by Leah Brooke
“You sound tired. I knew I should have come over to help you. I could have hired—”
“No, Mom. I enjoyed putting things away, and I just wanted to be alone.”
Her family and friends had meant well, but months of almost constant hovering had begun to grate on her nerves. Nothing had been the same.
Everyone was so damned careful around her.
She’d been a strong woman before and hated that the attack had left her feeling vulnerable and defenseless.
In her entire life, though, she’d never felt this incredible loneliness. “It was nice and quiet, and I wanted some time alone.”
“If you ask me, you’ve been spending too much time alone.” Her mother’s voice took on an edge that had Lana stiffening.
Her hand tightened on the phone. “I’ve lived alone for years, Mom.”
“Yes, but you didn’t stay home every night the way you’ve done since—”
“I like being home.” Lana fisted her hand on her thigh, wondering how long it would take for everyone to stop talking about it. She didn’t want to think about it, but no one could seem to ignore it. “I’ve been travelling around the world for years, and I haven’t taken time for myself. I haven’t even had a vacation in…forever.”
Her mother covered the phone with her hand, obviously saying something to Lana’s father. A second or two later, she removed her hand and spoke to Lana again. “Well, you need a rest, but you’ll soon have more invitations than you know what to do with. You’ll meet a lot of people Saturday night.”
Lana paused with her glass halfway to her lips. “Saturday night?”
“Lana, don’t tell me you forgot about Saturday night!”
Struggling to remember, Lana rubbed her forehead, where the beginning of a headache started. “I remember something about your friend Lenore—”
“Lenore Barnes is my closest friend and has been for over ten years. She’s having a benefit for the new maternity wing at the hospital. I told you about it two weeks ago. I told you about how much she wanted to meet you, and you promised to go. Your father and I will pick you up at seven. Wear one of those designer gowns filling your closet. I want to show you off.”
Lana sat up, inwardly groaning. “Mom, I really don’t feel like being around a lot of people.”
“You can’t hide away forever. Besides, don’t you keep telling me that you want your life back?”
Her mother’s voice faded slightly when she turned away from the phone to speak to Lana’s father again, this time not covering the receiver. “Henry, Lana doesn’t want to go to the benefit Saturday night.”
“Then you go ahead to the party and I’ll go over and have a nice visit with my daughter.”
Reaching for her wine, Lana inwardly groaned again. “Mom, it’s been a long week. I—”
“Your father and I will come over and stay with you. I’ll just call Lenore and tell her I can’t make it. She’ll understand.”
Even though she recognized her mother’s attempt to use guilt to get her way, Lana knew her parents well enough to know that they would blow off a benefit that was clearly important to her mother just to sit with her.
Setting her glass down again, she blew out a breath and dropped back in the sofa. “No, Mom. Don’t do that. I’ll go.”
“Oh, darling, do you mean it?”
Smiling at the delight in her mother’s voice and resigned to mingling with a lot of strangers, Lana reached for her glass, carrying it to the door while she checked the lock again. “Of course, Mom. I know how much this means to you, and I’d love to meet your friend.”
“It does mean a lot to me. I’m so proud of you, and I want to introduce you to everyone, but it’s more important for you to get out. Your father and I will be there with you, and we can leave whenever you want to.”
Irritated at herself for causing her parents more worry, Lana tried to sound excited about the benefit. “I’m sure I’ll have such a good time I won’t want to leave.”
“It’s so wonderful to have you back home.”
The happiness in her mother’s voice made her feel guilty for not visiting more often.
She’d come home only a handful of times over the years and had never stayed more than a day or two, determined to work all that she could while she had the opportunity.
It was almost as if she’d had a premonition that her career would end early.
Going to the window, she pushed the curtain and blind aside a few inches to look outside, letting them fall again when confronted by darkness. “It’s nice to be home, Mom. I’m a little tired though. Can I call you back tomorrow?”
