THE WATCHERS: 6 Military Romance Bundle

by Kristina Weaver

  Jesus.

  “And if that’s not what I want from this, Kins?” I ask slowly. I don’t want to spook her, but I need her to know that I don’t see an expiration date on us.

  In fact, I see more. I see her and me and a house, the house I’ve wanted to build for a while but never tried, because what is the point of all that space if it’s just me rambling around in the place? I see a few kids with my gray eyes and her amazing hair.

  I see little girls too smart for their own good and little boys who’d drive Kinsley crazy tracking in mud from the mess they made outside.

  I see a family, so different from the one I had that I suddenly crave it with an intensity I can’t shake.

  “Then I’d say that’s bad, King. Not because I don’t want you or anything. I think the sex and my response to you is proof enough, but I will never risk my heart on you again. I did that once. I was willing to give up everything I’d worked for just to have you. You destroyed that.”

  My heart sinks and starts aching immediately because she’s not pulling her punches here, leaving me no hope for more, as she tells me in her straightforward way that I had a chance at something great and threw it away.

  To hear that, even then, I would have had a shot with her, that she would have left it all behind and been happy just to have me. I can’t say if I’m more humbled and proud to hear it, or if I’m more broken knowing my shot was there, I was just too stubborn to see it.

  “It doesn’t have to be that way, Kins. We’re good together, and yes, I admit that I made mistakes, but we have time, babe. We can build on what we have. I’d never let you down if you trusted me with your dreams and expectations,” I vow, my heart beating in my throat when she smiles sadly and shakes her head.

  “It wouldn’t work. I have a path to follow, one I swore I would never leave or think of leaving again. I can trust in what I have now, King, and I need that certainty. You’re fun, and I adore you, and man oh man is the sex phenomenal, but that’s about all I can count on right now. This is a piece of time out of time for me. When I leave, it’ll be just me, trying to build my life again and trying to keep things on track even though I’ve had this huge setback.”

  “What setback? Kins, we’ll fix your house and whatever was fucked up when those assholes where in there. Everything is replaceable, babe.”

  “Huh? If I could afford to replace it,” she snorts. “I can’t. I told you and Lex, or maybe just Lex? Can’t remember right now, but anyway, I told you that Jon took some money out of my personal account to cover some of the bills he’d fallen behind on? That was only slightly true. I mean it’s not as if I lied to you and Lex or anything, and really, if you consider—”

  “Kinsley! Stop rambling to distract me and spit it out, woman,” I demand, my eyes narrowing as suspicions hit me.

  She shrugs and bites into her lip again, pulling the sheet over her nudity and looking away as if embarrassed. Kinsley is a blusher, always has been, but the woman is also impossibly ignorant of inappropriate language and conversation so just seeing her blush right now, her hesitance to talk about this, is setting off warning bells.

  “That morning? When you called? I was on my way to the planner’s to talk to her and the caterer because Jon’s nasty mother was making yet another change to the guest list and demanding more food, just more, more, more. I was so done by then, ya know? But, anyway, I was already way over my projected budget by then and not very happy about it. It was okay, though. I had about fifteen grand in the wedding account, enough to have a great time on the honeymoon at least and…”

  She pauses and looks over at me, shaking her head.

  “I dropped the check off and went back to work only to have them call me and tell me it bounced when they tried to cash it. It was a shock, because as I told you, I had more than enough left in the wedding account. So I went and checked my accounts—all of them—and it was all gone: fifteen thousand from the wedding account and thirty thousand six hundred and twenty dollars from my personal account. At first, I was horrified.”

  “As you should have been, babe. That’s a chunk of change,” I mutter.

  “Yeah. I thought, hell, someone just robbed me blind. But see, there was still two grand in my account and that—”

  “Is weird if someone just robbed you. Why leave anything?”

  “Right? Turns out Jon took it all. He went into the bank just minutes after I left for the planner’s and withdrew it all. That’s how I found out about the bills. I’ve never ever snooped in his business, ya know? I mean, that’s his private space, and I respected it like he respected mine, but I went right home and started digging, and then I found the bills.”

  Oh shit. Fuck me.

  “Nothing was paid. Nothing. He’d drained over forty grand out of my accounts and then, when I confronted him about it, he said he needed to pay the bills. But see, that also doesn’t make sense because I tallied it all and it was nowhere near what he took.”

  I’m already out of bed and dressing before she’s done, my scowl so fierce that I can well understand why she’s frowning at me right now.

  “You should have fucking said something about this, Kinsley. Jesus! Don’t you fucking get what happened? It was Jon.”

  “Who stole my money? I already know that!”

  “Not just the money—the burglary. Those men weren’t there to rob you or rape you, Kins. They were there to collect on his debt. I don’t know what that little shit is into, but you are definitely smack dab in the middle of whatever he’s doing!”

  She’s still frowning, glaring at me actually, since I just yelled at her as I flip open my phone and call Jericho.

  “I need you to dig deep into the ex-boyfriend’s financials and movements. I’m on my way to you right now, and we’ll sort though it together. Yeah, I know. He stole over forty grand out of her accounts so don’t even ask,” I mutter, grabbing my keys and phone.

