by M. O. Kenyan
She pulled back and stared into the brown eyes that reflected a questioning glance. Michael was staring past her and she knew that her bodyguard was with her. “My brother is coming with us, my lawyer’s orders.”
“When can I see your father?” Adrian Ross Senior had seemed to have taken Michael’s attention away from junior.
“Not tonight, he is busy.”
“With a client?”
“Nope, with my mama.”
“What the hell is that?” Lisette turned toward AJ’s mocking bellow. “No shit, piggy, I definitely cannot fit in that.”
“When are you going to stop calling me that?” Lisette’s cheeks burned red from embarrassment, both from the nickname and for AJ’s disrespect for Michael’s car.
“When you are married and have a few kids.” AJ closed his distance from Michael with three long strides. He stood over the smaller man and growled. “And if that happens before she is twenty-six, you and I are going to have ourselves a little chat.”
“Of course.” Michael gulped.
Lisette rolled her eyes when she saw Michael swallow the lump that had formed in his throat. She circled both her hands round AJ’s arm and pulled him back.
“Wait for me here,” AJ ordered as he went into the garage.
When he brought out his jet black Range Rover Sport, Lisette could really see how small Michael’s car actually was.
“How can you fit in that thing? How tall are you anyway?” AJ’s condescending tone rang in the night’s warm air.
“Five-eleven,” Michael called out. “Plus it’s convenient.”
“For a clown car, I bet. Five-eleven. Shit, dude, a few inches shorter and you will be as tall as piggy.” AJ bellowed out a laugh. “I don’t think that car is safe for you piggy, get in mine. I will drive you, and chaparroover there can come back for his clown car at the end of the night.”
“AJ!” Lisette muffled a scream. “This car is perfectly safe and I will be going with Michael.” Lisette couldn’t help but look Michael over, AJ had called him a chaparro, short and squat, but he really wasn’t. Or was he?
“Fine, but no speeding. If I see you trying to accelerate that tin car I will push it off the bridge with you in it,” AJ warned.
Lisette swallowed the sobs building in her chest. She got into Michael’s car and folded her hands in her laps. The night already had a terrible start. There was no way it could get worse. She watched as Michael got into the car with ease and again his size came into question. She didn’t exactly like the beefy, body-building types—she loved her men tall, strong, with shoulders that seemed to be packed with pillows, and arms loaded with guns. She pulled her lips into a tight, unconvincing smile.
“Are you sure you don’t want to take your Evoque?” She heard AJ yell.
“No, AJ, I don’t want to drive.”
“I could drive it for you.” Lisette turned and looked into Michael’s eyes once he said that. From an early age she had learned how to sniff out the gold-digging gigolos, and Michael’s scent wasn’t getting that great at the moment. There was greed in his eyes.
“No, it’s fine.”
Michael drove out of the street and AJ followed closely. He never let more than two cars come in between them.
“Is he always this protective?”
“Ever since the first day of school.” Lisette laughed at the memory.
“Tell me about your integrated family.”
“Nothing much to tell,” she lied. “But AJ has always been protective of Catalella and me.”
“Catalella, that’s your little sister, right?”
“Uh-huh.” Lisette waited for the praise for her beauty that usually followed the mention of her sister’s name but none came. “When I started school here, I felt out of place. Then one day a boy started pulling on my pigtails. Before I knew what was going on AJ had flown into my classroom and taken the boy down. When the teacher finally realized what was going on, the boy had a bloody nose.”
“How did he know?”
“AJ says he felt I was in trouble.”
“Felt? You are joking, right?”
“Nope. Ever since then I have always had this feeling, no matter what’s happening AJ is always going to come to my rescue.”
“That’s nice, but he’s not very polite, is he?”
There was no polite word in this world in any language that Lisette could associate her brother with. He always said what he meant and meant what he said. AJ never pulled any punches and that was a trait he had inherited from his father. “I’m sure he didn’t mean to offend you.”
“It’s fine. Most of my friends wonder why a rich kid like me drives such a small car.” His lips pulled into a smile and Lisette could read the untruth hidden there. “I find this car to be convenient. I didn’t know you drove an Evoque.”
“I’ve had it for a while. My father ordered it early. I was one of the first people to get it. That was about five years ago.” She shrugged.
“You got it for your sweet sixteen, huh?”
“Nope, Adrian Ross doesn’t believe in rewarding for the mere fact that you were born. Sure we had birthday presents but nothing that cost as much as a car. I got it when I graduated high school at the top of my class. My brother and sister got theirs on the same premise.”
“That’s cool.”
* * * *
Reno walked through the crowded beach, a tall skinny blond on his arm. He didn’t know why exactly he had decided to come to this thing. Transferring from the university at the Hawaiian island was one thing, joining co-eds at parties like this was another. But he was looking forward to the summer of investigating he had ahead of him.
He had left the island after his mother’s death for one thing, to find his bastard of a father and make him pay. That his father, whom he wanted so much to ruin, was now using his money and power to find his little sister from whom he had been separated when she was five and he eight, he found puzzling. They were months apart. Their parents had been eager to add onto the brood, but just after his sister Rhyne was born, his cowardly father had taken off. He didn’t leave them anything to live on, and after a while, their mother left them too.
