Their gazes held until Calista lowered her eyes, breaking their connection. “I knew you were dangerous from the very first. I moved back with my grandfather because I felt safe there, loved. I needed that to recover after my best friend was murdered. I did not expect you to become part of that comfort zone.”
“Everything you feel is all over your face, Calista. You were in pain, and I don’t know why, but I wanted you to smile again.”
“Hanna Tu was my roommate, my best friend in the world. But you know all that, don’t you? That’s why you came into the diner that first day. It was to meet me and see if I could be a threat to your sister-in-law, Sarah Tu, and your family.”
“That isn’t what happened.”
Clearing her throat, she faced Adam. “That’s exactly what happened, but it blew up in both our faces, didn’t it? When Jared walked out of his home, and then I met Jennie, everything just clicked. You knew everything about me before you walked through the door at Pete’s, and when you kept coming back day after day, I assumed you… hell it doesn’t matter anymore. So much has happened since then. It all proves one thing. You break through your problems, risking everything for the people you love. I, on the other hand, sink back into the familiar, hiding behind my grandfather’s apron, my music, afraid to fight back.”
“Shit! Calista. Don’t do this.” He cupped her face in his hands. “I walked into Pete’s because I hadn’t eaten all day and was starving. I wasn’t investigating you.”
“And I don’t believe in coincidences.”
A small smile appeared at the corner of his lips. “Neither do I, but there has been some strange shit going on. Annija talking to Anna, the whole telepathic thing between me and Anna…”
“You think Annija brought you to the diner?”
Adam shrugged. “Crazy stuff like this doesn’t happen in my world. Maybe I’ve taken a step into the rabbit hole. The idea doesn’t sound so crazy anymore.”
She took a step away from him. Her voice was so faint, Adam almost missed what she said.
“I just wish I had been strong enough to fight this damn pull we have between us now.”
“I never meant to do that to you.”
“What happened last night meant everything to me. For me to allow someone to get that close, that intimate, there has to be… I have to be… damn it, I’m in love with you.” She raked a shaky hand through her hair then penned him with a glare. “I’m sure you never meant that to happen either.”
Adam dropped down on the edge of the bed. No, he sure as hell didn’t want to hurt another woman like he hurt Rina. He would go to his grave with that on his soul. But he didn’t want to be that man anymore, either. Adam’s future passed before his eyes during Emil’s psychotic episode. Unless he stopped the pattern of malice in his life, he would destroy what Annija sacrificed everything for, and become the one thing she feared: a carbon copy of Emil and Ludis.
Before he could reply, Calista pitched a pillow at his face. The second one hit him between his eyes, and the third slammed into the side of his head. By the time she was done, all six pillows on the bed were either surrounding him or on the floor, while tears streamed down her face.
“From the moment I stepped into the scene in Rina’s living room, there was part of you I knew I would never touch, but I allowed myself to fall hard anyway. And as much as I hate the violence in your life you wear like a damn coat, I would have found a way to deal with it because you are worth it.”
He stood and took a step toward Calista.
She brought her hands up as if to ward off a blow.
“Stop. Don’t touch me. You lost that right with death wish number two.” She moved out of reach until her back was against the door.
Adam reached for her and pulled her against him. He held her close until she stopped struggling. “You think this is what I want, Calista? Do you for a second think I don’t want to be there beside you, in your arms, in your bed, buried so deep inside you we are one?” He wanted to shake her, but instead he laced his fingers around the back of her neck.
“If you were in my shoes, what would you do? We are talking about your life. They will kill you and Anna. I have to stop that from happening.”
Calista leaned her head against his chest and whispered, “If you don’t come back, I’ll know you sacrificed yourself for me. How am I supposed to get over that, Adam?”
The dam broke and Calista sobbed into his shirt. Seeing the cuts and bruises on her skin was horrible, but nothing in his life had prepared him for what her heartbreaking tears did to him. “Please…God, don’t do this.”
“There has to be another way.” She grabbed his collar and yanked hard. Taking control, she lifted her head. “Annija went to great extremes to keep you safe from her brother. Whether you believe it or not, Anna knows her. Maybe she knew this day would come and planned for it by―”
“Son of a bitch!”
Adam slammed the palm of his hand into the door so hard that it made Calista jump. “What the hell, Adam?”
“Say that again.”
“What?”
“It’s okay, I got it, and you’re brilliant.”
He snatched the car keys off the dresser, lifted Calista away from the door, and opened it. She began to follow him, but he stopped her. “I’ll be right back.”
He charged toward his car and unlocked the passenger side front door. He reached over the front seat and picked up the small album. Back inside the room, he drew out his pocketknife and dropped onto the foot of the bed. After flipping through the pages, he drew the blade out of the knife and scraped back the white cardstock in the front cover, until the edges of the glued leather covering were exposed.
“Adam, what are you doing?”
“Finding another way out of this mess.” He drew Calista next to him and kissed her hard.
“We both have been through the album.” She ran her hand over the cover. “If there was something hidden, we would have felt it. There isn’t anything there.”
“The last time I saw this album, it was on the dining room table. My mom used that as her craft center. Ludis would have given the clutter only a momentary glance. But Annija…”
“Annija what?”
