West smiled. It wasn’t a nice sort of smile. Jake’s eyes narrowed.
“Consider it reined in,” West told him smoothly.
“Yeah, right. Only reason I’m agreeing to this is to keep you out of further trouble. Got it?” Jake ran his hand over his face. “Fucking Malones, all a pain in my ass. Give me a few minutes.”
West waited in the office until Jake came back for him. It was still early enough that most of his deputies weren’t in. He followed Jake down the hallway to where the three cells were. Most of the time, there was no one in them.
He didn’t have long to talk, he needed to get back to Flick and take her in for an X-ray on her shoulder. She’d still been asleep when he’d left. He’d asked Mia to check in on her and help her get dressed.
He would have helped her do that himself, but he knew that definitely wasn’t a good idea, for either of them.
“Back cell, five minutes, I’m waiting right here,” Jake warned from the doorway at the end of the corridor.
West just nodded. He only needed two minutes. He strode down until he reached Spencer. Flick’s brother had her hair. It was dark, slightly messy, and in need of a cut. There was stubble on his cheeks, and he was going gray.
He sat in his wheelchair, facing West. “And who might you be? The sheriff’s letting in visitors now? How kind of him.” His voice was calm. But West could see a fine tremble in his hands as he wheeled his chair closer.
“Bet you’re dying for a drink right about now, huh?” West asked. He leaned back against the opposite wall, arms crossed over his chest. His relaxed attitude was all an act, and it was taking a great deal of control to pull it off.
People might take a quick glance at this man and see him as less powerful because his legs didn’t work. He was reliant on a wheelchair but he was a solid guy. His shoulders were broad, and his biceps were thick with muscle. He was strong. If he could have stood, West knew he’d be a few inches taller than West’s own six feet. He’d once cut an imposing figure. Still did.
Flick might have been able to outrun him in some circumstances, but West bet he was quick. And definitely strong. Flick was tiny. Built like a little fairy. And this man had taken those ham-sized hands to her.
Yeah, his calm was definitely an act.
O’Malley’s eyes narrowed, taking him in. “How’s my sister?”
The words were spoken to provoke, and it was a direct strike.
“Safe from you,” West told him softly.
“I don’t know what you mean,” the other man drawled. “I’ve protected and taken care of her for years. Ever since our parents were brutally murdered.”
West nodded. “You did, in the beginning. Before you lost the use of your legs and turned to drinking.”
“Man’s allowed a drink. I think the judge will be sympathetic to the blows life has given me.”
“The only blows the judge cares about are the one’s you’ve inflicted on your sister every time you beat her.”
“I have never beaten my sister.”
“She says otherwise. Has the bruises to prove it too.”
“My sister has some issues. After all she’s been through, it’s understandable she would have delusions.”
“Delusions, huh? Don’t think a delusion dislocated her shoulder and broke her finger.”
“She deluded herself into thinking you could love her, didn’t she?”
West paused. He wondered how much this man knew about what his sister had been up to. He didn’t get why he’d given her so much freedom.
“You know, it’s hard believing you have something, only to have it ripped away from you. Like what happened to my legs. Or when you fall for someone who’s using you or not interested in you or betrays you.”
Fuck. He wouldn’t be that fucking twisted, would he?
“You knew about her interest in me and let it happen because you figured I wouldn’t return that interest?” That was a big assumption on his part when he didn’t know West. It also didn’t make much sense. “No, that wouldn’t be nasty enough for you, would it?”
That was a glint in the other man’s eyes. Cruelty. Coldness. There was very little humanity. West knew he had darkness inside him, but this man—he was black. Down to his soul. He would have to be to do what he’d done to Flick, someone who was pure.
“You were going to do something . . . let Flick get in deep then interfere in some way that would hurt her. What were you gonna do? Try and buy me off? Bribe me? Kill me?”
“Now, I’d be a stupid man if I admitted to anything like that, wouldn’t I?” he said with a small smile.