“Of course, dear. Your father’s playing golf at the club all day tomorrow so maybe we can have lunch together.”
“That sounds good, Mom.” She didn’t want to hurt her mother’s feelings, but she’d planned to spend the entire day catching up on sleep. “We’ll talk in the morning, Good night.”
“Good night, dear.”
After disconnecting, Lana gathered her phone and wine glass, checking the lock before heading back to the kitchen.
After washing her glass, she turned on the low light above the sink before turning the overhead light off and leaving the room.
Pausing, she looked back toward the living room, relieved to see that the light she’d left on in the corner bathed the entire room in a warm glow, allowing her to see every corner.
The nightlight in the hallway lit her way past the hall half-bath and to the bedroom, where she already had a low light burning.
Slowing her steps, she made her way to the walk-in closet. She’d left the door open and the light on, enabling her to see inside with just a glance.
She checked the bathroom off of her room the same way, making sure that the shower curtain was open.
Satisfied that everything was as it should be, and that she’d done everything she could to feel safe, she closed the bathroom door halfway, leaving the light on.
Making her way to the bed, she placed her phone on the nightstand within reach and slipped out of her robe, tossing it across the foot of her bed.
She looked around the room again as she got into bed, closing her hand over the end of the baseball bat she kept propped against the nightstand.
After propping the numerous pillows behind her and closing her hand over the can of mace she kept under them, she settled back in a reclining position, making sure she could see all three doors and the window.
It took a long time before her eyes closed, and when they did, they didn’t stay closed for long.
Startled by every sound, she slept fitfully as she had every night for the last several months, waking tired and grouchy the next day.
And vowing that it would be the day she would put it all behind her.
Chapter Two
Leaning back in his worn leather chair, Joseph Wallace Brant ignored the paperwork he’d come into his study to deal with and sipped his whiskey, irritated at himself for the strange restlessness that made it difficult to concentrate.
For some reason the silence and solitude he’d craved at the end of the day now grated on his nerves. The large ranch house that usually gave him such peace now felt like a cage.
He thought about calling one of the women he dated infrequently but almost immediately dismissed the idea.
The women he’d dated hadn’t held his attention for long, and one-night stands no longer satisfied him.
At the end of the evening, he found himself irritable and anxious to get away from them.
He wanted something more, but he didn’t know what it was that remained so elusive.
His mother claimed he was too damned picky, and he’d begun to think maybe she was right.
The phone on his desk rang, yanking him from his musings.
Without checking the display, he answered. “Brant.”
“Brant, this is Daniel.”
The son of his mother’s best friend, Daniel Davies was a man he’d come to like and respect ov
er the years and had gradually become one of J.W.’s closest friends.
Daniel and his wife visited often, and J.W. had met them at one of his mother’s causes.
They’d hit it off almost immediately, getting together whenever Daniel came to town, and talked on the phone a few times a week.
Daniel’s sister seemed to be too busy to visit her family, and although Daniel and his parents spoke of her often, J.W. had never met her.
“Hello, Daniel. Did Kristen have the baby?” J.W. tried to ignore the pang of jealousy and focused on his happiness for his friend.
“No.” Daniel sighed. “Not yet. We’re in the home stretch. I sure as hell hope it’s soon. She’s damned uncomfortable.”
J.W. grimaced. “I’ll bet. We’ll miss you at the benefit.”
Daniel chuckled softly. “Kristen’s upset that she won’t be able to be there, but flying is off-limits, and it would be too much for her anyway. Your mother called to thank us for our donation, and she and Kristen had a nice talk.”
J.W. sighed, dropping his head back. “Let me guess. The subject of the conversation turned to how lucky your mother is to have a grandchild on the way while my poor mother is doomed to never having one.”
Daniel chuckled. “Something along those lines.” His laughter died away, his voice lowering. “J.W., I called you for a reason.”
“I suspected as much. What’s wrong?”
“How do you know that something’s wrong?”
