Suspended (6 page)

Kendall hooked her foot behind her ankle and turned to him.
“Was it really that bad?”

Kain rubbed his huge hand over his face. “Worse. Larry
begged me to help him. I’ve got more money than sense, according to my
accountants, because I took on the Justice Construction debt. It wasn’t in the
will, but I also took on all of Larry’s employees.”

That didn’t sound like any merger that she’d ever read
about. Usually the company would place their own people in the spots. “You
loved him.”

Kain nodded. “He was as much my father as he was Shane’s.”

Kendall flinched but kept silent. Who was this Lawrence
Justice? The man they described was nothing like the man she remembered. Not
even close to the sort of man who would inspire this much devotion.

“My family runs most of the construction in Hawaii, but I
wanted to branch out off the Big Island. I came here for college and fell in
love with the area. After I got my company up and running, I had the know-how
but not the contacts. California is all about old names and a good-old-boys
network that I could never bust into.”

She didn’t understand the intricacies of construction, but
she did understand reputation and word of mouth. The Adirondacks of New York
thrived and died by those same principles. “And Lawrence had those contacts.”

Kain nodded, relaxing beside her. “Larry knows everyone, and
he knows that Shane wasn’t built for this life forever.”

Kendall frowned. “What do you mean?”

“Shane will have to tell you about that, `ânela.”

She sighed and slid her hand away. “He’s not all mad at
you.”

He tapped his forefinger against his knee. “I don’t know
about that.”

“The lawyer, Mr. Murray…he wouldn’t tell Shane anything
either.”

He sat back and stretched his arm across the back of the
couch, his face contemplative. “Are you his new girlfriend?”

“Where would you get that idea?” Shane had been nothing but
rude since before they left. There was no way they gave off a couple’s vibe.

Kain shrugged. “Just curious.”

“Why?”

“You’re beautiful, and he left you alone with me.”

Kendall’s eyebrows rose. “Should I be worried?”

He grinned. “Nah. I’m harmless.”

She doubted that. Something told her there was a string of
women across the state who would attest to just how intriguing he was. But
oddly she didn’t feel the least bit attracted. Oh, he was attractive and wore
charisma like cologne, but that was all it was. Not like when she was with
Shane. And that scared the hell out of her. “We just met today.”

“Huh.”

She twisted the frayed edges of a woven bracelet under the
cuff of her blouse. “I feel like I’m only getting half the conversation here,
Kain.”

He seemed to make a decision and sat up. “Shane’s kind of a
loner lately. I’m surprised to see him bring someone here with him, let alone a
woman.”

“He doesn’t have a choice.”

Kain cracked his knuckles. “And now the story gets
interesting.”

“Just you wait.”

Kain stood and gestured down the stairs. “This sounds like a
whiskey story.”

She smiled. “Probably a bottle of whiskey.”

“My kind of story.”

Kendall went down the stairs, again marveling at the breadth
and scope of Kain’s house. She wouldn’t want to be the one who had to keep all
the glass spot and fingerprint free.

“To the left,” he said from behind her.

Even with his huge presence, she didn’t feel uncomfortable
with him. There was an innate friendliness and openness about Kain. So at odds
with the Shane she was beginning to know. He went to a sideboard and opened a
crystal decanter, splashing two glasses half-full. She’d been kidding about
drinking the bottle, but she took the glass when he offered it.

The living room was much different from the front room. The
furnishings here were wide and comfortable, and a huge picture of a perfect
tidal wave hidden by tropical vegetation hung above a glass and crystal rock
fireplace. She walked to the flames, grateful for the heat they gave off.

How the hell was she supposed to tell him? It was probably better
to just get it out. She sat down on the oversize leather love seat. “I’m
Lawrence Justice’s daughter.”

Kain sat beside her. He didn’t even try to hide his shock.
“His what?”

“Yeah.” She took a sip, and the bracing fire of good liquor
faded to a pleasant burn. Kain was an active audience as she explained the
shortened version of her story. He asked questions about her place and her
mother. He was a calming influence that she hadn’t expected. Nothing had been
what she expected since she’d gotten to Monterey.

