by Anna Castor
“I’m going to take a shower. Please, just give me some room.” She emphasized her words by waving her hand between them as she took another step back. She meant room for her to get into the shower, but he flinched at her words.
She had to take some time to clear her mind. She couldn’t think straight now that she’d seen Tom’s picture. He was somewhat pushed from her thoughts in the past weeks, and now she could vividly remember the way he grabbed her hair and knocked her against the wall. She shook her head and put her hands over her eyes.
Duncan pulled her into his arms again and kissed the top of her head. “I’m sorry, wildflower. Please tell me what’s going on in that head of yours.”
She started crying as the panic clawed at her as if she were alone with Tom again. “No, no, I... please, no.” Kayla shook her head and tried to push Duncan back, but he held on and, pulling her hair softly, tipped her head back, but she still had her hands over her eyes. Taking her hands in his, he kissed her closed eyes.
“Shh, Kayla, I’m here. It’s me, Dunc. You’re safe.”
She knew she was standing in the bathroom with Duncan, but in the back of her mind, Tom was shouting at her that she needed to shut up.
“I’m so scared, Duncan. I took one look at his picture and it all came back. I don’t know what I’ll do if I ever see him again. I don’t think I can handle it. He’s going to break me. And I hate it. He’s making me feel as if I’m some weak person. I don’t know how to feel strong anymore. I want to leave it all behind. Please, I don’t want to see him again.”
She cried into his chest, and after a while, Calum cleared his throat behind Duncan’s back. “I’ve made an appointment with the police department here. We are going to tell your story so they are aware, and they can inform you of your options. They can refer you to somebody who can help you deal with all of this. I’m sure they have the best connections.”
“I have to go to work, Calum. I’ve just started my job, and I already took some time off yesterday. I can’t go today.” She stepped out of Duncan’s embrace to scowl at Calum, who was standing behind Duncan in the bathroom doorway as she tried to stick to her guns on this issue.
“Sweetheart, I’m sure my brother will understand. Let me call him and—”
Kayla interrupted Duncan. “Please, will you two stop? Let me breathe. I don’t need two alpha males trying to decide my life and take over. I was doing fine until you came here, Calum.”
She knew it was a low blow toward her brother. She was lashing out at someone who didn’t deserve it, but it felt good to voice the anger that was building up inside.
“If you two just leave me alone, I will be fine. Now, let me take a shower, and then I’m going to work. Case closed.”
Duncan and Calum stood there, both with their arms crossed and angry scowls on their faces.
“Do I have to shower in front of you? Because I will.” She took the belt of her robe into her hands, and Calum instantly walked away with both palms raised in the air, but Duncan wasn’t fazed at all.
“We’re not done, wildflower. You can send me on my way, get angry with me, fuck, you can push at me all you want. I’m not letting you go. I’m gonna go to the dojo now because I can’t be late, but I’ll call you later, okay?” he said with a stern look.
Kayla nodded at Duncan’s words, and he stepped closer and kissed her forehead. “Call me if you need anything.”
She sighed. He was not letting her get away with this. She knew it wasn’t in her best interest to bury her feelings and to try to put her head in the sand, but she couldn’t rely on all of the help he and Calum offered her.
She went on for weeks dealing with this on her own. And now that she had befriended Caitlin and Maureen, started a new job, and made friends at the workplace, she thought she’d finally moved on. She even made a connection with Duncan and had wanted to see where it would go.
And yet here she was, getting all emotional and second-guessing herself once more. She hated feeling lost. She was worried for the safety of other possible victims of Tom, but she couldn’t get herself to step up and confront him. Perhaps talking to a professional wouldn’t be such a bad idea. She looked at Duncan, then went on her tiptoes and kissed him softly.
“I’ll call you later.”
He squeezed her butt with both hands and kissed her once more. “Okay, wildflower.”
When she arrived at work, Donovan immediately asked her into his office and wanted her to close the door behind her. She tried to figure out what she’d done wrong. She was on time, and he was the one who told her to take some personal time the day before. She closed the door behind her and walked straight for his desk with her head held high.
