Gale, Avery - Katarina's Return [The ShadowDance Club 1] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour)

by Avery Gale

  “Don’t you try to intimidate me, Alexander Lamont, I’m not one of your little soldier boys or one of your Club flunkies or a sub you can just order around. You want to speak with me, you ask me like the gentleman Mama raised you to be. I don’t take orders from you, remember that, big brother. That goes for you, too, Zach; and it goes double for you, Colt Matthews. This is not going to end well, let me tell you. I’ve been traveling for the better part of the past twenty-four hours, I’m worried sick about a friend, tired, grimy, hungry, and just plain bitchy. So you might want to choose your battles carefully.” Boy, she was on a roll; she didn’t often let loose on them, usually she found it easier to just work around their silly mandates. But this needed to stop, she was tired of everybody telling her what to do, cripes, mostly she was just tired.

  Colt stepped forward and grasped her elbow, pulling her back until she was facing him. “Well, princess, let’s take this discussion into the office; there is no reason to involve the entire staff.” He began leading her down the hall.

  Alex and Zach watched momentarily, surprised that Colt had actually seemed to be finally taking Jenna in hand, and that she’d allowed it. Alex was sure Zach was thinking the same thing he was, hell, this might actually be fun to watch. This would be a battle of wills of epic proportions. Oh, they were both still seven kinds of pissed off at her, and they were damned well going to make sure she knew it; but, now that it looked like they might actually have some real help handling Jenna, they could get back to their first priority, protecting Katarina.

  Jenna let Colt usher her into the office and sat her next to him on the sofa while her brothers each stood leaning against the fireplace, watching. Their careless poses were betrayed by the set of their jaws and narrowed eyes.

  “Okay, now tell me what the hell this is about so I can get something to eat and crash.” Jenna was just about to get up and leave when Colt put his hand on her knee and squeezed. His message was clear, Don’t you dare move. Well, this was sure fun. Welcome home, Me!

  Chapter 12

  Colt turned his full focus on Jenna and watched her eyes dilate and a nice rosy flush color her cheeks. Well, well, it would seem the lady wasn’t as immune to him as she wanted him to believe. Interesting. Alex and Zach had asked him to take the lead with Jenna because they didn’t think they’d be able to do it without losing their tempers and they were neither one willing to give her the paddling she so richly deserved. Colt went straight for her throat. “When is the last time you had any communication with Katarina McKay?” Oh yes, the joy of a surprise attack, Jenna stiffened just slightly, she blinked her eyes and glanced down for a split second, but it was enough, he had her. “Don’t even think about lying to me, Jenna.” Colt’s voice was low and menacing; he wanted her to know he’d tolerate nothing but the truth.

  * * * *

  Well crap, crap, crap. This was a disaster of epic proportions. Not only was she worried sick about Kat, but now she was painted into a corner that she knew there was no way out of. Damn! There was no way that question had come out of the blue, she knew these three well enough to know if they were asking, they likely already had the answers. “Well, I haven’t spoken to her recently, if that’s what you are implying.” She gave herself a mental high five because she was really pretty proud of that answer, it was the truth, of course it was dependent upon how one chose to define “recently,” but still, she wasn’t typically that good at semantics games when she was tired. Fatigue also tended to have very adverse effect on her tolerance for bullshit, so she was going to enjoy even the smallest victory right now.

  As if he’d read her thoughts, Colt said, “Define ‘recently.’”

  Geez, what was he, some kind of flippin’ mind reader? Christ, that kind of answer had always been golden with her parents. Of course, the fact that her mom and dad thought their youngest was the golden child had always played heavily in her favor. Her brothers were tougher sells by far, but Colt, he looked positively pissed.

  Sighing, Jenna played with a string on her short skirt, rolling it back and forth between her brightly polished nails, they knew she was stalling, she knew they knew, but it didn’t matter, they’d blindsided her, and she knew full well that had been their plan. If she could only find out how much they knew, maybe she could walk away relatively unscathed. Deciding to hedge, she asked, “Why? Has something happened I should know about?” Alex took a step toward her, but Colt held up his hand to stop him.

