Flawed ~ Kim Karr

by Kim Karr

  His expression is grim. “How so?”

  With a deep breath, I close my eyes and allow the story to unfold.

  A few months or so passed after the benefit.

  I stayed at work too long. It was late. I was tired and didn’t notice anything was wrong. I walked into the store my father owned and went directly up the flight of stairs that led to my family’s home.

  As soon as I opened the door, I knew something was wrong. The furniture was out of place and everything had been thrown from the hard surfaces and broken on the floor.

  “Mama, Papa,” I called out in a panic.

  I heard whimpering.

  I tried to run in the direction of the sound but a man’s grip pinched my upper arm and whirled me around to face him. He was wearing a ski mask.

  I froze in place.

  Then I heard my mother screaming and my father shouting.

  I tried to run but a blow to the head knocked me to my knees and then the room went black.

  When I woke, I was in the hospital and my brother was beside me. He looked grim. He told me our mother had died from a fall down the stairs and our father had suffered what the doctors thought was a stroke and was in a catatonic state.

  “Over the necklace?” I asked, knowing it was the only thing we had worth stealing.

  He started to sob.

  At the time, I just thought we’d been robbed.

  As time when on, Josh started acting strange. He was disappearing all the time and then he landed in jail. I didn’t know he was already working with Enrique. That he had been since Enrique sought him out after the benefit, after looking into me.

  At the time I was too distracted to notice. I was trying to take care of my father and work. All the while Enrique kept coming to the museum, talking to me, befriending me, and I liked it. One day he happened to come in my office when I’d just gotten off the phone with the state facility I had checked my father into. I was upset because they’d told me there was nothing more they could do for my father. That more than likely his condition would never change.

  I was crying and Enrique asked me what was wrong.

  I told him.

  Told him everything.

  I was so stupid and naïve.

  He offered to help. Said he knew of some doctors who might be able to assist with my father’s recovery.

  At first, I declined, but Enrique kept insisting, and eventually I agreed. That was just the start. He then offered legal counsel for my brother, and like my father, at first, I said no, but eventually he convinced me it was for the best, and I accepted.

  Enrique was married, and I told him I wasn’t looking for trouble. He told me he wasn’t either.

  He’d kept his word, and we remained friends.

  About a year ago though, everything changed. It was a rainy day and I was really tired but I forced myself to go visit my father after work. Just as I was walking inside the building, my ex-sister in law was leaving.

  I was surprised.

  I hadn’t seen her in years.

  As far as I knew, she’d taken her and my brother’s children and moved back to Columbia.

  I stopped her. “Carmelo,” I called through the pouring rain.

  When she saw me though, she didn’t stop. She kept walking.

  I ran after her. “Carmelo, talk to me,” I said.

  She turned to me and the look she gave me was bittersweet. “Stay away from me,” she cried.

  I was shocked but I didn’t back down. I asked if she was back for good. Told her I wanted to see the kids. That it wasn’t right that she was keeping them from their family. That’s when she told me she was only here because her ex-husband, my brother, had called her acting very strange. It made her nervous.

  When I asked her why, she couldn’t believe I didn’t know. “Know what?” I asked. She blurted out the truth I was meant to know. That my brother had been working with a man named Enrique and she knew in her heart, Josh had given this man’s men the location of the necklace to steal, and after the strange call she’d received, she feared for her and the children’s safety. Feared that Josh had taken the necklace himself and the man he was working with was still looking for it.

  I had no idea why Josh had called her. No idea if he was still in contact with Enrique but everything made sense.

  I let her walk away but I knew no one was looking for her. I knew without a doubt who had the necklace.

  Carmelo had gone to the hospital to talk to my father, make sure she was safe, she had no idea he was in a catatonic state.

  I vowed vengeance that day.

  On my brother and on Enrique.

  In my heart, I disowned my brother. If I could have arranged to keep Josh Pablo Hart behind bars forever, I would have. Unfortunately, I had no control over that, though. All I could was hope he’d never actually get out of prison and even if he did, I’d never see him again.

  To me he was dead.

  But Enrique Cruz, he was free as a bird.

  He was someone I could even the score with.

  It wasn’t going to be easy.

  I had to become a part of his world. I knew the only way to do that was to become his mistress. So, I came on to him and made it look like a moment of weakness. He took the bait. I just never expected he wouldn’t sleep with me because of his own beliefs.

  Blessings really do come in small packages.

  Caleb makes a growling noise.

  His jealousy snaps me back to reality. I attempt to control my breathing before opening my eyes. “Everything changed for me after that—my brother and the man who was pretending to care about me had both betrayed me, and all I had to live for was revenge. Even my job became a ruse.”

  His face blurs before me. “Gemma, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know.”

  Almost hysterically, I grab his arms. “You can’t tell anyone. Enrique has no idea I know. He thinks I fell for him because of all he did to help me, and it needs to stay that way.”

  “It will.”

  A wild energy takes hold of me and I grip him tighter. “I’m going to get that necklace back, and then I’m going to kill him.”

  “Shhh,” he quiets me. “Don’t say that.”

