A Little Harmless Rumor Read online

  He’d changed clothes, pulling on a pair of loose white pants and a shirt to match. At least now she couldn’t see the purple bruising that had covered his chest. Even if she didn’t know what he did for a living, she would recognize the lethal grace in his movements. And sweet. He was so damned sweet, but people didn’t see it in him. They only saw the player. She knew the man who could make her laugh, and who would happily feed her chocolates in bed.

  It didn’t excuse him for being an ass, however. She decided to lay it out on the line so Sean knew exactly where they stood.

  “Let’s just say that we are here for answers and we aren’t leaving until we get them.”

  CHAPTER TWO

  Randy held onto his temper. Since the two volatile people of the group had decided to argue, he figured he would be the cool-headed one. When he was the one in control of his temper that was a bad thing.

  But, there was nothing he could do. From the moment he had met both Sean and Jaime, they had never really been good for each other. Oil and water. Of course, he knew it made for mind-blowing sex, and that’s why neither of them had been able to move on.

  Sean’s lip curled in disgust. “I don’t think either of you deserve any answers.”

  “You might not think so, but then you never did,” Jaime said.

  Normally, he would let them continue on, but Randy wasn’t in the mood. If he didn’t stop both of them right now, Randy would spend most of the next few days trying to get them to forgive each other. They both had a habit of saying horrible things when they were mad.

  “Stop it both of you. We came here looking for you, Sean. When you didn’t answer the phone calls—and they were for some pretty lucrative jobs—we went by your apartment in Tokyo. You were gone.”

  Sean’s expression turned even colder. “Unless you missed the last couple of years, I don’t have to answer to anyone. Not even you two.”

  “So,” Randy said, acting like Sean had never spoken. “We came here. When you need rest, you come back to Hawaii.”

  Sean sighed, the sound of it so solitary. It hurt Randy’s heart to hear, to know that he could do nothing to make him feel better. That bridge had been burned, and there was no hope for building it again. Sean had made sure of it—but Randy knew it all had been laid at his feet. He shouldn’t have been so dismissive of their relationship, but Randy didn’t believe in living in the past.

  Randy pushed those thoughts away. “So, what happened?”

  “I had a job for Lassiter. We disagreed on the outcome. He burned me.”

  Randy shared a worried glance with Jaime. Getting burned in their business didn’t just hurt a person financially. Randy and Jaime knew that Sean now had a big bull’s eye on his back. And there were a lot of people who would want to hurt Sean. Just in the last ten years, he knew at least two-dozen operatives who would like to see Sean suffer—before killing him.

  “And then, you disappear and don’t call?” Jaime asked. He could feel her irritation, heard it in her voice. But there was more. Much more. She was in pain, physically hurting by Sean’s rejection. Randy trailed a finger down her spine. She was holding it together, but just barely.

  Sean watched the movement, then he raised his gaze to Randy’s. Nothing. There was absolutely no emotion in his eyes. To Randy, that was worse than accusation or anger.

  “I didn’t want to pull anyone down with me. And…I had other things to do.”

  His tone told Randy that Sean expected no argument. He had always been that way to a point, but he had gotten worse in the last couple of years. It was one of the reasons most of Sean’s acquaintances had faded away.

  “You should know better than to think we wouldn’t want to know, Sean. We’ve been working with you for the last year and a half on jobs, then you vanish.”

  Sean cocked his head to the side and watched them. “Funny that it took you six months to come look for me.”

  Randy hated that cynical expression. There had always been an edge to Sean before, but now it was downright contemptuous. There was no room for humor or even a nasty smile. It frayed the seams of Randy’s temper.

  “I don’t care how long it took us to find you. You should have called.”

  Sean’s expression turned to stone. “I stopped answering to anyone the day I left the military.”

  Jaime opened her mouth ready to blast him, but Randy saw the pain in her expression. Sean missed it because he had turned away. She straightened her shoulders and held her head high. She wanted to fight, but she wasn’t ready to. He knew that she had been put through the ringer, and while most people thought she was tough, the softer side of her was damaged at the moment.

  “I can’t deal with this.” He heard the defeat in her voice, but Randy couldn’t help her right now. Nothing would soothe her. When Sean said nothing to her, she shook her head and walked out of the room. The desolation he had seen in her gaze stabbed him and left him bleeding. She still loved Sean—they both did, but he knew she regretted their break up more than Randy had. Sean had offered everything and she had walked away.

  “She’s not in the best of moods.” Sean’s tone was almost as if he were narrating a story. So detached and cool.

  Randy flexed his hands trying to remain levelheaded. Someone had to.

  “You really can’t blame her. She hasn’t had much sleep in the last week.”

  “Really?”

  It was easy to hear the sarcasm in Sean’s voice. Most people would chalk it up to Sean being jaded, but Randy knew better. It was a coping mechanism he used to keep people away. If he hadn’t been watching Sean so closely, he would have missed the tightening of his mouth that had more to do with discomfort about Jaime than any pain he was in.

  “Yes. When she heard the story last night, she wanted to come over here and find you. At three in the morning.”

  Sean said nothing.

