by Diana Seere
“Don’t you ever touch me or anyone I love,” Derry said in a low voice, Archie’s eyes rolling up and catching Derry’s with a satisfactory panic. “You little pig.”
Ding!
The elevator opened, and Derry took five steps forward, ignoring the increasingly agitated murmur of the crowd, facing the back wall of the lift, his eyes glossy and cool with the frank knowledge that revenge, a dish best served cold, was one that also tasted quite sweet when served steaming hot.
But not as sweet as Jess.
Jess wasn’t supposed to work tonight, but Eva’s last-minute call had included words that sounded as close to begging as Eva was capable of expressing. A virulent stomach virus was felling servers at the club, and if Jess could please come in, she would be paid double time.
The bus to the train had been late, her panty hose had snagged on the turnstile to enter the T, and the Red Line was running late—par for the course. So by the time she reached the front lobby of the building that held the Platinum Club, not only was she late, she had a throbbing headache.
It reminded her of the kind she had with—
No.
Impossible.
Rubbing her temple, she ran up the steps, flew through a door to the marble-floored lobby, and hoped an elevator would be open, but—
An enormous man’s arm pulled back and threw a punch. A woman screamed. Another man dropped like a sack of potatoes, his head cracking against the ground. More screams.
And Jess froze.
Him.
Eyes flitting to the injured party, she was doubly shocked to find herself staring at the face of Archie Rumsey, a trickle of blood running from where he’d bitten his lip, a pool of fluid darkening the front of his pants where he’d obviously just pissed himself.
“Don’t you ever touch me or anyone I love,” Derry growled, the words barely audible, but she heard them in stereo, with her ears and her heart. “You little pig,” he added.
Holding back an impulse to help, she stood in place, transfixed, as Derry walked away coolly from the scene, stepping into an elevator, his broad back cloaked in a tailored black wool coat.
Slow motion captured time in that instant.
Derry hadn’t seen her. Archie hadn’t seen her.
Flooded with emotions she couldn’t sift through while she was there in the lobby with the agitated crowd and the two men who had each unbalanced her life, she turned on her heel and fled back out to the street. Blindly she made her way back to the subway, where she texted Eva with shaking hands that she couldn’t possibly come in after all because she was sick, she was barely able to think, she was about to collapse.
And then she went to her mother’s.
By the time she arrived, she’d formed a theory about what had happened. Derry had punched Archie for interfering in his life with Jess, for scaring her away from the wedding where they were having such a good time. That was it. That was his only motivation.
And if Derry thought he loved her… well, he didn’t know what love was. He hadn’t admitted to himself that what they’d had wasn’t enough. It wasn’t like Lilah and Gavin.
She couldn’t read the book. He wasn’t the type to mate for life.
But she kept coming back to the image of Archie’s battered, humiliated form on the marble floor of the foyer and feeling a smile tug at the corners of her mouth. Hugging herself, trying to calm down, but almost smiling.
He’d pissed himself, the bastard. There in front of the most powerful men and women in New England.
It was almost ten when she reached her mother’s house, quite late by her mother’s schedule. As she climbed the front steps, she was relieved to see lights on inside.
“Mom?” she called from the front door, hearing the TV playing in the living room. “Mom, it’s Jess.” She was a little embarrassed to come running to cry on her shoulder again, but Lilah was on her never-ending honeymoon and Jess needed somebody who loved her. This made her think of Derry, his strong shoulders under that tailored black coat, the waves of his glossy hair falling to his shoulders as he walked away from Archie’s whimpering body.
Somebody who loved her…
Her mother started to rise from her recliner as Jess entered the room. “You saw the news?” Marilyn cried, reaching out to her, tears in her eyes. “Oh, baby. My baby.”
“Don’t get up,” Jess said, bending over to steal a hug. She lingered in the embrace, tears burning again. Seeing Derry had hit her hard. Her soul, her heart, her body were aching for him. Forcing the thoughts aside, she stood and wiped her eyes. “What’s happened now? Why are you crying?” she asked, even though the last thing she wanted to hear about was another tragedy on the news.
