Burned Hearts (34 page)

“I'll figure this out. We'll deal with it.”

“Dane.” I shook my head, let out a long breath. “If Ethan's been the puppet master all this time, for over three decades … What's going to stop him now?”

“Not what.
Who
.” He gave a solemn look. “Me.”

My eyes closed briefly. “I just got you back. You did everything asked of you, everything you could do in order to bring down the society. And still it's not enough.”

I felt the tears build, but I pushed them back. I was angry, hurt, scared. And so very, very tired. I just wanted everything to be normal. Everything
should
be normal. Dane had gone through hell to make sure justice was served. Yet he still wasn't free of the corruption. If anything, he was trapped further. Like there was no escape for him. For us.

“This is crap!” I blurted.

“Yes. But I've got some ideas.”

“Do I even want to hear them? Why can't you just be done with this?”

“Because
it's
not done, Ari. Understand, I can't just let this drift.”

I shook my head.

He pulled me to him, tucking me against his rigid body. “Just sleep, baby. You need to sleep.”

I did, but as soon as we landed I was at it again with the questions. Dane didn't have anything new to say, not that I expected him to. I was just too agitated to let it all slip.

When we reached home, I couldn't get Amsel in my arms fast enough. Dane was practically breathing down my neck, but it took a bit longer than I'd imagined to relinquish my hold on our son.

I gave him over and said to Kyle, “More trouble headed our way.”

“Ari.” Dane glared.

The ominous news seemed to perk Kyle up. Not a good thing. He needed to get over this adrenaline rush he was riding.

“What's going on?” he enthusiastically asked.

“It'd probably be a good time for you to make a decision on the FBI or CIA,” I told him. “Start your training. Leave all of this behind. Because it's burned deep—into a lot of lives.”

“Whatever it is, bring it on,” he said, his chest puffing out. He looked all studly and determined and it made me admire his courage as much as I loathed him not getting a break from the danger any more than the rest of us. Worse, he seemed to crave it these days, thrive on it.

I left Dane, Amano, and Amsel and dragged Kyle into the kitchen. “I need ice cream,” I told him. “Drowning in chocolate. Stat.”

“Easy enough.” He whipped up sundaes while I explained the current predicament.

“Whoa,” he said when I was done. “Did
not
see that one coming.”

“I know, right? Ethan playing double agent? And since 1978?”

“That sucks for Dane.”

The bit of empathy stunned me, coming from Kyle. But I appreciated the sentiment.

He continued. “To not really have a clear family history and then to have something this severe heaped onto you? Very uncool.”

His compassion touched me. “It's all a pretty big blow to him, yes. I can't quite figure out what he's feeling, though. He has his moments of angst, but then he tries to conceal it all and pretend it's just a math equation to work out.”

“Some equation. His best friend and mentor fucked him royally.”

“Probably did the same to Dane's father, too. And I strongly suspect Qadir and Nikolai have no idea they've been played by Ethan as well. They weren't part of the society at that time. Their fathers were, though. And included in the investment group.”

“So now the secret society implodes. Good riddance to a faction that should have stayed the course and didn't. Dane testifies against Ethan with the evidence he has on the hard drive and that asshole goes down, too.”

I swirled some hot fudge around the tip of my spoon and asked, “Got any caramel or butterscotch? I need it.”

“The double whammy?” His gaze narrowed on me. “What gives?”

I sighed, not the least bit thrilled to drop the bomb. “There is no evidence. Whatever might have served Dane well in this scenario is missing from the laptop Ethan retrieved from Switzerland. He removed a hundred and sixty files before he handed it over to Amano.”

Kyle stared at me as though I'd just grown a third eye.

“Kyle?”

“Oh, no way.”

“Way.”

He whirled around and went for the butterscotch, which he warmed up and then added to my sundae.

“Come on, Ari,” he said. “Your dude and I do not gel, but now I'm feeling the sucker punches myself. Ethan, of all people, betrayed Dane—
all
of us?”

