Hurry Up And Wait (Owens Protective Services #24)

23. Kavanaugh

23

KAVANAUGH

I was depressed as hell. I should be at home right now. But instead, I was staring at the wall, trying to figure out what to do with my day off. I didn’t want to be here. I hated this fucking apartment and everything it stood for. Namely, the fact that the senator got it for us.

There was nothing for me in this city. The only thing I wanted was to be at home with Isla, but going home would only cause trouble. I had to protect her from the senator. I knew he would do anything to gain traction in this election, and I was his number one resource. If I did anything he thought would ruin his chances, he would take that person out of the equation.

The question was, how far would he go? Isla had a business she’d built. I couldn’t afford to put her in a position where everything she had worked for could be tarnished. But I knew it wouldn’t stop there. The senator could go so much farther. There was no length he wouldn’t go to, no amount of dirt on his hands that was too much.

I made the call I’d been putting off since yesterday. I hated to do it to her, but I couldn’t take the chance that something might happen and I wouldn’t be there to stop it.

“Kavanaugh,” he answered, irritation clear in his voice.

“IKE, I need a favor. ”

“Fuck,” he sighed. “I hate it when people say that shit.”

“This is important. I need you to watch Isla.”

“No.”

“IKE, I’m not fucking around. I need you on her now.”

“And I said no.”

“I don’t give a shit.”

“Go ask someone else at OPS. I don’t work for you.”

“I know that, but?—”

“She doesn’t want protection.”

“She needs it now.”

He was quiet for a moment. “The ex?”

“The senator,” I clarified. “He found out about her.”

I wasn’t expecting the chuckle that slipped from his mouth. “Don’t tell me Daddy is going to off her.”

“I wouldn’t put it past him,” I grumbled.

“How serious is this threat?”

I thought about the look in the senator’s eyes when he told me he knew about her. It was clear then and hours later, I still felt the same. “He will remove her if he thinks she’s a threat. I’m staying away until I can get this sorted, but in the meantime, I need to be sure she’s taken care of.”

“And you want me to swoop in and take her away where the senator can’t find her.”

“No, she can’t know you’re watching her.”

“Because she doesn’t want protection or because you haven’t told her about the senator and your fiancée?”

I wasn’t sure how he found out this shit, but that was beside the point. I’d deal with that later. For now, I needed to know Isla was taken care of. “Both,” I finally answered. “Do we have a deal?”

“A deal usually means someone else is getting something in return.”

“I’ll fucking pay you,” I snapped.

“It’s not money I’m after,” he snarled.

“Then what do you want?”

“A favor. To be called in at my choosing.”

“Why the fuck would you want a favor from me?” It didn’t make any sense. I wasn’t in his line of work. I didn’t have anything he would need from me.

“That’s my business. Do we have a deal or not?”

“Fine,” I gritted my teeth. “Stay in the shadows, but I want to know if the senator makes a move.”

“I know how to do my job.”

The call ended and I sighed, sinking into a chair. She was safe, even if I wasn’t completely sure about IKE being with her. He was good at his job. I just didn’t like the idea of him. But it had to be done. If she was attacked, I knew he would do everything to protect her. I’d just have to deal with the fallout of her anger later.

“Everything okay?” Olivia asked, walking into the room in a pair of pajamas.

Unlike everything else she wore, she actually looked really cozy this morning. Her hair was in a mess on the top of her head and the soft flannel of her pajama pants made me think of wrapping myself in a blanket and going back to sleep.

“Yeah, just checking on a few things.”

“Your girlfriend?” she asked with a smile.

There was no jealousy or anger in her tone. I relaxed back and nodded. “I’m worried about the senator. He’s?—”

“I heard,” she said, walking over and sitting down on the couch.

“You did?”

“He’s mentioned his reservations about our lack of…emotional representation.”

“Meaning he doesn’t like our performance.”

She chuckled. “No.”

“It’s hard to fake it.”

“Maybe since you’re home today, that’s something we could work on.”

I regarded her warily, waiting for her to suggest something crazy like we should sleep together. And when she laughed, I knew she understood what I was thinking.

“Like, we could play a board game or watch a movie. Just spend the day together.”

“And how will that help us? ”

“Well, if we know each other at least a little bit, we would be more comfortable around each other.”

“That’s true, but how are we going to get a board game?” I asked, quirking an eyebrow at her.

“How about a card game? There has to be a deck of cards around here somewhere.”

She got up and scrounged around, looking in drawers and searching cabinets. I watched as the shoulder of her oversized T-shirt slid, revealing her creamy skin. I shook my head, wondering why I was noticing such things. I had no desire to encourage anything with her, but spending so much time with her—pretending to be her fiancé—was beginning to blur the lines just a little. I knew deep down that I only wanted Isla. So, why was I watching Olivia?

“Found one!” she said proudly, holding up the deck of cards. She hurried over and sat on the floor by the table. I mimicked her, getting to my knees as I waited for her to shuffle. “So, what should we play?”

“Let’s keep it simple. War.”

“I haven’t played that since I was a kid,” she admitted.

“I’m a little surprised you played card games.”

“Because I’m such a prude?” she asked, shooting me a smile. “I could say the same about you.”

“I wasn’t always a senator’s son. I knew how to have fun.”

“Really? Do tell.”

“My brother and I were known to get into trouble every now and then. Of course, the senator wasn’t always happy about it.”

