Finally, Raine caught a break. It was Friday. The hospital wasn’t a large one, and Beck practiced in more than one location. But she remembered a passing conversation with him about the fact that he’d begun to office here on Fridays. Granted, he might be in surgery, but a roomful of patients in his waiting room gave her hope otherwise.
After Raine introduced herself and pleaded with his office manager, the woman finally agreed to tell the good doctor that she was here.
Beck came barreling in three minutes later in a long white coat and a dress shirt, looking surprisingly respectable. He didn’t bother with preambles. “What’s wrong?”
The rest of the people in the waiting room stared. Even the office manager didn’t disguise her curiosity. She shouldn’t have barged in on him at work, Raine realized. He was diligent about keeping his professional and private lives separate.
“Sorry. My mistake. You’re busy. Will you just…call Hammer and Liam when you get a break and tell them I’m fine? I’m not in danger, and they don’t need to look for me. That’s it.”
She turned for the door. Beck captured her arm in an unyielding grip, then he jerked her around. His face didn’t change much, but his eyes… That was the glare of a disapproving Dom. He didn’t say anything for a long moment, just let her feel his concern and displeasure.
“Stay here,” he growled.
With a few steps, he marched over to the woman behind the counter. “Cancel the rest of my appointments for the day.”
Raine gasped. “Don’t do that. Please.”
He ignored her. “Call Dr. Martin and tell him I’ve had something come up. See if he’ll take my emergencies. I’m off call.”
“Right away, Dr. Beckman,” the woman said primly, then looked at Raine with unabashed interest.
Her eyes were probably still red. Her nose, too. She didn’t have on a shred of makeup. Her wardrobe was only suited to a couch potato in football season. And she was holding a brown paper bag that couldn’t be mistaken for anything except a bottle of booze. Horrifically embarrassed, Raine looked away.
“What would you like me to do about that consultation with the Mayo Clinic? It’s in less than five minutes,” the manager reminded. “You’ve already rescheduled on them twice.”
Raine could see Beck biting back a curse. Then he stormed back to her. “Listen to me. On the first floor of the adjoining building, there’s a cafeteria. Wait there. Give me fifteen minutes. You came to me because you need something, clearly. I’ll help you.” His stare sharpened as he grabbed her arm again. “Don’t. Leave. Or you’ll be sorry.”
“Don’t call them now,” Raine blurted. She didn’t know why—maybe everything was catching up to her or reality was setting in—but she teared up. “They’ll come, and I’m not ready to see them.”
“I promise. Just do as I say.”
She thought about disobeying, about going back to her hotel room, downing her bottle, and…who knew what then. But she’d already disrupted his day, brought her problems to his office, and prompted him to change all his plans. He’d promised not to call Liam and Hammer in the next few minutes. She owed it to Beck to stay.
“All right. I haven’t eaten all day anyway.”
He nodded and released her. “Get something in your stomach. Fifteen minutes, princess.”
Raine nodded, then left his office, feeling the stares of a dozen patients on her.
It didn’t take long to find the cafeteria. They were nearly ready to shut down breakfast to begin preparing lunch. She must have looked pitiful because one of the workers sent her a glance full of sympathy and let her grab a few prepackaged foods before they locked up the counters, leaving the seating area open, with its silent but animated televisions flashing and the chairs empty.
Ignoring the beginning of a talk show, Raine reached into her wallet for cash. Damn it, she’d spent it all on her bottle. She hesitated. She couldn’t put everything back after the woman had bent the rules for her.
With a sigh, she handed over her credit card. Maybe the guys wouldn’t be tracking her movements. For all she knew, Liam and Hammer didn’t care that she was gone. Despite his pretty speech, Liam had washed his hands of her. And Hammer…who knew? She hadn’t seen much of him since Thanksgiving.
The woman swiped quickly and sent Raine on her way with a receipt. Setting her purse and the bottle on the table, she plopped into the chair with a cola and a breakfast pastry—and stared at them. She could have cooked something more appetizing at Shadows. Normally, she would enjoy feeding Liam something hot and wonderful. She always made extras for Hammer and left it in the oven. Strictly speaking, she wasn’t supposed to, but he’d starve or eat junk otherwise. If she was already in the kitchen, how could it hurt to cook a little extra for someone who needed it? Of course, Liam would have prodded her to eat the something warm and healthy, too. Now?
