The Hailey Holloway Complete Series

by K. C. Stewart

  She didn't respond so he added, "If you're not there I will find you and throw you over my shoulder like the caveman you think I am."

  "Fine," she grumbled.

  He left to give her space to think and get dressed. In the mean time he needed to make sure everything was ready. Last night he had unpacked all of her things and arranged the space he had for her. If she wasn't so stubborn and let him talk, then she might actually like what he had planned.

  "Duncan," he said in greeting to the dragon coming up the stairs. "Do you need something?"

  "Sir, I was just coming to find you. I believe everything is ready but wanted you to look it over."

  "Great minds, Duncan." Dacea clapped him on the back and they began to walk down the hallway. "I was just on my way down."

  *****

  Hailey felt relatively normal. From the mirror she couldn't see the damage, so others wouldn't either. It was there though, lurking nearby. In her shadow, the damage, the broken part of her, would always hide. It almost made it worse not being able to see it. Then, at least she would have to deal with it. Now, she could avoid it. Pretend it wasn't there, like it wasn't real.

  She was broken. Didn't he understand that? She was marked and broken. When Dak figured it out, he would leave her. It's why she didn't want to live there with him. If she was in her own place, she would have a place to retreat to when he came to his senses. If she was living here and he ended their relationship, she'd have nowhere to go.

  She slipped her arms through the sleeves and pulled her sweatshirt over her head. Her back ached when she moved to fast or too hard. She'd take it slow the rest of the day. It would give her a reason to keep away from everyone in the house. Today she planned to hide beneath clothing and frizzy hair. When she wanted, Hailey could make herself damn near invisible.

  Down the hallway and stairs, Hailey moved through the house like a mouse. An oversized sweatshirt wearing dwarfed mouse. She didn't want to talk to anyone or have pitying looks. In fact, she would be in the safety of the bedroom if Silas hadn't been asking for her. Talking to him and getting the rest of the story was a risk out of her hamster ball of comfort she was willing to take.

  There was a guard outside the door to the basement. His jaw was locked tight as he stared straight ahead. Cacti looked friendlier than he did. He caught sight of her and sank in relief. "Please tell him to shut up."

  "I don't understand."

  "You will," he murmured and opened the door. Immediately the hallway filled with the sounds of Silas singing "the name game" with Hailey. She couldn't help it, a laugh escaped her. It was so utterly ridiculous. She stepped through the doorway and started down the stairs.

  "Hailey, Hailey, bo-bailey!"

  She snickered.

  "Banana-fana fo-failey!"

  At the base of the stairs she waited for him to finish. Interrupting a moment like this would be criminal.

  "Fee-Fi-mo-mailey! HAILEY!"

  "You rang?" she asked leaning against the corner.

  "Oh thank god. I was running out of things to yell." Silas pulled himself to his feet by way of the chain that anchored his arms to the wall. Boo, the black cat from his house sat beside him. Hailey looked in question at him and Silas just shrugged.

  "Nice digs," Hailey said as she wondered closer. "Could use some blinds though." Instead of responding Silas watched her like a hawk does his prey.

  "How are you?" As usual he got right to the point.

  "Alive," she said honestly.

  "He's dead. Alex had tied him up and left him for me. When I saw what happened-"

  "Wait, you saw it?" she interrupted.

  "Video surveillance, I saw the whole thing."

  She nodded. "Oh…right." There was footage of it and anyone could watch it. It would only take a few clicks and she would be on the internet. YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, social media would spread her humiliation and pain around the world.

  "Don't." Hailey looked up. He was standing as close as the bindings would allow. "Don't do that to yourself. I'll take care of the tape. It's passcoded as it is now. No one will see it."

  "Thank you." For killing him, she finished in her head. For making it all disappear. If only her scars were as easily erased.

  He tried to step closer but the chains dug into his skin. Silas snarled at them and tugged. Hailey snorted at his behavior. So much like a dog, she mused. And she was the bone that was just out of reach. Admitting defeat, his shoulders sagged while his arms dropped.

