by Tiffany Snow
After a few minutes, Kade flicked the cigarette out the window and drove to Kathleen’s lot, parking next to Blane’s car. When he entered the apartment again, Blane must’ve broken the news to Kathleen because she looked decidedly unhappy. She didn’t say a word before disappearing into the bathroom again and a moment later, Kade heard the shower start.
“I see that went well,” he deadpanned.
Blane shrugged. “She’ll get over it.”
“So you want to tell me what’s going on?”
“It’s this case I’m on,” Blane said. “Somebody with either a vendetta or motive is trying to get me to throw this case and they’re using Kathleen as leverage.”
“What happened?” Kade asked.
“A sniper shot at her last night while she stood in my office.”
Kade’s blood ran cold and his fingers itched for that cigarette.
“Luckily, I spotted the sight on her and pushed her out of the way,” Blane continued, “but I can’t be at her side constantly. Someone’s been following her, taking pictures, leaving creepy notes. I don’t know what they’ll try next.”
“So you decided to call me,” Kade interrupted, a sinking feeling in his gut.
“Yeah. I just need you to play bodyguard for a couple of weeks, it shouldn’t take longer than that to get through this case. Stay here, take her to work, go where she needs to go, just keep her alive.”
“Fuck,” Kade groused, shoving a hand through his hair and turning away from Blane. Be constantly with Kathleen, day and night, for two weeks? It would be torture to be so close and unable to touch, and Kade wasn’t into self-denial.
“You’re the only one I trust,” Blane said. “I know this isn’t your thing, but I need you. Will you do it?”
“Can’t you just break up with her?” Kade asked instead, staring unseeing out the window. “Surely you can go a couple of weeks without sex.”
“It’s not just about that,” Blane said. “And I’d like to keep the relationship intact, if I can.”
“Why?” Now Kade turned. He wanted to see Blane answer this and gauge what, if any, feelings he had for the girl. Obviously, he wanted to keep her alive, but that could just be Blane’s inherent protective streak coming out.
Their eyes met, green to blue.
“I like her, Kade. I care about her.”
A moment passed, Kade understanding that Blane was leaving a lot unsaid there, but even those words spoke volumes. Blane had fucked a lot of women, but rarely had he spoken of them in terms of a “relationship,” much less voiced any feelings he had for them.
Kade gave a curt nod.
Relief crossed Blane’s face, making Kade feel more guilt to add to his steadily growing pile. He reached for his shirt and pulled it on, doing up the buttons as he spoke.
“Try to be nice,” he said to Kade. “She says you hate her and think she’s a white trash slut.”
Kade shrugged. “If the shoe fits…”
“You really think I’d date a woman like that?” Blane asked incredulously. “Give me some credit for my taste in women.”
“One word: Kandi.”
Blane put on his shoes and pocketed his keys, ignoring Kade’s remark, though Kade could tell he’d hit a sore spot by the clenching of Blane’s jaw. He was holstering his Glock when Kathleen emerged from the bathroom. She was wearing a fuzzy pink robe, her hair wet and trailing down her back.
Kade would bet his Mercedes she wasn’t wearing anything under that robe.
The thought was unbidden, but now images of her naked body crowded through his mind. How she’d looked cradled in his lap in the hotel in Chicago when he’d saved her from Stephen Avery. The rosy tips of her nipples tempting him as they’d peeked through the blanket covering her, watching it slip from her shoulders to reveal the curve of her waist, the fullness of her breasts…
He was jerked from his thoughts by the sound of them arguing and his ears perked up.
“You know I need my job,” she was saying. “Both of them.”
“I told you I’d take care of you,” Blane said.
“It would be foolish of me to quit my job,” she replied. “You’d better go. You’re going to be late for court.” She was changing the subject, which obviously Blane caught on to as well. Then he pulled her into him and kissed her.
Kade’s hands curled into fists, the green monster digging its claws in deep, and he forced himself to look away. He was a horrible person, a horrible brother, lusting after Blane’s girl. Even as he thought this, he couldn’t deny the burning desire to yank Blane away from Kathleen, make him stop touching her, stop kissing her.
