by Zoe Dawson
“Where did you learn to do that?”
“I have a younger sister, and sometimes she wasn’t exactly ready for school on time.” He felt a shot of nostalgia and vowed he would call her tonight after dinner. He felt bad for the way he’d acted when she’d called about the damn business. She had to know that he wanted nothing to do with it, and that included discussing it. She’d sounded stressed. But he’d gotten caught up in this case and had been preoccupied with Sky and keeping her safe. The other truth, the one he harbored whenever he saw a Boston area code on his phone, was that he could hear their disappointment, and it was something he wanted to avoid. Had been avoiding for a long time.
“What’s her name?”
“Delilah. I call her Lilah.”
She didn’t press her for any information as she grabbed a frying pan and gathered her ingredients. He pushed up the sleeves of the gray ribbed pullover, leaning back against the counter, his ankles crossed, his arms folded over his chest. The solemn lines around her mouth tugged at his heart.
“Where is she now?” Her tone was nonchalant, but her eyes were very interested. Very curious.
“In Boston, working for my dad.”
She got to cooking, and the aroma of the chicken and rice made his stomach grumble.
“Do you have a picture of her?” Once again, her voice had that easygoing tone with the underlying edge to it.
Regret in his voice, he said, “On the phone I dumped, not on me at the moment.”
“Oh, that’s too bad.”
When the food was almost done, she looked over at him, her gaze connecting with his, and for an instant there was an unspoken communication between them that was oddly restrained, yet oddly revealing—one that silently acknowledged his attempt to connect with her. There went his heart again, and she blinked a couple of times.
He noticed how her knuckles grew even whiter, which was saying something, considering she already had a death grip on the frying pan handle. “I haven’t seen him since I was six. I remember him being strong and sure. With dark hair and an infectious smile. My aunt said that my mother fell head over heels for him when they met in college. I loved him and I miss him. But I couldn’t risk going back to China, and he refused to let me help by getting involved.”
Vin’s opening up about his family had put her at ease, it seemed, and she was finally responding to his inquiry about her father. “And you honor him.”
“Yes, definitely that. In any Asian culture, honor and respect are very important. Certainly, you have that in your family?”
“Yes, I do, but it’s a bit different. I rebelled against my parents’ wishes and ended up doing entirely the opposite. It’s given me a richer life.”
“Thank you.”
“For what?”
“Trying to understand.”
She pressed her hand against her stomach, her face crumbling, and he was across the kitchen, pulling her into his arms.
“The grief is still fresh. I’m so sorry. I should have just kept my big mouth shut.”
She shook her head against his shoulder, her hands bunching the fabric of his sweater in her tight fists. He could hold her like this forever.
“I have no one to really talk to about this. No family. My aunt is sympathetic, but she’s not really my aunt.”
“Grief is good, Sky. To feel it, you have to embrace it. Mourning someone is human. You shouldn’t have to hide it or bottle up your feelings. It’s what gets you through to the other side.”
She pressed harder into his chest. “Tell me what you remember about him. The memories are all we really have, but that keeps him in your heart and your mind. That presence.”
She lifted her head and looked at him as if she’d never seen him before. “I never thought about it that way.” Anguish in her eyes, she said, “He built me things out of paper. It’s called Karakuri in Japanese. He was a mechanical engineer. Very smart, very clever.”
He let her go when she pulled away. “He loved math and gave me the same love for it. I was doing calculus when I was six and playing binary hopscotch.”
“Damn. I think I was driving fire trucks around and making siren noises at six.”
She laughed, and the sound of it, all soft and natural, filled the kitchen with warmth. She shook her head a little as if to say he was incorrigible, then turned to dish out the food.
After eating, he excused himself to make the phone call to his sister, and Sky sat down in one of the chairs by the fire and pulled out what looked like knitting. She would be surprised to find out that his buddy knitted. The craft just seemed too domestic for her, but she didn’t have a lot to do here in the wilderness of Pennsylvania.
After going into the bedroom, he entered his sister’s number into the phone and sat down on the edge of the bed.
“Hello?”
“Lilah. It’s Vin.”
“Vinny, I have been calling you, but it never even went to voice mail. There are agents here in the house. They say that you’re on a case, and they’re here as a precaution. What’s happening?”
“I’m protecting a woman, and it’s gone a bit crazy. There are agents there? Damn. I wish I could come home and handle this.”
He had to make it a priority to call Chris and find out why he’d assigned field agents to his family.
She sounded choked up, and she sniffled. “Dad is sick. That’s what he wanted to talk to you about. He can’t run the business anymore. We need you to come home and help with some decisions. Mom is so upset.”
He pinched the bridge of his nose. “Lilah, you know the ins and outs of the business better than I ever could.”
“But he wants you to take over.”
He sighed. “I can’t really discuss that right now. Is Dad in the hospital?”
“No, he’s home, but he’s going to have to slow down. His doctor insisted.”
