Fatal Exposure (12 page)

And it wouldn’t be long before he saw firsthand how much he had hurt her.

From the corner of his eye, he noticed the shade from his bedroom window move.

Here it goes.

He swung the ax down one more time, lodging it deep into the stump.

****

Ava looked around the room bewildered and groggy. She combed her fingers through her tangled hair and rubbed at her throbbing temples. Where was she? Better yet, how had she gotten here?

The room was mostly filled with the large log bed covered with white sheets and a brown down comforter. A small fireplace took up part of one wall.

In the corner was a wooden nightstand and a matching dresser stood a few feet from that. Everything was rustic and homemade.

As well as the walls that contained them. Logs. A log cabin.

Noise from outside the window had her running to it. She peeked through the side of the shade and saw Kade cutting wood.

This was his home. His bed?

And she was naked. How could this be?

Flustered, she let the window-covering drop and searched for her clothes.

The night before, she was in the hotel with Kade.

The painkillers
. They had knocked her out.

“Ava,” he called, and she heard a door shut in the other room.

Panic rose in her throat and flushed her skin. What the hell was going on?

“Your clothes are on the side of the bed. Come out when you’re dressed. Please.”

Her mouth was parched and her tongue stuck to the roof, but she didn’t want to answer him anyway. She didn’t want to give him an excuse to see her standing there dumbfounded and helpless. She grabbed her clothes and shoved them on piece by piece. They were the same articles she’d left in her hotel room. A pair of jeans and a T-shirt. Her backpack was lying up against the wall. How could she not remember anything? It was almost as if she...if she were...

Did he drug her and bring her here?

There had to be a puzzle piece missing. Kade wasn’t dangerous. He wouldn’t hurt her. No, she

hadn’t known him more than a few days, but she had sensed it.

You should’ve listened to your intuition, Ava
. She remembered the words he’d said to her. At the time she thought he was just being a noncommittal jerk-off. Not a psychopathic kidnapper. How could she possibly have known? She’d been wrong about the intentions of a man before.

Her shoes were nowhere to be found. Shit. How would she run without those? There was at least two feet of snow out there.

She didn’t have a choice other than to face him and find out what the hell was going on. Her legs wobbled and her stomach rumbled as she took the steps needed to walk into the next room. A brown leather sofa sat in front of a burning fireplace. A small wooden table with two chairs sat behind it. A bookshelf against the wall. An enormous rolling desk. The front door. Farther, in a separate area, bordered off by a half wall was the kitchen. It was tiny, especially with Kade’s width and height taking up most of it.

He wore a blue and beige flannel shirt and jeans. His face drained of color as he walked toward her with a plastic cup in his hand.

“I thought you could use some water.” He handed her the cup but didn’t meet her eyes. Guilty as sin. Bastard.

Ava took a desperately needed sip and scanned the room for something sharp or blunt. Nothing. It was sparsely decorated with only the essential furniture.

“This is my home,” he said with a shaky voice.

“No shit.” She tightened her grip on the cup.

“Did you drug me?”

His Adam’s apple rose and fell. Still no eye contact.

“Did you?” she repeated as her heart sank.

“I had to.”

It was true then. Suddenly sadness transformed to rage. He’d betrayed her. Lied to her. Without further thought, she threw the cup of water at him. He caught it, but not before the liquid soaked his shirt.

“Why?” she yelled at him but wasn’t sure she wanted the answer.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t have a choice.”

“Why?” she asked again as her heart began to break, remembering how she’d trusted him. How she’d fantasized about sharing a life with him.

“It’s what I do. Or did. I might not find another job after bringing you here instead of delivering you to...” His voice trailed off and he drew out a breath.

“To?” She urged him on but deep down she knew the answer. He worked for Zack. She should have realized it from the beginning. How naïve she’d been. A mysterious and handsome man walking into that seedy strip joint and paying a simple, jaded stripper special attention? It just didn’t happen. His ruggedly toned and muscular body wasn’t that of an average man traveling through town for his mundane career. And his evasive behavior should have rung some serious bells.

Why had she been so easily seduced by him?

Why hadn’t she asked him more questions about his life? Why had she let herself believe she had feelings for him? That he had them for her?

She caught her breath as his clear blue eyes finally met hers. Her stupid intuition told her they

read sad, regretful and caring. But she refused to believe it. She couldn’t trust anything about him. He’d deceived and exposed her.

“To Zack,” she answered for him, holding back the tears he didn’t deserve. “He’s coming here then?

When...when will he be here?” she asked, her voice unstable.

There was no point in playing around with the possibility of Kade’s innocence. Sadly, he’d been on Zack’s team the entire time, and the mere thought hurt like hell. The man she thought she’d been falling in love with didn’t exist. Her imagination had allowed her to mold him into her hero...her salvation. Once again, she’d been duped. How completely pathetic.

“It’s not what you think.” He set the cup on the table and walked past her into the bedroom. Ava followed and watched as he removed his wet shirt and hung it on one of the posts standing from the bed. Flashes of the passion they had shared in that same room ran through her mind. He’d made love to her here. Before she knew. Before she was fully awake.

She felt woozy and breathless, as if someone had ripped into her stomach and drained the air out of her lungs. He had used her. She’d trusted him and given him every bit of herself, and he’d exploited her naivety for his own benefit.

He’d taken something from her, and she wanted it back.

As he was opening his dresser drawer, Ava ran at him with a vengeance. With swiftness she hadn’t anticipated, he turned toward her but didn’t defend himself as she beat her fists against his chest. He didn’t budge. He didn’t hurt. She needed to do

something else. She needed him to feel her agony. Her heartbreak.

