by Kells, India
Kai blinked. “What does that mean?”
“What if you were the one who’d decided to become a porn star and then found and fell for Izzy?”
The thought was ludicrous, he’d never thought about pursuing that career. For him, the Army had been his calling from early in his life. Isabel had no choice. Not only that, but she’d excelled in what she did. They were similar in that sense.
Lucas’s idea was legit. If he were out of it like she was and building a new career, he would definitely want to be believed when he said he cared about someone. If he were in love with Isabel, and still active in the industry, his heart and his dick would be separate, but at some point, he wouldn’t be able to do it anymore. Both sides of him would clash, making him unhappy. Another thought that stood out was what Isabel thought about him killing people. He may have done it to protect his country, but he’d done it nonetheless. Isabel had sacrificed part of her soul to save her mother, and he’d done the same for his belief in justice and freedom.
That thought was like emerging from the depths of the ocean and gulping a lifesaving breath of fresh air. His thoughts steadied for the first time in days, and he finally felt like a Delta Force soldier again.
He didn’t agree with Isabel putting herself in danger, and that was the crux of his problem. Did he want to see Isabel return to her previous career? Fuck no! But he needed to work through it and protect her along the way because he loved her, and he didn’t know if he could survive seeing her walk away again.
As soon as the word settled in his mind, his heart started beating in panic. He’d never panicked in his entire life, but was quick to recognize the symptoms.
“Hey, Kai! Are you alright?”
He was having too much trouble drawing in air to answer. His body was buckling on him while his brain was pissing itself laughing.
Lucas hovered around him worried, but he didn’t have enough air to tell the teenager not to worry. Lucas bolted out of the room, and Kai tried to follow suit, his hand on the hallway’s wall to keep him upright.
Dots had started dancing before his eyes when Sasha came into view.
“Hey, hey. Kai. What’s going on?” The good doctor took his face in her hands, running a quick examination. He tried to tell her he was fine, but the wheezing coming from him didn’t sound like a comprehensible word.
“Fine? You think you are fine?” Sasha frowned at him, evidently thinking he was deluded. Soon the narrow space was crowded with his brothers. “Have someone bring him to the kitchen and sit him down.”
Aleksei and Lazarus grabbed him so fast, his head spun until he was seated. This was ridiculous, and Kai fought against the sensation of drowning while trying to tell everyone around him they looked as panicked as he felt. His heart was beating so hard in his chest, he placed a hand over it making sure it stayed in place and didn’t fly away.
“Is it your heart? Kai? Just nod your head.” Sasha was right in his face.
He made sure to shake his head.
“Is it coming from your chest?”
Kai would have laughed and told her that his entire body was involved, but saying that it was coming from his heart wasn’t a bad guess. It all came from it. And from Isabel. At the thought of her, the pressure lessened a bit.
“What’s happening? Kai? Kai!” Isabel’s voice was like a lighthouse, beckoning him from the sea. She was pushing against the bodies around him and he extended his own arms to bring her close to him, falling on his knees in the process.
He caught her against him so tightly he must have hurt her, but he couldn’t help it. She smelled fresh out of the shower and it was the best scent ever.
Kai loosened his hold enough to look at her face, her beautiful and worried sea blue eyes. His lips took hers over and over and only then could he draw a full breath. The rough waters inside him steadied and his vision cleared.
He broke the connection and was reassured that his heartbeat had resumed a normal rhythm. His forehead against hers, the words tumbled out of him and there was nothing he could do about it.
“I love you. Marry me.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Kai saw the shock on her face, making her body shiver. There was a definite reaction from the people surrounding them, but his attention was only on Isabel. She opened her mouth and closed it several times, surprised and searching for words.
In fact, everyone in the room stayed immobile like stone statues, waiting for her answer, but something intruded. A phone started to ring, and Gabrielle cursed. “Damn, it’s Finch, and it’s for you, Izzy.”
