Nailed (Marked For Love #1) (13 page)

"Don't you miss your family?" I asked, eyeing Clyde.

A cat and some photographs were all I had left of my family.

"Foster care." She gave me a cheeky smile. "Now, the suit..."

I didn't feel comfortable enough to tell her everything. I didn't feel comfortable telling
anyone
everything. I barely even trusted Wynn, and more than anything I really just wanted all of this to be over, even though "over" didn't necessarily equate with any kind of a resolution or future. I chose to keep it simple.

"He's a very bad man."

"And the new guy? The one you've been spending time with?"

"Brother of a very bad man," I said. "Why the hell are you here, Tara?"

"I saw your face earlier when he came steaming through the complex like a fucking freight train. You were scared shitless, girl." She sipped at her whiskey and pulled Clyde into her lap.

Funny how he only protested being held when it was me. I could even hear his motor running.

"If something happens to me, would you take him?"

"The cat? Sure. But nothing's gonna happen to you, Bonnie. We need you."

***

After Tara left I paced a little longer, until I couldn't stand being trapped inside anymore and went for a walk. The sun hadn't quite set, and there was a breeze kicking up hard enough to stir dust and leave your mouth tasting like the desert. There was no movement from Wynn's apartment, just lamplight from the living room window, no shadows moved around and I tried to imagine what the two brothers were talking about, or planning.

From the apartment below him came the sound of yelling and glass breaking. A minute later Tan came storming out
again
, Kaylee hot on his heels, tossing DVDs in his wake. One bounced off his back and hit the pavement with a clatter. I stood partially hidden by the bushes watching them for a few more minutes. After he was gone, Kaylee and Maria stood in the doorway, arms wrapped around each other, worried expressions on both of their faces.

I debated whether to go see if they were okay when a voice from behind me caught my attention. "Nothing but trouble."

"Huh?"

Old Homer stood in his doorway, shaking his bald head. He was dressed in a white t-shirt, grey workpants and black suspenders, his face clean shaven even this late in the day. "Young folks are nothing but trouble these days. Lots of goings on lately."

"There sure has been." Smiling, I walked a little closer. How much had an old man that everyone, myself included, dismissed seen? Or heard? What else did he know?

"You keeping yourself out of trouble?" He gave me a toothy smile that seemed to hint at the fact he knew I hadn't been.

"Of course. Do I look like the trouble type to you?"

With a chuckle and a wave of his hand he stepped back in his apartment and closed the door behind him.

Guess I was trouble.

I walked the complex a little longer, surprised at how calm everything seemed. Even over at Darcy's. I peeked in the kitchen window for old-time's sake. She and Brad were watching a movie. It was almost boring. With nothing to do and nowhere to go I took a long hot shower and finished off the last of the whiskey Tara had left behind.

***

Wynn came knocking about three in the morning, his fingers beating a tattoo on the bedroom window until I finally woke up enough to push my hair off my face and peek through the blinds.

"Let me in," he mouthed.

I sat up, swinging my legs off the bed, and headed for the front door, tripping over Clyde along the way. He hissed and took off, scurrying for his favorite hiding place in my closet.

"You alone?" He was barefoot, dressed in sweats and a rumpled t-shirt, his hair all standing on end like he'd just gotten out of bed—which he had.

"No, I've got Brad, the super-mechanic, here." I swung the door open and waved him in.

"Very funny," he said, stepping inside.

Even though it was still early, I crossed to the kitchen and flipped the switch on the coffee pot, totally unprepared for the feel of Wynn pressed against me.

His hands slid up my bare arms, leaving goose bumps in their wake, and squeezed my shoulders. "Everything's going to be okay."

"Can I get some sort of money-back guarantee?"

"I promise."

"Pardon me if I'm not feeling reassured." I turned around, wanting to see his face when I asked him what I was going to ask him. "Why is John here?"

He sighed, his head sagging so I couldn't see his eyes before he met my gaze again. "He's afraid I won't finish the job."

"What exactly does 'finish the job' mean?" My fingers tightened on the edge of the counter.

