"No-one?" Marcus let out a breath and nodded slowly. "Sorry for losing my temper."
She might have forgiven him if it had ended there.
"But after what happened with Isaias, you can hardly blame me for being edgy about it."
Adela jumped to her feet and pointed at the door. She wasn't going to do this. She wasn't going to beg him to listen to her, beg him to put aside his mistaken thoughts and just once actually trust her. He wasn't being some magnanimous man for saying he was willing to put aside the indiscretions she hadn't even made. And if he was going to throw it in her face?
"Get out!"
Marcus stared at her.
"Get out!" Her eyes burned and her chest heaved. God, why did she have to start crying now? "I am not going to go through this again, where you always just assume that I'm unfaithful. I have told you everything and if you can't trust me then I don't want you in my life."
He stood slowly, brows furrowed. He looked angry, and she was glad for it. Better to fight and reaffirm why they couldn’t be together then—
"No."
She swallowed hard. "No?"
"No. I walked away when you told me to leave once before, and I'm not leaving like that again. I am sorry for losing my temper. I'm not leaving."
Sorry for losing his temper. Not sorry for thinking the worst of her. He probably didn't even think he had anything to apologize for.
She opened her mouth but Marcus pressed a finger to her lips.
"I'm sorry," he whispered, true regret in his eyes. "I'm sorry, Adela. I've got shit that I've got to work through and I shouldn't be taking it out on you."
It was the sincerest apology he had ever given her. She let out a slow breath. "We've both changed. I need to stop thinking of you in terms of how you were before."
"We both do. Look, I've got some business to take care of but I don't want… I don't want it to end like this. I don't want to lose you again. And if we try to talk right now, we'll just end up fighting. I'm not in a good headspace and I just need to cool down. We can talk tonight, though. When you get back."
Adela pulled away slightly and folded her arms over her chest. She should just break the date and tell him that Luci was his daughter. That would be the sane, rational thing to do. What was going on here was a typical stupid drama, the type that was so prevalent in romances that it was the reason she refused to read them anymore. She never could understand why the hero and heroine didn't just talk.
But it was this fear and anger in the pit of her stomach, the weight of heartbreak and the knowledge that she wasn't sure how she'd continue on if Marcus turned away from her once she told him the truth. The utter lack of trust holding her mouth closed.
He'd die for her. About that she had no doubts. But when it came to her heart? He'd already broken it once.
"I'll have to call the nanny, tell her that the plans have changed."
"I can watch Luci."
Adela chewed her lip, eyeing him doubtfully.
"Look, I know maybe I'm not Mary Poppins, but I was the oldest of six kids. You know that I'm good at looking after the rug rats." He gave her a smile.
Adela sighed. Marcus had moved far, far away from his birth clan. He'd joined this one because it was more active in the community, openly shifting in public, and often held rallies for shifter rights. When he came he was a young, naive kid who wanted to make the world a better place. The years had hardened him. They had hardened them all.
"We'll talk when I get back," she promised. And she was going to tell him everything and it didn't matter if he destroyed her heart, because then at least it would be in the open. "And if you want to watch Luci… I guess you can. Just don't be late, okay? I don't want you sabotaging this."
"I won't," he promised.
***
It was dark before her date, Greg, arrived. She had chosen to wear just a simple outfit. Nice, but not flirty. Marcus had returned with plenty of time for her to tell him about Luci's routine and to plug her number into his phone. Part of her wished she could just cancel the date, but it would be rude to do so this late.
Greg smiled when she hurried out to meet him before he could get to the door. "You look lovely."
"Thanks. You too." He had dressed up more than she had and she almost winced. "So, I'm going to have to skip the movie tonight. It's a bit late."
"Too bad." He opened the door to his sporty little car, complete with windows tinted black. "I hope you don't mind, but my sister's coming with us. She's going through something pretty big right now."
