Chapter Sixteen

 

 

Kai stood in the shower until the water turned cold, letting it pound over his head and shoulders, against his back. It ran clear now, not the faint pink that it had at first when he’d washed the residual blood from his hands and forearms. He scrubbed at his nail beds one last time to make sure they were clean, his stomach rolling at the thought of Hani’s blood being trapped on his skin for a moment longer.

Abby showing up had lifted the weight he’d been carrying on his shoulders. He was amazed that she’d done that for him, had somehow found her way here without the address. She’d bought groceries, was in the kitchen right now making his favorite meal. God, he was crazy about her. She was so good to him, for him. No wonder he was falling for her.

It had been building for a while now. He’d already cared about her way more than as a mere friend before he’d kissed her the first time. Tonight, she’d been the first person he’d wanted to call after what had happened. That said so much about his trust in her. And when she’d shown up on his doorstep with her arms full of food because she cared and wanted to be here for him, his already battered heart had split wide open.

He shut off the water, dried himself. It was impossible to grasp that his cousin was gone. Would take a while for that to sink in. Even longer for him to be able to forget the look on Hani’s face tonight, the things he’d said with his dying breaths.

Abby was on the couch in the living room when he came out dressed in clean jeans and a fresh shirt. She gave him an uncertain smile, her legs tucked beneath her, bare feet poking out, her toes polished with bright pink. “Lasagna will be ready in just over half an hour.”

“Smells amazing.” He still wasn’t hungry. Right now, all he wanted was to be close to her.

Lowering himself next to her on the sofa, he curled an arm around her shoulders and pulled her to his chest. Abby wrapped herself around him, laid her head over his heart.

And Kai pulled in the first full breath he’d taken in the past four hours. Along with Hani’s murder, the bounty was still heavy on his mind. He’d spoken to his commander about it, and the local cops were having someone come out to watch his tutu’s house soon, just in case there was a threat against her. Otherwise Kai wouldn’t be here, and wouldn’t have let Abby stay either.

“Thank you for being here.” He had to hide the intensity of his feelings so as not to scare her off. She already didn’t trust that he was in a good headspace after breaking up with Shelley. She might not believe him if he told her the truth right now.

This relationship was different for him. Abby was solid all the way through her character. Someone he could trust and lean on, independent and confident enough to be able to tolerate his hectic work and travel schedule, the stress of his job. He’d never been with a woman who was all of those things. Had never imagined anyone like Abby would want him.

“You doing okay?” she asked softly, rubbing a hand over his chest.

“Better with you here.” He kissed the top of her head, breathed in the scent of her shampoo. This was exactly what he’d needed and never would have asked for. They’d only been together a few days and already Abby intuitively knew him better than anyone else he’d ever been in a relationship with.

She was quiet, snuggled up against him, offering comfort and support without saying a word. Giving him the time and space to talk about it if he wanted, not pushing him. Damn, she was such a sweetheart. He slid a hand up and down her back, basking in the peace she gave him.

“I can’t believe he’s gone,” he finally said after a while. “And to lose him like that…” He shook his head, pulled in a deep breath. “I saw the woman when I pulled up, but I didn’t think anything of it. Then, when I was talking to Hani by his truck, she came out of nowhere. ‘This is for my daughter’, she said, and started firing.” Kai had gone over it a thousand times in his head. What had she meant? Had Hani been involved with the daughter and broken her heart? Gotten her pregnant and bailed? It was all Kai could think of, other than maybe the daughter had taken it so hard she’d killed herself over it.

Abby made a sympathetic sound and hugged him tighter.

Kai gathered his thoughts for a moment. “I went there thinking I was going to take him down a peg or twenty, put him in his place and set him straight for the way he’d acted and the things he said yesterday. Instead I watched him die. And while he was laying there, bleeding out in front of me, you know what he said?”

She tipped her face up to look at him. “What?” she whispered.

“That he’d done it to protect me.” He ran his fingers through her short hair, his insides twisting as he recalled it. “He didn’t know who the shooter was, but he’d been trying to push me away to protect me. Because apparently the Veneno cartel still has a bounty on my head and they know I’m here on the island.”

