“Go ahead, darlin’,” Simon said. “Tell us what happened next?”
“They finally let me go around eleven-thirty yesterday morning. When I walked into my house, I could hear sounds in the bedroom, so I walked down the hall and pushed the door open. My boyfriend, Brad Sullivan was in our bed. He and his production assistant were…um…” She just shook her head, unwilling to continue that line of thought. She took a couple of deep breaths and continued, hands twisting in her lap. “I threw them both out and spent the rest of the afternoon gathering all of Brad’s things and tossing them out into the back yard, including the bed sheets. That’s why I was sleeping on the couch. Just couldn’t bring myself to sleep in the bed. I was half asleep when I suddenly heard my name. I looked around and saw my photo on the evening news. The announcer said Moretti was known to have dealings with the Mafia and that I was a possible witness to his murder. That’s when I knew the police were not through with me. So I decided to pack a bag and leave town. I toyed with the idea of leaving right then and there, but I needed money. So I figured the next morning would be soon enough. I could go by the bank, close out my accounts, and just…kinda disappear for a while.” She paused, sitting upright to take a sip of water, before sinking back against the recliner. “The sound of the explosion woke me up. It was so loud, I didn’t know what it was at first. The concussion waves blasted out all my windows and blew my front door wide open. I was so dazed, I just walked out, dressed only in sleep shorts and a T-shirt. My adoptive mother’s afghan was draped around my shoulders. I-I think the back of the sofa is what kept me from being more injured than I was. It saved my life.”
Ash just shook his head in compassion. “Baby, I can’t imagine how terrifying that must have been for you.”
“Even after I got outside, I still had no idea what had happened. I just stood for what seemed like forever, in the middle of the street, watching flames engulf my house.” Her head moved slightly back and forth. “It-it didn’t seem real. I kept thinking I was going to wake up and Brad would be in the kitchen making breakfast. In the space of twenty-four hours my entire life had been turned upside down and ripped apart.”
“It’s all right, Kylie,” Simon murmured. “We’ll help you put it back together.”
Again, tears filled her eyes and she swallowed convulsively trying to control them in order to resume her narrative. “For some reason, as I walked out my front door, I managed to grab my laptop and my purse, so I had my car keys. I got in my car and started driving. I drove around aimlessly for over an hour, trying to decide what to do next. I realized that I couldn’t wait around for the bank to open. I had to disappear. But I had no money, no clothes. And if I used my credit card they might be able to track me.” She smiled. ‘I watch way too much Law and Order.
“So I drove to the nearest ATM and withdrew my cash limit, three hundred dollars. This would have to buy everything I needed, including food, gas, clothes, even basic supplies like deodorant and toothpaste. Then I remembered I had a couple of changes of clothes and some sneakers in a gym bag in my trunk. So I pulled into a deserted office building parking lot and put this outfit on.” She jiggled the front of her track suit. “I used my headlights to pick as much glass out of my feet as I could and started driving, heading south. I stopped at a Walmart and bought the things in the plastic bags. Used their restroom to clean up a bit. Got some gas and food and drove through the night until my engine started making that god-awful noise. And then it was raining and I couldn’t…I just…I lost it.” Tears spilled over and tracked down her cheeks. “Everything just came crashing in on top of my head and I-I—”A sob ripped from her throat and the men couldn’t stand it anymore.
Simon stood up from the sofa, crossed the room, scooped her up and sat in the recliner himself, with her in his lap, her legs draped over the arm of the chair. He just held her, kissing her hair, murmuring over and over, “It’s okay, darlin’. You’re safe now. We’ll take care of you.” Caleb and Ash knelt on both sides of the chair, resting their heads on the overstuffed arms. Ash stroked her arm, Caleb her leg. They remained like that for a long time, the only sound her quiet sniffling and Simon’s soothing voice.
More than anything in the world she longed to just let go and let these men look after her, care for her, possibly, even, eventually, come to love her. But she’d learned the hard way that she couldn’t rely on anyone but herself. She had to be in charge of her own destiny. So she steeled herself against the massive appeal of these three brothers, telling herself it was for the best. She could not afford any entanglements right now, no matter how tempting.
