Bailey, Debbie - Stephanie's Homecoming [Men of Kinsey 4] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour)

by Debbie Bailey

  “Hold on, baby, let me call Turk so he can meet us. He’ll be pissed if I don’t.” Kane quickly called Turk, and then with his arm around her shoulder, they walked over to the diner. As they walked across the street, the hairs on the back of Kane’s neck started to go up. He knew they were being watched, but the street was too quiet for them to stop so he could have a look around. He needed to get her to the diner safely and worry about whoever was watching them later.

  Once they got to the door, Kane opened it and shuffled Steph through then had a quick look around the area before following her in.

  The place was busy with the lunch rush, but they saw Turk waving in the back booth and headed in his direction, bobbing and weaving around all the other customers lined up for takeout.

  The minute they were an arm’s length away, Turk reached out and pulled Stephanie against his body for a big hug and a quick kiss.

  “Damn, I’ve missed you today, baby,” he said as he helped her into the booth. “Have you had a busy day so far?”

  Before she had a chance to answer, Kane started singing her praises.

  “You should see our girl at work, Turk. Shit, she’s amazing, she has a dozen people asking her questions, and”—he leaned forward and whispered—“some of the questions are stupid, if you ask me.” Leaning back against the booth, he looked sternly over at Steph when she kicked his shin under the table.

  “There is no such thing as a stupid question, Kane,” she said smiling at the look on his face. “Some people just lack any common sense, that’s all.”

  Kane laughed and then quickly put on phony stern look. “You will pay for that little kick under the table, angel eyes.” He smiled devilishly, wiggling his eyebrows back and forth.

  The waitress came and took their orders, and once she headed back to the kitchen, Kane asked, “What did your brother have to say?”

  Sighing heavily, Turk ran his hand down the front of his face in frustration. “He was the driver on the bike that first night.”

  “What the hell was he thinking, Turk? The other person had a knife on them.” Kane knew it wasn’t Turk’s fault, but he was just pissed at the idiocy of Brian.

  “There wasn’t supposed to be any weapon. According to Brian, that first night, it was supposed to be a purse snatch. He didn’t know about the knife until he found it on Jenny later. It was Jenny who torched the truck, too, and left his watch there. He’s got a good alibi for the time of the fire. He was at an AA meeting.” Turk looked so relieved that his brother wasn’t the one to start the fire.

  “Brian says that Jenny has completely lost touch with reality when it comes to you. She hired a private detective to track him down last year with the idea of using him to split apart our friendship. She wants you as isolated from your friends as possible it seems. When Steph showed up unexpectedly, that threw a wrench into her plan, so she had to go in a whole different direction.”

  The waitress came and placed their lunch orders on the table and then quickly headed back to serve more customers.

  “Eat up, baby, you need to keep your strength up.” Turk winked at her.

  “So, exactly what is Jenny’s plan?” Kane asked before taking a huge bite of his burger.

  “According to Bri, in Jenny’s world, you and she are a match made in heaven, and she’ll do anything or hurt anyone who stands in her way. Zach already told you about her wedding plans, well that’s just the tip of the iceberg. She’s bought a yacht in Florida to take you and her on a honeymoon cruise.”

  Kane stopped eating because he suddenly felt like he’d just been punched in the gut. How could I have missed all this?

  Stephanie reached over and covered his hand and gave him a reassuring squeeze.

  “Don’t feel bad about not seeing it, Kane. Her parents don’t even know about any of this, and they live with her.” Turk knew his friend well, and the way that Kane’s jaw tightened, and he paled, told Turk that he was blaming himself.

  “What the fuck was Brian thinking, Turk? He’s your brother. Why would he do this? I haven’t done shit to him.” Kane’s mind was racing with questions as well as recriminations.

