by Elle Boon
Kailani’s breath came out in a whoosh. Her heart banged against her chest...the feel of her throat tightening made perspiration bead on her forehead. The thought of what was to come, a life on the run from her family finally hitting her. Her family was bad, really bad. No, scratch that. They were below the scum of the Earth, and she had the scars, inside and out, to prove it. Fear threatened to choke her as her throat went dry. She licked her lips, trying to alleviate the dryness, coughing as she realized she couldn’t.
“Are you going to be sick?” Traeger asked. His gaze flicking to the road then back at her.
In all honesty, she couldn’t say yes or no.
His arms came around her, pulling her close, and then his lips covered hers, licking over her dry mouth, taking away all thoughts of fear, and god help her, she loved it. She wrapped her arms around his neck, forgetting everything but the intoxicating man beneath her.
Seconds or maybe minutes passed, then he was pulling back. “Shit, we can’t do this here.” He gently lifted her off him, but not before she felt the hardness beneath her hips.
The vehicle behind them had its lights on bright. Embarrassment nearly had her fumbling onto the floorboard, but then she reminded herself it was Traeger who’d kissed her. She didn’t want to think of how she’d responded. “Why’d you kiss me?” she asked.
“Buckle up, babe,” he said instead of answering her question.
Kailani wanted to press him for answers, but the revving of the SUV followed by a flashing of headlights stalled any further conversation. She hastily pulled her belt on, fumbling to get it into place. “You realize you’re bossy right?”
Traeger flashed her a grin, his white teeth gleaming in the dark interior. “You ain’t seen nothing yet.”
Why his words had her excited when other men repulsed her, she wasn’t sure, but since she knew her time was probably numbered in days instead of years, she was going to grab what she could with both hands. “Bring it on, big guy.”
Neither said anything else while he pulled her Jeep onto the road. She’d noticed they’d ran a device all around it and her backpack, clearly searching for a tracker. Not once had she thought about her family knowing about her little out she’d been planning it for over a year.
Nerves tightened the muscles in her stomach. She kept looking in the side mirror while he drove, something she noticed he did too. “Are we being followed?”
“Nope, we’re good. Did you have a destination in mind?” Traeger signaled toward the next exit.
Kailani tensed, wondering where they were going. She’d thought for sure they’d at least go as far as Los Angeles, which would’ve been a three and a half hour drive from her home in San Diego. Fear settled in her stomach. Had she jumped from the frying pan into the fire? Were these men actually working with her brother? Had Rico set this up, and was he now waiting for her at some undisclosed location? Madre de dios, she knew what he did to his enemies, what he did to women he considered traitors. “Are you part of my brother’s network?” The question felt like sawdust in her mouth. It took her two tries to get the words to come out of her parched throat. She fumbled as she struggled to get the backpack open, wondering if she could actually use the mace she’d kept inside on the man sitting next to her.
“What?” he asked, glancing at her sideways. “You think I’d work for a sick fuck like him? The answer is hell no. And before you think to use anything in that big ass bag of yours, know that I’ve been through more training on how to withstand pain than anything you can throw at me, so don’t even think of it,” he warned.
She sat back, pulling her bag onto her lap. “How did you know?”
He tipped his chin toward her then looked back at the dark road. “You’ve very expressive eyes.”
She turned to see that the vehicle that had been following them, the SUV carrying the young girl she’d rescued, hadn’t taken the same exit. “Where are you taking me?”
Traeger’s fingers tapped the wheel. “A friend of mine owns a place along the beach in Santa Maria. I figure we can lay low there a couple days, then we’ll rendezvous with my brothers. By then, King will have more information for us.”
From the tone of his voice, he didn’t seem to like babysitting her. “You know, you could just let me go, and I’ll take care of myself.”
“Princess, you’ll be dead within twelve hours if I left you to your own devices,” he growled.
His words and choice of nickname had her anger flashing. “First of all, don’t call me that. Second, I got me and that girl Tiana out from under my brother and his men’s noses, did I not?”
