Nauti Intentions by Lora Leigh (4)

 

 

Alex pulled into the marina parking lot a little after seven the next morning. It was damned cold on the water in February. Those Mackays were frickin’ insane. All three of them were still on the houseboats, all of them with very pregnant wives.

Certi-fucking-fiable. That was all he could think. One of those very pregnant wives was his sister, Crista, and Alex was still ready to blow Dawg’s head off for not having that house ready yet. If it weren’t for the fact that Crista was the one holding things up, he and Dawg would have already fought.

He looked around and saw Ray Mackay’s pickup in front of the marina office, though he knew Ray wasn’t there. He’d called the other man that morning and asked him to meet him at Natches’s.

Shit. This wasn’t going to be easy. Natches had just gotten his sister back, thought she was finally safe and secure, and now this crap. And Janey, Alex knew, hadn’t mentioned a word to her brother.

He stepped out of the pickup, tense, wary. Dealing with the Mackays all at once wasn’t a fun time to be had, and bringing news like this?

He couldn’t get those letters out of his head, though. They were brutal, filthy trash. No wonder Janey was so damned wary, almost frightened, last night. She couldn’t know who was doing this to her; she would suspect everyone, and he couldn’t blame her.

He moved quickly from the parking lot along the docks. As he neared the Nauti Dreams, Natches’s houseboat, the door opened and Natches stepped out. He was still as wild as the wind, Alex thought. Dressed in jeans and a T-shirt and bare feet. His black hair was mussed, his dark green gaze sharp despite the drowsy look on his face.

“You’re working early, Major,” Natches drawled as Alex stepped onto the boat. “Playing Cranston’s lapdog again?”

Alex sighed. He’d been working with Cranston for years. His team was one of the agent’s favorites to call out for the hairier assignments. Alex had already been called before a review board twice because of the insanity that was Cranston. But damn if the agent didn’t make life interesting.

They called him the Rabid Leprechaun, and Cranston was inordinately pleased with that title. So much so that his agents and Alex’s team worried that he took it a little too seriously. The thing about Cranston that the Mackays never understood, though, was that it wasn’t about the manipulations he conspired to do; for Timothy, it was all about the past and everything he had ever lost. It was about retribution. And in ways, it had been for Alex as well. He understood that. For Alex, though, the thoughts of retribution were melting away beneath thoughts of Janey.

“Not this time, Natches.” He shook his head as he stopped in front of his friend. “We need to talk.”

Natches’s eyes narrowed dangerously before he inclined his head into the houseboat. “Well, we’re all here as you asked. Keep your voice down, though; Chaya’s still sleeping.”

Evidently, all the Mackay women were sleeping. Ray, his son, Rowdy, Dawg, and Natches were waiting, but Crista, Kelly, and Chaya were absent.

He stepped into the wide front room and stared at the men huddled around the table at the side, a pot of coffee between them.

“Alex, good to see you.” Ray Mackay, Rowdy’s father, with his sharp Mackay green eyes and graying black hair, waved him over. “Get a seat, son. We have a cup for you.” He poured coffee into a cup as Alex stepped over to the table.

He didn’t sit down. Neither did Natches.

“Seven in the morning,” Natches commented with a drawl. “Must be trouble.”

“Trouble follows Alex,” Rowdy grunted. Evidently he didn’t like getting up early anymore either.

“So does Cranston,” Dawg commented mockingly. Another less-than-polite Mackay. Hell, they were nicer than this before they decided monogamy was the spice of life.

“No Cranston this time.” Alex pulled the letters from inside his jacket, unfolded them, and handed them to Natches. “I got these last night. They’ve come in the past two months, to Janey.”

Natches took the letters slowly, his gaze locking with Alex’s. He could feel the sense of danger, the ragged, burning fury already building as he stared into the other man’s gray eyes.

When his eyes moved to the letters, his blood began to boil.

Natches could feel the fury burning, building.

“She didn’t tell me about these.” Natches handed them to Dawg and Rowdy, knowing what was coming once they read them. “She would have told me.”

Fear was balling in Natches’s gut now. This was what Janey had been keeping from him for months? Was this why she had moved from the marina to that apartment in town, so he wouldn’t find out?

