His Safe Keeping (The Safe Series) (19 page)

“Yes, that’s okay,” she told him. Draco walked away and then she turned to Lee. “You can go in too. I’ll be fine.”

Shaking his head, he informed her. “Not leaving you out here, crying, by yourself.”

“But, don’t you have to uh…I don’t know, check things out too?” she questioned.

“Yeah, I do, but I got plenty of time.” Then Lee lifted his head at the sound of a stupidly fast approaching vehicle. She turned in that direction also just in time to see Kade’s truck slide to a stop and a half a second later, he was getting out of his truck and heading straight toward them.

Kade had barely slammed on his breaks and parked his truck before he jumped out. Krista…he saw her and he could finally breathe, but not easy, not yet. And still, Krista was all he could see. She was standing there, whole, and he took a breath. She was being held in Lee’s arms and he didn’t much care for that, but he knew Lee. He knew the man worshipped his wife, so that’s not what concerned him, but the thought of his Krista needing that from Lee almost made him lose his breath again. “Baby,” Kade said as he reached them and he watched her take a step back away from him.
Okay. What the fuck?
He thought. He looked from her to Lee.

“What the fuck?” he voiced aloud. Lee was looking at Krista, as confused as Kade, but at the sound of Kade’s voice, he looked back and answered Kade’s unspoken question.

“Break in. Kris said she wasn’t here during, but it’s gonna be a mess. I haven’t been in yet. Sent Draco in first. Didn’t want to leave her by herself,” Lee told him quickly. “You got this?” he asked Kade, nodding his head toward Krista.

“Yeah. You go do what you gotta do,” Kade answered Lee, but he was looking at Krista, who all of sudden was looking at every fuckin’ thing but at him. He watched Lee walk into her house, then switched his attention to Krista. “Baby?” He didn’t even know what to ask. She turned toward him, but she still didn’t look at him.

“Why are you here?” she asked him, but before he could even answer, she spoke again. “I don’t need you to fix me. I’m capable of doing that myself. I appreciate everything you’ve done for me. Like I told you before, I’ll never regret meeting you or being with you. Now, you can move on. You can go out and find the next thing that needs fixing. I don’t want to see you again. Good bye, Irish.” Krista stopped talking and started to walk away. Oh
hell
no!! He had no idea what the fuck she was talking about, but if she thought he was going to let her walk away from him, without a fuckin’ fight, she’d better think a-fuckin-gain! He stalked after her, encasing her arms with his from behind, and picked her straight up.

“Shut up,” Kade barked before she even made a sound. He led them back to his truck, then around to the other side where they would have some semblance of privacy. He sat her on her feet with her back to the truck, and moved his arms from around her, placing one arm on each side of her, caging her in. “Explain,” he said shortly when he leaned down and into her, face to face.

“Explain what?” She threw out at him, but she still wouldn’t look straight at his face.

“Krista, look at me and explain what the fuck you just spouted off about over there and what the meaning of all this is.” He scowled as he did a chin lift indicating her steps at her front door. She looked up at him then and he stopped breathing all over again. The hurt and anger fighting for first place in her beautiful eyes stole his breath.

“I heard you,” Krista said, but he watched the hurt win out and start to leak slowly out of her eyes.

“You heard what?” He choked out around the pain that was now gripping his throat. Her hurt was hurting a place inside of him that he didn’t even know was there.

“Seriously?” she asked, placing her hands on her hips. “You want to do this?” She leaned into him. “You get your free pass.” She straightened back up, moving her arms out and flinging them around. “You don’t have to worry about me,” she whispered, laying her hands flat to his chest, picking and pulling at his shirt. “If it makes you feel better, you fixed me.” Krista continued to move her hands around. “I’m all fixed, so now you can send me on my way.” She finished with her hands flung out and over her head. Then she dropped them down and looked up at him. “Just walk away, please.”

