Celina (Connelly Cousins #1)

by Abbie Zanders

  Yeah, that was the general idea. If he wasn’t conscious he couldn’t remember any of those things. Or those huge, flashing green eyes. The angelic beauty of her face. The multi-hued golden curls that cascaded well past her shoulders like a sublime waterfall. Fuck.

  Lina’s scent on his jeans brought him back to the world of the living. Deciding to stick with that pair, he pulled them on and reached for his leather jacket. To hell with a shirt. Who had time for that? Lina was missing, and he was going to find her. And if even one hair on her perfect little head was harmed, he was going to rain hell down on whoever dared to hurt her.

  “Have you tried the lake?” he asked over his shoulder.

  “The lake?” Jamie looked at him blankly. How could his brother claim to be in love with Lina and not know about the lake? Jamie had been dating Lina for months and she’d never told him about it? About how she’d practically grown up there? How much she loved it? Kyle had known her for little more than a week and she’d taken him there that night of the last full moon...

  Kyle glared hard at his brother. “What about her brother, have you contacted him?”

  Jamie stiffened. “I would have, if I knew she had one.”

  Kyle grunted. Jamie not knowing about Johnny was probably a good thing, because that meant Johnny didn’t know about Jamie, either. “Have you been down to the bookstore? Maybe she’s crashing with Amy.”

  “Who’s Amy?”

  “Christ, Jamie, do you know anything about her at all?”

  Jamie clenched his jaw and glared right back. “How do you know so much, Kyle?”

  Because I listened, asshole. Maybe Jamie wasn’t the best choice for Lina after all. What did he do, talk about himself every time they’d gone out? Or – Kyle’s heart did that little stutter-thing again - maybe she just hadn’t wanted to share anything too personal with Jamie.

  Because she didn’t love Jamie. It didn’t matter that Jamie had a respectable job and a Master’s degree, or that he fit the model of the stereotypical “perfect husband/father” candidate to a T. That’s what Lina had been trying to tell him.

  And he, like an idiot, hadn’t listened to her.

  Instead of answering, Kyle focused on finding his boots. Jamie didn’t seem to expect an answer anyway.

  “Big Mo said he thought he might have seen her at Hog Heaven a few nights ago, but he couldn’t be certain,” Jamie informed him.

  Oh, hell no. Mo was a decent enough guy, but the infamous biker bar outside of town was no place for a girl like Lina.

  He narrowed his eyes. “What were you doing talking to Big Mo?”

  “I was looking for you. Thought maybe you’d be there, and when you weren’t, I asked. Not like you to take vacay, bro.” Jamie looked intently at Kyle. “For the record, I never mentioned Lina, he did. Implied maybe you were keeping time with her. Said she was enough reason for any man to disappear for a few days. How does he even know her? And why would he think that, Kyle?”

  How did Mo know about Lina? Oh yeah, the bike.

  A fresh wave of pain sliced through his chest, remembering her late night visits. She’d seemed to think he was some kind of freaking mechanical genius because he was custom-fitting the small model for her. She’d told him he’d made one of her secret fantasies come true.

  Hell, just thinking of how she straddled that damn machine, the look on her face when she smiled at him, made him hard all over again. The ache in his groin was fierce, but it was nothing compared to the ache in his chest currently making it hard to draw a full breath.

  Yeah, he was a fucking idiot.

  “Hog Heaven is a biker bar, Jamie. Not exactly a hangout for virgin goddesses, bro.”

  “Oh, so now you’re a believer? What changed your mind, Kyle?”

  Kyle pulled tightly on the cords of his steel-toed shit-kickers, refusing to meet his brother’s glare. Soon the tips of Jamie’s expensive sneakers entered into his line of sight. He could feel Jamie’s anger; it radiated off of him in waves.

  “Aren’t you the one who’s been telling me all along that she couldn’t possibly be that innocent?” Jamie’s voice grew softer. “You didn’t sleep with her, Kyle, but did you have your mouth on her? Did you have your hands on her? Inside her? Is that how you know, big brother?”

  Kyle rose slowly and faced Jamie. They were nearly the same height – Jamie was only an inch or so taller – but Kyle had at least fifty pounds of hard muscle on him. Kyle met his brother’s clear hazel eyes, now filled with accusation. He could not deny it. He saw Jamie’s fist coming up, but did nothing to stop the solid hit to his jaw. He deserved it.

