“Um…who are you?” In my short time at Xavier’s estate, I’d never seen him.
“My name is Forest.” He extended a massive bear-sized hand. “Forest Summers.”
“Um…” I glanced to where Chambers straightened his towel farther down the beach. He watched me, but made no move to interfere. I took that as a sign he knew Forest.
“I promise…” Forest flashed that megawatt smile again, “I don’t bite.”
“It’s just…”
“I get it. But don’t let it fool you.”
“What?”
“My size. My sister calls me her little beanpole.”
“Um, Xavier keeps an unusual crop of friends. Who’s your sister?”
“Skye. She was the doc…” He looked at me as if the connection was obvious. Then I remembered the medical team.
“So, are you a friend of Xavier’s?”
“I’m not sure yet. I haven’t decided if he’s worthy.”
“What does that mean?”
I didn’t know what was different about this man, but an awkwardness hung all over him. It was as if he didn’t know how to interact with me.
Or maybe it was in the way he studied me, like I was under a microscope with all my actions catalogued and compared against a playbook of scripted responses.
He was friendly, but half a step behind the social reactions I expected.
“People confuse me. I guess you could say Xavier is becoming a friend, but we’re really more business associates.”
“Oh, were you involved in…” I stopped myself, unsure about revealing secrets I shouldn’t say.
“You’re smart, Clara.” He pointed to a spot beside me. “Do you mind if I share your shade? We have something to talk about.” His smile flattened and turned serious.
“I guess it’s okay.” Another glance toward Chambers and I felt safe allowing this imposing man into my personal space.
“First, I want to thank you.”
“Me?”
“Because of you, I have something I’ve been searching for.”
“What’s that?”
“The key.”
The man spoke in riddles.
“I don’t understand.”
“I’m not really good at this.”
“This?”
He gave a low rumble of a laugh. “The talking to pretty girls.”
“A man with your looks? I bet you have women falling at your feet.”
“It happens, but I’m uncomfortable with what comes next. Men are simpler. Easier to understand. Not to mention, they don’t break.”
That comment left me stumbling for how to respond.
“Anyway,” he continued, “you’ve helped me; my sister and I.”
“I still don’t understand?”
“Zane Carson worked for a man I’ve spent my entire life trying to track down.”
“Snowden?” I had heard that name dropped in conversation.
“I understand you were at the fights?”
“I was.” A shudder rippled through me. “It was…”
“Supposed to be me.”
“Excuse me?”
“My sister and I were foster kids together and Snowden…” His voice cracked and choked on Snowden’s name. “He planned on…well…Let’s just say, that very well could have been me in that ring. I didn’t look like this back then. There’s a reason Skye calls me her beanpole.”
My eyes widened with realization. “How old were you?”
“Seventeen.”
That seemed old considering the ages of the boys we’d rescued.
“He was going to kidnap you?”
“I don’t know if kidnap is the right word. He paid to take us off our foster father’s hands. Me for the fights and Skye…”
“I’m so sorry.” How long ago had that been? Forest had to be in his late twenties or early thirties. “How long have you been searching for Snowden?”
“It’s been a minute or two.” He evaded my question. “Anyway, what was done to you wasn’t right, and I don’t know how to apologize except to say I’m sorry.”
“It seems that’s all anyone around here does.”
“What’s that?”
“Apologize.”
“It was wrong.”
“Agreed, but Josh…” Tears shimmered in my vision. “He’s not what any of you think. He’s not a monster.”
“Xavier told me you care for him.” He cocked his head, looking genuinely confused. “I’m surprised. I would think you would hate him.” He looked suddenly uncomfortable.
“I hear that all the time too, but you don’t know him like I do. He’s kind, caring, and…”
“You love him.” Forest said it not as a question, but as a statement of fact. “I’ll be damned, another Lover Boy.” A twinkle sparkled in his glacial gaze, like he shared some private joke with himself.
“Have you heard anything?” I desperately needed to know and Forest seemed involved. If he and Xavier worked together, maybe Forest could help me figure out when Josh would be back.
“I came to discuss what happens next. It’s time for you to move on.”
“Until Josh returns, I’m staying right here. He’s my next step.”
“You can’t stay here forever. My foundation has prepared everything you need for your new life.”
“My new life is with Josh.”
His full lips pressed together and he refused to look me in the eye.
“Unfortunately, until we bring Snowden down, your life is in danger, an unavoidable consequence, but we’ve established a new identity, the finest training is available for you, a degree if you want it, whatever you want actually. We’ll make it happen. My plane is leaving this afternoon, and you’ll be coming with me. Xavier’s orders.”
“I’m not leaving until Josh returns.” They would have to drag me kicking and screaming.
“About Josh,” he still refused to look at me.
“What about him?”
“I’m sorry, but he didn’t make it.”
“What do you mean he didn’t make it?”
“Clara.” His voice shifted vocal registers and headed into dangerous overtones, “Josh is dead.”
