20
Kaine
I heard her first. It only took a second more to know exactly where to find her. I was almost to our room when the screams reached me. It was coming from the floor below, right under the Citadel. The room Cole preferred…
I crashed through the doors, splintering the wooden frame. The light was dim, but more than enough. Cole stood in front of a girl who was bound and almost naked. I could see her only from the back. Cole held a whip in one hand and his dick in the other. He took one step back and I took five forward. I looked from him to the girl in the stocks and felt the air leave my lungs. “Grace…?”
I drove my fist into Cole’s face again and again, losing myself in the feel of it. I felt his nose break and watched as blood poured down the sides of his cheeks. Every hit was deliberate and I told myself I was still in control. I’m always in control. Then her voice broke through…
“You’ll kill him, Kaine. Kaine, you have to stop… please…”
I looked from Cole’s battered and bleeding face into Grace’s clear green eyes. I felt sick inside for having left her here alone. This was my fault almost as much as Cole’s. She was my responsibility and I’d fucking left her.
I unlocked the shackles that held her, and put Cole’s slack wrist into one of the metal brackets instead. I clamped it down too tight and felt a twisted surge of pleasure. If Grace knew what I suspected about Cole, she might have been willing to let me kill the bastard after all.
I gathered her into my arms and lifted her against my chest. Minutes later, we were back in the Citadel.
“I told you not to leave!”
Grace had emerged from the bedroom, fully dressed and was pouring herself a glass of mineral water. She spun to face me.
“And I don’t remember agreeing to obey you when you weren’t even here.” Her voice was crisp, short.
I took a step forward, hands balled into fists, the nails cutting into my palms. I exhaled hard and closed my eyes. This wasn’t what I wanted at all.
“Grace,” I said more gently, “Are you alright?” I took another step and put my hand on her shoulder. “Did he hurt you?”
Her green eyes flashed like jewels and locked on mine. “Did he take what you paid for? Is that what you mean?” She shrugged off my hand but stayed where she was, only inches away. “No, Kaine. Your investment is still safe.”
I ran my hands through my hair and examined the ceiling above us. The last few hours had taken the last of my patience. I’d come too damn close for comfort with Cole, and almost lost it. I felt a wave of satisfaction, remembering the feel of my fist making contact. It would have been so easy not to stop… I looked back down at Grace, so fucking close, and wanted to strip her bare. I wanted to bury myself inside her and erase everything but the need we had for each other. No past, no future, just the two of us, and an end to the maddening need that had brought me back to her.
“Please… Will you sit down?” Defiance was still plain on her face. “I’m asking you sweetheart, not telling,” I added gently.
She sat down stiffly in one of the overstuffed chairs. I took the sofa opposite her.
“I know I told you that I don’t explain myself…,” I began, fighting a rising sense of unease. “But I feel like I owe you… information. About why I left. And what I suspect. It involves you, Grace. You have a right to hear this.”
“How can it have anything to do with me? You have a life out there somewhere. And that has nothing to do with me, or what happens in a place like this…”
She looked away from me and I reached out, carefully, to take her hand. She didn’t pull away.
“It was all about you, sweetheart. I’m just grateful as hell that Brian had what I needed. Something told me I needed to get back here.” I reached out to stroke my fingers along her cheek. “I’d planned to be gone until tomorrow, and by then it would have been too late…”
She bit down on her lip. “What about Cole? What you did to him was assault. And sooner or later, someone’s going to find him cuffed in his room. He could press charges.”
“And open himself up to a charge of attempted rape?” I tangled my hand in her hair and cupped the back of her neck. “He’d never risk the scandal, Grace. He’ll keep his mouth shut. And housekeeping won’t bat an eye. Cole’s known for taking the submissive role here on occasion, and there are more than a few girls who’d be glad to take the credit for the bruises I left on him.” I smiled darkly at the thought. “Besides, if what my assistant found on him bears up, there may be a larger kind of justice in his future.”