“Good morning, Kayla. I have something to tell you. Please have a seat.” He gestured toward the black leather chair in front of his desk. She sat down and looked at him expectantly. “No need to worry. You’ve already been a great asset to us here. The guys all love having you around. You’re like our little sister who we can bug all the time.”
She hadn’t expected him to joke around, but she’d take a joking Donovan anytime over his silent dominant side. She found herself smiling at his words.
“I haven’t had the chance to tell you more about the work we provide for the women’s shelter in St. Johns.”
Her eyes went big, and she felt her embarrassment creeping up in the form of a deep red color on her cheeks. She didn’t want to tell her boss about the biggest mistake of her life, getting hurt and running away scared when she should have trusted her family to take care of her.
“No need to feel embarrassed, Kayla. I value you as my assistant, and I hope that I can even call you my sister in the future.” Her eyes bugged out of her head, making Donovan chuckle. “Yeah, I know we Mills brothers work fast if we see something we want. My brother Duncan is no exception. He called me just before you came in today. He wants to help you wherever he can. He doesn’t know what he’s dealing with, and I offered to help you.
“But know this, Kayla: I offer my help to you, but only you can decide if you want me interfering. We can search for this guy, keep tabs on him, and keep you safe. We’ll know exactly what he’s doing, what he’s thinking even.” Donovan smirked.
Kayla remembered the guys at work saying Donovan could hack anyone and, therefore, could keep digital tabs on them. “Thank you, Donovan. I’m starting to think that I need your help. I don’t think I can go on any longer without knowing what Tom is doing, if he’s searching for me or if he’s going after some other woman. It’s been keeping me up at night.”
“I’m so sorry, Kayla. You’ve been through so much with not only the attack, which is obviously frightful, but also with a move across the country on your own. I’m so glad that you came in that day. We’re happy to have you here. And I don’t just mean around the office. I’m glad that you came into our lives. My brother is head over heels for you.”
Kayla couldn’t process any more information; she just nodded and wiped her tears from her cheeks. She wasn’t a crier. She wasn’t used to having her emotions out on display for the world to see. The emotions were wearing her out, and she felt like she needed to let others take over for a bit.
“Okay, what we normally do in a case like this is to form a team consisting of someone of our PI branch, that’s going to be me, and someone from the local police force—in this case my brother Declan and his partner Caitlin. We’ll probably invite Ronan to the meeting as well, as I’ve hired him on several cases as a bodyguard, and we could use his help in this.
“Dunc and Calum can also assist in this, as I figure that they aren’t the types to sit around and do nothing. You’ll have to forgive my brother for his behavior. I know that he can come on strong when something is bothering someone he cares about and he thinks that he can help out.”
“No way. Duncan? Coming on strong?”
Donovan chuckled at Kayla’s sarcasm. They talked for over an hour. He asked her several questions about her previous
work, her life in New Jersey, and about Tom, of course. She didn’t have a lot of information on Tom, but Donovan reassured her that he would find him.
On his way downstairs from Kayla’s apartment, Duncan had grabbed his phone from his back pocket and dialed Donovan.
“Hey, Dunc, you’re up early. I figured you were still with Kayla.” Donovan had been training with Ronan yesterday at Duncan Dojo when Duncan said he was going over to Kayla’s. “Did she blow you off, little brother?”
“Don, I don’t know how to tell you, so I’ll just throw it out there. Kayla may be in need of your help. She was stalked, which is the reason why she moved from New Jersey last month, after the son of a bitch attacked her in front of her apartment. She didn’t press charges, and she ran from her home, quit her work, and now she’s here. And her brother’s here, and he wants her back out there with her family. I don’t know, bro. I... what if she wants to go back, man?”
“Shit, Dunc, I knew something wasn’t right, but I figured she would come to me after she learned exactly what Mills Security does to protect people. Does she know you’re calling me? I don’t think she would want you to tell me her story.”
