Road to Passion (13 page)

I
WOKE THE next morning, instantly dreading
the fact that it was morning, until I realized I was in bed with Mack and
everything was okay again.

“Mornin’,” he said, and kissed my
shoulder, sliding his arm tighter around my waist.

I rolled to face him and smiled,
kissing his chest. “Morning, honey.”

“This is better.”

“No kidding,” I said. “Now, how
are you going to sneak me out of here in broad daylight?”

“I’m not.”

“You’re not?” I snuggled closer.

“Nope, we’re staying in all day.”
He kissed me. “I’m gonna get someone to pick up Barney, and we’ll figure out a
way to get him here.”

“I need my computer and a few
things from the bathroom, and then I can hang out here for a while.” I bit my
lip. “I pick up my keys in a couple of days and then it’s moving time.” I poked
his shoulder. “Which you’re going to help with.”

Mack nodded. “I know, baby. But
why didn’t you get your keys when you closed?”

“I’m having a locksmith change
all the locks, so they should be done day after tomorrow.”

“Okay, that gives us a little
time, because we need to keep our reunion a secret for now.” He leaned in. “No
Pauley, no Millie. No one can know, Darien.”

“What about Kim?”

Mack’s eyebrows drew together.
“What about her?”

I bit my lip. “I’m pretty sure
she knows.”

“What?”

“Kim’s the one who told me you
didn’t cheat.”

“Fuck me,” he whispered. “Does
she know you’re here?”

I shook my head. “No.”

“Okay, well, she can’t know
either. I’ll talk to her, but you can’t have any contact, yeah?”

“I’m fine with that, honey...
provided you feed me first.”

Mack kissed me with a nod. “I’m
gonna take a quick shower and then I’ll make breakfast.”

“Sounds good, baby.”

“Turn off your phone.” He slid from
under the covers.

“Why?”

“So you can’t be tracked.”

“Seriously?” I asked. “Do you
think we need to go quite so cloak and dagger?”

“Yeah, babe, we do.”

“But it’s been on all night. If
anyone really cares, then they already know I’m here.”

“Humor me, Dare.”

I leaned up on my arms. “I love
that.”

“What?”

“When you call me ‘Dare.’”

He grinned. “Turn off your phone,
Dare.”

“I’ll turn off my phone, Sir
Bossy Pants.”

“I’ve been knighted?”

“In my heart, you have.” I
smiled, laying my hand over my chest. “You’re forever my knight in shining
armor.”

He laughed. “Okay, DID.”

“Did?”

“Damsel in distress... or Dare in
distress?”

“Ohmigod.”

“No,” he corrected. “PID. Pixie
in distress.”

I giggled and rolled over.
“You’re ridiculous. I’m going back to sleep.”

The bed dipped and Mack slid my
hair away from my neck. “Did I wear you out... PID?”

“Yes. I’m exhausted, SBP...
arrgh, I need a better anagram.”

Mack buried his face in my neck.
“Well, you’re the writer, honey, make one up.”

“Butthead has a nice ring.”

“And it’s an anagram for...?”

“Um... .boyfriend using tongue to
help excite and delight?” I improvised. Mack’s mouth left my neck and I craned
my head to look at him. “No?”

“That’s fuckin’ brilliant, baby.
No wonder your book’s a best seller.”

I laughed. “You’re good for my
ego, honey.”

“You’re not so bad yourself.” He
patted my bottom and kissed my cheek. “I’ll be quick.”

“’K.” I yawned and closed my eyes
while he headed to the shower.

* * *

I woke to an
empty bed and realized I’d fallen asleep for another hour. I was obviously
making up for lost time in the sleep department.

Climbing out of bed, I padded to
the bathroom and washed my face, heading out to the great room and finding Mack
in the kitchen. He was in jeans and a plain white T-shirt standing at the stove
making something delicious. “Hi.”

He smiled over his shoulder and
turned the gas down. “Hey, baby. You sleep okay?”

I wrapped my arms around him from
behind and kissed his back. “Yeah. It was awesome. What are you making?”

“Omelet.”

“Yum.”

