by Apryl Baker
A tabletop Christmas tree sat on the dining room table, decorated in purple and white. Christmas was only two weeks away. He’d forgotten all about it, thanks to his obsession with finding this serial killer. He’d bet anything that tree had gone up right after Halloween. Angel always wanted to skip Thanksgiving and go right to Christmas. It was her favorite holiday.
“Nice place.”
She didn’t even look at him. Instead, she started up her Keurig then went down the hall, toward what he assumed was either her bedroom or the bathroom. The fierce slam of the door took him back to another day when she’d gone stomping up the stairs. Only back then, she’d been embarrassed and not full of rage.
Peter had laughed off his sister’s embarrassment, and then they’d gone inside for beers and discussed football. He hadn’t done it in a mean way, but a brotherly way. The man loved his sister. That much he knew from spending so much time with him. He’d met Peter two months prior, and it had taken him that long to get the guy to trust him enough to start bringing him home. It would be another month before Peter introduced him to his boss. Everything had been about worming his way into the cartel.
Until he met Angelique Lemoraux.
He and a couple guys had gone to The Velvet Room, one of the classier strip joints in Miami. Strip clubs weren’t his thing, but the guys he was with loved them. Seeing as how they worked for the people he was trying to get close to, he’d gone along. They told him he was in for a surprise.
The place definitely wasn’t what he expected. He and his buddies from high school had been to a few, but those were in small towns, not a major city. This place was swanky, done in deep purples and grays. The lights were low, the only bright ones surrounding the girls on stage. The waitresses wore simple black dresses and were friendly enough. A no touching policy was in effect. He’d even seen security throw someone out for groping one of the women when she bent down to collect her tips.
They’d been there for about an hour, and Kade was nursing his second beer. He refused to get drunk around any of them. Ray and Tony were both well past five beers each when Ray looked over at Tony, a grin on his face. “It’s almost time.”
“She’s on tonight?” Tony sat up straight and ran a hand through his hair. If Kade didn’t know better, he’d think the guy was trying to clean himself up enough to look presentable.
“Yeah. I called to check.” Ray rubbed his hands together, his eyes a little glazed.
“Who?” Kade was now curious. He’d never seen either of these two get this excited over a woman. She had to be one hell of a stripper to inspire this kind of nervous behavior.
“Angelique.”
Ray said the word almost reverently, and Tony nodded like they’d found the Holy Grail. What was with them? She was just a stripper. A step above a prostitute in his book. They used their bodies to get paid, same as a hooker, only they did it legally. No self-respecting woman would do this job if she didn’t have to.
The music changed and lights dimmed. Tony and Ray leaned forward, eager and expectant. The song wasn’t one he knew, but the beat was slow and sensual. Then the spotlight flared to life, centering on the lone woman standing motionless in the middle of the stage.
Her head bowed and she shifted, her body on display as she started to move, and he couldn’t take his eyes away from her. She stalked toward them, like a hunter after its prey. Each movement was calculated, designed to drive them crazy. The room was hushed, its collective breath held while she danced for them. Her dress slid away, and when she turned her back to them, the simple white lace of her panties was the sexiest thing Kade could remember seeing.
Her body was young, supple, and she moved with the grace of a cat as she bent and twisted. It was not cheap or gaudy as he’d expected, but erotic and mesmerizing. Had any of the other girls danced like this? No. They were sitting right in front of the stage, and no one else had captured his attention like this one…like Angelique.
His gaze traveled up slim legs, her firm little ass that jutted out just enough to set his hands aching to squeeze it. The skin on her back was smooth, flawless. She turned and bent low, her face only inches from the three of them. Those cat green eyes stared at him, full of recognition.
