Part 6 (1/2)
”Get some sleep tonight,” he calls after her, and her face blushes when she hears his implicating laughter.
Kas' office door is shut, so she knocks, slipping inside when he tells her to come in. He looks stressed, tense, and she again wonders if she has done something wrong. ”Can I help you with some of these files?” she asks, pointing to the numerous manila folders spread out on his desk.
”Just doing some paperwork. Are you ready?”
Raina bites her bottom lip, and Kas sees her worried expression, ”What's wrong?” He hopes she hasn't heard about the investigation yet, he wanted to be the one to tell her, making sure to minimize it as much as possible.
”Are you angry with me?”
Kas pulls her into his arms, ”No, baby, I'm not mad at you.”
”You've been so...distant today.”
Kas sighs, releasing her and walking across the room, staring out the window at the bright city lights against the dark night sky. He turns back around, the insecurity in her eyes eating at him. ”Sweetheart, I'm not upset with you. This has nothing to do with you,” he lies, feeling like an a.s.s. ”Some accusations were made, and I'm doing office work until they are cleared up.”
Raina grabs his hand, ”Accusations against you?”
Kas makes sure to keep his tone light, rea.s.suring, ”Yes, but they're false. It's not a major issue, they'll be cleared up soon.”
”I know they're false,” she proclaims, warming Kas' heart at her trust in him, stating his innocence even before she knows what he's been accused of. ”How long does an investigation take? Who accused you, and what did he or she, or whoever, claim you did?”
Kas tilts her chin with his finger, smiling at her obvious indignation of someone accusing him of some wrong doing. ”Someone said I took a bribe. It's being looked into, they'll get to the bottom of it soon, Rain. Please don't worry.”
Raina wraps her arms around him, leaning into his chest. Kas kisses the top of her head, pulling her tighter into his embrace, the feel of her against him soothing him and provoking him at the same time. ”It's been a really long day, let's go home and get some rest.” He hears her stomach growl as she slips out of his arms, and he gives her a stern look, ”Please tell me you didn't skip dinner.”
She bites her lip again, and he sighs, ”You have got to take better care of yourself, Raina. We'll stop and grab something on the way home.”
Raina mindlessly chews a bite of her grilled chicken sandwich as she glances at Kas, seeing the evidence of his tension as he drives them home. Her thoughts stray to her father and his threat. She takes a sip of her drink before turning towards Kas, ”You don't think my father has anything to do with the allegations do you?”
Kas hears the guilt in her voice, and he shakes his head, keeping his tone neutral, ”No, darlin'.”
Raina sits back, not convinced. Her appet.i.te is gone as she thinks of her father's words the last time she saw him. He has no way of knowing that Kas knows he hurt her again, not unless he was told. Raina studies her husband, worry and suspicion starting to creep up her spine. She thinks back to a few days ago and how he had come home so late after her not being able to reach him all day. Pursing her lips, she turns her head to look out the window so Kas can't play mind doctor on her again, reading her emotions. She certainly doesn't want to accuse him of doing something until she knows he did it, especially due to the current allegations against him. She keeps her mouth shut, deciding she will find out tomorrow if he really did go to work that day before saying anything.
”Rain, you barely touched your food.”
She takes another bite of her sandwich as she tries not to think of what he may have done.
Raina waits on Frank next to the elevators, feeling ambivalent about asking one of Kas' men about his whereabouts a few days ago. Frank steps out of the elevator, his slight limp tugging at Raina's heart. The tan, dark haired agent takes a sip of his coffee as he smiles and winks at her, ”Good morning, Rain.”
Raina returns his smile, ”Hey, Frank.” She pauses, wondering if she is doing the right thing. ”I have a strange question to ask you. Last Friday, did Kas swing by here?”
Frank gives her a quizzical look, ”I didn't see Kas on Friday.” The look on Raina's face concerns him, ”Everything okay, Rain?”
Raina curtly nods, her lips pressed tightly together as she spins around, heading directly to Kas' office. She doesn't bother to knock this time as she bursts through the door. Kas stands up, taken aback by Raina's unusual behavior. ”Where were you on Friday?”
Kas lets out a slow breath, wis.h.i.+ng she hadn't figured this out so quickly. ”Raina, sit down.”
”I don't want to sit, Kas, I want you to tell me where you really were!” she demands, anger apparent in her voice.
Kas crosses his office and closes his door before turning back to her. ”Fine, Raina,” he begins, ”I went to see your father.”
Raina does sit now, sinking into the chair as she processes this information. Kas watches her carefully, trying to read the myriad of emotions feuding in her eyes. He fully expects her to go off on him instead of doing what she does. Raina drops her head in her hands, her shoulders slumping dejectedly. ”I'm so sorry,” she whispers, the anger in her voice completely gone.
