* * * * *
Lajos stood in front of the apartment door with the same address as the one sprawled on the paper he held. It was a little after nine in the evening and, despite the lateness, music could be heard blasting from an apartment a couple of doors down from where he was, and an argument was ramping up from one of the apartments on the lower level.
He knocked on the door for the third time, this time louder than the previous times. He’d been waiting for someone to answer for the last four minutes.
“What do you think?” he asked, looking down at Piper. “No one’s home?”
Piper looked up at him and whined.
He took that as a no.
Lajos fished the key Trudy had given him from his pocket and unlocked the door. He slowly opened it and stuck his head through the opening. It was dark inside. The only light came from a clock on the microwave that sat on a counter across the room. “Hello? Anyone home?”
No answer.
He opened the door farther and knocked loudly. “I’m here to drop off Piper for Trudy. Hello?”
Again, no answer.
With the door fully open, Piper trotted inside. Lajos watched as she made her way down a narrow hall where he assumed the bedroom was. He stepped over the threshold and waited for whoever was home to come out. Even if Trudy’s friend hadn’t heard him knock, surely she would notice Piper in her room and want to figure out how she’d gotten there. He took another step into the room and sniffed at the air.
It smelled good.
Really good.
A mix of flowers and spices permeated his nostrils. He took a deep breath and wondered if the scent was perfume or some kind of air freshener. The lingering scent of a human was also in the air, but just barely. If he had to take a guess he would say the human hadn’t been here for a couple of hours. He could hear Piper in the back room, walking around, and the light panting from her breathing. She probably could use some water. The night was hot and humid.
Piper came back down the hall and made a beeline for the kitchen. The nails on her paws scraped against the linoleum floor as she walked around and then came back out to sit in front of him.
“I guess this is it then.”
Piper looked up at him.
He stared down at her, unsure if it was safe to leave her here, especially when he wasn’t sure when the human would return.
“Maybe I should leave a note explaining what you’re doing here?”
Piper broke eye contact with him and looked back at the kitchen.
“And I guess I can give you some water. Crap. I forgot to get some dog food for you.”
Piper barked.
“Right.” He walked to the kitchen with Piper leading the way, prancing in front of him. “Note, food and water. Or maybe you’d rather it be food, water and then note.” He turned on the kitchen light and noticed the yellow walls and counter tops filled with gadgets he’d seen mostly on infomercials. There seemed not to be enough room on the counters to even make a sandwich.
He opened the refrigerator. The contents inside were meager. He’d forgotten to ask Trudy if there was someone else living here with this Meisha person, but by the looks of this refrigerator not only did she live alone, but she probably wasn’t home much. That or she was on a diet. He didn’t know much about human women except that they loved to diet. He looked over the couple of containers of strawberry Greek yogurt, the carton of milk, a bag of shredded cheese and the bottles of mustard and ketchup. He opened one of the sliding doors and found ham and hotdogs.
“Jackpot.” He brought out the sliced ham and Piper turned in circles while wagging her tail. “You like this don’t you?” He chuckled as he pulled out a handful of the thick slices.
Wham!
Pain shot through the side of his body. The refrigerator creaked and rocked as he fell back against it, hitting the back of his head on the freezer and his back on the shelves. The contents inside clanged as they fell over.
“Shit.”
The refrigerator door swung away from him. He put his hand out, feeling discombobulated.
Wham!
The door came back and slammed against him again, this time jarring his fingers.
I’m being attacked.
With all his strength he pushed against the door, sending it flying open and slamming against the counter next to it. He quickly scanned the room looking for his assailant.
Empty.
His breath came out hard. His eyes narrowed in a deadly glare. Someone was here, but where?
Wham!
His nose erupted in pain that radiated to his skull. He stumbled against the refrigerator again. He wanted to hold his nose, but that would have to wait. Ignoring the metallic liquid that dripped down the back of his throat, he focused on his surroundings.
The air changed by his head. He reached out with fast reflexes and caught a foot. Holding tight he turned and stepped toward it. Whoever was kicking at him was in all black and standing on the kitchen counter by the refrigerator. The assailant tried to pull out of his grasp but, with a yank, he pulled at the foot he held, trying to drag the person from the counter top. Whoever this was, Lajos needed him on the ground where he could stomp and pummel him.
To his surprise, the assailant came down but, instead of falling to the ground, he used Lajos’ hold as leverage and came straight at him, wrapping his legs around Lajos’ waist. The force from the assailant’s body sent Lajos back two steps and, while he was trying to regain his footing, fingernails dug into the skin behind Lajos’ ears, piercing him.
Lajos used both hands to reach between the assailants arms and thrust them out and away. He was going to kill this…
He focused on light-brown, exotic-looking eyes.
A girl. A girl whose head was getting dangerously close to his.
Wham!
Chapter Three
Meisha Komano crouched on her hands and knees and stared down at the man who’d broken into her apartment. The only thing that stopped her from calling the police to haul this asshole away to jail was Piper. Her best friend’s dog was aptly licking his face. He knew Piper, which meant he knew Trudy. But still, the breaking into her apartment just didn’t sit well with her, that and the fact that someone was murdered at Trudy’s business just yesterday.
