Despite my best efforts, Kate Summers lived.
Barely.
By the grace of Kevin’s surgical skills, the cut slicing across her throat had been closed in the field. Kevin saved the love of Jake’s life, while I’d been the man tasked with taking it.
As for Kevin’s wife?
I didn’t know if Lily survived the brutality rained down on her all those years ago. She’d been gang-raped by my father’s men. My job was to rape Kate and then kill her, but I never made it that far. And I wasn’t the one who slit her throat. Kate survived only because Jake brought the calvary and saved the day.
Our murderous father died.
I went to prison.
Jake got the girl.
Halle-fucking-lujah.
I hope Kevin did too, but I didn’t know what happened to Lily.
What a perfectly fucked up family we made; Dad was a murderer, I was a rapist, and Jake was the damn hero.
“Ticket ain’t much,” the guard remarked, reminding me of his presence. “Ten bucks to town.” He shifted again. “You need money for the fare?”
My stoney-faced friend had a heart after all, but I didn’t need his charity. Heavier than I thought it should have been, my wallet had tumbled into my hands out of the thick manila envelope.
It sat in my back pocket, along with a small pocket knife that did me no good. The credit cards were expired and useless. I chucked them in the trash on the way out. The thick stack of bills, however, had me arching my brow.
I supposed someone still had a sense of decency because none of the cash had been appropriated over the years.
Good news for me. Yippee!
I needed cash, not plastic. I also needed a fresh change of clothes, something not infested with the smell of Jake’s wife.
“I’ve got cash.” More than enough for a cheap ticket to town.
“Well,” the guard gave a jerk of his chin down the road, “best get on it.”
“Yeah, I’m going.” Thanks for the encouragement. Except my feet didn’t want to move. There was comfort in the familiar, as abusive as the Georgia Pen had been, I couldn’t stay here forever.
Right after bus fare, I would grab new clothes and throw what I was wearing into the trash. I didn’t need any reminders of what brought me here.
A passing breeze kicked up dust and sent leaves skittering across the parking lot. Grit blew in my face, settling in my eyes. I blinked to clear my vision, then sucked in another breath of my newfound freedom.
It didn’t taste nearly as sweet as the first one, but at least it didn’t reek of bad memories. Sweat beaded my brow and gathered between my shoulder blades. From there, it trickled down my back.
The guard was right. It was time to get on. Or at least find some shade.
“Hey, when does the bus usually run?”
Maybe the guard would let me back inside to grab a bottle of water from the vending machines?
One look at his grumpy mug and I discarded that idea. His charity extended only as far as my continued movement away from the gate he guarded. No way was he letting me back inside.
The sun cranked on the heat and brought humidity to intolerable levels. I squinted down the road and resigned myself to a hike.
Five miles.
One bus to take me away.
To where? Where the hell did I want to go?
Nowhere.
I might be free, but I’d never felt so completely lost.
Black heart. Black soul. Evil infiltrated every piece of me.
There was no place to go. No one to welcome me home.
I ached for an easier path. An easier life. I ached for a cleansing of my soul.
Five years.
Four months.
Three days.
I counted every damn second of my time behind bars and cursed the one who had put me there; not Jake, but rather our father. Revenge demanded I kill the murdering S.O.B, but that pleasure had not been mine. My father died the night of my arrest. Good riddance to the bastard; a sick fuck, he sucked any good out of me years ago.
The guard took a few steps toward me, probably as eager to see me go as I was to leave.
Why was I still standing there?
“Don’t know fer sure, but I’m thinking it runs twice a day. Seems like it’s morning and late evening. Ya’ got plenty of time to get there, but I wouldn’t waste too much time dawdling.”
Dawdling?
The last thing I wanted was to spend any more time here. I also didn’t relish a hike in this heat and humidity, but there was no other option. Resigning myself to my task, I placed one foot in front of the other and ambled across the parking lot as if I hadn’t a care in the world.
