by T. K. Leigh
Taking a moment to settle my urges, I leaned in, my lips hovering by her earlobe.
“I don’t believe you,” I growled.
She turned to face me, her eyes wide, astounded.
“Good evening, Miss Delano.” I reeled back and shut the door, feeling two wanting eyes on my body.
Mackenzie
I STOOD IN THE foyer of my condo, waiting for my very own personal driver and security guard to sweep my home for anything suspicious. I should have been furious with Tyler that he ordered me out of his club and forced his “man” to escort me home, but I wasn’t. I felt cared for and protected by his need to ensure my safety. No one had looked out for me with such intensity before and I would have been lying if I didn’t admit that it made the wide swing of my feelings about him begin to even out just a little.
“Everything appears secure, Miss Delano,” Eli said, rounding the corner, his expression serious.
“Thanks. I apologize for the inconvenience of having to drive me home and check my condo. It was completely unnecessary.”
“Not at all, ma’am. If Mr. Burnham considers it important for me to check on the security of your home, I assure you, it was necessary.” He pulled a card out of his pocket, handing it to me. “If anything out of the ordinary happens, you can reach either him or me at these numbers. I’ve been ordered to instruct you to call at any time.”
“Is he always this overzealous?” I asked, scanning the card and memorizing Tyler’s cell phone number. “Or does he give the same treatment to every woman he comes across?” I returned my attention to Eli, finally getting a good look at him. He couldn’t have been more than thirty, his features somewhat youthful, which contrasted with the hard expression on his face. I would have been surprised if I learned he didn’t serve in the military, the short hair and way he answered everyone with a “sir” or “ma’am” making me confident he spent quite a few years in the service.
“No, ma’am.” His expression softened a bit. “In truth, I haven’t seen him look at a woman the way he looks at you since…” He stopped short.
“Since when?” I pressed.
“I apologize, ma’am. It’s not my place to say anything. Good evening, Miss Delano.” He nodded and spun on his heels, leaving me alone, wondering what he was about to say.
A loud meow sounded, bringing me back to the present, and I smiled affectionately at my chubby gray cat as he walked in and out of my legs.
“Hey, Meatball. Want some treats?”
He rubbed his head against my foot and I took that to mean yes. I padded over to the kitchen and grabbed a bag of Meatball’s favorite tuna snacks, leaving a few on the floor for him to gobble up. After taking a bottle of water from the refrigerator, I made my way down the hallway and into my bedroom, lifting my dress over my head, exhausted from the day. I hastily brushed my teeth, then climbed into my large king-sized bed, too drained to even find pajamas to throw over my bra and panties.
Reveling in the comfort of my bed, I turned off the light and closed my eyes, hoping to find Tyler in my dreams.
“Hey, Mack.”
I flung my eyes open to see a figure standing in the far corner of my room. I screamed, clutching the duvet to my scantily-clad body, grabbing the first semi-lethal weapon I could find…some nail clippers.
“What are you going to do with that? Trim my toenails too much?”
“What the hell are you doing here?!” I screeched, clumsily reaching for my cell phone.
The figure reacted quickly and tore it out of my hands.
“Help!” I shrieked, hoping someone from one of the lower units would be able to hear, even through the soundproof flooring and walls.
He placed his hand over my mouth. “Shhh… I’m not going to hurt you, Mack. I promise. But I need you to stop overreacting and just listen to what I have to say. Can you do that?” He looked down at me, waiting for my response.
Gazing into a pair of vibrant blue eyes, I noticed the wildness covering them that night all those years ago was lacking. There was a look of concern. A look of empathy. And, for some reason I couldn’t quite explain, I had a hunch that what he said was true. He wasn’t there to cause me any harm.
I nodded slightly and he removed his hand from my mouth.
“What are you doing here, Charlie?” I asked. “And how did you get in? And why didn’t that guy I was sent home with find you? Did you climb through my window like you used to?”
I lightened my expression, recalling all the times he had scaled the wall of my dorm building in the middle of the night.