West figured the man hadn’t gotten this far by being stupid, and he’d had enough. Being in this monster’s presence made him feel dirty. Like there was a sheen of oil coating his skin.
“Whatever you had planned doesn’t matter anymore. I’m here to tell you, warn you, she’s mine now. She’s under my protection. If you’re a smart man, you’ll stay far, far away from her.”
“Consider me suitably warned,” O’Malley mocked.
West moved forward. He lowered his voice. “You might think you know who I am, but I promise you that you don’t. The things you’ve seen and done? They mean nothing to me. I defend those who belong to me. And Flick. Is. Now. Mine.”
There was a flash of anger in the other man’s eyes, but West was done. It wasn’t the warning he wanted to deliver. The one he would have been free to deliver when he’d worked for Marceras. But it would have to do. O’Malley could ignore the warning at his own peril.
And then West would let the hold he had on his own darkness slip free.
Because no one harmed what belonged to him. He didn’t need to learn that lesson twice.
10
Flick blinked the sleep from her eyes as the door to her bedroom opened. Her mouth felt dry, and . . . yuck, was that drool on her pillow?
“Could I get any more attractive?” she muttered to herself. She carefully rolled onto her back, wiping at her chin with her good hand.
“I’m gonna take the fifth on that,” a deep voice replied.
She stiffened. She’d assumed it was Mia walking into her room. Stupid mistake, Flick. Of course, he wouldn’t knock before entering. He’d slept on her floor last night. He’d been the one to take her in to get an X-ray on her shoulder earlier today. He’d also been the one who’d carried her into the house and upstairs, settling her into bed when she’d dozed off during the ride home. She’d worried about him carrying her around with his leg, but, truth was, his limp didn’t seem to hold him back from doing anything.
“Um, crap, so this isn’t embarrassing or anything.”
“You always snore in your sleep?” he asked, sounding amused as he sat a bowl down on the bedside table.
She gaped at him. “I don’t snore.”
His lips twitched. “My mistake. Do you always breathe so loudly when you sleep?”
“Only when I’m really tired.”
His gaze narrowed, darkened. Seemed he didn’t like that explanation.
“Maybe you could just forget anything you heard or saw in the last hour or so?” she asked desperately.
“Hour? Sunshine, you’ve been asleep all afternoon,” he told her.
All afternoon? Shit. She tried to get her good arm underneath her to lift herself up. Without a word, he was there, gently helping her sit and arranging the pillows behind her back.
“You’re good at that.”
He snorted. “Looked after my younger brothers when they were sick.”
He had?
“That surprises you.”
“You just, ah, you, don’t seem . . . I mean . . .” she took a deep breath. “For fuck’s sake, Flick, shut up now.”
“Don’t say fuck. Or tell yourself to shut up.”
She sighed. “You know that makes you a big hypocrite?”
“Yep,” he replied easily. He sat facing her and pulled a napkin out of his pocket. Then he leaned forward and roughly tucked it in
to the front of the T-shirt she’d fallen asleep in.
She shied back. “What are you doing?”
“Figured you’d want to avoid spilling soup on your shirt.”
“I’m not that messy.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Maybe I was thinking more of myself.”
What the heck did that mean? She understood when he reached over and grabbed the spoon. He drew some up to his lips and tested the temperature before holding it out to her. Good Lord, is he for real?
“You’re not feeding me.”
His other eyebrow joined the first one. “I’m not?” He looked pointedly from the spoon to her mouth.
“I mean, I can feed myself. I have one good hand.”
“How much of that breakfast Mia made for you did you actually eat?”
“I wasn’t feeling that great this morning.” It was the truth. Her stomach had been tied in knots all day, waiting to hear about Spencer. “Have you heard about my brother yet?”
“Nope.”
“No? You haven’t heard? What time is it?” She searched around for her phone with a frown. She hadn’t seen it all day. “Have you seen my phone?”
“Sunshine, longer I hold this, more chance it’s got of landing in your lap,” he growled.