Now she begged softly and he watched more tears run down her cheeks. He stood there…speechless. What the fuck was she talking about a ‘free pass,’ ‘fixing her,’ and fuck, ‘sending her on her way.’ He didn’t think it was possible to say no to her soft ‘please,’ but there was no way in hell he would just walk away from her, not fuckin’ ever. He reached up to cup her face, to wipe away her tears. When his hand touched her cheek, she jerked her face to the opposite side like it had burned.

“Stop! Stop trying to fix me! I’m not broken, Kade!” She was screaming at him. “I’m not your Krista and you’re not my Irish.” With each word her voice got lower and lower until she finished on a whisper. “And I never was.” It was like she had deflated as her body slid down the side of his truck until her ass hit the ground. He stood looking down at her for only a beat before his ass dropped to the ground right in front of her.

“Krista, I swear for Christ, woman. I have no fuckin’ idea what the hell you’re talking about. But, I’m goin’ to make damn sure you understand me.” He watched her look everywhere but at him. “Look at me.” But, she only cut her eyes at him and then she looked away, like she just couldn’t bear looking him in the eyes anymore. He moved his face closer to hers. “Look at me!” He roared and he saw her whole body jerk. He leaned back and brought his hands up, scrubbing them up and down his face. “Fuck,” he mumbled. He was losing her and he had no idea why. When he left her at the stables, she was happy, had smiled at him, she fuckin’ kissed him and he thought everything was good. Now, a couple of hours later, he was losing her and it was fuckin’ killing him. “Baby, I’m not trying to fix you. I only wanted to help you. I thought I was helping and I thought you were happy. I thought you enjoyed being at the ranch. Being with me. If you didn’t, why didn’t you say anything? Just tell me why you pretended the whole fuckin’ weekend?” Now he was starting to get mad. Was it all some kind of act she was putting on?

“I did,” she whispered. “I did like being at your ranch and being with you. I loved it. I wasn’t pretending anything.” She sounded so tired and defeated.

“Then why did you leave with Lank and not even tell me? If you needed a ride into town, I would’ve taken you. I wasn’t tied up doing anything.” He wanted to understand. She leaned her head back against the truck, took a deep weary breath, and looked up at the sky.

“I was at the stables with the horses. You were still not back to get me, so I went to the house looking for you. I didn’t see you downstairs, so I went upstairs and you were in your office talking on the phone.” She stopped then and finally looked him right in the eyes. “I heard you,” she stated sadly.

“You heard what?” He was trying to search his brain for even a hint of what she could possibly have heard him say that would’ve sent her running and was coming up completely blank. She cut her eyes to him and was glaring at him angrily.

“I heard what you said about me,” she spit out. He did call Dr. Davison after she’d phoned and left a message for him to return her call. The only thing he’d said to her, though, was that Krista was doing good and was at the stables with the horses, feeding them treats.

“Can you tell me exactly what the fuck you heard me say?” He shot back at her. She narrowed her eyes at him and deepened her voice to mimic his.

“I’m goin’ to see her through that shit first, fix what some asshole broke, then send her on her way.” Then, in her own very pissed off voice, she continued. “Sound familiar?”

“What the fuck are you talkin’ about?” he growled. He never said anything even remotely like that about her.

“I’m talking about what I heard you say!” He’d finally had enough and stood up.

“Fuck this, Krista. I swear I don’t know what the fuck you think you heard or if you’re just making shit up to piss me off, but I’m not sitting here playing some bullshit games with you.” He reached down, grabbed her arm and pulled her up. “As soon as they let you back in your house, get your shit packed so we can get the fuck out of here,” he stated.

“I’m not playing games with you and I didn’t just ‘think’ I heard anything! I know what I heard!” She jerked her arm away from him. “And, as soon as they let me back in my house, I have things to do. I’m not packing my shit. And, I’m not going anywhere with you!” Krista hissed at him.

“You fuckin’ are! You can’t stay here.” He shot back at her.

“I can and I will. I’m grown! I’ve been grown for quite a few years and just because you’re a cop, that does not mean you can tell me what to do!” she yelled back.

