Kennedy headed to the snack bar, her heart happy, her body on fire. He came to see me and brought his brother to meet me. He used to drive his brother nuts by talking about me. Clearly, Dante adored his younger brother. It shone all over his interactions with the young man. Damien seemed about nineteen? Twenty? And did he have autism? Dante mentioned his difficult birth, and she wondered what his diagnosis could be. Whatever, it was sweet to see Dante’s obvious affection.
She practically skipped across the animal compound. Until she saw Dante’s face. He stared at his phone screen with obvious displeasure, a dark, broody expression marring his handsome features. “Dante?” she said. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
His head lifted, and he blinked as if having to re-focus his eyes from the faraway place that captured his attention. He swiftly pocketed his phone.
Is it another girl? Kennedy fidgeted with the radio at her hip.
Dante shook his head and pasted on a smile. “Sorry. I just got a text from a friend. It threw me for a loop.”
“We’re going to the science museum. Can we go now?” Damien said to her.
“You are?” she said, turning her attention to Damien, her insides now churning with anxiety. “I love that place. I have the soul of a geek, only mine is more obsessed with the natural world and such.”
“Do you?” His brother, a somewhat disheveled, yet still handsome version of Dante, lit up at hearing her confession.
“Sure do. As a matter of fact, I was just there with my brother.”
“No way,” Damien said.
“Way. I saw a cool exhibit on bats. And they have a really amazing art exhibit on biodiversity.” She glanced over to see Dante scrutinizing her in a manner that didn’t make her feel warm and cozy.
“Biodiversity,” Damien said, “is the variety of different types of life found on Earth and the variations within species. It is a measure of the variety of organisms present in different ecosystems. This can refer to genetic variation, ecosystem variation, or species variation (number of species) within an area, biome, or planet.”
“Wow,” Kennedy said. “That sounds like something Wikipedia would say.” She eyed the scarred slash that ran along his forehead, disappearing into his messy hair.
“It is. Word for word.”
“He’s got a remarkable recall of some things,” Dante said, shifting the attention back in his brother’s direction.
“Yeah,” Damien agreed. “I can’t remember certain things, though. I fell a couple years ago and lost…”
“Right,” Dante interrupted. “He lost some of his memory. Hey, buddy,” he said to his brother. “Why don’t you get us a couple of ice cream bars. You want anything, Kennedy?”
“No, thank you.” Her eyes slid between the two brothers, wondering what, exactly, wasn’t meant for her to hear.
After Damien skittered away, Dante turned to her, heat returning to his eyes.
She took a step back from the intensity emanating from him. “It looked like an upsetting text message. The one you were looking at when I approached.”
“It was nothing.”
Total lie, she thought. “So, what happened to your brother? That’s a pretty nasty scar on his forehead.”
“He got in an accident.” Dante stepped close, brushing the tip of his nose along her cheek. “I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you. Let me take you on a proper date tonight. I’ll pick you up in my Porsche. Take you somewhere sweet. Wine you and dine you.”
She melted from the sizzle of his touch, any anxiety burnt to a crisp by her sudden passion. “I don’t drink, remember?” she whispered against his scruffy jaw.
“Right,” he said, his lips against her ear. “It’s a phrase. Meant to indicate how I want to treat you right tonight. Show you off a little. Maybe we can hit the clubs. You like to dance?”
Dance? Not since I got clean and sober. “I don’t think…”
“Come on. Dance with me.” He grinned and made a sexy move, grinding his hips against her, but the words almost seemed like a challenge.
“I don’t know. I have no desire to end up in the gossip rags again.”
“Come on. You know how to live. You know how to have fun.” He leaned away and regarded her with narrowed eyes.
What’s going on in that mind of his? “I do, but I also don’t need trouble.”
“Trust me to keep you safe. I’d love to dance with you.”
“Maybe.” I used to love to dance, but… She wondered if she’d always have to keep herself in check. Sometimes it felt like she’d become her own prison warden, this prim and proper matron who denied any and all fun. “Okay, let’s do it.”
“Great,” Dante said. “You don’t have any more news bombs to toss my way, do you?”
She stiffened and pulled away. “News bombs?”
