Last Kiss

by Laurelin Paige

  The words he’d intended to be comforting only stirred her up more. “No, I don’t want babysitters,” she insisted. “Micha had people watching me all the time. And you.” She paused just long enough for her meaning to punch. “I can’t live like that again.”

  I hadn’t put that in perspective before, hadn’t really thought about how she’d gone from Reeve’s prison to Michelis’s. I’d assumed she’d been rebelling against Reeve’s authority when she’d demanded no more attendants the night before. Now I realized she was just trying to grasp at freedom that likely felt fleeting.

  Reeve’s expression fell as he absorbed the impact of her statement. “Then I’ll double the guards on the house and at the gate instead. Is that better?” He managed a smile, but it felt strained.

  I shifted uncomfortably, wishing I were anywhere else. My emotions and loyalties were tied up in knots. Even as my chest ached with sympathy for Amber, my blood also heated with resentment. She’d left. Reeve had treated her shamefully, but she’d made her own choices after that. Was it fair to add her sins to the load of guilt he already carried?

  “That would be better,” she said, snuggling into the crook of his arm. “I feel safe right now. With you here. Don’t leave me, Reeve. Say you won’t leave me.”

  I wanted to throw up. I wanted to scream. The best I could get away with was rolling my eyes, and I turned around so that no one would notice.

  Except Joe noticed.

  I hadn’t realized he was sitting on the arm of the love seat behind me and when I turned, his glare hit me as forcefully as Reeve’s eyes had met mine when I’d walked in.

  I groaned inwardly. Everywhere I looked there were thorns.

  Well, Joe would probably be easier to deal with than Reeve and Amber.

  I crossed over to him. “Did she say anything about Buddy before I got up here?”

  “No,” he said, his voice hard. “She’s useless.”

  “She’s scared.”

  “Yeah, I’ve seen quite a few addicts get ‘scared’ just like that when they wanted a dose of something.”

  I gaped, taken aback by the harsh judgment. “She’s received a horrible message from a horrible man. She’s upset!”

  “You’ve seen her bruises and scars. I can’t believe this is the worst that Vilanakis has done to her.”

  “Which is exactly why she’s scared that he’s back,” I snapped. It was obvious his remarks had more to do with me than with Amber. With the day’s events, the argument I’d had with him the night before seemed petty to me. Apparently, he was holding a grudge.

  And I was already cranky. Cranky enough to let him have the fight he seemed to be intent on having.

  “Don’t forget you wanted to save her, too,” I hissed, only half-heartedly attempting to keep my voice low.

  Joe stood, and I followed when he gestured that we take our conversation to the hallway. “I wanted to get to Vilanakis’s more serious crimes,” he said, when we were outside the room. “I was hoping she’d be more helpful in that department.”

  My brows lifted with indignation. “Is that why you’re really still here? Were you hoping that he’d be lured after her? You’re probably ecstatic that you can continue your investigation now.”

  He drew back, appalled. “What? That’s not…” He shook his head. “Okay, yes. I was concerned that Vilanakis would come after her. Would come here. So I stayed. But it wasn’t because I wanted to draw him out and it wasn’t for her.”

  “Sorry that Amber’s life isn’t meaningful enough for you,” I sputtered, ignoring that he’d implied he’d stayed for me. “Next time I’ll make sure that the person I hire you to save scores high on the Joe Cook barometer of worth.”

  He eyed me for a beat, a hint of amusement in his features. “‘Joe Cook barometer of worth’?”

  He was mocking me. But hearing him repeat it, I realized it really had been a silly thing to say.

  I let out a sigh. “I don’t know what I’m saying. You’re mad at me, and I’m irritated because I really need a friend at the moment.”

  “I’m not mad at you, exactly,” he said, suddenly fascinated with the toe of his shoe. “You’re just frustrating.”

  “So I’ve been told.” Most recently today, when Reeve said he wanted to tie me up like the calves. I’d probably find that a turn-on if the rest of the conversation hadn’t been so painful.

