by Vaughn, Ann
"Your Irish is showing, Ms. Riley," Mike said, leaning down and speaking close to her ear so that only she could hear.
She glanced up at him. "Why are you letting them ignore you?" she hissed quietly.
"Because it doesn't matter to me," he replied.
"That's just wrong. Do they know what you went through? Do they know..."
He leaned even closer, his nose skimming her cheek as he made his way to her ear.
"Want to shock them all?"
She drew back to meet his gaze. "Sure."
He nodded and leaned in, "Just go with it, cara, OK?" he asked, nuzzling her ear. "Can you see them all?" he asked, referring to his family, his lips just skimming the shell of her ear.
"Yes," she replied.
"Did I tell you that you look lovely today?" he asked, causing goose bumps to erupt all over her arms.
"Mike," she breathed, then gasped when his lips touched hers for the first time. Her eyes fluttered shut and she gripped his forearm. He trailed kisses from her mouth, along her cheek and back to her ear.
"Are they still watching?"
"What?" she asked, trying to focus through the haze his kiss had left in her brain. His lips returned to hers briefly, then he sat back and resumed eating. Lainey stared at him in disbelief a moment, then glanced around at the table, seeing that all eyes were on them. Mike didn't even acknowledge them. Lainey felt heat flooding her cheeks. She glanced over to Jeannette, mumbled a quiet 'excuse me', then stood and tossed her napkin into her chair and walked out. She knew Mike was right behind her but she didn't care. She was so livid that -
"Hey," he said, grabbing her elbow to stop her.
Lainey whirled on him and shoved him as hard as she could, which accomplished absolutely nothing,
"Lainey," he began but she cut him off.
"Do not even speak to me right now."
"I don't..."
"What did I say?" she growled. "You are...unbelievable! You let them treat you like you aren't even there and then you practically...that was our first kiss, Mike!"
"I know," he said softly but he didn't look the least bit chagrined.
"And you used it to figuratively flip your family off! That was...I don't even have the words to deal with that right now. Why do you let them treat you like that? You are a part of that family, too!" she cried, pointing toward the dining room.
"Keep your voice down, please," he requested.
"Why? You just made an exhibition of us in there. Why not let them hear exactly how wrong their treatment of you is?"
"My family is..."
"Wrong! This whole situation is wrong, Mike. Do they know what happened to you?"
"We don't," a voice behind them said. They both turned to see his parents and Nick, Andre and Gia standing just inside the doorway from the dining room, Carolina and Brooke a few steps behind them. Nick was the one who spoke.
Lainey watched Mike's expression close, his eyes go to complete ice.
"When is the last time he was here with all of you together?" Lainey asked, her gaze encompassing all of them.
"It's been years," Jeannette answered.
"And yet the whole time we sat in there, the only one who spoke to Mike was his mother."
Andre spoke up then. "He never speaks much to any of us."
"He's quiet. If you'd been through what he has, you'd be reserved, too. He's had to deal with horrors you couldn't even -"
"Cara," he warned, "don't."
She whirled on him. "You are just as guilty as they are! My God, Mike! You are not a robot! You have feelings."
"We know that," Nick said.
"Do you?" she shot back. "Do you really, Nick? You, who took his girlfriend."
"Hey, he said he was OK with me seeing her," Nick defended.
"What was he supposed to say??"
"Lainey," Mike warned again.
"What?" she snapped.
"Stop."
"Why? They are your family and they treat you like a stranger. And you let them! I don't understand any of you!" Mike stepped forward and tried to touch her but she pushed him away. "Don't touch me," she hissed.
"Lainey."
"Take me to Riley's."
"You're not going to Riley's," he countered.
"Fine. Take me back to your place and I will call Riley to come get me."
He grabbed her arm just above the elbow and walked them out without a word to anyone else. Lainey tried to jerk her arm away but his grip was like a vise; there was no getting it free. Behind them, the door opened and Jeannette emerged, holding Lainey's coat and purse.
"Thank you," Lainey replied softly.
"I know we haven't left you with a good impression," Jeannette began.
"Mom, don't," Mike said, not even looking at her.
"Lainey is right, Michael. We have treated you poorly since your return and I-"
"Stop," he warned, his eyes cutting over to his mother.
Jeannette folded her arms over her chest, eyes narrowing at her son. "Or what? You may have been a commanding officer, but this is still my house and you are still my son, so as far as that goes, I am your commanding officer. I guess it took Lainey opening my eyes to see that what I viewed as us sparing your feelings has done more harm than good."
The valet pulled up with Mike's Escalade. He stepped forward to open the passenger door for Lainey and held out his hand to help her inside, which she ignored, getting in on her own. Mike grit his teeth and closed the door, turning back to face his mother.
"Sorry for the drama," he said.
"I don't care about that. But you listen to me," she said nodding toward the truck, "Lainey Riley is a jewel. And the way I saw her looking at you earlier...you fix this with her. Don't let her slip through your fingers."
He shook his head. "I've got to go."
"Michael," she began but he was already walking away.
"See you later."
