by KL Donn
“That’s not true, Thea.” I shake my head. We both know it is. “Dammit. Kol! Tell her it’s not true!”
Shocked, I spin around to see Kol gripping both sides of the doorframe. His body is shaking with fury. His eyes ready to hurl daggers at anyone who gets in his way.
“Tell her!” Ember pleads with her brother, and I stand immobile, utterly surprised he’s here. That he heard me. Even if I didn’t say it outright, the implication was there, and he’s smart enough to put two and two together.
“Go downstairs, Em. Pester Noah.” My friend runs from the room after shooting me a look I’m not sure how to interpret. “Thea.” His voice is rough. Like gravel. As if he’s been screaming for days.
“Thea.” He softens his tone, and I still can’t move. I can barely breathe. When he stalks towards me like a hunter, I back up into the window, the cool pane making me shiver. “I know you’re not ready. I know you’re fragile. But, fuck, I can’t let you go. Ember’s right. Nothing will make me turn away from you.” Gently cupping my cheeks in his hands, Kol lifts my head, so I’m forced to stare up at him. “I’ve wanted you from the moment I set eyes on you, and throughout this entire year, nothing has changed except that I’ve grown to need you more.”
“You shouldn’t…”
“I should. And I will. You were hurt so badly, betrayed in the worst way, that I promise I’ll make that up to you. I swear I’ll find a way for him to pay.” He’s so resolute. Like there’s not a doubt in his mind that Richard will be held accountable for what he did. “And I’ll be here every step of the way, for everything you need or don’t need. You’re stuck with me, and short of death, there isn’t a fucking thing in this world that could make me change my mind.”
“Okay.” How am I supposed to walk out after that? My heart has taken command, and I’m forcing my mind to take the back seat because if I really ask myself what I want, the answer would be Kol in my life. He makes my heart sing. My body—broken and shattered as it is—recognizes the safety and protection he offers. The love I can see and feel waiting to be released with every look and every touch.
“Okay? That easy?” He smiles, and I drown in his eyes as he slowly lowers his head, and at the age of twenty, I experience my first kiss.
He’s soft. It’s sweet.
He holds back while begging for more, and I savor every nuance as he molds our lips together.
Kol
* * *
I want to push for more. To deepen our first connection, but I don’t want to ruin Thea’s moment of happiness. I can feel it in the way she breathes. As she holds her breath, and the small smile as our lips unite.
The way her hands flex on my forearms, I can feel her trying to pull me closer while holding me back. After hearing what she told Ember, I know I need to tread carefully with her.
“So sweet, blue eyes.” She sighs at my use of the nickname, and when her eyes open, I see hope. “How are you feeling?”
Gently licking across her lips, almost as if she were savoring our touch, her stomach growls before she can answer me. “Hungry,” she giggles.
“Noah’s downstairs. There should be some pizza left.” Grasping her hand, I walk down with her and hear Ember and Noah arguing quietly. “Everything alright?” I look between them and see Em grimacing at my partner as he smirks.
“Fine,” Ember grits out between clenched teeth. Noah’s smirk turns into a glare, and even knowing something’s up with them, I let it go.
Leading Thea over to the table, I open the box of pizza, and she grabs a slice before I can offer it to her. Sitting down, I pull the reports I had printed off towards me, waiting until Thea’s finished eating. I know she’s going to be upset about what we have to do.
“Just tell me,” she demands, obviously picking up the vibe in the room.
Blowing out a breath, I start. “We had to search your real name, Thea. What we discovered isn’t that bad.” She nods, already acknowledging, or at least suspecting, what we found. “Authorities have to wait four years before they can officially declare a person deceased. The anniversary of your disappearance is coming up, and I’d like to call Joplin P.D. and tell them we’ve found you.”
Thea is silent. Ember is not. “Kol, you can’t do that. You don’t know that it’s safe for her.”
“It’s our job, Ember,” Noah says, and she glares at him again.
