Deadly Memories (Hardy Brothers Security Book 18)

by Lily Harper Hart

  “You’re mine, too,” Sophie said, reaching up to wipe her nose and frowning. “I need some tissue.”

  Grady offered her a rueful smile as he leaned forward, pressing her waist against him as he did in case she tried to put distance between them, and tugged his T-shirt off before wordlessly handing it to her.

  “You want me to blow snot on your shirt?”

  “Sugar, right now I wouldn’t care if you blew snot on me as long as you let me keep touching you,” Grady said.

  Sophie shook her head but took the shirt and wiped it across her nose. Grady took the opportunity to run his finger down her cheek. She was cold, small shudders running through her body, but he was reluctant to move in case he broke the spell and reminded her how angry she was with him.

  “I suppose you want me to tell you about it, huh?”

  Grady shook his head. “No. I’m not going to pressure you. One day, when you’re ready and you trust me, I’ll be here to listen. I won’t push you into something you’re not ready to talk about, though. Never again.”

  Sophie leaned forward and rested her head against Grady’s shoulder, causing him to tighten his arms around her in an effort to stave off the shudders wracking her body. The Michigan nights were still cold despite spring’s official arrival, but Sophie’s body reacted as if it was twenty degrees below zero and they were outside.

  “Sugar, I don’t want to risk moving, but you’re shaking and I need to get you under a blanket,” Grady said, grabbing Sophie’s hips and lifting her off the floor. He carried her to the bed, refusing to let go of her even as he struggled to lift the comforter and crawl underneath with her clinging to him.

  Grady situated her body on top of his, tugging the covers close and cuddling Sophie as he got comfortable. “Better?”

  Sophie didn’t respond.

  “Sophie, I don’t need you to tell me about it,” Grady said, searching desperately for a way to make her feel better. “I love you so much. If you don’t ever want to talk about what your foster father did, I’m okay with that. I want you to feel safe, and I’m worried I’ve taken that away from you.”

  “It wasn’t Will Jordan.”

  The words were quiet, matter-of-fact even, and yet they caused Grady’s heart to flop. He opened his mouth, a question on his lips, and then he closed it and kissed Sophie’s forehead as he petted her hair. He was terrified of doing the wrong thing, and it had him frozen when he knew he should be proactive.

  “I can hear your mind working,” Sophie said, her voice cracking. “You want to know what happened, but you’re desperate not to fight.”

  “You know me extremely well,” Grady said, rubbing idles circles on the back of Sophie’s neck. “I am afraid of pushing the wrong button and having you kick me out of your life. I’m not going to lie.”

  “I will never kick you out of my life, Grady. I shouldn’t have said what I said, but I was confused and hurt and part of me wanted to hurt you, too. I knew it was wrong. You don’t have to be afraid of me. That’s not what I want.”

  “Well, I did a few wrong things, too, so I’m declaring us even,” Grady said. “In fact, I’m pretty sure I still owe you. We’ll figure out a way for me to work off my punishment when you’re feeling better and we’ve both had some sleep.”

  “Ask your questions, Grady,” Sophie prodded. “I want to get this over with. I don’t want to drag it out. I can’t take it.”

  “I don’t need to ask questions.”

  “Yes, you do,” Sophie argued. “If you don’t, it’s going to get the best of you down the road and you’re going to do something else stupid. Save us the fight, aggravation, and another ruined shirt.”

  Grady snorted. “You really do know me, don’t you?”

  “I really do.”

  “Mandy read a few details in the file, but then I ran out and left her and James to fight because I was upset,” Grady said, searching for the right words to explain things. “The file said your foster father hit you and knocked you out. You just said it wasn’t him, though. Was it your foster mother?”

  “I don’t want to give you the wrong idea, because Will Jordan did hit me a few times, but he wasn’t the one who tried to kill me that night,” Sophie said, a tightness spreading throughout Grady’s chest at her words. “He was a terrible man and a mean drunk.”

  “Sugar, if you’re not ready for this … .”

  “I want to, Grady. I need to tell you so we can put it behind us, because I don’t ever want to talk about it again.”

