Standing By: A Knight's Tale #2 (28 page)

“It’s four o’clock in the morning your time, what do you want, Mitchel?”

“You.” His slurry tone is all familiar. The one he had during our crazy night in Vegas. “I miss you, Baby.”

“You’re drunk.” A statement he doesn’t confirm or deny. “I’m going to hang up and tomorrow you’ll send me a text apologizing for being an ass—if you remember which I doubt.”

I disconnect the call, wondering what’s going on with him, but I don’t have enough time to even think about his name when he calls again. I tap decline… twelve times. The man has a hard time understanding the word
no
and giving up is not part of his philosophy. My choices are turning off the phone or answering it. The former will invite him to leave a voicemail and the last thing I want tomorrow is to deal with slurry voicemails from him.

The next time he calls I answer, “Leave me alone.” Then disconnect.

That doesn’t help, he calls again, and I give up.

“What do you want, Mitchel?” I keep my voice even. “Not sure about you but these two past days were stressful for me. I need to rest.”

“I need you,” he says and I groan. ‘Why now? Why me?’

“Mitch, I miss you too.” I try to be understanding. “It’s natural. We lived together for three months, became good friends and what not. Now it’s time to move on, I’m still your friend, just… we need to keep it simple. As in no more baking together, dinners together…” God I want to cry, he’s my best friend, my partner in crime… I don’t want to lose us.

“I love you, Hay, and I can’t fix our shit until we kill the bad guys.”

“Wait, what did you say?” My voice hardens.
What is this crazy guy talking about?
“Who is
we
, and what guys? The trafficking cell your brother is hunting? The same one that burned down my place?”

“Yes,” he responds, not changing his mellow, slurry tone. “
We
as in my brother Jake and I, we’re going to take care of them.”

“Mitchel Knight, you’re drunk and being stupid… your brother is a trained special-op. agent, you’re a chef-business man. Get the hell out of New York before you get hurt—don’t you dare play spies and villains with him.”

“I won’t leave. They burned down your place, Hayl,” he says, as if that makes him a badass that can take on an entire platoon and terrorists—Rambo.

“Mitchel, listen to me, if you so much as break a nail because of this, I’m going to personally shoot you,” I can’t believe he’s considering this…what is he going to do anyway?

“I have to do it, fight them.” I hear a thump on the other side of the line. “They tampered with my woman’s dream. I couldn’t start my plan to fix our shit… now I have to grovel to get you back. You need to know that I love you, Hayes.”

“You are drunk, Mitchel, this is the alcohol talking,” I don’t add that maybe it’s also the fear of losing any of his family members because I don’t know if that’s even true.

“It’s not… I had a plan, Hayes.”

“Don’t mess with my head, Mitchel,” I protest but the tone is more like a plea. After I clear my head from hearing
I love you
, I speak firmly. “Here’s what you have to do: sober up, grow up, get your shit together and don’t get killed. If after all that, you still want to talk about the plan you had… if it even existed, then we’ll talk.”

I turn off my phone and lean my head against my pillow shutting my eyes tightly. It’s like him to try to protect those he cares about, to shield and in this case perhaps play the vengeful hero… which he isn’t.

“Please, protect him,” I pray before I try to go back to sleep which I know is useless to try. I’m not going to be able to rest peacefully until I know he’s out of danger.

Mitch

I
rest my
head on top of my forearms the room keeps spinning, and I can’t find the strength to either head to my room to take a shower or to the bar shelf to open another bottle of scotch. If I hadn’t pulled away from her days ago, she wouldn’t be thinking that I don’t love her. I love Hayley; I love that sweet pocket-size control freak who wrapped me around her little finger and made me a believer of lists and sweet sugary stuff. My heart twists as I remember her final words.

The front door of my apartment opens, but I don’t lift my head to see who it is. If someone came to shoot me, I’d be thankful for that right now.

