Cinderella Undone
Page 11
“It's over, Sunflower,” he says again, sliding out of his chair with an empty plate. He rinses it in the sink and clasps the two top buttons he'd left undone during breakfast. “I'm going to the office. Remember Lizzie for me.”
“Knox!” I'm on my feet, calling after him, right before he bolts past me.
He stops, lending a few precious seconds to cross over to him, and lay my lips on his cheek. The tiny hint of business-like scruff burns beneath my lips. He looks, smells, and feels as good as he tastes. “Thank you,” I say, two little words holding a universe.
“Evening,” he growls. “We'll talk more then. Or maybe we won't bother. That bed we shared can do a whole lot more than put us out under the right circumstances.”
“Oh?” Oh. My. God. “I...honestly, I thought it was a one-time thing. Didn't know last night meant we were sharing it again.”
He doesn't say anything. I'm breathless when his hand makes it to the back of my neck, clasps my skin tight, and pulls my lips into his. “Don't forget the rest of our deal. You will be rewarded, and you'll forget about that twitchy prick who ripped you off, Cinderella. That's how this Prince Charming crap works.”
He's gone, shooting one last smoldering look over his shoulder.
I'm a smiling, weak-kneed mess. Until last night, it was hard to believe he had a charming bone left in his massive body.
Now? I'm not sure what to believe.
I just know I need the marble counter to help hold me up, before my racing heart takes the world out under me.
Everything is sped up. It's swift, it's fast, and it absolutely will leave me in Knox Carlisle's riptide if I don't get a grip very, very soon.
“Oh my God, peanut. You're going to get sick, and then I'll catch hell from daddy.” Jamie swipes a moist, cool towelette across Lizzie's forehead.
Sweat beads off the little girl's skin. That makes three of us.
We chose a melting point day for the zoo, and now we're on the curb after several hours exploring, waiting for our driver. Just because Jamers does the low key student thing when she's out and about doesn't mean she doesn't use certain advantages, including her mother's chauffeur.
“Can you watch her while I fetch a couple waters? Saw a vending machine back there,” Jamie says, heading off before I even answer.
I smile down at the little girl, who looks like she's about to pass out in the shade. Incredibly, she hasn't complained, and still wanted to linger by the lion pit while Jamers and me fanned ourselves. The magic and energy of a child is a force of nature.
We're standing under a palm tree reaching halfway to the sky, a small mercy on a summer day in Phoenix. I uncap my water bottle, holding out the last lukewarm swig to her, which she politely turns her nose up at.
“I take care-a-myself real good, ya know,” she says matter-of-factly, ignoring the soft concern in my eyes. Looks like Knox's tough as nails approach to life is already rubbing off.
“I know, honey. You're handling this better than I am!” I wipe my brow, underscoring the point. “But we need to make sure you're healthy. Drink some more water, please. There might be a coconut smoothie later.”
She's able to pretend my silly bribe won't work for all of ten seconds. Then she snatches my bottle away in her little hands, gulping the last sip. I smile, looking over my shoulder, sighing when I see the huge line Jamers is in.
It'll be awhile. I can't say I'm sorry for the wait, though, because as oppressive as the heat is, it's better out here than dwelling on everything at home. It's good being out. I don't need to feel bad about losing my internship with Gannon. And I also don't need to wonder, for the millionth time, what Knox means after he whispered the word evening.
As in this evening. Him. Me. And a bed.
It's butterfly season in my stomach just imagining the insane possibilities. And those butterflies multiply because even after all of his crap, there's a slim chance any of the scenarios involve me saying no.
“Drink, peewee? You look exhausted.” An older man's gravely voice oozes into my ears.
I turn around and come face-to-face with my worst nightmare. Lizzie is running toward a stranger. He's an older, stern looking man in a tuxedo, hanging halfway out the back of an open black Mercedes, a shark-like smile on his lips and a bottle in his hand that looks like flavored water.
“Get away from her!” I'm screaming, running, ready to tear her away from him as all my instincts kick in.
Naturally, Jamers can't hear me over the crowd around us by the curve. She's staring at her phone, oblivious to her niece's peril.
