by Lora Leigh
“Are you going to hit him?” she asked quietly.
“Right in the face,” Natches snarled.
“Would you really do that to me, Natches?” she asked. “Would you hit a friend, a man who saved my life six months ago, just because you were out of line?”
His expression twisted. Fury, concern, and love—he stared at her with all those emotions, and it made her feel like slime. Like the lousiest sister in the world.
“Janey.” His hands clasped her shoulders. “I read those letters, honey. Whoever wrote them is dangerous.”
“Whoever wrote them is a coward,” she told him, moving away from him, rubbing her arms as she forced back a shiver of dread at the thought of those letters. “Let it go. I’m handling it.”
“Let it go?” Dawg beat Natches to the exclamation. “On what planet were you raised, Janey, that you think we’re going to let this go? You’re family. Do you think we’re going to let someone hurt you? Terrorize you? Again?”
“I think you can’t really stop it.” She shrugged, hiding the shame, the bitterness at the thought of those letters. “None of us can. They’ll get bored and stop.”
“And then what?” Natches demanded. “Let me tell you, Janey. Then they get dangerous. Then they start taking shots at you.”
She curled her lips bitterly. “And you want me to let you stand in front of me. Again? I’m not eight anymore, Natches. And Dayle is dead. Even then, I learned how to fight my own battles. I’ll fight this one, too.”
“Son of a bitch, Janey!” He reached for her again, and the swift strike of fear that filled her must have shown on her face, because he stopped. His brows lowered in agony, his lips tightened. “Did you think I’d hit you, Janey?”
“No, dammit, I don’t think you’ll hit me.” She was so tense now she felt as though the slightest touch would shatter her. “You moved too fast, Natches. It freaked me out. Okay?”
The quick, predatory action of her brother’s body often had her forcing herself to contain her reactions to it. Dayle had always been quick, quick to hit, to push, to backhand her if he thought she were in the least resistant to what he wanted.
Learning to control her reactions around men, any man, had been her hardest battle in the past months.
“Janey, we’re family,” Rowdy said then. “If you won’t come to the boats where we can watch you, or to Dad’s, then we’ll have to take turns staying here with you. It would be easier if you’d stay with one of us.”
She lifted her gaze beseechingly to Rowdy. He was usually the sane one. The one the others listened to.
“Rowdy, I’ll be okay. I can’t just leave.”
“And, Janey, we haven’t had you back with us long enough to take that risk,” he told her gently. “Hell, if we had raised you ourselves, we couldn’t take that risk, sweetheart. You’re family.”
And she felt that; she did. It made her chest tighten with emotion, made her want to run to Natches and have him hug her, hold her, just ’cause he made her feel this way. That he cared that she was safe. That their cousins cared that she was safe. She wanted to hug all of them. But hugs had never been a part of Janey’s life, and taking one for herself now wasn’t that easy.
“You’re too damned stubborn, Janey,” Natches accused her.
“So says the kettle to the pot?” she asked sweetly.
Fat Cat chose that moment to walk arrogantly into the room, his rumbling growl directed at the men before he crouched and gave them all a little hiss. His orange fur seemed to bristle, and he gave all the appearance of a grouchy, ill-tempered male that didn’t want to deal with socializing that morning.
His head turned to Janey, topaz eyes glittering as though blaming her for all the testosterone parked in her living room. Or maybe he considered it his living room.
“What the hell is that?” Natches glared back at the cat.
“That’s Fat Cat.” She grinned.
Walking over to the cat, she lifted his heavy body into her arms and moved to the door. “Come on, vicious. Time for you to go outside.”
Fat Cat rumbled a protest as she opened the door. Setting him on the balcony, she received a hard slap at her hand by his sheathed paw, and a hiss before he jumped up on the railing and stared at her with feline anger.
“Be good.” She wagged her finger back at him. “Or I’ll forget the hamburger in your cat food tonight.”
His whiskers twitched as his slitted eyes narrowed back at her. Janey turned back and closed the door behind her. Just what she needed, another pissed-off male.