“Yeah. Your security is shit. Don’t forget I was a Ranger. I’m quite capable of hiding when I need to.”
“Were you discharged from Walter Reed? And how did you find out where I lived?”
“Is that what you call this, Kenzie?” he asked, glancing around my room. “I almost didn’t think I was in the right place when I snuck in.”
“What are you talking about?” I scrunched my eyebrows, watching as he walked to my closet and opened the door.
“This is what I’m talking about,” he declared, snapping the light on, bathing the large walk-in with light. “The order. The perfection. This isn’t you, Kenzie. At least it’s not the Kenzie I remember. The girl who couldn’t keep her dorm clean if her life depended on it. The girl who lost her keys at least once a week. The girl who had so much life and vibrancy, it oozed from her pores and everyone lucky enough to know her just wanted to be near her because of it.”
His expression turned sincere and he took a few slow steps toward me. He brushed a tendril of hair behind my ear, his strong, familiar hands grazing my face, bringing back thousands of memories of happiness, of bliss…of utter despair.
“Where’s that girl? Because that’s the Mackenzie I need to talk to.”
“You want to know where she is?” I asked softly, staring into his eyes. I could see he had absolutely no idea what his actions had done.
He nodded.
“You killed her,” I hissed with venom in my voice. “This…” I gestured around my room at the faultless order that had become my life, every detail planned and perfected in order to prevent falling into yet another trap. “This is because of you.”
“Me?” He reeled back, his eyes wide in astonishment.
“Yes,” I quivered. “I was young and stupid. I fell for you. I thought you actually wanted to be with me. You were my first boyfriend, my first love, and you used me. I promised myself all those years ago to never make that same mistake. I vowed to never let anything get that far again. So yes, everything here is in its place. And that’s what I need, Charlie. It makes me feel the control I never had when I was with you…”
“What do you mean, Kenzie?”
I held up my hand quickly, preventing him from coming any closer. “You destroyed me. You deceived me. You betrayed me. I cried myself to sleep for months after I realized why you really dated me. It hurt, Charlie. The pain in my heart was excruciating, but it wasn’t because of your lies. It was because I fell for your lies. The only way to make sure that didn’t happen again was to stop trusting, so that’s what I did. I stopped trusting everyone, even myself, because I never know when my own instincts will falter again. So please, just leave me alone, Charlie. There’s nothing you can say that will allow me to trust you again.” I bit my lip, trying to fight back the sobs that wanted to escape.
Charlie stood motionless, his jaw slightly agape as he surveyed my trembling body. “Kenzie, I am so sorry. Please. I had no idea. I wanted more time with you, to explain it all, but things just…” He took a deep breath. “I ran out of time and I didn’t know what else to do. I knew they were coming for me…”
“Who’s they?” I lowered my voice. “Are you still hearing voices?” I wrapped my arms around my stomach, trying to warm myself.
“Mackenzie, there were never any voices. I’m perfectly sane.”
“Then tell me. I deserve to know why you targeted me, why you lied to me, why you fuc
ked me knowing you were just going to toss me out once you got what you wanted.” A lone tear fell down my cheek. “You were my first, Charlie,” I said, my voice soft. “I can never get that back.”
He reached out and grabbed my hand in his, gently caressing my knuckles as he used to all those years ago. “It was real for me, just like it was for you.”
I stared into his eyes. “Why, Charlie? That’s all I want to know. Please grant me that one request.”
He ran his fingers through his hair, sighing deeply. “I promised a friend of a friend I would look into something when I was working Cryptology,” he admitted. “It was a decade-old missing person’s case and I couldn’t shake the feeling that you were her… Serafina Galloway. I didn’t have concrete evidence, but I was always able to read between the lines and see things no one else could. Then I walked into that bar and saw you. I heard you laugh and, at that moment, I no longer cared about figuring everything out. All I cared about was getting to know you better, but then I lost control of everything. You need to understand there’s something so much bigger going on. I didn’t know what at the time, but recently I’ve been seeing the patterns. I think your father−”
“My father? He’s−”
“No, Mack! No, he’s not! We’re both painfully aware of the fact that he’s alive and is in hiding. Stop lying to me! You don’t have to. I know your real name is Serafina Galloway and not Mackenzie Delano. That,” he said, gesturing to where the portrait of my mother hung on the wall, “is not Isadora Delano. Her name is Magdalena Juarez, wife of Colonel Francis Galloway of the United States Army.”
