Kace (Allen Securities) (17 page)

“That’s it,” she said and pushed back on his hard chest. “I can’t sit out here kissing you all day.”

He stuck his lower lip out and pouted at her. She couldn’t help but laugh at how silly he was being. Although, she had to admit, seeing him dressed in uniform made her want to do things to him that wouldn’t be legal in a number of states.

She grinned at his sharp look and leaned over. Giving into temptation, she kissed him again and yanked on his cuffs.

“You bring these to bed, and we won’t have to worry about going off to work,” she laughed.

He groaned and lunged for her, but she was just quick enough to slip away in time.

“You don’t know what you do to me,” he complained. Jessica grinned.

“Oh I think I do, and if I’m right, I’m not that much different.” She shifted in her seat, only proving her point.

Kace took a deep breath and waved to Ryder through the window of the pastry shop.

“So just remember, no going into the house before Ryder checks it. You stay as a group. Just grab what you need and get out.”

Jessica sighed. “I’m not a baby.”

“I worry,” he said quietly. “I’ll meet you at the club, and remember I love you.”

Her heart beat wildly every time he said it. He loved her and he meant it. Not only that, but he would stop at nothing to keep her safe, which both frightened and flattered her.

“I love you too,” she said and blushed. This whole love thing was going to take more than just a few days for her to get used to.

He grinned when she climbed out and turned around. She knew how happy it made him and that, in turn, made her happy.

“Go do your paperwork,” she said through the window. “I’ll see you later.”

She waved to him once she reached the door of the shop.

“Wow, I didn’t think you’d ever stop kissing,” Victoria said from the other side of the counter. Ryder coughed loudly. She suspected it was to cover the laugh.

“Hey, I don’t think I would want to stop kissing him either,” a short girl with curly blonde hair said next to Victoria.

Jessica laughed. “Hey, Taylor.”

“So what’s up with all the man-cakes around here? And where do I sign up to get one of my own?” Her fairy-tale cute face was no match for the foul mouth that Taylor had developed over the years.

“Love to help you out with that, but there’s no list.” She looked over to Ryder. “Unless you’ve got a brother you want to torture a bit.”

Ryder laughed loudly. Jessica smiled. It wasn’t often that people were able to see that side of him. She only wished her friend could see that as well. Jessica peeked around the corner to see Irene watching him intently, her cheeks bright with color.

She slipped behind the counter and moved to the door leading to the back.

“Still hiding I see,” she said when she had stepped into the back.

Irene shot her a dirty look.

“It’s not like that,” Irene said.

“Oh?” Jessica looked into the front to see Ryder looking hotly at Irene.

“No,” she said and smoothed her apron over skirt. “I’m just very busy.”

“Are you still going to go with me over to the house?” she asked.

Irene creased her pretty brow and stared at Jessica. “Of course I’m going.”

Jessica looked back to Ryder. “Well, he’s our ride.”

They walked further into the shop, where Irene was working on a new batch of cookies. The still warm sugar cookies rested on pans. Jessica snatched one from the pan before Irene could tell her not to.

“Oh you know how much I hate that,” Irene complained.

Jessica grinned at her. “Maybe I know and just find it funny.” Irene continued to glare, and Jessica started to feel bad. “So how has business been?”

Irene smiled brightly.

“Things are going great,” she said. “Business is really starting to boom, and the girls have been such a help.”

She smiled warmly toward the front. It was hard not to see the love she had for her cousin and Jessica’s sister.

“So.” Jessica clapped her hands and walked around the small kitchen. “You ready to go to my place?”

Irene stepped closer and glanced toward the door.

“Is it really that bad?” she asked. “I mean, I know you got the letter, but is it really so bad you can’t go back to the house still?”

Jessica shrugged. She knew Kace might be over-reacting, but honestly, putting her sister at risk wasn’t something that she wanted to do. Ever.

There’d been reports on the news of an explosion at sea. Finn wouldn’t confirm if it’d been the arms shipment, but Kace and Jessica assumed as such. They’d been surprised the Russians hadn’t already retaliated. A little extra safety definitely wasn’t out of line.

