Marcus was leaning against the doorframe, watching me cautiously, a little astonished and a lot chastened.
“Why would you do this to me?” I finally said. “Why would you make me fear that I could lose you?”
Lately, I had feared for myself on more than one occasion, but I had never experienced such a paralyzing fear as I did when I saw Marcus collapsing to the ground, unable to stand on his own.
“Charlotte, the only other option was to come up there and beat that Drake character to a pulp.”
He straightened, as much as he was able to on his wobbly foot, and walked to me. His warmth seeped through my dress.
“I can’t live worrying that every time you feel remotely jealous, you’re going to do something to punish me.”
“I wasn’t punishing you.”
“Weren’t you?”
Marcus fell silent, and his silence confirmed what I had already suspected. He was a Scorpio, after all, and just like a scorpion he had lifted his tail and struck, inflicting the venom of his anger deep into the one he suspected of betrayal. Into me.
I shook my head, disoriented, and wiped at the errant tears on my cheeks. The bathroom was large enough, but I suddenly felt claustrophobic. I tried to dodge him, but Marcus stalked closer, ignoring the pain in his leg and advancing until I had no other option but to confront him.
“I had come there to apologize for how I acted yesterday. When I saw him all over you, I didn’t think clearly. I have bad habits, sugar, and they die hard. I didn’t go racing to punish you. It was the only thing I knew that could wrench that image from my mind.”
“But you did punish me, whether you realize it or not.”
Marcus cupped my cheeks and lifted my face until his mouth brushed softly against mine. He kissed both my cheeks and sipped the tears that tumbled down from bloodshot eyes, then nuzzled his nose against mine and sighed.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I’m sorry I scared you tonight, but most of all, I’m sorry you had to go there alone. If I hadn’t acted like a complete idiot, we wouldn’t have fought in the first place. I would have been there with you, and that man would have never dared to touch you.”
I planted my hands on his chest, but Marcus never stopped chasing me, step by little step, until he had me corned in the shower.
The water was raining down on us. We were fully clothed and thoroughly drenched, but as we touched and drowned in each other’s eyes, none of that really mattered.
“If you ever race again, no matter the reason, I am done. I am done, Marcus.”
“I promise, I won’t.”
He pulled the straps of my dress off my shoulders and bent to kiss each one gently, licking and nipping at the skin. If my mind hesitated, my body never did. I leaned into his touch and pressed against him as much as he pressed against me. It was soothing after all the turmoil to surrender to his caresses and the flames they ignited in my flesh.
“You’re just saying it to take my mind off it,” I cried softly but let my head fall back and rest against the tiled wall as Marcus continued trailing kisses up and down my neck. “You don’t mean it.”
He stopped mid-kiss and cupped my face again, his jaw set, his eyes blazing.
“I swear.”
Not the vehemence in his voice convinced me, but the look in his eyes, the look that had told me that I could trust him from the very beginning.
I thrust my hands into his hair the instant he yanked me closer. Our mouths smashed together, lips warring and tongues wrestling while our hearts pounded against our ribcages.
Marcus fumbled for the zipper of my dress, and I struggled to free my arms from the confines of the wet straps. Neither one of us was successful. He groaned and spun me around, placing a hand on my hip to steady me, then the sound of fabric being torn to shreds muffled the furious drizzle of the shower.
“Marcus,” I gasped, and he mumbled something unintelligible before he bowed his head and nibbled on the flesh between my neck and shoulder, at first softly as to incite me, then harsh enough to mark me.
As the bite of pain subsided, I realized I had just marked him too. My fingernails had dug crescent patterns in his forearms, but he was not complaining. If anything, he was growing wild and feverish.
He ripped the clothes off himself with a haste that made him desperate and let them pool at our feet.
“Tell me you forgive me,” he rasped and sucked my earlobe in his mouth.
My eyes rolled back, and my whole body trembled with desire. That delicious fire started burning once again in my loins, and with every touch, every kiss, and every whisper, Marcus aroused it.
