Wicked Lovers 07 Ours to Love (4 page)

“Well, then. I’ll go . . . admire your hard work.”

“You do that.” She winked. “There’s fresh coffee in the pot. I won’t be much longer
here.”

Sure enough, they were scarfing down hot eggs and crisp bacon within minutes. Javier
cleaned his plate, more hungry than he’d imagined. Just as he set down his coffee
cup and put a hand over his full belly, someone knocked on the door.

Kata didn’t seem surprised at all, merely jumped up and pulled the door open with
a smile. “Tyler!”

The big blond man behind her walked in, dangling a plastic grocery sack from one meaty
fist, and held out his arms. She walked into them, and he hugged her tight, smiling
at Javier over her delicate shoulder. Tyler wore a wholly satisfied look. No, it was
more than that. He wore the air of a sublimely happy man, his face a billboard advertising
that his entire world was settled to his satisfaction. Javier nearly choked on envy.

Tyler wrapped a large hair-roughened hand around Kata’s ribs and tickled her. She
shoved him away, but as Tyler walked past, she swatted his ass. “Menace.”

“Twihard.” He grinned.

She sighed. “I’m never going to live that down. And neither are you. Everyone’s onto
you, pal. I know you swiped my DVD of
Breaking Dawn, Part 1
.”

“Maybe . . . But on me, fandom is cute.”

Kata turned and rolled her eyes. “Whatever. Javier, this is Tyler Murphy, former LAPD
vice detective, PI, and bad boy.”

“I am
not
formerly a bad boy,” Tyler objected.

“Oh, I’m so going to tell Delaney you said that.” She shot him an evil grin.

Tyler grunted at her, then approached him, hand outstretched. “Good to meet you, Javier.
I hope you’re less of a pain in the ass than your brother. I get damn tired of him
flirting with my wife.”

Despite the affable smile, Tyler didn’t look like a guy he wanted to cross, even when
his head wasn’t pounding. Bursting with muscle under a tight black T-shirt, the garment
showed off hard biceps and rippling abs. Even black sweatpants and running shoes didn’t
lessen the appearance of power.

He shook Tyler’s hand. “That’s my little brother, douche bag extraordinaire.”
Funny that he flirts with your wife when he wanted nothing to do with mine
.

Tyler smiled and glanced at his watch. “I see Kata fed you. Way to keep on schedule.”
He put out his fist toward her, and she bumped it with her own.

Javier frowned at their odd relationship. Not flirtatious, but not like siblings,
either. They were . . . friends. He’d heard of men and woman connecting platonically.
He hadn’t really believed it. Every female friend Xander had ever had he’d fucked.
Their father had been little better. In college, Javier had friends, too, but they’d
all come with benefits. This friendship before him looked foreign yet somehow comfortable.
He sat back to watch.

With a grin, Tyler tossed the plastic bag his way.

Javier caught it reflexively. “What’s this?”

“Everything you’ll need for the first part of your day. We’ll want to get a move on
before it gets too much hotter. A three-mile run when it’s ninety degrees with ninety
percent humidity is more than exercise. It’s a really shitty test of endurance.”

He heard Tyler’s words, but they didn’t compute until he opened the bag in his lap
and found a white tank, gray running shorts, socks, and athletic shoes. They expected
him to run three miles in the stifling heat, while hung over, with a stomach full
of eggs?

“I’ve got bottles of water ready for both of you.” Kata reached inside the refrigerator.

Shaking his head, Javier dropped the bag of clothes on the table and looked at the
two of them as if they were insane. “No offense, but I’m not jogging. I don’t care
if Xander thinks I need it. I actually think I need to sleep a bit longer, then figure
out how to leave this little town so I can get on with my life. Now if you’ll excuse
me . . .”

Tyler tsked and shook his head. “If we don’t start that jog now, you’ll be late to
yoga with Morgan. Now, she looks little, but I know from experience that breast-feeding
moms on a tight schedule have absolutely no patience for male drama. Since she’s married
to Jack Cole, odds are that he’s taught her some really low-down, dirty ways to separate
a man from his balls. I wouldn’t want to test her, so let’s get hopping.”

Yoga? After jogging?
What the hell did Xander have up his sleeve? “No thanks. Like I said, not interested.”
He turned to Kata. “Do you know where the rest of my clothes are? And my phone? I’ll
call for a taxi.”

Kata shook her head, and Tyler burst out laughing.

