“Are you okay?” Nick asks her.
“Yes, I’m sorry, I thought you were someone else. You have a similar presence.” She says smiling as we realize she doesn’t see us.
Nick crouches down, to pick up her cane for her. He grasps her hand and places the worn out device carefully back in her hand, causing her to sit back with a fearful shyness. “Is Ryan your husband? I can try to find him for you?” Nick asks, handing her a glass of water.
“No, he is ummm … he is a good friend. I am actually looking for Spencer Welch, have you seen him?” She asks, sipping the water carefully.
“Yes, we just left him as a matter of fact. How do you know Mr. Welch?” Nick asks, glancing back at me.
“I’m her fiancé,” Welch says, coming up from behind to take the woman’s hand. Samantha dear, I have some people I want you to meet.” Welch nearly pulls the woman’s arm off as he drags her away from us.
“Welch you shouldn’t treat a woman so roughly.”
“Fuck you, Jayzon.” He snaps back at Nick
Taking hold of Nick’s arm, “What do you think is going on between her and Ryan?”
“I am sure I don’t want to know, but unfortunately for his sake I am going to have to find out.” Taking in a deep breath, Nick changes his demeanor and looks down at me with a smile I can’t help but return. “Let’s dance.”
“Here? Shouldn’t we …” I ask, looking around for some escape.
“What? Where are we going to go? Unless you want to swim back, Princess, I say we enjoy the evening I paid for.”
Settling into his arms, I take in the scent of him and feel his hands hold me strong and his lips kiss my cheek with an admiring whisper. I close my eyes and exhale as the wind blows through my hair and Nick moves our bodies to the symphony music surrounding us. “I love you, Nick.” Holding me tighter he kisses me and whispers the same against my lips. Everything is perfect until we are interrupted.
“Great night, huh?” A man says. I turn and see an old client of mine and realize he remembers me as well. His eyes trace my body with expectation, making me feel uncomfortable. I suddenly feel like a shy child as I pull myself as far behind Nick as I can. Catching Nick’s eyes apologetically, I try to smile up at him. He wraps his arm around my waist and pulls me back into the forefront.
“It is a beautiful night, now if you don’t mind I would like to return to my wife.” Nick says, dismissing the man. “You are beautiful Kayla, your past is just that, your past. It has made you the perfect woman for me, so don’t ever apologize for something I am so grateful for.” A kiss sweetens his words and I am able to find comfort back in his supportive arms again.
Chapter 28
~Nick~
Ryan walks hesitantly into my office, obviously aware that I am not pleased with him. “In addition to the events of last night, Kayla and I met a woman that thought I was you. Can you tell me why some blind woman would call me, Ryan?” He sits silently and ignores my glare. “Samantha Bailey. Why does she know your name, Ryan?”
“Nick …” He starts to justify what I already know.
“Unbelievable! Have you lost your mind?” I yell at him.
“I didn’t even say anything yet.”
“But you are going to tell me that you are spending time with this woman. Are you fucking her too?” His expression tells the story. “You are fucking her. Well, I guess everything we have collected on Welch the last few weeks is pointless.”
“Why?” He yells back at me.
“Because they know! They are setting you up, she is a decoy to get information from you.” I don’t know how he can sit there and look at me like I am crazy for thinking such things.
“No, she isn’t … you don’t know what you’re talking about! She is …”
“She is Welch’s fiancée!” Ryan backs off in shock. “Well little brother, clearly you don’t know everything. She knows too much, and somehow has some kind of sixth sense about us. I can’t protect you if they know who you are.”
“No – Nick! I am not going to hurt her.” Ryan stands his ground with me, forcing my hand.
“Ryan! You have no choice now. She lied to you. How in the world can you possibly believe that her intentions are anything but to get to me?”
“You know, it’s not always about you Nick!” Ryan rushes out of my office as I yell after him. I know him and I know him well enough to know he isn’t thinking right now. I make a quick call and have Dwayne handle this situation for him.