  My chest pinched with the reminder of the heartache I was trying to ignore. I pushed past the urge to cry. “Anyway, I’m sorry for being difficult. I’m sorry for being someone who makes decisions that are rarely wise and generally impossible to understand. That’s kind of the definition of who I am.”

  “Nah, I shouldn’t have belittled your feelings like I did.” He lifted his eyes to mine. “And there’s definitely more to the definition of Emily Wayborn than ‘rarely wise and impossible to understand.’”

  His kindness was another thorn. It reminded me again of all the things I would never be, such as a person who could be loved by a decent guy.

  I cocked my head and offered to shake. “Friends?”

  He scowled. But he took my hand and shook it. “Friends.”

  We were still shaking when Reeve walked out of the room. Immediately he fixed on our clasped hands, as if he were jealous of Joe. As if he had a right to be jealous of anyone.

  It infuriated me, and even as it did, I jerked free from Joe’s grip. God, I disgusted myself. No wonder Joe was frustrated with me.

  “She’s sleeping,” Reeve said, whether updating us on Amber’s state or explaining why he’d left her, I wasn’t sure. “Jeb’s going to stay with her for now.”

  “She said she didn’t want babysitters.” I hated how spiteful I sounded almost as much as I hated how spiteful I felt. “Are you ignoring that?”

  “No, but I think someone should be with her until I can get guards on the house. Especially when she’s been given a sedative that should really be administered in a hospital-type setting.” His reasoning was fair, but his tone was as nasty as mine.

  The sound of footsteps on the stairs drew my focus. I looked to see Brent ascending. He perched on the last step and nodded at Reeve. “Branding should be done in a couple of hours. Our guests will be on their way by dinner.”

  “Good. No one knows there was an incident?” Reeve asked.

  “Managed to keep it under wraps. The boys all think you’re tending to a sick girlfriend.”

  I grimaced despite myself. A lot of those “boys” had seen Reeve fighting with me an hour before. They probably assumed he’d left to make up.

  Oh, if it were only true.

  “Thank you, Brent,” Reeve said, and even though I wouldn’t let myself look at him, I could feel his eyes on me. Always on me.

  Brent leaned a hand on the rail post. “Have you had any e-mails from him since yesterday? Are you going to e-mail him back?”

  I perked up at Brent’s questions. It didn’t take a genius to guess the him Brent referred to was Vilanakis. This was the first I’d heard about an e-mail, though. “What is he talking about?”

  Reeve shot a warning look toward Brent before addressing me. “It’s nothing you need to be concerned about.”

  Granted, it didn’t take much at the moment to piss me off, but this legitimately pissed me off a lot. “Bullshit. That’s my friend in there. What e-mail is he talking about?”

  When Reeve didn’t say anything I looked to Joe. “No idea,” he said, his hands lifted in innocence.

  I shot a glare at Brent instead.

  “Not my business to say anything,” he said. “Shouldn’t have even brought it up.”

  “No, you shouldn’t have,” Reeve agreed. Then, with a conceding sigh, he said, “It was a taunt, Emily. That’s all. A message meant to put me on edge and that’s all you need to know.”

  I was beginning to feel as tired of babysitters as Amber did. “Will you stop sugarcoating and tell me what the damn message was already?”

  He looked me f
irmly in the eye. “No. I won’t.” His tone and posture said the discussion was final. He turned to Brent next and said, “No, I’m not going to try to e-mail him. That’s what he wants. I’m not letting him bully himself into my life. But if he attacks again, he’ll regret it. He can’t break long-standing rules without expecting me to retaliate. Do we have the manpower to double up on security?”

  Brent nodded. “If we don’t, I’ll make sure we do.”

  The two continued to talk while I concentrated on holding it together. If I didn’t, I would explode. I wasn’t even sure what form my explosion would take, if it would be tantrum or tears. Anger, frustration, rejection – all were bubbling just under the surface, and it was all I could do to keep it down.

  Brent’s lip twisted up in a mischievous grin. “Sure you don’t want to send him sort of message in return?”

  “No message. He wants to play games, fine. I’m not stooping down to that level.”

