Kenney, Laina - Overexposed [DIG Security 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (6 page)

The men took the clothing from her weak grip and began to dress her like a living doll. It was such a novelty to be so cared for, she didn’t have the heart to make even a token protest.

The first layer was silk in a soft peach that was as delicate as a whisper. It felt cool after the heat they had generated together and so sensual against her skin that she wriggled in their arms.

“Quit that,” Sam said with a smile, “or we won’t make it out of this bathroom for another couple of hours.”

They could go another couple of hours? A shiver chased across her skin at the thought.

Avelyn tried to stand without shifting position, but the temptation to move was too great. Every motion of Locke’s or Sam’s hands was a caress, shooting fire across her exposed skin. By the time she was fully dressed in a pair of jeans and a simple T-shirt, her pulse was pounding, her hips were rocking, and both of the men were in a sweat.

Locke wiped his brow and shared a knowing glance with his brother.

Sam pressed a kiss to her cheek and passed her a hair brush.

“You’ve changed my life,” Locke said with a grin. “Never thought getting a woman dressed would make my dick hard, but you sure do something nice to a pair of jeans, darlin’.”

Avelyn batted her eyes and giggled at his teasing. He seemed so intense, so serious, that she hadn’t expected it of him.

“Oh yeah, that was romantic,” Sam said, hitting his brother on the arm. “Why don’t you invite her for a ride in your old pickup truck and buy a six-pack to liven things up? Maybe if you drive it slowly enough, Methuselah won’t shake any parts loose. Your idea of romantic afterglow conversation gives Texans a bad name.”

Locke frowned and punched Sam’s shoulder hard.

“Shut up,” he said. “It was a compliment.”

Avelyn laughed out loud at that. She didn’t mind Locke’s style of compliments, truly. The care and honest passion these men had shown her was a gift, and if half of that gift came wrapped in a rough, gruff package, it was fine with her. She wouldn’t complain.

She would enjoy every bit of it for as long as it lasted and try not to fall apart when they decided it was over.

“Let’s go then,” she said, turning away. She walked to the door and out into the hall without glancing back.

Locke and Sam struggled into their shirts and followed.

Against all odds, Avelyn was grinning by the time she made it back down the long hallway to the two men who were waiting. She recognized Uncle Conn’s bosses, Dash Williams and Granger Hamilton. She had met the two men when they had vacationed in Ireland with Conn once, but she didn’t know them well.

Locke and Sam were close behind her, still bantering back and forth about their understanding of romance. Really, it sounded like Locke was hopeless in that department.

Of course, a little romance would be a nice touch, but she didn’t crave it just for show. It was the honest substance, not the image of romance that interested Avelyn.

A man or, better yet, two men who loved and cherished her for her without trying to make her hold in her opinions or curb her fiery nature? It was a faraway dream, but that’s what Avelyn wanted, what she had always wanted. She just had never been able to put it into words that her parents and friends could comprehend.

She had no trouble understanding why Uncle Conn had settled in Texas. The Texans she had met so far were good people, kind and generous. But they weren’t afraid to say exactly what they thought at any given time.

A person would never have to wonder where she stood with a Texan. There was no prevaricating, no holding back, no oozing charm or political correctness purely for its own sake. It was as different from Dublin as night from day. She could really get to like it here.

Uncle Conn met her halfway down the hall.

Conn hauled her into his arms, and Avelyn buried her face against his wide chest and just hung on. She could feel her muscles tensing, the lingering strain creeping back into her voice as the story of the past two days tumbled from her lips in one long torrent.

Conn rubbed her back and just listened. He stiffened when she mentioned Paddy O’Neill, but he stayed silent, and she just kept talking until it was all out.

Only fifteen years old when she was born, Conn was her childhood protector, her playmate, and the older brother she never had, all in one person. He had spent years taking care of her when her mother was working and her father was out with his friends. When she was with Uncle Conn, she knew she was safe.

“Pixie,” he said when she quieted, “I’m that glad to see you. And I’m doubly glad to know that you’re an ocean away from Paddy O’Neil. Did he put those bruises on you?”

His tone was quiet and his hand on her back was gentle, but Avelyn wasn’t fooled. Uncle Conn was too dedicated a protector to be calm if family was in danger.

“No. Paddy made some demands, but he didn’t touch me. He had a bodyguard with him, tall, with small eyes and a thick neck. A nightmare he was. His name was Billy something.” She shuddered, remembering the lust in his little eyes, the strange smile on his face when he had squeezed her arm harder and harder.

“I want to know everything, every detail, no matter how unimportant it may seem. Everything you remember,” Conn said and ushered her down the hall. He gestured behind for the rest of the men to follow them into what looked like a large conference room.

They all sat down around a huge oval table. With Locke and Sam on one side and Conn on the other, Avelyn related every sordid moment for Conn’s bosses. Under Conn’s skillful questioning, she remembered even more details.

“I don’t like it,” Grange said. “Why wait in an empty apartment? You said they didn’t seem surprised to see you. There has to be more to it than a simple coincidence.”

“There must be more going on than we know. She needs round-the-clock protection,” Locke said, and Avelyn sat up straighter in her chair.

“Surely it’s not dangerous for me here in Texas,” she protested. “And why would they bother to try finding me, even if I had stayed in the U.K.? Anyway, I’m half the world away now. They’re after the money Dad owes, that’s all. If they couldn’t get the money from Dad, then Paddy had some suggestions how I could repay the debt personally.”

