In Kelly's Corner

by Roxie Rivera

  Smiling, Vivian stepped forward. "I'm sorry to drop in unannounced, Mr. Hagen, but my friend would like to discuss some business with you."

  Hagen's gaze settled on me. His eyebrows lifted even higher as he seemed to recognize me. "Beatrice Langston?"

  "Bee," I said and held out my hand.

  He hesitated before finally shaking my hand. "Knowing what I know of your business, I don’t think my pockets are deep enough for the sort of loan a woman in your financial position might require."

  "I'm not here to borrow money. I'm here to pay it back."

  "You're not on my books."

  "No, but Nick Connolly is."

  "And his debt is a concern of yours because…?"

  "Because I say it is," I replied matter-of-factly. "I know that you want the land that sits beneath Connolly Fitness but I'd like to make you a better offer."

  Uncertainty flashed in his eyes. After a moment of indecision, he stepped aside and gestured to his office. "Step inside, ladies. Let's talk..."

  * * *

  "Da! Good, Kelly!" Alexei called out from the sidelines. "That's the way!"

  Finally, Kelly thought as he wound his legs around his sparring opponent and applied a chokehold to force him into submission. The man tapped three times, signaling his surrender, and Kelly instantly released his grip. After checking to be sure his opponent was okay, Kelly helped the man stand and knocked gloves with him as a sign of sportsmanship.

  Alexei strode toward him and gripped his shoulders. "Tonight you fought beautifully. You fight like this at the tournament, and you might actually survive to the final round."

  Kelly spit out his mouth guard and smiled at the harsh-talking Russian. "Gee, Alexei, I'm starting to think you like me."

  Alexei smacked his arm. "Like is a strong word. Let's go with tolerate, okay?"

  Kelly snorted. "Yeah. Okay."

  "That's it for tonight. Go home and get some rest. Try to stay out of jail," the Russian added, the sting of censure burning his tongue.

  Taking it on the chin, Kelly nodded. "I will."

  After Alexei left his side, Finn crossed the gym. The anxious expression on his face made Kelly's gut clench. "What is it, Finn?"

  "Pop is outside. He says he needs to speak with you."

  Kelly snatched a clean towel from the chair where his gym bag sat and wiped at his face and neck. "I don’t care what he needs."

  "Kelly, he said it's about Bee."

  Infuriated that their old man would try to manipulate him through Bee, Kelly slapped his towel against Finn's chest and grabbed his bag. He stalked across the gym and out into humid night. His father leaned against the door of Kelly's truck while he smoked a cigarette. The sight of his dirty, wrinkled clothing only further irritated Kelly.

  Stopping a few feet from his old man, Kelly pointed a finger in his face. "You leave Bee alone."

  He took a long drag on the cigarette, burning it right down to the filter before dropping it to the ground and smashing it with the toe of his shoe. Exhaling long streams of smoke, he said, "I'm trying to help you."

  "Help me?" He guffawed. "Yeah, Pop, you've been such a help to me. I'll be sure to send a thank you card while I'm recuperating in the hospital."

  The tiny twitch around his father's eye told Kelly he'd hit his mark. "I didn't ask you to settle this debt."

  "What the hell else am I supposed to do? Let those mobsters kill you?"

  His father scoffed. "They aren't going to kill me."

  "You don't know that." Kelly's fingers curled at his sides. "It's not just about you anymore. You risked everything that Jack and Finn have built. I won't stand here and let them lose it all because you're a miserable gambling drunk."

  The old man flinched but didn't argue with Kelly's characterization of him. Instead, he said, "Jack and Finn aren't at risk anymore so you can drop that hammer and stop beating me over the head with it."

  Confused by his father's remark, he asked, "How's that? Did you finally hit a hot streak and settle up with Hagen?"

  "No, but I watched Bee walk into Hagen's bar earlier this evening with that Russian girl you used to pant over."

  Ignoring the comment about Vivian, he demanded, "What do you mean you watched Bee walk into Hagen's bar?"

  "I mean what I said. I watched her go into that bar. She was in there for half an hour. I assumed you sent her there to settle the debt."

