Obligation

  “Kai,” I whimper as my nails scrape across his scalp and my hips buck against his hand. I trail my hands down over his chest to claw over his abs then run my fingers under the edge of his boxers, over the head of his cock.

  “You want it?” he growls.

  My head comes up and my eyes meet his. “I want it.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Yes.”

  My head flies back as he enters me with two fingers. His other hand holds on to my ass, helping me to rock against his hand. I come on a moan, my face going to his neck. I come back to myself as his fingers leave me. I pull my face away from his skin and lean back enough to look into his eyes.

  “Lift.”

  I lift my hips at the same time he works his cock out of his sleep plants. He reaches over to the bedside table and pulls out a condom. Then he uses his teeth to rip open the gold foil packet, making quick work of sliding the condom down his length.

  “Com’ere.” His hand wraps around my hip and he pulls me closer while he holds himself in place.

  I slowly slide down, feeling every inch of him stretching and filling me. I still my movements when I have taken him in fully. His hands come up to frame my face, and no words need to be said. I can see everything he wants to say right there in his eyes. I hold on to his shoulders, using them as leverage as I lift and roll my hips. Our eyes stay locked on each other, just our hands moving. His cups my breast and rolls my nipples then slides down my waist, his thumb running over my clit. My hand drops and goes to our connection, feeling his cock entering me.

  “You feel that?”

  “Yes,” I breathe as his thumb rolls over my clit. “So full.”

  “TU Kai.” His eyes close, and when they open, he takes his bottom lip between his teeth and starts pulling me up and down on him hard.

  I whimper when he reaches a place deep inside me that has never been touched before. The pain mixed with pleasure brings me closer to orgasm. I lean forward and bite his chin then pull his lip between my teeth, nipping it before licking his mouth until his tongue tangles with mine and the taste of him I love so much seeps into my pores.

  His hips begin to buck, and I grind myself down, crying out into his mouth as my orgasm erupts through me, causing a wave of pleasure to roll along every cell in my body. I distantly hear Kai roar my name as I slowly come back to myself. I feel his arms wrap around me and his face bury in my shoulder. Our breathing is labored, and my body feels like it weighs a million pounds as I slump against his chest.

  “Are you going to be okay while I’m gone?”

  I lazily lift my head and look into his eyes. “If I say no, would you stay with me?”

  “Absolutely.”

  I blink at the absolution in his tone and swallow back my emotions. “I’ll be fine.” I don’t want him to worry about me. I know he has his friend to think about. And I hope he can get things sorted out with Pika so that he can come home quickly, but I really don’t want him to worry about me when he’s away.

  “While I’m gone, Mom’s going to come over and go with you to look at some real estate.”

  “Real estate?”

  “Just a few spots that you could open up a bakery at.”

  I take in his words and lean forward, kissing him again. “I should be receiving the money from the fire in the next few weeks.”

  “Then it’s perfect timing.” He smiles and my heart soars. “Though I will be paying.”

  “Paying for what?”

  “Your new bakery.”

  “No.” I shake my head. “You’ve already done too much for me.”

  He studies my face for a moment before looking away, and I have a feeling he just mentally erased everything I just said.

  “Let’s go shower so I can get to the airport.” He lifts me off him and sets me to my feet before taking care of the condom, wrapping it in a tissue, and then throwing it in the trash.

  I put my hands on my hips. “I’m serious, Kai.”

  His eyes take in my posture before he mutters, “We’ll talk about it when I get home.”

  I bite my bottom lip to try to keep quiet. I really don’t want to fight with him right before he leaves, but I know we’ll be talking when he gets home. When I first arrived in Hawaii, I tried to give him money for some stuff I needed from the store, but Kai turned me down and absolutely refused to even discuss my giving money for the things I needed. At the time, I was in such a bad place in my head that I didn’t fight him harder on letting me pay my way.

