Putting himself between the boys and the truck, James glared at the man. “Something you need, sir?”
Radley frowned and looked at him from a pair of bloodshot eyes. Drunk or stoned. Either way, the man shouldn’t be driving. Moreover, he shouldn’t be trying to talk anyone into taking a ride around town with him as he’d been trying to command Kyle to.
“Yeah,” he said in a gravelly voice that suggested ill use. “That’s my boy there behind you, not that it’s any of your business, and he’s comin’ with me.”
“You’re not my dad!” Kyle shouted from behind James. James had to lock an arm over the boy’s shoulder to keep him from advancing. “You’re a miserable excuse for a man and a drunken pisspot!”
James’s pride began to swell. Then Radley’s face darkened and he leaned even further out of his truck. “Don’t you talk to me like that, you little shit!”
“Hey!” James shouted, pushing Kyle behind him once more as Radley’s fist reached out to cuff the boy.
“If my mom were here, she’d call the cops on you!” Kyle retorted.
“Your mom ain’t here, boy, or I’d’ve knocked her silly,” Radley stated, eyes lighting with violence.
James grabbed the man’s fist and twisted the thumb around. Radley gave a startled holler, then howled in pain as his face flushed twice over and his head rocked back against the driver’s seat. He let out a stream of curses. James leaned in, lowering his voice to a dangerous level. “You feel that, moron? That right there isn’t a fraction of what you’ll feel if I catch your sorry ass anywhere near the kid or his mother again. Understand?”
Radley hissed in a breath. When he blew it out, James got a strong waft of something sickly sweet. James gave the arm another twist for good measure and growled, “Now get the hell outta here.”
As soon as James released his arm, Radley whimpered. He retracted the arm into the cab and used the other to shift gears. James stepped back with the boys as the dually took off with a roar. He watched it blow through a stop sign and turn out of sight. It wasn’t until the noise of the truck had faded that he turned to the boys and met Kyle’s eyes. The boy’s chin was high and his eyes fierce, but there was a quaver in his lips. James’s stomach tightened. “He’s gone now,” James told him.
“I know,” the boy replied with a nod. “But I’d better call my mom.”
James nodded in return. “Would you mind if I went with you?” No way he was letting Kyle out of his sight now.
Relief spilled across his son’s face. “I think she’d want that, Mr. Bracken,” Kyle said.
“All right,” James said. As Kyle turned and led the way, and Blaze took off for his own home, James lowered his voice and said, “By the way...I think it’s best if you call me James.”
* * *
“YOU HAVE TO contact the police,” Olivia insisted in a low voice. “Tell them that Radley violated the restraining order.”
“I know. I...” Adrian trailed off, glancing back toward the half-open door to the cottage. Kyle was on the other side somewhere, eating the takeout Olivia had been kind enough to bring over. She kept her voice low, too. “Don’t think I won’t. Radley’s never targeted Kyle like this before. It’s always been me...”
Olivia must have seen the blood rushing from Adrian face. She patted her on the arm. “From the sounds of things, he won’t be coming back too soon.”
“That’s what we said the last time,” Adrian said. “And the time before that. But this keeps happening, Liv. And now he’s coming after Kyle. I don’t know what I would’ve done if...”
...if James hadn’t been there.
She couldn’t bring herself to say the words. Gathering herself, she said, “I need to get Kyle through the night. Then I’ll report it in the morning with a clear mind.”
“Do that,” Olivia said firmly. “And try and get some sleep.”
Adrian doubted very much that would happen. Silently she waited until Olivia had driven off. She took a moment to peer up and down the street. Seeing no sign of a red truck or anything out of the ordinary, she went back into the cottage and shut the door. Taking a deep breath, she turned to go into the kitchen and stopped short, the breath washing out of her suddenly when she found the man standing in her way. “James,” she said, her heart pounding.
Adrian had found it difficult to look him in the eye since her return home. Straightening up to her full height—which was ridiculous confronted with his six-foot-five-inch frame—she said, “You can go now, James. Really. We’ll be fine.”
