KATE: MADISON KATE #4

by James Tate

"Look, Shane," I said with a sigh, "I can't help you."

  His brow creased, and he shook his head. "No, you can. You just won't."

  I said nothing because he was right. I wouldn't help because what the fuck was I supposed to say? Yes, I know where Scott is because I'm the one who killed him? I was reckless and a bit naive at times, but I wasn't that stupid.

  "If that's all, Officer Shane?" Steele prompted, still aiming his gun at Shane and not even trying to disguise it. Apparently he had no worries about being reported to the SGPD.

  The older version of Scott just glared venom, then stormed off with a slight limp to his gait.

  Wordlessly, Steele and I paid for our ice cream, then hurried back to the car. Once inside, he handed the gun back to me. I tucked it into the glove compartment next to the one already in there, then reached over and grabbed him by the back of his neck.

  I kissed him hard, loving the hardness of his tongue stud as I claimed his mouth. When I released him some minutes later, we were both breathing heavily.

  "You beat up Officer Shane?" I asked in a low voice, licking my wet lips and already desperate to kiss him again.

  Steele cocked a brow. "He called you a slut, Hellcat. No one does that and walks away unscathed."

  I groaned, squirming in my seat. "Fucking hell," I muttered, "that shouldn't turn me on so damn hard."

  Steele just gave me a cocky grin and turned the car on, letting the purring rumble of the engine vibrate my seat. "But it does, and I love that about you."

  I laughed, then shook my head. "Hurry up and get us home, or I'll be forced to fuck you here in Archer's car."

  He groaned in pain. "Hellcat, don't tease me like that; you know how much I like to flirt with danger." Because Archer would probably kill him for fucking me in his Porsche. Still, Steele put his foot down and tore out of the parking lot at about twice the speed limit.

  We were just two streets from home when he jerked the wheel to change our direction.

  I startled, then took in his tense frame, the way his knuckles grasped the steering wheel, and the rapid way he checked his mirror every few seconds.

  "We're being followed," I murmured in understanding.

  "Yep," he replied in a grim voice. "Let's see how good they are."

  His foot pressed down on the gas, and I nervously grabbed my seatbelt as we rocketed around the corner and down the long stretch of residential street ahead. It was evening, so there weren't too many cars out, but even so, we had a couple of hair-raising misses as Steele hurtled across intersections.

  Then our pursuer started shooting. The first shot hit the back window with a loud crack, but the glass remained intact. The same couldn't be said for my tenuous hold over my panic, and a small sound of fright escaped my throat before I could swallow it down.

  Three more shots were fired, but this time I was prepared and didn't flinch as much.

  "Are you okay?" Steele asked, cool as a damn cucumber while rocketing through the streets of Shadow Grove with some asshole shooting at us.

  I jerked a nod. "I'm fine," I lied. "Do we think it's Shane?"

  Steele shook his head. "Nah, no way. He wouldn't have the range of motion right now to either drive like that or shoot from a moving vehicle. My bet is that these guys took the opportunity while it was just the two of us out of the house. Well, joke’s on them; we don't need Kody and Archer to cream their asses." He flashed me a confident smile. "You're cool with that, right? Otherwise we can just head back to the house and let security handle them."

  I frowned at him, then popped the glove compartment open to grab his gun. "Fuck that; we can handle this."

  Steele's grin spread wide. "That's my girl."

  Pride rippled through me as I nervously grinned back. "What do you want me to do?"

  Steele checked his mirror again as more bullets peppered the back of the car. Thank fuck we’d taken Archer's.

  "Okay, it's a guy hanging out the passenger side that is shooting. We've got two options here." He paused, clearly running those two options through his head and testing them for risk. "One option," he amended after a moment. "Because I'm not risking you getting hit by a lucky shot. I'm going to get us out to the warehouse district, then you're going to take the wheel. When I say, you'll jerk the wheel all the way toward you. Clear?"

  I nodded. "Clear."

  "Good," he murmured. "This should be easy. They didn't plan this out; it's just an opportunistic attack." He gunned the engine faster, speeding in the direction of the warehouse district. As we approached, he held out his hand, and I passed over the gun.