Adela twisted to see a woman sitting in the back. Tall, statuesque, with the figure of a Greek goddess. Adela nodded politely in greeting and offered her hand. "Hello. I'm Adela Choi."
"Holmes," the woman replied. "Lexa Holmes."
Chapter Eight
He swore to himself that he wasn't going to call her except in an emergency. Even though as soon as she was gone he wanted to hear her voice and apologize again for his loss of temper earlier.
When nine-thirty rolled around, he started to look out of the window. Luci was in her bed sleeping, and the TV just wasn't holding his attention. After his blowup earlier, though, he didn't want to put more distance between himself and Adela. He wouldn't call. He wouldn't act like he didn't trust her. He was concerned but he knew what it would look like.
Ten came and left, then ten-thirty. Had she decided to go to the movie after all? No. She would have called him. The program he was watching ended but he didn't notice as he strode to the window. Where was she? His eyes searched the darkness, his muscles tense. There wasn't even a car on the road.
There was a sound from the kitchen. Marcus turned as he caught a whiff of scent. Female? Shifter. She smelled feline. Someone was in the house, and it wasn't Adela.
He crossed the living room with a few quick strides and threw himself at the woman who stepped into the kitchen. Her eyes widened and a surprise squeak burst from her throat before he was on her. He flipped her around, slamming the door behind them, and threw her against the wall.
"Where is she?" he screamed in her face.
The woman stared at him. "Who are you?"
"What have you done with her?" He let his claws grow. "I know you're a shifter, I can smell it on you. So, you can smell that I'm a shifter, too. Now tell me what you have done to Adela—"
"Get off me!" the woman shoved at him. "What happened to Adela?"
Marcus didn't loosen his grip. Adela would have phoned him by now if she was going to be late. Had he been wrong about the threat to her being ended? All the guys involved in the kidnapping were in jail. Had someone else decided to give it a shot? And who was this woman who thought she could just waltz into the house without even announcing herself? He growled low.
"You're that guy that was hanging around outside yesterday." The woman snarled. She slashed claws across his face, making him yelp in surprise. "If you've hurt her or the baby, I swear I'll—"
Marcus released her as recognition dawned. He had seen her in this house before, with Adela. "You're the nanny."
The woman nodded once. She glared for a moment before she pushed past him and raced into another room. He could hear Luci crying and his first instinct was to grab the woman and not let her near Adela's precious child, but stopped himself.
There was no way that Isaias would allow someone into his home if she had any sort of criminal ties. There was one thing he could say about the man, and that was that he was rich and could afford thorough security checks. After the kidnappings before, he would have screened all potential nannies. This woman couldn't be involved with whatever was happening with Adela. She could be trusted.
Which just left the guy Adela was going on a date with. He should have insisted that she bring him in, that he put the fear of God in that man before he let her go with him. But she was already upset with his possessive attitude, if he had done that she might have just told him to go away and never come back.
The nanny appeared with Luci, and t
he little girl reached for him. Marcus took her and tucked her into his arms, rubbing her back. The nanny eyed him suspiciously.
"Well, Luci knows you. And you seem to be genuinely worried about Adela. I got a call from her but it cut off before we could talk. She hasn't been answering. Where did she go?"
"She didn’t tell me."
The nanny pulled out her phone. "I'm calling the cops."
"Good." Even though he wanted nothing to do with those pigs (no offense to pig shifters) in this case they needed to be contacted. He passed Luci back to the nanny and headed for the door. "I'm going out to look for her."
He drove four hours, checking the restaurants to ask them if they had seen anybody of Adela's description. Most of them said they hadn't, but a few of them were unnecessarily rude about it.
Close to midnight, he stopped at a bar to check the messages on his cell and try to come up with a new plan. He didn't have the nanny's number, so he phoned Adela's cell. Straight to voicemail. Like every time he had tried to call her that night.