“Tell me, Charlotte,” Marcus pressed and pushed me flush against the wall. I was captive between the steamy wall and his raging, muscled body, and I couldn’t think of a better place to be.
“I forgive you,” I said and let him take my mouth, my body, and my soul.
With an arm clenched around my waist and the other propped against the wall, Marcus thrust inside me and used each stroking motion to drive me insane. I kept my cheek flattened against the tile and my eyes closed, succumbing to sensation.
It was quick and fierce and yet so gentle that it appeased all the chaos in our hearts. I felt the tension building deep in my stomach, and when Marcus tensed behind me, I knew we were about to fall off the brink together.
We remained under the stream for a long time, panting and holding each other. After we managed to wash ourselves, and I cleaned Marcus’s small wounds, we returned to his bedroom. I made him sit on the edge of the bed while I applied salve to his scratches, and Kinga watched us from the hallway.
Later, I was looking out the window and brushing my hair when I felt Marcus coming from behind. He plastered his chest to my back and rested his chin on my shoulder. His leg was aching especially after the stunt we had pulled in the shower, but he was doing a good job hiding the pain.
“What are you thinking?” he asked, tapping his finger against the tip of my nose.
“My mind remained stuck on something your father said.”
“What is that?”
“He said it’s because of me that you didn’t accept the deal. He sounded shocked and resentful at the same time, and I didn’t understand why he’d think that since it’s because of me that you want to accept it in the first place.”
Marcus sighed and stroked my arms. He led me to his bed and settled me on his chest. I thought he had fallen asleep when he finally started speaking.
“It’s because of my mother,” he said softly.
To finally hear him mentioning his mother startled me. I looked up at him to find him staring at the ceiling, his jaw rolling, and his eyes narrowed with grief.
“You asked why Julian Hudson would be interested in me. It’s because Isaac stoked that interest. He’s a damn agent. He’s been one his entire life, and it’s because one of his missions failed that Mom—that Mom—I lost her because of him, and I’m terrified that history could repeat itself, that I could make a poor decision and do to you what Isaac did to my mother.”
“Marcus, look at me,” I ordered and crawled up his chest until we were eye level. “No matter what happens, I will never blame you.”
He shook his head and tried to escape my piercing eyes, but I held him in place as I continued, “You are not your father. You could never make a decision that would actually harm me.”
“Isn’t tonight proof enough?”
“Tantrum,” I murmured and kissed his lips chastely until he smiled and kissed me back.
Then I remembered I should be apologizing as well. I licked my lips and watched him from under my lashes. It gave me a heady rush to know that I was the only woman who had the privilege of seeing him after he had shed the armor. His head lolled from one side to another, his hair shot in all directions, and his sleepy eyes glimmered sensually.
“I get it now,” I sighed. “What you said, that you will protect me even when I don’t like how you do it. Marcus, I’ve tried to do the same. I nev
er intended to go behind your back or expose you. I only—”
“Charlotte, I know,” he stopped me and stroked my bottom lip with his thumb. “I really do. It’s not you who should apologize. It’s me, so please forgive me.”
He took my hand and kissed each knuckle before kissing my mouth and begging me with his eyes to understand. I had always felt that his mother was a touchy subject, but I had never anticipated the rampant rage and the ease he unleashed it with when Jacqueline was mentioned.
It still hurt a little to remember how he had ambushed me with all that rage, but I did understand. When you loved somebody unconditionally, you defended that person against the whole world. Sometimes, the line between friends and enemies blurred.
“Where my mother is concerned, I cannot think clearly. She’s—” Marcus trailed off, sighing heavily and throwing his head back on the pillow. “With the enemies my father has and the ones we are making, it’s better if the world doesn’t know that she is alive. I wasn’t mad because you found out. Sooner or later, I was going to tell you everything myself. I was mad because I realized that if you knew, somebody else must have known too. If the wrong people find out about her and they do something to her—”
“We won’t let them,” I promised and knew I would do anything in my power to help him keep his mother out of harm’s way.
