Tainted Love

by Tabatha Drake

  “He’s the youngest of the crime family,” I explain. “Got it in his head that he knows more than his daddy does and wants to take over the business by force.”

  “He wants to overthrow his own people?” Lilah asks. “That never ends well.”

  “That’s what he told me before I shot him.”

  She chuckles. “Why’d you do that?”

  “He asked me to join him.” I fold the cloth over to the cleaner side. “I declined.”

  Elijah points up. “That doesn’t explain the beautiful ballerina upstairs in need of a career change.”

  “The news broke out about Snake Eyes and they figured out who I was.” I grip the crutch tighter to scrub off a stubborn bit of grime. “Marty survived the bullet and went after her to find me.”

  “Why her, though?” Lilah asks, her voice pushing me to come clean.

  “Because…” I sigh. “Lucy and I had been seen in public together.”

  She smiles. “On a date?”

  I ignore her. “He killed everyone at the ballet academy including her father, beat her up, and burned down the theater with her still inside.”

  “Shit…” Elijah mutters, flinching slightly. “And here I thought I knew what a bad day felt like.”

  “She wants payback.”

  “She deserves it,” Lilah says, leaning her clean crutch against the table.

  “I ain’t arguing against it but running back there right now is suicide and I…” My tongue swells. “I don’t want that to happen to her.”

  Elijah stares at me across the table, his lips twitching on his face. “Well, isn’t that something?”

  “What?”

  “Big brother cares about someone other than us. I must admit — I’m a little jealous.”

  “Me, too,” Lilah says.

  I look down and focus on the crutch.

  “Dante, is this serious?” she asks.

  “Lilah.”

  “I’m just curious.”

  “You’ve known her for two whole days, according to her,” Elijah says.

  Lilah gasps. “Two days?”

  I look at her to find her smiling back at me. “I know, but… it doesn’t feel that way.” I pause, unable to believe my own words.

  “I’m happy for you, man,” Elijah says, beaming.

  “Well, don’t get too attached to her,” I say. “Lucy’s not exactly happy with me right now.”

  “Then, go talk to her.”

  I shake my head. “She doesn’t want to talk to me.”

  Lilah rolls her eyes. “Dante, she just lost everything. She needs to talk to somebody.” She leans in closer. “You think that maybe you can possibly relate to that?”

  They both stare at me with purpose, silently reminding me of the day we all agreed never to talk about again.

  I look up, my eyes swiping the ceiling before falling on Elijah. “Is it that bad?”

  He sighs, hesitating his words. “It could be a lot worse, but… yeah. She’s got a long road ahead and it’s not the kind she’ll want to travel alone. I mean… if you weren’t up for it, why did you even bring her here at all?”

  I wipe the last bit of dust off and stand up. Lilah silently holds her crutch over her head and passes it off to me as I walk out of the living room toward the stairs.

  There’s silence as I climb them. I guess Lucy got tired of straining her wrist.

  She sits on the bed with her head down and quickly wipes her face when she notices I’m here.

  “Kind of useless, don’t you think?” she asks, staring at the crutches. “I can’t walk if I can’t leave the damn bed.”

  I lean them against the wall by the door before closing it behind me. A bit of confusion crosses her eyes, but she says nothing more as I walk over and sit beside her on her left side.

  “Are you okay?” I ask.

  “Why do you care?”

  I lean closer. “Lucy…”

  “No,” she says. “No, I am objectively not okay. Probably never will be again.”

  “You will,” I say. “It’ll take some time.”

  “What do you know?”

  I take a deep, frustrated breath and look around the room. “Do you know where you are right now?” She shakes her head. “We all moved into this house when I was eight-years-old. Elijah and Lilah were five. Our grandparents took us in because three days prior to that both of our parents were killed in a car accident.”

  Lucy’s eyes change. Apology burns inside of them, but she doesn’t say it.

  “We were all together when it happened,” I continue. “When I came to there was fire everywhere and Lilah was screaming beside me. I managed to get her and Elijah out of the car but there was nothing I could do for my parents.”

