She adjusted a silky robe around her lacy nightgown, tightening the sash. “Sure.”
Cali left and he came in to sit down next to her, “How are you feeling?”
She forced a smile. “A lot better now.”
“Can I see?” he asked, taking her arms to inspect the scrapes on her wrists. He winced, looking into her eyes with pale yellow sympathy. She didn’t want him to look at her like that. She wanted to go back to the way they were, back before he knew about her painful past.
Back when all he wanted to do was kiss her.
She looked down. “So is that FBI agent going to come back?” she asked to change the subject.
He nodded. “She’ll keep trying. She knows that something’s up. She thinks that you’re a hypnotist or something.”
She laughed a quick bitter laugh. “I suppose I can handle that.”
“I can’t believe she came all the way out here. She must be crazy to come to your house this late to question you! That’s not very professional.”
Layla looked back up at him quizzically. “But you did… You came here the night after the shooting.”
He stifled a sheepish smile. “Yeah… You could have come in the next day to file your report. It could have waited.”
“Then why did you come?”
“In case you haven’t noticed, I kinda have a thing for you.”
“A thing?” she echoed.
When their eyes met his face softened. “Layla,” his voice cracked. “I’m so sorry.”
She tasted his pity and sighed with resignation, “I know.”
“I’m sorry for everything that happened to you. Cali told me about last year… About the senator…”
“I don’t want to talk about it,” she said, folding her arms across her chest.
He was quiet for a moment, looking around her beautifully appointed bedroom. From the elaborately carved headboard behind them to the Persian rug on the floor it screamed money. His eyes landed on her open closet door. “Do you think you have enough clothes?” he chuckled.
She looked at all the things she’d amassed since they’d moved into the house and it struck her all at once. “I’m going to have to leave it all behind again.”
The smile fell from his face, “Don’t say that. Cali says that he’s not going to make her run away.”
“He’s not going to stop hunting me.”
“I’ll stop him,” Ramon swore, all bright blue determination and sweet heartfelt honesty. “I’ll never let anything like that happen to you ever again.”
Layla realized with horror what he would be going up against, and she could feel the tears start to burn her eyes. She covered her face with her hands, trying to dismiss the images of Max and his men, their dead eyes staring up at her.
She dropped her arms and shook her head no with determination. “I want you to stay out of it.”
He wrapped his arms around her tenderly. “I’m already in it.”
He felt solid, comforting and safe, and she leaned on him with relief, turning into his neck and to feel his warm skin against her face. She was going to have to leave him behind too, she thought, for his own good. She never even got the chance … She squeezed her eyes shut again, trying to block out the bitter reality. He rocked her like a baby, rubbing her back until she yawned, relaxing despite herself.
“You need to sleep,” he said, standing to pull back the covers. She watched in a daze as he lifted her feet and tucked her into bed. She reached out, groping for his wrist.
“Don’t go.”
He bent down to kiss her on the forehead. “Don’t worry, I’ll be downstairs all night, keeping an eye out. We’ll talk in the morning. Now go to sleep.”
Ramon left her room and went down the stairs to return to his seat at the table. He looked from Calvin to Michael to Cali and back, taking a deep, determined breath. “So… What’s the plan?”
~
Layla woke suddenly in the middle of the night. She tossed and turned for a while, her heart racing, unable to get back to sleep. She was scared, and no longer certain about what the future would bring. It occurred to her that there was no longer any point in making all of her elaborate plans; everything that she dreamed of could be snatched away in a split second.
But that wasn’t the only thing keeping her up.
Knowing that Ramon was in the house, only steps away, made her restless. She thought about all of the long lonely nights she’d spent, and the frustration of lying in bed alone while she listened to Cal and Cali through the walls. She’d waited long enough. When was it ever going to be her turn? What if the senator came and took her away tomorrow?
She sat up, no longer willing to deny herself any longer. She wanted Ramon’s kiss on her lips, his hands on her body, his skin on her skin. She wanted him there in her bed and she wasn’t going to take no for an answer. She got up and slipped down the stairs, tiptoeing over to the couch in the living room.
He bolted upright when she drew near, squinting into the darkness. “Layla?”
“I can’t sleep,” she said, coming closer to sit alongside him.
“Me neither,” his husky voice struck a chord deep inside of her.
She sat on the couch and snuggled close to him, working her way into his arms and brushing her lips along his jawline. She could feel his resistance, but she wasn’t having any of it as she worked her mouth up to his and kissed him, making her intentions known. She reached around to slip her hands under his shirt and stroke his bare back; even in the dark she could sense his colors changing, pulsing with flashes of lusty red and pink. She knew that he wanted her too, but he fought it, his muscles tensing away from her body.
“Come upstairs with me,” she whispered in his ear.
He pulled away a little. “Layla… you’ve been through a lot today… you need to rest…”
She nibbled on his earlobe, feeling him quake a little at the sensation. “Don’t you want to be with me?”