“I found him in the service stairway, Kaine. He was attacking one of the maids and I tried to stop him… He took me instead… to that room.”
“Are you sure you’re alright?” I pulled her gently from the chair to sit next to me and took her in my arms. She was softening to me. “So help me, if he hurt you I’ll go back and finish him, unconscious or not.” I searched her face, her skin, running my hands down her back.
“I’m fine, Kaine,” she answered softly. “You got there in time… just in time I think. He’d only used the whip. He hadn’t… well, he didn’t…”
“I need to see, Grace. Where did he hit you?”
She unbuttoned her blouse and let it slip down from her shoulders. Thin red weals striped her pale flesh, but the skin was unbroken. “It hardly hurts now. It just stings.”
I ran my hands gently over her skin, careful not to touch the marks. Her skin had been so perfect. And that fucking bastard had marked her. I felt an anger start to build inside like nothing I’d ever felt. That he had done this to an innocent girl. That anyone was capable of hurting another person like this…
“God, I’m so fucking sorry. I never would have left, sweetheart. If I’d known you were in any kind of danger.” I lifted her hair from the back of her neck and pressed my lips to the soft, warm skin and heard her sharp inhale. I turned her to face me. “I won’t leave you again. And I promise you, Cole is going to pay for this. I’m going to make him pay for everything.”
I gathered her into my arms and carried her to the bathroom. I sat on the edge of the tub with her curled on my lap and turned the water on, adjusting the temperature. “Will you let me take care of you?” I asked. I felt the nod as her head bobbed against my chest.
“Yes,” she answered me, then she looked up through those thick dark lashes. “And I’m sorry too. Sorry, that I didn’t stay here, like you wanted.”
I kissed her then, deep and long. Her hands reached up to my shoulders and I felt her pause. “Go ahead,” I rasped out. “It’s alright.”
We kissed, tangled in each other’s arms as the water ran. We tasted and teased. Our tongues met and merged as we strained for more, both needing more of each other than a kiss could offer. My hands moved, stripping her clothes off onto the floor. I held her, warm and perfect in my arms and struggled to keep control. It was the one thing my life had revolved around for so many years, and yet this small innocent girl was challenging everything. I pulled back and shut off the water that threatened to overflow. “Here, sweetheart,” I said, working to catch my breath. I eased her into the tub and stripped off my shirt. “I’m going to bathe you.”
The water was warm, almost hot and her body relaxed as she slipped in. I watched her close her eyes and sigh, as I gathered her hair and secured it with a clip. Soft tendrils escaped around her face. “Just feel the water, Grace,” I said softly, as I worked a palmful of soap into a thick lather. “And feel my hands.” I lifted her arm and massaged it. “Keep your eyes closed and just breathe, sweetheart. I don’t ask anything of you, but that. Just let me care for you.”
I stroked and kneaded, massaging her gently, working the soft lather into her skin. She kept her eyes closed the entire time and let me move her and touch her. I ran my hands under her hips and lifted her in the water, feeling the curves of her body, the firm softness of her muscles and her velvet skin. I washed her breasts and her belly. Turning her easily onto her si
de, I washed the delicate skin of her back. The warmth of the water turned the marks a darker shade of red. I felt a surge of anger and guilt again, and forced it down. She was safe now. Safe with me. And she’d never be in danger again, not while I was alive.
I watched her as her body lifted and fell with the gentle movements of the water. Her breathing was soft and steady, her lashes resting on her cheeks. I held her hand, kneading the tiny bones between my fingers. She was almost asleep and utterly beautiful. I sat, content to look at her. I’d have to wake her before the water cooled, but for now, I let her rest and held her hand.
