Last Kiss

by Laurelin Paige

“With Vilanakis.”

  Michelis Vilanakis, the mob boss who I had pinned as a lowlife villain. It was the name I’d expected. Amber was last seen with him. Reeve was also connected to him – I’d seen pictures of the two at various events, as well as a few e-mails to Reeve from him.

  “You just swooped in and rescued her from his house in Chicago? Or…” I left the question open-ended, not able to imagine what the scenario had been.

  “I got lucky actually.” He shook his head, demonstrating his incredulity. “Really lucky. I’d been tailing Michelis for three days before I saw her. I didn’t even realize who she was at first. But while I was in my car watching, she ran out of his house, upset about something. He followed after her, Emily. He grabbed her by the hair and yanked her back so hard I swore he was going to break her neck. Then he went off on her. Fucking pounded her face in while she struggled and cried. I don’t know how her screams didn’t draw a crowd.”

  I felt sick. “Maybe his neighbors are scared shitless of him. They ignore what goes on.” Where I grew up everyone turned a blind eye. No one mentioned the drug dealer that lived next door. No one bothered looking in on me when my mother was passed out drunk in the front yard. No one intervened when Amber and I would arrive home with newly purchased designer clothes and unexplainable cash in our pockets.

  “Probably so. He left her like that in his driveway. Whether he was leaving her for dead or planned to come back and get her later, I don’t know. I grabbed her and took off.”

  “Why didn’t you go to a hospital? Or the police?” I understood why Reeve’s men would be wary, but Joe had more faith in the legal system.

  “She refused to go anywhere but here. She was insistent and scared. She’d been to the doctor before, remember? With other bruises, and somehow she ended up back with her abuser. I didn’t know who to trust. So I brought her here.”

  He tilted his head and studied me. “Didn’t figure I’d see you here when I arrived.”

  “Yeah, well.” I’d hired Joe to investigate Amber’s disappearance, but I hadn’t always been forthcoming with him about my own snooping. At the moment, I didn’t want to think about the circumstances of my presence at Reeve’s Wyoming ranch let alone talk about it. “How did you know to look for her there? How did you realize she was still alive?”

  “I didn’t. She’s not why I was following him.”

  I wrinkled my forehead. “Then why…?”

  He gave me an incredulous glance, one that said he couldn’t believe I had to ask. But I did have to. I needed him to say it.

  And he did. “I was looking for you.”

  There was affection in the way he held my gaze, his expression so much easier to read than Reeve’s had been, but equally hard for me to bear, for such different reasons.

  I lowered my eyes to the floor. “Thank you, Joe. For finding her. For bringing her here.” I couldn’t manage to thank him for what he’d done for me. He’d gone willingly into danger, after I’d eluded him and been uncooperative. When I’d put myself in the damn situation after his countless warnings. I didn’t deserve his concern. I couldn’t condone it with gratitude.

  He took a step toward me. “Emily, there’s something else you should know.” He waited until I looked up before he went on. “The tattoos. I found out what they mean.”

  “The V tattoos?” Besides Amber and the Jane Doe from the autopsy, I’d also seen one on an employee of Reeve’s in Los Angeles. “Doesn’t it just stand for Vilanakis? I figured it was some show of mob support. Like a gang tattoo.”

  “It does stand for Vilanakis. But the tattoos aren’t inked voluntarily. They’re like a brand. Anyone wearing the mark belongs to Michelis.” In case I didn’t get the picture, he clarified. “As in indentured servant.”

  “That’s not even legal.” Which was a ridiculous thing to say since I knew the mob didn’t care much about the law. My throat grew thick. “What does that mean anyway? She got away. She’s safe now. Right?”

  “My impression is that Michelis brands people when their debt to him is too great to pay back in a lifetime. Which, if that’s true, if Amber owes him that big, then he’s —” He broke off at the sound of footsteps.

  I wanted to know more, but when I turned I found Reeve approaching. I forgot about branding and servitude, and got swept up in the confusing mix of emotions that rose at the sight of him. There was so much unsettled between us – and that was without anyone else involved. Amber and Joe only complicated things that much more.

