Chapter 12
Clay
Kayla is still asleep, one arm thrown over her face and her hair spread all over my pillows. During the night my shirt crept up her thighs, and a sliver of her thong now peeks out, but I pull the door closed slowly and let her sleep.
When I get downstairs, I go straight to the kitchen. Vero is sitting on the counter with his morning coffee, and Ares is at the table with his newspaper. I’m not even sure anyone else reads the actual print version anymore. We give him hell about being an old man and showing his age.
Vero stares at me as I walk in, but I ignore him.
“Why do you look different?” he finally asks.
“I don’t,” I say, grabbing a mug.
“You do . . . your face is doing something. Ares, look at his face.”
Ares glances up and shifts his eyes to me, then looks back down.
“I know what it is,” Vero says with a snap of his fingers. “You’re smiling. Since when do you smile? Your signature facial expression is a scowl.”
I pour my coffee and take a sip. “Kayla is in my bed. Why don’t you keep her company, Vero?”
“I knew it, you’re happy,” he says, jumping down off the counter. He puts his mug down so fast that it spills everywhere, but he is already halfway out the door before I stop him.
“Vero.” He spins to face me. “Don’t wake her up if she is still asleep.”
He puts his hand on his chest. “I would never.”
“Yes, you would. But she was up late.”
“Okay, I would, but I promise today I won’t. I will sit there and watch her sleep.”
Well, that’s not creepy.
He disappears into the hallway, and I listen as he takes the stairs, then hear my bedroom door open. I turn back to Ares, taking the seat across from him.
“Where’s Brawley?” I ask in a hushed tone.
“Morning run, he won’t be back for at least half an hour.”
“Good, I need your help. Someone was in Kayla’s apartment last night.”
Ares’s brows dip and he asks. “Are you sure?”
I nod. “She called me last night after her shift, said something felt off. I had a look, and it seemed fine.”
“She has good instincts. What are you thinking?”
“I want to check and make sure there are no listening devices or cameras. Just to be sure.”
“Good idea. If there’s something there, we need to know.”
He picks up his coffee and finishes the last of it, then stands. “Give me ten minutes and I will meet you back down here.”
I nod and polish off my own coffee before heading back upstairs to grab my equipment bag.
When I push the door to my room open, Vero is on my bed with his arm around Kayla, and she is still asleep.
He looks up and puts his finger to his lips, so I grab the bag and leave without a word. He will keep her busy while I’m gone.
Ares is in the kitchen when I get there, and he follows me to my truck. The drive to Kayla’s takes about half an hour.
“So, you and Kayla . . .” he starts.
“What about us?”
He shrugs. “I don’t know . . . how did you manage it? You never get close to anyone, but you didn’t seem to have a problem with her.”
“I don’t have an answer for that—I just know she is mine. I haven’t felt that with anyone before, so it is what it is for now.”
Area nods, and I know he is trying to work things out in his head. He likes to think he doesn’t have feelings, yet at the first sign of trouble with Kayla, he is offering to help. He can say it serves his purpose all he likes, but he’s full of shit.
As I pull up at Kayla’s place, Mabel is on the front porch with a watering can. She looks over at us as we get out of the truck.
“You again,” she says.
“Hi, Mabel.” I stop at the bottom step. “This is Ares.”
“Hello,” Ares says, stepping forward and smiling at her. He uses a tone that makes me want to laugh. “I’m sorry to come by unannounced. We work with Kayla, and she asked us to check something in the loft this morning. She mentioned there might be a maintenance issue with her window lock.”
“Oh no, she saw me last night. The poor dear thought someone was in her loft. I feel terrible.”
“Don’t feel bad. We are going up to fix it and make sure she’s safe.”
Mabel looks at me again, but I say nothing. Ares is doing fine without me.
“She works too hard and comes in so late. I worry about her.”
“She does work hard,” Ares agrees. “She mentioned you keep an eye on her, and she’s very grateful. It’s so nice that Kayla has people she can trust.”
Mabel sets down the watering can. “I’ll get the spare key.”
I look at Ares while she goes inside.
“She loves you,” I say, and he smiles at me.
Mabel comes back and hands the key to Ares. She tells us to leave it under the mat when we are done and to make sure we lock up properly. She looks at me directly when she says the last part.
“Of course,” Ares says. “Thank you.”
She goes back to her plants as we take the stairs two at a time.
Once Ares opens the door, I see the loft is exactly how we left it last night.
I set the equipment bag on the table, then start at the front of the room and systematically work my way back, while Ares takes the bathroom.
We check over every surface. Inside the smoke detectors, inside lamps, every place there could possibly be a listening device, but nothing.
I return to the bed, where I found the chalk, and run my hand along the underside of the frame, still coming up empty.
Ares is standing near the window when I come out of the bathroom after double-checking it, even though he already swept it. He is staring at the street below, his hands in his pockets.
“Clean,” I say, and he nods.
I pack the equipment away and stand in the middle of the room. Whoever was here was careful. “Let’s keep this between us for now. I don’t want to worry Vero, not until we know for sure what is going on.”
Ares grunts in agreement, mirroring my mood.
The drive home is quiet, and I know Ares likes to think everything through. By the time we get back to the house, everyone is gone. We leave our bags and set out to see where they are.
As we walk toward the visitors’ side of the island, Vesper passes us, muttering to herself.
“Hey have you seen Vero and Brawley?” I ask.
