Page 5 of Blackstone's Heart
Ethan's breath left in a slow whoosh. He turned and looked at his men one by one. Tony was on board completely, not that Ethan was surprised there. Tony would follow him to hell and back, in fact he had. Next was Gage. Gage's brown eyes revealed nothing, all he did was nod once. Grant looked ready to throttle someone. Ethan knew the man had three little sisters and no tolerance for men who threatened women. He jerked his head in agreement. Finally, there was Lance, AKA Hawkeye, who wore a deep frown. Ethan found this strange since the man was often called Ice Man by those who didn’t know him. All because he rarely showed any facial expressions.
"Hawkeye, what's up?" Ethan demanded.
Lance didn't speak to Ethan, instead he looked at Nick. "Sir, if this man now knows Kris James and Krista Jameson are one in the same, why is he still writing to her under her pseudonym?"
Ethan had been wondering the same thing. He studied Nick closely as he began to speak. "I have no idea, Mr. Archer. I've been beating my brain trying to figure out why. The two agents think maybe he's just toying with her, waiting to pounce. As much I hate the thought, it's the one that makes the most sense." Nick theorized.
"Nick," Ethan began, waiting for Nick to face him. "We'll help you. But, we need to tell Krista. If we want to protect her, we need her cooperation, and to get that, she needs to know."
"I know. I promised myself once I talked to you I would tell her." Nick agreed.
Ethan nodded. He then faced his men. "Okay, Hawkeye, you and Tony get together a security package. Everything state of the art. Once Krista is filled in, I want you two there installing it. Gage, start digging. My gut's telling me that this asshole has come into contact with her somewhere. I want you to reach out to her agent, Jerry and go over everything public that she did in the last year. No, make it two years. Grant, start putting together contingency plans and hardware."
"What about you, boss?" Gage asked.
"I'm going with Nick to fill Krista in. I can give her an idea of what we will be doing to help protect her as well as assure her we won't interfere with her life." Ethan answered.
"Interfere?" Lance inquired quirking an eyebrow.
Ethan and Nick both chuckled. "Mr. Archer, my daughter grew up in a house filled with men. She has become fiercely independent and does things her own way. If any of Ethan's plans cause an interference with her work, personal life or both she will disregard his ideas and come up with her own."
The other men smirked. Tony however laughed. "Oh ho, I kind of feel bad for ya now boss."
"Oh fuck you Tony." Ethan sneered, causing the other men to openly laugh and even Nick's lips twitched.
Shaking his head at his men, Ethan led Nick from the room. “You said Krista doesn’t know you were coming here, but does Debbie?”
“She’s one of the peopel who told me to come to you when I first started getting the letters. The woman gave me a tongue lashing when she found out I hadn’t told Krista about them. I’m just glad she’s in Denver right now.” Nick answered, looking very much like a scolded little child.
“Now you know why I tried to stay on Krista’s good side when we were younger. She’s got Mama Debbie’s temper.” Ethan said, a small chuckle somehow escaping him when he was sure he could spit fire.
“Yes she does.” Nick laughed, as they exited the building. “This is me. If you follow me, I’ll take you to Krista’s place.” Nick said, pointing to his royal blue Lexus.
Nodding, Ethan moved to where his bike was parked on the sidewalk outside Blackout’s office. Pulling into traffic behind Nick, Ethan struggled to push the thoughts out of his head. He had made a promise to his mom when he bought his first motorcycle to never ride it when he was feeling angry. One mistake was all it took to hurt yourself on one. He succeeded in pushing the dark thoughts away, but not the excited thoughts of seeing Krista Jameson again after all these years.
Chapter 2
Krista sighed as she entered the kitchen of her home. The kitchen, as well as the room she used as her writing studio, were what sold her on the house. The kitchen was modern yet had a country feel to it. Stainless steel appliances mixed with the East Texas country feel. The cabinets were a light pine, with crystal nobs that caught the morning sunlight that filtered through the large bay window in the nook that faced her spacious backyard. Rolling her neck, she set about making more coffee.
She pushed her blonde hair off her shoulders and sighed. Krista would never call herself a beauty, but all her girlfriends in Austin said she was. She felt a little awkward due to the fact that she was nearly five foot nine, a bit tall for a woman. Yet her height worked to advantage with the motorcycle she owned. Her baby was a 2013 Triumph Bonneville T-100. Triumph were tall bikes and her height made it a perfect fit for her.
Since the was a motorcycle rider, she had to stay shape. Unless you rode, people had no idea what kind of a workout riding really was. She stayed in shape with yoga, running, and playing softball with old friends from high school. Despite being athletic, she hadn't lost any of her feminine curves that men seemed to love. The stick figure looks of super models or the trashy look of some celebrities wasn't for Krista. She wanted to look like a woman, not an anorexic twig or a two-bit hooker. She took her mug and headed back to the front porch where she decided to work that morning since the rain from the previous day had disappeared overnight.
The air was cool and the smell of fresh rain and the impending fall filled the air. The neighborhood she had grown up in was always peaceful this time of year. School had started back up and on weekends the neighborhood was filled with kids getting in play time or practicing football in someone's yard. She should know, after all hadn't her brothers and herself done the same? Shaking her head, she sat on the glider and stared at her laptop screen.
Her ocean blue eyes began to twinkle as her elegant fingers once again began flying across the keys. Despite the tension in her life with her rabid fan, her creative juices were flowing in full force. According to Jerry her writing had never been better. She quickly became so lost in the story she was telling that she never heard the car pull into the drive, but the sound of a motorcycle however, was what pulled her from the imaginary world he was weaving. She looked up and spotted her dad emerging from his car and a man climbing off a beautiful Triumph Thruxton.
She saved her work, closed the laptop, sat it aside and stood. She felt herself smiling as she descended the four steps of her porch to greet her dad. Krista hugged him tight. The smell of his Brute aftershave and pipe tobacco invading her nostrils.
"Hello honey."
"Hi Dad." Krista smiled, closing the laptop before hurrying to her dad.
"You doing okay?" Nicholas asked hugging her tight.
"I'm fine." Krista giggled. "I was just trying to get some work done."
At that moment Krista looked up and spotted the man who had arrived with her father. She felt her breath catch as she stared at the man who had once meant so much to her. Ethan Blackstone. He looked different, yet still the same as he had the last time she had seen him over nine years ago. Slowly she moved out of her father's embrace. Krista knew her mouth had to be hanging open, but all she could do was stare.
