“The raven represents my sister.” I rub my thumb along the scarred skin that the raven and branch normally hide. How ironic that the makeup makes the scars stand out in vivid clarity in the daylight.
She raises her eyebrows. “I didn’t know you have a sister.”
“Had,” I correct her, then continue as I lift my gaze and stare straight ahead. “When I told you what Celeste did to me back in high school, I didn’t tell you the whole story.” Taking a deep breath, I tell Talia everything. About Jake and Brent, my sister’s death, and my past issues with cutting. I vomit it all out without stopping, like I’m telling someone else’s horrible history. I’m thankful that Talia never interrupts, but once I’m done and she still doesn’t speak, I glance over to see silent tears streaking down her face, her hands tight on the steering wheel.
Finally she looks at me, her eyes glassy. “Jake? Until you just retold the whole story…I didn’t put two-and-two together. I’d forgotten the boy’s name tied to Celeste from high school. Jake Hemming is the Jake from your story.”
When I nod, she reaches for my hand and folds our fingers together. “How could you go through with helping Celeste knowing that Jake would be there?”
I shrug. “At the time I agreed to help Celeste, I didn’t know that she knew Jake on a personal level outside of high school. She’d always blown him off at school. But by the time I got detailed information from Celeste about the people in her family’s life, I’d already agreed to help and was knee-deep. I had to go through with it. The only reason I was able to continue on as Celeste after Phillip, Gregory, and Beth discovered that I wasn’t her is because Jake still believed I was, and Phillip insisted that his sons not be told.” I sigh and shake my head. “Which worked up until Jake somehow found out the truth. I’m still not sure who told him, but while laying in that cell last night, I realized that Jake had to be the one who called the police with that anonymous tip.”
Laughing a bit manically, I slide my hand from hers and rub my temple. “Can you imagine my horror to discover Beth’s boyfriend Brent is the other boy I never saw, but the voice I’d never forget? At times, it felt like Jake and Brent were the perfect storm to test my sanity to its limit.”
“There is no way you told Calder any of this, Cass.”
I tense at the disapproval in her tone. “I told Calder what happened in high school, but I refused to tell him the boys’ names. He would’ve bodily carried me out of the Carver house right then and there, and we never would’ve learned about Phillip, the baby or any of it.”
Talia’s lips press together in angry frustration, but I stand my ground. “Don’t look at me like that. I did what I had to do, and because of my time in Celeste’s world, hers and her baby’s death will have justice.”
She grudgingly nods, but then tilts her head, looking thoughtful. “Do you think Beth told Brent about you, and since he knew Jake in high school that he’s the one who told Jake?”
I shake my head. “Beth did tell Brent about me, claiming he’s the only person she trusted. Even though Brent never came around the estate, I worried about the possibility he could share that information with Jake, so I asked her how she met Brent. Turns out, she met him when she attended one of the MMA events with some friends. That and the fact that Beth kept Brent a secret from her family, probably because in her heart she knew his business dealings could hurt her father’s career, makes me think that the two guys aren’t friends, not any more. Jake had to have found out another way.”
“Well, now that you’re away from the Carver estate, you need to tell Calder all of it, Cass. About Jake and Brent…everything.”
“I will, but not until after the fight is over. I don’t want to distract him.”
“I get what you’re thinking, Cass, but considering Brent is running the group Calder’s trying to take down, I think he should know now. That way he has a full picture of that guy and doesn’t go in blind. Oh, by the way, he’s not going by Brent Taylor. That’s why his name was a dead end. He’s using his mother’s maiden name, Tremmel.”
“Ah, I see. You do make a good point about telling Calder.” Glancing out the window, I look around in confusion when I don’t recognize the upscale street Talia just turned down. “Where are we going?”
She takes two more turns and hits the button on her sun visor, stopping in front of a high-end apartment building. “You’re staying with Sebastian and me.”
“Talia…” I sigh heavily as we pull into the building’s underground parking. “I know you told my mom already and I appreciate it, but I really just want to go home to my own bed.”
