“She’s going to know anyway. In light of the new information from Herrera, Brendan is telling her tonight. They’re going to make their own plans to go somewhere until Dominguez is captured.”
My stomach plummeted. It was bad enough that there was no more trying to keep it from Elise. Our safety was in so much jeopardy that Brendan decided it was worth upsetting her. That meant it was even worse than I thought. I shook my head, determined.
“I don’t want to run. This agency is Elise’s dream and I love working with her. I understand why she needs to go away. She and the baby have to be safe. But I can keep the place running for her while she’s in hiding.”
“That’s irresponsible, Kar,” he said grimly. “In just a couple months you’ve garnered a lot of good press and new accounts. The brand can handle a few weeks off in an emergency. This could be a chance for you to take a real vacation, go do some shoots in locations you’ve been wanting to visit. I know you have a list of dream shots. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to go mark one or two off the wish list and get out of town in the process. Build your portfolio. Take a trip.”
Stubbornly, I refused. “I’m not taking off with my tail between my legs. This fucker isn’t going to get away with terrorizing us. It’s not fair for me to have to run away.”
“No,” he gripped my hand too hard, “it’s not fair, but that doesn’t matter. What matters is that I can’t lose you, goddammit.” The scrape of his voice felt raw in my own throat, the emotion vibrating beneath it. “How can I make you understand? You’re so damn stubborn, and I respect your determination, but I’m not going to let you get yourself killed over your pride.”
“I’m not going to be driven out of my own home.”
“What if you were in my home? Just for a few days, however long it takes them to catch him.”
I shook my head, “Mick, I’m not your responsibility. You and your brothers have been great about trying to watch over Elise and me, but the fact is, I’m not family, and you’re all rearranging your schedules and risking your lives. There’s no reason for it. Make sure Elise is okay, and I’ll handle myself.”
I tried to extricate my hand from him. He held me fast. He wasn’t hurting me, but he sure as hell wasn’t letting me go either.
“No. None of your bullshit about independence. You’re in serious danger. What matters is keeping you safe. No, you’re not technically family, but you’re still mine, and I’ll be damned if I let you push me anymore.”
“It’s not about me. It’s about people trying to control me, tell me when to come and go and what I can do, Mickey.”
“Either you let me protect you or Herrera locks you up. It’s protective custody, twenty-four-hour surveillance and you, alone in a tiny secure location that you’re not allowed to leave.”
I gaped at him.
“So come home with me to stay, or the cops lock you up for your own safety. Your choice.”
“Well, you’re a lot easier on the eyes than Captain Herrera,” I conceded.
“So I’ve got a new roommate?” he asked.
“I don’t have any choice. It’s you or fake jail.”
“You flatter me,” he said, deadpan. “I would like to think you’d rather stay with me than anywhere else. Not just that I’m the alternative to lockdown in a safe house.”
“I’m not trying to hurt your feelings. You’ve been more generous to me than I deserve, and your concern is very kind of you. But—"
“It’s not fucking kind of me, Karin,” he bit out.
“You have a life beyond babysitting me. I feel bad for causing all this drama, and I don’t want to keep being so much trouble. I want to go back to normal.”
“What was normal for you, Karin? Was it coming back here and christening your new cabin with me or was it ignoring me and pretending you don’t give a shit about me? Because it’s a little confusing from where I stand. I can’t even be sure if you’re sleeping with me because you like me or because you’re bored with having a bodyguard and it’s something to do.” His voice sounded bitter, not at all like himself.
I pushed my chair back and rounded the table to him.
“Never think that, okay? You’re not something I do when I’m bored, and you’re not just convenient. I’m sorry if I’ve made you feel that way, Mick. You’re the greatest guy I’ve ever known, and you deserve so much better than this. Than me.”
His arm came around my shoulders and he hauled me against him, kissed my hair, “You didn’t make me feel any kind of way. I just want to be more to you than what I am. I want to give you everything and you just won’t goddamn take it.” His breath was hot on my hair, and I was very aware that I was basically crouched over beside his chair at a table in a restaurant. This was not the place for a serious embrace or a discussion like this. I disentangled myself and pulled away. I settled back in my chair, smoothed my white sundress and took a sip of wine. There was no acting casual about that, about what he had said to me.
“I’ll move in,” I said. “But when Dominguez is apprehended, I’m going to look for a place of my own outside the O’Shea compound. I think it’s better for everyone concerned. I don’t want to keep you from moving on with your life because I’m close by.”
“You think I’m going to start dating? Is that what you’re saying?” he said with a shake of his head, “Do you dream up imaginary scenarios to keep from thinking about Dominguez coming after you? Because that’s the only explanation I can come up with for some of the things you say to me. I don’t want to start dating. I don’t want you to move out of the compound. I want you to stay with me for as long as you need to, and then I want you to stay because you want to.”
I hugged him tight and then went back to my seat to do what I always did with Mickey. Push down the feeling that something big had just happened and pretend everything was normal between us.