He shook his head, eyes flat and cool. “Olivia’s not staying,” he commented.
Adrian frowned. He’d heard every word of the conversation outside, hadn’t he? Fighting the urge to massage her temples, Adrian said, “She knows we’re fine for the night.”
“I’ll stay,” James told her, then raised a hand when she opened her mouth to protest. “Just until you lock up.”
She saw his gaze veer to the three dead bolts on the door behind her. Looking away, she walked around him into the kitchen where Kyle sat at the table. She didn’t have the will to argue. Truth be told, everything she had was tied up in knots inside her and she couldn’t let either of them see it.
The sooner Kyle was finished with dinner, the sooner she could put him to bed. Then she’d see James out, dead bolt the door, curl up on the couch, watch the windows warily for headlights and succumb to the nerves and panic she felt crawling further and further into the fragments of her mind.
Adrian didn’t count on James and Kyle getting into a discussion at the table about school...and then homework. She’d forgotten about the homework, damn it. James, who seemed to have an aptitude for science where neither Adrian nor Kyle did, offered to help. Kyle leaped on the offer before Adrian could refuse for both of them.
So it was that Kyle stayed up past his bedtime. Adrian sorted laundry and had gone through two loads of washing and drying before Kyle started to yawn.
“Maybe you should get to bed, squirt,” she heard James say.
“Probably,” Kyle said as Adrian hovered by the kitchen door, just out of sight. “It’s hard...going to sleep after he shows up.”
“Hey, listen. He’s not coming back. If it makes you feel any better, I’ll stay up next door and keep a lookout.”
A smile shone through Kyle’s voice. “He wouldn’t come near you. You scared the piss out of him.” Adrian heard his chair scrape back against the floor. “You can stay here, on the couch, if you want.”
Adrian chose that moment to enter the room. “Kyle...you should get ready for bed.”
They looked at her with matching sets of eyes. Her heart could hardly take it. Kyle’s brightened as he asked, “Can Mr. Bracken...uh, I mean, James—can he stay the night?”
Adrian glanced from him to James, frowning.
James rose and clapped a hand on Kyle’s shoulder. “I think it’d be best if I went home. Your mom can call if she needs anything.”
They both knew the odds of that happening were slim to none. “I laid your pajamas on your bed,” she told Kyle as he rose from the table. Indulging, she wrapped her arms around him, holding him against her. Kyle buried his face in her shoulder. They stood that way for a while, leaning one into the other, before he finally moved toward the door, throwing a “Good night, James,” over his shoulder.
“’Night, kid.”
“Brush your teeth,” Adrian called. “I’ll check on you in a moment.” When no reply came, she hesitated to face James again. If only he’d go. Just go. Moving around him to the table, she picked up the discarded take-out containers. “There’s no need to stay any longer. I’ll go to bed as soon as he’s settled...”
His hands moved over her shoulders. She stiffened. He hadn’t broached the subject of Radley since she returned home that evening. She was grateful for it
.
Since she came home, he’d been nothing more than a steady presence. She shouldn’t resent him. He’d chased Radley off, prevented him from getting to Kyle or hurting him, and he’d stayed. Whether it was for Kyle or her—or both—she wasn’t sure. She was too tired to comb his behavior for an ulterior motive. Especially when his thumbs kneaded the place just there at the base of her neck...
Adrian caught herself leaning back into his hands and ducked under his arm. She discarded the boxes and took the plates and cups to the sink, feeling his eyes watching.
Yes, James needed to go. Before she broke down, crossed the room to him and pressed her face into his chest—just as Olivia had said any woman would want to. Adrian, it seemed, was no exception.
In the silence, she watched him go to the window, peer through the blinds. She measured the strong line of his jaw. His shoulders squared. Where once the same hard profile on another man might have made her cringe, she felt not a flicker of fear with him. She knew the difference between the menace Radley had shown her throughout their marriage and the vigilance, the ready urge to protect, that James exemplified. Somewhere deep down, some small, sick part of her was happy for it—happy for him here, crowding her space, her head...
