by Tara Rose
“She got them both. Their hair was dark like hers, but them’s her mother’s eyes.”
“It was nice of you to take her in when your son and daughter-in-law were killed,” said Mark.
“She my family. Who else would raise her right?”
“No one.” He glanced toward Brett for a moment. “Jagger can tell you all about that. He and Ian both.”
They pushed open the door to the lobby, and Brett struggled to think of something else to say. He didn’t want them to leave, because who knew when he’d see Nita again?
“You mean because of Kai Thilenique’s past?” asked Nita.
“Yes,” said Mark. “Jesse and Wendy took her in when her parents were killed. She was younger than you when yours died, I believe.”
“Two years younger,” said Phyllis. “But Jesse and Wendy didn’t raise Kai. They only fed and clothed her. That poor girl had no role models. She was on her own.”
Phyllis’s voice was full of scorn, but Brett agreed with her. Wendy’s brother, Malcolm, had been Kai’s father. Malcolm, his wife, Caroline, and Malcolm and Wendy’s brother, Walt, had made a living by stealing things from homes and businesses. Kai’s parents and Walt had been killed in an auto accident while involved in one of those crimes. They were being chased by the police when they accidentally drove off a cliff.
“You’ve done a wonderful job raising Nita,” said Brett.
Phyllis narrowed her eyes, and a shiver ran down his spine. “How do you know? You ain’t seen her in years.”
“I have. Off and on. But you’re right. Not steadily since we graduated.” His face burned with embarrassment. The woman could read his damn thoughts. “But maybe we can change that?” He watched the emotions cross Nita’s face, confused and saddened by them. First was fear, which quickly dissolved and turned to embarrassment. She didn’t need to say anything. He knew the truth in her beautiful eyes. She struggled for a graceful way to say no.
Brett was about to say something—anything—to save face when Mark spoke first.
“Maybe we can both change that?”
Brett couldn’t believe Mark had missed the conflict on her face. It had to have been obvious. Was he really that blind, or had his ego suddenly outgrown the size of his brain? He turned to glare at Mark, not caring that anger came off him in waves or that Nita and Phyllis watched both men carefully.
The corners of Phyllis’s mouth turned up. “You talk to them two. I’ll wait outside.”
When Phyllis left, Brett faced Nita again. “It’s all right. It was a long shot.”
“You don’t understand.”
He frowned at the plaintive, desperate tone in her voice. What the hell was going on that he didn’t know about? “Then tell me.”
“Actually, I’m surprised you don’t know.”
Now her tone was hard and suspicious. What the fuck?
“What is it we’re supposed to know?” asked Mark, his voice indicating he was just as baffled by her reaction.
She stared at each of them in turn, and Brett nearly recoiled at the pain in her eyes. What in the sweet name of Christ was going on here? And how was it possible this stunning woman didn’t have every guy on this island after her?
“I’d better get my grandmother back to the shop.”
He grabbed her arm, immediately wishing he hadn’t. She shook him off, and the fear was back in her eyes. “Nita, wait a second. What’s wrong? Please tell us.”
“I can’t.” She turned, placed one hand on the door, and then faced them again. The struggle on her face was terrible to watch. “Ask your cousins Keith and Billy.”
“What?”
She was gone before he could process what she’d just said. He watched her run toward the parking lot and almost went after her but sensed that would be the wrong thing to do right now.
Mark turned on him. “What the fuck was that all about?”
Brett glanced around. There was no one in the lobby except security, but Brett still wasn’t comfortable having this conversation in public. He leaned close and lowered his voice. “I was about to ask you the same thing.”
“What did she mean when she told you to ask Keith and Billy?”
“I’m not talking about that. I mean, why the fuck did you ask her out when I had just done the exact same thing?”
“Don’t you think it would be better to have this conversation in private?”
Brett glanced toward the security guards again. “Yes.” Brett also wanted to figure out whether what she’d meant by her comment concerning Keith and Billy had to do with the rumors he’d heard in high school, but the lobby was no place for that discussion either.
* * * *
Mark liked Brett well enough. The two had a convoluted history as friends. They were on again, off again so much that Mark wondered why they bothered sometimes. But Mark also believed that, despite their proclivity for staying pissed off at each other for long periods of time, it was because he didn’t feel the same way toward Brett and Jagger as some of the other family members did that kept them friends at the core, despite their differences over the years.
After all, Brett and Jagger couldn’t very well help who their uncle was. And they both worked at Phoebe’s Playthings, unlike their father or uncle had chosen to do. For that reason alone, he had never bought into the way some of the others treated the two as less than equals.
But this wasn’t work. This was a woman, and he and Brett had been down this road before. “My office. Let’s go.”
“Why yours?” asked Brett.
“It’s more private than yours.”
Brett had no right to tell him who he could or couldn’t ask out. Sure, it might have been underhanded and juvenile to jump into the conversation that way, especially after Brett had asked her out, but all’s fair in love and war.
Brett had no prior claims on her. He’d barely noticed her in school. Just because she showed up today with her creepy grandmother didn’t mean the one who spoke up first had dibs.