“No arguing, Cass.” She parks and cuts the engine, turning to me. “With what you’ve just been through, you’re not spending time alone.”
“But—”
Talia clasps my hand between hers. “Do it for me, Cass. You had even more going on than I could’ve possibly imagined. I’m freaking out more than a little here. I need to see you smile and laugh again, and know that you’re okay.”
“I am okay,” I insist.
When her lips purse, her gaze full of skepticism, I glance toward the elevator. Knowing my wishes have been outvoted, I give in to my friend. “So are you going to show me this awesome place I’ve never seen or hold my hand all day?”
After I ooh and ahh over their apartment’s amazing top floor view of Manhattan, Talia sets two duffle bags on the island in their kitchen. Pointing to the first one, she says, “I know you want to get a shower, so here’s a few days worth of clothes.”
I glance up at her, my eyebrow hiked high. “You planned this all along. When did you go by my apartment?”
“Yesterday,” she says, giving me an unrepentant look. “I still have a key, remember?”
Gesturing to the other bag, I ask, “And what’s in there?”
Talia unzips the bag and pulls out my favorite go-to camera. “I thought you might be missing this. Your phone is in this bag too.”
I immediately snag the camera from her grip. “Never hold it by the lens, silly.” Before she can turn away, I quickly snap four pictures in a row of her staring at me with a wide smile. She truly is a beauty, but she has never let me take her picture before without putting a hand up and fussing. Apparently life with Sebastian has made her truly comfortable in her own skin. Lowering the camera, I smile at that realization. “Thank you. I’ve missed this so much.”
She gestures to the apartment. “Well, this neighborhood is right up your luxurious lifestyle alley. So go out and walk around, snapping pics to your heart’s content.
“I’ll probably go explore just to get my muse muscles working again, but I actually have another project in mind I’ve been planning. I want to create a photo book highlighting real life here in New York, beyond the glitz and glamor.” Setting the camera down, I glance toward the bedroom she said I would be using. “But for now, I’m definitely taking you up on that shower.”
Sebastian walks out of their penthouse elevator just as I rejoin Talia in the kitchen, where she’d laid out plates of meat, cheese, bread and fruit and insisted that I eat.
“Hey, jailbird,” he says to me as he shrugs out of his suit jacket and drops it on the back of a kitchen chair.
When I frown at him in the midst of taking a bite of my sandwich, he looks at Talia, all innocence. “Too soon?”
As she rolls her eyes and pinches her fingers close together while chewing on a mouthful of blueberries, I fluff my damp hair. “And just when I was about to thank you for sending Felicity, the power-pixie, my way.”
Sebastian barks his laugh as he approaches Talia sitting on the stool opposite me. “That’s definitely going in my arsenal for future use when Felicity is being particularly stubborn,” he says before kissing his wife on the temple.
His laughter subsiding, he pushes Talia’s hair over her shoulder and lightly massages the back of her neck, addressing us. “I’m sure you’ll both love to hear that they expect to bring charges against Phillip Hemming for Cel
este’s murder.”
“Justice prevails,” Talia says, raising her glass of juice to me.
“I couldn’t have done it without all of your help,” I say, smiling my appreciation.
Sebastian nods. “Calder’s been asking about you. He wants to be here, Cass.”
“I know, I know. He’s getting ready for the fight.” I shrug off my disappointment and force an understanding expression. “I hope he hasn’t lost too much time with this stuff that it hurts his training.”
“Cald will get there. He’s incentivized.”
“In what way?” Talia asks, glancing up at Sebastian.
He leans over and takes a bite of his wife’s sandwich. “I have more research for you later if you’re up for it.”
When she glances at me, a torn look on her face, I yawn and stretch. “Don’t mind me. After I take a quick walk to get my photography fix in, I’m going to fall into bed and sleep for a year.”
Talia smiles, then says to Sebastian, “Oh, I’ve been meaning to ask you about this…” She brushes her hands clean on a napkin, then hops off the stool to open her purse on a shelf next to the window. Retrieving something, she hands it to Sebastian. “Do you know a jeweler who might be able to fix this?”