  “I’m going to, Caleb, after the benefit,” I insist. The benefit. I just have to wait until after New Year’s. It’s not that far away.

  Leaning forward, he whispers, “I’ll help you.”

  “No,” I tell him. “I don’t want you involved.”

  “I already am. More than you know.”

  “What do you mean?”

  He sits on the tile floor and pulls me onto his lap. “Later,” he whispers. “I need you right now.”

  Accepting that, I fall against his hard body as his mouth slams over mine. I need him too, and just for tonight I’m not going to deny myself.

  Tingles explode all over my body, and I can’t deny the fact that I’ve been burning for him. I suck on his tongue and he bites my lip. After we share the wettest, dirtiest kiss, we strip out of our clothes with an undeniable urgency.

  We are going to screw, right here, on the bathroom floor. Yet, before I get lost in his touch, I take a moment to hope like hell whatever his vendetta is, it doesn’t screw with mine.

  If it does, things are bound to get ugly.

  Chapter 34

  This is America

  Caleb

  APPLYING THE UNITED States Uniformed Code of Conduct Oath to this situation is sticky.

  I can’t reveal anything about the case that would jeopardize the team, so I decide to tell her a story.

  The sun is rising when she comes into view. She’s wearing a robe and standing barefoot in the hallway.

  So incredibly sexy. So beautiful. And I so want her to be mine.

  Lust suffocates me.

  Consumes me.

  Blinds me.

  All I can do is stare at her. Before I know it, every inch of my body is solid with sexual tension.

  “You carried me to bed instead of wa
king me,” she whispers.

  Finding my footing around her is getting harder and harder. It’s like she’s an earthquake under my feet. “You were tired. I figured you needed the sleep.”

  Staying where she is, she slides down the wall, sitting and crossing her legs at her ankles. “It’s your turn to talk and we don’t have a lot of time before we have to leave to go to the museum. I can’t be late.”

  Crossing my arms, I stare at her and feel my heart pounding its new erratic, unsteady beat. “I have one question first.”

  Her stare narrows. “What is it?”

  “What do you know about Cruz moving his business operations to Mexico?”

  Her brows rise in surprise. “Nothing. He hasn’t mentioned it, but he has been very preoccupied lately. To be honest, other than his business dealings and his black-market art fetish, I don’t really know much. He’s never even openly admitted he involved my brother in anything. Of course, he knows I know it had something to do with drugs, but that’s all I know.”

  She has no idea he runs the Mona Lisa.

  Accepting what she’s told me as the truth, because she has no reason to lie, I walk toward her, remembering the feel of her breasts, the taste of her nipples, the way she feels beneath me.

  She’s sin and suffering and everything that won’t be good for me, and yet I can’t stop myself from opening up to her. And with each step I take, I know this is one walk I won’t be able to turn back from. “He’s involved in a lot more, you do know that? Right?”

  Unmoved. Undaunted. She keeps herself together and gives me a nod.

  “Okay, so here’s the thing, Gemma,” I say, “you and I are connected in a way you don’t even realize, and it’s not in a good way.”

  The ease she felt dissipates. “I don’t understand?”

  I stop beside her and slide down, our secret meeting place, out of evil eyes. “Just listen.”

  She nods and there’s a frightened look on her face I wish I could take away.

  My brother, Jason, was sitting in the front row at your brother’s trial. The judge was late because he was talking to me. I was telling him things I couldn’t share with anyone else.

  When he entered the courtroom, the jurors filed in and the bailiff asked everyone to rise. The jurors all took their seats in the jury box.

  The judge addressed the jury, and the foreperson responded. Soon after, the bailiff handed the verdict form to the judge as he read aloud, “As to Count 1, the jury finds the defendant guilty . . .”

  My best friend was there. He’d been through a lot to see justice served. After hearing the verdict, he stood to leave. Your brother turned around then and pointed to him. “You, you did this to me! You took my family from me, you took everything from me!”

  The courtroom was in chaos.

  Your brother wasn’t done though. “You’ll get yours! An eye for an eye. Don’t forget it,” Josh spat before he was escorted kicking and screaming out of the courtroom.

  Confusion clouds her brown eyes. “I still don’t understand. Why are you telling me this? I was there, I heard it all.”

  The harsh reality of my life sets in. Feeling unsettled, I push a piece of hair from her eye. “Because you don’t really understand how deep your brother was in. He should have been locked away forever, but Cruz didn’t want that. Didn’t want him to crack, so he put a plan in place to make sure it didn’t happen.”

  Emotion slams into her.

  I go on. “Your brother received a three-year sentence because of me. And Cruz’s case never even made it to trial because of me.”

  Every second we talk about this stretches out, dark and deep and unwanted. “Why . . . why did you do that?” The sound of her strangled words fill my senses.

  The truth is hard to admit. “I buried evidence to keep my nephew alive.”

  The breath seems to whoosh out of her. “Evidence that would have put Enrique away?”

  I feel like I’m playing Russian Roulette when I nod.

  Click.

  Blank.

  Click.

  Blank.

  Eventually, you have to stop pulling the trigger or die.

  Right?