Fuck, he hadn’t even thought about that. Yet again he didn’t think before he acted. He was trying to help her, but with each try he was making more of a fool of himself. She didn’t even want his help; she was very clear this morning.
“She doesn’t want to file a report. She wants to forget it ever happened, but, Don, she saw a picture of this asshole this morning, and it was as if he was literally standing in front of her. She was shaking and crying.” He wished he never had to see such a terrified look on Kayla ever again. He’d hoped he could make her feel safe, but she’d pulled back from him.
“Shit. That’s not good, Dunc, not good at all. Well, I think you did a good job in calling me. Perhaps not with telling her story, but for giving me a heads-up. You know what we do, and you know we can trace him. We can keep a lookout for him and keep your girl safe, okay?” Hearing Donovan say she was his girl and that he could help calmed Duncan somewhat.
He hoped Kayla considered herself to be his girl so he could look after her. The way they’d left things made him feel as if she was trying to back away from him. She needed “room.” She wanted the two alpha males to let her be. Ha, she had another thing coming.
Duncan wanted her to be on the same page as him. He knew he was moving fast in figuring she was already his and that he could take care of her, but she had to be willing to be his. She had to let him know that he wasn’t a meddling bully in her eyes and that she understood he needed to take care of her. Duncan sighed into the phone at the thought of trying to get closer to her. He knew she had a big wall around her, and this morning it was getting even worse.
“I know you’ve got it bad, Dunc. I normally would give you so much shit for it. I’m almost sorry you’ve picked such a good woman, so now I can’t say anything about it. You did well, bro. I can see you two together, and I can see Kayla fitting in perfectly in our family of male chauvinist pigs.” They both laughed at that.
All of the Mills brothers had been in the front row for their brother Ronan and his ex Fianna’s final breakup. When Fianna shouted that Ronan was a male chauvinist pig, they all cracked up. Ronan was mocked for several years by his brothers for being a male chauvinist pig, and every now and then, it came back up in conversation between the brothers. Ronan hated it fiercely, but it was so easy to goad him, almost too easy.
“I’m seeing Kayla today at work, right? So, when she comes in, I’ll see what we can do for her. But she has to be the one to tell us to look out for the asshole. It’s important that Kayla takes the lead, okay?”
Duncan nodded, and when he realized Donovan couldn’t see him nodding, he said, “Yeah, okay. Thanks, Don. See you later at the dojo?”
“Yes. I’ll stop by later today. Maybe I can give our male chauvinist pig a run for his money.” They chuckled and said goodbye.
After Duncan hung up, he jumped into his car and drove home. His one-story house was close to Lucky, and he figured he would stop by there later today to see if Brennan had some advice for him.
Brennan had always been there for all of his brothers. After their mother died of breast cancer, their father had to work all the time, so he put the oldest in charge. Brennan made sure all bags had been packed for school in the morning, that Ronan finally dragged his ass out of bed, and did basically everything that was necessary to run a household with five boys between the ages of six and fourteen. Eventually the Mills brothers learned to not talk back to Brennan as much, and he transformed into the rock that every brother could depend on.
Even though Brennan was only five years older than Duncan, he had to grow up real quick because he had to be the responsible one. It made Brennan perhaps not the most fun brother, but he was the one Duncan always turned to when he had something on his mind. He definitely wanted to bring Brennan up to speed, but then he thought about what Donovan had said about telling Kayla’s story without her consent.
Duncan stepped out of his truck and entered his one-story house. He strode to his bedroom to grab his workout clothes. His self-defense class was about to start in half an hour, and he had to hightail it out of there to be on time. When he had everything in his gym bag, he jogged to his car. Duncan’s phone beeped, and he immediately checked the incoming text.
Unknown: Can we meet today? Need to talk to you about my sister.
Although he hadn’t said his name in the text, Duncan knew it was from Calum. He shot back a reply while sitting in the front seat of his truck.
Duncan: Come to Duncan Dojo. I’m there all day.
