by Kat Mizera
I nodded. “I agree.”
“Come on, let’s get you that muscle relaxer and run your bath. I’ll take care of everything while you’re sleeping.”
“I don’t like to sleep that soundly,” I said again, even though I followed him to his room.
“And under different circumstances, I would agree. But it was a long night and we might have a lot going on in the coming days, so don’t argue.” He turned abruptly, and his arm brushed against mine. It was a brief moment of contact but the skin he’d touched was practically on fire.
“I’m not used to anyone taking care of me,” I said in a throaty whisper.
He hesitated a fraction of a second before saying, “All of us can use someone to rely on now and again.”
“Who do you rely on?” I asked quietly.
“Mostly Erik.”
“Who did you rely on when he was in hiding?” He was standing close enough to me that I saw the uncertainty flicker in his eyes, his large body almost frozen as our gazes remained locked, an invisible force keeping us from moving.
“No one,” he admitted. “I couldn’t. It was too dangerous.”
“Wasn’t it lonely?” I wasn’t sure why I wanted to know, but I did.
“You get used to it, I think.” He paused. “At least that’s what I told myself.”
“I don’t know if you get used to it so much as become resigned to it.”
We were standing beside his dresser, the room bathed in semidarkness. I’d never been as acutely aware of the loneliness in my life until this moment, when this monster of a man beside me admitted to his own.
“People like us,” he said slowly, “often don’t have a choice. Loneliness is the cross we bear. But it makes the moments when we’re not alone that much more poignant. You know?”
Wow. Who was this thoughtful guy and what happened to the asshole version of Sandor?
Somehow, I managed to nod, wishing I had something equally insightful to add to the conversation. But he’d turned his back and was rummaging on his dresser for something. He handed me a pill out of a bottle in one of the drawers and then followed me to the guest bathroom I used. He dug around in the linen closet and pulled out a plastic bag filled with Epsom salts.
“My special blend,” he said, dumping about half a cup’s worth into the water.
When I looked up he was smiling, something I didn’t see him do very often, so I smiled back. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” He touched my arm, for another split second of contact, and then he was gone, shutting the door behind him.
I woke up at noon feeling like a new woman. Sandor’s bath and muscle relaxer recipe had been just what I needed and though my ribs were still sore, I didn’t feel nearly as bad as I had eight hours ago. I took a quick shower and dressed in my usual uniform of cargo pants, tank top and boots, attaching my ankle holster since we didn’t like to flash guns in front of the kids unless absolutely necessary.
The kitchen was busy when I walked in, with the kids at the island having lunch, Marisol cooking, and Casey sitting in a chair by the table holding Levi.
“Hey.” Casey looked up. “How are you feeling?”
“Much better, thanks.” I turned on the coffee maker, something I seemed to do a lot.
“What happened to your eye?” Leni demanded. “Did you get beat up by the bad guys last night?”
“Actually, she did the beating up,” Casey said gently. “He just got in one lucky punch.”
Leni high-fived me. “You rock. Thanks, Lennox.”
“You’re welcome.” I smiled at her. She was precocious as hell, but she cracked me up.
“Will you teach me karate?” she asked.
“I’m a black belt in jujitsu,” I explained, “which is a little different. But any time you’d like to learn some self-defense, I’m happy to teach you.”
“We could all use some self-defense classes,” Sasha said. “Personally, I’d like to be able to defend myself.”
“We can arrange that,” Casey said, looking at me. “Would you be willing, Lennox?”
“Absolutely. I’ll talk with Sandor about my duty schedule.”
“What about it?” Sandor came in smiling at everyone.
I told him about the girls wanting to learn self-defense and he nodded. “Absolutely. Whenever everyone is ready to start.”
“Would you teach me, Uncle Loco?” Luke asked, looking at him. “I don’t want to train with the girls.”
