What the Heart Needs

by Kelli McCracken

  He wanted the same. Had ever since his father began making threats against her. He would have agreed to it before he left had her father not been against them. Now that he’d accomplished what he’d set out to do, he could take her up on the offer.

  “You better not change your mind before I get back.”

  A smile teased his lips when she chuckled. “I won’t. Just hurry back soon. I’m lonely.”

  “At least you have Layne there to keep you occupied.” He waited for her complaints about how much Layne had annoyed her. But silence played across the phone line. He checked his screen, making sure he hadn’t lost the connection. “Heaven? What’s wrong? Layne is with you, isn’t he?”

  “Um…not at the moment.”

  What the hell? He’d asked him to do one simple thing. Stay at the house to protect her. Layne knew how important that task was. Yet he left her there, alone.

  “When I get back, I’m going to kick his ass.”

  “Don’t be mad at him, Dylan. I insisted he go. He got a call from Faith. She wanted to meet him to pick up her things. I’m sure that didn’t go well.”

  Christ. Guess he shouldn’t jump to conclusions. The last place Layne wanted to be is near Faith. Not after their last confrontation. Add the fact that he’d ignored her to help Dylan with Heaven, and Faith would be hell in high heels, ready to stomp a few dozen holes in his heart.

  “You’re right. I should have known he wouldn’t just leave you alone without a good reason. He’ll be back once he’s finished. More importantly, I’ll be home in the morning.”

  “I can’t wait to see you.”

  He gazed at her photo again, allowing the gentle thrum of her energy to fill the void that being separated caused. “I can’t wait to see you, too.”

  What a reunion it would be. He’d enjoy every second of having her back in his arms. Would make sure she enjoyed every second and every touch. Then he’d have to tell her the truth. About everything he’d learned today regarding their parents, their history, and the secret society they’d been born into. A secret society that would claim her life if he couldn’t protect her.

  CHAPTER 18

  Heaven made her way past the coffee table, hesitating with each step she took. When she reached the window, she worked her fingers into the blinds, spreading a couple apart until the coral sky filled her vision. The setting sun cast a few shadows about the grounds, but the rest of the estate was void of any movement, save a blue jay near the flowerbed.

  A vibration resonated across the couch. Another text message. Just five minutes since the last one she received. The one that came in while she and Dylan were talking. She didn’t want to see it. Didn’t want to stare at the screen only to find the message came from the same blocked number. Somehow she’d managed to keep the knot in her stomach hidden from Dylan. Even now, when she could feel his energy rippling around her.

  Had the universe decided she hadn’t experienced enough stress in her life? That all the times she spent looking over her shoulder, double-checking locks wasn’t enough.

  Pushing away from the window, the carpet cushioned each cautious step. The closer she grew to the couch, the more the knot tightened. Each word from the last text played through her mind like a haunting ballad.

  This isn’t a joke! If you don’t acknowledge what I’m saying, you’ll be dead.

  Bending toward the couch, she wrapped her fingers around the phone, pulling it closer. Releasing one breath, she welcomed another. Then another. The next one gave her the courage to turn the phone upward.

  I know you’re scared, but I won’t hurt you. I’m trying to save you.

  The phone sailed through the air, making a final descent onto the cushion with a loud smack! She couldn’t deal with this craziness. Not when Nate wanted her dead, too. Unless this person really had information. On Dylan’s father, not Mick like she’d originally thought.

  She’d been too focused on him to suspect anyone else. But now she knew about Nate’s ability. That he’d used it against her. Unsuccessfully. Regardless of the outcome, it didn’t change that fact that he’d tried to kill her. And would again, if given the chance.

  What better timing than now, with Dylan out of town and Layne dealing with her sister. If they hadn’t killed each other yet. He couldn’t still be talking to Faith. Unless they made up.

  She tried tapping into his energy, the way she did with Dylan whenever he wasn’t around. In less than a minute a wave of heat engulfed her. So much anger rocked his energy. She didn’t know how he could breathe with the tightness in his chest.