He and Brett didn’t talk on the way back to the sales department. When they reached his office, Mark shut the door and faced Brett. “You don’t own her.”
“What you did was rude.”
“How was it rude? She could have said no.”
“Oh, right. You put her on the spot.”
“Looked more to me like we both did. What did she mean by that? That we should ask Keith and Billy? Is this about those rumors in school? I thought that was all just bullshit?”
“Don’t change the subject, Mark.”
“What the fuck do you want me to say? We’re not kids anymore. Grow up, for God’s sake.”
“You just said it. We’re not kids anymore. Nita isn’t Sharon Taber or Cathy Anderson.”
“You would bring them up.” He and Brett had gone out with both girls in high school at the same time, and the relationships had ended in disaster. Sharon had played them both against each other, but Cathy had gone a few steps further. She’d cornered them into letting her choose, while standing in front of a large group of their peers near the football field one afternoon. Mark could still hear the snickers and bets taking place on which one she’d pick.
Was it any wonder he and Brett had such a bizarre history together?
“Have I said something untrue? We fought over them, and now we’re fighting over Nita.”
“I’m not fighting.” Cathy had scorned them both that day, in public. It was one of the few times they’d been on the same side where girls were concerned.
“No. You simply asked out a woman I’d just asked out, right in front of me.”
“Like I said. She could have refused.”
“You’re an asshole.”
Brett turned to leave, but Mark grabbed his arm. “That’s it? You’re leaving it at that? What about Keith and Billy? What’s that all about?”
“Get your fucking hands off me.”
Mark let go of his arm. “What’s your problem? I’m betting you haven’t thought on
ce about Nita since you were seventeen.”
“That’s not true.”
“Really?”
“Really. I always had a thing for her. But we were both assholes back then. No one but the prettiest or most popular for us. We’re Raleighs and Durantes, after all.”
Mark frowned at the plaintive tone in Brett’s voice because it was so rare to hear it. “I happen to think she’s pretty, but that’s not why I asked her out.”
“Yes, she is pretty. Fucking gorgeous, actually. I even love the streaks in her hair. And it’s not why I asked her out, either.”
He nodded. “The streaks are quirky, but they fit her.”
Brett leaned against the wall and crossed his arms. “Okay. We agree we like her looks. But I repeat. It’s not why I asked her out. She’s interesting and intelligent. I’m way past the age of wanting to be with an airhead.”
“Same here. I was very impressed with what she knows about loa. I had no idea she’d studied her grandmother’s practices in such depth.”
“So I guess we agree there’s more to Nita Trudeaux than either of us saw in high school. But what the fuck do we do now?”
“I don’t know.” The fight had gone out of it for Mark. It was silly anyway. Brett wasn’t his enemy. But that didn’t mean he was going to back down. “Why did she say that about Keith and Billy? I thought that was just stupid high school shit?”
Brett frowned. “I don’t know. I remember something about them spreading rumors in school, but they were always such idiots I paid no attention to it.”
“Well, maybe we should ask them? She looked really upset.”
“It was more than that. She looked afraid.”
He and Brett stared at each other.
“We need to find out what she meant,” said Brett. “Especially if we’re both going to pursue her.”
Mark snorted. “You assume she’ll go out with one of us at all.”
“Good point.” Brett pushed away from the wall and extended his hand. “I’m sorry I called you an asshole.”
Mark shook his hand. “I am an asshole. And I’m sorry I did that to you. It was a knee-jerk reaction. She probably won’t go out with me because of it.”
“She will. They all did.”
“They went out with you, too.”
Brett shook his head. “Fuck. I thought all this shit stopped once we grew up, you know?”
Mark grinned. “Who says we’ve grown up?”
“Touché. Okay. Let’s go find those two assholes and find out what they did to her in school.”
Chapter Three
Nita fought not to cry all the way back to the shop. It wouldn’t have been a long walk for her, but she’d driven them because it was too long for her grandmother to walk twice in one day. But on the way back downtown, she nearly rear-ended a Jeep and almost struck a pedestrian. She was that distracted. Her grandmother, as usual, noticed. She noticed everything.
“Child, they’s only men.”
Nita swallowed hard. “Durante and Raleigh men.”
“They’s so many on this island it’s hard not to run into them everywhere.”
“I have no interest in dating one.”
“You dated one in high school.”
Nita closed her eyes for a brief second. She had to keep it together for her grandmother’s sake. “That was a long time ago.”
“Child, you live like a hermit.”
“I’m happy with the way I live.” Liar. You’re miserable.
They pulled into the yard behind the shop, and once they were inside, Nita arranged supplies that were already in perfect order. She felt her grandmother’s eyes on her, but Nita ignored it and kept her hands busy. They were still shaking, but at least the urge to cry had passed. She started to hum, hoping it would fool her grandmother.
“What’s bothering you, child?”
So much for that plan. Hardly anything got past her. “They really don’t know anything about that curse, do they? I mean, I know they have a lot of documentation, but for all of that, they have no real information.”
“No, they don’t. You did well today. I’m proud of you.” Her grandmother moved closer and placed a weathered hand on Nita’s arm. “You learn well and fast.”
