by Lucian Bane
“I like that you think I’m so pretty,” she said, making him shake his head as he slowed near the restaurant. “They have valet parking,” he said, pulling in. “Wait for me to open your door.”
“Oh,” she said in light surprise, adjusting the sexy black shawl over her shoulders. He wanted to pin it shut at the front. Maybe with a flower right at her cleavage. A beautiful magnolia, half the size of her face would be perfect.
David stepped out of the car and made his way to her door, opening it. She took his outstretched hand and he smiled at her, pulling her to her feet. “Beautiful,” he whispered, leaning in for a kiss on her cheek as he shut her door. He slid his arm in hers, walking toward the entrance, feeling like a movie star with her.
“Wow, I’ve never been to anything this fancy before,” she whispered. “Any rules I should be aware of?”
“Not that I can think of,” he said, surprised at that news. But then he’d never not eaten at these restaurants, they were like second homes to him. “Just follow my lead, when in doubt. Other than that, I’ll do all the ordering for us.”
“Yes Sir,” she said, casting him one of her killer angel smiles. The one that said she trusted him completely and loved giving herself over to him for protecting.
David stopped at the overly joyful hostess. “We’re meeting with Lisa Stevens,” he said.
They followed a waiter to a table in the far corner where Lisa was waving. David paused at Lizzy’s sudden unsteady gait, turning. “You okay?” he asked.
“I’m fine,” she said, appearing flustered. “Heel snagged.”
He eyed his sister feeling like Lizzy’s nerves had everything to do with her. She was dressed to the hilt in a red free-fucks-for-all dress that seemed to be missing half a top. David put his arm around Lizzy’s waist, eyeing the boyfriend now. Not a bad catch, but if he didn’t take his eyes off of Lizzy soon, he’d get a one-star rating. Not that he’d tell Lisa that.
He opened Lizzy’s chair and seated her then sat next to her.
“Welllll,” Lisa sang. “Meet my new boyfriend, Scott Beard.” She leaned over and kissed his cheek and the strained performance threw up red flags in David’s mind. She was either bad at acting like a girlfriend, or really not into him.
Fuck. Why couldn’t this have been legit.
“Nice to meet you Scott,” David said, not eager to introduce Lizzy now.
“Same,” he said, openly ogling Lizzy with a smile before turning a pair of intoxicated eyes back to David. “I heard a lot about you. A writer, huh?” He leaned in and muttered, “I gotta be honest. I ain’t ever heard of a man writing love stories.”
David cast his eyes to Lisa, silently inquiring where she’d found this lout. She answered him with a give him a chance pity look. “It’s not for everybody,” David said as the waiter came up. He ordered whisky for himself and champagne for Lizzy, leaning in to whisper to her, “You okay?”
She nodded but didn’t quite look at him, her smile as convincing as his sisters. She likely sensed the same thing he did.
David glanced at “the date” and found his eyes on Lizzy again. Was he drunk? “So, what do you do, Scott?” he asked, ready to get to the bottom of this idiot. Should be quick. “And how did you meet my sister?” Lisa said they’d met on the plane, but that was obviously bullshit. He was pure bait. Bait to cause problems, and if he didn’t take his sleazy eyes off Lizzy, the problem would be all his real soon.
“I deal in stocks mostly,” he said, his mouth seeming to be cast from a permanent brag-smirk. “You into stocks?”
“Not personally, no,” David said. “I let my broker have fun with that.”
“Yeah, it’s not for everybody.” The passive insult sent a spark of anger along David’s skin.
“I much prefer playing with my ABC’s,” David admitted. “I like to make them… do it.”
Lisa suddenly yelped, and David realized she spilled her glass of wine in her lap. Were they both drunk? How long had they been there before they arrived?
“Dammit,” she muttered, pushing Scott’s hands away while thanking him for his efforts. “Excuse me, gonna go to the bathroom.”
“Well, hurry back,” Scott called with a lusty grin at her. When she was out of sight, he leaned and whispered, “Your sister is hot.”