Abby sucked in a breath, fear lighting the depths of her pretty blue eyes.

“He thought if he shoved me away hard enough, that I would leave the island. Turn my back on him and just walk away.” He clenched his jaw. “Knowing he thought I’d do that hurts almost as much as losing him.”

“Ah, Kai.” Laying her cheek back on his chest, she exhaled hard. “Did you tell the police? About the bounty?”

“Yes. Talked to my CO and team leader about it too. The cops have Hani’s phone right now, but the DEA and FBI are involved in the investigation as well. They’re trying to figure out who Hani’s Veneno contact is. I’m betting the woman is involved with them too.” Kai considered it his personal mission to take them down. Once he found out who was responsible for Hani’s murder, whoever had done this would pay. He’d sworn it to Hani before Kai had left his cousin’s body in the morgue earlier.

“Think they’ve got people out looking for you right now?” she asked worriedly.

“Maybe. The cops are sending someone out to watch the house tonight, and get me a new rental. The Mustang stands out way too much.”

“And so do you.” She hugged him tighter, made a sound of distress. “I couldn’t stand it if anything happened to you.”

He hadn’t wanted to frighten her, but he loved that she cared about him so much. Setting a finger beneath her chin, he tipped her face up and met her eyes. “Nothing’s gonna happen to me. There’s too much heat on the cartel now with everything that’s happened. And I’m only here for another couple days. As soon as I get all the legal stuff taken care of, I’ll stay for Hani’s funeral, then fly home.”

“Want me to stay with you until after the service?”

Her question was quiet, but sincere. And it helped fill the hole inside him that Hani’s death had created. “It means a lot that you’d do that.”

She frowned in concern. “I care about you. I hate to see you hurting and I want to be here for you. I can change my return flight and push it back a couple of days, no problem.”

The woman was holding his beating heart in her hands right now, and she didn’t even realize it. Kai brought her head back to his chest once more, kissed her temple. “Thank you. Let’s see what happens, okay?” He didn’t want to screw up her work schedule.

“Okay.”

They sat like that for a while, just holding onto each other in the quiet stillness of the house while the air became perfumed with the scent of baking lasagna. Then Abby’s phone chimed softly on the coffee table. She sat up to silence it. “As soon as I take it out of the oven it’ll need about ten minutes to rest on the counter before it’s ready.” She stood.

“Want a hand with anything?”

“No, you just sit here and relax. I found your favorite beer at the store, too. Want one?”

“God, I’d love one.”

He dropped his head back onto the back of the sofa and watched the gentle sway of her hips as she walked into the kitchen. He was still reeling from what had happened, a little numb at times, and Abby was the only thing that made it bearable. She came back a minute later with an icy cold bottle of his favorite beer.

“Thanks.” He took a swig, let out a groan as it slid down his parched throat.

“Think you can eat in a few minutes?” she asked quietly, rubbing his shoulder.

He loved how affectionate she was, how comfortable she was with touching him. He craved it from her. “Because it’s your lasagna, yes.” He’d try some, see how it settled.

“Good.” She glanced toward the darkened hallway that led to the bedrooms. “What can we do for her?”

“Just let her sleep. She was exhausted. And she’s pretty private, doesn’t want anyone to see her grieving. Not even me.”

Abby made a sad face. “It’s just so horrible and wrong.”

Kai nodded. “Hani made a lot of bad choices in his life, but he still had a good heart underneath all the bad shit he did.” As proved by his dying words. “He didn’t deserve to die like that.”

“No.” She gave him a squeeze and got up, returning a few minutes later with two plates filled with piping hot lasagna. She sat beside him, raised her glass of water in a toast. “To Hani. May he rest in peace.”

Touched, Kai tapped his beer to her glass. “E ho‘omaha me ka maluhia, hoahānau,” he murmured, and took a sip. Rest in peace, cousin.