“You sure did. However, are you forgetting they were swarming the property before you and her ever got into your sporty little convertible? Had we not shown up when we did, and my brother Keys hadn’t done his thing with the security, they’d have known you two had shimmied out the window two seconds after you did it. Your brother and his men would’ve been waiting for you both at the bottom of your window.” He finished speaking without looking at her.
“Bullshit! Maybe it was you guys showing up that alerted Rico to our leaving.” She gritted out, sitting back with a huff, crossing her arms over her chest. In all honestly, she didn’t know which of them were right but wanting to think it was he and his brothers, or whatever they were, who’d alerted Rico. She’d known their movements, had known what she could and couldn’t do to get in and out without detection. Heck, she’d done it countless times, which she couldn’t help but point out to the big man sitting next to her.
When the silence stretched, she turned to stare out the window, watching the stars above her.
“Alright, I’ll concede it could’ve been us who tipped him off, but Keys is usually too good to do that,” Traeger said, breaking into the silence.
Chapter Six
Traeger hated to see the defeat and yes, anger written all over Kailani’s face. What he wanted to see was the same heat he’d glimpsed on her face when he’d pulled her across the console of her Jeep. He’d been shocked to see the ride she’d procured hadn’t been another flashy sports car. Of course, he like all the other MC members preferred a two wheel ride beneath them, but if push came to shove, he’d take a jacked up four wheel drive like her Jeep, or big old pickup truck over some expensive car any day.
He looked over at her again, watching as her hands kneaded the leather of the pack she held. Not once had she released the damn bag, making him wonder exactly what it held. His guess, a fuckton of money or jewels, something she could sell for cash quickly. “We’re almost here. I’m going to have you duck your head in case there are any camera’s your brother might be able to pull up on surveillance videos,” he instructed, his tone gruff.
When she complied without argument, he wondered how many times she’d had to do as she’d been told and wanted to turn around and kill every motherfucker who’d touched her. Rage so fierce pulsed through him it took all his discipline to keep from doing just that.
He drove up to the gates, punched in the code he knew by heart and waited for it to open. Once it did, he kept one hand on the wheel, the other on the console separating the two seats. “Stay down just in case one of the neighbors has cameras. I’ll pull into the garage.” It didn’t take long for him to reach the end of the drive where his friend Cosmo’s beach house stood. They’d been in the military together, only his friend was rich as shit and not quite as damaged as Traeger. However the other man still liked Traeger and told him he could use the place anytime he wanted. Luckily, he wasn’t on the West coast at the moment.
Traeger hopped out of the vehicle, punching in the code to the garage door, inside he made sure it was safe, turning off the alarm that Cosmo always kept on. He hit the button for the door to open then went back to the Jeep, finding Kailani still on the floorboard brought out a side of him he didn’t want to delve too far into, but he wanted to stride over to the passenger side and scoop her into his arms and promise her...the world. Shit, he needed to get his head o
n straight. Instead of doing something monumentally stupid like that, he got back under the wheel and drove forward.
“All’s clear inside. You can get up now.” He didn’t wait to see that she complied, getting out and shutting the door with a quick press of the button. If he was going to keep this strictly business instead of strictly dickly, he needed to put some distance between them.
“How long are we staying here?” she asked, walking around from behind the Jeep, her eyes darting around the pristine garage. “Wow, I’ve never seen so many surfboards.”
Traeger’s lips tilted up in a grin. “Cosmo likes the waves as do his parents. Come on, let’s get settled.” If King and the others worked fast enough maybe they’d eliminate the threat to Tiana, and he could get back to his life quickly. Yeah, and maybe he’d shit rainbows, but he didn’t let his doubts show as he guided Kailani into the back door. Another alarm beeped, making him smile. Cosmo may be a lot of things, but lackadaisical in his security wasn’t one of them.
“Your friend...does he know we’re here?” Kailani asked, not moving away from his side.
