I shook my head, saddened by the conversation. “Well it’s a good thing that I haven’t relied on you in many years, I own my own company, I own my own home and the lake house is now in my name. Mackenzie and I will create our own family to belong to. I am sure my mom will gladly be a part of it. Goodbye father.”
With my final goodbye to the man who had manipulated my past for most of my life, I pulled up to the building Vincent and Gene had set up shop in. locking up the Suburban, I made my into the dilapidated building up a set of steel steps and into the smaller office style room where Vincent sat looking out the cracked windows.
“What do you know?” I asked grabbing a chair to sit next to him.
The room smelled of sea water, piss, and mold. I felt bad that he and Gene and been there all night.
Vincent shook his head. “Nothing to solid, but a white van has cruised by the front of the warehouse a couple times. Gene is running the plates.”
I nodded. “I’ll go check in with him.”
Gene was kicked back near his own cracked window that gave him a perfect view of the back of the warehouse, his laptop in his lap as he typed furiously.
“What do you know?” I asked.
He shook his head. “I am not sure he’s our guy”
“You know who owns the van already?”
“I do, and somehow I doubt he’s sent any letters to Mackenzie. I doubt he could even spell half of the words in those letters.”
I grunted. “Hired muscle?” I guessed.
Gene dipped his chin. “That would be my guess, we can handle this. Go back Mackenzie and I’ll call you if we learn anything.”
I nodded and headed back to the Suburban. The white van passed me as I reached the driver’s side. His gaze locked on me before he sped off.
Well crap.
Chapter Eleven: Mackenzie
Beauty Comes From The Core
“Is there something you could be doing to keep yourself occupied?” John asked, his eyes tracing my steps as I paced the hall.
“I can’t be calm, shouldn’t you have heard from him by now?” I asked, my hands landing on his my hips.
John chuckled. “He’s under your skin… you’ve been under his for years.”
I stopped and eyed him fastidiously. “I never wanted to hurt him,” I told him. It mattered to me that John know that. He was important to Lucca and I wanted him understand that Lucca was important to me too. “And I never will again”
John smiled and nodded his head. “I’ve met Derek Blackwell the man is an asshole and I find it completely believable that he would pull that crap on the two of you.”
I smiled. “Thanks.”
John dipped his chin. “I need to grab a shower. Try not to wear a hole in the floor. I’ll be back in fifteen. Stay inside, okay?”
“You got it,” I agreed.
I flopped to the couch, grabbing one of Avery’s books. I had the entire Crimson Heart series signed by my favorite author. The phone next to the couch buzzed altering me that someone was at the gate. Setting my book down, I hit the speaker button.
“Kenzi? Are you there?”
“Dana?” My brows furrowed. “What are you doing here?”
“Shit girl, I talked to Cam last night and I was worried, open this damn gate, please.”
I chewed my lip. Dana was one of the other models that Cam managed, we weren’t exactly friends, but we did work together occasionally. Grabbing the remote I flipped on the TV and checked the gate camera. The dark haired runway model had her thick locks hidden beneath a water colored scarf. Dana slipped her thousand dollar D&G’s down the bridge of her nose and arched a perfectly manicured brow. Her eyes looked different on the black and white screen, but they pierced through the security camera lens none the less.
I sighed. She was alone in her little red convertible. Grabbing the handset I punched in the code and watched on the TV as she hit the gas and headed towards the house.
Pushing off the couch, I put my book back on the shelf and went to greet her. I opened the door as she stepped from her car. She pasted a smile on her full lips.
“What are you doing here, Dana?” I asked as I she moved up the porch steps.
“You’re a hard woman to track down,” she said coolly as she rummaged through her bag. Her hand whipped out, a flash of silver glistening in the sun had me backing up.
“What the hell?” I shrieked as she pointed the pistol at me.
I stared at her, my brain refusing to link what it saw with rational thought. The woman had a fucking gun pointed at me!
“Get in the house,” she ordered, pushing me back with each step she took forward.
“Your security is smart, I’ll give you that.”
