The Mercenary and the Shifters (The Turning Stone Chronicles)

by C. D. Hersh

  His eyes softened and then he looked away.

  “All men who love you.” He spiked his fingers through his hair.

  She lowered her gaze to the ground, unwilling to let him see the hurt bubbling in her. He called her beautiful, yet he didn’t add his name to the men he thought loved her. Please say you love me.

  “Look,” Mike said, his voice filled with frustration. “I said I wouldn’t interfere with you and Kyle. I never would have slept with you had I known you and he were engaged, and I meant it. But I can’t let you think I hate you.” He hooked his index finger under her chin, raising it until her gaze met his. “It’s obvious you care for Kyle, otherwise you wouldn’t be marrying him. I don’t hate you because you care for him.”

  He released her chin and she looked away, her heart aching from his rejection.

  “Please, when you think about whose side you’re going to be on, remember you do have people who love you. Not like Falhman loves, to get what he wants from you. But people who really care about you. Rhys and Alexi . . .”

  She heard an unspoken something in his tone, and she looked at him. His eyes shone with emotion.

  “And me,” he added simply.

  Her breath caught as hope swelled in her heart.

  “But I won’t poach another man’s territory. I wish you and Kyle the best.”

  Mike spun on his heel to leave. She grabbed his arm, whirling him toward her. “Do you really think I’m beautiful?” The second she blurted the sentence she wished it back. Of all the things she could have said and she chose a ninny, narcissistic line.

  Mike gave her a patient smile. “Yes, I do. Here.” He skimmed his finger over her cheek and jaw. Then he planted a soft kiss on her lips. “And here.” He gently tapped a spot on her chest over her heart.

  Fiona’s pulse raced.

  “But you don’t think you’re beautiful. That’s why you keep aligning yourself with ugly people, like Falhman. Trust in yourself, Fiona. Listen to your heart. Follow your instincts. They’re telling you the right thing to do.”

  He walked away, then paused halfway to the door and swiveled toward her. “We’ll be waiting for you. I hope you make the right decision.”

  As he spun on his heel, she called his name. “I have a confession to make to you.” Mike wheeled around and stared at her. “I don’t love Kyle.” The words rushed from her, then hung expectantly in the air.

  After a couple of seconds, which seemed an eternity, Mike asked, “Then why are you marrying him?”

  “A business arrangement meant to save our companies from OmniWorld.”

  “Kyle knows?”

  “Yeah, but I think he’s taking it more seriously than I am.”

  “Do his parents?”

  Fiona shook her head. “They don’t know. But Falhman does. It’s partly his, and OmniWorld’s, idea. At first I was to marry the CEO, inherit when he died, and turn it all over to OmniWorld in exchange for keeping them out of my company.”

  A horrified expression crossed Mike’s face. “Died? As in murdered died?”

  “But I couldn’t,” she rushed to say, afraid Mike would think her a monster for even considering OmniWorld’s plan. “I talked them out of the death part, offering to give them company secrets I got from a job I’d take as a shifter.”

  Mike’s horror deepened. “You’ve been spying as a shifter? Committing industrial espionage?”

  “No. But it was part of the plan—in exchange for them not killing Kyle or his family. We’d dismantle Morrison Shipping bit by bit between my shifter spying and pillow talk with my husband.”

  “Thank God for small favors.”

  “Then I approached Kyle about double-crossing OmniWorld.”

  “The first decent thing I’ve heard you do.”

  Mike’s reproach stung, but she determined to continue her confession. “We arranged to get married, figure out who’s behind the OmniWorld takeover, double-cross OmniWorld, and in doing so safeguard our companies.”

  “Why didn’t you tell us when you first told Rhys about your involvement with OmniWorld?”

  “I don’t know. I wanted to keep Kyle out of it. We thought the fewer who knew the less chance the plan would go wrong. I knew Rhys would blow a gasket if he knew. I was stupid. Take your pick.”