  “She’s asking for you, Emily,” Reeve said, his eyes pinned on Joe. “She’s in the suite next to yours.” It was a dismissal that left little room for refute.

  Besides, I really did want to be with Amber, so I nodded and headed upstairs, despite knowing that Joe could very well reveal all my secrets. Maybe it was time for those secrets to come out anyway.

  If she really had been asking for me, she wasn’t by the time I arrived upstairs. Now the only thing on her mind was getting something for the pain. Her shirt was off, and there were several bruises down her chest and arms, some yellowed and fading, others were much newer. Several near-black angry splotches lined one side of her torso. Jeb was pressing on them when I walked in, and though his touch seemed tender, the examination had her in tears.

  I ran to hold her hand and stroke her hair, but she was in such agony, I wasn’t sure how much my presence helped. Jeb finished tracing the lines of her ribs before looking up at me. “Emily, would you mind going down to the kitchen and making some ice packs? If there’s some frozen peas or something, that would work just as well.”

  “Sure. Broken?” I’d had broken ribs before. I knew that pain.

  “Just fractured, I think. But her breathing’s not great. I’d like to get her on some oxygen so that she doesn’t develop pneumonia.”

  “We have some for emergencies in the main office,” Brent piped in. “I’ll call down and have it brought up. And, Emily, there’s ice compresses in the small freezer in the pantry.”

  I bent to kiss Amber’s forehead. “Hang in there. We’ll get you feeling better soon.” She squeezed my hand so I knew she’d heard me, although I’m sure it was hard to believe in her current state of discomfort.

  The men Jeb had sent for supplies were coming in as I left the room and by the time I returned with ice packs, Amber had been hooked up to an IV and fluid was dripping down the line into the vein at her wrist. Her eyes were closed. She was either asleep or almost there so I didn’t disturb her. Instead, I handed Jeb the compresses, then sat on the love seat near the bed and watched, helpless.

  I was actually grateful for that helplessness. Of the myriad complex emotions that were weighing on me at the moment, helplessness was the easiest to carry. It was the one I knew.

  Brent returned with the oxygen tank as well as a heart rate monitor. Reeve came along with him, taking a perch on the opposite arm. Together we watched as Jeb and Brent hooked Amber up to the machines. We didn’t speak or look at each other. Tension buzzed between us like a fly caught in a closed room. I was desperate to know what he was thinking and feeling. Was he as focused on her as he appeared to be? Or was his mind as caught up in us as mine was?

  The longer I sat without his acknowledgment, the more my anxiety grew.

  It was just after three when Jeb gestured for us to follow him out to the hallway for a powwow.

  “Well?” Reeve asked, impatience in his voice.

  Although he’d shut the door behind him, Jeb kept his voice low. “She’s bruised up mostly. Her ribs are tender, but they seem to be just fractures. Her wrist is sprained and she has a concussion, all of which can be healed with time.”

  Reeve rubbed at the back of his neck, nodding, taking it in.

  “When she wakes up,” Brent said, “she might be wanting some kind of upper, if you know what I mean. She was pretty fond of the white stuff when she was here last.”

  Reeve shook his head. “Joe – the guy who brought her here – said he thinks she’s no
t into that right now. He’s pretty sure she’s moved onto opiates.”

  So that’s what he’d talked to Joe about. He was looking out for Amber, and I was grateful. And I was also selfish because it was disappointing to realize he hadn’t been asking about me.

  Jeb considered, raising a brow. “Heroin?”

  Reeve shook his head again. “Codeine. Oxy maybe. She got beat up pretty bad, but he said she’s been begging for a pill every two hours.”

  “Do you know if he gave her anything?” Jeb asked.

  “Some Vicodin. He said he gave it as directed to help with her pain. The last was about four hours ago.”

  Jeb seemed to do a mental calculation. Satisfied with his result, he said, “I just put some morphine in her IV as well as something to help her sleep. We’ll have to watch the clock carefully and only give her what she needs rather than what she asks for. In the morning I’ll see if I can get my hands on some methadone.”