Isabel kissed him hard before standing and grabbing her phone from Gabrielle. Sam offered Kai his hand and brought him to his feet.
Sasha stayed close, but Kai nodded, telling her that he was better. No way was he admitting his panic attack to his brothers, and at the moment, more important things were at play. Isabel might not have answered his question, but he wasn’t deterred and could bide his time. He was going nowhere, and she’d better learn to accept it.
Isabel was pacing the living room, still on the phone, talking so low that nobody could hear her words. Again, Kai wasn’t fazed as he didn’t intend to leave her alone, even for a minute.
Lazarus came to his side. “Damn show you gave us all.”
Kai clenched his jaw at his insinuation. “That wasn’t a show. I didn’t plan any of it.”
“I know. Too bad about the phone call, I would have loved to have heard her answer.”
Kai smiled. “Oh, I’ll get her to say yes, don’t worry about that.”
At that Lazarus clapped his back. Aleksei shook his head, amused. “Another one to fall … and here I thought we were all doomed to be single forever.”
“Doomed? Let me remind you that I’m the only one married and committed here, so you better shut up, Alek.” Archer almost choked.
Sam held back a grin. “A good woman is not a curse. But maybe you are scared what Deva’s answer would be.”
A glint of insult flashed in his brother’s eyes and Liam intervened. “Let’s avoid jumping on each other. It would be uncomfortable for me to book you all for assault.”
Kai agreed. “And we have more urgent things to do.”
All the brother’s attention turned to Isabel who nodded at something Finch said on the phone. When they joined the women in the living room, Kai waited on the side, his shoulder propped against the door frame until Isabel finally disconnected the call. As she opened her mouth, a beep sounded from her phone.
“Just a sec, it’s the contract from Jenny. I’ll forward it to my lawyer so she can examine it.”
Kai came to her side and took her elbow, gently leading her to the seating area where everyone was waiting. “There is a lot to discuss and if we all want to catch some sleep, we’d better get at it. First, what was the call with Finch about?”
Isabel let her head fall to the back of the sofa for an instant. “He was asking how I was, if there had been any more incidents. He told me about his business trip and checked on the plans for the event. And then he told me he had made reservations tomorrow night for dinner.”
Dread fell, and from the way Isabel quickly glanced at him, she expected some sort of explosion. He wasn’t happy about it, but instead turned to Gabrielle, who had taken a backseat until then. “We need a better tracker on her. One that will keep eyes and ears on her the entire time without being detected.”
Gabrielle nodded. “I’m with you on that. I’ve got something that will do the trick. I have a couple of guys of mine still working on the angle of attack. We’re still searching, and until we find an answer, I prefer to be well prepared.”
Isabel blinked several times, looking at him as he bounced ideas and strategies around the room. Kai was glad to see that incredulity in her eyes. It took some time, but a satisfying first draft was on the table. There were a couple of things he would definitely discuss with Gabrielle and Lazarus, but that could be left to another time.
“Now, we n
eed to talk about what happened tonight during a meeting with one of Isabel’s contacts.”
Kai nodded at Isabel who braced herself. “She’s someone I met on the job years ago, and who has a reputation for treading the line…”
Gabrielle snickered. “I love how you filter the truth, Izzy. I remembered when you told me about her and you weren’t that diplomatic, or sweet.”
Deva leaned forward, interested. “Oh! Catty. Tell me more.”
Gabrielle sniggered. “I don’t know if I can say it in front of the boys. I wouldn’t want to scandalize them.”
Zoe laughed as Sasha shook her head. “I’m scared to hear it, but admit I’m intrigued.”
“I wouldn’t be if I were you.” Isabel reached for a bottle of water on the coffee table and drank. Kai didn’t like to see that tension in her, but it couldn’t be helped. He also knew that she could take it.