“She would have noticed what my mother was working on.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Annija would have noticed the album and understood its importance to me.” A smile spread across his face. “Hiding something in plain sight is the oldest trick in the book.”
The leather cover came away easily. Under the cover was a quarter-inch piece of cardboard glued to a thicker square. Adam held his hand steady as he ran his knife along the edge. He lifted the sheet and his heart dropped to his stomach. Using the tip of the knife, he raised the cover off a meticulously carved rectangle, approximately three inches by five inches in diameter, embedded into the cardboard. A thin, white plastic disk sat in the center.
Adam lifted it out, and placing an arm around Calista, he brought his lips to hers. Before his brain became fried by the amazing woman in his arms, he broke the kiss and said, “How about we see what is so damn important on this disk that would drive a man to murder?”
Twenty-One
The sun dipped beneath the horizon, leaving behind black streaks across the starless sky. Breathing in the salty sea air, Calista fortified herself with an inner strength she never tapped into before and strolled to the wall of the patio overlooking the ocean. She peered out at the dark water. Thick storm clouds spread across the moon as the white-capped waves pounded the shore. A storm was rolling in, making the air sticky, which only added to the overwhelming gloom that settled deep into every crevasse of Calista’s heart.
With the disk in hand, shouldn’t she feel elated? Adam had what he needed to keep his family safe. The nightmare should be over.
Except for the random concern for her welfare, any tenderness in him dissolved the moment he discovered the disk in the album cover. He raised another thick wall a
round himself, growing quiet during the drive to his home outside of Los Angeles. Calista didn’t even try to breach it. Not that Adam gave her a chance.
She shifted, and watched Adam pace across the living room, talking to one of his brothers. Jared, Noah, she couldn’t tell them apart. They were in the air within an hour of Adam’s call and arrived a half hour ago. All three men were in there planning her life, trying to find a place she would be safe while they met with Ludis.
Even with a storm on its way, the air on the patio was much easier to breathe than the air inside. Why did they return to the beach house? It was as if Adam was double-dog daring Ludis to come get him. If he was setting a trap, where was his police backup? His brothers were cops. Why not call in LAPD, FBI, swat team…everyone? How were three brothers going to survive against Ludis and his army of merciless goons?
Calista offered up a prayer to Rina. Annija was with Anna. Adam said no one knew him like the mother of his child. Calista could sure use a few of Rina’s words of wisdom right about now.
She loved Adam, the whole man, not just select parts of him. And he was in love with her, too. That’s what hurt so badly. There was no guarantee, as long as Ludis walked free, that her fate would not mirror Rina’s. If Rina had any insight, this was the time to speak up. How was she supposed to fight for Anna and Adam?
Arms circled her waist and she was drawn back against Adam’s firm chest.
“I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“Shutting you out. It’s how my mind works.”
She closed her eyes and took him into her, his warmth, how well she fit, and knowing in her heart he was breaking his pattern for her.
“Calista, this is what I have to do and it will work.”
Calista swallowed a lump in her throat. “What do you need me to do? How can I help?”
“This isn’t your battle.” He gently turned her so they were face-to-face. “I don’t want you anywhere near Ludis.” He drew her close to him and cupped his hands behind her neck. His eyes glistened as he tried to smile. He brushed his lips over her forehead. “Last night, you promised you would go wherever I asked. Remember?”
She nodded.
His arms dropped, circling her waist. He cradled her against him as his fingers played with the curls at her shoulders. With his lips close to her ear, he whispered, “Don’t fight me this time. I can’t be the man you know right now. I have to focus on ending this nightmare, and that requires me to be someone I don’t want you to ever meet.”
“I already know that man, Adam. I don’t departmentalize the man I love. You will always be the same man I met in the diner months ago.” She wrapped both arms around his shoulders, linking her fingers together. “I’ll leave, but not because I can’t stomach seeing a different side of you. I don’t want to distract you.” She tugged him tight to her chest. “But understand one thing, Adam Blake. If you so much as get an itsy-bitsy scratch, I’m going to be royally pissed. You got that?”
Adam’s stare grew intense, his irises turning a deeper shade of blue. His body shook as held his lips inches from hers for an instant, then took control. The kiss was hard and demanding, and it held such promise.
He broke away from her. “Same goes for you, sweetheart.” He lightly brushed the gauze wrapped around her arm. “Not one scratch. You keep yourself safe. We have things that need to be said to each other. I heard every word, felt them in my soul. I just couldn’t…”
“I should have never thrown that at you while I was upset―hurt.” She let out a heavy breath as she allowed herself to be drawn into the intensity of his gaze. “I meant every word. Next time, I’ll do a better job at expressing myself.” Her throat burned, but damn it, no more tears. “How in the hell am I supposed to walk away from you when all I want to do is shield you from this damn nightmare?”
“I’m the one that’s supposed to fight the monsters back.”
“When one of those monsters threatens the man I love, the fists come out. That’s how Pete raised me. You are just going to have to get used to the idea.”
Adam chuckled deeply and kissed her forehead. “I think I’m going to need a list. Dumbshit, fist-waving she-wolf. Anything else?”
