Exclusive Access (16 page)

She
grinned. “Should I be worried? Are there any of those that might surface one
day?”

“
Not a chance, gorgeous.” He took a deep breath. “When
Ace, Emmett, and Dominic were talking about how happy they are, it made me
realize there is something about my past you’ve never heard. I want to tell you
about it now. I don’t want any secrets between us, Julianne.”

“
Uh-oh.”

He
smiled. “No. It’s not like that, but it will help explain my relationship with
my father that lingers to this day.”

Her
gaze turned serious. “All right. I’m listening.”

You can do this.
“I know we each had terrifying
experiences above ground once the storms started to turn frequent and vicious,
but before that had you ever been in one? A bad storm, I mean.”

“
Not really, unless you count blizzards.”

“
I was. When I was seven, my family took a trip to the
Dallas area to visit a college friend of my mother’s. Her husband worked in the
financial arena, and my parents worshipped this man. He was some sort of
pioneer in advanced economics. My father considered it a feather in his
personal cap that we’d been invited to visit these people.”

“
Is this man still around? Would I know his name?”

Kane
shook his head, trying not to gloat inside. “His company was involved in a huge
embezzlement scandal about three years before we all moved underground. Last I
heard, the family was flat broke, and you’d be hard-pressed now to find his
name or his work mentioned in any econ courses at the university level.”

“
Karma in action?”

He
almost smiled. “A bit. You be the judge when I’m done with the story. While we were
visiting, we stayed in their home. The four adults wanted to go out one
evening, so they left me in the house with the couple’s children. I didn’t know
them. It was the first time we’d met, and they were older than me. The youngest
was a girl and she was eleven, and her two brothers were fourteen and
seventeen.”

“
At seven years old, I would have been terrified of
that, let alone storms.”

“
I was used to being on my own a lot by then, so I
wasn’t happy about being left with bigger kids who basically ignored me. I was
watching TV when the tornado warnings for the area came on. I tried to reach my
parents, but the cell phone signals were already jammed. Then I went to find
the other kids, but I couldn’t. I didn’t know how to find the basement in the
house. It was a huge home, and I was lost. I imagine my terror had plenty to do
with that.”

Julianne’s
beautiful eyes filled with tears, and she placed a hand over her mouth.

“
I hid inside a downstairs closet on the first floor,
trying not to cry, and still trying to get at least a text message through to
my parents. I could hear the storm outside, and then the power went out.”

“
Oh, Kane.”

“
The house was hit, but there was only some roof damage
to the top floor. The other kids were still in the basement when their parents
and my parents finally got home. I heard the other kids come upstairs, and I
could hear everyone calling my name, but I’d … Julianne, I’m so embarrassed to
tell you this.” His voice shook, and he hated that. He hated showing weakness
in front of her.

She
took his hands, which he almost wished she hadn’t done because he was certain
his palms were damp and cold right now. “You can tell me anything. Nothing you
say will make me stop loving you. Nothing.”

Kane
had never loved this woman more than he did at that moment. “I had wet my
pants. I hadn’t done that since I was first taken out of diapers. I was so
ashamed!”

“
Kane, I would have done the same thing if I’d been in
a closet when my house got hit by a tornado, even now, as an adult.”

“
Thank you for saying so.”

“
I mean it.”

She
gave his hands a squeeze, and he drew strength from their warmth. “When they
finally found me, my father recoiled as he realized I was sitting there in my
own piss. He yelled at me for hiding, and when I tried to explain what had
happened, the other kids lied. Just flat out
lied
and said they’d tried to find me to take me into the basement,
but that I’d hidden from them.”

“
Didn’t your parents believe you?”

He
snorted. “Are you kidding? This man was a
god
to my father. He was not about to call his kids liars.”

“
That’s horrible.”

“
That’s my father in a nutshell. I’ve never really
gotten over it. I can still hear the sounds outside, and I can still feel the
warmth spreading in my groin and traveling down my legs. I can see the faces of
those rotten children, laughing at me. I can hear their fucking lies, and I can
see my father’s face, so full of disgust and shame.”

Julianne
held him for long moments, whispering all the right words. “It wasn’t your
fault. Those children were assholes, and your parents should have believed you.
You’re not a frightened little boy any longer. You’re a charming, successful
man with a killer smile and the sexiest eyes I’ve ever seen. I love you. I will
never stop loving you, Kane, and I will do anything I can to help you make
sense of that horrible night. I promise you that.”

He
closed his eyes and held her closer, absorbing everything about her, from her
warm skin to her scent, and all that hair. He’d fight everyone on the planet to
have this woman in his life. No one was going to take her away from him.