Oh, right.
She reached for the spoon and he drew it back, a frown on his face. “Your phone is downstairs; I’ll get it for you if you eat your soup like a good girl.”
She scowled then narrowed her gaze as he moved the spoon towards her mouth. “You can be a real jerk.”
The spoonful of soup slipped into her mouth. Yum. Pumpkin.
“This is something you didn’t know?”
Well, she couldn’t argue with that. She heaved out a sigh.
“Sunshine, you haven’t eaten all day. Your recovery is going to be much longer if you don’t look after yourself. Or let me look after you.”
Sigh. Fine. She opened her mouth as he fed her another spoonful. The soup was delicious. It warmed her belly from the inside out.
“Did you used to feed your brothers soup when they were ill?”
“Fuck, no. I’m not Florence Nightingale.”
“You just told me you took care of them when they were sick,” she reminded him.
“I lied. Jaret was the one who took care of any of us when we were sick.”
“What about your mom?” she asked.
“Sometimes one of dad’s wives was around, but they weren’t the real caring sort. Mostly we were raised by nannies who didn’t give much of a fuck what we did. Especially as they were usually trying to get in our dad’s pants. Except the very first nanny we had. She was all right.”
“Seems we have something in common, both having absent parents.”
“Yeah.”
“So you don’t have anything to do with your mom?”
He gave her a look. “She left us with that asshole, took off when someone better came along.”
“So that would be a no,” she muttered.
“Yeah, it’s a no. Don’t even know where she is. No doubt Alec does. He’s probably kept tabs on her and the other moms. Especially since we parted ways with dad. Tanner was only eleven. Raid was thirteen. Butch must have been sixteen and the twins eighteen.”
“You, Alec and Jaret looked after all of them?” she asked skeptically. Sounded like a recipe for disaster.
He grinned. “There’s a reason they’re all half-wild, sunshine.”
“Half-wild? I would say they’re pretty much completely there.”
“Nah, if they were totally wild then they’d ride into Haven, claim themselves some women then bring them back for a big ol’ orgy.”
Her mouth dropped open, and he took the opportunity to feed her some more soup.
“Let’s be grateful they’re only half-wild then,” she told him.
His eyes twinkled. God, he was gorgeous.
He snorted. “I’m not gorgeous. I’m a man.”
Whoops, she hadn’t meant to say that out loud. “Men can be gorgeous, you know.”
He shook his head. “Maybe slick city boys. Out here men are men.”
“Oh, is that so?” she teased. “So you’re not gorgeous or beautiful or hunky?”
“Definitely not gorgeous or beautiful. And nobody says hunky anymore.”
She laughed then groaned as her ribs and face protested. “Stop being funny.”
He shook his head with a rueful grin. “You’re the only person who has ever accused me of being funny.”
“Well, up until about ten minutes ago, I wouldn’t have believed you could be funny either. This is a whole other side to West Malone I’ve never seen.”
“Don’t get used to it,” he said gruffly.
Too late. He’d already shown her. He couldn’t take it back.
He put the spoon back in the bowl. She shook her head when he offered another sip. “I’m full, thank you. It was delicious.”
“Mia made it.”
“You can’t cook?”
“Uh, no. Can do the basics. Jaret knows how to do a bit more. Mostly, if you can’t warm it up or grill it then we have no clue.”
“Lucky for you guys Mia came along.”
“Yep. Although I wasn’t too impressed when she first arrived.”
“No? You didn’t like her?”
He shrugged. “Not that I didn’t like her. Just not so fond of change.”
“Really?” she drawled. “I would never have guessed.”
He frowned. “I’m getting better at handling change.”
“You hated me coming over to visit,” she pointed out. “You didn’t like someone else being here on the ranch.”
“That wasn’t so much about change as it was about you.”
“Ouch.”
“Nothing against you. I just don’t like outsiders.”
“Ouch again.”
“That was before.”