  He places his hand on my lower back, leading me to the shower and pushing me inside before following me. After the shower, we both get dressed—Kai in his usual suit and me in a pair of sweats and a tank top.

  “I know you want to stop working how you work now, but does that mean you will stop wearing suits?” I question, taking him in. The dark-blue suit with the white dress shirt and tie all fit him like a second skin, showing off the taper of his hips and the wide expanse of his chest. I have never put much thought into men’s clothing, but he seriously knows how to dress and does it well, so the thought of never seeing him dressed like he is now is slightly disappointing.

  “Don’t look at me like that when you know I have to leave,” he growls, wrapping an arm around my waist, pulling my body flush with his.

  “I was just asking a question,” I mutter against his lips when his mouth connects with mine.

  “Be good for me while I’m gone.”

  “You be careful,” I whisper gently, trailing my fingers down his neck.

  His eyes go soft as he shakes his head, kisses me once more, and then pulls me out of the room. I walk hand in hand with him to the front door, where he kisses me one last time before stepping outside and heading to his car, which someone has pulled up in front of the house for him. Once he’s behind the wheel, he gives me a chin lift and I blow kisses at him.

  Chapter 12

  A Bullet and a Band-Aid

  “So, what do you want to do?”

  I turn, come face-to-face with Frank, and smile. “Go to the beach.”

  “Oh,” he says, sounding disappointed.

  “What did you have in mind?” I ask him, and his face transforms and he gets a glint in his eyes.

  “Have you ever shot a gun?” he asks.

  I shake my head before replying, “I took self-defense classes and have done some martial arts training, but I have never shot a gun.”

  “Well, there is no better day than today.” His smile widens, and he puts his arm around my shoulders.

  “What’s going on?” Aye asks when we walk into the kitchen.

  “I’m taking Myla to learn how to shoot,” Frank says.

  Aye looks at me then to Frank and frowns. “Myla is not going to be anywhere near a gun. She would end up killing herself…or one of us.”

  “Hey!” I pout.

  He looks at me and shrugs. “You know it’s true.” He raises a brow.

  I roll my eyes.

  “What if we get in a shootout?” Frank asks.

  I look at him like he’s crazy.

  “It could happen,” Frank adds.

  I feel the blood drain out of my face, because I know he’s right. It could happen.

  “It won’t,” Aye assures me when he takes in my ashen appearance.

  I swallow and think about what Frank just said. As nervous as it makes me, I know that he’s right. I need to learn how to shoot.

  “I want to learn,” I say.

  Frank’s, “Really?” and Aye’s, “Not happening,” come at the same moment.

  I ignore both and carry on. “I think it would be good to know…just in case.”

  “Kai won’t like it, Myla.” Aye argues.

  “Kai isn’t home and never has to know,” I assure him.

  He looks doubtful, but I can also see that he knows I’m right, even if he doesn’t want to admit it.

  “Fine, we’ll go to the range, but you have to swear to do everything I tell you to do,” Aye negotiates.
br />   “Swear.” I cross my fingers over my heart.

  He mutters something under his breath then looks at Frank. “If she gets hurt, I’m blaming you.” He points at Frank’s chest.

  “Sure,” Frank says then smiles at me and winks.

  “This is going to be bad. I’ll go get the car,” Aye mumbles, leaving the kitchen.

  “It will be fine,” Frank states.

  I hope so.

  *

  “I can’t believe you shot me,” Frank groans, lying back on the stretcher.

  “It’s barely a scratch.” Aye rolls his eyes.

  I squeeze Frank’s hand, because even if it is just a scratch, he is right. I just shot him.

  “A bullet hit me,” Frank growls.

  Aye just shakes his head.

  “All right. You’re free to go,” the EMT says after placing a Band-Aid over the small wound.

  “Are you sure that’s safe? What if I have a concussion?” Frank asks.

  The EMT looks at him like he has lost his mind.

  “Come on, Frank. Let’s get you home so you can lie down and rest,” I interject.

