All This Time (10 page)

Chapter
Seventeen

“Let’s
go Angel.” Decks takes my hand, lacing our fingers together and Lourdes’ eyes
widen in utter shock. Whirling away from her, turning his back on her because
of me, we advance out the door completely casual, like being a couple is the
most natural thing in the world. We make it a total of two steps away from the
restaurant before Decks stops abruptly, leaning in close, his face completely
serious when he states, “From this moment on you do not bow down to Lourdes
again.”

A
huge smile breaks across my face as I nod. “Thank you for defending me.”

“Always,”
he replies, placing a tender kiss to my forehead. A shiver runs down my spine.
It could be from the blustering air that just unexpectedly whipped up or maybe
it’s from him being so touchy-feely all of a sudden, but whatever it is, I hope
he doesn’t notice my reaction and think that he is turning me on. I cringe
inwardly holding back an encore, from repulsion instead.

“Hillary?”
Decks turns and I glance around him to see Blues strolling away from a blacked
out Bentley.

He
is dressed in a white long sleeve button down, fitted ultra faded blue jeans
and black cowboy boots. His hair is a tousled mess, like he has been running
his hand through it repeatedly. Sauntering up to us, he demonstrates that exact
movement, proving my theory and looking unbelievably beautiful while doing it.
I can’t stop the enchanted smile that breaks across my face when his eyes land
on me. Only once have I seen him bite his lip, and that was the one and only
time we had sex, until tonight. My god, what that one little action does to my
neglected girly-bits.
Sonuvabitch
, I’m freaking blushing again.

Hearing
Decks clear his voice before speaking to Blues, I reign in my inner-hussy, who
would kill to have another go at the sex-god. “Hey Ethan, you don’t want to
keep that hellcat inside waiting too long. She’s already jumped Angel tonight.
Expect to be her next target for keeping her waiting.” Decks smirks at his
sister’s boyfriend while drawing my hand back into his. Blues’ eyes zero in our
intertwined fingers before flicking up to mine sadly. Guilt rears its ugly
little head and I swallow down my nervousness.

“Is
that so?” His manner is controlled, but the jerking motion of his jawbone indicates
that he could be a deranged man teetering on a ledge, ready to plummet to his
death. I don’t understand why, but I want so badly to reach over and stroke my
hand over it to soothe him. My body heat flares up to a rocket launching blaze
when his eyes move over from boring holes into Decks to softening when they
meet mine a second time. “What’s her problem with Angel?” Managing to get my
shit together somehow, I answer before Decks has a chance.

“It’s
nothing and I’m fine, Decks.” I stroke my free hand over his forearm leading
down to where he’s holding my fingers captive.

“I
heard about Rad,” Blues says politely. I nod, but reflectively grip Decks’ hand
tighter at the mention of Russ’ cover name.

“Rad
is history. When he gets out I’m giving him his walking papers,” Decks states
flatly, causing me to flinch completely unprepared for that bit of information.

Dammit,
I’ll be left alone in this thing.
I sigh inwardly.
Fuck it, I will get
it done
.

“Good.
I didn’t like the way he handled some
things
,” Blues suggests, taking a
step toward me, but seeing my eyes widen he stops before embarrassing us by
revealing too much with his concern.
Shit, he better not screw this up for
me, Decks is my ticket inside his uncle’s inner circle
. I narrow my eyes at
him while giving a slight shake to my head, and he obliges my silent plea by
shifting his stance toward Decks again. Another large flurry of chilly wind
wraps around us and I run my free hand over my arm.

“Well,
I guess I should go face the
music
.” He winks at me, like music is now
our little inside joke, before turning away. “I’ll see you at the wedding.”

“Yeah,”
Decks
nods,
“See you there.”

“Good
night, Angel.” Blues enters the restaurant not waiting around for my reply.

Escorting
me to his car that’s waiting at the curb with a valet, Decks strokes his thumb
between our enclosed hands. It’s a sweet gesture, completely out of character
for this player. I shake off the foolishly wound up feelings Blues gave me and
settle into the passenger seat of his Escalade and think about my new
situation. Russ being out of the group freaking sucks. I really hoped he could
get us on the inside, but it looks as through Decks has other plans, plans that
eliminate Russ from the X’kapz infinitely.

“Are
you alright?”
Decks asks
glancing over quickly as we
pull onto the highway.

“Great,”
I smile thoughtfully. “Thank you for dinner and for being such a gentleman.
It’s rare that a woman like me is treated with such care.”

He
chews on the inside of his cheek nervously before responding. “Angel, I’m
sorry. I just don’t think I can do this whole friends thing with you. I know I
agreed to give you all the time and space you need to get over Rad and that I
asked you to move in with me, but…” He pauses, chewing on his damn cheek again.