  Kelly's teeth clenched together so tightly he feared his jaw would break. "No, I didn't."

  Incensed that she had gone behind his back and against his wishes, Kelly jerked open the door of his truck and tossed his bag inside. His father followed and tried to stop him. "Wait. Kelly, I need to tell you about—"

  "I don't care." Kelly shook off his father's hand and climbed behind the wheel. "Just leave me the hell alone!"

  He slammed the door, jammed the key in the ignition and peeled out of the parking lot. As he raced across Houston, Kelly couldn't decide what had pissed him off the most about this fucked up situation. Even as he rode the elevator up to the penthouse suite, he wondered at the anger he experienced. Was he mad at Bee? Was he mad at himself? His father? He worried the answer was a tangled mess of all three.

  When he stepped into the penthouse, Bee popped right up off the couch and started to wring her hands. Even if he hadn't known what she had done, her anxious behavior would have tipped him off. Seeing her so nervous made his gut twist. Did she honestly fear his reaction? Was she afraid of him after he'd lost control and hit Trevor?

  Winn made his presence known by moving into the doorway between the living area and kitchen. Kelly's anger erupted at the guard. "You're getting paid to protect her, Winn. Why the hell would you let her visit a damn loan shark?"

  Winn crossed his arms and didn't immediately reply. When he did, his voice was unnaturally calm. "Mate, I'm paid to protect her, and I did. She's a grown woman fully capable of making her own choices. She wanted to go so we went. Without incident, I might add."

  Bee stepped in front of him and held out her hand in a silent plea for understanding. "Winn, give us a minute, please." When the guard disappeared into the kitchen, she turned her worried eyes on him. "Don't be upset with Winn and Sully. You know how I can be when I want something."

  "They're supposed to keep you out of trouble. Not only did they allow you to expose yourself to a damn mobbed-up loan shark but they also let you drag Vivian into this mess."

  "She's married to a mob boss, Kelly. She's already in this mess."

  Surprised by the coldness of Bee's reply, he asked, "So what? She's disposable? She's someone you can use and discard without concern?"

  "I didn't say that! I can't believe you would even think—"

  "I can't believe you went against my wishes, Bee. I specifically asked you to stay the hell out of this."

  "You expect me to just stand on the sidelines and watch you get your head knocked in by a bunch of bloodthirsty animals and do nothing? Kelly, I love you. I'm not going to let you risk everything on the slim chance you'll win this thing."

  Hearing her voice how little faith she had in him cut Kelly more than he would ever admit. He didn't dare believe that he could win and had gotten used to the doubt from Alexei, Jack and Finn but Bee? He'd needed her to believe in him, to believe that he could do anything if he tried hard enough.

  "Look," Bee said softly, "it's not a big deal, okay? I gave Hagen my building and he agreed—"

  "You did what?" His snarled question startled her and she bit her lower lip. He reined in his outrage because the last thing he wanted to do was scare her. "You gave him your building?"

  She gulped before answering his question. "It's just a building, Kelly. It's bricks and rebar. It's easily replaced."

  "It's not just anything, Bee. That building is worth so much more than the loan Pop owes Hagen. Do you realize how badly you got taken? How could you agree to something like that?"

  "I did it to protect you."

  "I don’t need protecti
ng."

  She sadly shook her head. "You just don’t get it, Kelly. You do need protecting. You need my help. It's just money, Kelly. I'll make more of it."

  The reminder of their vastly different financial situations made him so uneasy. "So that's your new answer for everything? Spread around some money and make it all go away. You made Jeb's secrets go away. You made Trevor go away. You made Hagen go away. What's next, Bee? What else is your money going to buy you?"

  As if on cue, Bee's backpack started ringing. He glanced at the offending sound before glancing back to her. His brain finally caught up with what he had just seen and his gaze snapped to her backpack again. Her cell phone sat on the couch next to her bag but it wasn't ringing. It was another phone buried in her backpack that was making that noise.

  Wondering what the hell was going on, he stalked to the couch, unzipped her backpack and dumped the contents onto the couch. Bee rushed to his side and gripped his arm. "Hey! What are you doing? That's my stuff!"

