Calamity Jena (Invertary Book 4) (28 page)

His grip tightened on her hands, and for a second she saw a flash of brutality in his eyes. What would he do to get what he wanted? How far would he go? Jena realised in that moment she’d never really known him. She'd been living with a figment of her imagination.

“I'm staying here, Frank. I have a house here. A home. Find another woman. Find another dancer.”

She tried to move away from him, but he held her tight.

“No. I need you.” His lips tightened. “You don’t have a house. You have a dump. I don’t know why you’re desperate to hold on to it. It’s nothing. You're coming back with me. You're going to dance in the club and we're going to start again.”

“I'm not stripping for you.”

“What's the big deal? You dance in the clubs wearing barely anything. Everyone can see your tits anyway. So what if you take your clothes off? Is it too much to ask to save our future?”

“Our future?
We
have no future. You threw it away when you screwed your staff.”

“Grow up. It wasn't a big deal. It was only sex. You’re my woman. You have your place. You don't need to feel threatened by a bit of pussy. Just ignore it. That's what the other women do.”

Jena stilled. “The other women? What other women?”

Frank let out an aggravated grunt. “The Rizzoni women. They know their place and the benefits of staying in it.”

“Listen to yourself. You honestly believe that's okay. That a woman should turn a blind eye to her man screwing around.”

“I have needs you weren't meeting, baby. If you'd stepped up and kept your man happy, we wouldn't be in this situation.”

Jena gasped. “You did not just say that.”

“I'm done with this shit.” Frank sneered. “We're going home. Now. You're gonna strip and you’re gonna shut your mouth about my extracurricular activities. I shoulda put my foot down with you when Vince told me to. Instead I had to be gentle with you, and now look where we are: you're throwing a tantrum and running halfway round the world to make your point. And I'm chasing you like some dumbass loser. I'm through playing nice. You need to learn your place in the scheme of things. Your job is to listen, do as you’re told, please your man and look sexy. And if you do a good job, you'll get to buy pretty things and hang out gossiping with the girls. It's an offer of a lifetime. What else you got going for you? Nothing. You ain’t got no skills, no money, no family. Nothing but that crap house. You're going to do what you’re told. Or, so help me, I'll make you.” He took a step towards her. “Plus you owe me for the car you stole and sold. Don’t think I forgot about it, baby. That’s fifty grand worth of dancing before I even consider calling us even.”

“In that case, you can give me back the money you
borrowed
over the years.”

His mask fell away. His face was cold and hard. The slap came out of nowhere as he backhanded her across her cheekbone. For a minute Jena couldn’t feel the pain over the shock of him hitting her. Grunt roared as he lunged towards Frank. Jena got there first. Her knee came up hard. Frank went down with a howl, clutching his most prized possessions as he did so.

“Grunt, deal with that asshole. We’re done with him,” Joe ordered as he followed Jena towards the exit.

Her face throbbed, but all she felt was shock.

“My pleasure,” Grunt said.

Jena heard a thump and looked over her shoulder in time to see Grunt knock his fist into Frank's face. The force sent Frank flying through the air. He hit his head on some rusted piece of crap and slumped to the floor.

“Don't run,” Joe told her. “We'll take you back. We're done here.”

“Consider that our resignation,” Grunt said.

He strode towards her as the doors flew open. Men rushed in. Jena spotted Matt a second before his fist hit Joe's jaw.

And then all hell broke loose.

28

Matt stepped back from Invertary police station’s one and only jail cell. With all the trouble happening in town, he needed more space to lock people up. Right now, he was stuck with one tiny room. He slid the viewing window open and glared at Frank. He sat on the plastic-covered foam pad that lay on the concrete shelf used as a bed. His expensive suit was ripped. His lip was bleeding and his eye was swollen.

“You’re gonna regret this,” Frank spat. “I want a lawyer.”

“And I want to go six months without someone coming into my town to piss me off. Guess we’re both out of luck.” Matt snapped the tiny door shut.

Let’s see how accommodating Frank becomes once he’s spent a night in the cell.
The white-tiled room, with its tiny window and metal toilet in the corner, had a way of softening a man up.

