Stronger (Stark Ink Book 4)

by West, Dahlia

  It was possible that the offer was off the table now that he’d run away. Hell, it was possible that it had been off the table two seconds after Jonah had first rejected them. He hoped it wasn’t, for a lot of reasons, he discovered.

  Sienna wasn’t the only thing flashing brightly in his brain at that moment.

  For the first time in his entire life, Jonah had found a place where he could be happy—as happy as a messed-up kid like him was likely to get, anyway.

  Maybe it was worth it.

  “Um,” he said, chewing over his words, “I would…I might… like that.”

  Mr. and Mrs. Stark stared at him, dumbfounded.

  “What?” Mrs. Stark whispered.

  “I…” Jonah cleared his throat and tried to stand up straight. They might as well get a good look at what they were getting. A gangly, ugly boy with shaggy hair and a crooked tooth who sometimes slept with the light on even at twelve years old. “You said, before, you could adopt me. I would. Or, I’d let you. I don’t really know how it works,” he admitted.

  He held his breath, waiting. In those few seconds he found he wanted them to say yes more than anything he’d ever wanted in his life.

  Mrs. Stark burst into tears and for a moment Jonah felt deflated. She moved toward him, stopped, then turned to Mr. Stark instead. They threw their arms around each other and Jonah finally realized they were happy tears.

  He’d never seen happy tears before, but it made him feel better.

  Mrs. Stark righted her shirt and smoothed out her clearly unbrushed hair. “Are you hungry?” she suddenly asked. “Do you want breakfast? Pancakes? We have eggs. And—”

  “No,” Jonah said quickly. “I mean, thanks, but I’m really tired. You probably are, too. I think…” He glanced down the hall to his bedroom door. “I think I’ll take a nap.”

  She nodded and Jonah slipped down the hall. He closed the door behind him and locked it. Instead of going to bed, he crossed the room and lifted the window. He carefully threw his leg over and, as quietly as possible, lowered himself onto the ground. He had no idea what excuse he’d give this time if he were caught, especially after asking the Starks to adopt him. But he’d made a promise to Sienna and he intended to keep it—no matter what.

  His foot touched the grass and he turned toward her house. Trying to stay against the tree line, he moved quickly across the shared back yard. As he passed by Sienna’s bedroom window, he listened intently for any sounds from within. He heard nothing, though, and that was probably a good sign.

  He tapped softly on the pane. Within a few seconds, the curtains parted and she stood slightly above him, looking down. She raised the window enough to kneel down and speak.

  “Are you in trouble?” she asked.

  Jonah shook his head. “Nah. I’m fine. Are you?”

  “No,” she whispered. “They’re asleep. They never even knew.”

  Jonah was both heartened and saddened by that fact. “He won’t hurt you, Sienna. I won’t let him.”

  “What are you gonna do?”

  Jonah felt for the knife in his pocket and drew it out. He clasped it in his palm so she couldn’t see it. “I’ll make him go away,” he told her. “Go to sleep.” He turned away and headed around the house.

  At first, making Paul go away seemed like an impossible task. Jonah couldn’t very well knock on the door and tell the guy to take off. He’d only seen Paul from a distance, and couldn’t picture his face. His mind superimposed his own dad’s face, instead.

  Suddenly, Jonah hated the man even more, if such a thing were possible.

  And, just like that, the answer was obvious. Paul was exactly like Jonah’s dad and Jonah’s dad had only ever feared one thing.

  Rounding the front of the house, Jonah checked the street and found it empty this early in the morning. He fisted the pocketknife tightly as he headed for the curb. Rage vibrated through his entire body. The tension in the air around him snapped as he leaped like a predator. He scrambled onto the top of Paul’s car, pressing his knees into the hood. The metal groaned and dented and he felt satisfaction at that.

  His arm swung in a wide arc and the blade screeched as it made contact. It wasn’t particularly loud, though. Paint chipped everywhere, flaking onto his fingers, as he scrawled out huge lines and jagged curves. The knife skipped and skidded. Jonah dug in harder to keep it in place.

