by Sienna Mynx
“Tarek? Wait? Tarek?” she said and took a step forward, but it was as if the darkness pushed her back. Kassidy hugged herself and fought down her anxiety. She heard him curse and crash into a few things. And then a light blinked on. Not from above, but from deep inside. He had two lanterns. They were portable, battery operated, and large. Kassidy sighed with relief. She went inside to help him, but he walked out carrying the lamps like a weight lifter.
“The stables have generators but the house isn’t wired.”
“Why not?” she asked.
“Never was,” he shrugged as if it made sense. “But the good news is the fireplaces are petroleum. I’ll light them to keep us from freezing.”
“Okay,” she said.
“You do know body heat is the best way to survive the cold?” he asked.
Kassidy ignored him. How could he even think that sex was something she wanted? They were trapped and it was his fault.
“Why don’t you go upstairs to my room and wait for me,” he suggested. She shook her head no. They weren’t a couple and this wasn’t some sleepover. She would stay focused. Plus, she had another fear. The house. It had a spooky imposing feeling to it, especially in the dark.
“I can go with you. Maybe I can help,” she said.
For a brief moment, he stared. With his face cast in shadows, she couldn’t be sure if the look was of disappointment or amusement. And then his gaze lowered. She looked down out of protective instinct. To her surprise, she saw her robe had parted all the way to her navel and revealed her cleavage. She closed it immediately, and Tarek walked off. She followed him, but remained a few steps behind. They returned to the front of the ranch, and already she could feel the shift in the temperature. Tarek went to the kitchen and got a flame wand. He led her to the parlor, and inside they discovered the fireplace had extinguished. She walked over to the window as he again ignited the gas flame.
“It’s really coming down out there,” she said.
“I was in it, remember?” Tarek said. “It’s going to be a white out.”
“This is what is happening to our environment. All of the pollution, global warming, all of it is destroying the earth. Here we are in Texas, in the middle of a blizzard.”
“That’s complete bullshit!” Tarek said.
She glanced back over her shoulder. “No, it isn’t.”
“Listen, sweetheart, the climate goes through change, and it always will change. There was no fucking Global Warming when the dinosaurs went extinct, was there? The idea that the earth was more stable before man began offshore drilling, and flying planes in the sky, is fucking ridiculous. We didn’t separate the continents. We didn’t create acidification in the oceans that melt the polar ice caps millions of years before we emerged from our caves. The best thing to do about storms like that one outside, is to be prepared to adapt and live with it.”
“You really believe that, don’t you?”
“You’re sexier when you’re quiet,” he mumbled.
“And you’re a jackass when you speak!” she tossed back.
He chuckled. She rolled her eyes and smiled.
“Yes, I am. And yes I believe it. I do,” he said and walked out.
Kassidy picked up the lantern and followed him. He lit the three rooms on the first level with her watching in silence. He grabbed another bottle of tequila and two glasses. She didn’t object, as they started upstairs.
“He isn’t coming. Not in that storm. Not tonight,” she said.
“He’ll be here when he can get here. Trust me. My guy knows what he’s doing,” Tarek bragged.
“Yeah, right,” she mumbled and then chuckled.
He glanced back at her and frowned. “What’s funny?”
“You’re the King of Lies. You know he’s not coming. But you got to talk tough to try to intimidate me. Haven’t you figured it out? I’m not scared of you.”
He paused. The man was so tall. And to Kassidy, it felt as if he grew several inches when she challenged him. He stepped in front of her. “So you’re brave now?”
“Yeah, I am,” she said.
“We’ll see.”
Tarek went inside the bedroom and Kassidy joined him. She closed the door. “What are you going to do about the feds investigating you?”
“I’m handling it.”
“You don't have much time.”
“I never have much time,” he countered.
She set the lantern down next to the bottle of tequila and two glasses. He was at the fireplace lighting up the room. This one was larger than the one downstairs, and it cast the darkness away in the glow of candlelight. Kassidy turned off the lanterns.
“What are you going to do to stop it?”
“That’s none of your business, pretty lady,” he said.
Kassidy sat on the Persian rug next to the fireplace. She watched Tarek with more curiosity than before. “So you were adopted?”
“Me too?”
He stood and stretched. He went to the dresser where he left his bottle and glasses. For the first time, she noticed he brought in a small bottle of hot sauce and a saltshaker.
“Is this another of your lies?”
“No. It’s the truth. I was adopted too.”
He paused for a brief moment. He let the comment go and studied her face. “How does your head feel, you still hurting from the accident?”
“My head doesn’t hurt because of the accident. That’s from you,” she reminded him.
“Okay, are you still in pain?” he asked.
“A little sore,” she said. “But no, I don't have internal injuries."
“Here, I got the perfect cure for soreness. It’ll work faster than the wine.”
“It’s called Prairie Fire, ever had one?” he asked.
“Prairie Fire, Huh?”
She accepted the small whiskey glass after he poured in the tequila. She sniffed its contents. It smelled disgusting. “What is it?”
“You’re from Texas and never had good tequila?” he chuckled and stretched out on the rug to the left of her. He was turned on his side facing her, while leaning on his arm.