“You’re drunk,” I hear Jake’s voice. Then a hand pulls my head up by the hair. “Yes, he’s definitely shit-faced drunk. Get the shower ready, Li, I’ll drag him to the bathroom.” Liam lets my head go banging it against the table. “I’m thinking clothes on; the water will wash away the disgusting odor.”

“The sweet bakery aroma is gone,” Liam says. “Where’s Hayley? I’m here to take her to Tuscany with Emma, Mom and Dad.”

“She left with her father, but not before she told me to go to hell… I fucked up.” I tell them as Jake drags me to the shower. “While in the tattoo parlor, I made this plan… I had to push her away; there was a plan—”

“Yes,” Liam says, pushing me into the shower room. “I clearly remember you being distant with her but I didn’t want to think my big brother was capable of such an idiotic move… Why did you let her go?”

“Because she was in danger,” Jake answers, as the frozen pallets of water sting my head and soak my clothes.

The water only washes the stench, not the pain. My brothers leave the bathroom while I undress and bathe. As I finish up and leave the bathroom to get dressed, I smell coffee, and I’m thankful my brothers are here.

“Slow down there, sweetheart,” Liam is on the phone. “Well, once this is over, I’ll head to Seattle and we’ll sit down to draw a plan. Yes, as you said,
Pieces of Heaven
will rise from the ashes and become a successful business. I’m happy to hear that. You need a team, and I know plenty about your business. Then we agree I’ll give you a family discount. Call us if there’s anything you need.”

“Hayley?” I ask him as he hangs up the phone.

“Yes,” Jake responds. “She called me because a couple of my goons—her words—arrived at her doorstep. So…” He smirks. “Drunken wedding, nice.”

“No, the best part was… ‘
Mitch will never love me.’
” Liam tries to imitate her soft voice. “‘
He’s still in love with Chloe and Jordan, do you know he was about to propose to Jordan before he found her with another guy?’
”

That woman can’t keep the lid on once it’s off… fuck.

“Clarify this, Mitch, when she said
Chloe Anderson
… did she mean… Emma’s sister, Chloe Anderson?” Jake smirks, my head pounds and I only have enough strength to grab a mug, pour coffee and drink some. “You fucked the whore?” He states, not waiting for me to reply. “High-end escort with a few addictions-sweet girl, Hayley, for not calling her—a crack-whore. Emma will appreciate the sentiment.” Jake crosses his arms and crooks his eyebrow. “Have you been checked for STD’s… please tell me you used condoms when you had sex with Chloe? Did you pay her? I recall her wanting to charge me a thousand for a blow job, how much for the whole thing?”

“Shut up,” I groan as my headache increases. “I had no fucking idea that she was a whore. I never paid her.”

“What about Jordan?” Liam asks. “Is that why the two of you broke up?” I lift a shoulder not wanting to answer. “Up until Hayley, Mom still had hopes about Jordan, you should have told us. I’m glad Emma stopped her from inviting Jordan to the wedding.”

“Yeah, I can see the feisty munchkin poking Jordan for cheating on you.” Both start to laugh like idiots.

“Neither Chloe or Jordan matter, I don’t give a fuck about either one of them.” I groan. “After what happened, I chose to play it safe, no harm no foul. I cared for both, and neither one of them thought it imperative to break up with me before cheating. It hurt; I can’t even begin to imagine how it’d be if that happened with someone I loved.”

“You drink like you have a death wish.” Jake points at the table with the bottles I drank overnight. “Why did you detach yourself from Hayley, then?”

“It’s complicated… you only need to know that I adore her; she’s smart, independent, fun and keeps up with my shit. I can be myself with her.” I tell them; avoiding the fact for the past few months, she’s been changing, coming out of her cocoon and becoming an extraordinary woman. “I have two fucking tattoos… how much do you think I care about her? After they finished inking me, I got cold feet. What if I fall for her? Too late, I not only have fallen for her, I plummeted. That’s what these drawings screamed that night.” I point at the compass on top of a ship steering wheel. Not telling them, I had made her my guide, the guide of our relationship. “I had to do things right for her but fucked it up before I set the plan in gear.”

