Wounds That Won’t Heal

by Calle J. Brookes

  And why Rafe frightened her so badly.

  12

  “Someone needs to dance with him. We’ve known him since we were children. And he’s Marc’s brother.” Mel shot Jillian a pointed look. One that said big sister was going to turn even more evil if little sister didn’t cooperate. “And the only man I’m dancing with is my husband.”

  Because the partially paralyzed Mel could wrap herself around Houghton and just sway. Jillian got it—Mel’s mobility issues had disadvantages. Of course, snuggling the sexiest billionaire alive wasn’t exactly a disadvantage for her sister. Mel gave Jillian one more look, then let her husband lead her to the dance floor.

  “Traitor.”

  Mel smiled and waved. Then pointed toward the him in question.

  Demon dark eyes were looking at her. Jillian refused to look away. He’d heard her sister, hadn’t he? He’d taken it as a challenge.

  “Well? I see you do know how to dance.” He stepped closer. The smirk on his face made her want to smack him.

  He’d told her she needed to get her emotions in check the last time she’d argued with him in the ER. All because he’d wanted to boot some poor homeless man to the shelter three blocks away.

  Yes, he’d ended up driving the man to that shelter himself, but he’d been so damned consumed with emptying the bed for the next patient, Jillian had felt like they’d not treated the man the way they should.

  It hadn’t had to degenerate to the disagreement that it had, though.

  She didn’t quite understand how every time they encountered each other they ended up fighting. It was either her or Lacy that drew his wrath every single time. A few other people had been casualties to his temper, but she and Lacy always seemed to draw the short straws. Nobody understood it.

  Although Wanda had certainly gone after him when she thought he deserved it. Thank God for Wanda; the older woman took care of her nurses—and the younger female doctors—like a mother hen.

  It had been all his fault, and she knew it. She didn’t want his hands on her. Not tonight.

  Not when she was feeling so raw already.

  There was no way in hell she was going to let him think she was afraid.

  Jillian put her hand in his and let him lead her to the middle of the dance floor, feeling like a damned sacrifice.

  13

  It was the stupidest thing he had ever done.

  Rafe knew it from the moment he put one hand over her back. The back left bare by the white silk. Why had she chosen white? It made her curves look all the more beautiful.

  She wasn’t overly curved, but what she had...made a man drool. He hated to think it, but he understood why men like the lieutenant governor would become obsessed with her. She was the kind of woman a man simply couldn’t forget.

  He’d tried since the moment he’d seen her in that rose garden. In the deepest hours of the night he’d tossed and turned and wondered what it was about her that drew him like a fool. Made him forget the nightmares and remember her instead.

  Wondered what would happen if they got beyond the anger and the fights and looked to see if there was something more there. Something stronger than anger. Something richer.

  If he was stupid—or brave. Rafe didn’t quite know which.

  Some man somewhere would eventually fall for the woman in his arms and she’d fall for that man; her life would take that expected direction. She’d probably marry, have children, build a family much like the one from which she’d come.

  Brave, then.

  A man taking a woman like this for his own was far too brave for his own good. Rafe would never do it.

  He’d seen the desolation and destruction women like her could bring to a man. His own brother was a prime example.

  Marcus had been destroyed when he’d lost his wife Carissa four years ago. Rafe would never forget his brother’s agony. He’d held Marcus as his world fell apart, leaving his big brother with a two-year-old and a brand new infant.

  Rafe would never let himself get anywhere near that point in his own life.

  It just wasn’t worth the pain.

  Rafe tried telling his body that. The instant she brushed against him, his body tightened and urged him toward a direction Rafe’s head just didn’t want to take.

  A direction his damned body had urged him in several times over the last few weeks.

  Jillian had such fire and life when she forgot to be afraid.

  She’d come at him more times than he could count, especially when it was on her patients’ behalves. The hell of it was, he agreed with her most of the time. But Rafe was the Chief of Medicine for a reason.

