Kenney, Laina - Overexposed [DIG Security 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (9 page)

“Yeah,” Locke said. “We know.”

He left it at that.

Chapter 10

Avelyn hummed as she danced down the stairs. The full skirt of her new white sundress swirled around her calves in a froth of tiers and lace. She couldn’t remember feeling this happy. The past two days with the men she now thought of as hers had been wonderful, the best days of her life. Maybe when the danger was over she could stay on in Texas, explore this fiery connection, and try to make a life here.

Try to convince two stubborn Texans that they had something worth keeping.

When she reached the bottom of the stairs, she looked up to see Sam frowning at her from the kitchen.

“What is it?”

He shook his head and tried a smile. It fell flat.

“Grange called. Locke’s on the phone with him now,” he said.

“Has he heard anything? Has something happened?” she asked. “What’s going on?”

Sam shrugged. Avelyn waited, but he said nothing more.

“Tell me.” It came out as a demand, and for once she didn’t worry about manners. She needed to know.

Sam raised his hands in the universal gesture of surrender.

“I can’t tell you what I don’t know.”

Avelyn pushed past him and into the kitchen where Locke had his cell phone to his ear. His shoulders were tense, his face so tight and rigid his scars stood out in stark relief.

“Fuck, not Conn,” Locke said into the phone. His eyes cut over to Avelyn, and the concern in them paralyzed her.

Her knees weakened, and she fell against Sam.

“Uncle Conn,” she whispered. He couldn’t be gone. He was such a large presence in her life from a very young age. Her father wasn’t always reliable, but Conn had always been there for her, no matter what. It would leave a big gap in her life if something ever happened to him.

Sam pulled her into his arms, and she was grateful for the support, but she kept her eyes on Locke. She didn’t want to miss a thing.

“Glad to hear it. We’ll keep in contact. Yes, hourly. Yes, the tracker is on her.”

Locke flipped the phone shut and clipped it on his belt.

“Conn’s on his way to the hospital,” he said without preamble. “Grange is driving, and I could hear Conn swearing at him, so it’s not life-threatening. He’s okay.”

The relief flowing through her veins gave her a burst of bright energy. Avelyn pushed out of Sam’s arms.

“I want to see him.”

“No, we’re staying here.”

Avelyn gaped at him.

“My uncle has been injured, perhaps seriously, and I want to see him,” she said, enunciating every word. Maybe Locke just didn’t realize how important this was to her.

Locke crossed his arms over his wide chest.

“No.”

Avelyn could feel her temper rise to the surface, but she tried to speak in a calm manner.

“That’s it? No reason, no explanation, just no? If you can’t give me a reason that makes sense, I’ll go on my own.”

Locke leaned in close to her face, his stance radiating pure male frustration.

“You’re not going into the city. It’s safer for you here.” He spoke evenly, but his eyes were hot.

“Is that the law according to Locke?” She sniffed in disdain. “Well la-di-da to that.”

“You said you’d be smart and follow the rules.”

Avelyn could feel her pulse pick up speed. The same man who could so effortlessly drive her temperature higher in bed could push her buttons in an argument as well. She put her hands on her hips and glared.

“Keeping me prisoner in this house isn’t a rule.”

“Keeping you safe is a rule that makes sense every damn time. Your safety is my first priority. It’s written in stone, darlin’.”

“I’m not your darling. I’m going to see my Uncle Conn and you can’t do a thing to stop me. He’s my family. I have to see him. The only way to keep me here is to tie me down,” she said with an angry swing of her hair.

“I’m goddamn tempted to do just that.”

Locke started forward, and a deep thrill washed through her at his formidable expression, but Sam stepped in between them and talked fast.

“We’ll both go with her. Zane can follow in another vehicle for backup. She’ll be surrounded by agents when we get to the hospital.”

Locke stopped and looked at Sam, considering.

Avelyn knew when it was time to keep her mouth shut, but it was so hard to stand there and wait for the outcome. It was torture for a person of her temperament to let someone else finish an argument. She kept quiet with an effort and watched the brothers, hardly daring to breathe.

* * * *

Locke was so frustrated with Avelyn and her fine Irish temper that he wanted to paddle her ass and lock her in the bedroom for the next decade. Even if she turned up her nose and didn’t speak to him, or worse, if she cried, she’d be alive to do it.

But as much as it galled him to admit it, Sam was right. With both Locke and Sam in the vehicle right beside her, and Zane following from a distance, the trip into the city should be safe. And surrounded by D.I.G. agents and hospital security personnel, she would be almost as safe at the hospital as she would be at the ranch house.

As long as they shook off any tails before they left the city, keeping her safe back at the ranch shouldn’t be a problem either.

He pulled out his cell phone again.

“Grange, Locke here. We’re bringing Avelyn in to the hospital to see that Conn’s okay.”

He winced and held the phone away from his ear. Grange’s protest could be heard by all. He gestured at the phone, and Sam mouthed the word sorry.

Avelyn just pursed her lips as if she didn’t give a shit that his boss was tearing him a new one. It made him want to do some stupid thing like grab her and plant a big old Hollywood kiss right on those cute little puckered lips. Then he could drag her off to bed and keep her on her back and under him for the next week to work off some of this blistering aggravation she had caused.

