“Would you be careful what you’re saying,” she snapped and eyed Nicole. “She has access to phones and email. You can’t talk like that when your father is away and has at least three days to come up with a plan before he gets back… or he could send people over here. Who knows what he’s capable of? Besides, nothing happened. He made an implication that the offer was on the table. That was all. It was after I found out. He only wanted to keep me quiet. He probably figured if he was doing me too that I wouldn’t have a leg to stand on if the truth came out. If I’d done it, he’d have been right.”
His eyes narrowed. “But you said no.”
“Of course I said no,” she said, scowling in disgust. “I’m not sick enough to fuck my own husband’s father… If your spunk doesn’t work well then, we’ll go childless. I’m not carrying another man’s baby, McDade or not.” It wasn’t until the side of his mouth lifted in a semi smile that she rethought her words. “Wait, what did I just say?”
“You said you’re sticking around,” he said, but had his focus stolen when Nicole began to move. “You sit the fuck down, you’re not going anywhere.”
Whisper pushed away from the door. “Do you have a plan, husband?”
He seemed to be trying to figure that out. “We have to tell Doran.”
Nicole leaped to her knees again. “No! Please! Please don’t! Parker can’t find out!”
Zaid gave Nicole a push, just enough to send her back to her ass. “Are you insane? No fucking way I’m keeping this from him. A man deserves to know what kind of slut he’s married to.”
“Husband,” Whisper said, side nodding and edging out of the door. Zaid took her hint and followed her to the hall, though he kept one eye on Nicole in the bedroom. “You have a window. A couple of days breathing space to process this and figure out what, if anything, you want to do with the news… Take the window. Tell Doran, talk it out. You can’t do anything while your father and Parker are away. To let them know you know while they’re out of the city will hand them your only advantage…” She cast her eyes back to the bedroom. “But you’ll have to make sure she can’t communicate with either of them.”
“What do you suggest?”
“Bring her upstairs for now,” she said. “Until you can track down Doran and figure out what you want to do… Whatever it is, you’ll need his support. You can’t do it alone, and if he likes the idea of marrying Madison Byrne…”
Then he’d be on his father’s side and the McDade civil war would be in immediate full swing. Subduing Nicole would be easy. It wouldn’t be so easy to keep Doran from warning his father.
“I’m not alone,” he said, touching the corner of her mouth with his thumb. “If turning around and walking out of here is how this thing has to end, we’ll do it. But we’ll do it together.”
Whisper was at a loss. In every potential scenario she’d played out in her mind, this had never been even a remote possibility.
“I really didn’t see this going this way, I…” Narrowing her eyes, she leaned closer. “You’re really not mad?”
“I’m fucking livid, Peanut,” he said and bowed to join their mouths in a brief kiss. “But I need you, Whis. I need my wife. I need an ally on my side who I can trust no matter what… The woman upstairs a while ago who asked me to kill her, she needs the same thing.”
“You want us to be allies?” she asked. Zaid nodded. “That’s a shame.” He frowned. “I thought maybe we could try… being together.”
She’d never said that to a man but meant it. It was right. It felt right. As confusing and intense as all this was, Whisper couldn’t ignore that he’d supported her instead of blaming her. Her husband believed her. That meant what he’d said upstairs was true: he trusted her. And without the lie, Whisper could let herself trust him.
Curling a finger beneath her chin, he kissed her again. “You’re ready now?” With a grin, she nodded. “Peanut, you pick your moments.” He kissed the top of her head then grabbed her hand. “Come on, let’s get her upstairs.”
Nicole moved at Zaid’s command. That was no surprise given the woman’s feeble competence when it came to defending herself. Whisper followed her husband’s orders too. He directed her downstairs to the unit by the front door to retrieve what they’d need to restrain Nicole.
On her return to the empty bedroom, voices in the bathroom drew Whisper in. Approaching, she listened to their conversation.
