Chapter 11
CHAPTER 11
B eckett
Beauty was truly in the eye of the beholder.
Not true with a woman like the good doctor. She was beautiful inside and out and anyone who came in contact with her had likely noticed. She was also frustrating as fuck. She’d plow head on into any situation no matter the level of danger. If she wasn’t careful, that would get her killed.
Granted, she had no clue just how incredibly precarious the moment in time had become. She’d yet to grasp what we were dealing with, including a storm raging outside my doors.
Mallory was sleeping peacefully, her chest rising and falling in a gentle sweep. I rose from the chair in the corner, determined to leave her for the time being. I’d found a pair of sweatpants for her that might work, some thicker socks, and a couple of sweaters that would drown her, but at least she’d have something to change into. Thankfully, the shoes she’d been wearing were decent boots, sufficient for a walk in the snow if it was necessary.
I certainly hadn’t planned on having company. I also hadn’t thought about bringing clothes with me. I’d wanted to get her to safety and warmth.
Jax lifted his head as I passed by the bed, eyeing me carefully, perhaps worried I’d shoo him away. Let him stay. He’d taken to her. How could I blame him? She’d been determined to repair his wound. She had no idea how grateful I was.
I stood in the doorway briefly, the howling wind catching my attention seconds later. A snowmobile was safely hidden away in case getting off the mountain was impossible any other way. That allowed for additional comfort that we weren’t trapped, yet right now I felt like a caged animal.
That wasn’t good for anyone to be around.
I left the door partially open for Jax to escape when he needed, trotting down the stairs and immediately grabbing my drink.
I’d grabbed the unknown assailant’s weapon, but he’d come with nothing on him indicating an identity. There’d been no time to check for a vehicle. I had taken the time to dump his body in the river behind Mallory’s house. The swift current would carry him out to the inlet and with the ice and snow, the man’s body wouldn’t be found for days if not weeks.
Fortunately, the blood had been easily contained and she’d had decent cleaning supplies. I’d even righted the chairs and done what I could to make it appear as if nothing had occurred.
I moved to the front window of the living room, staring out at the blanket of white for longer than necessary. With whiteout conditions, I had no chance of seeing anything clearly anyway. I was antsy, furious that somehow I’d managed to draw attention to myself after all my attempts at fading into the abyss.
With two men down, I couldn’t rule out the possibility there were more. At least I believed during the storm we would be protected from any additional enemy advances. I needed to determine who’d sent another death squad out. That would enable me to have a better understanding of how far they were willing to go to sign my death warrant.
After all this time, I was somewhat surprised. Unless something of even more value than human lives had been lost in the fire. That’s something I hadn’t considered.
Leaving a home that I found I’d enjoyed over the last few months shouldn’t bother me in the least. Between my father up and moving his entire family at least once a year based on his military assignments, my stint with the Marines early on, and living in several different cities over the last year, starting over again had always meant nothing to me.
Except this time, it did.
And why?
Exhaling, I tilted my head toward the stairs. Because of a woman sleeping in my house who shouldn’t be in my space or my life. Period. Yet some sick sense of karma or other more ominous factors had brought us together more than once. Perhaps I had no business jumping in to save her life. I couldn’t be certain the man inside her home hadn’t been some thief coming to rob her in the night.
Hell, what was I even thinking? I knew better.
Her life was irrecoverably tied with mine.
All because I’d stopped to help a damsel in distress.
What morning light there’d be would begin rising in the next fifteen minutes or so. I had one last task to handle prior to the doc awakening.
Check her phone.
She’d been equal parts furious, terrified, and confused, but far too many people I’d known had been experts at lying. Were the odds high that a smalltown veterinarian with family and friend ties to the place was some operative working for the Valentis’ remaining family? Hell, no.
My past had collided with all my plans at the most inopportune time.
I headed into my office where I’d stored her phone, somewhat surprised she hadn’t asked for it the moment she’d awakened. Another sign she was an innocent player in all of this.
For anyone who wasn’t playing a dangerous game, they had no understanding of just how easy it was for trained individuals to capture moments or the entirety of their lives.
Financial.
Past transactions.
Previous employers.
Every order placed for food, clothing, appliances. Anything they used the internet for could be found.
Innocent people weren’t masterminds at locking down their information even after the hundreds of warnings they’d been issued.
I immediately found my lovely guest was no different. The passcode on her phone was ridiculously easy to crack.
1-2-3-4.
Really?
I’d need to spend some time training her on hiding her identity from unwanted eyes. That would provide some sense of protection when I was no longer around.