  Brent clapped a hand on Reeve’s back. “I’m going to go check on security, make sure we’re covered in case —”

  Reeve cut him off. “He won’t come here looking for her.”

  “With all the other activity lately, are you sure?”

  Reeve hesitated, then said again, “He won’t come here. But extra security is a good idea.”

  A chill ran through me as I thought about what Joe had said about Amber’s tattoo. But I trusted Reeve’s perception of danger. If he said he didn’t think Vilanakis would come around, I believed him. The additional security was likely just a measure of precaution.

  As soon as Brent left, Reeve addressed Jeb again. “What do we need to do for her tonight?”

  I nodded, wishing I’d asked first.

  “There’s nothing you can do at this point.” Jeb looked at his watch. “She’s probably going to be out for a while. I’d take this opportunity to get some sleep. I’ll stay with her until the morning in case she wakes up.”

  “I could take the first shift.” Again Reeve spoke before I could. His offer rubbed me in places that I didn’t know were raw. I told myself it was simply because I wanted to be the one by her side.

  Well, if he was going to stay, so was I.

  But then Jeb said, “I’d rather it be me. I want to be there in case she has any strange reaction to the medicines or in case she takes a turn.”

  Reeve hesitated before conceding. “Come and find me if there’s any change.”

  “Will do, boss.”

  “Then I’ll see you in a few hours.” Without even a glance at me, he turned on his heels and headed for his bedroom.

  Jeb gave me a tight smile then opened the door to Amber’s room, leaving me in the hallway, alone.

  CHAPTER 2

  I remained in the hallway for a handful of seconds before following Reeve into his bedroom.

  He’d left the door open – whether that was to be available for Amber or an invitation for me, I wasn’t sure. I was afraid it wasn’t the latter. But I traipsed in anyway. I needed answers. I needed assurance. I was prepared to demand both.

  Until I crossed the threshold and saw Reeve undressing.

  He peeled off his shirt and tossed it on an armchair then sat on the bed and began tugging at one boot. The sight of his half-naked body made my own body react with a rush of desire, every time, current circumstances notwithstanding. That he was stripping with no sexual intention was somehow even more arousing, the intimacy of it shocking and surreal. As if he and I were actually a couple, and not a sham, despite Amber’s return.

  That realization did things to me. He did things to me. Things that no man had ever done, no matter how deep inside of me he’d been.

  “I’m tired, Emily,” he said, without a glance in my direction. “It’s been a long night. For both of us. So whatever it is that you want to discuss, it’s going to have to wait until we’ve gotten some sleep.”

  Well, that burst the bubble of affection swelling in my chest. How the fuck was he able to brush me off without giving me even a crumb? With barely an acknowledgment, after everything we’d shared? How could he sleep when the woman he’d cared so much about was broken and beat-up in the next room? And how could he not want to question me about the secrets I’d withheld as much as I wanted to question him?

  He knew.

  It was the only thing that made sense. Somehow, he knew. That I wasn’t simply Emily Wayborn, actress and professional girlfriend. That I was Emily Wayborn, formerly Emily Barnes, Amber’s best friend. Emily Wayborn, liar. He knew and I was caught and I could barely see straight, could barely get air inside my lungs.

  “You knew,” I whispered. I’d lied, and he knew, and I needed to hear from him what that meant for us.

  He stood to step out of his jeans then pulled back the bedcovers. “I said we’ll talk about this in the morning.”

  I couldn’t wait even another minute, not when our entire relationship was on the line. “You knew and you didn’t say anything.” I’d spent months worrying he’d discover that I’d gotten close to him only to learn what had happened to Amber. Months of monitoring what I said and did, weeks and weeks of keeping my guard up, and he’d already known.

  The more I thought about it, I wasn’t just anxious but angry. “You knew and you let me go on pretending. How could you?”

  He spun toward me, his eyes narrowed with incredulity. “You’re mad at me? You were the one who came into my life under false pretenses. To use me. And you’re mad at me?”