  “Okay,” Grady said, brushing his lips against Sophie’s forehead. Her face rested against his chest, and he couldn’t see her expression without straining, but he wouldn’t trade this moment for anything and he vowed to get things right for a change. “I’m listening.”

  “It wasn’t Will Jordan who hit me that night. It was his son, Daryl.”

  “I don’t remember Mandy mentioning a son,” Grady said. “Before you get angry with her by the way, we kind of forced her into it. Trust me. I’m sure she punished James tonight. I know that doesn’t make things right, but … don’t blame her. She was really ticked off at me.”

  “I don’t blame any of you,” Sophie said. “Let that go, okay?”

  Grady nodded.

  “Daryl Jordan was Will and Bree’s biological son,” Sophie explained, launching into her tale. “He was their pride and joy and they spoiled him rotten, much the way Peter eventually spoiled me. They took in foster kids for the money, and they used all of that state funding to buy Daryl whatever he wanted while the foster kids were limited to one meal a day and a huge list of chores.”

  “This makes me so angry, sugar,” Grady said.

  “It gets worse,” Sophie said. “Daryl got off on torturing the foster kids. When I got to the house, there was an older girl named Debbie and she had bruises all over her arms. She showed them to me. Daryl liked to purposely pinch her until she cried.”

  Grady bit his lip to keep himself from saying something hateful.

  “One night while Will was getting drunk in the living room and Bree was getting high in the basement I caught Daryl stealing money from his mother’s wallet and he threatened to hit me if I didn’t keep quiet,” Sophie said. “I had no intention of telling, but he didn’t believe me and he started screaming that I was the one who stole the money and he punched me really hard when I wasn’t looking.

  “When Will came upstairs he was pretty drunk,” she continued. “I thought he was going to help, but instead he just laughed and watched for a little bit. He gave Daryl pointers on how to get leverage and hit me harder. Then he told Daryl he had an idea … and that’s when they put the belt around my neck and dragged me down the stairs.

  “I thought for sure I was going to die,” Sophie said, shivering as Grady held her as tightly as he could without suffocating her. “I passed out a few times. They left me on the floor for hours. When I would wake up, they would come back by and tighten the belt again and then laugh as I gasped for air.”

  “Sophie … .” Grady had no words. He wanted to hop out of bed and track down both monsters so he could kill them with his bare hands. Instead he held Sophie and let her pour her heart out.

  “When the paramedics came, they were very concerned and they kept trying to get me to talk to them, but my throat was swollen and I could barely breathe,” Sophie said. “They had to help me with a tube, and I was in the hospital for two days before the swelling went down enough that I could talk.

  “The police came to question me, and Will and Bree spun some story about how I did it to myself,” Sophie said, earning a low growl from Grady. “I was afraid no one would believe me because I was just a foster kid, but Lucy showed up and was an advocate for me. She was so apologetic for having placed me with them.”

  “What happened after that?” Grady asked. “How did you end up with Peter?”

  “On paper, Peter is listed as an import and export businessman,” Sophie said, smiling softly. “He read about what hap
pened to me in the newspaper and was incensed. He paid for all of my hospital care and dropped off this huge mountain of toys.

  “He came by every single day while I was in the hospital,” she continued. “He brought me books … and toys … and he read to me. He made Sven, who was pretty young back then, put on a tiara and pretend to be a princess. He never once asked what happened. He just amused me with stories and showered attention on me.

  “When it came time to go to another home, Lucy was terrified of accidentally putting me in another bad foster home and Peter overheard her talking,” Sophie said. “That’s when he came forward and applied to take me. I’m sure there was some legal maneuvering that went into that, and I’m also sure that some of it was illegal. I didn’t care, though, because I knew instinctively that Peter would never hurt me.

  “Two weeks later I moved into the big house and Peter and his men spoiled me rotten,” she said. “Peter never pressured me to discuss things, and when I would wake up screaming from nightmares he would sleep on the floor in my bedroom.”

  “Well, if I didn’t already like the guy, I would love him now,” Grady said. “What happened to the Jordans?”

