by K. J. Dahlen
“I remember.” She nodded. “I also remember a few days later. He came home that night and he was crazy.”
“Yeah, he was,” Bonne concurred. “He came into the bedroom and began yelling some crap about you finally being his good luck.”
“That’s when he told us about the card game he lost, and what he used as collateral.” Izzy sneered. “He bet his fifteen year old daughter on a single hand of cards.”
“But that wasn’t the whole bet,” Boone told her and everyone else. “Later that night or the next morning, Uncle Mike came into my hospital room and started yammering something about a key. Apparently, dad wanted him to ask me about a key he lost a few days before. It must have been the morning he tore the house apart.”
“A key?” Izzy frowned.
“Yeah, the night he came home with the hamburgers he’d taken a key from some guy at the card game he was at. The other guy didn’t know it was gone yet, but dad couldn’t find it the next morning. Apparently, that’s what he was looking for.”
“What does a key have to do with anything?” Sam asked.
“I’m not sure.” Boone shrugged. “I told Uncle Mike I had no clue what the hell he was talking about. I didn’t see any key that night, but Uncle Mike insisted dad had a key that night. He even suggested one of us had taken it. I told him I didn’t know anything about it and I also told him you wouldn’t have taken it either.” He shook his head. “He kept coming back every day to ask about the key. Then Dad went on trial for the shooting. I was still in the hospital and you were nowhere to be found. I asked Uncle Mike about you but he never told me anything.” Boone paused and stared at his hands in his lap. “It was only after Dad went to jail and he made arrangement for me to go and live with him that I found out the reason you never came to the hospital to see me. He told me he banned you from seeing me again and that if you did, he would have kicked me to the streets.” Boone laid his head on the back of his chair and closed his eyes. “God, I hated that man. I hated the fact I had nowhere else to go. I think if you would’ve come around just then, I would have begged you to take me away. I would have gladly lived on the streets with you.” He turned his head and found her looking back. “Then you and Melora showed up. I know I was angry that day but I wasn’t angry with you. I was pissed at myself. I was feeling sorry for me. It wasn’t until Melora explained the kind of life you were living that I could see I was better off with Mike but I still hated it. She told me that day that you had been watching over me. She told me that I might not see you but that you were there.” He paused. “It made me feel better knowing you were still around watching over me.”
Izzy reached out and took his hand. “You were never alone. Even when Melora and I left Chicago, someone was watching over you.”
Boone smiled. “I know. I saw them every day. I never let them know but I did.”
“Let’s go back to this key for a moment,” Mountain urged. “Whatever became of that?”
Boone shrugged. “I don’t know. A couple of years ago, Mike cornered me out on the patio. As usual, he’d been drinking. A letter from Dad arrived that day in the mail and after he read it, he started drinking. Anyway, he came out to where I was sitting and started asking me about the stupid key again.” Boone shook his head. “I told him again, I had no idea what he was talking about. Then he said something about Izzy must have it. I tried to tell him she would have told me but he got mad and hit me. I was surprised, yet not surprised. He’d slapped me around before but that night he smacked me hard enough to knock me out of my chair. I couldn’t move and the jolt from slamming down on the patio gave me so much pain I almost passed out.”
Izzy put her hands over her mouth as tears filled her eyes.
He shrugged. “I don’t know how long I laid there before Aunt Judy finally helped me back into the chair. She got me to bed but two days later, I was back in the hospital with pneumonia.”
“God, Boone I am so sorry!” Izzy cried. “I should have been there for you and I wasn’t.”
Boone shook his head. “No, you had every right to make a life of your own. I was ok for the most part.”