  “Late last year, maybe about six months ago, after the detective that Jenny had hired had found him, she contacted him with some cock-and-bull story about you trying to rip me off and that I was too blind to see it. Brian’s smart enough to know that I’m a big boy and can take care of myself, but he has some nasty loan shark on his ass, and she offered him a hell of a lot of money to come and help her break up our friendship. She gave him a down payment to hold off his banker for a while and put him in an apartment in the next town and set about with a plan. Brian started to question what she had told him about you, and when he realized she had been feeding him bullshit, he told her he wanted the rest of his money and then he was leaving. She freaked when he told her if she didn’t give him the money, he’d tell you what she was doing. The next day, Stephanie arrived, and the plan took on a whole new dimension.”

  Turk stopped suddenly when he looked up at the door as it opened and Jenny and Brian walked in.

  “Fuck, I can’t believe that bitch would show her face. I think I’ll go and have a little chat with her,” Turk said.

  Stephanie tried to push Kane out of the way, but he just laughed and said, “Hold on there, spitfire, you’re not going anywhere near that crazy lady. She’s out for your blood, and I’m sure as hell not going to give her even the slightest chance of spilling any of it.”

  “Dammit, Kane. She’s a lunatic. Why don’t we just go to the cops and have Brian tell them what she’s been up to?” Steph snarled.

  “We can’t take Brian to the cops because there’s no evidence. It’s just her word against Brian’s, and she comes from a very wealthy and influential family. We’re going to have to get some hard proof that she’s trying to hurt you, or else she’ll walk.” Turk smiled and waved at his brother as if they hadn’t seen each other in a while.

  “Follow my lead, guys, and, Steph, don’t antagonize Jenny right now. Brian and I have got a plan, but I don’t have time to tell you everything, so just follow my lead.” Turk stood and greeted his brother with a big man hug. Jenny was standing right behind Brian, holding his hand.

  “Stephanie, I’d like you to meet my brother, Brian. He’s here visiting his new girlfriend for a while and thought it would be a great idea to get together, so I invited them to have dinner with us tonight at the club.” Turk gave Steph an encouraging smile as she stepped forward to shake Brian’s hand.

  “Turk’s told me quite a bit about you, Stephanie. I never thought I’d see the day that my big brother would finally find himself a good woman, but apparently both him and Kane have found her.” Brian kissed her hand before letting go and then offering it to Kane.

  “Kane, it’s great to see you again. I hope my brother hasn’t been too much of an annoyance.” Brian smiled and waited for Kane to take his hand.

  Kane grabbed it and smiled back. “It’s good to see you, Brian. I am surprised to see you with Jenny, though. Where did you two meet?”

  Jenny stepped out from behind Brian and wrapped her arms around one of Kane’s. “Now, Kane, don’t be jealous, you had your chance.” She smiled directly at Stephanie.

  Turk pulled Stephanie back against him and whispered in her ear, trying to calm her. Jenny was hell-bent on causing trouble, that was for damn sure.

  “Oh don’t worry, Jenny, Turk and I are more than happy with Stephanie. She’s always been the one for me. I just had to wait for her to realize the mistake she made all those years ago.”

  Turk smiled at Kane and said, “Yeah, there’s no comparison between these two if you ask me.” Turk turned to look at Jenny and said, “Not that you’re not somewhat pretty in a way, Jenny, but compared to Stephanie, there’s no contest.”

  * * * *

  Had her men lost their fucking minds!

  They were both poking at Jenny in her most vulnerable spot. Her looks. Stephanie could see her gett
ing angrier and angrier as the two men bantered back and forth.

  Clearing her throat, Stephanie said softly, “Why don’t we let these two go and have their lunch, boys. I need to get back to the office soon, and I haven’t had a chance to eat yet.”

  Jenny smiled and looked at the hamburger on the table. “If you keep eating like a pig, Stephanie, you’re going to get fat, and then what will Kane think of you.”

  “Oh trust me, Jenny, Stephanie needs all the calories she can get to keep up with the two of us.” Kane smiled and pulled her against him.

  “In fact, hopefully soon, she’ll be gaining lots of weight when we get her pregnant.”

  Stephanie’s eyes snapped wide open at that comment.

  “At the rate we’re going, it won’t be long. She keeps us pretty busy at night in the bedroom.” Turk slapped his friend on the back.

  Stepping forward, Jenny’s face was red with fury. “That’s if she stays around long enough. Remember what happened last time, Kane? What’s she going to do when she finds us together again?”