“Mushroom, spinach, and cheese
for you,” he said, and held me in place as he flipped the eggs and then slid
them onto a plate.

“You hate mushrooms.”

“I know.” He chuckled, turning to
face me. “I ran to the store and picked up a few things.”

“Did anyone see you?”

He shrugged. “We’re not trying to
hide me, remember?”

“What if I’d woken up while you
were gone?” I challenged.

“I wrote a note and I closed all
the drapes.”

I glanced around, noticing
everything was still pretty dark. “You’re kind of good at this.”

He leaned down and kissed me.
“You make me good at it, baby. It’s all about keeping you safe.”

“You’re such a girl.”

Mack laughed. “You also make me a
girl.”

“Touché, butthead.”

He smacked my butt. “Now I want
to use my tongue.”

I couldn’t help a shiver. “And
I’ll let you... after you feed me.”

He grinned again and handed me my
plate and a fork. “Eat fast.”

“Yes, sir.” I took the omelet and
set it on the island. “Do you want coffee?”

“Yeah, that’d be great,” he said.
“I made a fresh pot.”

I poured us each a cup and we sat
side-by-side to eat. I noticed the holes in the walls as I stirred Splenda into
my cup. “God, Kim wasn’t kidding.”

“About?” he asked. I nodded
toward the damage and he scowled. “I was a little pissed.”

I laid my hand on his thigh. “At
me?”

“No,” he assured. “At me. I was
pretty sure I’d fucked it up for good.”

“Me too,” I admitted. “But you’re
not getting rid of me that easily.”

He chuckled and kissed me quickly
then went back to his food. He’d just put a bite into his mouth when his cell
phone buzzed on the island. He grabbed it with a “Shit,” and put it to his ear.
“Yeah? Fuck me, seriously?” Mack glanced at me and then slid off his stool and
walked away.

I frowned, but continued with my
breakfast. I was rinsing my plate and loading the dishwasher when Mack walked
back into the kitchen. He scarfed down the rest of his food and dropped his
plate in the sink. “Issue at the club. Gotta go.”

“What happened?”

He slid his hand to my neck and
gave it a gentle squeeze, not answering my question. “You wanna leave with me?
You can hunker down in the back seat of the car and one of the recruits will
drop you home. If you stay here, you stay out of sight.”

“Come with you to the club?”

“Yeah.”

“But if we’re being watched,
won’t it seem strange?”

“If it looks like I’m kickin’ you
out, no, it’ll look like we’re still fightin’.”

I sighed. “I’ll come with you. I
need to take care of Barney. Pauley’s working tonight, so she’ll be leaving at
around six.” I closed the dishwasher. “Will I see you?”

“Probably not,” he said.

“For how long?”

He shook his head. “I don’t
know.”

I bit my lip. “I hate this.”

He leaned down and kissed my
forehead. “I do too, baby.”

I slid my arms around his waist
and gave him a gentle squeeze. “I’ll get my phone and keys.”

“Okay.” Mack kissed me gently and
I went back to the bedroom. I’d just walked inside when a dark figure moved
from behind the door and grabbed my arm so hard, I thought for sure he’d
dislocate my shoulder.

I screamed and had barely got
Mack’s name out of my mouth before the man’s fist connected with my mouth and I
fell back against the dresser. I had a fleeting thought of;
this is why
cartoons show birds flying around the cat’s head when it’s been knocked on the
noggin
, just as another hit landed on my hip.

I managed to get my wits back under
me and fought back like my life depended on it. It probably did, but I needed
to give Mack time to get to me. He’d find me and rescue me, I just knew it, but
in the meantime, I was determined to land a knee to the asshole’s family
jewels.

* * *

Mack had slid his
gun into his holster just as he heard a thud and a squeak from the back of the
house. “Dare?”

“Mack!” she screamed, and he ran
for the bedroom.