Raine usually loved sweet things. The Pop-Tarts just depressed her.
What was she doing here? Where was she going? She had no damn clue.
Fighting back more tears, Raine pulled her phone from her bag and gripped it. She fought the urge to turn it on, call Liam, beg him… God, what good would that do? He’d just wanted to know if she loved him, and she’d been too afraid to make herself vulnerable to him.
She had to pick up, move on, grow up, figure it out. And she would. Raine didn’t know where to start yet, but it wouldn’t be with a teary conversation that would make Liam feel guilty enough to take her back only to have the entire cycle repeat again. Until she changed, that’s precisely what would happen.
#
Dread snaked through Liam as he stared at the envelope Hammer had put into his hands. “What’s this?”
“A visual of what daddy dearest is capable of.”
With his guts in knots, Liam ripped into the envelope, yanked out the photographs inside, and got his first glimpse.
Oh god. Oh Raine. My poor wee lass. His chest buckled.
The photo was of Raine—much younger, but it was still his Raine. Her innocent face was swollen, colored in a rainbow of unnatural hues: black, blue, purple with shades of yellow and green. Her eyes were closed and so puffy, Liam wondered if she’d been able to open them. The lips he’d kissed so many times were split and caked with blood.
She’d been beaten savagely by a monster who’d meant to destroy her.
His first thought was that he wished he’d been there to protect her. He hadn’t known her then, but Liam still felt as if he’d failed her somehow.
His second thought was that he would kill the man.
He took seething breaths to bring his rage under control. “Her father did this to her?”
“Keep breathing, man. It’s a shock,” Hammer said in a tone meant to soothe a wild beast. “I know.”
How ironic. It was the first bloody time all day his old pal seemed to find his control.
“Breathe? Like hell! Answer my fucking question.”
“Yes, her father.”
The bloody prick they were headed to see. Liam stared down at the photo. There were more pictures he hadn’t seen yet. He didn’t want to…but he must. If he wanted to understand Raine, this was part of who she’d become. He hoped like hell she hadn’t let it define her.
Hammer sent him an anxious glance. “I took those the night I found her. She wouldn’t let me near her, even to give her first aid. So I called Beck over, and we slipped a sedative in her Coke. Once she drifted off, Beck made sure she didn’t have any injuries that needed immediate attention. The following morning, I took her to a doctor he recommended. She examined Raine. Cracked rib, a couple of stitches, lots of bruising. The rape kit came back negative. She hadn’t been sexually assaulted.”
Thank god for small mercies.
But from this photo alone, the fact that Bill hadn’t raped her might be the only one. Liam wanted to growl at the injustice Raine had endured. He didn’t care if the pictures had been taken six years ago or yesterday. The agony her father had forced on her stabbed him with pure fury.
Dragging in a sharp breath, he shuffled to the next picture. Raine’s arm, black with bruises in the shape of a man’s hand. God, she’d been a skinny little thing. A grown man unleashing all his force on her would have overpowered her quickly. And no one had been there to stop him. How had Raine done it alone?
Another photo revealed a red, angry spot of torn scalp just above her ear, indicating she’d been grabbed and yanked viciously by the hair.
His eyes smarted. She’d been nothing but a scared child, enduring what that bastard had dished out. But by Christ, she’d escaped. No wonder running was ingrained.
The next shot was of her neck and chest. Deep gouges and cuts raked her flesh. More mottled bruises lay beneath the straps of her tank top. Liam could see discoloration around Raine’s throat. Her father had tried to strangle her? Fuck killing the man; Liam wanted to destroy him.
At the lodge, he’d pried the girl open with pickles and chocolate. The memories of Raine’s words that night rang in his ears. I found out that I shouldn’t mess with Dad’s temper… He would never win father-of-the-year awards. A fucking understatement. He said he wouldn’t go to jail for disciplining his stupidest, most willful...
Jail was far too kind for Bill.