  “So, you don’t want to talk about the issue you had with Lassiter?”

  He shook his head.

  “And you are just going to spend days here doing nothing?”

  “I do things.”

  Great, now he sounded like a five-year-old. Dealing with one lover who was a hot head and another lover who was a petulant five-year-old was almost too much for Randy to take.

  “Right. Like drink so much you would make your stepfather feel like an insufficient drunk.”

  “Is there a point to this conversation?”

  “Yes. We are here and we aren’t leaving until you come clean. And, we are going to help you.”

  “I didn’t ask.”

  Randy smiled. “Neither did I, babe. Just get used to it. Princess is probably down there complaining how you have no food in the pantry.”

  Before Sean could object, he closed the distance between them. Randy laid a hand on Sean’s cheek. “Don’t be long, because you know she gets pissed when you make her wait.”

  Without hesitation, he did the one thing he had been dreaming of doing since he’d seen Sean laying in bed. Randy brushed his mouth over Sean’s. The moment their lips touched, his heart sang. There was only one other person in the world who could do this to him, and she was now in the kitchen complaining loud enough to wake up the dead.

  He pulled back and tried not to feel so proud that Sean looked stunned. “Hurry up, you know patience isn’t her strong point.”

  Randy left as fast as he could without looking like a coward. He had been so close to begging and that was one thing he could not do. Would not do. Besides, it was always better if you gave Sean room to think.

  * * *

  Sean winced when he sat down on his bed. He was really fucked up when just sitting down hurt. What the hell had he done last night? The nausea was dissipating, but the pain was intensifying. He returned to the bathroom to grab some painkillers before he had to face Randy and Jaime downstairs. If he thought it would work, Sean would order them both out of his house. The chance of that happening was next to zero.

  He got a couple of capsules, po
pped them into his mouth. Sometimes he wished he hadn’t taken the job, or fucked it up so badly. Still, he couldn’t regret the consequences. Not now that he had met her.

  His head pounded like a fucking sledgehammer. Slowly, Sean opened his eyes. He was in the same room.

  He listened for a long moment and determined he was alone. When he finally decided to move, he realized he couldn’t. Whoever had hit him had tied his hands and feet. It took a little bit of effort, but he finally got himself righted and leaned against the wall.

  Shit. He felt like throwing up. He probably had a fucking concussion.

  “Be careful there. You vomit, you clean it up.”

  The voice was female and young. Most people would peg it as English, but it was English with an edge. She had roots in England, but she had spent most of her time abroad. She definitely wasn’t from Thailand.

  He blinked and turned in the direction of the voice. She was undeniably young, but not a girl. Maybe twenty-one or two. She was watching him with green eyes, familiar eyes. He blinked again. Something danced on the edge of his memory, something that he couldn’t grab on to. Then, it slipped away.

  “Who the hell are you?”

  She smiled. It wasn’t a pleasant one. “Uh-uh. I’m not sharing with you right now.”

  He noticed she was holding his wallet. Thank goodness he left most of his ID back at the hotel.

  “I do know you, Sean. At least, what I could find online.”

  It was then he realized she had a computer and a small table. “My, you are resourceful.”

  Another smile, just as unpleasant. “You don’t know the half of it. But I’m sure you will learn.”

  The sound of something crashing in the kitchen brought him out of the memory. With a sigh, he decided he had left it too long. Jaime had a temper, and he wouldn’t put it past her to damage things in his kitchen.

  With a shake of his head, he headed out of the bathroom. Then, after grabbing his phone, he went downstairs.

  “I told you I would get it for you.” Randy’s voice was filled with amusement. He always seemed happy, even though Sean knew better. The dark secrets of Randy’s years in the SEALS were well hidden from most, but Sean knew them.

  When he stepped into the kitchen, he blinked. There were bowls everywhere…and flour. It was all over the counter and the floor.

  “What the fuck, Jaime?”

  She offered him a snarl. “We are not all giants, Sean. You put your flour way up on top.”

  “I can reach it there.”

  She settled her hands on her ships and offered him a nasty look. “Well, I can’t.”

  “I only have to worry about myself, so I put it where I want.”

  Randy chuckled. “You definitely do.”

  Dammit, he didn’t like the way his body responded to Randy’s innuendo. That bridge was burned. Sean tossed him a dirty look. “Behave.”

  “Why? You behave enough for both of us.”

  He made no comment to that. Sean knew that engaging in an argument with Randy always ended badly. Well, first would be the angry sex, then there would be another fight with months of no talking.

  Sean was too old for that shit. Now, he had other responsibilities.

  “We can go out for breakfast,” he said. “The Hukilau Café is open.”

  “I didn’t know you would be able to eat anything,” Jaime said.

  “But you felt you should cook so I could smell it? You always were sadistic.”

  She smiled, but there was no humor in it. “You used to like that about me.”

  A long strained silence filled the kitchen. He hated this. The two people he had loved most in the world, and he couldn’t talk to them. He couldn’t tell them just what the hell was going on. He just couldn’t.

  “I have to make a quick call before we leave,” he said, ignoring the shared look between his former lovers. He picked up his cell and headed to his home office. After shutting the doors, he pushed the speed dial and waited. It went straight to voice mail.

