I was getting sloppy, and it was all Kai’s fault. I’d treated my time on his island as a vacation, and it’d dulled my instincts.
Thank fuck for the leather gloves I wore, as they saved my hands a wicked rope burn on my speedy exit from the bell tower. I burst through the front doors of the church, then pulled up short when I nearly ran straight into Mo.
Or rather, into the barrel of Mo’s AR-15.
“Mo,” I said, panting slightly with adrenaline and panic. “Get the fuck out of my way.”
She frowned but didn’t put her gun up. “Sorry, girl. I can’t do that.”
Anger flared hot inside me. “Moana, you two-faced bitch, stand the fuck down.”
Her lips flattened in a hard line, and she shook her head. “I wasn’t lying, Danny. I didn’t tell him. But I am sick and fucking tired of hearing his elaborate plans to get you back, so right now? Right now, you’re gonna toss your weapons down here on the road, then turn around and go back inside.”
I barked a laugh before realizing she was serious. “Mo, I’m not going to do that.”
“Yes, you are,” Kai said from behind me, his deep voice sending shivers across my skin. I’d damn near fallen back into his trap a moment ago when he’d tried to kiss me. I wasn’t strong enough to face him again. Certainly not without the comfort of my guns.
Dammit. I’d left my rifle in the bell tower.
“Danny,” Mo snapped, “put your guns down and go back into the church. You two need to talk, and I’m not letting you leave here until you do.”
My eyes widened. She wanted me to talk to Kai? About fucking what? Our business was done. He kidnapped and tortured me, I played him for a fool. We were even.
“You too, little brother,” she added, jerking her chin at the menacing presence behind me. “Toss your weapons over here. I’m not risking either one of you killing each other until you sort your shit out.”
He grunted an indignant sound that made me smirk, even if I was still refusing to turn around and look at him. He was too fucking sexy, all decked out in weapons and black clothes, just like me.
“Moana, that’s—”
“Just fucking do it, Kai,” she barked. “I’ve had it right up to here”—she indicated to a level somewhere an inch above her head—“with this Romeo and Juliet bullshit you two have going on. Now I’m telling you both to put your fucking weapons down and talk it out like adults. Or else.”
I couldn’t help myself. “Or else what, Mo? You gonna shoot me if I don’t?”
She fired a shot at the step directly below where I stood, making me inhale sharply.
“I don’t fucking know, Danny,” she admitted, sounding totally honest. “Maybe? Do you want to call my bluff and find out?”
Movement behind me made my shoulders ripple with tension, then Kai flicked the safety on his gun—it was a distinctive sound—and tossed it down the short stairs to skitter across the pavement in front of Moana.
“I wouldn’t push her when she’s in one of these moods,” he told me, standing way too close for comfort again. “I’ll be inside.”
Mo raised her brows at me. “Well?”
I scowled back at her. “Well, what?”
She sighed. “Jesus, Danny. I’m asking you to just have a conversation. You two have some bad blood on the table, and until it’s wiped clean, Kai can’t focus on our work. Besides, if anyone can help you with whatever mess you’re caught up in with the Guild, it’s him.” Her brow furrowed, but I could see the stubborn set of her jaw. She was just like her brother in that regard. “I appreciate you have no reason to trust me or him. But that’s why I have this.” She nodded to her assault rifle.
I clicked my tongue, thinking. Maybe she was bluffing. But these were the same siblings who had me imprisoned on an island and tortured daily. Nothing was really out of the question when it came to Moana and Malachi Arden. Besides, for all I knew, the rest of the hateful fucking team could be lurking on the outskirts of town.
“Fine,” I said from behind clenched teeth. I flicked the safety back on my hand gun and placed it carefully down on the step where Mo had just shot a chunk out of the concrete. Throwing loaded guns was a terrible idea. “Happy?”
She gave me a dry look. “You think I’m stupid, Danny? What else have you got?”
Damn it. With a sigh, I disarmed the other two small guns I had concealed, then at Moana’s hard glare, I added a range of knives to the pile, and a miniature grenade. One never knew when a little explosion might come in handy.
“Damn, girl,” Mo murmured. “Is that everything?”
I arched a brow at her. “You think I can’t kill him with my bare hands?”
She grinned. “I’m hedging my bets. Now will you please just go talk to the big fucking baby? Maybe if he realizes Danielle is nothing like you, then he’ll quit acting like you broke his heart.”
Say what now?
“I’ll keep your weapons safe and sound in my car. Okay? I promise, I’ll give them all back when you leave.” She tilted her head to the side, her thick dark hair shifting with the movement. “Just rip the Band-Aid off, girl. If he really meant nothing to you, what do you have to be afraid of?”
Ouch. Fair point, though. What was I so scared of? He wouldn’t catch me off guard again. I’d been playing a role last time. This time there was nothing to stop me fighting back.
Also, I’d rather eat a porcupine than admit I was scared of being in the same room as Kai because I still had crazy strong feelings for him.
So I gave Mo a brittle smile, then flipped her my middle finger. “I hate you.”
She just laughed. “I like this version of you better. Danielle cried too much.”
Well shit, that was something we could both agree on. Not that I would tell her as much, though. So I just steeled my spine and stalked back into the eerie old church to confront my biggest demon.
He was nowhere to be seen, though.
“For fuck’s sake, Malachi, I’m not playing dumb games with you,” I snapped, peering around the dark room. I should have chosen a location with actual electricity connected, if only to lower the drama of it all.
Shuffling sounds came from behind the altar, and his shadowy form reappeared a second later. “Stop calling me that, kaipatu. I know you’re trying to pretend like we’re strangers, but we’re not.”
He struck a match, the sudden light imprinting on my vision for a few moments as he lit the array of candles he’d fished out from somewhere. Once the thin tapers on top of the altar were all lit, he used one to light the huge, half-melted pillar candles on stands around the dais, bathing us in soft light that only heightened the drama.
“That’s where you’re wrong,” I told him, tracking his every movement with suspicion. It was bullshit, though. I watched him because I couldn’t look away. “We were both faking it, so we most definitely are strangers. You have no idea who I am.”
He placed the candle back down in its holder, then advanced toward me. It took every shred of my strength not to take a step back, but Danny DeLuna didn’t retreat from anyone. Certainly not an unarmed man with no active desire to kill me. I didn’t think.