The Dom inside him wanted to hold her close and protect her. Eventually, he’d turn her over his knee and give her a few loving swats of his own for so grossly understating her past. He intended to make it clear that he wouldn’t tolerate her lying or blatantly withholding information anymore.
But wasn’t that why he’d uncollared her in the first place?
The enormity of her damage sank in.
All this time, he thought he’d made progress with her at the lodge, convincing himself that he would have dismantled her walls if he’d had more time. He’d blamed Hammer’s “need” for stunting his ability to reach Raine. But now he feared that all the pickles and chocolate on the planet wouldn’t have been enough for her to reveal the depths of her anguish.
Raine’s soul was still torn. She nurtured her pain, using it like a shield to keep anyone from getting too close. He understood that she hid in shame. Her fear of abandonment and difficulty trusting couldn’t be more clear. But these photographs proved that she’d rather outright lie than risk revealing her real self and letting anyone too close.
As soon as he found Raine, he intended to tell her that he grasped the hell she’d survived, but he would no longer let her use it as a reason to hide from him.
His stare fell upon the final photo. Hammer had pulled the sheet aside to reveal her sleek, supple legs. The bruises and scrapes on them infuriated him enough, but the sickening dark contusions staining her inner thighs ignited his blood. He couldn’t contain his wrath.
“Motherfucker!” Liam’s fist connected violently with the glove box.
Hammer cast a startled glance in his direction. “Take another breath. It was a long time ago.”
“Not for me!” Liam roared. “And now this? I thought you said she wasn’t raped?”
“She wasn’t. When the doctor examined Raine, she confirmed that there was no trauma to her vagina. Her hymen was intact. But I think Bill sure tried.”
Raine must have fought like hell.
Liam’s fingers trembled, yet he was unable to look away from the photos. “Why didn’t you show me these sooner?”
If Hammer had, he might have understood Raine better, taken a different tactic with her, been more patient. It might have made a difference.
“What was I supposed to do, Liam? Haul you into my office the night you collared her and whip these pictures out for you? She doesn’t know I have them, and it wasn’t my place to tell you.”
No, it had been Raine’s. But to Liam’s mind, Hammer staying mute on the subject reeked far more of his desire to hoard the girl than to protect her privacy. He would only keep this terrible truth to himself because he believed that he alone should—or could—heal her. How ironic that he’d never even tried.
Liam’s mind wandered back to his first day at Shadows, after arriving from New York. He’d known almost instantly that Hammer had far more feelings for the girl than he’d been willing to admit. In fact, their first conversation about her had been eye-opening.
“Tell me about Raine,” he’d asked that first night.
Hammer had tensed. Anyone who didn’t know the man well might not have noticed, but Liam had. Then, as if Hammer had forced himself to relax, he’d shrugged. “She’s a runaway I took in. She works for me.”
“Really, now? Is that all? You watch her an awful lot, mate.”
“Of course. She’s an employee under my roof. I take responsibility for her safety.”
And he took it very seriously, too much for merely a boss. “I’ve heard whispers there’s a standing edict that no Dom is allowed to touch her. Is there a reason?”
Hammer had drawn in a deep breath and acted as if he’d been gathering his thoughts. Liam rather thought at the time that the man had been fighting his temper. “Raine was abused before she ran away. She’s not ready for what any of the Doms here would want or expect.”
“Even you?”
“I’ve never given it much thought, but yeah.”
Liam remembered sitting back in his chair, stunned at such a whopping lie. He’d bet money then that Hammer thought of the girl under him every damn day. Why had his best mate felt the need to lie to him?
“What do you think she needs in order to be ready, then? Maybe you ought to help her along.”
Almost immediately, Hammer had shaken his head. “Time, space, security, maturity. She’s vulnerable. No one touches her, including you. Any other sub under my roof is fair game, but not Raine.”
While Hammer had made his rationale sound so noble, Liam had known better. The man might as well have wrapped her in barbed wire and posted a NO TRESPASSING sign around her.
It was then that Liam had realized Hammer was in love with her. Which explained why the man had never once mentioned the girl in the last six years.
