by Janet Leigh
He threw his head back in a deep, throaty laugh that made my toes tingle. “You do that Jennifer Cloud. In the meantime, I need to figure out what style makes me comfortable.”
“I’m not comfortable?” My bottom lip jutted out in an almost pout.
He brushed a twig of hay from my shoulder and gave me a broad smile. “You're a bit itchy.”
I laughed as I followed him toward the parking lot. Marco may consider himself the comfortable choice, but I had a feeling there was a designer brand lurking deep in the shadows of his screen-printed t-shirts.
Chapter 26
Ace dropped me off in Central Park. “Are you sure you don’t want me to walk you to the door, hon?”
“No. If the Mafusos are watching Caiyan, I don’t want them to identify me, and you sort of stand out in a crowd.”
Ace’s hair was dyed the colors of the rainbow and he sported green leather pants and a white t-shirt with a giant hand flipping the bird screen printed on the front. He grinned at me. “I’m making a statement.”
“When the unicorns and the political activists unite, you will have accomplished your mission.”
“Ha ha, at least my hair doesn’t make me look like a white Jennifer Lopez.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment,” I said as I adjusted the brunet wig that hung halfway down my back.
“Be careful, hon. I don’t think Caiyan’s been sleeping with the enemy, but don’t let him drag you into the bed.” He gave me kisses on each cheek then returned to his vessel.
I gave Ace a finger wave. The ruby ring Caiyan gave me weighed heavy on my finger. His promise to be truthful. It was all I could do not to take the damn thing off and chuck it in the reservoir.
I made my way out of the thick brush surrounding our secret landing spot, guarding the area until I knew Ace was safely out of sight. I waited until I heard the familiar sound of Ace’s vessel departing, the click of a camera lens, and felt the familiar breeze blow gently around me. The noise of the city greeted me as I headed west toward Caiyan’s apartment and crossed the wooded area guarding our safe zone. The thrill of being in New York City had me picking up my pace. The city was alive with people walking to work, car horns honking in the distance, mothers and nannies out for a morning stroll with their babies snuggled inside Kensington Prams. That thrill was one of the reasons I loved New York and one of the reasons I would consider moving here one day, if Caiyan asked me to marry him for real.
I had spent a sleepless night trying to figure out why Caiyan would join the Mafusos. I thought about calling Jake, but that would put him on the spot and risk him losing his job if he divulged confidential information to me. Jake would feel obligated to ease my mind. No, if Caiyan wanted to be married to me, he needed to confide in me. He needed to trust me. My eye started to twitch at the word marriage. It was a sign. I wasn’t ready to settle down and start a family with a man I knew nothing about. My inner voice wasn’t ready either. She still wanted to do single girl things like go to Las Vegas with girlfriends, get drunk at Coyote Ugly and dance on the bar, spend one night with Marco.
I dodged a skateboarder as I entered the walking path. The park wasn’t crowded with tourists this time of day. The joggers stayed closer to the reservoir and the south end of the park. As I walked along the path, the greens and golds of the landscape shaded the path and gave me the illusion of being inside a tunnel intertwined with leaves and branches. The birds chirped happily from their perches high in the treetops. As the path widened and the canopies of the trees let go of their mate across the aisle, a sky the color of Texas bluebonnets appeared dotted with white puffy clouds. The tips of the buildings surrounding the park peeked over the treetops, reminding the park goers playtime was temporary. I nodded as I passed an older couple relaxing on park bench holding hands. They barely noticed me as they gazed at each other.
Releasing a long breath, I adjusted the dark wig and crossed from the solace of the park to the tall, white building Caiyan called home. My meeting with him wasn’t going to be as pleasant as the birdsong or the sweet older couple. In fact, it was the reason I’d decided to arrive unannounced. Calling him would have meant defeat on my end, and he owed me an apology for going in cahoots with the Mafusos without confiding in me. Who cared if I didn’t tell him about Eli’s key? I made a promise to Eli. If the WTF found out Eli had a key, they would swoop down on him like pelicans at a fish fry.
When I arrived, I was in full on attitude mode. I stomped up to Caiyan’s building. The gray-haired doorman with the bushy eyebrows held the door open for me. His blue eyes twinkled as I walked past. I stopped short when he nodded at me, “Miss Cloud.”
I attempted a polite nod, but it was more like a head thrust. So much for the disguise.
“Would you mind not alerting Mr. McGregor of my arrival? I want to surprise him.”
A small smile tugged at the corners of the doorman’s mouth, and he gave me a thumbs up.
I took the elevator to Caiyan’s floor and knocked on his door. He whipped the door open and jerked me inside.
“What are ye doing here?”
“I needed to speak to you.”
He paused, then his eyes ran up the length of my body and stopped at the wig.