He pushed in the six digit code then ushered her further into the little bungalow. “Yeah, I told him I needed a little vaca.” Traeger didn’t go into the specifics with her on what he’d told his old military buddy. No reason to alarm her, but when Cosmo had heard he was bringing a woman with him, he’d assumed Traeger was romantically involved. That assumption was better than the truth, which was he’d all but kidnapped the woman for her own protection.
Traeger let out a sigh, his eyes ran over Kailani’s slender frame. “Do you need to use the little girls’ room, or whatever?” Real smooth, Trigger, he thought but was a pro at keeping his expression blank.
“Um, yes please.” She shrugged the pack onto her shoulder, looking anywhere except at him.
“Sugar, you know you have zero chance of escaping me, right? Not that I’m holding you hostage, but that I’m your only chance of staying alive at the moment.” He made sure his voice wasn’t as gritty as normal, speaking as if he was speaking to an injured animal or child, both of which she resembled. Not in appearance, but deep within her soul.
“Of course you are,” she agreed. With her back straight, she went in the direction he’d indicated, taking her pride with her.
Traeger wiped a hand down his face, then checked his phone to see if Keys had sent him an update. “Shit, at this rate we’ll be here forever,” he groused.
“You can always leave. I promise not to break anything.”
Kailani’s words had him turning, his gun in his hand and pointed straight at her head before he’d even realized he’d pulled it. “Fuck,” he growled. “Don’t do that.” He lowered his arm, hating the blank look in her eyes. It was as if she was used to guns being pointed at her. Hell, in her world she probably was. “I don’t mind being here with you, I just hate not being in the know,” he tried to explain. “Are you hungry?” Traeger didn’t break eye contact with the woman who had him off his game. Everything about the alluring woman had him feeling a little off par.
“I’m not really hungry but I could use a drink.”
He quirked a brow at her request, his own throat parched and needing something other than a bottle of water to quench it. In the fridge he found a six pack of Corona. “You want a beer or something stronger?” His friend had a pretty good stock of hard liquor in the living room, but he didn’t think it was a good idea to get shitfaced while on babysitting duty. Kailani on the other hand could drink as much as she wanted, Traeger could take care of the both of them.
“I’ll have whatever you are.” Her voice nearly cracked until she turned away, walking into the living room.
Traeger let her go, giving her some space to gather her armor around her. Hell, he wasn’t Oprah or Dr. Phil. He didn’t do feelings and shit. If she needed him to fuck her better, he was all for that. Or if she needed him to kill someone, he was the man for the job, but feelings? Not his specialty. He pulled his phone out one last time, hoping like hell Keys had an update but seeing nothing he pocketed the little technical piece of shit. Grabbing the two bottles of Corona, he walked into the living room, finding Kailani staring out the huge bay window.
“This is a great view,” she whispered.
He noticed she had her arms wrapped around herself with the damn bag at her feet.
“Yeah, I think it’s why he bought the place. That and it’s got a pretty good security system and the gated community.”
She looked at him over her shoulder. “If someone wanted to kill him badly enough they could come right in off the water or beach. Not a really good defensive place,” she said. Her hand reached for one of the bottles.
“Sorry, no fruit,” he motioned toward the top where there’d usually be a lime.
“Its fine, I’m not a huge fan of it in my drinks unless I’m shooting tequila, and only if it’s shit tequila.” She tipped her head back, taking a long pull on the drink.
Traeger had to look away or feared he’d get envious of the end of a bottle. He took a swig of his own drink, wishing for something a little harder, or even a damn real beer. “You want to go outside and relax?”
Why the hell he was acting like this was some vacation and they were a couple he had zero idea, but once the words were out of his mouth, he found he actually wanted to do just that.
Kailani took another long pull from her beer, then placed the empty bottle on the table. “It’s late. I think I’d like to call it a night. What’s on the agenda for tomorrow?”