Which put him in a real shitty mood.
Blane left, finally, and the silence in the apartment grew thick. Kade didn’t speak. He didn’t have anything to say. And frankly, the less interaction, the better.
“You should be protecting Blane,” Kathleen said, grabbing his empty coffee mug and loading it in the dishwasher. “The case he’s on has got people all riled up.”
“Blane can take care of himself,” Kade replied. As if Blane would allow Kade to do protective detail on him. Please. He’d look at Kade like he’d lost his fucking mind.
The cat jumped up on the counter and Kade absently scratched behind its ears. Kathleen didn’t reply, just poured herself another cup of coffee and went to her bedroom, closing the door behind her.
Kade let out a deep sigh, pressing his fingers into his tired eyes. Shit, he was exhausted. If he sat down, he knew he’d be out like a light, so he remained standing. He wouldn’t put it past Kathleen to sneak right by him and leave his ass passed out on the couch.
The television held little appeal, so he inspected the ornaments on the tree while he waited, taking a moment to go grab his suitcase out of the car. He hadn’t put up a Christmas tree in his apartment…ever. There didn’t seem to be a point.
Stomach growling, he pulled open the refrigerator, then frowned. What the hell did she eat? There was a package of bagels and a bit of cream cheese, some tired looking grapes, and leftover Chinese takeout. Nice. He opened the freezer, his gaze lighting on a bottle of vodka—a cheaper brand than the kind he drank—and two containers of ice cream. Grabbing one, he looked at the flavor. Rocky Road.
Finally, Kathleen came out of the bedroom. She was wearing black slacks with a wide, black belt, and a pale, ivory blouse made of some kind of thin, feminine material. It made her skin look like cream, the neckline a modest V that only made her appear sexier than if it had been low-cut.
She’d curled her hair, the rose-gold waves tumbling over her shoulders and down her back. Black boots were on her feet and she grabbed a black peacoat and her purse. She didn’t look at Kade and she didn’t speak. Kade noticed she didn’t eat any breakfast either, though he didn’t blame her for that, considering the shit in her fridge.
Kade followed her outside, his eyes scanning the area and his palm resting on his gun while she locked the door. Getting in his car, he followed the little Honda to the firm.
To his surprise, she went to Blane’s floor and settled herself in Clarice’s seat. Kade guessed she was filling in temporarily and he scoped out the place before settling on the sofa across from her desk.
He sat up but rested his head back against the cushions. Maybe he could grab a quick power nap. Even if he hadn’t been awake for over twenty-four hours, being in this place would put him to sleep. The boring monotony of the business world was like a shot of Novocain to his brain.
“You’ll be here all day?” he asked, not bothering to open his eyes.
“Yep,” he heard Kathleen say.
“Okay, then I’m going to get some shut-eye. Wake me if you want to leave.” Not that she’d be going much of anywhere today, given the forecast.
“All right.”
Kade was out inside of thirty seconds. When he woke, hours later, Kathleen was gone.
CHAPTER TWO
At first, he thought she’d just gone to get lunch or was on anoth
er floor. So Kade got up and headed into the bathroom to splash some water on his face and wake up. He’d slept longer than he’d intended, but he felt a helluva lot better.
When he returned, Kathleen still wasn’t back. He glanced at his watch. It was after one. The skin prickled on the back of his neck, and he knew before he looked that her coat and purse would be gone.
Fuck.
Kade clenched his fists to keep from smashing one through the computer monitor, the firm’s logo dancing merrily across the screen seemed to mock him. She’d taken advantage of his trust, leaving like that. And she must’ve been quiet, too, because Kade wasn’t a heavy sleeper, which meant she’d intended to be sneaky.
He was so going to kill her, if she was still alive.
His cell rang and Kade yanked it out, muttering another curse when he saw it was Blane calling.
“Yeah,” he barked into the phone.
