We both exit his Suburban, me taking a bit longer as I carefully use the running board to step down in my Fendi heels. I look at the shoes that cost $750, wishing I had that cash in my pocket rather than the designer label on my feet. Hopefully, that won’t be an issue by the time I meet Rand over at the ski shop after I finish all my errands.
“Good luck,” he says with a smile at me over the hood of his vehicle. “Call me if you need anything. I’m just going to be hanging out.”
“Will do,” I say, hitching my purse up as Rand turns toward the rear of his Suburban where he has his skis stashed. Apparently, a tune-up is nothing more than getting the skis repaired of any damage from the season before, such as nicks and stuff, as well as getting them waxed. Again, I suspect this is not something that had to be done right now, but was rather his excuse to drive me to the center of town, which I find almost unbearably sweet because I don’t understand what I’ve done to deserve that consideration.
I step up onto the sidewalk that borders the town square, which is nothing more than a small park with large shade trees that are still full and green, a few benches, and a small walking path. I head in the opposite direction of Rand, with no intention of job hunting right away. Tucked inside my purse is all the jewelry Samuel bought me. Well, I actually bought it myself, but it was with his money. Even my engagement ring I picked out and bought, at his insistence and with him pushing his own personal credit card into my hand since my limit wasn’t enough to cover the three-carat rock.
Rand has no clue I’m doing this, and I suspect he’d try to discourage me from something so rash, especially since I have a roof over my head, food in my stomach, and his amazing cock fucking me every night. But the one thing Samuel taught me, and taught me well, is that no one is truly looking out for me but myself. I can’t rely on Rand to be there for me, and while I’m fairly confident he wouldn’t abuse the trust I’ve placed in him the way Samuel did, I still have to be ready to jet out of here at the first sign he’s something less than I hope him to be.
That means I need money.
I’ll sell my jewelry, or at the very least, I’ll pawn it. After that, I’m free, mobile, and I won’t be beholden to anyone.
I won’t be owned again.
Except… I have that nagging feeling like I want to be owned by Rand or something, but that’s just crazy. Samuel owned every part of me, and I hated it. There’s no way I could possibly want that from Rand.
Right?
I glance over my shoulder at Rand receding in the distance as I continue to walk away. He’s already got his skis pulled out and the door shut, standing at the corner waiting for a light to turn green so he can cross. He doesn’t look back at me as I turn right onto South King Street, which houses Libertine’s Jewelry just half a block down.
I decided to start with actual jewelry stores, independently owned and small. I figure they would be the most likely to buy from me. I actually purchased a piece here last summer, so I hope the owner remembers me.
With my gaze lowered to the sidewalk to make sure I don’t lodge my spiked heels in a crack or something, I’m almost knocked sideways by my shoulder colliding with someone.
“I’m sorry—” I start to say as I turn toward the person, but I come to a dead stop with my mouth hanging open and my blood turning to ice.
Kevin Vaughn stands there leering at me.
I can tell by the mixture of contempt and challenge in his eyes that he had seen me coming down the sidewalk and purposely ran into me. He’s not surprised to see me the way I am him.
“Hello, Catherine,” he says as he takes a step toward me.
My eyes take in his appearance. Samuel was old and practically withered with the slew of medical problems he had, but I could always see in his face that he had once been a good-looking man. His sons both have the same bone structure and look.
Kevin Vaughn keeps his blond hair perfectly cut, styled, and sprayed. Fake tan that is so well done it looks real. Thousands of dollars of veneers that make his teeth almost neon white. Dressed in designer labels. He loves money and he loves spending it. As the director of operations for Samuel’s hotel empire, he makes a lot of money.
He also has a small dick and a large problem with premature ejaculation, so I always think of that whenever I’m in his presence. Otherwise, he’d skeeve me out too bad just by the way he looks at me.