He sat his mostly full drink down and motioned for her to follow him, speaking over his shoulder. “We chill here until King gives me the all clear. If you need something, I’ll get it, or have one of the brothers get it for us.”
KAILANI HATED THE IDEA of being stuck in a house without a plan, a house she didn’t own, didn’t know who did, with a man who would rather be anywhere but with her. She consoled herself with the knowledge that her brother would be closing up their San Diego house since they’d been found by people he didn’t know. Once he found a hole, he’d climb out and try to destroy all those he felt were involved, starting with her. Only she wouldn’t be so easy to find, she’d made sure of that.
Bending, she picked up the bag that held all she needed. Oh, it didn’t hold millions of dollars, or gold and jewelry like the man in front of her probably thought. No, it held identification and access to her new life. Bank accounts that held enough money she could go anywhere, become anyone she wanted. All she had to do, was get away from the long reach of the Trevino family, and now, whoever Traeger worked for. Like the docile little lamb they thought her to be, she followed him to a guest room.
He flicked the light on but didn’t enter the space. “This is your room for the next few nights. I’ll be right next door if you need anything.” He lifted his chin, indicating the door to the left of them.
“I’ll be fine. If I need a drink I’ll grab a bottle from the fridge. I’m pretty sure as soon as my head hits the pillow I’ll be out like a light.” Kailani walked further into the room, noticing the nice touches the owner had put into it. The big king sized bed along with the two chairs and table spoke volumes for how they thought of their guests, unless this was the master suite. “Is this the main bedroom?”
Traeger chuckled. “Nah, Cosmo made sure every bedroom had big beds and a seating area that way his guests could chill without chilling with him if they wanted. He’s a good host. I’ll see you in the morning.” Traeger lifted his hand and brushed it over her head. “Like I said before, I’ll keep you safe.”
She stepped away from his touch. “Don’t make promises you can’t keep.” His warmth was too tempting, making her wish she could lean into him and accept the comfort he offered. Only thinking like that was dangerous. She knew better than anyone what leaning on a man, especially one who seemed honorable could do. It could get him dead, real quick.
“I don’t make promises I can’t keep, sugar. Sleep tight.” He
turned and walked out the door, shutting it behind him.
She wanted to mutter the words back at him. “Yeah, well you never ran up against monsters like my father and brother before,” she whispered.
Before she could breakdown, she went into the bathroom and washed her face. On the counter she found a basket full of all the things you’d find at a hotel, including a new toothbrush and toothpaste and all the things she’d need to shower and feel refreshed. She looked back at the huge bed, then at the shower. Finally, needing to be clean before climbing into the fluffy white bedding, she quickly shed her clothes, then stepped into the huge tile enclosure. The water came on, freezing cold, shocking her like she knew it would. It was something she’d learned to do and live with. Her dad had taken away hot water as a form of punishment years ago, making her earn it back. She’d promised herself she’d learn to live without it before she’d succumb to his demands again. Of course, he’d then switched to scalding hot water, which took her a little longer to get used to, but she’d done it. Her body she’d found could handle just about any abuse they gave.
Once she was finished washing up, she didn’t linger, that too was something she’d learned never to do. You never knew who would come in and what they’d demand of you. Drying off quickly, she actually sighed at the softness of the towel, having gotten used to the rough fabric they’d allowed her to have. She may have looked like the princess, but she was treated more like Cinderella the whore to be loaned out, bartered out, or flat out given to if the price or need was right.
With the towel wrapped around her, she padded back into the room and locked the door then placed the chair from under the desk in front of it. Sure, she was aware if Traeger wanted he could kick the door in, or he probably had a key, but at least she’d be forewarned. Inside the closet she found some white T-shirts and men’s sweats. They were way too big for her, but better than being naked and vulnerable, just in case. “One day I won’t have any just in case scenarios,” she promised herself, using the towel to dry her hair a little, then placed it in the laundry hamper marked towels. Whoever lived there was a neat freak, and a helper, that was for sure.