by Nana Malone
"Hey, Kiss. It's me...again. I'm getting on the plane to New Orleans now and I wanted to check in on you and TJ. I hope he's out of surgery and feeling better. I know you don't believe it right now, but you aren't alone. I might not physically be there, but I'm here when you want to talk. I'm sending TJ some good vibes. Call me if you need me."
He wouldn't be waiting on her call. As soon as he was done with Kallie, he was going to go get her. Make her see how sorry he was, that they belonged together.
***
Kiss held onto TJ's hand and watched him sleep. The doctor had said he'd be out for a while post surgery and he needed to rest. Rest or not, she wanted to be here when he woke up. "New rule, TJ, you can't scare the shit out of me anymore. No more death and dying, that's an order." Of course, he didn't answer.
As much as she hated to admit it, Derek's call yesterday had made her feel better. A lot better actually. Like maybe she wasn't all alone. Sure, she had Leah, who made sure she ate and slept. And Christian came every day, but nothing had had the same effect on her as hearing Derek's voice. She didn't want to be dependent on him, but it as the truth.
"Kisima?"
She looked up to see a smiling woman in her mid to late fifties maybe. Everything about her said warmth and compassion. "Yes. Can I help you?"
The woman smiled. "I'm Violet Raines. Dr. Violet Raines."
"Oh, you're one of TJ's doctors?"
The woman smiled again and Kiss couldn't help thinking that it would be a real shame if this woman wasn't a mom or a teacher or something. She had that sort of loving patience in her eyes that could set everyone at ease. "I'm a consultant actually. I'm a Pulmonary Oncologist. I've had a chance to review your father's case. I'm here to answer any questions and address any concerns you might have."
Relief flooded her veins. She was so happy she forgot to correct the woman's assumption.
"I have a million questions. Dr. Erlichman and her interns were great, but I don't know. I guess I understand everyone is busy and can't sit here and hold my hand with every little question I have."
"Sometimes it can be like that. That's what I'm here for." Violet indicated the love seat crammed into the corner of the room. "May I?"
"Yes, please." For the next hour, Kisima asked her every question she could think of to ask about TJ's recovery, to additional care, to personality questions. Pretty much everything she could think of and Dr. Raines answered them fully, more importantly patiently.
Finally, Kiss had to add, "I'm so grateful that you've taken the time, but, I feel bad that I've pulled you from other patients."
"Don't you worry about that. When Sarah called asking me to come in and talk to you and answer your questions, of course I said yes. Besides, it's pretty hard to say no to your best friend since residency."
"I—uh. I'm sorry, who? I don't know a Sarah."
Violet smiled. "Not yet anyway. I believe you have her son Derek to thank for my little visit today. He called in a favor."
Derek? He'd done this for her. Just to give her peace of mind. Tears pricked her eyelids and she blinked rapidly, hoping to quell them. Why did he have to keep doing things like that? It confused her, especially when he'd been the one to leave her. "I don't even know what to say."
Violet patted her knee. "I don't think you have to say anything. No one calls in a favor like this unless it's love. And for Derek that's quite the feat."
Kiss shook her head. “Why would he do this? I mean, he left me."
Violet shook her head. “I've known that boy since he was eight. He's got this need to separate himself from people who love him. It terrifies him that somebody who loves him might one day get up and walk away like his mother did, so he has just learned to be really independent and live without it. Sarah had a hell of a time getting through to that one, but Sarah being Sarah, she eventually did. With Derek, you just have to show up every day and love him. He gets the message eventually."
"It's probably too late for that. Once I found out he was leaving I told him never to come back."
Violet gave her one of those gentle smiles. "Something tells me he has no intention of listening to you."
34
Derek leaned back into the plush leather seat and kicked his feet up. Yeah he could get used to this. But he wasn't here in the Jaguars building to play. He was here to get his life back—by any means necessary. And he wasn't above blackmail.
When Kallie walked in, she hesitated on the threshold. "How the hell did you get in here?"