I’d started writing notes on what had occurred, something I’d done for years. After figuring out an issue, the papers were always burned just like these would be when I was finished. But I needed to know what I was dealing with and that meant dredging up memories and incidents from the past.
If I didn’t expand my horizons, I’d never be able to consider myself safe or free from the past.
The notes included questions about my house guest. Who was she? Was there any chance she’d arrived in town to try to get close to me? Writing down the questions helped me to focus. That’s exactly what I needed, not to be hungering over one hot doctor.
I grinned from the thought. She could certainly increase my libido with a single look.
Sitting back, I enjoyed the ‘show’ of her life. Photographs taken of time spent with friends both in Vermont and when she’d still lived in Richmond. There were older pictures of her mother and father, a few of her former job including one for her departing the company.
She’d taken countless ones of the new veterinary clinic from day one of purchasing it, obviously extremely excited to have a practice of her own.
The only photograph that struck me with anything besides amusement was one taken of Mallory standing with a man, his arm wrapped around her waist and tugging her onto her toes. They both appeared tremendously happy, as if they had the entire world in the palms of their hands.
Given the different hairstyle Mallory was wearing, the photograph had been taken at least a couple of years before. Pictures could easily be doctored, but the happiness in her expression was entirely different than the haunted gaze permanently locked into her eyes now. There were no other pictures of the man or of them together.
From the time I could remember as a little boy, I’d learned that getting close to anyone only brought heartache. I was the master of staying aloof, finally convincing myself I cared about no one but myself. The ability helped with the loneliness and mind fog that was usually present when caring about someone.
That was why the strange sense of jealousy that had wrapped around my mind surprised the hell out of me. What should it matter that she’d been involved with another man? I honestly couldn’t care less.
At least I hadn’t about anyone up to this point.
Half laughing, I had to admit the woman and her usual bubbly although demanding personality was not just alluring. It reminded me of a drug that addicts killed and prayed for just to survive.
I purposely turned the photograph section off, shifting my attention to her texts and emails. You could learn about a person’s entire life story through their communications, especially when the person hadn’t thought to set up an automatic erase after thirty or sixty days.
Which she hadn’t.
The doc was far too trusting. I’d teach her about the efforts criminals went to in order to gain trust as well. She’d need to have every weapon other than a traditional gun or knife to protect herself after I was gone.
Just in case.
Although knowing her personality, it was entirely possible she’d accept both lessons and a gift of a handgun as well.
I could see nothing that would provide any concern on a single text or email. She had a couple of good friends, had used the same real estate agent I had when purchasing this house, and rarely ordered takeout food.
What I didn’t like was her use of the phone to handle most of her business transactions from ordering items online to handling payments and deposits. She was typical of any other trusting individual who’d been brought up learning about right versus wrong.
She thought the best of people.
In my world that would eventually end her life prematurely.
With her passcodes easy to obtain without needing any special equipment, she was begging thieves to perform a cyberattack.
What I didn’t find was a single mention of either my past or current name, that of the Valenti crime syndicate, or of an unknown male who might be connected to the assassination attempts.
In other words, the woman lying in my bed who’d provided the only taste of true happiness I’d experienced in years was one hundred percent exactly who she purported herself to be.
I tossed her phone across my desk, angry with myself for invading her privacy. That was just another first in a line of invasive behaviors involving her. Groaning, I raked both hands through my unruly hair. I needed a shower, a shave, and a cup or two of hot coffee.
For right now, I’d deal with the coffee. My mind had been too busy to consider obtaining any sleep. I’d need to keep sharp while locked behind closed doors. What troubled me more than it had in the past was realizing just how totally off the grid I’d allowed myself to go. I’d been a self-contained kid, but once I’d gotten older, I’d developed a network of carefully selected individuals who could provide me with information, weapons, physical assistance, unquestionable identification, and whatever goods and services I required with few questions asked.
I’d shaved all those contacts down to a single one and right now, Mike wouldn’t be able to do jack shit. The biggest reason? The fucking storm. There was no cell service. We were stuck for now and I didn’t appreciate feeling like a caged animal.
Had my earlier connections come with a price? Yes, but I’d also used blackmail on several occasions. No good crime syndicate leader handled business without learning the art of extortion. I had no one to contact for a favor. All ties had been severed on the night I’d disobeyed orders and brought down the Valenti house.
It was entirely possible that a good number of my contacts were dead, eliminated by those hoping to see if I was still alive. While most had been kept secret, a few were known simply because of the nature of the business.