“Anything, Zay,” Nicole said. “You can keep her quiet. I know you can. And anything you want—”
“You’ve been offering yourself to me since the first time Parker brought you home,” Zaid said.
Nicole giggled. “Because you’re so strong… You’re so powerful. So much more powerful than all of them. I always wanted to be with you. It was always you.”
“You think I’d get with my brother’s girl?” he asked. Nicole’s next gasp was filled with frightened pain. “You touch me again and I’ll take pleasure in watching my wife destroy you. Do you know what she does to women who make moves on me?”
Whisper’s smile curled. Proud of both herself and him in the same heartbeat, she loved his certainty of her dedication. Whether it had been a game before or not, whether it continued to be a game or not, she would enjoy taking apart any woman who made a move on her man.
Her man. Her husband. That’s what he was. Now this truth was out in the open, it felt real… and she liked it. They could actually have trust. Real trust. She’d confessed a horrible truth to him. One he wouldn’t have wanted to hear, but he didn’t blame her or cast her out. He’d supported her. Her husband had supported her. Someone had stood with her rather than taking the easy way out.
“You know I… I love this family, Zay… My family… If you tell Whisper that you want me,” Nicole pleaded. “Maybe you… you can have both of us.”
There was real optimism in Nicole’s voice. Could be that the suggestion excited her, or maybe she was just terrified of the alternative.
“What?” Zaid asked.
“Yeah,” Nicole said, garnering speed in her hope. “Yeah, she’s bi, right? Remember your reception, her friend, they were together. I could… I could do that if it made you happy. If it was what you wanted… Is it… what you want?”
“To watch you go down on my wife?”
“She has more experience, she could… I could let her…”
“My wife is a fucking goddess,” Zaid said. “Why would I let her demean herself by going down on a slut like you? You don’t deserve the pleasure of her mouth… Hell, I don’t deserve it, but I take it because I can’t fucking help myself around her. That what you want? To piss off a woman who can flatten you or order me to take you apart? I’d do anything she asked, Nicki. And until you feel like that about another person, you don’t have the right to use the word love.”
Flattered and stunned, Whisper couldn’t move. No one had ever felt that way about her or even said the words. Zaid claimed he’d been watching her for three years and that a fuck wouldn’t be enough. But what did that mean? What did he want?
“You… do you love her?”
“You’re goddamn right I love her. I sure love her more than I love you or my fucking father.” Though it was a compliment, it felt sort of underhanded. Of course he’d love her more than the people who were fixing to ruin the family. “I fucking love her more than I love the McDades, that’s for goddamn sure.”
Nicole gasped; Whisper almost did the same. For an heir to say that about his family was treason. Even while despising whatever was going on, he shouldn’t take the family name in vain.
“You don’t mean that.”
“Why wouldn’t I, Nicki?” he asked. Whisper smiled, appreciating that he’d started using the name their sister-in-law didn’t like. “All this family has done is take.”
“But you’re a McDade,” Nicole said like she couldn’t understand him wishing for anything else.
Whisper sort of felt the same. She was so used to everyone being so proud of
their faction, that it was difficult to imagine anyone questioning it.
“Yeah, for all the good it’s done me,” he muttered.
Whisper couldn’t stay in the bedroom eavesdropping all day. Taking advantage of their lull in conversation, she went into the bathroom, holding up the supplies. She dumped them on the vanity, then went back to lock the bathroom door, trapping the three of them inside.
Whisper snagged the hand towel from its loop. “I’m going to be kind to you, Pretty Nicki,” she said, walking between Zaid and Nicole to head for the shower. “Have you been held captive before?”
“I… I… no,” Nicole said. “Captive?”
“Baby, will you come over here and make sure I don’t crack my skull… Bring her.”
Zaid shoved Nicki along, delivering her to the shower stall as Whisper slid open the large glass door.
“What are you doing?” Nicki asked with trepidation.