Lilah appeared in the doorway to the kitchen. “Jess, I’m so glad you came over. I was about to call you.”
“But why? What’s happened?” Jess’s worried glance darted between her mother and sister. “And Lilah! When did you get back from your honeymoon?”
“Two hours ago. I wanted to check on Mom,” Lilah said.
“But didn’t you come over because of the news?” Marilyn pointed at the TV. “They’ve arrested him!”
“Oh no! For hitting Archie?” Jess spun around to look at the screen, instantly horrified to think of Derry being cuffed and locked up in a cell.
“What? Who hit him?” her mother asked.
Lilah put a hand on Jess’s shoulder. “I think you’d better sit down.”
The headline on the television was shocking: SENATOR’S SON ARRESTED FOR SEXUAL ASSAULT.
Suddenly weak in the knees, she sagged against the arm of the recliner.
Derry wasn’t arrested for hitting Archie. Archie was arrested for…
Rape?
“But… how?” Jess whispered, afraid to believe her own eyes.
“There’s video,” her mother said. “Not just of those awful parties, which is bad enough. But now they’ve got some video of him doing far worse—assault, they’re saying. The police said it was more than enough to bring him in.”
“But I just saw him at the Platinum Club. Derry”—Jess was too overwhelmed to describe the punch or the aftermath—“Derry punched him.”
“That must’ve been nice to see,” Lilah said.
Her mother pointed at the TV again. “That monster assaulted other girls, the police said. It’s all on the video.”
Shaking, Jess fell onto the sofa. “It’s all happening so fast.”
“Somebody wanted him to get what he deserved,” Lilah said, joining her. “The video will help them put him away, Jess. His father won’t be able to get him off. Not with so many women coming forward.”
In spite of herself, for all her gratitude that the evil SOB was finally facing justice, Jess’s heart went out to the poor women in the video. It seemed like another horrible violation. “I hope those women get some justice. Thank God somebody was decent enough to turn it in.”
“Somebody, indeed,” Marilyn said. “They think it was an orchestrated effort by a women’s rights group. But that group is saying they didn’t know anything about it. Maybe one of his buddies discovered a conscience and turned it in.”
One of his buddies…
“I need to see Derry,” Jess said suddenly.
Marilyn shook her head. “You think it was him? Oh, no, I can’t imagine he’d bother doing something like that. I’m sure he’s partying in Monte Carlo right now. You need to put that man out of your—”
“No,” Jess said. For the first time in weeks, her heart took the wheel, telling her brain to get in the backseat. “He’s here. I just saw him.” She jumped to her feet and headed for the front door. She had to find him right away.
“After what he did to you?” Marilyn asked. “You shouldn’t have gone anywhere near him. Of course you’re feeling—”
“I’m feeling all kinds of things.” Jess didn’t know if Derry really loved her, didn’t know if he’d done more than just punch Archie in the face, but she had to find out.
Lilah was at her heels. “I’ll talk to her, Mom.”
“Jess, wait! Listen to your sister!” Marilyn called out. “Don’t do anything you’re going to regret.”
Jess shook off her sister’s grip and strode outside. “I need to find out if I already have.”
Chapter 26
Jess felt Lilah grab her arm again, trying to pull her back to the house. “Don’t try to stop me, Lilah. I’ve got to talk to him. I’ve got to.”
“You are going to talk to him,” Lilah said. “But you’re going to talk to me first.” Her grip tightened.
Feeling the pressure of her sister’s fingers and hearing the steel in her voice, Jess stopped walking. The clear night was cold, filling her lungs with shards of icy air. After a moment, Jess said, “I think Derry did this to Archie. Somehow he found that video and got the police to do something about it.”
“If that’s true, will everything be all right?” Lilah asked. “Between the two of you?”