My security! I should probably scream for John, but I had little doubt he would hear me over the shower and in all likelihood based on the trigger happy hold Dana had on the gun she may have just shot me as soon as I got a single screamed syllable out.
Dana was still talking as she closed the door and gesturing me towards the living room. “You almost had me, sending that yummy security guard to the warehouse. Luckily for me, your mystery man from the other night was planning to meet you there, and not me.”
“What’d you do to Lucca?” I demanded.
She sneered at me. “So that’s the infamous Luc Blackwell. I thought so. Though I am surprised Cam brought him in to protect you. From everything I’ve heard the poor heartbroken hottie should have been pleased to hear what had come of the whore who walked away from him”
I shook my head. “How do you know about Luc?”
She smiled. “Well I know that he took pity on you and Cameron while you still lived in that shack, in Sacramento. He and Cameron were on the football team and at some point he fell for his best friends little sister. You were a junior right, and he was already in college. According to what I’ve been told, one night after he dropped you off, you packed a bag and you and Cameron were on the road to the city. Am I getting the facts right?”
I stood there, shocked as she laid out details I had never told anyone from my new life.
“I don’t know what the fuck you were thinking. The man is gorgeous. He’s definitely too good for you.”
“How…? How do you know all of this?”
“Money can buy you anything you want; only poor people believe it can’t.”
She sounded so much like Derek Blackwell, that I could almost imagine his voice saying all of these things. I could feel the cold venom he spewed from the night he convinced me to leave.
“I don’t understand… I… who told you all of this?”
She cackled cruelly. “A private eye, you dim-wit. I know everything, but don’t worry, your precious Lucca is just fine.”
I nearly snarled at her, no one called him Lucca but me. “You don’t get to call him Lucca.”
She smiled. “I think I can, I figure when he gets back and finds your bloody body he might need some comfort. As your dear friend, who received an email from you saying you needed some girl time, I will be stopping by in a few hours, and my shoulder will be perfect for him to cry on as he grieves?”
“I didn’t email you.”
“No? That’s so weird. Then why do have an email from you with the address and directions to this God forsaken ranch.”
“You stay away from Lucca.”
She reached up, pulling off the scarf, her once dark hair fell free in waves of platinum blonde. She then slid the sunglasses from her face. Her eyes glared at me in a pale shade of green rather than blue.
“What is this?” I asked.
“You really are an ignorant bitch. Do you think the gorgeous bodyguard will like it? What about your brother, think he’ll notice me now. Maybe work a little harder for my fucking career? You’ve got it all you trash born little whore. You’ve fooled everyone, but I saw through you, money can’t change where you came from.”
“So you, what? Hired some asshole to push me around, then hoped I would sho
w up at some warehouse where he could kill me? That won’t land you jobs you psycho, it will land you in jail.”
“I don’t plan to stick around, and once I delete the security feed no one will ever know I was here.”
I was amazed by the cavalier attitude she used when talking about killing me. She really had lost it all because of some misplaced jealousy.
“Are you seriously that jealous?”
It was an ugly emotion, and with each word the beautiful woman spoke the more her features contorted in my eyes. Her hate turned her into a cruel and ugly individual in my mind. It was probably ridiculous, seeing as how I made my money off my looks, but if you’re unattractive on the inside, there isn’t enough make-up, air brushing or fancy clothes and accessories to make you anything more than the sum of your core personality. We worked in a cut throat business with a short career expectancy, but that didn’t make these feeling of hers any less outlandish. This was out of control. Dana had a decent career on the runway and in catalogues.
“I don’t know if jealous is the word I would use. You and your brother have stood in my way long enough, and now I am going to get what I deserve.”
My eyes locked with the dark gaze that waited quietly behind her. “I couldn’t agree more.”
Chapter Twelve: Luc
Fresh Starts With Old Favorites
The report of the gun rang out just as I slammed against Kenzi, wrapping my arms around her I twisted to take the brunt of the impact. Looking over I saw that John had the struggling woman pinned.
“You good?” John yelled.