“I know. It's pretty painful.”

“And deadly.”

“There is that.” I dug in, not sure what else to say.

Kyle seemed to absorb my revelations, at a loss as well. Finally, he said, “You know I'm not just walking away. You've still got a red dot on your forehead.”

My head jerked up.

“Figuratively speaking,” he was quick to say, bringing my pulse down a notch. “Because Ethan knows you're Dane's weakness.”

I dropped my spoon in the empty dish. “Ethan knows about Amsel. Don't forget that.”

“His own godson? He'd target his own
godson
?”

My heart thundered. “You know the kind of people we're dealing with here.”

“But Amsel?” Kyle gripped the side of the counter, dropped his head, and shook it.

“Deception cuts deep, doesn't it?” I was feeling it to the core of my being. Kyle was just as tangled in the barbed wire as the rest of us.

“It's downright vicious,” he said.

“Yes.”

“So what's your husband going to do about it?”

“I don't know,” I admitted.

“And that scares you?”

“Of course.”

Kyle backed away from the counter and paced. “You realize Ethan is a worse threat than Vale or Horton? He has more money, more power, more connections, more motivation—and a hell of a lot less of a soul if he can pull this sort of shit.”

“I've reached that conclusion, too.”

“And Qadir and Nikolai?”

“There's absolutely nothing that suggests they're involved,” I said. “And they joined the society right before Dane. Like within months. It seems as though they have no idea Dane's father was once a member. The code is absolute secrecy—even amongst family. Dane broke that code for me, because I insisted I needed to know.”

“Maybe you ought to rethink your boundaries on what you find acceptable, Ari.”

I let him get in the digs he felt he deserved. Then I said, “I have two favors to ask you.” I shoved aside my bowl. “I want you to carefully consider them both and then do the absolute right thing. What's best for
you
. Not me. Not my family. Not even my son. Just you.”

“Ari.” He halted and stared deep into my eyes. “Don't give me ultimatums.”

My stomach coiled. “I don't have a choice, Kyle. You and me … we're a lot alike. We do what our heart tells us to do. We follow our gut reactions. Sometimes we're right. Sometimes we're wrong. But we always have good intentions.”

He groaned. “Already, I'm not liking this.”

“Kyle,” I began, dread and tension gripping me. “There's a difference between honor and stupidity. Sadly, neither of us knows that difference.”

His jaw clenched.

I continued. “Dane doesn't do anything without thinking it through from start to finish. And he's wicked-fast about it. When it comes to the two of us … We know when something needs to be done, but we don't always think the solution through to its natural conclusion.”

“Get to the point, Ari,” he said in an agitated tone. “What are the two favors?”

I stood and planted my hands on the counter. “I want you to leave. Now.”

“Not going to happen,” he said without missing a beat. “Next?”

I closed my eyes again, shook my head. “I asked you to give careful consideration to—”

“Next?” he softly demanded.

My lids fluttered open. We gazed at each other across the kitchen island. He was my best friend and I trusted him with my life. I trusted him with my son's life. That meant my second favor would not be a small one. “Stay and protect Amsel. Not me, not Dane. Not even Rosa. I'm sending her away. Just Amsel.”

“Ari—”

“Just my son, Kyle,” I insisted. “He is your only concern, your only focus. No matter what. I can have five red dots on my forehead. Your only thought is protecting my son. And keeping yourself alive.”

He gave me a strange look. Then asked, “You're really hoping I'll just walk away?”

“For your own safety, yes.”

“But what would be the point?”

“You'd still be alive next week.”

His shoulders bunched. His jaw tightened again. “And you might be dead. Your son might be dead. In what world could I possibly live with that?”

“Kyle—”

“No,” he said, cutting me off. “Maybe you and I will never be.” He threw his arms up in exasperation. “Okay, yeah. You and I will never be,” he huffed while tears stung the backs of my eyes over this very touchy conversation. “But that doesn't mean I could just leave. Whatever danger you're in, whatever danger your son is in—that's
my
danger, too, Ari.”