Duncan made it in time for his self-defense class to six women of the women’s shelter. After his final class of the day, which had started at four, he noticed Calum coming into the dojo. He was waiting for Duncan near the changing rooms when Cheryll strolled up to Duncan as if she owned the place. She wore, yet again, a too-tight spandex outfit, this time in a deep purple color. Her bleached blonde hair was down, and he could see by her determined steps that she was on a mission.
“Hi, Duncan, how are you? You still owe me a rain check, remember? This time you can pick the movie, or we can forgo a movie altogether.” She tried to act seductively with her pouty lips while hanging on to the ropes of the boxing ring with one arm, but it didn’t work on Duncan. He hated to spell it out for her, but he couldn’t let her carry this on any longer.
Ronan had been pissed because of her flirting with Duncan, and now Calum was watching this scene with narrowed eyes.
“I’m sorry, but that won’t be happening. I’m seeing someone, and I’m not interested.”
Cheryll’s eyes bugged out of her head, and her big lips pressed into a straight line. “Since when? Several weeks ago you weren’t, so it can’t be that serious. Come on, you know you aren’t boyfriend material. Do the girl a favor and quit while you’re ahead. Come with me and have some fun.”
Duncan laughed mockingly. “Ye know nothing about me, Cheryll. I don’t need to defend myself to ye. Stop with yer flirting and stop fucking with my brother’s head while yer at it. He don’t need no trouble, and, babe, yer definitely trouble.”
She gasped and her bottom lip started trembling, but she didn’t say anything back to Duncan. Turning, she marched straight out of the door of the dojo.
“Good riddance,” Calum said. “Duncan, I don’t want to say this, but if I don’t speak up, I’ll regret it later. So listen up. Don’t you ever take my sister for granted, you hear? I don’t want to see her cry over a guy ever again, you get my drift? Don’t know what your plans are, but you better show me that you’re serious about her.”
Duncan was about to punch Calum in his face, yet again.
“Go fuck yourself, Calum.”
Red-faced, Calum flew from his folding chair next to the changing room and got in Duncan’s face, standing chest to chest.
“Yeah, ye heard me right. Yer pissing me th
e fuck off. Nobody, and I mean nobody, comes into my dojo and tells me I’m not treating Kayla right. She’s been on my mind ever since we met. Fuck, I want nobody else. It’s yer sister who’s pushing me away, but I’m not letting her. She’s mine, ye hear?”
Calum took his time, eyeing Duncan and sizing him up. Duncan could feel his breath on his face and detect the throbbing vein popping out next to Calum’s eye, but he was not backing down. Not on this. He had to face Calum and let him know that he was not taking shit from him. They resembled two agitated bulls, waiting on the other to charge.
“Quit fucking around, guys. Duncan, we all know you’re serious about Kayla. He’s only looking out for her, am I right?” Donovan said calmly, and he couldn’t have entered the dojo at a better time. He was trying to defuse the situation by taking charge and setting the two bulls into their own pens by putting a hand on a shoulder of each and squeezing to give his words emphasis.
Duncan took a step back but was still staring Calum down, never once blinking. Calum took a step back as well and looked from Duncan to Donovan. “Okay, he says he’s serious about my sister. Maybe if the female population of this dojo knew as well, I would believe him.”
Duncan growled. “Don’t make this about some bimbo who was coming on to me. I shot that shit down and told her to never come at me again. Don’t act like I was fucking her in front of ye.”
“Calum, I guess Duncan got a bit pissed when you questioned his loyalty. I want to remind you that you are at his dojo, getting in his face about something he says will never happen again. I think Duncan hasn’t had the time to get the word out, since your sister wasn’t too keen to take the next step with Dunc. Am I right, bro?” Donovan concluded.
Duncan nodded, still looking at Calum with furrowed brows.
Calum sighed and shook his head. “All right, okay.” He held both of his hands up. “I’m sorry for coming on strong.” He then held out his hand for Duncan to shake. “I’ve been on edge for the past two months. Fuck, seeing Kayla again and finding out what happened to her but not being able to do anything for her? It’s messing with me, but I shouldn’t have taken it out on you. I know.”