“How do you know I’m from Texas?” she asked.
“I know you were born in Plano. But I didn’t get to read much more than that though.” He opened the bottle of hot sauce and dumped several shakes of the red liquid into his shot glass of tequila. “If you are adopted then I know your parents are dead. Explains why you called for them and cried, well, it looked like trauma to me.”
She flinched hearing her history coming from him felt unjust. He looked at her with a sympathetic smile. He tossed down the concoction, and shook his head as if charged from it. “You’ve made this personal between me and you for some reason. Maybe you blame me for your parent’s death, I dunno. But this is personal. Making love to me was personal too. I felt that. And I didn't like it.”
She gave a slow clap. “Bravo. Well done. But correction, we didn't make love. And as I recall, you liked it a lot.”
“Not what I mean,” he tossed down another shot.
“What do you mean?” she asked.
“Try it...” he reached over to dump hot sauce into her shot glass and she shook her head no, covering her glass with her hand.
“Truce, meet me half way. Put some hot sauce right here on the back of your thumb and a shake of salt next to it. Lick the hot sauce, then the salt and take the shot.”
“Eeew,” she frowned.
“One try, Promise, it’ll open you up. Besides, you’re Braveheart remember?”
The comment threw her. She’d been called that name by him before. Many years ago. She looked from him to the hot sauce, then back into his eyes. “Fine,” she said and rolled up the sleeves on her robe. She did as he instructed. He watched her with a sly smile. She closed her eyes, and held her breath as she licked the hot sauce and salt before she tossed back the tequila. She coughed it down.
“Wish I had some limes to take the sting out of it,” he winked.
“You think you know me?” his gaze held hers.
“I know the great Tarek Marshall, bachelor, the heartbreak kid was once engaged.”
Tarek paused.
“You were engaged. Am I lying?”
“Good guess.”
“Let me guess something else. Her name was Clarissa right?” Kassidy asked and suppressed the urge to chuckle. Why did she want to chuckle? She'd just spoken a name she swore she would never say in front of him. And she giggled? Loose lips sink ships. And one look into his eyes and she knew her ship was sunk.
Tarek sat upright.
“Where did you hear that?” he asked.
She tossed back the tequila and her face pinched up as it burned going down. She coughed and collected herself before pouring herself another, and lining her thumb with hot sauce and salt. He grabbed her wrist. His brown eyes were even darker now. The rage on his face sharpened his features. “Where did you hear it?”
“You keep saying this is personal. You keep probing. That’s instinct Tarek. You had it when we met on the plane. You had it when we slept together and you woke to see me snooping around. You had it after Alaska when you dumped me. This nagging feeling that I wasn’t who I said I was.”
“And now I know I was right.”
“I guess,” she said and lowered her gaze. “But you can’t remember. You can’t see past the woman before you to who I used to be. Don't you remember me?” she asked.
He let go of her wrist and sat upright. He frowned.
“Not even a little Tarek? I could never forget you. I wanted to marry you, for you to be my prince. I drew you a picture but my momma made me go to bed. I kissed you from the top window. Remember me now?”
Tarek eyes stretched. “Kassie.”
“That's right, Kassie. That’s the secret. I don’t work for Dale, or Daniel. I work for me. All of this, from the very start, has been about you and me.”
“There is no you and me. You were a kid. How the hell do you even remember me?” he asked. “What were you? Four years old?”
“I was six you asshole!”
“What the fuck is this about?” Tarek said. He glared at her. “This is about Clarissa? You came after me for Clarissa?”
“Crystal Beach,” she sighed. “I loved that place as a kid. And every year my family would stay at a small bed and breakfast called Maria that my parents often visited because of the sea turtles. The year you and I met was the year my parents and my sisters died.”
“Fuck!” Tarek stood. He “Fuck!”
Kassidy could tell he not only remembered. But he remembered all of it.
“It was the best and worst summer of my life. You're right Tarek, it was a car accident. Like you, I'm an orphan.”
“Your father. He was an attorney? Wasn’t he?”
“Jameson Turner,” she said.
Kassidy stood. She faced him. The tears came despite her suppression. “And your family killed him.”
“No. No.”
“I was in the car! I can remember that night. How afraid he and Jesus Garcia were. I can remember the way he drove at night and the car trailing us. We were driven off the road.”
“You don’t understand,” Tarek said.
“I understand that you are responsible for wiping out my entire family,” she shouted.
Tarek stared at her. Kassidy wiped her tears. “And you didn’t stop there. Clarissa was my angel. After the accident and my time in the hospital, she nursed me back to health. Eventually my aunt came for me. She took me back to Plano. I don’t know what you did to make her kill herself. But that was the final straw. You killed her, just as sure as you killed my family.”
He wasn’t smiling. In fact his face was blank. No reaction registered at all. And the tequila kept talking.
“You were a kid. The fucking Garcia’s should have told you the real story. What happened to your family, and Clarissa wasn’t my fault. They’re fucking assholes for making you believe it!”
She charged him. She screamed with rage and went at his face with her hands and nails. He was taken by surprise and they both went down. Kassidy kept hitting him. Screaming and hitting him. Tarek rolled her to her back. He pinned her hands down and locked her body with his legs. She was forced to lie still.