Millions of questions about Jacqueline came to mind, but I stifled each one of them and waited. Sooner or later, he was going to tell me everything himself. I trusted he would, and I respected him enough to let him do it when he was ready.
I WAS REVELING IN A pleasant dream for once, lying on the beach, the warm waves lapping at my thighs and Marcus resting his head on my stomach, playing absentmindedly with my fingers. It was peaceful and quiet, except for the distant shriek of a seagull and the balanced tune of the ocean as its waves rolled and broke against the shore.
Then the peacefulness, the sun kissing my skin, and the salty breeze wafting across my face dissipated with Kinga’s loud barking. Yet, it wasn’t precisely her barking that startled me awake. It was the unexpected voice coming from the living room. It took me a moment to realize that it was Kai’s.
Marcus groaned then threw a leg over my hips and started kissing my neck while I couldn’t cover my almost bare body fast enough.
“How did he get in?” I hissed and dashed to the bathroom where Marcus kept his bathrobe.
“Kai has a key for when I come home late so he can walk and feed Kinga.”
“Perfect,” I mumbled and tied the sash around my waist.
I returned to the bedroom just as Kai was shamelessly bursting in with Kinga joyously hopping around him. Marcus yawned and rolled out of bed, completely untroubled that he was only wearing a pair of boxers.
“Oh my God, the lewdness and sin you live in,” Kai gasped and covered his eyes. “I’m permanently scarred. You should pay me moral damages.”
“That coming from someone who paints naked women for a living,” I scoffed and rolled my eyes. Kai boomed with laughter then kept grinning, looking very proud of his occupation.
“Get out of my bedroom,” Marcus grumbled and started guiding Kai toward the door, but he didn’t budge. Kai cast him a slashing glance then directed a more cordial look at me.
“I would if I could,” Kai said. “But there’s a guy in my workshop, and he’s already demolished an easel and broke a few things, so please, can you come and just make him disappear as quickly as possible? Pretty please?”
“Can you get out of my bedroom now?” Marcus insisted and grabbed Kai by his arm.
He wasn’t exactly bothered by his cousin’s unannounced visit, but he still sounded like he wanted to tell him something that wasn’t entirely pleasant.
“Philip?” I asked.
Kai nodded, putting in that motion all the exasperation he was capable of, and let Marcus sway him out into the hallway.
“Oh, and for your information, I cuffed him,” Kai yelled, just before Marcus shoved him out of the room and closed the door.
My heart pounded in anticipation, and my hair stood on end. If Philip wanted to talk outside of the firm, it only meant one thing. He had found something more on Elana Beckham.
I showered and put on some leggings and a gray sweatshirt which were the only clothes I had in Marcus’s wardrobe, except for the completely ruined dress from the previous night.
From the living room, upset voices drifted to me. In the end, it sounded like Kai was the one telling Marcus something not entirely pleasant. Although Marcus was the older and usually the responsible and mature one, it was Kai scolding him now.
When we arrived at Kai’s workshop, I was shocked to find that he hadn’t lied when he told me that he had cuffed Philip. He was sitting on an upturned paint box with his left arm hanging above his head from a pipe.
“He cuffed me,” Philip complained as if it wasn’t already evident and tugged forcefully at the handcuffs.
“He destroyed my easel,” Kai snapped. “What? I wasn’t going to let him wreck everything while I wasn’t here.”
“Uncuff him,” I ordered with a warning glare but couldn’t completely hide the grin that tugged at my lips. Although Kai looked so dismayed because his easel had been destroyed, I suspected he was secretly amused too.
After Philip was uncuffed and Kai left with Marcus to get coffee from the shop across the street, we sat at a small table in the middle of the room, which although littered with drawings and all sorts of crayons and brushes, was fairly clean.