Izzy shook her head. “No you don’t understand. I took the key that night. After Dad fell asleep and I carried you to bed, I went back to the living room because I heard Dad saying something. He was talking in his sleep and I stood there and listened to him spout off about besting the man. I didn’t know who he was talking about, he never said his name but he did say he would use the key against him. Someone would pay big to get the damn key back and that he would be set up for life.” Izzy wiped her tears away. “After everything he’d done to us and to Mom, I didn’t want him to get his payday so I took the key and I hid it. Then I watched him go nuts trying to find it. The night of the shooting, he spouted off about trading me in the fucking card game. Before I knew it, you grabbed the gun and then he had it and you were laying on the floor bleeding. I saw your bat on the floor beside the door and I just picked it up and swung it at his head. I watched him go down and I picked you up and got you the hell out of there.” Izzy sobbed. “Oh God, Boone I am so sorry! If I had left the key alone, you wouldn’t have been shot and none of this would have happened.”
“I think you both know better than that,” Mountain finally spoke up. He’d listened to the whole story come out and one thing he knew was that their father wasn’t worth spit and that he would use his children to get ahead.
Boone nodded. “Yeah, I do anyway. Dad never cared for us, even when Mom left. The only reason he wouldn’t allow her to take us, was he always figured on using us to get ahead.”
“She wasn’t much better,” Izzy told them.
“What do you mean?” Boone asked.
“After Uncle Mike kicked me out of your life, I went to find her. It took me a while, like two years but I managed to track her down. She was living in some dive and working as a stripper. She knew all about Dad and what happened. She saw the story on the news but didn’t come forward. She said she couldn’t take care of herself let alone a crippled kid, so she let you go home with Mike. When I asked her why she didn’t fight harder to take me and you with her when she left, she told me the truth. She said you were her kid but that I wasn’t. She told me I wasn’t Sonny’s kid either. I was her sister’s brat. The night I was born, she helped her sister through the labor, then things went wrong and her sister bled to death. Roxi said she had no choice but to pretend I was her kid since she claimed she didn’t know who my father was. Then she got this look in her eye and she told me she knew who my father was and that if I helped her, she would make sure I got some money out of the deal. I told her she could go to hell before I’d help her.”
“So we’re not brother and sister at all?” Boone asked.
Izzy slid off her chair and knelt in front of Boone’s chair. “You will always be my brother. It doesn’t matter to me whether we share the same bloodline or not, you are my brother, now and forever.”
Boone just stared at her for a moment. He began shaking his head then she cried out, “A family doesn’t always mean being that closely related, you know. It does mean you love the other person. I love you so much Boone, I have since the day you were born and that love will last until both of us are gone from this world.”
Boone took a deep breath and exhaled. “So ok, like you said love is what’s important. I can’t imagine life without you being part of me.”
“So what is this thing with the key?” Sam asked.
Izzy shrugged. “I don’t know but the key is important to somebody.”
“Do you still have the key?” Melora asked.
Izzy nodded. “Yeah, I still have it but I have no idea who to ask about it. I don’t want Sonny or Roxi to profit from it nor do I want whoever Sonny took it from to get it back.”
“Maybe I can help find out who the key actually belongs to,” Mountain suggested.
“How are you going to do that?” Izzy asked.
“I�
��m not sure yet, but I’m working on it.” He smiled at her.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Later after they had all gone to bed, Mountain pulled Izzy into his arms. “Are you okay?” he whispered.
“I’m not sure. I hated telling him we weren’t siblings. He looked so lost.”
“Everything he’s ever known has been lost to him,” Mountain said. “You’ve been a part of his life since he was born. He thought you were his sister all this time and now, he finds out you’re not. He’s feeling lost right now.”
“But I am his sister,” she insisted. “I won’t give him up, I can’t. I’ve loved him since he was born. I can’t just turn those feeling off.”
“I’m glad to hear that. What you told him earlier is true. You are still family.”
Izzy sighed.
“What’s wrong baby?” he held her closer and felt her trembling.