“You’re not fuckin’ staying here,” he growled low.

“I will do what I please! I’m not a keeper, remember?” she shouted back at him.

“What the fuck does that even mean?” He was pissed and she kept spitting out shit from fuckin’ nowhere.

“She’s a sweet filly, but not a long term keeper, not for me,” she said, and then added with a sneer. “Let me guess, you didn’t say that either?”

“Fuck me,” he grunted when he was starting to get what she was talking about. “Krista, damn it, woman, the next time you overhear me on the fuckin’ phone say something that hurts your feelings, steps on your pride, or pisses you the fuck off, can you do me a fuckin’ favor and ask me what the fuck I was talking about before you decide to go running off halfcocked? Can you fuckin’ do that for me, please?” When she just stood there staring at him, seemingly in shock, he blew out a breath. “Baby, I was talking about Starlight, the abused filly.” She waited for a beat, just staring at him.

“I heard you say that I was down at the stables with the horses, or she was, and why would you say that a horse was at the stables with the horses?” she asked, but didn’t look pissed or hurt at the moment. She looked confused.

“I think what you heard was the end of my conversation with Dr. Davison and the beginning of a conversation with Jasper.”

“Who is Jasper?” Her voice still low and suspicious.

“He has a ranch about twenty miles from me. He takes in abused animals and gives them a fresh start. He called me while I was finishing up with the doctor. We’ve been discussing the best course of treatments for Starlight and I told him I wasn’t keeping her long term because she’s a smaller horse. When she’s ready to be around other horses, I don’t want her to be intimidated by them.” He explained to her.

“Oh,” she muttered.

“Oh?” he questioned. “Oh!” He repeated. “Fuck a ‘oh!’ Krista, you scared the hell out of me when I couldn’t find you at the stables. Then you worried the fuck out of me from the time I got the 911 info until I laid eyes on you. Then you fuckin’ rip my heart out because I thought I was losing the fuckin’ love of my life. And you tell me you’re not
my
Krista, all because
you
misunderstood what you heard and instead of asking me, you ran from me and all you can say is a fuckin’ ‘oh?’” he grumbled at her. She looked up at him with that small unsure smile.

“The love of your life?” she whispered like that was all she heard in that whole tirade and was afraid to ask. He stepped closer to her, laid his forehead on hers and closed his eyes as his arms wrapped around her. Pulling her to him, he just held her, breathing in her scent, just fuckin’ breathing.

“Yeah, baby,” he whispered back to her, and then he raised his head, stepped back and reached out to cup her face in both of his hands. “My beautiful Krista. I love you.” He leaned down and kissed her. He kissed her until the fist gripping his heart was gone. He kissed her until the gut punch he took from hearing her say she was not his was gone. He kissed her until…

“Kade!” Fuck. He kissed her until someone called his name. He raised his head, but pulled her into his chest again and looked in the direction of Velgada.

“Kade, sorry man, but I need to talk to you. Now,” Velgada called to him. He gave Velgada a chin lift, and then looked back down at Krista.

“You good?” She gave him her beautiful smile and added that soft and breathy ‘yes’ of hers. Then, and only then, did he finally breathe easy.

Kade walked with Krista at his side to where Lee stood in the middle of her yard, waiting for them. When they reached him, Lee reached out and grabbed her hand, then tugged her to him and hugged her. He then stepped back and looked down at her, searching her face.

“You doing okay, honey?” Lee asked Krista.

“I think so,” she answered, but was now beginning to worry. She’d forgotten all about the break in while arguing with Kade. But, Lee had been in her house. He had probably been all through her house. She had only seen the living room. Was the rest of the house as bad as the living room? Could the rest of the house be even worse?

“Can you do something for me?” Lee asked her softly, but this time didn’t wait for her to answer. “Minga is on her way here. Can you go with her to our house for just a little while?” Okay, now she knew the total of her house had to be worse and there was something he wasn’t telling her. She turned to look at Kade who was looking at Lee, and both of their faces were tight. Definitely something they were trying to protect her from.