  To make the hospital profitable.

  Or at least self-sustaining again. Before the-powers-that-be decided to close it.

  Jillian didn’t quite seem to understand that. He looked down at the she-devil in his arms. He wanted to pull her closer. “I missed you at the hospital today.”

  He had. Like an idiot, he’d looked for her every time he walked through her department. He practically had her schedule memorized.

  “What can I say? I was needed here. And I am sure you had plenty of people telling you how wonderful you are. I’m sure you didn’t need me.” She danced beautifully. Rafe fought the urge to pull her closer against his chest. His brain might be putting off warning signs, but the rest of him hadn’t quite gotten the message. Healthy male, beautiful woman. Attraction was practically inevitable.

  “Exactly why I missed you. No one else puts me in the dirt like you. I didn’t know you sang. You or McGareth.” Rafe glanced toward the other woman quickly. She and his idiot younger brother were the center of attention at the moment. McGareth could apparently dance really well. His brother wasn’t a slouch, either. Travis was enjoying himself with the fiery blonde, that was clear.

  “The three of us sing together when we can. It’s nothing serious. Just fun. Except Mel asked us to do this tonight. For W4HAV. It’s a charity she’s involved with, too. She and Ari brought it here to Finley Creek. I’m proud of them. They’ve worked hard to get it going.” He heard the challenge and knew she was just waiting for him to say something she didn’t like. He fought a grin.

  Sometimes it was all he could do to keep from lighting her fire just to see the sparks. He sobered. He shouldn’t get her going just to entertain himself. It wasn’t right. And could quickly turn to something else.

  “No thanks to you glaring at her, we made it through tonight.”

  “Her?” he asked, though he knew exactly who she meant. He looked for his half-sister and found her right where he expected to find her. She was just as in demand as Jillian and Lacy McGareth with the unattached men at this little party of Jillian’s brother-in-law. He glanced at the man holding his half-sister closely.

  Rafe almost did a double take. Marcus was looking down at Ariella Avery like they were the only two people in the ballroom. Like Ariella mattered to his brother.

  Ariella was looking everywhere but at her dance partner. What was Marcus thinking?

  “You’re staring,” Jillian said, her own attention on her friend. Her fingers tightened on Rafe. “And glaring. Quit scaring her. You’re doing it on purpose. I get that you don’t get along with women very well, but keep your nastiness pointed at women who can fight back. Ari won’t, you know. She’s too sweet.”

  “Like you and Dr. McGareth, perhaps?” His nastiness? Was that really how she saw him? “You always protect her?”

  He cursed himself when her face tightened. When he remembered that last damned video they’d shown while she was on that stage.

  The lieutenant governor of Texas had shot Ariella point-blank, while Jillian had watched, helpless. The horror would probably never be forgotten by the woman in his arms. Would haunt her. And he’d just made her relive it.

  Rafe pulled her closer unconsciously. “I—”

  “Yes. I always protect her. And I always will. She and Lacy and my sisters, my family, there is nothing I won’t do for them. It’s
why I’m dancing with you right now. Because Mel made me, and I won’t do anything to embarrass her in front of Houghton’s friends.”

  The dance ended and Jillian pulled out of his arms. She stalked away, leaving Rafe feeling like a complete and total ass.

  14

  Allen kept one hand on his date for the evening’s back as he guided her through the crowd. Houghton Barratt’s home was ridiculously large and ostentatious and it would be far too easy to get lost in the place.

  Not that he would mind his date for the evening—or Logan’s, for that matter—getting lost. It would make Allen’s evening far more enjoyable, that was for certain. He’d wanted to bring Jess; she would have gotten a real kick out of this crowd. But Banks had asked him specifically to go as his sister’s escort.

  So she didn’t have to go alone.

  The Claireson sisters were a bit too much work for any man. Pretty enough, though no gorgeous beauties, they were just so trying—petty, jealous, unintelligent, lacking in humor, and uppity were just a few ways to describe them.