On her second refill she told him about the will.

“I knew Larry had some secrets.”

She sat next to him on the edge of the cushion. She was so
tired that if she sat back and settled in, she was pretty sure she’d go right
to sleep. “You did?”

“Larry liked to be everything to everyone, especially
Shane.”

Everything to everyone, except for her.

His green eyes gentled. “I’m sorry, Kendall. That was
thoughtless to say.”

“It’s okay. I don’t understand the man you knew, but I
remember flashes of a strong and charming Lawrence Justice. But for me, he was
simply a man who turned his back on me and my mom.”

“The man I knew was so worried about being the best man for
Shane and his employees. And when he came to me, I couldn’t turn him away. Even
when he asked me not to tell Shane. He had far too many people counting on
him.”

Kendall worried the knot of her bracelet. She could still
see the shattered shock on Shane’s face. In her head she knew Shane had lost
more than she had, but hers was a distant empathy. He was a stranger to her.
Their afternoon together had only added more confusion to the mix of emotions.
“Shane’s had a few too many punches today, I’m afraid.”

“Far too many,” Shane said from the doorway.

“How long have you been there, brother?”

His face was shuttered up tight. Nothing was there to soften
the harsh planes of his jaw. Even his soft mouth had hardened. “Long enough.”
Shane looked down at her. “Cozy.”

She flushed. She had no reason to feel guilty, but her gut
churned thanks to lack of food, alcohol, and a rising fury. She stood. Who the
hell was Shane to keep poking at her? She was just as angry and just as lost
about this whole thing as he was. He took her glass from her and knocked back
the last mouthful and took it for a refill.

With his back to them, he splashed another healthy dose of
whiskey into the tumbler and gulped it down. He braced his hands on the bar.
“Jonas won’t tell me what’s going on.” He refilled and turned around. “Did you
really think I wasn’t going to ask questions? That I was going to just walk
away without a word?”

Kain got up and walked to him. “I told your old man this
wasn’t the way to go.”

“You could have told me, Kain.”

“There was a lot more to this deal, and you know it.”

Kendall frowned. She was sick of being on the outside of
this conversation. “You two need to clue me in before I get on a stool and
clock you both with that crystal decanter.”

Kain grinned. “She’s spunky.”

Shane sighed. “You have no idea.”

She waded in between them and stabbed Shane’s chest. “You
don’t know me well enough to make that comment.” She turned to Kain and tipped
her head back. “You need to give us some answers—and straight ones—before I let
him loose on you.” She pointed her thumb behind herself at Shane.

“Yep, spunky.” Kain looked over her head at Shane. “I like
her.”

“Can we talk about me later?” she growled.

For the first time Shane’s mouth quirked up at the corner.
“You heard the lady.”

“Shane, your dad knew about the furniture.”

Shane’s face closed off again. What the hell were they
talking about now? Kendall took the glass away from Shane and drank down a
little too much. She coughed before handing it back to him. “Will you two stop
with the word games? Shane and I are now officially joined at the hip thanks to
my father’s idiotic will. I deserve to be in on this discussion.”

Shane tossed back the rest of his glass. “Looks like we’re
staying here tonight.” He grabbed the decanter and another glass and headed
into the kitchen.

“Seriously. If he doesn’t stop walking away from me, I’m going
to toss him through your glass window and see if he’d like an up close and
personal taste of the ocean.”

Kain tipped his head back, and the booming laugh startled
her.

“I’m glad you think this is funny.”

“`Ânela, you’ve no idea what you’re in for.”

She had enough liquor in her that the room was getting hot.
She shrugged out of her jacket and shoved it at Kain and followed Shane into
the kitchen. “Do you think I’m just going to stand around and get drunk with
you tonight?”

“It’s the current plan,” Shane said wearily.

“I’m not getting drunk in a skirt and silk.”

Shane leaned on the counter with hooded eyes. She didn’t
need to focus on what she could do in a skirt and silk. But instead of saying
anything, he took another drink.

Kain came in and opened the fridge. He threw packages of
deli meat, cheese, and condiments on the wide granite island, then pulled out
bread and rolls from a cupboard. “Go to the top of the stairs and hang a left.
My sister has some clothes in the closet. Might be a little big on you. You’re
a tiny thing.”