“It’s a risk,” Jessica said. “I honestly can’t even guess when this will all be over. I thought that things would come to a head after they shot up the club, but it’s been nearly three days, and we haven’t heard anything.”

Irene washed her hands and then grabbed the dough on the table. She rolled it out with the ease and precision of someone who had been doing it for years.

“I just don’t know how you do it there,” she said. Jessica noticed her hand shook as she picked up a cookie cutter. She placed her hand on top of Irene’s.

“I’m being as safe as I can be,” she said and squeezed her hand. “I know you worry, but it will all blow over. Last thing the Russian mob wants to do is make this into something where the police want their heads on a pike.”

She pulled away and moved to the other side of the metal work table.

“Wanting to take out Finn and some of his guys makes sense.” She looked into Irene’s clear green eyes. “I’m just an easy way to make a point to Finn. It’s not something against me, I just happen to be around.”

Irene stopped slapping the cookie cutter into the dough and looked up. Her eyes were filled with tears, which she quickly dashed away.

“If anything happened to you,” she started.

“It won’t,” Jessica said firmly. “I’ve got Kace protecting me.”

Irene gave a small smile and nodded.

“So what’s going on with that?” Irene asked shyly.

Jessica sighed and leaned against the table as her friend finished cutting the cookies. She watched as Irene lined them up on a tray.

“Kace is…” Jessica giggled. “He’s complicated and amazing and…” She shrugged. “I’m in love with him.”

Irene whirled around and jumped when the oven door snapped shut.

“Love?”

The reaction wasn’t totally unexpected considering Irene had very little experience with men in general.

“Isn’t that a little fast?” Irene set the potholders on the table.

Jessica laughed and nodded. “Yup. And crazy, but it doesn’t change how right things are with him.”

“So are you going to start dating?”

Jessica cringed. “He’s asked me to move in with him.” She giggled after she thought for a moment. “Actually, he asked me to move in, get married and have babies.”

When she looked at Irene, she burst out laughing. Her eyes were so huge, they looked like two saucers.

“And you told him yes?” she whispered.

“Well,” Jessica said. “Actually, I think what I said was okay.” She grinned at her friend.

Irene frowned. “You shouldn’t joke about this.”

Jessica reached for Irene’s hands and gave a squeeze. “Life is too short. We’re taking it day by day, and for now, we are focusing on getting past all this shit.” She smiled. “But I’m really not rushing into this. I’ve dated. I know what I want and don’t want. Kace makes me happy and it’s not often that I’m happy like that.”

Irene came around the table and wrapped her in a warm hug. “If you’re happy, I’m happy.”

Ryder cleared his throat at the doorway.

“Sorry to interrupt,” he said, looking directly at Irene. “But we need to get going.”

Irene hurried to busy herself with the stove.

Jessica turned to Ryder and gave a nod. His eyes turned back to Irene, and he gave a sigh before walking back to the front. When she turned around, Irene was placing the hot sheets on the table.

“You know,” she said when Irene looked up at her. “You might give that whole happiness thing a try.”

Irene wrinkled her brow and glanced to the door.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said firmly.

Jessica held up her hands. “Okay, just saying.”

Irene yanked off her apron and slammed it onto the table.

“Shouldn’t we be going?” she asked.

Jessica laughed and followed out the door.

* * *

“I see you decided to grace us with your presence,” Lt. Jackson said from across the desk.

Kace looked up from the computer and sighed. He really hadn’t wanted to have this discussion yet.

“I think we should have a talk in my office.” The older man leaned over him. Kace knew this tactic. It was one he had perfected.

“Maybe we should wait until another day,” Kace said slowly.

Lt. Jackson glared down at him.

“It wasn’t a question,” he said menacingly.

Kace sighed and shut down his computer. Several other officers at desks in the area stopped to watch as he followed behind.

When the door slammed shut behind him, he knew this was going to be a continuation from the other night.

“I want to know,” Lt. Jackson said as he slipped into the chair across from Kace, “what the hell has gotten into you? Before all this shit, you had your head on straight and were poised for that next promotion.”

