His Safe Keeping (The Safe Series) (21 page)

Chapter Thirty-Three

“Damn McGorgeous! If you were words on paper, you would definitely be fine print.” Krista heard as she opened the door.

She had woken early, only to find herself alone in the bed. Sometime during the night she had felt Kade pulling her to him, whispering to her, as she drifted between awake and asleep. When she was dressed and went in search of him, she found Minga in the kitchen starting on breakfast. She was told that Lee and Kade had gone to the station and would be back soon, and not to worry because they always showed up when the food was ready. So she helped Minga fix what she called her ‘famous breakfast lasagna,’ and sure enough, only two minutes after Minga pulled the lasagna out of the oven, both men walked through the door. They ate and talked about everything except what was happening and Krista wasn’t sure if they just needed some down time from work or they normally didn’t talk about cases of any kind around Minga. When they were done eating and the dishes were done, she and Kade and Lee headed straight to Lee’s office. She’d just been trying to tell them they could use her to draw him out. Price knew where she lived and had to have been watching her or keeping tabs on her some way, so she thought she would be their best option in luring him out.

“That’s not a good idea.” Lee objected.

“Fuck no! Krista, you are not putting yourself anywhere near that sick son-of-a-bitch,” Kade roared. They were all pacing around the room and they could each feel the tension that was building.

“Why? It’s not like I would be alone! There are woods all around my house, so it would be easy for any of you to hide and watch and—” she told them reasonably.

“Not fuckin’ happening.” Kade shot back before she could even finish her sentence. She was starting to get angry with him!

“Tell me why! I know cops have used ‘civilian’ people to help them out before. What is it called…bait! You can use me as bait!” Proud of herself for thinking of the word.

“If you think for one fuckin’ minute I’m going to let you anywhere near that asshole, then you have lost your damn mind!” Kade yelled.

“Let? If you
let
me?” Did he really just use those words on her? Oh, now she was no longer getting angry. She was there!

“We could put her in a safe house.” She heard Lee volunteer, like she was no longer even in the room. She swung around toward Lee.

“No! I’m not being locked away again! Not here! Not at the ranch! Not at my house! And definitely not in a safe house!” She was getting louder with each word she spoke, so she took a deep breath and tried to calm down before she continued. “My dad did that. He kept me locked in the apartment, never letting me go anywhere other than school or the doctors and only with him. He took me to school and he picked me up. I wasn’t even allowed to go outside with the other kids. I had to stay inside and wait. Wait till school started, wait till my next treatment, wait for my next doctor’s appointment. Wait! And I’m not doing that
ever
again. Do you hear me? Do you hear me?
Never
again.” She finally finished.

“Honey, a safe house is a little bit different—” Lee tried to say, but she interrupted.

“I know what a safe house is—” She started to tell him, before Kade interrupted them both.

“How many fuckin’ times did I walk right into your house because you didn’t lock your door, Krista?” Kade was talking loudly and before she could get a word in, he kept going. “How many fuckin’ times?” He boomed.

“Like it matters! My mom kept the door locked when we were home alone! Did that do any good?” she asked him and then answered herself. “No! And my doors were all locked when he broke in and tore up my house, remember?” She looked right at Kade. “But, did that do any good?” she yelled and again gave neither of them time to answer. “No! Locks don’t keep evil out,” she screeched, then turned and walked to the door. She was reaching for the knob when Kade’s hand shot out and wrapped around her arm.

“Where the fuck do you think you’re going?” he asked roughly and she turned toward him, looked down at his hand holding her arm and then back at his very pissed off looking face.

“Let go of my arm,” she stated quietly but firmly and felt his hand immediately leave her arm. “I’m going to get something to drink or am I not allowed to walk through this house?” She shot back at Kade. Kade didn’t say a word, but stepped back and glared at her as she turned and walked out of the room. She knew she was sounding bitchy, but they were treating her like she was a child. Treating her like that broken child she was so long ago. She was not broken and she sure wasn’t a child anymore and didn’t like them thinking they could treat her like one. She was just passing by the front door when the doorbell rang.