  “You were stupid. Stupidity covers it all.” He ran his hands over his head, down to his neck, and squeezed as if he had a giant pain. “Is there anything else you’re hiding, Fiona? I don’t care how small, you need to tell me. Now.”

  “Just one thing.”

  He moved in closer and gripped her arms.

  “The night when we made love . . .”

  His hands tightened. She stared deep into his eyes. They swirled with uncertainty and something else she couldn’t identify. She nearly changed her mind about the rest of her confession. What if everything she’d told him had pushed him beyond the point where he could ever love her?

  “That wonderful, glorious night.”

  His gaze relaxed. “Yes?” he said softly.

  She took heart from his expression and the expectant tone of his voice. “I told you I wasn’t the marrying kind. I lied. I could be, with the right man. And it’s not Kyle.”

  His grip on her arms eased, his thumbs brushing soft circles on her bare flesh. “He’s not?”

  She shook her head, then tipped her face down. His finger gently raised her chin until her gaze met his.

  “If not Kyle, then who could you marry?”

  His eyes danced, and she knew he’d guessed. She closed her eyes and leaned toward him expectantly, waiting for the brush of his lips on hers. Nothing happened. She opened her eyes and looked at him. The light in his eyes matched the smile on his face.

  Crap. He was going to make her say the words.

  “Who could you marry, Fiona?”

  The sound of her name on his lips nearly made her swoon. His voice held the same quavering need it had when he’d ordered her to undress for him in the moonlight.

  “You, Mike,” she whispered. “I could marry you.”

  The words were barely out of her mouth, and Mike pinned her to the wall, crushing his body against hers. His lips covered hers, hungry and demanding.

  Fiona wrapped her legs around his thighs, and Mike boosted her onto his waist, her skirt sliding up her legs. He slipped his hand under the fabric, his fingers reaching for more secret parts. Fiona gasped and thrust herself tightly against him.

  A loud throat clearing jerked her out of her lascivious stupor. Mike lowered her to the floor. She shoved her skirt to a respectable length.

  “Sorry to bother you,” Alexi said, “but we were wondering what was keeping Mike.” She stared directly at the raised, damp bulge at the front of his pants. “I think we should give you a few more minutes.” She jerked her thumb toward the foyer, indicating he should leave. “I’ll tell them you’re in the bathroom while you go change. I hope you’ve got another pair of khakis.”

  Mike yanked his shirttail out and headed out of the room. When he’d gone, Alexi approached Fiona, concern clouding her face.

  “Now I know why you said Mary Kate was trying to steal Mike. Or is it the other way around?”

  “Excuse me? You think I’m trying to steal Mike from her?”

  “Well, you are the engaged woman in this threesome.”

  “Threesome?”

  “Look, Fiona, I don’t mean to pry, but you’ve already got Kyle on a string. Why do you need Mike as well?”

  “What? I? Three?”

  “His moves aren’t even original. Except he was against a wall, not a tree, this time.” Alexi made a disgusted sound. “I won’t say anything. Yet. But the two of you had better decide before Kyle and Mary Kate get hurt by your shenanigans. Stringin
g them along isn’t right.” Alexi wheeled around and stalked out of the room.

  What the heck was Alexi hinting at? Mike and Mary Kate? Fiona stomped her foot. The impact jarred all the way to her hip. Oooh! She’d told that two-timing man she loved him. Now she was going to kill him!

  Chapter 39

  Mike joined the rest of the group in the kitchen a few minutes after Fiona arrived. She studiously avoided his gaze, afraid her anger would show on her face. After their hanky-panky he’d probably wonder what she was mad about. Besides, she was having a dickens of a time keeping her emotions in check under the watchful eye of the five other shifters in the meeting.

  Mike sidled alongside her. “I think Fiona has something she wants to tell the rest of the group about Kyle.”

  She let the anger out, glaring hotly at him. “No, I don’t.” What she’d told him was for his benefit only. Eli, Rhys, Alexi, Mary Kate, LJ, and Donaline did not need to know the particulars of her engagement.