  They spent most of the evening making nasty remarks about the event, and the Beck sisters in particular. The eldest sister had a real issue with Jillian’s elder sister marrying Houghton Barratt so suddenly. No surprise, she’d set her sights on Barratt a while back. The result hadn’t been pretty.

  He tolerated them through the surprisingly well-prepared dinner portion of the evening, and then tuned them out completely when Barratt’s wife took the podium.

  She gave a good accounting of what the charity event was for. Allen had to admit, he admired the purpose behind it. When the program on the large projector screen turned to a dramatization of what the Beck family had endured, he tensed.

  He’d witnessed the effects of some of that time. When he watched the actress portraying Jillian fight for her life, he felt absolutely sick. When they mixed in actual security footage with the dramatizations, he cursed, louder than he intended.

  As he did when he watched the blonde actress being beaten in the FCGH parking lot, as he did when he watched the man portraying Logan nearly die.

  And then the actor portraying Allen himself was on the screen, trying with everything he had to save the lives of those women.

  His date turned toward him. “I didn’t realize you were involved in that incident.”

  “It was more than just an incident. Those women nearly died because of what had happened when they were just children. It was horrible. But they are healing now.”

  He looked across the room where the Becks were. They had been through literal hell, but they had each other. They were lucky in that. All he had was his younger sister, now. And Logan. Until recently, he would have bet good money on Logan having his back—the man had helped Allen plan his mother’s funeral just two years ago, even—but Logan was struggling.

  Allen would have to talk to his friend again. See how he could help.

  Logan might not always handle people well, but his friend hadn’t deserved what had happened to him.

  Allen was shocked to his core when Jillian and Lacy and Ariella performed, with more videos of what their family had endured playing behind them. He knew Lacy could sing—she often sang in the OR when she was trying to concentrate—but he had no idea Jillian was quite that talented.

  He’d heard rumors she’d been on a television show when she was younger—she’d used the money for college, she’d said once—but she was very gifted.

  “Well, aren’t they just all super-talented?” Brianna, Logan’s date, asked. No one missed the sarcasm.

  “They are. Not only on that stage, but in their career fields.” Allen said, mildly. It was easy to tune Banks’ sisters out, but he respected and admired Jillian and Lacy and their dark-haired friend. He was more than willing to make that clear to the two women. “Well educated, too. Lacy’s one of the best in her field, already. I can promise you that. I’m making certain of it every single day. You should try getting a job sometime, sweetie. Or college. It might just change your outlook on life. I’m sure W4HAV could use some volunteers. Or the hospital.”

  Allen spent the rest of the evening trying to enjoy himself, and trying to avoid his date. Something about her was just rubbing him raw tonight. He danced with Jillian and Lacy and their friend Ariella, as well as Jillian’s teenage sister. She was only a few years younger than his own sister and he found her very charming. And much like her older sisters.

  She thanked him again for saving Brynna’s life.

  His evening took a nosedive when his date caught him again. He had never been happier when the evening ended. When he drove by a certain woman’s apartment building and saw her light on, he impulsively made a stop.

  Jess met him at the door, wearing nothing but a smile. His evening had just gotten a whole lot better.

  15

  Rafe didn’t know what made him do it, but he followed Jillian the instant she slipped out of the ballroom. The white dress was like a damned beacon.

  Hell, perhaps he owed her an apology.

  Rafe found her with the last woman he wanted to talk to.

  Rafe had done a good job of avoiding this supposed biological half-sister up to this point. He suspected she was making a point to avoid him, too. Hell, she practically scurried away from him whenever he got too close.

  He stood where he was for a moment or two, shamelessly eavesdropping.

  “Ari, sweetie, you ok?”

  “I will be. Once my knees stop shaking. I hate this kind of stuff, Jilly. Where’s Lacy?”