  Any minute, I told myself, Reeve will turn back to me and tell me about the e-mail. He’d humiliated me by dismissing me in front of Joe and Brent. He’d shown he had the upper hand. Any moment he would realize he’d proved his point and he’d stop being an ass and answer my question.

  “The security tapes are cued up in your office, by the way,” Brent said. “Whenever you’re ready.”

  “I’m ready now.” Reeve didn’t even glance at me as he crossed to follow Brent down the stairs.

  In disbelief, I called after him. “Reeve?”

  “Yes?” His expression was impatient, and his brow arched in question.

  “Nothing,” I said, biting back any emotion that threatened to show. I turned my back toward him. “Joe, I need to get off the ranch for a little while. Can you take me to dinner?” Admittedly, though my invitation was sincere, half of the reason I’d extended it was to ruffle Reeve’s feathers. It was manipulative and defensive, but I couldn’t help myself.

  “Emily,” Reeve warned from behind me before Joe had a chance to respond.

  Feigning innocence, I peeked over my shoulder and imitated his recent address to me. “Yes?”

  He made a sound of incredulous amusement, a sort of harsh laugh that suggested he saw right through me.

  He probably did.

  Then he said definitively, “You’re not leaving Kaya.”

  I spun toward him. “What did you say?”

  “You heard me.” Though he’d left no room for argument, he didn’t walk away. Instead, he held his position, as if he wanted to see how I’d react. As if daring me to challenge him.

  There was no way I was turning down that dare. “You’re going to try to keep me here?” I took a step toward him, hinting at his sins of the past. “You said you’d never —”

  I wasn’t surprised when he cut me off. “This isn’t about anything but your safety. With what happened here today, this is not the time for you to be traipsing around town unprotected.”

  “I won’t be unprotected. Joe will be with me. And, considering what happened here today, I’m not sure that you can say the ranch is safer than anyplace else.”

  His irritation was evident in the slant of his eyes, in the way he held his shoulders, in the heat that radiated from his body and hung in the air like a blanket ready to smother any opponent in his path. “I’m telling you not to go, Emily. You choose to do with that as you wish.” Then he turned and descended the stairs after Brent.

  “So,” I said to Joe, swallowing the bubble of heartache in my throat. “Interested in taking me out?”

  “Um. Sure.” Joe’s reluctant response told me both that he didn’t much care to be a pawn in my argument with Reeve, and that even so, he was on my side.

  “Awesome,” I said with a smile brighter than I felt. “Give me thirty minutes to clean up.”

  Joe didn’t ask where I wanted to go, and I didn’t mind. We drove into town without talking. When he’d pulled over and I looked up, we were at The Four Seasons Resort.

  “Brent recommended the grill,” he said, as the valet opened my door. “More meat and potatoes, but I think that’s standard fare around here.”

  Joe respectfully let me brood in silence until we were seated and our waiter had brought our drink orders. Then he stretched and scratched at the back of his neck. “You made a great point earlier about the ranch being a potentially unsafe place at the moment.”

  “You think so?” It had sounded good when I’d said it, but not because I was particularly worried about safety. At least, not my own. “I’m only concerned about Amber. I’m not anyone’s target.”

  “Not that you know, anyway.”

  I raised an inquisitive brow. “You think that article yesterday really makes me that vulnerable?”

  “Maybe.” He swirled the Wild Turkey around in his tumbler. “He’s not coming after her because of affection. You don’t win back the girl that you love by killing dogs.”

  “This isn’t about love,” I agreed before taking a sip of my merlot.

  “Right. It’s about exerting ownership. And I don’t think it’s just about him believing she owes him. It’s about Vilanakis wanting to take away Sallis’s prized possession.”

  I cringed inwardly at the label he’d given Amber. “Which is why she’s not safe.”

  “Except Amber’s not really the one who’s his prized possession these days, is she?” He let that settle over me as he tossed back his drink in one gulp.

  It was an arguable point, and my first instinct was to say that there was no way that Vilanakis could know much about me, but I realized that wasn’t true. Someone had gotten to Jenkins, and that same someone could very well have seen Reeve and me arguing by the corral or embracing on the back deck or making love on the porch swing.

