Out of Turn (36 page)

Probably not a good idea. But his hand was warm and reassuring against my skin, and his body, stretched alongside mine, made me feel safe. I smiled and closed my eyes.

“I promised you fireworks,” Kade whispered in my ear.

“Hmmm?” I said drowsily. I was really relaxed, though I could tell from the brightness against my eyelids that it was morning.

“I promised you fireworks and I didn’t deliver,” he said.

I patted his arm still wrapped around me. “S’okay. Next year.”

“I can’t promise you next week, much less next year,” he murmured. The warm heat of his mouth brushed my neck, my shoulder.

“Don’t say that,” I said automatically.

He paused. “Tell me what happened in Vegas.”

My eyes flew open and I stiffened, coming fully awake now. “You know what happened in Vegas,” I said, pretending ignorance.

“I mean, why did I find buttons from my shirt you wore on the floor of my room?”

My pulse shot into overdrive. “I-I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I stammered.

Kade’s hand disappeared for a moment. I heard the rustle of cloth. Then he was placing something in my palm.

“I’ve carried this with me since Vegas,” he said, “trying to remember.”

He’d given me a button. I realized that must be what I’d seen him looking at several times since we’d gotten back. I squeezed my eyes shut. This couldn’t be happening.

“Please tell me. It’s driving me insane,” he rasped. “I have these scenarios in my head, and I’m terrified that I hurt you, or forced you—”

Oh God, I couldn’t talk about this. If I did, even to alleviate his concerns, it would all come out. Panic struck. “I’m going to shower,” I said, jumping out of bed and hurrying to the closet. I grabbed a pair of short denim cutoffs and a white tank before disappearing into the bathroom.

Over half an hour later, when I came out dressed for the day, I was hoping Kade would be gone. No such luck. In fact, things were much, much worse.

Kade sat on my bed, my open suitcase on the floor, with his torn shirt—the one I’d worn in Vegas—in his hand.

I nearly turned around and went back into the bathroom.

He held it up in his clenched fist. “When were you going to tell me? Ever?” His anger was palpable and I flinched.

My voice was weak when I replied, “There’s nothing—”

“Stop lying to me!” He was up and in my face now. My back hit the wall. “I remember,” he hissed. “I remember
everything
.”

I could feel the blood leave my head in a rush. I stared at Kade, afraid of what was going to happen now.

“You weren’t ever going to tell me?” he asked, pain in his voice and betrayal in his eyes. “Did it mean so little to you?”

“Mean so little?” I echoed in disbelief. “You didn’t even remember!”

“I was drunk!”

“Which is supposed to excuse it?” I fumed. I didn’t care that I didn’t make sense. The hurt I’d felt since that night now had an outlet.

“I don’t recall you saying no,” he hissed.

“I’m talking about how easily you forgot,” I retorted.

“Well, I remember now,” Kade said, his voice low and intent. “I remember how it felt to be inside you, the feel of your body against mine, the taste of your sweat on my tongue.”

I could hardly breathe. His face was inches away, his eyes boring into mine, when he dropped the next bombshell.

“I remember telling you I loved you. But what I don’t remember is you saying it back.”

My heart felt torn into pieces at the anguish in his eyes. “Kade,” I began quietly, “you know I care about you—”

“But you don’t love me,” he interrupted. “You love him.” Kade jerked his head toward the door and it didn’t take a rocket scientist to know who he meant. “He used you, lied to you, betrayed you. And you’re still in love with him?”

I was too stunned by his anger to speak and so just looked at him, my eyes wide.

“I saw you two last night,” he continued, stepping away from me. The cold mask I knew so well turned his expression forbidding. “So tell me, have you slept with him since we’ve been back? Did you go straight from my bed to his?”

“I—”

“Or does he even know? Did you lie to him like you lied to me?”

Anger boiled up inside me. “He knows,” I spat. “And he doesn’t care. He wants me back. What do
you
want me for, Kade? An easy lay when you’re in town?”

I could tell by his eyes that I was treading on dangerous ground, but I was too mad to care.

“You want to know why I didn’t tell you?” I asked, advancing on him. “Because
there was no point
. You told me you were going to drop out of my life and I’d never see you again. So what would knowing that we slept together have changed?”

