Tell Me What Is Priceless (Siren Publishing Classic) (11 page)

“Mason came up with the truck and brought the hog home. It’s supposed to be nasty until tomorrow. I figured that we would be better off in the Lexus. It’s outside. I flipped when I saw my brother’s truck parked next to the house. I’m sorry. I couldn’t sleep. You have my mind going crazy.”

He turned to Mason and smiled. “Thank you for everything.”

“You’re welcome. I owe you a million favors. Without you I don’t know what I would have done. Is he all right?”

“I think so. He doesn’t seem to get hurt when he is drunk. I’m so pissed at him. I’ll deal with it when he wakes up.”

“Do you want me to hang around?”

“No, he won’t try anything with me here. He won’t risk losing his bank. I couldn’t do what you just did. But I can deal with him if I have to.”

“No problem, boss man. I wouldn’t want you hurting your hip with this pretty lady waiting in your bed. You need to conserve your strength,” Mason teased.

Blaze pursed her lips, lowering her eyes in embarrassment. Zar laughed. “Mason, she is a bit more refined than usual. Don’t harass her. I will never hear the end of it. I’ll see you on Friday. Watch over the mall, and don’t let them fuck anything up while I’m gone. Please.”

“I won’t. I know what you are looking for, and I’ll see to it that it happens. Nice meeting you, Blaze. It’s nice to see him smiling again. Be good to him. He is the greatest of men, even though he doesn’t know it. I will see you on Friday, Zar.”

Mason threw an irritated glance in Kale’s direction and turned to leave. Blaze sniffled, suddenly coming to terms with what had happened. Zar sat down and took her hands. “I’m so sorry. I had no idea that he was going to show up. My brother is known to end up in bed with my girlfriends. I think he expected you to do the same. Did he hurt you?”

“No, he just scared the shit out of me. I thought he was going to rape me,” she said as she tried to hold back her threatening tears.

Zar wrapped his arms around her and kissed her head. “I’m going to kill him when he wakes up. He is such an ass when he is drunk. I can smell him all over you.”

Blaze’s calm broke, and she started to softly cry. Zar stroked her hair, holding her tightly. “He wouldn’t have raped you. He is just drunk, and he gets stupid. I’m so sorry, Blaze. Do you want me to take you home?”

She sniffed, leaning back to look at him. Her eyes were red and puffy, and he wiped a tear from her cheek. “I was looking forward to spending today with you. I called Nan, and she said that she will take care of the dogs so I can come up to New York for the day. I have to be back on Thursday night.”

“Good, because I don’t want you to go home. I’ll send a limo for you on Wednesday. Just let me know what time and where. If I can get away from the mall, I’ll come for the ride. Are you all right now? I got in touch with my doctor, and he is making a house call. I told him that it was special circumstances. Your face gets really puffy and red when you cry.”

Blaze swiped angrily at her cheek. “Thank you. I needed to hear that.”

“Do you want to go take a bath while I deal with Kale?”

“He won’t hurt you when he wakes up, will he?”

Zar threw her a terse look. “I’m not a ten-pound weakling. You make me sound helpless. I can take care of my brother.”

“I didn’t mean it that way, Zar. I’m well aware of how strong and capable you are. I was not insulting your manly capabilities. He is drunk, violent, and possibly unpredictable. He was just thrown across the room, and he might wake up swinging. No pain, no common sense.”

“Oh, sorry. I’m a bit touchy tonight or this morning. The shot helped, but it kept me awake until it kicked in. Now I’m tired and maybe a bit crabby. The towels are in the closet by the kitchen, and you know where the bathroom is.”

“Do you want a cup of coffee?”

“That would be great. I can get it, though. What I really want is a kiss.”

“Kale doesn’t have AIDS, does he?”

“I don’t think so, why?”

“Because he kissed me.”

“Now I’m going to kiss you, too. You can’t pass it through a kiss unless you have a cut in your mouth. Do you?”

“Not that I know of.”

“Good, then kiss me before the asshole wakes up.”