It tore me up to admit to Rand the other night that Samuel let Kevin have me. I’m not sure if the offer was ever made to Richard or not, but he and I never fucked. In fact, Richard was unfailingly polite but reserved around me. He was married to a nice woman, had two kids, and managed Samuel’s investments, seeming to enjoy a much quieter life than his plastic brother.
The first time with Kevin was my first Christmas with Samuel, which was just an ordinary day to me. Samuel and I ate breakfast together in almost total silence—the only sound interrupting us was the doorbell ringing.
I found Kevin there when I opened the door. He told me he was just dropping by to give a present to his father, but I knew it was a lie. I knew it because as he said those words to me, I could see him undressing me with his eyes. He was also empty handed.
Samuel wheeled himself into the foyer. The minute Kevin stepped in and I shut the door behind him, he made it clear that I was actually Kevin’s Christmas present.
“Catherine, darling,” Samuel said in that weak voice made so by congestive heart failure. “Be a good girl and wish Kevin a very Merry Christmas.”
I only spared a moment to stare at Samuel in completely stunned disgust, but I saw the resolve on his face. When I turned back to Kevin, he was already undoing his belt and breathing shallowly as if he hadn’t been laid in months. I suspect that was true because his wife looked a little uptight and they didn’t have any children, so something wasn’t working right.
“Get on your knees,” Kevin ordered me, pushing his pants and underwear down, that tiny little dick popping free. I almost laughed, but I didn’t because what I was getting ready to do wasn’t the least bit funny.
I shudder over the memory and take an involuntary step backward, my ankles wobbling just a bit.
“I’m surprised to see you still in Jackson,” Kevin says as he rubs a finger over his chin in a thoughtful manner. His voice is mildly polite, but I can sense an underlying vibe of distaste for me. While Kevin never had a problem fucking me, I knew he hated the fact his dad married me. Hated he had a stepmother younger than him and who would potentially carve into his inheritance one day. I know this because he would sometimes mutter that to me while he was banging me.
“Not sure why you’re surprised,” I tell him calmly. “You left me without a dime to my name when you had that attorney kick me out of my home and shut my credit cards off. Just how did you expect me to get out of town, Kevin?”
He shrugs dismissively. “Not my problem really. Figured you could fuck your way back to Vegas or something.”
I have to curl my fingers inward and press the nails deep into my palms to restrain myself. It’s almost impossible to hold myself back from kneeing him in his tiny nuts and following it with a right hook to his smug face.
But I decide to choose a different way to change his attitude. “I want a signed copy of the will, Kevin. Apparently, that attorney had only an unsigned copy. It seems a little suspect you’d have me evicted based on that alone.”
“You weren’t there for the actual reading in Vegas,” he says calmly, that smug smile still in place. “That’s where the signed copy is.”
“I figured as much,” I tell him with a pointed look. “That’s why I’m going to call Richard and ask him to send me a copy with the signatures, so I can have my own attorney look at it.”
And… there it is. That superior-than-thou attitude melts as his lips flatten into a grim line. He has no clue if I’m bluffing, and I’m totally bluffing. I can’t afford an attorney, but I am going to do whatever I can to see a copy of that signed will. I also have no inten
tion of calling Richard because even though I think he’d be fair to me, I can’t be sure. It’s best not to trust either of Samuel’s sons at this point.
“Listen,” Kevin says in a conciliatory tone as he steps closer. His eyes are glittering with something I can’t quite put my finger on but which sets off all my internal alarms. His arm reaches out and he grasps me by my shoulder. “If you need a place to stay, you can come back to the house here. I’ll even give you some cash to help you out.”
Twisting my upper body to dislodge his hand, I laugh at him. “And let me guess… in return, you want me to fuck you?”
His eyes light up with the prospect. “I wouldn’t be averse to that.”
“Well, I would,” I sneer, surprising him by taking a step forward into his space. I poke a finger in his chest while molten rage fuels my words. “I wouldn’t let that needle dick you have anywhere near me. And if I find out you’re lying to me about the will, you’re going to regret the day you ever fucked with me.”