  Truth or not, I have no idea what to expect. “Yes. Not because I wanted to, but because I had to. And I can’t live with myself anymore for doing what I did.”

  Her suspicious gaze narrows on me. “So, either you work for the US government and you did something illegal, or you work for some private company who overlooked the cover up, which is it?”

  “I can’t tell you that. The only thing I can tell you is that on the night of the benefit, I’m going to make it right.”

  A smugness takes over that I hadn’t been expecting. “I have a very similar plan.”

  “Care to share the details?”

  “No, you?”

  “No and don’t get in my way,” I warn her.

  “Don’t get in mine.”

  We stare at each other. There is nothing more to say. We both have secrets and we both have a vengeance so great nothing will stop us, not even each other.

  But who will get there first?

  Chapter 35

  Black Magic

  Gemma

  ENRIQUE’S VERY PRIVATE home is up a long, gated drive, on a hill that seems more like a mountain.

  The rain pounds so hard it’s almost impossible to see the sweeping views of the gorgeous grounds, majestic mountains, and valley’s vista beyond.

  As has become customary, Enrique’s wife’s benefit was scheduled to take place in a tent many feet from the house. This year the purpose is to raise money for the addition to the county’s Art and Humanities Center.

  However, the rain forced us to move the event indoors or cancel all together. Somehow, Penelope managed to get her husband to agree to hosting the event inside. And not just inside but inside their home.

  The thing is, Enrique is nowhere to be seen, so there’s a very good chance he’s unaware. In fact, he’s been in Mexico for days. He was due back hours ago, but the weather has delayed his flight.

  The interior of his home is full-on glamour, and I’ve only seen the one room being used for the exhibit. This space I’m standing in is an enclosed porch area with massive glass doors that open to the pool area.

  I glance around noticing how happy the guests appear. They think Enrique is a white-collar businessman. They are clueless to his other life—the dark side that affords this kind of living. All they see is the finery—champagne fountains flowing, crystal flutes for toasting, expensive art loaned for viewing, and the best gourmet food being served.

  It’s not their fault.

  How would they know the evil that their host reigns?

  I clap my hands together—this is the home stretch.

  The Gabriel Orozco and Mikal Umberto paintings have been relocated to the easels awaiting them and now everything will be in place. Soon the donations will start rolling in, and I can make my move.

  Standing just inside the exhibit room, I take a glass of wine from a server as he passes by and in my silver satin gown, the one I wore all those years ago, I try to make myself look invisible. Enrique will be furious when he sees me wearing this. He had selected a white Grecian gown for me to wear this evening. I ruined it with lipstick, but I’ll claim it was an accident.

  “My, don’t you look lovely tonight.”

  I turn to Penelope. She’s wearing a stunning red gown with a slit up one leg to her hip bone and cleavage dipping almost to her mid-riff. Looks like pure isn’t something she has to worry about. “Thank you, and you look absolutely stunning.”

  She smiles at me. “I appreciate the compliment, but to be young again.” She waves her hand at me, over my body. “Back then things stayed where they belong. In fact,” she makes a show of looking around to make sure no one is listening and then lowers her voice, “I wasn’t able to fasten my bustier, do you think you could come upstairs and assist me? I’m feeling very droopy without it.”

  Thi
s is it—my way upstairs.

  Scanning the room, I make certain he hasn’t arrived yet. I don’t see him. Playing it cool, I say, “I’m not sure that’s a good idea. I don’t think I’m supposed to leave the exhibit.”

  She flicks her shiny, dark waves over her shoulder. “Nonsense. It will be fine.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes, absolutely. Don’t worry about it. If Enrique has a problem with it, I’ll tell him I insisted.”

  Caleb is my bodyguard for the evening and he’s standing not far from us. His role is to be invisible, just as it has been when I’ve been at the museum. No one is supposed to know I have a bodyguard—that Enrique has an interest in me. In his tuxedo, he looks like a guest. A God. Hot. Sexy. Still, I guess he’s doing a good job of blending in because, as far as I can tell, Penelope is oblivious to him.

  As soon as I start to follow Penelope, I can see discomfort enter Caleb’s eyes. I know I shouldn’t leave his sight, but I can’t pass up this opportunity. I ignore his warning.

  There’s a crowd of people. Penelope stops along the way to greet some of the guests and ignores others.

  When it’s just the two of us, I tell her, “Your home is fabulous.”

  Over her shoulder, she replies, “It should be. It was designed by world-renowned architect Guy Dreier and cost a fortune. Luckily for Enrique, I was able to do most of the decorating myself.”

  I gaze out the two-story walls of glass in the foyer, which highlight the magnificent view. In the living room, the same walls pocket away. “You did this?”

  “Yes, I am, well was, an interior decorator before I married Enrique.”

  “Well, it’s breathtaking.”

  “Design has always been my passion, and my love for it is the reason I spend so much time campaigning for the museum. It’s actually one of the things Enrique once found endearing about me.”

  Once.

  It doesn’t get past me.

  Penelope goes on about her past career, but the art on the walls captures my attention. Not a single piece Enrique has bought on the Mona Lisa is on display.

  I find it odd.

  Does he actually keep them all for his own private viewing?