If he went back to her home, would he find her there, safe and sound? Or would it be swarmed with cops and he'd be forced to sit there taking the brunt of their suspicion while Adela was out there… who knows what happening to her. His stomach churned as he went to the washroom.
As he splashed water onto his face, a man stepped in behind him. He wore a jacket with the club's insignia on it, but Marcus didn't recognize him. There was a faint trace of Adela's scent clinging to him, though.
Marcus grabbed the man by the throat and slammed him against the wall, his bear batting at his ribs. "Where is she?"
The man coughed. "Lexa sends her regards. And she spent a lot of money on this outfit, I suggest you don't crumple it."
Hearing that woman's name made Marcus want to beat the crap out of this man, but he forced himself to release him. Ice flowed through his veins as he considered what this might mean. His heart beat shallowly.
"Are you going to listen?" the man asked, rubbing his throat.
With a nod, Marcus stepped back again. He would listen to what Lexa wanted from him and he would get Adela back. There was a sharp pain in his chest where the bullet was still lodged but he ignored it.
"Lexa wants you to deliver a package for her. You're the only one she trusts for this arrangement, and in return she will give you the most passionate payment."
Marcus narrowed his eyes. "Passionate?"
Was she going to blackmail him into sex along with everything else? Or was that a promise of Adela's return? A growl got stuck in his throat. "I'm not doing anything until Adela is returned home safe and sound."
"If you don't do as you're told, she doesn't go home at all."
Marcus reached for the man's throat. He only smirked, and the bear forced himself to retreat. He couldn't do anything that risked Adela's life. But he also wasn't going to go through with this if she was out there being hurt or killed or… or if it had already happened to her. He sucked in a deep breath.
"She will be returned to me unharmed."
"Once you've completed your mission." The man handed him a note. "The drop-off point will be with the package."
Marcus took the note. There was nothing else to say, so he left the bar. Once he was back on his bike he checked the note. The pick-up point was on the other side of town. It took him longer to get there than he wanted, since he had to avoid the cops. Who knew if Adela's nanny had told them about him, and if they were looking for him?
The warehouse he picked up the package from smelled strongly of cocaine. So, she was running drugs, as he knew she was, but wanted him to help her out with it. Why? When he already had jail time, why would she pick him? Was this because he had humiliated her at the club that day? Was she hoping that he'd be caught by the cops and arrested?
Whatever the case, it didn't matter. He needed to do this, to get Adela back.
The package, a neat little bundle wrapped heavily in enough air fresheners that he couldn't smell the contents, was in a child's backpack. He snarled when the person who gave it to him told him the drop-off point. A high school in the heart of bear territory.
Cocaine was a rich man's drug and, from the smell, the stuff she was producing was pretty pure. The fact that it was in a child's backpack indicated that she had kids at least taking it from one source to another. It wasn't enough that she was running drugs, she had to risk their futures, too?
His teeth ground as he took the bag back to his bike and jumped on. The wind blew in his face, taking his breath away, as he drove to the drop-off point. This was wrong. Evil.
But he needed to get Adela back.
That wasn't to say he wasn't going to try to do something about this. Just before he got to the high school he pulled off to the side of the road, hidden by a few bushes. He had a bag of graham crackers in his pocket from going to the amusement park still, and dumped it out before unwrapping a tiny corner of the package and breaking off a piece of the bag before wrapping it up good and tight again. Then he dropped the bag off and drove away.
He received a text shortly after. A location. Nothing else. Marcus started the bike again and raced towards the spot. He didn't care when he went through multiple stop lights. It was late and Adela was out there…
He smelled blood when he arrived. Adela sat on the bench for a bus stop, her arms wrapped around herself. She shivered repeatedly, and though he wanted to run to her he stopped himself, instead approaching slowly. His heart was in his throat.
"Adela?"
She turned her face away.
"Adela, it's me. I'm here to take you home."
"She said it was because you took something from her," Adela whispered. Her voice sounded so broken! "She wanted you to know that you can't take from her without consequences."
