by Lee, Kimball
“I’ll drop you off, then I’m going to New Orleans. Hadley can do as she pleases, but Holden gets the big brother speech anyway,” he said, and he and Finn both laughed for the first time that evening.
“Go easy on him, Hadley is her mother’s daughter after all. I really doubt that Holden instigated this… relationship. You know your sister, she wants what she wants, and she usually gets it. Maybe you’d better hurry and warn Holden to… what is it they say? ‘Be afraid, be very afraid.’”
Cruz de Leon, Holden’s bodyguard, appeared out of the dark just then, huffing and puffing as if he’d been running. He was a large man in his mid-twenties, overly muscled, pumped up and fierce looking, as a man in his line of work should be.
“Hey,” he said. His voice was unsteady and he was pacing nervously. “I’m supposed to be watching out for Mia tonight and she’s gone, just disappeared. Fuck man, Mr. Bly is gonna have a shit fit and fire my ass for sure. Her car is right out there in the driveway, but I ran up and down the beach, I’ve looked everywhere. Billy Kipling keeps an eye on her when she’s home in San Diego, but I’ve had to be responsible for both her and Holden since we got here. Shit, it’s not an easy job.”
“The gazebo,” Finn said, standing, then running across the dark lawn, even before they heard a blood-curdling scream.
Atticus and Cruz followed him, and Atticus moved quickly ahead and made it to the gazebo first. Mia and Skyler were slumped on the wooden floor side by side, bound together by a pair of handcuffs. Skyler was unconscious, her clothes torn to shreds, her face bruised and swollen. Mia’s clothes had been ripped away, and she too, was badly beaten. She tried to hide her nakedness as Atticus and the others reached the gazebo. Charlotte’s brother, Christopher, appeared out of the darkness, pulled off his t-shirt, and covered her with it. Christopher, still ghost-like with his quiet demeanor, squatted next to the girls, as Mia managed a small smile.
“The key… in my purse,” Mia whispered, and Atticus knelt down and riffled through her purse, then unlocked the cuffs. Finn and Christopher went right to work handling the situation. Finn checked Skyler’s pulse and his hands moved over her quickly, checking for knife or bullet wounds and broken bones. “Call 911, tell them we need an ambulance and at least one female police officer,” Finn said calmly to Cruz de Leon.
“Skyler, is she okay, Dad? Is she breathing, what the fuck happened here?” Atticus was shouting by the time he finished the sentence. “Mia, who did this? Please, please hold on, Mia, I’m here and I’ll make whoever did this pay.”
Finn had laid Skyler flat on the ground and he and Christopher nodded in agreement that she would recover. Only her face was beaten, her wounds were not life threatening. Then Finn moved to Mia to ask her what had happened.
“That guy, Angus from the beach club, was beating the hell out of Skyler on the beach. I left Charlotte’s house and went for a walk earlier and I… stumbled across them. He hit Skyler and knocked her out. When he was trying to carry her off the beach, I got the handcuffs out of my purse,” she said, then she groaned as Finn touched her ribs. “He and I struggled and he handcuffed me to Skyler and brought us here.”
“You have a couple of broken ribs, Mia, whatever else he did to you… a female detective will be here soon, you can talk to her,” Finn said, and he saw fury ignite in Atticus’s eyes.
“Fuck!” he yelled, standing up and pacing. “Let’s go, Cruz, we need to find him before the police do, I’m going to kill him. I don’t care what happens, he’s a dead man.”
“He didn’t… he tried, but someone stopped him,” Mia said, shocked by her brother’s fury, his desire to punish the man who’d hurt her. “He was so mad that I caught him before he could rape Skyler, I guess. He started beating me and he stood up and kicked me with his boots, over and over. He didn’t stop until a man showed up and….”
The group hadn’t realized Angus was lying in the shadows, soaked in blood. He moaned just a little as sirens wailed and an ambulance and police cars sped across the lawn so that his body was illuminated by the headlights.
“He isn’t dead,” Christopher said softly, “but he won’t have the balls to touch a young girl again.”