Kevin’s arm shoots up and he grabs my wrist, squeezing hard and pushing my hand from his chest down his stomach. “Come on, Catherine. You know you’re good for one thing only, and I’m offering you an easy ride. Jump on board, and I’ll keep you here at the Jackson house. You’ll be my little piece on the side.”
Just as my knuckles brush against the edge of his belt, I rip myself out of his grasp. “You’re a sick, fucking—”
He moves so swiftly that I don’t have time to react. His arm wraps around my waist and he pulls me in tight to his body. His other arm comes up so his hand can grip me at the back of my head. It looks like a lover’s embrace, even though I manage to get my hands to his chest in an attempt to push him away. But he’s stronger than I am and he holds me rigidly. Tourists are walking by, oblivious to what’s going on.
Kevin leans his head toward me, puts his lips near my ear, and in a low but deadly serious voice, he says, “You do not fuck around with me, Catherine. You can either walk away intact or in pieces. Your choice. But I seriously suggest you forget about that will.”
He pulls his head back so he can look down at me, his eyes flicking back and forth to see if what he’s said has sank in. I don’t respond, but I don’t break eye contact either, gritting my teeth together in anger and some fear.
“I can see you understand me,” he says confidently, releasing his hold. I take two stumbling steps back.
Kevin merely tucks his hands into the lightweight jacket he’s wearing and says, “I’ll make these two offers, and then I’m done with you. I’ll give you five thousand in cash and you move on with your life. Stay away from my brother and me. Or move back into the Jackson house—I’ll give you a monthly allowance and you’ll be at my beck and call when I come to visit.”
Straightening up to my full five-foot-seven—thank you, Fendi—I stiffen my spine and lock my knees in figurative battle. I forget about the fact that not only does Kevin disgust me, but he also slightly scares me too. But I don’t get caught up in that. Instead, I tell him with as much sarcasm as I can muster, “As tempting as those two offers are, I’m going to decline.”
Kevin’s eyes harden, his lids lowering until I see just tiny slits of brown irises peeking out at me. He inclines his head at me in acknowledgment of my position and says in what can only be taken as a clear threat, “So be it. But don’t say you weren’t warned.”
He takes away my ability to walk away from him, making a casual turn on the sidewalk and meandering off in a carefree saunter. I can tell by the set to his shoulders and the almost jaunty step that he’s not worried about me at all.
But he should be.
Because I just learned something very important.
There is no new will where Samuel cuts me out. If there were, Kevin would have offered up the signed copy to me without hesitation. Instead, he tried to buy me off, relying on his faulty instinct that I am still a woman who can be owned.
It’s a mistake to underestimate me, and I know exactly what I need to do.
Chapter 11
Rand
“I can’t believe we essentially live in the same house and I only get to see you when you have a few minutes to pop into my place of business,” Jake says as he walks into the back breakroom of his ski shop.
I’ve been here for almost two hours waiting for Cat to finish up her job hunting visits, shooting the shit with some of Jake’s employees or other locals who stop by for some sporting equipment needs. Although his shop is named Teton Ski and Snowboarding, it’s actually morphed over time into a sort of one-stop shop for all of your Wyoming outdoor needs. He runs guided fishing trips in the summer, hunting trips in the fall and winter for big game such as elk and moose, as well as black bear in the spring. He even has guides who will just drive you around and show you where you can see all the wildlife. Jake sells everything from skis to guns to fishing lures to sporting apparel, and he’s been quite successful at it.
I don’t respond directly but throw a teasing jab while looking at my watch. “Must be nice to have a job you can roll in at close to lunch time. Wish I had as easy a life as you.”
Jake laughs. As well he should, because he’s one of the hardest-working men I know, and he knows I’m joking. He’s normally in the shop at least an hour before it opens, and while he may go home so he can have dinner with his family, I know he works in the evenings too to stay on top of things.