It felt like someone hit him with the force of an oncoming Mack truck. The air fled his lungs, and he couldn’t stop his mouth from falling open. It couldn’t be the same person. She tossed him a saucy grin and a wink. Holy shit. Angelique…Angel. Peter’s little sister. There was no mistaking those eyes or that hair. It was bright red, not that ugly shade of orange a lot of redheads ended up with. And her body. He was so hard right now, it was going to be painful to get up and walk to the car. How was he supposed to erase the memory from his mind? Every time he saw her, he’d be seeing her on this stage, half naked and moving in ways she shouldn’t even know how to move. How had he ever thought she was a kid?
Tony elbowed him, bringing him out of his shocked stupor. “Don’t be cheap.” He threw a hundred-dollar bill on the stage alongside Ray’s. They stared him down until Kade pulled out his wallet and tossed out two fifties. She leaned down and collected her money, throwing a kiss in their general direction before leaving the stage.
At least now he understood why they hadn’t invited Peter along. No man would ever tolerate seeing his sister shaking her ass for a bunch of pervs. And right now, he was including himself in with the pervs because he wanted her to come back out and do it all over again.
It had been the beginning of the end for him.
“Kade!”
Angel’s terrified voice pulled him from the past and set his feet to running. He found her in the bedroom, her back to him. She was shaking. He moved into the room, right behind her, and he saw what had her so upset.
A single white rose lay on the bed with a hand-written note that saidsoon.
Chapter Four
“Don’t touch anything.”
Kade’s warning echoed in her mind as she stared at the flower on her bed. He’d been here. In her apartment. How had he gotten in? Had she left the door unlocked, or maybe one of the windows? There was a fire escape right outside her bedroom window. She’d never worried about that before, but now she was already calculating how much money it would take to move. To a place without a fire escape. Where it would be harder for someone to break into her apartment. Maybe someplace with security.
Being a bartender paid well, but she paid her monthly bills as well as her school tuition out of it. There wasn’t a lot left over. It was nothing compared to what she used to make as a stripper. Or an exotic dancer, as the girls tended to call it these days. A spade was a spade. She wasn’t ashamed of it. It had paid for her move here and her brother’s funeral expenses.
Boston was her new start. She left the old persona of Angelique and her memories behind her and simply became Angel. A woman, a student, and a little lost. She learned to tend bar her first year in Boston and had gotten a job at Pops’ when the bar she worked at closed. Working there had been the best thing that happened to her. She learned to depend on herself, to deal with her grief, and to count on people who always had her back. The people there were more like family than simply a crew that staffed the place.
And now she’d put them all in danger. That thought tormented her. Especially Jessie. If Angel had just gone inside and ignored the trash, none of this would be happening. Jessie would be home safe and sound instead of waiting for police protection.
Kade’s fingertips brushed her arm and she yelped, startled. She knew it was him, but she couldn’t stop the little squeak of fright. A serial killer had been in her apartment. She deserved some slack tonight.
“Hey, it’s just me.” His soft voice sent shivers down her spine that had nothing to do with fear. “I called Bailey, and he’s heading over with a forensic team.”
“He was in here, Kade. Touching my things, doing God knows what.”
“I know, Angel. It’s going to be okay.”
As much as she wanted to b
elieve him, she didn’t. This man ranked right up there with the Boston Strangler. It was all her customers could talk about. He was smart, cunning, and the police couldn’t catch him. Hell, the FBI’s best serial killer specialists couldn’t find him. She wasn’t holding her breath on everything turning out okay.
She closed her eyes and tried to calm down before the building hysteria could take over. Now was not the time to have a breakdown. She had to stay sharp, focused, if she wanted to survive this.
“You’re not staying here anymore, Angel.” Kade’s authoritative tone snapped her out of her self-pity better than any pep talk she gave herself.
“Of course I am. It’s my home, Kade. Where else am I going to go?”
“I called my brother. He owns an apartment in a building with security tighter than anything we could provide you. Nik said it was okay for me to move you there.”