Holy fuck, was he twelve? David thanked the waiter as he set their drinks before them.
He handed Lizzy hers and turned to find the dick’s sleazy gaze and smile on her. “You don’t talk very much, do you?”
“Not really, no,” she said, putting her glass to her lips.
“You look really familiar,” he said, his brows narrowed.
David’s phone buzzed in his pocket and he pulled it out. I need you to go in my car and get my spare dress! This night sucks. Sorry I asked you to come.
Fucking Christ.
“I need the gentleman’s room,” Scott announced, standing and looking around.
He needed an outhouse is what he needed. “It’s right over there,” David pointed, glad he was leaving even if for a few minutes.
“Thanks man,” he said, like they were best buds suddenly.
“Come with me. I need to go get Lisa a change of clothes,” David said to Lizzy, holding his hand out to her.
She took it and they hurried to the front foyer. Fuck, it was raining? He looked around. “Sit here and wait for me,” he said, walking her to the decorative lounge chair on the right. “I’ll be quick.”
“Okay,” she said, appearing scared and maybe ill.
He couldn’t blame her. She had to be thinking exactly what he was. He got the key from valet and fetched the dress hanging in Lisa’s car, wondering if the dude drove himself there.
Hurrying back, his blood thickened at finding the boyfriend sitting with Lizzy, close enough that David saw red. He hurried in and put his hand out to Lizzy, not liking the look on her face or the quick way she flew into his embrace. “You okay?”
“I’m fine,” she said, smiling.
“You don’t look fine.” He eyed Scott. “What’s going on?”
He put up both hands with his stupid grin. “Nothing man. Not a thing.”
The obvious lie had David’s jaw clamped down. “Don’t get near her again, we clear?”
He had the nerve to giggle in his face, like he was just having the time of his life. “Hey man,” he said with a slur. “I’m with Lisa.” He suddenly looked around, like a lost puppy. “Where is she, anyway?”
“She’s in the ladies’ room.” David shoved the dress in his arms. “How about you take this to her. Let her know we had to leave.”
The dude looked at the dress, wrapping his arms around it. “Whatever man,” he said. “Was nice while it lasted.”
David pulled Lizzy with him to the hostess station. “Have them bring our car please,” he said heading with her to the exit.
“Nice to meet you Lizzy.”
David’s limbs locked and he turned, meeting with Lizzy’s firm tugs.
“David!” she hissed, pulling harder. He followed when he had visions of killing him, followed by prison bars. The second they were outside and out of sight, David stopped and inspected Lizzy better under the entry canopy. He held her shoulders and looked right at her. “You okay? What did that prick say to you?”
“He was just…being very flirty,” she said, lowering her eyes. “It made me uncomfortable.” She looked at him finally and before he could respond, she leaned in and kissed him. “I missed you,” she whispered, stroking his face.
David pressed her hand to his cheek, then brought it to his lips, holding her fingers to them. “My sister has lost her mind. Boyfriend my fucking ass. I know she paid him just to come rape you with his eyes. I swear to God I was about to stab him with a fork.”
David pulled his buzzing phone out of his pocket and looked at it. Thanks a lot. And by the way, Scott says he knows Lizzy. Says they dated in high school. Go figure. Judging by the way he couldn’t stop staring, he still wants to date her. Ugh.
I know how to fucking pick them.
David’s blood was back to boiling as he slid his phone in his pocket, this news bouncing around in his head. Either Lisa had gotten really good at playing him, or she was being honest.
“Who was that?” Lizzy asked.
“Lisa,” David said, hearing something in her tone that bothered him.
“What did she say?”
Fuck, was Lisa telling the truth? “Did that dude look familiar to you?” he asked.
“What do you mean?”
He looked at her fully. “I mean…did he look familiar to you?” Wasn’t a complicated question. “Do you know him?”
“He does look familiar, but I wasn’t about to say that and encourage conversation with him.”
“Who does he remind you of?”
She gave wide eyes. “I don’t know, I’m not sure.”