Remembering her self-defense class and the damage she’d caused Jarred, she shoved the palm of her hand up toward Kade’s nose. But he caught her wrist and held it down.

She jammed her foot as hard as she could onto his, but his boots were steel-toed. Not to be defeated, she attempted to ram her knee toward his groin, but he turned his hip.

Furious she was being denied her right to defend her honor, she brought her free hand up and slapped his face once, twice, and then a third time. She used all her might, and he stood there and took it.

He wasn’t fighting back.

“Don’t, Ava,” he said in an annoyingly calm voice as she brought her hand up again. “Please don’t.”

“Or what?” she yelled at him, tears stinging her eyes. She was
not
going to cry. Not for him. Not for anyone. “What are you going to do?”

“Nothing,” he said, his cheek reddened from her assault. “I won’t hurt you.”

“You’ve already hurt me, you son of a bitch.” She dropped her hand at her side and fisted it shut. “Tell me when he’ll be here!”

“I don’t know.” He let go of her wrist, grabbed a shirt out of his drawer, and walked back into the living room.

Ava followed, sick about not knowing the destiny Kade and Zack had planned for her. “I can’t believe I trusted you, that I gave myself to you so easily. You’re no better than Zack.”

He showed no emotion as he tugged his shirt on while making his way to the kitchen. “I’ll make you some eggs. You have to be starving.”

She was numb. “So we’ll wait until he walks in the door?” Sarcasm rang in her voice. “Maybe he’ll show up in the middle of the night and kill us both.”

“He’s not going to
touch
anyone,” Kade grumbled as he cracked an egg into a frying pan. Finally. Some emotion.

“So you think he’ll just stop by to say hello?” Ava moved up behind him. “Maybe he’ll want a quickie for old time’s sake.”

His body tensed. “Zack Moreno is not going to lay a finger on you. I promise you that.”

“Do you want to watch? Is that it?” Ava goaded him, satisfied she was finally getting some type of response. “While he has his way with me?”

Before she could blink, Kade turned and backed her against the refrigerator. He grabbed her wrists and pinned her hands above her head. His body crushed hers as he stared down at her with his piercing blue eyes.

Ava’s heart leaped. He was stronger than anyone she’d ever come into contact with, quicker than she had known possible. And she was his prisoner.

“You’re not scaring me,” she said, taking a gulp. She needed a weapon.

“I’m not trying to, Ava.” He kissed her forehead, and she squirmed under his touch.

“I get it.
You
want to have your way with me.”

****

Kade pulled back and attempted to gain control. The fear and resentment in her expression was killing him. If he could only explain how he felt

about her. How it bothered him to know Zack Moreno would be close to her. That the man would undoubtedly figure out that Kade had brought her here, and then come to finish the job on his own. Kade had too many enemies and so-called friends who knew where he lived. And Moreno was too impatient a man to waste any more time. He’d be here, all right. It was only a matter of time.

“Oh, wait,” she said. “You already did that. Several times. Tell me, Kade. Did Zack pay you to fuck me? ’Cause I can’t imagine him letting anyone touch me unless he had complete control over it.”

“No, of course he doesn’t know.”

“You bad boy. I guess you screw everyone you know.”

The eggs were beginning to crackle in the frying pan so he grabbed a paper plate from the cupboard. There was no point in arguing with her. He already knew he had done her wrong.

“Sorry,” he muttered and flipped the eggs onto the plate. “Do you want toast?”

“Toast?”

He turned to hand her the plate and noticed her eyes were rimming with redness. Shit. If he could cradle her up in his arms and make it all go away, he would. But it was too late for that. She hated him and he didn’t blame her.

“I don’t want
anything
from you, Kade.” She tossed the plate out of his hands. It flew into the air and landed on his shirt before the eggs fell to the floor.

This was going to be a messy day. But he didn’t care. Whatever she needed to do to get her aggression out...as long as she didn’t try leaving.

Not that she had the option anyway since he’d hidden her shoes.

“Fine.” He tore his T-shirt over his head and threw it on the counter. “You can help yourself if you get hungry enough.” He bent down and wiped the egg mess off the floor.

And saw her foot swing up toward his head. Kade grabbed her ankle before she made contact, causing her fall to the floor. Quickly, he moved over her, restraining her against the hard wood. She writhed underneath him, putting up a hell of a struggle. But her attempt to battle him off was pointless. He weighed twice as much and could easily handle any fight she had in her.

“Goddamn you,” she screamed into his ear with a sob in her voice. “Let me hurt you.”

“I can’t, Ava,” he said against her cheek as he secured her wrists to the floor and his body in between her legs. If he was injured, how would he protect her?

“Don’t say my name,” she yelled and slammed her head against his mouth.

Fuck. That hurt. “Baby, I’m going to have to tie you up if you don’t knock it off.” He propped his forehead against hers. Her eyes went to his lip, which felt like it was cracked and swelling. A drip of blood landed on her chin and she smirked. “I hate you.” She seethed while her eyes welled over. One tear escaped and slid down her temple.

“I know.” God, it felt like it was his heart that was leaking blood onto her instead of his lip. If only things could be different. If he could have found her outside of these messed up circumstances.

“Let me go.” Her body grew limp under his.

“Please. You’re hurting me.”

She was lying, of course, but he released her anyway and stood, grabbing a paper towel to press against his lip.

She rose from the ground and angrily swiped at a tear and the drip of blood on her chin. “Where are my shoes?”

“You can’t leave.”