  Kelly ignored her protests and swept his hands through the books, pens, notepads and makeup to find two old school cell phones. One was ringing while the other was actively making a call. A cold ball of dread settled in the pit of his stomach as he answered the call and heard the unmistakable sounds of a man panting on the other end. It was a recording.

  Gripping the phone in his hand, he pressed the buttons until he found the text messages. All of the messages in the phone's history had been sent to Bee's cell phone. They were the messages from her stalker.

  The stalker he started to doubt even existed.

  He switched to the other disposable cell phone and found the same thing. The ball of dread in his gut knotted and throbbed as anger and betrayal took hold. "What the hell is this, Bee?"

  "How should I know? I've never seen them in my life."

  Taken aback by the easy way she lied to him, Kelly narrowed his gaze until his eyes were mere slits. "The truth, Beatrice. What the hell are these phones doing in your backpack?"

  "I. Don't. Know."

  "What's wrong?" Winn cautiously entered the living area with Sully only a few steps behind him.

  "You tell me," Kelly said and thrust the phones into the other guards' hands. When he glanced at the pile of crap he'd dumped out of her backpack, he noticed the sheets of photo paper. He picked them up and rubbed them between his fingers, mentally comparing them to the photos she had supposedly received from her stalker.

  Kelly's mind reeled as he pieced together the damning evidence. Something she had said the other day ricocheted around his brain. I wondered what it was going to take for you to see me.

  His heart gripped in an icy vise, he held her gaze. "Did you set this up, Bee? To make me take care of you?"

  Her brown eyes widened. "Are you insane? You think I would fake a stalker just to get close to you?"

  Before he could answer, Sully interjected his opinion. "It wouldn't be the first time a woman has done that."

  Bee gawked at them. "You're all crazy if you think I would fake something like this."

  "Then how do you explain having these phones and the photo paper?" Winn asked. "We've had you on a tight leash since taking over your detail. You're only alone in the shower or bathroom—and even then Kelly is usually with you. We haven't let you out of our sight once and that backpack is always with you. No one could have gotten to it but you."

  She took a step back and frantically searched their faces. "I did not fake this. I wouldn’t even know where to start!"

  "Bullshit," Sully rudely retorted. "You're a genius. You could easily figure out how to make this happen."

  "Oh, and I suppose I stole my own panties and jacked off on them, right?"

  "You're rich," Sully answered matter-of-factly. "In the last couple of days, I've watched you reach into your deep pockets to fix a whole lot of problems. It wouldn't be that difficult to pay someone to dirty up some panties in a box."

  "You guys are unbelievable!" She rubbed her face. "Do I look like a freaking criminal mastermind?"

  "You look like a young woman who never lets anything get in her way," Sully replied honestly. "When you want something, you go after it. Like today with the loan shark." His gaze drifted to Kelly. "And now with him."

  "Other than the phone call at the gun range and that business with Trevor, you haven't received any other messages or photos since we came onto the scene," Winn added.

  "Because you're protecting me and my stalker is too afraid to try to get close to me!"

  "If we're protecting you that well, how do you explain these phones and paper finding their way into your bag?" Sully turned the scenario on its head. "You can't explain it because it didn't happen. Kelly's right. You stalked yourself."

  Bee's lower lip wobbled as she pinned him with a desperate stare. "Kelly, please, you have to believe me."

  He wanted to believe her. He wanted to deny that she would stoop so low to drag him back into her life after that disastrous New Year's Eve kiss.

  But he couldn’t refute the proof before him. "I believe what I see, Bee."

  A tear dripped down her face. "You believe I'm a liar?"

  A painful ball clogged his throat. "You lied to me about Jeb for years, Bee. If you could hide that—"

  "Get out." She sobbed the words and pointed to the door. "All three of you. Get your shit and get the fuck out." When they didn't move, she screamed, "Now!"

  Sully and Winn gave her a wide berth as they headed for their bedrooms to gather up their suitcases and equipment. Kelly didn't make a single move. He simply held her furious gaze. "I'm not leaving."