Derek grinned, feeling more like himself than he had in weeks. "Let's just say I've still got a few friends in this establishment." He owed Zeke big-time. He gestured toward the guest chair. "Please, have a seat."
"You seriously think you can boss me around in my own office?"
"Please, Kallie. I really don't have time for this."
She crossed her arms over that ample chest. "What do you want? You have thirty seconds to tell me or I'm getting you tossed out."
He smirked. "Any reason why you haven't already called them? You know, if my visit is so unwelcome?"
She licked her bottom lip. "I guess there's a part of me that's hoping you've changed your mind. That you've had enough and want to come back to the fold."
"And by come back to the fold, you mean be your sex toy."
Her brows snapped down. "Stop acting like I'm some power hungry predator. You wanted me. You act like I did this to you. That I made this happen. You did this to yourself. You didn't have to be so callous. You come back to me, all your job problems go away."
Derek dragged his feet off her desk, not caring that he disturbed stacks of papers and scattered them to the floor. "But that is what we're talking about, Kallie. You wanted a relationship, and when I said no thanks, you pitched a tantrum of epic proportions."
"You think this is a tantrum? You have no idea what I could do to you. You haven't seen tantrum yet. Your time is up, Mr. Donovan."
Derek leaned forward in the seat. "See, that's where you're wrong. Thanks to my sister, I've learned a little something about leverage."
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"You see, when all this went down, I thought you were just trying to fuck with me. I thought it was somehow personal, but it's not."
Her gaze narrowed on his. "I don't know what the fuck we're talking about here."
"I'm not the first person you've done this to. Does the name Spruce ring a bell? How about Tony Murray."
She blanched, her lips parting slightly.
"But Murray, you paid to go away didn't you?" He stood smoothly. "You see, I'm done fucking around."
As he approached her, her eyes widened in fear. "You wouldn't dare put your hands on me."
"No, ma'am. Once bitten, twice, learned the fucking lesson of rabies. Besides, my mama taught me better than that." He sat on the edge of the desk and pulled out his phone and showed her the seconds ticking by as it recorded everything she said. "You see, I don't need to physically touch you to have you writhing right where it will hurt you the most. Your pride."
Her demeanor changed instantly. And she rubbed her hands down her arms. "Derek, look, I know what this looks like but maybe we got off on the wrong foot. I may have said some things I didn’t mean and pushed you into a corner I shouldn't have."
His smile was more a baring of his teeth. "You think that bullshit apology is going to make up for you ruining my reputation? You fucking blackballed me because I stopped fucking you."
"Look, when you say it like that, I know it was wrong, but, you have to understand, I thought you and I—"
He was in no mood. The sooner he wrapped this up, the sooner he could get back to Kiss. "Shut it. There's nothing you can say that will make up for what you've done."
She dropped her arms. When she spoke, her voice was quiet. "What do you want?"
"I want this to go away. I want a very public apology. I want my back pay. And then I want you to call your friends at the Lakers and Clippers and te
ll them they have a new trainer to hire and you're not taking no for an answer."
"What are you talking about? I can't do that."
Derek shrugged. "Sure you can. Just hold another press conference and state that the allegations against me were false and that the team is doing everything in their power to rectify the situation."
Part of her stubborn streak kicked in and she jutted out her chin. "And if I don't?"
He hit play. Her voice came out loud and clear as she said "I know it was wrong, but you have to understand..." He closed the app and smiled. "Either you do it, or I have a press conference of my own."
"Blackmail?"
He waved his phone. "It's something my sister likes to call leverage." He picked up the phone on her desk. "Now, who would you like to call first, the Lakers or the Clippers?" One way or another, he was going back to L.A. to fight for the woman he loved.
***
All in all, Kisima wasn't doing so bad. It had been just over a week and she was down to thinking about Derek only about once an hour. To her that was a vast improvement. She didn't see him everywhere now. For those first few days, her brain did her the favor of injecting his image in all sorts of places. Like when she'd get out of the shower, she'd catch a whiff of him and swear she'd see him. Or as she was driving to the doctor the other day, she could have sworn she saw him coming out of the building.