  "You've got this, Hellcat. Let's clear a few more players from the board." He flashed me a wide smile, then nodded to the steering wheel.

  I reached out, wrapping my hands around it as he wound down his window. His eyes were glued to the mirror and his foot still firmly on the gas, then he calmly said, "Ready? And... now."

  At his command, I wrenched the steering wheel, sending our sports car into a sickening spin. The wheels slipped in the loose gravel of the warehouse area which allowed us to slide as we spun, rather than catching and flipping. Steele aimed his gun from his open window, then popped off a series of bullets as the car spun him in the direction of our pursuer.

  As quick as he’d fired, he handed the gun back to me and grabbed the steering wheel once more. A moment later, he controlled our spin and slowed the car to a jerking stop outside a series of shipping containers.

  "You okay, Hellcat?" he asked sharply, reaching out a hand to sweep my hair from my face.

  I nodded to reassure him. "Yeah, yes, yeah, I'm totally fine. Holy shit. That was insane."

  His gorgeous face lit up with a smile, and he pressed a quick kiss to my lips. "You're fucking amazing," he told me with a groan. "Let's finish these fuckers off." He popped the glove compartment open again, took out the second gun, then unbuckled himself and got out.

  I hesitated only a moment before following, staying slightly behind him so I wouldn't distract or interfere with his shots, should anyone attack. I needn't have worried, though. When we approached the crumpled debris of the other car, crashed into the side of a shipping container, it was pretty damn clear they were no longer a threat.

  Somehow, my quiet, gentle, piano-playing lover had managed to hit both attackers with headshots while our Porsche was mid-spin on gravel.

  "Ho-ly shit," I breathed, wide-eyed as I stared. "You're a little bit badass, you know that?"

  Steele barked a laugh and pulled his phone from his pocket. "So are you, gorgeous."

  He called the guys to advise them that we had a little mess to clean up, then walked me back to our car to wait.

  Incredibly, the only damage to Archer's car was that back window. It was almost entirely frosted with spiderweb shatters, but it had stopped seven bullets from penetrating. Each one of them was lodged within the thick glass like a trophy.

  "Ah shit," Steele commented, noticing something on the side of the body. "Arch is gonna kill me. I scratched the paintwork here."

  Laughter bubbled out of me and it didn’t stop until Steele slipped into the passenger seat then pulled me into his lap. I relaxed into his embrace and soaked in the reality that he was still alive. It was going to take a hell of a lot more than bullets to take my men away.

  27

  By the time everything was cleaned up, my ice cream had well and truly melted. If that wasn't bad enough on its own, it'd somehow managed to melt out of its carton and get all through the carpet-lined floorboard of Archer's Porsche.

  Whoops.

  On the other hand, his car had also been shot full of bullets, so what was a little melted ice cream?

  It was past midnight by the time we’d made it back to the house. Sampson and one of the other trusted security guards were taking care of the bodies, and we'd had the other car towed to a wrecker where it could be dismantled. Neither of the dead men had any ID on them, but it didn't make much difference. Dead was dead, no matter who you were.

&
nbsp; "Benny is going to have the most well-fed pigs in the state," I mumbled as we made our way upstairs to bed.

  "Nah," Kody commented, "Sampson doesn't use pigs, as far as I know."

  Surprise made me blink a couple of times. "There are other equally effective methods to dispose of bodies?"

  All three boys chuckled at that, so apparently I was missing the joke somewhere.

  "Okay, cool. I'm going to sleep; who—"

  "Dibs," Steele cut me off.

  Kody scowled. "That's not how this works, bro."

  Steele folded his arms, positioning himself closest to my bedroom door. "Oh no? How have you two been choosing who sleeps in Hellcat's bed these last few days, hmm?"

  Archer scoffed. "Obviously, we've been handling it like real men." He held his fist out, and Kody copied. Then... "Rock, paper, scissors."

  "Oh, for fuck’s sake," I muttered, ignoring their antics and letting myself into my room with Steele following close behind. I was almost positive they hadn't been deciding by rock, paper, scissors, but then... not much would shock me.

