SASSY IN STILETTOS ARe version

by Nana Malone

  She swiped at a tear sliding down her cheek. “D-d-does she have other children?”

  She shook his head. “No. She never married either.”

  Micha dragged in shaky breaths before asking her next question. “Does the file say why she didn’t want to meet me?”

  “I’m sorry, no.” He put a hand on her knee and stroked it with his thumb. “But if I had to guess, I’d say it’s too painful. She kept you for six months. She only gave you up because she couldn’t take care of you. You were wanted.”

  The tears came swift and hard and wracked her body. Caleb unbuckled both their seatbelts and dragged her to him. He held her for over an hour, stroking her back and kissing her head as she sobbed. Finally, she dragged herself away and smoothed her hands over her hair. “I’d like to go home now.”

  What? “Baby, are you sure?”

  Micha blinked rapidly. “My family is back in San Diego.”

  Chapter 26

  As Caleb drove back to San Diego, he and Micha sat mostly in silence but stayed physically connected in some way. Either they held hands and kept their fingers intertwined or Micha had a hand on his thigh. A touch that nearly ran them off-road on more than one exit. He was more than a little distracted as he stroked his thumb over the petal-soft skin on the back of her hand. But he didn’t care.

  He wasn’t an idiot. His top priority was still her safety, but he’d texted his guys before they left Jax’s, so they were surrounded by his men. She was as safe as she could be with him. Things would get a little more complicated once they returned to their real lives, but he wanted to enjoy her for as long as he could, before she started to have second thoughts. He’d meant what he told her though—he didn’t need her to say she loved him. He knew how she felt. She had to get around to it in her own time. He wasn’t looking forward to having her struggle for her new feelings. She’d go back and forth and fight him a little more before all was said and done.

  As they drove by the Carlsbad exits, he finally asked, “So where are we going exactly? The hotel? My place or yours?” Then to be clear he added, “Wherever it is, we’ll be going together.”

  She gave him a brilliant smile, her eyes dancing. For a brief moment, he was stunned by the beauty of the unguarded smile. Jesus. Good thing she didn’t offer many of those up. He’d lose all use of his brain if she did.

  “Let’s go to my place. The Westhorpe is nice and beautiful, but it still feels like I’m on borrowed holiday time or something. Doesn’t feel like mine.”

  “Fine, that means back home. I’ll send someone to pack up your stuff. Question is, yours or mine?”

  Her brilliant smile dimmed a little. “If you don’t mind, mine. I’m still not entirely ready to be back at yours yet.”

  “Micha—”

  She held up a hand. “No, it’s not that. I know she was trying to get under my skin. She just stumbled onto my hot button, and I fell for it. But I still don’t like picturing her in your house. I feel like we need to have a séance or something to rid the place of bad juju or something.”

  He barked out a laugh. “You’re serious?”

  She shrugged. “Only a little. But if we tell the girls, Jaya will have one planned for tonight, and Ricca will start calling some auntie or cousin who knows someone who has a sister, whose cousin is way into voodoo or whose husband is a witch doctor, or something.”

  “Ah, speaking of the little spitfires, you’ll want to text them before we get into downtown and let them know your plans. I don’t plan on Ricca coming after me with a gun next time.”

  Micha giggled. “Did she actually threaten you with bodily harm?”

  “Yes.” He sniffed. “She was pretty convincing too when she threatened to blow my nuts off while I was sleeping if I even had the fleeting thought of hurting you again.”

  Micha’s smile was soft. “That’s my Ricca.”

  Caleb chuckled. “No, that sounds more like you.”

  She shook her head. “Nope. I’m the hothead. I’ll pretty much fly off the handle at a moment’s notice. Not that you’ve noticed.”

  “No. Of course not.” he said wryly.

  “But Ricca—she’ll go after you, and she’s not playing. Her angry is not something funny to see. She’s small but vindictive.”

  “Yeah, I gathered that. ET phone home.”

  Micha pulled out her phone. “Yeah, I hear you.”

  “And do me a favor and let them know that no one has to plan my execution. Because we’re going to be together for the foreseeable future.”

