Chapter Eleven – Kim

Avery was waiting for them when they got back to the house. Looking uncomfortable with her large baby bump, she got up from her chair at the kitchen table as they walked in.

“If I sit down on a sofa, I need a winch to get back up,” Avery joked, her hand pressing against the small of her back. “I can’t wait for this baby to make an appearance.”

“How long do you have left?” Kim asked, remembering the feeling only too well.

“A couple of weeks. I finish work tomorrow. So any time after that is fine with me.” Avery smoothed her hand over her swollen belly.

“It’s good to see you, Avery.” Jay kissed her cheek. “I owe you one.”

“No, you don’t. We’re in this together.” Avery tickled Archie. “We have to make the world a safer place for these little ones. Don’t we?”

“We sure do.” Jay grinned at Avery. It was the most relaxed Kim had seen him, and a pang of jealousy hit her. Which she instantly dismissed. She was Jay’s mate, and Avery was Jacob’s mate. Nothing would ever change that. Ever.

This wasn’t a normal relationship that might one day end up with one of them cheating, or leaving, and breaking the other’s heart.

“Do you have news?” Kim asked, eager to know where their future was headed and how much danger they were in.

“I’m here to take you to meet Guy. If you want to meet him.” Avery glanced at Kim and then shifted her attention to Jay. “No pressure.”

“What does he want?” Jay asked, looking up as Harlan entered the room.

“Do you want me to take Archie for you?” Harlan offered. “It’ll give you all time to talk. Help yourself to coffee and anything else. Jay, eat something, you need your strength.”

“Thanks, Harlan.” Jay kissed Archie, and so did Kim, before Harlan took him out of the kitchen. As Jay watched him walk away, regret flickered across his face. When Jay spoke about his father, his words were filled with love and respect. It saddened Kim that Jay’s parents would never know their son. Archie would never meet Jay’s parents. Never hug them or listen to his grandad’s stories.

“I need coffee. And you should eat, Jay.” Kim busied herself in the kitchen to distract herself. “What can I get you, Avery?”

“I’ll have a coffee, too, please. One won’t hurt.” She sat down at the table. “I don’t feel comfortable standing up or sitting down.”

“Here.” Kim placed the coffee mugs on the table, and placed a box of cookies next to them. “I think I need sugar.”

Jay took a cookie and ate it, then sipped his coffee, before asking, “Where does he want to meet?”

Avery looked surprised. “I thought I’d have to give you the hard sell.”

“If nothing else, I owe Guy an explanation.” Jay stared into his coffee and sighed. “And I don’t think you would be here if he hadn’t convinced you he was a good guy. I trust you, Avery, I trust your judgment.”

“Thank you.” Avery’s eyes flicked up to Kim’s face. She looked as if she was about to speak, and then stopped.

“Do I need to leave?” Kim asked. “If you two need to talk in private, I’ll go and give Harlan a hand with the boys.”

“No.” Jay’s hand shot out and covered hers. “I want you to stay. I don’t want you thinking I’m about to leave again.”

“Are you sure?” Kim wanted to be absolutely certain he meant it.

“I have nothing to hide. You’re in this, too. Avery?” Jay asked.

“I’m okay with it.” Avery held her hands up. “I have nothing to hide either, since I barely know anything anyway.”

“Kim will be coming with me to meet Guy, too.” Jay nodded at Kim. “If you want to?”

“Yes. I do.” Of course, she did. Kim wanted answers. She didn’t much mind if they were answers she didn’t like, as long as she wasn’t being shut out again.

“All right. He wants to meet soon. I was going to arrange to meet outside of town. But since he knows you’re here.” Avery glanced at Kim once more. “It’s safer to meet him in familiar surroundings.”

Safer. There was that word again. Not safe. But safer. Kim’s hand tightened around her coffee mug, she was not going to show her fear. She couldn’t be the weak link in this.

“These surroundings aren’t familiar to me,” Jay began, “and I don’t want you involved, Avery. Not when you are with child.”

“That’s why I asked Liam to be around. He’s a good man, experienced, and he was part of the operation that arrested Davelchi.”

“I’d be happier with Liam around,” Kim agreed. “You aren’t fully healed, Avery is pregnant and I don’t have a clue how to defend myself.”

“I can fight,” Jay replied bluntly. “If I have to, I can protect you.”

“I’m not saying you can’t, but the men at the hotel…they had guns. And you’ve already been shot once.” Kim glared at Jay. “Let people help you.”

Jay met her gaze, assessing her words, before turning to Avery. “Thanks, having back-up is a good idea.”

