Dirty Little Lies: A Men of Summer Novel (20 page)

She nodded, holding the sheet to her breasts as the ache in her heart refused to abate. “Well, isn’t it a good thing I don’t leave it to my partners to keep me from getting pregnant.” Flipping the blanket back, she slid her legs from the mattress before rising. “No worries at all. Though I’d do something about that faulty memory of yours. It could end up getting you in trouble at some point.”

Zack watched as she strode from the bedroom—chin lifted, her expression composed despite her anger—and restrained a sigh. Not that he could blame her for being offended. Wasn’t that what he’d intended?

“True.” Straightening from the wall, he followed her from the bedroom, unable to keep from staring at the bare, sensual curve of her ass.

She did have a pretty ass. Perfectly curved with just enough plumpness to tempt a man’s hands and his common sense.

“Stop staring at my ass, Zack,” she ordered as she paused at the dresser, pulled open a drawer, and removed a pair of sexy silk panties and some outfit that looked soft and far too loose for her delicate frame.

“You have a nice ass,” he pointed out. “It’s hard not to stare.”

“When you’re letting all those prick tendencies of yours out to play, then you can keep your eyes to yourself,” she ordered once more, striding to the bathroom. “Close the door on your way out to your meeting or whatever.” Pausing at the doorway, she turned and shot him a hard, mocking smile. “Have fun.”

His brow arched. “Your cousins will be there—the best I’ll get by with is not getting hit.”

“I wouldn’t bet on it,” she muttered as she turned away and entered the bathroom, closing the door behind her.

If he wasn’t mistaken, she locked it as well.

He’d wanted the distance between them, hadn’t he? So why did he feel like a complete ass? It had worked better with other women, so what happened this time? Because she wasn’t just a little put out; she was frankly pissed off. No, she was hurt, and he knew it.

He hated it.

His dick wasn’t happy with him either.

Surprise, surprise.

Son of a bitch, he’d come like fireworks. He should have been drained at least until morning.

Shaking his head, he turned and left the room, closing the door behind him. Downstairs waited Kin militia members Zack trusted implicitly, Dylan and Eamon, who were also Navy SEALs. They were dressed in black, armed, and ready to leave the house.

The two agents he was most wary of, though not for security reasons, waited as well. Lobo was better trained than most Kin, and Calli, though years younger, could hold her own even at eighteen. They were seated comfortably in the living room, Lobo sprawled out in the recliner, feet up, while Calli glared at him.

She spent a lot of time glaring at Lobo.

“She’s taking a shower,” he told the two as Dylan and Eamon waited at the door.

“You tell her you were leaving?” Calli asked, her expression knowing as she stared back at him mockingly. Short black hair framed her delicate face while pretty grayish blue eyes watched him knowingly. The eyes and hair were her mother’s; her features, though delicate and feminine, were much like her father’s.

“She knows I have a meeting, that’s all. And she better not learn who it’s with.”

She rolled her green eyes at the deceitfulness. “Really, Zack?”

“Really, Calli,” he assured her warningly. “If she comes down, she better not know a damned bit more than she knows now.”

“Fifty bucks says he pissed her off enough to ensure she probably remains in her room,” Lobo drawled without opening his eyes. “Bad Zack. Very bad. I’m ashamed.”

“I’m heartbroken,” Zack grunted, nodding to the other two men. “We’ll be back in a few hours. You met Kate and Lara. They should still be in the kitchen with Garret. Que and the rest of his team are patrolling the grounds.”

Calli just shook her head at him as Eamon opened the door and Zack left the house.

Fine, he should have told Grace the truth by now. Hell, Vince should have told her. He’d planned to. Until he began to suspect she’d start demanding answers to questions he didn’t want her asking. And once Grace decided there were questions to be asked, no one was safe.

Yeah, avoiding that was pretty damned important.

“Cord, Sawyer, and Deacon are on the move,” Dylan reported as they neared the Jeep parked away from the house. “Looks like they’re heading toward Kingston.”

“Keep track of them,” Zack ordered him. “Let me know when they head back for the meeting here.”

And they would change direction, he knew. Cord wasn’t heading to Kingston, and Zack knew it. It would be interesting to see where the Maddox brothers were headed, though.

Starting the Jeep, lights out, Zack put the vehicle in gear and headed along the dirt road leading into the mountains around them.