The short time I’d been gone had been enough. What Brian had found was enough to jog the memory I’d been trying so hard to remember. An internet search had turned up the photographs, and while it wasn’t proof, it was a place to start. And after what I’d seen tonight, I knew deep inside that my suspicions were correct. I’d left Brian to follow up on a dozen more leads and call me as soon as he had anything concrete. Cole had no idea just how lucky he’d been tonight. That I hadn’t just killed him for what he’d done. He also had no idea just how soon that luck was going to run out…
I needed to tell Grace. But there wasn’t anything that couldn’t wait for morning. Part of what I had to tell her made my gut clench at the thought. But she had a right to know. Even if telling her meant risking everything else.
21
Grace
I woke gently to the sound of Kaine’s voice. “Sweetheart, it’s time we got you into bed.”
I opened my eyes to see his face close to mine, and I remembered the soothing feel of his hands as he’d washed me. Another unexpected moment. That I could ever fall asleep with his hands on my naked body…
I sat up, standing when he held out a thick bath towel for me. He wrapped me inside it and inside his strong arms. I leaned into him, happy for his warmth and the support of his body as he dried me. “Come.” He took my hand and led me back to the bedroom. Lifting me, he settled me under the covers and kissed me on the forehead. He stood to go and I caught his large hand in both of mine.
“Stay with me, Kaine. Please… just for tonight?” My voice sounded thin and needy. Any other time I would have been embarrassed by it, but right now I didn’t care. There was no way in hell I would be able to sleep alone in the big bed again, no matter how tired I was. “You promised you wouldn’t leave me…”
Even in the darkness, I could sense the conflict inside him. What I couldn’t tell was whether he wanted to stay… or he wanted to leave. He stood still long enough to make me wish I hadn’t asked. But then he moved to the other side of the bed… and I watched his silhouette as he removed his jeans and slipped into bed. He stretched out a hand to me, across the expanse between us.
“I’m right here,” he said. “But you need rest. And believe me, if I come any closer than this, you won’t get any sleep at all.”
Even with the distance between us, it took hours to fall asleep. I was too aware of his body and mine. I’d never seen him completely naked and the idea that he was so close… I wondered what it would feel like, the touch of all that skin on mine. I was twenty-two and still didn’t know that feeling. Flesh on flesh, bodies tangled and joined together… I ached to reach out to him, but didn’t want to risk what we had now. Even if it still wasn’t quite close enough…
I rolled onto my side away from him and listened to his breathing in the darkness. Deep and steady. Comforting, even if he wouldn’t hold me. Eventually, exhaustion took over and I dropped off, sleeping like a child does… deeply without dreams or awareness or any sense of time passing. I didn’t know if it was minutes later, or hours. It was only starting to get light outside when I heard him, and I was suddenly bolt upright in the bed and grasping to understand.
“Danny!”
I started to reach for him, but stopped cold as he called out again.
“Leave it, Danny! Come back… oh, god, Danny…” He was sound asleep, but thrashing and tangled in the sheets. “NO!! Oh, god, I’m sorry. I tried… I didn’t mean to… No, Dad. Please. I didn’t mean to…”
I reached out and put my hand gently on his shoulder and found it drenched in sweat. “Wake up, Kaine. It’s just a dream.” I shook him gently. “Please… wake up.”
His hand shot out and gripped my wrist. His eyes were wide open, but he didn’t seem to see me. His eyes were unfocused and looked somehow beyond my face.
“Please, Dad. Not again. Don’t hurt him again. He’s too little and it’s not his fault…”
“Kaine! It’s me, Kaine. I need you to wake up.” I took his face between my hands. “It’s Grace. I’m here Kaine. It’s me.”
I saw the change fall like a curtain over his features. All of a sudden, he was back in control, his eyes sharp on mine. He swallowed and put his hands over mine. The Kaine I knew was back, and I felt a strange, unexplainable feeling of sadness. His dream had obviously been terrifying, but it seemed so much worse for all those emotions to be bottled up again. Forced back down by the steel of his damned self-control.