Did
I screw this up already
?
What is making him say this now
?
Could
he sense things between me and Blues
?

Taking
a ragged breath, he starts, “I need to ask you something and I expect you to be
completely honest with me.” He glances at me with total seriousness drawn on
his face, dissolving the sweet look he had throughout dinner and even after
putting his bitchy sister in her place. Now he wants the truth. I freeze. My
heart rate spikes and I swallow hard. Has he made me? Shit, I was so distracted
by Blues that I didn’t even think that this could be where Decks is going with
his nervousness. I nod slowly, stupefied and troubled by what he could possibly
ask me that has him acting so weird.

“Will
you be my date for my cousin’s wedding Thanksgiving weekend?”

“What?”
I release a loud breath and chuckle, “Wow, um…You realize that I thought you
were going to tell me that you didn’t want me living with you, right?”

“What?”
He jerks around, fully facing me and taking his eyes off the road for far too
long. Surprise and sheer confusion is written all over his face when he
demands, “Hell no, that is the total opposite of what I want!”

“Okay,
then I would love to be your date,” I answer, smiling at him because I’m happy
I lived another day without screwing up this job.

“Thank
you,” he says, pulling into Natalie’s driveway. “After you tell Nat and Wise
about moving, will you call me?”

I
nod, “Sure.”

“Will
I need to bring a rental truck and some guys to help move your things?”

“No,
it should all fit in the back of your truck.” I gesture toward the back cargo
area.

Decks
hands me his cell and I quickly add my number to his contacts list. Using my
tech skills, I scan through the names, making a mental note to run a tracer on
his line soon, all while he stares out the front window happily. My heart
stills in my chest when I see one name in particular that I did not expect to
find under his friends list. With trembling hands I pass the phone over to him
and he grabs for me while taking it back.

“Hey,”
he says in a soft voice clearly aware of my trembling. “Are you alright?”

“Yes,”
my voice comes out shaky, but I smile, needing to make him a true believer once
again.

“I
swear to you that you won’t regret this Angel,” he insists implying that my
nervousness is about moving in with him and I boldly use it as my excuse.

“Okay,”
I whisper and then offer him a gigantic lie in response, “I trust you.”’

He
slides out of his truck and rushes around to open my door continuing his gentlemanly
tactics. Leading me up to the front door, he stops just as I expect him to,
only inches away from my personal bubble. He cups the side of my face, staring
down at me with an eerie puzzlement possessing his facial muscles. A heated
desire swirls wildly in his dark chocolate eyes and I swallow hard, knowing
that he is about to really lay one on me.

Inching
down closer, his lips hover over mine as he whispers against them, “I will only
kiss you again when you want it.”

He
steps away, dropping his hands and then flashes one of the sweetest smiles I’ve
ever seen him bestow to anyone. Okay, this game is getting interesting.
Charming took a backseat to what Decks is hauling now. He’s a reasonably
intelligent man, but little does he know, I will never want him kissing me
again.
Ever.

“Good
night, Angel.” I chuckle as he bounds off the steps toward his truck beaming,
like a teenager who discovered a miraculous defense for blasted pimples.

“I’ll
see you later.”

I
watch until his head lights disappear into the night. Releasing a heavy breath,
I scrub both hands over my face. Tonight was interesting in more ways than one,
but that last bit of information is rather troubling. Why in the hell does
Decks have Mad Hatter’s phone number stored in his cell and how bad is this
going to come back to bite me in the ass?

Pushing
open the door, I find Natalie sitting in the living room alone, watching the
latest episode of Sons of Anarchy. “Hey Angel, I want to hear every detail
about your date, but you have got to give me five minutes.” Natalie says,
staring at the TV while holding up her hand, emphasizing her plea. “Jax is
about to grace me with his tight, little, naked tushie. That priceless
commodity deserves a moment of silence out of respect.”

I
shake my head and chuckle once knowing that she lives in the exact world she
guilelessly swoons over and doesn’t even realize it. Plus, from what I can tell
she has a better piece of ass sleeping upstairs in her own bed right this
minute. The girl is seriously delusional.

“I’m
going up. Come get me when you’re done.” I tell her, climbing the stairs.

Before
I get inside my room, Wise comes out of the hall bathroom. “Hey Angel, did you
have a nice time with Decks?”

“Yep,”
I nod, “he was a total gentleman.”

“Ain’t
that some shit,” laughing softly, Wise scratches his head and mumbles, “Decks,
a gentleman, never thought I’d see the day.” He smiles genuinely and it even
shows through in his eyes. He’s really happy for his friend. Too bad, I will
never live up to his or Decks’ expectation in the girlfriend department. “You
really are something kiddo.”

“Nah,
I think it’s been lying dormant for years. He just needs a little push and he
could be one heck of a catch for
some
lucky lady.” There, maybe that
will aid in him understanding my intentions.