As Hammer turned down another residential street, Liam dragged himself back to the present. They had to be nearing her father’s house. Liam felt a fresh wave of fury that his old friend had kept so much from him for so long—the truth about Juliet, his feelings for Raine, and the extent of her damage at her father’s hands.
Such a bloody fucking debacle. How much time and drama could they have saved if Hammer had been willing to come clean?
Beside him, Macen let loose a heavy sigh. “I’d hoped she would volunteer the fact that her father had abused her. I’m sorry she didn’t.”
Pot meet kettle.
“Raine mentioned it, but…” Liam held up the last picture. “She never described anything like this. Did she tell you straightaway that her father had beaten her?”
“No. It took months for her to tell me bits and pieces, but I guessed. Why else would she run away from home with nothing but the clothes on her back?” Hammer gritted his teeth. “The private investigator I hired located the violent prick in two days. When I went to visit him, he had fresh stitches on his cheek.”
“What does that have to do with anything?”
“She admitted later that she fought Bill off with a kitchen knife. She slept with it under her pillow.”
Liam could feel something slide sideways in his mind as the rage and frustration congealed. “Why didn’t you kill the miserable wretch?”
“As much as I would have liked to, I had to make a deal with the devil.”
“What?” Liam stared at Hammer as if he’d lost all his wits.
“I visited him and introduced myself, explained that I owned Shadows. I told him that his daughter was now under my care and that, under no circumstances, would he ever see Raine again.”
“Why the fuck would you tell him all that?”
“I was harboring a minor in a sex club. I had to put all my cards on the table in case he traced her back to me. Then I had to figure out what he wanted to keep his mouth shut and his ass at a distance. Right away, he accused me of having sex with her and threatened to report me as a pedophile.”
“You should have just killed him and been done with it,” Liam hissed. “Or at least called the police.”
“If I had, Raine could have gone to foster care. I refused to risk her being placed in a home worse than the one she’d escaped. And if I’d given into my violent urges, I would have gone to jail instead of being around to protect her.”
Liam couldn’t deny the logic, even if he hated the explanation. “Then what happened?”
“Bill and I came to an agreement. I promised not to plaster fliers of Raine beaten black and blue all over his neighbors’ doors if he kept his mouth shut, didn’t report me, and never came near Raine again.”
“It couldn’t have been that easy to make him agree to all that. What else did it take?”
Hammer tightened his grip on the wheel. “Two thousand dollars a month.”
Another shock jolted Liam’s system. “You paid that cocksucker for six months, until she turned eighteen?”
“No. I’ve paid him for over six years,” Hammer replied flatly.
“Hang on a bloody minute. That’s nearly one hundred fifty thousand dollars!”
“Yes, and I’m sure he’s done nothing but drink it away.”
“Why the hell are you still paying him? Raine became a legal adult years ago.”
“Because I was determined to protect her, and that was the only way I could guarantee Bill would fucking leave her in peace.”
Fuck all. Part of him reeled with the extent his pal had gone to protect the woman he loved—even before he knew he loved her. How could Liam not admire Hammer for the care and protection he’d shown Raine so unselfishly for so long? And what did that say about the man’s devotion to her?
“I understand you can’t be watching her ‘round the clock. But you’ve got me to help protect her now. Between the two of us, we can make sure he never gets close to her again.”
Hammer didn’t say a word, just glanced Liam’s way, his expression considering. “I’d never want to risk her, but… maybe you’re right.”
“I am.” Liam slammed a fist into the passenger door. “I just hate that the bastard is still breathing.”
“Yes, but Raine is, too. So the money I’ve paid him has been worth it.”
“Does she know any of this?” Liam suspected he knew the answer.
“Not a fucking thing, and it’s better if she doesn’t. You need to keep this secret. If not for me, then for her.”
Liam didn’t like it and wondered if this confidence would come back to bite them both in the ass, but he saw Hammer’s point. Raine’s pride would sting. “Fine.”
Finally, Hammer pulled to a stop in front of a two-story Craftsman-style home in a well-manicured neighborhood. Liam looked out the window. Everything looked so normal, so average. Everyone with their two newish cars and two point two kids. Looking around, he’d never think the people living here had anything more interesting to do than watch the lush grass grow. But Liam knew a brute dwelled within.
