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Chapter Thirty-one
By the time Kane surfaced the next day, he sat in his disgusting kitchen, a mug of coffee in front of him, and looked at his messages. He couldn’t believe the mess Bosko had gotten himself involved in just when he needed him most.
Jesus… was nothing going to go right with this case? First a daughter, who he never knew existed, shows up and almost gets herself raped. Now his backup has been arrested… and by the woman who hates his guts and for very good reasons.
He wished he could explain to Jennie about his past, but he didn’t think she’d give him enough time to get into it before shooting his sorry ass. Every time he’d been in her presence, he’d felt her hatred like a living, breathing entity. No doubt in his mind that whatever his reasoning for running out on her, forgiveness would never happen.
He knew they’d need to come to some kind of terms after this case, terms where he’d have a part in his daughter’s life. Hell, he’d take anything he could get, even the smallest slice that he could look forward to. As far as Jennie was concerned, he was dead to her, and he understood that… accepted it.
Now, because of Bosko, he had to get in her face again over the guy’s arrest. Make more waves in the already unfathomable situation. Christ. Tiredness seeped into the very marrow of his bones, and he felt tears of self-pity form at the edge of his eyes. He rubbed at them angrily. He despised being hated by those he cared about. It sapped every bit of lifeforce inside his already sorry soul.
Jerking to his feet, he strode out of his rattrap house and made his way over to his truck. When he’d started this undercover assignment, he hadn’t cared about anything but doing the job they paid him to do. Getting the sons of bitches who were out to kill people and destroy the goodwill in a country he loved, a country already hurting from racial tensions.
Working, doing the best at his job had always been his goal, that and spending quality time with his only real friend, Dave Wardlow. And here he was, immersed in personal problems, ones that felt overwhelming. Ones that had awakened the dead areas in his heart that he’d hidden and protected for so long.
He rested his head against his arms, clutching the steering wheel. After he’d found out that his father had died in prison, and his stepbrother had served time and then disappeared, he’d been grateful for not having to deal with more family shit. Disgusted at their behavior as a boy… wiping them out of his life with no connections at all had been a blessing. He liked not having ties or responsibilities.
Now here he was with more shit going on than he’d ever imagined, and he had no one to turn to. He had to take care of everything… as well as Lance. The guy needed his support, and Kane didn’t want to start training anyone else to work with him. Aww, shit… the truth was, he liked the dude. So now he’d have to break his self-promise to stay away from Jennie and get involved.
She had Lance.
And he needed him free.
It was as simple as that.
Having texted with Lance earlier where he’d spilled a lot, Kane knew he had to get his sorry ass out of jail.
He passed the time for a couple of hours until Jennie arrived home, waiting in the truck around the corner. She finally showed up late. Approaching in the darkness of the driveway, not wanting to frighten her, he’d stepped out from the bush and before he knew what happened, he was up against her vehicle with a gun in his stomach.
Holding back, not wanting to hurt her, he’d let her get away with the attack. “It’s me, Jennie.”
“What the hell are you doing sneaking around? I could have shot you.”
She still hadn’t removed the weapon, and he was sick of being at a disadvantage. With a lightning-swift move, he had her gun, and she was in his arms, her back against his stomach. Close to her ear, he growled, “Don’t point that fucker at me again… not unless you plan to use it.” Forced to loosen his grip when her proximity had lit up his cells like a lightning strike, he hid his inner struggle and his body’s reaction as best he could.
“Don’t tempt me, Kane.” She wiggled away from him and stood with her arms crossed. “Show off.”
He grinned at her contempt, couldn’t help himself. “Just training, darling. Look, I need to talk with you about Bosko. Where can we go?”
“Here’s fine. Baba and Lisa are at a stage production. They’re performing an old story that Baba loves.”
“The Sound of Music.”
Jennie smiled before she could stop it from appearing. “You remembered.”
“How many times did she go to that movie? It had to be more than a dozen.”
“Nowadays, the count’s in the hundreds. She had the DVD, then Lisa saved it on her laptop, plus she watches it on Netflix.”
Kane laughed, handed her gun back, and stepped away so she could go first. “I won’t take up much of your time. I just need to know what’s going on and why you arrested my guy.”
“Lance must have shared his story.”
“I want you to tell me.”
Jennie started toward the back door, her voice low and determined. “You know I can’t divulge the job except to say your guy’s in a lot of trouble. And unless he starts cooperating, things will only get worse.”
Following her into the darkened kitchen, Kane didn’t realize she’d stopped, and he’d walked into her. Automatically, he reached out to steady her and the electric vibes between them jolted him again.