“Well, when I hold a captive,” Whisper said, tossing the towel over her shoulder. “I always like to put myself in their position, you know, just to make sure there’s no way out.” Jumping up, she caught the top rail that held the runners for the shower door. “Your boobs are bigger than mine, so you weigh more…” Dropping to her feet again, she paused to point at Nicole’s chest. “Those are fake, right?”
“My…” Nicole looked at the frowning Zaid and then back to Whisper. “My breasts?”
“Yes, they are,” Zaid said. “McDade bought and paid for.”
“I figured,” Whisper said, brushing her hands together. “No matter. I’m stronger, so… But if this buckles we’re all in trouble.” Jumping up again, she caught the rail and swung her legs up too. Bouncing, the point was to pull it down. When it didn’t budge, she lowered her feet, controlling her descent with her abs. “We’re good.”
Whisper didn’t expect to feel someone touching her waist. Seeking out the source, it was a surprise to find Zaid steadying her. That kind of concern rattled her. Maybe if the whole thing had come down on her head, she’d have expected him to make contact. Otherwise, she didn’t expect him to care.
“What… what are you going to do to me?” Nicole asked.
“We are going to keep you in one place for an extended period of time,” she said with a mock gasp and bent to pick the towel off the floor to toss it up over the rail. “Can you tie that, baby?”
His reach surpassed hers. Having a tall guy around could prove useful. Zaid stepped in to lean over her and put a simple knot in the towel. He spread it just a little, then yanked Nicole forward, which forced Whisper out of the way.
“You… you can’t do this,” Nicole said.
Whisper pushed her into the shower while Zaid went to get the rest of the things from the vanity. He also grabbed her knife from the floor and brought everything over. After taking her hand to loop the duct tape around her wrist like a bracelet, Zaid pulled out a length of rope. He made a circle and cut through it with her knife.
“We could do a lot worse,” Whisper said. “Keep your feet in the shower and you’ll be fine.”
The inside was slightly higher than the outside. Nicole was taller than her, so she should be able to stay on her tiptoes without straining too much.
Whisper noted how Nicole’s attention dropped to Zaid’s groin for absolutely no reason. Her husband didn’t notice, he was busy tying the rope around one of Nicole’s wrists. Once he finished with one, he raised it up to toss the rope over the shower rail and tied the other wrist on the opposite side.
She kind of couldn’t blame Nicole for having sexual fantasies about Zaid. Whisper was guilty of having a few too, especially when pleasuring herself under his scrutiny. Even in the current situation of captivity and bondage, there was no way to dub Nicole’s imaginings as rape fantasies. In spite of being their prisoner, Nicole wouldn’t fight Zaid’s advances if he made them. She might pretend to, but would probably be too afraid he’d change his mind about violating her.
Once he’d finished with the rope, he handed her what was left and retrieved the duct tape from her arm. He started to wrap it around Nicole’s wrists, strapping them to the rail with the rope and towel inside.
He held up the roll when he was done. “Are you gonna make a noise? If you’re thinking about screaming or crying, I’ll gag you now.”
Whisper hissed in a breath while concentrating on coiling the rope around her own wrists. “And that’s good duct tape too, the professional stuff. It will really screw with your facial.” When no one responded, she looked up to see they were both watching her tying her own wrists. “What?” she asked. “No reason it should go to waste. We have time to kill before Doran gets back… and there is a big bed right through the wall.”
Nicole squealed. “You can’t have sex! You can’t! You just can’t!”
She probably meant that listening to them going at it would be torture all on its own.
Zaid didn’t seem to take it that way and grabbed the rope connecting Whisper’s wrists to haul her closer. He jabbed a thumb into his chest. “Husband,” he said, then pointed at her. “Wife… That’s how it’s supposed to fucking go, Nicki.”
Without letting her go, he turned and stalked across the room, throwing open the bathroom door only to slam it as soon as they were through. Towing her across the room, Zaid whipped her around to toss her on the bed.