“Do you have something for me?”
Philip nodded and pulled some papers from his briefcase.
“We didn’t find Elana, but Tanner found something. What if this is the secret Jennifer shared with Rheya and Elana?”
I read each file, completely rigid, with a hand covering my mouth and the sound of my blood rushing to my ears. I blinked every so often, but the words on the papers didn’t change. Jennifer Gunnar had been pregnant.
“How did you get these files?” I eventually gasped.
They were Jennifer’s complete gynecological history, including medical results, exams she was supposed to take, ultrasounds, even the appointment schedule throughout her pregnancy.
“You know how,” Philip said quietly, shaking his head.
“If they were not legally obtained, then they are not admissible in court.”
“But if the doctor were to be subpoenaed, then he would have to come forward and admit to these,” Philip countered with a proud grin.
“And if he admitted to this,” I added. “It might be sufficient to request an exhumation and a new autopsy, which will prove whether Jennifer had been injected with an overdose before she was shot.”
“This is it,” Philip chimed excitedly and almost started clapping.
His enthusiasm was contagious, and I shared a smile. Coming down from the clouds, I frowned at the papers I was still holding. I shook my head, and Philip’s proud excitement slowly dissolved.
“This is still only speculation,” I sighed. “We haven’t found who killed Rheya and probably Jennifer too. Elana is still in danger.”
“But this is a lead,” he whined and started drumming his fingers on the table.
“It is,” I agreed, although we both knew it wasn’t enough. “And if Jennifer was pregnant then this changes everything. If she was pregnant, I don’t think Jack would have killed her.”
“Probably—”
“Unless the child wasn’t his.”
Marcus and Kai returned before Philip could cover his gaping mouth or regain his composure. I thanked him and ushered him out the door before he got a chance to reveal everything. I had to test my theory, and to do that, I had to do something that Marcus wasn’t going to like and wasn’t going to let me do if he knew.
So I deflected the best way I could and tried to join their conversation about Brayden and the rehab facility where he was receiving treatment, then I told them I would drive home while they went to visit their
friend.
THREE HOURS LATER I was back in D.C., about to pay Jack a visit.
My legs were unsteady as I climbed out of the cab that drove me from the airport to his apartment building, but they eventually carried me to his door. I knocked and waited, shuffling my feet and glancing over my shoulder at every little noise. If somebody wanted to attack me again, nobody would have witnessed it.
“It will be fine,” I whispered to myself once, twice, then as many times as needed until I was convinced of it.
When Jack finally opened the door, I jumped and clenched my fingers until the nails dug into my palms. I hadn’t planned an elaborate questioning. I only needed to tell him about Jennifer’s pregnancy. I didn’t even need him to comment on it. I only needed to see his face, and I would know the truth.
Whether by Drake or by Cole, the official papers, including the autopsy results, had clearly been manufactured.
If Jack knew about Jennifer’s pregnancy, he was going to be furious that I found out and their charade wasn’t as well orchestrated as they thought, which would indicate her pregnancy played a role in her death and he was involved.
If he didn’t know, he was going to be just as shocked as I had been when I found out, which would mean the child could be somebody else’s, and this was motive to kill for the person in question. Either way, Jack was going to lead me to the truth whether he intended to or not.
“What are you doing here?” he snapped and curled his lip over his teeth. “You are not working for me anymore.”
“I just heard something, and I thought I should congratulate you in person,” I spoke more brazenly than I felt. “You were going to be a father.”
I realized I was a little cruel since both the mother and the child were dead, and perhaps macabre, but I chose my words specifically for the utmost impact.
“What are you talking about?”
Jack’s eyes turned big and incredulous, and his whole expression became stony. He drew in a breath but forgot to let it out, and in that second, he looked more like a marionette than a killer.
“Forgive me, I should have said that you could have been a father. Jennifer was pregnant.”
Darkside Love Affair Page 50
