by Sandra Owens
“I’m wondering the same thing,” Rand’s father said after slipping into the room and pushing the door closed behind him. His gaze traveled the room, from the man out cold, to Rand, then to Rand’s bleeding knuckles, and then to Kinsey. “Who’s she?”
Rand glanced down at Kinsey, and then he lifted his eyes to his father. “Someone very important to me.”
“I see.”
That was it, no other questions from his dad. Harlan Stevens was a take-charge man, one of the strengths that had made him very successful and rich, and he gave Rand a nod full of understanding.
“Deidre,” he said, “I’m sorry if I or my son has put you in an uncomfortable situation, but I need you to stand outside the door and tell anyone who wants to come in that there is a medical emergency in here and they need to find another restroom.”
“Okay.” She put her hand on his father’s arm. “And there’s no reason to be sorry.”
“That’s good to hear. In a few minutes a man named Harrison will arrive. Tall, beefy, and black hair. Let him in.”
“Got it.” She slipped out.
Rand felt like he should be doing something, but he wouldn’t leave Kinsey’s side. She moaned and tried to move her head. He put his hands on each side of her neck, just below her hairline, to keep her still. “Easy, Sunshine. Help is on the way.”
He listened as his dad called Harrison, his driver/bodyguard, instructing him on where to come. “And bring handcuffs,” he said before ending the call.
Rand raised a brow at his father.
“He believes in always being prepared.” Harlan punched some more numbers on his phone. “Greg, I need two private ambulances at the event where I am ASAP.”
Greg was Harlan’s secretary, had been for the past fifteen years, and the only one to last more than a few months.
“No, I’m not hurt. You’re wasting time with your questions. Tell them to park behind the hotel and to come to the ladies room outside of the ballroom.” He disconnected.
“Now, who’s the man you took offense to and for what reason?”
“He’s the son of her boss, and I think he tried to rape her.”
“Son of a bitch. He deserved a beating.”
“I would have killed him, Dad, if Deidre hadn’t stopped me.”
“Then she has my gratitude. Even though he might deserve that, that would have been bad business.”
Didn’t he know it. He’d put his job on the line tonight, but he couldn’t find it in him to care. All that mattered was Kinsey.
“I’m here,” Harrison said, coming into the room.
“Put handcuffs on that bastard over there,” Harlan said, pointing at Sebastian. “Son, what’s the plan here? He needs to be arrested and charged with attempted rape.” He studied Kinsey. “And assault.”
“I need to call my boss. This is Kinsey Landon, Nate’s sister.”
“Well, shit. Those Gentry boys aren’t going to take kindly to someone hurting their sister.”
“No, they aren’t.” He wasn’t taking so kindly to it either.
Deidre stuck her head in. “The press assigned to cover the gala is out here wanting to know what’s going on.”
“Harrison.”
That was all his dad had to say to have his bodyguard heading out to take control.
“Hurts.”
Rand jerked his gaze to Kinsey. Thank you, God, she was awake. “Hey, Sunshine, welcome back.” He thought he might be able to breathe again.
Her eyes were cloudy, which was concerning. And the one word she’d said had sounded raspy in the way damaged vocal cords would.
“Hurts,” she said again in that scratchy voice that made him wish he could get another go at the man who’d hurt her.
“What hurts, baby?”
“Head. Throat. Neck.” All three words sounded as if they’d been an effort for her to say. Her gaze fell on her attacker. She made a sound that reminded him of a wounded animal as she tried to disappear into the wall.
“Kinsey, listen to me. You’re safe. You are safe.”
Her eyes met his, and as if she saw the truth in his words, she smiled. She fucking smiled at him after what had been done to her. After he’d failed to protect her. Damn him to hell and back for that smile he didn’t deserve.
Deidre was right. He’d been a coward. But no more. If Kinsey didn’t turn her back on him after this, he’d fall to his knees in gratitude. If she wanted babies, he’d give her however many dozens of them she wanted. If that scared him down to his toes, he’d somehow deal with it. For her.
