“Once we’ve found Silva, hopefully eliminating him,” Logan said happily, finishing his coffee before placing the mug in the dishwasher.
She turned to glare at him. “I told you I don’t want that. Enough people’s lives have already been taken or destroyed.”
Logan shrugged. “And I’ve already told you about the twin connection. It’s the reason I know Ernesto is never going to stop looking for you. I mean, in forever,” he added firmly.
She winced. “Eduardo betrayed Ernesto by organizing my kidnapping without informing him what he’d done.”
“Doesn’t matter,” Logan stated. “Ernesto lost everything eight years ago. His twin. His marriage. Custody of his children. Even the control of his illegal empire passed on to someone new—you had to know we would do our homework, Hailey,” he chided when she looked surprised. “Apparently, Ernesto found himself some big hairy boyfriend to protect him while he was in prison, and he had to leave him behind too when he was released. The only things waiting for Ernesto on the outside were the money he had already accumulated and hidden away, from his illegal businesses. And revenge. Against you.”
Hailey sat down abruptly on one of the stools at the breakfast bar, feeling lightheaded as all the blood drained from her head to pool in her feet. “You really should just let me leave— Ow!” she cried out as Haydn wrapped a hand about her throat, partially restricting her breathing as he tilted her head up.
He thrust his face in close to hers, his gaze fierce. “If you say that just one more time I’m going to put you over my knee and spank your arse again.”
“Again…?” Logan prompted with lascivious interest.
“Shut up,” Hailey and Haydn both turned and said to him at the same time.
Her eyes narrowed on Haydn. “You ever try to spank me—again,” she said for Logan’s benefit. “And I’m likely to retaliate in kind.”
“Ooh, this is so much kinkier than the pet angle,” Logan said with relish. “Haydn, you might enjoy—”
“Shut. Up,” Hailey and Haydn hissed again.
Logan gave a shrug as he crossed his arms in front of his chest. “Just forget I’m here.”
It was so ridiculous to think either of them could ever do that, that Hailey gave a snort of laughter. “You’re truly unforgettable, Logan.”
He gave a grin. “That’s what August says.”
Haydn slowly released Hailey before straightening. He was too afraid of what he might do if he continued to touch the softness of her skin. Even with Logan present.
He gave his brother a mocking glance. “I doubt she means it in the same way Hailey does.”
Logan gave an unconcerned shrug. “I never agreed with Mama when she said it really wasn’t a good idea for any of us to think some attention is better than no attention.”
“Which is probably why you were always the one being put on the naughty chair in the corner.” Haydn smiled at the memory. “He wasn’t allowed to speak either,” he confided to Hailey. “Trial and error proved that spanking his arse didn’t work, but sitting on the naughty chair and having to remain silent for half an hour almost killed him.”
“Oh, go ahead and laugh,” Logan drawled as Hailey bit her top lip to stop herself from doing exactly that. “I’ll have you know I thought of some of my best plans for causing mayhem sitting on that naughty chair.”
Haydn snorted. “And usually ended up right back there!”
“It was worth it.”
Haydn’s smile widened at the memory of the number of times Logan had ended up sitting on that naughty chair in the hallway, away from the rest of the family. It really had been painful for Logan to be shut off from conversation and touch, even for a short amount of time. “Didn’t look like it at the time.”
Logan grinned unabashedly. “Honestly, they were happy days!”
Hailey realized that the two brothers had not only deliberately changed the subject from the contentious one of her leaving, but they had succeeded in making her laugh amidst the wreck that was now her life.
Much as she appreciated what Haydn and Logan were trying to do, the problem of Ernesto Silva still remained. As did her sister’s future safety. “I still think that if Hailey Frost leaves London that Ernesto will follow.”
“Maybe,” Haydn acknowledged tersely. “But maybe not.”
“That’s very reassuring, bro.” Logan gave him a hearty slap on the back. “Maybe, maybe not,” he parroted before turning to Hailey. “I agree with Haydn, the two of you should go to the family cottage in Scotland and leave us here to deal with Silva.”
Hailey frowned warily as she looked at Haydn. “You intend staying at this cottage with me?”
He scowled. “Well, I’m hardly going to take you there and then come back to London and leave you unprotected, now am I?”
“I’m capable of protecting myself! And how the hell should I know what you intend doing when you never bother explaining anything to me?” She felt stung into snapping. Half the reason for her misery was because she really thought he had intended to drive her to Scotland and then come back to London without her.
“Now, now, children,” Logan chided.
“Shut. Up,” they both told him again.
He waggled his eyebrows. “Look on the bright side. It’s a little early in the season yet, but there’s still the possibility the two of you might get snowed in together.”
Hailey was deliberately not looking at Haydn now. Not because she didn’t want to, but because she couldn’t look at him without the possibility of revealing the pain of regret in her chest at knowing she would eventually have to leave him.
When she went into Witness Protection, they had told her not to form any ties.
No emotional involvement whatsoever.
Nothing and no one who she couldn’t leave behind at a moment’s notice.
Damn it, since taking up employment with Steele Protectors, she’d broken every one of those rules!
She felt ties to every member of the Steele family.