So, Lexa knew? She knew about that tiny piece of cocaine that he took. He swallowed hard, still moving forward. "I'm going to take you home. You're safe now."
She finally turned to him. Her normal pale amber tones were smudged with dark streaks. Blood. A large bruise formed around her eye and her lip was split open. Marcus froze. He stared at her, unable to think of what to say or do. If Lexa had had her beaten, what else had she done?
"I'll take you to the hospital," he said.
"No." Adela shuddered.
It didn't help to allay his fears. His stomach churned. What had he done?
"I called Jasmine, told her to get rid of the cops. I just want to go home."
"Then I'll call Alava. You need a doctor."
He had reached her by this time and slowly wrapped his arms around her. Adela's lip trembled and she leaned into him, starting to sob.
Chapter Nine
She kept her arms banded tight around Marcus' chest as he drove her home. As soon as her little house came into view, she thought she might break into tears again. Fortunately, the cops weren't around. She didn't want to have to deal with getting them away while fearing what Lexa might do if she couldn't. After everything that had happened tonight she didn't have the energy to deal with anything else.
Once Marcus had stopped the motorcycle, she jumped off of it and ran into the house. Jasmine waited in the living room. On seeing Adela's face the nanny gasped, but Adela pushed past her and ran for Luci's room. Her baby was sleeping soundly in her crib. Her face was reddened and tears stained her face, but she was safe and that was all that mattered.
A sob threatened to rip open her throat. Adela pressed both hands to her mouth. She didn't want to risk waking Luci, so she tiptoed out and closed the door softly before walking unsteadily to the sofa. She caught sight of Jasmine's face again and grimaced. It felt like every bruise on her face was getting bigger and when she breathed in a sharp pain stabbed from her ribs.
But if she went to a hospital, they would call the police because that's what their policy was. She was obviously the victim of violence, so they had to call the police. Then she'd be right back in the thick of it.
Marcus stood a few feet awa
y, twisting his hands. "Adela…"
"Call Dr. Alava," she said. "Jasmine, can you help me? I want to clean up a bit."
The nanny twisted her hands. "We need to get you to a hospital. You're bleeding."
Adela shook her head, though it made her gasp. "No. Marcus is going to call Dr. Alava to come take a look at me. He'll be able to take care of whatever injuries I have. Please. I just want to get out of these clothes and have a shower."
Jasmine nodded slowly and looped an arm under her. Together they moved to Adela's bedroom. Adela would rather have had Marcus help her with this, but if he saw the bruises on her ribs and stomach, she knew his rage would be too hot to contain. He'd go after that woman and he'd get himself killed. No, she wanted to shower and put on something less constricting. How was she going to keep working at her store in this state?
Adela snorted. Her store was the least of her concerns right now.
Once they were in her room and Jasmine was helping her undress, the other woman cleared her throat. "Adela… did he do this?"
"Not himself," she mumbled, thinking about how Greg had just stood there watching.
Jasmine's grip tightened briefly. "If you're afraid of him, we need to call the cops. They'll arrest him and—"
"He won't come back. Especially not when Marcus is here."
"Marcus?" Jasmine's shoulders sagged. "He was the one I was talking about?"
"No. No, it wasn't Marcus. Greg, the guy I stupidly agreed to go on a date with. He's the one who… Marcus would never hurt me."
Jasmine let out a relieved breath. "Greg… What did he do?"
"It wasn't really him. He was acting under the orders of a woman. Lexa."
"What did he do?" Jasmine insisted softly.
Tears flooded her eyes as she remembered the utter fear she'd felt when Greg had driven her to an abandoned park where that group of men waited. She knew what Jasmine asking. "He took me to a dark parking lot, where there was a bunch of men waiting. They hit me and when I fell down they kicked me. I thought they were going to rape me but they didn't even touch me, other than to hit me."
The Bear Shifter's Second Chance Page 5
