Lina :Nemesis Inc. Alpha Team

Chapter 4

CHAPTER FOUR

Lina made a focused effort to stop her foot from tapping under the table. She had come back here. Why? She was a fool. She should have just gone home. But going home meant her stepfather knew where to find her. It meant that George knew where to find her. Tomorrow would be time enough to face that reality. Instead, she sat in a homey kitchen on the floor above the bar, while the mother of the twins downstairs served her sweet tea and cookies. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, dearie.” Mrs. Mitchell smiled at her. “How do you know my boys?”

“I don’t.” Oh no, now what did she say? “Dalton…” She allowed her words to trail off. If this lady thought she was a one-night stand or similar, she could just pray for a sinkhole to open right up and swallow her whole.

“Dalton is such a nice boy,” Mrs. Mitchell winked at her. “If I was thirty years younger, I might consider giving you a run for your money.”

Her glass stopped halfway to her mouth, her eyes widening in shock. “I… um…” Once again, she was stuck for words. “I…”

Mrs. Mitchell laughed out loud. “I shocked you?”

“Well… yes.”

The sound of a door slamming and footsteps climbing the stairs should have made her nervous, but instead all she felt was relief. She didn’t know how to respond or react to this woman. She had no experience with people who just laughed and joked because it was fun. Even her friends were more focused on finding a husband than they were about joking and laughing. She wasn’t. She just wanted to be free.

“You’re here.”

Dalton pushed through the door into the kitchen, the two men who had helped them following hot on his heels. Lord, they made this big room feel small.

“All y’all want some tea?” Mrs. Mitchell asked. She jumped out of her chair and bustled around the kitchen, pulling glasses off the shelf.

“Sweet tea?” One man cocked his head to one side and studied Lina, although he spoke to Mrs. Mitchell.

“Is there any other kind?” Rexar and Drax’s momma leaned back to look around the fridge door at them. “I didn’t think my boys knew any heathens.”

“Sorry, Ma’am.” The man winced, as if realizing he may have insulted the woman.

Lina ignored them. Instead, she focused on Dalton. “What happened?”

“Who is he to you?” Dalton pulled a chair out from under the table, spun it around and straggled it facing her across the table. “You said he works for your father?”

“Stepfather,” she corrected him. “When my mother died, her will said, as long as I remain unmarried, he controls me and the money she left me.”

“Then we get married.”

“What?” Her voice hit screeching levels. She heard it as if from outside herself. Was he crazy?

“We told him we are married.”

“You told him…” She had nothing to do with it. Okay, she didn’t correct him when he’d said it. How could he be so freaking calm about this? She didn’t think they could make her do anything she didn’t want to do. Get married? She was freaking out at even the thoughts of it. “Have you lost your mind?”

“We’ve been asking him that for years.” The third man pulled out a chair and sat on the other side of the table. “I’m Zenko.” He jerked his thumb over his shoulder to where the first man stood. “That’s Noble.” He pointed to Dalton. “And you know Dalton.”

“You guys don’t believe in normal names, like John or James, do you?” Why the frick frack was she having a normal conversation? Her butt should be racing for the door, screaming as she went. These people were not normal, they couldn’t be.

“Family tradition.” Dalton took the glass of tea from Rexar’s mom, and smiled in thanks. “In our family, the first-born son is given his mother’s maiden name. Guess what my mom’s maiden was?”

“Dalton?”

“Yup.”

“I’m named after some dude my mother met while she was on a gap year in Europe.” Zenko reached for a bottle of whiskey in the middle of the table and spiked his glass of tea with a generous glug of alcohol.

Noble slapped Zenko on the back of the head. “What a waste of excellent tea and good Gentleman Jack. Don’t do that.”

“What?” Zenko rubbed the back of his head. He took a sip of the concoction and winced as he swallowed.

“I… um… should go.” Lina placed her hands on the table and bunched her muscles to stand from the chair. These people were crazier than her family, and that was saying something. “Thank you for your help tonight.”

“Do they know where you live, Lina?”

Dalton’s soft question stopped her in her tracks. She sank back into the chair. “Yes.”