  He finished, sweat dripping down his brow, blood drip, drip, dripping onto the sky-blue paint where he’d pressed his thumb too hard while keeping the blade steady. He swiped at it with his hand and it smeared.

  Carefully, he lowered himself back down onto the pavement. He stepped back cautiously, though no one was around. In the gray dawn light, the words, accented in blood, came sharply into focus.

  I see you

  Chapter Eleven

  Jonah slipped out the sliding door of the Rhodes house and headed back across the shared back yard. Through the trees he could hear laughter and was surprised at how eager he was to rejoin it. Sienna was spared being embarrassed by her mother and he thought that was the best present he could give her, even though she’d never know he’d done it. His words had been true enough. He couldn’t fix Linda but he could for damn sure mitigate the fallout whenever she was around.

  His secret was out now, one of them anyway, but he didn’t care. Too much time had passed and nothing could be done to him, even if Linda was tempted to tell anyone what he’d done all those years ago. Jonah assumed guilt would keep her from doing so. Her own part in what had happened to Sienna—or almost happened, thankfully—would probably weigh too heavily on her, as it should.

  If Linda had taken better care of Sienna, Jonah wouldn’t have had to. Then again, if Sienna hadn’t needed him, he wouldn’t be here now. He’d have kept walking through the snow that night and ended up God knew where. He might even have been dead by now.

  It was difficult to parse his feelings about his own life. It was so complex and layered with both good and bad events. Take away one moment, even a bad one, and the whole thing unraveled, the whole house of cards came tumbling down.

  Jonah had his whole life to put everything into perspective, though, and he was working on it, slowly but surely.

  As he came back to the party unnoticed, he spotted Sienna unwrapping a small box. Her boyfriend stood next to her, beaming. Jonah couldn’t wait to see what the little shit had gotten her. If the boyfriend put half as much effort into the gift as he did their relationship, Sienna might now be the proud owner of a Cracker Jack prize.

  She lifted the lid and exclaimed happily. With two fingers she plucked out a thin, gold chain—a bracelet. It glinted in the sunlight, too much and too red, actually. Jonah suppressed a snort. Jackass. Sienna was allergic to cheap metal, which the dickhead would know if he ever lifted his head up from his phone and fucking talked to her.

  She seemed grateful for the gift, though, and that actually warmed Jonah’s heart a little. She was such a good person, so considerate of others. His mouth twitched because he knew it derived from a lifetime of caring for her mother. He wished that he could have taken that particular burden from her shoulders, but there had been no way.

  He could only make everything else easier by comparison, so that’s what he’d done for the last ten years.

  He stepped behind the guests and strode to the gift table. He retrieved his own present from inside the helmet he’d placed on the table and cut between Ava and Calla. Sienna turned as he approached. Her cheeks flushed when she saw him and he knew she was thinking of yesterday in the kitchen.

  He held out the box.

  Sienna hesitated, unused to so much attention from him.

  Jonah waited patiently for her to take the box.

  She finally took it from him and glanced at Ava, who merely shrugged. Sienna wore a nervous smile as she pulled at the wrapping gently. She opened the box gingerly, as though some horrible creature might be trapped inside, ready to pounce.

  Jonah tamped down the ner
ves that were jangling all through his body.

  She reached in and pulled out the gift. Her mouth formed a perfect, pink O as she stared at it. It probably wasn’t a perfect replica, after all it’d been more than a decade since he’d seen the original. But it was round, it had glitter, and the Sears Tower stood out prominently in the center of the globe.

  He’d found it on eBay months ago.

  Sienna stared up at him, eyes blinking rapidly.

  Jonah didn’t mind. He didn’t need a Thank You. The look on her face said more than she ever could. He moved toward her, leaned in, and brushed his fingers down her cheek. He closed his eyes and breathed her in. She smelled like vanilla and sandalwood, just like he remembered.

  The moment his lips touched hers, it was electric, seismic. Also just like he remembered. It lasted only for a few seconds, not nearly long enough by Jonah’s estimation. The crowd around them rustled, whispered, but Jonah was barely aware of them. All he could see was her.