  "This one kept watch over the guard until I came." He nodded toward Boo. "He showed up this morning. I can only assume he wanted to check on you as well."

  The cat didn't look like he was here to check on anyone but himself as he decided now was the perfect time to bathe.

  "Why have you been yelling for me?" she asked trying to ignore the lapping of Boo's tongue.

  "I wanted to apologize."

  "Do you even know what that word means?" Sadly, it was an honest question.

  His lips twitched. "As a matter of fact, I do. I just choose to ignore its existence as a word unless it suits me otherwise."

  "Can I record this? I'm pretty sure this is a moment in history that we should document." She patted her pockets in search of her phone.

  "Do you want to hear what I have to say or will hearing yourself talk suffice?"

  "Fine, I'll shut up."

  "I need to apologize for not telling you sooner about your adoption." She should have been ready for this but it still blindsided her. So she sank into her sweatshirt. It was her shell to hide from the world. "I wanted to be certain before I laid it out and I had planned it much more gracefully than it had happened."

  "I know why you did it the way you did." And being told to a room full of her friends was not the best way to break it to her.

  "Anything you want to know?"

  "All of it." Her eyes met his and he nodded. He had been ready for this and she thought he looked a tad excited.

  Hailey sat on the ground with her legs crossed in front of her, the cold cement bit through her thin yoga pants and into her skin. Silas also took a seat on the floor. With his knees bent he let his arms hang between them. The chains were a bit shocking to see but Dak would take all precautions with Silas. Boo slipped through the bars and came to her. She really wasn't sure how the cat had gotten in to the house undetected, but she was glad to have something to do with her hands.

  She pet down his back and a loud rumbling came barreling out of him. He pushed his way onto her lap where he curled up on her legs. His purring softened but didn't stop while she scratched his head.

  "Our mother had been a human too. She loved our father more than anything, but he only saw her as a technicality. She meant nothing more to him than a birthing vessel." His voice became hard at the thought of their father. From what she knew, he was a fucktard to end all fucktards.

  "What happened to her?"

  "She died giving birth to you."

  Well that just made her feel like shit, nothing like killing your own mother. "I'm sorry."

  "Not your fault." He smiled at her. "Our father was a bastard. When you were born and he found out you were female, and human no less, he took you from my arms and walked out with you. I went crazy. I had no idea what he had done with you until he came back that night and said you were dead. 'A female is no use to this family.' It was eight months before I could return the favor to him."

  She understood the meaning and nodded. Silas had killed their father for what he had supposedly done to her. Her new family was dwindling quickly.

  "I never thought you could have been alive or I would have found you." Silas sighed. What a life Silas must have lived. In one day he practically lost everyone in his family.

  "I believe you. What made you suspect that I was your sister?"

  "It was in the hospital. I had a look at your file. You had the same birthday, blood type, and you had always felt familiar to me. I heard your parents say you were adopted when they wer
e talking to the doctors. Something clicked then." His sharp eyes looked her over. Hailey never knew what he was trying to do with that move. It was almost like he was trying to pull thoughts from her mind.

  "I always feel like you are dissecting me when you do that."

  His eyes softened into a smile. "Sorry, its habit."

  "Scare tactics?" Hailey wondered aloud.

  "Something like that."

  She let it settle inside her. Everything he told her, she believed. There was no reason for him to lie anyway. She felt content with the truth. Maybe because deep down she had always felt like an outsider with her family or possibly because she just wanted a chance to be happy. Silas would give her that chance and kill anyone that stood in the way.

  "You hate Dak," she blurted out.

  "Yes," he agreed. "And it's going to be an adjustment trying to not hate him."

  "How can you just drop your personal grudge against him?" She stroked Boo again.

  "Because I know if I want you, I have to accept him too." There was no hate in his eyes or any resentment. She only saw clarity and understanding. Silas knew the consequences and had already thought it all out.