My heart clenches when he lifts up the pavé raven and black velvet ribbon necklace, frowning his confusion. “Whose is this?”
“It’s mine,” I say, glancing at Talia while I eat a strawberry. “Thank you for getting it for me. The whole jailbird thing distracted me.”
Sebastian gestures toward me, his smirk telling his wife, Justified.
She gives him a stern look. “She can say it. You can’t.” Looking at me, she says, “Beth put it in my hand right before we left their house. She said she saw us talking and asked me if I could be sure to get it to you.”
“Do you think it can be repaired?” I ask Sebastian, hoping.
“It was a gift from Calder,” Talia tells him as she returns to her seat. “The second apparently, since he’d already given her a leather one with a silver raven.”
Sebastian inspects the pavé raven. “This is quite the upgrade from leather and silver.”
I smile, but shake my head. “I prefer the leather one. It’s something I can wear everyday. I had to leave it behind at Calder’s apartment, because it’s not the type of jewelry Celeste would wear. Calder gave me this one so I could wear something more in line with Celeste’s style.”
He tries to bend the mangled clasp back into place. “This is destroyed. What happened to it?”
I twist my lips in anger. “Jake didn’t think it was Celeste’s style at all.”
“What?” Sebastian jerks furious blue eyes to me. He destroyed it because it wasn’t something Celeste would wear?”
“Yes, he did.” I drop the strawberry back to my plate, my appetite suddenly gone. “If it can’t be repaired, can you recommend someone who can replace the clasp?”
“It truly is beautiful and one of a kind,” Talia says, watching her husband try once more to fix the clasp so it’ll stay closed.
I smile and sigh. “For a guy with commitment issues, Calder sure gives gorgeous gifts. He’ll freak out if he sees this. I would like to restore it back to its original condition so he won’t have to.”
Sebastian grunts and turns his attention to me. “My cousin has issues he’s dealing with, but commitment to you isn’t one of them.”
I snort my disagreement. “He flat out said he doesn’t plan to marry. I’d say that’s highly commitment allergic.”
Curling his fingers around the ribbon, Sebastian turns to face me. “Calder doesn’t buy gifts once, let alone twice. When you couldn’t wear his other necklace, he replaced it with this one so you could. He’s collared you, Cass. This choker is as committed as a wedding band. In his mind, you’re his.”
“That’s a stretch,” I say, trying to ignore the warm fuzzies and false hope his statement gives me. “Yes, Calder’s a bit territorial, but that’s not the same as…ugh, never mind.” Waving to Talia as she takes a sip of her juice, I say, “Tell your husband he doesn’t know what he’s talking about with this ‘collared’ stuff.”
Talia coughs and spews juice all over the granite island.
Sebastian slides my necklace in his pants pocket, then flattens his palm on the center of Talia’s back as she wheezes and hacks. “Do you need me to smack you back here? Just tell me where, Little Red.”
When Talia glances up at him with murderous eyes, her face turning bright red as she continues coughing, I laugh. “I think that look means you’d better let her catch her breath on her own.”
I wake in the darkness to the sensation of warm fingers tracing my cheek, while a clean, masculine smell tickles my senses.
“Calder…” I inhale deeply and try to touch his face, but I’m still too groggy to make my arm work properly.
He chuckles and takes my flailing hand. “Hey, sleepyhead,” he says quietly, kissing my knuckles. “I’m relieved you’re okay. What did you need to talk to me about? Your note said it was important.”
I glance at the clock. Nine. I can’t believe I’ve slept the whole day away. “Are you okay? How’s training going?” I search the shadowed planes of his face, giving myself time to form the right words.
“Training is fine.” His steady gaze holds mine as he presses his lips to my fingers.
“I wanted to wait until after your fight, but Talia said you need to know now.” I pause, psyching myself up to tell him. “You asked me who the two boys were from high school…”
Calder stills, then he quickly pulls me upright and sits on the bed facing me, his thigh pressed to mine. “Tell me.”