“I’m sorry, but I won’t be able to get home for a while.”
He clenched his teeth hearing the disappointment in her voice as she said, “I understand. I’ll handle things the best as I can until you get here. I don’t have the authority or power of attorney or even a seat on the board.”
“I’m really sorry about the timing, but I can’t leave this woman. She’s in danger, and she needs me.”
“Of course. I know you. My heroic big brother. Do what you have to do and come home as soon as you can.”
“I will. We’ll work this out. Be safe and listen to those NCIS agents. Don’t take any risks.”
“Okay. Please take care of yourself, too. I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
He disconnected the call and sat there for a few minutes. He didn’t want to take over. But he wasn’t sure if he was going to have a choice. Someone had to run the business. It was his father’s legacy, and although he didn’t really want to be a part of it, he also didn’t want to see it fall apart.
Conflicted, he dialed Chris and, after a brief conversation with him, found out that someone had hacked into the NCIS database and accessed his file. He went back out into the living room. He checked the locks to both the front and back door.
He stirred the fire and set another log on it. Settling in across from her, he said, “What are you doing?”
“Making you a scarf. It’s either that or go stir-crazy. I really wish I could get my laptop.”
“You’re making me a scarf?” He smiled, ignoring her laptop comment.
“I’m sure it’s not the best I can do, but I just started learning this morning.”
He got up and walked over to look at her work. The rows weren’t exactly perfect, but that’s what made it all the more…sweet. “That’s really nice. Thanks.”
She smiled and looked up at him. Her face changed. “What’s wrong?”
“Why are you asking me that?”
“You look worried. I’ve never seen you look worried, not even when we were getting ready to step onto that icy death trap of a roof.”
He couldn’t
believe she could see the concern over his family situation in his face. He was good at masking his anxieties, but he didn’t want to exactly burden her with any of his own fear for his family. Chris had ordered the Boston field office to respond. He was glad someone was there for his family, but he felt guilt over not being there. He couldn’t leave Sky, and he didn’t want to make her worry any more than she was already worrying.
His silence didn’t sit well with her. Her eyes got increasingly stormy, and her mouth tightened. “Oh, I see,” she said, sounding hurt. “I can spill my guts, but you get to keep everything close to the vest.”
She rose and set down the knitting and went into the bedroom. He let her go. He wasn’t sure how to tell her about the agents in Boston. He also didn’t know how she would react about his father’s inability to handle the business. With her honor code, she would agree with his sister that he should go home and take over. He had no doubt, and he didn’t want to hear that. He wanted her to accept him for who he was, and that included what he wanted to do with his life. He wanted the support.
He spent a few moments banking the fire and knew that he had to go talk to her. He set the poker back in the stand and turned away from the fire.
She was standing in the middle of the living room looking uncomfortable and awkward.
“I’m sorry. I was out of line. Just because I told you all those things about my father and you were so sweet and kind doesn’t mean you have to tell me anything you don’t want to tell me. It’s just…well, it helped to make me feel better. So, I thought I could…I don’t know…make you feel better. Isn’t that what friends do for each other?”
One word of that speech stuck with him, and it momentarily distracted him. Friends? What the hell? He didn’t want to just be friends with her. What was he thinking? She’d tied him up in knots until he wasn’t sure of his own mind or feelings.
“I’m not trying to be evasive, I swear, Sky. It’s about my family and the case, and it’s complicated.” Everything seemed complicated right now.
When he didn’t say anything else, she let out a reluctant sigh and turned away, looking so sad and betrayed.
“Dammit,” he said under his breath. “Sky, wait.”
She turned back, looking hopeful, and he couldn’t keep it from her. “Come and sit down, and I’ll tell you what you want to know.”
She put her hands on her hips, her expression expectant but agitated. “Are you sure you want to, or is this just a pity gut-spilling?”
Even with all the stress tightening his stomach, the way she said gut-spilling made him smile. “Just come over here, and I promise to be straight with you, even though I would give you a hundred bucks to say gut-spilling again.”
She gave him a dry, wry smile. “Are you making fun of me when I’m trying to be a good friend?”
He didn't move, but his posture, his stance broadcast that something she'd just said set him off. She made him ache deep inside where she'd been heading for some time now. She was now embedded there. “Let’s get one thing straight right here, right now.”
She swallowed and took a shuddering breath. He shifted his hips and tilted his head. She was reacting to his closeness, and it jacked him up. It took all his willpower not to touch her.
“What?” she asked, her voice barely audible.
“We’re more than friends. I don’t want to be just your damn friend.”
Her breath hitched. “I know.”
Sky was finding it very difficult to breathe with him this close and intense. That was the word. He was using his body and his presence to corral her, and she had to wonder if he even realized he was doing it. What did that say about him? About what he wanted from her?
He didn’t want to be just her friend. That was evident. A confident male, he still seemed to need the reassurance.