“Tech says they have a tail.” Dylan relayed the report from the technical genius working the drone flying above the Maddox vehicle. “Black van, no plates, running lights out.”

That sounded like a tail to him.

“Can the drone get close enough to identify the driver?” he asked the other man.

“Tech says no, not without revealing the hardware,” Dylan answered.

“Let’s keep the hardware hidden,” Zack drawled. “I’d hate to lose the only advantage we have. Keep tailing them, make sure they’re not doubling back.”

“Clyde’s going to get curious about that tail,” Eamon pointed out as he leaned forward. “You know how he gets.”

Yeah, Zack knew how he got. His uncle was incredibly nosy.

“Then don’t tell him,” Zack ordered. “He doesn’t have to know everything.”

The problem was, Clyde invariably managed to learn everything, though, just as Alexander did. Zack just liked Clyde better.

“Don’t mean he won’t find out,” Eamon chuckled. “Probably already knows…”

No doubt, Zack thought fatalistically. That would be just his luck, now, wouldn’t it?

*   *   *

Grace paced the floors, worried, fumed, and silently cursed while waiting for the sound of the vehicle to return. A Jeep, she guessed when she’d first heard it, just after stepping into the hall in time to see Zack leaving.

Dressed in black and armed, just as the other two men were. And he hadn’t even been nice enough to tell her where he was going.

She didn’t let it disconcert her when she went downstairs for a late snack and found the couple—armed and a bit surprised by her appearance—as they lounged in the front room.

The other woman hid her grin and rose to her feet, one hand resting on the holster of the handgun strapped to her thigh. “Zack’s umm…”

“Not here.” Grace nodded. “Yeah, I heard him leave.”

The couple exchanged glances. The man gave a little grunt, leaned his head back on the chair, and closed his eyes again.

“You’re a lot of help,” the girl muttered before turning back to Grace with a wide smile. “I’m Calliope, but this mess over here calls me Calli.” She grinned, gesturing to the dozing man. “He’s Lobo. We’re friends of Zack’s.”

And for all her friendliness, Calli, as she called herself, didn’t care much for Grace’s presence there, evidently. But it wasn’t the typical jealousy of an interested woman for a man she couldn’t have. Because Zack would never take a teenager to his bed. No, this was different. It was equal parts curiosity, anger, and fear.

Grace wasn’t a threat to Calli. Calli considered Grace a definite threat for some reason, though.

“No doubt,” Grace sighed. “I’m going to go see what he has in the kitchen for a late supper. Hungry?”

Lobo’s eyes opened quickly, the mention of food giving his gaze an avaricious gleam.

“He’s always hungry,” Calli snickered, and shrugged. “Sure, supper sounds great. I’ll help if you like?”

“Let’s just hope Jazz and Kenni actually made it here with the food,” Grace suggested, heading for the dimly lit room in question.

“Sure they did, but Zack does actually keep food in stock,” Calli promised with a little wave of her hand, sauntering past Grace with a smile. “Hard to believe, huh, with all those hard muscles?”

Grace stopped just inside the kitchen and stared at the young woman knowingly.

Another bright smile curled the Cupid’s bow lips as Calli faced her, the cheerful innocence in her expression so false, it was sickening.

“He’s a prick, too arrogant for his own good, and before he and I part ways, I intend to castrate him with one of his own kitchen knives,” Grace stated conversationally. “After that, do with him as you will.” She looked to Lobo’s bland face, then back to the laughter in Calli’s gaze. “So, since you evidently know where everything is, what’s for dinner?”

The laughter in the other girl’s slowly widening eyes stilled instantly as her expression filled with amazed distaste. “I’m not the one who mentioned food.” Calli shrugged her slim shoulders. “But I wouldn’t get too cozy here—Zack doesn’t keep women for long, you know.”

“Good, I won’t have to stay long,” Grace assured her. “Anything else, you’ll have to take up with Zack, not me.” All Grace cared about at this point was something to eat, not some starry-eyed crush this kid had.

“A real woman fights her own battles,” the younger woman muttered as Grace walked by her.

Pausing in her tracks, Grace couldn’t help but laugh at that statement. “No, honey, a real woman doesn’t play such childish little games to begin with,” she told Calli gently. “You care for him, I get that. And I’m sure you’re none too happy with the problems I’ve brought into his life, neither am I. But I’m not his enemy, nor am I yours. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m really starved.”

