Finally Home (Home Series) (25 page)

Whit shook his head and flipped them all off as he walked back inside.  A heartbeat passed.  Maybe two.  And then the rest of them busted out laughing.

"Deer in the eff
'n headlights," Colt laughed.

"Almost feel sorry for the poor bastard," Coop chuckled.

Mike pinned Riley with a hard stare.  "We good?" he repeated.

"Yeah, man, we're good...just...don't go overboard with the PDA shit."

Inside, the girls glanced out the windows, seeing the guys all standing in a loose huddle.  Lainey hoped that Riley wasn't giving Mike a hard time.  She wasn't sure what was going on with Mike that he was being the way he was, but she sure as heck didn't need Riley busting his chops about it. 

"Hey, Lainey?" Cam asked, drawing her attention.

"Yeah?"

He handed her his iPod.  "My dad just texted me.  None of it really makes sense...like he's drunk or stoned.  I don't want to show my mom or Riley because...well, I just don't."

She looked at the text from Wade Blackwell, Cam's father.  He'd been out of rehab for a month now and she thought he was doing better, but judging by the gibberish she was seeing, he may have had a relapse.

"Let me send him a text and see what kind of response I get...but honey, you're going to need to show your mom.  If he has had a relapse, she needs to know."

He sighed and in a move she'd seen Riley do a million times, rubbed his hand on the back of his neck, brow wrinkled in frustration.  She saw that, while he wasn't Riley's biological son, he was still Riley's son nonetheless.

"OK, but...do I have to tell her now?"

"Let me see how he responds to me, then we'll make that decision.  How's that?"

"Yeah, OK."

She gave his shoulder a squeeze then got up to go into one of the bedrooms to send the text to Wade.  While she held her phone waiting for a reply from him, it began ringing.  The number came up from her office so she figured Kacee had gone in.

"Hello?"

"I've missed you, Miss Lainey," Conroy's voice sounded, making her blood run cold.

"Charles?" she gasped.

"Finally figured it out, did you?"

"Why are you in my office?" she asked.

"That Soldier Boy took you away from your house and since I fought with that lady cop, you haven't come back here.  I need to see you."

"How did you get past the security?"

"The storm has knocked the power out."

"But not the phones?" she asked.

"Apparently not."

"Charles...why are you doing this?  You were a Marine.  You are a protector.  What you're doing now...you're scaring me.  Is that what you want?  For me to be afraid of you?"

"No. I love you."

"Then you have to stop this, Charles.  You've made me scared to even step
out of my own house.  I shouldn't have to live in fear of someone who says they love me."

"I would never hurt you.  You...you're the only one who ever..."

"Charles, listen to me.  You've done research on me.  You know that my father is the police chief.  Just go to the police station and ask for him and turn yourself in."

"I can't go back to jail, Miss Lainey.  I won't."

"Charles..."

"
Minchia!"
Mike growled from the doorway, reaching for the phone.

Lainey jerked away from him, holding her hand up to keep him at bay.

"Soldier Boy's back, is he?" Charles spat out.

"Give me the phone, Lainey," Mike said, his voice soft.

"Charles, you have to listen to me, OK?  Just go up to the station and ask for Gavin Riley.  You turn yourself in and I will see about arranging counseling sessions with you."

"Bullshit," she heard Riley say behind her.  Turning toward him, she sent him a sharp glare, gesturing for him to keep quiet.

"Where is he,
cara
?" Mike asked.

She gestured for his phone and typed in where Conroy was into a text box for him, and explained the security system was knocked out due to a storm then handed it back to him.  Riley read over his shoulder then she heard him step out into the hall and call for Colt. 

"I can't do that, Miss Lainey.  I can't go back to jail, not even for you."

"Charles...what outcome do you foresee?  You say you don't want to hurt me
but you've threatened my friends and you hurt Tessa.  Even if I were to come to you, you would have to face the consequences of your actions."

"I will not go back to jail."

In the hall, Riley was on the phone with her dad so she knew the police would be there in a matter of minutes.

"Listen to me, Charles.  Just turn yourself in.  I will come see you then.  But you have to put a stop to all of this."

"I can't.  Thank you for talking to me, Miss Lainey.  I have to go now, but I'll see you soon."

"Charles...Charles!"  She shook her head at Mike and dropped the phone on the bed, her whole body beginning to tremble.

Mike squat down on his haunches, getting eye level with her, taking her hands into his, placing a kiss to them.

"Look at me," he said softly.  When she didn't immediately comply, he cupped her chin in his hand.  "One of these days, you'll learn to listen to me the first time.  Look. At. Me."  When she raised her eyes to meet his gaze, he gave her hand a squeeze.  "You did really good,
cara mia.
"

She shook her head.  "This isn't going to end well, Mike," she whispered.  "He said several times, he won't go back to jail."

"We'll take care of him.  He will not hurt you."

She licked her lips, then pressed them closed a moment before speaking.

"I'm not worried about me...he was a good man, Mike.  He was.  He was a Marine."

He reached up, wiped a tear from her cheek with his thumb.

"I will do everything in my power to take him into custody so he can get the help he needs.  We won't let him continue to struggle if we can help it."

Her eyes lifted to see Riley and Colt behind him. 

"He could be any one of you.  I can't...what if Jack or Trevor or Aaron is injured like Charles was?"

"Well, for one, Aaron's a lawyer.   What's he gonna get?  A papercut?" Riley joked, succeeding in making her smile. 

"All right, not Aaron, but definitely Trevor, possibly Jack."

