KILLIAN

 

Five hours later and the little goddess still hadn’t returned to her perch.

Was I annoyed by it? The word wasn’t strong enough.

Angry? Not even close.

Centuries of Austrian breeding melted beneath the blistering heat of an enraged Cuban male as I gripped the handle to pull open the grimy glass door separating me from my wayward goddess.

The first hour was fun. I imagined Lucy going from shop to shop, increasingly growing frustrated when certain items were on backorder. (So unfortunate! I guess I shouldn’t have bought out the stock…)

The second hour was delicious. Jorge kept me in the loop. I restrained myself from asking him to send me video when he shared Lucy was arguing with the clerk over a discrepancy between what the online inventory stated and the store computer showed.

The third hour was not quite as entertaining. Lucy’s dogged pride didn’t waver like I’d hoped. By that point, she should’ve been ready to call for mercy.

Nothing. Not even when I buzzed her with a terse, “What’s taking you so long?”

Infuriatingly, she kept her cool. “I’m almost done, Mr. King. Would you like me to bring you back a late lunch?”

I damned well almost added a hundred other things. She wasn’t supposed to sound so…unaffected…by running around and looking for shit that was as useless as my petty game.

I didn’t need anything on the list. That wasn’t the point.

The point was to irritate Lucy, make her want to quit, and then reel her back in with stingy praise. Twisted? Un poquito. A little bit. Nothing too bad.

However, Lucy wasn’t cooperating.

I’d miscalculated and that didn’t happen to me. Fucking with people was my specialty. I always knew exactly where to slip the verbal blade to get the maximum effect.

Rage, pain, frustration, desolation…whatever.

Lucy saw me as a nasty, spoiled brat. The task alone should’ve made her ego throw a fit. But to calmly ask me if I wanted her to take care of me further?

Fuck. No.

“Hurry the hell up and no, thank you!”

By hour four I’d been fuming. Fun left the building and Jorge wasn’t helping matters.

“Sorry, Boss. Miss Lucy got a tip about the headphones. She needs to go to Jersey for them.”

The hell she did! My plan backfired and it was time to retreat. I’d attack again later. What I needed was for my little Lucy to bedevil me here.

“Jorge, do not take her to Jersey. That’s an order.”

“Sorry, Boss. We’re about to pull up to the place.”

“How close?”

“In less than twenty.”

“Turn around.”

“Sorry, Boss. This is the last thing on her list. I’ll go in with her. We’ll be back in two.”

“I want you back now!”

“Sorry, Boss.”

Why didn’t he sound sorry? Had Lucy conquered my driver and bodyguard right under my nose?

 No. Not about happen.

That was how I pressed upon a favor, borrowed a helicopter, and tracked my watchdog down to this seedy pawnshop all within a half hour.

Oh, are you going to get it, Lucy! Just you wait.

I slammed open the door. Lucy whirled around, gorgeous mouth open and staring at me in obvious shock. I barely spared Jorge any attention and the three goons got none.

“Whatever you’re doing in this shithole has come to an end. We’re leaving.”

The apparent leader of said shithole, who had more muscle than neck, remained seated. He looked me up and down before crossing his meaty arms. “Money first. I came through for your lady there and she’s got to come through for me.”

“No.”

“Yes.”

Now I was ready to kick the shit out of these three assholes because they couldn’t get it through their thick skulls that they’d just lost Lucy as a client.

“Jorge?”

He nodded, instantly ready to back me up. The other men sensed it too. They bowed up, sending aggressive shockwaves through the dingy, poorly lit space.

Lucy reached my side in a flash. “I’ve got this.”

Her harsh whisper had as much effect on me as a fly. An annoying, beautiful, hard-headed fly.

I gave the merchandise a contemptuous glance. “This is a bootleg. She’s not paying you shit.”

“Mr. King!” Lucy tugged on my coat, doing her best to slide up in front. I moved my arm, effectively blocking her behind me.

Chairs scraped and three furious Russian men of questionable background stood up.

“You’re calling me a liar, suka?”

My Russian was pretty much nonexistent, but I knew just enough to know that asshole called me a bitch. That fucking burned it!