“I’m not sure. All my life I knew who I was, I was Sonny’s daughter and I was Boone’s sister, then I was told I didn’t belong to either of them. I didn’t belong to Roxi either. I would never know my real mother and I have no idea who my father is. Roxi wouldn’t tell me his name. For the longest time after she told me, my life was a lie I was so lost. I couldn’t go see Boone. I was so hurt, I couldn’t tell him what I’d just found out. He would have been devastated.”
Mountain nodded. “Plus, we still don’t know how the key figures into this or who might still be after it and, or you.”
“God,” she whispered. “I wish to heavens I’d never heard of or seen that damn key.”
Mountain hugged her close, then decided to turn her attention to something else. He began nibbling on the back of her neck while his hands got busy cupping her breasts.
Izzy groaned as she felt her body respond. Mountain’s hands slipped under her shirt and one of his hands cupped her bare breast while the other slipped down under the band of her underwear. His fingers found her clit and he rubbed it while she lifted her hips slightly.
Then he slipped one finger deep inside her. He could feel her wetness and after a few in and outs he slipped another finger into her core. He felt her body heating up and then it was his time to groan as she pushed her ass against his hardening cock.
Soon, he was three fingers deep and her juices were flowing. Mountain pulled down his boxers and when his cock was free, he positioned himself at her entrance then he pushed himself inside her deep and hard. He hissed when he felt her wrap herself around him. She was warm, wet and tight. As he moved in and out of her, he could feel his body tighten. His lips suckled the side of her neck, then he groaned as he felt her pushing back.
He ground his hips into hers and sank in deeper. Then he felt her tighten and he thrust deeper, harder and faster. Only three hard thrusts later, he felt her ignite and he groaned as he exploded inside her.
His hands gripped her hips as his cum burst from the tip of his cock and painted the walls of her pussy. Mountain ground himself into her.
Oh God Talon, I love you,” she whispered.
“I love you too sweet girl…” He began pumping inside her again. His cock was semi hard but with each stroke, he could feel himself getting ready for another round.
Izzy groaned as she pushed against him. Mountain rolled her on her belly and raised her hips as he snuggled in behind her. Each thrust was deeper and harder than the last. Before he thought it would be possible, he was ready to blow again.
His hand reached around her hip to her clit and with a few rubs, he could feel her body tighten with her orgasm. Grinding in to her core, he climaxed with her. He groaned as he slid down beside her and his arms tightened around her.
Izzy took his hand and raised it to her lips. Spreading tiny kisses to his skin, she whispered, “How did I get so lucky to find you?”
Mountain chuckled. “I think I’m the lucky one.”
“Mmmm…” She snuggled her back to his chest and spooned her body to his. “I think I need to sleep now.”
“Sweet dreams sweetheart,” he murmured in her ear. He closed his eyes and drifted off holding her close.
~* * * *~
A while later, Mountain’s eyes snapped open, and he held his breath. He wasn’t sure what woke him only that he sensed danger was near. A moment later, he heard a slight knock on his door. Moving away from Izzy, he pulled on his jeans and went to the door. Cracking it open, he found his daughter standing there. She had the baby in her arms and a worried look on her face.
“What is it?” he asked.
“I think there’s something wrong with Boone,” she informed him. “I was on my way to the kitchen and I heard him moaning in pain.” She looked up at her father. “Can you check on him? Please?”
Mountain’s eyes went to the door down the hall. He nodded, “I’ll check on him.” Turning to her he asked, “Where’s Sam?”
“He’s heating a bottle.” She grinned.
“Hmmph.” Mountain grumbled as he walked to Boone’s door. Hesitating, he listened for a moment then he too heard groaning. He gave a single knock then opened the door. Standing in the doorway he called out softly, “Hey, are you okay?”
Boone thrashed around on the bed. “No I don’t think so.”
Mountain moved closer to the bed. He watched as the young man grimaced “What’s going on?”
“I’m not real sure,” Boone admitted. “For a long time after the shooting, I didn’t feel anything below my waist, but for the past two years I have nights like this when my whole body burns.”