“Are you ready to meet dear old dad?” Hammer asked in a tone rife with sarcasm.
No. But Liam steeled himself. “As ready as I’ll ever be. I’ll try not to murder him. No promises.”
Hammer gave him a grim laugh. “I’ll keep him busy. You search every fucking room, closet, and cranny for her. Call out her name in case he’s got her tucked away somewhere. He’d probably have her gagged so listen carefully.”
Gagged? Fuck, holding his temper was getting bloody hard. “I will.”
And if she’s being held against her will, forget holding back the urge to slaughter him.
Hammer opened the car door. “Then let’s get this over with.”
“I’m right behind you.” Liam emerged from the car.
Hammer knocked on the door. After a curse and a shuffle, it swung open. Liam got his first look at Raine’s father.
A shock of snow-white hair stood off his scalp. His eyes were bloodshot and lifeless, but a familiar bright blue. The scar Raine had given him bisected one gaunt cheek with a thin white line.
The man was probably pushing sixty, but looked closer to eighty. A bulbous nose, cheeks full of broken capillaries, and a bloated belly showed the ravages of alcohol abuse. Some might have thought him a sweet old man, but Liam wasn’t fooled for a minute.
Bill leaned against the doorframe with a nasty smile. “Well, well. I’m surprised to see you here, Master Pervert. Are you still fucking my daughter?” Then he turned to Liam with a sneer. The old man sized up his designer suit, Italian loafers, and luxury watch. Dollar signs cha-chinged in his gleeful gaze. “You banging her, too?”
That was it. Bill was dead.
Liam surged at the man with a snarl of fury, all semblance of control gone. When Hammer held him back, he fought like a wild man.
“Steady...” his friend warned in a low voice. “Let’s find out what the bastard knows first.”
Hammer barged his way into the house. Liam followed, ignoring the old man’s stench.
Bill stared, and Hammer glowered at the man, his face every bit as threatening as Liam had ever seen it. “Where. Is. She?”
“Who?”
“Raine.”
“Why would I know where to find that ungrateful little bitch?” Bill sneered. “Does it look like I have her tucked up my sleeve?”
Killing was too good for Bill. Liam would tear off his head with his bare hands, pour kerosene all over him, then light him on fire. When he lunged at the old man, Hammer held him back again.
“Did she come here?” Hammer demanded.
“You can’t find her? That’s priceless.” Bill laughed.
“Answer the question now or I’ll tear you limb from limb!” Liam couldn’t contain his rage.
“If I know something…” Bill turned to Liam, eyes crafty. “What’s that scrawny piece of ass worth to you?”
“How much do you want to live?” Liam growled, unable to believe this asshole had any genetic resemblance to the woman he loved.
“You going to hit me?” Raine’s father challenged.
When Bill least expected it. “Answer us. Do you know where to find Raine?”
Hammer cut him off with a sharp jerk of his head. Right, he was supposed to be sweeping the rooms, hoping against hope that he wouldn’t find her lying in one of them, half dead.
“Raine’s whereabouts aren’t up for sale today,” Hammer said. “You get your monthly stipend and that’s all. You and I are going to have a problem if she’s here—or if she came to see you and you didn’t call. Do we have a problem so far?”
“Did she run away from you, too?” Bill jabbed.
“Is she here, yes or no?” Hammer demanded. “I’m running out of patience.”
“Maybeeeee,” Bill taunted.
Liam prowled past the foyer and navigated a path through the piles of old newspapers littering the hall. He recoiled. The manicured façade of Raine’s house was an illusion, pretty enough on the outside, but neglect and decay permeated the walls.
He searched the spare bedrooms from top to bottom but found only wrappers, junk mail, discarded boxes, and trash—even in the wide open closet doors. Everything stunk to high heaven. He choked back the urge to retch.
Liam knew the bedroom that had once been Raine’s. The walls were a faded pink. A crinkled old poster of Justin Timberlake hung askew off one wall. A big fuzzy “R” dangled from a string above an old twin bed, stripped bare. Now the room had become a ten-by-ten trash can. Somehow, it made him hurt for her all over again.
