“Where is my brother?”
“According to the note I found, Xander is out with Tara, my sister-in-law. We share this place. No idea when they’ll be back.”
Javier ground his teeth together. “Thank you. I’ll be leaving now. My brother might have brought me here, but I won’t impose on you anymore. Lovely meeting you. Thanks for the coffee and ibuprofen.”
Javier staggered to his feet. The blood rushed out of his head, and he damn near fell back to the bed. Steadying himself on the nearby lamp, he almost knocked it over, then barely righted the modern, brushed nickel contraption . . . just as his stomach turned over. That only made his head throb more. He sagged back to the mattress. So much for his grand exit.
Later, when he felt better, he’d leave. After he’d seen Xander. Yeah, he wanted to kick baby brother’s ass first. If he left now, it would only look as if he was tucking tail and running. Xander didn’t scare him at all, but Javier had to admit that his brother was far sneakier than he’d given the asshole credit for.
So who exactly was Kata and why would she help his brother? Hadn’t Kata mentioned that Xander had sneaked away with another woman? Maybe that meant Kata wasn’t fucking his younger brother. Maybe . . . but unlikely. Xander nailed every pretty female who moved and breathed. But Kata had said earlier that Tara was her sister-in-law? Fuck, the whole morning had been one confusion after another.
“Are you married?”
“Yep. So is Tara. We’re the wives of the Edgington brothers, in case Xander ever mentioned them.”
Logan and Hunter, the Navy SEALs. Yes, Javier had a vague recollection of Xander talking them up. For ogling Kata, her husband could kill him in twenty ways in under a minute with his bare hands without breaking a sweat, while Javier was too sick to defend himself. How fucking comforting that wasn’t.
“Is your husband here?”
She laughed. “No, and no turning green on me. I don’t expect him home for a while.”
He sagged back to the pillow with relief. Good. So he wasn’t going to have his balls forcibly detached from his body and shoved down his throat. That was the only good news he’d had all morning.
“I suppose you know why Xander brought me here?”
Kata pursed her full lips and hesitated, as if searching for the right words. “He said something about removing your distractions.”
“You don’t have a drop of liquor in this house, do you?”
“Not as of this morning.” She sent him a sympathetic smile.
It raised his hackles. His motherfucking brother was babying him. Xander was definitely a dead man. The second he walked in the door, Javier planned to skewer him. Why the hell hadn’t his brother just confronted him?
Last night’s argument filtered back through his brain. That had been one hell of a confrontation. Xander had tried to reason with him . . . in his way. Javier had to admit that he hadn’t exactly been listening. Or been reasonable. Shit. But no denying that it had felt good to unleash his anger and tell Xander exactly what he thought.
Javier ground his teeth together. “Did my brother say how long he intends this little visit to last?”
“Sorry.” She shrugged noncommittally. “Um . . . not to overstep, but I’m a probation officer for Lafayette Parish, which means I’m part cop. But I’m also part therapist. I’d be happy to listen and talk things through with you.”
The notion of spilling all his secrets, his anger, especially to a beauty he’d just met, horrified him. “You don’t even know me.”
“Sometimes an impartial stranger can give the best advice.”
Her kindness took him aback, and he felt the anger clawing up inside him again. “What is there to say, Kata? My wife ran off with her lover, who killed her brutally. I’m a little bitter.”
“You have every right to be. Grief is a long, difficult process. I can’t imagine how difficult it is to lose a spouse, especially so violently.”
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Okay. The offer is there. I won’t be offended if you don’t pick me, but you need someone to talk to who will listen and be an objective ear. And I think you need to stop looking for answers or absolution in the bottom of a bottle and find yourself again.”
Her words stung almost as much as the burning embarrassment coursing through his blood. Damn, the woman thought he was a broken alcoholic.
Are you? He heard the whisper in his head.
“I’m fine,” he barked at her.
Disappointment settled across her delicate features. “Right. So is Xander, according to him. You like booze. He likes girls. Neither of you is remotely screwed up. Got it. I’m making eggs and bacon. Want any?”
Her sarcasm didn’t quite hide her hurt. Javier held in a wince. He didn’t owe her any explanations, especially ones that would be like ripping out his entrails and handing them over to her on a platter, but shame that he’d upset her stung. He might not owe her his life story, but he owed her some damn courtesy. She’d only been trying to help.
“I’m sorry, Kata. My head hurts. I’m mad at my brother.” I don’t know where I’m going, what I’m doing, or if I even give a damn anymore. “But I’d love some breakfast.”
Not really, but for her, he’d choke it down. He’d already given her enough grief.
“You’re a terrible liar, but I’ll do my best to make it worth eating.”
“I’ll help,” he called to her retreating back, then looked around the room.
He spotted last night’s trousers folded up on the dresser. They’d be a wrinkled mess, but that was the least of his worries now. Slowly, he stood, steadying himself with a death grip on the headboard. His headache had eased from a full-throttle, heavy-metal pounding to an annoying, repetitive gong. Finally, he made his way across the room, grabbed his pants, and found the bathroom across the hall. Kata had laid out a new toothbrush and comb for him. He took the time to use both before donning his pants, somewhat ready to face the world.
After retrieving his coffee cup, he ambled down the hall to find Kata humming around the kitchen with the song on the radio, bacon sizzling in a pan. It smelled surprisingly good.
“Can I help?”
She sent him an amused smile over her shoulder. “Do billionaires cook?”
“No,” he admitted sheepishly. “I set a mean table.”
Kata laughed, then nodded to the little iron bistro breakfast set in the corner. She’d already done everything, including set out fresh flowers.
“Well, then. I’ll go . . . admire your hard work.”