“What’s so funny?” Javier demanded.

Before either one of them could answer, Kata’s phone rang, and she picked it up. “Hello?”
She paused, her dark gaze zeroing in on him. “Yes.” Another pause. “Yes.” A longer
hesitation. “No.” Another one. “I think that would be a good idea. Thanks!”

She hung up with a sweet-as-pie smile. Javier didn’t trust it for a minute.

“What the hell is going on here?”

“Xander is on his way back. He’ll be here in about an hour. He says he’ll explain
then.”

Tyler approached and gave him a hearty slap on the back. “Great. That will give us
enough time to get in those three miles. Let’s go.”

“I’d really rather not,” Javier drawled.

With a shrug of his beefy shoulders, Tyler grinned. “Yeah, well . . . I’ll file that
somewhere between
too fucking bad
and
it sucks to be you
.”

Javier glared at Tyler. The big, blond muscle monkey was too damn cheerful for his
taste, and he really wanted to shove the guy’s balls up his throat right now just
to show Tyler that he wasn’t anyone’s bitch. But the anger was starting to grab hold
of him again. His thoughts raced. His sense of balance flirted with shaky. Javier
forced himself to draw in a few deep breaths and grabbed the plastic bag.

“Fine. I’ll get changed.” Only because it suited him. If he didn’t have any liquor
to drown out the fury starting to roll through him, he’d try to outrun it instead.
He doubted it would work, but his other options were to tear apart Kata’s kitchen
and scare the hell out of her or to get into a fight with Tyler, who looked more than
capable of keeping up.

Javier hoped that the second his brother walked through the door, he’d feel a violent
need to puke on Xander’s designer shoes.

A few minutes and a change of clothes later, he and Tyler stretched, then hit the
street at a slow jog. House after house rolled by, each little cottage looking much
like the last, except the color of the trim. Some boasted long porches that shaded
his-and-hers rocking chairs. Despite the early hour, the heat and humidity were already
oppressive.

“I’d forgotten how much I hate coming to the South,” he grumbled, already starting
to sweat.

Tyler looked perfectly happy and flashed Javier a grin. “I’m from L.A., too. Here
takes getting used to . . . but it grows on you.”

He refused to stay here long enough for that.

“If you don’t like Xander, why are you helping him?” Javier asked Tyler as they rounded
a corner, off a quiet residential street and onto a busier main road. Cars buzzed
past in the morning rush. A few bleary-eyed professionals walked by with their steaming
caffeination. A few other people jogged in the opposite direction, happily sweating.
Javier scowled and turned to Tyler, who still wore that goddamn smile.

“He did me a great favor I can never repay.”

Money was easy for Xander since he didn’t personally have to earn it. Javier snorted
cynically. “I’m sure he didn’t expect you to repay him. My brother likes to give money
away. I think it makes him feel better about his poor-little-rich-boy life.”

Now huffing and puffing as Tyler picked up the speed, Javier’s own words rolled around
in his head. Shit, he sounded bitter and cynical. Maybe because he was. He hated the
fact that Francesca had come between them—and still did—but he couldn’t seem to get
past the fact that she would be alive today if Xander had just said yes when Javier
had needed him.

“It wasn’t money.” Tyler’s grin finally fell. “He saved my wife’s life and helped
me put a completely evil fucker behind bars. He could have sat on his charming ass
and used his time to pick up women. I know he does that.”

“Since he was thirteen.” Javier smiled tightly.

Tyler frowned. “I get the feeling you don’t like your brother much.”

Since the big guy was already in Xander’s court, Javier didn’t feel the need to explain.
“Do you love your siblings all the time?”

“Don’t have any, but I know if I had a brother I trusted to have my back, I’d be pretty
damn happy about it.”

“I’d like one of those too, but I don’t have one.” When Tyler opened his mouth, Javier
shook his head, wishing like hell he could return to Kata’s house and crawl back in
bed. This three-mile jog made his lungs feel as if they were about to burst. “I’m
glad he helped you and your wife. Xander can be a great guy.”
When it suits him.

“He’s on your side, dude. He’s worried about you.”

Javier kept his more skeptical thoughts to himself. “Touching, isn’t it?”

Tyler scowled but kept thankfully silent for the rest of the torturous run. Javier
focused on the pounding of the pavement beneath his feet, the heavy pull of oxygen
into his lungs, the mad beating of his heart. He was not enjoying this . . . but for
the first time in a long time, his thoughts felt sharp and focused, his head clear.
Fresh air filled him. By the time they arrived back at Kata’s house, he didn’t have
the energy to feel angry, but he did feel oddly calm.