He tugged her back into his solid body. “It’s a joke. Now that you revealed what you were afraid to reveal…I think the initials are hot, by the way…and now you’ve shared that…our evening should flow a bit more smoothly, right?”
“You think the initials are hot?”
“Yes. Feel.” He pushed the growing bulge in his pants into her belly, sidelining her thought process.
“Should be all systems go, then,” she whispered, reveling in the feel of his arms, pulling her close.
“Love that answer.”
“What time will you be picking me up?”
“How does seven-thirty sound? Dinner first, and then we see where it leads.” He nuzzled her hair. “I promise to do my best to protect you from the paparazzi.”
“Perfect,” she murmured.
“Good,” he said, before dropping his lips to hers, pressing sensuous circles of yum against her mouth.
Unused to public displays of affection, especially at her place of work, she felt caught between resisting and giving in. Too soon, however, Dante pulled away, saving her from having to decide. She blinked a couple times, surprised by the intense response he evoked in her.
His shining eyes seemed to indicate an equal reaction.
“Kennedy, Kennedy, Kennedy,” Damien said, striding toward them, scowling. “See what I mean?”
“Yeah,” Kennedy said. “I think I do.” Her heart jumped about all fluttery, like something unused coming to life.
“Okay, then,” said Dante, taking the ice cream his brother handed him, maintaining eye contact with her. He peeled the wrapper from the bar and licked the sweet frozen cream slowly and deliberately, drawing his tongue into his mouth with a satisfied hum. “Until tonight.”
Sweet Jesus, she thought, her panties growing moist.
A short time later, at the meeting, sitting next to Big Jim, she listened to Barnes’s blah blah bullshit.
Barnes droned on about how they’d lost the last round of funding. He continued with how critical it was to work together as a team.
Let’s start with you getting on board with the team concept, Kennedy thought. The whole thing seemed to be a regurgitation of news she already knew. At the end of the meeting, no mention was made of closing the sanctuary. How odd. I thought sure we’d be closing.
Barnes had simply indicated that the welfare of the sanctuary was on the endangered list, perhaps hoping to elicit a chuckle out of everyone. No one laughed. He added something about how “our days here are numbered, everyone,” before dismissing them.
“We still have a job, choty goty,” Big Jim said when the meeting had adjourned.
“For the moment,” she said. “It’s odd, though. I thought sure the ax would fall today. All morning I heard doom and gloom gossip in the compound about how this was the end, and we’d hear about it today. I wonder what happened? Or if it was all fear talking?”
“I don’t know. I’m glad it wasn’t the ax falling. I like being here. I like helping you. I like us still being together fighting the cause.”
She gave him a warm smile. “Me, too, Jim. You saved my life.”
“You saved it, girl. I simply carried you to a place where you could get help.”
“Yeah, kicking and screaming. Thank you,” Kennedy said for the millionth time.
Jim had been the one who got her out of Africa, away from that tawdry mess. He got her back to the States in rehab.
She got him a job.
He facilitated her getting her life back.
She could never repay him. But at least she could let him know how much it meant to her that he cared enough to not put up with her bullshit about how she didn’t have a problem with alcohol. And, no, she wasn’t addicted to pain meds and whatever else she could get her hands on.
She crossed her arms over her chest, frowning. “So, I seem to be dating again.”
“Yeah,” Big Jim said, matching her posture. “How’s it going?”
“I don’t know. One minute it’s great; the next minute, all my triggers are blowing up, and red flags are flying wildly. My trust muscle is broken. I don’t know which voice to listen to.”
“It has a good reason.”
“Yeah, but…”
Jim put his arm around her shoulders. “Tell me.”
She chewed her lower lip. “I’m scared,” she whispered. “Earlier today, Dante came by to see me. He got all weird after getting a mysterious, troubling text message. I thought I left my troubles behind in South Africa. I thought Mosi’s father had taken care of all the lies cast on me…all the scandal. Then on my first date with Dante, I end up on Page Six. I thought that the world of lies and gossip was left halfway around the world.”
Jim let out a low, deep rumbling laugh. “Girl, you’re destined for greatness. Greatness comes with an equal measure of bullshit. You can either hide or…” He shrugged.
“Or what?” She glowered at him.
“Or you find people you trust, like yours truly, and let us help you navigate the madness. You know I’ll always provide a safe harbor for you.”