Locke shifted toward her, his face hard.

Conn held up a hand. “Pixie, my friends from Dublin have already called. A William Winskill boarded a flight out of Dublin for New York a bare three hours after you did. He’s been Paddy’s hired muscle for a long damn time, and he could be in Dallas right now for all we know.”

Avelyn shivered, and Sam’s arm came around her to pull her against his broad chest. Uncle Conn noticed the move and frowned but didn’t mention it.

“But why?” she asked. Her voice sounded weak to her own ears.

“Ms. Reilly,” Dash Williams, another D.I.G. partner, spoke. The man was tall and built like a warrior, but his eyes on her face were kind. “We know you’re being traced. You need to be in a safe house while we set a trap for Billy Winskill. Once we have him, we’ll be better able to explain to you the reasons behind this. At this moment, your safety is our first priority. Piecing together the full story will have to wait.”

Avelyn leaned into Sam, and his arm tightened around her.

Conn stood up. “Billy will come straight to me,” he said. “The IRA had as much against me back in the old days as I had against them, even the petty thugs like Paddy O’Neill and Billy Winskill. Av, you’re not safe with me, not with those bloody bastards involved.”

The other men immediately started to plan.

Avelyn stared at her uncle, uncomprehending.

“What?” she tried to say, but no sound came out. She had run halfway around the world to get to Uncle Conn. If she wasn’t safe with him, then she wasn’t safe anywhere.

“She’ll be staying at the old ranch with us,” Locke said, and the other men fell silent. “Zane is still working the ranch, Michael and Roman are back from Afghanistan, and a couple of the hands were army men. My brothers and I will make sure she’s safe every minute, and no one would ever know to look for her there.”

Avelyn could feel her life spinning out of control. It was one thing for her to fantasize about spending some quality time with two sexy brothers, but it was quite another to have those men forced to be with her day and night. And to have them put their family members in danger so that she could be safe was altogether too much to ask.

“No,” she said, “I won’t have it.”

“Avelyn,” Locke began, but she talked over him.

“No. Helping me could put your family in danger. You have to think about that.”

The men looked startled.

“Uh, Avelyn, my brothers live for bar fights,” Sam said. “We’re all crack shots, and three of the five of us have been in the army long-term. Locke wasn’t in the army, but he’s plain crazy. If danger actually did follow you out to the ranch, my brothers might even get down on bended knee and thank you for bringing a little excitement to the old place.”

Avelyn was shaking her head, but the men in the room were nodding and seemed amused.

Even Uncle Conn laughed.

“Good plan,” Conn said, and Avelyn was shocked.

He seemed to read the look on her face, and his face sobered.

“Well, Pixie, you’ll have to admit, five young guards would be better than one broken old soldier.” Conn gestured to his leg, and she remembered that he had been limping in the hall. “And it would give my team a chance to concentrate on catching the bastard before he does any serious damage.”

Avelyn nodded slowly. It did make sense, and she needed help, but she still didn’t like being an obligation to Locke and Sam.

“But we’ll have to be watchful,” Conn continued in a harder tone. “Billy was a detonation artist for the IRA in his time. I’m sure he can still set a precision charge and take out whatever target he sets his eye on.”

That comment started Dash and Grange talking again, and Conn leaned across Avelyn to pin Locke with hard eyes.

“Take care of my girl, Locke. Make sure she’s safe and happy. If you do, I’ll owe you.” His voice turned cold, with a strong Irish brogue. “If you don’t, I’ll make your life a miserable hell until you wish you were dead.”

Avelyn was shocked, but Locke nodded once. He seemed to take the warning as a given.

“Yes, sir,” was all he said.

Conn clapped him on the shoulder and kissed Avelyn on the cheek. Then Grange spoke to him, and he turned away to join in the planning. He hardly seemed to notice when Avelyn got up and walked out of the room.

Sam and Locke followed right behind.

“We’ll leave now if that’s all right with you,” Locke said.

Avelyn shrugged. She hated it, but she didn’t see another choice at the moment. She was smart enough to know that she couldn’t escape a dedicated criminal for very long on her own, and Uncle Conn trusted these men to see to her protection.

The situation rankled because she was so attracted to them, and this would put her in the same category as any other duty they had no choice but to see through to the finish. She would never really know where she stood with them now because she had just become a new work assignment instead of a new lover.

Chapter 7

The old ranch house west of San Antonio was a two storey with white board siding and a wide front porch complete with chairs, a stack of stools in the corner, and a couple of overturned orange crates that were being used as tables. Two large oak trees shaded one side of the house and porch and supported a hammock between them.

Sam noticed where Avelyn was looking.

“My dad called those two oak trees the Old Ladies,” Sam said fondly. “He strung the hammock up for Mom, but she rarely used it except sometimes in the evening. With five of us, there was always at least one boy in it.”

“And it was mostly you,” Locke said as he passed them with Avelyn’s bag in his hand.

Avelyn smiled at Sam’s expression.

“Yeah, I guess it was,” he admitted with an endearing grin.

“Your poor mother.” Avelyn laughed.

“My dad said that all the time.”

Avelyn couldn’t restrain an answering smile even as she shook her head. Really, the man was too charming for his own good.

“Come in out of the heat and have some sweet tea,” Locke said from the porch, and Avelyn followed gratefully.