The next minutes passed in a blur as he let his father take over so he could stay with Kinsey until help arrived. Harlan somehow managed to clear the hallway leading to the women’s room, get the bastard—Rand still didn’t know his name, but he’d find out—who had hurt Kinsey sent off in one ambulance and Kinsey in another, both to a private hospital Rand had never heard of.
Rand was riding in the ambulance carrying the man to make sure he didn’t cause trouble. As much as he’d rather be with Kinsey, he was the only one with a badge since he didn’t want to involve the police until he talked to Nate. His father and Deidre were following in Harlan’s limo, and as soon as Harrison dropped Harlan off at the hospital, he would take Deidre home. After doing that, he’d return to the gala to wait until Rand’s mother was ready to leave.
Rand made a mental note to send Deidre flowers, along with a message of appreciation for all her help. She’d turned out to be pretty amazing, and he now counted her as a friend.
He needed to call Nate, but he didn’t want to talk in front of his prisoner or the EMT. As soon as they arrived, he told his father to stand guard in the emergency room, then went to make sure Kinsey was getting immediate attention. Once he confirmed that she was, he walked outside and made the call he dreaded.
“It’s Rand,” he said when Nate answered.
“So my caller ID claims. I thought you were wining and dining with the beautiful people tonight.”
“I was until… until I almost beat a man to death.”
“Just what kind of gala does the Friends of the Library put on? You need me to come bail you out of jail?”
“No. I’m at Doctors of Healing Hospital. Nate, the man I almost killed, wanted to kill, tried to rape your sister.”
“The hell you say. Is she hurt?”
“Yes. Probably a concussion, maybe a neck injury. The doctor’s with her now.”
“I’m on the way.”
The line went dead. He went back inside and found his father leaning against the wall where he could keep an eye on the curtained-off room where they had Kinsey’s attacker handcuffed to a bed. “Anything on Kinsey yet?”
“Yes, they took her up to X-ray. They wanted to get some pictures of her head and neck. The doctor said he’d talk to her family when they arrived.”
Rand thrust a thumb toward the curtain. “What about him?”
“He’s making noises. Wants to file assault charges against you. Says his father is going to sue you for everything you own. I’ve already called my lawyer, and he’s on standby should we need him.”
“He can come at me all he wants. He has no idea who he’s messing with. Nate will be here shortly, most likely with his brothers in tow. When they see their sister, they’ll probably be pissed I didn’t kill him.”
“Do you know who he is?”
“Not his name, but he’s the son of the owner of Summer Fashions, the place Kinsey works.”
“Jacob Summer owns it.” He took out his phone. “Greg, I want everything you can find on Jacob Summer, owner of Summer Fashions. I especially want whatever you can dig up about his son.”
“Dad, we’re perfectly capable of investigating him, and believe me, if there’s any dirt on him, we’ll find it,” Rand said after his father disconnected.
“I know, but Greg can… how should I say this considering I’m talking to an FBI agent? Let’s just say he doesn’t have to worry about the legalities of hi
s snooping. Now tell me about this woman who’s very important to you.”
“She’s the sister the Gentry brothers didn’t know about until recently.” He gave his father an abbreviated version of the story. “I didn’t know she was their sister in the beginning or I never would have gone near her. It figures that the first woman to catch my interest since Olivia turned out to be the sister of three overly protective males.”
“They have a problem with you seeing her?”
Rand had to smile at his father taking offense that the Gentrys might have a problem with his son. “Stand down. It’s not personal. They’d have a problem with any man getting near her.”
“You called her Sunshine.”
“Because that’s what she’s brought into my life.”
“Son, I’ve been worried that you’d never let yourself be happy again. If that woman is the reason for bringing the light back into your eyes, then she’s special as far as I’m concerned.”