  A small noise of surprise caught in her throat. “Oh!” she gasped suddenly as the box fumbled in her hands.

  Jonah calmly caught it and held it firmly. Her hands were trapped beneath his, small and soft.

  She was shaking.

  Beside them, the boyfriend huffed. “Um, hel-lo!” he snapped.

  Jonah ignored him, too. It was safer that way.

  “Happy birthday,” he told Sienna quietly. His lips were still so close to hers that they brushed when he spoke. He felt her shiver, even under the hot, summer sun.

  “I’m standing right here!” the boyfriend groused.

  Jonah never took his eyes off Sienna’s, but he replied coldly, “Didn’t see you.”

  Someone laughed. Probably Emilio. Someone shushed him. Probably Ava.

  The boyfriend wouldn’t be brushed off so easily, though. “You kissed my girl,” he accused.

  “No,” Jonah told him firmly, finally acknowledging him with a sharp look. “I kissed my girl. Sienna’s mine. She’s always been mine.”

  It was hard to tell whose eyes were bigger, Sienna’s or the boyfriend’s.

  Jonah slipped the gift box from her hands and held it out to Ava. “Can you take this?” he asked his younger sister.

  Slowly, Ava stepped forward, nodding, but looking as shocked as her friend. When she had the globe, Jonah turned to Emilio and gestured toward the helmet sitting on the table.

  Silently, but with a trademark smirk, Emilio tossed it to him.

  He handed it to Sienna, who stared at it. “This is your other gift,” he told her. “I didn’t bother to wrap it.” He gave the soon-to-be ex-boyfriend a withering look then turned back to Sienna. “I’ll give you a minute to take care of this,” he told her. “I’ll be out front, when you’re ready to go.”

  He turned without waiting for an answer and headed toward the house. As he passed by, Emilio whispered, “John Motherfucking Wayne.”

  Adam stood frozen, mouth open, eyebrows to the sky. Pop patted his oldest son on the shoulder and shook his head while grinning.

  Behind him, Jonah heard Ava exclaim, “Did you know about this? And you didn’t say anything?!”

  “Baby, I couldn’t!” Emilio replied. “He can bench press me, so I kept my mouth shut. But he said he was coming for her and, damn, I guess he did.”

  Jonah didn’t stay to hear the rest of the conversation. He turned the corner of the house and continued his stride to the driveway. He didn’t check to see if she was following him. She would or she wouldn’t. He’d done all he could. He lifted his leg and slid over the bike. The seat was as familiar and comfortable as any he’d been in. He slid on his helmet and tightened the chin strap, moving slowly, though, to give her time to make her decision.

  In his side mirror he caught sight of someone approaching him. In a flash, Sienna stood beside him, gaping at him, nearly in tears.

  He mentally kicked himself for nearly making her cry twice in two days. He’d make it all better if she’d just get on. He waited, though. It had to be her choice.

  She finally tore her gaze away from his and fumbled with the helmet he’d given her. She fit it on and then looked at the bike. He’d never seen her ride one, suspected she never had. She found her way easily, though, and put her sneakered feet on the pegs.

  After a moment’s hesitation, her hands fluttered down onto his shoulders.

  A start. But not nearly good enough.

  As the engine roared to life, he slipped on his Aviators. Jonah paused for a moment, though, and let go of the Harley’s handlebars. He slid his hands over Sienna’s and pulled them down around him, fighting the shiver he felt over the fact that she was finally—finally—touching him.

  He pushed down the desire to take her straight back to his place, to fall into bed with her, and never climb back out. That wasn’t the plan, and they had time. They had so much time. He had to get this right. It might be the only chance he ever got.

  He did let his fingertips linger over the delicate bones in her hands, though. Just for a moment, just long enough to convince himself that she was really here, on the back of his bike, right where she was always supposed to be.

  When she gripped him of her own accord, he let go and hit the throttle. They surged out of the driveway and onto the street.

  Jonah wondered if she knew it was going to be the ride of her life.

