Thank God for small favors.
Lina parked her bike outside the detached garage. Then, with a deep breath to steel herself, went inside.
It looked exactly as she remembered it, if a bit dusty. Old sheets covered the furniture, and a fair amount of cobwebs adorned the walls and corners. A closed-up, musty smell permeated the air, but nothing more than she would expect for a cabin left empty for a few years.
The first thing Lina did was open all the windows to air the place out. Then she turned on the taps and let the water run for a few minutes to flush out the pipes. Cleaning was a great way to exorcise demons, but that would have to wait until later, because she just couldn’t summon the strength.
Lina pulled a bottle from the still-fully-stocked liquor cabinet, blew off the dust, and sat on the big U-shaped couch. Her phone buzzed with an incoming text. She turned it off without bothering to check it. Feet up, she stared at the breathtaking view of the lake down below and sipped from the bottle of Jameson’s until the pain eased and her mind was sufficiently quiet to fall into a dreamless sleep.
It was dark when she woke, her neck stiff and her left arm numb from laying on it too long. A brief check of the mounted pendulum wall clock showed it to be after midnight. Had she really been out for almost twelve hours?
She yawned and stretched, wishing she’d remembered to pick up some food on the way when her stomach rumbled. Thankfully, a brief forage through the kitchen pantry yielded some non-expired canned provisions.
While her soup heated, Lina decided to bite the bullet and turn her phone back on. In the thirty seconds it took to establish a mobile data connection, the device blew up with messages. Some were from Jamie, which she promptly deleted without opening. A slew from Amy, first wondering how things had gone, then asking about dinner, then increasingly frantic texts because she hadn’t responded. There were even more from Johnny, which meant that Amy had probably called him.
Crap! She’d forgotten all about sharing her hide-away plans with Amy. She quickly typed out an apologetic text: So sorry! Lost track of time. Everything’s fine. Don’t worry.
Lina had just hit send when the sound of the front door opening commanded her attention. Two questions slammed into her head, one right after the other. Who the hell is that? Followed closely by, Didn’t I lock the door?
Her self-preservation instincts wiped the last of the mental lethargy away. Lina snatched a cast iron frying pan in one hand and a marble rolling pin in the other, then crouched behind the counter, prepared to defend herself against an unwelcome houseguest/attacker. The voice that called out was neither.
“Lina? Are you in here?”
“Michael!” Lina leaped up and charged toward her oldest brother.
With a smooth, skillful move, he disarmed her even as she leaped into his arms, tossing the nefarious kitchen implements out of immediate reach. “Hey, little one,” he said in greeting.
“What are you doing here?” she asked excitedly, then pinned him with a stern glare. “When did you get back in town? And where the hell have you been for the last year and a half?”
Michael chuckled as she fired off a series of questions, giving her a squeeze before setting her down. “First things first. Are you all right?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. Why?”
He gave her a look that told her he knew she was full of shit. “Because Johnny’s convinced you’ve been kidnapped or worse.”
“Crap.”
“Yeah, crap. What the hell is going on, Lina?” Without waiting for her answer, Michael thumbed his phone and put it to his ear. “Yeah, she’s here... Yeah, she’s fine... Yeah, she’s alone.” At the last, Michael looked at her questioningly.
She nodded in affirmation.
“Okay. Yeah, no worries. I got this. Talk to you tomorrow.”
Michael disconnected the call and slid the phone back into his pocket. “Start talking.”
Lina stubbornly crossed her arms over her chest. “Not until you tell me what you’re doing here and why I haven’t heard from you in eighteen months.”
He sighed. “Long story. What smells so good?”
“Canned soup, and I’m not going anywhere.”
“What kind?”
She shrugged. “Whatever was in the cupboard. I couldn’t make up my mind, so I mixed a few kinds together.”
“Good, then there’s enough for both of us. We can talk while we eat.”
It was as much of a concession as she could hope for. Michael was every bit as tenacious as Johnny, but where Johnny tended to have a volatile temper, Michael could simmer indefinitely. Of the two, Michael was definitely the more dangerous, and the least likely to fall for any attempt at misdirection.