There was no love lost. They’d performed a job like any other vendor and nothing more. They’d known the odds of seeing the backside of forty when they’d gotten into the world. So had I. Up until this point, the loss of their services hadn’t meant shit to me. I was perfectly capable of securing a new location to live.
But I’d never allowed myself to become careless in the four different cities and states I’d lived in up to this point. I’d been determined to bring my past life to a close and forge on.
Maybe I’d believed acts of revenge had a life span.
My mistake had been leaving a single member of the family left alive.
Perhaps nurturing some additional contacts would be in my best interest. It was a thought, but I’d need to delve through the odds carefully. Anyone could be bought.
I took long strides into the kitchen, stopping short as soon as I walked through the doorway. The scene could have been considered comical. Jax’s front paws were on the edge of the counter, his tail slapping back and forth happily. My guest was standing on her tiptoes, attempting to tug off a box or two of coffee from the top shelf of the cabinet. Two boxes were placed precariously close to the edge of the shelf.
My cock was now fully awake given the tee shirt I’d offered Mallory was an old one I’d brought with me through every move, two sizes too small for the man I’d become. While it looked damn hot on her, including the number 24, which was my old football jersey number, her actions had pulled the shirt up to the point I was given an incredible view of the rounded portion of her bottom.
She was struggling, determined to grab the items without asking for help or seeing if there was a stepstool anywhere. There was. Right near the kitchen door leading out back. She was a stubborn woman, as hardheaded as they came. I folded my arms, both thoroughly amused and completely aroused.
As soon as I cleared my throat, she cursed, Jax barked, and three different boxes came tumbling down on her head.
“Fuckedy fuck, fuck the duck,” she snarled and bounded backward, almost falling to the floor.
Jax turned toward me and I swear the dog was furious I’d interrupted the moment. I sauntered into the room, my arms still crossed.
Meanwhile, Mallory offered me a dark glare, darker than most I’d seen. There was also a warm flush covering both sides of her cheeks and her lips were pursed.
“You shouldn’t scare a person like that. I could have had a heart attack,” she admonished, immediately wincing when she noticed the box of coffee pods had opened and they’d been spilled all over the floor by her feet. “Shit.”
“You shouldn’t try to do things out of your reach.”
She cocked her pretty little head, still furious with me, and dropped to her knees, frantically trying to gather the pods in her hands.
I dropped down to help her and she acted as if she wanted to drive me away.
“I’m fine. I’m fine. I got this,” she stated emphatically.
Jax tried to help, tossing several of the pods with his nose. She laughed, even nuzzling his face with her hands.
“Silly boy.” Her whisper had a gutting effect on me.
“I know you’re fine. Very much so.”
The doc followed my gaze, hissing when she noticed her knees were parted. The scent of her was already driving me crazy, enough so I gathered as many pods as possible and tossed them onto the counter. I needed to walk away from her before things got out of hand.
When she dropped half of what she was holding in her arms as she stood, I noticed just how much of a temper she had. Her emotional state shouldn’t have brought a smile to my face, but it did. “Let me grab the rest.”
I had the distinct feeling she was going to stomp her foot in response, but she allowed me to grab the others, more carefully placing them on the counter. When I took what she had left in her arms, she sucked in and held her breath, eyeing me warily.
“Thank you.” Her words sounded painful.
Jax whined and sat back on his haunches, enjoying the show it seemed the two of us would always present.
“Of course. Enjoy your coffee. There’s cream in the fridge and sugar in the top cabinet.” I turned away, willing my balls to stop aching.
They didn’t.
“Don’t you want some coffee?” she asked when I was almost to the door.
Sighing, I didn’t want to admit I wasn’t certain I could function without at least a mugful. “Sure, Doc. Why not?” I heard nothing and she didn’t answer so I finally turned back around.
She was holding two mugs in her hands and the sight of her with the mismatched huge cups I’d found at some five and dime or thrift store along my travels finally brought a chuckle I couldn’t ignore.
“What’s so funny?” Her nose twitched in frustration.
“Nothing at all. You look good in my shirt.”
Goddamn if she didn’t.
She rose onto her toes, peering down at herself. “It was comfortable.” Which meant she was completely uncomfortable. She spun around, searching through the various flavors. “Anything in particular?”
“Surprise me.”
“O-kay.” She was entirely too uncomfortable around me. Well, I guess she had every right to be.
“How’s your head?”
“It hurts.”
I moved behind her and she immediately stiffened. When I was forced to press some weight against her back, a slight moan slipped past her lips. Her entire body was trembling even after realizing I’d crowded her space to get into a cabinet on the left of her, retrieving a bottle of Tylenol.