  “When the cops didn’t buy their story about me doing it to myself, Will said he did it and was arrested,” Sophie answered. “He made a deal with the prosecutor and was sentenced to ten years. Bree got something like three years and I don’t know what happened to Daryl.”

  “Sophie, this is one of the worst things I’ve ever heard in my life, but I don’t understand why you didn’t want to tell me,” Grady said. “Did you think it would somehow change how I felt about you?”

  “No. I was just … embarrassed.”

  “Because you were a child tortured by adults? Sophie, that’s ridiculous. You survived something terrible and you came out the other side. There’s nothing to be embarrassed about.”

  “I know that in my head, but I can’t help it,” Sophie said. “It still haunts me.”

  “What’s the deal with the jewelry box?” Grady asked, petting the back of Sophie’s head. “Why did you get so upset when you saw it?”

  “When I was in the hospital, Bree slipped by the nurses when they weren’t looking and gave it to me,” Sophie replied. “I thought she was there to apologize, or say what her son did was wrong. Instead she tried to bribe me with the jewelry box to say that I did it to myself.”

  “What was in it?”

  “Just little trinkets,” Sophie said. “It was all fake jewelry and some of those candy necklaces. It was a bribe fit for a child … but I wasn’t a child any longer. I don’t know why Lucy kept it and put in my storage unit. Maybe she didn’t realize how it made me feel. Now I can’t even ask. I had no idea she died.”

  “She sounds like she did her best to do right by you,” Grady said. “How did you lose touch?”

  “I was only at Peter’s a month when he started proceedings to adopt me,” Sophie explained. “He wanted me to feel safe and loved. He wanted me to know no one would take me away from him. Once the adoption was finalized, Lucy had no reason to see me and she had so many other cases. We just … fell out of touch.”

  “Well, that’s sad,” Grady said. “She made sure you were safe in the end, though. That’s the most important thing.”

  “I haven’t thought about this in a long time, Grady. It hurts.”

  “I know, sugar,” Grady said. “You need some sleep. I’m going to be right here protecting you while you do. In the morning, I’ll get you a big breakfast because you have to be starving. Then I’ll start working on my penance. How does that sound?”

  “Sleep sounds good,” Sophie said, her voice weary. “I’m going to make a list for your penance, though.”

  Grady chuckled, the unexpected release enough to chase some of his pent-up worries away. “I’m looking forward to it.”

  13

  Thirteen

  Grady and Sophie woke at the same time, both shifting and locking gazes as the early morning sunshine filtered through the blinds. Sophie rubbed her eyes, which felt raw and crusty, and Grady reached over to help.

  “It’s okay, sugar,” he said, his voice low. “You just need a shower and breakfast. You’ll be okay.”

  He cupped the back of Sophie’s head and kissed her, the exchange soft. He didn’t expect it to lead anywhere, but when Sophie deepened the kiss, Grady realized she needed human contact and wanted to embrace a return to normalcy before leaving their bed.

  He ran his hands up her back, helping her strip off the simple tank top she slept in, and rubbed his thumbs over her nipples as she happily sighed into his mouth. Grady was tender as he rolled her over and rested on top of her, pushing her hair away from her face and meeting her emotional eyes.

  “I love you, Sophie.” It was barely a whisper and he didn’t give her a chance to respond, instead covering her mouth with his.

  Sophie moaned as Grady moved his hips to the side and shifted his boxer shorts and her panties off before pressing his body flush against hers. He nudged her thighs apart and pressed a trail of soft kisses down her neck as he slid inside of her.

  A normal morning would involve giggles and playful positions. Grady didn’t go flashy this time, instead showing her nothing but love as he moved inside of her. He repeatedly whispered how much he loved her as he brought her to orgasm, making sure she was done before joining her.

  He collapsed on top of her moments later, both of them breathing heavy as he rubbed his face in the soft hollow between her neck and chest. They drifted off again, their hearts beating in tandem, and this time the sleep was restful.

