by Janie Marie
She looked down. She never wanted to think like this; she was better than this. But now she had something on Lorelei. Something real. No way was she leaving without making her pay.
“I just don’t want you doing something dangerous that can ruin your life.” He sighed and kissed her cheek. “I want you to stay my sweet Kylie.” His lips tickled her cheek as he kept talking. “My beautiful, sweet, innocent Little Hood. My Kylie. Let Than take care of Lorelei. He’s a complicated guy, but he wants to solve this for you. He’ll get you your vengeance.”
Kylie wasn’t sure how well she would be able to follow his advice. All she could envision right now was a thousand gruesome deaths for her stepmother—all by her hand. Maybe it was just the entire day making her think as stupidly as Janie and Ryder, but she wanted everyone to pay for hurting her.
“Baby?”
She startled, looking up at him as she realized how lost in her murderous thoughts she had become.
He shook his head. “Hood, please try to think everything through. I’m really trying to be calm, too. I want to hurt everyone who’s hurt you. But it’s not going to make things better. I’m only seeing how much there is to lose now I have you. So please let us handle this.”
“You want to handle this for me?”
He shrugged. “I want to take care of you. I can only do that if I know you’re going to be there when this is all over. I promise you’ll get justice for your parents.” He looked around at the woods. “It’s getting dark. You need to go before Kevin comes.”
“I’m always out here in the dark.”
“You come to the woods at night?”
“I like the dark. It’s peaceful. This is usually how I come home from school.”
He frowned, scanning the trees. “It’s too dangerous. And it’s a long-ass way to walk from school.”
“It’s the longest way home,” she whispered.
Logan looked back at her, his dark eyes chilling her as whatever emotion he felt settled in him. “You want to stay in the dark? For as long as possible?”
She thought over his words as she looked at their surroundings. It was dark here. She never seemed to notice it before, but she realized now that she was in a very dark place—not just the woods, but inside herself, too.
Logan caressed her cheek with his thumb, and this time, she felt magic. “You don’t have to walk in the dark anymore.”
She returned her distracted gaze to him, sighing at the way his dark eyes trailed all over her face—like he couldn’t get enough of her—like he craved her, loved her. “Just walk with me.”
He cupped her cheeks like she was a delicate piece of glass. “Through the darkest nights, Hood.”
Ten
Dad
With her heart aching, she cast a final look toward the woods. It was all she needed to help bring the tears that would prove her heart had been broken, and while it was, it wasn’t because her first boyfriend used her and threw her away. This pain was longing to have her happily ever after with the man, her man-boy, who still hid in the shadows, watching her before she entered true darkness.
“Kylie?”
Whirling around, she gasped upon seeing Lorelei holding the door open. Her stepmother looked a lot different than she normally did. She looked tired—she looked guilty and desperate.
Good.
“What do you want?” Kylie couldn’t keep her hatred out of the simple question, nor could she stop herself from glaring into the eyes of who she believed was her parents’ murderer.
Lorelei’s expression didn’t change, she simply stared at the tears that still covered Kylie’s cheeks. “Why are you crying?”
“Like you care.” She scoffed and shoved her way inside, knocking Lorelei’s shoulder as she attempted to flee to her room.
“I know what you did.”
Kylie froze. How had Lorelei seen Logan?
“Why did you post those photos for the world to see?”
She nearly breathed out with relief, but her fury returned, holding her in place as she contemplated what to do.
“You never learn, do you?” Lorelei walked toward her. “And on top of this, you let him take advantage of you.”
“I never had sex with him,” she said quietly, wondering if Lorelei was talking about the supposed rape. “The recording wasn’t me.”
A sort of smile almost appeared on Lorelei’s lips. “Are you sure he didn’t force you?”
Blinding pain shot through Kylie’s head. “I’m sure.”
“Well, I suppose you’d be shouting about it if he had.” Lorelei’s words were dripping with disdain as she added, “Though I think you’d still only care about him using you to win his ex back.”
“I bet it makes you so happy, doesn’t it?” Kylie glared at her stepmother’s dispassionate expression and let more of her anger out the only way she could. “Does it give you kicks to know I was stupid enough to believe someone cared for me? That I was happy for just a few days before it all turned out to be a lie? Is my pain the only way for you to feel better about your horrible self?”
Lorelei was quiet, but she eventually spoke. “I’m happy—“
“Lor,” Kevin shouted, glaring at his wife. “What the hell is wrong with you?”
Lorelei lowered her gaze as Kevin walked out of the adjacent hall toward them. He shook his head at his wife and looked at her, his eyes widening when he took in Kylie’s face. “What did you do?”
It took Kylie a few seconds to realize Kevin was talking to Lorelei.
“Nothing.” Lorelei gave Kylie a final glare before walking away.
Kevin sighed as he rubbed his eyes. “I was just about to go look for you. Are you okay?”
Kylie relaxed, but she whimpered, accepting his embrace.
“Oh, Kylie.” He hugged her tight. “There are going to be more boys. Good men. And you’ll be glad things ended with Logan before you could get too attached to him.”
