Finally Home (Home Series) (16 page)

"Lainey!" Gia said, getting up to greet her.  "Are you OK?  How are you?  Kacee told me all that was going on with you."

Lainey embraced Gia, smiling at her.  Gia had long dark hair and blue eyes, but her eyes were a few shades darker than Mike's.

"I'm good, how are you?"

"Good.  Kacee said one of Mike's friends was hurt at your offices?"

"Across th
e street from our offices.  She's going to be fine, though."

"She??" the woman to Lainey's left said.

Lainey looked over at her to see a beautiful woman, tall, with long blonde hair and amber colored eyes.

"This is Carolina, my brother Nick's wife," Gia told her.

Lainey regarded the woman who left Mike for his twin and had to fight to control her temper at seeing her.

"Carolina.  Yes, Mike mentioned you," Lainey said and couldn't keep the frost out of her voice. 

"I'm Brooke," the other, younger woman said, "I'm Andre's wife."  Brooke had brunette hair and bright hazel eyes.  Lainey decided she liked Brooke, but the jury was still out on Carolina.

"You mean, Mike actually talks to you?" Carolina asked.  "I swear that man hasn't spoken more than ten words since he came back to town."

Lainey looked from Carolina to Gia.  "He stays quiet when he's around?"

Gia glanced around to her mother, then back to Lainey.  "He's very...stoic most of the time."

Jeannette was studying Lainey as she listened to all the girls speak about Michael.  Lainey wasn't liking anything she was hearing and it was obvious Michael had told her about Carolina because Lainey wasn't very receptive to Nick's wife at all.  She'd been overjoyed at seeing Lainey touch Michael and kiss his cheeks.  Lainey Riley was proving to be the answer to Jeannette's prayers.

Mike leaned against the far end of the bar in his father's "lounge", holding a glass of whatever it was his father had poured for him, listening to his brothers argue about a case they were working on.  Some things never changed, he thought. 

"Like old times?" his father asked.

"Yeah, sure," Mike replied, staring down into his drink.

"I walked past the living room on my way here.  Your Lainey looked ready to eat Carolina for lunch."

That brought a smirk from Mike as he thought about it.  "I'd pay real money to see that...but she isn't
my
Lainey."

Lorenzo laughed, "Sure she isn't."

"She's my client."

"Oh, is that what she is?"

Mike sighed.  "Don't start, Dad."

"I didn't say a word," Lorenzo said, walking away.

Mike shook his head, downing the rest of his drink. 

"Drinking now,
soldato
?" his younger brother, Andre asked.

"Looks like," Mike replied, refilling his glass.

Nick came up, slapping Andre on the back.  "He's out of the service now, so I guess that means he's loosened up enough to partake."

Their mother walked in before Mike could reply.
 

"Leave your brother alone," she admonished Nick.  "Dinner is ready," she told them.  Mike downed the drink he'd just poured and walked out without a word to the rest of them.  Lainey was standing with Gia just outside of the dining room.  When she saw him, she smiled and crossed over to him.

"Hey," she greeted him, "you OK?"

"Fine," he replied.

"There you are," Carolina said, coming up to Mike.  Lainey noticed she stopped short of touching him.  "Relax, Mike, your aura is pulsing like a neon sign."

"It usually is though, isn't it,
soldato
?" Andre asked.

Mike nodded to Andre.  "Andre, Lainey.  Lainey, my younger brother, Andre."

Andre shook her hand.  "Pleased to meet you, Lainey."

"You do realize that you are insulting your brother when you refer to him as
soldato
, don't you?" Lainey said as she shook his hand.

"I'm sorry, what?" he asked, clearly looking confused.

"Your brother was in the Navy, therefore he was a sailor, not a soldier."

"Lainey," Mike cautioned, his voice low.

She glanced up at him and smiled, then looked back over to Andre. 

"That is, unless, of course, you were meaning to insult him.  In which case, that makes you a truly, horrid person and a sorry excuse for a brother," she said sweetly, then
walked away leaving the guys standing there in open-mouthed astonishment, Mike included.

"Damn," Andre said, "don't tell Brooke...but that was freaking hot!"

Mike shook his head.  "Damn Irish," he said, going to Lainey's side, "You are really something, Ms. Riley," he said into her ear.

She smiled up at him and reached up to place her hand on his cheek.  Behind them,
a few gasps sounded from Gia and Carolina.  Lainey didn't care.  She loved the look she saw on his face just then.  Jeannette came and asked everyone into the dining room.  Lainey withdrew her hand from his cheek and placed it on his arm and allowed him to escort her inside. 

She
glanced around at the table once dinner got underway, watching how conversation flowed.  Across from them, Nick was glaring at Mike.  She glanced up at Mike only to see he had his eyes on his plate.  She sighed.  There was such a chasm between Mike and his family.  She could tell that he perpetuated it by not interacting; and his family was so used to his withdrawal that they didn't even bother to include him in their conversations.  Her blood pressure was beginning to rise.  These people were his family, yet they seemed to have no clue what he'd been through, what he'd sacrificed to keep them all safe so they could all sit there and ignore him.  And he allowed it!  That's what upset her the most: that this man who had led some of this country's most elite fighters into hell and brought them safely back out again was just sitting back and letting this happen.

"Your Irish is showing, Ms. Riley," Mike said, leaning down and speaking close to her ear so that only she could hear.

She glanced up at him.  "Why are you letting them ignore you?" she hissed quietly.

"Because it doesn't matter to me," he replied.

"That's just wrong.  Do they know what you went through?  Do they know..."