Not
even his father.
Especially
not his
father.

Chapter
Nineteen

Julianne
woke while it was still dark and glanced at the clock on the nightstand. They’d
only gone to bed a few hours earlier. Kane was sleeping beside her, and her
entire being ached for him. It had been a few days since they’d made love
because they both were exhausted. Between all the pre-wedding festivities, and
Kane having to deal with the fallout from what Isabelle had done, by the time
they returned to their apartment in the evenings, they could barely stay awake.

Last
night, as Kane had told her the story of his trauma at age seven, her heart had
nearly burst for him. She’d asked him why he’d gone into the family business
after all the things his father had done to him, and he’d looked at her like
she’d just asked him to explain why the real sky is blue.

“
You said the definitive word. It’s my
family
business. Who would run it if I
don’t? Business is business. You don’t toss that out the window after hundreds
of years because the people who ran it before you are assholes.”

As
she watched him sleep, her heart filled with pride. He was not only the
sexiest, most intelligent man she’d never met, he was also the bravest. That he
could separate his family’s empire from them as people was a testament to that.
He was so good at what he did. Clearly he’d been born to do it, and if he had
given it up, the financial world would have lost his expertise.

She’d
asked him how many other people knew the story he’d told her, and he said no
one but the people who had been there, and her. He’d never even told the other
Weathermen. That made her feel so special, even if the circumstances were less
than ideal. He trusted her with his most painful memory.

Julianne
used the bathroom, and when she returned to the bed they shared, she turned on
a soft light and kissed him until he stirred. He grinned and held her face with
both hands. “I thought I was dreaming.”

“
So did
I
. The day I first
walked into your office.” She covered his body with hers and rubbed against his
dick with her pussy until she was nice and wet. He moaned softly, stroking her
back as she ground herself into him, and then he grabbed her ass.

“
Julianne, you’re the only woman I’ve ever really
loved.”

Her
heart nearly burst from joy as she kissed him again. When she released his
mouth, she sat back on her heels and sheathed his cock with her pussy. Resting
her hands on his chest for leverage, she fucked him with all her strength. Kane
reached between her legs and rubbed her clit in exactly the right way, and when
she came she cried out loudly. There wasn’t anything she’d deny this man for
the rest of her life.

He
flipped them over with one deft move, and then he sat back on his heels and
grasped her breasts, thrusting into her with more speed and strength than she’d
have thought possible. “I never get enough of you. Never.”

She
came again without warning, and then he did, too. The room was filled with
their cries of pleasure, and then only the sounds of their soft breathing as
they drifted off to sleep again, wrapped in each other’s arms.

****

The
next morning, the day before the wedding, Julianne finished all her stories,
including the interviews with Harper, Liane, and Angela. She emailed everything
to Patti, and told her that she and Kane were taking the train back to
NorthEast
the day after the wedding. Patti promised to try
to have them all proofed by the end of the next week.

Kane
hadn’t stopped smiling since he’d woken this morning. Julianne wanted to
believe that had as much to do with their quickie midnight sex as it did with
him telling her that story. Perhaps the mere act of finally getting it all out
had freed him from some of the pain?

They
made breakfast together and sat at the counter to eat it, talking about all the
things they still had to do in preparation for tomorrow. “Are all weddings this
much work?” asked Kane.

Julianne
laughed. “They don’t have to be. It depends on how lavish the couple wants it.”

He
gave her a thoughtful look. “How lavish would you want yours to be?”

She
narrowed her eyes. “Is that a trick question?”

His
laugh wasn’t very convincing. “No, of course not. Just curious.”

“
I honestly haven’t given it much thought. I wasn’t one
of those teenage girls who sat around planning her dream wedding.”

A
worry frown creased his forehead, but it was gone so quickly she thought it
might have been a trick of the light. “Don’t you want to get married one day?”

“
I would if the right man asked me.”

They
stared at each other for long moments as everything else faded into the
background. The spell was broken only when Kane’s phone buzzed with an incoming
text message. He picked up the device and read the text, frowning.

“
Bad news?” Had something else happened at work?

“
No. That would be preferable to this.”

“
What is it?”

He
sighed and gave her a sympathetic look. “I don’t want to tell you, but you’ll
find out soon enough so you should hear it from me first.”

“
Kane, just tell me.”

 
“
My
father is on his way to
NorthCentral
. He’ll be here
this evening. He’s decided to come to the wedding after all.”

Fuck.
“I didn’t realize he and Ace were
close.”