“I loved him.” She didn’t know why she was saying it in past tense. Just talking about the breakup felt so real. It no longer felt like Logan had just declared his love for her. How could it when she was going to go to school tomorrow and see the girl who had stolen her boyfriend?
“No.” He caressed her hair. “You barely knew him. This was a crush, sweetheart. The pain will fade. Time heals all wounds, and it won’t be long before you forget all about Logan Grimm.”
She didn’t want to forget him. He was hers. Forever.
“You’re sure he didn’t force you to do anything with him?” he asked. “Anything at all? I won’t be mad at you. I’ll believe you.”
That’s all she wanted. She wanted someone to believe her. Care for her without anyone else on their mind. It just broke her heart because Kevin loved Lorelei, and he would stand by her when the truth came out about her parents.
“Listen, Kylie.” He held her back a bit. “I apologize for everything that happened between us. I don’t take anything I said about Logan back—clearly, I was right about him—but I want you to know I never meant to take my frustration out on you. It was unfair of me. I failed you, and it was devastating to see this new man suddenly in your life, doing what I should have been this entire time. I was wrong, and I deserved what you both said to me. I just hope you can forgive me and give me a chance to make things right.
“I’ve barely begun to learn how to be a parent. You girls have only been in my life for little over a year, and two instant teenage daughters is hard to manage, especially your sister.”
Kylie nodded, glaring at a photo of Maura across the room.
“I thought you wanted space,” he went on. “I thought you needed to grieve without me forcing you into a father-daughter relationship. Does that make sense? You never wanted to come to any of my work functions.”
“They wouldn’t let me,” she muttered.
He studied her face. “Do you want to tell me what you’ve been hiding?”
Her eyes widened. “No. I just want the past to sta
y in the past. I want to move on.”
“You can move on, but I’ll listen. I should’ve listened to my instincts when I watched you hiding. I’ll do better. You just have to open up. I can’t fix anything unless I know what’s broken.”
She didn’t know what to do. She’d wanted this for so long, but now she couldn’t say it. She couldn’t tell him what they’d done to her. “I just want them to leave me alone. I want to graduate, get my inheritance, go to college, get married, and live with all this behind me.”
He nodded. “I’ll keep them from bothering you. Maura has severe issues, which she’ll begin therapy for tomorrow. I’ve checked her belongings, too, and she has no knives. So don’t worry about that. I want you to tell me if she says or does anything disturbing though. I care about her, too, so I will find out why she’s behaving this way.”
Kylie couldn’t look away from Maura’s picture. “She should be locked away.”
Kevin sighed, hugging her again. “Don’t worry about your sister. She’ll get help. I’m softer with her because of what I know about her childhood, but I’ll make sure she knows any negativity between you two isn’t going to be tolerated. The doctors did mention in-hospital treatment, but I think she deserves a chance to calm down. Her heart was set on the boy who liked you, apparently. And you saw today what girls are capable of when it comes to a man they desire.”
“Yeah.” Kylie closed her eyes. She knew exactly what girls could do.
“I promise things will change. I don’t know everything they did, but I will put a stop to it. You don’t need a Logan Grimm to keep you safe anymore.”
She smiled when he produced his handkerchief out of his suit pocket to dab her tears.
Kylie looked down, feeling conflicted about lying to him. But she couldn’t blow their story.
Kevin went on, “I know I told the chief I wouldn’t retaliate against Logan for what he did to you, but I swear he will pay for causing you this pain.”
She smiled but didn’t look up. Logan was the man for her, but his fatherly reaction still warmed her heart.
“Do you want me to beat him up for you?”
She laughed, shaking her head and smiling when she noticed he was grinning.
“Thank you, but no. I’ll be fine.”
“There’s a smile. And my offer stands,” he said before letting her go. “I missed a lot of work, so I have to go take care of a few things. Stay in your room and do your assignments, okay? I’ll come get you when dinner’s ready.”
Kylie nodded, dropping her hands to her sides as he prepared to step away.
“No more crying over that boy.”
“Okay.”
“Good girl.” He tugged a lock of her hair. “You need a cut. I can’t recall the last time Lor took you to get your hair done.”
“She hasn’t since my dad died.” Kylie hadn’t meant to tell him that.
He frowned, sighing. “That’s all going to change. I’ll have my receptionist arrange an appointment for you tomorrow. I’ll take you out after school.”
“Really?” Her heart leapt at the chance to finally get something for herself done again.
“Yes, really.” He pulled out his phone. “Go get started on your work now.”
“Okay.” She ran upstairs, thankful for a reason to stay locked away in her room.
“That was fast.” Logan held the phone up to his ear, smiling as he got out of his car. He would have continued heading toward his apartment building, but a voice stopped him.
“Mr. Grimm?”
Logan came to an abrupt halt and turned to see Detective Parvati walking toward him.
She smiled at his shocked face. “If you have a few minutes, I’d like to speak with you.”