By the time I catch up to them, the man has the bottle to Lizzie's mouth. He wraps her in one arm while he crouches. “What's the matter, young lady? Can't a man surprise his only granddaughter?”
I stop cold, just a couple feet away. So, it's him. The dangerous, unrelenting Victor Wright, a silver fox in a tycoon's suit, elegant in his evil.
“Let. Her. Go,” I snarl between my teeth. His dark eyes take my gaze hostage.
I'm reaching for my phone, ready to leave a messy voicemail because I don't know what else to do.
“Nonsense. I think she's going home with me for the evening.” Wright looks down, his eyes big and full of hope, waiting for the little girl to back him up. “You remember me, don't you, sweetness? Last Thanksgiving? You adored the pecan roll ups my talented chef served us.”
Lizzie stops drinking, shifting uncomfortably in his arms. She takes her mouth off the bottle and wipes it, then gives me a pleading look. “Wanna go home with daddy.”
Wright's face sinks. I watch him look quickly to his left and right, scanning the crowd, mentally doing the math on how fast he'd be able to throw her in his car, and have the driver take off without risking a scene.
I'm ready to give the bastard one if he moves her so much as another inch toward the car. “Don't do this,” I tell him, stepping closer. It's a fine line between getting him away, and not upsetting Lizzie, who already knows this situation is very wrong. “Just turn around and go. She doesn't want to be with you. Leave now, and maybe I won't have to tell Knox.”
That's a bald lie. My finger lingers on my phone, ready to bring up the contacts any second, tell him he needs to drop everything and get here now.
Wright stands, dragging his arms off the little girl. “By all means, tell him everything. He should know I stopped by. Perhaps he'll realize I'm serious about gaining full custody over my granddaughter this summer. It's good we met, Kendra Sawyer.” I stiffen when he says my name. “It seems our delightful little lady has other plans for the evening, so I'll leave her be. For now. Just know I'll be watching. Waiting. You will slip up, dear, and so will he. In fact, it seems – maybe – you already are.”
Victor's gaze flicks to my hand. My heart skips a beat when it hits me how naked I am, the ring stripped off my finger, hidden to avoid any unsavory questions from Jamers. It's a small relief anyway to see him take his hands completely off the little girl, slink inside his car, and shut the door.
She breaks for me as soon as he lets go. Shoving my phone in my pocket, I sweep her into my arms. I embrace her like she might be blown away. God forbid, she could be.
I'm cradling her, trying not to tremble, my eyes closed. I don't even see Wright's car drive off. When another black sedan pulls up on the curve, I'm halfway out of my skin, wondering if he's returned with backup, this time to steal her away for good.
But the man I've seen a few times before during other outings with my best friend steps out of the driver's seat, a huge smile on his face pointed our way. It's the Carlisle's chauffeur, and we're heading home.
“Jesus H. Christ in a chicken basket, what a frigging zoo,” Jamers says, pressing an ice cold water into the back of my arm. I jump, and wheel around, a dirty look on my face. “Whaaat?”
I'm not smiling. She realizes it a couple seconds later, when the frown stays plastered on my face. “Jeez, what'd I miss? Hey, and where the hell did you girls jack the melon water?”
8
Heat Lightning (Knox)
I'm in a blinding rush when I get to ma's place, practically tearing the door off its hinge. “Daddy's here, peewee!”
No response. “Lizzie?” Where the fuck is my daughter?
I see her aunt step into the hall a second later, a sleeping little girl in her arms. Rushing up, I snatch her away, cradle her to my chest. Relief and fear cross swords in my heart, two competing masters bent on seeing their war through to the end.
“She's okay, brother. We got to her just in time, like I told you on the phone. Nothing even happened.” Jamie gives me a look like I'm overreacting.
Bullshit. I could've lost her. Knowing it makes me clench her tight, giving my sister a look like ice, and ask the second most important question of the evening. “Where's Kendra?”
“Hiding, probably. Can't say I blame her. You look like you want to interrogate her.”
Of course I fucking do.