God, she didn’t even trust him, her brother, to help her? But why should she? He hadn’t been able to help her in all the years Dayle had controlled her. What would make her think he could help her now?

“She made Zeke swear not to tell you about them. It was the only way she agreed to turn them over. I’m still officially on the investigation from last year. He turned them over to me instead.”

Natches turned away and reached for his boots. He and Janey were going to have a talk. Now. This wasn’t happening. Damn whoever had written those letters to hell. He wasn’t letting anything else destroy his sister.

“Where are you going, son?” Ray rose from the table.

“To get Janey.”

It was the only solution. Get her back in the middle of the Mackay clan where she could be watched, protected. There was no other choice.

Alex watched him. He understood Natches’s determination, but he’d also seen Janey’s last night in that apartment. She would fight her brother, draw further away from her family. That wasn’t the answer. He had the answer; he just had to let everyone see it in their own way.

“And do what? Lock her in a box?” Alex asked him. “Show her she’s still a child with no control over her own life?”

Natches paused, one boot on, one off, his expression twisting in disbelief. “You think I’m going to let some fucking crackpot threaten her?” His voice rose. “Did you read that trash, Alex? What if it were Crista?”

Alex ran his hand over his hair. “I thought of that.” He nodded. “I’d go after her. And we’d fight. And she’d push me as far away from her as she could if she thought she could handle it. I talked to Zeke again before I came in this morning. Janey thinks it’s pranks. She’s not going to budge.”

Natches’s expression twisted in fury.

“That’s not pranks,” Natches yelled. “Dammit, Alex. You know that. That’s not pranks.”

“You’re not going to convince her of that,” Alex warned him.

“Are the three of you going with me?” Natches turned to his cousins, his uncle.

They were already getting ready to go. Their expressions were hard, murderous. And Alex couldn’t blame them. Janey was still a kid to these men, unprotected, terrorized her entire life, and she was still standing. They wanted her to have peace, not more fear.

“Thanks for the tip,” Natches snarled. “You can go home now.”

Alex arched his brow. “Get fucked, Natches. This is my business, too. Or did you forget who you tagged years ago to help keep an eye on her?”

This was going to get dicey as hell, because he knew damned good and well Janey wasn’t going to let Natches lock her up.

“Every one of you has lost his mind.”

They swung around as Chaya moved from the back bedroom, the mound of her stomach barely poking against the T-shirt she wore over her pajama bottoms.

“How the hell did I know you wouldn’t sleep through this?” Natches grimaced at his wife as she moved into his arms. “Go back to bed.”

“Not on your life.” She shook her head. “And you better think before you go to Janey screaming your little heart out. She’s just like you, Natches. She’s going to go her own way, no matter what you want.”

And that was pretty much Alex’s opinion of the entire situation.

“She’s smaller than me,” Natches informed her. “She’s coming back here. Period.”

“Bet me.”

Alex could see the ragged rage and pain in Natches’s face, and he understood it more than the other man knew. Alex had nearly lost his own sister to this bullshit. When Johnny Grace, Nadine Grace’s son, had impersonated Crista and stolen government missiles. Johnny had realized no one believed it was Crista, and his lover had kidnapped her and Johnny had nearly killed her.

It was Natches who had saved her. He’d killed his own cousin with a sniper rifle as Johnny had tried to kill Crista. Yeah, Alex knew exactly how he felt, but now Natches was going to see what Alex had known even then. Sisters didn’t always do what you wanted them to do. No matter how dangerous their way turned out to be.

“I have to try, Chaya.” Natches moved away from her, grabbed his leather jacket from the hook on the wall, and turned back to the rest of them. “Ready?”

“Ready!” Dawg, Ray, and Rowdy already had their coats on and were heading for the door.

“Natches,” Chaya called out as he opened the door to the houseboat. “Don’t push her too hard. You’ll regret it.”

He stared back at her, his eyes alive with the anger burning inside him.

“I’ll do what I have to do to protect her, Chaya.”

She smiled at that. “You’ll do what you can do, Natches. What she lets you do. Remember that.”

Alex watched the other man’s jaw tense, a sure sign he was grinding his teeth, and if the situation hadn’t been as serious as it was, Alex would have grinned.