Kas kneels in front of her, ”Why are you apologizing to me?”
”This is all my fault.”
Kas grabs her arms, forcing her to look at him, ”This is not your fault, Raina.”
”No? You wouldn't be under investigation if it weren't for me.”
His grip tightens, being sure to not hurt her, but enough to get her attention, ”Listen to me. This is not your fault. If your father did this, then it's his fault, Raina, not yours! I don't want to hear you blaming yourself again!”
”He's so powerful and connected, Kas. I know what he is capable of, he can make sure this doesn't go away.” Raina looks up at him, the feuding emotions returning, darkening her jade eyes. ”Is my father okay?” she asks tentatively, not sure she wants to know the answer.
”Your father is fine,” he a.s.sures her, amazed by her concern for him after all the h.e.l.l he has put her through, ”but I made it clear that he is to stay away from you. If he stays away, never hurting you again, then all of this is worth it.” Kas sees the discordance in her eyes. ”We don't know for sure that it's him, darlin', I'll find out. Regardless of who it is, the allegations aren't true, and that will come out, so please don't worry.”
”I'll try...I love you.”
”I love you, too.”
Kas is becoming increasingly frustrated as the agents with Internal Affairs take their sweet time with the investigation, d.o.g.g.i.ng him with questions, hara.s.sing him, having him pull past cases, demanding proof of every little detail in every case, keeping him tied to his desk for over a week now. His team is currently under Derrick's supervision, and Austin has just gone undercover, alone, for the first time. Kas knows his team, they are well trained, he's not worried about that, and he knows Derrick is a good agent, he won't steer them wrong, but not being able to help is killing him. His team is keeping him well informed, and he can see they are having just as much difficulty with him being left behind as he is.
Raina stops by his office at lunch time. They are getting ready to grab a bite when Kas' phone rings. ”Pierce.”
”Hey, boss, Austin's experiencing technical difficulties, can we borrow your girl for a while? Erik can bring her, Jake just got off the phone with him.”
”Hold on.” Kas looks at Raina, ”Franks says that Austin has some technical issues, they need you to go with Erik to the hotel.” Raina nods as he puts the phone back to his ear, ”She's on her way.”
Raina closes the door, giving her husband a long kiss, leaving him hungry for so much more than just lunch as she slips out the door, meeting Erik at the elevator.
Erik parks his vintage corvette into the side lot at the ritzy hotel. They take the elevator to the ninth floor, walking up the stairs the next three floors. Raina scans the hallway before they knock on room 1202.
”Welcome to my penthouse suite, would you like a chocolate truffle?” Austin jokes as he pops one in his mouth, ”seriously, I could get used to this.”
Raina grabs a truffle, savoring the decadent dark and white chocolate treat as Erik goes straight for the lunch Austin was enjoying.
”What's the issue?” Erik asks between bites.
Austin swats his hand, grabbing his plate back, ”The transmitter's over there. Derrick said the feed is garbled. I'm meeting with one of the traffickers again tonight and need it working by then.”
Raina picks up the watch, carefully removing the back so they can see what might be causing the problem. Erik grabs one more fry from Austin's plate before joining her. They have just located the issue when there's a knock on the door. Austin glances at Erik and Raina, putting his finger to his lips and motioning for them to hide in the bathroom. Once the bathroom door is shut, Austin answers the door, biting back an expletive and plastering a fake smile on his face when he sees the trafficker he met with earlier this morning. ”Mike, come on in.”
Erik quietly opens the shower curtain, ushering Raina inside as he steps in behind her. They listen to the m.u.f.fled voices in the other room, wis.h.i.+ng the uninvited guest will hurry up and go. Erik s.h.i.+fts positions, the shower being very small for the large size of the bathroom. His elbow accidentally hits the k.n.o.b, and water sprays Raina. They both freeze, knowing that had to be heard in the other room. Erik curses under his breath, before quickly stating, ”Strip, Raina.”
Raina shoots him an exasperated look before twirling her finger, silently ordering Erik to turn around, ignoring the smirk that has spread across his face. She does as she was told, knowing what Erik's thinking and realizing how rapidly this can turn deadly. She quickly wraps herself in a towel and whispers for Erik to turn off the water, stepping out of the shower just as the bathroom door swings open. She sees Austin withdraw his gun, ready to take the trafficker down if necessary, but Raina gives a slight shake of her head before turning her attention back the trafficker, noticing how his anger has turned to something more carnal as his eyes roam over her wet, towel-covered body. Her grip tightens on the short piece of cotton, ”I didn't know we had company.”