He
pierces me with a strange look and asks, “But not you, right?”

Before
I confirm his guess, I analyze Wise for just a second, seeing something strange
move through his eyes. He reaches over, places a hand on the side of my face
and strokes my cheek affectionately. A weird shiver runs down my spine, but I
hold still, uncertain as to why he feels the need to touch me out of the blue.
He has never behaved this way and I’m getting a little creeped out by it.

“Be
careful,” Wise whispers, dropping his hand and stepping into his bedroom.

Standing
in the hallway, my mouth hangs open for a solid minute. Tonight has completely
thrown me for a loop. This shit is getting weirder by the minute. I think I
will pass on sharing with Natalie tonight. After that affectionate display from
her husband, I’m not sure I can face her. Shaking my head to force away the
crazies threatening to take up rent in my now vacant cranium, I rush into my
room, change quickly and then slip under the covers. Maybe I can hide away from
them.

A
feminine knock on the door comes about ten minutes later, but I remain silent
and even hold my breath. Natalie leaves after saying goodnight through the
closed door, and I couldn’t be happier about escaping that awkwardness.

Chapter
Eighteen

November

Wednesday
morning before Thanksgiving, I hop a flight from Atlanta going to South Bend,
Indiana and then pick up a flight retracing my path somewhat, ending with my
real destination, Key West. I take one of Granddad’s speedboats he boards on
the island just for such occasions crossing the gulf to Willow so I can pick up
my car parked in the private parking garage on one of the public docks. I can’t
be sure if I’m being trailed or not so all the James Bond backtracking is
completely necessary in order to keep my family safe. I take the long way
around the island before pulling up to the Walker mansion an hour later.

“Who’s
that sneaking into my house?” a heavy southern accent rumbles through the foyer
as I shut the door behind me. Peering up the stairs, I spot Granddad, Mac
Walker, trotting down looking better than he has in a long time.

“Hey
ya’ Granddad,” I giggle my greeting when he lifts me off the ground wrapping me
in one of his famous bear hugs. “Okay, you can put me down now. I’m getting too
old for this type of welcoming, you know.”

“Never,”
he demands patting me on top of my head after dropping back on solid ground.
“You’ll always be my little sugar dumpling, and as long as I’m able, I’ll be
picking you up anytime I want.”

Taking
my bag off my shoulder, Granddad leads me through the house toward my room.
There is a commotion coming from the den and I quirk an eyebrow up at Granddad
when he glances back at me to see if I heard it too.

“Your
brothers are going at it again. If you ask me, I say we send them out back and
let them fight it out.” He chuckles, pushing open the bedroom door and dropping
my bag at the foot of the bed.

“You
know that wouldn’t be fair to Morgan. Marcus has his black belt now,” I remind him,
tossing my purse onto the bed. “Let’s go stop it before someone gets hurt.”

Granddad
laughs. “You always try to make things better. After all of these years, those
two may not be fixable, Sammie.”

“Yeah,
well, I’ll never give up on them.” I shrug, entering behind him into the family
room, which now has a noise level equivalent to a live rock concert.

“You’re
making a foolish mistake,” Morgan shouts at Marcus from across the room. “I
don’t know why you have to be so damn condescending. Marcus, when you are
offered something this fucking incredible, you take it. It’s smart business.
Don’t throw this opportunity back into Granddad’s face.” Ooh, low blow, even
for Morgan.

“Just
shut the hell up already,” Marcus growls angrily from across the room. “I don’t
have to explain myself to you, Morgan.”

“He’s
right about that and besides we’ve already discussed Marcus’ plans with Walker
Corporation,” Granddad shuts down Morgan’s little attack, but my baby brother
doesn’t look happy about it. He glowers at Granddad as he heads straight over
to his lazy boy, sits down with a low grunt and then reclines back instantly.
“You’re the one to handle the next generation Morgan. Let your brother be.”

“Fine,”
Morgan snaps relenting on his fight for Granddad’s sake, but I can see that
this argument is far from over.

“Happy birthday idiots!”
I shout out my favorite nicknames
for my baby brothers. I walk over to Marcus and hug him before turning toward
his twin.

“Oh,
the other family traitor decides to grace us with her presence. How freaking
fortunate are we?” Morgan snarls, still sullen with Marcus impending defection
from WC.

“Morgan,
I’ll not tell you again to let it go,” Granddad snaps. “Your Gran will be home
any minute and I’ll not have her upset with your continuous disagreements.
Understood?”

“Yes
sir,” Morgan responds like a pouty three-year-old, dropping onto the sofa,
crossing his arms tightly over his chest, clearly still very pissed off and
sulking. It’s been a year since I’ve seen my brothers and from what I can tell
their relationship has taken a severe nose dive into bitter sibling rivalry, at
least on Morgan’s part.