“No. My father’s name was Andrew Delano. And, yes, he was in the army, but he died. I don’t know this Serafina Galloway you think I am but, I assure you, I’m not her.”
He tugged at his hair in frustration. “I’ve got to hand it to you, Mack. You’re real good at keeping all of this a secret, and part of me thinks you’ve actually convinced yourself of the lie you tell everyone else. I know Galloway’s in hiding, trying to convince everyone he’s dead, but he’s not. And he’s the key to all of this. Please, Kenzie. I need you to help me.”
I stared deep into his eyes, biting my lip as I debated my answer. Charlie was a Ranger who worked special ops before being recruited to work as a counterintelligence agent in the Cryptology division. He was an expert at making people believe what he wanted and I was no different.
“Yeah. Sure. Whatever.” My blood boiled and I snapped off the light. “My father’s dead so just get out of my condo, Charlie. Say good night to those voices for me.”
“Please, Kenzie, stop with the act!”
“No!” I cried out, shooting off my bed, my sudden movement startling him. I pushed him across the room and pinned him against the wall, not caring that I was only wearing a bra and panties. “It’s not an act! I don’t have to believe anything you say. You killed my mother, you crazy son of a bitch!”
“No!” he roared. “I had absolutely nothing to do with that, Kenzie! I was−”
“Bullshit!” I interrupted. “You warned me I was going to lose my family! Even if you weren’t there to physically do it, I know you were the one behind it! I wish we could all be so lucky to have the army cover up our crimes.”
My chest heaving, I took a deep breath, trying to fight back my tears. “Just leave, Charlie, or I’ll call the cops and make sure they put you back in the psych ward so you can never get out, no matter who you’ve got in your back pocket. Got it?”
“Fine.” His shoulders dropped. “Don’t believe me.”
I continued to stare at him, my hands remaining firmly clutched around his thick neck. A flash of remorse rushed through me as I gazed into his eyes once more, the look he was giving me unlike any I had ever seen. Almost as if I held his fate in my hands.
He held up his palms in surrender, indicating he wasn’t going to press the issue any further. Grabbing my elbows, he forced my arms from his neck and retreated from me. Reaching the doorway, he spun to look at me one last time and I saw the old Charlie… My Charlie. The man who snuck into my room and sat to watch me sleep. The man who would surprise me on campus with a dozen flowers for no reason, other than it was a rainy Thursday and he thought it would brighten my day. The man who gave me one of the greatest gifts there was…love.
“Please think about it, Mack. I beg you. Save my life.” He headed down the hall and I heard him whisper, “And yours.”
“And mine?” I asked, dashing down the hallway after him. Opening the door of my condo, I scanned the corridor, finding it distressingly empty. Something brushed against my leg, causing me to jump, and my eyes fell on Meatball.
“Some guard cat you are! You let a complete psychopath break into our home!” He meowed and I bent down, wrapping my arms around him.
I checked the lock on my front door, then walked back to my bedroom. Collapsing on my bed with Meatball curled next to me, I was exhausted from the encounter at the club and seeing Charlie again. As I fell asleep, I wondered if they were somehow connected.
Mackenzie
FAR TOO EARLY ON Monday morning, a loud buzzing woke me up and I opened my eyes, fumbling for the cell phone to turn off my alarm. At some point, I knew I would need to adjust my routine now that the restaurant was open, and trying to get to the gym every morning by nine would become more and more difficult. My eyes drooped from exhaustion and I contemplated staying in bed, but I just couldn’t do it. I groggily trudged toward my bathroom, splashing some water on my face. After brushing my teeth, I collected my gym bag and headed to the fitness center.