She forced her gaze to the woman’s face. “You taught me. The credit goes to you.”
Her grandmother smiled and shook her head. “No. You took it all in and retained it. Take credit for the mind God gave you once in a while. Okay?”
“Okay. You look tired. Why don’t you take a nap and I’ll watch the shop this afternoon.”
She narrowed her eyes. “You tryin’ to get rid of me?”
“No. Of course not.”
She patted her arm. “You talk to them on your phone. Go ahead.”
“There’s no need to.” Nita didn’t see the point in telling her grandmother that she had no intention of talking to either man on her cell or in person.
The woman gave her a wicked grin. “You tryin’ to tell me they don’t have your number now?”
“No, they don’t.”
“They will. I think I will take me a nap. I am a bit tired. You should call the company and ask for them. I know they’d be happy to hear from you.”
“I’ll think about it.”
After her grandmother went upstairs, Nita sat behind the counter and went over everything they’d said to each other in the short time between entering the lobby and her leaving the building. Even if she hadn’t had any intention of going out with Brett or Mark, her ungraceful exit had no doubt left them with the impression she was nuttier than a fruitcake, so it was a moot point.
Let them think that. She didn’t care. She only wished she hadn’t told them to ask Keith and Billy what was bothering her. She shouldn’t have done that. How could they not know? Now Keith and Billy would realize she still thought about them, and that made her angry.
It wasn’t enough that Keith had humiliated her, more than once. Or that both boys had spread vicious lies about her for almost an entire school year. Nita didn’t believe for a second that they hadn’t shared that with their cousins. Which meant that Brett and Mark were assholes, too, for pretending not to know.
The tears threatened again, and this time it was more difficult to hold them back. But not because of what had happened today, or because she didn’t want Keith and Billy to know how much what they’d done to her in high school still haunted her. The tears came now because she was lonely. So lonely.
Alaina’s pretty face and confident manner rose up in her mind, along with the praise Taj had given her. The intimate glance they’d shared when Alaina mentioned the Taino tats had tugged at her heartstrings. High school certainly hadn’t been like that for her. Her few dates with Keith hadn’t included tender intimacies or praise. And they could hardly be called dates.
Call it what it was. Dubious consent. Date rape without the drugs everyone assumed always accompanied such an act. Forced seduction. Although seduction was hardly a term she’d label his clumsy groping and fevered grunting as he shoved his dick into her.
But she’d let it happen. Three times. And each time had been more detached, cold, and humiliating than the last. When she’d told him she wouldn’t do it again, he’d laughed. And then he and Billy had started a smear campaign that rivaled any PR blast she’d ever seen for Phoebe’s Playthings. Maybe they should be running PR for Asa and Tim instead of Graham and Jagger?
Nita hugged herself as a draft blew in through the window. It could hardly be called a window. There was no glass, only stiff canvas that barely let in adequate light. When it got colder than normal, they covered the canvas with plastic, but they didn’t have to do that very often. The only reason the canvas was up now was to keep out flying insects and the occasional stray bird.
Would she ever find a man whom she could trust? She shook her head as her grandmother’s voice filled her head, admonishing her for living like a monk. She wasn’t likely to find one she could trust if she never went out
with any. But she didn’t want to date a Raleigh or a Durante. They didn’t date. They only used a woman until they grew tired of her. Never again would she let herself be treated that way by the self-proclaimed princes of this island.
Nita slid off the stool and found the book on loa she’d been reading earlier this week. It was a newer publication, and now she had even more reason to get through it. When Alaina called again to tell them that her professor friend had translated the documents, Nita wanted to be ready to help.
As she read, Brett’s and Mark’s faces rose in her mind. She heard their voices, confident and easy, and her inner eye pictured the muscles their clothes couldn’t hide. Both men were gorgeous. There was no doubt about that. And even if they had truly forgotten what Keith and Billy did to her, they would soon remember it. They might even be with them both right now, laughing about it.
Nita slammed the book shut and rested her chin on crossed arms. Was this her life? Doomed to sit in this dusty shop, like her grandmother did every day? Would she really never know the kind of love and service to a Dom that Alaina did? Or her friend Celina, who was a sub now to Arizona Durante and Dallas Raleigh? They were Asa’s and Tim’s sons, and yet they weren’t jerks.
Was it possible not all of them were like Keith and Billy? But how could she know who to trust? And did it matter? Once they found out what had happened, they’d look at her like Keith had Just another native to use and then cast aside. That was her fate.
Celina was a native, but she had skills. She was a paralegal and a research assistant. She’d gone to work at Phoebe’s Playthings for Lucie, Arizona’s sister. She’d made a name for herself in a company full of Raleighs and Durantes. And now she worked for her Doms in the marketing department, and they were sending her to law school.
But Nita had no college education and no skills that would prove useful at Phoebe’s Playthings. Not unless they needed her help as they had today. No. There were no Doms on white horses, or driving white Jeeps, waiting to take her away to one of the houses in the hills. She’d had her chance with one of them, and the experience had tainted her entire life. She couldn’t let that happen again.