“Thanks
Sam,” Marcus says sincerely in response to my greeting. Polar opposite of his
identical twin, he looks relaxed leaning back casually on his seat at the bay
window overlooking the ocean.

I
arch an eyebrow up and mouth to him, “What’s his problem?” but he only gives a
slight shoulder shrug in return. Whatever is going on with Morgan, I hope it
gets sorted soon. He resembles
a loose
cannon poised
at the heart of battle, ready to explode and willing to take as many casualties
with him when he goes.

“I
smell biscuits,” I moan cheerfully, rubbing my growling tummy. “Did Gran cook
before she left this morning?”

“There’s
a whole mess of grub waiting for you Hon. Go fix a plate and then come pile up
on the sofa with us for the first game of the long weekend.”

I
giggle and eagerly take off toward the fabulous scents wafting from the
kitchen. Pulling open the bread warmer, I take out two huge biscuits, pile on the
apple-butter, and top it off with a hefty serving of my favorite food group,
mmm
bacon
! The amazing aroma assaults my nose
so I grab extra pieces before pulling out a platter of fruit from the
refrigerator.

“Can
we talk?” Marcus asks, sidling into a barstool at the island, pinning me with
sad puppy dog eyes.

“You
know it,” I mumble around my first huge bite of biscuit and then moan
contently.

“He’s
really getting on my fucking nerves, Sam. I’m not sure what’s happened, but
about three months ago he became that little shit you just encountered.”

I
bob my head, chewing down my second big bite before washing it down with a sip
of coffee. “He seems angry or jealous. He has never been that way before. Do
you know if something happened recently?”

Marcus’
eyes shift away from me and I see some strong emotions rolling through them,
making the light green turn a hunter shade. Obviously something is going on
with Morgan or Marcus has had something else happen that he doesn’t want me to
know about. God, I hope it’s not girl problems again.

“I’m
not sure if it’s who he’s hanging out with, but he has been going to the Goth
club in town every time we come home now. Maybe their hardcore attitudes are
rubbing off on him. I don’t know. Whatever it is, I have become a target for
his hatefulness. You know, I don’t really give a damn what he says to me or
about me, but his attacks aren’t just reserved for me anymore. I overheard him
on a conference call last week with a new intern and the vulgarity he released
on that poor girl was embarrassing,” Marcus says, sighing and plucking a piece
of bacon off my plate.

“Hey,
get your own,” I snarl and the little shit laughs while devouring the stolen
deliciousness. I pull my plate away from his extra long reach. Dang, this kid
has really grown since the last time I saw him and I’m missing so much.
Where
the heck did that come from
? “Have you spoken with dad about him?”

“Uh,
no,” Marcus shakes his head angrily, “Dad doesn’t give two shits about my
opinion on anything. Besides, you know Barret would encourage Morgan to throw
his weight around over
all who are beneath him
.” Marcus quips, mocking a
haughty tone and air quoting the catchphrase we gave our father years ago.

“This
is true.” I pause, wondering if Morgan has been dabbling in drugs. Then again,
he doesn’t act high or stoned so I’m probably just directing my line of work on
his selfish behavior. Whatever his problem is I hope that it doesn’t involve
illegal narcotics. Whether or not Morgan is my little brother, I will not
tolerate him being a drug user. After this case is behind me and when I find
some free time, I need to dig into this situation a little further. “Is he
doing anything else that’s unusual or off for Morgan?”

“The
only other thing that has become
extreme
is the number of women he has
been screwing.”

“What
do you mean?” I ask halfheartedly, giving him a cringe and hoping he
understands that I really don’t want details of my brother’s sex life.

“He
goes through women like he’s on a mission,” Marcus smirks devilishly, “I know
we’re fucking irresistible as hell, but Sam I’m not exaggerating when I say
that he brings home a different woman every damn night.”

“Damn,
I would agree, that is excessive.” Chewing on my last piece of bacon Marcus
didn’t steal, I sort through my memory bank for any drugs that could make his
demeanor change so rapidly and yet doesn’t have the other usual side effects. I
draw a blank on anything that can cause this total transformation.

“So,
changing the subject,” Marcus segues, leaning his back against the chair. “I
have my law enforcement exam lined up for next summer. I put Kole on notice
that I probably won’t be returning back to the gym. I’m hoping the state puts
me on the southern regions, but I picked central Alabama as my second choice.
Who knows, we might be able to see each other more often, if they send me
there.”

My
stomach flips with thinking about Marcus possibly coming to visit me in
Georgia. I need to tell him a little bit about what’s going on to keep him
safe. All I need is for him to show up and blow my cover. For the next hour I
explain what I can about the “Busting Kennedy’s” case and he listens with rapt
admiration. Marcus will make a great cop someday. I just hope dad doesn’t
disown him for his choices like he did me.