“When you start in the industry, you will agree to anything, but I promised my mother that I wouldn’t cross my personal barriers. To be honest, I didn’t exactly know what they were until I started, but as it began with ‘classic’ videos so to speak, I had the advantage of learning slowly. However, as my name and reputation grew, I was offered more opportunities, but I always checked out the directors and the genres before jumping in. It gave me a reputation of being a prude, if that’s even possible. But the directors knew that when I accepted a gig, I did it with all I had, in a professional way. But others like Jenny mocked me. In fact, the first time she talked to me was a vulgar rant about how I wasn’t a true actress and that because of my hair and makeup, I wasn’t owning it and should be ashamed.”
“What a bitch!”
Isabel smiled at Deva’s explosion. “You could say that. But she was like that with almost everybody who wasn’t part of her circle. I didn’t mind her really. I did what I had to do, but when my popularity grew, she became more vicious, and started spreading rumors. None of them stuck, but she was an annoyance. Same when I decided it was time for me to leave. Strangely, she retired about the same time, and opened her own production house when I announced I was focusing on women’s porn by creating Mercury Productions.”
“I know your company! Great videos!” Sasha’s sudden outburst immediately turned everyone’s attention, especially Lazarus’ in her direction. She blushed but shrugged. “What? They are great. One of the only ones that I’ve seen where the woman is not a piece of meat and the sex looks real and awesome.”
The surprise on Lazarus’s face was almost comical. “You watch porn?”
At his tone, it was clear to Kai that his brother wouldn’t fall in the good graces of the cute doctor.
“Mr. King, I’m a single woman and as I won’t sleep with idiots just because I want to scratch an itch, I’ve found other, healthy ways. So shove it.”
Deva and Zoe cheered and everybody laughed, except Lazarus who had an unreadable expression on his face.
“Thanks Sasha. That’s the goal I had with founding my company. And with the feminist movement on the rise, I’ve had more and more subscribers. There is a demand for them, and I was glad I had that insight.”
Kai smiled and touched her hand. Again, surprise flushed her face, and when after a slight hesitation she covered his hand with her other one, his heart expanded a thousand times in his chest.
“As I decided to take that particular road, Jenny chose another one. The opposite in fact. The more disturbing the better in her eyes, and she’s not totally wrong either because there is a market for that.”
“Are you talking about illegal things?” Liam as ever had his cop senses on high.
Isabel hesitated. “I’ll give you an example. When Gabrielle took down The Gallery, Jenny stepped up and started filming home videos with actors that looked like prepubescent kids. I knew there was an investigation, but all of the actors were legit. Somehow, her lawyers wormed her out of it.”
Gabrielle leaned forward. “But I checked the documents from the investigation, and even if there wasn’t any tangible proof, suspicions were strong that the videos were a direct order from The Gallery. Jenny Anderson may know all the gossip, but some of it may be real.”
“I could have asked about the possibility of another contact, but in the end, she’s probably the one with the information. And the fact that she was willing to strike a deal with me is all the proof I needed.”
“I heard what you said to her, and your deal. Please explain what it is.” Sam leaned forward, elbows on his knees and looked quickly at Kai before returning his attention to Isabel.
“Jenny’s about money. And from what I could see, she’s not swimming in it at the moment. It’s been quite a drought if you get the idea. I was ready to give her a lot of money to get the information, as much as I could come up with.”
Archer frowned. “You could have come to me, Isabel. I have a lot of leverage.”
Annoyance made Isabel sit straighter. “I manage my own things, thank you. I know you have more money than me, but I wouldn’t want anything connecting you, Zoe, or your family with her. And you can give me that menacing look all you want, it won’t help you convince me, Mr. Blackwood.”
Zoe kissed her husband’s cheek. “He’s plenty menacing, but I understand your point, Izzy. Go on.”
“To be honest, I don’t think that even with your help, it would have been enough. It’s something I saw in her eyes when I asked for her help. She saw a weakness in me and latched onto it. I never would have believed it, but she hates me, and I don’t know why. We had comparable careers, it’s just that I put my money elsewhere rather than on parties and drugs.”