“I know that, you fool. It’s abundantly clear that’s most important to you.” I sit up straighter at her words.
“Say what, now?” Ember pales. Noah appears impassive. “Is there something going on between you two?”
“Nope.” Em stands and storms out of the room.
“Noah?” I growl the word. So help me, if he’s sleeping with my sister, I may have to shoot him.
“There’s not, Kol. Leave it alone.” His words deny any wrong-doing, but his eyes follow my sister from the room. I suspect that one or both of them wants there to be.
“Ember was right.” Thea’s voice draws my attention back to her.
“About what?” Gripping her hand in mine, I want to do right by this woman, but I’m obligated to follow the letter of the law.
“It won’t be safe for me.” Her audible swallow echoes around the room. “Colin found me today. He was at the shop. I didn’t think he’d recognize it was me at first, but before he left, I realized he did.”
“Who’s Colin?”
“Colin Dane,” Noah answers, staring at the computer screen. “Brother to Richard Dane. Honorable Richard Dane.” Noah looks up as Thea begins to sway.
“He’s a judge, now?” Her horrified whisper is painful.
“Two years ago, he was sworn in,” Noah explains.
“He’s a monster.”
“That he is.” My partner turns the screen around so I can see what he’s found.
“Son of a bitch.” I pull Thea into my lap as I try to comprehend what I just read. I heard her confessing to Ember. She implied abuse. But she didn’t say it outright, and I suppose some part of me didn’t want that to be what happened to her. “You were ignored?” She nods. “They brushed your accusations off like a mosquito in July.” She stares at me. Lifting her chin with the crook of my finger, I search her gaze before I ask the one question that I know she doesn’t want to answer, let alone think about it. “Thea, did Richard Dane rape you?”
Her entire frame shakes violently as tears roll unheeded down her cheeks like a waterfall. “Yes.” Her hoarse voice is broken up by silent sobbing.
“I’m calling the captain,” Noah remarks as he stands and walks out of the room.
Pulling Thea into my chest, I understand now. I know why she’s been so hesitant to let me into her life. I know why she disappeared. Why she will likely try to escape again. But I won’t let her. Richard may have power in Joplin, but here, he’s nobody. I won’t let him get away with what he’s done to her.
“Please don’t make me go back there, Kol,” Thea begs, and I vow to never let anything else happen to her. Hoping I can keep that promise.
Chapter 9
Kol
“Are you sure about this, Daniels?” Captain Pearson gazes between Noah and me as we sit opposite him in his office.
“Positive,” I respond. Pearson is a hard ass with a soft heart for abused women. He’s never kept it secret that his wife became a victim as a child, and I get the feeling this one, Thea, is going to receive his full support.
“Miss Andrews is credible?”
“She’s his step-daughter. She disappeared one month after a suicide attempt and after her pleas for help were ignored because of his influence,” I explain.
“He raped his daughter?” Pearson’s jaw goes slack.
“Step,” Noah clarifies.
“That shouldn’t even matter. She was supposed to be under his fucking protection!” Pushing to his feet, Pearson walks over to his office door, opens it, and bellows, “Lieutenant Adams, in here, now!”
We wait thirty seconds for Hunter Adams to enter the
room. Noah gets up and shuts the door behind him. “Yes, sir?” Adams is a strictly by the book type of guy. He has no use for anyone who steps outside of the law, especially within the department. He also works with the special prosecutor, and that allows him access to resources outside of our department’s.
“I need you to go down to Joplin, Missouri. I need some inside information on the police departments down there and how they execute investigations,” Pearson instructs.
“An internal investigation?” Hunter asks.
“Hypothetically, yes. I need to know if their force is corrupt. How far up the chain it goes, and how many dirty cops are on the take?”
“What’s this about?” Hunter looks at all of us, but I remain silent until Pearson gives the go ahead.
At his nod, I explain. “Four years ago, a sixteen-year-old girl was raped by her step-father, a powerful man in town. When she sought help, his influence swayed the investigation towards her simply seeking attention.” Rage billows beneath the surface the more I think about what Thea went through.