“You do that.” She winked. “There’s fresh coffee in the pot. I won’t be much longer here.”
Sure enough, they were scarfing down hot eggs and crisp bacon within minutes. Javier cleaned his plate, more hungry than he’d imagined. Just as he set down his coffee cup and put a hand over his full belly, someone knocked on the door.
Kata didn’t seem surprised at all, merely jumped up and pulled the door open with a smile. “Tyler!”
The big blond man behind her walked in, dangling a plastic grocery sack from one meaty fist, and held out his arms. She walked into them, and he hugged her tight, smiling at Javier over her delicate shoulder. Tyler wore a wholly satisfied look. No, it was more than that. He wore the air of a sublimely happy man, his face a billboard advertising that his entire world was settled to his satisfaction. Javier nearly choked on envy.
Tyler wrapped a large hair-roughened hand around Kata’s ribs and tickled her. She shoved him away, but as Tyler walked past, she swatted his ass. “Menace.”
“Twihard.” He grinned.
She sighed. “I’m never going to live that down. And neither are you. Everyone’s onto you, pal. I know you swiped my DVD of Breaking Dawn, Part 1.”
“Maybe . . . But on me, fandom is cute.”
Kata turned and rolled her eyes. “Whatever. Javier, this is Tyler Murphy, former LAPD vice detective, PI, and bad boy.”
“I am not formerly a bad boy,” Tyler objected.
“Oh, I’m so going to tell Delaney you said that.” She shot him an evil grin.
Tyler grunted at her, then approached him, hand outstretched. “Good to meet you, Javier. I hope you’re less of a pain in the ass than your brother. I get damn tired of him flirting with my wife.”
Despite the affable smile, Tyler didn’t look like a guy he wanted to cross, even when his head wasn’t pounding. Bursting with muscle under a tight black T-shirt, the garment showed off hard biceps and rippling abs. Even black sweatpants and running shoes didn’t lessen the appearance of power.
He shook Tyler’s hand. “That’s my little brother, douche bag extraordinaire.” Funny that he flirts with your wife when he wanted nothing to do with mine.
Tyler smiled and glanced at his watch. “I see Kata fed you. Way to keep on schedule.” He put out his fist toward her, and she bumped it with her own.
Javier frowned at their odd relationship. Not flirtatious, but not like siblings, either. They were . . . friends. He’d heard of men and woman connecting platonically. He hadn’t really believed it. Every female friend Xander had ever had he’d fucked. Their father had been little better. In college, Javier had friends, too, but they’d all come with benefits. This friendship before him looked foreign yet somehow comfortable. He sat back to watch.
With a grin, Tyler tossed the plastic bag his way.
Javier caught it reflexively. “What’s this?”
“Everything you’ll need for the first part of your day. We’ll want to get a move on before it gets too much hotter. A three-mile run when it’s ninety degrees with ninety percent humidity is more than exercise. It’s a really shitty test of endurance.”
He heard Tyler’s words, but they didn’t compute until he opened the bag in his lap and found a white tank, gray running shorts, socks, and athletic shoes. They expected him to run three miles in the stifling heat, while hung over, with a stomach full of eggs?
“I’ve got bottles of water ready for both of you.” Kata reached inside the refrigerator.
Shaking his head, Javier dropped the bag of clothes on the table and looked at the two of them as if they were insane. “No offense, but I’m not jogging. I don’t care if Xander thinks I need it. I actually think I need to sleep a bit longer, then figure out how to leave this little town so I can get on with my life. Now if you’ll excuse me . . .”
Tyler tsked and shook his head. “If we don’t start that jog now, you’ll be late to yoga with Morgan. Now, she looks little, but I know from experience that breast-feeding moms on a tight schedule have absolutely no patience for male drama. Since she’s married to Jack Cole, odds are that he’s taught her some really low-down, dirty ways to separate a man from his balls. I wouldn’t want to test her, so let’s get hopping.”
Yoga? After jogging? What the hell did Xander have up his sleeve? “No thanks. Like I said, not interested.” He turned to Kata. “Do you know where the rest of my clothes are? And my phone? I’ll call for a taxi.”
Kata shook her head, and Tyler burst out laughing.
“What’s so funny?” Javier demanded.
Before either one of them could answer, Kata’s phone rang, and she picked it up. “Hello?” She paused, her dark gaze zeroing in on him. “Yes.” Another pause. “Yes.” A longer hesitation. “No.” Another one. “I think that would be a good idea. Thanks!”
She hung up with a sweet-as-pie smile. Javier didn’t trust it for a minute.
“What the hell is going on here?”
“Xander is on his way back. He’ll be here in about an hour. He says he’ll explain then.”
Tyler approached and gave him a hearty slap on the back. “Great. That will give us enough time to get in those three miles. Let’s go.”
“I’d really rather not,” Javier drawled.
With a shrug of his beefy shoulders, Tyler grinned. “Yeah, well . . . I’ll file that somewhere between too fucking bad and it sucks to be you.”
Javier glared at Tyler. The big, blond muscle monkey was too damn cheerful for his taste, and he really wanted to shove the guy’s balls up his throat right now just to show Tyler that he wasn’t anyone’s bitch. But the anger was starting to grab hold of him again. His thoughts raced. His sense of balance flirted with shaky. Javier forced himself to draw in a few deep breaths and grabbed the plastic bag.
“Fine. I’ll get changed.” Only because it suited him. If he didn’t have any liquor to drown out the fury starting to roll through him, he’d try to outrun it instead. He doubted it would work, but his other options were to tear apart Kata’s kitchen and scare the hell out of her or to get into a fight with Tyler, who looked more than capable of keeping up.