He leaned even closer, his nose skimming her cheek as he made his way to her ear.

"Want to shock them all?"

She drew back to meet his gaze.  "Sure
."

He nodded and leaned in, "Just go with it, cara, OK?" he asked, nuzzling her ear.  "Can you see them all?" he asked, referring to his family, his lips just skimming the shell of her ear.

"Yes," she replied.

"Did I tell you that you look lovely today?" he asked, causing goose bumps to erupt all over her arms.

"Mike," she breathed, then gasped when his lips touched hers for the first time.  Her eyes fluttered shut and she gripped his forearm.  He trailed kisses from her mouth, along her cheek and back to her ear.

"Are they still watching?"

"What?" she asked, trying to focus through the haze his kiss had left in her brain.  His lips returned to hers briefly, then he sat back and resumed eating.  Lainey stared at him in disbelief a moment, then glanced around at the table, seeing that all eyes were on them.  Mike didn't even acknowledge them.    Lainey felt heat flooding her cheeks.  She glanced over to Jeannette, mumbled a quiet 'excuse me', then stood and tossed her napkin into her chair and walked out.  She knew Mike was right behind her but she didn't care.  She was so livid that -

"Hey," he said, grabbing her elbow to stop her.

Lainey whirled on him and shoved him as hard as she could, which accomplished absolutely nothing,

"Lainey," he began but she cut him off.

"Do
not
even speak to me right now."

"I don't..."

"What did I say?" she growled.  "You are...unbelievable!  You
let
them treat you like you aren't even there and then you practically...that was our first kiss, Mike!"

"I know,
" he said softly but he didn't look the least bit chagrined.

"And you used it to figuratively flip your family off!  That was...I don't even have the words
to deal with that right now.  Why do you let them treat you like that?  You are a part of that family, too!" she cried, pointing toward the dining room.

"Keep your voice down, please," he requested.

"Why?  You just made an exhibition of us in there.  Why not let them hear exactly how wrong their treatment of you is?"

"My family is..."

"Wrong!  This whole situation is wrong, Mike.  Do they know what happened to you?"

"We don't," a voice behind them said.  They both turned to see his parents and Nick, Andre and Gia standing just inside the doorway from the dining room
, Carolina and Brooke a few steps behind them.  Nick was the one who spoke.

Lainey watched Mike's expression close, his eyes go to complete ice. 

"When is the last time he was here with all of you together?" Lainey asked, her gaze encompassing all of them.

"It's been years," Jeannette answered.

"And yet the whole time we sat in there, the only one who spoke to Mike was his mother."

Andre spoke up then.  "He never speaks much to any of us."

"He's quiet.  If you'd been through what he has, you'd be reserved, too.  He's had to deal with horrors you couldn't even -"

"Cara," he warned, "don't."

She whirled on him.  "You are
just
as guilty as they are!  My God, Mike!  You are not a robot!  You have feelings."

"We know that," Nick said
.

"Do you?" she shot back.  "Do you really, Nick?  You, who took his girlfriend."

"Hey, he said he was OK with me seeing her," Nick defended.

"What was he supposed to say??"

"Lainey," Mike warned again.

"What?" she snapped. 

"Stop."

"Why?  They are your family and they treat you like a stranger.  And you
let
them!  I don't understand any of you!" Mike stepped forward and tried to touch her but she pushed him away.  "Don't touch me," she hissed.

"Lainey."

"Take me to Riley's."

"You're not going to Riley's," he countered.

"Fine.  Take me back to your place and I will call Riley to come get me."

He grabbed her arm just above the elbow and walked them out without a word to anyone else. 
Lainey tried to jerk her arm away but his grip was like a vise; there was no getting it free.  Behind them, the door opened and Jeannette emerged, holding Lainey's coat and purse.

"Thank you," Lainey replied softly.

"I know we haven't left you with a good impression," Jeannette began.

"Mom, don't," Mike said, not even looking at her.

"Lainey is right, Michael.  We have treated you poorly since your return and I-"

"Stop," he warned, his eyes cutting over to his mother.

Jeannette folded her arms over her chest, eyes narrowing at her son.  "Or what?  You may have been a commanding officer, but this is still my house and you are still my son, so as far as that goes, I am your commanding officer.  I guess it took Lainey opening my eyes to see that what I viewed as us sparing your feelings has done more harm than good."

The valet pulled up with Mike's Escalade.  He stepped forward to open the passenger door for Lainey and held out his hand to help her inside, which she ignored, getting in on her own.
  Mike grit his teeth and closed the door, turning back to face his mother.

"Sorry for the drama," he said.

"I don't care about that.  But you listen to me," she said nodding toward the truck, "Lainey Riley is a jewel.  And the way I saw her looking at you earlier...you fix this with her.  Don't let her slip through your fingers."

He shook his head.  "I've got to go."

"Michael," she began but he was already walking away.

"See you later."

When he got into the SUV, Lainey was sitting rigidly in her seat, staring straight ahead.  At least there weren't any tears.  They made the drive back to his loft in silence.  When he parked in the garage and the door shut behind them, she didn't even wait for him to open the door for her, hopping out and crossing over to the elevator.  Mike followed behind her and stepped in after her.  As soon as the doors opened, she rushed up to the bedroom, slamming the door behind her.

Mike rubbed the back of his neck and went into the office area, checking the monitors and scanning the recordings of the perimeter of the warehouse for the time they were gone. 
Satisfied that everything was secure, he made his way upstairs to the bedroom...to find the door locked.

"Lainey.  Open the door."