Mack arrived to find Darien in a
frantic struggle with one of Nika’s crew. He recognized Isaak, one of the
Kozlov soldiers who was a nasty son of a bitch. Darien managed to knee him in
the groin, which had him stunned for a second, but he still didn’t release her,
so Mack took over. Slamming his palm upward hard enough to break the guy’s nose
and draw blood, but not enough to jam the bone into his brain, Isaak squealed
in pain. Mack hit him one more time and he went down like a stone. Mack checked
his pulse. The asshole was still breathing, which was good. Mack wanted him
alive for what he had planned.

“Stay the fuck down, Isaak,” Mack
ordered, and reached for Darien. “You okay?”

She nodded, tears streaming down
her face and he saw her upper lip was cut and swollen. “I’m going to get a wath
cloth,” she slurred, and slinked her way toward the bathroom, careful to stay
clear of her attacker.

Mack swore and pulled out his
cell phone.

“Booker.”

Mack scowled. “Isaak attacked
Darien at my place. Get the crew over here.”

“On it.”

Booker hung up and Mack rolled a
still unconscious Isaak onto his stomach, grabbing a set of cable ties and
tying his hands behind his back. He sat him up and tied him to the bed, then he
went looking for Darien. She was at the sink, pressing a towel to her mouth.
“Hey.”

“Hey.”

“Here, let me help.” He took the
towel away and put cold water on the end, then settled it against her lip. “Did
he do anything else?”

“He hit me in my stomach,” she
whispered, and he could tell she was trying not to break. “I saw it coming and
turned, but he got me on my hip. I fell.”

“Which hip?”

“My wight.”

“Hold this,” Mack said, and she
took the towel. Mack slid the band of her yoga pants down over her hip and he
saw a dark red spot that went from the top of her pelvis down to her hip.
“Baby,” he whispered. “That’s gonna hurt like a bitch in the morning.”

“It huts now!” she slurred into
the towel.

“How’s your mouth?”

“It huts.”

He lowered her hand and gently
raised her lip. No chipped teeth, but she was bleeding so he put the towel back
on and added a little pressure. “Let’s get ice on you.” He wrapped an arm gently
around her waist and walked her past Isaak and out to the great room. Within
minutes, Booker, Hawk, Ace, and Knight were storming into his house, obviously
having used Booker’s key. “Where is he?” Booker demanded.

Mack nodded to the back.
“Bedroom. I’m gonna take care of Darien and then I’ll join you.”

Knight stepped to Darien who
stood at the island. “You okay, babe?”

Mack watched her blink back
tears, but she nodded and Knight squeezed her arm gently before heading to the
back of the house.

“Let’s get some ice on that lip,”
Mack said, and wrapped a towel around an icepack. She gasped as the cold
touched her lip and Mack slipped her hair gently behind her ear. “Better?”

“He had a knife,” she whispered,
barely loud enough to hear.

“Yeah?”

She nodded. “He said he was going
to... slit my throat... and make you watch.” She hiccupped as her composure
broke and she burst into tears.

Mack pulled her against him and
laid his hand on her head, stroking her hair gently. “Okay, baby, I’ve got
you.”

“We should take her back to the
compound,” Booker said as he walked into the room. “Have Suz look her over.”

Darien shook her head. “I just
want to go home.”

“It’s not safe there right now,
baby,” Mack said, and pulled his hand away with a frown. “Babe, you’re bleeding.”

“But they’ll know we’re back
together if we go to the club.”

“They’re gonna know either way,”
Booker said. “If you’re at the club, no one can touch you.”

“What about Pauley and Barney?”

Booker smiled. “They can come as
well, Darien.”

“Where will we sleep?”

“You’ll sleep with Mack,” Booker
continued. “Pauley will sleep in mine and Dani’s room.”

“Dare,” Mack said, and rinsed out
a towel. “Your head is bleeding,” he repeated.

“It is?” she asked.

“Yeah. Sit down.”

“I’ll get Pauley,” Knight
offered. “I brought my truck.”

“Thanks, Knight,” Darien said.
“Tell Pauley to get Barney’s leash, we’ll bring his stuff from here.” She
looked up at Mack. “Is that okay?”

“Yeah, baby. It’s okay, but you
need to sit down.” He squeezed her shoulder and guided her to a stool, pushing
her gently down. “I’m gonna grab you some ibuprofen.”