A Simple Twist of Fate

by HelenKay Dimon

  “And?” Callen asked.

  “Point is, unless you guys give me a reason to worry—and I don’t see that happening—we deal with each other as if Charlie never happened.”

  There it was again. That naïve belief that if you pretended one part of your life could continue without ever touching another, miraculously it would happen. Tom sounded like Sophie and so many others who thought compartmentalizing their problems sounded normal and healthy.

  Beck didn’t buy it. “You can separate it like that?”

  Tom’s eyebrow lifted. “Can’t you?”

  The rumble of laughter came first. Then Callen shoved off from the sink, drawing everyone’s attention. “Are you talking about Sophie?”

  She was the last thing Beck wanted to discuss. “Callen, enough. Not now.”

  He scoffed. “You’re on your own with your love life, as sad and pathetic as it is.”

  Declan shook his head. “I’m not sure that’s a good thing. The boy needs some direction. After all, look how long it took for him to get Sophie into bed.”

  “Okay, I don’t want to hear this part.” Tom drank his coffee instead.

  That got Beck’s attention. He’d just put aside his irrational jealously. Sophie talked about Tom like she would a relative, not anyone she felt anything but friendship and non-sexual affection for.

  Now the jealously spiked again. “Why?”

  Tom took his time finishing off the coffee. Made an afternoon of putting down the mug and settling deeper into his chair. “Because I think of her as a niece. It’s partly out of respect for her and respect for your mother that I’m tolerating this conversation.”

  And with that, the knotted ball in Beck’s chest eased. He no longer had the urge to rub out the ache. As the tension left his body, it also dissipated from the room. The building heat deflated and Declan stopped acting like he was about to lunge across the table and strangle Tom.

  Declan continued the thudding noise by tapping his thumbs against the table. “That comment may have saved your life.”

  In Beck’s view, there was no need to get crazy with the relief thing. “For now.”

  “Listen to the lawyer.” Callen nodded. “You touch our mother and we kill you.”

  The smile Tom wore when he saw their mom came back. “Right.”

  That was all Beck needed to stay on guard. “What makes you think Cal’s kidding?”

  Chapter Nineteen

  Sophie moved this up to the top of her list of favorite positions.

  She tightened her thighs around Beck’s hips and dug her fingernails into the upholstery behind his shoulders. The backseat squeaked as she rode up and down on his length. Never mind the rough seams digging into her knees or his fingers holding her waist in a death grip.

  The fogged windows, the sticky warmth inside the car. She loved it all.

  She closed her eyes when the friction of his body sliding into hers had her breath hitching in her throat. She didn’t care if the entire police force of Sweetwater raced in to stop them for having sex in public. This, the heat of his body and harsh exhale when she pushed down, driving him in deeper, mattered.

  “Now, honey.” The words came out between pants. “Come for me.”

  He didn’t throw around endearments and hearing one now, right when her body teetered on the edge and her sex pulsed, broke her control. No more holding back. She squeezed her inner muscles as he surged. With his hands roaming her back and his mouth on her breast, he flexed his hips and the coiling inside her let go. Her world exploded just as she heard him moan beneath her.

  Her body rose and fell until the energy drained out of her and she landed in an exhausted heap against his chest. Minutes passed with nothing more than the sound of their joint breathing echoing in the car. His scent drifted around her from his bare chest to the T-shirt she stripped off him and now wore.

  As far as “first times” went, this one was pretty good.

  She’d spent most of last night alone after insisting he visit with his mother. The break let Sophie catch her breath and try to get some information out of Tom about the all-boy meeting in the kitchen. Whatever happened, Tom wasn’t talking and he wasn’t alone.

  When Beck surprised her by showing up after midnight, she dropped to her knees and welcomed him with her tongue. But he didn’t say anything either. Well, he said plenty, most of it dirty and very promising in the sex department, but nothing that provided a clue about the conversation.

  After spending the afternoon apart, he’d shown up hours ago, dragged her to dinner with the family then put her in his car and drove to the back side of the Shadow Hill property. Kissing led to heated touching and swearing as Beck rammed his leg into the gearshift. The backseat proved to be a better option.

  “Are you sure you’ve never had sex in a car before?” He asked the question as he skimmed his hand up and down her back, under the tee.

  “You are my first.” She kissed his chin because not touching him seemed impossible. “Very impressive by the way.”

  “It’s been years. Happy to know the skills don’t disappear.”

  She sat up and bit back a moan when he slid against her sensitive flesh. “You aren’t worried someone will come out here and see us?”

  “It’s my property. If I want to bring you out here and give you a taste of what you missed in high school, I can.”

  That was a weird kind of sweet. “Did you really do this a lot when you were younger?”

  “Not nearly as well, and the clothing stayed on.” His fingers slipped through her hair. “I seem to remember a lot of fumbling.”

  Then he’d definitely improved, because there was nothing amateur about the way he stripped her clothes off in the confined space. “You did this for me.”

  “Yeah, but I can’t lie. I got something pretty awesome out of it.” That other hand kept caressing her back. “Sneaking out of that house for a minute was just a bonus.”