"He means—" he reached under my t-shirt, his hands skimming the edge of my panties, "—that I won't finish the job. Nothing more—" his hands slid higher, to my waist, "—nothing less."

"How can you think about
that
at a time like this?" I sighed, my belly tightening ever so slightly and a tingling starting between my legs.

"I missed you." He grinned sheepishly.

It was difficult to tell in the dim light, but if I didn't know any better, I'd swear he was blushing. I'll admit, my knees felt the tiniest bit weak. I was flattered and couldn't resist a smile.

Chapter Twenty

She was practically smirking at him. Wynn bit back a laugh.

He really had missed sleeping with her. He'd laid awake for hours, tossing and turning and listening to the sound of John snoring from his made-up bed on the living room couch.

Wynn needed the reassurance of being here almost as much as he needed to reassure her that everything was going to be okay. He'd worried all evening that she'd take off, but even she must have realized how futile that would have been.

"I thought you would have been here sooner. Matter of fact, when someone came knocking earlier I thought it
was
you."

"So Brad really did come by." He grinned, knowing she was just yanking his chain.

"No, Tara. You could have knocked me over with a feather when I saw her standing on my doorstep."

"Tara?" His hands stopped their wandering. They did
not
need anyone else getting involved.

"Yeah. She was at the pool when John showed up. She's a lot of things, but apparently, not dumb."

He leaned back and stared down at her, one eyebrow arched.

"I was just killing time…waiting for you? Wynn, what are we going to do about John? I know he's your brother, but he makes me nervous as hell."

"Relax. I'll keep a reign on him." One way or another.

"Why didn't you rent a room under a fake name? Or did you?" Her eyes narrowed slightly with the last question.

"A serious miscalculation on my part. I gave JoJo my real first name because I'd already given
you
my real name." He grinned, earlier thoughts of a good snuggle with his girl nowhere near forgotten. "Don't worry about John. If Dad finds out he's here, he's in even bigger trouble than I am if I fuck up this job."

"What exactly happens if you fail?" She turned and retrieved two cups from the cupboard.

He wasn't in any mood for coffee, or talk about John and his dad. He wanted to spend what was left of the night with Julie.

He took the mugs from her and set them on the counter, then let his hands slide up the inside of her shirt again to cup her breasts. Her nipples hardened to tiny pebbles under his fingers and his own body responded, blood pooling in his groin and swelling his cock.

"I can't believe you woke me up for this." Her sleepy-eyed grin made him chuckle.

"I'm a pig at heart."

"No you're not," she replied. She shrugged out of his embrace and led him to the bedroom. Not that he took a whole lot of leading.

He dove for the bed, sliding under her down comforter and taking her with him.

"Impatient much," she teased, wiggling out of her sleep shirt.

The bed was still a bit warm and smelled like her, like vanilla with just a touch of lemon.

He ran his hands along the length of her. Her smooth skin covering muscle developed from manual labor, her body still lush with rounded hips and full breasts.

She wriggled away, diving under the covers, her warm breath tickling his skin. She fondled his balls, gently rolling them between her fingers; her tongue was soft as it expertly caressed his cock. The previous day's tension ebbed away, and he relaxed against the pillows, moaning to himself just about the time Julie popped up like a jack-in-the-box.

"Besides, Brad was over at Darcy's tonight."

Laughing, he grabbed her waist, positioning her over his cock. "Oh yeah?"

"Yeah." She slid downward, the walls of her pussy milking him.

"You miss it?" he gasped, feeling himself grow harder.

"Not as much as I'm gonna miss this."

***

They lay curled up afterward, Julie's head cradled on his chest, listening to the world outside come to life. Doors slammed, a baby cried, the smell of bacon frying somewhere teased Wynn's nose and made his stomach growl.

"I'm scared," she muttered.

He pulled her tighter against him, his hand gently massaging her shoulder. "So am I, babe."

She pushed away from him, struggling to sit up. "I can't believe I have to go to work with all this shit going on. What are your plans for the day?"

"See if I can't convince John to get the hell out of Dodge, preferably today. And cook you dinner. Your choice," he coaxed.