As Liam hauled into the master bedroom, he coughed, forcing down the urge to heave. Inside, discarded takeout boxes, empty gin bottles, and overflowing ashtrays lay strewn everywhere. Hell, an atomic bomb couldn’t have done more damage. He called out for Raine, jerking open the closet. Smelly clothes, stiff sheets, loose change, and old porn magazines assaulted him.
The master bathroom fared no better. Liam tried to ignore the filth of old whisker shavings and cheap aftershave mingling with the black ring of grime in the tub and urine stains on the floor. The linen cabinet was filled with ratty towels and more garbage. The cloying reek of body odor pervaded the air.
“She’s not in the bedrooms,” he called to Hammer, coming back down the hall and dusting his hand down his pant leg, trying to rid himself of a prickly, crawling sensation. Once he knew Raine was safe, he’d welcome the chance to return to Shadows and scald himself with clean shower spray and antibacterial soap.
How had Raine ever lived here? She wasn’t mental about cleanliness, but she liked a tidy space and didn’t mind putting in the work to make a room spick-and-span. More than likely, she’d cleaned up after the repulsive old man, and he hadn’t bothered after she’d left.
Liam backtracked to the kitchen—and stopped in the doorway. Bill had obviously exhausted his supply of dishes and flatware years before. Paper plates caked with old food cluttered every surface. Cockroaches and rodent excrement mingled with other less identifiable layers of filth. The stench nearly dropped him to his knees.
Again, he opened every door and every cabinet, calling out, but no Raine.
The garage held nothing but a late-model economy sedan that had more than a few dents, a rusted-out washer, and a tilted dryer. Liam checked the interior of all and found no signs of struggle, blood, hair—or anything that led him to believe Bill had inflicted any trauma on her here.
The access to the attic was directly above Liam’s head. He pulled on the cord, and the attached compact stairs unfolded. After a brief climb, he discovered the space occupied by insulation and a hot-water heater. Crawl spaces were laid out in plywood. He climbed up. The odors from the house had risen, and it smelled like a landfill. Thankfully, the area was small. His visual check took under a minute. Given the undisturbed inches of dust, Liam realized that Raine couldn’t possibly have been here.
It was almost a relief. He couldn’t stand the thought of her stepping foot in this grimy hoarder’s dwelling again, at the mercy of that spawn from hell.
As he rounded the corner and made his way to the front door, he found Hammer fisting the drunkard’s stained T-shirt and shoving him against the wall.
“Don’t you keep her tied to the bed or something?” Bill sneered. “I’ll bet she likes it.”
Hammer growled. “What did you say?”
“I looked your kind up online, Master Pervert. I know all about you.”
No, he didn’t have a clue.
Liam surged closer. “Hammer, move. I’m going to hit him at least once.”
“Believe me, I want to. His sorry ass isn’t worth the jail time, and we can’t find her from behind bars.” But his old friend looked like he thought otherwise for a moment. Then he turned back to the unkempt bastard with thunder in his eyes. “Last chance. Have you seen Raine?”
“The stupid whore hasn’t come back here.”
Releasing Bill’s shirt with a shake of his hand, Hammer stepped back, looking like he, too, was suppressing a murderous rage.
The old man leveled them a taunting sneer. “This is hilarious. She’s got both your dicks in a meat grinder. She must mean a lot to you two.”
“Not one more disrespectful comment from you,” Liam replied in a cold, deathly calm tone. “Hammer, here, may have some qualms with ending your life, but I sure as bloody hell don’t.”
Bill glared at Liam. “I can’t believe she’s fucking a mick.”
“I advise you against insulting my friend,” Hammer said in silky warning. “You’ll respect him or I’ll shatter your goddamn jaw.”
“She’d spread her legs for anything with a dick. Well, except me. Even when I tried to be nice to her, she never showed me any love.”
White-hot rage roared through Liam’s veins.
“Nice?” Hammer closed in on Bill again like a raging bull. “You tried to rape your own daughter. What kind of sick fuck does that?”
“Don’t get all high and mighty.” Bill didn’t deny it.
