Khan (7 page)

~~~

By the time they landed in DC, Monica
had decided that this was the smartest move she’d ever made. The jet was lovely,
and she’d been served champagne in a fluted glass while eating the goodies from
the Mild Pepper. Some of the things she’d only wanted to try, but had never
been able to afford before.

“How much do I owe you? I don’t have
much, but I always pay people back.” She pulled out her notebook and showed it
to Caitlynne. “I can’t make much of a payment, but as soon as I get one of
these paid off, I’ll be able to pay more.”

“How long do you think you can keep this
up?” Caitlynne had showed her around the massive house and they had settled in
the living room with a roaring fire. “I mean, it’s all well and good that you
pay your bills, but if this guy keeps this up, you’ll be dead, and who will pay
them for you?”

“I don’t know.” She put her things back
in her bag. “I do know that I’m not a freeloader and that I pay my way when I
can. And I never asked for him to do this to me. I’ve been trying to get
someone to listen to me about this for months.”

“I’ll listen to you. And believe it or
not, I want to help you. Tell me, who he is? Tell me who he is and where he
lives and I’ll make sure he doesn’t hurt you again.” Caitlynne sat up in her
chair and looked her right in the eye. “Tell me.”

Monica got up to pace. She didn’t touch
any of the pretty things, but she did so want to. There were pine cones in a
glass jar and pretty shells lying in a row from large to the smallest one. When
she saw a picture of Caitlynne and Walker together with the rest of the Bowens,
her heart twisted a little.

“His dad is something of a big deal in
this area. The last time I was here, he was mayor. I think he’s moved up from
there since then. His mom, someone I’d met once, has parties that people like
me only get to serve at.” She didn’t bother turning when Caitlynne spoke.

“So you’re from here. I thought that you
lived in Rhode Island.” Monica looked at her then. “I’ve done some research on
you. I couldn’t be in the position I’m in without taking precautions.”

Monica nodded. “I’m from here. Rhode
Island is where my father lived. My parents were divorced. My mother…I don’t
have any proof, but I know that Tony killed her and my dad. He was…is obsessed
with having me under his control.”

“Tony who?”

Monica knew that eventually she’d have
to tell her, but skipped answering her for now. She ran her finger down a
picture that had who she thought was Caitlynne as a child. She’d looked so sad.

“I first met him when I was serving at a
function his parents were giving. I didn’t do anything to try and attract his
attention, but he seemed to be everywhere I was. When I went out to my car to
leave, he was there. He told me that he’d had someone tell him which one it
was.” Monica stared out the window that looked out over a lovely park and knew
for some reason that it was her yard and not a park at all. “When he…after he
hurt me that night for telling him that I could drive home, he stalked me for
weeks until I gave in and went out with him. It ended with him holding a gun to
my head and making me eat with him. I even went to his father and he told me
that it would be better for all of us if I simply gave Tony what he wanted. His
father offered to pay me well to let him do what he wanted until he tired of
me.”

“Christ.” Caitlynne didn’t ask again,
for which Monica was grateful for. “When did you figure out he might have
killed your parents?”

“He told me. He said that as long as I
had them, I couldn’t love him properly. He even told me how he’d done it.” She
shivered and watched a bird dance along the snow. “They hadn’t done anything
wrong to him. Neither had I. He simply wanted them gone, and he killed them.”

Her phone rang and when Caitlynne didn’t
answer it, Monica asked her if she wanted her to step out. She shook her head
and asked her to come and sit down. She did, fully expecting Caitlynne to tell
her that she didn’t believe a word she was saying and that she was turning her
over to the police. Before she did that, she wanted Caitlynne to know who he
was.

“His name is Anthony Barr. His parents
are Anthony Senior and Claudine Barr. I know where the mother lives, but not
the dad.” When Caitlynne didn’t move, Monica stood up. “I know that you don’t
believe me. I don’t blame you. I wouldn’t either if I heard this story, but I
would ask that you don’t tell anyone where I am.”

“Sit down. Please.” Caitlynne finally
picked up her phone and answered it this time. “I need you to come here now. Yes,
I know what time it is. It’s time for you to get your ass over here like I told
you. And bring your toys. We’ve got some things to look into.”

Monica looked at the door and wondered
if she could make it. But Caitlynne spoke again, and she was suddenly very
afraid.

“That was a friend of mine who has been
looking into the deaths of a few women in this area. He’s been doing it for a
few years now and he may need your help. He’s told me for years that it was the
Barr boy and that his parents knew about it all along.” Caitlynne stood up, guided
her to the couch, and pushed her down. “I’m going to call my husband, and you’re
going to sit right there until Marshall comes here and talks to you. If you
leave, I’ll call Khan, tell him where you are, and tie you up until he gets
here. You might be surprised to know that as much as I dislike his tactics, I
think you should tell him everything you’ve told me.”

“I can’t. What if they come here? What
if they bring Tony with them when they come? I can’t let anyone hurt him.”
Monica flushed when she realized what she’d said. “These people have money and
they’re not afraid to toss it around to get what they want.”

She grabbed her bag and reached into her
wallet. When she found what she was looking for, she shoved it at Caitlynne. It
was the check that Mr. Barr had written her several months ago when she’d told
him she was going to the police.

“See what they do? They write checks and
think that’s enough. They think that everyone has a price because they do.” She
pressed the check, dirty money, as far as she was concerned, into her hand. “I
don’t have a price and I won’t let them try to buy me off. Not even if it means
I have to run for the rest of my life.”

She started blindly for the door and was
stopped when Caitlynne stepped in front of her. When she tried to get out of
her way as easily as she could, the woman simply put her arms around her and
held her. Monica cried as she was led back to the couch. Caitlynne didn’t pull
away after she had her there, but continued to hold her. When Monica was cried
out, she pulled away, but didn’t leave.