  “So this is about money?”

  “What else?”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Kinsley

  “Dammit, King, wait! Where are you going?” I yell, chasing him to the living room as the sheet trips me up.

  The man is furious and still glaring at me when he goes for a wall safe that I never once noticed and removes a gun, shoving the holster onto his jeans before turning to me.

  “This shit isn’t about someone coming at us like the guys and I thought. We looked into Jon, but he’s squeaky clean if a little broke, so we never once thought about him after the initial search. Why didn’t you just fucking tell us that he stole your money, Kinsley? Jesus, this could all have been avoided if you’d just come clean.”

  Avoided? As in we wouldn’t have been together or slept together or anything, I think, feeling my heart boom loudly before shriveling up a little. Is he saying he didn’t want to be with me in the first place?

  My inner self snorts at that, and I feel myself tense as the cold hard facts hit me. King never wanted me here. He didn’t answer his phone the hundred times I tried to call him. He wasn’t happy to see me on his doorstep, and I had to blackmail him to let me stay.

  It’s all so clear now. This, whatever the hell just happened between us, is nothing but sex, just as I thought. How stupid could I have been? Sure, I just told him we only have sex going for us, but that was just me trying to be sensible while still hoping desperately that King would deny it and say something like, “I love you and can’t live without you another day.”

  Did he say that? No, and why the hell am I even surprised or hurt, I wonder, watching him load his gun with short, sharp jerks.

  Fool! Stupid idiot. Do you see now why I don’t ever care about things? It hurts. It hurts to put my trust in others only to have them disappoint me in the end by being exactly what I always knew they were.

  It’s so much easier to just be my own self and keep people on the periphery of my life while I do what I need to do to survive. My whole life? Planned down to the letter because, while it sucks, at lea
st I know what to expect.

  With Jon, things were simple. I’d make plans and pencil them into his calendar and he’d just do whatever I told him to do. I can’t say I didn’t love him, I did. Just in a way that was manageable so that if by some mean stroke of fate things didn’t go well for us, I wouldn’t be all that crushed.

  With King, it’s the exact opposite. I could kick my own ass for even once thinking that I could keep myself detached and not want more. I always will with him, and that’s just fucking tragic because I know him—as he knows me.

  He’s not the type of man to want more. Sure, he’d do a relationship and great sex and, yes, he’d be faithful and never try to hurt me. But he would, because no matter what happens with us, I know he’ll never be all in, not after telling me about his shitty home life with his mom and dad.

  Just look at the way he lives. It’s temporary. Because King doesn’t do commitments of any kind, does he?

  “I didn’t want everyone to know how stupid I’d been,” I finally admit, pushing my emotions aside to focus on what’s happening. “I was so sure about Jon that I never once questioned anything about him or our lives together. He kept pushing for the wedding date to be moved up, so I did it because I wanted to believe that he loved me enough to want us married sooner. The money? Why would I even look into that? We live separate lives as one unit, or at least we did. I was embarrassed and hurt, and I didn’t want my whole family knowing that I was foolish enough not to see what a slimeball he was, even when they kept telling me.”

  King pauses and takes a deep breath, seeming to wrestle back the anger he’s feeling. I’m so drained right now that I don’t even react when he leads me down to the sofa and sits me on the edge, kneeling in front of me.

  “That wasn’t your fault, Kins. You were a good girlfriend and fiancée to that asshole. Why would you have questioned anything when you’ve been with him for so long? Look, uh, I have to go and get this shit sorted out so we can move on, but I’ll be back and maybe we can talk about this, okay?”

  No, not okay, because I refuse to sit here for hours, waiting for him, while I brood and question anything and everything about myself and what’s happened between us.

  “Why did you push me away before? Just tell me that.”

  “Kinsley—”

  “Just answer me. Please.”

  He sighs loudly and looks away, his face a panorama of emotions that he covers quickly.

  “I knew I couldn’t give you what you wanted. Even if I could change my whole life to be with you, I knew I would never get married.”

  Huh.

  “Never? Not even if you loved someone? What about a family, King? What about a home and having all the things you never had?” I ask, hoping against all hope that he can just once, say something that will be what I need.

  “Not even then, Kinds. Look, uh, let’s talk when I get back, okay?”

  “You know, I loved you. I still love you.”

  “Kinsley.”

  “And I would have changed my whole life for you, but now—”

  “Now you live your life ticking off items from a fucking book, Kinsley!” he growls, making me start and pull back.

  “You read my book?”

  “Read it? I wanted to weep when I saw it all, Kinsley. Why bother living at all if you’re already so sure about where you’re going? I…dammit, how can you be that cold?” he says softly, shaking his head. “Lex also knows about it. He was so appalled he even went for that bullshit story you told him about you and me being together.”

  His phone rings then, startling us both, and he curses and answers it, standing immediately.

  “I’m on the way. Kins, we’ll talk when I get back, okay?”

  I just nod because I can’t even speak. What would I say even if my mouth would respond right now? That book—my life album—is like my diary, an intensely personal part of me that I never, ever share with anyone. I’ve spent years making it just right and put so much of me into it that if you really look, and I don’t just mean see it the way King and Lex did, but look, you’d understand that most of those things are my hopes and dreams.