  My stomach twisted with the guilt, and even though I deserved the accusations, I suddenly didn’t have the will to defend myself. “You’re right. Let’s talk about this in the morning.”

  I spotted the pile of my clothes I’d left in front of the bathroom earlier and crossed to gather them, already thinking ahead, already planning the picture that I wanted Amber to see. She wouldn’t be able to understand without my explanation that I’d hoped she was alive when I began things with him, or that I only let myself fall for him when I believed she wasn’t.

  That last part was a lie – I never let myself anything with him. I never had any control. Now it was obvious – he had been manipulating me, not the other way around.

  A fresh wave of rage rolled through me. Clutching my clothing to my chest, I swung toward him. “I thought she was dead, Reeve!”

  He’d climbed into the bed. Now he sat up, his head tilted as though confused. “Dead?”

  “How could you let me believe that?” My throat choked on a sob and I noticed my cheeks were wet. I hadn’t realized I was crying.

  He took a moment to process. “I had no idea,” he said finally, softer than before. Even though he was a skilled liar I had a feeling he was telling the truth. “Why did you think that?”

  “Because Joe showed me an autopsy report.” Why the hell didn’t you think that? He’d had the same report in his e-mail. But I wasn’t ready to let him know that I’d snooped through his things.

  His brow furrowed. “The autopsy of that anonymous woman from the Dumpster last fall? How the hell did Joe get ahold of that?”

  “He’s good at his job,” I said snidely, not exactly remembering where Joe had said he’d gotten it.

  “Yeah, I guess he is. Except that it wasn’t actually a report about Amber, was it?” The hardness was back in his tone, and, instead of regretting that I’d pushed his kindness away, I was grateful that I’d succeeded. I knew what to do with harsh. I didn’t know what to do with compassion.

  “The description matched her to a T. Including the tattoo on her shoulder.” I shuddered remembering how well the report had depicted Amber. I hadn’t wanted to believe it was her. I’d fought it as hard as I could. Until I couldn’t anymore, and I had to accept it. “I mourned her, Reeve.”

  Tenderness flickered across his stone features and then disappeared. “If you had bothered to talk to me about it, I could have saved you that grief. But you didn’t.”

  I rolled my eyes and bent to scoop up the panties I’d missed. “Like I co
uld talk to you about that.”

  “Right. Because I wasn’t supposed to know that you were her friend.”

  “Yes, that was one of the reasons.”

  “What were the others?” He twisted toward me, throwing his legs off the bed. “Did you think I killed her?”

  My lips parted, taken aback by his reaction and by how fast he’d jumped to the correct conclusion.

  When I took too long to respond, he stood and took an aggressive step toward me. “Tell me, Emily, is that what you thought?”

  I shrunk back, holding my clothes to my chest as though they could protect me from him. He started to ask again, and I blurted out, “No. But I thought you might have had someone else kill her.”

  “The whole time? The whole time we’ve been together, that’s what you thought?”

  Yes, it had been what I’d thought. The terrible thing was that it said as much about myself as it did about him. It was humiliating. That I could be the type of person who would stay with a man who might have killed someone I’d loved – it was difficult to admit.

  So I didn’t answer him, and that was an answer in itself.

  The barely controlled fury in his eyes flared and his features turned to stone, but somehow I understood that what he was really feeling in this moment was disappointment.

  I felt that disappointment, too, so vividly, both from him and from myself, and suddenly I understood that I really should have been embarrassed that I’d thought he could have done something that terrible and never talked to him about it. I’d been in a committed relationship with this man for more than two months. I’d let him in, let him consume me, and yet I’d still kept him at a distance, even when I knew he’d tried to let me in.

  Now, for the first time, I cared about what I did to Reeve instead of just caring about what he did to me. I’d hurt him, and that felt shitty.

  “Look.” I sighed, trying to lessen the blow. “I don’t know why you think that’s an impossible conclusion to jump to. You’ve done everything in your power to keep me frightened of the things you were capable of.”