Instead of focusing on my current situation, I let my mind drift as the train began to move. Being in another country made even the simplest things seem foreign and exotic. I was going to enjoy watching all of the green grass and trees before the crap started to fall.
PACING WAS NOT making the waiting any easier. Stakeouts had never been a problem in the past; I enjoyed the solitude, the peace, gleaning information from my mark. But this was not peaceful. Worry ate at my stomach and my nerves were shot.
“Are they here yet?” Kenny looked up from his plate. A very solemn looking maid had placed food for us at the kitchen island before returning to wherever she had appeared from. When Mavis told me she had a safe place in Edinburgh, I hadn’t thought there would be a household staff. It made me itchy to know there were people skulking around the house with feather dusters and brooms. A butler had opened the door for us when we arrived. A butler.
What was the woman thinking?
“No.” The word came out in a growl and I stopped to scrub my chin with my fingers. “Have you seen anything online?”
“No, but I don’t expect to. Aunt Mavis knows what she’s doing.” Kenny shrugged and took another bite of his food.
I’d fed the boy an hour before we arrived at the house because he was starving. He’d wolfed down every bit of the food, even asking if I was planning on finishing mine. Now he was tearing into the sandwich as if he’d not eaten in years.
“You should slow down or you could choke.” I leaned over and braced my arms on the marble top of the island.
“I’m not a baby.” The boy rolled his eyes and I fought that urge to smack him upside his head.
That impulse had become more frequent the longer I was stuck with Kenny. It wasn’t that I didn’t get where he was coming from, but taking care of a teenager was turning out to be similar to taking care of a toddler, only the teenager was certain they knew what they were doing, even as they drove off a cliff. And he would need absolutely zero help retrieving his car from the bottom of a ravine as he complained about strong winds and an unstable road.
Hormones did that to people. Thankfully age smoothed most of that out.
“I’m frustrated,” I explained as way of apology. It wasn’t his fault that I was all twisted up inside.
“I get it.” He took a long pull of his bottled drink. “Your girl’s out there without you. Freaks you out.”
My girl. Huh.
“I don’t like not being in control.” I looked down at the counter. I didn’t like not having Ava by my side. “So, this Laura that you and Mavis are looking for. Is she your girl?”
“Nah.” That one word spoke volumes in the quiet kitchen. She might not be his girl, but he would have liked it that way. Suddenly I had more patience for his behavior. A little more. Not a ton.
“Women.” I frowned. “They’re a lot of trouble.”
“Worth it.” He looked over at me with dark eyes. “At least you know she wants to be with you.”
“Maybe.” I stood up and walked to the window over the sink. I wasn’t really in the mood to discuss my relationship with Ava. It was still too new, too confusing. If I’d been a stronger man I would have kept her at arm’s length. She didn’t belong with someone like me.
“She’s the real thing, man.” Kenny’s eyes glazed over a bit and the urge to smack the back of his head returned. “She’s hot, but with a brain. And funny. You shouldn’t let her get away.”
“Life isn’t that simple.” I frowned. Where were they? It was almost midnight.
“Yeah, sometimes it really is that simple.” He looked at me with eyes that were much older than his sixteen years.
I looked at him, really thinking about what he was saying. I wanted to hold on to Ava; wanted to wake up next to her every morning that I possibly could. But was that a real possibility? With her I didn’t despise myself, I didn’t hide away from the world, and she didn’t look at me as if I was broken. I felt whole with her around. Or I would…if we weren’t constantly running for our lives.
That had to stop. I couldn’t see all of the possibilities while dodging bullets, only focused on keeping us alive.
“I suppose simple doesn’t mean easy.” I raised one eyebrow.
“You wouldn’t want it if it was easy,” he replied.
Out of the mouths of babes…
“Besides, her rack is so worth fighting for. I mean, damn.” He dragged out the last word and I didn’t fight the impulse this time. Reaching out I boxed his ear, sending him leaning in the opposite direction.
“Have some respect, boy.” I leveled my gaze at him, letting him see the anger simmering just under the surface. “Next time you’ll hit the floor. I don’t care who you’re related to.”
“Ow. Damnit! That hurt!” He covered his ear and ducked away from me. “I’m sorry. It was just a compliment.”
“If you think that was a compliment, then it’s no wonder Laura doesn’t want to date you.” I pointed at him. “Being in this business doesn’t give you a right to be a perv. In fact, if you follow in your aunt’s footsteps the way you intend, you need to walk the straight and narrow in every other way. Otherwise you’ll get yourself killed.”
“Right. I’m sorry.” He pulled his hand away from his ear before tracing it delicately with his fingertips. “Damn, that hurt. Can you show me how to do that to someone?”