Bailey, Debbie - Stephanie's Homecoming [Men of Kinsey 4] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (18 page)

“Hey now, I just went along like Turk asked.” He smiled sweetly.

“You have got to be fricking kidding me, right? You were the one going on and on about our sex life, for Christ’s sake and how soon you’d like to get me pregnant. Did you see the look on Jenny’s face? It was murderous, and it wasn’t aimed at me this time. She was looking at you.”

At that moment Stephanie stopped. Just stopped and said in a very quiet voice, “I need to get back to work, now. Kane, if you’re coming with me then you better get your burger to go, because I’m leaving now.”

With a big shove, she pushed at Kane to get him to stand and then scrambled out of the booth and headed for the door without looking back.

Chapter 10

Quickly, Stephanie walked back to the paper. She didn’t even glance behind herself to see if Kane was following until she was inside the front foyer of the building. When she turned, she wasn’t surprised that he was coming through the doorway.

Shayne came out from behind the front desk, took one look at the two of them, and told Stephanie she had someone waiting in her office to see her, and then she quietly headed upstairs with an angry backward glare at Kane.

“Smart boy,” Kane growled.

“Don’t you do anything to him? He’s a great kid, Kane, and a good assistant, and I don’t want to lose him.”

Stephanie headed up the stairs with Kane almost right on her heels, but just before they came to the door leading into the pit, Kane grabbed her and pushed her up against the wall.

“We’ll discuss your behavior when we get home, angel eyes, but let me tell you that I’ve never been so fucking turned on in my life. You all riled up is probably one of the sexiest things I’ve ever seen.” Kane slowly lowered his head and gently kissed her lips.

Sighing, Steph couldn’t help but smile and say, “You and Turk are probably the only two men on the planet who get horny when they get yelled at by their woman.”

“Hey, what can I say, baby, we’re unique.”

Pushing him away, she opened the doors to the upper level, still shaking her head and smiling as she headed for her office.

* * * *

Sitting outside her office waiting for her was the one person on this planet that she had never hoped to see again. Her aunt, Sophia Morrison.

Stephanie felt Kane behind her as soon as she started to stiffen up.

“Isn’t that your Aunt Sophia?” he whispered in her ear.

Kane knew all about her dealings with her aunt growing up because she had told him all about it.

Sophia Morrison was the only sibling of her father. After Stephanie’s parents’ death, she had fought tooth and nail over their estate. Her parents had both excelled in their fields and over the years had built up a nice nest egg. They’d made sure that Stephanie had money for college and that she’d have a little start out money after she graduated. Even though they were considered to be wealthy, she never felt spoiled. She earned an allowance like most of her friends by doing household chores, and when she got old enough, she got a part-time job. It sometimes drove her dad nuts because when she worked late at night, he’d get all freaked out about her walking the three blocks home. After a young woman was mugged on the other side of town, he couldn’t take it anymore, and he bought her a car. Both she and her mom thought it was silly to drive three blocks to work, but to see her dad happy she did, but only when she worked the night shift.

“Yes, that’s her. I wonder what brings the barracuda out.”

Stephanie walked up to the woman, and without the usual niceties she asked, “What the hell do you want, Sophia?”

The woman smiled and said, “Is that any way to greet a relative, Stephanie? Your parents should have taught you better manners and respect, my dear.”

“My parents taught me to show respect for people who have earned it. And you, Sophia, have not earned it.” That said, Stephanie turned to Kane to let him know she was taking Sophia into the office. She didn’t need to have this discussion in front of the entire paper.

“Sit down, Sophia, and tell me what you want. I don’t have a lot of time, and trust me, I’m in no mood to deal with your bullshit.”

Stephanie knew she was behaving badly, but dammit, after what this bitch put her through, she had every right to dislike and mistrust her.

“I didn’t come here to fight with you, Stephanie, I came here to apologize. I’m sorry for the comment earlier. It seems old habits die hard with me, and my snootiness has always been my downfall.” Sophia pulled her trusted hankie from her purse and wiped her upper lip with it.

“Well, that certainly is a change for you, Sophia. I think that is the first time I’ve ever heard you apologize for anything. Damn, you must be dying or something.” Stephanie had really only meant that as a joke, but when she saw the look on her aunt’s face, she knew.

“How long, Sophia?” she asked quietly as she leaned against her desk for support. As bitchy and nasty as her aunt had been, Stephanie always thought her to be almost immortal.

“I’ve got about six months to a year, Stephanie. I guess this is karma, huh. I was a complete and total ass wipe after your mom and dad’s death, so now God is punishing me for it.” For the first time in her life, Stephanie saw real emotion in her aunt’s face.

Kneeling in front of her, she took her hands in hers and said, “Whatever you need, I’ll give it to you, Sophia.”

Sophia burst into tears.

“Oh, don’t cry, auntie, we’ll get through this together. You can come a stay with me…oh damn, you can’t do that because I live with Kane and Turk. I can rent you an apartment in town, and we’ll hire you a nurse so that you have around-the-clock care and…”

Sophia cut her off with a hand over her mouth before she could go on.