"Jack's tour is up next month and he's not re-upping, you know that.  He's moving back home to work at Orion with us.  But I get what you're saying.  Like Mike said, we will do our best to bring him in safely.  That's all we can do, Tink."

She nodded, but her eyes were huge.  Mike stood and helped her to her feet, wrapping her up in his arms, kissing the top of her head.  Lainey didn't hesitate.  She burrowed into his chest, clinging to him.  She heard him say something low to Riley and Colt and then heard the door shut when they left the room.  Mike lifted her into his arms and then sat on the edge of the bed, cradling her in his lap, just stroking her hair and occasionally placing a kiss to the side of her head.  She drew in close to him, placing her ear over his heart, taking comfort from it's strong, steady beat.  Tears that she'd been holding back started and when he tightened his hold on her, she let them go.  For the second time since all this started, she sat cradled in Mike Casiano's lap, crying her eyes out...and for the second time, he held her close and held her tight and let her fall apart in the safety and comfort of his arms.

This time, however, she didn't pull herself together and leave his arms.  This time, when the tears subsided, and she was left a shattered mess, his big, warm hand smoothed over her cheek.  His other hand brushed her hair away from her face and he leaned down to touch his lips to hers...and this time, Lainey turned so that she was straddling him, and she buried her hands in his hair and turned her full attention to kissing this man who both infuriated her and fascinated her like no other ever had.  This man who had given so much to so many, from sacrificing himself so that a widow had a body to bury and her cousin had a life to continue living so that he could be the saving grace to a single mother and her son, to buying a nice home for the only
member of his unit who was married so that the rest of the team had a place away from the base to unwind to continuing to take care of that friend's widow all these years later.  Mike gave to everyone and asked very little in return, and she wanted to change that.  She wanted to give him everything.

"Mike," she whispered against his lips.

"
Lo so, bambina,"
he replied, pressing his forehead to hers, hands stroking her face, wiping her remaining tears away.

"What does that mean?" she asked, though she knew well enough.

"I know, baby girl...I want you...but not with a house full of our friends and family."

"I know," she replied, "are you sure we can't just run to your house in Tuscany?  I don't want to go back home.  I don't want to be the cause of such a lost soul's death."

"I won't kill him," he vowed.

"He won't leave you a choice," she said sadly. 

"We'll see," he replied.

Chapter Seventeen

Lainey tightened her hold on him when he made a move to disentangle himself from her.  For a moment, he sat, hands roaming her back, then he again tried to lift her from his lap.

"Lainey," he began but she shook her head.

"Stay with me," she whispered.

"Bambina," he began but she put her hand on his cheek and raised her head to meet his lips.  He groaned and returned her kiss for a bit, then pulled back, touching his forehead to hers.  "This isn't like when I stayed with you before.  I'm not strong enough to just sleep."

She traced her lips along the scar on his jaw, working toward his ear.  "I don't want you to just sleep, Commander."

He smiled and her heart stopped.  That smile up close was devastating.

"I'd like nothing better...but not with your cousin just across the hall."

"At this rate, there's always going to be someone in the house with us," she said, tracing her tongue along the shell of his ear.  "Stay with me, Commander.  Today has been...wonderful...we aren't home.  We don't have to worry about Conroy again until tomorrow."

"Lainey," he groaned.

"Stay with me, Michael."

He took a deep breath.  "All right.  I'll stay."

He turned then and she quickly found herself on her back, pressed to the mattress underneath his weight.  His mouth slammed down on hers, his hands exploring her curves.  She gloried in the feel of him over her. He was so much bigger than her; all she could see was him when he raised his head to look down at her.

"
Cosi bella,
" he whispered reverently, brushing his hand over her hair.

She wrapped her arms around his shoulders, pulling him down to kiss her again.  Her hands buried themselves in his hair, holding him close as he kissed her so tenderly she wanted it to never end. 
She trailed her hands down his back to his muscular butt, giving him a firm squeeze before reaching up to pull his shirt from his pants.  She was just reaching down to let her hands explore underneath his shirt when he captured her wrists in one hand and raised them above her head, pinning them in the vise-like grip of his hand.

"Let me touch you," she said against his lips.

"No," he replied, his free hand kneading her left breast through her shirt.

"Mike," she protested, trying to free her hands.

"Be still,
cara mia
, or I'll get up and leave the room," he warned.

"But..."

"Do not move," he ordered, his voice low and smooth as silk, "disobey me and your punishment is I leave."

"My punishment?" she asked, nipping at his lower lip.

"Yes, ma'am.  I give an order I expect it to be obeyed without question.  Consequences for disobedience will be immediate and severe."

Her eyes widened as she looked up at him, the fight completely leaving her body.  He smiled, dipping his head down to kiss the hollow of her throat.  She shivered and his hold on his hands tightened.

"
Tacere,
" he warned.  When she immediately stilled, he raised his head, eyes narrowing, "
Capisci quello che sto dicendo?"

Lainey realized her mistake.  When he'd told her to be still in Italian and she immediately obeyed, she'd tipped him off.  He asked if she understood what he was saying. 

"What?" she asked, hoping she'd at least thrown him off for a moment.

Mike knew she was trying to cover up the fact that she could understand Italian.  He realized he should have known before now that she'd be able to speak and understand it; she'd grown up with the Adtkissons.
  He began telling her, in great detail, exactly what he'd like to do to her, from kissing her breasts to tasting her in every way and delighted in watching her try not to react to anything he said.