“You’re right, Caleb, I am in trouble,” she agreed when she could speak again. “And that’s why I can‘t let you help me. My being here puts the three of you in danger and I don’t want that on my conscience. You shouldn’t be made to suffer just because my life is all screwed up. So I’ll be leaving as soon as my car is ready. It would kill me if anything happened to the three of you because of something I did.”
The three men looked at each other again. Finally Caleb spoke.
“Kylie. Honey. How could you possibly think we would allow you to leave here and place yourself in danger? You couldn’t be in safer hands. I’m a former SEAL, Ash was a Green Beret, Simon, Delta Force. We have skills and resources these people who are after you never even heard of. So, don’t spend one second worrying about tryin’ to keep us safe. We will keep you safe.”
She stayed where she was, her head resting on Simon’s chest. Fresh tears started down her cheeks as she shook her head. “No,” she wailed, “I can’t let you do it. I’d never be able to repay you.”
Ash chuckled, a sound filled with wicked promise. “Oh, baby, believe me, we’ll come up with something.”
Caleb patted her knee and got to his feet. “Is there anything else, sugar? When you arrived at the office did you see anyone else there?”
She bolted upright but was immediately pulled back down by Simon’s arm around her. “Oh, yes, I forgot about that. When I got out of my car in the parking garage, two men were getting into a large black sedan, maybe a Lexus or something like that. As they drove past me, I got a good look at the driver.” She looked up at Caleb, shaking her head. “I didn’t recognize him. He wasn’t one of our regular clients. I only saw him in profile, but I’m sure I’d never seen him before.”
“Would you recognize him if you saw him again?”
“Yes,” she nodded. “I think I would.”
“Do you think these two men had something to do with the bombin’ of your house?”
She shrugged, chewing on her lower lip. “It’s the only thing that makes sense. I mean, who else even knew about me? Other than the several million people who happened to be watching the nightly news on WTXF Saturday night.”
Ash stood too, coming around the foot rest to stand with Caleb. “Don’t worry, baby, we’ll get to the bottom of this. We have a friend, Jason Ingram, who can find out anything about anybody, anywhere, anytime. We’ll put him to work on Moretti. By the time he’s done, we’ll know everything there is to know about your former boss, includin’ how much starch he liked in his shirts. Then we can make plans to put an end to this threat to you. In the meantime, you just concentrate on gettin’ better and let us worry about all the rest of it. How does that sound?”
“Too good to be true,” she answered candidly.
“Is there anything we can get you?” Caleb asked. “Something to eat, perhaps?”
“Are you kidding? After that breakfast I just ate, I’m not going to be hungry for a week!”
Simon laughed. “Oh, I think once you get a whiff of Katie’s Barbecue, your appetite will perk up.”
“You know what I’d really like?” Kylie asked.
“What?”
“I’d like to brush my teeth. And I’d kill for a shower. I haven’t had one since Friday morning. I must smell like a goat.”
“You smell like a sexy, delectable woman,” Simon assured her. “And you
can’t take a shower. You can’t stand on your feet and you can’t get them wet.”
“She can shower sitting down,” Ash suggested. “We can put her feet in plastic bags and put her in my shower. It has that big bench and the hand-held.”
“How does that sound to you, darlin’?” Simon asked, ducking his head to place a kiss on her temple.
“Like absolute heaven,” Kylie said. “I can’t wait to get clean. I feel really grungy.”
“Great. I’ll get the plastic bags.” Caleb turned and headed for the kitchen.
“Get some duct tape, too,” Ash called after him.
Simon lowered the footrest and scooted forward in the chair. Ash bent down and plucked her from Simon’s lap. “C’mon, baby, let’s get you upstairs and into the shower.” He headed for the grand mahogany staircase in the foyer. At the top, he turned left, carrying her along a balcony, down a short hall, and straight into a large, masculine bedroom, decorated in shades of deep blue and chocolate brown. “This is my bedroom,” Ash murmured. “My shower is the largest, except for the master, and it has a built-in bench so you can sit down.”