  Her lip trembles. “Dante, I…”

  “Don’t think for a second that what you’re feeling is unique or special.” I stare at her with steady eyes. “What’s happened to you is awful, but it happens every day. People die. Families get torn apart. Life goes on.”

  A tear falls down her cheek. “Am I supposed to find this comforting?”

  “I did. Still do.”

  “Yeah, well — at least, you had somebody.” She glances at the door. “I have nobody.”

  “That’s not true.”

  I grab her hand. She tries to pull away but I keep my grip on her.

  “Whether you want me or not,” I say. “I will keep you locked up here until you realize that you do.”

  She closes her eyes and more tears fall from her lashes. “What am I supposed to do now?”

  “You heal,” I say. “You get stronger.”

  “Will I forget?”

  Her eyes open, begging me to say what she wants me to say.

  I shake my head, unwilling to lie to her. “No.”

  She licks her dry lips and speaks with a whisper. “I never told him.”

  “Your father?”

  A single nod. “I never told him I loved him,” she says, her voice weak and full of pain.

  My fingers twitch around her hand. “He knew.”

  “No. How could he? I never said it. Not once.” Tears flow freely from her eyes now, dropping steadily down her neck. “I never told my own father how much I—”

  “He knew,” I say it again. “Lucy, he knew.”

  “But I never said it.”

  “A daughter never has to. And he loved you. He was proud of you. I saw it in his eyes when he spoke of you. You were everything to him.” I lay my hands on her face to hold her head up. “Lucy, trust me,” I whisper.

  “Do I have a choice?”

  “No.” I smile and wipe her cheeks clean. “I spent almost thirty-thousand dollars to get to know you, Lucy Vaughn. I’m going to get my money’s worth.”

  She chuckles softly and I twist to look at her knee.

  “How’s the pain?” I ask.

  “No idea,” she says. “Your brother’s painkillers are… pretty amazing.”

  I run a hand down her right thigh, inching close to the knee. “You don’t feel that?”

  She shakes her head. “No.”

  I tickle her bare foot. “That?”

  She hums a no.

  I switch to the other one and she instantly kicks my hand as my fingertips graze the arch of her left foot.

  I laugh. “Oh, you felt that just fine.”

  Lucy bites her lips to hold back a weak chuckle. She falls silent as I push up her leg, slowly moving over her knee and thighs. Blood rushes to her cheeks, glowing pink for me.

  “I feel that, too,” she says.

  “I know.”

  My hand travels her body, sliding up her stomach and over her breasts to land on her cheek. Her face is warm to the touch, shooting sparks through my knuckles.

  “Be strong, Lucy Vaughn,” I say.

  She inhales slowly and nods, her eyes never leaving mine, and leans into my hand as my thumb traces her lip.

  “Thank you for saving my life, Dante.”

  I lean in, dra
wn to her perfect lips. “I always will.”

  I kiss her and her entire body trembles.

  She reaches for me, embracing the distraction, pulling me closer to her as she returns my kiss. “Don’t leave,” she whispers, sliding her fingers into my belt. “Stay with me, please…”

  I block out the world, an easy task with her taste on my tongue. My nerves ignite, pulling all my blood south as her fingers slip inside my zipper to wrap around my throbbing cock. I twinge at the pleasure she gives, reaching into my pocket for the silver key to free her other hand.

  “Leave it,” she says, her lips twitching.

  Passion fires through me as I cup her ass and move her onto her back. Her left hand stays latched to the bedpost, her body locked beneath me just as she wants. She moves her legs, opening herself to me as she pushes my pants down with one hand.

  I hike her skirt up, driven by my own wild desires for her, and settle between her thighs. I shift her right leg, careful not to bend it, but no pain fires through her eyes. They show only a sharp need to feel something more than this tragedy. I won’t deny her that.

  I penetrate her quickly and she sighs, rolling her fingers into fists. She grips the iron bed frame with her cuffed hand, holding back her screams as I thrust her again.