  I fell asleep wrapped up in Steele's embrace, but woke the next morning to find Kody on the other side of me. I smiled as I admired my two sleeping men, pleased to find that they could compromise after all. And a compromise that ended up with more of them in my bed? That was one I could happily get on board with.

  Carefully I slid out from between them, not wanting to wake either of them up, and smothered a laugh when Steele reached out an arm and snuggled Kody.

  Downstairs, I found Archer in the kitchen. He was sitting on a stool at the island, drinking a protein shake as he chatted with Anna.

  "Morning." I scuffed my way over to where Archer sat. He reached out, tucking his arm around my waist, and I leaned into him. "Why are you awake?"

  He gave a small chuckle, and Anna clicked her tongue at me.

  "Because it's nearly evening, my girl. You and those boys have been asleep all day. I was getting worried that this lamb shoulder I've been slow roasting would go to waste." Anna gave me a smile to show she was teasing, and my stomach rumbled.

  "Yum," I whispered, leaning into Archer further and loving how he held me so tightly. Whatever the time was, I was still yawning. "Can I have cereal first, though?" I asked hopefully, and Anna threw her hands in the air with mock exasperation.

  "You can, but only because the lamb is still a good two hours from done and I don't need you passing out from starvation."

  "Sit down." Archer lifted me onto the stool beside his before I could do as I was told. "I'll get it for you."

  I watched in loved-up fascination as he went to the pantry and selected my sugary cereal from the shelf, then got me out the biggest bowl and filled it two thirds of the way. Then he topped it up with milk and placed it in front of me with a spoon.

  Grinning, I pulled it closer to me. "How'd you know how I liked my cereal?" I murmured as he slid back onto his stool.

  He just gave me a look in return as if to say, Don't underestimate me, Princess.

  Anna's eyes crinkled as she smiled at the two of us, then she tucked her oven gloves back over the rail.

  "Right," she said with her hands on her hips. "Two hours until dinner. I'm going to get some laundry done; you make sure the other two are awake, yes?" Archer and I both bobbed our heads in understanding. "Good."

  She bustled off and left the two of us alone in the kitchen.

  Less than a second after she was gone, Archer lifted me off my stool and sat me in his lap, then wrapped his arms around my waist.

  I only let out a small grumble of protest, then dragged my cereal closer so I could keep eating while he snuggled me. It was stupid cute.

  "Hey," Steele said with a yawn. He wandered into the kitchen still half asleep. "How long have you guys been up?"

  "Um, ten minutes?" I guessed with a shrug before taking another mouthful of loops.

  Archer kissed the side of my neck, behind my ear, then replied, "Six hours."

  Steele wrinkled his nose at his friend in disgust. "Gross. You should sleep more, bro."

  Archer huffed a laugh, his warm breath feathering my skin and making my shiver. "I was asleep, but then I got a call from my guy over at Rainybanks pathology. He's sending over the results from James's test today."

  I startled then turned in his lap to stare wide-eyed. "What?"

  "I haven't gotten them yet," he assured me, "but I figured I may as well get up and be productive until they came through. Except apparently James doesn't work Mondays, so he's not even here today."

  I bit my lip, trying really hard not to get my hopes up. It was weird, wanting a virtual stranger to be my biological father rather than the man who’d raised me. But there it was. I wanted James to be my dad because anyone had to be better than Samuel Danvers.

  "Well, I mean, it's probably negative anyway," I said in a forced-light tone of voice. "James said he ran a test himself, and it was negative. So I doubt that was tampered with. Right?"

  Archer just shrugged. "You never know in Shadow Grove."

  "I'll see if I can track him down," Steele offered. "We must have his home address on file somewhere. Or a phone number at least."

  Archer nodded. "Steinwick said he'd find those details for us, but I figured we'd wait and see what the results say."

  "Fair enough," Steele said with a yawn. "I was thinking maybe we’d head up to the shooting range tomorrow, if you guys are up for it." He made it sound like a group activity, but I knew he wanted to test my marksmanship again—something I was more than okay with. Like Steele had told me when he first started teaching me to shoot, the more I fired a gun, the more natural it would come. I wanted to get as good as he was... one day.