  “OKAY, sugar, I made you pancakes, bacon, and cut up some fruit,” Grady said two hours later, sliding a huge plate of food in front of Sophie. “I’ve got coffee and juice. What else do you need?”

  Sophie’s eyes widened as she stared at her breakfast. “Is this part of your punishment?”

  “This is making sure you have a full stomach before work,” Grady replied. “You didn’t get dinner last night and I think everything took a lot of out of both of us. You can’t leave this house until you clean your plate.”

  Sophie felt markedly better after her shower, and in the bright light of day she felt ridiculous for her meltdown and embarrassed by her inherent neediness. “Grady, about last night … .”

  Grady shook his head to cut her off, grabbing her hand as he sat next to her. “Please don’t shut me out now. I know you don’t want to talk about it. I have no intention of pressuring you. If you ever change your mind, I’ll always be here.”

  “I was going to apologize for crying and blowing my nose on your shirt.”

  Grady snickered. “Well, I can live with that,” he said. “The shirt will wash. The crying was natural. I don’t want you apologizing for anything. I’m the one who is sorry.”

  “I’m not happy about what you did, Grady, but I realize my part in it,” Sophie said. “I knew curiosity would get the better of you. You can’t seem to help yourself sometimes. I just wish you would’ve asked me before you did what you did.”

  “You have no idea how much I wish I would’ve asked you, too,” Grady said, his smile sheepish. “Sometimes I look at you and I swear my heart stops because I love you so much. The idea of someone hurting you made me do something very stupid. I won’t do it again.”

  “You mean you’ll try not to do it again,” Sophie corrected. “I love you more than I ever thought possible, Grady Hardy, but we both know your imagination runs away from you sometimes. Don’t worry, I won’t leave you for doing something stupid.”

  “Really?”

  “You’re far too handsome,” Sophie teased. “Your looks make putting up with stupid stuff all the easier.”

  “And that’s why you’re my favorite person in the world,” Grady said, reaching for his fork. “You get me.”

  “I really do,” Sophie said, digging into her breakfast. Her stomach picked that moment to rumble, causing the couple to laugh. “I guess I was hungrier tha
n I realized.”

  “Eat up, sugar. You need your fuel. What do you have going on today?”

  “I have another press conference down at the courthouse,” Sophie replied. “There was a text from Conrad on my phone when I got out of the shower. I’m guessing they’re going to announce charges against Nate Foley.”

  “Are they still not releasing his condition?”

  “I haven’t heard a thing,” Sophie said. “I guess I’ll find out today. The good news for you is that the press conference is at ten, so that means I should get my story done early and can get home at a reasonable hour.”

  “Why is that good news for me … other than the obvious, I mean?”

  “Because I plan on being responsible for dinner tonight, and I’m going to serve it to you naked.”

  “I thought I was supposed to be on punishment,” Grady said, his eyes twinkling. “That doesn’t sound like something that’s going to make me regret my actions.”

  “You will when I make you massage me for an hour.”

  Grady’s grin was sly. “Oh, Sophie, I have so much to teach you about doling out punishments. I’m looking forward to it, though.”

  “I’m sure you are.”

  DESPITE the upheaval of the previous evening, Sophie was in a good mood when she arrived at the courthouse. She was early, but she took the opportunity to buy a coffee from the stand in front of the building and almost jumped out of her skin when Mandy appeared at her elbow.

  “Hey.”

  “You scared the crap out of me,” Sophie said, smacking Mandy’s arm as she recovered. “Don’t sneak up on someone like that.”

  “I’m sorry,” Mandy said. “I saw you through the window when I was heading upstairs and I wanted to see if you were okay. I … um … did Grady talk to you?”

  “Are you asking if Grady told me about the invasive thing you guys did yesterday?” Sophie glanced around to make sure no one could overhear them. If someone knew Mandy illegally accessed the courthouse records she could lose her job. “If so, then the answer is yes.”

  “I’m sorry,” Mandy said, her blue eyes earnest. “I shouldn’t have let them talk me into it. It was wrong and … if you want to turn me into the judge I’m ready to go upstairs with you right now.”