  “No wonder Reeve hadn’t wanted me to leave the ranch. Why did he let me in the end?”

  “It’s not because he doesn’t care. If that’s what you’re thinking.”

  It irritated me that he could read my thoughts so easily. “Since you know so much, then why? Because he didn’t want to cause a scene? I don’t really think that Reeve cares so much about keeping the peace.”

  “My guess is that he doesn’t want to worry you. Probably the same reason he doesn’t want to tell you about that e-mail.”

  The waiter arrived then with our dinner and so the questions brought up by his speculation faded into musings that I mulled over as I cut into my fish. It was a nice thought – the idea that Reeve wanted to protect me from knowledge that might make me anxious. But it didn’t fit his M.O. Reeve was secretive because he liked to hold all the cards. When he wanted to protect someone he gave them “babysitters” and brought in extra guards.

  I glanced around the restaurant wondering suddenly if Tabor had been sent to follow me but didn’t see him anywhere.

  God, what was wrong with me? I’d been mad when he’d tried to keep me from leaving, and I was hurt when he’d let me go. Reeve was right – there was no winning with me.

  I set down my fork, my appetite having vanished. “How long are you planning to stick around here? Around the ranch, I mean.”

  Joe took a swallow of his water before answering. “Trying to get rid of me?”

  I smiled, but it faded quickly. “I was thinking maybe it was time for me to go home.”

  “Are you wanting to leave Kaya or leave Reeve?”

  I didn’t want to leave either. I needed to.

  But I didn’t bother correcting him. “Both?” It was only one word but it was harder to say than I’d thought it would be. I’d missed Amber, and I wanted so much to work on rebuilding our friendship. Especially after hearing how much she’d struggled with worthlessness and how vulnerable I sensed she was.

  But if I were to stick around, I wasn’t sure that I could resist Reeve. Even if he continued to love us both, as I suspected he would. It would torment me and shatter me to pieces, and I knew myself well enough to know that I’d very likely end up falling back into his bed or his barn or his porch swing. And w
hen Amber found out – because she would – the discovery wouldn’t help repair our friendship or her sense of worthlessness or lessen her vulnerability.

  The only chance to save her was to leave. And wasn’t that what all of this had been about anyway? Saving her?

  “I just need to go home,” I said, reinforcing my decision.

  Joe nodded. “I want to go back to Chicago.”

  “You want to keep investigating Vilanakis.”

  “I do.” He took a bite of his steak.

  I tried not to be disappointed. Joe wasn’t my only option to get home. He was just the easiest.

  “But I need to go back to LA first. Take care of a few things before I head anywhere else. Wanna ride?”

  “Really? Even if I might draw attention from the man you’re after?”

  “Sure. Why not?” He was a smart man. He knew what kind of burden I’d be. “When could you leave?”

  Though I knew that it was the right thing to go, I still let myself search for reasons to stay, even one day longer.

  I couldn’t find any. “As soon as you like.”

  “Tomorrow?”

  “I’ll start packing as soon as we get back.”

  While Joe settled the bill, I told him I’d meet him in the lobby and excused myself to go to the restroom.

  On my way out, my head was down and so I didn’t notice the figure in front of me until I bumped into him. “Oh, excuse me.” I stepped to the side to get out of his way, but he stepped with me. I laughed awkwardly and stood in place, gesturing for him to pass.

  He didn’t.

  He stood solidly in front of me, like a barricade.

  I raised my eyes to look at him. He wore a black suit. His hair and complexion were dark and the lack of wrinkles on his face suggested he was younger than I was. And though I was certain we’d never met, there was something familiar about him. Something I couldn’t quite place.

  “Ms. Wayborn,” he said with a trace of an accent, the same Mediterranean accent that was present in many of Reeve’s employees. So he’d sent a bodyguard after all.

  “You’re one of Reeve’s men, aren’t you? I’m here with Joe, and he can take care of me just fine, thank you very much. So you can go back and report to your boss, or don’t, whichever you want. Just leave me be.”