The door swung closed and Kit Gavin sighed as she wiped her
forehead, she hoped she didn’t look as tired as she felt. She pushed her black curls back under her
headband and turned the sign. She clicked the lock on the door and leaned
against it breathing a sigh of relief. She knew they would be back but couldn’t
do anything else but figure out what to do about when it happened. She swept
her hands down the front of her wide skirted dress and felt her three inch
heels in every part of her body. She
breathed hard stifling a sob, her husband had been missing for three months and
now Tommy Townsends men were hitting her up for the money he owed them. Well
apparently the money “They” owed him. She was terrified and
wasn’t sure what to do but couldn’t show it, except when she was alone. It was
almost a relief to not have to pretend to be terrified for once. The amount
Tommy’s thugs said her husband had borrowed from him had so many zeroes
attached to it that she’d almost fainted.
She wrapped her arms around herself and rubbed her arms
through her black short sleeved dress as she headed for the kitchen. Kincades
had opened to great reviews but had slowly gone downhill despite the addition
of her grandmother’s sour cream pound cake. She had put all of herself into it
and even though Rick was flighty and she was sure cheating with every dame who
walked in the door, she thought they might make it. He’d never been a great husband but she’d
believed he wanted to make it to. She had
no idea why the business was going under until the night three months
ago that she’d caught her husband bleeding all over her new kitchen floor with
Tommy Townsend’s beefiest thugs dripping
blood on the tiles. She slapped the
butter and other ingredients on the counter and wiped away a tear of
frustration before it could hit the counter. She did what she did every time
they came to visit, she drank and baked.
Her hands trembled as she pulled the bourbon down off the
shelf and poured some in a glass. She
wanted more than anything to say to hell with it all, jump on her white Indian
motorcycle and take off. Rick had never liked that adventurous streak in her,
but that was too damn bad. She creamed together all the ingredients but found
herself drinking more than baking. She took a deep gulp and almost missed the
footsteps behind her. She slid her hand to counter and picked up the knife
laying there. She knew that when she’d cut her last aged bone in ribeye of the
night with its kona coffee and porchini powder glaze that she’d never thought she’d
have to use it like this but she was damned if that creep Townsend was going to
harass her twice in one night. She’d thrown them out before but now, this time
of night she knew it meant trouble. She grabbed the knife from the block and
turned, blade shinning in the dim light.
The man in front of her jumped back, both hands raiding in
surrender. His black hair was everywhere and his green eyes showed his dismay.
His white sleeveless undershirt was stretched across well-defined muscles and
he looked tired too, well tired and surprised.
Jake Gavin, her brother in law gave her a comforting smile as he slowly
approached. Kit felt her stomach drop and then tighten again as he moved
closer. She and Rick had been separated for months, with years of arguments and
cheating before that and she had been tired of it, ready to move on. She and
Jake had been on the verge of something
sweet when Rick had come back. She’d known it was wrong, but something about
the way his eyes sparkled and the way he didn’t hesitate to call her on her
mistakes made her want him in a very unfamily like way. She knew she’d hurt him
when she’d given Rick another chance but she couldn’t do anything else.
“Are you okay” Jake asked softly as he walked toward her. He
smiled, his mouth quirking up at the corners and Kit felt her heart melt. She
really shouldn’t have let Rick come back, but she was a good catholic girl and
she had to give it a try. Lord she wished she hadn’t
She laughed softly and put the knife down. She wiped her
hands on her apron and picked the bowl and spoon back up. She began beating the
hell out of the cupcakes she was making, suddenly fascinated with getting just
the right amount of air into the batter. “Sure” she said shakily “I’m good.”
She felt the fingers before she saw them and she stopped
dead. She looked up into Jake’s amazing eyes and smiled because they both knew
she was lying.
“You are such a horrible liar,” Jake said with a chuckle as
his hand traced her jaw “You never could lie.”
Kit shivered as his finger slid along her face and found
herself leaning into him, forgetting why she was drinking and baking, for a
moment nothing else mattered but this man and what she wanted, what they’d both
wanted for years if they were honest. He slid his hands down her arms making
goose flesh rise in their wake. She shivered again as he leaned in, their lips
inches apart.
“Well isn’t this a pretty picture, too bad old Rick isn’t
here to see this.”
Kit and Jake jumped
apart as a large man in a dark suit stepped out of the shadows. He loomed in
the murky light and Kit found herself pissed that she was afraid. Here was the
man himself, he hardly ever came out on a job unless it was BIG. Kit didn’t
want this to be BIG. She just wanted him to go away, or at least to leave her and
the business alone.
Two men grabbed them and held them fast so quickly that Kit
and Jake Barely had time to make a sound. Gaggs were slapped on their mouths
and Kit struggled furiously to get free. Tommy Townsend stepped toward them and
chuckled as he smiled evily at them. He lit a cigar and pulled deeply on it,
blowing out a smoke ring. “Or maybe, this is why he’s not here to see this?”
His eye brow arched and Kit stamped her foot in frustration
as the goon holding her pushed her towards his boss. Tommy took her roughly by
the shoulders and pulled her against his bulk. Jake struggled too, muscles
bulging eyes wide, but the man held him tight. Tommy laughed and gave Jake a
look that said he knew exactly what Jake wanted.
“Can’t see as there is much to fight over but I think she’ll
do.” He pulled her headband off and her riot of black curls tumbled to her
shoulders. Tommy gripped one of her arms in his and with the other wrapped a
long strand of curls around one hand. He
pulled tight and Kit felt the tug all the way to the roots. She found herself
mumbling a few words that she was sure would make a sailor blush through the
gag.
“What’s that sweetie?” Tommy asked as he pulled her lips
closer to his ear “you have something to say? Well I guess it couldn’t hurt to
hear, don’t worry though I won’t make Rick’s mistake, I’ll make sure you are
trained properly now that you belong to me “ He pulled the gag down and smiled
at her with an evil perfect toothed grin.
“I don’t belong to anyone!” Kit snarled as she whipped the
heavy mixing bowl up and onto Tommy’s head with a loud crack. His eyes rolled
up in his head and he fell like a dead weight.
The room erupted into chaos, Jake head-butted the man
holding him and kicked the other goon when he rushed to help. Kit pushed Tommy
away and stomped on the foot of the goon who had held her. Both men crouched on
the floor whimpering as Kit untied Jake. They stumbled out into the darkness
and Kit heard the backdoor slam. Jake
crushed her into his arms and held her as Kit began to shiver.
Tommy didn’t stir and Kit peeked down at him. She wished she
hadn’t, he pool of blood was growing around his head and she had a growing fear
of what that meant. Jake looked too and
she could feel him gulp quickly. He didn’t want her to see but she knew he was
afraid, knew what all that blood meant.
“He’s dead, Jake. What am I going to do now?” Kit hid her face, unable to face the fact that she was now a murderer.
“Hey” he said softly lifting her chin so she could meet his
eyes “You mean what we are going to do?”
Kit smiled and nodded
biting her lip but she felt the late night darkness, smelled the blood and knew
that this was far from over.
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