Exhaling slowly, I say, “It was Jake Hemming and Brent Taylor…who’s apparently going by Brent Tremmel.”
Calder’s expression instantly shifts from tender concern to cold steel. “Why didn’t you tell me before now?”
Tension makes my heart race and I curl my fingers around the covers. “Because you wouldn’t let me stay, and staying was the only way to clear myself of suspicion and help Celeste. When I agreed to help Celeste, I had no idea that she knew Jake personally. And I never saw the other guy’s face that night, but when I heard Beth talking to Brent on her speakerphone…I’ll never forget his voice. Despite my past colliding with my present…I knew I could handle it, because Beth never brought Brent around and Jake didn’t know that Celeste was actually me.”
“But Jake did learn who you were,” he says in a tight voice.
I reach for his hand, but he quickly stands and stares at the ceiling, his fingers digging into his scalp. “Calder, the only reason I’m telling you now is because of Brent’s role in the EUC. Talia thought you should know.”
He glances down at me, his tone hard, judging. “I told you the Hemmings were monsters.”
I shake my head, surprised that’s what he’s focusing on. “Ben’s not like that—”
“You don’t get to say that any more, Cass,” he grates.
“Yes, I do…” I say, pushing back the covers to stand in front of him. Tugging on his hoodie’s string, I look up at him and flatten my hand on the soft fabric across his chest. “For the very reason I knew firsthand how shitty his brother and father could be.”
His hard chest rises and falls under my hand, his breathing elevating as he looks down at me. “Well, I don’t have to stand here and listen to it.”
I’m surprised by the pain and anger in his eyes. When he turns to walk away, I grab his hand. “Don’t leave.”
He pivots back to me. “I need to stay focused, Cass. This…” He exhales deeply. “Isn’t helping.”
I release his hand, guilt squeezing my chest. “I’m sorry. I thought…I was just trying to—”
Calder clasps the back of my neck and presses a soft kiss to my forehead. “It’s not you, angel,” he whispers against my skin. “But I need to go.”
And before I can say a word, he leaves me standing there in the dark.
; I park at the curb outside my apartment and turn my phone on after packing my camera away for the day. I’m excited about the pictures I was able to capture for my New York city book idea; my mind is already hopping with other locations to explore tomorrow. My phone instantly buzzes with several texts from Talia.
Talia: Did you see that the Carvers are holding a private funeral for Celeste late today? It was in the morning’s paper.
Talia: Where are you? I’ve tried to call. I just get voicemail.
Talia: Where have you been? I’ve been calling all day. Sebastian pinged your phone. I’m officially freaking out. I should never have let you go home yesterday!
So much for going off the grid for a bit. I sigh and hit the button to call her.
Talia picks up on the first ring. “I don’t know whether to hug you or wring your neck.”
“I’m fine, Talia,” I say, shaking my head. “At some point you need to stop worrying about me and get your chapters done. Don’t you have a deadline coming up?”
“Which I could concentrate on if you’d answer my text or better yet come back here and stay.”
“I wasn’t ignoring you. I had my phone turned off so I could get work done. I’ve been driving all over the city taking black and white pics. I’m really digging finding the best of New York’s real life.”
“I know Phillip is being held on charges, but please keep your phone on. I promise not to bother you too much.”
“I love you too. And thanks for letting me know about the funeral. I’m sure the Carvers need closure.”
“Probably. I was trying to get in touch with you for another reason too. Can you send me some of your pictures? I want to pitch your book to my editor.”
My heart races. Talia’s publisher is the biggest and oldest in the country. “Really? You don’t have to do that, but thank you!”
“I’m just the messenger, Cass. Your work has to sell the idea.”
I grin like a loon, appreciating her so much for giving me something to work toward. So far I’ve been using my creative outlet to force me out of the apartment. That way I wouldn’t think about the fact I haven’t heard from Calder since I saw him thirty-six hours ago. “Love you anyway. I’ll get some prints to you with a mock up of how I see the page layouts.”
Steel Rush (In the Shadows#5) Page 20