Chapter 56
There had been no discussion and no negotiation. As much as I hated to admit it, I had to die.
Wu offered a choice.
I could walk out of his home with my identity wiped or leave as Joshua Davenport. His men were obligated to avenge the wrongs committed against their boss and would track me down in a bid to garner favor with him.
Allowing the man who murdered his daughter to walk free made him appear weak to his enemies.
But he couldn’t kill me.
Not after I saved the lives of his children. That made him appear ungrateful, and a man who refused to repay a life-debt had a very short lifespan within his social circles.
It was complicated.
We agreed.
Joshua Davenport died the night I brought his children home.
But it took a few days.
First, word got out that Wu found the man who had killed his eldest daughter. There was the requisite waiting period where he extracted his pound of flesh. That couldn’t be faked, and I spent two days in his basement getting the shit kicked out of me. There needed to be indisputable proof of death, and we provided that in a broadcast of my torture to his associates.
I took time to recover.
Over the next two weeks, I underwent subtle reconstructive surgery. Nothing major, just enough to alter my appearance so that facial recognition couldn’t match my old face with my new face.
Two days of torture. Two weeks of recovery. Two months of living hell. I barely recognized myself.
I died several times over during that process because I lost what meant the most to me.
But I would make amends.
I couldn’t be with Clara. It was simply too dangerous to ask her to live a life with me, but I could ensure she lived a life without want.
Wu saw to this as well. It had been a part of our original agreement.
I found myself with a new identity and a bank account with more than enough zeroes to begin a new, comfortable, life.
I gave it all to Clara. Hell, she deserved it far more than me.
Our forever vanished the night of the fight and it was something we would both have to live with. Knowing how Forest and Xavier operated, I had no doubt they had already set her up with a new life and new identity.
I found myself in the Cayman Islands, sitting at a bank associate’s desk, waiting for him to verify the funds in my account. Jake and Kate could have the millions they took from me. Hopefully, they put them to good use.
I kicked back and aimlessly drew hearts on the armrest of the chair with my finger. A presence loomed to my left and I glanced up.
I knew that face.
“What the fuck are you doing here?”
If Forest found me, who else would do the same?
Shit.
“Relax, Lover Boy, your secret is safe with me.”
“How did you find me?”
“I have a talent for finding lost things.”
“I’m not lost.”
“I suppose you’re not, but I know someone who is.”
Clara.
My heart skipped a beat.
Once I secured the funds in the transfer account, they would all be wired to an account I set up for her. I didn’t have any use for it, but she earned every damn penny with the shit I’d put her through.
“You’re going to be fucking noble, I see.” Forest took the seat beside me, folding his large frame into the chair. “I was wondering what your play would be. I expect the money in your account will soon belong to another?”
I wasn’t going to play games with him, and he still hadn’t answered my question.
“How the fuck did you find me?”
Wu and I worked hard to make certain Joshua Davenport disappeared.
“Like I said, I have skills.”
“Well, what the fuck do you want?”
“For starters, to say thank you. For seconds, to ask for your help.”
“Is that all?”
“Not really. You know how everything comes in threes? In this case, the third thing is one rather bothersome woman.”
“You sure as shit better not be telling me you brought Clara here.”
“Okay, I won’t say a word. And I didn’t bring her here. She won’t leave me alone. Refuses to leave my side until I find you.”
“Find me?”
“Yeah, evidently she believes you’re not dead. Even after she saw the footage.” Forest winced. “That was some brutal shit.”
“You shouldn’t have brought her.”
“Like I said, I didn’t. Your girl is tenacious as shit.”
“Where is she?”
“Back at the resort.”
I vaulted to my feet. “You fucking bastard.”
My shout turned heads and Forest shook his, as if he had the right to judge me.
“You two clearly belong together. And she sure as shit won’t let me do anything for her. She refuses everything. No new life. No new identity. She threatened to make a martyr of herself and broadcast to the world who she was. I think she has a death wish, and between you and me, I’m tired of keeping her safe from herself. She’s your problem because she sure as shit won’t listen to me.”
The associate returned, which silenced my conversation with Forest. He tucked his hands in his lap while the associate asked for my unique identifier and code.
That’s all it took. Ten million dollars flew through the Ethernet into a bank account I had set up for Clara.
Fucking Forest brought her to the Caymans.
So damn close.
Once I concluded my business, I was on my feet and headed to the door.
“Don’t you want to know what resort we’re staying at?” Forest called out from behind me.
“Don’t need to. You’re taking me to her.”
“Well, thank fuck for that, and here I thought I’d have to drag you kicking and screaming.”
“Stop that shit and take me to Clara.”
Forest lifted his arm over his head. A block away, a white SUV pulled from the curve. It stopped in front of us.
“After you,” Forest said.
I practically launched inside the car. I was that eager.
It had been months since I’d seen Clara, yet it felt as if it had been longer than a lifetime. I thought she was lost to me. Honestly, I had tried to convince myself she would be better off without me. Even if I knew…I fucking knew…that wasn’t true.