Affection too.
And the thought of leaving Haydn, when they’d only just begun to explore this attraction between the two of them, was slowly killing her.
“We might,” she acknowledged huskily.
Haydn’s eyes were narrowed to silver slits. “Does that answer mean you’ve stopped arguing and intend to do—”
“If the next words out of your mouth are ‘do as you’re told,’ then you really are going to be the one over my knee having you arse smacked!” she warned through gritted teeth.
“To do what’s safe,” Haydn finished in a drawl. “And I reserve judgment until later on the smacked arse suggestion. Who knows, as Logan said, I might enjoy it. You certainly did.”
Hailey felt the warmth in her cheeks as he continued to look at her challengingly through those narrowed lids. “It still doesn’t feel right to just leave Logan and your other brothers here to clean up my mess.”
“It’s what we do best,” Logan commented with relish for the idea.
Haydn nodded. “It really is.”
Logan grinned. “Atticus telephoned last night to tell us he’s coming back today, and I explained your current situation to him, Hailey. The words he said to me at the end of the call were, and I quote, ‘Tell Haydn to get Hailey the hell out of there and the rest of you be ready to go for Silva when I get back.’” He shrugged. “Pretty succinct, don’t you agree?”
Atticus, the eldest Steele brother, was pretty scary on a good day. On a bad one, he was terrifying!
“Okay.” Hailey nodded. “I’ll go to Scotland with Haydn.”
“Jesus Christ, she’s actually agreed to something without argument. I’m not sure my heart can take it.” Haydn’s stagger across the kitchen, a hand against his chest, was so exaggerated that it was obviously put on. “Admittedly, Atticus is the reason for her doing so, but I still consider it a win.” He pretended he needed to hold on to one of the kitchen cabinets to remain on his feet.
H
ailey’s nostrils flared. “Ha-ha, very funny.”
He grinned. “You do take stubbornness to a whole new level.”
“Maybe if you weren’t so damned bossy all the time, I wouldn’t need to—”
“Could you both save any more bickering until later?” Logan sounded as if he was barely containing the impatience he felt toward them. “I have work to do, and you two need to get the hell out of here if you’re going to pick up supplies and arrive at the cottage before it gets dark.”
Hailey’s jaw tensed. “You’re absolutely sure my sister is going to be safe?”
“I won’t tell Lucan you asked me that,” Logan drawled.
Because Hailey knew Lucan would take it as a personal affront if he knew she asked that question. “You’ll keep us informed as to what you’re doing?” she fretted.
“Do you intend to keep us informed as to what the two of you are doing?” Logan instantly shot back.
She sighed heavily. “I have no idea how August puts up with you.”
Logan chuckled. “It’s a strain, but she manages.” He sobered. “Stay safe, you two.” He gave Hailey a hug before turning to Haydn. “Keep your cell phone turned on at all times, just in case,” he murmured against Haydn’s ear.
“Will do,” he assured softly before stepping back.
It went against every instinct for Haydn to leave his brothers here to deal with this situation, but at the same time, his very first priority was to ensure Hailey’s safety.
Not just ensure she was safe but could perhaps live a normal life once Silva had been dealt with.
A normal life that would include Haydn, if he had anything to say about it.
Logan’s arrival so early this morning had prevented Hailey and Haydn from discussing what had happened between the two of them last night.
A few days and nights alone in Scotland would give them all the privacy they needed to do exactly that.
Chapter Ten
“You’re seriously expecting me to travel all the way to Scotland on that thing?” Hailey’s disgust could clearly be heard in her voice.
“That thing happens to be a top-of-the-range motorbike.”
“Well, your backside might be as tough as leather, but mine isn’t!” She eyed the black-and-chrome machine doubtfully.
“I can confirm that, and I’m pretty sure you know my backside isn’t made of leather either,” Haydn drawled as he handed Hailey one of the black-and-silver crash helmets he carried before swinging his leg over and straddling the powerful motorbike he kept garaged beneath his apartment building. He had already placed their bags of clothes in the panniers either side of the back wheel.
She winced. “My question still stands, do you really expecting us to travel all that way on a motorbike?”
Haydn hadn’t actually said that was what they were doing, so no, he wasn’t intending to ride his bike all the way to Scotland. But there was no reason for Hailey to know all their travel arrangements, any more than she needed to know exactly where they were going in Scotland. Haydn had always believed in the saying, the less you know the better—and the less that could be revealed to someone else.
“Just get on the back of the damned bike, Hailey,” he now instructed impatiently. “But before you do…” He reached out and grasped the front of her leather jacket to pull her face close to his. “You and I are going to do a lot more of this later.” His lips claimed hers, and two seconds later—much to his relief—Hailey returned the heat of that kiss.
Her arms moved about his shoulders, her breasts pressed against his chest. Logan’s untimely arrival this morning might have messed with any plans Haydn had to continue where he and Hailey left off last night, but he had no intention of allowing her to think that wasn’t exactly what they were going to be doing the moment they were near another bed. Luckily the cottage, big enough to house all the family, had plenty of those. In fact, he intended to make love to her on every surface in the house before they returned to London.