  Stephanie had had enough of the bullshit from this woman. Almost nose to nose with her, she said, “I’ll laugh this time, Jenny, because I’ll know that you’ve set it up just like the last time. For the last ten years, you’ve been after Kane, and even with me out of the picture he didn’t want you, so maybe you should get the hint and realize that it’s never going to happen between the two of you.”

  “Oh, it will happen, Stephanie. When Kane realizes just how good I am for him.”

  “Ah, excuse me?” Brian cut in. “Where the hell does that leave me, Jenny?”

  Stepping back from Stephanie, Jenny pulled herself together again and tried to calm Brian.

  “Oh, I’m sure you’ll find someone just as perfect for you, sugar. But in the meantime, you and I can have some fun,” she said softly.

  “You really are a crazy-assed bitch, aren’t you?” Brian shouted at Jenny.

  “I think I’m going to stay and have lunch with my brother and his woman, Jenny. I’m sure he’ll let me stay with him for the next few days until I can find an apartment around here. You need to go back to whatever crazy house you crawled out of and leave Kane the hell alone.”

  Jenny gasped and sputtered at Brian.

  “You can’t do this to me!” she screamed. “Do you know who my parents are? They are some of the most well-respected people in this town, and when they get back, my daddy will make sure that you all pay for the way you’ve treated me.”

  “Oh, no worries there, Jen.” Brian laughed. “Turk contacted your mom and dad and let them know exactly what you’ve been up to while they’ve been away, and they’re headed home as we speak.”

  “You called my parents? How dare you go behind my back like that. They won’t believe a word you say to them anyways. They’re probably coming home to make sure that I’m all right after the way Kane’s treated me over the last ten years.” Jenny stood there, hands on her hips, as if the world around her had gone crazy.

  “My daddy is going to make you all pay, you’ll see.”

  With that said, Jenny turned on her heels and stormed out of the diner, stomping her feet all the way like a five-year-old child.

  * * * *

  “What the fuck was that about?” Stephanie turned on Turk, poking him in the chest with her finger. “Do you realize what you just did? That crazy lady is really pissed off now and is going to come at me with both barrels cocked and loaded,” Stephanie yelled and then turned her attention to Brian. “You owe me a new truck, asshole.”

  “I didn’t have anything to do with that, Stephanie, I promise. When Jenny came back, I knew she’d done it, or at least, had someone else do it. That’s why I called Turk right away. I’m sorry that we have to meet like this, and I’m really sorry for believing the crap she told me about you, too, Kane. I should have known better, but she sounded so worried about Turk, and she offered a hell of a lot of money for my help.” Brian’s face paled when Kane stood up in front of him.

  “How much do you need to get these guys off your back, Brian?” he asked.

  “With what Jenny has given me already, I owe about another ten grand.”

  Stephanie felt bad for Brian. He seemed like a really sweet guy who had made a mistake borrowing money from the wrong people, but her sadness and worry turned to happiness when she heard Kane tell Brian that he and Turk would pay the guys the money, and Brian would work tending bar to pay it off.

  “Well, now that that’s all taken care of and all the excitement is over, at least for the moment, could we please sit down and eat? My fricking hamburger is cold now, thank you very much.” She frowned and sat back down in the booth.

  Stephanie picked up her lukewarm burger and took a big bite. She was so pissed off right now that if she didn’t keep her mouth filled with food, she was going to make an ass of herself and smack all three of these idiotic men upside the head and then tell them just how stupid she thought they’d been in goading Jenny. If she really admitted it to herself, she realized just how scared she was for them. Especially Kane. He was the target of Jenny’s crazy stalking, but she was just a little easier to take her rage out on.

  Jenny wasn’t going to leave them alone anytime soon, that was for sure, but at least they had a few days to figure out what they were going to do. She didn’t think that Jenny would try anything until her parents got back.

  So caught up in her thoughts, Stephanie hadn’t noticed that she’d wolfed down her burger and was just about finished with her French fries. It wasn’t until Brian’s voice broke into her thoughts.

