Cherished (McKenzie Brothers, #5) by Lexi Buchanan
Chapter One
Ramon
Pacing back and forth in the hotel room, where I’m supposed to meet the contact Eric set up, is grating on my damn nerves. The security at the Lexington site constantly plagues my mind and it’s only further aggravated by my confusion about Sylvia. What the fuck am I doing with her? And if that isn’t enough, I can’t stop thinking about Noah, which is annoying as hell.
Sylvia is pushing for a lot more than I can give her right now, and I should give it to her. I mean, she’s the one that’s been here for the last two years but Noah hasn’t been and no one, including me, has heard from him since he left. One day, my birthday to be exact, everything was fine, and the next he’d disappeared. No explanation or hint of where he was going. Not for me…not for his sister, Carla, who is now married to my brother Sebastian.
Right now, I feel as though everything is crashing around me. Nothing is going right on the site I’m managing. It’s been one thing after another and if something doesn’t happen before too long, I’m afraid someone is going to get killed working there.
None of us have ever had this problem before so it’s pissing me the fuck off right now.
Hearing a tap at the door, I peer through the security hole and see a guy standing on the other side. He’s hunched over, his face averted as though he’s aware that I’m watching him. Dressed like the dozens of other workers on the site—blue jeans, T-shirt, fleece and a blue, baseball cap—there is a niggling at the back of my mind. I feel like I’ve seen this man before. The guy bangs on the door for the second time—this time harder.
Taking the security lock off, I open the door wide and let him walk in, his face still averted as he moves into the room. He stands with his back to me, but as he starts to turn the blood in my body turns to ice.
No fucking way!
I feel the blood drain to my feet as I drop into the chair beside the table, holding my travel bag.
No matter how many times I blink, he’s still standing before me looking just as shocked to see me as me him.
“Two years,” I whisper.
He shuffles back and falls onto his ass against the bed when his legs hit the side.
In a nervous gesture, he turns his cap so it’s back to front. “I don’t know what to say.” He buries his head in his hands before he looks at me again. “I knew it would be a shock for you to see me, but, even though I knew this meeting was with you, it’s still a shock being in the same room with you after all this time. I was planning on heading back to Lexington to find you when Eric approached me about this job. I need to explain, but I have no idea where to start.”
“The beginning is usually a good place, although nothing will change the fact that you left without any explanation.” Where’s my anger when I need it? “We spent the fucking night together celebrating my birthday. You bought two fucking tickets,” I stand, feeling my anger like a hot flash running through my blood. The chill of shock has disappeared and been replaced with this strange heat, “to a Bruins game in Boston. There wasn’t any sign that you didn’t want to be with me.”
It’s difficult to stay where I am, but I don’t move towards him. I don’t know whether I want to punch the fuck out of him or fuck him senseless to show him what he’s been missing by not being with me.
While my fists clench at my side, I watch as his eyes travel the length of me—probably noticing the change in my appearance. I’ve always been muscular. All the McKenzies are, either with our job or through the gym, but I’ve changed since I was with Noah—in a good way. At least, from my point of view I have. I’m more toned with a hardened jaw, which is more prominent now that my hair is cropped close to my head. Gone is the Ramon with the soft touch and the overly long, dark hair. In his place is someone who isn’t going to let Noah walk all over him again. He tore my heart to shreds. I’m not going to let him do that again.
But as I watch him, I can’t keep myself from feeling a spark of worry for him. Damn, as much as I don’t want to admit it, I still care for him. Really looking at him, I watch Noah as he drops his head to rest in his hands and notice the slight shake to them. I realize these past months must have been hard on him for one reason or another.