Step Into My Web

by Cynthia Eden

  “But he stayed focused on her,” Chloe continued woodenly. “He stabbed her in the back. She fell.” She’d seen every moment in the footage. “Then he flipped her over and stabbed her four more times. And then I found him, standing over her body.”

  “Baby. Tell me you ran. Tell me you got the hell out of there!”

  She looked into his eyes. “He could have killed me. He didn’t. He took the knife from our mother’s body. Told me he was sorry, and he shoved it into his chest.”

  “Fuck.”

  Her family’s story wasn’t some warm, fuzzy memory. It was a nightmare that never stopped. That replayed in her head late at night.

  “He wasn’t dead. I ran to him.” Not from him. “He was still alive. I grabbed the handle of the knife because I was going to pull it out. I was going to save him. I didn’t even register what he’d done. He was just…he was my brother. But he said…” She was choking. Suddenly so far in the past that she could barely breathe. “P-please…He said please. My hands were around the handle of the knife, and he was saying please and he was staring up at me and asking me to kill him. His fingers curled around mine, squeezed, and the knife…” A tear leaked from her eye. “I shoved it deeper into him. I killed my brother.”

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Joel yanked her against him. He pulled her into his arms and held her as tightly as he could. So tight. I never want to let go. She shuddered against him. Seemed to go boneless as she hung in his arms. And he didn’t speak. What the hell was he supposed to say? He wanted to make things better for her, but there was no way to change the past.

  I wish I could. I wish I could have been there.

  To help thirteen-year-old Chloe.

  Was it any wonder she shut people out? That she studied everyone so carefully? That she was so obsessed with discovering the secrets that everyone possessed? He understood so much about her now. Could see so much.

  She’d trusted him with her darkest moments. Trusted him because Chloe loved him?

  I will never betray her trust. I will never betray her.

  He kept holding her. Pressed kisses to her hair. Sheltered her in his embrace. Until she drew a shuddering breath. Then her head lifted. “The cook was the first person to arrive the next day. When she…found everything…” Chloe’s voice sounded detached. Weak. “She called my grandfather. Not the authorities. Him. And he called his very good friend, the chief inspector.”

  “They covered it up.”

  A nod. “It was better for my grandfather. Better if a random stranger committed such terrible acts instead of the world thinking his grandson had been a twisted monster. The chief inspector knew it was wrong, but he—I watched as he got rid of my brother’s body. Dragged him out. Made him disappear. There was never even a funeral for him and I…” Her eyes squeezed shut. “I’ve had a lifetime of lies. I try not to lie outright. I swear, I do. So I just—I leave things out because I don’t want to be like them, but it’s so hard.”

  “Look at me.”

  Slowly, her eyes opened.

  “You are nothing like them.”

  She started to shake her head.

  “Nothing.” He bent his head and brushed his lips across her mouth. “You are the strongest, most determined woman I have ever met. You want to stop monsters. You don’t want to make them. You are good. You’re nothing like them.”

  “When my grandfather died, guess who was supposed to become my guardian?”

  He tried to remember the articles he’d read. Truth and lies, blended together. “It was a family friend.” But Joel couldn’t remember the name. Didn’t think it had been reported.

  “The chief inspector. The man who’d buried my brother in an unmarked grave somewhere. I wasn’t going to live with him. So I found another solution.”

  Holy shit. “You found Reese, didn’t you?” Only Reese wasn’t the man’s real name. Joel wondered what was. Who the guy truly was.

  “I found him. He found me. We fit each other.”

  She’d found Reese. The same way she’d found Marie? The same way she’d found me?

  “His life wasn’t easy. He grew up hard and rough. He tried to find a new life. He heard about my brother’s disappearance. Did some research and realized that he bore a physical resemblance to the man the world had known as Charleston Reese Hastings.”

  “He’s a good actor,” Joel said, thinking of the accent that could be perfect. “That’s what he did. He pretended to be your long-lost brother.”

  “I knew he couldn’t be my brother, of course.”

  Sure, she’d known. She’d watched her brother die. I’m so sorry, baby.

  “And the chief inspector knew. But it was certainly not like he could say anything to reveal what had really happened.”

  “You could have stopped the charade, though. You could have—”

  “I told you, I found him. He found me. He wasn’t just trying to get money. He wanted a life. A family. I gave him that. He did the same for me.”

  There was more, he knew it. So much more to the story. But Chloe’s shoulders were sagging. Shadows lined her eyes, and he realized she had to be exhausted. Talking about her past had sent her back to the darkest time in her life. She’d faced her nightmares…

  For me.

  He tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “I love you, Chloe Hastings.”

  She gave him a tired smile. “Not yet, but I think you will.”

  What?

  “I’m going to shower. After I’m done, we have to talk about your lying witness.” She slipped from his arms.

  He opened his mouth. Started to tell her that he absolutely did love her, but she’d just distracted him. Deliberately because that was her way. “You know who the witness is?”

  “Of course,” Chloe replied as she dropped the sheet and gave him a view of her perfect ass. “Richardson slipped up when he used the ‘she’ pronoun with us. Obviously, it’s Cinnamon. She’s the only woman who would benefit from lying about you. At least, the only one I’ve been able to figure out.”