Chapter 29
~Ryan~
I know Nick, and once he gets something in his head there is no changing his mind. I don’t know why Sam did not tell me about her and Welch’s engagement but I know I don’t have time to ask. Barging through her door, I pack a bag for her and quickly escort her out of her apartment. Once I have her safe, I research a place to take her and find the perfect spot. A place I believe she will never be found. Until I can convince her to help us and give Nick a reason to let her live, she needs to stay out of sight of everyone.
Samantha sits slowly on the bed of the one bedroom cabin, still shaking. “You’re safe here, I promise.”
“Are you going to tell me why you felt the need to kidnap me so abruptly?” She whimpers, reaching out to feel the environment around herself.
“I didn’t have a choice, I had to get you out of sight and hidden away.” Her face pales as I realize her innocence. Sitting down next to her I take her hands and try to calm her. “I need you to tell me everything you know about Welch.”
“I don’t know why I have to tell you anything!” She yells at me, pushing my hands away from her. “Are you going to hurt me?”
“No sweetheart, I’m trying to help you. I don’t understand Sam, we have been seeing each other for a couple of months now but you haven’t once mentioned that you were engaged. Explain to me how that never came up. Tell me, am I just the guy you have sex with? Am I being set up by you and your fiancé?” I tense up, fearing the words that may be coming.
“How dare you! How dare you excuse me of lying when I don’t even know your last name. I am not even sure if, Ryan, is your first name.” She yells, smacking me with good aim considering she can’t see me.
“Ow! Damn! My name didn’t stop you from rubbing on my dick the other night. Ow! Fuck! Stop it!” I yell, dodging her flailing hands.
Sam knocks me over, hitting me until I can get hold of her, “I am not a whore!”
“I didn’t say you were, but I want to know why you didn’t tell me about your fiancé, Sam?”
“There is nothing to tell. When I went back he said he would never hurt me again. He asked me to marry him and promised to take care of me if I did. He promised I wouldn’t have to want for anything.”
“Do you love him?” She backs silently away from me. “Do you Sam? Do you love him?”
“I am tired of being alone, Ryan, and tired of worrying about what might be. Spence takes care of me now, and you … well I don’t think we have much of a future, so Spence is my best option, obviously.”
“He hits you. He makes you feel terrible about yourself … hell, he even hired a man to have you beaten up and raped, Sam!” Grabbing my bag, I pull out the recorder while she yells and screams at me to take her back to her apartment. “Sure, I will take you back. Before I do, listen to this.” I play the recording of Welch joking about her and having someone loosen her up a bit for himself. Her expression causes me regret but I still believe that I had no choice. Crying and fisting my shirt, I wrap my arms around her, kissing the top of her head and trying to find the right words to fix what I have done. “I care for you, Sam. More than you know, more than I am supposed to even tell you. I brought you here to keep someone I know from finding you. You have to help us Sam, you have to give me information on Welch. I am not asking you for myself, I am asking you to help keep you alive. The people I work for think you’re a spy for him, but I know better.” Caressing her face away from the depths of my chest I kiss her.
&
nbsp; “You care for me?” She asks, dismissing everything else I said. Such a woman. Over her joy, I express the importance of the other information I shared with her. “But I can’t betray Spencer. After my parents died, his parents helped me out and encouraged our relationship. He is a big supporter of the blind, and I know his parents would do anything for me.” Her devoted ramblings continue on and on angering me with every passing second.
“You look good for his political career, their son’s political career, nothing more!” Samantha rages at me and I have to hold her tight until she calms down. “He doesn’t care about you. They don’t care about you and you know it, Sam. That’s why you let me come into your apartment every night and that’s why you never told me about him. You’re in love with me.”
“In love with you, what an ego you have!” She yells, quickly realizing she just confirmed my accusation. Sliding down to the floor Sam sighs with a whimper. “Oh, why bother lying anymore. I do love you. I love that you rescued me, I love that you always are watching over me, and show up at the end of each night to make sure I get home okay. But mostly I love falling asleep in your arms and feeling safe from the world. I thought I had that with Spence but … I am scared of him, scared of him more than anyone.”
