by Lauren Dane
Alexsei accepted her. Wasn’t repulsed by her, didn’t want to change her.
“When are you going to introduce him to your father?”
“I’m probably not. Not any time soon. You met him. That’s important. They’ll just disapprove. No matter who he was they’d disapprove.” She frowned as they ended up near the back porch where it wrapped around the north side of the house.
* * *
THE DRYER WAS ON, making a warm little oasis they stood in, leaning a hip against the house.
“You know we love you, sweetheart. You’re our daughter in every way that counts.” She paused. “Your dad called here before you arrived day before yesterday,” Robbie said finally.
“Ah. What did he want?”
“Your dad and I have a very complicated and messy relationship. Many issues between us came along way before you did. So he sees Rachel coming here for major holidays as a betrayal. That I’m trying to steal her away from them. He can’t see his own behavior as anything but perfect.” Robbie hesitated. “Just take care of yourself, okay? Keep your distance from him.”
“You’re scaring me. What did he say?”
“He’s lost control of her. He never had any over you.” She shook her head before speaking again. “She leaned on you from the moment she opened her eyes in the hospital. And you got between them and her at every turn. He feels thwarted.”
“It’s been over two years since she finally got out of the rehab center. Nearly three since she was found. She and I bought the house, we’ve remodeled. She wanted to live in Seattle. She wanted to be a tattoo artist. Now she’s got a good job, one she loves. If they just looked at how far she’s come considering where she was three years ago, they’d see just how much she’s recovered. But they can’t. Hell, here I am doing something I’m excellent at. It feels good, Robbie. They could be happy for us both but they just can’t. I don’t know how to fix it.”
“Some broken things can’t be fixed. And in this case it’s not your job to fix. It’s not you. You were a kid, they... It wasn’t you or your fault and it isn’t now. He hurt you and he’s still trying to so he can get at your sister through you. He blustered about talking to an attorney. Most likely it’s nothing. But I want you to know.”
Dread and outrage bloomed at the same time. “What does he need an attorney for? I haven’t done anything illegal or wrong!”
Robbie hugged her, rubbing a hand up and down her back a few times before she stood back. “He’s such an asshole. You didn’t do anything wrong. You haven’t done anything wrong. Just because he says he’ll talk to a lawyer doesn’t mean he will and even if he does, it doesn’t mean he’s got a case. I’m sorry to tell you all this. I really considered not saying anything at all, but your uncle and I talked it out and we both figured you’d be better knowing in case he does something. And so you knew we had your back. Always. You’ve had Rachel’s back and we do too. We love your sister. But you need someone to get yours and that’s us. And apparently your boyfriend who’s been standing at the kitchen window drinking his coffee and eavesdropping.”
Robbie waved at Alexsei, who, after his brief shock at getting caught, smirked and waved back.
“He’s going to work out just fine. Didn’t run away after that first day. Looks at you like you hung the moon. Anyway, it’s early, don’t rush into anything with him, but when the time comes, and it will, let yourself fall for him all the way. You deserve that sort of love.”
* * *
“I THINK WE should talk about the other day with your aunt,” he said, drawing lazy circles around her belly button as they lay side by side in her bed.
“You mean when you got caught listening to a private conversation?” Her eyes remained closed so she missed his eye roll.
“You were right below the kitchen window. How is that private? I was just having an innocent cup of coffee. Now tell me about your father and that whole situation.”
“Ugh. Let’s just pretend we did already and go to sleep.”
“Maybe.”
She kept her eyes closed and he stared at her long enough she finally opened them on a sigh. “What?”
“Are you afraid of your father?”
She closed her eyes again, this time to hide her reaction and he knew it.
“Why would you ask such a thing?” She tried to pull the blankets up but he stopped her, wanting her attention.
“Because you’re pretty fearless except around this topic. I don’t like the way you hedge around it. Or the way you wince sometimes when we’re talking about him.” In fact, it was something that often kept him awake. Maybe meant everything to him. “What happened?”
“You know what happened. He was a dick. I ran away. I moved in with Robbie and now I’m here. That’s pretty much it. I’m a grown-ass woman, Lyosha. I’m not afraid of my dad.”
“Don’t try that Lyosha business on me. You’re trying to distract me and I’m not going to be.”
She opened her eyes to stare at him. “I’m not trying to distract you. I’m just trying not to have this conversation. Whatever happened, happened a long time ago. He’s a bully, but that’s his way.”
“Except he’s trying to bully you. And this talk about a lawyer is also meant to scare you. I have an objection to that even if you don’t.”
She stiffened. “Oh I get it. You don’t think I object to it? That I like it?”
“What? No. I never said that.” Then he stopped and examined her closely. “Stop trying to derail this conversation.”
She waved a hand. “You asked. I answered.”
Sort of.
“I don’t want to talk about it. We have dinner with Cristian and Seth tomorrow night and I need sleep. Now that you’ve made me come and we had dinner, I want to go to bed.”
