by K. Z. Riman
She was right about Seth wanting to have a relationship with me since the day he asked me to their sports party. I hoped she wasn’t right about this one, though. I could already imagine the torture I would be put through if I dated Scott. It would be like taking a large rock from the ground and smashing it onto my own head—that kind of stupidity.
It was late in the afternoon when I left Grace’s apartment. We had talked about a lot of things, something we hadn’t done in a while. I forgot it was a long way back to Bovaghn. I took a cab and headed to Fiona’s Diner first. I expected it would be easier for me to talk to Fiona, since she was also a friend. I didn’t intend to go into any detail about why I was moving.
With Mister Frost, however, I had to wait until past eight that evening for when he came down to his bar. It shouldn’t be difficult. I could march right in and ask him if he could give me a month to pay back all my advances. I was sure I would be able to hand him the money at that time. He hadn’t had any problem with me paying before, so he should not find any reason to doubt me now. Mother would help me if I fell short, I hoped.
I bought and ate a sandwich before running across the street to get to the bar as soon as I saw his car come around the corner. Upon a closer look, I realized it wasn’t him tonight. It was his son, Jake.
I was relieved at first, knowing the guy had a small thing for me. Perhaps it would be easier to talk to him than his father. As he smiled and asked me to come with him to his office, I suddenly felt uneasy.
“Where are you going?” Jake sat behind his father’s desk and stared at me.
I tried to act as casually as I could, hiding the fact that I was uncomfortable with the way he was looking at me. “My son and I will be staying with my boyfriend’s family.”
“Oh. Your dead boyfriend?” he said. I gritted my teeth behind my shut mouth.
“Yes,” I replied, and cleared my throat. “I would like to ask your father if he could allow me a month to pay back my advances. I believe I still have three thousand five hundred creolles left to pay.”
He let out a ragged breath and sat back in his seat. “I don’t know, Kelsey. I mean, times are hard and the bar isn’t making money like it was.”
He was telling the truth. Before these past few months, I could pay a lot of my bills with the tips men gave me for just smiling. Khazkathia is a country of smiles, Bovaghn reputed to have the warmest ones. It wasn’t difficult to attract clean attention.
“I know that, and…well, it is the reason I’m changing jobs. The one I have now will let me pay you back after a month.” I was hoping I was right about that.
“Where will you be working?”
I didn’t want to tell anyone except Grace that I would be working for my in-laws. “At a pharmaceutical company in Bovaghn.”
“The Grimaldi’s? That family is as rich as hell.” He stood up and moved to lean against the table, right in front of me. Apparently, he hadn’t heard that one of the Grimaldi sons was my dead boyfriend. “Okay. I will try and talk to Father about this.”
“Oh, thank you.” I smiled, relieved. “This means so much to me.”
“Granted, of course, that you do something that would mean much to me.” He grinned.
I was right to be uneasy. Jake, at twenty-six, already had the reputation of sleeping with the employees and I knew he had always been interested in me.
“What do you mean?” I pressed my thighs together and pushed myself back into my chair, slowly, so he wouldn’t notice. It was not at all a help that I was wearing one of the cotton dresses Scott had made a comment about yesterday.
“You know.” He shrugged and bent forward as he tried to touch the tip of my hair. I shoved it away, making him chuckle. “Maybe we could come to an arrangement. You are a fine young woman, Ms. Fontez. I know you haven’t been with a man for six long years.”
“I don’t think that is any of your business. Seeing as I cannot talk to you appropriately, perhaps I could return tomorrow to see your father.” I stood and turned on my heel. It was a million times better for Mister Frost to yell at me, than have this prick ruin me and take the virtue I had preserved for when a man came my way again.
“Hey.” He grabbed my arm tight. His wide green eyes flashed.
It scared me to think he wanted something to happen between us now. If he was to force me, I was doomed to return to Bovaghn in broken pieces. Jake was a tall muscular guy with three bodyguards at his door. Even if I managed to escape him, I wouldn’t be able to escape his men. “We aren’t finished speaking.”
“Let go!” I yanked his hand away and ran.
He caught up with me in the small office and pushed me down onto the couch. He knelt so he could cage me in and hold me down, holding my wrists to my sides. “I have always wanted to take you, Kelsey. Especially since I know you are the only one not interested in getting laid for money in this bar.”
“No!” Pushing him away wouldn’t do anything about this.
I had to try pushing him anyway and the fact that I was able to do it easily, even with my eyes closed, startled me. I didn’t even notice at first that he had released me.
“Who the hell are…ugh!” I heard him groan in pain as piles of documents loudly fell to the wooden floor, the sound filling the room. I heard some men threatening Jake’s bodyguards outside his office door. As I opened my eyes, I realized someone had come to my aid…again.
“If you touch her like that again, I will have you killed.”
“Scott?” I knew his voice all too well. From all the taunting and the arguments we had before, I would never forget how deep and husky his voice was when he was angry. “What are you…?”
He didn’t even glance at me, but stood with his back to me. His fists were clenched to his side and were shaking.
“That woman owes us!” Jake yelled, then grimaced, holding his painful ribs.