“Oh shit,” Finn said, as he watched the blood spreading in a wide circle across the front of Angus’s pants. He looked at the little group assembled around the bloodied and beaten girls, and the newly castrated would-be rapist. He turned to Christopher and spoke quietly, but he made sure everyone understood. “You know what to do, lose the weapon, clean the evidence, and stay low and quiet.”
Christopher hesitated, searching Finn’s eyes in the dim light, then he nodded. He was not in a position to be in the limelight or go to trial for any crime. He didn’t exist—better to keep his identity under wraps, especially with the drug wars raging out of control. Many of his former employers were taking blood baths in Mexico and South America, it was lucky he’d gotten out of the business alive.
“It’s dark out tonight. Who did you see, Mia, anyone you know?” Finn asked, kneeling down and holding her so that she lay against him.
“No, someone came out of the dark, I couldn’t make out a face. Then Angus screamed and I saw all of you running toward us,” she said, and Atticus reached for her hand and held it until the paramedics took over.
*
At the hospital, Atticus divided his time between Mia and Skyler, with an emphasis on Skyler. He didn’t let Mia know he spent a little less time with her. She had just been through a nightmare, and each time he sat beside her on the bed, her smile was radiant.
“Handcuffs in your purse, huh?” he asked Mia, raising an eyebrow. “I guess that explains those strange marks on Beau’s wrists. You were really brave to try and stop that maniac from hurting Sky, you could’ve run away screaming, but you didn’t. You attacked him, that’s cool… scary, but cool. I’m glad you’re alright, Mia, more than glad, you’re my little sister and I couldn’t stand for anything to happen to you. You know that, don’t you? You and Holden mean as much to me as Hadley and Charlie. We’re a family, a weird family, but it still works. So we have to take care of each other and love each other.”
“Do you really mean that, Atticus? You care for me that much? Why didn’t I ever realize it? I feel so bad that I’ve resented you over the years. I can’t stand to think what a bitch I’ve been to you, even when we were kids. I want to tell you something, Atti, I love you; do you understand what I’m saying?” She waited to see how that revelation would affect him. Would he be repulsed, would he tell her those feelings were normal? She wasn’t a girl who prayed, but she sincerely prayed that he would tell her he had a plan, they would run away to a secret place and they could be together.
“Mia, of course I love you. You’re my sister, we’re tied together by blood and chromosomes and whatever else we got from Alex Bly. Don’t worry about all that bitchy crap, let’s be kind to each other from now on. Let’s be friends, as well as brother and sister, okay? And I was just joking about the handcuffs, I’m glad you and Beau are together, he’s a good guy.” He leaned down, smoothed the hair from her face and planted a light kiss on her forehead. He said he’d see her later, that he was anxious to check on Sky.
Mia turned her face into the pillow and tears flooded down her cheeks, hot tears that poured out along with her sobs.
Bly leaned against the wall just outside Mia’s hospital room and watched as Atticus walked away. He pinched that spot between his eyes where the stress of his worries seemed to settle. What to do, what to do about Mia? Her words and her tone of voice were plain to him, if not to Atticus. What the fuck would he do about this turn of events?
Mia had been a problem child from the day she was born, but she was his only daughter and he loved her dearly. How would she find happiness if she was in love with her half-brother? Who did she get her fucked-up-ness from, Maddie or him? Maddie was crazy as a loon, but not as crazy in matters of the heart as he was. At least Maddie hadn’t been waiting for one impossible lo
ve for twenty years.
He would get Mia into serious counseling. What else was there to be done? Atticus was an amazing young man, he had a heart of gold and it hadn’t even registered in his brain that Mia was in love with him. No matter, if there was one thing Alexander Bly had it was money, money he would spend by the buckets-full to find a treatment for what ailed Mia. He wondered if there was a cure for being in love, and if there was, why the hell hadn’t he signed himself up for it long ago.