“Ah, Steph, you have grown into such a giving woman, your parents would be so proud of you, but that’s not why I came here, sweetie. I have everything taken care of already. I have a nurse, and when I can no longer be taken care of at home, I have secured a place in a hospice so that I’ll die comfortably. I came here to apologize to you, that’s all. I know I was hard on you after your parents’ death, taking you to court over their will. The only excuse that I have was grief and fear. Fear that I would live the rest of my life without my little brother there to tell me when to take the stick out of my ass. And grief at the loss of him and your wonderful mother, who was also one of my best friends.” A tear rolled down the older woman’s cheek, and Stephanie reached up to gently wipe it away.

“When I heard you were back in town, I knew I needed to come and see you and explain my actions. I’m so sorry for making your grief over the loss of your parents worse by dragging you into court. It was unconscionable of me, and my brother, if he could, would probably come down from the heavens and kick my ass.”

Resting her head on her aunt’s lap, Steph let a few tears fall herself. Tears for the loss of the companionship that these two could have given each other during that awful time and tears for the loss of the years since.

“I forgive you, auntie, just promise me that I can see you more now that you’ve told me. We’re family, and I won’t let you live your last days alone. Like Dad used to do, I’m gonna be the one to tell you to take the stick out of your ass and live life to its fullest and dance to all the music the world has to offer. Dance until you can’t dance anymore.”

Sophia threw her arms around her niece and hugged her like she was a lifeline. After a few more sniffles from both of them, they laughed and stood again, hugging each other tightly.

Walking her aunt to the door, she felt even freer than ever before. She had never understood her aunt’s venom after her parents’ death. Aunt Sophia, though sometime stuffy, had been a great person.

Now Steph knew why she had acted the way she did.

* * * *

Kane had been waiting outside her office the whole time. He knew the history between the two women and was not going to allow Sophia the bitch to hurt Steph anymore.

When the door opened, he was surprised to see the two of them come out holding hands and laughing.

“Oh, Aunt Sophia, I don’t know if you remember Kane Bryson…”

“Oh yes, Kane, well, you finally have her back here, my boy,” she said, and then stepping closer to him, she continued, “Make sure you and Turk take damn good care of my niece, young man, or I swear by all that is holy, I will haunt you until your dying day.” With that said, Sophia kissed both of them on the cheek and walked as regally as ever out the door.

“Well, that’s a change,” Kane said as he watched the older woman leave. He felt Stephanie snuggle into his side and immediately pulled her fully into his embrace.

“Let’s go into your office for a minute, angel eyes, and you can tell me what the hell is going on.”

The moment they were alone in the office, Stephanie burst into tears in his arms.

“Baby, don’t cry, please, whatever she did, I’ll make her pay for it, trust me. That old battle-ax is done hurting you.”

Kane looked down at the woman in his arms, his heart breaking for her. Stephanie was strong, but for some reason her aunt was able to bring her to tears, and that made Kane furious.

Sniffing and stepping back from him, Steph said quietly, “No, Kane, it’s not like that. She’s dying, and she came to apologize and explain her actions after Mom and Dad’s death. I understand so much more now and can accept her apology.”

Kane couldn’t believe how forgiving his woman was. After everything Sophia had put her through, she was willing to forgive her.

“Why would you forgive her after what she did, angel eyes?” he asked.

“Because you forgave me,” she said before snuggling in against his chest again.

“How about I go and call Turk to come and get you. There are a couple of things that I need to do, but I think that you’ve had a little bit too much of an emotional day.”

Before she could say anything, he held up his hand. “I’m not saying you have to, but you’ve been here less than a week and have had some major emotional upheavals. Would you please, just this once, do as I ask and take the rest of the day off so that Turk and I can take care of you. I know you have lots to do here, but if you end up sick, that won’t do any good, either.”

He hoped he was making some sense to her, because to him it really didn’t matter whether or not she agreed with him, she was going home early, and that was that.

“Just this once I’ll do as you ask. I’m really wrung out, and I don’t think that my being here is going to be of any help. Shayne can take care of things over the weekend as well. He’s a really great kid, Kane, and after what he told me that about his family, I want to do something special for him, and I think you and Turk can help.”

“Whatever you think we can do, we’ll do, baby. If Shayne is as good as he seems, then he deserves to be treated well. And as long as he keeps his young paws off you, I’m good with that.” Kane laughed and grabbed Steph’s bag and headed for the door.

They met Shayne just outside her office and let him know that Stephanie would be gone for the rest of the day, and that unless it was really important, Shayne was to take care of everything.

Before they left, Stephanie pulled Shayne into his office and said, “I didn’t want to ask you this with all those ears out there because I don’t know how much everyone knows about your family history, but I was wondering if your sister and her husband ever got the chance to take that honeymoon?”

“No, after my niece was born, finances became even tighter. I was hoping that, within the next six months or so, I’d be able to pay their rent for the next year. They won’t even let met pay rent, so I’ve been putting into a special account for my niece’s education. My sister said that I needed to save my money so that when the time was right I could find a nice place close to them, and I wouldn’t have to struggle.” Shayne smiled, and Steph could see just how much his family meant to him.