  “Okay, okay, geez, talk about your anal control freaks. I’ve been talking to Kat for a while now.” Best not to give away the bank just yet. “We’ve been e-mailing and Skyping, why?”

  “You were aware that your brothers had launched a full-out search after Katarina left Climax seven years ago, were you not?” At Kat’s nod, he continued, “And you were aware that they continued to search for her, putting out feelers as recently as last fall, were you not?” Oh damn, this was not going well at all; she simply nodded her head again. “And you were aware that Katarina had recently become involved with someone who had threatened her safety on several occasions and that he’d physically harmed her at least once that you’d gotten her to admit to, correct?” Oh shit, to use one of her brothers’ favorite terms, she was officially up to her ass in alligators. “Would you like to explain how you rationalized not communicating any of this with your brothers? How could you have so little regard for your best friend’s safety that you didn’t bother to notify the two men you knew had been looking for her since the day she’d left ShadowDance Mountain, men you well know would stop at nothing to protect her?”

  Man, when he said it like that, keeping Kat’s secret seemed like a pretty dumb idea. God, she had already been close to panic, worrying about Kat, now Colt had managed to toss her in to a pit of guilt that would surely make Sister Mary Margaret proud. Feeling her eyes fill with tears, Jenna looked up, and just as she opened her mouth to speak, she was cut short.

  “That’s quite enough, gentlemen. You have no right to make Jenna feel guilty for keeping a confidence I begged her to keep. She tried to get me to seek her family’s help, I was convinced I could handle it on my own. I’ve been taking care of myself for a very long time. Don’t you dare blame her for the mess I’ve gotten myself into. If my being here is going to cause trouble in this family, I’ll leave tonight.” Kat stood in the doorway with her hands on her hips, glaring at all three men.

  Zach moved toward Kat. “Kitten, this doesn’t involve you. Please, let me take you back upstairs. You need your rest.”

  Kat held her ground, mentally shaking her head. Men just never ceased to amaze her, they used sweet words, a gentle tone, and they expected you to just blindly go along with whatever horse hockey they threw out to you. I don’t think so, hot shot. I’ve learned a few things during the past seven years.

  “Zach, you know perfectly well that’s bullshit. You and Alex are angry at Jenna because she knew where I was and didn’t rat me out.” Holding up her hand when they started to speak, she said, “No, that’s the bottom line. Jenna didn’t know I’d been injured in Vegas. We haven’t spoken since before that happened. Leave her out of this, please don’t take away the one person who has always loved me and who always believed in me, even when those close to her didn’t.” Direct hit. She knew it was a low blow, but they had it coming, and she refused to feel guilty, well, not much anyway, at their tortured expressions. Walking over to sit next to Jenna, Kat leaned forward and hugged her best friend. God it felt good to have Jenna back close enough to touch. They had been as close as sisters for almost their entire lives, and if there was anything Kat needed now, it was the shoulder of a friend to lean on.

  * * * *

  Watching Kat and Jenna leave the room talking animatedly about how they were going to sweet-talk their long-time cook and housekeeper, Selita, into making cookies at this late hour, all three men groaned inwardly. The woman the Lamont’s all affectionately referred to as the Honduran Dynamo had lived in the United States since she�
��d been a young girl, but she had never fully mastered the language or the nuances of slang. Her version of common saying was often as baffling as it was amusing. Since Selita lived inside the mansion, no one doubted the women would have no problem getting her to bake one of their favorite treats. It really was humbling to see how easily those two could manipulate everyone around them. Jenna was the taller of them, and she couldn’t be much over five foot two inches tall, for Pete’s sake, but they were both smart as whips with minds that were always knee-deep in their next great scheme. Yes, Alex was quite sure life at ShadowDance had just gotten a whole lot more challenging.