“They are beating up their new little pet.” She doesn’t elaborate and continues her frantic pace.
Both Ares and I pick up speed. Why would Kayla get in the ring with Brawley? He’s not the kind of man who’d go easy on anyone, not even a woman.
When we get inside the shed, we find Kayla in the ring.
She is still in my shirt, with it now tied up at the waist in a knot, and she’s wearing a pair of Brawley’s shorts that look two sizes too big, sitting low on her hips.
Vero is perched on the side of the cage, so I lean against the side and watch as Ares stands beside me.
Kayla moves first and jabs at Brawley, but he slides away too fast for it to connect. He adjusts his stance, and she throws another combination. He blocks the first hit and catches the second on his forearm, grinning at her.
“Stop smiling, it’s unsettling,” she snaps, circling him.
“I smile when I’m having fun.”
“Well, I’m not sure how I feel about kicking the ass of a man who is smiling at me.”
Vero cackles from the top of the cage and nearly loses his grip. “She isn’t wrong. You look a little unhinged when you smile like that.”
“I will put your ass on the ground next,” Brawley shouts to him without taking his eyes off Kayla.
“Threats don’t work on me. You know I consider that a good time.”
Kayla fakes left and cuts right, scoring one clean shot to Brawley’s ribs before he catches her wrist and holds it.
He looks down at where she made contact and back up to her face. “That was a good one.”
She shakes her hand out and scoffs. “I didn’t expect it to land.”
“Neither did I,” Brawley says.
I push off the cage, moving to the door, and Kayla sees me when I step through.
“How long have you been here?” she asks.
“Long enough.”
She smiles. “Did you see me hit him?”
“Long enough that I saw him let you hit him.”
Brawley scoffs, but I know the truth. Kayla turns back to scowl at him.
“You wanna get in here and let her take a shot at you?” Brawley snaps.
“I’m not fighting her,” I reply.
Vero makes clucking noises overhead.
“Scared?” Kayla asks.
“Of you? No.”
“You just don’t want to be shown up by a girl.”
Vero drops from the top of the cage and lands beside us. “I will referee.”
“No one asked you.”
“I’m offering anyway. It will be fun—I’ve trained for this.”
I laugh. “You’ve not trained for anything.”
Vero turns his attention to Ares. “What about you, Ares? Want to get beat up by our girl?”
“No thanks, I’m good just watching.”
“You’re all a bunch of chickens.”
Kayla has her arms crossed and looks at me as if to say she agrees with Vero.
I roll my neck and step forward. “Fine, but don’t cry when I win.”
“Don’t limp out of here when I’m done with you,” she fires back.
Brawley steps out of the ring and stands beside Ares, while Vero claps his hands together.
“Rules: no biting, no eye gouging—because my paper-cut princess has beautiful eyes—no hitting in the face, except when it comes to Clay, so hit that bastard hard and I will let it slide. Everything else is fair game. Tap the mat and it’s over. And go.”
Kayla moves first. She doesn’t hesitate, and I bring my arm up to catch her first shot.
I don’t go to her; instead, I let her come forward because I want to see what she has to work with. She shifts left and throws a combination—two quick punches, one aiming to come over the top.
I duck under her fist and step behind her, get my arm around her waist from the back, then lift her clean off the floor.
She drops her weight and twists, driving her elbow back into my ribs. It connects hard enough that my grip loosens and she turns to face me again.
“You’re not even trying,” she snarks, brushing the loose hair out of her face that has fallen from her ponytail.
“I’m trying not to hurt you.”
She huffs at me, and it is kind of adorable. “I don’t need you to do that.”
“Kayla—”
She cuts me off. “Clay, just fight me.”
“She’s right, stop managing her and do something,” Brawley snaps from outside the ring.
“Yeah, my grandma could put up a better fight, and she is dead.”
I shake my head at Vero and turn back to Kayla. When I move, she mimics me. This time I don’t hold back, and neither does she.
Kayla reads me, adjusting and using her size instead of fighting against it.
She gets low and forces me to come to her level.
I catch her wrist on a punch that almost gets through, and I use the momentum to turn her.
But when she spins with it instead of resisting and kicks the back of my knee, I go down onto the mat and Vero loses his mind.
“Holy shit, he’s down! Somebody mark this day on their calendar.”
“I’m on one knee, not completely down and out,” I growl, looking up at Kayla.
She is standing over me, breathing hard, hair completely disheveled and looking very pleased with herself.
“Close enough,” she chirps.
I grab her ankles and tug, bringing her to the floor. Flipping her flat on her back, I lean my body over hers. “Not that close,” I say and kiss her lips as she chuckles against them.
“Still counts,” she replies.
I push up and offer her my hand, then pull her to her feet. When I turn around, everyone is staring at me.
“What?”
Vero just smiles, and Kayla looks at Brawley as he comes through the cage door. She throws herself at him, and he spins her around. “I did it!”
“You did,” he says and laughs with her before putting her back down. Vero runs over and wraps his arms around her from behind.
“You were amazing,” he says into her shoulder. “I was ready to jump in, then bam, you got him down.”
“And what would you have done?” Ares says flatly.
Vero shrugs. “Grabbed her and ran. I can outrun all you motherfuckers.”
Kayla laughs as she meets my eyes over his shoulder, and I wink at her.
As I step out of the ring, Ares hands me a bottle of water, and I take a long drink.
“She belongs here,” he says, low enough only I can hear him.
I nod, thinking she does as well.