Krista opened the door and was speechless for a moment. Standing right in front of her was a dark haired, dark eyed, muscular Italian man, with a tattoo on his upper arm that partly peeked out of the sleeve of his T-shirt. But with the sideways grin on his face and the ridiculous words that had just popped out of his mouth, she just couldn’t hold it back. She busted out laughing, then watched as that little sideways grin grew into a big smile.

“Please tell me you don’t actually use that line?” she drawled as she was trying to calm her laughter.

“Hey, what can I say? I was expecting one of the badasses or sweet and spicy to answer the door. Not your fine lookin’ self.” The man grinned and answered back. She looked at him and he seemed familiar somehow, but she couldn’t place where.

“Are you fuckin’ hittin’ on my woman?” She heard Kade ask right before she felt his arms snake around her middle, pulling her back tight to his front as he stepped back, bringing her with him.

“Lighten up, badass cowboy, I only speak the truth,” the man said with laughter in his voice. She turned to look up at a none-to-happy Kade, then back at the man standing in the doorway grinning. He was grinning at Kade like he was enjoying this exchange. Brave man, she thought, because Kade was not looking all that happy about him speaking the truth.’” Then Lee stepped around the two of them.

“Draco.” Lee acknowledged his partner as he was shaking his head and trying to hide his grin from Kade.

“Oh.” She puffed out as it came back to her. “You’re Lee’s partner. I met you yesterday at my house. Well, I kind of met you, when you were at…uh…sorry, I guess I was kind of rude, and uh…well, you know everything…I guess we…uh…weren’t really introduced.” Krista didn’t know why she was stammering as she stepped away from Kade to hold out her hand to him. “I’m Kris and thanks for…uh…your help…yesterday…and…uh, everything.” She finally managed to get out and he shook her hand and then brought it up to his lips and kissed her knuckles.

“Sweet and gorgeous.” Was Draco’s response. She heard Kade growl low just as she felt her body being slammed back into his.

“Thought you were getting something to drink,” Kade asked her. She turned to look up at him.

“I was. I mean, I am. But the doorbell rang as I was walking past.” She explained.

“So you just opened the damn door, not knowing who the hell it was.” Kade had that scary pissed look on his face again.

“I’m not five, Irish. I can answer a door all by myself.” She was starting to get mad again. She pulled away from him and walked to the kitchen. She’d just made it to the kitchen and was crossing to the refrigerator only to be brought up short. Kade grabbed her arm and spun her around to face him and he dropped his face close to hers.

“Krista—” he said, still growling, right before she placed her hand over his mouth.

“Don’t you ‘Krista’ me in that tone, Irish McKaden!” She immediately shot back at him, then she dropped her hand and took a deep breath. “Look at me,” she told him quietly even though he was looking right at her. She took a step farther back from him so he could see all of her. “Really look at me, Irish. Do you really see me as that helpless, someone who can’t take care of herself?” She was a little afraid of his answer. But, he didn’t speak, just stared at her with his eyes roaming her face and he reached out and cupped her face in his hand, thumb rubbing her cheek, still not saying a word. He leaned in and kissed her forehead, straightened, stepped back.

“What did you want to drink?” Kade walked to the refrigerator and opened the door, staring unseeing inside while waiting for Krista to answer. He needed a minute. Hell, he had to have a minute to try and figure out how to get Krista to understand his need to keep her safe. He might just need a lot of minutes to figure that one out. Just the thought of his Krista at the hands of that sick bastard once was bad enough, but for her to even suggest she use herself as bait was enough to drive him out of his mind. Then she just opened the door without knowing who it was, opening it to just anybody. Yeah, it just happened to be Draco, this time, but damn, she didn’t know that. She didn’t even recognize him at first. She just opened the door and was laughing at whatever shit line he shot to her just like it was a normal day and some sick asshole wasn’t after her. Like the sick fuck hadn’t been inside her house doing sick shit he wished he didn’t know about. He knew she didn’t know all the details of what they’d found in her house and he sure as hell wasn’t going to tell her. She didn’t need that shit in her head. But she’d seen the living room and how fuckin’ bad that was. She knew who did it and she knew why. And yet she still offered herself up for fuckin’ bait, then walked off pissed because he refused to allow it.