  Chapter Twelve

  Jonah drove them to the mall, a place he’d never actually been before, but he was confident that Sienna knew her way around. He parked the Harley and helped her off, slipping his hand around her waist as he did. She still looked a bit like a deer in headlights, and he wondered if that was her first motorcycle ride.

  It wasn’t going to be her last, he knew that much.

  “What are we doing here?” she asked, handing him her helmet.

  He hooked it to one of the saddlebags and took her by the hand. Together they walked into the gleaming, air-conditioned building. It offered them a nice break from the summer sun.

  “You need a dress, remember?”

  She stared at him, as if he were speaking a different language.

  Jonah smiled at her. “And I’m not going to tell you what to wear, other than, like I said, scrubs aren’t an option. Pick the store, pick the dress. Get some high heels, too. I might be a stickler for that. Love the way your ass looks in heels.”

  A startled laugh burst from her throat and she covered her mouth with her free hand.

  “I’ve already bought a suit,” he told her. “It’s black. It’ll go with whatever. That’s the rule, right? Black looks good with anything?”

  “You’re going to wear a suit?”

  He grinned at her. “And a tie. And I even bought some brand new boots.”

  They stopped in the main thoroughfare and he gestured with his free hand to the row of stores that stretched out before them in both directions. “So, pick your poison. Anything you want.”

  She bit her lip, looking unsure.

  “It’s the second part of your birthday present,” he assured her. “On me.”

  “Jonah,” she said cautiously.

  “No arguments, Sienna. It’s your birthday. This is one of your gifts. So choose. Or I’ll choose for you. And I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t want to wear what I’d pick out.” He grinned at her. “Not in public, anyway.”

  She laughed then, and he was glad to hear it. “Okay,” she told him. “If you’re really sure.”

  “I’m sure.”

  Sienna led them past rows of headless mannequins in sparkling windows. Jonah was, so far, not that impressed with the shopping mecca that was the Rushmore Mall, but he wouldn’t do anything to spoil her day.

  She pulled him into a relatively fancy-looking store with more shoes, dresses, and purses than Jonah had ever seen assembled in one place. As she studied the racks, she seemed to have found something that interested her, but she was hesitant to pick it up.

  Jonah looked down at their joined hands, smiled at her, and whisper
ed. “You can let go of it, Sienna. You’ll get it back. I promise.”

  She blushed and released his fingers. She used them to reach for a light green dress with tiny straps and pretty little beads.

  Jonah didn’t know anything about fashion, but he assumed Sienna would look good in anything.

  She held it up, against her body, and looked at him questioningly. “Green, right?”

  The corners of his mouth tugged down a little. “Well, no,” he said. “It’s not right. But, like I said, nothing really is.” He nodded toward the sign on the wall that said Fitting Area. “Go try it on,” he told her.

  He waited dutifully as she disappeared. Across the store, a bored salesgirl glanced up at him, smiled when she saw him and gave him a little wave. Jonah had fielded reactions like that before, simply nodding to her and then turning away. He fingered racks of silk and lace, which were barely interesting to him, but still more so than any girl who wasn’t Sienna.

  She emerged, a vision in shimmering summer green and her long brown hair spilled across her shoulders. Various parts of Jonah responded to the sight, some less pure than others. He ignored most of them and walked to her.

  At the end of the tiny hallway, a three-paneled mirror had been erected. Sienna spun in front of it, grinning madly. The dress just barely covered her knees and it flared when she turned.

  Jonah smirked at her. “Why do I think you’ve had your eye on this one before?” he asked her.

  She pursed her lips and looked away. “No comment,” she told him.

  He laughed and caught her mid-spin. He turned her so that she faced the mirror fully. He tousled her hair, smoothed it out, then slid his hands down her arms. Her skin was delicate where his was calloused. The tiny bones in her wrists and hands felt delicate, fragile.

  He placed his hands over the fabric at her hips and his eyes met hers in the mirror. “You look beautiful,” he told her. He couldn’t resist running his fingertips lightly again over her forearm. Gooseflesh appeared and she shivered. He leaned down and whispered, “Are you cold, baby?”