  A look of panic flitted over her face, but then it smoothed as she took a deep breath and her shoulders relaxed. “I think I can deal with that for now.”

  ***

  As soon as they drove into town, Micha called Jaya. “So how did your brush with Hollywood go?” Jaya asked.

  Micha slid a look at Caleb as he set up her computer equipment in her living room. He’d already sent someone to the hotel to get her stuff. He flashed her a quick grin, and her body went on instant tingle. She smiled back at him.

  “It was uneventful for the most part. Simon was Simon, so a bit of a prick, but it’s over. Now the first segment is done, we have to get the editing department to go through it, then it’s on to my next assignment. Enough about me. How are you feeling? You ready for the big day?”

  “Don’t you go deflecting. Yes, I’m ready to marry Alec.”

  “Good,” Micha said. “But there’s no shame if you want to Sex and the City it and take me and Micha on your honeymoon instead.”

  Jaya laughed. “You going to tell me how it was with Caleb? I heard you tried to get Adele to take him off the case.”

  Micha winced. “Yeah, I tried, but lucky for me, the old lady is a stubborn broad. Apparently she thinks she’s my mother or something. She’s kind of a meddling know it all.”

  “Welcome to my life. But she means well, and she’s usually right. I heard you’d gone to see her. Alec was in a fantastic mood because she was in such a sour one. He said someone had finally stood up to her properly. I could only assume that was you.”

  Micha pinched the bridge of her nose. “Yeah, that might have been me. I might have been less than gracious about her brand of hospitality. I’ll apologize tomorrow.”

  “Are you kidding? She’ll never let you live it down.”

  “No, not for giving her a piece of my mind, because she deserved that. She is a meddling old woman. But I didn’t need to be rude or ungrateful. So she’ll get her mea culpa. And so will you and Ricca. Hell, and Alec and Beckett too. I know I’ve been a bit of a handful to deal with lately.”

  “Honey. You’ve had a lot on your plate. We know who you are, and we love you.”

  “Yes, well. You guys are family and don’t deserve hurricane Micha, so big dinner at mine when you get back. From honeymoon.”

  Jaya cleared her throat. “And how are things with Caleb? Or should I not ask? Security let us know that they’d come to clean your stuff out of the hotel room. What’s happening there?”

  “Uh, that’s kind of a long story.”

  “I have time.”

  Micha chuckled. “Yes, well, this is supposed to be a quick call to let you know that I’m back. I don’t really have time to get into it now.”

  “Oh, he’s there. Fine, give me a yes or no for now. Is he forgiven?”

  “Yes. I may have over reacted.”

  “I guess I’ll find out how this came about later. Are the two of you a thing now? Like properly?”

  “Yes.”

  Jaya’s squeal was so piercing Micha had to hold her phone away from her ear. “At last. Yay! So you professed your love and now will live happily ever after?”

  “Well, not exactly. Like I said, long story.”

  Jaya sighed. “Micha, don’t screw up your chance for happiness. It might be a while before it comes around again, sweetie.”

  “I’m not. I promise.”

  “So annoying. Fine. I guess I’ll get my deets tomorrow. Can
you at least tell me how the sex is? I mean with that body. I can only imagi—”

  Micha howled out a laugh. “Jaya!”

  “What can I say? Enquiring minds.”

  “I’ll see you tomorrow. Get some rest. Big day’s coming up.”

  “I know. G’night.” Before hanging up, Jaya said, “Hey, My?”

  “Yeah?”

  “I’m happy for you.”

  Micha smiled. “Right back at you, babe.”

  After she hung up, Caleb asked, “Jaya give you the third degree?”

  “Not too bad. Though I truly think she has potential as an interrogator.”

  He strode over and pulled her into his arms. “Soon this whole mess will be over, and we can go back to our normal lives and maybe see where we end up.”

  She looped her arms around his neck and kissed him briefly. It was easy being with him. She liked it. It scared the shit out of her, but she liked it a lot. Liked him a lot. He made her feel alive and weirdly safe. Like she could take on anything.