“You okay?” I asked, my hand gently pushing Kenzi’s hair back from her beautiful face, her eyes were wide but she nodded. “Yeah, we’re good,” I told John as I rose from the floor pulling her with me.
John had the zip cuffs cinched on Dana’s wrist tighter then probably necessary. He tugged her into the living room and none to gently and forced her into a chair where he cuffed her ankles to its wooden legs.
John turned to Kenzi with a raised brow. “Seriously?” he questioned her “… why would you let her in?”
Kenzi stared at him her mouth opened as if she were going to speak but no words would come.
“John, cut her some slack,” I warned him.
John shook his head.
“I’m sorry,” she finally blurted. “You said not leave the house, I checked the camera and she was alone. I didn’t… I can’t….” her eyes fell on the seething woman, Kenzi’s head shaking as she walked out of the room.
John gestured towards her retreating form. “Go, I called the cops already. I got this.”
I nodded and went after Kenz.
The cops came and took Dana, the woman was setting herself up for an insanity plea she certainly seemed bat shit crazy. All the pieces began to fall into place and both Kenz and Cam began to recognize the signs which had them both blaming themselves. I sent John home and began packing a bag for Kenz.
She exited the bathroom, confusion and questions showing on her face. “What are you doing?”
“We’re getting out of here.” I told her as I zipped up her luggage.
“Where are we going?” she asked as she sat on the bed next to her bag.
I smiled, picked up her bag in one hand and laced our fingers with the other. “It’s a surprise. You need a real vacation and I have a plan for us.”
She smiled. “Okay.”
****
Six hours later, she was sound asleep in the front seat of my Suburban as I turned down the dirt driveway and smiled as the cabin came into view. The sun was just setting, giving the already red dirt a deeper glow.
“Kenz, wake up, baby,” I said lightly, stroking her bare arm.
She grumbled, but sat up. Her eyes found me before she looked out the window. Her lips lifted. “Perfect,” she said as she threw open the car door.
I followed her as she made her way towards the path leading to the lake.
Once at the waters’ edge, she kicked off her sandals and dipped her toes into the gentle wave.
“I’ve missed this place,” she whispered.
“I’ve missed it too.”
My family cabin with private access to the lake had been one of my favorite places to visit over summer vacation. It was also the place where I first realized I loved my best friends little sister. For four years it was a tradition for us to spend at least a couple weeks of summer at the lake. After Kenzi and Cam left I couldn’t bring myself to return to the cabin or the lake.
She turned to look at me. “When were you last here?”
I moved closer and pulled her into my arms. “It doesn’t matter now that we’re here and together.”
Kenzi smiled at me. She pulled back and eyed the cove, before pulling her shirt over her head and shimmying out of her pants. Her eyes smoldered as she turned, and ran into the water. Shucking my clothes I followed as she threw her bra and panties at me. Catching them, I tossed them to the shore and went after her.
Kenzi swam into my arms, wrapping her legs around my waist. With little effort I slid deep inside of her. Her fingers thrust through my hair and her eyes locked on mine.
“I love you, Lucca.”
Her words were husky as she lifted and dropped her hips slowly, the water lapped and splashed around us. My eyes never wandering from her gorgeous jade gaze I told her, “I’ve loved you every day since I first told you, right here in this very lake… I love you, Mackenzie Night, I will never stop lovin’ you.”
Her lips crushed mine in a deep passionate kiss as I made love to her under the setting sun.
The End
I hope you enjoyed the second book in the Restless Nights Series: A collection of Erotic Novelettes.
Keep your eyes out for the next standalone story, Longing coming in November!
Copyright
© 2012 by Mila Elizabeth Brenton
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the author except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
About the Author
I am a Northern California girl and a nerd at heart. I love reading Romances of all kinds, I'm excited and inspired by this happily ever after Erotica collection I am working on, I love comic inspired everything, cartoons from my childhood, 80's love songs, and I look forward to sharing Restless Nights with you.
If you enjoyed Luc and Mackenzie’s story please consider leaving a review wherever you picked your copy up from. It helps other readers find new books and helps me to write more of what you love.
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Desired (Restless Nights) Page 5