  Six sets of eyes swung around, peering expectantly at her. She whirled to face Mike and quietly hissed, “It was my secret meant solely for your ears.”

  “They need to know about Kyle, Fiona,” he replied, his voice a whisper. “When we go after the babies he’ll need protection. After all they wanted to kill him.”

  “Who’s being killed?” Eli asked from the other side of the room.

  Fiona faced the rest of the group. “You heard him from over there?”

  “I’m nae wearing a hearing aid, yet.” Eli smiled, the tips of his mustache curling toward his cheeks. “I’m auld, not deaf, lassie.”

  Then his smile disappeared, and he pinned her with a stare she knew meant he was scanning her. Could she hide the truth from him? Probably not.

  “Sae,” he continued, “tell us whatever ’tis that yer hiding aboot your man.”

  Mike inched closer until his shoulder was a hair’s breadth from hers. “It’s okay. Tell them. They’ll help you and Kyle.” His index finger pointed around the group then to himself. “We’ll help you.”

  Anger and hurt and desperation and love bubbled inside her.

  She was mad at Mike. Had been hurt by him and Rhys. Desperation fueled her plan with Falhman. She also loved Mike desperately. An admission that pained her after Alexi’s veiled reference to him and Mary Kate.

  But, if she were truly honest, she’d acknowledge she wanted their help. Wanted Mike’s help as much as she wanted him, even after discovering he and Mary Kate had a . . . what? Alexi hadn’t been explicit about them, just hinted. Could she be wrong?

  As she glanced around the group, which had now formed a semi-circle in front of her, she knew for certain they were scanning her. Varying degrees of disgust and concern etched their features. When her gaze reached Mary Kate, the glare alternating between her and Mike left no doubt Mary Kate glimpsed the love in her heart, and in Mike’s. Not coming clean with them was not an option.

  Drawing in a deep breath, she said in as firm a voice as she could muster, “My engagement to Kyle is a sham. We don’t love each other.”

  Eli’s accusatory expression didn’t change. Fiona suspected he’d seen through her from the beginning. He was, after all, the Keeper of the Stone. He had to be more astute than the rest of the shifters. Alexi was not shocked by the news. She’d just seen her climbing Mike like a monkey in heat. Rhys looked relieved, yet concerned. Was his worry for her or what scheme she and Kyle had cooked up? Donaline and LJ appeared confused.

  Mary Kate wheeled away, striding to the opposite side of the room. When she reached the wall, she spun and glared at Fiona. Even without scanning powers, Fiona knew Mary Kate was furious over her relationship with Mike.

  As she spoke, Fiona leaned into Mike’s shoulder. He slipped his arm around her. Even though she was angry as hell with him over Mary Kate, she welcomed the support. Confessing her scheme, which sounded lame now, was not easy.

  Daggers shot from Mary Kate’s eyes, aimed at her and Mike. The woman’s reaction left no doubt in Fiona’s mind something had happened between Mike and Mary Kate.

  When she’d finished, Eli just studied her. No one else spoke either. Fiona surreptitiously glanced at her watch as the seconds ticked by in complete, stunned silence.

  After a full minute, Eli finally spoke. “’Tis nae the priest's first story that should be believed, and the lassie has just proved the point.”

  “I’m sorry,” she said. “I know now I should have been completely honest from the beginning. But I’ve been on my own for a long time. It’s hard to trust.”

  He gave her another probing stare.

  Fiona opened her soul. She wanted him to see she’d told them everything.

  “I’m afraid I didn’t help,” Rhys said. “I should have contacted you and let you know why we left.”

  “It’s good you didn’t,” George said as he entered the room. He crossed to Mike. “I checked all the phones, like you asked. They’re all bugged. The house as well as Fiona’s office line.” He held out his hand to Fiona. “Your cell probably is, too.”

  She dug the phone out of her pocket and handed it to George.

  He opened the phone’s casing. “Yep.” He closed the case and handed it back to Fiona.

