“Look at this from her point of view. If by some miracle, Kinley could handle a relationship with all three of us, would the pressure from her family or the tabloids be too much for her? How long would it take her to want to leave? Maybe you should try to win her on your own.”
And leave his brother and best friend behind? “No.”
He wanted what the James brothers had. He wanted a family. He’d spent too many years needing someone watching his back to go it alone. Maybe it was his perverse nature, maybe it was something he’d learned, but he didn’t even want to try making this a solo act with Kinley.
And there was a little voice inside that worried what would happen to her if he died. He couldn’t leave his wife alone the way his own mother had been. He couldn’t stand the thought of her turning to a terrible life on her back just to feed herself and her kids.
“Nah. I just like her, okay? I’ll get over it. I don’t particularly love the idea of going into the kidnapping business, and she’ll want nothing to do with me after this, most likely.”
God knew he’d been forced to play the bad guy most of his f**king life. One more time shouldn’t matter. He just couldn’t stand the idea that she would be afraid of him.
“We’re saving her life. Eventually, she’ll understand.” Annabelle slipped into the room through the adjoining door, her voice low. “Is she all right?”
The curvy secretary approached the laundry cart and looked inside.
“She’s fine. She’ll sleep it off on the plane.”
As soon as he grabbed her handbag, they were out of here. But when he lifted it, Law frowned. It felt heavier than it looked. What was she carrying? Not that it mattered. He laid it in the cart beside her with the rest.
“How is it coming from your end?” Ry asked.
The law firm of Baxter, Cohen, and Kent was working on their side—to bring Jansen to justice and to try to keep their asses out of jail. Law wasn’t sure which would prove to be the harder job.
“I brought Eric with me. He’s waylaid her sister. She was probably coming back in to snip at Kinley one more time. Good, you got her luggage. She’ll be calmer if she can keep her things around her.” Tears were threatening to spill down her cheeks. “Am I doing the right thing?”
He’d pondered the same question every day since they’d decided on the assignment. “You tried to tell her the truth, and she wasn’t accepting it.”
Annabelle shook her head. “I know. Kinley is so loyal and wants to believe the best about everyone. If I’d pushed too much more, she would have gone straight to Greg and demanded explanations. You know how he would have taken care of the situation.”
“We’ll make sure she’s safe,” Law assured.
Riley stepped up. He was always the one to handle the ladies. Being somewhat civilized, he didn’t tend to scare the crap out of them the way Law did.
His brother gave her his surest smile. “She’s in good hands, Annabelle. I went to college with Kellan. He’s talked to you about me, right?”
She nodded, relaxing a little. “He said you were a good guy.”
“If you trust him, then trust me. I’ll be good to her. And Law here is already half in love with her, so there’s no worry.”
Law felt his jaw drop. “You motherfucker.”
Riley shrugged. “Hey, I tell it like it is.”
Annabelle went silent, her dark eyes staring through him. Damn it. Riley’s sense of humor was going to get him gutted one day. Now Annabelle would be afraid to let Kinley go with him. The secretary could cause real trouble.
“I’m not going to…” Law struggled. How did one politely tell someone that he wasn’t going to molest her friend? “Touch her. I swear.”
“Oh, I sincerely hope you do.” Annabelle stepped up and smoothed down his tie. “You charm her and seduce her and you make her very happy in bed. That’s practically an order.”
He hadn’t heard that right. “What?”
She stepped back, wearing a mysterious smile. “I love that woman. She’s my sister and she deserves someone who can make her feel good. You’ve been watching her. I see the look in your eyes. You seem like a smart man, Law Anders. I know Dominic Anthony is. No truly smart man is going to be able to resist my best friend.” Her eyes narrowed as she studied Riley. “I don’t know about you. You might be dumb.”
“I graduated top of my class at Harvard.” Riley seemed slightly put off.
“Then you’ll get with the program because she’ll need the security and affection all of you can provide. Just remember…if you taste that particular icing, you’ve bought the whole cake. If you try to get out of taking the cake home and enjoying every bite, I will come after your asses. And you have not seen fury until you’ve seen it from this girl. Are we understood?”
They both nodded dutifully. Law was pretty sure that Riley had been struck as mute as him.
Annabelle took one last look at her friend, then stepped to the door. “I’m going to make sure the coast stays clear. You two think about what I said. And take care of Gigi. She can be a handful.”
Annabelle disappeared, leaving Law with one final question.
“Who the f**k is Gigi?”
Riley shrugged. “I don’t know. I think that girl might be crazy. Are you thinking of trying Kinley’s cake?”
“Well, I couldn’t just eat the frosting and then not take a bite of the cake, if you know what I mean. Hell, I’m not sure what I mean. I’m confused.”