Turning away from him, she went to Kyle’s room. She was relieved to see him, covers tucked under his arms and comic book in his hands. His eyes were already heavy with sleep. She bent down, silently pressing her lips to his brow as she swept his hair back. Lingering, she breathed him in, then lifted her head and said, “Don’t stay up too long.”
He grinned at her as she picked his clothes up from the floor. “I like James.”
She snapped the pants he’d been wearing so the legs fell right side out. “You do?”
“Yeah. How do you know each other?”
Adrian frowned over the question. “We were...friends. A long time ago.”
“You mean, like in school?”
Adrian nodded. “Kind of. Why?”
“Nothing,” Kyle said with a lift of his shoulder. He looked a bit sheepish for asking, but a light sparked in his eyes.
Adrian straightened, folding the pants over her arm. “Ten minutes, lights out. Okay?”
“Okay,” Kyle said, turning his attention back to his comic book. “I love you, Mom,” he added when she’d reached the door.
She turned back, smiled at the sight of him amidst his Avengers bedsheets. My God. What would she have done if Radley had snatched him off the street?
Her breath hitched. “I love you, too, baby,” she replied as she stepped back into the hall. Pressing her back against the wall opposite his bedroom door, she took a minute for herself, clutching the clothes he had worn that afternoon. She touched the tip of her nose to his shirt, smelled the little boy who played hard and owned her heart.
That heart gave a swift yank. She reached up to swipe a tear from her cheek.
He was hers, just as she was wholly his. If anything happened to him, there’d be nothing left of her.
Unable to face James just yet, Adrian veered into the laundry room to throw the last load of washing into the dryer. Stalling, she folded what was clean in the basket. Lost in the task, her mind wandered back to the years she’d lived at Radley’s mercy.
The pregnancy had passed without incident. It was in the postnatal months that his true nature began to awaken. And with her hormones and postnatal depression raging, she couldn’t fight it. She’d sunk deep, deep down into the toxic rut that was their relationship, giving up any sense of self-worth in the process.
It had taken a year of counseling for her to understand what had caused her to live at his mercy, to be abused and to make excuses for Radley’s behavior. It had taken longer for her to rebuild any true sense of self.
As she folded the fitted sheet in her hands, she heard a shuffle behind her. She gasped, half turning as she shielded her face with the linens. For a split second, she was back in Radley’s double-wide trailer with the stench of booze and the sickly tang of fear coating the inside of her mouth...
When the backhand she’d anticipated never came, she opened her eyes to find James looking down at her, his face as stricken as hers.
Adrian released the breath trapped in her lungs. It sounded like a sob and she cursed, dropping the sheet back into the basket and hanging her head when she saw understanding dawn on his face.
“Sorry,” he said in a small voice. “I was just coming to check on you.”
She shook her head. Words remained trapped at the back of her throat so she ducked around him once more, silently tromping down the hall into the kitchen.
He stopped her there, his hand on her arm. “Adrian...I need to know something.”
She swallowed hard, still avoiding his gaze. “Yes, okay? He hurt me.” She heard his sharp intake of breath. Lifting her chin, she met his eyes. “The last thing I need is your pity. Do you know how long I’ve been dealing with pity, James? I’m sick of it.”
James searched her face, then jerked a nod, his Adam’s apple bobbing. “All right,” he whispered.
She closed her eyes on a flash of relief. “Now...I need you to go.”
“I can’t—”
“We’ll be fine,” she told him firmly. “I just need some peace and quiet so I can—”
“I can’t leave you alone,” he told her. “Either of you. Not now that I know what you’ve been through.”
“We’ll be fine,” she said again. “I’ll keep Kyle’s BB gun close.” She paused, wrestling over the next words. “And...and you can come by tomorrow morning. For breakfast, if you want.”
James looked at her, his eyes skimming between hers, then over her cheeks, the line of her jaw. “I don’t want you to be alone,” he murmured.