“We’re on a lunch break,” Blane said, “thought I’d check in on how Kathleen is doing.”
Kade hesitated. He didn’t want to lie, but neither did he want to tell his brother that his pain in the ass girlfriend had managed to ditch her bodyguard in the span of a few hours.
“She’s fine,” he said. That was true. She’d been fine the last time Kade had seen her.
“Are you two getting along okay?”
“Like peaches and cream.” The words fell out of Kade’s mouth without him thinking first and he winced at the crude slang.
Blane seemed stunned silent, then said, “Really? That’s the image you wanna go with?”
“Yeah, sorry. Just popped out. We’re getting along fine,” Kade backtracked. “So when’ll you be back?”
Blane sighed. “I’m not going to make it back to the firm today. Odds are we’ll be at this for a while this evening. Tell Kat I’ll call her later.”
“Will do.”
Kade ended the call, then dialed Kathleen’s cell from memory. He’d never let himself program it into his phone, but he couldn’t forget a number if he tried. It rang five times, then went to voice mail. He didn’t leave a message. Where would she have gone? Somewhere for the firm?
With that thought in mind, he headed downstairs, running into one of the paralegals. His memory supplied the name.
“Lori, hold up,” he called out as she walked past the elevators.
The woman stopped and turned, waiting as Kade approached.
“Mr. Dennon,” she said, her voice calm and polite despite the flush in her cheeks. “What can I do for you?”
“I’m looking for someone,” he said. “Kathleen Turner. Seen her around today?”
Lori frowned. “Not for a while. I thought I saw her leaving the firm earlier this morning. Have you asked Diane?”
Kade shook his head. “No, but Kathleen’s supposed to be filling in for Clarice, not doing runs. If she got bored, would she have gone to Diane for things to do?”
Lori shook her head. “Huh-uh, no way.”
That seemed odd. “Why are you so sure?” he asked.
Glancing around, Lori sidled a bit closer and spoke in an undertone. “Diane hates Kathleen. She makes her life miserable and if Kathleen had a couple of days respite by filling in for Clarice, there’s no way she’d willingly come back to Diane no matter how bored she was.”
Kade frowned. “Why does she hate Kathleen?”
Lori shrugged. “I don’t know, she just does.”
“Okay, well thanks. If you see Kathleen, tell her I’m looking for her.”
“Will do.” She gave him a smile and headed toward her cube.
So Diane hated Kathleen. It didn’t surprise him. Kade had never liked Diane. She was a petty woman with a mean streak. The fact that her outlet for that mean streak was currently Kathleen just pissed Kade off. And if Blane knew about it and had done nothing, then that pissed him off even more.
Kade headed to the parking lot, unsurprised to see it had begun to sleet. And what was Kathleen driving in the snow and ice? A fucking Honda Accord. Just what Kade needed, to call Blane and tell him that his girlfriend had been killed in a car accident.
Fuck it. He was starving. Might as well drive around town, see if she’d gone to a Starbucks or something, and grab something to eat while he was at it. There was nothing he could do until she decided to show back up at the firm. Then there’d be hell to pay.
Kade tried calling her at least a half a dozen more times as the afternoon went by, the weather and the roads growing worse every hour, but each time it went to voice mail unanswered. Worry gnawed at him, as well as frustration at his inability to do anything to find her. This would be the last fucking time she got away with something like this, that was for damn sure.
What if she was hurt? What if she’d been kidnapped, taken somewhere to be raped and left for dead? The nausea those thoughts produced made the sandwich he’d eaten turn to lead in his gut.
Images assaulted his brain until he could barely think straight. This was why it was a bad idea to care about anyone, he reminded himself. If you cared, then you gave them power over you—the power to hurt you, destroy you. It was a bad idea, caring about the girl. Look at what she’d done to him already, sweating it out in his car as he waited in the parking lot, glancing at his watch every three minutes.
By the time five o’clock rolled around, Kade had worked up a good head of steam. She had to know he was back here, waiting for her, she just didn’t give a shit. Anger warred with worry as he chain smoked his way through the rest of the pack of cigarettes.