“Which is why I’ve arranged for the meeting to take place at the sheriff’s office. If you want to maintain your cover, I can always pretend to arrest you and haul your ass into jail.” Avery looked amused, whether over Kim’s powers of persuasion with Jay, or the thought of hauling Jay off to jail, she wasn’t sure.

“My days of going undercover are over. I’m okay with blowing any cover I have left. Davelchi likely knows it was me who caused him to be captured.” Jay placed his hand on the table and clenched his fist. “It sure felt good to knock the bastard out.”

“I bet. From what I hear he went down kicking and screaming. They are throwing the book at him, thanks to some anonymous tip-off from an unknown source. Which means your identity is intact. This evidence included where to find a second set of accounts that noted some pretty juicy deals. You certainly infiltrated their operations, Jay.” Avery drained her coffee cup and then stood up. “I’m going. I have just enough time to get down to the sheriff’s station before my poor crushed bladder gives out.”

“When is he coming?” Jay asked.

“He said as soon as possible.” Avery got up awkwardly, and stood still for a moment, rubbing her belly. “I’ll call you as soon as I have an ETA.”

“Thanks, Avery.” Jay walked her to the door, leaving Kim to go over the conversation. When she first met Jay, she’d fallen in love with him. That love was strong enough to see them through this. One day their troubles would end. Even if they had to go and live in a cave in the Himalayas with Alex’s parents.

“How are you doing?” Jay asked when he came back to the kitchen and sat down at the table.

“A little dazed,” Kim admitted. “Life used to be so simple.” Before Jay, she’d worked in an office, a normal secretary, doing normal secretarial work. When she’d met Jay in a bar, he’d swept her off her feet with talk of shifters and fated mates. One drink had led to another, one night in his bed had led to weeks of baring her soul, of making love to a man who genuinely cared for her.

Although, her love and need for him went deeper than that. Perhaps if her parents had been more interested in their daughter, she might not have fallen so hard. Jay wanted the best for her, it shone through in the way he spoke to her, the way he asked about her day. As if it mattered. As if she mattered and wasn’t just a person who slept under the same roof.

With Jay, she was no longer invisible, she was no longer an inconvenient accident.

“You can walk away.” The agony in Jay’s voice compounded her love for him.

“You told me once that you wanted me to be happy. Even if that meant you being miserable for the rest of your days.” Kim reached for his hand, and turned it so his palm faced upward.

“I would live without you if that made you happy. If that was the best thing for you.” His brow crumpled with effort as he forced out the words. “And Archie. You lived without me for months. You had a safe life, a normal life. Perhaps I shouldn’t have walked back into it. I didn’t think.”

“No, you didn’t.” Kim trailed her finger across his palm. “Because you didn’t have to. We might not be married yet, but we’re still in this relationship for better or for worse. In sickness and in health.” She risked looking at him, knowing she couldn’t hold back the emotion building inside her. Tears trickled down her cheeks, leaving salty trails. “I love you. Archie loves you. We are family.”

“And families stick together.” Hope shone in his eyes.

“We’re stronger together.” Kim placed her hand on his cheek. “My life might have been simpler. But there was no love. No one to care if I lived or died. If I was happy or sad. I had friends, but no connection. This connection, this bond between us is everything to me. I won’t ever be the one to sever it.”

Jay leaned forward, his lips soft on hers. “I love you more and more each day, Kim.”

“I love you, too, Jay. Which is why we have to see this to the end once and for all and then move on.” Her smile was weak as she added, “I’m sure Alex’s mom and dad have a spare room in their cave system if we need to escape.”

“That is a tantalizing option.” Jay rested his forehead against Kim’s. “I’m tired, Kim. Weary in my soul. I want a simple life.”

“Then let’s tell Harlan we’ll take his offer of the house. I can get a job in town. There must be someone who needs a secretary, and you can work on the house. We can scrape enough money together to buy a place of our own in a year or two.”

“We’re not that poor. I do have some money stashed away,” Jay admitted. “But I don’t want to touch it until I know it’s safe.”

“In case someone is monitoring your accounts?” Kim asked. This was like something out of a spy movie. Until Jay, she’d always thought that stuff was made up.

“Yes. I still don’t know if I trust Guy,” Jay admitted. “I want to, we go way back, we’ve worked together on jobs before. He’s always had my back.”

“When we meet with him, we’ll know.” Kim patted his hand and got up from the table. “I am going to make lunch.”

As she opened cupboards and took out utensils, Kim drew on the strength Jay gave her. They would get through this and have a happy life with Archie. Even if it was in a cave in the mountains where no one could find them. It had worked for Alex, and he’d turned out okay.