Causing Havoc

by Lori Foster

  He took a careful step forward. “Lorna—”

  The knife flashed high into the air. All laughter gone, Lorna said, “If you move again, I’ll have to stab her.”

  Eve’s lashes fluttered with fear. Her knuckles turned white as she gripped the seat of the chair, sending crimson blood trickling down her arm to drip onto the floor. She licked dry lips and tried to be brave, but she hadn’t led the same type life as he had, and this was too hard for her.

  What the hell should he do?

  “You’re only here because of her,” Lorna reasoned. “If she’s gone, you’ll go away, and everything will be the same.”

  “I’ll take her away,” Dean promised. “She and I will both leave.”

  Lorna curled her lip. “You take me for a fool?”

  “No.” Suddenly behind and to the side of Lorna, Dean saw a slight movement.

  Simon.

  How Simon had entered the house so silently, how he’d even known where to find them, Dean didn’t know. But his heart pumped hard and fast with exhilaration. Eve would be okay now.

  To keep from giving away Simon’s position, Dean looked at Lorna and only Lorna. “You’re okay, Eve.” Simon was almost within reach of her. For a big man, he moved without making a sound.

  “I know.” Eve stared at Dean, taking or giving comfort, he wasn’t sure.

  Lorna laughed, a little less certainly this time. “She’s cut, Dean. She’s…bleeding.” Her nose wrinkled and she struggled to swallow. “I can smell the blood. I didn’t realize that. How you do this barbaric stuff all the time is a mystery to me.”

  “I don’t cut people, Lorna.”

  “Not with a knife, no. But I watched a few of your fights. You make people bleed. You use your elbows, your fists, your—”

  “Cutting someone isn’t as effective at stopping them as other means, Lorna. For instance a blow to the liver will make even a grown man drop. It’s the most crippling pain imaginable.” He looked at Eve. “You remember me telling you that just last night, don’t you, honey?”

  “Yes.” As if choreographed, Eve’s elbow flashed back against Lorna in a solid strike—right into the liver.

  Eyes gaping, mouth open, Lorna released Eve with a gasp—and Simon knocked the knife from her hand, probably breaking her wrist in the process.

  Soundless in her pain, Lorna collapsed to the floor.

  In a heartbeat, Dean scooped Eve up and away from the chair, close to his heart. She cradled her injured arm and squeezed closer. “Dean?”

  “Shhh. I’ve got you now.” He went to the sink for a dish towel and managed, one-handed, to wrap her arm.

  Eve swallowed and nodded. “Thank you.” With her head tucked under his chin, she said, “I love you, Dean.”

  Jesus, he wanted to howl. She was upset so he couldn’t, wouldn’t, put too much stock in those words. But still it felt damn good to hear them. “I love you, too.”

  She drew a shuddering breath, wiped her cheeks on his shirt, and straightened. Looking back at Lorna, she whispered, “God, that was awful.”

  “She’s not just mean,” Dean said, “she’s insane.”

  Simon picked up the knife, then knelt over Lorna to check on her. “It’s all right, old girl. Slow, shallow breaths. That’s it. Hang in there. Help’s on the way.”

  Curled on her side, wheezing in pain, Lorna made a sad, pathetic sight. Having suffered a few liver blows of his own, Dean almost sympathized with her. Almost. “Is she hurt bad?”

  “Nah. She’ll be all right. Your lady’s elbow didn’t do any real damage, just took the fight out of her. But I broke her arm.” Simon glanced up at Eve and said, “Good for you.”

  “Dean taught me a few moves.”

  Simon lifted one dark eyebrow. “Did he?”

  “What are you doing here?” Dean asked him.

  “The short story is that I got the info you wanted on your future brother-in-law. I tried to find you at the hotel to fill you in, and instead I ran into Gregor and your sisters. They told me what had happened, and that Roger had already clued you in to his background.”

  “Gregor stayed with my sisters?”

  Simon nodded. “He’s being real heroic and protective.”

  That thought both rankled and relieved Dean at the same time. “I’m glad to know she’s safe.”