“I’m saying your merchandise is garbage. It’s not worth a dollar much less whatever you convinced her to pay, hijo de puta.”

Yeah, he damned well understood that, didn’t he?

“Killian, stop it! Please!” Lucy forced her way around me. “Look, I’m sorry, fellas. My man is pissed at me because I was supposed to be back hours ago. It’s my fault really. I know how he just can’t stand letting me out of his sight for more than ten minutes. Let’s just finish our deal. Here’s eight and two more for your trouble.”

Blocking her again, I gritted out, “He’s not getting a dime, Lucy. Understand that now.”

“Baby, mi amor, don’t be mad at me. I just had to have these. You said you’d get me whatever I wanted for my birthday. And I want this. I’ll make it up to you…promise.”

Lucy’s sultry coo froze every male in the room and probably got us all just as hard. At least it did me.

My hooded stare didn’t break away. Not when she smiled and took another step towards me. Not even when she slid her arms around my shoulders. Tugging me down, Lucy whispered against my neck. “Don’t mess this up. You have to understand that you can’t roll up in their hood and then back out of a deal. He came through for me and now he’s going to get paid. That’s how it works here, got it?”

Just who was this woman and how come I was only meeting her now?

Lucy draped her arm around my waist while using her free hand to play with my shirt buttons. “Do we have a deal?”

My dick was not in charge. My vocal cords seizing up had nothing to do with the small hand drifting over my stomach…

The main prick barely turned away from her to glare at me. Asshole was still interested in getting me to back down. But greed had its way.

“Five more.”

Lucy shrugged. “Three.”

“Five.”

“Three and you get this.” She let go of me to pull out a tin of my Beluga caviar from her purse and held it up.

“Da.”

Fucker’s eyes lit up like a floodlight. I was about to snatch her bribe when she laid it on the glass counter along with the cash. “Are we done here?”

“Go.”

That rankled me enough to undo all her work. Lucy rubbed my back and got on tip-toe to kiss me on the cheek. “Thank you so much, mi amor!”  

Truly, who was this creature? She looked at me as if I was everything she ever wanted. I knew she was simply playing a part, unnecessary in my opinion, but I soaked it up. I wanted Lucy to play with me more.

No. I wanted to play with her.

Suddenly lifting Lucy up, I kissed the scheming goddess square on the mouth. “You’ll definitely make it up to me. I promise you that.”

It was just a tiny kiss, innocent really, but the contact was enough to knock me on my ass. A sweet bonus? The shock on Lucy’s face. It was almost payment enough for the hell she put me through.

Almost.

Dry, raspy chuckles interrupted whatever she might’ve said or done.

“Take care of your man, kotyonok. Enjoy the merchandise.”

I put Lucy down in a flash, pushing her behind me. Rage throttled through my veins. “What did you call her?”

One of muscle neck’s younger henchmen meowed. “Kitten.”

Lucy swiped the headphones off the counter before pulling me by the arm. “Thanks for everything, fellas. Come on, Killian. I’m ready to go.”

This didn’t set well with me. It felt too much like retreat and I didn’t come all this way to retreat. Clarification. I agreed to retreat for Lucy. Not for these Russians.

But what was I going to do? Get into a fight with three assholes and possibly get Lucy hurt in the process?

But damn! I hated for these pricks to think they’d won. Scratch. They did win. They got my money and my goddamned caviar.

Yet, I got Lucy call me her man, mi amor, and a kiss. A delicious kiss that I can still taste.

True.

But there was no way to leave gracefully, which was why Lucy ended up dragging me out, Jorge following, even while I kept glaring at the Russian trio. The more I thought about it, the angrier I got. The angrier I got, the slower I walked.

They had a lot of goddamn nerve, summoning my little goddess all the way out here to sell her shitty merchandise. Fuckers.  

Lucy kept me somewhat moving by pressing her luscious form against me until we were all out on the sidewalk. If she’d done it on purpose, I would’ve stalled out of spite. Kiss or not, I was still me. But Lucy was oblivious.

I wasn’t sure if I liked that or not. My ego wouldn’t be able to take knowing a novice had this much power over my intellect, will, and body.