“Tell me what happened.” I tugged the seatbelt across my body and buckled in.
“We got news Wu killed you—pretty convincing by the way—and I was the one who broke the news to Clara. She insisted on watching by the way. I wasn’t going to show her. Let’s just say it didn’t go over well. Xavier and I had to practically drag her off the island. She wouldn’t leave, so damn convinced you’d return any moment. I took her to our rehabilitation facilities and tried to set her up in the program. She refused, saying she knew you wouldn’t leave her, that you wouldn’t die, and that she was going to wait for you.”
“Shit.” I ran my palm over my face.
“I don’t know about that, but definitely a unique brand of crazy. She had me believing you might actually still be alive, which led to a little search, which led down one hell of a rabbit hole, which led me here.”
“Wu’s associates will hunt me down if they learn I’m still alive. They owe it to him to avenge his honor.”
“Oh, you’re dead. Joshua Davenport is dead as a doorknob.”
“Then how…”
“How did I find you?”
“Yeah.”
“Persistence, and I’m kind of a sucker for love. Lord knows how many times I’ve had to give it a little nudge here and there. Skye’s hubby needed one hell of a push, and then there were the others.”
We pulled up to a five-star resort. Valets swarmed the car, opening both my door and Forest’s, in what could only be called choreographed perfection. Once out of the car, I turned to him.
“Where is she?” He glanced up at the sun, as if judging the time by its position in the sky.
“About this time, I’m guessing she’s at the beach. Your girl has a rather eclectic reading collection.”
I took off at a jog.
“Don’t you want to know where she is, Lover Boy?”
It was a beach. How damn big could it be?
Turns out, pretty fucking huge. There had to be over a hundred chairs lined up for the guests. About a third were occupied. A score of cabanas lined the back of the beach and nearly all of those had people in them.
But no Clara.
What the ever-loving fuck?
My heart raced. My fingers tingled. Forest wouldn’t lie. But where was Clara?
Think!
I needed to be systematic, and shit if the sun wasn’t hot. I’d dressed in linen trousers and a loose-fitting cotton shirt, perfect island attire, but not for a damn beach.
I kicked off my shoes and rolled up the cuffs of my pants and then began at one end of the beach area owned by the resort. By the time I hit the third row of chairs, people were starting to stare. I turned the scowl on my face into a smile, which seemed to help a little.
Sweat trickled down my back and plastered my shirt to my skin. Frustrated, I tugged it off and received a whole new chorus of stares from the women on the beach. The few men barely registered my presence.
I was on the last row, and there was no sign of Clara. There were a few beach chairs with stuff but no occupants, but I’d already searched the water. I didn’t know how much of a swimmer Clara might be, but she wasn’t chilling off in the ocean.
Putting my hand to the back of my neck, I shielded my eyes from the sun. Would she be in one of the cabanas? That didn’t seem to be her style, but it did seem like something Forest
would do.
Again, starting on the left, I began my search. It didn’t take long before I drew the attention of the attendants as I poked my head into each and every cabana. They started to close in on me, probably to politely ask if they could help me, but I saw the radio calls they made.
Two large men wearing pink polos stamped with Security were making a beeline toward my position.
I’d already startled one mother as she lathered her children with sunscreen. I popped open the curtain on another couple surprising them mid-coitus. There was the rich bastard showing off his wealth to a bevy of girls who barely looked legal.
“Sir?” Shit, one of the little attendants was closing in. I poked my head into the next cabana, but it was empty.
“Sir? May I help you?” The young man picked up his pace, trying not to kick sand on the guests as he trotted to catch up to me.
Ignoring him, I moved on to the next cabana. An old battered copy of The Phantom Tollbooth sat on the lounger. I gripped one of the poles and took in a breath as my heart slammed into my throat.
I’d found her. A hand fell on my shoulder.
“Sir, the cabanas are for hotel guests only. Are you a guest?”
One of the security guards had caught up to me. The tiny male attendant looked comical standing next to him.
“No.”
“Sir, I’ll have to ask you to leave.”
I shrugged off his hand and glared at him. He took half a step back before he realized what he’d done. We stood eye to eye matched in height and bulk, but I had something he didn’t. Perhaps he sensed the menace radiating off me, but he had a job to do.
“No need to do this, man,” I said, trying to diffuse what could easily become an ugly situation. “I’m a guest of Mr. Summers.” I didn’t know if a guard would be privy to the names of the VIP guests, but I figured it was worth a shot.
The guard didn’t know, but the attendant certainly did.
“Sir, will Mr. Summers be joining you?” It was a polite way of saying he needed to verify my story, but wouldn’t make a scene in the off-chance I was telling the truth.
“I doubt it.” This gave the two of them pause, but I didn’t let them stew about it too long. “The woman who’s sitting here. Where is she?”
“I’m sorry, sir, but we can’t give out information about our guests.”
Embracing Fate: A Captive Hearts Novel Page 42