Sitting up, J.W. set his whiskey aside. “I haven’t heard from you in a few weeks. The last time I called you, you were in New York visiting your sister, and every time you’ve called since then, you’ve been distracted. I figured you were busy with Kristen, but you’re worried. I hear it in your voice.” His stomach tightened, wondering what had happened to change Daniel so much. “Is something wrong with Kristen?”
“No. Kristen’s fine.”
Frowning at the silence that followed, J.W. waited his friend out. Knowing that very little upset Daniel, he started to get a cold knot in the pit of his stomach. “What is it, Daniel?”
Daniel blew out a breath again. “I need a favor—a big one. You’re the only one I’d trust.”
J.W.’s hand tightened on the phone, the tension in his friend’s voice turning the knot in his stomach to ice. “Name it.”
He’d known Daniel for over ten years, and he couldn’t remember Daniel ever asking for a favor.
Daniel blew out another breath. “The reason I went up to see Lana is that she was attacked.”
“What?” J.W. didn’t know Lana but had heard enough about her over the years to feel as though he did. She’d already been in New York when he and Daniel met, but he knew that she was a model and that Daniel and his parents adored her. “What happened?”
“A man broke into her apartment. He hurt her, J.W.” Daniel’s voice broke, the anger and horror in it stunning J.W.
Nothing ever rattled Daniel, so the fact that he was so shaken spoke volumes.
His own anger that a woman had been hurt twisted his stomach.
After several seconds, Daniel blew out a breath. “Thankfully her neighbors came in before it got worse. She quit her modelling job, and now that she’s recovered from her injuries, she moved back to Monterro, but instead of moving in with Mom and Dad, like she’d led me to believe, she moved into an apartment in town. I try to talk to her, but she closes up. She won’t talk about the attack. She’s crawled into a shell and won’t let any of us in. She smiles and pretends everything’s all right, but she’s changed, J.W. She doesn’t want anyone around.”
Too restless to sit, J.W. got to his feet. “Son of a bitch! How bad was she hurt?”
He’d seen pictures of Lana, a stunningly beautiful woman with a big smile and blue-green eyes a man could drown in. The thought of someone hurting her enraged him.
Daniel sighed again, the catch in his voice telling J.W. just how much this affected him. “He cut her. Her face. Her neck. He cut her one hand pretty bad and broke her wrist. She had to have surgery and a pin to fix it. The cut on her thigh was so close to an artery. Too fucking close.” Daniel took a shuddering breath and let it out in a rush. “We could have lost her.”
J.W.’s jaw clenched. “Is she okay now?”
“Physically, yes. Mentally…I don’t know. She’s not the same. She needs to talk, but she won’t talk to anyone. Not her friends or her family. We tried to get her to talk to a doctor, but she won’t.”
“Did they catch the guy?”
“No.” Daniel sighed again, and J.W. could imagine him pacing back and forth across his office. “This guy’s crazy. He’s fixated on her. She got letters from him. Flowers. Candy. Then the phone calls began. She reported it to the police, but there wasn’t a lot they could do, other than keep changing her number. When she did an ad that showed her and another model—a male model—in each other’s arms, this guy went nuts.”
J.W. reached for his whiskey again and began to pace. “Nuts how?”
“His phone calls became more desperate. He was furious because, in his twisted mind, she was cheating on him. She was out of the country on an assignment, and when she got home, she walked into her bedroom and this asshole burst out of the closet and attacked her. He was in a rage because he thought what he’d seen in the ad was real. Thank God she was talking on her cell phone to her neighbor, Jack, when it happened. He and his partner, Evan, knew she was coming home and would be tired. They were fixing dinner for her and bringing it over. When they heard her scream and drop the phone, they ran over. Lana had given them a key for emergencies. They ran in and scared the guy off. Jack got a few good hits in with his baseball bat while Evan called the ambulance. She was bruised all over. She fought hard. He tried to rape her.” Daniel’s voice broke again. “Jack and Evan saved her life. If they hadn’t been there…”
“Don’t even think about it.” J.W. went to the bar and poured himself another whiskey, furious that his friend’s sister had been hurt. Restless, he kept moving, wishing he could get his hands on the man who’d hurt her. “What can I do to help?”