So I had no choice but to strike out. Snidely. Why? Again, because I was still me.

“Nice negotiation skill there, Miss Lucy.”

“Hey, don’t start with me. You almost got us jumped.”

“Us? What ‘us’? There’s me and Jorge. We would’ve handled them easily.”

Lucy’s sour look didn’t help to smooth my feathers at all. She squeezed my arm and muttered, “You’re unbelievable.”

“No, baby. That’s my line.” When she didn’t respond, I pressed deeper. “You really came out on top there, Miss Martin. In fact, I don’t think you paid them enough. Why don’t you just go back and give him my Macallan while you were at it? I’m assuming you did get it?”

“Yes, I got it. They aren’t the sherry type.”

“I’m sure their blood runs vodka clear.”

Lucy let go of my arm and quickened her stride.

“Got any other items on the list still? Got a connection in the sewer? No? How about at the docks? We can mosey onto a ship heading into pirate-infested waters. It’ll be fun.”

“You’re not funny!” she yelled over her shoulder.

“Not trying to be.”

Blood boiling—for a different reason straining south of my belt—I was grateful that we arrived at the SUV. I had plenty more to say and I wasn’t about to yell it on the sidewalk.

Lucy’s crossed arms and fuming posture wasn’t enough to keep me from helping her inside. The feel of her slim waist distracted me for a bit. I followed immediately, waiting until my idiot driver got behind the wheel.

All of this could’ve been avoided by contacting me first. Jorge should’ve known that when I put him in charge of driving Lucy, I did it so he could keep watch over her. Not to become an accomplice to her foolishness.

Silence became my weapon. I used it until we’d put ten minutes and forty-four seconds between us and that maldito pawnshop.

“Jorge, I’m holding you responsible for this. Your primary objective was not to let Miss Martin lead you by the nose. You were to keep her safe and tonight you failed.”

He stared straight ahead, no words in his defense. The slight nod he gave was acknowledgement of his fuck up. Good enough.

A sharp gasp to my left came before “Don’t blame him. It’s not his fault.”

Just what I needed. Turning to Lucy with an evil grin, I purred, “Oh, don’t you worry. I’m holding you responsible too.”

“Then you better make room on that list, Mr. King, because you’re the main person to blame.”

“Excuse you?”

Lucy shifted, turning her legs so that they almost brushed mine. “The only reason we were down here was because you needed those headphones. Today. No one else carried them and I came through. You’re welcome.”

What. The. Hell?

“Pull over.”

I didn’t have to look over to see Lucy’s bravado crumbled. Good.

The SUV glided to a smooth stop. Suburbia sidewalks, nice little shops, only a few people out and about. Good.

“Get out.”

Lucy lifted her chin, pride burning a march right between us. “Fine.” She slid across the seat and reached for the handle closest to her and popped it open. I guess crawling over me wasn’t an option. No matter.

Jorge quickly opened his door.

“No. You stay here.” His disapproval stunk up the air, but I didn’t care. Besides, I’d changed my mind. Jorge wasn’t going to be privy to what I had to say to my defiant goddess after all.

That was our business. Not his.

Lucy already covered enough distance that I had to jog to catch her. Pulling her by the arm, I asked in a somewhat calm voice, “Where are you going?”

She whipped her head towards me, eyes burning like coals. “Finding a way to get home. Or did you think I was going to live in Trenton now?”

“If only I was so lucky.”

Lucy yanked her arm hard. I tightened my grip fractionally. She was insane if she thought I’d let her go.

“You told me to get out. I did. Just like you told me to get everything on your list. Guess what? I did.”

“Except you gave away my caviar.”

Her cold smile belied the fury rising in her gaze. “That’s why I bought two tins.”

“To give to the Russians? My, my. Aren’t you prepared?”

“Always when it comes to getting the job done.”

Lucy clearly had no guilt about what she put me through. Zero. I couldn’t believe it.

“What were you thinking?”

“You’ll have to be more specific.”

“Don’t play dumb, Lucy. My patience ran out as soon as I walked into that shithole.”

“Like I said—I was doing my job.”

“Dealing with Russian mobsters was not on the list, Miss Martin. How did you even know them?”