When he got into the SUV, Lainey was sitting rigidly in her seat, staring straight ahead. At least there weren't any tears. They made the drive back to his loft in silence. When he parked in the garage and the door shut behind them, she didn't even wait for him to open the door for her, hopping out and crossing over to the elevator. Mike followed behind her and stepped in after her. As soon as the doors opened, she rushed up to the bedroom, slamming the door behind her.
Mike rubbed the back of his neck and went into the office area, checking the monitors and scanning the recordings of the perimeter of the warehouse for the time they were gone. Satisfied that everything was secure, he made his way upstairs to the bedroom...to find the door locked.
"Lainey. Open the door."
"Go away, Commander."
"Open. The. Door."
"Go. Away."
"I'm not going to talk to you through the door."
"Fine. Don't talk."
Shaking his head, he reached into his pocket for his keys, found the key to the interior doors and unlocked it, stepping inside...and immediately ducked from the phone she threw at him.
"Stay away from me."
He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back against the wall. She stood on the other side of the bed, ready to strike if need be. He found it amusing, actually.
"What are you so mad about?" he asked.
"What am I...? You, you practically...that was..."
"Mike? Lainey?" they heard Riley call from downstairs.
"You called him?" Mike asked in disbelief.
"No," she replied.
He turned and opened the door when he heard Riley's footsteps on the stairs. Riley hit the top of the stairs and slowed his walk when he saw Mike in his suit, and the deep scowl that was on his face.
"What's going on?" Mike asked Riley.
"Where's Lainey?"
"I'm here," she said, walking toward the doorway, "what's going on?"
"Did y'all go out?" he asked, taking in Mike's suit and Lainey's dress and heels.
"We had dinner at my parents' h
ouse," Mike answered.
Riley's eyes shifted to Lainey and she knew he could tell she was upset.
"I hope Carolina kept her mouth shut," Riley said, studying Lainey.
Lainey shrugged. "It was more of a shock learning that Mike is a twin. Neither one of you bothered to mention that."
"So, she did mouth off to you?" Riley asked.
"She tried. What did you want, Riley? I'm really tired."
Riley looked back and forth between them for a moment, then focused on Mike.
"I was just checking in. Is everything OK? You both seem...off."
"Fine," Lainey answered, "everything is just peachy. I'm going to change. Say hi to Jenna and Cam for me."
With that, she turned and slammed the door behind her, pretty much right in Mike's face. Mike cursed under his breath in Italian and turned to head down the stairs. Riley glanced at the closed door, then followed Mike down to the kitchen.
"What the hell happened tonight?" Riley asked, watching Mike fill a glass of Scotch.
"Want some?"
"No, thanks. What happened?"
"My family happened," Mike replied, downing his drink.
"Lainey looks pissed."
"She is. Partly at my family. Partly at me. Maybe more than partly at me."
Riley glanced up toward the bedroom and then looked back at Mike, seeing that no matter how aloof his friend was trying to play it, he was affected by Lainey's anger.
"Do you need a break? I can stay with her a while so you can..."
"No, that's OK. Go home to your family. I'll handle Lainey."
"Mike -" Riley began but Mike held his hand up to stop him.
"It's fine. I've faced down Al Qaeda, right? I think I can handle one pissed off little blonde."
"No. Not like this. You're pissed, too. I'm not leaving her here with you like this."
"Do you really think I would hurt her?" he asked Riley, his voice deceptively soft.
"No," Riley sighed, "but you're not yourself right now."
"Go home, Riley," Lainey said from behind them.
Both men turned to see her walking toward them. She'd changed into leggings and an oversized sweater; nothing particularly sexy about it, but Mike felt his blood heat nonetheless.
"Are you sure?"
"It's fine," she replied, taking a bottle of water from the fridge.
"All right," he said, leaning down to kiss her brow. "See you tomorrow."
They watched him leave, then Lainey wordlessly left the kitchen and walked to where his piano sat. It had been years since she last played, but she sat and began softly picking out a tune. Mike walked up and sat beside her, watching her.
"It's been way too long since I've played," she said when she'd finished the short piece she was trying to remember.
"Wasn't bad," he said.
She looked up at him. "Do you play?"
"I haven't in years, either."
"Remember anything?"
He placed his hands on the keys and closed his eyes. He began softly, a tune she recognized as Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata. He played flawlessly, eyes closed, fingers caressing the keys as they would a lover. Lainey found herself entranced watching him. What a contradiction he was, she thought. This masculine, wounded warrior, leader of several strong men; yet he played as if he'd been playing every day for years.
"That was beautiful," she said, softly, when he was done.
"It helps calm me. I haven't played in...I can't even remember how long."
"You must have practiced a lot growing up."
He began idly playing again. "Not really. I took lessons. We all did. I didn't do very many recitals once I became a teenager...I mainly kept playing because I enjoyed it."
"You're very good."
He stopped and turned to face her.
"What upset you the most tonight? The way my family was acting, or that I kissed you for the first time in front of them?"
"I didn't like how they treated you...but, that kiss...I felt..."
He brushed her hair back from her face. "You felt what, cara?"
"Used."