“So, Uncle Ray, do I get to bring my cat when I come to stay with you?”
Ray looked at the door skeptically. “Only if you have to.”
Janey almost snorted at that. Cats and water didn’t always go together, so she doubted the male Mackays had much experience with cats. Especially fat cats. She was going to have to put him on a diet soon. He was getting heavy.
If she had to leave, he would end up hungry again. This was his territory, where he was comfortable. And Janey had found that, in ways, it was hers as well. She was comfortable here. She had a routine, the semblance of a life.
“Look, I’m not leaving.” She shook her head at them as she moved to the coffee cup. Dealing with a roomful of Mackays and one Jansen mountain wasn’t her idea of morning fun.
“Then we’ll take turns staying here. There’s five of us including Alex. You’ll be taken care of,” Dawg decided.
She swung around. “Unacceptable.”
“Highly acceptable, except for the Alex part,” Natches bit out. “Don’t push me, Janey. I’m still having fucking nightmares due to Dayle and Nadine. I don’t need this right now.”
“And you think I need this?” She waved her hand at the five of them furiously. “Fine. You want someone to play babysitter, then he can do it.” She stabbed her finger at Alex. “If he wants to play tattletale, then he can also play night watch.”
Alex’s brow arched, his gray eyes filled with amusement.
“No!” Natches barked. “He’s not staying.”
“Then no one is.” She shrugged. “Been great seeing you this morning, bro. Tell Chaya I said hi, and give that little bundle she’s carrying a pat from me. Close the door on your way out.”
She could feel five male gazes on her, searing her, trying to see past her expression. She stared back at them calmly.
Natches was frankly furious. Alex was amused. The others ranged from simply pissed to disbelieving. They were all too big and too stubborn and too determined to run her life. Hell, she had known when that first letter showed up exactly what was going to happen if Natches found out about it. She’d have to let Sheriff Mayes know exactly what she thought of his promises.
“This won’t work, Janey,” Natches bit out.
“Of course it will. He can show up after I’m finished at the restaurant at night and leave the next morning. No problem.” She shrugged.
“And the rest of the day?” Natches pushed the words past gritted teeth. “You think from midnight to dawn is the only time you’re in danger?”
“It’s the only time those letters have shown up,” she said. “He can do it my way, or you can forget it.”
“You don’t mean this! Janey, tell me you don’t mean this!” Natches’s expression was blank with shock now, his eyes brighter in his sun-darkened face, and that wasn’t normally a good sign. He was outraged.
Alex watched Janey coolly. Her expression, as calm, as remote as it appeared, hid much more than anyone in that room could guess. Her bravery was boundless. Her courage was terrifying. But he already knew that. He’d figured that out over the years while watching her.
She was pissed. She was stubborn as hell. And she was about to make every damned one of them pay for coming here and backing her into a corner. He almost grinned as he watched her maneuver the Mackays. And she thought she was maneuvering him as well.
She had no clue.
He’d known when he pulled into the parking
lot of the marina where this would go. He’d already weighed out the possibilities and come to one conclusion. Hell, he’d managed to do that while he was sitting on the street outside last night.
Leaning against the wall now, his expression controlled, arms crossed over his chest, he watched her play her brother and her cousins with a confidence and sheer daring that only a Mackay could muster. When one of the males of that family used it, it never failed to piss him off. But watching Janey do it, he was hard as a rock and praying to hide it. Thankfully, he’d left his jacket on. Because sure as hell, if Natches had a clue just how hard Alex was for his baby sister, blood would be spilled.
“Tell her how insane this idea is!” Natches turned on him when Janey refused to listen.
Alex grimaced and rubbed at the outside of his thigh. “I am wounded, Janey,” he informed her. “I might not be your best bet.”
Her expression was almost smug. “Too bad.” She turned to Natches. “Do you guys want coffee before you leave?”
Everyone looked back at Alex.
