Chapter Seventeen

Ciska

W . Carter Investigations Inc., Tampa...

"Morning, Ciska, and how are you on this bright and bushy-tail morning?"

Ciska smiled but grumbled an incoherent reply at the sunny disposition that was Amalia Summers. She loved the youngster, but some days, her untapped energy and joy for life were too much to bear, especially on days when a person hardly slept the night before.

"Oh, I almost forgot," Amalia called after her. "Your cousin is waiting in your office. You're a lucky girl to have such a dish in your family. Is he perhaps a rock star? He looks like a rock star."

Ciska whipped around and stomped back into the reception area. "My cousin? Did my cousin happen to give you a name?"

"Oh, I never thought to ask." She tapped a finger against her teeth as she smiled impishly. "I guess that gorgeous smile of his was too distracting." She frowned as her expression showed she had finally caught on to Ciska's discontent. "Did I do something wrong? Should I not have... oh, lord! I shouldn't have. Willow keeps telling me that all visitors, no matter who they are, should wait here. I'm sorry, I was just—"

"Yeah, totally enamored with his smile. I got that."

Ciska considered leaving. She didn't have to go to her office to find out who her supposed cousin was. For one, she didn't have any family.

The freaking audacity of the man! Except it was more than that. Theo could've gone to her home, but he didn't. Instead, he chose to come to her workplace— to make sure she got the message. Theo Gulliver— and, by extension, the Sandolens Mafia— knew everything there was to know about her new life.

Which meant they knew she had no family or friends they could use to force her to do their bidding... but they wouldn't think twice about targeting her co-workers.

Ciska cringed just thinking about the time she was a player on the wrong side of the law. No matter that she didn't physically hurt anyone, her actions and the programs she wrote for criminals destroyed many people's lives... innocent people who had never hurt another soul. It was guilt she would carry with her for the rest of her life. Going back into that same dark hole was never going to happen. Not again.

"Should I bring some coffee to your office?" Amalia asked hesitantly.

"No, thank you. My... cousin won't be staying." With those words chasing after her, she walked down the hallway toward her office. It was always kept locked, but Willow usually unlocked it for the cleaners first thing in the morning. Otherwise, the bastard wouldn't be there waiting on her.

"I want you to leave," she said the moment she walked into her office and found Theo leaning against her desk, looking out over the ocean.

He turned to her with an engaging smile. It did nothing. Ciska was tempted to do a jingle of joy. For the first time in all the years she'd known him, she felt nothing. No spark igniting her loins, no skipping a heartbeat, or her breath stuttering at the raw sexual enticement the man presented. There was no denying Theo was a very attractive man with his celebrity-like looks, all blond, tanned, and ocean blue eyes surrounded by thick, black lashes. He had always taken care of his body, which the rippling biceps confirmed as he crossed his arms.

Still... she felt nothing.

Perhaps because her body was now yearning only for one man. More than that... her heart had already opened to him, allowed him in, and whether she had acknowledged it or not, she suddenly realized it with lightning clarity— she had fallen in love with Jax Crowthorne.

"Is that the way to greet the love of your life, baby?"

"Don't make me laugh," she sneered with venom dripping from every syllable. "If you're under the impression that I've been pining away for you for the past ten years, you're completely delusional." She kept the door open and pointed outside. "Get the fuck out, Theo. I don't want you here. I never want to see you again, and no, I am never going to work with you again."

"I'm afraid you don't have much of a choice." He smiled grimly. "On all the above. I'm not getting out, you will see me again, all the time for that matter, and you will work with me again. The sooner you accept that, the better."

"Not happening. Leave, Theo. You're not welcome here."

He walked closer, in the same way she remembered, stalking like a panther on the prowl. His eyes flickered as he stopped in front of her.

"The money is better than before. Twice than what you make here, and besides, you don't have a choice, Ciska. For your own good, you will come with me to Chicago this weekend."

"That's the very last place I will ever go back to."

"You will either come willingly, or I will take you by force."

"Is there a problem, Ciska?"

Ciska released a sigh of relief at the grating voice of Ernst Flint, who appeared in the doorway. His dark gaze bore into the younger man's eyes, evaluating, testing... and finding him wanting. Ernst might have been Theo's senior by about twenty years, but he was a big man, strong and fearless. Something she noticed Theo realized as he took a step back from her.

"No problem, old geezer," he said with a smile.

"I'm no one's old fucking geezer," Ernst said scornfully. "Yours least of all."

"This man is trespassing, Ernst, and refuses to leave." Ciska took a step toward the older man as anger flashed in Theo's eyes.

"We don't take kindly to intruders," Ernst said. He didn't move, but the warning in his gaze was enough to make Theo realize he was going to lose this battle, especially when another big man, albeit one in a wheelchair, joined them.

"Need help seeing this asshole out the door, Ernst?" Damian Clint drawled in his deep Texas accent.

"No need for the veiled threats," Theo said as he ambled to the door but stopped next to Ciska and said in a low voice, "It's your choice, love. Choose wisely."

"Enough. Get your fucking Yankee ass out of here," Ernst growled and, with a hard yank, dragged Theo toward the exit.

"Make sure the front gate guards know he's not welcome back here," Ciska shouted after them as her heart pounded against her chest. She might have escaped his claws this once, but knowing Theo and the wrath and determination of Donato Carlisi, he would be back.

"You okay, Ciska?" Damian asked. His concerned gaze warmed her heart, as did Ernst's protective nature in getting Theo out of the building.

"No," she whispered as she walked to her desk and sat down in one of the visitor's chairs. "They'll never let me go, Damian. I thought they did... it's been ten years..." She shook her head. "I guess one just never walks away from a crooked past."

"You paid for the mistakes you made in your youth, Ciska. Do not fall back into that black hole of self-blame. You're a strong woman. You can fight them." He smiled broadly. "Because this time, you're not alone. You've got all of us by your side, and even better, you've got Jax Crowthorne and his friends, who would move the Earth to keep you safe."

"No! I can't involve him. I refuse to put anyone's life in danger." Tears formed in her eyes. "They know that, too. If that's what it takes to keep all of you safe... I will have no choice but to do whatever it is they want."

"It's not your choice anymore, Ciska," Ernst interjected as he returned. "We are grown men, and we make our own decisions. We're going to help. I suggest you let Jax decide for himself."

Ciska smiled wanly. No matter what they said or how wonderful it felt to have such caring friends, she would never put them in danger.

This was her mess, and she would have to bite the bullet. She had made the fucked-up bed years ago... Now, she was the one who had to sleep in it.