“I can ask,” Kenzie told her, feeling grounded once again. Now she knew where his family stood, where she stood, and how much trust Ryker had really put into her. That trust meant more to her than any romantic gesture, because trust was the foundation for love. Now they had a foundation they could build their love on and let it grow.
18
Ryker wasn’t even off his death-cootie-infected boat before Kale got back to him. Ryker read over the report on the would-be assassins and sighed. They were second cousins to Nico and Little Joey. They’d arrived at the Charleston airport from Italy three days ago.
“It’s the Porzio family,” Ryker said, showing Granger the report.
Granger let out a low whistle. “What can I do to help? I’m betting Peter Castle and Paxton would want in on this. The FBI always takes the interesting cases.”
“We can talk to Paxton at dinner. Speaking of which, I would feel better getting to the bar pretty soon.”
Kord grinned at him and gave him a wink. “You just miss your lady.” Yeah, he did. “We all saw you smiling. And I think you gave Skeeter a heart attack when you offered to buy drinks and thanked us for being good friends. Me?” Kord said, tapping his fingers on his chest. “I always you knew you were a big softie under all those glares.”
“You won’t be saying that when I take down a mob boss,” Ryker muttered, but Kord just smirked.
“Yeah, you can still be one scary-ass dude, but then you melt for your girlfriend.” Kord made a kissy noise and Ryker gave him a glare.
“Ignore him,” Granger said, turning away from Kord and facing Ryker. “Kord’s right, but ignore him. We don’t need to encourage that type of behavior now that we’re all out of high school.” Granger gave Kord a pointed look.
Kord shrugged him off and kept making kissy noises.
“If this was aimed at just me, it wouldn’t be a big deal. However, they almost killed Kenzie.” Just thinking of what could have happened to her made Ryker’s blood boil with anger and a healthy dose of fear.
“Let the law handle this, Ryker,” Granger warned as they got off Ryker’s boat and into the police boat. Kord would stay with the bodies until the state officials came and took them.
“I can’t do that. They made this personal,” Ryker said, taking a deep breath and tried to focus his thoughts. All he could think about was killing each and every member of the Porzio family.
“You sound like a mob boss yourself,” Granger pointed out.
“I know.” Ryker frowned. “But sometimes you have to fight fire with fire.”
“Be careful, Ryker. You have a good thing going. Don’t lose it all in a fight you may not be able to win.”
Ryker shook his head. “Don’t worry. I’ll win it.”
Ryker spotted Kenzie the second he stepped foot into the bar. Music was playing. People were drinking. Georgina, the bartender, looked as if she were running a marathon behind the bar as she set beer after beer onto the counter.
Ryker didn’t care that he was in public. He didn’t care that people watching his every move surrounded him. He immediately went to Kenzie and pulled her body against his and gave her a long kiss. Dimly he became aware of the cheers and pulled back from the kiss.
“Are you okay?” he asked, ignoring everyone around them.
“I am. Are you?” Kenzie asked as she ran her hand down his arm.
“Yes. The Porzio crime family ordered the hit.”
“Is Granger going to arrest them?” Kenzie asked.
“No, we’re taking over,” Tinsley’s husband, Paxton, said as he joined them. “Sorry to interrupt, but Granger sent me the report you got.”
“You’re in art crimes now,” Ryker pointed out.
“Yeah, but I have gang experience and what is the mob but a gang of mostly related people? I’m helping Peter with this and will be working with the New York branch. I wanted to let you know that we are going to be requesting wire taps on them and will be starting surveillance. It’s going to take some time to build the case and get the evidence we need to prove Porzio himself ordered the hit. So, be patient.”
Ryker just nodded as Paxton turned and headed for Tinsley.
“You’re not going to be patient, are you?” Kenzie asked.
“Not when they tried to kill you, too,” Ryker said fiercely.
“What are you going to do, Ryker?”
“Don’t worry about it. Just let me take care of it.”
Kenzie grabbed his arm to prevent him from walking away. “No. This isn’t how this relationship is going to work. One hundred percent honesty only. We’re not going to be a couple who lives two separate lives.”
“I’m going to destroy them. Is that what you want to hear?” Ryker asked, his voice sounding harsh even to himself. “Do you want to hear how I will go to hell and back to protect what’s mine? And you are mine. I’ve already been in hell and I’ll go to the lengths of it to keep you safe.”
“You’re no longer alone, Ryker. I’ll be with you, at your side, to make sure you come back to me. Understand? They almost took what was mine, too, because for as much as I’m yours, you’re mine. Got it?” Kenzie said just as fiercely as Ryker had been.
Ryker took a deep breath and nodded. “When I come up with my plan, I’ll tell you.” Kenzie nodded, but he saw her frown and he hated it. “Nothing is going to happen now. Let’s enjoy tonight and have a great time at your reunion. Monday is soon enough to start worrying about it.” Not that he wouldn’t be planning things before then.
Ryker paused as a thought went through his mind. Honesty. He had to tell her. “As much as it kills me to say this, it might be better if we took a step back. The more you mean to me, the more you’re at risk.”
“I told you this morning you’re worth loving. That includes any risks I have to assume to be with you. Just as long as we handle the risks together. Together we can face anything.”
“Together,” Ryker agreed as Edie came to join them.
“Hey. I thought it might be a good idea if Kenzie wants to come to defense class at church on Monday night,” Edie suggested.
“Great idea!” Savannah agreed from the nearby table.
“Not a great idea for you. No weapons,” Ridge said with no room for argument that had Ryker narrowing his eyes at his cousin in confusion. Ridge would move heaven and earth for Savannah. Why was he all worried suddenly about weapons class—a class she’d been in since moving to Shadows Landing?
Savannah rolled her eyes. “It’s not like we spar each other . . . oh, yeah. We do. I’ll just move to the crossbow,” she said with a smile. “I’ve been wanting to try that.”
“Why can’t she spar?” Miss Winnie asked.
Ridge stood up and Kenzie grabbed Ryker’s hand and smiled up at him as if she already knew what he was going to say. Ridge looked down at Savannah and smiled. “We’re going to have a baby!”
Ryker noticed the surprised reactions from the male cousins, but despite winning Best Actress, Skye wasn’t fooling anyone with the performance she was putting on. All the women clearly knew already. Ridge was too wrapped up in his happiness to notice, and Ryker wasn’t going to ruin the moment by telling him half the bar already knew.