  I nodded with enthusiasm, and Archer's arms tightened around me.

  "Sounds good," he rumbled. "Anna wants us back here in two hours for a slow-roasted lamb shoulder."

  Steele let out a drooling sound, throwing his head back in silent thanks to our cook, and I snickered a laugh.

  "Alright, I'm going to go wake Kody up," I told them. "We can... I dunno. Run through the plan for Saturday again."

  Saturday being our wedding day. Fucking hell... it was so soon. Even though it wasn't a real wedding, I was still getting all the nervous jitters and shit. It was also solidifying some things in my mind.

  Despite the fact that it was a ruse to take out—hopefully—all of the active hitmen currently hunting my hide, it had made me realize that I was completely in love with all three of the guys.

  Archer squeezed me again and kissed my neck before letting me slide out of his lap. Steele caught me by the waist as I passed him, kissed me thoroughly, then letting me go with a lingering look.

  Upstairs, instead of waking Kody up like I'd intended, I found myself crawling back under the covers and snuggling into his sleepy embrace.

  "Babe," he mumbled, "you're cold."

  I let out a small laugh. "Warm me up, then, Kodiak."

  He made a sleepy, growling noise. His teeth playfully nipped the bend of my neck I gasped. "Careful what you wish for, babe." He pulled me closer, grinding his hard length against my ass.

  "Maybe that's exactly what I want," I taunted, arching into him. It hadn't been what was on my mind when I'd come upstairs, but the second his arms had wrapped around me, all nonsexual thoughts had flown completely out the window.

  He hummed a sleepy, contented sound as his hand snaked under my T-shirt to palm one of my bare breasts and toy with my hard nipple.

  "I think," he murmured, his lips against my neck, "that you use sex as a stress reliever."

  I stilled. "Is that a bad thing?"

  "Hell no," he replied with a short laugh, "but it does make me worry what you're stressed about right now."

  His fingers rolled my nipple, sending pulses of arousal through my body and making me squirm. "Does that mean you're not going to fuck me, Kodiak Jones?"

  His teeth scraped against my neck. "Babe, I'll never refuse you, especially whe
n it's helping to keep you calm." His hand left my breast, skating down my belly, then pushing my sleep shorts down. "But I still want you to talk to me," he continued, as I kicked my shorts off. He cupped my pussy when it was bare. "Tell me what's stressing you out, babe. Maybe I can help in more than one way."

  He probably could because he had the physical angle totally covered. His hand left my mound just long enough to push his own shorts down, then he pushed into me slowly from his big-spoon position.

  I groaned as he worked his way in. He lifted my top leg and hooked it over his hip to offer a better angle. But when he fully seated himself, he paused there. Waiting.

  "Archer is waiting on James's paternity test results," I admitted with a gasp, my pussy throbbing around Kody's hard shaft.

  "Ah, I see," he murmured as he started to move within me. His hand moved back up my shirt, and he found my breast once more. "Do you want James to be your dad?" he asked gently, his hips rolling and his thrusts deep.

  I moaned, shivering as arousal built and chased across my skin, then focused on his question. "I don't know James," I replied, a little breathlessly. "He's a total stranger to me. But yeah, I guess I want confirmation that I'm not Samuel Danvers’ daughter."

  Kody murmured a sound of understanding, then gripped my breast tighter as his pace quickened a bit. His movements drew moans and whimpers out of me as my lazy orgasm built up.

  "What else is on your mind, babe?" he asked in a low voice, his lips brushing my earlobe.

  My breath was quick, my hips rocking in time with his thrusts, and my climax taunting me on the horizon, but Kody was right. More and more, I was turning to sex to handle my stress, and while I saw nothing wrong with that—given I had three extremely virile lovers on hand—I also needed to recognize the opportunity to purge my mental load.

  I groaned. "I'm marrying Archer in six days," I finally told him.

  Kody's rhythm faltered a second before he recovered at a slower pace.

  "And?"

  My back arched and I pushed my ass back against him as my body begged for him to fuck me harder. "And... I want you to know something first."