“As long as it’s not your clothes, I’ll be fine.”

“You’re not wearing anything of Kain’s.”

Kendall put her hands on her hips. “Oh, really?”

Shane looked up. His gaze was steady, and everything about
him seemed too still. “Yeah, really.”

Her skin tingled, and her nipples tightened. She turned and
took the stairs two at a time, hoping to God that neither man noticed. What the
hell was wrong with her today? First she’d hopped on a table and had…well, the
best sex of her entire life. With a stranger, no less. Oh, and a stranger who
was going to take half of her home.

“I’M ASSUMING HANDS off?”

“Assume right.” Shane rolled his shoulders and cracked his
neck. After he’d walked off his mad, when he’d come in to see Kain and Kendall
cozied up on the couch, all the mad had come back like a goddamned breaker off
Big Sur. And that wasn’t going to work. He had too much at stake now to get
messed up over a woman. Even if the woman felt so good he was already half-hard
at the thought of her naked upstairs.

“Good to know. Christ, Shane. Larry’s daughter?”

“I didn’t even know she existed.” Shane stuffed roast beef
and cheese into a roll and added mayo. Nothing made sense. Family was important
to his father. How many times had his father given Shane shit about working too
hard and not visiting him enough? And he had a daughter he’d left behind?

If she didn’t have the same exact odd-colored hair as Larry,
he’d question the validity of that in the document as well.

“This will has me twisted up as fuck. What the hell was he
thinking?”

“He was looking for a way out. He was maxed out on every
card, every line of credit, and even owed some to a loan shark before he came
to me.”

Shane rubbed his hands over his face. “Thanks for bailing us
out.” Pride pricked at him, but he knew his friend only wanted to help. Kain
did have more money than God. Between his clients as an architect and the
construction company, Kain had already made a name for himself. Kain wanted to
make his own mark, away from his father. That was why he’d stayed in California
after college.

Shane dug his fingertips into the bunched muscles along his
shoulders. He’d thought he was being so clever with Avery Furniture. He’d been
happy to adopt his stepfather’s name when his mother married him, but he and
Kain both had a need to establish themselves away from their fathers’
reputations. Every penny he brought home from work had been poured into
materials for his own company. If he hadn’t bought all that lumber from Hawaii,
he wouldn’t be so strapped now.

Kendall came down the stairs. Soft pants hit just above her
ankles, leaving her feet bare. A flash of silver winked from her toes. His gaze
slid up to the flare of her hips and the matching gray hoodie that hugged her
like another skin. The clothes would be too big, his ass. “I hope it was okay
to dig into her workout clothes. Everything else made me look like a
twelve-year-old playing dress-up.”

Nothing about Kendall said teen, but the street clothes did
make her look far younger than when she wore the suit.

“Come and eat, `ânela.”

Shane’s head snapped to Kain. He’d already given her a
Hawaiian nickname? Kain let his native language fly when he was drinking, but
Shane was pretty sure he was sober.

She padded over and hopped up on one of the stools at the
end of the island’s breakfast nook. “Make it a Dagwood for me.”

Kain grinned. “I love a woman with an appetite. If Shane
fucks up, you’ll find yourself chased.”

Kendall blushed. “I haven’t eaten anything all day.”

“That’s because Shane forgot his manners along with his
tact.”

Kain was laying it on a bit thick. Shane’s gaze rested on
Kendall. He couldn’t blame his friend for the interest. Without the prim suit
and mask of makeup, she was softer, even more beautiful than when she’d landed on
his walkway. His voice gentled. “It’s been a shitty week.”

Kain laid a hand on his shoulder as he passed by and set a
plate in front of Kendall. Shane drew in a deep breath. He didn’t want to
alienate anyone, least of all his best friend. “So you took on my father’s debt
for the names of all his clients?”

“As well as a meeting with each of them to make sure the
transition would be flawless.”

And he’d been distracted working ten-hour days for Justice
and then six or more hours in his shop every night. His goals had been more
important than seeing that his father was floundering. What did that make him?