I need to know everything. Need to be sure there's no sign Victor intends to resurface tonight, and thieve away my precious girl. I start moving, heading down the hall, hoping I'll find her in the big chair by the fireplace.
“Hold up, Thor. You do realize she's the one who stepped up and kept our peanut safe, right?” Jamie paces after me, but I'm not slowing down.
I find Kendra out on the patio next to the dining room, a hurried look in her eye when she sees me, bolts up, and tenses. I take the seat next to her, gently rubbing my little girl's head. She stirs softly in her sleep.
“What did he say to you?” I growl, blood running to lava when I think about the Heartless Fuck's arms on my baby.
“That he'd be back. That he thinks we'll slip up. That we'll –“ she catches herself. “Jesus, Knox, I don't know. It was terrifying.”
Her eyes stare through me. They're on Jamie, standing behind me, arms folded tight as her face looks while we're having our pow-wow. “Idiot, I'm so glad I heard you add 'thank you.'”
I turn around, pissed off, but careful not to wake my snoozing kid. “Don't you have margaritas to shake or something? Give us some damn privacy.”
“Not so fast. I didn't hear a word out of creepo's mouth, but Kendra told me everything.” My little sis looks at her friend, who's blushing and looking away, telling me she omitted the important parts. “What I can't understand is why he's so persistent, why he came after her, why he even knows who she is.”
“You think a fucking billionaire can't hire a whole team to do the grunt work when it comes to finding out who's tied to me? Victor probably knows the name of the last scorpion I stepped on.”
Jamie pouts, pursing her lips, quiet in thought. “I don't like this, guys. Not one bit. It's like there's something else going on here, something beyond wanting to screw Knox over, and have his revenge –“
“What don't you understand? Maniacs have no logic.” I cut her off mid-sentence before she says Sam. “By the way, I put in for a leave of absence today.”
Both my sister and my fake fiancée do a double take. Nodding, I continue. “It's for everybody's good. Tensions are so thick around Black Rhino it's dynamite. Teams can't work, can't plan, can't even fucking think when the two men at the top are at each other's throats.”
“Jesus,” Jamie whispers, letting her arms fall to the sides. “I'm just surprised. If dad were around to see this, he'd –“
“He'd get it. I'm not doing this because I need a giant dick waving contest with a bitter old man who thinks I killed his daughter. This is for our family. I'll settle Black Rhino's business as soon as I'm through with Wright.”
I mean it in the worst way. If there were a way to put him behind bars or deep underground without any consequences, I'd do it in a heartbeat.
“I'm sorry, Knox,” Kendra whispers.
I take a long, hard look at the woman who's done so much for me. Rattles my bones knowing she was the only thing between that snake and my daughter. If he'd decided to go through her...
Fuck. No, I can't think that way. It'll lead me dark places I've only begun to put behind me. Don't need a list of all the reasons I strangled her crush on me years ago, and intentionally made myself toxic.
I can't hurt you again, I think to myself, pain coming rough in my throat the longer I look at her.
“Knox, I'm telling ma.” Jamie blinks as soon as I whip around, giving her a death glare. “We've kept her in the dark long enough. She deserves to know what's happening, even if we're short on details. She's isn't stupid. I'm not lying to her face anymore, pretending this will all just go away. That man proved it won't when he tried to take our peanut away.”
Kendra stands, crouches near me, gently runs her fingers down my arm. Fireworks hit my brain in sexy, bedazzling, furious lights. It's hard keeping my don't you fucking dare look aimed Jamie's way.
I get it. She's trying to soothe the animal clawing out of me. In the process, she's wicked close to blowing our cover, and I wonder if she's fucking trying to.
Not now, damn it. Don't you go losing your mind too, Sunflower.
“Tell me, Jamie, what do you think ma will wind up thinking about if she has to dwell on Victor Wright again?”
My sister chews her lips, her eyes softening once the realization set in. “She's a tough woman. She'll handle it, Knox. Obviously, the last thing I want to do is drag her through that again –“
“Wrong. From where I'm standing, it's the first thing you're willing to do, all so you can do – what, exactly? Remind her she's powerless? That she can't do anything to the feral weasel our old man shacked up with for business? He's holding the best hand until we call his fucking bluff.”