A sudden lump formed in his throat as it hit home that Hani would never get to know Abby. He would have loved her, given the chance. And though she and Kai had only just gotten together, he already felt like Abby was The One. She was under his skin and burrowing deeper each passing day, and with every little thing she did to help and show how much she cared, she stole another piece of his heart.

They ate in silence together. He was surprisingly hungry, even had a second helping before finishing his beer and heading to the kitchen with their plates. Abby had already hand-washed the other dishes, leaving them drying in the rack beside the sink. While she wrapped up the leftover lasagna and put it in the fridge, he loaded their plates into the dishwasher and turned it on so his tutu would have one less thing to worry about tomorrow.

Then he took Abby’s hand and led her out to the lanai, where they sat cuddled up on the bench in the corner while the breeze blew around them, filling the air with the delicate music of the wind chimes. For a moment, Kai could almost believe it was Hani’s spirit passing by.

At length he told Abby about the Hawaiian belief that deceased loved ones continue to fulfill the obligations of ohana from the next realm. He talked about what Hani had been like as a child and as a teenager, the things they used to do together. “We used to love pulling pranks on Tutu. April Fool’s Day was almost as good as Christmas around here. Changing the sugar for her coffee out for salt. Covering the toilet seat with plastic wrap. Stuff like that.”

“So basically, you were both holy terrors.”

He smiled fondly. “Yeah. We got into our share of trouble. And it was me who always got us out of it.” Except for tonight. His smile vanished, a sick feeling swirling in his gut. Shit, this was hard.

Abby stroked his arm. “What else did you guys like to do together?”

“Swimming, surfing. Fishing. Man, Hani loved to fish more than anybody I ever knew. And he was lucky at it, too.” He listed off a half-dozen other of his favorite memories, including the day they’d gotten inked together. Talking about Hani helped dull the pain a little, but then he reached a point where he just felt hollow inside.

“It’s late. You must be tired,” she murmured, rubbing his arm.

“Yeah. Let’s go to bed.” He needed to hold her against him in the darkness. Didn’t think he could bear it otherwise.

She tilted her head back to meet his eyes. “You sure you want me to stay?”

How could she ever doubt that? “God, yes.” He needed her on a level he couldn’t put into words. If he had her beside him in the darkness tonight, he could get through the night.

Inside they got ready for bed. He was stretched out in the guest bed wearing only his boxers when she stepped into the room wearing a thigh-length pink sleep shirt and a shy smile that turned him inside out.

“Are you sure this is okay?” she whispered, casting an uncertain glance at the wall to her left. “I don’t want to offend her.”

“Yeah, I’m sure.” It wasn’t ideal that his tutu’s room was right next to theirs, but hell if he was going to worry about it right now. He held out an arm in invitation. “C’mere.”

She crawled in beside him, and the moment the length of her body slid against his, he let out a deep sigh, wrapping his arms around her back. She was soft and warm, giving him the solace of her embrace. And it helped. A lot.

As they lay there her breath created a warm little circle on his chest, her quiet exhalations stirring nerve endings in his skin. Cradled against her abdomen, his cock hardened.

Abby skimmed her lips over his breastbone, her hands wandering over his back, his ribs. Kai nuzzled the top of her head, stroking his hands down the length of her body, relearning her shape. Impatient to feel all of it without a thin cotton barrier in the way.

She kissed his chest, a slow, erotic press of her lips right over his heart before trailing more of them toward his left nipple. He dragged in a breath and slid a hand into her hair as her tongue teased the hard little point, groaned deep in his throat when she closed her lips around it and sucked. She took her time, teasing first one then the other, slowly working her way up to his neck while her hand trailed down his ribs to his hip, grasped his pulsing erection through the thin fabric of his boxers.

Kai dragged her mouth to his, growling in relief and hunger at the feel of her hand around him. She stroked him, squeezed as her tongue caressed his, lighting his entire body on fire.

The sleep shirt had to go.

He peeled it up and over her head, dumping it aside before locking one arm around her hips, the other around the back of her head. Abby pushed at his shoulder, still kissing him, and he obeyed her silent command, rolling to his back. She sat up on her knees, giving him a gorgeous view of her creamy skin glowing in the faint light coming in from the lanai. Her round breasts were sheer perfection, nipples hard and flushed a deep pink.