  “That’s probably smart. I’m a little tired,” he tells me, and I fight not to laugh at him. “And you should call me Uncle Frank.” His arm goes around my shoulders and I feel myself stumble slightly from his weight.

  “Okay, Uncle Frank.” I tilt my head to look up at him.

  He smiles, but then his face goes serious. “Don’t tell Kai about this,” he pleads.

  I press my lips together to keep from laughing and nod my head once. Then I help him the rest of the way out to the car. No way would I tell Kai about this. I could only imagine his reaction.

  Kai

  As soon as I get off the plane in Vegas, I head to the car that is waiting for me. Frank Jr., my uncle’s son, is standing outside with his arms crossed over his chest and a look of displeasure on his face. He looks just like my uncle, but where Frank Sr. is slightly crazy, Junior is serious and has been my right arm since I was just a little kid.

  “Brother,” he rumbles, greeting me with a handshake and a half hug.

  “How’s it going?”

  “Could be better, but then you know that or you wouldn’t be here,” he says.

  “Did you get in touch with Rosenblum?” I ask him, opening the back door to the car and tossing my bag inside before heading to the driver’s seat.

  “He’s meeting us there,” he mutters once we’re both seated.

  I start the car but pull my phone out of my pocket, sending a quick text to Aye to let him know that I’m on the ground and ask him what Myla’s doing. His text of, Good. She’s in the kitchen baking, comes in almost immediately. I ease back in my seat, put the car in drive, and head for the police station downtown.

  “My dad phoned this afternoon when you were in the air. Said he got shot today,” Junior says nonchalantly.

  My eyebrows pull together. If something happened, I would have been notified at the time.

  “Did he shoot himself?” I half joke.

  “Said your wife shot him.”

  I slam on the brakes, look over at my cousin, and pull my phone out, dialing my uncle’s number before putting it to my ear.

  “You land?” he asks on the first ring, sounding normal.

  “About ten minutes ago.”

  “Good. Myla’s safe and in my direct line of vision. I will keep you up to date on her whereabouts.”

  I grit my teeth and growl, “Heard you got shot today.”

  “Dammit, woman. I told you not to tell him you shot me,” he complains.

  I hear Myla in the background reply, “I haven’t even talked to him!”

  “How the fuck did Myla shoot you, Frank?” I bark.

  “She wanted to learn how to shoot a gun,” he says, and I hear Myla ask him what I’m saying.

  “Goddammit, Frank! What the fuck were you thinking?” I holler.

  “How was I supposed to know she was such a bad shot?” he protests.

  “I’m going to kill you, Frank. Swear to Christ, when I get home, I’m going to kill you.”

  “Hey, now. I should be the one complaining. After all, I did get shot today.”

  “Where’s Aye?” I demand, and the phone goes quiet for a moment.

  “You don’t even have to say it,” Aye sighs.

  “Apparently, I do. What the fuck were you guys doing?”

  “Frank said it would be good for Myla to learn how to shoot, she agreed, and I agreed with them. The plan was good, man. Just the situation got fucked up.”

  “Do not…under any circumstance…leave Myla in Frank’s care. You got me?”

  “You know I wouldn’t,” he assures me.

  “Good. Now, how bad was he hurt?”

  “Grazed,” he whispers, and I can only imagine my uncle eating that shit up like it was a near-fatal wound.

  “Put Myla on.”

  “Hello,” she says softly.

  “No guns, makamae,” I tell her firmly and hear her move around for a moment.

  Then her soft, sweet voice slides down the line, wrapping around me. “I thought it would be good to know how to use a gun…just in case.”

  “If you still feel that way when I get home, I will teach you how to use one safely,” I promise.

  “Don’t be mad at Uncle Frank. He was just trying to help.”

  “You shot him, which means you could have shot yourself, so he may have been trying to help, but he wasn’t thinking clearly.”

  “In all fairness, I didn’t know the gun was going to jump like it did,” she confides.