“Babe, do you want to get me a drink?” The girl purred into his ear.
Reno stared at the girl and wondered why he was still with her. She had been his lone welcoming party when he had enrolled into NYU late last semester. She had laid it out for him for the taking, literally, and knowing one person in the city of New York was comforting. He didn’t feel as lonely.
“Sure.” He smiled at her.
Just as they made their way to the bar, Reno’s eyes were pulled in by raven hair flying with the cool ocean breeze. There was something comforting about it. He just wanted to bury his fingers and his face in it. He froze as he waited for what seemed like an eternity as she turned around. Her eyes locked in with his, and he got lost in the abyss of them. Her eyes were just as dark as her hair. She had dark skin and looked like she was of Latina descent.
He was about to take a step toward her, but a gentle tugging in a different direction reminded him of his blonde. The spell was broken and Reno noticed the girl blushing as she hid her gaze from him. All he wanted to do was to cup her soft jaw in his palm and lift her face up to his for a kiss. But the guy next to her wrapped his arm around her waist and he knew she was taken.
“Sorry, I’ll just get out of your way.” Reno wasn’t blocking them but he was prompting her to speak. He needed to hear the voice that accompanied the beautiful face that alone would give him warmth for the rest of the night.
“It’s all right.” Her voice came out in a soft whisper, and when he saw the color burn in her cheeks, he knew that wasn’t how she intended it.
He watched for a long time as she walked away with her boyfriend beside her, wondering if he would ever get to see her again. “Who was that?”
“Michael Mathews and Lisette Ross,” his companion said. “We don’t like her by the way.”
“She is an opinionated and self-righteous little bitch. Plus she has all the guys lusting after her. It’s not because she is good looking. It’s only because her step-daddy and godfather control all the money in New York.” She sneered as she spoke
“Her stepfather is Adrian Ross?” Reno couldn’t believe his luck. Cautiously he asked. “Who is her godfather?”
“The biggest financial guru in New York, Dennis Kent.”
Reno couldn’t shake off the ringing in his ears that the name had left behind, Dennis Kent, finally. Reno took a step forward in the direction that Lisette and Michael had disappeared in, but his conscience and something else held him back. He could not and would not use Lisette to get to Dennis. He would have to ignore each and every nerve in his body that urged him to claim her. If they were going to meet again, it would be by chance and not because he had sought her out for his own purpose.
But just as he was about to turn away something else came to his mind. “What do you mean they are only after her for her money?”
“Her money and everything else that her mama gave her.” The girl let out a sardonic laugh.
* * * *
“Why are we here?” Lisette looked around the deserted part of the beach. Michael had pulled her away from everyone, including AJ. She should have known that once AJ had seen that blonde girl with the strange eyes he would be lost to her forever.
“I thought we could have some alone time.” Michael’s lips curled into a sly smile.
“Why?” That was the dumbest question that she had ever asked in her twenty-two years of existence. Of course she knew why he had brought her to a secluded part of the beach. But what he didn’t know was that AJ wouldn’t walk away unless he knew she was capable of defending herself.
“I wanted us to have some time for romance, before your brother comes after us.” His hands rubbed up and down Lisette’s bare arms and immediately she felt her body cringe.
Michael leaned in for a kiss. Lisette’s eyes were focused on his face, the way his eyes closed and how his lips, puckered, drew closer to hers. Hell no! She heard the defiant yell in her mind. She took a step back and that knocked off Michael’s balance.
“Why the hell did you pull away?” His lips had turned into a hard white line, as rage from the rejection burned in his eyes.
“I don’t want to kiss you.” She wanted to kiss someone else, but Lisette kept that part to herself. Ever since she’d first seen that guy at the bar, her mind couldn’t shake off the smile he had given her. Plus, the tribal tattoo turned her on. “I don’t think you and I will work out.”
“What? Why? We’re so good together,” Michael whined.
“I have only known you for a day. I’ve known our pizza boy longer than that.” Lisette paused and tried to think of how AJ would handle a situation like this. “It’s not you—it’s me. I’m just not into you.”
“In other words I am not good enough for the snooty, little rich girl,” he spat out.
“If you want to put it that way—” Lisette shrugged and turned away. She knew when it was time to make an exit, and the angry look on Michael’s face told her that it was time. As she started to walk away she felt him grab her arm. She stiffened with a shocked gasp as she was forced to turn to face him.
* * * *
“You are an idiot Reno,” he chastised himself as he walked toward the deserted part of the beach. He couldn’t get Lisette out of his mind, and knowing that boy only wanted her for her piggy bank, he felt like he needed to get her away from him. His heart stopped and his legs froze when he approached an unfolding violent scene.
He watched as Lisette tried to walk away from Michael but he grabbed her arm. He was just about to run in to defend her, when he saw her pull a karate move. Lisette had twisted Michael’s arm and hauled him over her shoulder. He landed on his ass with a distinguished thump. Reno laughed—this was his kind of girl. But he had to intercept before Michael got up, Lisette was only five-six and Michael had a height and weight advantage, whereas Reno was six-four and built of pure muscle. There was nothing Michael could do against him.