“Let me go! Let me go!” she screamed.
“Stop it! You want to know the truth, here is the truth. And you’re going to listen!” he shouted in her face. “My father wanted that beach. He wanted to stop the protests and resistance he was getting for MGS drilling in the Gulf. The Garcia’s led the charge to push him off. But money, baby, money can buy anything—friends, loyalty, you name it and there is a price.”
“They were good people!” Kassidy said.
“Maybe, some of them were, but they made a big mistake by dragging your father into it. The business on the board walk wanted to sell. Some of the resorts too. Day by day my father began to break them down. Clarissa and I fought about it. But we both knew if our parents knew who she and I were to each other our relationship would be over. So we stopped being seen together, and did a lot of sneaking around. Her mother helped her. At first. She didn’t know who I was. I told Dale about how much in love I was with her. He offered to help me too. I was willing to run away with Clarissa I loved her so much.”
“What happened to my family?”
“Everyone wanted to sell. A meeting was called to force the final few who were refusing to sell to change their minds. But your father stepped up. It was on the news, and in the local papers. He was retained by the resort owners in Crystal Beach. He was going to the federal courts to get the beach protected. He would represent the Garcia’s and stop MGS encroachment.”
Kassidy frowned at the history lesson. Tarek let her go. He sat up. She lay flat on her back staring at the ceiling. She digested the news.
Tarek continued. “Your father was threatened. The neighbors were going to make sure he left town. They were the ones that chased your father out of town. Not my family. They were the ones that caused that accident.”
“So you knew what happened to me?”
“No. Yes. I heard about it. But I had my own problems. My brother Dale turned on me. Told my father all about Clarissa. You don't have any idea what she meant to me,” he said.
He sat up.
“I know what happened to her. What you and your family did. It’s sick. You might as well have put a bullet to her head, it would have been less cruel.”
“Dale introduced me to Clarissa,” Tarek said. Kassidy froze. “That’s right. She was the friend of some girls he used to fuck in town. Told me she would be easy piece of ass. I was so desperate to get my brother to stop hating me that I mimicked him. But Clarissa was different. And for a short time I was different too.”
“You’re twisting things...”
“I loved her. She was young and confused. Her father was going to lose everything he had. Everything. And all she had was a secret she couldn’t tell anyone.”
“So is that why you forced her into aborting your child? To keep that secret from getting back to your father?”
Tarek threw his glass at the wall. “A fucking lie! I didn’t know she was pregnant!” he shouted.
Kassidy frowned. “You did—”
“She couldn’t reach me. So she went to Dale. She trusted him. She told him about the baby. And that is what sealed both our fates. My father threatened to tell her father. This was before everyone had a fucking cell phone or were so comfortable sending text messages. I had no way of contacting her. She had no way of contacting me. Dale was who we both trusted, and he played us from the start.”
“I feel sick,” Kassidy said. Tarek didn’t even glance her way. He kept talking. “After your family died people were arrested. Did you know that? A man went to jail for causing the accident that drove your family off the road.”
Kassidy frowned. “Yes
. I knew a man named Sanford went to jail. He worked for your father.”
“No. Everett Sanford owned a restaurant on the boardwalk. He was a small time business man. I wouldn’t be surprised if my father paid him off to get him and his buddies to chase your family out of town.”
“Stop it. You’re twisting things. My father was scared that night. My mother too.”
Tarek shook his head. “I had nothing to do with it.”
“That doesn’t change the fact that they are dead!”
“No. I’m sorry you lost your parents. But you aren’t the only fucking person that loss in that war. Clarissa and her parents knew MGS was too powerful to stop when your father died. The other resort owners on the beach were terrified and willing to sign off. Maybe Dale told her I didn’t want the child. Maybe Dale told her that I was responsible for the death of your family. Who the fuck knows? The deal she made with my father through Dale was to abort the baby we made out of love. And she did it to save her families beach and those fucking turtles! That's what Princess Clarissa did.”
“No,” Kassidy shook her head. “She did it to stop all of you. You're lying.”
“I don't lie sweetheart. You want to know why I hate my father. Why I tried to destroy him and Dale? Why I waited all these years for my chance to take this company from them, because he took my child from me.” He went into his pocket and removed his wallet. He opened it and removed the picture of Clarissa. Tarek stared at it for a moment, and then he threw it in the fire. Shocked Kassidy nearly went after it. She looked at him with disgust.
“Clarissa killed herself!” Kassidy broke down in tears. “She killed herself because of you! I know that much for a fact.”
“She killed herself because of her own fucking guilt and the fact that I wouldn't forgive her for murdering our child. You like to do research on me; you should have done more research on her!”
Kassidy wiped her tears. She thought Tarek had forced Clarissa to have an abortion. But one look into his eyes she knew his pain and his loss cut as deeply as her own.
“We aren't talking about this anymore,” he mumbled and tried to stand. She grabbed his arm to stop him.
“Tarek! I spent all of my life thinking about you. Only you. And getting revenge for her. Instead of mourning my parents I blamed you. I was only able to heal my broken life because I hated you.”