“Things are just different. Nothing is black and white,” he said.

“Bullshit.” Lt. Jackson slammed his fist on the table. “It’s her. I know it is.”

Kace sat up straight and glared. “It’s not Jessica.” He looked directly at Lt. Jackson. “Things just aren’t so cut and dry with all this.”

The other man glared at him, and Kace looked around. There were no personal effects out, and he wondered if his boss even had any to put out.

“Like hell they aren’t,” Lt. Jackson said and stood. “We put you on this case because you could handle it. Your family would be involved, and that would increase our chances of getting both Finn and the Russians.” He started pacing in the small space. “This isn’t some damn game, and if you think getting involved with someone like her is a good idea, you need to rethink that.”

Kace gritted his teeth.

“I heard you went to visit her father,” Lt. Jackson said.

Kace nodded. “He had information.”

Lt. Jackson laughed. “I’m sure he did.”

Kace stood. His anger throbbed in his head.

“I’ve had enough,” he said finally. “Jessica never was or will be the problem. Her father was once in the fold, and he ended up in prison.”

Kace shot up. “You want to write me up for not doing my job well enough, so be it.” Kace leaned forward. “But leave Jessica out of this.”

“You know she’s trouble, and if you don’t get this in check, you can kiss your promotion goodbye.” A thick vein popped out on his boss’s neck.

“So be it.” Kace walked out the door.

Chapter Eighteen

Jessica stood at the bar and smiled at Kace on the end. She really shouldn’t be this giddy, but she couldn’t help it. Every time she saw him sitting on the stool, she would remember something with him and smile. She had been doing it more and more the last few days.

It had never been her intention to move things so quickly with him, but Kace lived life with her by the seat of his pants. Despite how controlled he was with every other aspect of his life, he constantly surprised her and threw caution to the wind. Well, within reason.

They had spent a large chunk of time talking about the future. She would continue to pay for the townhome. It wasn’t the best, but it was what Victoria wanted. Jessica suspected that Mrs. Masing might have more to do with that than anything. Although it was pretty centrally located, so that limited her commute time.

Jessica wiped down the bar and broke down the soda fountain to clean. It wasn’t a job she loved, but things had been tight around the place and when that happened, it was her duty to be there in whatever role they needed. Finn had lived up to his word when he contacted the staff about the danger. Unfortunately, that also meant a large chunk decided not to come in, so that left her picking up the slack.

She tossed her rag in the dirty bin and gathered her paperwork from the office. Being closed off in the office was normally what she wanted, but it was nice being around the others. It had been a long time since she was able to relax and enjoy the company of others she worked with. Although right now was a little different than normal. With Dale guarding the door constantly, Meg popping in with updates, Liam and Finn making the rounds around the room and Kace constantly watching her, it was a wonder they were able to get any work done at all, let alone make any money.

With her bookwork in hand, she flopped down in the seat next to Kace and smiled when he brushed his leg up against her.

When she looked up again, Kace was staring intently at her. His eyes burned with the passion she hoped he planned to revisit when she finished work.

“If you two don’t quick eye-fucking each other, I’m going to get the hose out,” Meg said. She sat at the small table near the bar, a laptop in front of her, with Finn and grinned when Jessica turned to flip her off.

She paused mid-flip when Meg sat up bolt right, knocking her drink onto the floor. Alyssa, who was cleaning a nearby table, rushed over to mop up the mess.

“Finally,” she said. “So we’ve been able to trace some purchases from the account.”

She spun the screen to Finn. Jessica and Kace made their way to the side of the table. Gathered, they looked at the recent transactions.

“This can’t be right,” Finn said quietly.

“What is a Knappogue?” Meg asked.

Finn stared blankly at the screen for a moment. When he sat back, all the color had drained from his face.

“It’s a very expensive type of Irish whiskey. There were only two men I ever knew to drink it. One is dead and the other…” He looked around the room, pain evident on his face. “The other is my brother.”

He continued to stare at the screen, and Jessica wondered if he might be going into shock. It was certainly surprising someone so close would make the call to screw over family like that. It just wasn’t what she would have expected.