  “Why would she lie?” He was still staring at her ass. Absolutely beautiful in the glow of the moonlight.

  “Because she knows who the real killer is. She’s known all along. She’s protecting him by throwing you at the police. But don’t worry, we aren’t going to let her get away with that trick.” She was at the threshold to the bathroom. “My brother is out looking for her now. It was a truly divide and conquer night. I stayed here, hoping Morgan wouldn’t show, but being on guard, just in case. Marie went for you, and I trusted Reese to find our witness.” Chloe looked back at him. “We’re all a team, don’t you see?”

  Yes, he did. He was finally seeing everything clearly.

  Chloe shut the bathroom door.

  He knew why she’d just done that. I see it all.

  She’d shut the door because Chloe was crying again. He’d pushed her, she’d revealed all the broken parts of her past, and now she was hiding her pain from him.

  She didn’t need to hide a damn thing.

  He stalked for the door. Didn’t knock. Just grabbed the knob and threw the door open.

  She was already in the shower. The water was pouring on her and there were tears on her cheeks.

  “I know you hate to be wrong,” Joel told her as he kicked out of his pants. “But this time, you are.”

  Her eyes widened.

  He climbed into the shower with her. Let the water pound into her. “I said I was in love with you.

  A cautious nod.

  “You said I will be. As in, one day, I might love you. Baby, you are so wrong.” He kissed her. Thrust his tongue into her mouth and savored her.

  Her body shuddered against his.

  “I am in love with you and I swear, part of me thinks I fell in love with you when we were in that freaking bank closet. I. Love. You.”

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  I love you. Those were beautiful words. Deep and rough. Seeming to come straight out of Joel’s v
ery soul. Chloe wanted them to be true. So badly but…

  It was so soon. They were so soon.

  “Ah, sweetheart, you think it’s okay for you to love me already, but I can’t love you yet?” He feathered kisses over her cheek. “Try again.”

  Her eyes closed. He was kissing her tears away. No one had ever done that. When she’d been a child, her mother had hated it when she cried. She’d said tears were useless. That they should never be shed.

  She didn’t have empathy. She never cried. She never felt anyone else’s pain.

  Had her brother been born like their mother? Or had she made him into a monster?

  And what did she make me?

  Joel pressed another tender kiss on her cheek.

  “Say it again,” Chloe demanded. But the demand came out more like a plea.

  “I love you.”

  She could hear it a thousand times. Morgan had said he loved her, too, but that had been different. His words had never made her feel this way. When Joel said it—

  “I love you, Chloe.”

  She felt good. Warm. Safe. He could always seem to make her feel safe.

  She looped her arms around his neck. Pressed her wet body tightly to his and kissed him with a frantic abandon. His cock pushed against her belly. There was no mistaking his arousal. He wanted her. She was aching for him. When they came together, when their bodies were connected, she stopped being so alone.

  Joel did that. He made her feel like she wasn’t detached from the rest of the world.

  She pulled her mouth from his. Her breath heaved as she told him, “I’m on birth control. I do not have any sexually transmitted diseases.”

  “I…neither do I.”

  “Then make love to me. Right now.” She sounded desperate. She was. “Skin to skin. I want only you. Nothing between us.”

  “You don’t have to ask twice.” He curled his hands around her waist. Lifted her up. Pushed her back against the cold, tiled shower wall.

  His cock brushed at the entrance to her body. But he didn’t enter her yet. He probably thought she wasn’t ready. That she needed more foreplay. More time.

  She only needed him. Chloe arched her hips against that thick length and took him all inside.

  “Fuck me,” Joel groaned.

  “That’s exactly what I’m doing.” Her nails dug into his shoulders.

  Joel held her stare. She saw the gold blaze in his eyes even as she watched his control shatter.

  The water pounded down on them. He pounded into her. Flesh to flesh. She could feel every single inch of him. She’d never gone without protection with a lover. Never told someone so much about her life. Never been so open. Never trusted anyone so completely.

  “Joel!” Her body felt stretched tight. Too sensitive. Hyper aware. Every glide and retreat of his cock had her longing for more. So much more. She’d just come a little while ago, but she was desperate for him again.

  The pleasure they gave each other was overwhelming. Shattering. Addictive.

  She’d never found such a powerful release with anyone else. She knew she never would.

  His hand eased between their bodies. He stroked in just the right spot, touching her in just the right way, as if they’d made love dozens of times, and the climax hit her. Stole her breath even as it blazed through her entire body.

  He came right after her. She could feel the jerks of his release. The hot warmth. She clung to him even tighter.

  Joel.

  He’d been so much more than she’d expected. He’d changed her whole life. Did he realize that?

  His breath was panting. Her heart was pounding. Racing so fast. Or maybe that was his. They were entwined so closely together that it was hard to tell.

  She pressed a kiss to his shoulder. The water was still pouring on them.

  Her mother had once told her that a good shower could wash away all the sins of the world.

  Her mother had been such a liar.

  ***

  “Look, man,” Reese straightened to his full height, but the bouncer hardly seemed intimidated. “What was your name, Benjamin? Bob—”

  “Bobby,” he snapped.