A car pulling slowly into the lot caught his eye. A blue Honda Accord. It was her.
Overwhelming relief filled him, followed by furious anger. Kade pushed open his door as the car pulled into an empty space and he flicked away his cigarette. He approached the vehicle, watching as Kathleen carefully stepped out, her gaze on the slippery ice-covered asphalt.
She was alive. Fabulous. He was going to kill her.
The second she’d slammed the car door, he had his hand on her arm and spun her around.
“Where the fuck have you been?”
She gasped in surprise, her back flat against the car as she stared up at him.
“I-I’m sorry,” she stammered. “I had some errands to run. And you were sleeping. I didn’t want to wake you.”
Bullshit. She was too goody-two-shoes to be anything less than truthful and Kade could tell immediately that she was lying to him. It shouldn’t have bothered him, but it did.
“Errands that took all fucking day?” he prodded, wanting her to tell him the truth, to trust him.
“It’s the weather! Traffic is horrible. I didn’t mean to be gone so long.”
Kade stared at her. That part looked to be true, but she was still lying about where she’d been. He changed tactics. “I had to lie,” he growled, “and normally, I wouldn’t care. But I had to lie to Blane when he called to check on you.” He leaned closer to her. “I detest lying to my brother.”
Fire sparked in her eyes. “Then don’t,” she snapped. She pushed away but Kade grabbed her arm again, pulling her to a halt. He leaned down so their faces were mere inches apart.
“If you pull something like that again, I’ll save someone the trouble and kill you myself.”
His hissed words seemed to get through to her. Her eyes were wide and fearful and Kade saw her throat move as she swallowed. That knot in his gut twisted again. In spite of himself, he hated to see her afraid of him.
“Let’s go,” he said, tugging her with him toward his car.
“Wait! Where are we going? I wanted to see Blane.” She tried to pull against him to stop her forward momentum, but wasn’t nearly strong enough.
It shocked Kade at how much he hated hearing her say Blane’s name.
“Blane can’t come. He said he’d call later.”
Kade unlocked the passenger door and none-too-gently shoved her into the seat. In another moment, he was sliding behind the wheel.
“What are you doing?” she asked. �
��I can take my car and you can follow me.”
Fat chance of that happening. “Forget it, princess. I don’t trust you.” The nickname sprang to his lips before he could censor himself, but she didn’t seem to notice, or if she did, she didn’t mention it.
“You can’t just leave my car here!” she protested as Kade drove out of the lot.
“No one will steal it, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
She seemed to take that as a personal insult on her car, not that Kade cared. He was still trying to get a handle on his roiling emotions. Anger, worry, jealousy, guilt, desire. They were a tangled web in his mind.
It was silent in the car for the drive to her apartment, the atmosphere thick with tension. Kade gripped the steering wheel so tight, his knuckles were white, and as soon as he’d parked in her lot, she was up and out of the car.
That sparked another flame of fury and Kade was on her before she’d made it halfway up the flight of stairs, snagging her around the waist and tossing her over his shoulder. Just what he’d thought. About a buck ten.
She squeaked in surprise. “What the hell?” she yelled, grabbing his jacket as he finished climbing the stairs.
“If you’re not going to wait for me to play bodyguard, then I’ll have to keep doing things my way,” he said.
“I don’t want a bodyguard,” she fumed.
Kade swung her back down onto her feet, keeping his hands on her waist until he was sure she was steady. “Then we’re in agreement,” he snarled, “because I don’t want to be one. Now give me your keys.”
Kathleen stared daggers at him, but dug out her keys, shoving them into his waiting palm with enough spunk to make his lips tip up at the corner. Shit, she was even more beautiful when utterly pissed off, her blue eyes flashing sparks.
Pulling his gun from its holster, Kade unlocked the door and stepped inside, carefully sweeping the place before going back to the door. Kathleen very obviously made certain she didn’t touch him as she hurried past him. A moment later, she was slamming her bedroom door shut.