  “Sounds like a good idea. But first, you know we have to tackle that dance tomorrow night. I haven’t exactly been around to practice much.”

  He melded their bodies together and effortlessly spun them around her living room. “Something tells me we’ll be fine.”

  She blinked at him rapidly, a little startled. “I guess that’s what happens when I stop fighting you?”

  He shrugged. “I think so.” When she opened her mouth to protest, he kissed her nose. “Listen. I need to take care of something.”

  She frowned. “That case you were working on before we left for L.A.?”

  “Yeah. Things became a little unsafe for the girl, so I had one of my men pick her up and take her to a safe house. I need to go talk to her. You can stay here, but honestly I feel more comfortable when I’m the one watching you. Do you mind coming with me?”

  “Seriously? You’d be cool with that?”

  “Yeah. I would. I mean a few rules apply. If I tell you to do anything, anything at all, I need you to obey it immediately and without hesitation or question. I don’t know the situation with this girl. But I don’t want to leave you here. Someone’s already been in here once, even with my guys outside it still makes me uneasy leaving you. I’ve been going out of my head the last two nights while you’ve been in the hotel. I knew you were safe, but it made me a little edgy. I couldn’t sleep.”

  “And I’m the one with control issues?” She arched an eyebrow.

  “When it comes to something that matters to me, I’d rather be the one seeing to it personally.”

  Micha flushed. If he said he loved her again, she might dissolve into a pile of goo. She’d had plenty of men profess love. But in ninety-nine percent of those cases, they’d really been professing lust with some like peppered in. She knew the difference. She could feel the difference when Caleb said it. Could feel that he meant it. Could feel that he wanted more than her body. Her heart squeezed.

  “Yeah, I’ll come with you.”

  ***

  When Caleb arrived at the safe house, the lights were on inside. His men were at their designated posts. One at the door, two on perimeter, sniper on the roof. Shift change was in three hours, but he wanted to give at least one of them a break for an hour while he talked to the girl. Micha came in with him. Her usual confident air was back, but there was also something less guarded about her. Less bristly.

  When Carlotta saw him, she immediately retreated to a corner and slid into it. He rooted his feet to the floor. “Hey. Easy now. I’m not here to hurt you. I’m only trying to keep you safe.”

  “Then why did you kidnap me? I want to go. Please let me go.”

  He squatted down to get more on her level, but he didn’t approach. “I wish I could. But someone was going to hurt you if you stayed out there on your own, and I wanted to keep that from happening.”

  “I don’t believe you.”

  “I know it’s hard to believe, but it’s the truth. You seem like a smart girl. Has anyone hurt you since you’ve been brought here? Before you ran from the other place, did anyone hurt you?”

  “Sabine said if I didn’t do what she wanted she’d kill me. But I don’t want to go back. She’ll send me back, and I don’t belong there. They hurt me. She wants to use me to get something.”

  Caleb cleared his throat. “That’s why I want to talk to you. When Sabine brought you to my house, she said she needed me to keep you safe for a while. You don’t think that’s what she wanted?”

  The girl shook her head. Her hair hung in matted hanks around her shoulders. Maybe he’d have someone brought in to help clean her up a little. Beyond a basic shower. What young girl didn’t like to be pampered a little?

  “Then why did she bring you to me?”

  The girl shrugged her thin shoulders. Behind him Micha put a hand on his shoulder and he glanced back at her. She indicated the girl with an incline of her head, and he nodded. Carlotta didn’t trust him, but maybe Micha could encourage her in the right direction. Not that Micha was big on trust herself.

  “Hi, Carlotta. I’m Micha. I’m a friend of Caleb’s.”

  The girl eyed Micha up and down.

  Micha stepped a little closer and kneeled like he had done. “I know it’s hard being on your own and trusting no one. I’ve been on my own a long time too. But you have someone you can trust. Caleb won’t let anything bad happen to you. I know you don’t want to trust him, because of that evil bitch Sabine.”

  Carlotta smiled a little at that.

  “But you already know Sabine lied to him. So you can imagine Caleb’s not a fan of hers. He’s not working with her. You can trust him.”