Instead, he followed the other men out and up the docks to the vehicles. He got in his truck as the others got in theirs, and damned if he didn’t feel sorry for Janey this morning.

This was too dangerous, though, to let it go. Too dangerous not to let her family know about it. Losing Janey wasn’t an option. And if he didn’t let the Mackays know, and something happened to her, then he would never be able to look his own sister in the eye again.

They drove, four pickups in a row, into town and then along the town square. Mackay’s was in a converted office building at the end of the block, near the town square. Parking was on the street, a large lot at the side, and in the back. Lately, there hadn’t been enough parking.

It was closed now, the windows dark. Alex pulled his truck in beside Natches’s on the private side of the building. Rowdy, Ray, and Dawg parked on the street. Alex saw the curtains in the apartment over the restaurant flutter, and felt Janey staring down at the street. Shit was going to hit the fan now, and Alex had a feeling he was right in the line of fire.

He made sure he was behind the other four as they moved up the stairs. As they reached the landing, Alex wasn’t the least surprised when the door was jerked open and Janey stood there glaring at all five of them.

“Zeke has a big mouth,” she snapped before turning and stomping back into the apartment.

“Why the hell didn’t you tell me, Janey?”

Janey heard the edge of hurt in her brother’s voice and turned to him, raking her fingers through her hair and glaring at him.

“Because of this.” She waved her hand at the Mackays and Alex. Shooting Alex a look of retribution, she sneered. “Let me guess, you were the little messenger boy?”

“First a lapdog, now a messenger boy.” His smile was tight. “I’m going to start showing y’all just how well I make decisions on my own.”

“We’d have to give you a decision to make first,” Janey snapped, crossing her arms over her breasts and staring back at the men.

Damn. She had cute cousins, but they didn’t look cute this morning as they frowned at her. And Uncle Ray didn’t look happy at all.

“You could have told us about the letters, little girl,” Ray berated her gently. “You think we’re going to stand by and let someone hurt you?”

“Evidently she does.” Natches’s voice was quiet, but rough with anger. “Is this what you think of me, Janey?”

She shook her head slowly. “No, I never thought that, Natches. I thought exactly what I see. The four of you coming down on me like a ton of bricks just before you demand I come back to the boat and live with you.”

His eyes narrowed. “It’s the only way to protect you properly.”

It was the sure way to drive her slowly insane. There was no way she was living with Natches and Chaya again.

She glanced at Alex. He should be fixing this, not leaning against her damned wall like an amused mannequin.

His brow arched, the condescension in his expression causing her to grind her teeth.

“I’m not leaving.” She made the statement firm, flat.

She cleared her face, pushed back the fear and the pain, especially the fear that she would disappoint or hurt the family she’d never had a chance to love except from afar.

“You can move in with me and Maria,” Ray offered. “That would be a good alternative.”

“No, it wouldn’t.” It would steal the independence she had fought so hard for. “I’m not moving in with anyone, Uncle Ray.”

She forced herself not to show any nervousness. She clasped her hands in front of her and faced five of the strongest, most determined men she had ever known or heard of in her life.

“This is not acceptable, Janey.” Natches’s voice rose. He didn’t yell or scream, but the anger in his face caused her to flinch.

“Enough, Natches.” Alex shifted from the wall. “Contain that temper of yours or get the hell away from her.”

Janey threw him a surprised look before she jumped in front of Natches, her hands on his chest as he moved for Alex.

“Are you going to hit him?” she asked quietly.

“Right in the face,” Natches snarled.

“Would you really do that to me, Natches?” she asked. “Would you hit a friend, a man who saved my life six months ago, just because you were out of line?”

His expression twisted. Fury, concern, and love—he stared at her with all those emotions, and it made her feel like slime. Like the lousiest sister in the world.

“Janey.” His hands clasped her shoulders. “I read those letters, honey. Whoever wrote them is dangerous.”

“Whoever wrote them is a coward,” she told him, moving away from him, rubbing her arms as she forced back a shiver of dread at the thought of those letters. “Let it go. I’m handling it.”

“Let it go?” Dawg beat Natches to the exclamation. “On what planet were you raised, Janey, that you think we’re going to let this go? You’re family. Do you think we’re going to let someone hurt you? Terrorize you? Again?”