He bit his tongue on an ex-boyfriend maybe, right as the car pulled up. David hurried her to her door, glad the rain slowed. Shutting her in, he went around to the driver side and pulled a twenty from his pocket for the attendee. “Thank you,” he mumbled, glancing at the restaurant before lowering into the car. He wanted to go before Lisa decided to do God only knew what, next. She obviously had a whole agenda planned out.
His phone buzzed in his pocket as he drove out. He needed gas, he’d wait till then to look. Meanwhile, he began going over Lizzy’s reactions to the dude under this new information. Normally he wouldn’t believe Lisa but for some reason he couldn’t name, he wasn’t convinced she was lying. Not that he gave a shit if Lizzy knew him or he knew her but the whole thing just felt off. Why lie to him if she was?
He pulled into a gas station and eyed her as he shut the car off. “You need anything?”
“No, thank you,” she said with a sweet smile, almost normal sounding.
He got out and shut the door, pulling his wallet out. Eyeing the only other vehicle there, he slipped the card and his wallet into his jacket pocket and pulled out his phone. He opened the gas door on the car and glanced down at the phone. It was Lisa again.
Tell Lizzy I’m sorry about Scott. I didn’t know they had a messy past. I think he played me just to get to her. Something about him being accused of rape and entrapment.
David’s blood froze at reading that. That fucking bitch was really trying hard. He stared at the phone, no longer seeing before finally returning it to his pocket. He selected the fuel grade and filled up the car, needing as much time as he could get, before he got back in that car with her.
With everything done, David paused with his hand on the door, waiting, talking himself down from the storm brewing in him. He needed to keep his cool until he knew what the fuck was going on.
In the car, he clicked his seat belt on and pressed the ignition. “You sure you don’t want anything?” he asked, mostly to get his voice even and test the air one more time before figuring out how to proceed. He realized then. If that was the motherfucker who raped her, she no doubt knew David would want to kill him. That alone would silence her if she worried about him doing something that would get him life without parole. And it would. And if that’s why she did it, he’d understand.
The other possibility was that she had lied to entrap the dude. But what did entrap mean? Entrap him to marry her? No way would she want to marry somebody who’d raped her.
It suddenly hit him the kind of entrap it likely meant. A baby.
Fuck, if she’d gotten pregnant from that…
This meant she either had the baby or had an abortion, and since she didn’t have a kid, the latter was likely the case. She would’ve certainly been young enough to consider one at seventeen. And if she’d been raped and had an abortion, that would explain her anxiety issues and estranged social status as well as her reluctance to tell him. Knowing her angelic ways, it was no doubt something she wasn’t proud of and possibly even regretted. Majorly. Fuck.
His muscles suddenly ached to touch her as he drove. He realized with her, his fight or flight instincts had morphed into fuck or fight. And as much as he wanted to fight, he couldn’t kill that bastard, which left a burning craving to fuck. And there was only one woman he wanted to pound into oblivion, and yet he couldn’t bring himself to allow that until he got to the bottom of this. These unanswered questions in his head would defile what he had with her, whatever it was, whatever the strange dynamic they shared actually was. He wouldn’t say it was being in love, he remembered what that was, and this wasn’t that. It was something he had nothing to compare it to, but he knew he wanted to protect it.
Her Aunt. He could call her Aunt and find out more.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Lizzy paced in the room, letting her tears come. It was the only form of release she had, she couldn’t call anybody, she didn’t want to even if she could. He was right about Lisa’s bullshit. It was more than bullshit though it was huge what she’d done.
But David…oh he really downplayed her feelings for him judging by what she’d done, and now he was going check on her? No wonder she was obsessed with him, he was feeding into it! How dare he have or use an ounce of compassion with her?
Acid accumulated in her blood and made it boil and burn her insides.
So, Lisa went through the trouble of digging up her past and bringing it right into her face? Wow. Just…wow.
The tears returned at realizing just how stuck she was. There was nothing good about that part of her past, and she’d not been honest with David about all of it. She’d not lied either, not in her mind.