Mountain frowned. “I thought the bullet severed your spinal cord?”
Boone shook his head. “The doctors couldn’t take the bullet out. The risk was too great. The bullet is still in my back.”
“Do you have anything for the pain?”
Boone nodded. “Yeah, there’s a bottle of pain pills in my shaving kit.”
Mountain went into the bathroom and found the small black shaving kit. Opening it up, he found a prescription bottle. Reading the label, he opened it and shook a pill out into his hand. Getting some water, he went back to Boone’s bed and handed him the medication. “How long has it been since you’ve seen a doctor?” he asked.
“Two years. I saw a doctor when I had pneumonia.” Boone told him.
“What about a doctor for your back?”
“That’s been a little longer.” He sneered.
“How much longer?” Mountain crossed his arms over his chest.
“The last doctor I saw for my back was four days after the shooting.”
“You haven’t seen a doctor since then?” Mountain asked as anger built within him.
Boone shook his head as he laid back down on his pillow. He knew the pills would take away the pain and allow him to sleep. “I guess the long ride jarred something in my back and the muscles aren’t settling down like they should. The pain should be gone by morning. I’m sorry I disturbed you.”
“You don’t have to apologize for hurting.” Mountain growled.
Boone nodded then hesitated.
When he didn’t say anything, Mountain sat down on the edge of his bed. “What’s going through your mind right now?”
Boone’s fingers plucked the blanket covering his lower body. He couldn’t look at the other man. Looking away, he said softly, “I was just wondering why Izzy came to get me when she didn’t have too. I mean, I’m not really her brother.”
Mountain reached out and turned his face toward himself. “You are her brother, in every way there is. You share something deeper than just blood. She loves you dearly and I think you love her too. You have her loyalty and in her mind, that’s more important than anything.”
“Then why did she leave me all those years ago?” Boone asked with a sheen of tears in his eyes.
“Because your uncle made a deal. He told her he would take care of you as long as she stayed away. He knew you weren’t her brother back then, but she didn’t. I think if she had she would have taken
you with her right then and there, but she thought she was doing what was best for you. She gave you up once, she isn’t going to make that mistake again.”
Boone laughed slightly. “She is rather stubborn isn’t she?”
“Do ya think?” Mountain chuckled. He watched Boone relax. “She might not have been there but she’s always watched out for you. She’s had someone there in your corner the whole time and if your uncle tried anything funny, she would have been there. I hope you know that.”
Boone nodded. “Yeah, I do. I’ve felt her right beside me at times and I know if I was ever in trouble, her friends would be there for me. I wasn’t worried about me all these years. I didn’t know what was going on with her, where she was or if she was in trouble. I know I was younger than she was but I couldn’t be there to protect her. I couldn’t hold her and keep the fears away from her like she did for me. I missed her so much.” He swallowed hard. “Until the night I was shot, she was all I had. Mom didn’t care about anyone but her and Dad was too busy drinking and gambling. Izzy was all I had and I was all she had.”
“But she found Melora after that,” he reminded him.
“Yeah, I know. Did you know I hated Melora at first? I hated the fact that Izzy replaced me with her.”
“Do you still feel that way?” Mountain asked.
Boone shook his head. “No, the first time I met Melora, I was prepared to hate her but she wouldn’t let me. She told me she would take care of Izzy for me and that if I needed anything, she would be there to make sure I got it. She used to leave stuff for me. It was never a lot but just little things Izzy knew I would like. Stuff like books, puzzles and toys. It wouldn’t be much but it was enough that I knew my sister was nearby.” Boone paused then added, “When they left Chicago, Melora found a way to bring Izzy to me. They didn’t stay long but it was long enough that we had the chance to say goodbye. Izzy told me then she would come back one day, when I was older. She said when she came back she would bring me away with her. She’d take me somewhere no one would ever hurt me again.” He peered up at Mountain and smiled. “I guess she kept her promise.”