  Taking in a deep breath, she sunk into the couch, pulling an ivory blanket from its neatly folded place over the back. She couldn’t concentrate on Layne. As much as she wanted to help him, she’d sworn to stay of out of his relationship with Faith. Didn’t mean she couldn’t worry about him, despite her own drama.

  She hugged the blanket closer, losing her self inside the spicy scent of Dylan’s cologne. Like a soothing effect of an embrace, a gentle flutter filled her belly, radiating warmth through their bond. His attempt to comfort her from a distance. God, she missed him. Missed the way he always made her feel better. Like he would be doing now if he were here.

  At least he would be back in the morning

  She pushed back the negative thoughts, allowing their closeness to fill the void his absence caused. Time to concentrate on something else. Anything else to get her mind off missing Dylan.

  Or Nate wanting to kill her.

  Gazing at her watch, her mind went back to Faith. Yes, thinking about Faith and her situation would be the perfect distraction. The more she thought about Faith’s impending arrival, the more she worried about her sister’s state of mind. Especially knowing she’d went to collect her things from Layne’s, hours ago.

  How could she be so reckless with her life? Worse, how could she have taken a chance with two—

  A loud rap echoed from the door, sending her heart into a swifter beat. First the text messages, now someone was here. No one could have come through the security gate without her knowing. It had to be Layne returning. At least she hoped.

  Inching her way to the door, her stomach plunged when the handle began jiggling. Whoever stood on the other side of the door wanted in. Bad. Dylan assured her that no one could get on the property, but if he’d made a mistake… If the person sending the texts knew how to get past the security gate, maybe he’d sent the text messages to distract her. At least long enough to slip onto the grounds.

  Another knock fell upon the door, rattling the window panels like a drum solo.

  Heaven ran over to the end table, searching for the phone Dylan just bought her. Gripping the device in her hand, her eyes fell to the number pad. If she could quit shaking, she might be able to make the call without dropping the phone. Her fingertips tapped the screen as numbers populated the dialing pad. Nine…one…four.

  Four? Good God! She didn’t need four. She needed another one. Nine-one-one. Putting in the right number sequence proved challenging when her heart pumped liquid fear to every inch of her body. No wonder her hands trembled.

  As she deleted the four from the screen, a faint voice came from the other side of the door. “Heaven, are you in there?”

  Layne. Just like she’d thought. Damn him. He didn’t have to scare the crap out of her.

  She placed the phone back on the table before hurrying to the door. Giving the knob a quick twist, she swung it open. Layne’s eyes didn’t meet hers. Not that she could see them with the way his bangs covered part of his face.

  No words passed his lips as he brushed by her, shoulders slumped like a child who’d taken a beating from a school yard bully. And she knew the bully’s name.

  Faith Lewis.

  Shutting the door behind her, she turned to find Layne stepping inside the living room. The energy-filled wake he left behind wrapped around her, squeezing the breath from her lungs with each step she took. What the hell happened between him and her sister?


  Layne stood by the window, lost in his thoughts, like he had twelve hours ago. He hadn’t heard her enter the room. Or hadn’t acknowledged her presence. Each time his energy pulsed toward her, the air ceased to exist, like she was smothering.

  “Layne?” She struggled to say his name, but the word affected him. He dropped his head, shaking it back and forth. This wasn’t like him. Being speechless. He always had something to say.

  She walked over to him, folding her hands around his arm. His skin burned to the point he’d begun sweating. And so did she when he pulled his arm away. Bangs brushed against the bridge of his nose as his face pinched. “Stop.”

  His words weren’t angry, but full of pain. Heart-wrenching pain. Faith had done more than break his heart. She’d obliterated it. Which didn’t make sense. He said he wanted to end things with her. Had that been a lie?

  “What happened to you?”

  Pressing his hand to his mouth, his chest expanded with a deep breath. “You don’t want to know.”

  He tried to turn away but she grabbed his arm again. “Talk to me, Layne. Please. Tell me what—”

  “I can’t!” He jerked away from her, but not before she saw the moisture in his eyes.

  “I know my sister is responsible for this. I want to know what happened.”

