on the other side of the gate. There were at least fifteen waving signs. God hates fornicators. Porn dooms America. Repent and be saved!
“Don’t they ever leave?” Laina shook her head.
“Never.” He grabbed her elbow and tugged her back up the drive. “I should have known better than to come this way. Come on.”
Laina wasn’t sure she’d have noticed the man if she wasn’t a wolf; they were still far enough away that he’d be a blur to human eyes. Dark blond hair, a baseball cap, and a hand that reached behind his back and pulled a pistol from his waistband.
“Get down!” she yelled, releasing Milo. She shoved Kyle off the path and into the grass. The pop of the gun discharging reached her ears moments before the bullet drove into her, knocking her off her feet.
Nineteen
“Stop! Get on the ground!” Taneesha yelled. From the place where Laina landed, with her cheek pressed to the grass, she could see the security guard had drawn her gun on the shooter. Her partner rushed the man and bound his hands behind his back.
With the wind knocked out of her, Laina closed her eyes and struggled to inhale against the protest of her lungs. She managed a short, painful sip of air. Meanwhile, Milo barked furiously toward the gate. Intense pain radiated from her shoulder, causing waves of nausea to pitch her onto her side.
“Fuck, Laina, you’re hit!” Kyle pulled her into his arms. “We need to get you help.”
She didn’t have the breath to argue. With a hand pressed to her shoulder, she thanked the goddess that the bullet hadn’t pierced any internal organs but cursed when she realized it hadn’t passed all the way through. As a shifter, she’d heal quickly once the bullet was out. Every moment it stayed inside her flesh though would cause torment as her body attempted to heal around it.
Her gaze darted toward the gatehouse. Some of the picketers had cell phones pointed in her direction. She gripped Kyle’s shirt and positioned her face against his chest. He narrowed his eyes, seeming to understand her need to protect her identity.
In one motion, Kyle swept her into his arms and stood up, keeping his back to the gate. He walked her to the house at a steady clip, Milo trotting behind. The mastiff whined occasionally and poked her hand with his giant wet nose.
“When we get back to the house, I’ll call my personal physician. He’s signed a nondisclosure.”
“No,” she rasped, shaking her head. “Get Jason. He’ll know what to do.”
Gerty opened the door for them. “Should I call 9-1-1, Kyle?”
“No. Find my brother. I need Jason,” Laina insisted. “Take me to my room.”
The grimace on Kyle’s face told her he wasn’t happy about it, but he dutifully obeyed. When he tried to set her on the bed, she squeezed his arm. “No. The tub. Too much blood.”
Vice (Fireborn Wolves Book 1) Page 14
