by Kells, India
Isabel sidestepped and pressed a key on the computer. Applause turned into a unanimous gasp as Finch took the stand to make his speech.
The camera flashes were almost blinding, and soon, Finch’s voice was drowned under the shouts and yells from the journalists before him. The look on his face would have almost been comical if Isabel didn’t know how dangerous the man was. It wasn’t until he turned to look at the white wall where his campaign picture was to be projected that he saw one of the pictures she had found on his phone. When she saw it switch to another one, just as disgusting and explicit, Isabel realized she had pushed the carousel option, which was a nice and unexpected touch.
The tide of people lurched forward, and as Isabel took a step back in reaction, a hand came around her throat, but it was the cold mouth of a gun on her temple that robbed her of breath.
“You damn bitch!” Finch aimed at the ceiling and fired, making the mob go crazy as people tried to find a way out. Isabel tried to fight his grasp, but he only tightened his hold as he pulled her back, the lack of air filling her vision with dancing dots.
As she was dragged through a door, Isabel was desperate to find her footing again so she could fill her lungs. The battle against unconsciousness was one she was about to fail until a familiar voice forced her to open her eyes.
“Let her go, you fucking monster!”
Finch stopped moving and Isabel could finally stand up, and even though his grip was hard on her windpipe, breathing became easier.
They were in the hallway with the exit behind them. Finch put the gun back against her head as she realized that Kai and Lazarus were before them, guns drawn.
“And here they are, appearing like fucking brainless heroes. It’s difficult to believe that you’ve survived until now. I’ve had enough of you, and it is time you learned a valuable lesson.”
Isabel wanted to scream for Kai to look behind him, but it was too late when she recognized two of Finch’s personal bodyguards aiming at the brothers’ heads.
Tears streamed down her face when she saw both Kai and Lazarus forced to put their weapons on the ground and lift their hands in the air. Only then did Isabel see the look on Kai’s face—enraged and scared for her.
Lazarus turned back to his father. “Let us go, free her. You’re only digging yourself a deeper hole.”
Finch didn’t seem to believe so when he laughed. “Tell me, my son, who is in a deeper hole now? You should have realized that pushing me against the wall would only make me more dangerous. I want to thank you for revealing the extent of my ‘family’ to me and the number of sons I have to destroy and kill. I had great hopes for you as an heir of the empire I will build, even despite all your attempts to sidetrack me. I see now that I will never make you change your mind. And that makes me sad.”
The loud bang of the gun beside her made Isabel cry out in surprise and shock as Lazarus grabbed his side before falling to the floor. Kai yelled as he launched himself on the ground, grabbing his gun and stopping both bodyguards with lethal accuracy.
Finch dragged her backward and Isabel tried her best to mess with his aim as he continued firing at Kai. Even with her kicking and screaming, Finch’s hold was unbreakable.
As they reached a corner, shots came from the other side. Finch brought Isabel in front of him once more and she could see Sam and Gabrielle ready to fire.
“Oh well, why not bring the entire family? And a woman I hope to kill very soon.”
Sam stepped forward and immediately Isabel felt the gun at her throat, the metal burning her skin.
“I’m tired of this game. Now, please excuse me.”
Isabel felt herself being hauled toward the emergency door, and as Finch pushed it, taking her with him, Kai came running, screaming his name. Finch reacted immediately, his gun rising to fire again, but Isabel’s entire body reacted and she pushed herself backward.
Finch fired again and again as they both fell through the door. Hitting the floor hard, Isabel saw the door closing with a fatal click as she rolled away, free of the man’s grip. Scrambling to her knees, she noticed Finch’s gun by her foot. With one kick she sent it tumbling down the stairs.
There was a cry of victory as the door started to open, but Finch wasn’t willing to let her go that easily. He plastered her against the door. On the other side, she heard Kai shouting, but was unable to make out the words. Isabel feared that he wouldn’t open the door in case Finch shot her.
Isabel screamed when Finch pulled her head to turn her against the door, but she wouldn’t go down without a fight. She scratched at his face and kicked as hard as she could until Finch punched her hard and everything went black.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Sometimes, time felt like it was slowing down and on other occasions, it flew faster than the speed of light. Isabel had probably been out less than a second or two from the punch, and it was something pushing against her body that brought her to her senses—the door opening, and Kai kneeling beside her. From that moment, everything happened quickly as Isabel was ushered to the hospital for a quick check. Apart from a slight concussion and several bruises, she was fine and had been prescribed pain medications. As soon as she left the exam room, they went to join the rest of the family in the waiting room. Sam only had a nick on a shoulder, but Lazarus’s injuries were much more serious, and he was now in surgery with doctors trying to save his life. Gabrielle was with Liam trying to locate Finch and his goons, in fact, the entire city was on red alert trying to find him.
The brothers soon decided to increase safety and realized that a hospital waiting room was too much of an open space. Security measures would be taken around Lazarus when Aleksei and Archer initiated a preventive lockdown. Sam was to remain with Aleksei and Deva for the time being. Sasha was on her way back to the city as soon as she’d heard about the incident, and was to stay with her cousin too.