In retrospect that guy was shorter and not nearly as good looking as Derek. Sort of a watered down version, but still it had made her heart rate tick up just a hair. Maybe soon she'd return to normal. Soon she'd be able to do normal people things again without dreaming of him and needing him. Yeah, soon. Not like she didn't have enough on her plate.
She’d also made it through the time trial, just barely qualifying, but still managing it. Her head bad been all over the place, but she knew she didn’t have any other option than to do it. If she didn’t, she couldn’t race in Abu Dhabi and TJ had worked too hard to get her there. She didn't even want to think about the packing and prep work she still needed to do before she left the day after tomorrow.
Christian cocked his head. "You're daydreaming again."
Shit. She flushed. Christian had brought her to dinner to help take her mind off everything that was going on, but she, of course, was too distracted to really enjoy it. She had things to be grateful for. TJ was recovering from the surgery and in the recovery center with round the clock care. So at least she could rest easy there. "Sorry, Christian. My head. I'm still out of it. I'm totally shitty company."
He waved a hand. "Don't worry about it. If I were you, I'd be distracted too. I mean with everything going on, you still had to do the time trial, and the race is in four days. I can’t imagine where your head is at right now. Just remember that I'm here for you. If you want, I can even help you pack. Lean on me. Now is the time that that matters more than anything."
Since TJ, he'd been her rock. Taking her to the hospital to visit TJ. Helping with her stretches, watching her on the track. He'd even floated the idea of him coming back to Daniels, especially since his dad was so sick. It was a little awkward that TJ had named her as his power of attorney for care, but Christian was taking it in stride. Said he understood. He hadn't exactly been the best son in the world.
She was starting to feel like she had her family again. Is that why you haven't brought up the explosion or what Antonio said?
She tamped down the thought. They'd just gotten things back to normal. And she could deal with it after Abu Dhabi.
After Christian paid and they left the restaurant, Kiss's skin tingled with awareness. The night air was too still and a full moon illuminated the path to the car. Instinctively, she looked around and saw two dark haired men approaching on the sidewalk. Even though she knew it was her imagination, her heart thundered when she saw him. Derek. Except this wasn't a reasonable facsimile.
He walked like the real thing and looked like the real thing. Even as her heart ticked into full thunder, her breathing grew shallow. No, it's not real. Don't get caught up. He's not real. But even as her brain sent the command, her eyes refused to believe and she drank him in regardless.
And then that voice, Derek's voice, said, "Hey, Kiss."
She shook her head. It sounded like him. Wow, her brain's capacity for torture was amazing. But something about Christian's stance next to her told her that maybe this wasn't all a mirage after all. Then she recognized Dylan as the man with him.
Christian shook his head. "Man, you're like a fucking bad penny. Why can't I get rid of you?"
Derek smirked, but he kept the full intensity of his focus on her. Her body prickled with heat as she tried to make sense of what was happening in front of her.
Derek continued. "I know you tried hard, Christian, but Miami just isn't going to work out. Thanks for calling in that favor to get me hired though. But all said and done, I've got some interviews with the Clippers and the Lakers this week, so I'll be staying."
When her brain synapses snapped into place, she turned to stare at Christian. "You sent him to Miami?"
Christian's eyes went heavenward. "Kiss, ignore him. Why don’t we go home and we can talk about it. You and I just got to a good place. We don’t need him confusing you. He took her arm and tried to walk around Derek and Dylan, but she snatched her arm back.
"First of all, don't talk to me like I'm a simple minded child. Second of all, answer my fucking question. Did you or did you not deliberately try to get Derek out of here?"
He threw up his hands. "Fuck, Kisima. You know what? Yes, I did. But he was clearly clouding your judgment with all the sex. So I did what I had to do. He's the one who didn't even think twice about the opportunity."