  “It’s a big house.”

  “Not when there are a hundred people in it.”

  She loved the way his voice rumbled in his chest and vibrated against her. “I’m thinking that’s an exaggeration.”

  He settled deeper into the seat and balanced his head against the headrest as his eyes drifted shut. “Doesn’t feel like it.”

  “You love having family around you.” She used the quiet to watch him. Dark eyelashes lay against his tanned skin and his body relaxed while a small smile played on those incredible lips.

  “A little privacy would be a nice change.” He opened one eye and stared at her. “I almost ripped the car door off the hinge in my rush to get you in here. That was the longest fucking dinner of my life.”

  “I got a sense of your impatience when you shredded my panties.”

  The scoundrel had the nerve to turn up the smile wattage at that. “I warned you when I turned on the car that you should take them off.”

  “That would have gone over well while we were sitting in your driveway.”

  His fingers slipped around to the inside of her thigh. “Hey, I waited until we had privacy to take off your bra . . . and everything else.”

  “Yet you still have your jeans on. I’m trying to figure out why you needed me naked.”

  “So we’re clear, that’s always going to be my preference for you.”

  This guy could charm a woman out of her clothes in six seconds. The running details of what he’d planned to do to her once he got her somewhere Hanover-free had her squirming in the car. The words spun her up until she got hot watching him shift gears.

  Which confirmed what she knew—she was losing it.

  “As someone who had a lot of privacy in her life, it can be overrated. Except tonight, of course.” She traced her finger down the deep groove that ran from his chest to his stomach. She never saw him exercise, except for a run here a
nd there, yet he was blessed with a flat stomach most guys would spend hours in the gym to earn.

  “Where did you go when your parents died?”

  At the turn in conversation, her gaze lifted and she met his blue-eyed stare. “My aunt and uncle.”

  “In Seattle.”

  “Yes.” Despite the loneliness and all the pressure of finding the jewelry for her aunt as soon as possible, Sophie rushed to defend them. “And don’t get the impression they were bad at parenting.”

  His thumb drew a circle on her belly. “Kind of sounds like it.”

  “They were older and didn’t have kids. Never really wanted them.” Which they reminded her of . . . repeatedly. She buried that part because Beck already looked ready to take up a sword and go fight on her behalf.

  Beck continued to stare at her. Words tumbled in her brain as she strained to say everything in a way that wouldn’t make him frown. The last thing she wanted was pity. She just needed him to understand the bond, the loyalty. If he got that he might not hate her when he found out about the jewelry.

  “My uncle, well, he hated noise, which made being a pre-teen girl a little tough. My Aunt Angela tried to adjust to having a little girl in the house. She loved me, she just wasn’t always sure what to do with me.”

  “Did you do family stuff together?” He asked before Sophie could explain.

  Problem was the question and her answer would make it all sound worse. “Like what?”

  “Zoo, beach, sporting events?” He spread his hand across her stomach. “We had about eight cents growing up, thanks to Charlie’s failure to be there in person or send money to help. But Mom dragged us to the park and even tried a museum or two. Hated that last part, by the way.”

  “That is not hard to imagine.”

  Sophie let her fingertips fall soft against the base of his throat. If she reached she could toy with that tempting curl at the end of his hair, but she didn’t want to move. Not when the warmth from his hand soaked into her skin making her muscles relaxed and lazy.

  “To be fair, we all preferred the park. You put us outside and we ran around yelling. We tried to do that sort of thing in the house and Mom was displeased.”

  The love was there in the memory. Sophie heard it, saw it in her head as if she were standing there. “Your poor mother.”

  “Yeah, no kidding.”

  Again Sophie’s mind went to the woman she met and tried to imagine her juggling babies and the horror of baseless accusations and a missing husband. It was a level of strength Sophie envied. “I don’t know how she did it back then, all alone with three little kids.”

  “Hard work and a rock-solid determination that we not turn out like Charlie.” Beck’s palm tunneled higher and came to rest right underneath her breast. “Being the youngest, I sort of missed the roughest parts. I mean, I was there and have a memory of how I felt when Cal left, but that’s it.”

  She should have felt weird sitting there half naked and draped all over him as his hands traced her curves and their conversation delved into serious topics. But she didn’t. Sharing with him, the intimacy, freed her.

  She’d never felt this sort of connection before. Never experienced the mix of shocking sexual heat and complete comfort.

  “What exactly happened?” she asked.

  “Charlie showed up and took Callen. Mom screaming and crying, I have a sense of the chaos, but it was worse than that. She broke down, stopped eating or going to work. I remember seeing her in bed day after day and crawling up on the mattress with her until Declan would drag me away and sit me in another room.”

  Sophie had to touch Beck all over then, offer support with her body as well as her quiet heart. Her fingers slid against his cheek and the other hand over his shoulder. Anything to keep the connection. “I can’t even think of a word that describes how horrible that sounds.”