  Spinning around, he gripped her arms, just below her shoulders. “I swear to you, I didn’t hurt her.” The liquor on his breath rushed through her nose when he leaned in closer. “But I wanted to, Heaven. I’ve never wanted to hurt someone so much. I. Hate. Her.”

  Had Faith told him? Not just about the pregnancy, but that he probably wasn’t the father? She had to know now that she’d seen the doctor, yesterday. Guess her sister decided to drop the bomb after all. Regardless of who it hurt. Did this mean she planned to tell the baby’s father, too?

  “Layne, I…”

  “Your sister is evil, Heaven. I don’t know how you share the same bloodline.” His fingers dug into her arms, making her wince. He must have noticed. His eyes danced over her face as he loosened his grip. “I’m sorry. I…I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

  Her curls bounced about her face as she shook her head. “It’s okay. I know you’re upset.” Pressing her shoulder against the cool wall, she grabbed the underside of his arms. “Please, tell me what happened. What did my sister do to you?”

  “I found a pregnancy test in one of her boxes. So I confronted her about it. She tried to lie. Said she had a previous scare, but I didn’t believe her. I opened the box. Saw the blue lines. Two blue lines. She—” Emotion choked the words from his throat. He released his grip, turning to walk away, but Heaven tugged his arm.

  “Tell me the rest.”

  His eyes darted to the window as he struggled to form words. She hated seeing him like this. With his face all crumpled. “She didn’t say anything, Heaven. Didn’t bother telling me I had a kid on the way.”

  A wall of fire consumed Heaven. Either the baby really belonged to Layne or had Faith lied. She seemed so sure that he wasn’t the father when she confessed the other day. “What else did she say, Layne? You can’t be this upset over finding out that she’s pregnant.”

  Watery eyes fell to her chest. “She isn’t pregnant, Heaven.” He gritted his teeth, gripping her arms with his fingers again. “Your sister had an abortion. My child is gone.”

  No wonder he’d been drinking. Heaven wanted a shot of something, too. Tequila. Whiskey. Vodka. Anything to help dull the ache in her heart. She didn’t know how Faith could have gone through with it. Especially if the baby was Layne’s.

  Unless it wasn’t. What better way to hide her misdeeds then by disposing of evidence? And that’s exactly the way she treated the baby. Like an object of little importance that would prove what an unfaithful person she’d been. So she shredded it to pieces.

  Swallowing back the acid in her mouth, she heard a beep from her phone. Her eyes darted toward the end table. Dylan. He’d sent a text. She could sense his worry in her soul. Just like he’d sensed the ache in her heart. She wanted to grab the phone. Wanted to let him know she was okay. That he shouldn’t worry, but the quake of Layne’s energy shook her core. She couldn’t walk away from him. Not when he needed a friend more than ever.

  Placing her hands against his face, she forced him to meet her gaze. “Layne, listen to me.”

  “Don’t,” he whispered, snapping his eyelids shut. “Don’t do this, Heaven.”

  “Why wont you let me help you?” Her breath caught when his eyes flew open. The piercing stare he gave, the way his hands scorched her skin, she couldn’t move even if she tried.

  “Because I’m not worth the trouble.”

  “You don’t get to make that decision for me.” She counted the heartbeats pounding in her ears as they stared at each other. He didn’t have the right to tell her who she could or couldn’t care about. No one did. “I think you’re worth the trouble. You wouldn’t be my friend otherwise.”

  He shook his head, forcing her hands from his face as he stepped back toward the recliner. “There isn’t anything you can do. I was almost a father. But I’m not. Which is probably best for everyone. Faith and I shouldn’t be parents.”

  No. They shouldn’t be. At least not together. With someone else, someone they honestly loved, it would be a beautiful thing. “I’m sorry she did this to you, Layne. I can’t believe she went through with it. I thought for sure that she—”

  “What do you mean?” He stepped away from the chair, closing the gap he’d put between them. “Did you know about this, Heaven?”

  “Um,” Heaven stuttered for the right words. But there were none. Layne deserved the truth. She couldn’t lie to him. Not after the mountain of lies Faith had buried him under. “She told me about the pregnancy the other day. I didn’t ask. She just confessed.”