“Why not?” Sandor turned toward him and leaned against the counter. “Lennox is an extremely skilled bodyguard and her credentials are actually more impressive than mine. I’m bigger than she is, but she took me down at the gym a couple of weeks ago, and if we had actually been fighting, instead of training, she would have knocked me out.”
Luke’s eyes rounded and he stared at me with surprise. “Oh, wow. That’s kind of cool… I guess I could train with her too. I mean, I just want to learn to protect myself now that I’m part of the royal family and all that.”
“Of course.” Sandor ruffled his hair. “We can arrange something.”
It warmed me in ways I didn’t want to think about to hear praise from Sandor, and I dug around in the refrigerator looking for some fruit. After last night’s incident, I didn’t feel like a protein bar. Once in a while, I needed real food, and an omelet with fruit on the side sounded good.
“What can I make you?” Marisol asked me.
“I feel like an omelet,” I told her. “But I can do it.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. One of your eyes is practically swollen shut. You sit and let me cook. Bacon and tomatoes sound good?” She already knew me well.
“Yes, thank you.”
“How are you feeling?” Sandor asked me.
“Much better. You were right about the hot bath and the muscle relaxer.”
“I’m glad.” He left the room and I couldn’t help but allow my gaze to follow him, taking in the broad shoulders that tapered down to a small waist and an incredible ass. Damn, he was hot and I was in heat. What was that about?
I tore my eyes away and looked up to see Casey watching me, a small smile playing on her lips. Thank god I had a black eye that hopefully covered the fact that I turned bright red. Then Marisol put a plate in front of me and I dug in.
“He’s nice to look at, isn’t he?” Casey murmured in my ear as she brushed past me.
I nearly choked.
“O. M. G.” Sasha was staring at something on her phone. “Mom!”
“What is it?” Casey rushed to her side.
“I was voted in as this year’s belle of the ball.” Her eyes were wide. “Holy shit.”
“That’s awesome!” Jessie said, looking up, her eyes twinkling.
“Wow.” Casey smiled at her oldest child. “That’s really exciting. Are you going to do it?”
Sasha bit her lip. “Should I?”
“I’m sorry,” I interrupted. “What are we talking about?”
“My ex-husband owns the Charleston Hotel and Casino,” Casey explained. “Every year they do a big charity ball, raising money for cancer and other children’s charities, and they choose a belle of the ball, who’s kind of like the main attraction. It’s someone single and either a celebrity or royalty or something like that. It usually costs about ten grand per dance to dance with the belle, so it’s a huge honor. And I totally think you should do it. Especially since you haven’t gotten back on the dating horse again since Anton.”
“It’s kind of scary,” Sasha admitted, “but fun too. I think I will. I’m going to call Dad.” She grinned at us and dialed a number as she left the room. Sasha had been adopted when Casey was married to Nick Kingsley, who owned the Charleston. I’d had to read the background on the family several times to wrap my head around it all, but I was glad I had because everyone in the family was close, including exes.
“This is going to be a huge deal for her,” Marisol said, smiling. “I hope she meets someone wonderful, becau
se she still thinks about Anton far too much.”
“Who’s Anton?” I asked. There hadn’t been anything about him in my notes.
“Her ex,” Casey said. “He’s the son of one of the Sidewinders, Anatoli Petrov. They were hot and heavy last year and then things went south. It’s kind of complicated, but my gut tells me those two will see each other again.”
“Love is wasted on the young,” I said ruefully.
“Sometimes.” Casey gave me a knowing smile. “But other times you just know. I was twenty-two when Erik and I got together, but I’d had a crush on him for years. Love is a mysterious thing.”
I focused on my food, deciding not to comment. I couldn’t imagine being with anyone I’d dated in my late teens or early twenties. Hell, I couldn’t imagine being with anyone I’d ever dated. The nice guys had been boring and/or terrible in bed; the rest were just jerks.