His hand went to the back of her head, "They may have been my catalyst, but if I hadn't wanted to, I wouldn't have done it."
"And now?"
"Now? Now, I'm sitting here wondering what's keeping me from taking you right here where we sit."
Chapter Eleven
Lainey felt her world come to a complete stop. She could hear the pounding of her heart, the shortness of her breath. Mike turned so that he was straddling the piano bench. One arm snaked around her waist and the hand on the back of her head fisted in her hair to pull her head back so that her face was tilted up toward his. He studied her face a moment, then lowered his head, touching his lips to hers.
A gasp escaped her lips, giving him the opening he needed and Lainey knew she was in trouble. He kissed her so thoroughly, so completely, she knew she'd never be satisfied with anyone else's kiss; he was just so much more than she ever dreamed. She wrapped her arms around his broad shoulders and he pulled her so that she was nearly straddling him. He lifted her so that she was sitting on his thighs and angled her head to deepen the kiss. When he pulled back, she was panting, and she moaned when his lips trailed from her mouth, down her neck to her collarbone.
"Mike," she whispered, bringing his lips back up to hers.
"You taste sweeter than honey," he said against her lips.
"I want -" she began, but stopped when several alarms began going off from the monitors in the office area.
Mike quickly lifted her off his lap and rushed over to the monitors, answering his phone when it started ringing.
"Yeah, yeah, I hear them," he said into the phone. "Are you checking the perimeter? I don't see anything on the monitors. The house looks empty but you'd better check it out just to be sure. I'm going to go back through the recordings. Check in with what you find."
"What is it?" Lainey asked, hugging her arms to her to ward off a chill that spread through her.
He shook his head slightly, eyes on the multi-screen monitor of the outside and all the rooms of her house.
"Something triggered the alarms at your house. Likely just an animal, but we have to check it out."
His phone rang again and Lainey left him to deal with this latest crisis. She headed upstairs, glancing toward the piano, fingers pressed to her lips, still feeling his lips on hers; the scrape of his stubble against her neck. In his bedroom, she sank down on the bed, pressing a hand to her stomach. She'd thought she'd loved Kevin at one time. She thought she'd experienced passion in his arms. Now she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that what she'd felt with Kevin hadn't even scratched the surface. With Mike, everything was raw and on edge. There was no hesitation in his touch, no timidity at all. He was intense and she knew instinctively that making love with him would be like being caught in a storm.
"Oh, God," she whispered, feeling a chill run down her spine. It was overwhelming, this passion she felt for him. She'd been angry with him for giving her their first kiss to get back at his family, but at the same time, it thrilled her that he would kiss her in front of others. Kevin had always been very much aware of the fact that she had practically grown up with his family and so he'd been reluctant to show affection around others.
She wondered what would have happened between them had Riley not shown up when he did. She'd thrown a phone at him. He'd been furious but had stayed on the other side of the room from her to try to sort out why she was so upset. If Riley hadn't come in just then, would things have escalated? Would she be in bed with him right now? It was highly possible, she realized. If the alarms hadn't gone off downstairs, where would they be? She was so attracted to him, she had no doubt she would have given him whatever he'd asked for at that moment.
Needing a distraction from the sinful tract of her thoughts, she got up and dug her phone out of her purse, calling Kacee.
"Hey, honey," Kacee answered, "what's up?"
"Just needi
ng a distraction. Have you gotten all your appointments either moved or rescheduled?"
"Yes. You?"
"All except Cam, but he's family, so I can see him whenever I need to. I hate that we have to do this to our patients on such short notice."
"They were all very understanding. Face it, we don't even charge half of them, so they are all very accommodating."
Lainey sighed. "I know...we had dinner at Jeannette's house tonight."
"Oh? How did that go?"
"Was certainly a shock finding out that Mike is a twin."
"Did I never mention that?" Kacee asked, and Lainey wasn't quite sure if she was being sincere or not.
"No, you didn't."
"Are you sure?"
"Come on, Kace, like I would forget?"
Kacee laughed. "True. Well, other than that shock, how did it go?"
"Not good. There are a lot of unresolved issues in that family, and Mike just ignores it all. Nick and his wife, Carolina, made things uncomfortable. And then we're sitting at the dinner table and his family pretty much ignored him. The only one to speak to him was his mother. I got upset and asked him why he allowed it and he said because he didn't care; then he asked if I wanted to help shock them and then proceeded to whisper in my ear and kiss me in front of them."
"Oh. Wow. I bet that went over well."
"To be honest, I don't really know what his family thought about it. I was so...shocked and...and hurt, I guess."
"Why, honey?" Kacee asked in a sympathetic tone.
"It was our first kiss...and he did it to tick his family off."
"OK, yeah, I can see where that would be upsetting. Has he made up for it yet?"
"Yes...but now he's dealing with a problem with the alarms at my house. We've slept in bed together the last two nights and..."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Back up and run that by me again? You've slept with him and he hasn't kissed you??"
Lainey laughed. "Slept. As in, actually slept. Riley said Mike's been having trouble sleeping, so I got him to lay in bed with me, but after tonight..."
"Do you want to sleep with him? As in have sex?"