But he didn’t join her, he marched around the couch at the foot of the bed and went to the window. Rising from her face, Whisper folded her legs underneath herself as she loosened her wrists from the twined rope.
“You’re a liar, husband,” she said.
He spun to face her. “Me? How long you been keeping this from me?”
“Not about that,” she said. He didn’t realize she was teasing yet. “You told Nicki you couldn’t help yourself around me.” Lying on her side on the bed, Whisper snagged one of his pillows to hug it to her body. “You’ve been doing nothing but help yourself around me since we got married.”
“You’ve gotta stop eavesdropping,” he said, sauntering towards her.
“Soon as you stop creeping,” she said, rolling toward him when he sat on the edge of the bed.
Tossing the pillow out of the way, he laid a hand on her stomach to push her onto her back. “Your life is about to change, wife… Our lives are about to change.”
Sliding a palm up the back of his forearm as his hand massaged her abdomen, Whisper hoped to offer some comfort. “Any idea what you’re going to do?”
“Talk to Doran,” he said. “Want to tell me what you meant downstairs?”
“Which part?” she asked, unable to remember what had been said on which floor.
His reply wasn’t particularly helpful. “When did you find out about this?”
“When you were away,” she said.
The seal was off. It was liberating to finally be able to talk to someone about the situation.
He watched his hand on her belly, his jaw moving like he was grinding his teeth. “Tell me everything… Tell me what happened. How did you find out?”
“Came home early one Wednesday,” she said. “Had a client cancel… I came in the front and heard a noise…” She smiled, running her fingertips over the hairs on his arm. “Funny thing is, I took my phone out my purse, I was ready to call you. I thought someone was breaking in or something… Instead, I found Nicki naked, bent over your father’s desk with him coming at her from behind.” Peeking up at him, she caught his sneer of revulsion. “Yeah, it wasn’t a pretty sight.”
“And you didn’t think to finish the call?” he asked, letting himself look at her face. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
Sitting up, her hand slid higher on his arm. “You know why I didn’t tell you. Nicki came after me, I… I was ready to beat the shit out of her, but I didn’t. I told her I was going to tell you… I think that I was, but… then your father kept you away the extra night. The next morning, he confronted me.”
The sound of his teeth grinding got so inten
se it carried to her. “When he made his move on you?”
“He got too close… made some comment about my father.” She licked her lips. “I told him I wasn’t my father’s to give anymore… that if he wanted use of my body, he had to negotiate with my husband.”
Vicious determination seized his expression. “I would never—”
“I know,” she murmured, raising her hand to his jaw. “I don’t know how, but even then I knew I was… something to you. I don’t think I admitted it to myself… He told me it would start a McDade civil war, that everyone would blame me… And that the Doherty alliance would be dust… He wasn’t wrong about that.” Whisper inhaled. “My father will kill me when he finds out I screwed this up… and that’s not a euphemism.”
Touching the corner of her mouth with his curled fingers on her chin, he made her look at him. “Your job was to play the dutiful wife, that’s what he said at the door, right?” She nodded and he dropped his chin a fraction. “Bring that mouth here.”
Kissing was still such a novelty that when she pushed up to press her mouth to his, Whisper couldn’t hide her smile. “Why does this feel so different?” she asked, trying to take another kiss.
Zaid caught a loose tendril of her hair and rested his fingers on her cheek to ease their mouths apart. “Tell me about the alley.”
Zaid had already stated that what she’d done in the alley wasn’t about sex, but Whisper hadn’t elaborated on her reasons for going out there with that guy. At the time, it hadn’t made a whole lot of sense, even to her.
Having her husband’s trust allowed her to be more honest with herself, which brought other things into focus.
“I went out to get trashed,” Whisper said. “To forget life, I guess… The guy wanted me and I wanted to get it. I wanted to understand what was so damn good about screwing around.”
Only Yours (A McDade Brothers Novel Book 2) Page 16