Her smile dimmed slightly as she shuffled the cards. “I heard your brother died. I’m sorry.”

I didn’t want to talk about my brother or anything else to do with the senator, for that matter. “Tell you what, why don’t we get some food? I’m hungry.”

“I could do breakfast.”

“But we’re not going anywhere fancy.”

Her nose crinkled slightly. “You’re not going to take me to some greasy diner, are you?”

That was exactly what I planned to do.

My phone rang over and over again on the way back from the diner. Surprisingly, Olivia and I had a normal breakfast. It was almost as if we were friends instead of actors in the senator’s plans. So, when she slipped her arm through mine on the way back and laughed at a story I was telling, I didn’t move away from her. She was actually nice, a decent person who just needed a friend. And I could be that.

“Sorry,” I chuckled, removing my arm from hers. “I have to get this.”

I answered just as we walked up the steps to the brownstone. “Red, what’s so?—”

“She knows.”

“What?”

He sighed heavily. “We were at the garage with Duke and she walked in. Isla, man, she saw us and—I tried to explain, but what the fuck did you want me to say?”

I stopped, waving to Olivia to go inside. I walked to the corner of the stone stoop, glancing out at the street. “You didn’t tell her about Olivia, right?”

“No, I didn’t tell her anything. She knows you’re with a woman, though. I told her it wasn’t what she thought?—”

“Why the fuck does she know I’m with a woman?”

“Because she asked.”

“And you couldn’t lie?” I snapped.

“I fucking told you to tell her the truth. Don’t put this on me. It’s not my job to lie to your girlfriend.”

Fuck, I knew he was right, but I was trying to keep Isla as far away from this as possible. I shoved my fingers through my hair, sure I was going to go bald before this job was over. “I know. You’re right. I’m sorry.” I let out a heavy sigh, wondering what the fuck I was going to do now.

“Look, just talk to her. Tell her what’s going on.”

“I can’t,” I said immediately. I didn’t even have to think twice about it. “She can’t know why I’m here.”

“She’s going to find out. You can’t keep this a secret forever. ”

“Yes, I can.”

“What about the press?”

I knew that might be a problem. “We’re in a different state, and from what I’ve seen, Isla doesn’t care too much about politics. I doubt she’ll see anything.”

“Are you really willing to risk it all on a doubt?”

I hated the tone in his voice, the accusation that I wasn’t doing everything possible to take care of the situation. “What I’m not willing to risk is Isla’s life or her finding out about what the senator has planned for me. She can’t know. She can’t be involved in any way.”

“That was fine before, but she suspects something now.”

“I’ll take care of it,” I snapped.

“She doesn’t deserve this,” Red argued, but I was done listening.

I hung up and immediately dialed Isla. Part of me knew that Red was right. There wasn’t a fucking thing about any of this that Isla deserved. But it was a balancing act. I was stuck between wanting to tell Isla everything so there were no secrets between us and desperately needing to keep everything from her so she didn’t run away.

And she would run away. I wouldn’t even blame her.

After everything with her husband, the last thing she needed was this crap in her life. But I was selfish enough to do anything in my power to hang onto her. I just had to end this with the senator and get the information I needed. Then I would tell her everything.

If she ever answered my phone calls.

Cursing under my breath, I dialed again, relieved when she finally picked up. “Isla?—”

“Tell me what’s going on right now,” she demanded.

“There’s nothing going on. I had to stay behind.”

“Red and Eli came home.”

“They weren’t needed. And they have families, Isla. I’m…”

“Single? Is that what you were going to say?”

I leaned against the railing, shoving my hand through my hair. “No, I was going to say that they deserved the time with their families. I’m not married. If anyone should stay behind, it’s me.”

“And the woman? Red let it slip?— ”

“It’s not at all what you think. And I swear I will tell you all about it when the job is over.”

“But not now.”

I waited for her to yell at me, but it never came. “Isla, I know I’m asking a lot, but I need you to trust me on this. I am not, and I never would do anything to hurt you. I swear to you, it’s not how it sounds.”

“Why didn’t you just tell me from the start?” she asked, her voice a lot less tense than when she answered the phone.

“Because…” I had to give her a piece of the truth. Anything to make her believe me. “Because I thought this job would be over sooner rather than later. And I’m not used to answering to anyone. When you came into my life, this job was already in motion. I just…didn’t handle it well.”

She huffed out a laugh. “We can agree on that. But you will tell me. When this is all over, you’ll tell me everything?”

“I swear to you.”

“Okay.” She didn’t sound quite so angry anymore, and I thanked my lucky stars that she was so understanding. If it were anyone else?—

“Kavanaugh…”

“Yeah?”

“Don’t go falling in love with this woman.”

“How can I when I’m already halfway there with you?” I confessed, smiling as I finally admitted it to myself. I heard her slight intake of breath and kept going. “I knew I was the luckiest man in the world the moment I saw you in the grocery store.”

“You should have known that when we were kids.”

“Trust me, I did.”

I waited for her to say something back. Anything to acknowledge what I just said, and when she didn’t, I knew it was my own fault. Admitting I was half in love with her after she found out I’d been hiding a woman wasn’t exactly the smoothest move.

“Kavanaugh?”

“Yeah?”

“Finish this job and come home to me.”

My lips curved up at the corners. “That’s the plan.”