Liam’s chest heaved. Hammer wasn’t faring any better. The old man was either too stupid to notice their fury…or he was baiting them. Liam didn’t like it.
“Her worthless mother was gone, and Raine is pretty. But you know that, don’t you?” Bill taunted, then looked at Macen. “Bet you enjoyed every minute of popping her cherry.”
Hammer drew back his fist fast as lightning.
Liam gripped Hammer’s bicep, holding him back. “You’re right. We can’t find Raine from jail.”
But if they didn’t leave, Bill would soon be a dead man.
“That’s it,” Hammer spat. “You’re not getting another goddamn dime from me. Do you understand? And don’t you dare threaten me. You just confessed to trying to force your minor daughter to have sex with you, and I’ve got a witness. I’ve also got a hundred people who can testify that I never laid a hand on her when she came to live with me.”
“All deviants like you. We had a deal,” Bill protested. “You can’t cut me off!”
Hammer stared him down with narrowed eyes. “Watch me.”
Macen’s phone beeped and he plucked it out of his pocket, pausing, reading. “I just got a bead on her. She used her credit card. Let’s go.”
As Hammer ran for the Audi, Liam lunged in Bill’s face. “I promise you someday, somehow, I will hunt you down like the animal you are and repay you for everything you did to Raine.”
#
The door to the cafeteria opened, and Raine watched Beck march in, minus his white coat, looking grim and worried. He slid into the seat beside her and took hold of her chin, but her pathetic breakfast seemed to distract him. “That’s what you chose to eat?”
“They didn’t have a lot left.”
He spied the receipt and picked it up. “You paid with a credit card?”
She sighed. “Yeah. I know what you’re going to say. I doubt they’re watching me.”
Beck scoffed.
“Seriously, Liam released me this morning.”
“Yeah? I can’t speak for him since I don’t know him as well, but I know Hammer will never let you go, princess. I can promise you that.”
“He hasn’t spoken to me in a week.”
“Doesn’t matter. He’s been in love with you for six years.” He glanced at his watch. “Let’s go.”
The man was hallucinating if that’s what he thought, but Raine didn’t argue. “Where?”
“I want to hear this story—without one or both of them interrupting. I want to make sure you eat something better than processed crap. And then I want to give you some advice that you’ll probably ignore, but I hope you’ll put to good use anyway.”
She didn’t have the energy to fight him when he grabbed her soda and pastry only to toss them in the trash can. She picked up her purse and bottle with a sigh.
As Beck led her out of the cafeteria, he settled a guiding hand at the small of her back and herded her to a parking garage. He hit a button on the key fob and a bright red Mercedes convertible beeped. Flashy wheels. It figured.
Beck opened her door. “Get in.”
Raine slid into the soft seat in silence and watched Beck back out. “I’m sorry for causing you trouble. I shouldn’t have come and bothered you here.”
“Yeah, you should have. You know they’re probably worried out of their minds.”
Maybe, and the possibility made her feel a bit guilty. “That’s why I wanted you to tell them I’m all right, just in case.”
“Well, I’m not a liar, princess. So let’s fill your belly and get you settled. Then I’ll figure out what to say to those two clowns.”
As they rounded the back of the hospital and approached the circular drive at the front, a familiar black Audi screeched into the passenger pick-up zone. Hammer and Liam jumped out, running full throttle into the building. Raine’s heart caught in her throat. Guilt gnawed at her composure.
“I’ll be damned. They stopped fighting long enough to look for you together,” Beck observed, sounding oddly happy. “Want to talk to them?”
Yes. Desperately. But what good would it do? “No.”
“Wait, did one of them hurt you?” he scowled, his expression like a thunder cloud.
Beck meant Liam, since he knew Hammer too well to believe that Macen would ever intentionally smack her except in play. But Liam could be so heartbreakingly gentle. Neither would ever bodily harm her.
Just break her heart.
“No.” She tried not to cry again.
Why wouldn’t this fucking useless sorrow go away?
“God, that face is killing me, princess.” He pulled away from the hospital. “Is that all you have, a purse and a bottle?”