“I think you can’t really stop it.” She shrugged, hiding the shame, the bitterness at the thought of those letters. “None of us can. They’ll get bored and stop.”

“And then what?” Natches demanded. “Let me tell you, Janey. Then they get dangerous. Then they start taking shots at you.”

She curled her lips bitterly. “And you want me to let you stand in front of me. Again? I’m not eight anymore, Natches. And Dayle is dead. Even then, I learned how to fight my own battles. I’ll fight this one, too.”

“Son of a bitch, Janey!” He reached for her again, and the swift strike of fear that filled her must have shown on her face, because he stopped. His brows lowered in agony, his lips tightened. “Did you think I’d hit you, Janey?”

“No, dammit, I don’t think you’ll hit me.” She was so tense now she felt as though the slightest touch would shatter her. “You moved too fast, Natches. It freaked me out. Okay?”

The quick, predatory action of her brother’s body often had her forcing herself to contain her reactions to it. Dayle had always been quick, quick to hit, to push, to backhand her if he thought she were in the least resistant to what he wanted.

Learning to control her reactions around men, any man, had been her hardest battle in the past months.

“Janey, we’re family,” Rowdy said then. “If you won’t come to the boats where we can watch you, or to Dad’s, then we’ll have to take turns staying here with you. It would be easier if you’d stay with one of us.”

She lifted her gaze beseechingly to Rowdy. He was usually the sane one. The one the others listened to.

“Rowdy, I’ll be okay. I can’t just leave.”

“And, Janey, we haven’t had you back with us long enough to take that risk,” he told her gently. “Hell, if we had raised you ourselves, we couldn’t take that risk, sweetheart. You’re family.”

And she felt that; she did. It made her chest tighten with emotion, made her want to run to Natches and have him hug her, hold her, just ’cause he made her feel this way. That he cared that she was safe. That their cousins cared that she was safe. She wanted to hug all of them. But hugs had never been a part of Janey’s life, and taking one for herself now wasn’t that easy.

“You’re too damned stubborn, Janey,” Natches accused her.

“So says the kettle to the pot?” she asked sweetly.

Fat Cat chose that moment to walk arrogantly into the room, his rumbling growl directed at the men before he crouched and gave them all a little hiss. His orange fur seemed to bristle, and he gave all the appearance of a grouchy, ill-tempered male that didn’t want to deal with socializing that morning.

His head turned to Janey, topaz eyes glittering as though blaming her for all the testosterone parked in her living room. Or maybe he considered it his living room.

“What the hell is that?” Natches glared back at the cat.

“That’s Fat Cat.” She grinned.

Walking over to the cat, she lifted his heavy body into her arms and moved to the door. “Come on, vicious. Time for you to go outside.”

Fat Cat rumbled a protest as she opened the door. Setting him on the balcony, she received a hard slap at her hand by his sheathed paw, and a hiss before he jumped up on the railing and stared at her with feline anger.

“Be good.” She wagged her finger back at him. “Or I’ll forget the hamburger in your cat food tonight.”

His whiskers twitched as his slitted eyes narrowed back at her. Janey turned back and closed the door behind her. Just what she needed, another pissed-off male.

“So, Uncle Ray, do I get to bring my cat when I come to stay with you?”

Ray looked at the door skeptically. “Only if you have to.”

Janey almost snorted at that. Cats and water didn’t always go together, so she doubted the male Mackays had much experience with cats. Especially fat cats. She was going to have to put him on a diet soon. He was getting heavy.

If she had to leave, he would end up hungry again. This was his territory, where he was comfortable. And Janey had found that, in ways, it was hers as well. She was comfortable here. She had a routine, the semblance of a life.

“Look, I’m not leaving.” She shook her head at them as she moved to the coffee cup. Dealing with a roomful of Mackays and one Jansen mountain wasn’t her idea of morning fun.

“Then we’ll take turns staying here. There’s five of us including Alex. You’ll be taken care of,” Dawg decided.

She swung around. “Unacceptable.”

“Highly acceptable, except for the Alex part,” Natches bit out. “Don’t push me, Janey. I’m still having fucking nightmares due to Dayle and Nadine. I don’t need this right now.”