Really, it was true about all that science of chemistry, because she was vibrating with his closeness, with the way the shadow and light from the fireplace played with the beauty of his face.
“Since you’re so good with definitions and useless facts, how about this? Friends don’t get this close. Friends don’t think about kissing you half the time and wanting to get you into bed the other half. Friends don’t feel like they’re losing their mind every time they interact.”
“Oh, my,” she said, completely undone like she’d never been unraveled before. This was something she wasn’t quite sure she knew how to handle. “Okay,” she said, her voice barely more than a whisper against her suddenly constricted throat.
“Okay? That’s all you have to say?”
“I’m a little bit crazy myself.”
His green eyes intensified. “Sky. I don’t know where this is going. But I just wanted to be clear.”
“That was very clear. I hope you’re not trying to change the subject, because whether you like the word or not, I want to be your friend and listen to you. I want that very much, Vin. You don’t have to always be the damn hero. Because, if I’m reading you correctly, whatever you have to tell me is not good. And you’re all about protecting people with your NCIS badge and your gun and your deadly Marine skills.”
“You are used to being sheltered. I guess I was reacting to that, maybe subconsciously.”
“Well stop it. I don’t want to live my life with my head stuck in the sand. Not anymore. That’s your fault.”
“You want brutal honesty?” Energy crackled around him without him even trying. His speaking voice was low, calm, smooth. Only the muscle jumping in his jaw, the gleam in his eyes, gave away his agitation with her.
“If you feel you need to deliver it brutally, well then, all right, but I’m all for honesty.”
“You drive me freaking nuts,” he said softly, his voice tortured with something that flowed from him into her, making her feel desperate and not knowing why.
She was the first to move. She cupped his taut face. The contact was every bit as electric as she’d known it would be. He closed his eyes at her touch as if he needed her.
She wrapped her arms around his neck and stepped closer, flush up against his body. His free arm was instantly around her back, steadying her, keeping her tucked against him.
“I’m not playing games, Sky.”
“I know you’re not.” How was she going to go back to her sterile white life? A life that was akin to a white noise machine—always on, but in the background, easily tuned out.
He wrapped both his arms around her. “I talked to my sister on the phone just now. There are NCIS field agents at my home in Boston.”
Her heart lurched to think that his family was in danger because of her.
“I can feel you thinking, and you can stop it right now. This isn’t your fault.”
She buried her face into his neck. “How can you say that? This is directly linked to me. They’re looking for leverage against you. Oh, God. Do you think they know who you are?”
“I don’t know. But that’s not all of it.”
She released him and pulled back “What the hell is going on?” she demanded, the adrenaline punch to her stomach like a physical blow. “What do these people want? Now they’re threatening your family to get to me. Oh, my God, this is awful. It hurts so badly because I lost my family to thugs who pretended to have my best interests at heart, and they were lying through their teeth. They wanted me to be their slave.”
Her eyes widened as the full impact of the situation hit her, and as Vin reached for her, she backed up against the wall.
“I knew how this was going to affect you.”
“Me. What about you? What about the thought that your family could be in danger? What about the fact that they are still looking for me, and if they know who you are, then they have a better chance at figuring out where you might go? They could find out about this cabin.”
“They could. That’s true. Everything you said is true. But we can’t give into the fear or uncertainty of our situation. We have to take control of it. That’s the most important thing I
learned in the field. If you don’t control a situation, it controls you. I’m going to have to entrust the safety of my parents and sister into the hands of the agency.”
“Because you have a job to do. This job. Me. I’m the job.”
“You’re not a freaking job!” he growled. “This has become more than a job.” His expression softened a little, and so did his tone.
“You should take me back to DC and find someone else to handle this.”
“I’m not leaving you,” he said fiercely. “So, forget it.”
“What if I’m being betrayed by someone I know, Vin?”
“We’ll figure it out. I’ll keep you safe.”
Tears stung the backs of her eyes, and for the first time since she’d been ripped from her father’s arms and forced on to a ship, her heart was open and vulnerable.
“Let me do my job, Sky,” he said and kissed her, this time more gently. “Just listen to me and follow my orders so I don’t have to worry about you. Promise?”
When he looked at her like that, and asked rather than commanded, it was beyond her to debate him. It was scary in its own way how grateful she was that he was here with her. That he was the agent assigned to her case.
“All right.” She kissed him back. “On one condition.”
His eyes narrowed. “What?”
“That you keep that promise you made to me outside.”
“What promise?”
She settled her hand over his heart. “That we’re both going to be okay.”
“We are.” He pointed a thumb at himself. “Badass Marine. Oorah.”
She smiled. It was almost unbelievable how much she trusted him. Fully and with every bit of her heart. She had no doubt that he would protect her.
What scared the living daylights out of her was how far he would go to protect her.
She was afraid it would be with his life.
Chapter Thirteen
“Wake up, sleepyhead.”
Vin opened one eye and groaned. “What time is it?”
“Six a.m.”