The wistful, romantic part of me that rarely surfaced gave me a nudge, and I smiled at the thought of being with Sandor. He wouldn’t be a jerk. I knew that as sure as I was breathing. He might not be the relationship type, but if he was in one, he would be one of the good ones. Too bad neither of us was in the market for something like that.
13
Sandor
The kids started back to school in mid-August, and it was time for the rest of us to move back to Limaj. Erik had been dealing with the aftermath of the bombing of Parliament House from here, but he had to be back on Limaji soil, interacting with the people and settling the nerves of the politicians. The building had been razed and there were plans in place to build something entirely new, but in the meantime, the government didn’t have an official meeting place and Erik had to take care of that relatively soon.
He was torn because of his family, and while that made sense, there were people counting on him. I was torn too, because going back to Limaj meant more death threats, heightened security, and being away from the kids. With no schooling options in Limaj, Luke was going to live with Nick and Skye, with Chains overseeing security, and the twins and Leni were going to Monte Carlo to live with Jayson and Liz. Liz had been CIA up until this year, so we weren’t worried about their safety, and at least they’d be a lot closer than Las Vegas. Sasha was staying here, getting ready for her junior year of college, and Sylvia, Marisol and her husband were going to Limaj with us, to care for Levi and help everyone settle in at the palace. There was a lot going on that had nothing to do with ruling the country, and it was going to be busy.
I was immersed in email when Lennox came in.
“Hey.” She sat down across from me.
“Hi.” I looked up curiously.
“The family wants to go for ice cream… What’s the protocol for that?”
“We send out the SUV with one of us driving and no one else in it, and then we use one of the Westfield vehicles to actually go. I assume we’re leaving the baby home?”
She nodded.
“And everyone is going?”
“Erik, Casey, Luke, Leni and the twins. Sasha’s not interested.”
“All right.” I got to my feet. “I’ll call Joe or Chains to bring one of the Westfield trucks, send Logan out with the SUV about five minutes before the rest of us leave, and then we’ll do it. No one knows we’re going out or where we’re going. I don’t foresee any issues, but I’ll drive and I’d like you to follow with one of the other cars, just in case.”
She nodded. “I’ll make sure everyone is ready. Let me know when the second vehicle arrives.”
We headed out thirty minutes later and it was interesting to watch the family dynamic in this instance. They weren’t royalty, or a blended family, or any other label—they were just two parents with their children. The twins and Leni giggled almost ceaselessly, while Luke told terrible jokes and Erik and Casey indulged them all. Once we got to the ice cream place they loved, Erik ordered and they stood in line like anyone else. Erik and Casey both had on baseball caps and dark sunglasses that hid their identities fairly well, and the kids were just…kids.
“What do you want?” Erik turned to me.
“Chocolate fudge ripple,” Luke answered for me.
I laughed and nodded. “The boy knows me.” I turned and scanned the lot for Chains, who was driving the family SUV, and Lennox, who’d taken Casey’s Corvette. Impulsively, I texted her.
Sandor: What flavor?
Lennox: I’m good.
Sandor: What. Flavor.
Lennox: You’re going to have to work me out extra hard later if I do ice cream now.
I nearly swallowed my tongue thinking about what that could mean, though I was sure she hadn’t meant it that way.
Sandor: Deal. What flavor?
Lennox: Butter pecan.
I added her order to everyone else’s and when the server brought it, I took it over to her. She rolled down the window and reached for it.
“This was unnecessary,” she said. “But thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” Our eyes locked for a minute and I momentarily forgot everything but her. She was so damn pretty it was hard not to look at her. What the hell was wrong with me? Every time I got close to her weird things happened in my boxers as well as my brain.
I walked back to the others and ate my cone with them, smiling and joking with the kids as if I was one of them. In a way, I was. They’d grown up considering me their uncle, and Erik and I were first cousins, so we were actually family. But this wasn’t my life. I didn’t have a family of my own and while I didn’t dwell on it, I’d been thinking about it lately. Maybe it was because I was in the last year of my thirties and somehow forty seemed old. It was also possible it was because Casey and Erik were together now, and I no longer had the sole purpose of keeping her alive. While I protected the entire family, I didn’t have a single focus like before.