  “A couple more hours and we’ll camp out upstairs and have the butler bring us brownies. Travis was stalking Lacy around the ballroom last I checked. She’s hooked him good. ”

  Rafe couldn’t deny that; Travis was acting completely stupid over that blonde doctor-thorn-in-his-side.

  “Lacy’s not going to get serious over him, right? I really hope she isn’t. That would be really, really weird.”

  “No kidding. Lean your head down, Ari. Catch your breath. He’s a nice guy, but those brothers of his...The cranky one tried to eat me today.” Rafe bit back a snort. One argument in the ER did not mean he’d tried to eat her. If she wasn’t such a bleeding heart with some of the treat-and-street patients, they’d not have had half as many arguments as they had.

  She was too soft. Too easily taken advantage of.

  He’d seen nurses like that before. They burned out quickly. She was too good of an ER trauma nurse for him to watch that happen.

  “I saw you dancing with the governor. Talk about an intense guy. I think he’s worse than Chance. How are you holding up? Have you talked to Rage Old-&-Mean yet?”

  Rafe snorted at the nickname she’d tossed at his head one day last week. It had gotten around the hospital far too quickly for his liking.

  He wasn’t that much older than she was—a decade, at most. There was about that between her slightly older sister and his cousin Chance.

  Not that that mattered, of course. But he’d keep that in mind next time she told him he was old and decrepit and they did things a bit differently now than they used to back in the Dark Ages.

  The woman was creative, he’d give her that.

  The two women settled onto a chaise lounge next to the ridiculously large pool.

  Why did one couple need such a place? Rafe had to admit it was a gorgeous house, but Houghton Barratt apparently thought bigger was better in everything.

  “No, I haven’t. I don’t need another brother, Jilly. I have five, as it is. And they are all a lot nicer than that man. Even Luc.”

  “True. Luc’s one of the yummiest men alive. Hard to believe he’s related to Old-&-Mean.”

  “Ick, Jilly. That’s my brother, remember?”

  “Are you going to keep searching out the rest?”

  Rafe paused. He hadn’t thought there would be more half-siblings still out there.

  “I honestly don’t know,” Ariella said. “I’m not sure I should. He scares me, Jilly. What if the other ch
ildren of that woman are even worse?”

  He hadn’t meant to scare her. The girl had been through enough. She didn’t need to deal with his attitude, too. Rafe felt like a giant asshole for scaring her. She was young and vulnerable and his damned sister, for heaven’s sake.

  “He scares most of the panhandle, sweetie. Nurses run for cover when he walks through the ER. And that’s just when he’s in a good mood. Which he rarely is.”

  “What a wimp, right? I mean, I can dance with the governor of Texas and the mayor of Finley Creek, but saying hello to my own brother freaks me out. I’m a real weeny, aren’t I?”

  He didn’t miss the hurt or the disgust in the girl’s tone. Why? Why would one so young, talented, and beautiful feel that way about herself?

  “Hey! You’re one of the bravest people I know, Ariella Dawn Avery.” The intensity of the she-devil’s tone was damned hard to miss. “And don’t you ever forget that. Holden-Deane can scare hardcore Marines. And that’s just when he smiles. Which is strange, because you two have the same smile...A gorgeous smile, but much prettier on you.”

  Rafe stepped out of the shadows, causing both women to jump. He winced internally, remembering the videos he’d just seen.

  “Nice performance this evening, ladies. Jillian, I wasn’t quite finished.”

  “Dr. Holden-Deane, I was.” Her words were stilted, reminding him of their last encounter at the hospital just a few days ago. He had to admit, he’d come down pretty hard on her and Annie Gaines. And with Annie being so ridiculously quiet, Jillian had jumped right in to defend. It hadn’t gone well, but Rafe wasn’t certain who the winner had been. Made he should just consider it a tie?

  Maybe he should just make more of an effort with this woman, period. The little she-devil did suck the energy right out of him at times. At others, well, he felt more alive arguing with her than he had in a long damned time. “Mel and Ari worked their tails off to make tonight a success.”