Man of Honor (Passion in Paradise Book 4) (55 page)

Honor’s eyes filled
with tears as she stared into the fiery eyes of her sister.  “It’s all on
tape.  They recorded it, Patience.  What they did to me… it’s on video.  All of
it,” she shared tightly.

“Sweetie….”

“People are going to
see
it,” Honor said, her voice cracking.  “I don’t want anyone to see me like
that. It’s awful.  Ugly.  Disgusting!”  She shuddered as another wave of nausea
flooded her. 

“Oh, Honor,” Patience
whispered, gathering her sister in her arms, “I’m positive that Zeke will make
sure that nobody that isn’t absolutely necessary sees it.  Don’t you worry
about that.”

“Zeke!  Zeke can’t
watch it either, Pitty Pat.  He can’t see me like… like…  Patience, that shows
those men on top of me… it shows it
all,”
Honor sobbed.  “The man who’s
marrying me…”

“The man that’s
marrying you loves you, and nothing on any DVD is ever going to change that,” a
deep, rich, achingly familiar voice said from the doorway of the office.

Honor’s eyes widened
as they jerked toward the door.  “Zeke,” she whispered.  “How did you…”

“I was already on my
way when Diego called.  Patience sent Big Sam out to the parking lot to fill me
in on the rest as soon as I pulled into the lot,” he replied, keeping his voice
low and calm as Patience hugged her sister quickly and rose to her feet while
Zeke took her place on the floor beside Honor.  Looking over his shoulder at Diego
and Patience, he murmured, “Give us the room for a minute, will you?”

Honor watched as
Diego nodded, ushering Patience into the kitchen before closing the office door
behind them and leaving her alone with Zeke.  Staring at the calendar hanging
from the back of the door without really seeing it, she tried to swallow.  Her
throat was sore from screaming and her voice sound hoarse as she asked, “How
much do you know?”

“Never mind that
right now.  I wanna know how you are,” Zeke returned anxiously, starting to
reach for her only to drop his hand when she flinched.  “Don’t be scared of
me.  I’d cut off my arm before I ever hurt you.”

“I know that. I
really do, honey,” she said quickly, hating herself for her reaction.  Zeke
didn’t deserve that from her.  He never had.  But he especially didn’t now. 
“It was just reaction.  I swear,” she promised quickly, reaching for his hand
and linking their fingers together tightly.

“I get it, baby.  I
do.  Just tell me how you are.  Do you want me to call Bree or Orla or one of
your sisters?  Whatever you need… whatever you want, it’s yours,” he vowed, his
loving gray eyes soft on her face.

“Not…not just yet,”
Honor whispered as she made herself look at the man she loved.  He looked
worried and angry and all of the things she was feeling.  “Honestly, right now
I just wanna curl up in your lap and take a minute to get my head straight,”
she murmured truthfully.  “There’s so much…I feel like my mind is moving faster
than the speed of light, but I can’t catch a single clear thought,” she shared,
fisting her hand in her hair as she squeezed her eyes closed.

“Far as I’m
concerned, you can crawl in my lap and stay for the rest of your life,” Zeke
offered gently as he leaned forward to slip one hand behind her back and one
under her knees and shift her into his lap.  Wrapping his arms around her still
shivering body, he breathed tenderly against her temple, “You take all the time
you need, Honor.  The rest of the world can wait.”

Resting her head
against Zeke’s chest as he rocked her in his arms, Honor concentrated on her
breathing like her doctor had taught her to do in high stress situations.  ‘In
through the nose, out through the mouth,’ she heard Bree chant like a mantra
inside her head.  After several minutes, she felt a bit stronger.  “I don’t
want you to see what they did to me,” she said quietly, speaking for the first
time since he pulled her into his lap.

Zeke stilled
instantly at the sound of her voice, his arms tightening around her.  “Baby, I
already saw what they did to you.  I was there when we pulled you out of the
sink hole.  I was there at the hospital.”