Kai brought Isabel to Archer’s guest apartment. To her relief, Gabrielle had even planned for her mother to have increased security.
Her surfer had been nothing but business, still stained with blood and answering questions from the police. Isabel had to do that too, but when she’d started to crash, they postponed her interrogation until she could get some rest. Once back at Archer and Zoe’s, the only thing she remembered was being handed a couple of pills before drifting off to la-la land.
Much later Isabel opened her eyes to a dull ache in her cheekbone and featherlight fingertips caressing her hair.
She had no idea how long she had been down under, but it was the low rumble in the background that sounded like the ocean, a calming lullaby that slowly enticed her out of sleep.
Her eyelids slowly opened to a dim room, and Kai filled her vision, all smiles and shining gray eyes. “Welcome back, mermaid.”
With him before her, Isabel couldn’t help but smile, but she immediately felt a twinge of pain and her hand went to her cheek.
Kai cupped her fingers in his hands and kissed her palm.
Even if she knew she was safe, her last memories hit like a ton of bricks. Blood and Finch overtook her mind for a moment, the anguish and stress rose in intensity and again, Kai brought her back to the present. “You are safe, love. Breathe for me.”
But the image of Lazarus going down made her sit up in the bed. “Lazarus… Finch shot him… he killed him.” Tears fell when she saw darkness fall over his beautiful silver irises.
“The meds are making your head messy. You were at the hospital, remember? He was shot, but he’s not dead. Lazarus is in surgery as we speak since he lost a lot of blood. Sam was shot too, but he should be released tomorrow. Liam and Gabrielle are there and are keeping me updated.”
Isabel pushed herself up. “We should go, there. You should be with your brothers…”
“Easy, babe. It’s too dangerous, that’s why we left. Finch has fled. We don’t know where he is yet, and he’s not the type of man to ever forgive what you’ve done.”
Standing up felt good, mo
re than she expected. “I had hoped for a very different outcome. If I had known that it would get out of hand, I might have not done it. I was naive to think that a crowd of journalists would protect you.”
“We found the phone. You should have told us what you intended to do.”
There wasn’t any reproach in his voice, but she needed to explain, nonetheless. “Just before I found the phone, Finch told me that he had discovered who I was and said he had put some of his people in the crowd, ready to attack you. I thought that if I could destroy Finch on camera, I would protect you in one fell swoop. I think that could be classed as naive bordering on stupid.”
Kai went by the door and switched on the light. He had obviously showered, the blood she remembered on him gone, his hair was glistening, and he was wearing one of his wild Hawaiian shirts.
He came toe to toe with her. “You are not a spy or an operative. You don’t have any training or experience in the field, but in my eyes, you are the most courageous woman I’ve ever known.” He cupped her chin. “Please, please, please, never do it again though.”
In a now familiar move, he put his forehead against hers and she smiled. “What exactly? Trying to help a band of brothers, fighting a bad guy, or falling for a surfer?”
His dazzling smile warmed her heart like no other. “Don’t ever change, Isabel Osborne.”
Isabel thought at first he would take her in his arm and kiss her as she yearned to, but instead, he gave her a peck on the nose before he took her hand and led her to the apartment. “Archer has put the building on lockdown, so the elevator is not working for the moment, but Zoe made sure that we would survive.” He grabbed a bottle of water and handed one to her. “You need to drink after that blow.”
When she took a gulp, Kai’s gaze darkened, his fingers skimming her throat. “You will have serious bruises on your neck, a burn too. I wish I could get my hands on him, just to make him pay for the terror he put in your eyes.”
The water felt good and as she sat on the sofa, Isabel also noticed the marks Finch had left on her wrists.
The strangest thing of all, when she saw them, was that it made her smile. Kai angled his head. “I don’t know what could possibly amuse you.”
“I was thinking about my deal with Jenny. With so many bruises, it will delay my official return to the screen. I don’t think the audience would like to see Mercury Heat bloody and bruised for her last appearance.”
“Well, on that note, Gabrielle gave me an update on Jenny. Finch’s phone gave us a lot of information and Liam is working on it. It was like opening a nasty gift, but a gift nonetheless. It will take time to go through it all, but he found evidence that Jenny had a hand in some of the business. Not directly, but enough to put her behind bars. Pictures don’t lie, and that woman liked to be photographed.”
Isabel frowned. “I’m happy to hear that, but it may not break my contract.”
Kai smiled. “My savvy businesswoman still has cotton candy in her brain I see. Archer made you add a couple more clauses to the contract. Do you remember what they were?”
And then it clicked, and if she had not been in pain, she would have slapped her forehead. “Damn. When he asked me to add it, I thought it was silly to have a clause stating that in case of any arrest or criminal accusations, the contract would automatically be terminated. I see that your brother has a knack of covering all possibilities. That means that Mercury Heat stays in permanent retirement. I love that. It’s a relief. At least there is one good thing that came out of all this.”
With her words, Kai put his hands in his pockets. “Yeah, that’s true.”