Yeah, he wasn’t going to
let
her put herself in danger. Then to just open the door to just anybody. She was his. His, damn it! And, he was going to keep her safe and he didn’t give a damn how pissed off she got about it. He took a breath and admitted to himself that he was lying. Yeah, he did care if she got pissed off. He didn’t want her mad. He wanted her happy and smiling, laughing like she’d been doing at the door and like she’d been most of the weekend with him. He wanted that, but he needed to keep her safe. He knew she wasn’t helpless, didn’t see her that way at all, but he had to get her to see and to understand his need to keep her safe. He fuckin’ had to keep her safe.

“Water is fine,” Krista answered. Damn he loved the sound of her voice. He didn’t give a shit what she was saying, but when she had called him ‘Irish McKaden,’ like it was his god given name, he wanted to just scoop her up and drag her to the nearest bed. Shaking that thought away, he reached in and grabbed two bottles of water. He opened one as he walked back, and handed it to her. Then he opened his own water and taking a long pull from the bottle, he watched her settle at the small kitchen table by the window. He walked over, grabbed a chair and placed it in front of her to face each other, her knees in between his legs.

“Baby, I don’t see you as broken and I sure as hell don’t see you as a little girl.” He watched a small smile form on her face. “I don’t think you’re helpless either. A little careless maybe.” And, he watched the smile fade and her eyes narrow at him. He reached out and cupped her face in his hand, watching his thumb as he stroked her cheek, then moved his eyes to hers. “My beautiful Krista, I see you as a sweet, sexy, funny, beautiful, and fuckin’ cute as hell woman. Baby, all woman,” he whispered the last words, his voice turning husky.

“Irish…” she whispered and he interrupted her.

“No, baby, let me finish.” He leaned in and kissed her lips lightly. “You are strong, caring, and the most amazing woman I’ve ever met!” He watched as her smile returned. “But, you’re careless with your safety. Damn, baby! If something happened to you, it would kill me.” He finished a little gruffer than he had meant to. But she had to understand just how much she meant to him. He grabbed her knees, one in each hand and yanked them up and over his legs. Putting his arms around her, he brought her body to his lap. He slid one hand up her back to her head and brought her mouth to his, kissing her long and deep. Feeling her fingers glide through his hair and the heat of her core pressed to him, knowing she could feel his erection growing, he had to have her. He felt like it had been years since he had been inside her, instead of a day. Would it always be like this with her? When he pulled his head back and looked into her eyes, he knew in his heart that it always would.

“You do know you’re in someone else’s kitchen, right?” He heard Draco from far away and he watched Krista scramble back out of his lap and damn near falling over her empty chair. He stood, reached out to steady her, and then he brought her as close as possible to his chest. He bent down to whisper in her ear so softly that only she could hear him. “Fuck, baby, I gotta’ get you home.”

Chapter Thirty-Four

After Krista realized Draco had walked into the kitchen, making her face burning from embarrassment, Kade had asked her to give him some time and suggested she go take a hot bath and relax. He even had clean clothes for her to put on. Showing her upstairs and into the guest bathroom, he ran a bath for her, then told her to take her time and relax, shutting the door behind him as he left. Because she felt like she did need a minute to digest everything that was happening, she took a bath. For four long years after what had happened in her past, her dad pretty much kept her locked up. When he’d died two weeks after she turned eighteen, she had continued to live the same way, always locking her doors, always checking and rechecking her locks. That was until about a year ago. When she was out running a few errands someone had broken into her apartment and stolen anything and everything of value. Shortly after that was when Dr. Miller had first contacted her about his experimentations into blood disorders and she had jumped at the chance to get out of the city.

By the time Dr. Miller’s grant at the hospital had been accepted they’d met twice and she was preparing to move, but she was determined not to move to yet another city. She found her little house for rent in one of the many internet search sites. And she packed what little she had left to pack, which thanks to the robbers, was mostly just a few pictures of her mom and dad and herself that were taken before…and was still packed away. She and her dad had never fully unpacked from when they moved from the country and now all those things still sat at her house packed away.