Oh, crap.
He’s probably a police officer bringing Piper for her to watch for some reason or another. Her eyes widened at the thought of having to face assault charges—again—but this time the judge wouldn’t give her any type of leniency because she volunteered at the local Boys and Girls club. He’d probably throw the book at her for taking down a person of the law.
She probably should’ve asked him what he was doing in her apartment first and before she’d attacked him. When she came home and saw her front door standing wide open she freaked. Her first thought had been that the Yaruzi had found her. The Japanese gang wanted her and her family dead and she’d spent most of her childhood and all of her adult life fearing they would find her. But when she thought about it more, she knew it couldn’t have been them. The person who broke into her apartment had not only left the door open, but they were going through her refrigerator. Two things she was sure the Yaruzi wouldn’t do. She figured he was one of the drugged out fiends from the neighborhood and, while robbing her, decided to make himself a snack.
Shit. I probably should’ve been paying more attention to Piper.
She shook her head. She’d recognized Piper, but she was so bent on catching the thief red-handed that she ignored her gut. That was her problem. Her dad always warned her to stop and think about her actions and not run head-on into danger.
She chewed on her bottom lip, wondering how she could get him to recover faster. Maybe if she explained how scared she’d been the judge would be lenient. Maybe if she untied him and gave him some smelling salts he would wake up and understand the position he’d put her in. She eyed the purple knot in the center of his forehead from where she’d head-butted him. The
n she looked at his crooked, blood-stained nose and swollen lip. Both had been on the receiving end of her kicks. And if things couldn’t get any worse, the fingers on his left hand were swollen and disfigured. Oh yeah, they were probably broken.
She groaned.
Probation. Again.
She hated being good for a year.
He stirred and her gaze shot back to his face. She waited for him to open his pretty eyes. Pretty eyes? How did she even know he had pretty eyes?
Because he looks like the type that would, she thought to herself.
Dark abundant lashes like his always framed beautiful eyes. Right, pretty first, now beautiful. She snorted and sat back on her heels, resting her hands on her legs.
Come to think of it, he was way too gorgeous to be an officer. She’d only seen officers this fine in the specialty calendars, and they were never from anywhere like Jacksonville, Florida.
She mentally scratched the notion of him being a law man and went back to her other thought.
This asshole tried to break into my apartment.
Trudy probably came by earlier and dropped Piper off. Meisha remembered Trudy telling her a little while ago that one of the head honchos from the company she worked for was stopping by her house for a meeting.
Meisha nodded to herself. That was it. Trudy had probably dropped Piper off to her house before her meeting and this thug somehow slipped in afterward. He was probably feeding Piper to keep her quiet. Meisha reached out and thumped him on his shoulder.
She didn’t live in the safest neighborhood, but the rent was cheap and her and her neighbors had an understanding. If they didn’t touch her, her apartment or her bike, she wouldn’t feel the need to disable any of them for life. To her, they had a perfect understanding. Yeah, she would love to live in a better building, maybe even get a nice little ranch house like Trudy had, but a mortgage would require putting down roots, which was a no-no. If the Yaruzi came for her she would need to leave on a moment’s notice. Her and her family had an exit plan. The only thing Meisha would leave behind were a bunch of as-seen-on TV gadgets that she’d felt compelled to buy and, of course, Trudy. But she never liked to think about the latter.
Since the man lying on her kitchen floor was so brazen about his break-in, it meant only one thing. All her threats to the people in her apartment complex were starting to fall on deaf ears. She needed to take this punk out into the courtyard and give the neighbors a reminder as to why they should leave her alone.
She eyed her captive. He was big, too big for her to drag him out the door.
Roll him?
Piper was practically straddling his face, trying to lick him to death. “Make sure you keep that up. When I get him out in public you can hump him all you want.”
Her burglar frowned and groaned. “Pft. Stop licking me, dog.” He tried moving his arms but found them bound behind his back. His eyes flew open in panic.
Meisha pushed Piper aside just in case she needed to knock him out again. His eyes landed on Meisha.
She was right. His eyes were pretty. Light brown with a hint of gold speckles.
He squinted, his glare focused on her. “Untie me,” he ground out.
Meisha narrowed her eyes. “No.”
The color of his eyes flashed from brown to green.
She leaned a little closer to get a better look. “Holy shit, is that some kind of trick?”
“I don’t want to hurt you,” he warned.
She raised a brow and chuckled. “Really? You, hurt me?” There was no way he was getting out of the bindings. When she’d first moved from Japan to the US, her mother enrolled her in the Girl Scouts. Thanks to them she’d learned to tie a wicked knot.
He went silent, but his arms still tugged at his ties.
“If you haven’t noticed, you’re all tied up. I could do whatever my little heart desired.”
The side of his mouth quirked up. “And what does your heart desire?” His voice had dropped an octave.
She caught her breath. The dimple in his cheek was…cute. Her heart fluttered. She scooted away from him. That’s what she needed—distance.
He pulled his gaze away from her and stared at the ceiling. “You will untie me now and I promise I won’t do anything to hurt you,” he said casually.