“Of course I do,” he moaned, “But I can’t… You’re not thinking clear…”
“I’m perfectly clear,” she whispered. She leaned in closer, pressing her breasts into his chest.
He tried to sound stern. “Layla…”
“I thought I was going to die today.”
“Exactly,” he groaned.
She took his face between her hands, “You don’t understand… I thought I was never going to see you again. It was my worst regret of my life.” She kissed him softly, wriggling her way onto his lap. His resistance melted away to nothing as their kiss deepened, and she smiled, victorious. She stood to pull him up by both of his hands.
She started to lead him away but he balked. “Wait…”
“I’m not going to change my mind, you know,” she said, exasperated.
He bent down to retrieve something from the end table.
“I just need to get my gun.”
~
Chapter Twenty-Four
THE PLAN
~
Calvin came downstairs to find Cali bustling about in the kitchen. He glanced over at the couch to see the rumpled bedding left unattended. “Did Ramon take off already?”
Caledonia poured them each a mug of coffee, bringing them to the table. “You’re a pretty sound sleeper,” she said, struggling to keep a straight face.
“I didn’t hear him go,” Calvin replied.
Her eyes darted up the stairs. “That’s because he’s still here.”
His face broke into a wicked smile. “Really? That didn’t take long.”
“Don’t you dare tease Layla,” Cali warned him.
“Me?” he grinned impishly.
Michael came down the stairs, and slid into a chair next to the two Cals. “Where’s Layla? I need to talk to her.”
“She’s still in bed,” Cali replied.
Michael started to get up. “Hold on!” Cali cried. “Can’t it wait? Why don’t you let her get some rest?”
“Yeah,” Calvin agreed, casting a
sideways glance at Cali. “She had a rough night.”
Caledonia kicked Cal under the table, asking Michael, “What’s up?”
“Mina said she’s going to be in town today… I know that she still wants to question Layla and I was thinking maybe we should get it over with… I could tag along.”
Cali smiled, “You like her, don’t you?”
“She’s a good gamer,” he replied defensively.
“There probably aren’t too many of them around that look like that,” Calvin said, tongue in cheek.
“I was just thinking… If I can get Layla to take it easy on her, maybe we could all go out to lunch or something…”
“Friends close and enemies closer?” Caledonia quipped.
“Something like that,” he smiled sheepishly.
~
Upstairs, a shaft of sunlight poked through a crack in the curtains, illuminating Layla’s room. Ramon stirred, rolling onto his side, and Layla held her breath, willing him to stay asleep while she gazed at him. She watched him wake up by degrees, her heart swelling to bursting with love and anxiety at the same time. She wanted to live in this perfect moment forever, to never get up from bed to face the trouble that she felt bubbling up all around her.
His eyes finally fluttered open, focusing on hers. “Layla,” he whispered.
“Good morning.”
He reached up to brush a curl from her check, tucking it behind her ear. She could pinpoint the exact moment the events of the day before rushed back into his consciousness. “Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked.
“I tried calling you,” she said.
“No, I mean about everything… The professor… What happened to you in Los Angeles… How you got away from there.”
“I thought you wouldn’t like me.”
He smiled, “You of all people should know…”
“Know what?”
“How I feel about you.”
She was on top of him in the blink of an eye, straddling him and peppering his smooth chest and neck with kisses. At first he laughed at her enthusiasm, but soon his amusement was replaced by a passion that only barely matched hers. He held her hair back to look into her eyes and made love to her again in the morning light, their bodies moving in time with their shared heartbeats.
Afterwards, they lay side by side under the sheets, holding hands. “Are you sure you’ve never done that before?” he asked.
“Yes,” she replied matter of factly, “But I’ve seen plenty of pictures.”
He chuckled, stretched and finally sighed with contentment. “I’m going to have to call in sick today.”
Her head snapped over to face him. “Are you okay?” she asked, alarmed. “Did I hurt you?”
He started laughing so hard that he shook the bed, “What I mean is, I’m going to take the day off work.”
“Can you do that?” she asked, “What about that FBI agent?”
“I was only going in to file some paperwork… It can wait. And she can wait too.”
“So we can spend the whole day together?”
“That’s the idea.”
She propped up on her elbows, “Do you want to go on a picnic?”
~
They hiked around the last bend, leaving the tree line and cresting the hill. Ramon looked all around, taking in the beauty of the panoramic view. “Wow.”
Layla came closer to stand by his side, “My grandmother picked this spot.”
They wandered the picturesque ruins, meandering through the disintegrating brickwork festooned with wild brambles of antique rosebushes. Layla pulled a blanket from the bag she’d packed and Ramon helped her spread it on a grassy spot. They ate the sandwiches they’d picked up on the way, washing them down with a couple of sodas.
“It sure is beautiful up here,” Ramon observed.
“The house was named after a real castle in Scotland,” Layla told him. “It’s in ruins now too. I’d like to go see it someday.”
“We should go together,” Ramon said.
