The Cain Casey Series

Chapter Thirty-Two

“What happened tonight?” Merrick looked as if she couldn’t wait to hear the answer to her question.

Katlin stared at her over the rim of the glass of whiskey she’d just poured. After dropping two cubes of ice into the crystal tumbler, she poured another two fingers. “Do you usually talk to other people about the jobs you do for Cain?” She gulped the whiskey, and though she wanted another one, she shed her jacket and sat down. “If you do, you’ve got a problem.”

“Why do you insist on being so impossible?” Merrick asked.

“Look, lady, as much as I enjoy pushing your buttons, I don’t have the energy to fight with you. If you have an issue, take it up with Cain. I’m going to bed.” Katlin got up and headed toward Jarvis’s small guesthouse near the pool.

“Fuck me, man,” Katlin mumbled when she heard the echo of Merrick’s footsteps right behind her. “What?”

“I’m worried about Cain, so I’d like an answer to my question.” Merrick followed Katlin inside and stood with her hands on her hips.

Not caring what Merrick did, Katlin hung up her jacket and put her shoes in the closet. If the next day was going to be anything like this one, she needed some sleep. With a sigh she lay down and closed her eyes.

“Are you just not going to answer because it’s me, or is it just an annoying habit of yours to ignore people?” Merrick asked.

“Look, I don’t know why Cain chose me for this position instead of you. I don’t question my employer. If you have any complaints, problems, or concerns, Cain’s upstairs just waiting for you to bother her. But you and I aren’t friends, and I’m not into heart-to-heart discussions.”

Merrick watched Katlin rub her neck as if trying to work out a knot. “This isn’t getting us anywhere, so how about we start over?”

“Look, like I said, I’m sorry if I usurped your position with Cain, but I didn’t ask to be here, so starting over sounds good. Unless it means using knives and guns instead of words, or something equally drastic,” Katlin quipped. “I have a water bazooka, and I’m not afraid to use it.”

“Duly noted.” Merrick tried to sound bored, but she couldn’t stop her smile. “I know why our positions changed so quickly. I’m just not happy about it.”

The rubbing stopped, and Katlin opened her deep green eyes and hiked her brows in Merrick’s direction. “Like she said, she wants the best person taking care of Emma.”

“Yeah. I can’t be everywhere at once, so I’m glad you were available to pick up my slack,” Katlin said, and had to laugh when Merrick blew on the tip of her index finger, her hand in the shape of a gun.

The firm mattress barely budged when Merrick sat on it, and because she did, Katlin kept her eyes open.

When Merrick asked, “Will you tell me what happened tonight?” Katlin was tempted to knock out another smart-ass comment, but instead, with an almost technical detachment, she recapped everything Stephano had done and said before the end. She was almost shocked to see tears welling up in Merrick’s eyes.

“When I first came to work for Cain, I’d never dealt with somebody like Marie and I tried to avoid her. Thing was, though, Marie had a way of breaking through and making you like her. When Cain found her all broken like she was, I begged her to let me be the one to take care of Danny. I wanted to skin him slowly, but I never would have guessed he’d invite the Bracato boys to be there.” She tilted her dark head back and blinked furiously to clear her eyes. “Did killing him bother you?”

“Why would you ask me that?”

Merrick’s hands went up in a gesture of ignorance, then just as quickly dropped back down. “You just seem like something’s wrong.”

“I had a hard time standing there listening to him go on like that about her. When he bragged about burning her nipples with his cigar, I got so mad I wanted to vomit. Killing him didn’t bother me at all. What did bother me was that he only got to die once.”

“Thanks for telling me.” When Katlin started rubbing her neck again, Merrick hesitated. “You want help with that?”

“Thanks, but you don’t have to.”

“Is it the guns I wear that intimidate you big Casey/Patrick types?”

Katlin laid her hand flat on her chest. “You know the answer to the Casey side of that equation, but the Patrick part doesn’t scare easy either.”

“Then get up and take your shirt off.”