“Then you’re not safe.”

What he said was true. She knew it. She hated it, but couldn’t deny it. She would not be safe while her stepfather lived. He wanted to marry her so he could control the fortune her mother left her. He’d probably lock her away in a solarium somewhere while he spent all her money. “Safety is only an illusion.”

“Smart cookie.” Zenko winked at Lina. “You sure you want to marry him? He’s a bit dense sometimes.”

“I don’t want to marry anyone, especially not my stepfather.”

Crash.

“I’m sorry.” Mrs. Mitchell reached for the broom and dustpan to sweep up the glass she’d dropped at Lina’s revelation. “Honey, if these boys won’t protect you, I will,” she told Lina. “You send your stepfather to me, and I’ll set him straight.”

“He’s the governor.” Lina didn’t understand why these people were angry on her behalf. All her life, only her mother had been like this. Everything she’d thought was normal now seemed off somehow. Oh no, maybe the drugs that man had slipped in her drink were finally affecting her brain.

“He can govern my butt for all I care,” Mrs. Mitchell grumbled. “Where I come from, we use shotguns on rattlesnakes.”

“I don’t need or want your money, Lina,” Dalton told her. “I’ll sign a prenup, if it means you’ll marry me and keep yourself safe.”

“I’ll never be safe from him until I’m dead.”

Dalton snorted, “Unless he wants to go up against Knight Oil, then he’ll shut his mouth and leave you alone.”

“Knight Oil?”

“Yup.” Noble reached for the bowl of pretzels on the table and grabbed a handful. “His folks are rich as sin and have more money than the queen of England. You know what rich folks are like, money talks and Forbes, says his family is the richest in the United States and third from the top worldwide.”

“Then he’s the one who needs a prenup, not me.” Wait, he’d told her earlier that he was military. “But you’re a soldier?” She frowned at him. In his jeans and t-shirt with all those ripped muscles, he didn’t look like any rich guy she’d ever seen.

“Soldier my ass,” Dalton muttered. “I’m a sailor, not a soldier.”

If she married him, she would be free of her stepfather. But doing so might sign away her rights for the rest of her life. Wait, why was she even thinking that? She was actually considering it. She’d lost her mind. She really had.

“You can divorce me whenever you want.”

If she didn’t know better, Dalton’s tone was coaxing. Why would he be trying to persuade her to marry him? It just didn’t make sense. “Why?”

“I can be hard to live with.” Dalton grinned at her. “Ask those two. They’ll tell you.”

“No.” Lina pointed to herself. “Why do you want to marry me?”

“Because I hate assholes, and I wasn’t planning on marrying anyone else, so why not you?”

It wasn’t logical. It made no sense whatsoever. Lord, even in her head, she sounded like a broken record. Before she could stop herself, the word popped out of her mouth. “Okay.”

“Hot dayum.” Noble jumped out of the chair. “I’ll call my buddy and get y’all a license.”

“Wait?”

“You changed your mind?” Dalton’s face fell.

Gah, she would never understand men. “No, I mean, do you mean we get married right now?”

“Yes.” Dalton nodded to Noble. “He knows people too, and the sooner we are married, the sooner your stepfather can go fuck.” He winced. “Sorry ladies, I keep slipping. I swear my mother raised me properly and I know how to speak in the presence of a lady.”

“I’ve heard worse.” Mrs. Mitchell opened her pantry and pulled out flour, sugar, and eggs. “If we’re havin’ a wedding, then I’m making a cake. We have an hour?” she asked Dalton.

“Two.” Noble looked up from his cell phone. “I just sent my friend a message. He’ll be here at six AM with the license and will perform the wedding. He’s a justice thingy too.”

“Then I better get baking.” Mrs. Mitchell gathered her supplies. “Lina, honey, if you want the number for my lawyer for that prenup, the number is on the fridge. Help yourself.”

“Thank you.” Lina blew out a breath. This was really happening. It was almost four AM and she was about to call a freaking lawyer to write her up a fast prenup for her wedding at six am. Holy cow!