  A new wave of heat engulfed her. Raw anger raged through Layne’s energy. As well as his hands when he gripped her by the arm, forcing her back toward the wall. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “It wasn’t my place. I told her to tell you, but she didn’t want to because—”

  He waited for her to answer. Yet she couldn’t. “What aren’t you telling me, Heaven?”

  Dear God. Why couldn’t she keep her mouth shut? Now she had to find a way to cover for it. Layne couldn’t know that Faith had slept with someone else. She couldn’t divulge that information. Forget the fact that it wasn’t her place. After all these years, Faith had finally opened up to her. How could she betray that trust, even if Faith did it with cruel intentions.

  “I’m sorry Layne. I swore not to get involved. Ask Faith.”

  “Bullshit, Heaven!” The sound of skin slapping drywall resonated around her as Layne hit the wall. “You said you wanted to help me. If you have information that I need, how can you keep it from me?”

  “She’s my sister, Layne. We’re blood bound. I can’t betray her like that.”

  “She’d betray you in a heartbeat. Look what she did to me.” Pushing off the wall, he stepped back, trailing his eyes up and down her body before shaking his head. “I thought you were my friend.”

  “Don’t look at me like that! I am your friend.”

  “Then act like it. Tell me what I need to know.” He jabbed his chest with his finger, just over his heart. “If it will stop this pain—”

  “It won’t!”

  She needed to turn away from him. Every second she looked in his eyes her resolve crumbled. It didn’t help that he’d thrown their friendship in her face. He needed to understand that she had an unspoken code with her sisters. To always have their back, even when she didn’t believe they’d made the wisest choices. She couldn’t choose her family, but she could choose to love or hate them. Hate required too much energy so love normally won out.

  “It’s not fair to use our friendship against me, Layne. You know I want to help you, but I can’t betray my sister. Even if she’d do it to me. I know the laws of karma.”

  “My God
. It has to be something bad if you won’t tell me.” He pursed his lips, letting his eyes roam over her face. Then something clicked. The way his brows pinched, revealing the fact that his mind wasn’t just playing connect-the-dots. It had solved the puzzle.

  “Holy hell.” he whispered, staring just past her to the wall. “I get it. Finally. She didn’t want to tell me about the pregnancy. Because I’m not the father.”

  Heaven’s eyes fluttered shut. She pressed her head against the wall, somewhat relieved that he’d figured it out. Guess she didn’t have to worry about betraying Faith anymore. Layne wasn’t as stupid as her sister thought.

  “I’m sorry, Layne.” She met his gaze again. The throb in her heart didn’t dull. Especially when his jaw flinched. “Faith didn’t tell me who she slept with or when it happened. All I know is that she didn’t plan on telling him either.”

  No sense in hiding the rest from him considering he’d uncovered Faith’s lies. Maybe now he wouldn’t be so hurt that the baby was gone. Even if the pain still thrummed in her heart.

  But the news didn’t lessen the hurt on his face. If anything, he grimaced more. “I deserve every ounce of pain weighing down my heart. I knew she and I wouldn’t last, but I jumped in anyway. It’s what I do. Use women. But somewhere along the way, I changed.”

  “I knew it! You care about Faith. Even though you refuse to admit it.”

  “I’m not refusing to admit I care, Heaven. For the first time in my life, I care a hell of a lot. But it’s not about Faith.” His voice hit the lowest tone she’d ever heard pass his lips. “I care about…”

  She watched his mouth work though no words formed on his tongue. A deep growl finally did. Then his hands were gripping her face. Warmth met her lips and for a heartbeat, the need in her belly, the need to fill the void Dylan’s absence caused, ripped logic and reason from her mind.

  In another heartbeat, her back pressed to the wall. Lips continued sliding over hers, growing hungrier with each pass they made. Then the weight of a body molded to her chest caressing her breast until her nipples hardened. She couldn’t move, couldn’t think, couldn’t breathe. And the wall of fire consuming her…it built in her belly, weaving its way inside every part of her body. But it wasn’t the same heat she was used to. The same heat that curled about her every night. This heat was foreign.