She hissed, head jerking from one side to the other. “Keep your voice down!”

Even though the logical side of me felt differently, I didn’t care if anyone was watching or listening. I was that mad.

“Tell me I’m wrong.”

Lucy’s entire countenance changed. It smoothed out, looking more like the mask she’d worn for the past three days. Nothing like the girl who made deals with Russian mobsters. A polite smile graced her pouty lips. “You know stereotypes help no one.”

Keeping my voice just as soft as hers, I repeated, “Tell me I’m wrong.”

Lucy couldn’t because I was right. Instead she said, “I had a connection that put me in touch. One that you almost burned.”

The nerve of this woman! She should’ve been eaten up with guilt. Even a little bit would go a long way in easing my anger. Did I get a drop? No. Instead, she wasted her time defending the indefensible.

“Considering you paid them eleven hundred dollars, of my money I might add, I can burn whatever the hell I want.”

“That would’ve been very inconvenient for me and very stupid for you, Killian.”

“What I know is you had no business being there.”

“I was there for you.”

“I never asked for you to do this! Where on that list did I say for you to leave the state? Can you show me? Is it on there? No? Come on, Miss Lucy, we don’t have all day.”

Her luscious mouth caved in on itself. “One day your attitude is going to get you in so much trouble that you’ll never be able to dig your way out.”

“Aww, it almost sounds like you care.”

“I do.”

“Bullshit. You’re doing all of this for a paycheck.”

“Not going to deny that, but there’s more to it for me than that.”

“Sure. Right.”

Lucy hissed, swiping one hand across her temple. I heard her muttered prayer for help as she covered her eyes.

If anyone should’ve been praying for divine intervention, it should’ve been me! Seeing Lucy there in that shop with those gangsters…dammit! Anything could’ve happened to her and there wouldn’t have been a fucking thing she could’ve done about it.

Nothing I could’ve done about it.

Jorge was good, the best even, but he should’ve never put her in that situation.

But he didn’t. It was me, wasn’t it?

No. She wasn’t going to get in my head. This was her fault. Not mine. Lucy didn’t do this for me. She did it to me. She wanted to rub her victory in my face just to prove she was the better human being and I was the devil who made her go to such extremes.

None of this was my fault.

Sure about that?

Lucy dropped her arm and straightened her shoulders. The frustration smoothed out again, leaving an angelic expression behind. Yes, she definitely thought I was the devil.

“I didn’t run all over the place today just to fulfill my job.”

“No. You did it to rub it in my face.”

She had the good grace to look a tiny bit abashed. “Not just that.”

“Sure.”

“No, for real. I did it to show you that I’m not against you, Killian King. I want to help you, make you happy just long enough for you to see that there can be more to life than what you’ve lived. You don’t have to push everyone away. There are people who want to help. I want to help.”

Releasing Lucy, I took a step back. Her useless optimism was in danger of infecting me.

If there was any hint of lying, I’d shred right into her without remorse. Hell, I still wanted to. But the terrible part of this melodrama was she truly believed her words.

What was I supposed to do with this woman?

Be kind? Be nasty? Be me?

“Look, Lucy. I get you mean that. Truly, I do. However, my life is fine. My grandfather spun you a tale that’s in his head. It has no basis in reality. I don’t need saving.”

“I don’t believe that.” Lucy erased space between us. “Who are you closest to?”

No one.

“Why do you want to know?”

“You can’t answer, can you?”

“Can you?”

“Mr. Luis and Mr. Victor.”

The two old men waiting for her to come home from work. The image of them sent a phantom pain through my heart. I could still remember Mom lighting up every time I walked through the door, no matter how sick she was…

“No one your own age?”

“No one finer than them.”

“What about your connection? Is that a close enough friend? I’d think so. After all, you came to him when you needed help the most.”

Jealousy and frustration crackled inside. Her connection was probably a man, one who cared more about keeping illicit ties to the Russian mafia than keeping Lucy safe.

Worse than that was the feeling she should’ve came to me for help. Not some other man.

Dios mio! What was happening to me? What had she done?

Unaware of the anger burning me to a crisp, Lucy dared to touch my arm. “Don’t change the subject. Stay right here with me.”