“Yeah, she is.” He just hoped he hadn’t blown it with her. “And here they come,” he said, seeing the sliding door open and Nate striding in. Not only had he brought Court and Alex with him, but Taylor and Madison, too. He assumed that the only reason Lauren wasn’t here was because she was due to deliver just about any day.
“Where is she?” Nate demanded.
“Upstairs in X-ray.”
“Start at the beginning.”
The brothers and their wives crowded around him. Keeping his voice low so their prisoner couldn’t overhear, he told them what happened, leaving Deidre out of it. There was no reason to bring this mess into her life since she hadn’t witnessed the attack. When he finished, Nate stared at him for a moment with narrowed eyes.
“You’re being a little fuzzy on a few details, intentionally, I think. Where were you when you saw him follow her out of the ballroom?”
And this was where the brothers were going to chew a piece of his ass. “I was across the room.” He’d hoped to skirt around this part because it was only going to confirm their belief that they didn’t want him anywhere near Kinsey.
“Why? If she was your date, you should have been with her.”
“She wasn’t my date.”
“So you attended the gala solo and she just happened to be there, too?”
“No, I was with someone else. It appeared that Kinsey was here with her boss and coworkers.”
Nate’s black eyes went from narrowed to slitted, giving Rand the impression of a viper about to strike. “You have my…” He glanced at the other members of his family. “Our gratitude for stopping him from hurting her even more than he did, but this is where you step away.”
“Nate, that’s Kinsey’s decision,” Taylor said.
“No, it isn’t.”
Both Taylor and Madison gave him sympathetic looks, and he appreciated it, but it was the brothers he was going to have to deal with if he wanted to keep seeing Kinsey. And he did. More than ever.
Rand stiffened his spine and lifted his shoulders. “What happens between Kinsey and me is between Kinsey and me.” If she wanted to share what had been said between them, that was up to her. As far as he was concerned, it was none of their business.
“We’re her family,” Court said. “We have the right to protect her, and if that means keeping you from hurting her, we will do that.”
“If you think my son will hurt your sister, you’re delusional. His date was one I set up for him, not knowing that he—”
“Dad.” Rand shook his head. Although he understood his father not liking the way this conversation was going, it was his battle to fight. “Why don’t you call Harrison to come get you? I appreciate all you did tonight more than you can imagine, but it’s time for you to go.”
“It probably is. I stick around much longer and I’m going to knock some sense into these boys.” He squeezed Rand’s shoulder. “I’m proud of you, son. When I hear from Greg, I’ll call you.” He nodded at Nate, then walked away.
Alex watched him leave before shifting his gaze to Rand. “I would have given anything to have a father like yours.” He glanced at his brothers. “All of us would have. That tells me you were raised right. I also think there’s a lot you’re not saying about things you and Kinsey have talked about. And you’re right. Those things are between the two of you.”
“Alex,” Nate warned.
“Nate,” Alex mocked. “That he was even keeping an eye on her while he was with someone else tells me something. The minute Kinsey says she doesn’t want to see him, he’ll see her over my dead body. Until then, who attacked her? Because that’s where our attention should be, along with what are we going to do about it? I vote for teaching him a lesson he’ll never forget.”
Court let out a sigh. “I hate it when Alex’s right.”
Rand’s phone vibrated, and at seeing his father’s name on the screen, he clicked on answer. “Yeah?” His gaze skimmed over the brothers as he listened. They weren’t going to like what his dad had learned any more than he did. “Thanks. Now tell Greg to stop nosing around.”
He slipped his phone back into his pocket. “His name’s Sebastian Summer, son of Jacob Summer, the owner of Summer Fashions. He—”
“That has to be who she said was bothering her,” Court said.
Taylor frowned. “He was bothering her before tonight?”
“Yeah,” Nate said, nodding. “She mentioned it, then told us to back off, that she could handle him. Our mistake was agreeing.”