“Nice hair, but if ye wanted to be in disguise you should have covered yer body with a sack.”
Oh no. I wasn’t going to let him whisper sweet nothings at me. I placed my hands on my hips. “What is this I hear about you joining the Mafusos?”
His eyes grew wide.
“Oh, yeah, don’t look so surprised. Mitch Mafuso blabbed all about you being present at the round table when Gian-Carlo gave the order for his black sheep knight, Sir Mitch-a-lot, to do bodily injury to me.”
Caiyan let out a long sigh. “Ye shouldnae have come, but now yer here, take a seat and I’ll explain.”
I held my position in his entry, undecided if I should cross the line into the living area. The apartment held the familiar scent of leather and cinnamon, but there was a new smell, like sawdust combined with fresh paint.
Moving to his wet bar, he opened a bottle of whiskey and held a glass in my direction. I declined.
“Isn’t it a little early for a drink?” I asked.
His green eyes cut into me. A stare filled with regret. Was it regret he gave his key up for me or regret he had lost the Thunder key? Maybe it was regret he asked me to marry him. He broke the eye contact, poured himself two fingers, then threw it back. Liquid courage. Whatever he was involved in this time, he needed a crutch to tell me. He motioned toward the sofa. I hesitated. The last time I was on the sofa, he asked me to marry him.
“Lassie, please.”
I took a seat, and he stood in front of me, hands on hips, ready for battle.
My first instinct was to stand. If he wanted an argument I didn’t want him to have the advantage of towering over me. I arched an eyebrow at him, then started to stand.
“Christ.” He pulled me into his arms and hugged me tight.
“What are you doing?” I asked him.
He reached to touch my cheek and I pulled back. “Caiyan, what’s going on?”
Dropping his hand to his side, he lowered down to the sofa and beckoned me to sit next to him. “When I asked ye to marry me—”
“It was because you were wearing the key,” I finished for him as I sat down.
“The timing is off, and the way I asked you was…because of the key. I have business I need to finish before I can let you into my life.”
“Caiyan, that’s a bullshit excuse. If you don’t trust me enough to tell me the truth, then I’m done here.”
I started to stand, and he grabbed my wrist. “What I meant was, I need to retrieve my key so you can be part of my life. The way you deserve. The way I want you to be with me, as my wife.”
“You don’t need your key to be with me.”
“Aye, I do. I cannae protect us without my key. It was stupid for me to give it to Mitch, but it was the right thing
to do at the time.” He lowered his eyes to stare down at his hands. “I thought I could take my key from him. I didnae count on Gian-Carlo taking my key for himself.”
“We can find another key for you,” I said. “The WTF is locating new keys, I mean we found Campy, and Eli, although the WTF doesn’t know about Eli’s key. There has to be more keys out there.”
“You dinnae understand. I need my key. The one handed down to me from my ancestors. The Mafusos have information which could lead them to the King’s key, but they are missing a piece of the puzzle. A veery valuable piece, one I know how to locate. Joining the Mafusos is the only way to get my key returned to me.”
Everything made sense now. The way he knew about Mitch’s travel plans, how he found me so quickly at the spa, and the information on the grandson of Gian-Carlo having the gift.
“You’re the spy.”
“Aye.”
“You’ve been feeding Jake information.”
He nodded. “It has to stop if I’m going to gain their full trust. I’ve already spoken to Agent McCoy about leaving the WTF.”
“But I can remove the key. You saw me do it when I took the Thunder key. We can take your key from them.”
He chuckled. “One day I might need to use the talent you have, but right now there’s more at stake than my key. I need to find the missing piece and destroy it before they get their dirty hands on it.”
“Where is this piece?” I asked.
“I cannae tell. Ye are already in danger jest by being here.”
“What about us? Is this the reason we are fighting?”
“The Mafusos believe we broke up. I told them our relationship was over.”
“Were you going to leave me, without so much as a word, to join the Mafusos?”
“I hoped when it was over you would still want to be with me.”
“So, I’m supposed to sit by and wait while you go galloping through time doing the bad deeds for the Mafusos?”
He looked down, and a grim line set to his mouth. “I dinnae expect you to sit around and wait for me.” He brought his gaze back to mine. The green eyes stabbed deep into my heart. “I can only hope ye will still love me when this mission is complete. No matter what happens.”
“You know the WTF will send us after you. What if you cross paths with Brodie or Ace—or me?” I huffed. “Will you hurt them? Will you hurt me?”
“Never,” He paused weighing the information. “You willnae be able to find me.”
“We will track whatever key they give you and whoever you are with—” The cold reality hit me. “You’re not going to be wearing a key or traveling with anyone, are you?”
“No.”
“Caiyan, it’s suicide. They’re going to dump you in the past the same way they left Mitch.”