She hurried to her phone and pulled up his number, back to pissed as she texted him. If you know your sister is bullshitting you, or you think she is, then why are you running to coddle that bitch? Maybe you care for her more than you’re willing to admit? Maybe that’s why she’s so OBSESSED with you.
Her finger trembled as it hit send, a rogue reflex out of control. She choked out a sob, immediately regretting it. Oh no, no.
She texted again. Please disregard that last text, I’m not thinking straight. When are you coming back? I’m sorry.
She threw down the phone when the urge to type I love you itched in her desperate fingers. This wasn’t love, this was panic. She couldn’t love him, not right now, not when everything was on the verge of…something. Something bad, she could feel that much. He’d find out, no doubt about it now. The question was, what would he find out? Did she really want him hearing all the wrong stories?
She raced to the phone and picked it up, squeezing it before throwing it back onto the bed. She couldn’t tell him. She picked up the phone again, shuddering out breaths. Yes, she could. She could tell him, and she would. It didn’t matter now.
The phone buzzed in her hands and she nearly dropped it. She read his text. I lied. I didn’t go check on my whore sister, I needed space to think. I know you’re not being honest with me and I want to know why. I want you to talk to me. I do not want secrets between us, ever.
She gasped on anger. He doesn’t want secrets between them, ever? He wants her honesty in the same sentence he admits he lied? Their whole relationship began with his lies! And she wasn’t the only one with secrets or things he didn’t want her knowing about. Well hers were no different. What did her past have to do with her present where he was concerned? Not a damn thing!
She texted, You want to know everything, come back and I’ll tell you everything. This time her finger hovered over the send button for many seconds. This is right. Do it. Stop running and hiding you don’t need to run and hide from anybody. She hit the button and a huge breath left her. She made her way to the chair in the corner and collapsed onto it, a sense of relief washing over her. And dread.
She picked up the phone at the vibration. I’m home now.
Oh God.
She sat there, her muscles tensing with the need to panic until she was unable to move. She sat that way, trapped in immobility until he entered the room. He paused at seeing her, their eyes locked for endless seconds as she fought with her bod
y.
Nobody can hurt you.
Nobody can hurt you.
Nobody can hurt you.
But the opposite was true as David removed his jacket and lay it on the dresser. As he came slowly toward her, as those eyes bored deeper into her with every step. He could hurt her. He could crush her. End her. As she'd always known.
She was back to terrified, petrified. No matter how many ways she told herself she had nothing to fear, she did with him. He could hate her, find her disgusting, much like she did where her past was concerned. The idea stole her breath.
He pulled the chair’s footstool a couple feet from her and sat, eyes still on her. “Talk to me, Angel.”
The term brought several rounds of shaky breaths and she covered them with a trembling hand before looking down. She put her hands in her lap, focusing. “Everything I’m about to tell you has several versions if you were to look back in the newspapers as I’m sure your sister has done. And you are welcome to if you want.”
“Look at me,” he said softly.
She shook her head, keeping her head lowered. “I can’t,” she barely whispered. “I told you I was raped,” she nodded. “That part is true, and I don’t care what he says, he’s a liar. I know I was raped, I know what he did,” she assured, her words trembling with the rest of her. “I lied about the pressing charges and him going to jail and community service. None of that happened but that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t have, or worse should have. Because I waited too long to tell, they couldn’t bring charges. I didn’t even plan to tell. But he had the nerve to want to…continue dating or whatever it was we were doing. I don’t even know now.
“At the time, my mom didn’t understand why I wasn’t answering his calls or not wanting to go to school. I didn’t want to tell her. Everybody thought…he was so perfect, even her. But then…when…I found out I was pregnant,” she said, the word quipping with the closing of her throat as she fought to breathe, nodding her way through. “I had to tell her and… so I told her everything. She was so furious,” she remembered quietly. “She called up Scott’s father, who was the pastor at our church.” She tugged viciously at her pajama top now. “H-he was a straight A student, never been in trouble. His father owned half the small town.”