Logan looked around the parking lot, checking to see if anyone else was around before returning his attention to the voice on the phone. “Baby doll,” he said, holding up a finger to the detective, “I’m gonna call you back in a bit, okay?” He kept his eyes on the detective as she narrowed her scrutinizing gaze on him. “Yeah,” he said. “I love you, too. Okay, I’ll call you back. Bye, baby.” He sighed, pocketing his phone. “What’s this about? You already talked to my lawyer. He advised me not to speak to you.”
She nodded toward his phone. “Miss Hood didn’t warn you?”
Logan eyed the detective before responding. “Why would I have been talking to her?”
She gave him a skeptical smile. “I didn’t take you for the type to use the L-word to get in a girl’s pants. That is, after all, what your reputation suggests. That you use women for sex and move on before they can even recover from their orgasms.”
Logan let out a dark laugh. “Wow. I wasn’t expecting your sass.”
The detective stayed quiet.
He was too pissed to deal with this bitch. “Since we’re being honest, I’ll return the favor.” He leveled her with a serious look. “I like having sex with lots of women. I don’t have to love them to get what I want.”
“Did you get what you wanted from Kylie?”
“If you mean fucking her—I would have eventually. But no, I had other plans. I didn’t rape her. Wouldn’t have had to.” He didn’t show any reaction to the fire in her eyes. “I got what I wanted from her though. Happened sooner than I thought it would.”
“Are you implying you engaged in other sexual acts with her?”
“So what if I did?” He kept a mean smile on his face. “It’s not illegal.”
She crossed her arms while she fixed him with a fierce look. “I know all about your outstanding grades in school. You gave it all up for fighting.”
Logan rolled his eyes. “I’ll bite on your change in subject. What’s your point?”
“My point is I think you believe you’re too smart. You want everyone to believe you only wanted your ex back, but we both know how cruelly you walked away from her.”
He glared at her. “You know nothing.”
“I know you threw her away to carry on with this disgusting life you’ve chosen. Don’t pretend she suddenly matters to you.”
“Like I said, you know nothing,” he growled out. “Kylie was just a second chance to get my dream girl back. Now are we done?”
The detective gave him a disgusted look and shook her head. “I’m glad I could help her see what you are. Men like you make me sick.”
“Really?” He let his eyes take her in and smirked when she visibly swallowed. “I think you like what men like myself offer, Detective Parvati. Too bad there’s a woman I’m devoted to. If I wasn’t so committed to her, I’d take you up to my apartment, push up that skirt of yours, and fuck you till you forget your own name.”
“How dare you!”
He let an intimidating smile form on his lips. “Are we done here?”
The detective stood straighter and nodded. “For now. If I find out you forced Kylie—or any girl—to sleep with you, you’ll never see the light of day.”
“I don’t have to force anyone, honey.” He gestured to himself. “Don’t get your wet panties in a bunch because I’m not offering you a chance to crawl into my bed. You wouldn’t even care that it still smells of berries and flowers, or that my baby doll’s portrait is sitting on my nightstand. You’d beg for my dick. Just like every other bitch I used to get my mind off her. Now go find someone who digs the judgmental bitch thing you have going on.”
Her mouth open and closed a few times before she spouted, “You are a disgusting, egotistical man with no respect for women.”
He continued wearing a threatening smile. “Never have, and never will, care what you think of me, Detective.”
Giving him her own patronizing smile, she spoke again, “And to think I believed your feelings for Kylie were genuine. I’ll be happy to inform her she’s better off without you in her life.”
He kept his uncaring expression in place and shrugged. “Tell her whatever you like. I said all I wanted to her in my text.”
“Are you that cruel?”
&nbs
p; Logan didn’t respond. She had no idea how cruel he was.
“You know, that girl is probably going through hell in that house, but for some reason, she lights up like a Christmas tree with just one smile from you. You’re telling me she meant nothing to you? That you simply intended to wait till she turned eighteen so you could take her virginity—but changed your mind when your ex-girlfriend got jealous?”
“That’s what I said, didn’t I?”
The detective shook her head. “I actually thought you were a good guy, too. You saw someone taking advantage of her, and you stepped in like a knight in shining armor. You noticed what I did when she was around her family.” She paused and eyed his fist clenching. He relaxed his hand, though, when she smirked and looked him in the eye again. “So you do care.”
“I have no idea what you’re getting at, Detective. I’m tired, and I already told you I don’t care what you think of me. So if you’re done telling me what a piece of shit you think I am, I think I’ll go.” He didn’t wait for her to respond and turned away.
“What’s happening in that house?”
He stopped walking but stayed quiet.
“Which one is it?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He turned around but didn’t show any emotion. “If you have questions, you should ask them.”
“Oh, I have. I’ve spoken with all three family members individually.”
Logan waited for her to continue.
“Interesting.” She turned with a satisfied smile on her lips and began to head toward her car. “Have a good night, Mr. Grimm.”
Logan growled. “Wait.”
She stopped and turned around. “Yes?”
“What have you found out?”
She walked back to him but said nothing.
Logan exhaled loudly. “Are you going to make me say what you’ve already figured out?”
She chuckled as he let out a few curse words and looked up at the moon.
“Who do you really work for?” he asked, trying to stay calm.
A dark smile touched her lips. “I believe he is listed as Your Death in all of our contacts.”