Something flashed in the other girl’s eyes, something almost envious and conflicted. “I really don’t like you,” Calli breathed out, glaring at Grace now.

Calli didn’t dislike her, not really; there was a difference between that and not wanting to like someone. Calli didn’t want to like Grace. She didn’t want to be polite and nice; she had something to say, but it was something she had no intention of saying, if the tension at the side of her lips and eyes was any indication.

“And that really breaks my heart,” Grace assured her. “But I’m still going to eat, if for no other reason than because I haven’t eaten all day and I need a sandwich.”

“You’re really cold, huh?” Calli asked then, ignoring Lobo’s warning mutter to “shut the hell up.”

“You know.” Grace remained relaxed, watchful, her arms at her sides, her feet firmly planted. “This has been a really shitty week for me. I don’t know you, so I don’t have to consider whether or not you have any qualities I might deem likable, and first impressions are everything. So get the hell off my ass or I promise you, I won’t let your obvious youth or your no-doubt-justified animosity stand between me and the very grown-up ass-whipping I’ll give you. Are we clear?”

Calli gave a triumphant little smile before doing something really dumb. “Lobo? Aren’t you going to do something?” Calli turned to her partner or whatever the hell he was as though he were supposed to defend her.

He watched the confrontation silently, his dark gray eyes narrowed, his expression thoughtful despite Calli’s anger and Grace’s chastisement before saying. “A real woman fights her own battles, remember?”

Grace only shook her head. “My aunt Sierra once said the mark of a true lady was the ability to accept when she’s wrong—”

“I never claimed to be a fucking lady, now, did I?” Resentment filled the girl’s expression and her tone when she turned back to Grace.

Whatever she was holding back, whatever animosity or supposed slight she thought Grace had dealt her was on the edge of her lips, ready to spill amid the clash of anger and pain in her expression.

“At least you’re not a liar.” Grace shrugged. “Yet.”

Calli’s lips tightened further, and a war waged in her gray-blue eyes. “What, your father never gave you any advice? Just your aunt?” Calli drawled, watching Grace closely. “Mine always told me to avoid vipers. Like you.”

Grace didn’t speak. She just watched the younger girl, took in the signs of secrecy and hurt. There was nothing left to say now, nothing that could ever change what had already come out of Calli’s mouth.

“Calli.” Lobo said her name softly, with apparent gentleness despite the warning.

“She started it when she made Zack feel like he had to protect her.” Calli turned to him, her hands propped on her hips, glaring at Lobo now. “And I don’t like her threats.”

Grace kept her emotions at bay, simply watched Lobo and Calli now. The man was much better at hiding his emotions, but Grace was able to identify the small signs of emotion he did display. There was that tiniest hint of regret and compassion in the lines next to his gray eyes.

“Sorry, baby.” Lobo shook his head, his expression firm. “It’s not a threat. She’s tougher than you think she is. Besides, you attacked first. Now, let it go.”

Calli didn’t even argue. Her lips thinned, her expression setting into lines of complete stubbornness and determination. Turning on her heel, she stalked from the room.

Silence filled the kitchen for long moments as Lobo watched Grace then, those calm, dark gray eyes assessing but lacking condemnation. Stepping past him, she continued her search for food.

“She’s a good kid,” Lobo stated behind her, his quiet voice causing Grace to turn back to him slowly. “Zack’s a good friend, and she worries.”

Yes, Calli was very worried, very resentful, and the other girl obviously didn’t like feeling that way, but neither did she know how to handle it.

“As you said, she’s a kid,” Grace agreed. “Which doesn’t explain why she’s here, a gun strapped to her thigh and murder in her eyes. She’s involved in something that could get her killed. Is that what you want?”

For some reason, the thought of someone so young facing the choice of killing a man with that gun she carried or being killed herself was so damned saddening, it just pissed Grace off.

“That part actually worries me the least,” he admitted with a weary quirk of a smile. “I’d trust Calli to protect my back over many others. But she can get a little emotional over friends.”

In other words, the fact that Calli was too young to play such dangerous games was none of Grace’s business. And he was right; it wasn’t her business. Grace told herself she needed to keep it that way.