  She grabbed the device between two fingers as if it had an Ebola virus. “Shouldn’t we take it out?”

  “No,” Rhys said. “It might tip off whoever planted the bugs. Did you track the source?”

  “Working on it,” George said. “I should have an answer in a few hours.”

  Fiona looked at Mike. The news someone, besides Mike and George, whom she trusted, had been watching and listening to her made her feel violated and even more afraid. “Who would want to spy on me?”

  Mike gave her a glance that clearly showed he thought her stupid. Which she had been.

  “Oh, I don’t know,” he said with a shrug. “Maybe the people who tried to kill you?”

  “The Mafia?” George asked. “The bullets we found at the engagement party matched the ones from the first two attacks.”

  “The Mafia? OmniWorld? Falhman? Take your pick,” Mike said. “Seems as if you’ve got a list of suspects. Heck, I wouldn’t even put it past Morrison, if he thought you were double-crossing him and not Falhman.”

  “Not Kyle. I’ve never been anything but honest with him and he knows it.”

  A pained expression flashed over Mike’s face. “Must be nice,” he mumbled.

  Ire spiked along her spine. She wasn’t the only one who’d been dishonest.

  “You’ve got some nerve after what you did,” she said, unable to control her hurt and jealousy any longer. He gave her a blank stare, which didn’t set well. She hauled him out the kitchen door to the patio. “Alexi told me you were messing with Mary Kate.”

  “When?”

  “I don’t know. Why don’t you tell me when?”

  “No, not when we were messing. When did she tell you? We didn’t do anything but kiss.”

  She glared at him and he returned the favor.

  “Hey, you were engaged, not me. I’m a free man. If a woman kisses me, then I’m under no compulsion to stop. You, on the other hand—”

  “That was fake, and I told you so.”

  “Yeah, after the fact and after the kiss with Mary Kate.”

  He stopped and gaped over her shoulder. She twisted to see what he stared at. The group, including George, pressed against the kitchen French doors, watching their lover’s spat. Mary Kate, however, was missing.

  “You just said you love me and now you’re angry with me because I kissed Mary Kate after I thought you were cheating on your fiancé?”

  Hearing the angry tone in his voice, Fiona turned back to face Mike.

  “What or who do you want?” Mike asked. “To get something from
them, you’ve encourage every man who’s interested in you. Kyle. Falhman. Me. How do I know you’re not playing me now?”

  Her stomach quivered. Behind Mike, the horizon tipped. She closed her eyes to stem the panic rising in her chest. She was such an idiot. Happiness was within her grasp and she’d spoiled it. What she was doing was a hundred times worse than Mike and Mary Kate’s kiss.

  Fiona grabbed his shoulders. “Look into my eyes,” she urged. “Search my heart. See the truth for yourself.”

  Mike shook her hands off. “I’m not a damn shifter. I don’t have those skills. I can only see what you’ve done.”

  “If you can’t accept me as I am then I guess there’s no hope.”

  “I guess not.”

  When they reentered the kitchen, Eli said, “Now ye’ve settled yer relationship dilemma, can we get down tae the business at hand . . . getting the wee laddies back and giving the devil his due?”

  “Finally!” LJ shouted. “What’s the plan?”

  “Whatever ’tis, ye’ll nae be a part o’ it.”

  LJ planted her hands on her hips and bellied up next to Eli. “It’s my son, and you won’t keep me from helping.”

  “Ye’ll do the most good here at the hoose. When we get the babe ye’ll be able tae take him far away as soon as ye can.” He directed his attention to Fiona. “We’ll need yer jet, lassie, if ye don’t mind lending it agin. If we hafta split up once we’ve rescued the wee bairns, we shouldnae all go on my jet.”

  “Where am I going to run to this time, Eli? Hugh said we’d be safe with you and look what happened.”

  “I have loyal shifters around the world. We’ll find some place where ye and the laddie will be surrounded and protected by my own.”