She smiled, feeling relieved that he was back and obviously doing better. He softly put his hands to her cheeks, kissing her with gentle passion. He shook his head and grinned. “I want to make love to you again before you go home. I need something to hold me until Wednesday. Damn, that seems like a long time from now.”

Blaze got up and then leaned, giving him another kiss. “I hate you, Zar.”

“I hate you, too. Now go.”

She hurried into the living room as he went to wake up his brother.

Kale opened his eyes and groaned. “Hey, Zar. Sexy babe you got going. She was hot and naked on the sofa. She kneed me in the nuts. Damn, that hurt. Where is she?”

“She is washing your drunken stink off her body. She is off limits, Kale.”

“Oh shit, that tramp?”

Zar grabbed him by the throat and lifted him into the wall. “She is not a tramp, and I said she is off limits. Don’t fuck with me on this, Kale.”

Kale gagged as Zar let him fall back to the floor. “Sorry, dude. I didn’t know you had the hots for this one.” Kale suddenly dropped the accent and became serious. “I will keep my hands off, Zar. I’m in trouble, and I’m not as drunk as I’m acting. Jenny is dead, and they are blaming me. I didn’t do it, Zar. I was going to ask her to marry me. I was trying to get off the booze. I mean really trying this time. I even got a job and an apartment. I sold the hog and everything. I had a few beers last night, but I’m not drunk. I was being an asshole is all.”

“You love Jenny, and you tried to rape Blaze? Why?”

“Blaze? Wild name. She was sitting on the sofa with nothing on, talking on the phone. I wasn’t going to rape her, and I’ll apologize. I wanted to see if I could trick her like we used to do. I figured she was just a weekend fling. I’m sorry. Help me up?”

Zar offered his hand, pulling Kale to his feet.

“How is your hip, Zar?”

“Bad. But it was worth it. What do you want from me, Kale? Money for a lawyer? You can’t stay here if you have been accused of murder. I can’t be a part of hiding you. Tell me what happened.”

“I don’t know what happened. Jenny and I were out at the lake. We fucked in the truck, and she got pissed because I called her Annie. It was a slip of the tongue. I apologized, and I thought things were okay. We sat for a while just looking out over the water, talking. She had to go pee, and she got out and went into the woods. When she didn’t come back, I went looking for her. She was slumped against a tree, and I ran to her thinking that she fell or something. There was so much blood. It was all over her dress and her neck. I knelt in it. I left my footprints all over the place. I couldn’t bring myself to even touch her and see if she was alive. When I was trying to get up I vomited. I was covered in blood, and you know how I am. I freak over sickness and death. I got up and ran. They must have my DNA from the vomit, and I know they think I did it. I didn’t kill her. I have to imagine that there is a warrant out for my arrest. Zar, I swear that I didn’t do anything.”

“Are you sure that she was dead?”

“Yeah, she had to be. Her face, her hair, the whole front of her body was bloody. I think it was blood that I had all over my clothes. I know it was dark and sticky. I left them in the woods, so there is no way to check now. She had to be dead.”

“Kale, how do you get into this shit? Is there anything that you are not telling me?”

“She was pregnant. I wanted the baby. I was thrilled about it. I was going to have a child, Zar. They are both dead. Damn!” he said, turning away and hitting the wall as tears filled his eyes. “I wanted this! I want to know who did this to her and why. It makes no sense. Jenny never did anything bad to anyone. Why?”

“I don’t know, Kale,” Zar said, putting a hand to his shoulder. “Let me go call my lawyer and see what he says. Maybe he can find something out. Stay put for now. I’ll be right back.”

Blaze was sitting on the sofa, and she turned at the sound of his footsteps. Zar smiled and ran his hand over her hair as he passed. “Feel better?”

“I smell better,” she said, getting up to go into the kitchen. Blaze poured him a cup of coffee as he dialed the phone.

“Hey, Peter. Yeah, fine, I need to talk to you, and I don’t want to do it over the phone. Can you meet me somewhere?

“I’m up at the house. Jake is on his way up here, and I can’t leave right now. What’s the chance you can come up? I’ll make it worth your trouble.

“Hey, that is not fair. You are abusing me.”