The man she was looking at with all his blond hair and dark eyes was not the man she knew. "Is what Antonio said true too? Did you spread those ugly rumors about me? Did you tell him I'd slept with you?"
He scrubbed his hands over his face. "What the fuck is wrong with you? Why can't you see that you pick wrong? Yeah, I did it, but I needed to split you two up. He was going to ruin your chances at Daniels with his jealousy. You should have picked me. I was the one who was always there for you. I was the one who really loved you." He reached for her, and even as she stepped back, Derek was there, putting himself between her and Christian.
He didn't even spare Christian a glance. "Kiss."
She still couldn't quite believe her eyes. "You're back?"
He nodded, his gaze never leaving hers. "I'm back. For good. But…" He dropped his voice an octave. "That's not why I'm here right now."
Christian tried to step around Derek and scowled at her. "You're really going to let him back in? After the way he left you? After the way he didn't even call to check on Dad?"
Derek shook his head. "Kisima, I called. The front desk told me they'd pass on the messages. I called your cell a million times, left you messages. I sent flowers."
This was too much. Her head was spinning. "I n-never got any."
"I sent them." He pinched the bridge of his nose. "Look, we can talk about all of that later. But I'm here for you. I didn't want all of this to go down and you not have anyone you could lean on."
Dylan stood grim faced to the side. It was only then that she took in the whole picture of what was happening. There were three sets of dark SUVs parked in the fire zone in front of the restaurant. No cars drove down the normally busy street. "Derek, what the fuck is going on?"
Christian looked around as if finally noticing that something wasn't right. He tried to head back into the restaurant, but Dylan stepped in his path, muttering, "I wouldn't go that way either, Christian. There are agents in the back waiting for you."
"Agents? Derek?"
But it was Dylan who spoke as he grabbed hold of Christian's arm. “Christian Daniels, you are under arrest for the attempted murder of Kisima Jennings..."
The rest of his words blended together as she stared in shock. Bile rose in her throat. This wasn't happening. Her knees t
hreatened to give up and she wobbled slightly on her feet. "Christian, what are they talking about?"
Instead of remaining silent, the man she'd considered her family for so long kept on talking. "You can't arrest me. You have no proof." His voice rose in octave and in volume.
Dylan shook his head. "Oh sure, if you don't count the track employee who saw you out at the exact mark hours before the race in Montreal. The paper trail we have between you and James Rawlings, who's wanted for several counts in connection to other bombings in Florida and North Carolina. And Antonio Bates’ sworn statement that you knew that Kisima stood to inherit the majority of TJ Daniels' holdings."
Christian’s eyes were wild as he glared at Dylan. "Can you fucking believe it, he was leaving everything to her. He'd found a way to cut me out of my inheritance and left it to his bastard daughter."
Daughter? "Christian? Wha—?"
Christian rolled his eyes. "What? Like it never occurred to you? The way he favored you? You were the one he loved. You were the one he took care of. That accident was supposed to keep you from racing again. No more racing, no more face of Daniels Racing. I thought, if you weren't the face, then Daniels would stop kicking Gifford’s ass in the sponsorships."
Dylan tried to drag him away, but he kept talking, his hatred for her evident in his deeply furrowed brows and bared teeth. "With you permanently injured, I’d get that sponsorship money and move up at Gifford. I was even willing to overlook the half-sibling thing. Marry you, take care of you, but you wouldn't even look at me.
"And you weren’t permanently injured, were you? Captain save a ho over here had to swoop on in and save the day. In so many ways I'm glad you know. It's been torture trying to pretend to be the patient suitor for someone you despise."
Oh fuck. Kisima was going to be sick. She shoved Derek aside and found the large flowerpot in front of the restaurant, dry heaving, but nothing came up.
She wasn't sure if that was a blessing or a curse. Derek approached but she backed him off with one hand up. She'd deal with him later. She reserved her glare for Christian. "You did this to me? But why?"