  “If you say so.” Simon grinned. “Roger’s out front, by the way. I told him that if the cops showed up, make them come in quietlike. I didn’t know what might be happening in here, if anyone had a gun or not.”

  “That’s why you didn’t wait for the cops?”

  Simon eyed Dean. “I couldn’t have you getting yourself killed. I’ve got too many big-money deals lined up, and they all include you.”

  Knowing Simon as well as he did, Dean discarded all mercenary motives and kissed Eve’s forehead. “Let me see your arm, honey.”

  “It’s okay.” But Eve lifted it for his inspection.

  Dean loosened the towel. The bleeding had already stopped. “I don’t think you’ll need stitches.”

  “Good.” She rolled in her lips and struggled to regain her composure. “She came in here, saying she had to talk to me about you. I told her fine, but that I wouldn’t let her insult you. We came into the kitchen for coffee, and she…attacked me.”

  Dean smoothed back Eve’s hair. “Thank God you’d gotten dressed.”

  “Yeah.” She put her forehead to his. “There is that.”

  Simon helped Lorna to sit up. She looked dazed, blank, and much older than her fifty-seven years.

  Still holding the big knife, Simon rubbed his forehead with the back of his wrist. “I’d say you owe me, Havoc.”

  “More than you realize.”

  “Wrong. I’m not blind. That’s why I’m sure you’ll do the project I mentioned.” Simon smiled with satisfaction. “Afterward you can return to your lady.”

  Dean looked at Eve, hugged her again, and said, “Yeah, I’ll return to her.”

  Seconds later, backup rolled in. As a precaution, Roger had not only called the police, but he’d also asked for an ambulance. He came to stand by Dean as authorities tended to Lorna and then, under police supervision, took her out of the house to a waiting ambulance.

  Not at any time did Lorna look lucid.

  Simon strolled out to answer what questions he could.

  “Cam is going to be devastated.” Roger closed his eyes and put his head back against the wall. “Despite everything, she cares for her aunt.”

  With Eve in his arms, Dean now had a better understanding of Roger’s fear over losing Cam. And realizing that his parents’ irresponsible actions had also affected Roger put a different slant on everything.

  Finally he could understand some of Roger’s actions.

  “I should go to Cam,” Eve said.

  “No.” Tightening his hold on Eve to keep her in place, Dean stationed himself beside Roger. “She has Roger. He can handle it for now.”

  Roger didn’t reply.

  Dean moved around in front of him. “I’ve got my hands full here, Rog, and I’ll be more than a little pissed if you force me to knock some sense into you.”

  Roger opened his eyes and scowled. “This changes everything, damn it. I never told Cam about her aunt. If I had, none of this would have happened. It’s my fault—”

  “Don’t be a martyred idiot, okay? We don’t have time for that shit right now. No one realized Lorna was really nuts, not even my sisters. If those closest to her didn’t know, how could you?”

  The epitome of a beaten man, Roger looked at Eve’s arm and winced. “I’m so sorry, Eve. Damn sorry.”

  “Go to Cam,” Eve told him, and it was clear that she’d also softened toward Roger. “She loves you. And Dean’s right, she needs you now.”

  “I don’t know.” He moved away from the wall, hopeful. “You really think she’ll be able to forgive me?”

  Without hesitation, Eve said, “Yes. She loves you.”

  As a preca
ution, Dean added, “If you disappoint her, I will have something to say about it.”

  A tired smile lifted Roger’s expression. “I suppose you want me to marry her?”

  “The sooner the better.”

  After a fleeting grin, Roger clapped Dean on the shoulder and headed off. Dean felt confident that he’d go to Cam, and that eventually, his sister would be okay. She was resilient and strong and he had great faith in her.

  Dean touched his forehead to Eve’s. “Things have happened awful fast.”

  “Light-speed fast,” Eve agreed.

  “My whole life has changed.”

  Blue eyes soft with worry, Eve watched him. “And?”

  Dean smoothed back her hair. “I have to leave, honey. I need to settle some things, make some decisions—”

  Eve put a finger to his mouth. “I don’t know what will happen with Lorna, but even with Roger in the picture, Cam will need me here.”