With a hard smile, Matt strode towards his office, where Grunt and Joe were currently handcuffed to chairs and being watched over by Lake and his men. Not only did Matt need more cells, he needed more personnel. He almost laughed at the memory of him calling his job boring.

Jena was currently sitting on a high stool at the front desk. She had a blanket over her shoulders and was nursing a mug of hot chocolate. Matt nodded to her minder, Pete, to tell him he could go. Matt needed a minute with his woman.

Once the door closed behind Pete, Matt went around the counter. He took the mug out of Jena’s hands, wedged himself between her knees and wrapped his arms around her. He loved the way she snuggled into him, rubbing her cheek on his chest, as though she was trying to get as close as humanly possible.

“I’ve called Abby to come sit with you. I’d let you go home, but I can’t stand you being out of my sight right now.”

She pushed back to look up at him. Matt felt his whole body tense at the sight of her bruised cheek. He gently stroked the mark. She should never have been hurt. This was his fault. He should have been with her.

“I’m fine, Matt. Really.”

“They abducted you.” He had to force the words out of his mouth.

The fear he’d felt when Jena had been taken still lingered, and it was enough to overwhelm him if he let it loose.

“Go easy on Grunt and Joe, will you? It wasn’t their fault. It was Frank. He made them do it. They were trying to protect me.”

Matt’s eye twitched. She was too damn nice. Everyone got the benefit of the doubt with his Jena.

“Those two idiots were the ones who took you.” He tried to keep his tone gentle. It was hard.

“They wanted me to talk to Frank. Sure, they could have gone about it differently, but they had no intention of letting me get harmed. Grunt was more worried about upsetting Claire than anything else. When Frank became rude and abusive, Grunt knocked hell out of him.” She grinned up at Matt. “You should have seen it. It was like something out of a superhero movie. With one punch, Frank flew through the air and hit the wall.”

Matt didn’t smile. Nothing about this was entertaining. “Grunt will not be seeing Claire again.” If Matt had his way, the only thing the two goons would see for a very long time was the inside of a prison.

The door swung open and Abby rushed in. “I left Katy with Caroline at the castle,” she said. “Are you okay?”

She rushed around the counter, pulled Jena from Matt’s hold and hugged her friend.

“As I keep telling this guy, I’m fine. Just a little bruise. In fact, I got to clear some stuff up with Frank. You would have been proud of me, Abby—I told him to go to hell then kicked his balls into next week.”

“Go, girlfriend!” Abby high-fived her while Matt clenched his teeth.

Why were they acting like this was a fun day out? Nothing about this was entertaining. Nothing.

“The doctor has checked her out,” he told Abby. “If you could sit with her while I talk to these idiots, that’d be great. I’m worried she’ll go into shock.”

Jena rolled her eyes. He ignored her. She obviously didn’t realise how serious the situation was.

“I’ll leave Pete on the door,” Matt said to Abby. “He’ll deal with anyone who turns up. No one else will get in here today. This could take a while. Are you okay with that?”

Abby nodded. “Katy loves it at the castle. She gets to pretend the baby is a doll, and she treats Josh like another kid she can play with. When I left they were building a fort in the grand room and demanding Caroline bake cookies.”

Matt nodded. His mind already on the two men he intended to interrogate. He cupped Jena’s cheek as she smiled up at him. “I’ll fix this,” he promised.

“I know you will, but please go easy on Grunt and Joe. They really weren’t that bad.”

Matt shook his head. Sure, he’d go easy. If going easy meant throwing them in jail and forgetting where he put the key. They messed with Jena. His Jena. He stared at her. He wasn’t sure she knew she belonged to him. He’d need to make that clear. Later. Right now he had goons to deal with and a story to unravel.

Not caring that Abby was watching, he pulled Jena off her seat and kissed her hard.

“Be good,” he ordered.

She looked a little dazed, which made him feel chuffed.

“Can we send Pete to pick up some food?” she said. “I’m starving. I missed lunch.”