As I ran on the treadmill, I held out hope that I would see Tyler. Consumed by the prospect, I scanned the large gym every few minutes, craning my neck to see if he was working out at one of the machines or using the free weights. Much to my disappointment, he didn’t appear during my ninety-minute workout. I should have been concerned with Charlie’s mysterious reappearance and the attack at the club, but I wasn’t. Instead, I was entirely preoccupied with my mystery man…
My beautiful, sensual, protective mystery man.
A week ago, all my time had been dominated by opening the restaurant and marketing it so it would be successful. I couldn’t lose focus now. The drive I had just a few days ago was beginning to wane, and I knew it was because of my fixation with Tyler.
Running late because of all the time I spent daydreaming about Tyler, I rushed back to my condo to get ready for what I knew would be a very long day. I had sunk every last penny my mother left me into the restaurant, and I still needed to take out a loan in order to have enough startup capital to pay for everything. I needed to know that we would soon see a return on our investment, then I could finally start to pay some of my personal bills again. Jenna had Richard’s income to support her. I had no one. Any of my personal expenses that weren’t absolutely necessary for me to pay, I didn’t. My health insurance had already lapsed. I had only been paying the bare minimum on my credit cards while racking up the balance. I was at the cusp of everything folding beneath me. Time and time again, Brayden had offered to help me out with some of my expenses, but I didn’t want to be seen as a charity case. I wanted to prove to everyone that I could do this, that I could be successful. I needed to prove this to everyone, including myself.
Once my hair dried, I pulled on a pair of skinny jeans, a white drape halter top, and a pair of wedge sandals, then checked my reflection. Pleased with my appearance, I left my condo.
“Hey, party girl!” I heard a voice call out as I exited the elevator. I spun around to see Paul sitting at the security desk.
“Hey,” I responded, slowing my steps.
“How’s everything going at the restaurant?” he asked.
“Good. Busy, so that’s a good thing.”
“Sure is.”
I scanned the camera feeds surrounding him at his desk and it piqued my curiosity. I hesitated for a moment, then said, “Hey, Paul, you don’t happen to remember seeing a tall guy with brown hair enter
the building late last night, do you? It would have been somewhere between midnight and one.”
“I wasn’t working, but I can take a look at the camera footage if you want me to. It’s all stored on an off-site server, but I can request it and have it in a few hours.”
“No,” I said quickly. I didn’t know why, but I was worried for Charlie’s safety, of all things.
“Mackenzie?”
“Don’t worry about it, Paul. It’s not important.”
“Are you sure?” he said, narrowing his gaze at me. “Did something happen?”
“Of course not. I was just drunk when I got home last night and thought I saw someone who looked familiar when I was heading to my condo. I’m sure it was just the alcohol playing a trick on me.”
“Okay, Mack. But the offer stands.”
I smiled at him and nodded. “Thanks. I’ll see you later.”
“You bet.”
I strode across the marble tile of the lobby and walked outside, an unseasonable humidity greeting me. The sun was peeking out behind a few clouds and a light breeze came in from the ocean. Getting behind the wheel of my car, I cranked the engine and drove down the main strip of South Padre once again.
It looked like a completely different place in the light of day, college students hanging out on the beach, some playing volleyball. But once the sun began to set, the nighttime crowd would stir, preparing for another evening of drinking. I thought I would have been tired of living on the island by now, but I wasn’t. While I loved my routine and schedule, the constant changeover in visitors invigorated and excited me.
“Hey, Mackenzie,” Rachel, one of my managers, said as I entered through the kitchen, the sound of pots and pans clanging around me. The smell of vanilla, brown sugar, and chocolate greeted me and I immediately felt my stomach start to rumble. While we also served lunch and dinner, the sweet decadence that found its way to my nose made my mouth water.
“Hey. Is Jenna in yet?” I asked the tall blonde.