He scratched his jaw and stared back at Janey, eyes narrowed.
“Why him?” Natches turned back to her suspiciously.
“Because I don’t have to put up with all the moaning and groaning at night like I would if it were one of you.” She rolled her eyes back at him. “Really, Natches, all that marital bliss is too sweet for words.”
All three of the younger Mackay men developed an almost smug look on their faces as Alex finally winced. He didn’t want to hear about their marital bliss, because one of them was married to his sister.
“I don’t like it,” Natches muttered, plowing his fingers through his hair again. “Damm it, Janey. You need someone around the clock. Not a night watchman.”
“If anything other than letters happen, I’ll consider it,” she promised him.
The fear was there. Alex saw it, even if she did think she was hiding it from her brother. Those letters had her spooked, and rightfully so. But guts and courage were Mackay traits, even if they were mixed with pure hardheaded stubbornness.
“How long is your leave?” Natches clearly wasn’t happy.
Alex arched his brows. “I have extended leave right now. I’m clear.”
He could feel the other men watching him closely.
“I don’t like this,” Natches muttered again.
“Look at it this way,” Janey chirped. “You get what you want.” She turned to Alex, tilted her head, and smiled with a tight little curve to her lips. “And he gets to pay for it.”
FOUR
Alex followed the others from the apartment almost an hour later, carefully keeping his expression calm and his mouth shut. If he wasn’t careful, he was going to chuckle. And that chuckle could risk his carefully laid plans.
It wasn’t often a man could claim he’d managed to maneuver not just one intrepid little Mackay female, but her brother and two cousins as well. Though, he wasn’t so sure about the cousins. Or the uncle. The three of them were a little too quiet, and a little too amused.
Mackays could be subtle when the situation called for it. It just had to suit them to do so. Now, Natches, he wasn’t so subtle.
“Touch her. Just one time. Even dare to touch her, Alex, and I’ll cut your dick off,” Natches warned him as they reached the trucks, his cousins and uncle trailing behind them.
Alex turned to him, staring back at Natches’s furious green eyes curiously. “Hell of a warning to give me, buddy,” he snorted. “I’m doing you a favor here, not the other way around.”
Natches was right up in his face and, under most circumstances, would have found himself flat on his ass for his trouble. Problem was, if he hit Natches, he would have three others just as mean he’d have to fight, and then all his planning would go to hell.
“You don’t do anyone favors,” Natches informed him heatedly. “And don’t think I forgot how you were watching her six years ago.” He gave Alex a disgusted look. “She was a baby.”
Alex stared back at him coolly. Janey had been seventeen at the time, which didn’t excuse him, but she hadn’t been a baby.
“I’ve done the Mackays plenty of favors,” he reminded Natches. “The past six years I’ve busted my ass and my team’s to not just do our job, but cover her when we’re not on assignment. When on assignment, I’ve invariably managed to find backup, Natches.” He sneered the other man’s name. “That was a hell of a favor, buddy.”
“From a man lusting after a kid,” Natches charged.
Alex had control. He’d majored in control. He was the king of control. But it snapped. Before he realized what he was doing, he had Natches’s jacket in his fists, throwing the other man against the side of the building.
“Don’t cross the line, fucker!” Alex snarled in his face. “Don’t even cross that line.”
He was surprised the others hadn’t jumped in. He was even more surprised when Natches’s expression lost its fury. His hands came up, not to hit, but to jerk Alex’s hands back.
“Christ!” Natches dug his fingers into his neck, shook his head. “Hell, Alex. I didn’t mean that, man.”
Alex stepped back, fury and guilt, more guilt than fury, pumping through his veins as he retreated.
“You’re right.” Natches ran his hand over his face and shook his head again. “You’re right. You’ve been in this all along, watching out for her. More than I was.” Torment creased Natches’s face. “You did what I couldn’t.”
And Alex had lusted. Every year it had grown, surged inside him until now. But Janey wasn’t a baby. She was a grown woman. An innocent, seductive young woman. And he was old enough to know better.