“She had no reason to think he was anything more than a nuisance. If she’d known what my father just told me, she would have handled things differently.” He’d witnessed the man bothering her and hadn’t done anything about it, assuming the same thing. That didn’t sit well with him. “Seems Sebastian Summer has a history of stepping over the line where women are concerned. He was expelled from high school for spying on girls in the locker room. In college a student reported him to administration for sexually harassing her. He was reprimanded, then when a second female student reported him, he was expelled.”
“How did your father find that out so fast?” Madison said.
“Don’t ask.”
“That might be only the tip of the iceberg.” Court glanced at Nate. “I’ll start digging into his background when I get home tonight.”
Put Court in front of a computer and there wasn’t anything he couldn’t find. Before they were through with Sebastian Summer, he was going to wish he’d never touched Kinsey.
“Are any of you Kinsey Landon’s family?” a man in scrubs asked, walking up to them.
“Yes, we are,” Nate said. “How is she?”
“She has a mild concussion, a bruised larynx, and whiplash. None of those are life-threatening, and she will completely recover. I want to keep her overnight so we can observe her, but I’m confident that we’ll be able to release her in the morning. She’ll need to rest for a week, especially her voice.”
“We’ll make sure of it.” Nate pulled his badge out of his pocket and held it open for the doctor to see. “Nate Gentry, special agent in charge of the Miami field office. The man brought in when she was is Sebastian Summer. When will he be released?”
“His face is a mess, but I can release him now.”
“No. I want him held overnight, no visitors and no phone calls. Put him in a room by himself. I’ll have an agent here to stand guard. If Mr. Summer makes any demands, my agent will deal with him.”
“Why don’t I just give him something to make him sleep until tomorrow?”
“Even better. I’ll still have an agent here to keep an eye on him, though. When can we see our sister?”
“In a few minutes. We’re taking her to a room now and getting her settled in.”
After the doctor left, Nate turned to Rand. “So you messed up his face?”
“I did.” And he wasn’t sorry.
Nate gave him a curt nod. “Good. You can go now. We’ll take it from here.”
“No. Not until I see Kin
sey.”
13
Kinsey sighed after the nurse left. She hated not being able to talk. No one was telling her what was going on. Where was Rand? She knew he’d been in the emergency room because she’d heard him talking. Had he left? Had anyone called her brothers? This was going to be all the ammunition they needed to justify meddling in her life.
And what about Sebastian? Where was he? Hopefully in jail, but since no one was telling her anything, as far as she knew he could be sitting at home by now, planning his next attack. She shuddered. Until tonight she’d just thought he was a creep, but one she could handle. What if he was roaming the hallways right now, looking for her? Her heart skipped a beat.
The room suddenly seemed too quiet. She slid down on the bed and pulled the cover up to her chin. Her mother had always said she had a vivid imagination, and right now it was working overtime. She could visualize the door creaking open, could see Sebastian sneaking in to finish what he’d started. She glanced around, looking for something she could use as a weapon.
“There’s nothing,” she rasped, forgetting she wasn’t supposed to talk. Her throat burned in protest, and she reached for the glass of water on the table. As she sipped, she realized she could throw the glass at his face, so she held on to it after she was done drinking. And the TV remote. She could throw that, too. Or even better, shove it into his throat, see how he liked not being able to talk. Now she had two weapons, and if—
The door eased open, sending her heart into jackhammer mode. She tightened her grips on the glass and remote, ready to use them. When Nate appeared, she was so relieved that she almost dropped the glass of water.
“Hey,” he said, walking in. Court, Alex, Taylor, and Madison followed him into the room.
Tears burned her eyes that they were all here for her. She waved her fingers at them. They crowded around her bed, and she wished she could speak so she could tell them how much it meant to her that they’d come. Nate made a growling sound, and she looked up to see his eyes focused on her throat. She’d gone to the bathroom when they’d brought her to the room and had seen the fingerprints on her skin.