“Yes. She owes you money, and with money, she shall pay you.” Scott took his wallet and threw bills worth much more than what I owed into Jake’s face. “Here. That should be more than enough to keep your filthy paws where they belong.”
“Who in the world are you?”
I never thought Jake was a coward. He didn’t even put up a fight with Scott. Well, not that I wanted him to. He always was a jerk—showing everyone how much of a scoundrel he was, so no one would mess with him. I guess he was all show.
“Oh, you don’t want to know.” Scott turned on his heel and forcefully pulled me out of the office, his hand gripping my wrist harder than he should have. We passed Leo and some bodyguards handling Jake’s men.
“Let go. I can walk without you pulling me!” I tried yanking Scott’s hand away but he kept on pulling me out, the pace wearing my energy thin, until we reached his car.
“Get in,” he said, as he went around his black sports car to the driver’s side. When he saw that I wasn’t moving, he said it louder. “Get in!”
“Why are you here?” He had followed me all the way from Bovaghn?
“You think now’s the time to discuss that?” He narrowed his eyes in disbelief and climbed into his car, cutting off any discussion.
We were quiet on our way to my apartment. I expected him to argue with me or force some information about Jake out of me, but he didn’t. He sat beside me, staring at the road ahead with pursed lips and narrowed eyes. He was controlling himself.
“Why are you here?” I asked, calmly this time.
Perhaps he needed to calm down before he could speak. I didn’t want to pick a fight with him if he looked like he was about to punch someone again.
He let out a heavy breath of impatience as he smoothly passed the other cars. “I followed you.”
“Why?”
He averted my question just as he averted my gaze. “Tell me one thing. Why do you owe that man money?”
I shook my head and looked out the window. He wouldn’t understand. He had grown up having everything handed to him on a silver plate. Even as I explained how life was without a man by my side while trying to raise one, he wouldn’t understand what I had to go through. “I needed it.”
“What for? You have two jobs that allow you some tips. Why in the world would you need that much money?” he asked, still focused on the road.
“You wouldn’t understand.” I tried to dismiss the idea.
Why should I tell him the truth? Worse, how was I supposed to say that I had to pay a large amount of hospital bills because Sean caught a respiratory virus some time ago? They could easily judge me to be an unfit mother.
“Oh, so you’re on your own again?” He must have found it very insulting to spare me from ruin and not know why he had to. “You’re still that brave and independent Kelsey Fontez, who needs no one.”
It wasn’t like that.
“You borrowed money from someone like Jake Frost, yet would not accept a single cent from my family.” He shook his head and then murmured in further disbelief and disapproval, “Unbelievable.”
He pulled over in front of my apartment. I said in a shaky voice, before climbing out of his car, “I can take care of Sean.”
It was probably not the best thing I had done, but I had to say it. Who knew what had been running through his head again about me? Scott was always very quick to judge me. Why should it be different now?
He followed me out of the car, shutting his door loudly. “That’s right. You took care of him all right, but you had to run around town and borrow money from everyone, until you couldn’t pay them back.”
I stifled all the arguments I wanted to say to him. How was I supposed to open up to him now? Even as I wanted to, even as I wanted someone to run to, why should it be him when he was already saying things, without waiting for my side of the story?
Ignoring him, I went straight to my bedroom as soon as my front door banged open. I had some more of Sean’s clothes to pack, and a few of mine. It was late, and I was tired.
He rushed over to force me to face him. “Tell me, Kelsey. How many times did you have to borrow money and give yourself as payment?”
I felt my blood rush to my head and boil through my veins. How could he assume for one second I was that kind of woman? I was never that kind of woman! Was that how he had always seen me to be? Was that why he had always taunted me?
Before I could even say anything, I struggled away from him and slapped him across his face. “How dare you?” I yelled at him. I pushed him away. “You have no idea what I had to go through to raise my son! You were not there when I had to skip my meals just so he could eat! You were not there when all I had left were a few coins in my pocket, when I was crying and wondering how to explain to a little boy why I couldn’t buy him a toy!”
“Kelsey…” He tried to reach for my hand, the sudden change in his mood taking me aback. He stood by my bed and watched me take all of Sean’s clothes from his dresser. I waited for more of his insults but he remained still, and his breathing slowly calmed. “I need to know.”
“What do you want with me, Scott?” I forced my eyes shut as I knelt on the floor, holding my son’s clothes. “Why are you doing this to me?”
“Me?” There was that disbelieving voice again. “I’m not doing anything! I’m asking you what happened. Why did you need that kind of money?”
I shook my head. I couldn’t tell him. He would tell his parents and they would blame me for denying Sean the life he deserved. “I can’t.” Tears were beginning to pool in my eyes. I blinked them back as I heard footsteps come towards me.
I wouldn’t give him satisfaction, if he was going to come closer and taunt me more as I cried. As I lifted my hand to wipe my eyes, he grabbed me by the wrist. Slowly, he sat beside me to stare, his breath on my cheeks. “Kelsey.”
“It’s nothing, okay?” I pulled my hand away and stood, bringing the clothes to my bed. I paced the room swiftly, leaving him staring at me while he slowly got up. Opening my almost-empty closet, I tried reaching for my suitcase from the topmost shelf. I could only touch it with the tip of my finger, slowly pulling it towards me so I could catch it as it fell.