“No. I have a suitcase, too.” She told him about the motel.
He pressed tight lips together and drove down toward the place. As soon as he pulled up front, Beck held out his hand. “Claim ticket?”
Raine hesitated. “You’re not dragging me back to Shadows?”
“Nope. But you’re not staying here. I’ve got someplace better and safer. And no, I won’t tell Liam or Hammer until you want me to.”
She gnawed on her lip. Beck might have messed with her mind here and there, but he’d never lied to her. She dug into her purse and handed the little scrap of paper over. He hopped out, then emerged two minutes later with her bag in hand.
After tossing it in his trunk, he eased back into the driver’s seat. “You know if they ever catch up to you, they’re going to spank you bright red. I’ll watch. And volunteer to help.”
Despite the grim situation, she managed a laugh. “Why am I not surprised?”
“Hey, you have a nice ass.” He winked.
“The answer is still no.” The last thing she wanted was another romantic entanglement, even if Beck was on the sexy side. She also didn’t need more hurt. Physical pain might help her process the emotional agony eventually, but she didn’t need it yet. And even if he’d do it, she hated to ask Beck for more.
He nodded. “Just trying to lighten the mood.”
A few minutes later, he pulled up in front of a new, industrial-looking building of high-rent condos. He flashed a key card at the parking garage. After the gate went up, they slid inside. Beck parked in a reserved spot, grabbed her things, and helped her into an elevator.
“You don’t have to do all this,” she protested.
“If I don’t want Hammer to kill me, I do. I don’t want to worry about you, either.”
On the top floor, he emerged and led her inside a corner unit. It was compact and sleek and had killer views that went all the way to the Pacific.
“The bedroom is through that door. Bath attached.” He set her suitcase down. “You’ve already seen everything else.”
“I don’t want to take up your space. If you live here—”
“No. I crash here sometimes, especially after surgeries that run late. I’ve got a house about ten miles from here, closer to Shadows. You’ll have the run of the place this weekend. The housekeeper just came, so it’s clean and stocked with food. Sit.” He pointed to the little kitchen table.
Raine sat as he bid, watching him move around the kitchen. “I’m a lousy cook, but I figure as many times as you’ve fed me over the years, I can return the favor this once.”
“I’m not really hungry.”
“I don’t care. If you’re going to get busy with Jose Cuervo, you need something in your stomach to toss up later.”
With a wry smile, she waited until he set some eggs, toast, and a bowl of fresh fruit in front of her. “Thanks.”
“Dig in. And start at the beginning.”
Raine did, confessing everything between Thanksgiving and this morning. When she finished, her food was gone, tears streaked down her face, and her nose was running.
With a curse, Beck grabbed her a tissue from the bathroom, then stomped back. “What did you expect Liam to do, princess?”
“I don’t know.”
“We’re not exactly friends, but I can guarantee that he didn’t give up on you. He wants you to think, make some decisions.”
“That’s what he said.”
“Then where do you get off with this bullshit that he’s dumped you for good?”
“It’s just…where my head always goes.” Her mom had left. Then her brother and sister. Her father had never made any bones about his contempt for her, especially at the end. “They’re the first people to really want me in their lives. I guess…I have trouble accepting it.”
“Or trusting it. You’re holding your breath, waiting for something bad to happen. When it doesn’t, you create it, even if you don’t mean to. It’s all you know. And it’s up to you to figure out why and how to change. All they want is your soul, princess.”
Yes, and that scared the hell out of her. “What happens if I give it to them and neither wants it anymore?”
Beck leaned forward, bracing his elbows on the dark table. “You won’t break. You’re too strong, Raine. The more important question is, how much happiness are you throwing away because you’re too afraid to give either of them a real chance?”
Maybe a lifetime of it.
She looked at Beck with bleak eyes. He patted her hand, then took her plate away. As he set it in the sink, the phone attached to his belt trilled. He yanked it from the clip. “And there are your knights in shining armor now. What do you want to do?”
Raine pulled the bottle from the brown paper bag. “Think. Got a shot glass?”
Beck pulled one from the cabinet and set it in front of her as he brought the phone to his ear. “I’ll be back.”