I had the rest of my life to sort out where I wanted to go. Hopefully, I would figure that out by the time I got on that bus.
Evening was an oddly unspecific time. As it was noon, there didn’t seem to be any hurry. It would take more than an hour to find the bus stop. That left plenty of time to stew with my thoughts.
For five years, all I’d done was survive and not get shanked, beaten to a pulp, or raped in the ass. I’d been on constant alert and hadn’t had the luxury of sifting through my thoughts. My days began with Lily’s screams and ended with the gurgling of Kate’s throat as she fought for her life, bleeding out between my fingers as I held the gaping cut closed.
I preferred the brutality of survival over living with my sins.
As I turned to begin the five-mile trek, a throaty roar rumbled from down the street. I raised my hand to shade my eyes and squinted against the glare of the sun.
A ’68 Plymouth Barracuda chewed up the pavement as it roared toward me. The old car had seen better days. It was a glorious beast, and I’d seen it before. My balls drew up, and I sucked wind.
The car and its driver angled toward me. The ‘Cuda turned into the parking lot and ground to a stop, kicking up gravel and dust. Black exhaust billowed out the tailpipe and blew in my face, making me sputter and gag.
The door groaned opened in protest and a woman stepped out. A bull whip coiled at her waist. Funny how that’s what my attention zeroed in on. I didn’t care about Kate Summers’s beauty, but rather the pain promised at the end of that whip.
I needed to suffer.
She lowered her sunglasses and gave me a hard stare.
“Get in!” Her words shot like a bullet and snapped my spine to attention.
When I didn’t move, her lips pressed into a thin line. A stunning woman, the disgust in her expression only intensified her beauty. My brother truly was a lucky bastard.
Once called the Mistress of Pain, Kate Summers now found peace kneeling at my brother’s feet, but that didn’t mean the Mistress didn’t still command an impressive presence.
Strong, beautiful, and full of grace, she was stunning. The last time I’d seen her, she’d nearly died in my arms.
So, what the hell was she doing here?
“You going to gape or get in the damn car?” Kate flicked her sunglasses back into position, obscuring the beauty of her eyes.
I’d been weighed and measured in that brief moment, and couldn’t help but think she found me lacking. Why did that bother me? I didn’t care what she thought. She belonged to Jake, in every way a woman should, and I had no interest in her.
I never had.
What I had wanted, or thought I wanted, was to take what my brother had and destroy his happiness as he’d stolen my future. Kate had been nothing more than collateral damage.
Besides, I didn’t like strong women. I preferred delicate and weak, something I could control, break, and mold to serve my desires.
With a shake of my head, I shut off those thoughts.
You don’t want to be that kind of man anymore.
Except I did.
The self-recrimination made me flinch, but I had made a promise to myself. I’d vowed to change the kind of man I’d been, but I wanted it. With a raging hunger, I wanted control.
I crosse
d my arms, noting how Kate’s gaze slanted down to take in my current state. I’d packed on muscle since she’d last seen me. The cotton of my T-shirt strained against my chest and I knew exactly what she saw.
What was it like for her? Seeing the mirror of her Master, my twin, in me? It had to be freaking crazy, but Kate showed no sign of weakness. The woman had her shit locked down tight. There was only one way to combat that much strength.
“What the hell are you doing here?” I scanned the car, taking a moment to admire the sleek lines of the classic Mopar. Then I switched from my examination of the car to the undeniable beauty of the woman standing in front of me.
Toned and tanned, she wore tight fitting cutoff shorts and a loose tank top. Unlike my heavy boots and jeans, she dressed for the heat.
“Your manners suck,” she said with a hiss.
My leisurely appraisal of both her and the car continued. What I wouldn’t give to grip the steering wheel and take the ’68 Hemi ‘Cuda for a spin.
“My manners were stripped away years ago.” I kept my voice strong.
We weren’t friends meeting after years of separation. In every way, Kate had reason to hate me. If I had an enemy, other than my brother Jake and ex-best friend Keith, it would most definitely be the woman standing in front of me.