She sighed. “James, I have been alone, for a really long time.” You made sure of that, she added silently. When you left me. The resentment and anger that were usually brought to life by the words didn’t stir. Tired. God, she was so tired.
“Adrian, I’m so sorry,” he said again. When he drew her into his arms, she was helpless to stop him. She had nothing left to fight him with so she closed her eyes as the chest she had fantasized about burrowing herself against moments before rose up to meet her. She felt his lips come to rest on the top of her head. His arms wrapped around her back, closing her in, tightening.
He held her, simply held her, for what seemed like ages. Long enough for the tension to drain from her body. Long enough for her to lean into the hard, strong line of him without scruples, to breathe in the work shirt permeated with the sweet scent of grass and the slight tinge of motor oil. At some point, her arms rose to his waist, folding around to the small of his back to complete the embrace.
A small eternity passed in the space of moments. A hundred unspoken words. Memories stirred, whispering to life, ghosts of what had been.
He moved first, just enough to move one hand up to the nape of her neck. He made a noise in the back of his throat, drawing her attention upward. When his lips touched hers, it felt so natural for her mouth to receive the firm, yielding line of his.
Minutes before, she’d felt drained. Fatigued. The simple press of his lips brought her back to life. Her heart fluttered, lifting and soaring in a way she hadn’t felt since...well, since being with James.
She should have pushed him away. After everything, she should shove him back, make him leave. Instead, she let the moment stretch, slide, deepen until she felt him brush up against the soul she’d buried from everything and everyone.
The kiss was soft...so soft.
He lifted his mouth from hers, easing back just slightly so their mouths were no longer meshed but they still shared a breath. He waited until she opened her eyes and her gaze fused to his. Grazing the tip of his thumb over her cheek, he whispered, “I’ll be right next door, if you need me. O
kay?”
She nodded slowly, unable to summon speech.
He began to step away, then stopped, framing her face in his big, working hands. Eyes closed, brows drawn together, he kissed her temple. His chest moved underneath her hands as he breathed her in. She actually felt him take a little piece of her with him when he finally backed off and left her alone. And that thought was terrifying.
CHAPTER EIGHT
A FEW DAYS LATER, Nutsy the Squirrel was back for more birdseed. Adrian cursed when she saw her bird feeder swinging drunkenly under the animal’s weight.
Cole had taken Kyle with him that morning to go pick up his son, Gavin, from the airport. Adrian had thought it best to get Kyle away for the day anyway, just in case Radley came back. And if Radley followed him out of town...well, Cole, the ex-cop, was more than capable of protecting him. Adrian trusted few other men the way she trusted her friend’s husband.
And, with Kyle out of the house, Adrian didn’t have to worry about guilt as she clambered onto the kitchen counter to remove the BB gun from the top of the cupboard. When the door to the porch smacked shut behind her, Nutsy looked up, startled.
Gritting her teeth, Adrian sighted the BB gun. Nutsy leaped from the top of the feeder to the tree and dashed, chattering noisily, up the trunk, which crossed over into James’s yard.
“Uh-uh,” she said, climbing up on top of the garden bench next to the fence amidst a cloud of Shasta daisies. “You’re not getting away this time without a lesson from Mr. Winchester...” Using the top of the fence, she crouched behind the gun, placed the crosshairs over the squirrel’s retreating rear, felt for the trigger, squeezed—
“Adrian, what’re you—”
Startled, she shrieked and jerked. A shot rang out. Something hit the ground in the next yard and it wasn’t Nutsy.
“James!” she cried, vaulting over the fence, leaving the Winchester behind as she ran to the man crumpled on his hands and knees in the grass. Rounding the edge of the pool, she hunkered beside him, placing her hand between his shoulder blades as she peered at his face, which was quickly turning an alarming shade of red. “Oh, God! I’m sorry, I’m so sorry! I didn’t see you. What in God’s name were you doing in that tree?”
His Rebel Heart Page 10