  “Damn you! You were supposed to be helping me, Kyle, not helping yourself!”

  “Maybe you don’t deserve her, Jamie.”

  “And you do?”

  Pain seared through him again, a lightning bolt of sharp regret. “No. Let’s go. You drive.”

  Without bothering to wipe away the blood trickling from his split lip, Kyle headed for the door. Jamie was right behind him.

  “What the hell?” Jamie muttered as Kyle directed him to an open parking spot in front of Amy’s Book Shoppe.

  “We’ll check here first,” Kyle told him. “Most likely Lina’s holing up here for a while.”

  “At a book store?” Jamie asked, confused.

  Kyle didn’t answer. Jamie followed silently as he made his way into the shop and sought out the shapely brunette unpacking the latest shipment of new arrivals. Her pretty hazel eyes lit up at the sight of him.

  “Kyle! How nice to see you! Where’s Lina?” Amy looked past Kyle as though expecting to see her friend, her eyes stopping momentarily on Jamie, giving him an appraising glance. One elegant, carefully shaped brow drew up in silent question, probably wondering who he was.

  There was little chance she’d peg them as brothers based on appearance. Kyle’s too-long black locks were nothing like Jamie’s neatly-trimmed sandy hair. Kyle’s face was sculpted with the same hard angles and hollows of their father’s Scottish ancestors, while Jamie favored their mother with classic European features. In black leather and faded denim, Kyle was the quintessential bad boy, while Jamie was the boy next door.

  “I was hoping you could tell me,” Kyle told her. “I thought she might be crashing with you for a few.”

  Amy pulled her gaze away from Jamie and faced Kyle with a puzzled look. “Sorry, hon, I haven’t seen her for at least a week. Figured the two of you were off nesting somewhere.” Jamie’s jaw dropped, but she didn’t seem to notice. Her eyes widened. “Oh my god, you guys had a fight?”

  A muscle jumped in Kyle’s jaw, and Amy laid a hand on his arm. “Oh, honey, I am so sorry. But don’t worry, she’ll come around. I’ve known Lina a long time, and I’ve never seen her as into someone as she was into you.”

  Kyle winced; Jamie made a strangled sound in the back of his throat. “Thanks, Amy. Let me know if you hear from her, will you? I need to... well, I just need to talk to her, okay?” He jotted down his mobile number on a slip of paper and handed it to her. “Any time, day or night, you let me know, yeah?”

  Amy flashed him a dazzling smile. “You got it, sweetie. I’m rooting for you.” Her eyes flashed back to Jamie with distinct interest. “Aren’t you going to introduce me to your friend, Kyle?”

  “No.” Without further explanation he pushed Jamie toward the exit, calling back his thanks. Outside the shop, Jamie pierced Kyle with an acid glare. “You came here with Celina?”

  Jamie’s disbelief was understandable. Under normal circumstances, Kyle wouldn’t be caught dead anywhere near a book store, and his brother knew it. That was assuming, of course, Jamie managed to process anything after Amy’s comments. No doubt he was wondering how a sweet, intelligent woman like Lina could ever be “into” a guy like him. It was a valid question, one he’d been asking himself a lot.

  “Yeah.”

  “Why?”

  “Why what?” Kyle asked irritably.

  “Why were you at a book s
hop with Celina?”

  Annoyed, Kyle shot him a sideways glance. “Amy is a close friend of Lina’s. A shipment came in, they asked for my help, and I moved some boxes around.”

  It was a partial truth, just enough to shut Jamie up. Kyle was not in the mood to offer up any more information than he had to. It was difficult enough that he remembered every single detail of that night; he wasn’t about to give a play-by-play.

  Like how Lina seemed to open up around her friend, laughing and smiling and just being herself. How her eyes sparkled under the dangling single-bulb fixtures in the back storage room. Or how he had felt a rush of heat when he caught her staring at his arms and chest while he made short work of the book-filled boxes, moving them to the long wooden tables for easy sorting and cataloguing.

  Jamie eyed him suspiciously, but Kyle ignored him and moved on before Jamie asked any more questions. “Right, she’s not with Amy, so let’s try her brother. Head over to the Boulevard, where they’re putting up that new two-story office building,” he commanded, opening the passenger door and sliding his big frame into Jamie’s silver Lexus.