“I won’t hurt you, Doc. You can say whatever you want about me, but that’s not the kind of man I am. Just something for your headache. Take it. Don’t take it. I don’t give a shit.”
She neither acknowledged nor touched the bottle, concentrating on making the coffee. While the whir of the machine as the water heated brought noise into the room, I felt like I could still hear her thudding heart. She had no idea what to make of the situation.
When the first cup was finished, she cocked her head to the side. “Cream and sugar, I take it.”
“You got it.”
She chuckled and I wanted to ask her what was so funny, but held off. At this point, she needed to keep her resolve and certain aspects of her privacy. I’d been privy to it before when Lucian had brought home his very young bride to be, the arranged marriage between two rival families. She’d done everything in her power to keep everyone away. I’d admired her for it, right until the point when Lucian had broken her spirit and her youthful body.
At least she had a fighting chance at a new life now.
A slight smile was on Mallory’s face as she took two steps toward me, extending her arm. “I’m shocked a man such as yourself would have blueberry.”
At least I could laugh. “Such as myself? You mean asshole killers?”
“Big he-men types.”
“Oh. I guess I’m supposed to drink chicory and heavy Colombian flavors.”
“Something like that.” I’d been given second looks by women for years, none of them creating any reaction or emotion inside. But the look she was giving me as she slowly lowered her gaze from the mug in my hand to my shirtless chest and sweatpants could cause a chaotic effect inside any man. As long as they were alive.
She didn’t lift her gaze before spinning around to make her coffee, but I’d caught the free-flowing action when she’d dragged the tip of her tongue across her bottom lip.
My cock twitched all over again in response.
Within seconds, she was holding a steamy cup in her hands, her head hung over the mug while breathing in the blueberry aroma.
She was a sensual woman even with her disheveled hair and smudged makeup. Honestly, her standing in socks and my tee shirt in the middle of my kitchen was just about the sexiest look on a woman I’d seen in my life.
I took a sip and she followed my lead, her eyes closing almost immediately. As her eyelashes skimmed across her cheeks, the ache in my groin increased significantly.
“Incredible,” she whispered, once again opening her eyes.
“I’m glad you approve.” There was a subtle yet prominent awkwardness between us. I studied the scratch on her forehead, my muscles instantly bristling. If I had a chance to kill the fucker who’d done this to her all over again, I’d happily do so.
Mallory seemed to sense my discord, smiling in a completely different way as she pressed two fingers against her forehead. “You can stop plotting to kill people now. I’ll be just fine.” The words were matter of fact, her control slipping back into place.
“Is that what I’m doing?”
“Are you telling me you’re not?”
It was my turn to chuckle. “Always. I need to be on guard.”
“Mmm… Of course you do.” She was teasing me, then her eyes reflected memories of the events occurring over the last couple of days.
The awkwardness remained and she turned away, taking time to sort the different flavors of coffee into the right containers as I watched.
“I like coffee. I had a coffee barista explain the differences. I compromised with the Keurig machine.” I don’t know why I was bothering to tell her anything personal, let alone something so intimate.
“You genuinely surprise me, Mr. Callum.”
“How so?
“Danger and sophistication rolled into one man. A scary combination.”
There was something to be said for tension because it allowed for a freeing moment to think decisions through. With the hem of the ratty shirt barely covering her bottom, I could easily lay claim to the beauty I’d already tasted, but that wouldn’t be fair to her.
Not that I’d ever considered myself a fair man.
I took a few sips of coffee, edgy enough around her I needed to get the hell away before it was too late. After placing the coffee on the table, I headed to grab some clothes so I could walk the perimeter.
“Thank you for the clothes,” she said softly.
“Sure. Too big, but they’re all I got.” I sensed she’d turned around once again. “I’m headed out to walk the perimeter.”
She narrowed her eyes, moving quickly toward the kitchen window and throwing it open. “It’s snowing. Like crazy snowfall.”
“Yeah, it is.” I wasn’t going to belabor the point that danger kept no seasons. That was the last thing she needed to hear.
“You could get lost.”
Her sentiment and concern kept my body alert. “I think I can handle it.” She refused to look away. My cock was close to being at full attention.
“Mind if I take a shower?”
“Help yourself like I said.”
She nodded and I noticed her jaw was clenched. She had about a million things she wanted to say to me. They’d wait.
For now.
But she was a bit of a feral cat. The claws would eventually come out and I couldn’t wait for that to happen.