Ash’s bathroom was gorgeous. The glass-enclosed shower, large enough for four people, had all natural stone tiles, some with fossilized plants and animals, and antique bronze fittings, featuring multiple shower heads, including a hand-held. Light streamed in through two high windows, as well as a skylight. By this time both Caleb and Simon had caught up with them. Ash deposited her on the seat and took down the hand-held, placing it on the bench to her right. To her left he placed a folded washcloth, a dish holding the bar of soap Kylie had purchased at Walmart, along with the bottle of shampoo she had also purchased. Caleb went down on one knee on the tiled floor and gently removed her socks and unwound the gauze wrapped around her feet. “Wow, Kylie, these look really painful.” He held up each foot to let Ash see the extent of the damage.
“Aww, baby, no wonder your feet hurt,” Ash said.
“Don’t worry, sugar,” Caleb added, “we’ll get you better. And we’ll keep you safe while we’re doin’ it.”
To Kylie’s utter surprise, both men bent forward and placed gentle kisses to the bottom of each foot. The tenderness of the gestures touched her heart like nothing she’d ever known. Crap, she’d never known men like these, uber-macho, yet not afraid to be tender and caring. It would be so easy to just let go and let them look after her.
Caleb eased a soft plastic bag onto each foot, taping them around her ankles with gray tape, looking up at her with a grin. “Duct tape” he intoned, holding up the roll in one hand and pointing to it with the other, like a pitch man in a commercial. “Use number one hundred and ninety-seven. Taping bags to feet. I’d use bandage tape, but it doesn’t keep out water all that well. I don’t want to pull off skin when I take this off, so be quick and don’t use really hot water.” He stood. “Do you need help undressing?” he smirked.
“Uhhh, no, I think I can handle that part myself.” She nearly laughed at the disappointed looks on all three faces. Such blatant admiration from three such hunky men should have made her uncomfortable, even embarrassed. But it didn’t. Instead, it made her feel something she’d never felt before in her life. Attractive. Even…giddy.
“Okay,” Caleb said. “There are two towels hangin’ above your head. All you have to do is reach up. You sure you don’t need some help washin’ your hair? Or…other parts?”
He looked so hopeful, she had to laugh.
He grinned and slid the glass door nearly shut. “Call us when you’re ready to get dressed.”
She gave him a mock salute and waited until they left the bathroom before shimmying her track pants and panties off her hips and down her legs, tossing them on the bathroom floor. Next her top and bra joined the pile. She turned on the water, adjusting the temperature to her satisfaction. Then, holding the shower head above her own head, she pushed the valve open, groaning with pleasure as hot water sprayed down over her. Omigod, that feels so wonderful! She didn’t recall any shower ever feeling so wonderful before.
She made short work of lathering and rinsing her hair, but it took her a little longer to wash and rinse herself, since she was sitting on parts that needed to be washed. But she managed, finally turning off the water and pulling down one of the towels. She wound up using both of them to dry off, because she not only had to dry herself, but also the bench she was sitting on. After she covered as much of herself as possible with the towels, she called Simon.
He came in so fast, followed immediately by Caleb and Ash, she knew they’d been waiting just outside the door. Caleb was carrying a small, square plastic table with a bra, panties, a pair of khaki shorts, and a purple knit tee top. He set it down in front of the bench. “Hope this is all right with you,” he said with a chuckle, “didn’t have a whole lot to choose from.”
“Tell me about it. Unfortunately, it was all I could afford. Looks like I’m going to be doing laundry every other day or so.”
“Don’t worry about it, baby, we’ll buy you some clothes,” Ash ventured. “We would love to shower you with beautiful things. And not from Walmart, either.”
Compressing her lips together, she shook her head. “No, guys, I can’t let you do that. It’s bad enough that I’m forced to depend on you for my food and to get around for the next four or five days. I will not let you spend your money on buying me clothes. Now, shoo, so I can get dressed.”