Hailey’s legs felt a little shaky by the time Haydn ended the kiss. So much so, she was more than happy to swing one of her legs over the back of the bike and sit on the leather seat behind him. She hoped there was going to be a lot more of those kisses once they were in Scotland.
“Helmet on, arms round my waist.” Haydn waited until she had done both those things, putting on his own helmet before turning on the engine. The distinctive growl of the engine being revved up immediately echoed around the underground car park. “We can speak to each other through the audio system in the helmets if we need to.”
Hailey had been on a motorbike before; in fact, she’d owned one of her own a couple of years ago—it had been easier to garage than a car while she was away overseas in the military—but she had never sat on the back of one before. Or had her arms about the waist of a very muscular man whose aroma of sandalwood and heady male musk invaded and drugged her senses. Or noticed the deep throb of the powerful engine between her parted thighs.
“Hang on,” Haydn cautioned as he accelerated the machine toward the exit that would take them above ground.
That acceleration instantly increased the heat of Hailey’s arousal. So much so that, with that throb between her thighs and Haydn’s musk invading her senses, there was no way she was going to make it more than a couple of miles without coming in her lace panties!
And probably again, and then again, every few miles after that.
She was going to be a puddle by the time—
“Hold on tightly!” Haydn spoke grimly to her through the communication system in their helmets.
She instinctively did as he asked but was still almost unseated when Haydn veered the bike sharply to the left as they emerged out into the light of day.
Once she’d managed to regain her balance, and keeping her arms tightly about Haydn’s waist, she turned and looked over his left shoulder to see what obstruction he had avoided hitting.
Not an obstruction but a man.
Six feet tall, with dark hair and glittering black eyes set in a swarthy and familiar face.
A man who had exactly the same face as her dead kidnapper.
The same face that had stared malevolently across a courtroom at Hailey for almost four months eight years ago.
Ernesto Silva.
“He found me…” Everything went numb at the realization. Her mind, her senses, her body. Her arms loosened about Haydn’s waist as she began to slip sideways on the leather seat.
“Do as I said and hold the fuck on! Hailey, do it, damn you!” Haydn waited only as long as it took for Hailey’s arms to once again tighten about his waist before he accelerated the bike up the last of the ramp from the garage and out into the flow of London traffic.
He glanced at one of his driving mirrors to see the man he easily recognized as being Hailey’s nemesis, Ernesto Silva. The other man was now standing on the sidewalk outside Haydn’s apartment building, feet apart, a taunting grin on his face as he stared after them.
Haydn turned his attention to maneuvering in and out of the traffic as he put a call through to Lucan. He made sure to cut off the audio link in Hailey’s helmet before speaking to his brother. “He’s here. Get Rebecca to a safe house now and alert the brothers that Silva is definitely in London. We’re continuing to our discussed destination.” He ended the call abruptly before turning off a side road.
He took several more random turns before he slowed down the bike and drove it to the side of the road and turned off the engine.
He put his boots on the ground and lowered the footrest before turning on the seat to look at Hailey. Only the round of her face was visible inside the helmet, but what Haydn could see of it was deathly pale, and her pupils were wide with shock.
Haydn had been more than a little surprised too, to actually see Ernesto Silva standing outside his apartment building. No doubt Hailey, until she’d actually seen Ernesto Silva, a native of Washington, DC, who had never left the US, had doubted he would actually have come to
London in search of her. Despite the evidence to the contrary. Until that moment, it must have all seemed like part of the nightmare her life had become eight years ago.
Haydn gently undid the clasp of her helmet before removing it along with his own and hanging them on the handlebars. “Come here.” He could feel how badly Hailey was trembling as she all but fell into his arms.
She continued to shake. “Did he follow us?”
“No,” he assured. “You’re safe, Hailey.” He rested his cheek against the top of her head. “I intend to make sure he never gets any nearer to you than he did just now.”
Hailey believed him. She really did. But seeing Ernesto again, and the hate glittering in his eyes as he stared so coldly at her, had shaken her to her core. To the extent she had almost slipped off the motorbike.
Ernesto would have enjoyed that, she realized dully. He would no doubt have found great pleasure in seeing her fall hard onto the concrete and seriously injure herself.
Which was more than enough reason not to give him that satisfaction.
She pulled out of Haydn’s arms, her gaze meeting his as she stiffened her spine. “I’m okay now,” she reassured him. “But Lucan needs to know—”
“I’ve already called him,” Haydn soothed. “He’s getting Becca out of London to a safe house.”
She breathed out shakily. “Then we need to keep going.”
Haydn gave her one last searching glance before handing back her helmet. He nodded with satisfaction when he saw the determination in Hailey’s eyes once she had replaced the helmet and settled herself on the leather seat with her arms tightly about his waist for balance. She’d been understandably shaken by the encounter with Silva, but Haydn could see she was now fully back in control.
He was less sure of his own control with the front of Hailey’s curvaceous body pressed against his back. He could actually feel the heat between her thighs pressing against the base of his spine.
He occupied his thoughts with ideas for slowly and pleasurably destroying the control of both of them once they’d safely reached the family cottage in Scotland.
Haydn (Steele Protectors 5) Page 8