  “Where the heck do you put it all, Stephanie?” he asked, trying not to laugh.

  “Don’t you start with me, mister, or I’m liable to introduce my foot to your ass.” Looking up, she burst out laughing at the looks on the three men’s faces. “That’s right, boys, I’m pissed. Do you want to know why?” she said rhetorically. “Well, let’s start with you, Brian. You should’ve come to your brother if you needed money. He would have helped you out. We’re family, and that’s what families do.”

  “She’s right, little brother, whatever you need, just ask,” Turk said.

  “And you…Mr. I’m Gonna Rile Up the Crazy Lady. Jenny is a fucking lunatic, and you go and dangle me in front of her.” Stephanie realized that her voice was getting loud, but at that particular moment she really didn’t give a rat’s ass. “And you actually had the balls to compare us! That’s got to be one for the books. Most men are smart enough to know that if you compare the woman you’re with to ‘the crazy person’ that it will push them farther off into never-never land.” Stephanie was on a roll, and she knew that none of the men would dare interrupt her now. “Oh, and let’s not forget the master of all that is idiotic,” she drawled, turning to look at Kane.

  “Hey now, I just went along like Turk asked.” He smiled sweetly.

  “You have got to be fricking kidding me, right? You were the one going on and on about our sex life, for Christ’s sake and how soon you’d like to get me pregnant. Did you see the look on Jenny’s face? It was murderous, and it wasn’t aimed at me this time. She was looking at you.”

  At that moment Stephanie stopped. Just stopped and said in a very quiet voice, “I need to get back to work, now. Kane, if you’re coming with me then you better get your burger to go, because I’m leaving now.”

  With a big shove, she pushed at Kane to get him to stand and then scrambled out of the booth and headed for the door without looking back.

  Chapter 10

  Quickly, Stephanie walked back to the paper. She didn’t even glance behind herself to see if Kane was following until she was inside the front foyer of the building. When she turned, she wasn’t surprised that he was coming through the doorway.

  Shayne came out from behind the front desk, took one look at the two of them, and told Stephanie she had someone waiting in her office to see her, and then she quietly headed upstairs with an angry backward glare at Kane.
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br />   “Smart boy,” Kane growled.

  “Don’t you do anything to him? He’s a great kid, Kane, and a good assistant, and I don’t want to lose him.”

  Stephanie headed up the stairs with Kane almost right on her heels, but just before they came to the door leading into the pit, Kane grabbed her and pushed her up against the wall.

  “We’ll discuss your behavior when we get home, angel eyes, but let me tell you that I’ve never been so fucking turned on in my life. You all riled up is probably one of the sexiest things I’ve ever seen.” Kane slowly lowered his head and gently kissed her lips.

  Sighing, Steph couldn’t help but smile and say, “You and Turk are probably the only two men on the planet who get horny when they get yelled at by their woman.”

  “Hey, what can I say, baby, we’re unique.”

  Pushing him away, she opened the doors to the upper level, still shaking her head and smiling as she headed for her office.

  * * * *

  Sitting outside her office waiting for her was the one person on this planet that she had never hoped to see again. Her aunt, Sophia Morrison.

  Stephanie felt Kane behind her as soon as she started to stiffen up.

  “Isn’t that your Aunt Sophia?” he whispered in her ear.

  Kane knew all about her dealings with her aunt growing up because she had told him all about it.

  Sophia Morrison was the only sibling of her father. After Stephanie’s parents’ death, she had fought tooth and nail over their estate. Her parents had both excelled in their fields and over the years had built up a nice nest egg. They’d made sure that Stephanie had money for college and that she’d have a little start out money after she graduated. Even though they were considered to be wealthy, she never felt spoiled. She earned an allowance like most of her friends by doing household chores, and when she got old enough, she got a part-time job. It sometimes drove her dad nuts because when she worked late at night, he’d get all freaked out about her walking the three blocks home. After a young woman was mugged on the other side of town, he couldn’t take it anymore, and he bought her a car. Both she and her mom thought it was silly to drive three blocks to work, but to see her dad happy she did, but only when she worked the night shift.