Nikoli Kincaid. She knew him. Well. The boy had started coming into her bar before he was old enough to order drinks. She’d also known exactly who he was. Kade had pictures of all his brothers. The fact he’d had no clue who she was when they met only served to strengthen her resolve to forget Kade. All she ever was to him was a means to an end.
“He wasn’t too keen on loaning me the apartment until I told him it was for you. He’s a fan.”
“He’s a good kid.”
“You do know he’s my brother, then.” The accusation in his tone stiffened her spine.
“I remembered him from the photos you showed me. Why?”
“You never told him we knew each other.”
“No, Kade. I didn’t. Why would I? You walked away from me and never bothered to tell your family about your wife. Why would I say anything to him? Hey, guess what? I’m your brother’s ex fake wife. Uh, no. I moved here to forget about you and everything else. Telling him would have only brought up questions best left unanswered.”
His lips thinned the tiniest bit, but she didn’t care.
“And what do you mean our marriage is legal? You were pretending be someone else when we met.”
He sighed. “When I entered the police academy, I was recruited within the first week and pulled out. All traces of my being there erased. They thought it would work better for me if I was simply me. My parents have ties to Russia, which on the surface could entice several drug lords. It was easier to be the real me. So when I married you, Angel, it was with my own legal name. That was real. I just forgot to have it annulled.” He cocked his head, thinking. “Well, I don’t think that would have worked, anyway. We did consummate the marriage. We would need to file for divorce.”
He forgot to file for an annulment? She was so unimportant to him that he forgot all about her? A fresh wave of pain hit, but she pushed it down with the anger simmering under the surface.
“What would you have done if I were married? Huh?”
He gave her that cocky grin she used to adore. “Well, that would have been an interesting conversation, don’t you think?”
Could she hit him? Would they arrest her? Maybe she could claim temporary insanity? Anything to wipe that smug look off his face.
“Now, before you go and get all indignant…”
“Indignant?” The word came out softly, and it made his expression morph into wariness. “I’m well past indignant, Kincaid. I’m so far gone, they won’t find all the pieces when I dispose of the body.”
“Now, moye sokrovishche, I think you need to calm down.”
“What the hell does that even mean?” One would think she’d have picked up more Russian during her time with him. But she hadn’t. Only that one phrase. She remembered it because it had meant so much to her.
He smirked. “I’ll tell you one of these days.”
“You’re still the same smug bastard you always were.”
He only grinned wider and started walking toward her, which made her back up until she hit the chest of drawers on the opposite wall. He stopped barely an inch from her. The heat radiating off his body caused her pale skin to flush a deep pink, and her stomach fluttered. Traitor, she thought as her body began to respond to his nearness.
“Look at me, Angel.”
She shook her head and kept it down. He did not need to see the blush currently blistering her cheeks. His fingers found her chin and tipped it up. Those devil eyes of his were serious. There was no mirth left in them.
“I am still the same smug bastard I always was, but I’m the smug bastard who’s going to keep you safe.”
“I didn’t ask for your protection.”
“But you have it. I owe Peter that much.”
“Leave my brother out of this.”
He studied her silently, but then said the one thing that truly shattered her. “Then I owe our son this much.”
A single tear leaked out at the words that tumbled from his lips, but before she could say anything, a loud knock sounded at the door. He bent and brushed his lips across her forehead before leaving her standing there, much as he left her sobbing in the hospital.
Kade opened the door to find Bailey and several members of the forensic department behind him. He stepped aside so they could enter then pointed them in the direction of the bedroom. They’d gotten here faster than he’d expected. “Where’s Miss Brown?”
“I have two uniforms sitting on her. They drove her home as I was leaving. I gave them specific instructions that one of them was to stay inside the apartment with her. Especially after this. Are you sure it’s him?”
“Who else could it be?” Kade looked around, trying to see anything out of place, but he didn’t know the apartment. Only Angel could tell them that.
“Ex-boyfriend? Stalker? Anyone except our serial killer. He couldn’t have had time to figure out where she lives and break in.”