  “Yes.”

  “Summer is a busy time with my business. I have a lot of events lined up.”

  “Your work is a priority.”

  “And speaking of priorities, my family…my family is here.”

  “My family, too.”

  Eve put her head back on Dean’s shoulder. After a heavy moment of silence, she said, “You take care of whatever you need to, Dean. But know that when you come back, I’ll be here waiting.”

  TWO months later, Dean knocked on Eve’s door. He felt ridiculous in khaki slacks and a black polo shirt, especially with new bruises on his face and a bouquet of mixed wildflowers in hand. The time he’d been gone had dragged out with one complication after another. Instead of eight weeks, it felt like a year since he’d seen her and touched her. His whole body ached with the need to make love to her, but he wouldn’t. Not right away. He had a lot to say, a lot to explain.

  A lot that he wanted to share.

  While away from Eve, he’d forced himself to give her some space. He’d only called a few times. Mostly they talked about Cam and how she was dealing with Lorna. Strangely enough, it made Dean feel better to know that Cam had Roger at her side.

  Jacki had stuck by her sister until after Dean finished his stint with the reality series. Then, the night of the fight in Atlanta, she surprised Dean by showing up in the audience. When he won, he could have sworn he heard her cheering.

  Impatience growing, Dean rapped on Eve’s door again.

  Eve called out, “Hold your horses,” and seconds later, the door opened and there she was.

  At her first sight of him, her face lit up, then went cautiously blank. “Dean. I didn’t know you were back in town.”

  He pressed the flowers into her hand. “I think I owe you these ten times over.”

  “Flowers?”

  “You said you like them mixed, right? Wildflowers?”

  “They’re beautiful.”

  Determined to get it all said before his control broke and he ravished her, Dean said, “I also owe you some dates, as I recall. But they’ll come later.”

  “They will?”

  Hearing whispers behind Eve, Dean girded himself for disappointment. “Your family is here?”

  “Yes.” Eve absorbed the sight of him, head to toes and back again. “All of them.”

  Voices approached, and then they were all there in front of Dean, drawing him inside with enthusiasm.

  Eve stepped back helplessly, the flowers clutched to her chest.

  Recaps of his fight, of how fascinating the special promo had been, rang out. As Ted pumped his hand in congratulations, Dean’s tension eased.

  It wasn’t so bad seeing Eve’s family. If all went well, they’d soon become his family, too.

  Perching on the edge of his seat, Mark said, “You dodged every punch that maniac threw and then drilled him with a jab each time. How the hell did you do that?”

  “The other fighter telegraphed his moves,” Eve said, remembering what Dean had told her. “He loaded up before every punch, putting all his weight on one leg. If he hadn’t kept trying for a knockout blow each time, he’d have been more successful.”

  Dean grinned with pride. “That’s right.”

  She held up the flowers. “I’ll go put these in water.”

  More questions rang out, but as soon as Eve returned, Dean reached out a hand to her. When she took it, he pulled her onto his lap.

  To Eve’s mother, he said, “I’m sorry, Crystal.”

  She tucked in her chin. “For what?”

  Anticipating Eve’s reaction, Dean tightened his hold. “For not going through you when I bought my house here in Harmony.”

  Surprise widened Crystal’s eyes. “You bought a house?”

  “Only a few blocks away, actually.”

  “A fixer-upper?” Eve wanted to know.

  “No.” Dean looked at her and had to kiss her. But with her family all watching, he kept it brief. “It’s practically new, actually. Maybe twice the size of yours, with an acre lot. It’s nice.”

  Eve blinked in surprise and bemusement. Finally she shook her head as if to clear it. “So you plan to stay around?”

  Aware of her brother grinning, her father smiling, Dean kissed Eve again, lingering a little more this time. “I’m staying.”

  Crystal asked, “Have you furnished it yet?”

  He shook his head. “If Eve marries me, then it’ll be up to her if we live here or move to my place. And if we move to my place, she might want to help me pick out the furnishings.”

  Eve went mute.