“It’s the only way to gain the Mafusos’ trust.”
“That’s why you sent Marco to protect me from Mitch.”
“Aye, he was the only one the Mafusos were naugh watching. They didn’t think he was recovered from the shooting.”
He tucked a strand of loose hair behind my ear. A gesture that always made my knees weak.
“I will always protect you, even from myself.”
“Didn’t they believe you were on their side when you didn’t save me from Mitch?”
“It was a step, but there are many.”
“That’s the reason you allowed Mitch to keep the Thunder key. To gain their trust.”
“I was supposed to make certain Mitch returned with Bonnie Parker’s key. I dinnae know it belonged to Eli.”
“Did you tell them?” Panic caused my voice to escalate. What if Eli was in danger?
“No.”
“What are we going to do now?”
He took a deep breath, then released it slowly. “My parents died in a car accident when I was five. My sister and I were passed around to family members. We lived with Aunt Itty for a while, until I got my gift. Then my grandfather showed up one day. I’d only met him a few times. He took me away from Itty and my sister, showed me how a brigand makes money. A lot of money. Marco’s grandfather saved my life. I owed him a great debt, which I failed to repay. ’Tis a long story I’d rather talk about another day.”
I nodded. I knew the story included the truth about his role as my great-aunt Elma’s defender and the tension between Caiyan and Marco because of his relationship with Marco’s grandfather, Giorgio.
He rubbed his index finger across the scar on his lip. “The scar I got in a fight at school. Itty lived in Brooklyn. She moved to the States to take care of her grandson and stayed after he died in the Gulf War. I think I was about ten when my sister and I moved to New York to live with her. The school bully made fun of my accent, and I showed him a reason not to. Unfortunately, he had friends and a knife. The beatings I took on a daily basis got me expelled.” He gave a soft laugh. “I did learn how to fight, but when I got my gift, Aunt Itty knew it wouldn’t be safe for me here anymore, and she called my grandfather.”
“Did he take you back to Scotland?”
“Aye, and to many places around the world. He wasn’t a good man, but he was good to me.”
“Why do you have to join the Mafusos?”
“There are a few things I need to make right before I can ask you to be part of my life.” He pulled me in tight. “I love you. I want to marry you, one day. When I can be the man you deserve.”
“I’m not sure I’m marriage material,” I said.
Tucking a finger under my chin, he tilted my face to his. “Ye are, lass, and I hope I’m the lucky bastard that gets the privilege.”
He pressed a gentle kiss on my lips then released his arms from around me and stood.
“These things I have to do will take some time, but I’ve started making changes. There’s one in particular I’d like to show you.” He held his hand out to me. I interlocked my fingers with his and he led me to his treasure room.
The lock was gone from the door, and a crystal doorknob was in its place.
“It’s your treasure room?”
“You are my treasure.” He reached down and turned the knob, opening the door. The combination of light and glass drew my attention to the Swarovski chandelier that illuminated automatically as the door swung open.
I stepped inside a beautiful, custom-built closet. My heart took a skip at the floor to ceiling shoe racks, the niches for purses and belts. The far wall held perfectly sized glass front cabinets for dresses. A white tufted ottoman was centered under the chandelier in the room designed for a princess. The antique curio cabinet from Caiyan’s treasure room stood against the wall across from me. Painted a pearly white to match the room, the bottle of whiskey, the Squirrel, the one Caiyan was saving for his wedding night, was the only thing left of Caiyan’s treasures. I ran my hand across the top of the chest of drawers built where his table full of booty used to stand. I opened a drawer the perfect size for my VS cheeky panties.
“You gave me a drawer.” I laughed, and a tear leaked from my eye and cascaded down my cheek. He reached up and wiped it away.
“There will always be room for you in my life, no matter what happens between us.”
I nodded as I wiped away more tears that had spilled onto my cheeks.
He took me in his arms and kissed me.
I smiled up at him. The green eyes that stole my heart as a girl and penetrated my soul as a woman were asking me to give him time. Like an outdated fashion trend, our relationship wasn’t quite in style, but with a little faith and trust, we could make it timeless.
“Do ye think this will do, for now?”
“For now.”
Acknowledgments
A special thank you to The Bonnie and Clyde Ambush Museum in Gibsland, LA.
Jeff Guinn, author of Go Down Together: The True, Untold Story of Bonnie & Clyde,
And Karen Blumenthal author of Bootleg: Murder, Moonshine And the Lawless Years of Prohibition.
* * *
This is a w
ork of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, 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
Janet Leigh is a full-time chiropractor and acupuncturist. The Shoes Come First is her debut novel in the Jennifer Cloud series. She lives in Texas, where she splits her time between seeing patients and working on her next Jennifer Cloud adventure.
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