“Fair enough.”
Lina washed a few bowls and spoons while Michael cleaned off the table. Once they were seated, Lina sniffed and took an experimental sip from a can of soda. There were several cases left in the pantry, and surprisingly, it didn’t taste too bad.
“So what are you doing here?” she asked, hoping to forestall her own inevitable confession.
“I was in Pine Ridge, talking to Uncle Jack and the boys about opening up a new fitness center over there.”
“A fitness center?”
“Yeah,” he shrugged modestly. “I’ve got a few now. Thought Birch Falls and Pine Ridge would make good locations.”
A spark of cautious hope lit deep in her chest. “You’re coming home? To stay?”
“Maybe,” he hedged. “What about you? I didn’t know you were back in town.”
“You would if you called once in a while,” she sniffed. “Where the hell have you been? It’s like you dropped off the face of the earth.”
“In a way, I did.” He held his hand up. “And before you ask, I can’t say any more than that.”
Lina nodded. Like their cousins in Pine Ridge, Michael enlisted in the service right out of high school. But where they had gone into the Navy SEAL program, Michael had opted for the elite Army Rangers.
“Enough stalling. Tell me what has my normally intelligent baby sister hiding away from the world and who I have to kill.”
* * *
It took a while for Kyle to realize the loud pounding currently splitting his brain apart was coming from his front door and not inside his head. He half-rolled, half-dragged himself off the couch, knocking over several recently emptied bottles, now containing only a ghost of the spirits they once held. The crashing sound was enough to convince him that his ears were, in fact, bleeding.
It seemed that no amount of alcohol had been able to completely dull the pain, so he made do with drinking himself into a stupor until he passed out. At least then he didn’t have to face the crushing weight on his chest that made it hard to breathe, or the ache in his heart that made him want to cut it out himself. It seemed like a good plan. Got him through yesterday. And the day before that. Would probably do the same again today.
He was such a bastard. As much as he was suffering, he should have been suffering ten times more for what he had done. A hundred, maybe. But it was still better than what would have happened had he ruined Lina.
Squinting against the daylight – surely his eyes were bleeding now, too – he dragged himself over to the door and managed to turn the center of the knob enough to unlock it. His fingers tried to grasp the doorknob and slid off.
Fuck it.
“Where is she?” his younger brother Jamie demanded, pushing the door open too fast, too hard. Too goddamned loud.
“Who?” Kyle was not up for playing guessing games. Why the hell had he even answered the door? He looked longingly back at the couch.
“Who?!? You know goddamned well, who, Kyle! Lina. Where is Lina?”
Even her name was like a knife in his gut. Of course Jamie was looking for Lina. He was in love with her. And Jamie was what Lina needed – a responsible, dependable man. Not a tattooed, hell-raising biker. A fresh wave of misery swept through him. “How the hell should I know?”
&nb
sp; “Was she here, Kyle?”
Yeah, she was, bro. And I nearly fucked her brains out but then decided to break her heart and toss her out on her pretty little ass instead. “Was. Gone now.”
“When?” Jamie persisted, getting up in his face. “When did she leave?”
Too fucking long ago. Not long enough. “I don’t know. What day is it?”
“Jesus. Saturday. It’s Saturday.” Jamie made a sound of frustration. “Son of a bitch, Kyle. If you hurt her I’ll - ”
Hell, yes, I hurt her. “You’ll what, Jamie? Damn it, you know what I am.” Kyle sunk back onto the sofa, pressing his palms into his eyes, welcoming the blackness and the shooting white stars that flew across them as he applied more pressure. Maybe if he sat here long enough, Jamie would just go the hell away.
No such luck. “Did you sleep with her, Kyle?” Jamie’s voice held a mixture of hope and dread. Little hope. Lots of dread.
I tasted her sweet flesh, made her come with my tongue, but got no more than my swollen head in her before I kicked her virgin ass out. “No.”