A necklace encircled her neck, a fine chain which symbolized her submission to my brother, but it didn’t hide the silvery scar. She took in the direction of my gaze, lifted a hand to her throat, then snapped it to her side. Her fingers clenched and her brows drew tight together, intensifying her frown.
“Well, I don’t give a flying fuck about what was or wasn’t stripped from you. I said get in. You get in.”
“I’m not going anywhere with you.” At least, not until I knew Kate Summers wasn’t going to dump my body in a ditch. I wasn’t stupid.
“Is that so?”
“I reckon’ it is.”
“You need to work on your accent, boy. It’s slipping.”
I’d lost my southern twang years ago. Anything that singled me out for special attention had been ruthlessly stripped away, but I dug deep and resurrected my southern heritage, if only because it pissed her off.
I needed Kate angry. If she was pissed, then I didn’t have to face the fragile woman standing in front of me. Despite her reputation and skill with that whip she kept fingering at her hip, Kate wasn’t a large woman. Not quite petite, she was still much smaller than me. I could pick her up and toss her over my shoulder without breaking a sweat.
“I’ll kindly ask you to not call me boy.” I tried to sneer, but wound up suppressing a smile instead. I didn’t think she noticed, or if she did, she didn’t let on.
“See, that’s the thing, Joshua Davenport. You don’t get to decide what I do or don’t call you. As a matter of fact, you don’t get a say in anything.”
I hooked a thumb back toward the prison. “Sorry, but I’m a free man. Nobody gets to tell me what to do anymore, especially you. I paid my debt, and if you’re done, I’ve got a bus to catch.”
“You see, that’s where you and I are going to have problems.” She reached for the bullwhip coiled at her hip and fluttered her fingers over the knotted leather. A soft laugh escaped her. “I own you.”
“And how’s that?” What the ever-loving fuck? “Are you crazy?”
“You may have paid your debt to society, but we haven’t discussed the payment of your debt to me.”
“You’re one crazy bitch.”
“Call it determined. You have much to atone for, and I’m here to deliver you from your sins.”
“Careful, you’re sounding like a whack job in a poorly written movie script quoting scripture you don’t understand. I don’t owe you shit. My debt has been paid. You and I have nothing further to discuss.”
“Well, let’s lay it on the line, then. You’ve got nothing. No ride. No home. No money. Nothing. Your options are limited. What are your plans?”
I laughed. Kate could be quite fierce when she wanted to be. The woman hadn’t earned the title of Mistress of Pain without the balls to back it up. The thing was she’d retired her crown. Kate was no mistress. Not anymore.
And as for money?
I had plenty squirreled away. What I lacked was the means to get to it, and the few hundred in my wallet wasn’t enough to take me where I needed to go. There was also the problem of not being allowed out of the country for the time being.
“I can see the wheels churning in that overly inflated head of yours,” she said, “but let me make this easy for you. I’m the bitch you don’t fuck with. That money you think you have…”
What does she know about my money?
I had it locked down tight in off-shore accounts. A deep breath settled my nerves, but the way she cocked her hip forward stirred my doubts into a frenzy of what-the-fucks? I said nothing, not that I could. Kate rolled right through anything I might have said.
“Here’s the thing about identical twins. You used the twin thing to implicate Jake in your crimes. Well, Jake and I turned it around. Finding your money was a cakewalk for Mitzy. Jake walked right in and cleaned all your accounts.”
“What the fuck!”
“That’s right. Enjoy the cash in your wallet because that’s the sum total of your net worth.”
“You stole from me?”
She arched a brow and the message was not lost on me. I’d taken much worse from Jake, and I didn’t want to contemplate what my father had taken from Kevin. There had been a time when Kevin had called me brother. I’m certain he wanted me dead after what his sweet Lily had suffered.
“Unlike you, Jake has an indisputable moral code. The money is in holding, and lucky for you, you have a chance to earn it back. Do as you’re told, and it’s yours.”