“Lorelei had an ultrasound this morning,” he explains as he walks over to the coffee pot on the counter and pours himself a cup.
“And how is the little niblet?” I ask, leaning back in my chair so the front legs come off the ground a bit.
“Looking like a chip off the old block,” he says before taking a chair at the table opposite of me. “He’s got the look of a snowboarder for sure.”
“It could be a girl,” I point out since it’s still too early for the ultrasound to show that.
“Nope. Gonna be a snowboarding boy. Amber’s going to be the skier.”
I laugh and shake my head, but, secretly, I’m a little envious of him. Beautiful wife, gorgeous kid with another on the way, and leading a spectacularly full life. Once I figure out what I want to do with my own, I’m hoping things shake out for me like they have for Jake.
“So what’s up with you?” Jake asks. “Jimmy said you’ve been here a while.”
Jimmy is one of his employees who is manning the store today. He also doubles as a fishing guide, but the trip he had set this morning got cancelled. It rained like hell last night and the rivers are too muddied to make it worthwhile.
“Just waiting for a friend who is doing some errands around town; thought we’d go get some lunch after she’s done.”
“She?” Jake asks, an eyebrow cocked and with a quick lick to his lips.
“Yes, a she,” I affirm. “I’ve been known to like the opposite sex, you know.”
It’s no wonder Jake has a healthy dose of skepticism when it comes to me making any type of plans that sound like a date with a woman. He’s the one person who knows firsthand how turbulent my relationship was with Tarryn. He also knows that when it ended, I sort of swore off relationships for a while. While he has no clue about The Silo and what I do there, he’s also observed me for the past four years and hasn’t seen me date anyone. I’ve been to dinner at their table, gone out with him and Lorelei on many a weekend, but they’ve never seen me with a date.
And why would I?
Even though I truly understand what happened to our relationship, Tarryn left me a little jaded by her infidelity. Besides, there was no shortage of tourists and locals to fuck once I settled here in Jackson. Once The Silo opened, that pretty much sealed my fate as a bachelor because I could get off whenever I wanted with no-strings attached. It’s not that I’m opposed to the strings, but it’s just easier when they’re not involved.
“This is monumental, dude,” he says with a grin. “It’s about time you started dating again.”
“We’re friends,�
�� I correct him. “She’s down on her luck and crashing at my place for a few days.”
Friends who are fucking though.
“Friends my ass,” he says without any qualms of dismissing my motives so quickly. “So when do Lorelei and I get to meet her? How about dinner this weekend?”
“Maybe,” I say, not bothering to try to assert that this is a friends-only deal. He’s not buying it. Not because he has any great insight into me, but because he doesn’t want to. Jake’s always been a romantic at heart, and he wants everyone to fall in love, get married, and pop out kids. “She’s going to come here after she’s done dropping resumes off, so you can meet her then.”
“She’s job hunting?” he asks before taking a sip of his coffee.
“Yeah, you hiring?”
“Not right now, but I will be in about two weeks to gear up for the start of hunting season. I’ll need some extra help to keep track of all the expeditions and guides.”
“How many are you up to now?” I ask curiously. Jake has never hunted or fished in his life that I know of, but he’s become quite successful at gathering knowledgeable guides who flock to this area during peak tourist season to pick up work.
“I’ve got eleven,” he says nonchalantly. “Seven returning from last year and four new that I’m hiring.”
“Jesus,” I say with a teasing grin. “Do you even bother with the snow sporting world anymore?”
“Still my one true love,” he answers before pushing his chair back and standing up. “And I need to get to it as I have a shitload of stuff to do today. I’m already a few hours behind.”
“Sure, man,” I say, standing up as well and not wanting to hold him up… too much. But I have to ask, “Listen, this friend of mine… her name’s Cat, and she’s really in a tough spot. If you hear of any job openings, let me know, okay?”
Wicked Need (The Wicked Horse #3) Page 9