Layla lifted her eyes slowly to see him watching for her reaction. “Sure,” she nodded, wondering how he could be so confident about the future. A mere twenty-four hours ago she wasn’t sure that she was even going to have a future.
Ramon took another good look around the fallen timbers and overgrown brickwork. “This place is pretty amazing the way it is right now. It would almost be a shame to tear all this stuff down.”
Layla looked at the windswept ruins again, and for the first time she saw their actual beauty. If she wanted to re-build the house, she’d have to level everything and start over from the ground up. She’d have to erase the past instead of embracing it, and all of a sudden she was conflicted. Ramon had a point, and it surprised her.
All at once the notion of re-building the house didn’t seem as urgent to her as it once did.
“This land sure is remote,” he pointed out, thinking. “You know… It would actually be a perfect place for target practice.”
“Someone already practiced on me,” she said with a grimace.
He shook his head. “No. I mean for you to practice.”
“You mean with guns?”
He nodded. “Yeah, but first there’s someplace I want to take you.”
“Where?”
“There’s a shooting range just outside of town. I want to teach you how to handle a firearm.”
“Me?”
He edged closer to slip his arm around her waist. “I can’t always be around to look out for you. You need to be able to defend yourself… just in case.”
“Okay,” she said, imagining herself raising a gun and shooting Senator Blackwell right between the eyes. It was a comforting thought.
“Layla…”
She looked up to see that his eyes were full of emotion, and her breath caught in her throat with a surge of panic.
“I lo–”
She lunged for him, kissing him before he could get another word out.
~
Chapter Twenty-Five
TIPPED OFF
~
Agent Kim was annoyed. She paced the kitchen of her little apartment, searching her memory for increasingly misty details of the events at Michaels house. It had been a nearly a week since that night, and she was still confused as to what actually happened. Everything was crystal clear up until she’d come down the stairs to be confronted by Michael’s sister and cousin. She had a vivid image of a pair of blue and green eyes staring into hers, and then she was suddenly pulling up into her carport, happily home.
It wasn’t until she’d woken up from the best sleep she’d had in months that she realized how distracted she’d gotten, and she could have kicked herself for letting the opportunity to question Michael’s sister slip through her fingers. Ramon didn’t show up at the station the next day, and somehow Layla had managed to completely avoid talking to her, getting away with filing a simple statement about the confession with Sherriff Brown.
Before she knew it the case was settled and she’d been called out to work a pair of bank robberies in nearby Eureka. It had been a busy week for her, and most agents would have moved on by now, but Mina Kim was not the kind of girl who liked leaving loose ends. She had to know how Layla had gotten that confession.
The night she’d spent gaming with Michael was the most fun she’d had in months, and despite her frustrations with Layla she couldn’t help but smile when she remembered how impressed he was by her game play. They had really connected, and he’d actually made her forget about work for a while.
That must have been the problem.
She’d mixed business with pleasure, and allowed it to cloud her judgment. She decided to pay a surprise visit to her new friend, determined not to get sidetracked again.
It was late in the day when Michael opened the door to find Agent Kim standing on his porch. “I was in the neighborhood, and I thought I’d stop by and say hi,” she flashed a cheerful smile.
“Come in,” Michael said with a gr
in, his heart beating double-time. He’d been thinking about her all week, trying to work up the courage to call her office. He couldn’t have been happier to see her appear on his porch once again.
“Tea?” he asked, leading her into the kitchen.
“Sure,” she smiled, pulling out a chair and sitting at the table. She watched him move about the kitchen, realizing she was as curious about him as she was about his sister.
“Where did you say you grew up again?” she asked.
His eyes clouded over with a barely perceptible wariness, “I didn’t.”
“Oh… I thought you might be from LA too.”
“No, San Francisco,” he replied. He brought their cups to the table and sat facing her. He knew what she was after, but she was looking so cute he decided to enjoy watching her squirm.
“Thanks,” she said, taking a sip.
“Are your roommates home?” she asked casually.
“The two Cals went down to Santa Rosa for the day,” he said, crossing his arms.
The two of them were eyeballing each other in a standoff when Layla came down the stairs, a bag slung over her arm. Agent Kim looked up with a predatory aura and a false smile, “Hello.”
“Hey there,” Layla replied, in too good a mood to be bothered by it.
“Where are you going?” Michael asked her.
“To meet Ramon,” she replied.
“I thought we agreed that he’d pick you up here.”
Layla rolled her eyes with annoyance. “What… I can’t drive anymore?”
Michael glanced at Mina, keeping his irritation in check. “Just call me when you get there…” he said meaningfully. “Okay?”
“Don’t worry about me.”
“I promised Cali,” he added firmly.
She sighed heavily. Along with Ramon, her housemates had made a pact to keep a close watch on her, but now that an entire uneventful week had passed she was starting to chafe at the constant supervision. Besides, she had special plans for tonight.
“I’ll call you… alright?”
The Caledonian Inheritance (The Athena Effect) Page 22