Before he knew about her home life? Before he’d decided to work out old demons, his perceived failure with Lana by looking after for her?
Probably best not to ask when she didn’t want to know the answers.
“Do you like ranching? It seems like a strange choice for you guys to get into. Did any of you know anything about it before you bought this one?”
“Dad had a brother who owned a ranch. We’d spend a lot of time out there on school holidays until he died. Best memories I had as a kid.” His face grew serious. “Now that we’ve eaten, we’ve got to talk about your brother.”
Crap. She’d known it was coming. Didn’t make it any easier to hear. She started to shake. Her teeth chattered.
“Hey, he can’t get to you here.” He carefully lifted her onto his lap. “You’re safe here, sunshine.”
Her breath came in sharp pants.
“Sunshine, listen to me,” he said firmly. “I want you to hear my words. I am not going to let him hurt you. Ever again. I promise you this. I will not fail you.”
It was the feel of him as much as his words that penetrated her haze of panic. He felt so strong. The woodsy, masculine scent of him soothed the worry.
“He got out, didn’t he?”
“You knew he would, baby girl.”
She nodded. She’d known it. But it had been so nice to have a bit of peace, knowing he was locked away. Just for a little while.
“How come you said you hadn’t heard before?”
“I wanted you to eat something before we talked about him. The judge let him out on bail. He’s allowed back in his house.”
“Right next door?” she squeaked. She hadn’t expected that. Hadn’t thought it through. But of course he’d would go back there, where else could he go?
“Considering his disability, the judge took into consideration that it wouldn’t be easy for him to live somewhere else. Somewhere that wasn’t modified for his needs.”
“So he’s next door. He’s already back in our house. His house.”
“Yeah, baby girl. But he’s not allowed close
to you.”
“That won’t stop him.”
He grasped her chin, lifting her face. “No, but I will.”
God, she wanted to believe him. So much. So much it hurt.
He dipped his face down to hers and his mouth nearly brushed hers. “Trust me.”
She leaned closer, and he back away, leaving her feeling dizzy. Shit. What was she doing? She’d nearly kissed him. Was she insane?
He settled her back onto bed, his face a mask. Regret bit deep.
Then he picked up the bowl. “Do you want anything else?”
“No, thank you,” the words were barely out before he was gone, leaving her lying there, wondering what kind of idiot kept going after a man who was still in love with a dead woman.
“Got any more of that coffee?” Flick asked as she walked into the kitchen.
Mia looked up at her, hastily hiding her own cup behind her back. “Sh, are you trying to get me into trouble?” The other woman looked around with wide eyes as though expecting the boogeyman to jump out and steal her cup.
Flick grinned, ignoring the ache in her cheek. While the swelling had gone down considerably over the last couple of days, and she could now see out of that eye, the bruising had gotten worse.
She’d been at the Malone ranch for three days. Three days where, despite the underlying unease that Spencer would strike at any time, she felt safer than she had in years. She didn’t have to constantly worry about walking into a nightmare. She didn’t have to live on tenterhooks, waiting for the volcano she lived with to blow, never knowing when it was going to happen.
It was amazing. She’d always felt safe visiting here. It was part of the reason she came so much. But now, she didn’t have to go home. She didn’t have to return to the monster. Oh, she had no doubt he would come for her. He wasn’t going to let her go.
She still had nightmares each night. And West still insisted on sleeping on the floor of her bedroom. It probably should have felt weird, having him there. But he made her feel protected. Like she mattered.
She had to keep reminding herself he was doing it for Lana, not her.
“Don’t worry, I can get my own coffee. I wasn’t going to steal yours,” Flick told her.
“Sh, you’ll bring them in here.” Mia walked over to the kitchen door and shut it. “This is the first cup of coffee I’ve managed to sneak all week. I’m not risking it being confiscated and then listening to the umpteenth lecture on the evils of coffee when you’re pregnant.”
How West Was Won (Haven, Texas Book 7) Page 12