His conviction was punctuated by his hostile and adamant tone. Kyle clearly had no intention of backing down.

He told me, “We've been in this together from the beginning and we'll continue to be in it together. Until this is done, Ari. That's
our
for better or for worse.”

He stormed past me, out of the kitchen.

I stared after him, trying to catch my breath.

 

chapter 18

Later in the evening, I met up with Kyle once more. This time on the terrace.

He sipped Dane's good brandy while staring out across the creek, into the dense forest. Silver streaks from the moonlight filtered through the trees and cast glittery sprays over the rapids.

“You know I wasn't telling you that I want you to leave, right?” I asked as I joined him at the wrought-iron railing. “Not in the
it's time to move on
sense. It's just that you've made it this far without fully taking a bullet for anyone. I'd like to keep it that way.”

“I know what you want,” he said, still gazing out into the heavily wooded area beyond the steady stream of water. “It's what I want, too. For us to somehow be friends, despite it all.”

“I've always loved Dane.” I couldn't allow Kyle to have any delusions about that. “I always will.”

“I know.”

“I love you, too, Kyle. Just not in the same way. Never in the same way. From the first time I saw Dane, something happened to me. Something changed inside and it can't be changed back. It won't be changed back, ever. I wouldn't want it to.”

“You could end up dead, Ari.”

“I realize that.” In a gentle tone, I said, “But I still choose him.”

Kyle's gaze finally slid my way. “I get it. I don't agree with it, and personally, I think you're making a huge mistake by passing up my witty repartee and smooth moves, but … I do get it. The heart wants what the heart wants, right?”

“You'll do much better than me,” I promised. “Someone with slightly less drama would be nice, huh?”

He chuckled, though it was a bit strained. “Slightly less.”

“Just a tiny bit.”

“Otherwise, I'd be bored?”

“You do seem to handle insanity without being too traumatized by it.”

“That's what the brandy is for. And when it happens to be your husband's favorite, extremely expensive label I'm about to polish off, that makes it even better.”

“You do love the ragged edge, don't you?”

“Beats a desk job any day.”

I was afraid he'd feel that way. “So I guess you won't be rejoining the Marketing department when we open the Lux.”

“You told Dane about your grand plan?”

“Yes.”

“And?”

“He was happy. Really happy. And so am I.” One thing I could breathe a sigh of relief about. Too bad it was the
only
thing.

Kyle let out a notably irrate sound, then said, “Except for that minor, pesky detail of Ethan Evans wanting to kill you.”

“There is that.”

We were both quiet a few moments; lost in ominous thoughts. Eventually, Kyle murmured, “I'm not the only one who likes the ragged edge.”

I couldn't argue the point—had already considered it myself some time ago. But told him, “The difference is, I will be thrilled to go back to my event planning.”

“Of course. Because bridezillas are even scarier than secret-society members who bomb hotels. You really should seek help.”

“Pot. Kettle. Black.” I crooked a brow at him.

He gave me his megawatt smile. “I keep telling you that we're meant for each other.”

I narrowed my eyes.

Kyle grinned. “As friends.”

“Friends.” I gave him a long hug, feeling torn between my relief that we still had him on our side and fear of anything happening to him.

When he pulled away, he said, “There are two fingers of brandy left, and they have my name on them.”

“Enjoy.” I left him on the terrace and went in search of Rosa.

I wasn't sure what direction to give her for her own safety, so I'd leave that up to Dane and Amano. I just wanted her to know how much I appreciated everything she'd done for us and that I couldn't have her in danger. We'd send her away with enough money for her to sail off on the cruise of a lifetime, for the rest of her life, if she so chose. And if she wanted a bodyguard, we'd provide for that, too.

Not that I anticipated her having any trouble. She'd never been a target and wouldn't be of interest to anyone once she left this house and was no longer anywhere near me or Amsel. Still, she meant too much to all of us to not ensure she was protected and taken care of.