“Here.” He took it easily and gave it to me.
“Thanks.” I kept my head down.
He blocked my way as I tried to go out. He was his impatient self again, trying to force something out of me. “Answer me. What happened?”
“Why do you suddenly care?”
He didn’t answer me. He looked at me tenderly, something which he hadn’t done before. For a moment, I almost saw Seth. His purple eyes bore straight into me and I gasped, realizing he was a different person. For a moment, I felt my knees go weak, seeing him, but seeing the man fate took from me at the same time. I felt as if I had gone completely crazy.
“Se…,” but it wasn’t him, and I looked away.
He walked closer and I took a step back. My closet was small and it suddenly felt like I couldn’t breathe. I was still looking away from him. What was he doing?
“Look at me,” he whispered, as he took my chin. I yanked his hand away. “Look at me,” he said again, walking even closer. I panicked, dropping the suitcase completely, as I stopped his hands from reaching for my cheeks again.
I remained unable to look as he trapped me against the wall. “What are you doing?”
“You miss him,” he whispered, his gentle hands on my cheek and my shoulder.
I shot him a glance. “Of course, I miss him! What kind of a mind game is this?”
“It’s not a mind game.” He shook his head. As if to force something he needed to say, he swallowed hard. “Use me.”
“What?” I widened my eyes at his words. What did he mean? I tried pulling his hands away from my body but they remained as they were, holding me, making me want them around me, so I could cry.
He drew me close, pulling my head to his, and planted a soft kiss on my lips, making me gasp, making my eyes flutter shut. I moaned, stunned; a man who looked exactly like my first love, kissing me inside a small, warm space.
I felt his hand tightening, travelling to my waist, as I remained still. He was slowly pressing his body against mine. My eyes leaked a tear I had held for a long time. I moved my hands to his hard chest so I could push him away, but I couldn’t do it. I felt weak. It was like his kiss, the first I had since Seth died, had drained me of all the strength I had gathered up to live alone, with a boy to carry, a boy to raise.
Slowly, he parted his lips and tried to do the same with mine, with his tongue. I gripped his shirt firmly and tried to push him away with my body. I couldn’t do this. I shouldn’t do this! For even as his purpose remained that of easing my pain, it wasn’t right to give him what was Seth’s, and only Seth’s.
Yet he misunderstood me. He pushed me back, pressing his body closer to mine and I felt him stiffening under his clothes. With open lips, he trailed my jaw until he reached my ear, carefully biting my lobe, so that I groaned softly.
I couldn’t believe how much I had missed this. At night, when I had no one beside me in my cold bed, I would imagine Seth, coming to me as though on a breeze and feel myself get warm. It wasn’t enough for a woman who had nothing to do each day but care for her son and no one to care for her in return.
He inhaled my scent, long and deep, before covering the side of my neck with his mouth. He enjoyed every second I let him taste me, gasping for air, but I couldn’t even let out a protest. His tongue dipped into the base of my throat and I threw my head back to allow him further access.
He brought his lips back to my mouth and I took them. I took them willingly, blinding myself with the heat of the moment. I raised my hands and wrapped them around his neck, and tiptoed, so I could better reach him. He placed his hands on my b
ehind to push me against him and I could feel him. He was growing hotter and harder.
Many times, I would cry and ask myself if I could bring myself to find a man…any man I could take to bed, but I couldn’t. Seth had been so perfect a man that no one could measure up against him. I had remained his for the past six years. I remained untouched…and worse, unloved.
“Mister Grimaldi.” A voice from the living room set us back. He jumped away, releasing me from my fantasy and we stared at each other for a moment, both breathless and both astounded. “Mister Grimaldi.”
“In here.” Scott announced and I went out of the closet immediately to finish packing. He followed after to face Leo.
“Sir, your father called. They are worried about you and Ms. Fontez.”
“Tell them Kelsey is almost done.” He turned to me, forgetting I already knew the things he was mumbling about. “Leo, as you’ve already met, is my assistant. He is Luis’ son and he will help you. I will wait for you in the car.”
Chapter Five
Scott: A Six-Years-Too-Late Savior
I followed her all the way from home…from the moment she called herself a cab to the moment I heard two of Jake’s men say that he was going to settle a score with her in his office. I didn’t think I would be given the chance to rescue her from someone or something, but I was, and I suddenly felt so strongly connected to her. It was like for the first time, I wanted to be there for her so she wouldn’t fall trapped with a man like me.
I couldn’t help but get angry at myself while we were on our way to her apartment. Every memory of how badly had I treated her in school, and how I had pushed her away while she was with Seth, returned to me when I saw another man take advantage of her.
I followed her to her room after a slight argument in the car. I wanted to know why she needed that kind of money and what it was that happened to her in the past that slipped past my private investigator.
Yes. I had some guy watch her for some time after my brother died, when I couldn’t any more. It must have been once every week before that, that I stayed at the café across from her apartment just so I could freaking stare at her bloody bedroom window, where she always seemed to look at the sky from and cry.
