Page 45 of Honor ’N’ Duty

Kade wiped his brow before tossing the lid on the grass.

“He’s Josh’s brother.” Alvita had never met Josh, but she’d seen family photos of him on Laia’s living room wall. “He’s helping me deal with the police and the burglary.” The less Alvita knew, the better off she and her kids would be.

“Wow. So that’s Uncle Kade, huh? And you said he was only a friend.” Alvita’s grin broadened. “Rosa talks about him all the time, too. How come you never do? That man is fine.”

Laia could only nod in total agreement. He sure is. “Because—” How to answer that question? Better not to answer it at all. Airing the Sampson family secrets, let alone hers…nope.

On the rare occasions when Kade’s name had come up in conversation over the years, she’d done her best to shove all thoughts of him aside. The tactic had never been terribly effective. She’d often wondered where he was, what he was doing, what woman he was with at that exact moment. There had to have been plenty of them. “He’s just a busy man.” But he’s here now. For how long, though?

Kade began carrying the bins back into the shed.

“Ookay.” Alvita eyed her with unconcealed suspicion, but as a friend, she knew well enough when to move on to another topic. “What’s he doing?”

“We’re looking for some things of Josh’s.” When Alvita opened her mouth to say something, Laia quickly added, “Don’t ask.”

“Okay, I won’t.” Alvita threw up her hands, then looked over Laia’s shoulder. “You know he’s watching you. He’s been watching you since the moment we started talking, like a wolf tracking a little doe-eyed deer. Is there something going on with you and him?”

“There’s nothing going on between us.” So why was her face heating at the thought of what had almost happened between them?

As he came over, more memories washed over her. Not twenty-four hours ago they’d had their tongues down each other’s throats, their hands on each other’s bare skin, and she’d been seconds from tearing off his shirt and shorts and begging him to get inside her aching body.

“Hi,” Kade said, extending his hand to Alvita. “I’m Kade Sampson.”

“Nice to meet you.” As they shook, Alvita threw Laia a knowing look that she barely caught because Alvita was right.

Wow.

Every square inch of Kade’s chest and arms glistened gloriously with sweat, rivulets running down his temples, more trickling between his thick pectorals to the sexy channel separating one half of his six-pack from the other.

“Where are your kids?” Kade asked.

“They’re at summer day camp, which reminds me.” Alvita tossed Laia another sly look. “I’d better be getting to work myself. Have fun, you two. See ya around, Kade.”

Alvita disappeared inside her half of the duplex.

“I’ll just be a few more minutes.” Kade picked up another bin and headed for the shed.

She gestured with her hand. “C’mon, Smoke.”

Smoke followed her back to the dinghy and hopped in. She sat on one of the wooden bench seats while the dog resettled at her feet. Together they watched Kade load the last bin in the shed, then close the door. He grabbed his shirt from where he’d draped it on a corner of the dinghy and put it on.

So that was that. No ledger and no money. “They’ll never stop coming for us, will they? I have no way to keep Rosa safe from them.”

Having no other release for her fears or the helpless fury bubbling up inside her at the thought of something happening to Rosa, she began rocking back and forth. It didn’t matter that she didn’t know where the ledger or the money Josh stole was. Fernando Colon would keep assuming she did because it would be the only thing that would make sense to him.

Kade stepped into the boat and sat beside her. He clasped her chin in his big fingers, forcing her to look at him. “You’re wrong about that. Dead wrong. You and Rosa have me.” From where he lay on the floor of the dinghy, Smoke woofed. A corner of Kade’s mouth lifted. “And you have Smoke.”

Kade’s eyes darkened and his jaw clenched tighter than she thought possible. The next thing she knew, his arms were around her and he was kissing the top of her head. “I won’t leave you,” he whispered against her ear. “No matter what you think, I won’t leave you alone to deal with this.”

But he would leave, eventually. That’s what he’d said last night. Right now, she needed him, needed his comfort, and he was here for her.

She leaned into him, sliding her hands to his waist and not caring that he was sweaty. He was turning out to be so much more than she ever expected or could have hoped for. In the safety of his arms, he made it seem as if everything really would be all right.

Laia shifted to look into his eyes with their unique starbursts, and her belly did a little flip flop. “I believe you.”

“You should.” He tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear, sending a tiny shiver down her neck and spine. “I’ll never lie to you.”

Somehow, she knew that. “I’m sorry about the angry words I said to you last night in the kitchen. I’ve been on my own for so long now, it’s become easier to think the worst of people.”