“Irish?” she called to Kade and his eyes met hers instantly.

“Baby, go with Minga, and let me deal with this,” he said softly, almost as soft as Lee had spoken. She turned back to Lee and then he looked back at her and she met his eyes.

“Tell me,” she said to Lee, and he jerked his eyes to Kade. Then they all turned at the sound of an approaching car and watched Minga drive up.

“I got this.” She heard Kade say and turned to look at him. He grabbed her hand and pulled her back over to his truck. He tugged her to his chest as she felt his arms wrap around her tightly. “Fuck, baby,” he whispered into her hair. “It’s bad. Don’t know how bad yet until I get in there.” He moved back and opened his truck door, then picked her up and sat her on the seat sideways, her legs hanging out of the open doorway. He pulled her legs apart and stepped in between them, close to her body. “Right now, baby… right now all I want to do is take you home, strip you naked, eat you till you come, then with the taste of you on my tongue, tell you how fuckin’ much I love you while I slide inside you. I want to stay inside you until you know how much I fuckin’ love you,” he whispered huskily and she felt her whole body shiver, thinking that she wanted that too.

“Okay.” She managed to whisper back to him. She was ready to go. She could worry about the mess of her house later. A lot later. He smiled at her.

“Gonna do all that, baby. That and more. But, first, I got to take care of this.” He jerked his head toward her house. “Will you let me handle this for you?” he asked her softly.

“Why do I need to leave? Shouldn’t I be here to? I don’t know, see if anything was stolen or…something?” she asked the questions because that’s what she had done before. The cops had wanted her to go through the house with them.

“Yeah, baby, that’s what normally happens with a break in, but…” He faded off, looking in the direction of her house.

“It’s not a normal break in, is it? There’s something else going on. Something that you or Lee don’t want to tell me. Right?” she asked. She was starting to get really worried or scared, she wasn’t sure which one. Kade looked back at her, into her beautiful face.

“I don’t know. I gotta talk to Lee, gotta get in there. But, with Lee’s reaction, I’m thinking, yeah, not a normal break in.” He leaned into her, kissing her lips lightly and then with his lips still touching hers he spoke again, “Baby, please, let me help you right now.”

“But—” She started and he pulled back just a little.

“Go with Minga now and as soon as I get done here, I’ll come and get you. I’ll tell you everything that’s going on that I can, after. But, right now, I can’t walk into that house with you, not knowing what, but knowing it’s goin’ to be some fucked up shit, and still see it as a cop.” He explained to her. He didn’t form it as a question, but she knew somehow that it was his way of asking her to do this for him again, and patiently trying to explain to her why. He needed to be Lieutenant McKaden and not her ‘Irish.’

“Okay.” She gave in. He pulled her to him and kissed her gently. Well, it started out gently, and then the kiss went up a notch and was heading straight into hot…

“Kade!” She heard his name called again, and felt him pulling away from her. She looked over and saw Lee standing beside Minga’s car, staring at them over the top, and Minga standing beside him, but looking everywhere else.

“I did like him,” Krista mumbled and heard Kade laugh as he was pulling her out from his truck, and they walked over to where Lee and Minga were waiting.

“Don’t think my woman likes you too much right now,” Kade told Lee as they walked toward them. Then she heard Minga bust out laughing. She smiled at Minga across the top of her car.

“Come on, girl, we’ll go do girly stuff and let them do boyish stuff,” Minga said to her and before Krista could say a word she heard Lee chastise Minga. “Babe, it’s man stuff, not boy stuff.” Then Lee tried to lower his voice low enough where Krista couldn’t hear it, but Krista heard anyway when he whispered into his wife’s ear.

“Gonna do man stuff to you tonight.” Krista saw Minga’s whole body do a little shiver. Then she saw Lee turn and he spoke in his normal voice. “Right now, got cop shit to do.” Then Krista was being turned to face Kade once more and she watched his face get close to hers.