  “How do you know so much about Celina, Kyle?” Jamie asked a moment later from the driver’s seat. He put the key in the ignition, but did not start the car. Kyle sighed. He knew he would be answering this question eventually.

  “We talked.” Maybe he could keep this simple.

  “When?”

  Or not. “Lina came by the shop a couple of times.”

  “Why would she do that?”

  “She was interested in getting a bike.”

  Jamie made that choking sound again. “Celina? On a motorcycle?”

  Kyle took pleasure in the shocked look on his brother’s face, feeling a surge of possessive pride. Lina had given him a glimpse of her soul, but not Jamie, and he was beginning to realize that was not a gift she gave easily. He couldn’t hold back his smirk.

  “You didn’t know? Thought you would, since you’ve been seeing her for so long and all.”

  Eyes flaring, Jamie white-knuckled the steering wheel. “You lie.”

  Kyle didn’t respond. If that’s what Jamie wanted to believe, so be it.

  It took some time to track down Johnny, but when they did he seemed pleased to see him, clasping his hand in a brotherly gesture. “What’s up, man? You look like shit.”

  It was Jamie’s turn to smirk, but Kyle just nodded in agreement. If he looked as bad as he felt, Johnny was being kind. “Got a sec?”

  “Sure thing. “ Johnny looked just like every other worker on the site, except he was bigger, better built, and dirtier. He loved the work, and very few people – Kyle among them – were privy to the fact that Johnny actually owned the company.

  Johnny directed them off to a quieter section, pulling out a pack of Camels as he walked. He took a deep drag and closed his eyes for a moment, leaning back against a support girder in the shade of the brick and glass building under construction, but Kyle wasn’t fooled. Johnny was watching him intently behind those deceptively-lidded eyes.

  “Thought you quit.”

  Johnny smiled mischievously. “I did. Lina would kick my ass if she caught me smoking.”

  Had he not felt like crap, Kyle might have laughed. They ran in the same circles and shared a love of bikes, and Johnny was every bit the hell-raiser he was. The thought of him hiding anything from his little sister was funny, and Kyle could easily picture Lina laying into him.

  Johnny’s skin was deeply bronzed from all his time in the sun, a stark contrast to his blonde hair. is stance was casual and relaxed, but his green eyes were intense, remarkably like Lina’s.

  “Heard from Lina lately?” Kyle asked the question casually enough, but Johnny’s eyes narrowed and hardened as he went from fellow biker to protective big brother in an instant. Like Kyle, Johnny had layers of hard muscle on his frame and the attitude of someone who had no problem putting them to use. Kyle retained eye contact, but in his peripheral vision, saw Jamie take a step back. Smart man.

  “Should I have?” Outwardly, Johnny remained casual, but it was impossible to miss the underlying message in his friendly tone. The one that said, “Is there a reason I should be ripping your head off right now?”

  Jamie shifted his weight from one foot to the other, finally drawing Johnny’s attention. “And you are?”

  “My little brother,” Kyle answered for him, effectively signaling the end of that line of questioning. Johnny snorted, dismissing Jamie and turning his attention back to Kyle.

  “Lina moved out, Kyle. And I thought you two were done.”

  Kyle blew out a breath. So had he. “Don’t suppose you can tell me where she is?”

  “She’s my baby sister, man. If she didn’t tell you, can’t see as where I should.”

  Frustrated, Kyle ran a hand through his hair, but he understood where Johnny was coming from. If he had a sister like Lina, he wouldn’t be keen on sharing that kind of info, either. “Look, if you hear from her, could you, uh, tell her I was asking?”

  Johnny stared hard at him for a minute. Kyle met his gaze head on, answering every one of his unspoken questions. He wasn’t sure how that was going to go down, but Kyle braced himself for another slam to the jaw. Johnny’s would hurt a hell of a lot more than Jamie’s.

  Then the corner of Johnny’s mouth twitched. Something in Kyle’s expression must have given him away, because rather than a jackhammer to the face, Johnny said, “Like that, is it?”

  “Yeah, it’s like that.”

  The twitch became a knowing smirk. “Yeah, sure, I’ve got your back, man.”

  Kyle nodded and they clasped hands again. Nothing would have stopped him from going after Lina, but getting Johnny’s approval just made things much easier. “You got my number, yeah?”