Kane
gave her a droll look. “They’re not. He’s coming here because of what happened
with Isabelle. He wants to confront me in person.”

“
Can’t it wait until you’re home? You’re here for a
wedding.”

Kane
slammed his phone down so hard that Julianne was afraid it had broken. “This
isn’t fair to Ace and Harper. It’s
their
day, not my father’s.”

“
Then don’t let him ruin it for them.”

“
You don’t know him very well. He won’t give a shit
that it’s their wedding day.” Kane picked up the phone again. “I’m sorry. I
need to deal with this. Please finish eating.”

She
watched him walk toward the office he’d been using while they stayed here,
wishing there was something she could do to help, but knowing there wasn’t.
This was his issue to deal with, and she had to back off and let him take care
of it.

As
Julianne washed the dishes after she’d finished eating, the text message and
all it implied brought back the reality of her situation. Kane might as well
still be that frightened little boy with the wet pants, in his father’s eyes.
He was still controlling his son’s life, and that might not change until one of
them was dead.

Did
she really want to be part of such a fucked-up dynamic for the rest of
her
life? Could she handle something
like that? Did she even want to try?

****

Julianne
and Kane were too busy all day to think about Daniel Bannerman. When the day
was finally done and they sat down in Ace’s and Harper’s apartment to eat
dinner with the pair, plus Liane, Emmett, Dominic, and Angela, Kane’s phone
buzzed several times. The set of his jaw told Julianne the texts were from his
father, and finally he excused himself and left the room.

Emmett
shook his head. “That man needs to step down and let Kane run the company.”

Julianne
wasn’t sure how much Kane had told his friends about his father’s behavior, so
she kept silent.

“
It wouldn’t matter,” said Ace. “Daniel doesn’t approve
of anything Kane does.” Ace shot her a quick look. “Have you met him? Daniel, I
mean.”

“
I haven’t had the pleasure.” She picked up her wine
glass and took a sip. “I do know him by reputation, however.” She also wasn’t
sure how much his friends knew about that incident five years ago, and this
wasn’t the time to bring it up.

“
He tried to get you fired, didn’t he?” asked Harper,
quietly. “Five years ago.”

At
least that answered her question. They knew. “Yes, he tried.”

“
No one at this table cares about that anymore,” said
Dominic. He cut his gaze toward the hallway. “Kane told us everything, and we
won’t judge you or him for what happened.”

She
swallowed hard. “Thank you. That means a lot to me. I wish all of you could
convince his father I’m not out to ruin Kane or the family business now.”

“
We know you’re not,” said Emmett. “Kane knows it, too.
His relationship with his father is … complicated.”

“
I know.” She glanced toward Ace. “Are you really going
to let him crash your wedding?”

Ace
shrugged. “Let him come. If he sneaks inside, I’ll have Dominic’s security team
toss him out of the building.”

She
cut her gaze toward Dominic. “They’d do that?”

“
Damn right they would. He’s not
my
father. If Ace and Harper want him gone, he’ll be gone.”

She
glanced around at the six “You all would do pretty much anything for each
other, wouldn’t you?”

“
Yes,” they all said at once, including Liane, Angela,
and Harper.

“
I’m so glad I met you.”

“
We’re glad we met you,” said Angela. “Dominic said
none of them have seen Kane this happy in all the years they’ve known him.”

She
raised her brows.

“
It’s true,” said Liane. “Emmett told me the same
thing. This is the real deal. He loves you.”

“
He might not have said that to her yet,” said Emmett,
his voice holding a note of warning.

“
He has said it, and I’ve said it back to him.” She hoped
that Kane didn’t mind.

“
Well then.” Ace raised his glass. “A toast! To
Julianne and Kane. May they overcome every adversity, and be as happy as each
of the couples at this table.”

“
That’s a nice toast,” said Kane, joining them once
again. He took his seat and raised a glass. “How did we end up making it?”

Ace
summarized the conversation Kane had missed. Kane glanced at her, placed his
glass back on the table, and then kissed her, tongue and all. Julianne barely
heard the catcalls and whistles as she moaned into Kane’s open mouth. When he
released the kiss, she knew her face was beet red but didn’t care. She couldn’t
stop staring into his beautiful eyes.

He
cupped her face gently. “I do love you. With my entire heart and soul. No one—
no one
—is going to change that. Do you
understand me? Nothing will come between us. I will never allow it.”

Had
his father tried already? No doubt he had. “Thank you,” she whispered, afraid
to ask what the phone call had been about.

Kane
picked up his glass again. “Now about that toast…”