  “If you’re marrying Eve,” Mark asked, “why would you want another house?”

  “So Eve would know she had choices.” Dean touched her lips with his thumb. “And that I had choices, too.”

  Smile quivering, Eve asked, “But you chose me?”

  “Yes. And I hope you choose me, too.”

  Ted cleared his throat. “I suppose we should give you some privacy.”

  “I don’t mind,” Dean told him, and he meant it. Because Eve had gone quiet, he chucked her under the chin. “Did you know that Jacki is leaving Harmony?”

  She shook her head.

  “She and Gregor are moving in together. Gregor swears they’ll get married just as soon as Jacki agrees, but Jacki doesn’t want to get in the way of him fighting.”

  “Would she be in his way?”

  “Of course not. Gregor will convince her of that soon enough.”

  “Cam and Roger plan to stay here,” Eve told him. “But they’ll take a long honeymoon once things are settled with Lorna.”

  It was an unfortunate situation, but Lorna hadn’t spoken since the day of her arrest. She ate very little and spent most her time staring into space. It seemed she would just waste away.

  Officials thought she might be too incompetent to stand trial. Dean still considered her a danger, not just to herself, but to others as well. It relieved him that Lorna stayed in an institution, constantly monitored.

  Thinking of how close he’d come to losing Eve, he lifted her arm and kissed it. “You’re okay now?”

  Her voice as low and soft as his, she said, “Not even a faint scar.”

  Crystal turned all business. “Okay, time for us to go.”

  Mark and Ted had a million questions, but Crystal was a formidable woman and had them out the door in less than two minutes.

  Standing at the closed door, Eve said, “You’ve run off my family again.”

  Dean took her hand and led her back to the couch. “I like your family.”

  “They like you.”

  Smiling, Dean pulled Eve down onto the couch with him. Moving over her, he took her mouth in a long, leisurely kiss that left her clinging to him and breathing fast. He almost got distracted enough with that to put off other, more important things.

  But he knew he couldn’t.

  Stretched out over Eve, he said, “My khakis are getting wrinkled.”

  Eyes dreamy, she licked her lips and stared at his mouth. “I noticed the clothes.”


  “Did you now? And do you like them?”

  She ran her fingers over his shoulders while pretending to think about it. “I told you once that you look good, no matter what. You don’t have to change how you dress to suit me.”

  “Are you sure about that? Because I will if it matters. That is, if it matters a lot.”

  She grinned. “It doesn’t. Not at all.”

  Letting out his breath, Dean said, “Good, because I only bought one pair.”

  She tried to kiss him again, but Dean dodged her. “I did buy one other thing though.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Not a ring, if that’s what you’re thinking. You have great taste, and I thought you might want to pick that out yourself.”

  She looked a little disappointed, but said, “We’ll be picking out a ring?”

  “Definitely.” Dean sat them both back up. He rolled his sleeve up above his biceps and showed Eve the enhancement to his tattoo.

  Her lips parted.

  Added to the vines was a single three-dimensional daisy, shadowed to look as if it grew in the sunshine.

  Dean tipped up her chin. “You said you wanted daisies at your wedding, so I thought—”

  She threw herself against him, knocking him back down on the couch. “I missed you so much.”

  Dean held her, but he had to finish. “I wanted you to know that I’m here for you, Eve. I love my sisters, and I want them in my life. You’re a part of them, a part of Harmony.” He tried to sort his thoughts, to make it clear for her. “But even if you weren’t, I’d still want to marry you. If I’d met you in the audience, I think I’d have wanted you. If I still didn’t know my sisters, I’d want you. Even if—”

  She put her fingers over his mouth. “All you have to say is that you love me.”

  “I love you.”

  She settled against him. “I love you, too, and that’s all that really matters.”

  Dean relaxed. “What would you think of me opening a gym here?”

  Stiffening her arms, Eve raised herself above him. “Here? In Harmony?”

  “To be near you.”

  “But…” She couldn’t seem to grasp the concept. “You’re not going to continue fighting?”

  “I don’t think so. At least not for a while.”