“Like hell. That money is mine. You can’t take it.”
“Done took it already, Josh,” she taunted. “That’s what I’m trying to tell you. You have nothing, at least not until you repay your debt to me. Pay off what you owe and the money is yours again. Neither Jake, nor I, want it.”
“But you took it.”
“As insurance.”
“For what purpose? Blackmail? Is that what this is? What exactly do you need from me?”
Certifiable. This bitch was certifiable.
There had been millions in those accounts. Had they gotten to them all? One look at Kate and I decided not to ask that question. If they hadn’t uncovered all my accounts, I wasn’t going to send them fishing for more.
“This is the fun part.” A smile spread across her face and a deadly pall settled between us. “You’re going to get in my car, and we’re going to have a nice long chat about your future.”
“I’m not getting in your damn car.”
“Have it your way. But, I strongly suggest you be in my office tomorrow by eight in the morning, ready to kiss my whip and do my bidding or you’ll never see that money again.” She stared into the sky. “It’s going to be a long walk, and you’ve already missed the morning bus. Next one isn’t until seven tonight.”
Well, at least that answered one question.
“I suppose you could hitch a ride,” she said, “but people around these parts don’t tend to pick up hitchhikers. Your pride will be your downfall, Joshua Davenport. It’s the first thing I’m going to strip from you.”
“You’re a psychotic bitch.”
“I’m the executor of your penance.” She turned back to her car and glanced back. “Last chance. Get in or start walking…and Josh?”
“What?”
“It’s Mistress Kate to you.”
Mistress Kate?
This woman was high on crack if she thought I’d bow to her will, let alone kiss her damn whip.
Hell to the fucking no!
“No way in hell are those words ever passing my lips.”
My twin brother and I shared many things, dominance being the unquenchable fire burning in our veins. I had no idea what he and Kate got up to in pr
ivate, but I wasn’t the kind of man who bowed to a woman.
Identical twins.
At one time, Jake and I shared everything.
What we didn’t share was a charmed life.
He had it.
I didn’t.
And Jake had Kate; not as a Mistress though. Somehow, he found a way to get this feisty female to submit to his desires. I’d seen it. Hell, I experienced it, although at the time, she thought I was him.
Kate snapped her fingers, pulling me from my thoughts.
“This is where you’re wrong.” Her fingers twitched at her hip again, stroking the leather of her whip.
There was much to atone for between me and her, me and my brother, me and Kevin and Lily too, if she’s still alive. But Kate was whacked in the head if she thought my penance would come at the end of her whip. The best thing I could do for all involved would be to disappear from their lives.
Rubbing the back of my neck, I reflected on my sins. I’d be lying if I didn’t crave a tenth of what my brother had found in this woman. I needed something like that. Someone similar, but uniquely mine.
“I’m never calling you Mistress.” The thought was absurd.
The charmed life definitely belonged to Jake. I’d drawn the shit straw in that exchange. I should hate him for that, and I had; fiercely, for a time. I wanted nothing more than to show Jake what hell looked like. I wanted him to live it. Breathe it. Suffer within it. Every breath had been geared toward making Jake suffer as I had.
Five years behind bars offered many opportunities to reflect on my past. Evil swam in my veins, but that didn’t mean it controlled me.
Nope.
That singular honor belonged to my father, a man who infected me with his vileness and destroyed my life. He was a sickness I would eradicate from my soul. I owned my sins, and I would make amends, but I would do so on my terms.
Not Kate’s.
And most definitely not Jake’s.
If I never saw my brother again, it would be a good thing, though I couldn’t help but wonder what brought his woman to me. If she were here, was it possible he might still want to be in my life? With a shake of my head, I dispelled that needy thought.
I didn’t need my brother’s forgiveness.
“I think what we’re having…” Kate stared at me and pinched her lips together, “is a failure to communicate.”
Embracing Fate: A Captive Hearts Novel Page 2