  “Dante, don’t stop…”

  The old bed shakes and I ignore the sound, staring down at her blissful green eyes. Moments ago, they were broken, like a dying animal in need of mercy. Life shines beneath her lashes, growing more and more with each inch of me she takes.

  I keep my groan behind my tongue, grinding harder inside of her, adjusting my movement to match the cues on her face. She purrs softly, driven closer to the edge.

  “Lucy,” I growl, leaning over to crush her lips with mine.

  She moans against me, begging for me to take her harder. I oblige, rocking her with my hips and relishing in the power charging between us.

  “Is this what you want?”

  “Yes,” she breathes, her thighs twitching around me.

  “Say my name and I’m yours.”

  “Dante—”

  Her body crashes beneath me. I push my lips against hers to muffle the screams of ecstasy taking over her.

  I feel her satisfaction twitching around my cock like a squeezing hand. I stay inside of her, letting her enjoy it until she finally opens her eyes again.

  “Dante,” she begs, “stay with me tonight.”

  I cup her cheek, feeling the heat rise off her face. “I’m not going anywhere.” She tremors in my arms, remnants of pleasure and pain battling inside of her. “I’ll never let anything happen to you again.”

  Lucy Vaughn looks back at me and smiles, trusting every word I say.

  I carry Lucy downstairs, cradling her in my arms, moving slowly to keep from bumping her feet against the banister.

  “Careful!” she squeals, wincing as her toes narrowly miss the wall.

  “Stop fidgeting.”

  “I’m not fidgeting.”

  She wraps her arms tighter around my neck, bracing herself for a flash of pain that never comes close to touching her.

  We reach the bottom and I let out a confident sigh.

  “There,” I tease. “See?”

  I kiss her forehead and she stays silent as I turn and carry her through the foyer toward the dining room, following the active noises and voices.

  Lucy’s stomach growls as the scent of bacon stirs in our noses and I wonder how long it has been since she’s eaten. I haven’t touched a thing myself since those strawberries. Yesterday feels so long ago now but the details are still so fresh in my head, a pungent layer of pain and decay in need of airing out.

  “Good morning!” Elijah announces from the table as I step into the room.

  I do a quick scan of the area, noticing that all the sheets have been yanks off the furniture and every surface has been scrubbed down and dusted off.

  Lilah glances up from her seat next to him, barely tearing her eyes away from her laptop as she takes a quick sip from her steaming coffee mug.

  “Drugs wear off yet?” Elijah asks Lucy.

  I drag out a chair and lower Lucy down into it. She holds her leg up, barely breathing as she struggles through the pain to keep it from bending.

  “Yeah…” she answers, wincing.

  “I can fix that,” he says, “but eat something first. The euphoria can be pretty intense on an empty stomach.”

  I grab a second chair and twist it around so it sits in front of Lucy. “You two go into town?” I ask as I cradle her ankle and set it down on the chair. She nods at me, smiling a thank you before I land a kiss on her cheek.

  “Yep,” Lilah mutters, once again barely looking up. Her fingers march along her keyboard, tapping fast. “We stocked the cabinets for you guys…”

  “Also—” Elijah stretches back to the grab a long, black object off the counter behind him. “I couldn’t find much around here to make a proper splint to my standards, so I picked up this brace at the pharmacy. It should be comfortable, and it’ll keep your knee straight.”

  He holds it across the table and Lucy takes it with surprised eyes.

  “Thank you,” she says.

  “Eh…” Lilah shrugs. “Dante took care of us once upon a time. We’ve been waiting for ages to repay the favor.”

  My gaze shifts slowly between Elijah and Lilah, each one of them nodding at me in silent agreement.

  Lucy is one of us now.

  Chapter 23

  Lucy

  Dante sets a plate down in front of me, stacked to the edges with toast, bacon, and scrambled eggs. I grab the nearest fork, eager to fill my stomach so Elijah can kill the intense pain firing through my knee while Dante sits in the chair beside me with his own plate.