Sam wasn’t helping either. It was more than obvious that his allegiance had switched to Avelyn the moment he had first seen her.

“Yes, I know,” Locke said into the phone, “but she needs it. She’ll just drive herself crazy until she sees him.”

Damn, he had it bad. And now his boss and everyone else at D.I.G. would know it because they all knew he would never go along with a plan like this for anyone else.

In any protection situation, Locke was always the one advising they keep the client safe and minimize any risk. Avelyn Reilly was turning him into a head case.

“Zane will do backup from the ranch.” He was silent for a moment, listening to Grange and Conn.

“Good, thanks.”

Locke ended the call and frowned at Avelyn and his interfering brother. He pointed one finger straight at her.

“This time you are getting what you need. Make no mistake, if I thought it was just something you wanted, you wouldn’t be getting it. But you will follow all the rules, and you will keep your head down and be ready to duck and run the fucking minute I say so.”

Avelyn nodded, but her eyes were wide.

It would do her good to realize how pissed off he was. He wasn’t going to be a pushover on important matters every day. He was no woman’s idea of a dream guy, and Avelyn needed to see him as he really was if there was ever going to be a chance at a relationship.

Locke didn’t know much about making a relationship work, but he sure as hell knew how to ruin one, and he wasn’t going to make any of those mistakes with Avelyn. If he didn’t let her get to know the real man, he would never know if she could love the real man.

And he wanted her love, but not at the expense of her safety.

He pinned her with a hard look.

“Change out of that dress and into something you could run in if you had to. We’ll go to the hospital, let Conn give you a lecture on safety you’ll never forget, and get the hell home. That’s it.”

“Thank you,” she said, but she didn’t sound so sure anymore.

“Let’s go.”

Chapter 11

The ride to the hospital was long and silent. The cool tension in the cab of the old red truck was so strong it was like another presence.

By the time they got into the elevator at the hospital, Avelyn’s nerves were humming, and she wanted to scream.

As usual when an argument was over, she wanted to apologize, but she just couldn’t bring herself to do it yet. Sure, she could say sorry and make nice, but she wasn’t sorry, and she wasn’t always nice.

She was stubborn, and she had a temper, but so did her cowboys. If she was going to get any respect from two strong men, she was going to have to stand up for herself.

Still, it didn’t make it right. Avelyn knew she could have handled it better with both Locke and Sam, but she would find a way to make it up to them once she could see for herself that Uncle Conn was well. The sick feeling churning in her stomach since she had heard he was injured was only getting worse.

As soon as the elevator doors opened, she saw Grange and Dash standing in the hall. She went up to them without any hesitation, Locke and Sam right behind her. Dash was about to speak when Conn’s swearing sounded in the hallway.

Avelyn turned and started toward the sound of his voice, when Dash took her arm.

“Ms. Reilly,” Dash said. “Conn is going to be fine, but he was burned on the side of his hand and just past the wrist.”

Dash let her go, but before she could ask any questions, Grange spoke up.

“He was trying to defuse a bomb under his car. It had a tiny vial of acid as its secondary trigger, and some of the acid got on him. He’s okay, more angry at himself than hurt.”

“They’ll most likely release him within the hour,” Dash added.

Avelyn felt some of the fine tension in her shoulders relax. Uncle Conn had been through a lot in his life. Avelyn knew it would be painful, but she also knew the man. A burned hand wouldn’t slow him down for long.

Wait, a car bomb?

That was a classic IRA tactic to remove a threat. Was Billy in San Antonio and targeting Conn?

Her anxiety spiked, and the questions started to spill out in a garbled rush.

Dash held up one hand.

“Slow down and ask your questions, Ms. Reilly. Right now, we don’t know much, but you’re welcome to ask.”

Avelyn looked up at him, but the words wouldn’t come. She couldn’t even think what to ask first. Her frustration manifested in a hot surge of blood to her cheeks and a sting of tears that she forced back.

It was no time to be crying. Conn would be all right, and he would tell it to her straight. If it was somehow her fault that this had happened, she might blame herself, but Uncle Conn would never blame her.

Sam put an arm around her shoulders and handed her a steaming coffee in a disposable cup.

“I don’t know if you should drink hospital coffee. But if it is as poisonous as Locke always says, at least there are doctors nearby,” he said with a wink.

Avelyn found her worry hadn’t eased, but she could still manage to smile at him in return. She appreciated his attempt to release some of their shared concern through humor.

“I’ll risk it,” she said. “Thank you.”

A thought struck her, and she looked around, but Locke was a long way down the hall at the nurses’ station.

“Has Locke been in the hospital often?”

Sam snorted and gestured her to a chair.

“Please have a seat while I entertain you with tales of my brother’s rodeo years. It’ll pass the time until your uncle is discharged.”

Avelyn listened with rapt attention as Sam told story after story about Locke’s time following the professional rodeo circuit. It was fascinating, funny and disturbing by turns, and she found she was constantly interrupting Sam with questions or exclamations.

The stories did not alleviate the underlying tension, but she was able to shove it into the background for now. She really needed to see Uncle Conn.