He sat up and turned his back to me, swinging his legs over the edge of the bed. The dim light made his scars even more visible. The raised, organized pattern of them cast tiny shadows and they stood out in contrast. I reached a hand up, aware of the risk I was taking. I held my breath and touched him.
His skin shuddered under my palm, but I went on. Putting my other hand on his back too, I ran them slowly over the surface of his skin, touching. Exploring. He was breathing too fast, but he didn’t stop me. And he didn’t pull away.
I worked slowly, touching each tiny mark with my fingertips, exploring each moment of the pain he must have felt. There were a thousand details I didn’t know. Maybe I would never know. But something deep inside me understood anyway. Pain is pain, no matter the cause. And we all carry scars somewhere…
I leaned forward and touched my lips to one, then another. I felt his skin move under my lips as if it were trying to crawl away. But he didn’t move. And he didn’t speak.
I kissed each mark, slowly, deliberately. One at a time until I had touched them all. The sky had lightened and I could hear birds singing outside. I shifted behind him and reached around his chest with my arms. I pressed my breasts against his back and held him. For a while our bodies moved out of time with each other, his breathing too fast, mine slower. I held him until we moved in time. Until our bodies rose and fell in unison.
“I’m sorry, Grace,” he said gently, turning his face close to mine. “I didn’t want this for you…”
My heart sank as he said the words and I held him tighter, refusing to let go. “How can you not see it, Kaine? How kind you’ve been to me… how you’ve protected me and treated me like I was good and beautiful?” I leaned my face into the back of his neck. “You’re beautiful too, Kaine. How can a man like you not see?”
He stood abruptly and moved away toward the window. Looking out, he took a moment, seeming to gather his thoughts. “There’s a lot you don’t know, Grace. About… about a lot of things. Things that aren’t your concern.”
He turned and stood looking back at me. The light came from the window behind him, lighting him around the edges and leaving his features in darkness. I shifted, waiting for him to go on.
“I have my own issues with Cole. There’s a lot of… history.” He cleared his throat. “My company intends to tear out an old street that his committee is fighting to save. But that’s just business. Even so, there’s never been any love lost between us.”
I nodded. “I heard you talking to someone,” I said slowly. “Rance Street… and something about a house you want torn down. It didn’t sound like business, Kaine. You were angry…” I decided to take a chance. “I think it has something to do with Danny…”
His voice was quiet, controlled, as he answered me. But his eyes were cold and bright. “Leave it alone, Grace.”
He changed the subject. “Have you ever heard the name Marks, Carlson Marks?”
�
�I heard you say the name, when you were on the call.”
“I had my assistant Brian, look into the man. He’s the witness against your mother, Grace. The one who claimed he saw her kill Cole’s wife.”
Kaine took a step closer and I could see his face more clearly. There were frown lines marring his forehead. “But that’s just it, Grace. Everything came together when I finally remembered.”
“I don’t believe what happened to Claire Cole was an accident at all.”
22
Grace
I was on my feet, standing as the room spun around me. “What are you telling me, Kaine? That my mother did this intentionally?”
“God, Grace, no. Of course not.” He led me back to the bed, sitting down beside me. “Sweetheart, I think there may be evidence that Evelyn’s not the reason Claire is dead at all.”
I felt my mouth drop open, and bit into my lip to close it again as Kaine went on. “Something felt wrong all along, but I just couldn’t put it together until now.” He took my hands in his and held them.
“The witness against your mother is Carlson Marks. He’s in politics too, like Cole. Until today, that seemed to be all they had in common. But fucking Brian is a damn genius and discovered the one piece of the puzzle that I couldn’t remember. That Marks and Cole were in college together years ago. And that there were allegations against Marks by a female student. That he’d raped her during a frat party.” He ran a hand through his hair.
“Cole came to his rescue and gave him an alibi, and the charges were dropped. It was the end of a small story that stayed small. And local. Both men came from prominent families with money to back them, and the story was killed before anyone even heard about it.”
Best Friend's Little Sister Page 88
