“Explain.”
“I heard about your hostage rescue and ransom unit, and I want in,” Reagan said, keeping it simple.
Axl opened his mouth to bark out another question but then snapped it shut. He just stared at Regan, those eyes drilling through her. Kai had to admire her nerve—she didn’t squirm or move at all. In fact, she looked vaguely bored. He’d seen grown men wet their pants after being on the receiving end of that look but Mike’s sister didn’t flinch.
Kai had never been more proud of her.
“When hell freezes over,” Axl said, his voice colder than an Arctic gale.
Reagan just smiled and tipped her head. “We’ll see.” She yawned, and Kai could swear he heard Axl’s teeth grinding. “Anyway, as much fun as this hasn’t been, I’ve got to scoot. Knox is sending me his jet to pick me up and I’m due to meet it in an hour.”
“Reagan—” Axl ground her name out.
Kai watched, fascinated, as five-foot-nothing Reagan stepped up to Axl and placed her small hand on his wide chest. He saw the breath Axl sucked in and stifled a chuckle. Yeah, Reagan had him by the balls all right. She reached up and kissed his cheek before stepping back. “Don’t be boring, darling."
“You’d better fucking behave yourself with Callow, Reagan,” Axl warned.
“Or what?” Regan challenged. Jesus, the girl had no idea when to back off. Kai sank back into his chair and shook his head. Mike had been the same—more guts than sense.
Axl stepped away from Reagan and turned to the window. Reagan took a step towards him but Kai caught her eye. He added a stern 'back-off' look to the shake of his head. Reagan, thank God, came to her senses and abruptly stopped. She stared at Axl’s broad back before quietly saying, “I don’t understand you, Axl.”
Axl didn’t reply and Reagan turned on her heel and left his office, slamming the door behind her.
Kai looked at Axl’s tension-filled body and sighed. There was nothing to say, nothing that Axl wanted to hear. He and Reagan would have to work their own shit out...just like he and Flick would. He glanced at his watch. And if he didn’t haul ass then he was going to be late meeting Tally, and he knew that if he was late, then she’d use it as an excuse to run.
“Are you staying in Mercy or leaving?” Kai asked as he walked over to the door and snatched his leather jacket off the hook.
“I’ll stay the night at your place if that’s okay, and I’ll leave in the morning,” Axl quietly replied.
“You still have your key?” Not that Axl needed a key; he could ninja his way into Fort Knox if he wanted to. Kai’s house was child’s play. But this was Mercy, and with his luck, he’d have some nosy old bat watching his house who would notice if Axe picked the lock on his front door. Or his back door.
“I still have a key.”
“Okay. I have something to do but I’ll be back later. What about food at the Smirking Fox in a couple of hours?”
Axl finally turned and Kai saw that he was fully back under control.“That where all the pretty girls hang out?”
Kai grinned. 'Yeah."
Not that he had eyes for any girl but a certain brunette, and he suspected that Axl wasn’t that interested in anyone but Reagan either. But they were men—they frequently lied to themselves and to each other.
Tally was already at the diner when Kai arrived. After shrugging off his jacket and hanging it on a hook, he took a moment to study the girl. She was like Jane, he thought, the same shape face, the same wide eyes. Give her a couple of years and ten extra pounds, and less attitude, and she’d be stunning.
Just like her mother. God, Janie. What the hell were you thinking? I know next to nothing about kids, teenagers, and teenage girls.
He couldn’t slide over the veil to ask her but he could talk to her daughter, not that he had the faintest idea what to say to her. His commiserations would sound hollow and his condolences weak. He’d never been good at the “there, there” talks. He preferred action to talking.
Kai slid into the booth and pushed his fingers into his hair. When Tally just continued to stare out of the window, he sighed. “Do you want something to drink? Eat?”
“I already ordered,” Tally replied without looking at him. “I wasn’t sure that you’d arrive.”
Kai narrowed his eyes in frustration. “Tally.”
He tried to keep his voice even, and calm but wasn’t sure if he succeeded. He needed her to look at him, to make an eye-to-eye connection.
She still didn’t turn around so he tapped her hand with his index finger to get her attention. When she finally met his eyes, he leaned across the table he spoke again. "There’s something you should know about me, right here, right now. If I say I’m going to do something, I do it. No excuses, ever.”
Emotion flickered in her eyes and he wasn’t practiced enough to know whether it was relief or disbelief. They were a similar shade to his own, in fact, they shared many facial characteristics. A thin mouth, a long nose, and olive skin. Tally could be his daughter except for one salient point; Kai and Jane had never been anything other than friends.