I’d also never met someone I couldn’t stop thinking about in more than a decade, but Lennox occupied a lot more of my thoughts than I was used to and it was frustrating. Why did I always get infatuated with women I couldn’t have?
“Okay, let’s go,” Erik said to me under his breath. “I think some teenagers just recognized Casey so I don’t want to push it.”
“Absolutely.” I put the last of the cone in my mouth, wiped my hands and got to my feet. We headed back to the SUV and everyone piled in.
“Do you have ice cream in Limaj?” Joss asked as we got on the road.
“We mostly have gelato,” I told her. “But it’s basically the same thing.”
“Cool.”
“What about pizza?” Leni asked. “’Cause we can’t move someplace that doesn’t have pizza.”
Erik laughed. “We have pizza. We also have a personal chef at the palace who can make anything we want.”
“My mother used to make homemade pizza,” I mused aloud. “It was the best. My sister, your Aunt Elen, has the recipe. When you come for the holidays, perhaps we can try to make it together.”
“That would be fun!” Leni said.
“We’re going to do Christmas in Limaj?” Jessie asked quietly.
“We’re thinking about it. Why?” Casey asked her.
“I don’t want to do Christmas there. I want to be here with our grandmas and grandpas and all our friends. I don’t want to leave Las Vegas.” And Jessie burst into tears.
With Erik and Casey dealing with Jessie’s meltdown, I went to my room to start packing. I’d keep a handful of things here, but I would be in Limaj seventy-five percent of the time going forward, and I needed a home, some place to feel settled. Erik and I had discussed living arrangements and I wanted my own suite in the king’s wing of the palace. I had to be close enough to get to him and his family in an emergency, but we all needed privacy. Luckily, the palace was big enough to provide that. He and Casey had started some renovations back in January when they’d gotten married, but contractors were hard to find in Limaj right now, so it was slow.
Their master bedroom suite and bathroom had been done, but the kids’ r
ooms were still in progress and my suite was next. We would be moving into the palace en masse right now, which meant finding comfortable quarters for myself, Joe, Lennox, Xander, Logan, and the new guy we’d just hired, Axel. Not to mention Marisol and her husband, Bill. It was going to be a full house.
“I don’t suppose you feel like working out.”
I spun around, so lost in thought I hadn’t heard Lennox come in.
“Oh, hi. Tomorrow’s going to be a long day, you sure you want to hit the gym?”
She nodded. “Yeah, I’m restless and I hate long flights, even if I’m on a private jet.”
“Give me ten and I’ll meet you at the car.”
“Great.” She ducked out and I went back to the task at hand.
I hated packing and I’d been living out of a suitcase more often than not the last year. I finished up quickly, deciding I could get anything I left behind when we returned in October for the charity ball. There was no doubt we would come for that, with Sasha as this year’s belle of the ball, so I left my tuxedo behind as well. I didn’t think I’d need one in the next two months in Limaj.
I left my large suitcase by the door in my room and quickly changed into workout clothes. I really didn’t want to work out tonight, but if Lennox needed it, I was happy to comply. We’d fallen into an easy, comfortable working relationship that bordered on friendship. We didn’t get too personal, but there was something there between us any time we were alone and I wasn’t sure what that meant. It’s not like I could ask her if she liked me. I was her boss and that would be unprofessional as fuck.
At least, that’s what I kept telling myself.
14
Lennox
The only person at the gym when we arrived was Chains, who was leaving. He handed Sandor the keys and told him to lock up.
“Since we dominate the gym ninety percent of the time,” he told us, “Joe worked out a deal for us to have a set of keys. This way, our guys can work out night or day, depending on their schedules.”
“Perfect.” Sandor put the keys in his bag. “We’ll make sure it’s locked up tight before we go.”