But then a wave of remorse hit her. She looked up at them, stricken. “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to sound ungrateful. I’m more grateful than I can ever say. I’ll never be able to repay you for your kindness and generosity.” Once again the enormity of her plight hit her and to her horror, she began to cry. “Oh, fuck, not this again! God damn it, I’m stronger than this? Why can’t I stop crying?”
“Cryin’ is not a sign of weakness,” Caleb said, bending down and cupping her cheek in his palm. “It’s a coping mechanism to help you deal with things that are overwhelmin’ you. And right now, you’ve got a whole shit-load of stuff overwhelmin’ you.”
“It’s so embarrassing,” she sniffled, trying to control her sobs, with little success. “I’m not a wuss, I’m a grown woman. I never cry like this!”
“You’re a grown woman whose boss was murdered, who is a target of Mafia hit men, who found her boyfriend in bed with another woman, whose house was bombed, who walked over broken glass to escape being burned alive, and whose car blew up as she was trying to escape. I think that’s earned a tear or two.”
She sniffled again. “You know, when you put it that way, it’s actually a kind of miracle I’m not having a screaming, hysterical fit.”
Caleb smiled. “Exactly.” He leaned forward and placed his lips against her forehead. “Do you need to use the toilet?”
She shook her head.
“Okay. Go ahead and get dressed and we’ll take you downstairs, re-bandage your feet and talk.”
Talk. Hmmm. That could either be very, very good…or very, very bad. “Okay. We’ll talk.”
She watched them leave, her mouth watering at their identical, gorgeous asses, flexing against tight jeans. Her belly clenched. Geez, these men were hot! As soon as she was alone, she pushed aside the towels and put her feet through her underpants, pulling them up one buttock at a time. She did the same with her khaki shorts. Next came the bra and her knit tee. “Okay, guys, I’m ready.”
Caleb came back in and knelt in front of her, unmindful of the wet floor beneath his knees. Being very careful not to pull on her skin, he removed the duct tape and the plastic bags. Then he picked her up and carried her out of the bathroom, passing a grinning Simon, who squeezed into the room behind them. “He drew the short straw for cleanup duty tonight,” Caleb remarked and Kylie felt a sudden surge of remorse.
“God, I’m so sorry to be such a bother. I could’ve picked up my own clothes.”
“Nonsense. We are enjoyin’ lookin’ after you.
A girl could definitely get used to this
, she thought, hooking her arms around Caleb’s neck. Without stopping to think, she nuzzled her face against his skin, breathing in his scent. Musky. Earthy. Pure, primal male.
“Christ, sugar, you are one sweet little bundle,” he murmured as he started down the stairs.
“You mean one sweet big bundle.”
“Ah, yes. Simon mentioned you had a problem with the way you look. You need to quit thinkin’ like that, sugar, and you need to stop disparagin’ yourself, because we have no problem with you whatsoever. To us, you’re perfect.”
“I’m a size sixteen!” she wailed. “Well, at least the top half of me is a size sixteen. The bottom half is a size ten. But that’s big by most standards.”
“I heard that,” Ash said, emerging from the living room. “No more remarks like that, young lady,” he said with mock sternness, “or there will be consequences.
Consequences? Holy fuck! “You’re kidding, right?”
He just gave her a mysterious little half smile, glancing up at Simon who was coming down the stairs behind them. “I never kid about consequences. Just don’t say you weren’t warned. C’mon, let’s go sit down. We’ll bandage your feet while we talk.”
They entered the living room and Caleb sat down at the left end of the sofa with her sideways in his lap. Ash sat at the opposite end and Simon sat in the middle, lifting Kylie’s feet into his lap and examining her wounds. “They still look a little angry around the edges,” he said, “but there’s no sign of infection and some of the shallower cuts are beginning to form scabs. I think Doc will be pleased when he sees you in four days’ time.” He tore the paper off a roll of gauze and they all watched as he began wrapping it around her left foot and ankle, tucking the end into the top of the dressing. “Is that too tight, darlin’?” he asked.
Passion's Fury (The Doms of Passion Lake Book 2) Page 6
