JUDE: Book 2 The Justice Brothers Series (32 page)
Sky sniffed. “So are you saying that all those times my father warned me that I looked wanton, or was acting like a loose woman, or worst of all that I was acting like
her
, he wasn’t successful in achieving his intended goals?”
Jude’s jaw tightened and his eyes narrowed. “No, Skylar, he was egregiously unsuccessful. You are a joyously, gloriously sexual woman. But it is worth taking a look at how your father tried to tamp you down when he saw you becoming an enticingly sensual young woman. Think about the loaded words he used. Wanton? Hmm, if that means sexy, provocative, and saucy, then, hey, I’m all for it. A loose
woman? Think that might mean you are open to all the outrageous things I want to do to you? I sure as hell hope so. Or, how about his saying that all of those ‘bad’ things remind him of your mother?”
Jude was quiet for a moment then raised a quizzical brow. “I don’t know about you, Sky, but that makes me think I would like your mother. That I would find her attractive and hopefully a healthy role model for her lovely daughter.”
Sky was quiet, then nodded and sighed. “I remember my mother. She was pretty. She had a beautiful smile. And…she loved me. I know she did. She loved to take me to the park and would let me swing as high as I wanted to. She held me in front of her and we rode the big curvy slide together, shrieking when it made our tummies flip. It was after he saw us at the park that my father insisted my mother leave. I knew that was the reason even then. I missed her terribly when she left. But my father didn’t like her and wanted to be sure I understood why he made her leave. He only told me negative things about her. How she focused on all the wrong things, like clothes, looking pretty, having fun. Now I know that he was intimidated by her. By her exuberance. Her loving nature.”
“Hmm, how old was she? Younger than your father?”
“Oh, yes. She was one of my father’s students. She was only nineteen when they got married. He was in his early thirties. She left when she was twenty-four.”
“The same age you are now?”
Sky sighed again. “Yes, the same age I got enough courage to leave and come here.”
Jude hugged her closer to him and stroked her cheek. “You know I would never pressure you, Sky, but if you ever want to contact your mother I’d be all for it. It must have been a hard choice to leave you. Having met your father I can only assume that, like you, she must have known that in order to survive she had to escape his tyrannical presence.”
“It’s interesting you say that Jude.” Sky hesitated then forged ahead, “My grandmother called me after the press conference. Like my father, she was horrified. Not because I’d shamed her, but because of the danger I’d been in. And, Jude, she…was actually crying when she told me how scared she’d been and how proud she was of me.”
Skylar wasn’t sure she could continue, but Jude’s quiet presence and strong arms around her gave her courage. “She…my grandmother also said that my mother had seen the television coverage. She asked my grandmother if she thought it would ever be possible for her to see me.”
Jude let the silence stand for a long moment then said carefully, “That’s a big decision, Squirt. You gotta have mixed emotions about that.”
When she pressed her lips together and nodded, tears swimming in her eyes, he pulled her closer to him. “Take your time, baby. You’ve got enough turmoil in your life at the moment.” He chucked her under her chin and smiled at her. “Not the least of which is me.”
He was surprised when she responded with a serious frown.
“Jude…thank you for coming and getting me this morning.”
“Jesus, darlin’, how could you possibly think that I wouldn’t?”
She shook her head. “No…no, I…I knew you would. Just like I knew you would come to the Parker Mansion. I’m…just so glad you did.”
She gazed up at him and didn’t bother to swipe at the tears she couldn’t hold back. She gave him a watery smile. “Can I tell you that not even the Human Torch could have looked fiercer than you did striding across the garden to take on my father? And, Jude, I know it sounds crazy, but he was even scarier to me than those sick sisters were.”