The way she avoided specifics raised even more red flags for him. “I want you to talk to me. I want to meet them for myself.”
She rolled to her side, giving him her back. “I am talking to you. More than I’ve talked to anyone else but I’m fucking tired and I don’t want to talk about my dad in my bed, in my house, which is blessedly free of him in general. I don’t want to fight. I’m just done talking about it. If he makes a move, I’ll have to deal with it. Otherwise, shut up and let me sleep.”
“You’re usually far more amenable after sex,” he muttered, annoyed that she was closing off.
“You’re usually talking about stuff like food, or more sex.” She turned to her other side and backed into his body.
Automatically, he slung an arm over her waist, sliding up to cup one of her breasts.
Her satisfied sigh was the last sound she made other than that soft snuffly snore of hers.
He needed answers and he’d get them but he needed to ease her into sharing whatever it was.
Even though he wanted to barge in and demand she tell him, he knew he needed to keep easing her in to sharing whatever it was.
It was dark and bad. He understood that much. Wanted to burn shit down to avenge her.
Waiting would be hard. But it was what he needed to do. What she needed him to do. And so he would.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
THE FOLLOWING WEEK, still pumped from the show they’d just played, Maybe sighted Alexsei with a feral grin. Damn, he looked so good she wanted to take a bite.
She was totally going to do just that when she got him alone.
His response to that look was a slight quirk of the right side of his mouth. He knew exactly what she was thinking.
Thank God he liked to have sex with her as much as she did him. That worked out really nicely.
He approached, wending his way through the crowd at the tiny club hosting an art show one of Rachel’s friends was in. No one stopped him for long as pretty much all his very intense attention was on her.
Sometimes when he looked at her
like that it seemed as though the echo of each beat of her heart rolled over her skin.
“You’re really fucking pretty, you know that?” she told him once he got to her, placing her palms on his chest.
He hauled her close and right there in the middle of the world he laid a kiss on her that set off every single pleasure chemical she had and then some.
All the sound in the club fell away as she squirmed to get closer to him. He tasted like cinnamon gum as he licked over her bottom lip and then into her mouth.
He claimed her, she realized dimly. And with no small amount of thrill. It was exciting to have a person like Alexsei turn on all the magic each and every time he saw her.
His fingertips dug into her hips to hold her in place but she knew he also just loved to touch her bare skin. Knew too that he got off on how sweaty and jazzed she was after she played music.
He sucked her bottom lip before finally letting go and easing back slightly. She swayed, keeping her hold on his belt loop.
“Very nice to see you, Lyosha.” Her voice had gone husky and she liked the way it made her sound.
At the use of the name he went back for another kiss before speaking again.
“You are amazing.”
He said it seriously, flattering her enough to make her blush.
“Thanks. I’m glad you’re here. I was hoping you’d be able to make it.”
He’d had some family stuff, some third cousin or whatnot had some sort of religious celebration.
“I left straight from there. I didn’t arrive until you’d gotten into the first song.”
She loved that he’d come to see her play. Even though it had been a three-song set they’d done for a friend and less than a hundred bucks each. He’d been there because it’d been important to her. As Rachel had.
“I’m starved and I need to shower. Why don’t we go back to my house, where I can shower and we can get some late dinner?”
“All right. Did you drive or do you need a ride?”
“My drums are here, loaded into Cora’s van. As long as I’m around to help unload whenever she gets back to my house, I can ride with you. She’s in art world mode now so she’ll be here for a long while.”
With the exception of one sibling who was a therapist—she’d been Rachel’s back in Maryland—Cora’s whole freaking family was artistic. One sister was a tattoo artist, her mother was a well-known composer, a brother who was a dancer, and their oldest brother ran the family art and media empire along with their father, who designed gardens.
Alexsei held a hand out, tangling his fingers with hers, tugging her through the place to where Rachel stood with Cora and several others.
She said her goodbyes, Rachel would ride with them, not wanting to hang out until two in the morning.
It was all going gangbusters until her father called.
* * *
HE’D ALREADY PULLED UP in front of the house when her phone sounded with her father’s tone.
She cast a look to Rachel. It was already nearly eleven at night and she worried there was an emergency. Which is why she went against her better judgment and picked up.
“Is everything all right?” she said by way of answering.
Instead of getting out of the car and going in, her sister and Alexsei remained inside, so with a sigh, Maybe heaved herself out and headed to the front door.
“Maybe, wait up!” Rachel called out as she and Alexsei got out and followed.
“It’s been over a month since Thanksgiving. Have I passed your test and can I speak now?” her father asked.
His tone had a little twist in it. One that never failed to push buttons he’d given her a long time ago. She didn’t want her sister seeing and she really didn’t want Alexsei seeing, but both of them wouldn’t let her get more than a foot away so she finally gave up.
“Is there a reason for this call? It’s so late I figured something was wrong.” She kept her voice even, slightly bored. If he saw that he’d affected her, it would only get worse.