“And you think I need this?” She waved her hand at the five of them furiously. “Fine. You want someone to play babysitter, then he can do it.” She stabbed her finger at Alex. “If he wants to play tattletale, then he can also play night watch.”

Alex’s brow arched, his gray eyes filled with amusement.

“No!” Natches barked. “He’s not staying.”

“Then no one is.” She shrugged. “Been great seeing you this morning, bro. Tell Chaya I said hi, and give that little bundle she’s carrying a pat from me. Close the door on your way out.”

She could feel five male gazes on her, searing her, trying to see past her expression. She stared back at them calmly.

Natches was frankly furious. Alex was amused. The others ranged from simply pissed to disbelieving. They were all too big and too stubborn and too determined to run her life. Hell, she had known when that first letter showed up exactly what was going to happen if Natches found out about it. She’d have to let Sheriff Mayes know exactly what she thought of his promises.

“This won’t work, Janey,” Natches bit out.

“Of course it will. He can show up after I’m finished at the restaurant at night and leave the next morning. No problem.” She shrugged.

“And the rest of the day?” Natches pushed the words past gritted teeth. “You think from midnight to dawn is the only time you’re in danger?”

“It’s the only time those letters have shown up,” she said. “He can do it my way, or you can forget it.”

“You don’t mean this! Janey, tell me you don’t mean this!” Natches’s expression was blank with shock now, his eyes brighter in his sun-darkened face, and that wasn’t normally a good sign. He was outraged.

Alex watched Janey coolly. Her expression, as calm, as remote as it appeared, hid much more than anyone in that room could guess. Her bravery was boundless. Her courage was terrifying. But he already knew that. He’d figured that out over the years while watching her.

She was pissed. She was stubborn as hell. And she was about to make every damned one of them pay for coming here and backing her into a corner. He almost grinned as he watched her maneuver the Mackays. And she thought she was maneuvering him as well.

She had no clue.

He’d known when he pulled into the parking lot of the marina where this would go. He’d already weighed out the possibilities and come to one conclusion. Hell, he’d managed to do that while he was sitting on the street outside last night.

Leaning against the wall now, his expression controlled, arms crossed over his chest, he watched her play her brother and her cousins with a confidence and sheer daring that only a Mackay could muster. When one of the males of that family used it, it never failed to piss him off. But watching Janey do it, he was hard as a rock and praying to hide it. Thankfully, he’d left his jacket on. Because sure as hell, if Natches had a clue just how hard Alex was for his baby sister, blood would be spilled.

“Tell her how insane this idea is!” Natches turned on him when Janey refused to listen.

Alex grimaced and rubbed at the outside of his thigh. “I am wounded, Janey,” he informed her. “I might not be your best bet.”

Her expression was almost smug. “Too bad.” She turned to Natches. “Do you guys want coffee before you leave?”

Everyone looked back at Alex.

He scratched his jaw and stared back at Janey, eyes narrowed.

“Why him?” Natches turned back to her suspiciously.

“Because I don’t have to put up with all the moaning and groaning at night like I would if it were one of you.” She rolled her eyes back at him. “Really, Natches, all that marital bliss is too sweet for words.”

All three of the younger Mackay men developed an almost smug look on their faces as Alex finally winced. He didn’t want to hear about their marital bliss, because one of them was married to his sister.

“I don’t like it,” Natches muttered, plowing his fingers through his hair again. “Damm it, Janey. You need someone around the clock. Not a night watchman.”

“If anything other than letters happen, I’ll consider it,” she promised him.

The fear was there. Alex saw it, even if she did think she was hiding it from her brother. Those letters had her spooked, and rightfully so. But guts and courage were Mackay traits, even if they were mixed with pure hardheaded stubbornness.

“How long is your leave?” Natches clearly wasn’t happy.

Alex arched his brows. “I have extended leave right now. I’m clear.”

He could feel the other men watching him closely.

“I don’t like this,” Natches muttered again.

“Look at it this way,” Janey chirped. “You get what you want.” She turned to Alex, tilted her head, and smiled with a tight little curve to her lips. “And he gets to pay for it.”