Calista hugged him tightly, drawing in his scent, burning it into her memory. She took a step away. “No, I think that’s it for now.”
Jared cleared his throat in the doorway. “We got something,” he said, with a cell phone to his ear. “Ludis Vasnev just took a room at the Ritz.”
“Cocky bastard. Do you have someone on him?”
“My tech guy has hacked into the hotel cameras and the traffic cameras around the block. If he leaves, we’ll know.” He looked past Adam and met Calista’s eyes. “We need to get you out of here. Will you be ready in about five minutes?”
“Yes.”
“Jared is going to stay with me,” Adam said, nodding toward the doorway. “Noah is going to stick to you like glue.”
“But with Noah with me, that will only leave you and Jared against Ludis. That’s crazy.”
“This is what I do, Calista, and I’m damn good at it. In this situation, less is more. Trust me.”
She could only nod. There were no words to express what was going through her at that moment. With every bit of strength, she choked down her fear, and stepped out of Adam’s arms.
“Then go do what you do best. I’ll be ready whenever Noah wants to leave.”
He lifted the hair back from her neck, planting a soft kiss below her right ear. Calista waited until he was with his brothers before she allowed the tears to fall. She didn’t know how long she stood there with her eyes closed, but her mind drifted to the moments hours earlier, when she woke in Adam’s arms.
Someone stood at her side before she heard his shoes on the gravel. She turned, expecting to see Noah. Her throat closed just as she opened her mouth to scream. Ludis Vasnev stood inches from her.
Forcing her feet to move, she bumped into the corner of the patio wall. She grabbed hold of the brick base for balance. “The place is surrounded.”
“Liar, liar, pants on fire.” He clamped hold of Calista’s forearm, and pulled her over the wall as he held a wet, sweet-smelling cloth at her mouth and nose. He swung her over his shoulder like she weighed nothing and raced full out into the trees. She tried to yank out of his hold, but her arms and legs wouldn’t move. Just as they disappeared into the trees, nausea roiled in her stomach and then everything went black.
Twenty-Two
Adam stared at Calista’s back as he stood in the doorway of the study. He didn’t have to see her tears for them to rip a new hole in his heart. He wasn’t that man who rinsed and repeated the same damn mistakes. Calista worked her way under his skin like no other woman.
Squaring his shoulders, he joined his brothers at the kitchen bar. He lifted the Ikegami digital recorder out of the box that Jared had retrieved from Adam’s storage unit in Maryland. He placed the recorder on the counter, pressed the eject button, and set the disk in the chamber.
“How long have you been hanging onto the recorder?” Noah asked.
“Twelve years. I found it at an estate sale. The camera from Annija’s car was too damaged in the wreck to be repaired.”
“If you knew nothing about your mother’s life, or what led her to you the day she died, how did you know you would need the camera?”
“There was nothing in the car, no purse, no luggage… nothing except the recorder. It was important to my mother. I didn’t understand at the time just how important. Ikegami only made fifty of these. Today, it would be almost impossible to find one. It’s a technical nightmare to play the tape without it. After we see what is on this sucker, I’m turning it over to the FBI.” He faced his brothers. “Do you have a problem with that?”
The twins shared a look. Jared broke the silence. “We can deal with Ludis on your terms. That isn’t necessary. You know that, right?”
Adam shifted his feet and planted his fists in his pocket
s. “I’m tired of being someone else. Who I became… what I had to do to protect Anna, I will never apologize for, but that chapter is over. I’ll deal with the fallout of faking my own death. I need to be me again.”
“Does Calista know?”
“No. I guess I was hoping for a miracle, but I think I have been given my share of those. I have to face what’s coming and so will Calista… and Anna.”
Noah rested his hand on Adam’s shoulder. “She’s in love with you and this will hurt her.”
The last thing he wanted to do was add more heartache to Calista, but Adam had little control over his future.
His eyes searched out the patio door. The area near the wall was empty. He walked toward the door and scanned the yard. “Calista?” He waited. When she didn’t answer, he tried again. “Calista, are you there?”
He stepped out onto the patio. It was empty. He charged to the wall and scoured the hill to the beach. It was clear as well.
“Son of a bitch.” Adam spun around. “Noah, check the upstairs. Calista isn’t out here.”
Noah took the steps two at a time. The minute he searched the upstairs was hell on earth. Adam met him at the bottom step. “Well?”
“She’s not up here.”
“Son of a bitch.” Adam turned and ran into the yard at the same time as a now-familiar piercing pain shot across his forehead. Anna’s panicked voice vibrated between his ears.
“The white-haired man is hurting Calista!”
Adam bent low, trying to catch his breath, while both hands pressed his temples. Finding his balance, he rushed past Jared. He shoved his weapon into his shoulder harness.
“Adam?”
“Ludis has Calista.”
“How…”
“Anna just told me.” Adam couldn’t breathe, as images of Rina’s lifeless body flashed through his mind.
“How in the hell…”
“I don’t know.” He headed for the patio. “I’m going after them. There is no sign of anyone on the beach, so he had to grab her off the patio and head into the woods.”
In the Shadow of Malice Book 3 Page 17