  “But it’s over.” Beck lifted Sophie’s hand from his face and kissed the center of her palm. “She talks about it now. She’s honest and open about those days and the depression. Never tries to hide it or downplay any part. She said she wanted us to know because it was okay to get help when you need it.”

  “Did she?”

  “Eventually, after the state intervened and threatened to take Declan and me away. With some help, she found services. Therapy was too expensive, but she took free classes and got some assistance.”

  Sophie tightened her fingers around his and pressed her body tighter against him. “The more I learn about your background, the more I want to kick your father.”

  “Declan and Callen would beat you to it.”

  The words struck her as too careful. Like he was engaged in some sort of legal argument when he should be spewing hate and disappointment. Bottling up like that could not be good and she was determined to get him to talk. “But not you.”

  “I don’t remember much about him.”

  She brought their joint hands down to rest between her breasts. “But you know.”

  His gaze followed their hands. “What?”

  With a long exhale, she covered his wandering hand with hers through the shirt. She didn’t always agree with Callen’s delivery, but she thought he got this subject right. The reality was Beck refused to see the truth. She wanted to help him get there. “Your dad did very bad things.”

  Beck’s fingers tensed under hers. “Honestly, Sophie. I’ve seen the letters and read the criminal complaint he faced when he died. I don’t need a recap of the arguments.”

  “No, listen to me.” She shifted to get a better look at him. “I’m telling you. This isn’t about a faceless person writing to you. I am right here, telling you.”

  Beck’s body seemed to freeze. His soft caresses stopped. “Maybe you should be more specific.”

  The truth sat right there, right on the edge. She debated choking it back and letting the rest of the night play out. They had this and how they made each other feel. Part of her wanted that to be enough.

  But it wasn’t.

  “Charlie seduced my aunt and took some investments and heirloom jewelry.”

  Beck’s hands dropped from Sophie’s body as he sat up straighter. “What?”

  She wanted to call it all back. Pretend she said the wrong thing and laugh it off. She could divert him with her mouth and her hands. He’d proven his weakness to her over and over during the last few days.

  But he deserved better. For the first time, Sophie believed she did, too.

  This stupid mistake wasn’t hers but she was the one paying for it. She couldn’t imagine Kim Hanover, with her devotion to her kids, saddling them with the same problems. She wouldn’t hand off guilt while wrapping it in a blanket of owed loyalty. Sophie wasn’t that lucky.

  She balanced a hand against the seat cushion next to his shoulder. “My aunt was one of his later cons. She had an affair with Charlie, believed he would take her away from a boring marriage, and instead he went through the safe. She’d been warned about him, but still she fell for it.”

  Beck’s eyes narrowed. “By whom?”

  “What?”

  Fury vibrated off of him. “Who warned her?”

  This wasn’t her secret either. The guilt piled on Sophie until she couldn’t breathe. “Tom. They met through Tom.”

  Beck’s shoulders fell and he dropped back again. “Back when he was tracking Charlie down.”

  A harsh kick of air escaped her lungs. “You know about that?”

  “He told us after he saw Mom again.”

  Funny how her good friend Tom forgot to mention that. “Okay.”

  And now Sophie knew at least part of the man-to-men kitchen conversation. Tom came clean. That left her as the only one dragging around a secret and threatening to dump it on their doorstep. Until now.

  “Aunt Angela and Tom knew each other through their families. Tom came to Sea
ttle looking for information on Charlie. Angela heard about it all, got intrigued, thinking she could help out and withstand Charlie’s charms, but no.”

  “I don’t believe this.” Beck ran a hand through his hair then kept the heel balanced there against his closed eye.

  Despite sitting there still lodged deep inside her, he could bolt at any minute. Bare-chested or not, he could lift her off, go to the front seat or even get out of the car. He had that need-space vibe and it scared the hell out of her.

  Before he could walk away, she shifted. An arm reached around his shoulder and her fingers rested on the spot at the base of his neck. With the other hand she pressed him back into the seat and leaned in.

  All the defenses and explanations rushed through Sophie now. Those words that failed her for days were so clear. She sifted through every thought and led with the most important one. “They are your father’s sins. I don’t blame you. Please don’t blame me for my aunt’s.”

  For almost a full minute, Beck just sat there. She knew because she counted the seconds. Felt each one tick past as her heart grew heavier.

  Just as the silence threatened to suffocate her and she couldn’t take another beat, he lowered his hand and looked at her. “Why are you really hanging out at the house?”

  Not the response she expected. “What?”

  He faced her with an unreadable look. He and his brothers had perfected that skill. They could look through you, never giving a hint as to what turned and twisted inside.

  “You can’t dump that on me and not expect me to wonder.” As he talked, his hands fisted at his sides on the seat.

  The words, the dragged tension in the car, it all slashed through her. Between the flat tone and the emotional distance, she felt him slipping away. She wanted to double back and shift this conversation in a different direction. But she was done hiding and covering. The only chance they had depended on honesty and the hope she wasn’t too late.

  “Angela needs the jewelry back. It’s from my uncle’s family and he’s asking questions about it.”

  “She doesn’t want to admit to the affair?”