“Fuck it.” Alex moved back to his truck. “I’ll be here after dark. Hell!” He got into his truck and waited. He let Natches pull out first, then, as Dawg moved to the window, he hit the control and lowered the glass.
Dawg leaned against the door, watched Natches leave, then turned back to Alex.
“I know what he doesn’t.” Dawg nodded after Natches.
“And that is?”
“You want her too fucking bad to walk away.” Dawg turned back to Alex, his gaze steely. “And that’s okay. She’s a damned pretty woman.” His voice hardened. “And a damned vulnerable one. Break her heart, Alex, and brother-in-law or not, we’ll take you apart.”
Alex stared back as Dawg nodded, then moved away. Hell, Mackays were a pain in the ass.
He looked up at the apartment, and, standing there in the chill morning air, that cat cradled in her arms, was Janey. How much had she seen? Heard? From the look on her face, probably all of it. He knew the look of a pissed-off Mackay, and she definitely had that look. The only difference was, on her, it looked damn fine.
He lifted his fingers in a lingering salute and shot her a mocking smile before backing out of the parking space and heading down the street.
His things were already packed at home. He was prepared. He’d return in a few hours. And then what? He frowned at that question.
What? Seduce her? Show her how nasty he could get, then walk out on her later?
Hell. What was in his mind? What made him think Janey was anything like the other women who understood that when morning came, he would be gone?
So why wasn’t his dick listening? Hell, why wasn’t his head listening? He couldn’t stop thinking about her, remembering that kiss. The innocence was killing him, and God only knew, he thought innocence was a damned fine thing in a woman. So why did he want to destroy Janey’s?
Because it was his. He wasn’t even going to let himself think she was his, just her innocence. He wasn’t going there, he promised himself. He had never let himself get mired in the quicksand of false love, and he wasn’t going to let it happen now.
Janey was more grounded than her brothers or her cousins thought she was. More mature than any of them believed. He had seen that in her, felt it in her. Or he was just fooling himself and creating an excuse to allow himself into her bed.
For a second, just a second, he prayed she was strong enough to keep him out of it. Otherwise, he had a feeling he would end up destroying both of them.
Janey was waiting when Alex arrived that evening. She’d called Rogue and rescheduled their girls’ night out. She hadn’t given the other woman an explanation and Rogue hadn’t asked for one. Janey had been torn, though. She wanted that night out. She’d never been dancing. She had never gotten tipsy in her life. She wanted to do both.
She wanted to sway to the music, laugh and have fun. She wanted to be female. Feminine. She wanted to wear makeup and that new skirt Rogue had talked her into buying.
This evening, she wore a pair of cotton running pants and a T-shirt. She hadn’t straightened her hair, so the loose curls feathered around her face, almost to her shoulders.
She’d had it cut immediately after coming out of the hospital months before. The long strands had hung nearly to her waist, and every time she felt the weight of it she’d been reminded of how often Dayle and Nadine had used her hair to drag her around.
Now it was shorter, easier to keep up with, and Janey actually liked the way it framed the almost narrow lines of her face.
She was twirling one of those curls around her finger as she sat on the couch going through bills for the restaurant and waiting on Alex. Yet when his firm knock sounded on the door, she jumped, startled.
She excused the reaction. In the two months she had lived there, she had rarely had anyone knock on her apartment door.
Standing, she moved to the door and looked out the privacy peephole to see him standing there. As if it would be anyone else. Opening the door, she stood aside as he walked in, a duffel on one shoulder, a hard, long, narrow case in the other.
Looking into the parking lot, she frowned when she didn’t see his truck.
“Where did you park?”
“I didn’t.” He moved through the apartment to the short hall, and directly to the spare bedroom, as Janey closed and locked the door.
“What do you mean you didn’t? Did you walk?” she questioned as she followed him.
“Zeke picked me up at the marina and drove me in. He’ll pick me up in the morning when he goes back on shift. It would be best if no one knew I was here with you.”