“I left a message for you and you haven’t called. I figured I’d have to catch you off guard to get your attention.”
“I never got any message from you. I check my voice mail multiple times a day, there’s nothing from you,” Maybe said.
“No. I told your aunt. Did she not tell you we spoke? When you took Rachel over there, hundreds of miles from us for Christmas?”
“Robbie told me you’d called her, yes. But that’s not leaving me a message. What is it you wanted to tell me?”
“Your mother and I are going to see an attorney.”
Fear, cold and dark, grasped her belly at the way he’d turned mean. Calculating. Alexsei had been right the week before when he’d said her father had been using the threat of an attorney to scare and control her.
“Okay. And why are you telling me?”
* * *
SCARED OR NOT, she was never going to bend for him. He wasn’t going to break her down, not that he could see.
“If you do the right thing for your sister and stop being so stubborn, you can avoid all this potential damage.”
“Potential damage?” Maybe looked to her boots, not wanting anyone to see her face right then.
But Alexsei on one side and Rachel on the other prevented her from speaking quietly enough they couldn’t hear. And, she had to admit, it was time for Rachel to see at least a little more of the big picture.
“You’re unfit to be her guardian. Unstable. Prone to fits of depression and self-destructive behavior. Suddenly you’re interested in Rachel when she’s got money coming her way. Surely you don’t want anyone to point that out to her.”
“Would you like to speak to her about that right now?” Maybe asked, regretting the words the moment she’d said them. She should be protecting her sister from this shit, not dragging her into the middle of it.
“Where are you that she’s there?” His words had gone softer, losing that overt edge, but it was still there. Just under the surface.
“That’s not your business. Is there anything else you needed to tell me other than your appointment? I’m busy just now. So if it’s all the same to you, I’d like to hang up. If I wanted to be abused, I’d choose a better class of people to abuse me.”
“You just think about what I said. I’d hate to cause you any more trouble. But I will if you keep getting between us and your sister.”
He hung up and she rested her head on the wall a moment.
“What all did he say?” Rachel demanded. “And for goodness’ sake, look at me.”
“Back off,” Alexsei told Rachel.
Sighing, not wanting some weirdness between her sister and boyfriend, Maybe turned and moved toward the living room. “He was his usual self. It’s nothing you can fix so don’t worry about it.”
“Back off? She’s my sister. She’s clearly upset. I don’t need to back off, but you do,” Rachel told Alexsei.
“She’s this way because your parents abuse her to get to you!”
“Shut up!” Maybe held her hands up, so utterly pissed off and tired. She pointed at Alexsei. “You, don’t talk to my sister that way.” Then to Rachel. “You, he’s fine and doesn’t need to back off. The both of you need to order a pizza because I’m going to take a shower and get the sweat and nightclub off my skin.”
Maybe turned on her heel to leave the room.
* * *
IN THE BACKGROUND, Alexsei heard the groan of the hot water rushing through the pipes to her shower. He stared at Rachel, all the things he’d been wanting to say coming to the tip of his tongue. But he stood in Maybe’s kitchen after her father had just said a bunch of stuff designed to shake her. The last thing she needed was anyone else messing with her and making her feel bad.
He sucked in a slow breath and let it out.
“I’l
l order the pizza. You go to her. She’ll need some attention just now,” Rachel said.
“She needs a little space,” he countered.
Rachel rolled her eyes. “Are you always this way?”
“What way is that?”
“Contrary. I say up you say down automatically?”
“I’m not being contrary. Not right now. I’ve been trying to draw her out to talk about her childhood and to give me some backstory on your father, but it’s slow going. If I rush in there I’ll embarrass her and then she’ll get defensive.”
Rachel picked up the phone, ordered the food and then turned back his way.
“You’re good at reading her. I should have asked instead of demanded,” Rachel told him.
“This is a new relationship balance for the both of you, right?” he asked. “You’re the older sister but she’s protecting you. Bound to throw you both off.”
Rachel eyed him carefully before going on. “The nurses told me Maybe showed up at the hospital a few hours after I’d been taken in. She was such a pain in the butt she wore them all down until they stopped making her leave. When I came out of the coma hers was the first face I saw. She squeezed my hand and told me that since I was back I needed to get the hell out of bed and get stuff done because I’d been lollygagging too long. I guess the struggle over me and my recovery had started pretty shortly after our parents arrived. They bullied her. So did Brad, my ex. But she never let go. She made sure I got into the best physical rehab center I could. She took a job nearby, cutting hair to pay for a room she’d rented near the rehab facility. Every single day since I woke up from my coma it’s been Maybe who has been there.
“But it’s different, yes. Growing up, I protected her. Or I tried my best and now I’m realizing it wasn’t enough. But that’s for another time. I’m not used to needing help. I’m the strong one. Or I was.”
“She admires you. Craves your respect. Surely you see that,” he said.