Before he could touch them, she gripped the waistband of his boxers and tugged them down over his hips. He helped her get them off, closed his eyes in bliss as her soft hand curled around his naked length, her teeth nipping at his jaw gently. He shuddered at her touch, the sensual way she stroked him.

She sucked at his earlobe, her voice a husky, sexy rasp that sent a shiver of anticipation down his spine. “I want to taste you,” she whispered. “Been thinking about it for so long.”

His whole body throbbed at the thought of her sweet lips closing around his cock. He shuddered as she worked him with her hand and began a downward path with her mouth. She took her time here too, seeming to savor every ridge and hollow of his muscles, making sexy little sounds of approval in her throat that drove him nuts. By the time she reached his hipbone, he was holding his breath, sweat popping out on his skin.

The warm, velvet stroke of her tongue at the crease of his thigh made him bite back a curse. He set his jaw, pushed back the covers with one hand so he could watch what she was doing to him.

Her pale blond hair seemed to glow in the unearthly light seeping in around the blinds. And then she looked up the length of his body at him, the vivid blue of her eyes like that of a match strike, the unmistakable heat and tenderness there stealing what was left of his breath.

Her lashes lowered and she licked her lips as she held him there in her fist, the engorged head shiny with his arousal. Her tongue peeked out to lap at it. Kai let out a throttled groan and squeezed her hair gently, silently begging. He needed her mouth on him so bad it was all he could do to lie still.

Slowly, oh so slowly, Abby kissed the crown of his cock. Kai inhaled sharply, a shudder rolling through him. And finally, when his muscles were as taut as cables and he couldn’t stand the burn anymore, she parted her lips and sucked the head into her mouth.

His eyes slammed shut as pure pleasure radiated up his spine, his mouth opening on a soundless groan of ecstasy. His fingers contracted in her hair, holding her close, conveying his need.

She didn’t tease him now, sucking with firm pressure that made his eyes roll to the back of his head, the flick of her tongue against the underside of the head pushing him right to the edge. He enjoyed it for as long as he dared, his orgasm barreling toward him with startling speed and intensity.

“Abby, oh, God, stop,” he finally gasped out in a ragged whisper.

She paused, her mouth still engulfing him, and peered up at him questioningly. The sight damn near undid him.

Gathering up the tattered remnants of his control, Kai reached down to grasp the base of his cock and gently ease her off him. He groaned again, sucking in air, his swollen length throbbing with every heartbeat.

Before she could ask him what he was doing, he sat up, grabbed her and flipped her onto her stomach, quickly stretching out over top of her so that he was plastered to the full length of her back. Abby gasped and squirmed beneath him while he nibbled at her neck, sliding one hand beneath her to play with her breast and the other to find the hot, slick place between her thighs.

She was hot against his fingertips, and silky soft, the slick evidence of her arousal coating his caressing fingers. Sucking him off made her hot, and holy hell, there was no bigger turn-on in the world than that.

“Kai,” she whispered, the breathless edge to her voice filling him with satisfaction.

“Want to be inside you when I come, shortcake. But I need you to come first,” he murmured back, reaching one hand out for his jeans, lying strewn across the chair beside the bed. He fished out a condom, rolled it on, and stretched out full length against her back, the tip of his cock nestled in her folds, wrapping both arms around her so his hands could resume their former positions. “You ready?” he whispered against her shoulder.

A tiny quiver ran through her, and she nodded. “Yes.”

Kai eased forward, burying his length inside her with a single, slow thrust that dragged a rumbling growl from his throat. She made a soft mewling sound and struggled beneath him, widening her thighs slightly to allow his fingers better contact with her clit.

His heart hammered at his ribs, his breathing ragged as sensation streaked through him. So tight and warm, her core squeezing him. “Abby, God,” he rasped out, and started moving, unable to stay still a moment longer.