  She smiled. "That was a good assumption."

  The door opened. Both of them turned their heads and watched as Dak jogged down the stairs. So caught up with Silas, she had forgotten about meeting him. Not that she wanted to. Arguing again over them living together was right up there with petting a tarantula and eating a jar of peanut butter on her list of shit she didn't want to do. And by the looks of it, he was still pissed and ready for round two.

  Dak had a moment's hesitation in his pace when he saw Boo. Surprise! She though sarcastically. Silas brought a friend. Boo took the moment leap from her lap and disappear around the corner. Coward! She mentally yelled at him.

  Dak didn't look at Silas but walked straight toward Hailey with a mission in his eyes. He held out a hand to help her up. To play nice, she placed her hands in his. "Hey, I was just on my way up." He pulled her to her feet and immediately bent and tossed her over his shoulder. She was so shocked that it took her a minute before she started to yelled and punch him in the back.

  "Did I not promise you I would do this?" he asked.

  She could see Silas smirking from between her locks of hair. "Yeah, but I didn't think you'd go full caveman!"

  "A promise is a promise." Smartass was enjoying this.

  "Well, your promises suck." Propping her elbows on his back, she righted herself as much she could. "Silas, I'll be back later and we can finish talking."

  "Give him hell, Hailey," he said with a wink.

  Chapter Nineteen

  "You can put me down now," she said when they got through the door. "You point has been made." Dacea didn't let her down because that would give her a chance to run away. As long as she was in his hold, she was going nowhere and would finally have to listen to what he had to say.

  Or better yet, she could see what he had been trying to tell her.

  Darby saw them coming and shook her head with a smile. She had approved of his plan from the start, which is why she didn't question what he was doing now. Instead she opened the back door for him and held out a cup of coffee. "Thank you," he said and took the handle.

  "This is a conspiracy! Darby, are you serious right now?"

  Amused, Darby patted Hailey's head when they passed. "You have nothing to worry about, Darlin'."

  It was cold as they stepped outside. If she had been cooperating he would have gotten her coat. Now she would have to suffer the consequences. The courtyard was paved in cobble stones. He loved the old colonial feel of the area. With a few Adirondack chairs nestled along a tree or two, it was rustic and not at all city like.

  There were three paths he could take. The far right led to the pool. The center to the guest house Dane was occupying. The ex-detective was newly appointed head of security. The house came with his position. With how easily Katherine had been getting in, he wanted his security on site.

  The last path was the one he headed down. It led to the second guest house. Dacea had thought long about their predicament. Hailey had to move in on her own terms and he wanted her here now. Originally he was going to set her up in a room in the main house, but Lia said it wouldn't work. There was no difference in sharing his room to one down the hall. She needed her own space, a place to go to when she wanted room to breathe.

  He had learned that Hailey was a private person early on. Spending night after night alone in her apartment was a choice. Not that she wasn't capable of being social, she could be when forced. Hailey just didn't feel the need to interact for the sake of interacting. It made their time together more special since she chose to be with him instead of on her own.

  The guest house was about the size of her apartment. It contained a small kitchen, adjoined dining and living room, bathroom and bedroom. He had her things moved in and upgraded what was needed. This was her place, it just happened to be in his backyard and right next to security.

  Inside he set down his coffee mug before placing Hailey back on her feet. She had become cautiously silent in the last few minutes. When he righted her, she was looking at him through narrow eyes. Her thoughts were written plainly on her face. Hailey didn't know what he was playing at. He wasn't going to tell her either. She could figure it out on her own.

  Dacea found his coffee and lifted it to take a sip when her tiny fingers swiped it from his grip. With her new cup of coffee she finally looked around. He watched her, gauging her reactions. She hadn't run yet, so that was a good sign.

  He followed her through the rooms, neither of them said a word. The closets were opened, drawers checked, books counted. When they made it back to where they had started, Hailey turned toward him and handed the empty mug back.

  "You moved my stuff."