  Chapter 13

  “Well, you really handled Jenna, didn’t you?” Zach chuckled, knowing Colt would be pissed for being cheated out of spanking Jenna. The sparks coming out of Colt’s eyes confirmed it, and knowing his friend as well as he did, it was a safe bet he was not finished with her comeuppance, as he’d called it. Yes indeed, the Colt and Jenna Show looked to be shaping up to be a source of great entertainment.

  Alex had started to pace, his agitation was growing with each pass. “Just what makes Jenna think this is in any way acceptable behavior? God, I tried to get Mom and Dad to see all their coddling was going to lead to trouble. Damn, she is going to be the death of me. And I shudder to think about all the crazy notions she’ll fill Katarina’s head with. Geez, they were bad enough as kids—hell, Lucy and Ethel will have nothing on those two. You just wait and see if I’m not right.” Zach was biting the inside of his mouth to keep from smiling. He knew neither Alex nor Colt would appreciate him not joining in on the lynching. But Zach had always lived by the notion that you could catch more flies with honey than vinegar. Oh, he believed in discipline, and he was going to be happy to set Kat’s happy little ass on fire when she disobeyed them, but he also knew you could lose a few battles and still win the war. Zach was also frustrated that Jenna hadn’t trusted them enough to tell them about Kat, and he damned well planned to make sure his feelings were crystal clear to her, but he also knew that dragging them all through sewage tonight wasn’t going to solve anything. And there was a large part of him that was just grateful they had been communicating, or it was likely Kat would have never returned to ShadowDance when she’d been hurt and was obviously still in danger.

  “Let’s head into the kitchen and make sure they understand a few things before we call it a night. I’m sure they are going to be up late catching up, and I don’t want to wait around until the crack of noon when they roll out of bed tomorrow to have this conversation.” Alex was already stomping down the hall with Colt hot on his heels. Zach sighed, knowing that the honey method wasn’t going to be happening anytime soon, and he was fairly certain Alex’s approach was going to keep them both out of Kat’s bed for the foreseeable future. Fuck. His only consolation was that it looked like Colt would be going down on the same ship. Smiling to himself, he decided to make the best of the situation and just enjoy the fireworks he was sure were coming.

  Chapter 14

  Kat and Jenna had their heads poked so far inside the refrigerator, Alex was half afraid they were trying to crawl inside. God, they were giggling like the teens he remembered so well, how many nights had he lain awake in some godforsaken hellhole, thinking about Katarina in her next-to-nothing pajamas, prancing around this very same kitchen late at night doing exactly this same thing, Jesus, talk about a déjà vu moment. Alex knew he’d fallen for Katarina years ago, and even though he’d never made love to her until today, no woman had ever captured his interest the way she did. There was just a sparkle that seemed to shine from inside her, and he’d never seen anyone who had met her that was immune. How she’d managed to hook up with an evil bastard like Calvin Robertson he’d never understand. Christ, the man was a first-class ass and was being watched by a number of the alphabet agencies for a wide variety of suspected criminal associations and activities. After his father had retired, the organizations he headed had become suddenly much more profitable, and no one believed it was due to Cal’s astute business decisions. And the worst part was that he didn’t seem to hesitate to pull out all the stops when he thought it even appeared as if he’d been wronged; and no doubt he’d view Katarina’s escape as betrayal of the first order. They’d already sent a man to Las Vegas to try to find Mia, the woman who had helped Katarina escape. If she hadn’t already faced Robertson’s wrath, it was sure to come. Hopefully, they’d get to her before Robertson did.

  The kitchen was huge, but it was also Selita’s domain, and she made sure everybody respected what she considered hers. Selita had been with their family for so long that Alex didn’t even remember a time when she hadn’t run their household with a command that would do a four-star general proud. No one crossed her more than once. She was almost as wide as she was tall, which wasn’t saying much since he was pretty sure she couldn’t meet the height requirement for most of the rides at an amusement park. When his parents had hired her, they’d built her a beautiful suite of rooms near the kitchen, and she’d lived with them ever since. His father had always been evasive about how she’d come to them, all Alex had ever been able to learn was that she’d had an abusive husband who had almost killed her, their parents had come across her lying in the street and had offered her a job after she’d gotten out of the hospital. She had quickly become a member of their family, and he’d never met anyone she wasn’t able to win over.