Chapter 25
Mickey
Was it possible to be impressed and infuriated at the same time? She was without a doubt the most stubborn person I’d ever met—and I was related to Connor O’Shea, so she had some serious competition there. It was frustrating in the extreme, confounding even. But I also wanted to take my hat off to her because her sheer commitment to being independent and hardheaded was really something to see. She was so brave, but it just increased my need to keep her safe. And having her in my cabin instead of fifty yards across the courtyard was an improvement. I could have her under my roof to watch out for her and to let myself enjoy having her nearby. I liked having her by my side. I liked putting our feet up on the coffee table and watching home improvement shows together while she ate melon chunks out of a bowl and occasionally tossed one at me when she disagreed.
I was in the pub talking to Tommy when Brendan came in. I could tell by the tilt of his head that he was worked up, veering into pissed off territory. He dropped onto the stool beside mine and motioned to Tommy. He set a couple boilermakers in front of us and we downed them at once.
“Why won’t she cooperate?” he said, wiping his hand across his mouth. “She won’t leave the island. Her life is at risk. Plus, she’s pregnant with my child.” He spoke through gritted teeth. I could feel the frustration and the fear in his voice.
“Karin won’t go anywhere either. I got her to stay with me until he’s caught, and you’d think I’d asked her to let me cut out her kidney with a butter knife.”
“Yeah, it’s like we’re asking so fucking much just wanting to keep them safe. I’m about to lose my goddamn mind, Mick. You remember what happened with that prick she used to work for, how he damn near killed her. I still wake up nights thinking about that. And she’s over it. It’s nothing to her, she came out of it all right and it doesn’t deter her one bit from doing whatever she thinks she needs to do. When I could shit myself just remembering the way she looked, out cold with blood pooling on the ground. I swear to God, Mick—"
I clapped him on the back, “She’s a smart girl, Brendan. She’s just too stubborn for her o
wn good. Karin’s the same way. She said it’s not fair for her to have to run away. When did fair become something that matters? I don’t wanna get a call that some fucking jogger found her with her throat slit. How is that so hard to understand?”
“She’s going to work from home. That’s her big concession. She and Karin will work from home and have a guard,” Brendan said.
Billy sidled up and joined us while Tommy ran the bar and Brandi, Connor and Lilly sat at a booth with the girls. He got a beer and shook his head.
“One guard isn’t gonna be enough,” he said. “Elise has to pee every freaking ten minutes, and somebody has to go with her and that leaves Karin to do whatever stupid shit—"
“Watch it,” I said.
“We need two guys on them at all times, and if Karin goes on a shoot, which apparently she fucking insists on doing this week, she needs two to go with her and two to cover Elise,” Billy said. “Unless we shut down all our businesses and watch them round the clock, we need help.”
“There’s not any security on this island worth a shit. The stars always bring their own in,” Tommy said.
“Don’t forget the fact that Karin will try and give them the slip no matter what she says. So we need someone trustworthy and someone who’s as sneaky as she is,” I sighed.
“There’s a couple guys from my SEAL unit who started doing protection work a couple years ago. I can give them a call,” Billy said. “They’re based out of Florida, so it wouldn’t take them long to get here.”
“Do it,” I said, “That’s what we need.”
“It sounds like the best idea,” Tommy said. “I’m not getting enough sleep, much less getting any free time right now.”
“I know, and I appreciate you guys pitching in, but Billy’s right. We need more eyes on them,” Brendan said.
I felt better about the situation, knowing we were bringing in trained security to help out. I was still drastically cutting my bookings and so was Brendan for the time being, but we needed all the help we could get. It was unreal how much this woman and her situation stressed me out. I tried not to think about Connor’s take on the situation when I told him earlier. Anyone who makes you that crazy’s gotta be the love of your life, he told me. He probably meant to give me insight into his relationship with Brandi, or just troll me because I’m his little brother, but it had hit me like a boulder when he said it.
Chapter 26
Karin
When we got back to his place, after I’d gathered my stuff that I’d need for a week or so, I started cooking some dinner. I thought it would be nice to make fajitas as a thank you for all the trouble he’d gone to. He was pretty quiet after we left the pub, and he was on his phone rescheduling and calling in extra help for his business to cover the time he was spending with me. It was kind of overwhelming to glimpse all he did to try and keep me safe. Cooking a good meal was just one way to thank him, a way that didn’t risk showing him how I thought I felt about him. Cooking dinner was friendly.
When I set the food on the table and called to him across the tiny cabin that it was ready, he smiled at me, put down his phone and joined me.
“This looks great,” he said.
“I just want to let you know how grateful I am for everything you’re doing. I brought this mess into your lap and I can’t ever apologize enough for it,” I said.
“This is not your fault. You don’t need to apologize for anything.”
“That’s nice of you to say,” I said, “but you’ve totally upended your life to look out for me.”
“Well, Billy has some friends coming to help us out. They’ll arrive on the island day after tomorrow if everything goes to plan. They’re ex-SEALs too, and they run a security firm. We figure they’re the best team for this situation, and more eyes on you and Elise means you’re safer. That’s what we all want. To protect you.”
I shook my head at him, not trusting myself to speak. I rolled my lips under and looked up, blinking back tears.