Until I have my way, I mean. Sooner or later, with God as my witness, I will.
“Take her, Sunflower.” I pass my baby girl to the woman next to me, caught between our thinly veiled attraction and this charade we're forced to play. “Ease off before you make a big goddamn mistake, Jamie. Let me handle this. Plans are in motion. I'll deal with Victor once I've laid my trap. Don't bring ma into this, and force her to re-live everything with dad again.”
For a few short seconds, I'm teleported back in time to the thick of our family hell. The weeks after he died, trying to pretend I'd never found those damning letters. The heart attack killed his body. But my father's honor died when his dirty little secrets turned up, and I had to lie to my mom and sister about his family man legacy.
I remember Jamie and me sitting on the chaise, both of us on each side of our bawling mother. It was the same routine for weeks after the funeral. His end gutted her.
I swore I'd never let his double life finish the job.
Then his estate, the arguments with lawyers, Victor obeyed by the corporate trust, gave her 'just enough' to make our family comfortable per the legalese and Black Rhino's operating agreement. Dad left the door open for me to earn more. Used to believe I could do it honestly, if it weren't for that thing with Sam.
But Sam or no Sam, I was never dealing with an honest man. The illusions broke down years ago, revealing the python I'm dealing with, and now there's no choice but to put him under before he chokes the life out of me and everyone I care about.
“Kendra, let's go,” I say, pulling gently at her blouse. She stands a second later, careful not to wake Lizzie. It's another reminder this little angel is the lynchpin holding our lives together in all its myriad parts: good, bad, beautiful, and ugly.
“Wait!” Jamie stamps her foot when we walk past. I stop and turn around. Her blue eyes have a familiar shimmer I've only seen in the mirror. “Okay, fine. I won't say anything. I'll wait. But Knox, I swear to God, if there are any more surprises, or this thing with Victor Wright gets worse, I'm not breaking the news to her. You are. And I'll kick you straight in the balls if you don't.”
“Deal.” I mean it, and it's the last word I say while we're in this house.
This needs to go down my way, even if I'm risking the family jewels.
We're home, and I'm staring at Kendra again, holding a snoozing Lizzie in my arms. “You fed her?”
“Yeah. Mini-burgers and a salad after we got home. It was a really hot day and she saw all the animals.”
“Arma...dillo...” Lizzie muses in her sleep, smacking her little lips, somewhere between planet earth and the zoo in her dreams. I smile, wondering for the thousandth time where the hell that sweetness goes when we grow up. I kiss her on the forehead, taking several steps toward the stairs.
“You coming up?” I give Kendra a look over my shoulder, wondering why she looks so damn surprised. “You saved her today. If you want to come up and help tuck her in, you're entitled.”
She smiles, trailing after me. It's the least I can offer after she saved Lizzie's life, plus my sanity.
The nightly ritual puts me at peace. I pull my daughter's sheets over her, making sure they're snug, and place a sippy cup of water on the nightstand in case she wakes up thirsty.
I'm able to forget today while I'm going through the motions. The poison drains every second I'm watching my own lost innocence distilled into this little girl.
The thoughts I have when my eyes flick to Sunflower are anything but innocent. She sits next to me at the end of Lizzie's bed for several minutes. Then I take her hand, and I'm hard as canyon rock the second I hear her gasp.
“Knox?”
“Quiet.” I lean in, lifting her up with me when I stand, leading us out of my little girl's room. I stop to shut off the light and close the door. “Couldn't keep your hands off me in front of my sister, could you?”
Her cheeks burn red, twin suns begging for my lips. “I should've, Knox. I'm sorry. It was just the moment, trying to calm you down, hoping we'd throw Jamie off before she got too close to –“
“Not our biggest worry anymore,” I say, seizing her by the wrist and bringing that ivory hand to my mouth. Just having her skin on my lips tastes like perfection. It's the stars we had our lost night on Camelback. “I'm caring less by the day if she finds out. Wright's the real problem.”