“Sam, get up,” I pull her into my arms, “You don’t have to be scared of him anymore sweetheart, I’m going to take care of you now. And I am feeling a little more for you than …” Her smile returns and she rests against my chest, thankfully I don’t have to say anything else.
“Spence is dangerous Ryan, I don’t think you understand how much.”
“I understand things more than you know, and I am more than capable of handling him. For now, let’s get you setup here so I don’t have to worry about you while I’m gone.” I stay the night with Sam, making her dinner and giving her a step-by-step tour of the small cabin in the woods. We bathe together in the old tub and don’t bother dressing before we cuddle under the mound of blankets. Touching and caressing each other with more freedom than we have ever felt, I kiss her fingers, her hands and laugh as she giggles at my fondling of her breasts against my lips. Her sweet lips search their way to mine and within a few touches she has me rapt.
I walk into the house expecting Nick to come raging at me like a bull but instead it’s worse. He sits, silently eyeing me while Dwayne tries to silently warn me of his anger. I search the room for Kayla, my only hope to have any chance in this argument against Nick. I hesitate to open my mouth knowing the war will begin the moment I do, so I search for the right words to make a quick connection. “I love her. I love her, Nick.” He sits back with a cynical expression. “It was not my intention to disobey you or go against you, but I will not let you hurt her. You will have to kill me first.”
“Damn it Ryan, how did this happen?” Nick stands up yelling.
“There is something about her that I connected with, that I felt deeper than I have ever felt. She needs me, she loves me and I want to protect her.” Swallowing hard, I look back at Nick. “Protect her from anyone who wishes to do her harm. She can help us with Welch. She said she will, whatever we need.”
“She told you that?” He asks in disbelief. It’s not worth arguing with him, he is always right and will never believe any different until he sees it himself. “I guess I don’t have a choice in this do I? We are never going to find her, if I know you. And if we do …”
“And if you do, you will have to kill me to get to her. So you can either start now, or … trust me.” I look at him, mirroring his intensity, eye to eye.
“So let’s concentrate on something we can control. Estrella is scared. He is moving supplies around and barricading himself in that monstrosity of a house of his. We need to take him down in pieces. Let’s start with cutting off his trade routes. I have set up a meeting with Elijah tomorrow.” Nick announces as if the decision is final already.
“Elijah? Oh no, not Elijah.” I say hoping that I heard him wrong.
“He is our best ally right now, Ryan. I don’t understand why you two never got along.” Nick says, still furious with me.
“Because he is a jackass. He thinks he is smarter than everybody else and better looking too, which is ….”
“It shouldn’t matter what he thinks. The thing that does matter is that I can trust him to do what he says he will do, I only have to get him to agree to do it.” Nick waits for me to give in before continuing - but damn I hate that guy. “You two do what you do best and cut off any chance for spies to intrude.” Nick continues with our action plan, but when it’s over he forces me to stay and talk to him alone. “This girl … how do you know she isn’t setting you up?”
“You mean like Kayla had plans for you?” I ask him.
“Kayla didn’t have anyone helping her.” Nick retorts.
“Don’t worry big brother, I know what I am doing.”
“I hope so.” Nick says, grabbing me by the back of the head and kissing my forehead. “You are still my brother, and no matter how much you might hate it I am only angry with you because … I don’t want anyone to hurt you, Ryan. If someone comes after you then they will have to deal with me.”
Chapter 30
~Kayla~
Nick takes my hand and I know he is about to prepare me for something. I was told originally we are meeting with a possible ally, but now I am wondering whom this ally is. “Okay Nick, explain to me how you know this man?”
“He’s an old friend. Luke, Elijah and I started with Harvey at the same time. Elijah would steal cars with me and …” Nick smiles with an awkward glance my way, which is even more telling. “Well, Elijah has a way with women too, so we would make it a game at times. When we left Harvey, we split up the money we stole from him. Elijah went to do his own thing, to help his father out, and Luke followed me.”