  “Yeah, man. You’re covered.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  “What’s the deal with you and Celina’s brother?” Jamie asked as they pulled away from the site. Kyle continued to stare straight ahead, ignoring Jamie’s repeated sideways glances. His mind was working out their next move. If Lina wasn’t at Amy’s and had moved out of Johnny’s, where the hell was she?

  “He’s a biker. And we have an understanding,” he answered vaguely. Jamie grimaced but wisely didn’t pursue that line of questioning. Chances were, he wouldn’t like the answer, and Kyle sure as shit didn’t need any more guilt or disappointment heaped on top of what he already carried.

  “Where to next?”

  “Hog Heaven.”

  “Will they be open this time of day?”

  “Liam’ll be there. “ Liam was the owner of the biker hangout, a real legend among the rough, hard-core patrons who frequented the place. He had a fearsome reputation, and it was well-deserved. Kyle didn’t have a problem with him, though. Liam knew his machines, and had one of the sweetest collections of vintage Harleys Kyle had ever seen. They saw eye-to-eye on a lot of things, and the mutual respect they had for one another took care of the rest.

  “Will he see us?”

  “He’ll see me.”

  The inside of Hog Heaven was dark and retained a unique combination of odors: beer, whiskey, smoke, sweat, and leather. Kyle rolled his neck and shoulders, releasing some of the tension that had him tighter than a brand new clutch. Next to his workshop, this was where he felt most at home. Jamie’s discomfort was apparent, however. Hands in pockets, his eyes flicked over the place as he trailed cautiously behind Kyle, looking as if he’d rather be anywhere else.

  They found Liam behind the bar, wiping down the remains of last night’s business. He greeted Kyle with a grunt and a curl of the lip that was as close to a smile as Liam got.

  “Kyle, been a while, mate.”

  Out of his peripheral vision, Kyle saw Jamie’s gaze snap away from the framed posters of gorgeous naked women on bikes (many of which were personally autographed), at the sound of Liam’s voice. Kyle was used to it, but those who didn’t know Liam were often surprised by the cockney accent
from the huge, scarred man with the shaved head. Liam had piercings in his ears, his eyebrows, and his tongue, and the visible skin on his neck was covered in intricate, spiraling tribal tattoos. In appearance as well as personality, Liam was every bit the bad-ass he was chalked up to be.

  Kyle discreetly stepped on Jamie’s foot in silent warning, knowing full well that the owner did not like being gawked at. Jamie took the hint and stepped back, averting his gaze.

  “Sorry, man. Been busy.”

  “Yeah,” smirked Liam. “So I heard.” He placed a glass in front of Kyle and filled it from a bottle he pulled from the top shelf. He didn’t even cast a glance at Jamie, who had wisely chosen to remain in Kyle’s shadow.

  “Never thought I’d see the day you’d cave, mate.”

  Kyle tossed back the smooth bourbon as if it was water, then placed it back on the bar, bottom up to avoid a refill. Neither did I.

  “But I have to tell you, she is one sweet little piece of ass. Wouldn’t mind getting out of the fast lane myself for a bit o’ that.” Liam watched Kyle’s reaction closely. Without conscious thought, his jaw clenched, the corded muscles in his neck tensed right back up again.

  Liam laughed. “Yeah, I thought so. Just yankin’ ya, mate. Had to see it for myself, I did.” Kyle relaxed slightly. He really hadn’t wanted to have to get in Liam’s face. Liam was a friend, and Kyle was still suffering the after-effects of a week-long bender.

  “But she was here, with some huge bloke. Mo pointed her out. Couple of the guys said she was asking for you.”

  The thought of Lina in this place sent unfamiliar bolts of fear through his gut, but not as much as the thought of Lina being with someone else. It showed on his face, and Liam was quick to pick up on it.

  “Guy’s not a friend of yours, I take it?”

  Kyle’s jaw clenched so hard he was in danger of snapping a few molars. It sure as hell better not be anyone he knew, but either way, the guy was a dead man. “You never saw him before?”

  “No. Ain’t no regular gonna mess with your piece, man.”

  From somewhere behind him, Jamie coughed. For the first time, Liam turned narrowed eyes Jamie’s way and looked at him as if Jamie was a cockroach and he was the health inspector.