“Is there a problem here?” he barked.
“Look, Michael, your nanny is here to rescue you,” Lisette mocked.
Reno watched as Michael grew angrier. Lisette was like a little girl poking a lion. Either she was oblivious of the danger she was in, or his presence had made her surer of herself.
“Maybe he has a hanky you could use to wipe your sniffling little nose.” Reno held back a laugh as she went on. “Do you want to cry, Michael? Do you want to cry because I won’t let you in my pants, or because I won’t let you near my papa?”
Reno froze at that moment. She knew that people were only after her connections and that was all the more reason to stay away from her, until he was done with what had brought him to New York in the first place. He took a step forward as Michael launched himself at Lisette. But yet again the little pixie proved she didn’t need his help. She sidestepped him like a pro-football player and Michael dived into the white sand, face first.
“Oh, poor baby. I promise I will stand still this time.”
Reno barked out a laugh that caught her attention. He watched as Michael tried to take advantage of her distraction, but she just proved how much better than he was at fighting.
“What’s going on here?” Reno turned toward the deep baritone. The African-American man standing next to him was just as tall as he was, and almost matched him in build.
“It’s nothing, she’ll be fine.” Reno growled protectively. He felt this guy was another competitor for Lisette’s affection or riches.
“I know, I taught her how to fight without making any contact,” the man said. “Come on, piggy. I think you’ve humiliated him enough for a lifetime.”
“I think she could do a little bit more. It’s quite entertaining.”
“I know, but I have to get her back home early. Adrian Ross, or AJ,” he introduced himself.
“Reno Kanaloa.”Reno Kanaloa Kent, he thought. But there was no reason AJ had to know that just yet. This night was turning into one hell of an event. His ancestors must be on his side.
Reno turned just in time to see Lisette rush and hide behind them. Michael was coming after her, his anger fueled by his crushed ego. Reno flipped him on his stomach with one twist of his arm and AJ’s convenient sweep of the foot. They both crouched over him and held his body immobile on the ground.
“You weren’t going to hit a girl were you?” The thought angered Reno.
“No, he wouldn’t hit my little sister, because he knows very well that I would drown him in this water.”
“Maybe he needs a little swim,” Reno suggested.
* * * *
Lisette stood back and watched AJ and the guy he was with, as they easily lifted Michael off the ground and tossed him into the raging waves. She watched as they both walked back to her laughing. There was something genuine about his smile that pulled her in. Plus the way his black T-shirt clung to his chest, and his white shorts, screaming at the seams, made her have impure thoughts.
“Hi, I’m Lisette.” She stretched out her hand to him, and watched as he took it in his as if it was something dear and fragile.
“Reno. It’s nice to meet you.” Reno held her gaze and immediately she felt she was floating in the depths of their brown, honey pools. She just wanted to walk into his arms and give away the kiss that Michael wanted to claim from her. But AJ cut in.
“Thanks for the help, Reno. Maybe we could hang out later.”
“Definitely.”
Lisette bit back a moan of disappointment when his eyes were pulled away from her to AJ. She watched as the two men exchanged contacts, and almost fought her brother when he pulled her away from Reno’s godly beauty. Her disappointment was sweetened when he blew a kiss at her. She felt her heart melt and her knees go weak, so much so that she trippe
d over herself and if it wasn’t for AJ hoisting her up into his arms, she would have fallen flat on her face. Over AJ’s shoulder she watched as Reno watched them, waving at her as AJ carried her away.
Chapter Two
“What are you doing?” Lisette froze when Catalella’s voice called out from behind her. She took a deep breath to still her panicked heart.
AJ was in his bathroom taking a shower. Lisette had waited patiently since dawn for him to leave his room and leave his phone somewhere she could get to it. He finally had and she knew her window of opportunity was slim.
“Shhh! Stand by the door and tell me if you hear AJ coming,” she hissed.
“You know he doesn’t like it when we go through his things,” Catalella said, a hint of cheeky amusement creeping into her voice.
“Just a second.” Lisette scrolled down the contact list in AJ’s phone and almost squealed in delight when she found Reno’s number. “Let’s go.”
Once in the safety of her room she fell back on her bed and stared at the number she had retrieved. Reno Kanaloa she mumbled. “‘Lisette Ross Kanaloa’—it has a nice ring to it.”
“What does?” Catalella had been sitting patiently at the edge of Lisette’s bed waiting for a morsel of gossip.
“I’m in love, baby girl,” she said in a sing-song voice. “He’s just as tall as AJ, but he has a better body. He’s dark skinned, native-American looking and his smile—dear God, his smile…” Lisette smiled.
“What about that guy who wanted to do nasty things to you?” Catalella giggled.
“AJ and Reno threw him into the ocean. He started getting fresh with me.” Lisette scowled at the mention of Michael. It was worse that he had insistently been calling her for the better part of that morning.
“Who’s Reno?”
“The gorgeous guy AJ and I were with last night.”