Gabrielle didn’t agree with her friend. “Darling Izzy, you are nothing like her, not your physique, your class, or your career. That’s why you were so successful. You managed it like the businesswoman you are and are reaping the results of that now. She didn’t have the kind of reputation, money, and success you had. No wonder she was ecstatic at forcing you to your knees. But you are avoiding, my friend. What has she twisted out of you in exchange for giving you a lead on The Gallery?”
Kai glanced briefly at Sam who slightly shook his head. Everybody was riveted, but Kai knew it wasn’t going to be fun to hear.
“Jenny wants the exclusive rights to a video of me, the one-time return of Mercury Heat. She’s allowing me to shoot it at my place, hire whoever I please to make it. I only have to choose from two themes. If I sign that contract, promising that I will do it, she will give me the info I asked for.”
Lazarus was all ears. “And if you don’t do the video?”
“I still get the information? I will relinquish fifty percent of Mercury Productions to her.”
Liam whistled at the revelation. It enraged Kai how much that woman was taken advantage of her, even if Isabel had tried to appeal to her sense of honor and justice.
“Can we be sure she’ll give us valid information?” Again Liam had a valid point.
“Impossible to know until we test it. That’s what enrages me the most about it all. Isabel is taking the most risk compared to this lowlife.” Kai couldn’t dim the snarl of disgust in his voice.
“What type of video did she want you to do, Isabel? I heard the conversation between you two, and it was clear she was playing you on that front too. What are the two genres you never agreed to do that she’s making you choose from?”
Isabel pulled at her hands to break contact with him, but Kai was having none of it. He was past the point of judgment and if she thought she could dismiss him now she was wrong. In his heart, she was his forever.
“I never wanted to do two types of genres. Gangbangs and hardcore BDSM. Jenny wants me to choose between one of those as my exclusive video.”
Kai took a deep breath, resolute in keeping calm. “Why those two genres?”
Isabel braced herself and looked at him. “They can end up quite violent. And the woman is always the victim. The more men you add to a gang bang video, the more it gets out of hand. And for the BDSM, I have
nothing against bondage or a little pain, but what she’s wanting is way out of my comfort zone. I would need a partner with a level head, and to be honest, I know nobody who could do the job that leaves me unscathed.”
The silence in the room was telling. Archer was the first one to break it. “Send me that contract of yours, Izzy. I want to see it before you sign. I may have a couple of ideas to strengthen it.”
A smile bloomed on her face and she nodded at Archer.
Liam spoke then. “I’ll go and look through the files on the investigation at the station. You never know, there might be a thread that we can pull to bring her down.”
Kai couldn’t be prouder of Liam at that instant, of all of them, as they rallied behind Isabel and used their talents and resources to help her out of this jam.
Aleksei, who had stayed silent so far, was also willing to help her out. “As for the video, maybe you can choose the gangbang option. With the safest guys you can hire, and I can be there, ensuring additional security of my own. I swear anybody hurting you, Izzy, would regret it for the rest of his life.”
The fierceness in the former mob enforcer and cage fighter made Isabel laugh. “I still need them to have an erection, Aleksei. It’s a fragile balance to keep you up and running, guys. But I like the option, thanks.”
Kai kissed her brow. “Count me in on that scene.”
“I guess there can’t be too many guards on the set.”
Kai shook his head. “No. I will play alongside you and the guys. I want you safe, and in the middle of it is the place to be.”
Isabel looked stunned, searching for her words. “No way. No fucking way. I can’t say no enough times. You won’t be in front of the camera.”
She may think it was a bad idea and have a lot of good arguments against it, but Kai wasn’t going to budge on it. So, to her aggravation, he smiled and kissed her brow once more. “Send the contract to Archer, love, and let’s sleep on it. It will give Archer and your lawyer time to go through the document. Also, Gabrielle and Lazarus have ideas for your protection to refine so they can be ready for tomorrow morning. There isn’t much more you can do apart from getting some rest. I’ll join you as soon as I’m done here.”