  "I wasn't asking." She swallowed hard and wiped at her wet, shiny cheeks. "Get your things and go—or I'll call the police. This time you'll have to pay for your own lawyer. If you can afford one," she added nastily.

  Her ugly remark flayed his already wounded pride. "Fine."

  She moved to the far side of the room, refusing to even look at him as he stormed toward the master suite. As he stuffed his clothing and toiletries into his suitcase, Kelly hurt so badly he could hardly breathe. The painful pressure squeezing his chest had to be worse than a heart attack. The knife-like ache twisting his gut was even worse.

  How could he have been so stupid and easily fooled? He'd fallen for Bee's damsel in distress routine hook, line and sinker. That Lev and Dimitri had believed her softened the blow some. Glancing at the bed they had shared, he was reminded of her remark about useful minions. Clearly, there was nothing Bee couldn't buy.

  He wondered at the guilt she had expressed over embroiling him in that drama with Trevor. That guilt had been as sincere as the threat the man had presented to her. Kelly couldn't understand why she had manufactured this fake stalker when a real problem like Trevor had already existed.

  Unless she wanted to be assured he would stick around…

  Was that it? Had she feared the Trevor issue would be easily and quickly cleaned up and he would take off again? Was she trying to keep him close by inventing this other fake stalker who would never be caught?

  He heard two sets of footsteps in the hall. A few moments later, the door closed loudly. No doubt Bee had slammed it shut behind Winn and Sully. The thought of leaving her alone here in the penthouse didn’t sit well with him. She had majorly screwed up but he could forgive her. God only knew he'd forgiven much worse from others.

  Leaving the suitcase on the bed, he returned to the living room and found her waiting by the door. Her reddened eyes and the tears leaving slick paths on her face saddened him. How the hell had things gotten this bad between them?

  Bee took one look at him and shoved off the wall. She marched by him and right back to the master suite. Seconds later, she emerged with his suitcase in hand. She stormed right to the door, flung it open and tossed his suitcase into the hall. "Get. Out."

  Shocked by her rage, Kelly decided there was no way they could have an adult discussion tonight. He strode out into the hall and turned to speak to her. "Bee, I think we—"
r />   "Goodbye, Kelly." She pushed the door closed. "And good luck with your fights."

  With a thud of finality, the door slid into place. A second later, the locks engaged, sealing him in the hallway. He stared at the reinforced steel slab between them. His damn heart felt like it was being ripped out of his chest. He raised his hand to knock but his knuckles never touched the metal.

  Lowering his hand, he spun on his heel, picked up his suitcase—and walked away from the only woman he had ever loved.

  Chapter Fifteen

  The incessant ringing of the doorbell dragged me from my fitful sleep. Sitting up, I rubbed my face and tired eyes and glanced around the living room of the penthouse. Before all the awful memories of my night penetrated the foggy haze of my hangover, I heard the front door open. Panicked, I shoved to my feet and grabbed the closest weapon, an empty wine bottle.

  It wasn't my crazed stalker who walked into the place like he owned it. It was Yuri—who actually did own it. His eyebrows lifted quizzically at the sight of the wine bottle in my hand. "Rough night?"

  Groaning, I put the bottle on the table and flopped down on the couch. "You have no idea."

  "Actually, I do." Yuri sat down on the table and cautiously touched my knee. "Are you all right?" Reaching over, he picked up the empty wine bottle. "It must have been one hell of a fight if you had to drown your sorrows in a seven-thousand-dollar bottle of wine."

  I cringed and croaked, "I'll reimburse you."

  "Nonsense," he murmured. 'What's the point of having a wine cellar if my friends can't make use of it?" Sitting up straight, he exhaled loudly. "Well—tell me what happened."

  I massaged my aching head. "Something tells me you already know."

  "Dimitri called me this morning. He told me that your guards reported you had fired them and thrown them out of the penthouse last night. He said you later called and left a rambling, drunken message with the night dispatcher."

  I didn't remember calling the Lone Star Group but after glugging down that entire bottle of wine anything was possible. "Well, that's embarrassing."

  "Why did you fire the guards? And where the hell is Kelly?"

  "He's gone. They're all gone."