The way he stood there in his blinding shirt, she knew something was wrong. Discomfort showed by the way he stood and moved, how he combed back his hair over and over again.
“You’ve got something on your mind, Kai. Speak.”
He looked at his toes for way too long, which was a dead giveaway. The dangerous soldier may be an unparalleled operative in the field, but to her he was still the awkward surfer.
“It’s not over. The thing with my father is entering the most critical part. He may be down now, with his face splashed all over the news, but he still has resources and now he has nothing to lose. The tables are reversed now. How can I ask you to be with me when I am the source of the danger? If I hadn’t followed Lazarus in his quest, you wouldn’t be in the line of fire, Izzy.”
The panic she’d felt at Finch’s hands was nothing compared to what she felt before Kai now. “Are you breaking up with me?”
The expression of agony on his face couldn’t be concealed. “How can I ask you to stay? I don’t know what will happen next, if you will ever be safe. That’s no way to live.”
Isabel’s first instinct was to spring up and shake some sense into the man, but she recognized the symptoms of guilt too well, and remembered the words he’d said to her from the other side of the bathroom door. She couldn’t trap him in a room and force him to sort out his feelings, so the only solution was to have him snap out of it.
As if considering his words, Isabel nodded. “You have a point.”
Kai opened his mouth and closed it, so she continued. “I see now that what we felt for each other was heightened by danger and memories. You are right to say that as the situation has changed, so have your feelings for me.”
Saying the words hurt but she continued. “It’s not like you gave me a ring or anything. And the proposal was so quick, I should have seen it.”
“Izzy...”
“No, don’t be sorry about that. We’re both grown-ups now and emotions change. Do you know where my things are? Did you have my phone?”
Kai seemed to scramble to get his words in order. “On the dresser in the room. What are you doing?”
“Well, I need to start straightening out my life again. And before you say anything about it, I totally agree with you. I need protection. Anybody you can refer to me? I would have asked Sam, but he needs to heal. And I think that the man would prefer to guard my mother more than me.” She winked at Kai and he shook his head.
“Sam? Your mother?”
Isabel found the bag with her clothes and sighed in relief when she saw that Gabrielle had packed a sensible pair of jeans and one of her favorite hoodies. Turning her back to Kai, she changed quickly from her pajamas. She could have made it more torturous for him, but it wasn’t part of the plan.
“I will ask Gabrielle about it. I know the organization she works for probably knows someone who would be able to do that for me and Mom.”
Isabel looked at her phone but was well aware of Kai looming closer to her. Her heart ached for him, but he had to come to grips with the situation too.
As she started to pack her small bag of clothes, she finally got a reaction.
“I told you, it’s too dangerous for you at the moment.”
“And I heard you. Don’t worry about me, I’ll have someone to watch my back.”
“You can’t ask me not to worry, Izzy.”
“Well, you relinquished that right when you told me you didn’t love me.”
Isabel didn’t have time to zip her bag closed before Kai snarled behind her. “That’s not what I said, Izzy.”
As calmed and composed as she could make herself, Isabel turned to him. “Then, you don’t love me enough. You don’t love me enough to fight for us, to not allow Finch to win. I love you and I know I would lay my life on the line for you. But that’s me. Emotions and feelings can’t be dictated, and I respect you too much to force you into something you don’t want.”
As she took her bag, emotions in her high and volatile, she sensed him pacing the room before following her to the lobby. Isabel prayed that she had been right with her unusual tactic.
“You are not leaving.” His voice had a deep quality she didn’t hear often, one of hurt, but also of menace.
In front of the elevator, Isabel remembered what Kai had said about the elevator being out of service. As she turned to ask him where th
e stairwell was, her words got stuck in her throat when she saw him fall to his knees before her and bury his head in her belly, his arms tight around her waist.
Her hands went to his damp hair as he rubbed his cheeks against her. His touch, gentle at first, turned greedier when he reached for her skin under her hoodie.
What was undeniable between them could have caught fire if she allowed it. Instead, she forced him to look up at her. “Kai.”
She could have fallen into a mess of tears just by the way his eyes looked up at her. All her hopes fell to the sole of her feet when he looked down and nodded.
“You are right, Izzy.”
Just as she believed she was about to lose him forever, he looked up at her again and took her hand. “You just gave me a taste of my own medicine. And from the look on your face, you thought I wouldn’t notice what you were doing. I have to admit that, very like you, I wanted to protect you. How can I protect you, Izzy?”
Instead of answering, she knelt too and asked a question of her own. “And how can I protect you, Kai? This is our reality now. We can only decide one thing. Do we face this together or not?”
His hand started to worry the bare ring finger of her left hand.
“You mean together as in you and a former Delta Force operative, bastard son of the worst mad man of Chicago, if not the entire country?”
“I also mean together as in a former porn star turned PR businesswoman who fell for a man who’s so much more than he seems.”
As simple as that, with the hint of a smile, Kai warmed her soul, the same way he did all those years ago, on that far away beach. Isabel was lucid enough to know that being together with Finch on the loose wouldn’t be a walk in the park, but with Kai, and his family of freaks, she was certain it would be worth it.