She liked that house, okay, the house was okay, but the land she really liked. She didn’t like it as much as the ranch…that she loved. But, that little house was her home and she’d always felt safe there. Until now. Now, she didn’t know if she would ever truly feel safe again. Kade made her feel safe. Every time he held her, she felt safe. Shaking off that thought, she got dressed and went out of the bedroom toward Lee’s office where she heard their voices even before she was anywhere near the door. They were shouting at each other and then she heard her name. She picked up her pace and walked quickly into the office.

“Stop! Stop fighting because of me,” she yelled to be heard and the three men turned to look at her.

“Baby, we’re not fighting, we’re discussing,” Kade said, walking toward her.

“That’s just how these badasses discuss their cases, any cases, so no worries, McGorgeous,” Draco added.

“Honey, why don’t you join Minga in the den?” Lee asked softly.

“Why? I know what you’re discussing and as loud as you three were, I’m pretty sure Minga knows as well,” she stated plainly.

“Baby, this is a police investigation. You’re actually not supposed to be in here at all,” Kade told her.

“But you are?” she asked him.

“Krista, I’m a cop.” Stating the obvious, like she didn’t know.

“Not for much longer and in a few more days, you won’t be a cop at all. Not to mention, right now you are a cop not on this case. However, all of this is about me, so if you’re staying, then so am I.” She said all of this calmly, turned to the other two men and finished what she was going to say. “Does anyone have a problem with that?” No one seemed to have a problem with her staying, but the ‘discussion’ was a little quieter and they used so many police terms and codes that she had no idea what they were saying half the time. About an hour and a half later, she’d finally had enough. “I need to go,” she stated flatly. They all turned toward her as she spoke again. “I have things I need to do. I have a house that needs cleaning, and I have work I need to do, none of which is getting done sitting here listening to you three talk in your secret code. And I know you’re doing it on purpose. So carry on and I’ll find a way home.” She informed them. They all just stared at her for a beat.

“Baby, you’re not going anywhere by yourself,” Kade spoke up first.

“And, you can’t go back into your house yet,” Lee said.

“I have to go back to my house,” Krista said.

“No, you don’t.” Kade returned quickly in response. “You can stay with me,” he added.

“For how long?” she asked.

“For as long as it takes. Or longer.” He got close enough to her to wrap his arms around her. “Baby, please. Until this shit is cleared up, just stay at the ranch,” he quietly whispered to her.

“Okay, I guess, but I still need to go back to my house first.” Krista repeated.

“No, you don’t,” Kade said again.

“Irish, I said I would stay with you until I was allowed back into my house, but I need things from there first.” She stressed this because there were things she needed to get. She had only packed a few things for the weekend and if Kade wanted her to stay with him until the police were finished investigating the break-in, she needed a lot more than what she’d packed for just a few days. Although she really didn’t see what more there was to investigate. They knew who it was and she’d heard them talking about DNA they’d collected at the ‘scene’ and was waiting on a positive match to confirm. Kade turned to speak to the other two men.

“We’re going to take a break. I’m taking Krista out, so call me if anything changes or something happens.” Kade turned and walked out the door with her until they reached his truck. Opening the door, he sat her on the seat sideways so she would be facing him. Parting her legs and stepping in between them, he leaned in and kissed her lightly before he spoke again. “Baby, tell me what you need from your house?” he asked her softly.

“I need my car and—” She started, but he interrupted.

“No, you don’t, and I don’t want you out by yourself,” he told her.

“Irish—” She started, but he interrupted her again.

“Krista, please, until all this is over, baby, please promise me you won’t go anywhere by yourself,” he begged her with concern lacing his tone. She took a deep and calming breath and reminded herself that he was trying to look out for her. She felt like he had this ‘need’ to keep her safe and she really didn’t know if that was a good thing or not. She was lying to herself because she did feel safe whenever Kade was around. She felt safer than she’d felt in years but at times he was a little overprotective of her. Okay, he was maybe more than a little overprotective, but he loved her. She knew this and she loved him so for this, and at least for now, she could give him that.