  “That’s what I was saying.” He sniffed. And waved a twenty at the fellow. “I saw Cinnamon’s car outside. I just want to go back and have a little dance with her.”

  “Cinnamon’s not working tonight.”

  “But her car is out—”

  Bobby swiped the twenty. “Not working, dumbass. She must have left the car here last night and took a ride home with one of the other dancers.” A grimace or smile or something slid across his wide face. “But if you want to give me more money to hear me tell you the same thing over and over again, knock yourself out.”

  Reese wanted his twenty back. “I don’t like you.”

  Bobby shrugged.

  Huffing out a breath, Reese stormed out of the strip club. The woman had most certainly not left her car there overnight. Before chatting it up with Bobby the bouncer, Reese had put his hand on the vehicle’s hood and it had still been warm.

  He poked around a bit outside, then saw the alley. A trickle of unease slid over him because Chloe had told him that Donnie Adams had died in that alley.

  He crept toward the entrance. Chloe is counting on me. “Listen!” Reese called out. “If there are any vengeful spirits or other dark shit waiting in here, I didn’t do anything to you! I’m just looking for a dancer!”

  Something…moaned.

  Reese swallowed. Chloe was the brave one. He was more the not brave one. But he inched forward. A small inch.

  Another moan.

  The sound seemed to come from the darkness near the back of the club.

  Yeah, this looks like the perfect spot for an attack. Anyone could be waiting in that darkness. And he was not the hero type. That wasn’t his gig. He was as far from a hero as it was possible to be.

  “H-help…”

  A woman’s voice.

  Reese’s feet were moving toward the darkness before he could stop himself. He pulled out his phone. Used the flashlight to shine in that dark corner and he saw what looked like a broken—

  Oh, God. That’s a woman.

  A woman trying to reach a hand out to him. Blood covered the side of her face and head. Soaked her hair.

  “Help…” she gasped out again.

  He wasn’t a hero, but he was the only person she had. He dialed nine-one-one even as he sank to his knees beside her. So much blood. What in the hell was he supposed to do?

  ***

  A phone was ringing. Her phone was ringing. As Chloe towel-dried her hair, she followed the sound of the rings back into Joel’s den. Her phone was on the couch. She didn’t even remember leaving it there. She scooped it up and her fingers slid over Reese’s image as she took his call. “Did you find her?”

  “There’s so much blood, Chloe!”

  Her heart stopped. “Reese, did someone hurt you?” Her hold nearly shattered the phone.

  “Not me, her! I found her, Chloe! I’m in the alley, behind the strip club. There’s blood all in her hair. On her face. She was asking for help, but she’s not speaking at all now. I don’t know what to do. Chloe, you always tell me…what do I do? Tell me what do to!”

  “Did you call nine-one-one?”

  “Yes, yes, they’re coming.”

  “Good, Reese. That’s great. Talk to her. Try to get her to speak with you again.”

  “Chloe…I don’t want this woman dying in my arms.”

  She whirled around. Joel was walking toward her. A smile was on his face, but when he saw her expression, his smile faltered.

  “What is it?” Joel asked. “What happened?”

  She turned the phone on speaker. “Cinnamon was hurt,” she explained to Joel. “Please, tell Reese how to help her.”

  “Her head was smashed in!” Reese’s accent was gone. His voice shaking. “So much blood!”

  “Reese, listen to me,” Joel’s voice was calm. Even. “I want you to
do exactly as I say…”

  ***

  They burst through the doors of the hospital. Joel and Chloe had dressed quickly and hauled ass to meet Reese. Joel had stayed on the line with Reese until the ambulance arrived. He’d done his best to give Reese instructions but…

  Reese whirled away from the registration desk. The front of his shirt was covered in blood. “Chloe!” He ran right for her.

  He ran right for his sister.

  Joel watched as Reese threw his arms around Chloe and held on tight. The man’s body shuddered.

  “It’s okay,” Chloe told him. “You did great, Reese. You did great.”

  There was a lot Joel didn’t understand about those two. Definitely not blood related, but he could see now that they were family. Chloe thought of the guy as her brother, and his love for her was plain to see.

  Just hugging Chloe seemed to make the other man stronger.

  Reese nodded a few times, then slowly let her go. His spine was straight as he glanced over at Joel. “Thank you.”

  “You don’t need to thank me for anything.”

  Reese’s Adam’s apple bobbed. He kept standing close to Chloe.

  “Reese, I need you to tell me everything that you saw in that alley.” Her words were low. “Every single detail, okay?”

  “Okay.” He blew out a breath. “Chloe, do you think…did I save her? Did I save someone?” His voice was high, hopeful, almost like a little boy who was scared to ask a question because he wanted the answer to be positive so very badly.

  “You did.” She nodded. “See, I always told you that you were going to do great things, Reese.”

  “I was scared out of my fucking mind,” he admitted. The cracking, hopeful voice had faded.

  “But you still helped her. That’s what matters.”

  The emergency room was bustling with patients. Kids, adults. Every single chair was full. The staff at the check-in table had a ragged air about them as they handed out charts.