Jess frowned. “What do you mean?”
“Was Archie the only reason you ran away from the wedding and refused to see Derry again?”
Caught by the serious tone in her sister’s question, Jess was forced to think about the night she’d fled Montana. Yes, overhearing the conversation with Archie had upset her, but she’d already been worried about what she’d been doing with Derry, whatever it was.
Archie wasn’t the only reason she’d left him. She looked at her sister, at her smooth, human skin.
Her small, human teeth.
“No,” she said softly, zipping up her coat. “I had other reasons.”
Lilah pulled out her key fob and pointed it at the gleaming white SUV parked in the driveway, the Land Rover that Gavin had given her as an engagement present. The horn chirped. “Get in. We’ve got a lot to talk about.”
“I knew you’d come,” Eva said as Derry lounged in the subterranean Novo Club, rooted in place by the fire for hours, slowly drinking his way into what he hoped would be an escapist dreamland. Lord knew, the day had been a nightmare. Passing out in the safest place in the world was about the best way to end this particularly odious day.
He’d felt Jess, behind him, as the elevator doors had closed.
And then she’d fled.
His violence scared her. His presence made her seek escape. Perhaps his very existence was too much for Jess, who had left the ranch without saying good-bye and who would not respond to outreach. Eva had said she was not working tonight, but that had clearly not been true, and as his half-drunk mind tried to piece it all together, he kept coming back to one thought:
Never, not once, had she recoiled from his shifter status.
For most human women, that alone would be a showstopper, a hard line that could not be crossed. Jess had taken his shifting in stride. Shocked, for sure—but her acceptance had spoken to his heart, a beat between the two of them that had been interrupted by…
What?
Fate had brought them together.
And it ripped them apart.
Derry had done good deeds when it came to Archie Rumsey. Hidden in the stone-arched club, he knew only that he’d handed those videos over to the police and needed more scotch to get drunk.
Properly.
“Derry.” Eva’s voice held a note of concern. “Morgan told me you requested a room. Why?” The Novo Club had a series of pleasantly decorated overnight rooms in a catacomb that twisted through long stretches, the rooms totaling more than thirty in all, designed as a bunker for a worst-case scenario. The marauding shifter hunts in the Old World centuries ago had shaped the Novo Club founders’ vision for the club.
Now the rooms served as a luxurious bed-and-breakfast for wealthy shifters like Derry.
Who drank themselves into oblivion and needed a place to hide.
“I don’t want to go home,” he answered, his own truth surprising even him. “After the day I’ve had, I don’t even want to know my own damn name within the next hour.”
Morgan delivered another glass of scotch. Derry reached over the tray, grabbed the bottle, and just started drinking from the neck.
“That’s one way to accomplish your goal,” she said as Morgan’s eyes met hers. With a few eyebrow twitches and lip quirks, some vast communications network was triggered.
“Don’t bother Gavin. Or Asher, God forbid. And Edward is terrified of cities.”
“Then it’s a pity all you have left is me,” Sophia said, stepping out from the shadows. Morgan’s face lit up like the moon, the eerie change in his expression like watching a cadaver come to life. He hugged Sophia with vigor and left them to privacy.
Eva remained.
Here it came. The motherly lecture.
“Are you my drinking buddy tonight, Sophia?”
“I’m your sister. And you’ve had a harrowing day. They caught him.”
“Caught?”
“The police. A detective has been looking at Archie for quite some time, assembling evidence behind the scenes. Archie’s father suppressed it. Your video was the lynchpin. He’s already been arrested.”
“For what? Pig parties?”
“Serial rape. DNA tests will likely confirm it.”
“Jess!” He sat bolt upright, his mind clearing like a cannonball shot through fog.
“She wasn’t a victim.”
“You’re certain?”
“I spoke with Marilyn already.”