“Lucy, let it go. Truly…it’s…it’s so boring.”

“I don’t want to. I know you don’t have any reason to believe me or my intentions, but I’m not here to judge you. You have your reasons for how you deal with things. I get it. Really. I just…I just want you to know I’m not here to hurt you. I swear.”

Good God. You really believe that. You poor, deluded fool.

The earnest look on her face, the softness in her gaze, all of it reminded me of things best forgotten.

“Stop.”

“Killian, you don’t have to trust me right now. I’m not asking that. Can you just…”

Lucy’s voice died off. I knew the words she lost, could give them life, but I didn’t want to. I was not a charity case. Nor was I something to be fixed. I just wanted to be left alone.

And yet…

What if I gave Lucy what she wanted? What if I thanked her for her efforts? Would it make her happy? Happy enough to forget why she was really here?

Did it matter to me if she was pleased?

Yes.

Unacceptable.

Things spiraled faster than I could catch them. I wouldn’t allow Lucy to contaminate me with unnecessary emotions. I didn’t want to be soft. Not now.

Not ever.

Bring it back on track. Go on as if she hadn’t been a fool. Let her save face.

I cleared my throat. “Don’t ever put yourself in this kind of position again, Lucy. Be smarter than tangling with the Russian mafia.”

 She leaned into me, sharp as an arrow. “What did I just tell you? Don’t talk about that out loud, understand? You never know who’s listening.”

“Whatever.”

Lucy bit her lip and looked away. A sad smile came and went. “That’s all you have to say?”

“What else is there?”

I disappointed her. What else was new? The tightness in my chest? Always there.

But I lose it, just for a bit, when she’s around.

Dangerous. Stupid. Wrong.

“Okay. We are where we are.” A beat passed. Then another. She tightened her luscious, oh-so-luscious, mouth and met my gaze. Bold. Angry. “And just to be clear—you weren’t supposed to see that. You were supposed to be in your office, waiting for your loot. And one more thing—I wasn’t in trouble until you got there. You’re the one who made it a problem.”

“Normally people say thank you for having their asses saved.”

“You’re so arrogant! You didn’t save me. I saved you.” Lucy shoved past me, heading straight back for the car.

“We’re not done.”

“Well, I am!”

“Where are you going?”

“I’m hungry, tired, and my feet hurt. It’s a long ride back, traffic is going to be backed up, and I’m just not in the mood, Killian.”

Lucy would’ve left me standing there, looking like a jilted fool. Not on my damned watch.

I zoomed past her and got to the car first. Resting with my back against the door, I waited for my annoying goddess. She reached me, tired expression fully on her beautiful face. No angel now.

“Mr. King, get out of the way.”

“Now I’m Mr. King. What happened to Killian?”

Lucy took a deep breath and pivoted to the right. I neatly blocked her.

“Move!”

“Admit you were wrong.”

“No.”

I had exactly what I wanted—Lucy defeated and unwilling to keep pestering me with her ill-advised crusade. Yet, some twisted part of me couldn’t stop engaging. I didn’t want her defeated. I wanted her…

There was nothing to fill that space. I just wanted her.

“Lucy, you were wrong and you should apologize.”

She laughed. It was a caustic thing that got under my skin.

“I’ll apologize when you apologize to your grandfather.”

How did she dare bring him up? Balls bigger than the moon—that was how!

“Careful, Miss Martin. You’re skating on thin ice.”

Her smug smile had no right to come between us. She thought she had me figured out? Cornered? She thought we were on the same level?

Wrong.

“You first.”

“My apologies would take us into the next century. Yours will only take a couple of seconds. Apologize, Lucy, and I’ll let you in the car.”

She stared me straight in the face and said, “That’s okay. I’ll walk.”

Lucy turned on her heel and did just that.

What just happened and how did Lucy get the upper hand?

Twenty-one, twenty-two…

I could just let her go. Be finished. Done with this stupid charade. She had better things to do and I sure as hell did too.

Twenty-six, twenty-seven…

Gritting my teeth, I stalked a straight line to the delectable thorn in my side. She was going to be stuck in me a little while longer…