“Jesus fuck. This guy is still on the streets?” Hunter growls, and I know we’ve got him on our side.
“Worse,” Noah mutters.
“He’s a judge down there now,” Pearson reveals.
“Fuck.”
“Exactly. But here’s the thing, I want you to speak directly to the detectives that she spoke with. I want you to gauge whether or not they can be trusted, and if they were pressured from higher up to let the case go.” I want to be the one going down there myself, but I can’t leave her.
“What’s her name?”
“Thea Andrews.”
His eyes widen. “I remember her case. They thought she jumped off a bridge, committed suicide.” I nod. “Should I let them know we might think we have a lead on her, that she’s alive?”
“That’s up to you. But know that Richard Dane’s brother has been here already. He knows she’s alive, and we believe he broke into and trashed her apartment last night. Her safety is the priority. Got that, Adams?” Pearson glares his point across until Hunter nods. “Good. Get going and check in daily.”
Hunter’s gone as soon as I hand him the file Noah and I compiled on Thea through the night. “You boys get back to work. Find some killers and robbers.”
Dismissed, we head back to our desks. I don’t like that I had to leave Thea at home today, but I felt better knowing Ember is with her, and cars are patrolling the block more frequently. Those two know not to open the door and keep the blinds closed. I can only hope they’ll listen.
Thea
* * *
With a hot cup of coffee in my hands, I watch the steam as it travels up in the air. Almost indiscernible, but I catch it. The little puffs of steam float into the air like mist. The day passes by like everything is normal. As if my world isn’t about to implode. Again.
The sun is shining, kids are walking home from school. Parents are greeting them at the door. Normal.
“I knew what normal was once. I was an ordinary girl. Just like these kids. That ended the day Richard entered our life.” I gaze at Ember who has been sitting with me all day, waiting for me to break down.
I’m past that, fortunately. I can no longer change the outcome of my immediate future. Richard likely knows I’m not dead because of Colin. Soon my mother will know, as well. All of Joplin will find out that I’ve been alive this whole time, and I feel certain that my life is no longer going to be my own.
“Do you think I’ll be arrested?” It’s been on my mind a lot since Kol left. Will he be the one to put cuffs on me and close the cell door? Or will it be Noah?
“Why would you ask that?” Ember sounds horrified.
“I ran away. Faked my death. Changed my name, twice.” I don’t think I committed identity fraud, but I have no idea.
She concentrates hard before answering me. “Did you ever take out credit cards or anything similar in these fake names? Use a social security number? Leave debt behind?”
I frown as I answer. “No. Never. Not like that. But I went with my grandmother’s last name for nearly anything else. She’s been dead for years.”
“Then I want to say no. Even if you were, they would have to consider extenuating circumstances. You were forced into this, Thea.” Her hand rests on my arm, and I look down at it. Everything in me says to reject the comfort, but my heart longs for the contact. It’s been so long since I’ve had someone touch me without it turning into something dirty.
“I hope you’re right,” I reply. “Will Kol be home in time for my shift tonight?” I only work for a couple of hours, and I’d hate to disappoint Kelly. She took a chance on me when she hired me, and I explained I couldn’t be put into any system. I had to stay under the table and was willing to take a pay cut in order to make it possible. She took pity on me, even understood my panic and fears on a very personal level.
“Kol won’t let anything happen to you, Thea. Trust him to make this right for you. To give you your life back.” Em’s so vehement about it, I want to believe her. Because if I don’t, I might not have enough wherewithal to make it through what is no doubt going to be a very tough few months.
“I’m going to have to relive it all, aren’t I?” That more than anything else terrifies me to no end.