  I want a marriage that would warrant a wedding of that size. Not for the wedding itself, but because how could I expect less when I’m getting something that is going to be an epic love story?

  I want a house that is filled with love. It might be a little messy and enough to drive me nuts, but so full of love that I won’t even mind the chaos sometimes.

  I want pets, because I like dogs but never had the time to look after one properly.

  I want vacations, small ones, maybe the odd trip oversees to make up for what I missed out on when I was younger.

  And yes, there was one page in that book that held every dream I had ever wanted. It was my “maybe if I’m lucky, all I’ll have to accomplish in this book is that one page” attempt to steer my life into a place where I wouldn’t always have to work so hard for happiness.

  I tore that page out a long time ago, so long ago that I bet I could forget it if I really tried.

  Thank God I tore it out because if this is how King feels, then I’d have died of embarrassment for him to see that page. And Lex, how could he do this?

  That breach of trust…

  “Well, I guess this is it then. Vacation over, Kinsley baby.”

  In the spirit of getting the hell out of here, I push myself up slowly and readjust the sheet, my ankle aching as I grab my bag from the kitchen table and find my phone.

  I’m not at all happy to be doing this, trust me, but I dial that number and wait long seconds before is stops.

  “Kinsley! Oh, thank God baby. I was so worried.”

  “Cut the shit, Jon. I want to know exactly what you needed my money for, and don’t give me that nonsense about the bills or your shitty salary either. I looked at it all and the amount is nowhere near what you stole from me.”

  “Stole? Baby, we had joint accounts. I didn’t steal a damn thing, and you can’t prove otherwise.” He laughs, making my hackles rise.

  Calm, Kins. Logic. Use logic and facts, woman.

  “Yeah, you’re totally right, but I was hoping that we could at least talk a little more about this and maybe try to rebuild something of what’s left of our relationship,” I say, lying, closing my eyes as revulsion spreads through me.

  I’d just as soon lick camel balls than build a damn thing with this pig, but for now I want some answers. If King is right, and I don’t even know that he is, then it doesn’t really matter what I do or who gets caught, this ass will always be the one that got away.

  From punishment.

  “Baby? You want to try again?” he asks hopefully, and I can just about see that smug little rat face of his twisting into a smile of victory.

  I’d really rather tell him what to go do with himself, really I would, but as he starts panting, probably from a freaking victory lap, I know it’s up to me to get at least some answers. Lex and King aren’t the only ones who can solve this trouble of mine.

  “If we can be completely honest with each other.”

  Silence, and then I hear a door close in the background.

  “I gambled. It started small, but then things just escalated, Kinsley. It got so bad I couldn’t afford to even pay the bills, so I took out a loan with some guys a friend of mine hooked me up with. By the time I realized what I was doing, I was in so deep I couldn’t bail myself out. The money was to get them off my back.”

  “How much?”

  “Kinsley—”

  “How much, Jon? It’s truth or nothing at all.”

  “A hundred grand. With interest,” he finally admits, making me cringe.

  I make good money, but there is no way I could have swung that amount and still kept things running smoothly. I have a home and commitments, some of which used to be Jon’s but would now fall to me.

  I wonder how he thought he could keep this quiet even after the wed—

  “You wanted to get married soo
ner so that you could take a loan out against the house? My house?”

  “Just…just till I could pay it back, Kinsley! For God’s sake, these people are dangerous. I can deal with high-interest payments at the bank with no trouble, but these guys do not mess around, sweetheart. If you don’t pay, they come for you. I was scared, baby, so scared that they’d come after you to get to me.”

  Lies! I doubt Jon even cared past the fact that he needed me to get his hands on enough money to get these thugs off his back. Evie told me about her friend Kimber doing this stuff, too. I felt sorry for her, even pitied her for not seeing it before it was too late. How ironic that I’m in this same boat, only now I don’t think it’s Jon sending some thugs after me to collect on life insurance.

  In fact, I know it’s not since I refused to put him on my beneficiary policy at all. That’s for this little thing called my family! So why come after me, I wonder.

  “They broke into my house, Jon. Two of them almost caught me and would have done God alone knows what to me.”

  “I’m sorry! Oh God, I am so sorry, Kinsley. Please, just don’t tell your brother about this. Just…come home and let me explain this to you. Please. I need to tell you how sorry I am and just see you one last time if you decide not to give me another chance. Please, Kinsley. We were good together once, and you know I love you. I would never hurt you.”

  He did though. But I understand this. Jon’s not a bad guy. He’s got problems, so many I almost wince thinking about the ways he’ll have to get that money to save himself. And he’s right, we did love each other once, not enough, but it was there and I owe him one last chance to explain things to me.

  And say goodbye. I don’t wish him ill or anything. I’m upset and hurt that he took my money and betrayed me the way he did, but for what it’s worth, I don’t hate the man.

  “I need to go home to start cleaning up. Meet me there this afternoon and we can talk. And Jon, don’t get your hopes up, okay? You and I are finished. I don’t make the same mistake twice, and you’d be a mistake to bet on again.”