The command sent a shiver through Katlin’s long frame, making her laugh. If she was honest, Merrick did scare her a little.

“Need help with the buttons?”

“I think I can manage.” Taking her time, Katlin presented her back, not really caring to see Merrick’s reaction since she couldn’t lie to herself. It never got her anywhere, and she knew Merrick was obviously infatuated with Cain. This was just a massage, because when it came to her heart, Katlin wasn’t willing to be a substitute for anyone who couldn’t give her everything.

When Katlin first removed her shirt a little past her shoulders, Merrick thought Cain was disrobing before her. The cousins had the same strong neck and musculature along their upper back, but on Katlin’s back, dipping down her shoulders and wrapping around her biceps, was a dark blue intricate design of a warrior whorl. The tattoo, composed of small lines, looked like an old armor design.

As Merrick started at the middle of the design and worked outward, Katlin shivered and said, “In ancient Ireland, the warriors painted on their clan’s design before they went into battle so they could carry their fighter spirit with them. Every man willing and brave enough to pick up arms against his country’s enemies had the right to apply the paint.” Merrick ran her fingers along Katlin’s upper arms, but she still wouldn’t budge. “I’ve never found that exact story in any book, but my Granny Casey told it to us as kids all the time.”

“Your grandmother’s very wise, and you’ve carried on your traditions well.” With very little pressure Merrick turned her around but didn’t try to look at Katlin’s naked chest. “I’m sorry for being such a bitch before. I can see you’re taking good care of Cain.”

“An apology from the mighty Merrick?”

The question was light, and Merrick didn’t try to break the hold Katlin now had on her neck, surprised at herself for being so docile.

“Tell me, what do you see when you look at me?”

“What do you mean?”

“What do I mean?” Katlin pulled Merrick closer and grasped her sweater. “Do you see a copy of what you can’t have?”

“No, I just see you,” Merrick said.

“Go telling lies like that, darling girl, and you might find yourself someplace you don’t want to be.”

“Like where?”

“In my bed,” Katlin said. “Then where the devil will that get you?”

When Merrick touched Katlin’s waist, she felt a scar there. Katlin was tall like Cain and built as solidly, but Merrick noticed subtle differences. Her hair was dark, but not jet-black like Cain’s and her children’s, and she was a few inches shorter. The deep voice was similar, though, and made Merrick breathe faster.

“Someplace safe, I suppose—someplace I’ve been seeking.” Katlin reeled her in a little more, and Merrick could feel the heat emanating off Katlin’s body.

“What have you been looking for, Merrick?”

Merrick stroked higher along Katlin’s back and responded when soft lips came up to meet hers. “An ally and an equal.” Merrick pulled away, but only enough to form words. “Just how tired are you?”

“I’m fresh enough for whatever you have in mind,” Katlin answered readily and stumbled only a little when Merrick pulled her forward by her belt.

“Then let’s go.” Merrick handed her the shirt she’d just taken off.

“I see you’re a tease,” Katlin said as she slipped the garment back on.

“Tease?” Merrick walked up to her slowly this time, jerked her belt open, and unzipped her pants. Without losing eye contact with Katlin, she pushed past the Jockeys and down to Katlin’s sex, chuckling at the moan and the involuntary hip thrust that came when she pinched her hard clitoris. “I never tease when I want something. Try and remember that.” She squeezed harder and Katlin closed her eyes.

“What do you want?” Katlin asked.

“I want to take care of this for you slowly until you beg me to fuck you.” With that she pulled her hand free. “But first I want you to help me give Cain a present.”

“Now?”

“The quicker we finish our business, the quicker we get back here for more pleasurable pursuits.” When she slid the fingers she’d just had in Katlin’s pants into her mouth, Katlin finished dressing in record time.

“Let’s get going.” Katlin strapped on her guns and opened the door for her. “In this condition, I’ll kill anyone who slows us down.”

“Good to know, darling, because it just might come to that if we’re lucky.” Merrick grinned, ready to lead Katlin to hell and then back to her warm bed. Tonight would be the beginning of new alliances.