"How 'bout we just grill some steaks. Something easy." She pulled fresh panties and a bra out of the dresser drawer and slid into them while she talked.

He got dressed and reheated the coffee, pressing a cup into her hand before he kissed her good-bye. "See ya for dinner."

"Yeah," she mumbled, her eyes focused on the kitchen floor, her head obviously a million miles away.

He walked the upstairs perimeter slowly, taking a look around as he did. The entire complex was quiet like the calm before the storm. The storm being John, who chose that moment to step outside, dressed in a pair of pajama bottoms, his hair flopping over his forehead.

"Get back in there," he hissed, pointing at the front door. No way could John hear him from this distance.

John raised his right hand from behind his back and revealed a gun, silencer affixed. Wynn quickened his pace, rounding the last corner at a jog, the sting of his feet slapping against damp concrete and hot coffee sloshing on his hand minor inconveniences to the one his brother was about to cause.

"What the fuck are you doing?" he demanded, shoving John back inside and slamming the door behind them. "What the hell are you thinking waving your
fucking
gun around like fucking Michael Corleone? You trying to scare the little kids down there, or the old man? Does Dad know you've taken up smoking crack? Jesus H. Christ!"

"You know I don't do drugs." His serious expression prevented Wynn from knowing if he was joking or not.

"How can you be so fucking calm?" He gave his brother another hard nudge in the shoulder, wincing when hot coffee splashed on his hand.

"It's my job to be calm."  John sank down on the couch, the gun cradled in his lap like a favorite pet.

Jesus!
How could anyone be so smart and so stupid at the same time. Wynn ran his hand through his hair and blew out a heavy breath, then sank down in the chair and said just as calmly, "What the hell were you doing walking around out there with a loaded gun?"

"Habit." He shrugged, nonchalantly.

Wynn shook his head, wishing he had something stronger than coffee to drink. "You
need
to
leave
."

"Not 'till this job is done."

"This isn't
your
job, John. It's mine, and I'm going to finish it without
you
."

"No, you're not." John gave him an arrogant smirk. "You're too wrapped up in that woman to see straight. You can't finish this job without me because you can't see past your dick."

"You mean like I couldn't do the last job without you?" he asked referring to Garrofolo's toe. "That went well."

"You have a tendency to puss out."

"You have a tendency to shoot first and ask questions later. You're a trouble maker, John. Furthermore, you're trouble I don't need right now. Why don't you go back to Florida and try to find Lisa?"

"Yeah let's talk about that. Why the fuck did you call her?"

"I didn't." Now it was Wynn's turn to smirk.

"You are helping the enemy, Wynn."

"They're not the enemy! And this is not a war! I'm being paid to get information for them. Nothing more. Nothing less. This isn't Afghanistan, John! This is the real world and Bonnie...
Julie
has already lost her sister and her life. I'm not taking anything else away from her. I'm going to find the information, and I'm going to help her start over somewhere else. And you—" he jabbed a finger in his brother's direction, "—are going to stay the fuck out of my way. Do you understand me?"

"Fine. Whatever you say, but I'm not leaving."

Wynn felt like grabbing his brother's gun off the table and shooting the smirk off his face. "I need you to get off my ass, John!"

"Okay."

"And stay out of my way."

"Fine!"

"Fine."

Chapter Twenty-One

I watched the brothers, trying to figure out what was going on. What they'd been fighting about while they carried in bags of groceries from John's rental car. "Everything okay?"

"Everything's fine," Wynn said, coming over to give me a hug.

"That's very sweet," John said, breezing past us.

"Jealous?"

"Far from it, honey. I'm here to make sure you don't get my brother killed or worse, disowned."

"Well, maybe you should stop being a dick and help us then, asshole."

"You eat with that mouth?"

"And kiss your brother with it too! You eat with those hands?" I countered, referring to how he made his living.

He pokered up, his lips turning thin and at the memory of last night's fight, I was afraid. I swallowed the lump of fear in my throat, thinking it was easy to see what made him so good at his job. He was a cold-hearted bastard. But damnit, I'd scored one for the home team.