  I do not even want to imagine the kind of gun she was using that would jump the way she described. “No more guns.”

  “No more guns,” she repeats. “Love you,” she whispers after a moment.

  I let those two words wash over me before replying just as quietly. “You too, makamae. Be good, and I’ll call you when I can.”

  “Promise,” she says before I click the phone off.

  “I’m going to kill your dad one of these days,” I tell my cousin.

  “He tries.” He shakes his head.

  “He’s crazy.”

  “True,” he mumbles.

  My uncle is a good man, but fuck if he isn’t constantly causing drama. I stop at a red light and rub my hands over my face, thinking about everything that has happened and the battle I still have on my hands.

  “How’s Myla?”

  “Good,” I say, telling him the truth. She has put everything in prospective for me, and I know that, one day, when we’re sitting on the beach, watching our babies play in the ocean, I will look back on these times and know that all the bullshit I had to deal with was worth it.

  “So, you guys are for real?”

  I look over at my cousin, a man I love like my brother, and speak the only truth I know. “There was never a time when it wasn’t real. Even when I was fighting it, I still knew I would fight for it.”

  He grunts and shakes his head as the light turns green and I take off again.

  Once we arrive at the police station, I see Richard Rosenblum, my attorney, standing near the front doors with his phone to his ear. We park, get out of the car, and head up the stairs.

  “Just got off the phone with Judge Connell and explained that they have been keeping a client here without any explanation. He said he would be calling the chief now, so hopefully, by the time we get up there, they will have this shit sorted out.”

  “Nice to see you too, Rich,” I mutter, but I feel my lips twitch. Rich, and his father before him, has worked with my family since I can remember.

  “Yeah, yeah. We can catch up with a beer after we get your man out.” He smiles as Junior opens the door and we all walk inside. Rich leads us to an elevator, then up another set of stairs, and into a large waiting room. “Wait here,” he tells us.

  I nod and watch him go to the desk and begin talking to the woman sitting there. When she picks up the phone, he shakes his
head and says something that has her sitting up a little taller and glaring at him. I watch her mouth move but can’t make out any words as she speaks to someone on the line before hanging up and saying something to Rich. He shakes his head and walks back over to us.

  “The chief’s in a meeting.”

  “Seriously?” Junior says, voicing my own question.

  “My guess is he’s on the phone with the judge. We’ll give him a few minutes. After that, I’ll make another call.”

  We sit there for another five minutes, and then one of the doors opens up and Pika comes walking out looking a little worse for wear. His clothes are wrinkled and his hair is in disarray, but he doesn’t appear to be hurt in any way. He walks over to us as Rich walks over to the side to question the officer who brought him out.

  “Glad to see you, man. A jail cell is not my ideal location to catch up on sleep,” he grumbles, shaking my hand then doing the same to Junior.

  “Did they say anything to you?” I ask.

  He looks over his shoulder then back at me. I can tell he doesn’t want to get into it here.

  “We’ll talk once we’re out of the building.”

  I nod as Rich comes over to us. “Told me they can’t talk to me.” He shakes his head and looks at Pika. “We need to have a word once we’re outside.”

  Pika nods, and we all leave, heading out to the large SUV we arrived in.

  “You wanna tell me what all that was about?” Rich asks.

  Pika rolls his head around his shoulders and looks at me. “Appears that someone knew I was keeping an eye on Paulie and Thad.”

  “What does that mean?” Rich asks, unaware of the weight of the situation.

  Pika looks at Rich then back at me for permission, so I nod for him to continue.

  “I was following Thad on his way to Paulie’s house when, halfway there, the cops pulled me over. I didn’t think much about it until they told me I was under arrest as a suspect in a burglary that happened in the area.” He pauses, shaking his head. “I explained to them that I was nowhere around the area until that moment and they had the wrong guy. They explained that I fit the description of the suspect who was reportedly spotted in the area and I would need to go down to the station.