  He nudges Lilah’s elbow as her fingers blur across her keyboard. “How many cups of coffee has she had?” he asks the room.

  “Like a pot and a half.” Elijah sighs.

  I scoop some eggs into my mouth and bite into a slice of cold toast. My stomach quivers, thrilled to experience food once again.

  “I’m following a lead on Fox,” Lilah mutters, her eyes glued to the screen.

  “Who’s Fox?” I ask.

  Elijah leans toward me. “The man who singlehandedly took down Snake Eyes.”

  “Allegedly,” Dante points out.

  “Definitely,” Lilah argues.

  I look at Dante. “The one you said you’d shoot if you ever saw again?”

  Lilah’s brow twitches. “Good to know we’re all on the same page about that…”

  “So, you’re the more capable agent they assigned to find him?” he asks her.

  She proudly raises her palms. “Who better, big brother? Except you, but you were busy, so…” She shrugs.

  He nods. “And you found him already?”

  “Not quite,” she says, spinning her laptop around. “Last week, Fox checked into a Botsford Plaza in Colorado. He arrived with some not-so-mystery woman but boarded the elevator with a man who arrived earlier in the day.”

  I peek over at the screen, following the security footage with interest. It shows a golden lobby filled with people in fancy clothes and two men walking together across the room toward the elevators. One has a beard and the other wears thick glasses.

  “Who’s the other guy?” Dante asks.

  Lilah pulls the laptop back. “His room was paid for with a credit card registered to a Bartholomew E. Carson…” she smirks, “a hacker with a record as long as mine — including some private contracting work with the Army around the same time Fox was stationed overseas.”

  “Well, that explains how he managed to decrypt the master file…” Elijah says, chewing on his lip.

  “When did they leave?” Dante asks.

  “Can’t say,” she answers. “The security feed goes dead a few hours later, just after Mercer and your old squad arrived and doesn’t come back on for a few days due to an unexpected explosion on the roof that shut the place down
.” I follow their voices, growing more confused by the second but I’m so drawn in I don’t care. “Trail should still be warm,” Lilah continues. “It’s worth checking out.”

  Dante scratches his nose. “Let me know what you find.”

  Lilah and Elijah exchange glances. “I guess that answers the next question,” she says, closing the laptop. “You’re not coming with us.”

  Dante looks over at me for a second. “No,” he says. “And honestly, you two shouldn’t go either.”

  “He’s a traitor, Dante,” Lilah says, her voice firm and cold. “Someone needs to remind him that actions have consequences.”

  “You’re going to kill him?” I ask.

  The entire room pauses, and every eye falls on me.

  “That’s what we do, Lucy,” Lilah says.

  “Not anymore,” Dante says. “I can’t speak for the two of you. I never could. But I’m out.”

  My heart melts inside, burning with responsibility but it warms me up regardless. I look across the table and the twins stare back at me.

  Elijah clears his throat. “Dante, he took out your entire squad—”

  “I don’t care.”

  “If you hadn’t been undercover in Chicago, that could have been you,” Lilah points out.

  “Everything we do is laced with doubt,” Dante says. “I could have been killed at least a hundred different ways before today and it’s the same odds with the two of you. To be honest, I’m tired of living with the deck stacked against me. I say we cash in and move on.”

  “You’re just going to let him go?” Lilah asks.

  “He had his reasons for doing what he did, and I have mine.”

  “Has it not occurred to you that if he never did this then Lucy never would have been attacked?”

  His brow twitches with a subtle rage. “It’s crossed my mind.”

  “So, what are we supposed to do?”

  Dante shrugs with frustration. “Whatever we want to do, Lilah. We have new, untraceable identities. Passports, money. Get your tattoo removed and start a new life. Fox is a fucking prick but at least he left us that much.”

  “As tempting as that sounds,” Elijah says, “there’s a principle involved here, Dante. That used to mean something to you.”

  “It still does.” He pauses and looks over at me. “But the risk isn’t worth it anymore.”