“Angel?” Kade called, thinking Bailey had a point. It could be an ex of hers, or even a current boyfriend. Maybe she’d forgotten a date they’d planned? Blind rage colored his vision. She’d better not have a current boyfriend. They were still married, dammit. Whether she wanted to be or not. Even if he’d forgotten.
When she walked into the living room, her spine was straight as a board, her head up, and her eyes spitting mad. Despite that, he saw the hurt underneath all that bravado. It was enough to temper his reaction to thoughts of any new man. He’d dealt her a low blow, and he knew it.
Bailey eyeballed him with open curiosity. He knew the detective had questions about the whole wife bombshell, but that would have to wait. “Bailey has some questions for you.”
“Let’s sit…”
“No.” Kade cut him off. “I want forensics to go over everything in case the bastard touched anything anywhere. No mucking up the crime scene more than we already have.”
“It might not be a crime scene.”
“What?” Angel looked from one to the other. “What do you mean? Someone was in here.”
“Yes, Miss Lemoraux…”
“Mrs. Kincaid,” Kade interjected just to rile Angel up.
“Lemoraux.” Angel bit out the word, her teeth grinding so loudly he heard it as she clenched her jaw.
“Angel.” Bailey settled on her first name. “Could it have been a boyfriend who came in while you were at work and left it?”
“No.” She shook her head. “I’m not dating anyone.”
Thank fuck.
“An ex-boyfriend, maybe? One who had a key?” Bailey looked hopeful, but Angel dashed his hopes.
“I’ve never given anyone a key to my apartment. No one has a set but me and the super.”
“We’ll have a talk with your super.”
“Go ahead.” Angel shrugged. “I’m sure his wife will tell you he’s been home all night.”
“Do you have anywhere you can go for a few days?” Bailey started scribbling down notes.
“I’ve already arranged it.” Kade cracked his knuckles. “I also called my boss and requested assistance. I can’t keep up the pace I was and keep Angel safe.”
“Does it m
atter if I don’t want your protection?”
“Nope.” Kade flashed her a grin. “You’re my burden to deal with.”
“Burden?” Angel bellowed, all indignant outrage.
Kade watch her cheeks burn a deep cherry red. He knew without looking he could follow it all the way down her neck toward the sensitive patch of skin between her breasts.
“Children, let’s focus.” Bailey attempted to stop the argument before it began, but Kade suppressed a laugh. Bailey was in for it.
“So now I’m a child because I don’t want an overbearing ass trying to dictate what I do?” She stabbed her finger with each step she took, until Bailey was backed up against the wall, looking a little terrified. “Who the fuck do you think you are to call me a child? I’ve had a face-to-face confrontation with a serial killer, and then come home to find he’s invaded my apartment, all the while having to deal with that bastard over there. I think I have earned the right to be angry. Don’t you?”
Bailey nodded emphatically. “Yes, ma’am.”
“Then shut the fuck up!” She turned and stormed off toward her bedroom.
“Get some clothes while you’re back there!” The string of curses that followed her up the hallway made Kade laugh out loud. Damn, but he’d missed her.
“Sweet Mary, Mother of God.” Bailey let out a whistle. “Our resident serial killer would return her within the hour.”
“He’ll never get that close.” And if he did, it would be the last thing he ever did.
“So…she’s your wife? I didn’t know you were married.”
He shrugged. “I forgot.”
“How do you forget you’re married?”
“Quite easily when there’s nothing but bad memories attached to it,” he murmured, his eyes landing on a picture of Angel and Peter.
One of the forensic guys yelled for Bailey, and the detective moved out of the living room and down the hall, leaving Kade to peruse Angel’s pictures. The one of her parents on their wedding day sat in the middle of the small mantel. The one of her and Peter sat to the left, and he picked it up. It had been taken in the living room of their parents’ home. He had so many good memories in that house.