Jude emitted a hard sigh and grimaced. “I’m not surprised that you say that, Sky. The Parker women were merely twisted, evil, maniacal, serial murderers. But they could only hurt you—make that
kill you—in that moment. Your father, on the other hand, has spent a lifetime chipping away at your psyche and sense of being. He was almost as maniacal in his intent as the Parker women. Like an envious artist seeing a gorgeous statute that he knew he wouldn’t have been able to carve, he was determined to destroy it. But instead of taking a hammer to it, he tried to take it down piece by piece so as not to let anyone know how threatened he was by the beautiful sculpture that he could never have created.”
Jude was quiet for a long moment then said after a hard sigh, “I love my brothers and my grandfather with all my heart. I’ve always known how lucky I am to have them. But, Skylar, I will thank Jared every day of my life for discovering you and bringing you here. In an odd way, at some unfathomable level of wisdom, he saw a woman who could heal his hard-bitten, cynical brother. And God knows how or why, but some crazy, smart angels convinced you to shuck off that insidious barnacle of a father and come halfway across the country to a place you’d never been. To top it off, instead of kicking me to the curb, insufferable asshole that I am, you let down your guard and let me in.”
He added with a watery smile of his own, “Hell, honey, you even took off your glasses and those ugly ass clothes and flashed your curvy butt at me. Damn, adding in that outrageous dress you wore, talk about baiting the hook! This unsuspecting wolf fish didn’t have a chance.” He pinched her bare bottom and grinned at her squeal. “By the way, how did you know that I was an ass man?”
She sniffed. “I understood that given your required rack to ass ratio, you’re an ass
and
a tits man.”
“Ouch! Jesus, Sky! How to hit a guy with his craven past.” He hugged her. “Please note, feisty woman, that the insufferable asshole said, craven
past
!”
Skylar glanced up and smiled at him shyly, her cheeks flushing a rosy pink. “Yes, I did notice that. I also noticed that you said not once but twice to my father that you love me. Um, do you, Jude? Do you love me?”
He sucked in a deep breath and let it out in a long, audible sigh.
“Yeah, Sky, I love you. Looking back on it, I fell for you the first time I saw you. Even with your crazy glasses and God-awful clothes, or maybe because of them, you got under my skin in a way no one ever has.” He raised his hands in a helpless gesture. “But then, I’ve never loved a woman before.”
At her startled gasp, he studied her, then cocked an inquiring brow. “How about you, Squirt? Do you love me?”
She slammed her eyes shut, not wanting her emotional tears to ruin the moment. She swallowed hard and managed to nod. “Yes, Jude. I love you…with all my heart and soul.”
He hugged her then said with a grin, “Okay, now that we’ve got the mushy stuff out of the way, on to the more important things.”
He cast a salacious glance at her bottom. “Before we take off for our glorious adventure down the Saint Lawrence Seaway, I need to make good on my threat. In all of the amazingly erotic things we did to one another in the last twelve hours, I haven’t yet made good on my promise to spank your bare ass. In that we are both stark naked, that takes care of the bare part. How about I sit over on that chair and you stretch your gorgeous bod over my knee so I can go to work spanking the hell out of you?”
He hugged her close and swiped at the tear on her cheek. “Is that a deal, Squirt?”
She brushed at the tears on his face that he hadn’t tried to hide and nodded.
“Yes, Detective Justice. It’s a deal.”
#####
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JARED
Prequel
JUDE
Book 2
JORDEN
Book3
JAKE
Book4
The JUDGE
Finale
AFTERWORD
Thank you for reading Jude. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much I enjoyed writing it. I always love my characters but Jude and Skylar really got to me. Jude is arrogant and cynical, as tough as nails. Of all the Justice Brothers he is the most hard-edged. But he has a soft side that his brothers and the Judge know but it takes Skylar to get him to acknowledge it. And then there is Skylar. I don’t know where in my imagination she came from—but I’m sure glad she did. She is as quirky a heroine as I’ve written. She intrigued me as much as she intrigued Jude. What I liked best about them both was that separately they were challenged individuals. Together they blossomed.
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JARED: Book 1; The Justice Brothers Series
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JAKE: Book 4; The Justice Brothers Series
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