“We finish this job,” Jake rolls his eyes. “As I return to spend the last weeks of my honeymoon with my bride, you get the girl back… Do you know how to grovel?”

“As a matter of fact,” I smirk. “I’m an expert at that shit; Mom can give you a great reference about my outstanding job at that.”

I find my phone, open the notes app and make a
To-Do List
. Then I send a simple text.

MAK:
I love you, Hay. More than life itself.

Wifey:
Are you still drunk? Because I didn’t appreciate the night calls. As I said, which I doubt you remember. When you get your shit together and mature, we can talk. For now, leave me alone.

I check my list of recent calls… 19 calls to Hayley. Way to go, idiot.

Wifey:
As a reminder, either you get the heck out of there, or you make sure nothing happens to you or your not very smart brothers. One scratch because you played spies with Jake, and I’ll skin you!

“Oh great, she’ll only skin you,” Jake stares at my phone, then slaps the back of my head.
Ouch, asshole.
“You told her about my plans… she went all banshee on me promising to hunt me down, torture me, kill me, shred my body and then throw the remains inside a volcano if either one of us get as much as one scratch… what about you, Li.”

“Since I came to rescue her,” his cocky grin appears. She said, “Be careful, Liam or come over to Seattle. I plan to teach the animals a few songs to annoy Parker.”

“I don’t believe you,” I shake my head. “Hayley is pissed at the moment with the three of us, there’s no way in hell that she invited you to Seattle.”

“Cut me into little pieces and ship me back to London,” Liam huffs.

“Now, that’s my girl.”

“A psychopath?” Jake’s eyebrows furrow into a line.

“Only when you upset her.” I reassure him. “Keep her happy, and the index finger won’t poke you—don’t forget that’s her secret weapon—even though it may take her years to eliminate you with it. What’s the plan?”

*

Taking a twelve-hour
nap during the day is an open invitation for a night of insomnia also, the thoughts of tomorrow’s manhunt has me wondering if what I am doing is right. I am not my brother, but his plan does sound flawless. The three of us will take separate ways around town to make sure the cell concentrates in New York City. Liam and I are going to the barbershop to get a buzz cut so we can look almost identical as Jake. Meanwhile, Jake’s agents are split between Malaysia and New York. The half over there is about to ambush and terminate them while the other set of agents are here searching for whoever is in charge of taking the Knights down.

It amazes me that Liam sleeps so peacefully while Jake and I are awake. I chose to stay in the living room on the couch while the clock runs. From here, I can see the light coming from under my home office. Jake is working… or playing World of Warcraft on my computer. Both are possible scenarios he’s too jittery to sleep, and if possible he’d be out trying to slash some criminal’s throat to take the edge off since his bride is too far away to take care of it with sex.

The hair on my nape stiffens as the breeze coming from the open window hits my bare feet. Jake made sure all the windows were closed before turning the lights off a couple of hours ago—perhaps more. From the corner of my eye, I see a shadow moving towards me. There’s a possibility that he has a gun and with one word he’ll shoot to kill. If I wait until he’s closer, I can lunge at him and use the only weapon of defense I have—my body. Calling Jake like a defenseless victim will grant me less living time.

The coffee table is only three steps from the couch where I lay and as the shadow steps beside the corner of the table, I spring forward using my tablet to hit the man on the head, smashing the screen in the process. He swings his right arm to my left side; I move and feel a cold, sharp pain on my shoulder. Multiple gun blasts cut down the silence, the body of the intruder slumps on top of me. A sharp pain materializes in my left arm right as the lights go on.

The wannabe ninja on top of me wears a black ski mask, I push him off and he slumps to the floor. Blood trickles from the back of his head staining the carpet.

“Mother fucker,” I finally take my attention from the asshole that almost killed me and find my twin wearing dark-camo clothes. He touches his right ear and speaks. “We have the last one down and my stupid brother is bleeding.”