Her breathing changed, her body tensing beneath him. His muscles coiled along with hers, pulled taut as the pleasure intensified and kept building, driven along by the feel of her slick walls clenching around him and her soft little whimpers of arousal and need. He fought back the need to come and focused on what his hands were doing, playing with her hard nipple, caressing her swollen clit.

“Gonna come,” she groaned in a whisper, shuddering. Her head came off the bed, spine arching as she neared the peak.

Yeah, shortcake, come for me. Kai squeezed his eyes shut and pressed his face into the curve of her shoulder, his hips rocking, every glide forward stroking his cock over her G-spot until she came. She bucked beneath him and buried her face in the mattress, her cries of release muffled against the covers.

Stilling his hands, Kai wrapped his arms all the way around her and held on tight as he plunged into her, driving deep one last time. He bit back the shout that tried to rip free of his throat as he found his own release. He shuddered, locked deep inside her, her core still rippling around him.

Mind wiped clean by the pleasure, exhaustion hit him like a brick wall. He relaxed against her as he caught his breath, careful to keep some of his weight off her so he didn’t crush her into the mattress. She was such a tiny little thing compared to him. Tiny but fierce in her own way, and also caring and loyal.

With a groan he withdrew and rolled off her, pausing to kiss the back of her shoulder blade before he dealt with the condom. Lying down next to her, he pulled her into his arms, her back nestled against his front, and drew the covers over them. His entire body was relaxed, even though the pain of Hani’s loss was still heavy on his mind.

“Do you think we were quiet enough?” she whispered in the silence.

The question surprised him so much he huffed out a laugh, amazed that he could laugh at all after such a horrific day. “Yeah, I think so.”

“Because I don’t know how I’d ever face your grandma again if we weren’t.”

Grinning, he kissed the back of her neck. “Nah, she likes you. And if she did hear, she’d just be glad that you’re here with me right now.”

“I’m glad I’m here for you too.”

He kissed the back of her head and snuggled her closer, grateful for her presence and comfort. I’m falling in love with you, shortcake.

He didn’t dare say it. Abby had been through the ringer where men were concerned. If he told her his true feelings now, it might freak her out, or she might dismiss them out of hand. More time. He’d give her more time, wait until things settled down and they found their footing once they got back home.

He just hoped he wasn’t falling in love alone.

One minute he was breathing in the scent of Abby’s perfume. The next, he was blinking against the bright morning sunshine streaming through the edges of the plantation-style shutters covering the guest bedroom windows.

Abby was curled into him, half-sprawled across his chest, her breathing slow and even in her sleep. As soon as that registered, images of Hani’s last moments flashed through his head. The pain of it stopped his breath, a giant fist twisting his heart in a cruel grip.

Before he could move, his cell rang on the bedside table. He grabbed it as Abby shifted off him and onto her side, watching him with sleepy blue eyes, tugging the covers over her bare breasts.

Kai glanced at the screen. It was still early, not even six. “Maka here,” he murmured.

“Detective Carruthers,” the man announced, his voice crisp, alert. “We’ve just got results back from the ballistics folks.”

The words made him even more alert. That was fast. “Find anything?”

“Yeah. Ballistic fingerprints on the bullets taken from your cousin match the ones from a murder a few days ago. A doctor Bradshaw.”

“I know about him.” His murder had been all over the local news and papers. Now the same gun that had killed him had also killed Hani?

“Seems like our murderess has been busy.”

Shit. Did the Venenos have female enforcers now? It was the only explanation Kai could think of. “So she’s working on a hit list?”

Abby sat up, an alarmed expression on her face. Kai reached for her hand, gave it a squeeze and didn’t let go, awaiting the detective’s response.

“Looks that way. We’ve released her description and the composite sketch you helped us with to the media. It’s a small island. Someone will know her. And then we’ll find her and bring her in.”

“Good. Thanks for the update.” As soon as Kai got off the phone with the detective, he called Taggart, back home in Virginia. “Hey, it’s me. Got an update about the situation here.”

“I’m glad you called,” his commander said. “We’ve got a bit of a situation here ourselves.”