“No, you saw the
results of what they’d done.  You’ve seen a few snapshots of me laying on the
ground after they finished with me.  You never had to watch them violate me,
Zeke, one after the other, over and over again.  But if you view that DVD, you
will.  And you’ll never be able to look at me the same way you do now, and I
don’t know if I can handle that,” she confided huskily.

“Kitten, not a single
thing I see on that video could
ever
change the love I have for you.”

“You don’t
understand!  It’s vile, Zeke.  Vile and nasty.  The things they forced me to do
to them… the stuff they did
to
me… God, I know that I lived the
nightmare, but seeing it again… knowing that the man I love will see it, too…
It feels like someone is ripping out my heart,” she wept, turning her face into
his chest as she felt him bury a hand in her hair, cupping her head as she
sobbed against his shirt.

“Fuck,” he cursed,
obviously torn between his desire to protect her and his need to do everything
he could to find the people responsible for her pain.  “The last thing I want
is to be one of the things that bring you pain,” he ground out, pressing his
lips to the top of her head as she continued crying.  “Someone has to analyze
the video, babe.  If not me…”

“Jake,” Honor
suggested, latching onto her brother-in-law.  She didn’t want anybody to see
her like that, but better it be Jake than Zeke.  She could avoid Jake until she
was able to bear the humiliation of having him see her like that.  Zeke, on the
other hand, would never allow her to hide from him.  She didn’t want to,
either.  He was her love…her safe place.  “Use Jake, Zeke.  And Diego, too, if
you need him.  Jake was in law enforcement, Zeke, and Diego has already seen
part of it when he found me screaming.  They could look at it for us.  Please,
can’t you make an exception?  I know it’s a big ask, but please, I can’t handle
you seeing those animals attacking me.  Please.  Do this for me,” she urged
desperately, her fingers digging into his sides as she pushed her face against
his damp shirt.

“Babe, even if I
agree to it, neither Jake nor Diego has a local connection to the town.  They
wouldn’t recognize anybody even if they hadn’t been wearing masks.”

Honor winced at
Zeke’s mention of finding a local connection.  She had to tell him about Angela
and Sherry.  It could potentially be a big break for them since Sherry was
still local to the area where they lived, but God, she hated to tell him.

“Zeke, there’s
something about the video I think you need to hear from me,” she began, her
voice thin and tense.  “What I have to tell you is going to be hard to hear,
but I want it to come from me and not anyone else,” Honor warned, shifting
until, she straddled his lap, facing him.    

“What is it?” he
questioned evenly.  “Don’t be afraid.  Whatever it is, I’ll keep myself under
control.”

“There were five men
that raped me, Zeke,” Honor whispered.  “But they weren’t the only ones
responsible for what happened.”

Zeke stiffened. 
“What do you mean, Honor?”

“There were more
people involved than those five.  The video shows it.  I don’t remember them
being there, but I heard their voices, and they called each other by name.”

Zeke’s face darkened
and Honor felt the muscles in his thighs contract under her butt.  “Zeke, you
promised to stay calm,” she reminded him nervously, watching his face like a
hawk. 

“Who?” he clipped
out.

“First, I need you to
swear to me you won’t burst out of here, half-cocked and bent on revenge. 
Promise me that for tonight, we’ll do nothing other than go home and crawl into
bed where you’ll hold me all night long,” Honor insisted, pressing a hand over
where his heart pounded in his chest.  “Please, Zeke.  I need you with me. 
Every day in every way, remember?  I won’t have you if you go off and do
something insane.”

 Gripping her hips,
Zeke’s jaw flexed.  “It’s that bad?”

“Just swear to me,”
Honor demanded, scooting closer until her breasts brushed his chest and she
could feel his warm breath ghosting over her lips.  The bristles of his five
o’clock shadow scraped against her palm as she lifted a hand and cupped the
stubborn angle of his jaw.  “Please, Ezekiel?  For me and that unborn baby you
saw in my eyes six years ago, make me this promise.”

“Shit,” Zeke swore,
grinding his teeth.  “You do know how to grab me by my short and curly ones,
don’t you, Kitten?”

“Your short and curly
what?” Honor asked blankly, relieved when she saw a faint smile tilt his lips. 