* * *
Kyle was a lot of things, but he wasn’t a liar. If he said he didn’t sleep with Celina, then he didn’t. It still didn’t explain why she’d been here, though. Jamie exhaled forcefully and looked around, noticing the state of things for the first time. Not only was the place a mess, but Kyle looked like he hadn’t showered or shaved in days.
“Christ, Kyle, you look like shit.”
Kyle made a kissing noise and leaned against the back of the sofa. Jamie scowled and picked up one of the bottles strewn about, sniffing the open top. The pungent aroma was enough to make his eyes water. “Looks like you’ve been on one hell of a bender. What gives?” He eyed Kyle suspiciously.
Kyle reached between the cushions and pulled out a half-full fifth of Captain Morgan. Apparently he and the Captain had been real tight the last few days. “Shit happens. Life’s a bitch.” Raising the bottle to his lips, he drank deeply. Jamie watched his Adam’s apple bob up and down with each swallow before snatching it out of his hands.
“What the fuck?” Kyle protested, grabbing for it. In his semi-drunk, severely hung-over state, he missed by a mile.
Jamie wanted answers. He hadn’t heard from Lina since his impulsive and less-than-romantic proposal a week earlier. He’d sent dozens of texts and left just as many voicemails, and she hadn’t responded to a single one. Once again, his desperation had brought him to his older brother, who, surprisingly, seemed to be in a worse mental state than he was.
He knew better than to try to get more information out of his brother when he was like this. If Kyle did not want to share, he wouldn’t, and no amount of effort would change his mind until he was damn good and ready.
But Jamie was a patient man, to a point. Simply knowing that Lina was not here and that Kyle hadn’t added her to his impressive list of conquests eased his mind enough to allow him to concentrate on his brother, for a little while anyway.
Kyle got up unsteadily, grasping the end of the sofa for support, then stumbled toward the bathroom. He didn’t bother closing the door. Jamie was treated to the sound of an exceptionally long piss followed by a thorough purging of the liquid contents still sloshing through Kyle’s stomach. Jamie winced. This was bad, even for Kyle.
When it was quiet for a few consecutive minutes, and Jamie was fairly certain he wouldn’t have to administer CPR in the immediate future, he walked into the kitchen and started making some coffee. Really strong coffee. He measured out the appropriate amount, then doubled it and added one more scoop. In the bathroom, the shower kicked on and billowing clouds of steam soon rolled through the open doorway.
He couldn’t help but wonder exactly what Kyle was trying to burn away.
Jamie heaved a heavy sigh. His relationship with Lina seemed to take an even sharper downward turn after that night at the restaurant. What the hell had he been thinking when he asked Kyle for help? Kyle had been dead set against it, but he had persisted until he made a complete pest of himself. Kyle agreed just to shut him up, to get him to leave him in peace for a while. But wasn’t that the way it had always been?
Ever since they were kids, Jamie had looked up to his big brother. Kyle had been older, stronger, smarter. The one who always knew what to do and how to get it done. That hadn’t changed. For some reason, everything came so easy to Kyle. School. Cars. Motorcycles. Girls.
At least that’s the way it seemed to Jamie. Now, of course, he knew better. Kyle worked his ass off; he just made it look easy. Jamie hadn’t really understood the difference until one fateful New Year’s Eve, when a drunk driver hit their parents’ car head-on. One day they were in Detroit, enjoying winter break and planning an ice-fishing trip to Lake St. Clair. The next, they were sitting in some lawyer’s office and being told their parents were dead and they were going to live with an aunt they’d never met.
It had changed both of them, but mostly Kyle. He didn’t smile much after that. His grades dropped and he spent most of his free time at the local garage. Sometimes, when Aunt Edna had a glass of brandy, she voiced her disapproval, calling the kids Kyle hung out with “hooligans” and “riff-raff”.
Maybe that was true, but there was little she could do about Kyle at that point. She’d turned her attentions to Jamie instead, encouraging him to “make better choices”. Surprisingly enough, when Jamie complained to Kyle about her harping, Kyle had taken her side.