Scooting closer to me, Ember grips both of my hands in hers and looks me straight in the eye. “You are. Every horrible moment.” Her watery orbs match my own. “But I promise, Thea, I will be there every step of the way. I’ll be your shoulder to cry on, the friend to scream at, the sister who will hold you together. And when I’m not enough, when you need an unwavering strength, Kol is going to hold you high. He’ll be your punching bag, your steady ship in the unwavering waters. He’ll be everything you will ever need, and when you’re ready, Thea, Kol is going to become your entire world. I know my brother. He won’t admit it yet, but he loves you. He has from the day he set sights on you.”
“You can’t know that.” I try to sniff back the tears, but I’m afraid it’s not working.
“I do, though. I watched as he searched for you, his frustration when he couldn’t find you. Kol was a complete mess, but he never stopped looking. Hold onto him because he’s one in a million.” Am I a fool to believe what she says?
Am I a fool not to?
Kol is always caring for me. Giving me whatever he senses I need, and he’s almost always spot on. He’s lent me his strength more times than I can count in the past few days by just being with me. Touching me in small ways. That first kiss was so tender that I could have cried. He knew that it had to be slow, soft, and sweet without understanding why.
Even though he tries to control what’s happening when we’re together, he always gives me an out. He’s so gentle with me.
“I’m not sure if I know how to love him, Ember.” And that is my biggest fear.
I loved my father, and he died.
I loved my mother, and she stopped caring.
I wanted to love Richard, and he hurt me in the worst possible way.
Everyone I’ve ever loved has left me shattered, and I’m not sure I can do it again.
“You do, Thea. You just need to recognize that he’s not going to hurt you.”
Richard
* * *
“Are you certain, Colin?” I stare at my brother. Rage like nothing I’ve experienced before boils beneath the surface of my flesh, causing my veins to throb with the need to cause harm.
“Positive.” He sits in the chair across from me in my chambers after explaining to me what he found in Knoxville.
We never did find sweet, little Thea’s body in the river. Only her belongings downstream. The belief was that she simply drowned. She was gone. It was what I needed to be true. The little tease tried to ruin me after seducing me into her bed. I had to lie to the police, to my wife.
Thea could never do what she was told. Too much like her father is what Alexandra always said. Now, she’s back to haunt me.
“
Can you dispose of her discreetly?” My gaze bores into Colin. I need him to take care of this.
“She’s a kid.” He’s shocked by my request. I’m not sure why. He does all of my dirty work. Although, he doesn’t quite know what happened between Thea and me four years ago. “Why is this such a big deal, Rich?”
Huffing out a breath, I realize I must tell him. Maybe I can lie my way through this, too. “When she was sixteen, some things…happened. She made accusations. Her disappearing was for the best.”
His gaze narrows. “What things?” Fuck sakes.
“Does it matter?” It shouldn’t.
“If you want me to kill my niece, yes, it matters.” Stubborn man.
“We had sex,” I snap out in a harsh whisper.
“Are you fucking kidding me? You raped the girl?” Someone found some morals.
“I didn’t rape her; it was consensual,” I defend.
“Not according to the medical reports.” Colin stands, buttons his coat, and begins to walk out. “Find yourself a new monkey, Rich, I’m done.”
“You knew? Why the hell would you make me say it then?” As soon as the words are out of my mouth, I understand. “Are you wearing a wire, Colin?”
Colin smirks as he leaves, shutting the door behind him. “Fuck!” I scream into the empty room, grabbing my coffee mug, and pitching it across the room. I watch in fascination as the ceramic shatters into thousands of pieces.
I’m ruined.
Chapter 10
Kol
My day was filled with paperwork and interviews with the district attorney’s office, so I wasn’t able to call and check on Ember and Thea like I wanted. After a quick stop at a florist, I grab a bundle of daffodils, remembering once how happy they made my mom when dad brought them home.
I don’t even know if Thea likes flowers, but I want her to know I’ve been thinking about her, and I hope this will show her that she means more to me than lustful attraction. I paid attention to my parents growing up, and their love was always something I wished for myself. I think all of us did. Arsen has found it with Marina, and I intend to achieve it with Thea.