“I do. But you know Iniko’s after me again. I told you that, right?”
Jim said nothing, yet his glowering expression conveyed everything.
“That man’s a snake,” Kennedy hissed.
“You do him kindness by calling him that.” Jim’s face grew even darker than the color of his skin.
“Jim?”
“Yes.”
“What are you thinking?”
“Are you sure he’s coming after you?”
“No. Barnes only said to me that someone from the African consulate inquired about me. He said he didn’t want any trouble with Africa, the tiger foundation already skates on thin ice, and he’d have to let me go if trouble came because of me.”
“But he didn’t actually say ‘Prince Iniko Khari is after you,’ did he?”
“No, I just assumed.”
“I think you do a lot of assuming. You take on more responsibility than you’re due.”
“What do you mean?”
“You wear the world on your shoulders, thinking most things are your fault. You’re only responsible for your actions, not the worlds’.”
Kennedy sighed. “I know. I hear that a lot in the program.”
“I’m going to tell you something.”
She glanced at him, icicles of fear forming on her neck. “Okay. Tell me.”
“I know you’ve been through a tremendous hardship in the last couple of years. I know your memory’s fuzzy surrounding Mosi’s death. The trauma of loss and subsequent scandal hit you like a blow to the head.”
“Yes. It’s one big blurry mess I don’t care to recall. More like a nightmare.”
Big Jim nodded. “And I’ve stuck by you. I never questioned you. Only listened and helped you get the help you needed to get sober once you left the game reserve.”
“Right. What’s your point?”
“I’ve never told you this.”
“Stop it, Jim, you’re scaring me. Just tell me.”
“I don’t think you left the gate open.”
“What?”
“To let in the rogue tiger. I don’t think you did it.”
“Of course, I did it. I was the only one out there that day. It’s all my fault Mosi got killed.” Kennedy’s body stiffened.
“I don’t think so. You were vigilant about maintaining safety at the reserve. That’s one of the things that always impressed me.” He turned to face her, his eyes trained on her like gun sights. “You’re vigilant about safety when it comes to animals and animal care. You wouldn’t have simply left a gate open.”
“How do you know?” she said, her hackles rising. “I’d already begun drinking too much. Maybe I had a hangover.”
“No. You didn’t have a hangover. I was with you the night before. You, me, and Mosi had dinner in Maputo.”
She shoved away the fuzzy, fragmented memory floating through her brain. “So, I probably drank at dinner and kept it up after we went home.”
“No. You were upset. But you didn’t drink to calm yourself.”
“What was I upset about?”
“Iniko had come to see you the day before. You wouldn’t tell us what he said. We tried to get it out of you, but you refused. Mosi told me the next morning that he had to give you sleeping pills to get some rest, but you didn’t take anything else. He said you were freaked out. Hyper. Out of control, but not from a substance.”
Her entire body grew cold. “Why are you telling me this now? Why not after Mosi died, and Iniko came after me? Why not when I left rehab here in the States?” Gooseflesh spread across her skin.
“Because you had enough on your hands to deal with.” Jim threw up his hands. “Because I’ve watched you struggle to get where you are today. Because you’re starting to live again, and I don’t want you to slide downhill. I don’t think you left the gate open. Mosi’s death wasn’t your fault.”
Her jaw dropped open, and she shook her head vehemently. “No, you’re wrong. Why the hell are you telling me this after so much time has passed?” she said, her voice rising.
His lips pressed together, and he looked away.
“Jim. Tell me, goddamn it.”
He did this weird thing with his jaw like his mouth wanted to speak, but his mind had a grip on his lips.
“Jim!”
“I got an email yesterday from a friend of mine back home. You know I was never in the inner circle. I was only ever regarded as an employee, right? I had little reason to think anything other than what you told me. And you suffered so after his death. All I knew was it didn’t make sense for you to leave a gate open.
“So the email. Iniko’s fighting to get his fortune back. The current cockfight with his father—it’s big news in South Africa. That’s what my friend told me. He said the story’s coming out. Iniko lost his trust inheritance the week before Mosi died. I think he came to threaten you. I think he told you he lost his inheritance and blames you, and I think he left the gate open. He may have been the one to find the rogue tiger. But it was him, not you, who caused Mosi’s death.”