“Give her my regards,” he said coldly. The freeze was tempered by his dancing heart, the adrenaline injection of fear making it do the jitterbug behind his ribs. If that worthless piece of shit had touched Jess—had violated her—he’d tear him apart with his bear hands.
Human hands would be too weak.
“I suspected you gave them the videos.”
His chill returned, but with a different emotion attached. “You said nothing about me, I assume.”
She nodded.
He swigged more scotch, the alcohol doing its job, making him sleepy.
“Good.”
“They could charge you for assault against Archie for that punch. Senator Rumsey’s threatening it. The blow is on video, and—”
“Any video you watch shows him touching me first. And the press won’t give one whit about me. They’ll sink their fangs into the juicy Archie story. Besides,” he said with a toothful grin, extending his arm around the room. “Why do you think I’m hiding here?”
“Stay as long as you need, of course,” Eva said, reaching out for his hand and squeezing it. The affection in the gesture made his chest ache.
“I’m lying low. It serves multiple purposes for me. Besides, Morgan needs to do something other than hang upside down in the corner of the pantry ceiling all night.”
“I heard that, Mr. Stanton,” Morgan intoned from around the corner.
“Good. You were meant to.” Derry could feel his mouth slurring the words, wishing he could pickle his heart and make it stop wanting Jess.
“We will take good care of you,” Eva promised, letting go of his hand and standing.
“But only for a few days. You can mope, but you can’t become a hermit,” Sophia chided.
“I could hibernate, you know? It’s that time.” He yawned, the motion contagious, leaving Sophia with a wide mouth and a sleepy growl.
“You could,” Sophia conceded. “The ranch would be better for that.”
“Live with Asher full time? I’d rather shave Morgan’s back with my teeth.”
“That can be arranged,” Eva joked as she stood and walked to the elevators. “Just be careful, Derry. I don’t know exactly what happened with Jess Murphy, but I know she’s been subdued and withdrawn since Gavin and Lilah’s wedding. She’s a good worker and a…” Her words faded, like a radio dial turning the volume down, his eyelids closing until he was blissfully asleep.
And dreaming of Jess.
Lilah drove them to Walden Pond. For the first ten minutes, neither of them spoke. Lilah maneuvered through the mess
to get to Route 126 while Jess thought about the sight of her embracing Gavin at the bonfire, then taking the shape of her new husband’s other nature.
Why hadn’t Jess been horrified to see her sister turn into a wolf? She’d been shocked, yes, but that hadn’t been the dominant emotion.
Her sister had hidden it from her. Was it because she’d known Jess would never understand? Would never need to understand, since she and Derry wouldn’t have that bond together?
Or was it something else? Maybe turning into a wolf meant she wouldn’t want to be her sister anymore, that she’d slowly withdraw from their family and join the Stantons in all ways.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Like a gunshot, Jess’s voice shattered the silence.
Her words hung there between them, huge and potent.
“Let me park first. I can’t talk about this while I’m driving on Route 2.”
Jess waited, exhaustion pouring over her. The thrill at seeing Archie brought down had faded, leaving only grief at what he’d done and an empty ache for who she’d lost.
Derry. My One.
My God, if he wasn’t the One for her, who would be?
It had to be Derry. She had to be his.
But there was so much she didn’t understand and was afraid to believe.
Finally Lilah parked the car on the side of the road, the water peeking through the leafless trees, and shut off the engine. “There.” Inhaling deeply, she gripped the steering wheel and looked out at the view.
“I wonder if Thoreau was a shifter,” Lilah finally said, a tiny chuckle piercing the tension.
“No way,” Jess answered, eyeing the Land Rover. “He was too poor.”
Lilah groaned at the bad joke and descended into an uneasy pause.
After another deep breath, she finally began to speak. “This is why I came back from the honeymoon early. Gavin let it slip that you’d been there at the fire. Tonight, when I went to Mom’s, I was working up my courage to talk to you about what you’d seen.”
“I saw you turn into a wolf.”