“Oh great, another Nick. Is that what you are telling me?” I ask, rolling my eyes.
Nick laughs, “No one can be me, Princess.”
Getting out of the car, Nick escorts me inside the dark restaurant where we are immediately taken to the back room. I glance Ryan’s way and notice his intensity, which makes me uneasy. Dwayne, however, is calm as ever. Nick walks in the room and I immediately hear someone call out to him.
“Nicky! Cannot believe it’s you. Are you the walking dead? Only you could come back from the grave.” The man is concealed from my view until he gets up and hugs Nick and catches sight of me from over his shoulder. “Hello, and who are you?” He says, stepping around Nick to me with a kiss to the cheek and a slide of his hand down my arm.
Nick forces a smile as he pushes him back away from me. “Elijah, this is Kayla, my wife.”
Elijah stands back with wide eyes, “Fuck you! Are you kidding me? So the rumors were true? What happened Nick, she get something on you?” Nick shakes his head as he helps me to a seat. Elijah shakes his own head before noticing Ryan. “Is this? No! Little Ryan?” Elijah rubs Ryan’s head receiving a shove and an evil glare. “Wow, you actually filled out that bean pole body of yours. Did your dick finally get bigger too?” Elijah laughs, obviously knowing that he irritates Ryan with every word he speaks. “Let’s see …” He laughs enjoying Ryan’s annoyance.
“I doubt you want to be embarrassed Elijah, you just worry about your own diseased dick.” Ryan smarts off.
Elijah laughs, “Wow, someone still has an attitude problem. What, Nick didn’t feed you today or got a low blood sugar or something?” He smiles at Nick.
“Elijah, leave him alone and let’s talk.” Nick says, motioning for him to sit. Elijah sighs and sits but, holds his hand up and calls for one of the underdressed ladies to come to him.
“Sweetheart, get me a drink, will ya?” Elijah eyes her up and down before turning towards Nick with a smile. “Bitch got some crazy legs, think I am going to have to try her out before I leave.” I roll my eyes and he immediately notices but doesn’t comment.
“Elijah, I need to take care of a problem. Estrella needs to be dealt with an
d I want to do it now. We need to work together on this and take him out before it is too late for both of us.” Elijah sits back with a heavy breath. “You know it’s true.”
Nick leans down focusing on Elijah but Elijah avoids looking into Nick’s eyes. Whenever Nick speaks, Elijah looks around him and then focuses away when he himself speaks. “He is your problem, not mine, Nicky. He stays out of my territory and I stay out of his. My life is peaceful right now. I have no reason to change that, not for you or anyone.”
“I think you do, Estrella is working for Welch.” Nick replies.
“The senator?” Nick nods. “Still, what does that have to do with me?”
“You don’t think after they finish with us they aren’t going to come after you? You are smarter than that Elijah, you’re the next one on the list and you know it.”
“Not if I stay out of the way. They have no reason to come after me. I have no affect on what Estrella brings in or doesn’t bring in. I’m sorry Nicky but I can’t help you. I mean you’re crazy, you are here asking for help to go after a senator? You must have some kind of heat on you and that alone is enough for me to believe that I shouldn’t even be meeting with you right now.”
“No one knows I’m here, we made sure of it.” Nick assures him.
“No one knows? Bullshit, I don’t care how careful you were, someone can still find out. Especially when it comes to the government. Again – No! It was nice seeing you again and meeting your … fucking wife, but please leave my restaurant before I become a target too.”
“You are being stupid!” I yell at him, shocking him. Nick shakes his head at me. “No, someone should tell this fool what he is doing.”
“Kayla, come on let’s go.” Nick quickly stands up between us.
“No Nicky, apparently I am a fool so please …” He looks me over as I stand to meet him. “Please tell me Bitch, what I am too foolish to understand?” Nick eyes him closely and he backs a half step away from me.