Despite their differences, they got along well enough. They were not overly close, but they had a respect for each other’s choice of lifestyles, and Kyle always had his back. For some reason, it didn’t seem to work the other way.
Kyle never seemed to need his help for anything.
Chapter Thirteen
When Kyle emerged a full thirty minutes later with a towel wrapped around his waist, he felt marginally human. Jamie, unfortunately, had decided to wait him out. Kyle accepted both the cup of the freshly-brewed coffee and the Tylenols with a grunt and tossed them back.
“Look, I’m sorry, it’s just...” Jamie began, dropping into one of the two chairs that flanked the mismatched garage-sale table. He ran his fingers through his hair and sighed deeply. “It’s Celina. I just can’t think straight when it comes to her, Kyle.”
Yeah, know the feeling bro.
“My brain just goes all batshit, you know?”
Yep. Been there. Got the T-shirt.
“And when Tammy told me she saw you and Celina coming here, I just thought...”
Yeah, you thought right. Tammy was one of Kyle’s neighbors; she worked at the same publishing company as Jamie, and owned a house a few doors down. Nice girl, but too nosy in Kyle’s opinion.
“That was a week ago, man.” God, had it only been a week? It felt like an entire lifetime had passed since he’d felt Lina’s soft skin against his own, captured her sweet moans with his mouth. His heart ached and his shaft responded forcefully. Good thing he was already sitting down and Jamie was on the other side of the table. “Why are you here now?”
“Because no one has seen or heard from her since.”
That brought him back online.
“What?!?” Horrible images flooded Kyle’s mind, making his blood run cold. He’d assumed she’d just gone home to lick her wounds. Wounds he’d inflicted. But if she wasn’t there... where could she possibly be?
She was too goddamned trusting. Anyone could have taken advantage of her. And the way she looked when she left... the memory of those eyes, the way her lip trembled as she tried hard not to cry in front of him, would haunt him for the rest of his life.
Lina wore her heart on her sleeve. He knew at least a dozen guys who would’ve jumped on that in a heartbeat. Not because they cared, but because lions always went after the weakest lamb. All they would have had to do was offer a shoulder to cry on or a comforting embrace and she would have seen only good intentions. Good intentions, his ass. One look at her and their dicks would take over, obliterating everything e
lse.
Rage filled him, joining the worry. He’d kill anyone who dared attempt to take advantage of her like that.
Like he had.
More possibilities flooded his recovering brain, sobering him up quicker than the shower or the coffee. What if she’d gone and done something stupid? What if she was hurt? His body rebelled against the thought and he had to fight the overwhelming urge to retch again.
“Just what I said,” Jamie said, startled by the vehemence of his reaction. “It’s like she just disappeared.”
“And you waited this long to come to me?” Kyle yelled, grabbing a pair of jeans off a piece of furniture that might at one time have been a chair. Or maybe an end table. It was hard to tell, since he’d taken out some of his inner torment on inanimate objects over the past week.
He made the mistake of holding the fabric briefly up to his nose. The scent that hit him had him reeling. They smelled like her. Cocoa butter and oranges and sweet feminine musk. With a moan he remembered how she had snuggled that tight little ass into his crotch and her wetness had seeped right into the denim...
“I’ve been calling you for days, Kyle,” Jamie said, his eyes darting accusingly over to where the ancient landline unit had been forcibly ripped from the wall.
Hmmm. Forgot about that.
Jamie picked up Kyle’s cell and waved it in front of him accusingly.
Oh yeah, probably should have turned that on. But he’d been afraid Lina would try to call him. He didn’t want to hear her voice, it would just rip him to shreds. And he could never, ever bring himself to say those things to her again. It would kill him.
Kyle had to remind himself once again why pushing her away had been the right thing to do. It was getting harder to remember, though. What he could remember vividly was her scent and her taste – bursting with freshness, yet dark and intoxicating like fine wine; and the feel of her – so soft and yielding against his hardened flesh.
“Been knocking on your door, too, but apparently you’ve been too passed out to notice.”
Celina (Connelly Cousins #1) Page 12