“Watch out for her for me.” Daniel sighed again. “I know she needs to talk, but she won’t let any of us in. She’s built a wall around herself, and none of us wants to upset her. I can’t forget the way she looked in the hospital. She’s so cool now. She doesn’t yell. She doesn’t get mad. She just closes us out. It’s like there’s a wall between her and the rest of the world, and I’m scared to death of hurting her by knocking it down.”
Daniel’s soft chuckle held little amusement. “I know that if I got into a fight with her, she would tell me more, but I can’t do it. We’ve all been babying her, but we can’t help it. She’s been through so much.”
J.W. paused with his glass halfway to his lips. “What do you want me to do—fight with her?” Frowning, he set his glass aside. “You just told me that she was attacked, and you want me to piss her off?”
“If that’s what it takes. Hell, J.W., I’m desperate. You’ve got to get through that fucking wall she’s built around herself. You’re the most stubborn man I’ve ever met, and you piss people off all the time. Hell, you do it without even trying. She’s in that apartment all alone. She can’t sleep.”
J.W. frowned again. “How do you know that?”
“I stayed with her a week after she got out of the hospital, and then my parents stayed with her for a while. She keeps the lights on all the time. I thought she would do better over time, but I just talked to her. She’s been working all day to get everything unpacked and drinking wine. I guessed that she was trying to wear herself out and drinking wine to sleep, and she admitted it.” Daniel blew out another breath, obviously frustrated. “I don’t know what’s going through her head, but if she’s still too scared to sleep, we have a problem. Your mother told mine to bring her to the benefit, and I just talked to Mom. She said that she manipulated Lana to come. Just check on her for me, please. Talk to her. Get her mad enough to break down
and let it all out. I don’t know. Something.”
Daniel’s voice cracked. “I hate that she’s scared. I hate that she won’t talk to us about it. I hate that I’m too far away to watch over her.”
Picturing Lana too scared to go to sleep, and alone in the apartment, J.W. fisted his hand at his side. “I’ll take care of it, but if you and your parents don’t like my way of dealing with it, I don’t want to hear it.”
“You got it.” The relief in Daniel’s voice made J.W. wonder what he’d gotten himself into, but he knew he had to do whatever he could to help. “I’ll call Mom and tell her the plan. Thank you, J.W. This means a lot to me.”
J.W. smiled humorlessly, hoping that his size and temperament didn’t scare her even more. “Remember that when your sister calls you and bitches about me.”
Daniel’s laugh no longer held the tension it had since he’d called. “I will.” He blew out another breath. “Thanks, J.W. I feel a hell of a lot better.”
“Don’t thank me yet. I haven’t done anything.” Picking up his drink again, J.W. went back to his desk and sat, looking forward to the benefit for the first time. “I’ll take care of it. Go tend to your wife. I’m sure she needs you.”
Several seconds of silence followed before Daniel responded. “And I think what my sister needs is a man like you. You won’t let her hide, and when she’s back in form again, she’s about the only woman I know who could take on a man like you. She’s always been strong. Hardheaded. Determined. I’d like to see her like that again.”
Scowling, J.W. moved to the French doors to look out, watching his herd graze in the distance. “I’m not interested in marriage, Daniel. I’ll watch out for her, but don’t try your hand at matchmaking. It would take a hell of a woman to deal with me on a daily basis.”
“I have a feeling that Lana just might be that woman—if you can get past that wall she’s built around herself.”
J.W. pushed aside the surge of loneliness, knowing that it wouldn’t last. “I’ll do my best, but don’t expect anything else. Marriage is good for men like you, but I can’t see myself falling into that trap.”