  Dammit. If he didn’t get hold of her soon, he’d have to make a trip over to the Big Island.

  * * *

  Randy had his hands full at breakfast. He remembered the little café from the time he and Sean had spent there years earlier, and it was one of Sean’s favorite on the island. But even that did not soothe his ex-lover. Their ex-lover.

  There would be a time that he found this funny. He knew he would be able to look back and laugh, but it was still a little raw from his encounter earlier. It wasn’t that Sean had really said anything hurtful, but the damned man could never accept help. Ever.

  “So, you two just decided to show up on the island and look for me?” Sean asked, his tone dripping with irritation.

  “Yes.”

  “Jesus, Sean, you disappeared off the earth. What the fuck did you expect us to do?” Jamie said. To someone who didn’t know her as well as he did, other people would think she was pissed. And she was. But she was hurt. Both of them were.

  “It’s not like I haven’t done it before.”

  Anger, pain, and a fair dose of temper swam in Jaime’s eyes before she hid it. “Yes, you’re very good at disappearing when things get tough.”

  Sean’s mouth opened—definitely to say something nasty—but the waitress had returned for their orders. By the time they ordered their meals, she had calmed down a bit. She’d been a wreck since they’d found out Sean was missing. Both of them had barely kept it together. Worse, he hadn’t returned their calls. Something Randy needed to address right then.

  “You want to tell us why you have been avoiding our calls for months?”

  “I was busy.”

  Fuck. When Sean got that stubborn tone in his voice, it would take an act of God to get anything out of him. It made him good at his job, but a pain in the ass to have a relationship with.

  “Yeah, we all have been busy.”

  Sean’s gaze moved back and forth between Randy and Jaime. “No comment.”

  “Oh, that’s rich,” Jaime said.

  “What the hell do you mean by that?” Sean asked.

  “You getting pissy with us.”

  Sean opened his mouth to argue; but thankfully, the waitress returned with their coffee. Randy knew that it was just the calm before the storm. Jaime and Sean had always been volatile together. Randy knew that it had more to do with their relationship in general and not the breakup.

  “So, do you want to tell us what happened?” Randy asked.

  “I was in Thailand. Bad job. Lassiter was not very happy with the result and he burned me.”

  Randy kept his gaze locked with Sean’s. He could always tell when Sean was lying. He had a tell, which most people missed, but Randy had spent too much time staring at that face. He knew the twitch. Every time Sean was lying, his left eye twitched. Just like it did now. Dammit, he was lying to them.

  “So, after all these years you worked with Lassiter and now he burns you?” Randy asked.

  Sean looked at Jaime then down at his coffee. “No comment.”

  The repeat of his response irritated Randy. He looked at Jaime expecting her to fire back, but she didn’t. She apparently found her coffee as interesting as Sean’s.

  “Am I missing something here?”

  Sean looked up, confusion clouding his gaze. Then, he glanced at Jaime. “You never told him.”

  Jaime shook her head.

  “Told me what?”

  He had a really bad feeling. Sean was always one for payback and the confident expression on his face told Randy he had leverage—and lots of it.

  “Well, love, you want to tell him, or do you want me to?” Sean asked Jaime.

  Jaime said nothing, her expression giving nothing away.

  “Okay, this is getting fucking old. You two have bad tempers, but I tend to kill people to get rid of my bad mood.”

  Jaime still wasn’t saying anything, so Sean stepped in. “Amazing. I thought you two shared everything.”

&nbs
p; His stomach started to sink. “Just what are you talking about?”

  “What? You didn’t know that your lover is actually Royce Lassiter’s daughter?” His lips turned up into an evil smile. “Well, now you do.”

  CHAPTER THREE

  Fury burned a hole in Jaime’s gut by the time they got back to Sean’s. She had never had a more uncomfortable time with the two men, including when Sean found out Randy and Jaime were an item. Having Sean show up at her room at six in the morning had been bad enough, but finding Randy in bed with her had been horrible. If there had been an argument, she could have handled that, but there hadn’t been. Sean hadn’t said a word. He had walked away and shut them out. Just like he had today.

  Thanks to his little bombshell, they had eaten in relative silence. Randy was rarely quiet, but while she had picked at her food, neither man talked much. Of course, he had disappeared the moment they had returned, and Randy had gone to the beach to brood. They were both going to be a pain in the ass to control.

  “Why the hell do I put up with two stubborn men?”

  Of course, there was no one to answer. If her father had been there, he would have told her she deserved it. And there was a part of her that thought maybe she did. She hadn’t always been truthful with everyone in her life. She had always reasoned that it had been to protect herself. Growing up on the streets in London hadn’t been easy, and even worse when she had hit puberty. After escaping, it became more about protecting her privacy. She never felt she would be accepted if people knew she had been orphaned. Then…it became a habit. Walking away from Sean all those years ago had hurt, but she could not accept it as a total mistake. For, if she hadn’t, she would have never had Randy.

  It was through him she had learned how to be more open. And because of that, both of them had realized they were missing an important person in their lives.