She snapped back to what was going on, no longer feeling the heat from his penetrating stare. She slowly stood and wiped her sweaty palms on her jeans. “Listen to me very closely. What’s about to go down now is that I’m going to roll you into the courtyard, so everyone can see what I’ve done.” She raised her arms and wrapped her dark, straight hair into a bun, tucking the ends into her ponytail holder. She figured this wasn’t going to be easy, since he’d woken up. “Then, I’m going to call the police so they can take you to jail.” She peered down at him. “They’ll like you in jail—you’re pretty.”
He snorted. “You might try to touch me, but when you get closer I’ll kick you on your butt and subdue you. Once I knock you out, I’ll find something to cut my bindings. Then I’ll take you to the courtyard and show everyone what I’ve done to you. And no, in my scenario, I won’t be calling the police. I’m taking a wild guess here, but I’m sure your neighbors would like to have you for themselves for a while. Tell me, how is your relationship with your neighbors? Will they untie you?”
She blanched at the thought of being tied up while the gangbangers decided to take their revenge on her for all the times she’d called the cops on them.
“Thought so,” he said with a smile.
“I’m going to knock that smile right off your fucking face,” she seethed.
He shook his head. “While this has all been really entertaining, I must get going. I only came here to drop the dog off for Trudy. Now that I’ve done my job, I’ll be on my way.”
Meisha took a step closer to him. “Trudy? What have you done to her?”
He frowned. “I haven’t done anything to her. She was attacked earlier. My brother and I got to her just in time. She’s unharmed and with him now.”
She let his words settle in her brain.
Liar. The attack happened yesterday, not today and it hadn’t been Trudy who was attacked anyway.
She threw her head back and laughed. “You almost had me going. You’re just some low-life thug that spends time watching television. You saw her drop off her dog and recognized her from all the news channels. They’ve been running the story all day.” She tapped the side of her head. “Nice thinking, Rico Suave, but your story is a no go.”
“Rico Suave? You can’t be serious. I don’t look anything like him.”
She tilted her head to the side. She could see women falling at his feet. He was a handsome guy, with dark brown hair, a nice build and a smile that could melt the panties off a nun. “Well, you do, just a little. You have that Latin bad boy look about you.”
He rolled his eyes. “This is some kind of fresh hell. I hate Rico Suave.”
“I kicked your butt, tied you up and threatened to take you out for a little public humiliation and that’s what you’re grasping onto? That I compared you to a Latin eighties heart throb?”
“One, I’m not Latin, I’m Hungarian. Two, how do you even know about Rico Suave? What are you, like twenty years old?”
“I’m thirty and I watch a lot of I Love The 80’s on VH1.”
He sighed. “I have to get out of here.”
“I agree. Now tuck your head and hold on for the ride. I hope you don’t get dizzy easily.”
“This is foolish. I’m not letting you roll me anywhere. I told you, I’m only here because of a favor to Trudy. My brother and I had a business appointment with her earlier. When we got to her house two guys were trying to get at her. We chased them away. Kristof took her back to our hotel to keep her safe while we figure out what’s going on. Trudy asked me to bring Piper to you for the night. If you don’t believe me, you can check my pocket. She even gave me a key.”
Meisha looked down at his front pocke
t. Oh, something appeared to be in there, but she doubted her key would make that big of a bulge.
“My back pocket,” he ground out.
She averted her eyes. Heat crept slowly up her face. “Um, okay. Let’s rewind. You said Trudy was attacked?”
“Yeah, not too long ago.”
Meisha shook her head. “I spent the day with her.” She backed up and reached behind her, feeling for the couch. “I-Is she alright?”
“She’s fine. We got to her house just in time.”
This was some serious shit. When Mark, Trudy’s employee had been killed, Meisha assumed that he’d gotten himself mixed-up with the wrong people. But if someone was after Trudy, this meant something entirely different. No one had any reason to try to hurt Trudy. She was the nicest and sweetest person that Meisha had ever met. The only reason someone would possible want to hurt Trudy would be to…
Get back at me. The Yaruzi are here.
Meisha’s head swam at the thought. Her and her family had been hiding from the Yaruzi since leaving Japan, and the day she’d always dreaded looked to be here.
“Did you get a good look at the men who were after Trudy?” she asked.
Please, please don’t let it be them.
The intruder snorted. “What are you? Some kind of sketch artist or something?”
“Just answer the question.” Her knees began to wobble. She sat down on her couch. There were plans in place just in case the Yaruzi found them, but neither her nor her dad ever thought they’d go after Trudy.
“Yes, I got a good look at them.”
When the intruder didn’t elaborate any further she waved her hand in the air. “And?”
“They were two men, tall, large builds.”
She let out a deep breath. “They weren’t Japanese?”
“Definitely not.”
Relief washed through her. “Thank God,” she whispered.
She almost jumped for joy. It wasn’t the Yaruzi, they hadn’t found her and her family. But then a dreadful thought crept into her head. What if the Yaruzi had sent someone else to do the dirty work for them?
Lover Claimed Page 2