Until he and Tyler stepped into the kitchen, and Xander sat there with a gorgeous
redhead, both nursing cups of coffee and sharing a joke. The unruffled bastard looked
like he didn’t have a care in the world. How nice to shed all sense of responsibility
like a cheap coat.

“You son of a bitch!” He charged across the kitchen.

Tyler jerked him back by grabbing a handful of his sweaty tank and holding tight.

His brother nodded at him, then turned to the redhead. “Morning, Javier. This is Tara
Edgington.”

Logan’s wife?
Seemed like a safe bet.

“Hi,” he barked, then winced at his own rudeness. His anger was for Xander, not this
lovely woman deluded enough to help him. Stiffly, he held out his hand to Tara.

She smiled kindly and shook his outstretched hand. “Hope you’re feeling okay this
morning and that Tyler didn’t break you.” She sent the big blond guy a mock glare.

“I’ll save that for weight lifting tomorrow.” He winked.

“No more torture with Tyler.” Javier shook his head. “This morning was enough. I appreciate
your hospitality, but I need to be getting back to Dallas now. If I could impose upon
you for a shower, then I’ll get out of your way.”

Tara didn’t answer, just sent Xander a look that told him the ball was in his brother’s
court. Kata eased back into the room, wearing a pair of black capri pants and a floral
halter top that hugged her generous tits. She propped one hip against the cabinet
and sent him an apologetic smile.

“It’s been fun.” Tyler slapped him on the back. “See you tomorrow at six a.m. We’ll
beat some of this heat and get in a bit of lifting, too.”

“Don’t bother. I won’t—” Javier didn’t get to finish his sentence before Tyler shut
the door, cutting him off.

Fuck, little brother had brought him deep into his territory, and everyone here would
take his side every single time. As soon as he had a shower, he’d find this town’s
little airport or rent a damn car to drive himself back to Dallas.

“Sit down,” Xander demanded.

Javier raised an angry brow at his brother’s high-handed tactics. He could feel a
fresh rage brimming and tried like hell to hold it in check. “I told you to fuck off,
so you decided to drug me and bring me here? You can’t force me to stay, so I’m not
sitting down. If you didn’t want me for an enemy . . .” He shrugged. “You should have
thought of that when I actually needed your help. Now I don’t and I’m leaving.”

He turned toward Kata, intending to slip through the door and head to the bathroom
for a much-needed shower.

“I can’t keep you here.” Xander said to his back. “But I think once you’re done listening
to me that you’ll want to stay.”

“What part of ‘fuck off’ doesn’t translate for you?” he scowled back at Xander.

If the words bothered him, his brother didn’t show it. “I understand. I just don’t
care. So here’s the deal: You’ve got a few choices to make. You either stay here for
six weeks, follow my instructions, and get your shit together, or I go to the press
with
all
your problems. The drinking, the ‘episodes,’ and the fact that, right now, you’re
incompetent to run the business.”

Shock slammed Javier, and anger followed fast on its heels. “Are you out of your fucking
mind? If you tell them everything . . . The business is already in a downward spiral.
You said yourself the board of directors is nervous. If you air my laundry publicly,
you’ll kill what’s left. You’ll not only destroy me, but— Oh, is this some power play?
You think you want to take the reins, little brother?”

Xander wouldn’t last a week in the pressure cooker of the CEO’s seat. The fifteen-hour
days and lost weekends would really interfere with his party schedule. He’d never
shown interest in responsibility of any kind. Why would he start now?

“I will if I have to,” Xander vowed. “You step one foot out of Lafayette, you deviate
one minute from the schedule I’m laying out for you for the next six weeks, and I
will go to the press, the business be damned. I have enough money saved to last three
lifetimes. But I only have one brother, and I’m not going to watch you kill yourself
over that bitch.”

The words stunned Javier. Xander would burn down everything just to try to save him?
He wasn’t sure if he should charge across the kitchen and strangle Xander where he
sat . . . or give him a really big bear hug. His brother watched him with resolute
hazel eyes that held a faint hint of regret. This was Xander’s way of showing him
that he cared. But Javier knew damn well that his brother had him by the balls. Xander
bluffed often, but never with him. Of course, Javier could run to the press with stories
of Xander’s exploits, but they already knew.
Damn!