“God, I love your
innocence, Honor.  Never mind about that,” he chuckled, moving his hands from
her hips to stroke up and down her back.  “You’ve got my word.  Regardless of
whatever you tell me, I promise that for tonight, I’ll take you home and keep
you in my arms all night long.  Tomorrow will be soon enough to deal with
whatever you’ve got to share.”

Honor relaxed as she
gained his promise and was once again awed by the depth of Zeke’s love for
her.  She knew she shouldn’t have been surprised, but it never ceased to amaze
her how willing he was to put her wishes first.  She only hoped that one day
she could show him that the feeling went both ways and that she adored him
every bit as much as he seemed to her.  It was the reason she’d wanted his
promise so badly.  She wanted her future with him.  Badly.  And if he went off
and did something he’d regret later, it could cost them both dearly.

“Who else was there,
Honor?  Who else was responsible for nearly taking you from me before I even
realized that we were meant to be?”

“One of them was
Angie,” Honor told him softly, hating the look of absolute horror that flooded
his face.

“What?” he breathed
as his arms involuntarily contracted around her.

“It’s true.  You see
her on the video plain as day in living color.”

“I don’t understand
why the hell she would
ever
be a part of something so hideous!  I mean,
I know she was a rotten person, but…”

“I know why she did
it, Zeke,” Honor acknowledged quietly.

“Why then?” Zeke
growled.

Honor didn’t even
flinch at the anger in Zeke’s voice.  She knew it wasn’t directed at her. 
“Because I knew her secret,” Honor whispered.  “I knew she was sleeping around
on Abel.”

“Half the town knew
that,” Zeke countered.

“Yes, but they didn’t
know who with, Zeke.  I did.  I accidently walked in on it the day I went to
pick up some forms for the café for Aunt Orla.  I walked in on Angie…and
Tanner,” she whispered.  “From what I pieced together on the video, Angie told
Tanner to get rid of me… and kidnapping me was the way he did it.”

“Jesus Christ!” Zeke
snarled, pulling Honor to him.

“The sad part is that
I never had any intention of telling what I knew, Zeke.  I would never have
wanted to hurt Abel
or
Harmony that way.  At the time, she still loved
Tanner.  And the whole town knew that back then Abel was stupid over Angela. 
She had nothing to fear from me.”

“None of this was
your fault, baby,” Zeke soothed, pressing his lips to her temple as he slid his
hand up and down her spine.

“Angie says on the
video she was filming what happened because she wanted Tanner to know that she
had the video in case he or any of his friends ever thought about running his
mouth about their affair. She said she knew all their names and wasn’t afraid to
use them if she ever needed to.” 

“Well, at least this
gives me some insight into Angie’s murder.  It’s entirely likely that whoever
killed her participated in your kidnapping and rape.  When she came back to
town to defend Diego, she spooked them.  They got nervous and they put a bullet
in her head to ensure that video would never come to light.”

Honor felt a chill
creep down her spine as she listened to Zeke’s theory.  “Then why send it to me
now?” Honor whispered.  “The
DVD
had a
post-it note stuck to it,” she said, lifting her head from his shoulder and
pointing at the yellow square of paper that had fallen to the floor beside her
desk.  “They called it a loving reminder before our wedding, Zeke.  I don’t
understand.  If they’d kill Angie for having that video, why send it to me?”

“He’s taunting us. 
Whoever is responsible for sending this fucked up video is fixated on you
still.  They probably have been since they assaulted you eight years ago.  This
is a small town.  Word’s gotten around that we’re getting married… that you’re
finally moving on from what happened to you.  He doesn’t like that and he’s
acting out.  He’s starting to act impulsively.  Emotionally.  He’s starting to
make mistakes.  Because as awful as seeing what’s on that video was for you,
baby…it still helped us.  It gave us information we hadn’t already possessed.”

“Angie wasn’t the
only new piece to the puzzle, Zeke.  There was one more person there,” Honor
continued on hesitantly, lifting a hand to swipe at the wet tears still on her
cheeks.

Zeke saw the look on
Honor’s face and paled.  “It’s someone we trusted, isn’t it?”