“What?” he asked, looking puzzled.
I got up and bent over his seat and kissed him. It was a sweet, affectionate peck, a way to show him what was overflowing my heart. Mickey surged to his feet, cupped my face and kissed me fully. A sexy shiver skated along my skin, made the hairs on my arms stand up. He ran his hands down my neck and held me by the shoulders, kissing me and kissing me like mad. With dinner forgotten, he backed me away from the table, never breaking the kiss. He guided me into his bedroom, peeling off my clothes as we went.
We left a trail of our discarded clothing—my shorts and tee I’d worn to the pub after working with Elise at her and Brendan’s cabin all day, his cargo shorts and polo, our shoes, my bra—all across the living room. When he stopped beside his bed, I thought he’d bear me down onto the mattress, but instead he jerked down my panties and threw them over his shoulder. He buried his face between my legs licking and sucking at my folds, thrusting long, rough fingers inside me, making my pussy drip wetness as my breath shuddered. He withdrew his fingers, licked them clean and then rubbed a wet fingertip over my nipple before drawing it into his mouth. He shucked his boxers and sat on the bed. I turned to straddle him, but he stopped me.
Mickey lifted me by my ample hips and settled me across his thighs, straddling him but facing away. I rose on my knees and reached for his impressive hard-on. I reminded myself this was the guy keeping me alive, the guy who was putting his entire life on hold to watch over me. I wanted to give him a good ride, is what I told myself. I lied to myself like a rotten con artist about my motivations in that bed. I pretended I didn’t care for him or want him like crazy.
I reached back and stroked him, and then painted the bead of wetness from his crown all over my slit. I made him this hard, this eager, so he was jerking in my hand and his hips were moving already. I made that precum drip out of him. It felt powerful to think that, and when he took me by the hips and dragged me back onto his cock, when he speared me with that thick rod so deep I could have choked on it, I started bucking my hips, arching my back, leaning my head back, so the ends of my hair brushed his bare chest. One of his hands fondled my breast while the other one kept my rhythm on his dick. He bucked under me, thrusting that cock into me mercilessly, relentless in his pounding. I gasped and choked at the deep, fast penetration. Then his hand splayed on my stomach and he pulled me back, so I lay on his chest. He trapped me there, still fucking me from behind, but kissing me now as I turned my head to meet his lips, and rubbing my clit with fingers that circled, rubbed and pinched until I was writhing around, in danger of falling off of him.
His arm was tight across my shoulders then, pinning me to him, holding me close. His cock worked into me and his palm rode low on my stomach as those wicked fingers fondled me. I couldn’t keep kissing him because I was breathless with rapture, the terrifying build of an intense, primal orgasm. This was how people had fucked in caves, I thought, furious and frantic, intimate and primal at once, like their lives depended on it. Like coupling this way, mating was the only thing worth living for. I felt the heat of his come lashing into me, high and deep, and I clenched around him, legs flying out as I screamed his name over and over. He rolled us onto our sides and kept pumping even as he finished, giving me every stroke, every bit of friction to draw out my orgasm. Spooned up behind me, he kissed my hair and held me close. I felt shaken, ripped open by the raw intimacy of what we had done, the intensity of having his hard, hot chest to my back and his arms around me and his cock spearing me all at once, how his hands had been everywhere, how he had whispered my name and sucked my neck. I let my eyes drop shut, knowing damn well that he was everything to me, including the greatest sex of my life.
Chapter 27
Mickey
After a week of keeping tight security rotations on the girls, things were much the same. Herrera hadn’t made any progress in apprehending Dominguez. Billy’s friends, a group of four retired SEALs themselves, arrived on the island and were quickly folded into the safety prot
ocol for the women. They had started a private security business together when they got out of the service, and their qualifications and reviews were top notch. We had four security guys and five O’Shea boys, so the women were covered around the clock. Things were going smoothly enough that I had a dive scheduled for the day while Connor and Deke, one of Billy’s pals, kept an eye on Elise and Karin. It still felt slightly wrong to leave Karin, but this was the agreement. We had to be willing to accept help if we wanted to keep up the close vigil on their security. I knew they were in good hands, and the guys from the security team had impressed us all so far.
The dive was a bachelorette group. I’d taken a couple of them out last year during a family reunion for a dive, and they’d booked this excursion way in advance. I had all twelve of them in equipment and ready to go in record time. They were mostly experienced at watersports and were good with the safety requirements. It was a smooth experience with lots of fun and laughter, and the bride-to-be had the time of her life. I helped them take a lot of group photos, even a few underwater near the reef, and knew I had some sparkling reviews coming after this experience for them.
I did another short run, a last-minute booking for some tourists that one of the concierges called me about. It was a one-hour trip and I owed the concierge a favor after he’d sent so much business my way when I was starting out a few years ago. The family loved their dive and spent most of the time saying how the concierge and I had saved the day after their zip-line reservation was mishandled by the vendor. Pleased, I finished up and called Karin to ask her to go out for the night. After a quick shower at home, we headed to eat and check out a dance club she wanted to try.
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