  "I did." Now he was the one wondering what her game was.

  "My books are out of order."

  "I couldn't figure out your system." After two hours of staring at titles and authors with no hope in finding her order, Dacea had just put the books on the shelves by size. He would help her fix it if need be, but in that time he had seriously started to question her sanity.

  Hailey rolled her eyes. "They were by publication date."

  "Of course they were." Publication date? Enough of this, he thought. She hadn't given him any hint to what she thought of the place. "Hailey," he began.

  "You did good, Dak." She gave him a half smile.

  "Yeah?" He stepped close and slipped his hands onto her hips.

  "Yeah." She agreed and returned the gesture. Hailey tilted her chin up and he met her halfway with a kiss.

  "Thanks." Her lips said against his.

  "It's yours for as long as you need it, but on one condition." Those eyes narrowed again on him. "I sleep with you. It can be here or in the main house but I get you at night."

  "What's the point of this then?" She backed up a step and he let his hands fall from her hips. "Why give me my own space if I'm not allowed to enjoy it on my own?"

  "What is this really about? There has to be more to it because your argument has no reasoning behind it. I'm trying to compromise with you here, but there needs to be give on your part too." Dacea ran a hand through his hair. Every time he thought they were making progress, she dug her feet in the ground and had a tantrum.

  She panicked. He saw it in her eyes. Since she had nowhere to run, she did the only thing she could and pushed him away. "Get out."

  "No. We are not doing this again." He stepped closer.

  Like a frightened rabbit, Hailey turned and sprinted to the bedroom. He was ready for it and ran after her. The door was swinging closed when he stuck out his hand and stopped it with a thud that vibrated the walls. Hailey backed up till her legs hit the bed. The panic had worked its way onto the rest of her face. She began to sink into herself. Her shields had come up.

  "What are you so scared of?" he asked as he stepped into the room. "Do you have some d
eep dark secret that you feel you have to keep hidden? Because there is nothing you can't tell me." And nothing she shouldn't tell him. Whatever it was, they would get through it together.

  He searched her face, first with his eyes then his fingers. He touched her chin, tilting it up so he could look at her better. Hailey looked so unhappy. His thumb glided across her lips, pulling a little on the downcast bottom one and letting it settle back into place.

  His brows pinched together. "Why are you so scared of me?"

  "I'm scared of us!" Her eyes bulged and she clasped a hand over her mouth.

  Dacea slowly pulled her hand away and cupped her cheek. She wouldn't look at him. Her eyes gathered tears as she stared at his shirt.

  "Look at me." The force in his voice brought her eyes back up. "You're leaking again." He collected the tear on his finger and wiped it from her face. "Céile, tell me what you're scared of." She shook her head and another tear rolled down. "Do you not want to be mated?" This time, instead of just simply shaking her head she stepped into him and laid her head on his chest. Enfolding her in his arms, in his love, he stroked her hair and took another guess.

  "Do you love me?"

  She nodded yes.

  "Say it."

  "Y-yes." He kissed her head in reward.

  "Brave girl," he whispered in her hair and felt her muscles relax a bit. "Do you think we are moving too fast?"

  Hailey hesitated. Her head began to bobble but stopped and answered with a whispered, "Yes." It was coming together for him, slowly. With her past and her family, it should have been more obvious. "Do you think if you tell me to slow down that I will not love you?" No answer this time. "Or that I will leave you?" Hailey sniffed and nodded a small yes.

  He waited, not acknowledging her answer until she thinning said, "Yes." He knew it wasn't easy for her to voice her fears but she needed to know that she could tell him anything and he would listen.

  "Well now, I think I can fix this." He reached in his pocket and pulled out the ring he had been keeping close since pulling it out of his safe days before. Outlined by diamonds, an oval ruby sat in the center of a gold band, tiny diamonds then continued around the circumference of the band. He felt her stiffen as she caught sight of the ring. "This was my mother's. I had planned on giving this to you in an extravagant gesture but I think it will be better this way."