  She kept the house in pristine condition, cooked mountains of food daily, and was always willing to lend an ear when someone needed a shoulder to lean on or just wanted to vent their frustrations about their rotten day. She was a surrogate mother to not only him and his siblings, but to each of their employees as well. And now…now she was scurrying around making sandwiches and snacks for “her girls” just like he’d seen her do so many times before.

  At Katarina’s mention of needing to go clothes shopping, he was brought back to the present. “You will both remain here, meaning you will not even leave the house without having one of us or a member of the security team with you. You can order anything you need and have it delivered.” Kat and Jenna both turned to glare at him before he continued. “We haven’t been able to locate Calvin Robertson yet, so Katarina still isn’t safe. Jenna, your association with Katarina was being monitored by Robertson’s techies, so he’s likely to make an appearance here as soon as he realizes you’ve returned home.”

  “Oh my God, look what I’ve done! I’ve brought so much trouble to you all. I was selfish to even think of coming here.” Alex looked up at his brother and could see that Kat’s look of defeat nearly undid him as well.

  “No, the only mistake you made was not contacting us sooner, well, that and going to the blasted lake instead of coming to the house. We’ll be discussing that in the future, don’t think we’ve forgotten about that, kitten.” Zach had been leaning against the door, just watching, he’d been so quiet Kat had almost forgotten he was there. Colt was also standing back, he seemed content to let Alex take the lead, but his body language fairly shouted that he was not going to bend on this at all.

  Taking a deep breath to try to help her bite back her immediate response, Kat said, “Well, that is all well and good, but there are things I need right away, things that I’d rather choose personally. If I order from any of the local stores, you know they’ll have someone go pick things off the shelf, and do you really want some high school boy picking out my panties?” When she heard Zach groan and Alex growl, she knew her comments had hit their mark.

  “Make a list of what you need, Zach or I will personally pick up everything. There will not be anyone else making undergarment selections for you, is that clear? You’ll need a variety of clothing as well. Who purchased the clothing that was in your car?” Alex was fairly certain he knew the answer to that question since most of the items had tracking devices imbedded in the seams, but he needed to be sure.

  “I didn’t have a chance to pick up much from my apartment and what I brought was all I could find
quickly. That is odd, too, now that I think about it, all the things I could find were items Cal had bought for me.” Kat seemed to think about that for a second before continuing. “Why? What’s wrong with the clothes I brought?”

  Colt stood up and moved forward saying, “Everything you brought with you had tracking chips, so no matter where you were, Robertson’s security office in Los Angeles was able to track you to within a few feet via satellite. From what we’ve been able to find out so far, he’s been doing this for some time, at least a few weeks. It’s a miracle you made it here before they caught up with you. And you can be sure they are close now. They’ve already made attempts to bypass the electronic monitoring on the property’s perimeter, unsuccessfully I might add. But don’t think they’ve given up. And when, not if, they come calling, we’ll be ready.”

  Chapter 15

  Alex had taken quick steps forward and had just gotten to Katarina when her knees buckled; she had started to shake when Colt had laid out the danger she was facing, the blood draining from her face quickly and fear marking her expression. Leading her to the nearest chair, he sat, pulling her down on to his lap. “Katarina, look at me.” When she finally looked up, he said, “You are safer here than any place else you could possibly be. Everything you brought with you has either had the chips removed or has been destroyed. We’ll return your computer to you just as soon as we can, but right now we’re using it as a backdoor into their system. Remember, love, this is what we do. Please don’t worry, that’s our job. You need to recover and we’d like you and Jenna to stay together during the day as much as possible, that will help us protect you both.”