  Carlotta nodded her acquiescence, and Caleb could only blink at Micha. Contrary to what she said, she was excellent with people. She made it easy to trust her. Like she was your best friend. He wasn’t sure why he’d never noticed that before.

  “Carlotta, where did Sabine find you?”

  “At Carlos Cabrillo’s compound. I work as a cook and maid.”

  Caleb frowned. That didn’t jive with Sabine’s story. “Do you go to school at all?”

  She shook her head. “No. It’s not allowed. I stay on the compound.”

  “So how did Sabine get you out?”

  “She comes to the compound many times. She see me more than once. After her first few visits, she asked me how old I am. How I came to be there. After her third visit, she says she can take me home to my family, but I have to leave with her right then. Carlos’s son was rushed to the hospital that day. It was very crazy at the compound. Nobody missed me when I slipped out with the ambulance. Sabine picked me up.”

  Caleb kept his voice even and not too interested, even though his heartbeat was erratic and his breathing was speeding up. He had an awful suspicion about how she’d come to Carlos’s compound. “How did you get into the country?”

  Carlotta shrugged. “Coyotes. Then Sabine brought me to you. I’ve been trying to get back to my family ever since I ran.”

  He cleared his throat, almost afraid to ask his next question. “Where is your family, Annie?”

  Her dull brown eyes snapped to his. The contacts masked the brilliant blue he remembered. “My name is Carlotta.” She said stubbornly, but her nose flared, and her eyes were wide with fright.

  “Annie, I’m not going to hurt you, and I’m not going to let Sabine take you back to Carlos. I don’t know what deal she struck with him, but I do need to know why he kept you alive so long. It’s the only way I can help you.”

  The girl sighed, and her shoulders slumped as if she’d taken the weight of the world from Atlas himself. “Carlos said I have a trust fund that won’t come until I’m eighteen. My grandfather left it to me. I think Carlos planned for me to claim it once I was of age and give it to him.”

  Caleb whistled. Carlos Cabrillo was an evil son of a bitch. He probably would have sold her into slavery once he had his hands on her money. “Did he tell you how much was in there?�
�

  She nodded slowly. “Fifty million.”

  Micha’s eyes went wide.

  Caleb rubbed his jaw. “So, Sabine saw you and recognized you?”

  She nodded. “I think so. She said that she was working with Carlos on a deal, and she needed him being cooperative. She needed him to believe she would give me back. But I saw how she acted every day. I knew I wasn’t going to be safe. I knew she was going to send me back. I thought, if I could run, I could find my family, but I—” She looked down at her dirty hands. “I can’t remember anything. And I don’t think they would want to see me anyway.”

  Caleb’s voice was firm. “Annie, I looked for you for six months after they told me you were dead. And I was just the guy they had protecting you. Imagine how your family who loves you will feel?” He shook his head. “I still don’t understand how you escaped that explosion. You were very lucky.”

  “Annie, why did you run before?” Micha asked. “Caleb said you were safe.”

  She shrugged. “I thought you were working together. So I thought it best to go. I wanted to try to find my grandmother, but I didn’t know how. I ended up in the shelter. Then it wasn’t so nice. I thought I could find a quick job, but none of the places I tried would hire me.”

  Caleb eyed her. “There’s no need for all that. I don’t know if you remember, but I swore to protect you once. I didn’t do a good job of it then, but I’m going to do it now if you’ll let me.”

  Annie frowned. “I remember you.”

  Pain sliced through him. He’d figured she’d forgotten him long ago. “I wasn’t sure how much you remembered. You were still so young.”

  “I remember you teasing me to get into the car. I wanted to go with you, but you rode with my father in the lead car. I remember the gunshots and the cars stopping. I ducked down and Sabine covered me. Then she said she was going to get more help. I don’t remember how long she was gone, but then someone came to drag me out of the car. I thought it was one of your men. There was a blast, an explosion I think. It plays like a movie in my head. A very bad movie. When I woke up, my parents were gone.”

  Caleb didn’t know what to say. I’m sorry I failed you didn’t seem like enough right now. But he had to say something. “Annie, I—”