“I’m not usually such a cry baby.” She
smiled at her. “I’ve had a shitty few years. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to
unload on you and get you all wet.”

“Don’t concern yourself with it. Marshall
will be here soon and when he is, we’ll be able to figure this out. And once we
do, I’d like for you to talk to Khan. He’s in a state not knowing where you
are.”

Monica said she’d think about it. She
didn’t think that the man was stable and told her so. After Caitlynne roared
with laughter, she got up to make them something to eat, or so she said. Ordering
in was apparently what she did best. She ordered them Chinese.

Caitlynne also said, “And for the
record, Khan has been hurt as well. Not nearly as badly as you have been, or as
physically, but she did nearly destroy him. He might be able to help in ways
you can’t imagine.”

When Marshall showed up, he had someone
with him. She tried not to stare, but the man looked just like the president.
The President of the United States. And when Caitlynne called him Warren,
Monica knew it was him.

“It’s me, and thank you for noticing.”
He winked at her. “I get no respect from that one and it matters little to her
that I got her the job she currently has.”

“Blow me, asshole.”

Monica looked at the two men and back at
Caitlynne when she told the president he was a prick. This was just too
surreal.

Khan sat on the plane and tried not to
look at his brothers. He’d been in a fight with one or more of them since his
dad had ordered him home the day before yesterday. And now he was finally going
to get to see Monica. And from what Caitlynne had said to him last night, and
she’d said plenty, Monica wasn’t going to take his shit any longer.

“You tell her. Everything, or so help me,
I will. And if I do, I’ll make sure you never find her ass. And you know I can
do it too.” She paused for breath, and he started to tell her what she could do
with her bad self when she continued. “And, Khan, you should know something
else. Tony, the man who is after her, is right here in Washington.”

That shut him up. He asked her what he
needed to do. She didn’t speak for several seconds, and he knew she was crying.

“I don’t know, Khan. I really like this
girl. I know that I teased you about finding someone and her being more than
you can handle, but…” She sniffled. “This girl is almost more than I can
handle. She’s had her parents murdered and so much done to her, yet she
continues on. How does she do it?”

“I’ll fix this. I swear to you, I’ll fix
this.” She said he’d better. “Caitlynne, please don’t keep her from me any
longer. I need to see her. I was…I treated her badly. I treated her like… Walker
said I treated her like an animal.”

“You ordered her around like she was. What
did you expect her to do, Khan? Jump when you said to? Roll over when you
needed to fuck her? She isn’t going to roll over for anyone, least of all you.”

He’d figured that out when he’d broken
down the bathroom door and found her gone. There was blood on the window she’d
climbed out of. And when he’d looked down, he was surprised at how far she’d
dropped to get away from him. Because that was what she’d done, she’d run away
from him.

When they were told they were about to
land, he looked over at Walker. He hadn’t spoken to him in hours and if he was
going to be staying at his house, he wanted it to be better than this. Plus, he
was pretty sure he was going to need his help explaining to Monica what he was.

“I’m sorry.” Walker looked at him then
away. “I truly am, Walker. Not just for upsetting your mate, but for the past
few years. I’ve been…”

“An ass? A prick? Maybe even a dumbass?”
Walker didn’t smile and Khan knew he wasn’t kidding. “You made her cry. Do you
know how hard it was for me not to find you and rip your fucking throat out? How
hard it is for me still not to do it?”

Khan shivered because he knew that
fucking with another’s mate would get you killed whatever your status was in
the family. He nodded, knowing that anything he said now would be nothing
compared to the pain he’d caused him, caused them both.

“Caitlynne said you’re going to fix this
with Monica. You have any plans other than ordering her to believe you? I’m not
sure, but I don’t think that’s going to work with her any longer. She’s been
through a lot.”

And most of it was because of him.
Especially lately, he’d been an overbearing prick, but he was going to show her
he could help her. He got off the plane with the others and told them he needed
to make a couple of stops. There was a limo there to pick them up and take them
to the house. Khan said he would take a cab.

“I’ll go with you. The others can go
ahead.” Walker told the driver to come back for them. “We’ll have some lunch
too.”

The first stop he made was at a florist.
He was standing there looking at all the different colors and kinds and
realized he knew very little about his mate. He looked at Walker when he
touched his arm.

“Overwhelmed?”

Khan nodded.

“Me too, sometimes. Caitlynne isn’t like
most women. She carries a gun, kills the bad guys, and is around more men in
one day that most women are in a lifetime. It’s difficult to be around her when
she smells like so many of them.”

“How do you do it? How do you let her
leave you every day, come back here without you. How do you stand it?” Khan
smiled at the grin Walker gave him. This was going to be good.

“I mark her every night.”

He ended up getting her lilies. They
were pretty and happy-looking to him. He didn’t tell Walker or the man helping
him that, but ordered her two dozen of them. Then he saw the little violet. He
leaned down and looked at the soft, velvety leaves and thought of her skin. The
tiny little flowers reminded him of her eyes, the darkest purple he’d ever
seen. He asked that one of those to go as well.

They ended up having a quick lunch and
went to the mall. This place was huge. After making several stops they called for
the limo to come back, they had filled the trunk as well as most of the back
seats with them. Both he and Walker had bags on their laps as it was. The
driver said he’d have them brought in. Khan carried one bag in himself.

She was still asleep when he got there. The
maid had informed them that Mr. Marshall and the president had left just after
two in the morning and that the young miss had been up when she’d come in and
that had been at six this morning. It was just after two in the afternoon.