“No. No more sending Lake’s men to fetch food. Pete is here to guard you.”

“Matt.” She put her hands on her hips. “Everyone I know who’s out to get me is in here. Please. I need to eat.” She batted her eyelashes. Like that would work.

“Fine.” He let out a sigh. “Pete stays here, but you can call the pub and get them to deliver something.”

She pouted. “The pub doesn’t deliver. Well, not to anyone but you.”

“Tell them it’s for me, then. Once they hear where you are, someone will be over in record time just to get the gossip.”

With a shake of his head, he left the women to sort out food as he strode towards his office. His heart pounded painfully at the thought of what could have happened. He could have lost Jena. He didn’t know how he would cope if he lost her. Especially seeing as he’d just found her. He stopped dead at the door as realisation sucker-punched him. He loved her. He looked back at her. She was laughing with Abby, her head thrown back, her cheeks flushed and her eyes sparkling. She was so damn beautiful it hurt to look at her.
To hell with this.
He spun around and strode back to her. He saw the minute she spotted the look on his face, because her eyes went wide and her mouth made a startled little O shape.

He clasped the back of her neck and stared her in the eyes. “Just so we’re clear,” he said. “I love you and I’m keeping you.” The look of shock almost made him smile. Instead he kissed her until they were both breathless.

As Jena swayed gently on her perch, looking stunned and more than a little turned on, Matt said to Abby, “Take good care of her.”

“Don’t worry, I’m on it.”

He ignored Abby’s wide grin and headed back to his office.

As the door slammed shut behind Matt, Jena turned to her friend. “He loves me?” She stared at the closed door. “He did say that, right?”

“Oh, he absolutely said that.” Abby’s eyes sparkled with delight.

Jena pressed her fingertips to her swollen lips. She could still taste him, and it was an addictive taste, one she definitely wanted more of. “He’s keeping me?”

“You are
so
in a relationship.” Abby laughed hard.

Pete joined in the laughter. Great, she was entertainment for the mindless masses.

“When Dougal comes over,” Pete said, “I’m going to change my bet. I think the wedding will happen within the month.”

As Jena’s head began to clear, she frowned at them. “This isn’t funny and it isn’t a game. That man”—she pointed at the door—“seems to think he owns me.”

“Ah, but he loves you as well,” Abby said with a grin. “Don’t forget the love.”

Jena climbed off the stool and started to pace. “He can’t keep me. I’m a person, not a piece of property. Aren’t you supposed to ask a person if they want to be with you before you declare you’re keeping them? Who the hell says things like that, anyway? Men with too much testosterone, that’s who. And love? How can he love me? We haven’t even been out on a date. He’s only staying in my house to protect me from Frank. This doesn’t make sense.”

She stood still long enough to face Abby. “We can’t be in a relationship. I would have noticed.” She started pacing again. “So what if we slept together? People do that all the time. Men do it all the time and they don’t
keep
the women they sleep with. This is insane. He can’t drop a bomb like that and wander off. Can he?”

She shook her head. No, he couldn’t. Where the hell was he? She needed to clear a few things up. She took a step towards his door.

“Bad idea,” Pete said.

For once, she agreed. She’d have to wait until he was finished yelling at Grunt.

“I’m not looking for a permanent man.” Jena resumed her pacing. “I only date because I can’t say no. I
never
go on a second date, because I don’t want a relationship. I just got out of a relationship. It was awful. I don’t need another one.” She stopped dead, bent over double and groaned. “I live in a dump that will take a century to fix. I’m fast running out of money and my only option for making more is to hold illegal dance classes. My ex-boyfriend abducted me from beside a Dumpster to tell me he wants me to strip in his club and that he won’t take no for an answer. My mother has come to visit for the first time ever and she isn’t even here to see me—no, she’s chasing Josh sightings all over Scotland, and when she has free time she stops off to tell me Frank is the man for me because I’m too fat to get another one. I’m so freaking accident-prone the town calls me Calamity Jena and runs a betting pool on what my next accident will be.” Her head was spinning. She took a deep breath. “And the local cop wants to keep me!”