*
“Hey, scoot over, I’m climbing in bed with you,” Atticus said, and Skyler’s heart swelled so large that it left her mute but smiling. “If the nurse comes in and complains about two in a bed, my dad said I should tell her to go straight to hell. He really told me that, can you believe it? He said when I was a baby my mom was in the hospital and he stayed by her side, he slept right next to her in the bed.”
Sky couldn’t help it, she laughed and reached up and fastened her arms tightly around his neck. He let himself be pulled down and he slid in next to her on the narrow hospital bed. His mouth covered hers and she thought she could die happily, burned to cinders from the heat that radiated between them. His lips were soft and warm, but his kiss was hot and greedy and intense, scalding her mouth, going on and on until he pulled away and they gasped for air.
“You’ll be out of here in the morning, then we have the rest of the summer to spend together, if that’s what you want,” he said, struggling to keep her from feeling his massive erection, although it was impossible to hide since they were plastered together in the tiny bed.
“I want to, I want you, and I want you to make love to me, Atticus. Now and for the rest of the summer and for as long as possible. You’re mine. I’m saying it out loud because it’s what I feel and it isn’t going to change.”
Her hands moved over his body, reveling in the smooth hardness of his young, taut muscles. He was more beautiful than any man she’d ever seen, six feet five with sapphire-blue eyes and wavy, jet-black hair. A lock of hair constantly fell across his forehead and he was forever raking it with his fingers to keep it in place. There was a delicious dimple in his strong, square chin, and his mouth was wide with elegantly etched lips, inviting a woman’s gaze to linger there.
He worked diligently to keep his emotions in check, his logical mind telling him to take it slow. They were young, and it could get serious. But when he looked at her, there was such a mixture of tenderness and lust she could hardly catch her breath. She would have him, she would make him see that they were destined to be together. He would go away and do his Navy pilot thing or whatever it was that he so craved, but he would crave her as well. He would know they were meant for each other, he would give his heart to her and she would hold it safely inside her own heart. She would hold it without letting go until he was ready to come to her forever.
“Sky, I want you more than I’ve ever wanted a woman in my life. I feel something so strong and so… pure and deep, but you’re testing me right now and I wish you wouldn’t. Let’s get to know each other, without… our bodies doing all the talking. Because I could take you here and now and it would be incredible, but I think I could want more from you than just sex. I want to learn everything about you, and I should already know you through and through, but I see you differently now. I see you as a woman, not a girl. A woman I could fall… a woman I need to know in so many ways. And then, when the time is right, if it’s supposed to happen, it will be so right,” Atticus said. Then he kissed her once more and forced himself to stand and walk away. He stood in front of the window with his back to her, his raging erection painfully straining the front of his jeans.
“Turn around,” she said, her voice heavy with passion.
“No, give me a minute.”
“Now,” she said, “I want to know that you want me as much as I want you. Please.”
He turned to her and his hands stayed at his sides although he desperately wanted to cover his traitorous cock. And when he raised his eyes to hers, they were not full of triumph as he might have suspected, they were brimming with happiness.
“Okay, I’ll go along with your rules. I… want you to let me in, Atti. You’re so good at giving others what they need, you try and take care of everyone, but you keep a close watch on your own feelings and heart. I need you to believe me when I tell you that what I feel is more than a teenage crush,” she said, and she had to force herself to look in his eyes and not move her gaze down to the extraordinary evidence of his desire. “I won’t tempt you, Atticus. We’ll be… what? Friends with limited benefits, how about that?”
“I like that, and after this summer, we’ll see if what we’re feeling lasts, and we’ll go from there,” he said solemnly. “Your birthday is in August, isn’t it? You’ll be eighteen then…”
“Yes,” she said, giving him a bold smile, “I’ll be eighteen the first of August.”
He crossed to her bedside and as he leaned toward her, she reached for him. Her fingers clutched his thick hair, pulling him to her, kissing him, her tongue darting to meet his, letting him know she meant business. Her kiss was instinctual and astonishing—she was like a she wolf claiming her mate, marking him for life. She was seventeen and innocent and still the most tantalizing woman he’d ever known. Her touch, her smell, her taste were decadently sweet and intoxicating. She left him feeling weak and wanting her with an intensity that shook him to his core.