“Of course I can. I will get Mason right on it. What color would you like?” He chuckled and said, “Thanks a million. I’ll see you in a little while.”

He turned to Blaze. “Talk about abuse. I ask him for a favor on a Sunday, and he wants a fountain put in his backyard. Done in blue marble, no less.”

“I want one, too. The kind with the running water that trickles down over the rocks. Can I have fish in it?” she asked with a toothy grin that quickly turned serious. “I heard what your brother said. Do you think he did it?”

“No. For one thing, he is not drunk. He was testing you to see how you would react when you found out it wasn’t me. At best, I would say that he had one or two beers. Unfortunately, on more than one occasion, a woman would find out that it wasn’t me and fuck him anyway. They would always try to convince me that he was drunk and that I shouldn’t believe him. Kale would then show them that he was totally sober, and they knew they were caught.”

“What kind of woman are you dating, Zar? They all sound absolutely horrid.”

He dragged her into his arms, laughing as he kissed her. “Some of them have been. They have caused me to become more careful in my selection of who I choose to be with. I take it on this occasion I chose right. Now, I need to get Jake’s payment out of the safe and then go out and bring our food in. I did stop for breakfast. Are you all right?”

“I think so. Who is Jake, and what are you paying him with, if I may ask?”

“Of course you can. You can ask me anything. Jake is an old friend, and he is also my physician. He has a ritzy and exclusive practice a short way from here. He makes house calls on request, and unless there are underlying circumstances, he bills my insurance. In this case, it’s a more personal call, and I don’t care for it to go on record. Today is his daughter’s thirteenth birthday, and he only agreed to come out for one price. I don’t want to pay it, but you are worth it. Come on, I’ll show you. Jake has wanted this knife forever, and he doesn’t know that I have three of them in my collection. They are early twelfth century, and I got them at an estate sale. Someone had no idea what they were worth, and I paid almost nothing for them.”

Blaze watched as he rolled back one of the angular ends on the entertainment system and opened up a walk-in wall safe. Shelves were lined with swords, knives, and other miscellaneous medieval gear. “Zar, where did you get all this stuff?”

“I have been collecting it for years. Anything catch your fancy?”

She looked through the items, picking some up and then putting them down again. He watched her with interest, occasionally flashing her a smile of awareness. Blaze hit the last shelf and gasped, lifting a beautiful, small hand sword. The blade was engraved with a design of two dragons, their necks entwined in an almost romantic pose. The handle of the blade was inlaid with sapphire and ruby gemstones. She balanced it in her palm and ran her fingers over the smooth steel, tracing the dragons. Zar asked, “Like it? I had a feeling you would find that one. Beautiful, isn’t it?”

“Yes, it’s magnificent. I would love to have something like this in my collection. Would you let me buy it?”

“You couldn’t afford it.”

“I’m not poor by any means. I’m able to buy the things I crave. Give me a price.”

Zar grinned, the expression almost wicked in its mischievous appearance. He leaned out the door of the safe and called out, “Kale, if Jake or Peter show up, open the door. I need to talk to Blaze alone. We are in the safe.”

He pulled the door shut and turned to her. “What’s it worth to you?”

Blaze looked down at the blade, caressing the handle lovingly and admiring the precision-cut inlays. The stones were obviously of excellent quality and were probably real. She set the blade down on the shelf, turning to Zar with her chin held high. “I would rock your world because I want to. I will not do so in payment for something I can’t afford. Come here and show me how much you hate me.”

Zar laughed, walking over and picking up the blade. He bowed dramatically and handed it to her. “Your answer is noble, my lady. I say as proprietor of this vault that this trinket is yours. Take care with it. The blade belonged to a lady of grace and elegance. She was said to have used it in defense of her dignity.”

Blaze took the blade, trying not to laugh. “Thank you, sir. It will hang on my wall in memory of your kind gesture.”

“Not until I create you a protective case to keep it in. Resale value on that knife is close to half a million.”

Blaze blinked and looked back at the knife, reverently setting it back on the shelf. “I can’t accept this, Zar. I never imagined it was worth that much.”