Chapter Five
Finn ran into Bly in the hospital corridor, and he said maybe they should have a talk if he could spare the time.
“Yeah, this entire situation with that bastard from the Beach Club—I need to thank you, Finn. That was a crazy move, cutting his balls off. I have to say I’m surprised you spared his life,” Bly said, sitting down across from Finn in the cafeteria.
“Bly, it’s like I told the police, I had nothing to do with it. Whoever stopped Angus from raping the girls was gone when we showed up. And I’ll tell you… it must’ve been a ghost.”
Bly thought about what Finn was saying and realization dawned in his eyes. “They’ve tied Angus to a string of rape-murders throughout Alabama and Mississippi, did you know? He’s being deported back to Scotland to stand trial when he… heals enough to make the trip. Fuck, I can’t even stand to think what might have happened. Skyler said he was actually looking for Hadley, did you know that? But Hadley was with Holden, even though I warned him he might not want to risk his heart on Charlotte’s daughter.”
“You’re an asshole, Bly, that’s my daughter you’re talking about. Did it ever dawn on you that she could be wasting herself on him? What makes you think your son is good enough for her?” Finn said, and he felt weary suddenly, and not at all sure that what he was going to ask of Bly was the right thing.
“Hey, you’re taking it the wrong way, or possibly I said it wrong. Hadley is great, I didn’t mean anything other than Holden will most likely fall in love with her and…” Bly sighed heavily and rested his head in his hands, then looked up at Finn. “I don’t want my son getting hurt… by anyone. Hadley is Charlotte’s daughter, how can he resist? How can he survive if she leaves him for all that fame has to offer? That’s all I meant, Finn, you haven’t had to live a life wanting a woman you can’t have; it’s not something I’d wish on my worst enemy.”
“Alright. About that, about the woman we love—I want to talk about her. Fuck, how do I say this? She’s strong, without a doubt the strongest woman I’ve ever known, but what’s about to happen is going to… test her strength. She’s going to be hurting, and at some point in the near future, whether she admits it or not, she’s going to need you. I’m… not well, Bly. I always believed the old saying, “Live by the sword, die by the sword.” And I did, I lived by the power of blades and bullets for longer than I should have, but they could never kill me. Isn’t life funny, and isn’t death a kick in the teeth? I’m dying from the plague of the modern age… cancer. Slow and sneaky and demeaning.”
“Finn, are you sure? What ca
n we do, surely there’s something? I give millions to cancer research. There’s a hospital in Houston, M.D. Anderson, their cure rate is astronomical; we can go tomorrow. Hell, we’ll leave tonight, right now…”
“Too late. I’m not going through all that lab-rat bullshit so my wife can watch me wither away and die over time. Don’t give me that look, Bly, it’s not curable, and the treatment fucking sucks. No thank you, no diapers or wheelchairs for me. Is that selfish? Maybe, but there are more than a dozen renegade tumors in my brain that are not going away. I thought long and hard about this—don’t presume that I’m taking it lightly. The hard truth is I would be gamma-knifed and pumped full of steroids and radiated and chemoed until I was quite literally within an inch of my life. I’ve known for three months, and I waited until there was no turning back. You’re the only person I’ve told. Now really, you have to admit, there’s some kind of bizarre humor in that fact, isn’t there? I’m telling Alexander Bly that I’ll be dead in a few months and I want him to make my wife love him when she’s done with grieving.”
“No, I don’t see the humor in it at all, Finn. I think it’s a major fucking mistake for you to make the decision to die and not give your wife any say in the matter. I would call you a selfish prick… but, this is no good, you’re too young and Charlotte… fuck.” He rubbed his eyes, tried to get comfortable in the hard, plastic chair. “Let’s get out of here, this is no place to be talking about these things.”
“Right,” Finn said with his usual crooked grin, “we shouldn’t talk about death in a hospital. Sorry, sorry, just trying to feel my way through this situation. I can tell you this much: it’s easy to die, it’s harder to leave life behind.”