“Maybe you just regret it so much you were glad I didn’t remember,” he accused.

“And you don’t regret it?” I asked.

“The only thing I regret is not waking up beside you the next morning.”

With that he was gone, slamming the door behind him. My stomach seemed to drop to my toes and I ran to jerk open the door, only to see Blane and Kade facing off in the hallway.

C
HAPTER
F
OURTEEN

W
hat the hell are you doing?” Blane snapped at Kade. “After what she went through last night, you’re fucking yelling at her this morning?”

“Oh, excuse me, am I supposed to be taking advice on how to treat her from
you
?” Kade shot back. “In that case, let me crush her dreams and publicly humiliate and betray her. Am I missing anything?”

“At least I make my intentions clear. I want her back. You just screw with her head and put her in danger.”

“You mean like Gage trying to kill her? Or you holding sleazy Uncle Bob in higher esteem than your own fiancée?” Kade accused, his voice laced with contempt. “How many women, besides Kandi of course, have you slept with over the past three months? I’m sure Kathleen would love to know where your dick’s been.”

Blane grabbed Kade by the shirt and slammed him against the wall. “You were just waiting, weren’t you,” he snarled. “You think I didn’t know that the moment I was out of the picture, you’d try to fuck her?”

“Who said anything about try?”

Kade moved, so fast I couldn’t see what he did, but he was out of Blane’s hold now, his back no longer to the wall.

“Why are you doing this to me?” Blane asked. “Are you still so angry that I took too long to come get you? For all you went through? Are you trying to get back at me?”

“Give me a fucking break,” Kade scoffed. “Don’t try and blame this on some psychobabble bullshit about my childhood.”

“Then why?”

Silence from Kade as they glared at each other.

“Tell me why!” Blane shouted, making me jump.

“Because I love her!”

The silence in the wake of Kade’s outburst was deafening. Blane looked how I felt—stunned.

“I love her, too,” Blane finally said, his voice much quieter.

“I know,” Kade replied, the defeat in his voice painful to hear. “And she loves you. Not me. Congratulations. You win.”

He turned then, and our eyes met. Blane looked over at me as well. I stood, frozen, under their steady gazes. I imagined they were accusing me.

I swallowed. “This has to stop,” I managed to force out. “You’re tearing each other apart and I’m to blame. It never should have gotten this far.” And I didn’t know if I was referring to myself and Blane, or me and Kade.

The sound of the doorbell precluded anything they might have said. I took it as my opportunity to escape and hurried to look out the window in my bedroom. When I saw who was parked outside, my heart jumped into my throat.

“It’s the police,” I called out, heading back to where Blane and Kade still stood in the hall. “Two patrol cars and an unmarked car.” There was no way they were sending
that much manpower without a good reason, a reason I was afraid I already knew.

“I’ll go down,” Blane said.

“I’ll come with you,” I added.

“You should stay up here,” he said with a frown.

I shook my head. “No way. And don’t even think about locking me up again.”

The ghost of a smile crossed Blane’s lips and was gone. He took my hand and turned to Kade. “Don’t you dare come downstairs,” he said. “I don’t need the cops sniffing around you.”

Kade’s lips were pressed in a thin line. “Like I give a shit,” he scoffed. “I’m not letting them take you.”

“There’s nothing you can do about it,” Blane said. “And you’ll only get yourself hurt or arrested if you try. I won’t have it.” His tone said he was not to be argued with.

Kade’s lips twisted in a bitter smile. “Still under the delusion that you can tell me what to do?”

Blane grasped Kade’s shoulder in a firm grip. “I’m still protecting my little brother. Nothing’s ever going to change that. So stay out of it and keep your ass hidden, or you’re going to be in deep shit with me.”

Kade didn’t say anything, his eyes on us as Blane led me downstairs.

He held my hand tightly as we walked to the front door, and I had the sense we were walking to our doom. Blane put his hand on the knob, then took a deep breath before he opened the door, schooling his face into a polite mask of indifference.

A plainclothes cop was standing there along with two uniformed men. He flashed his badge and ID, which proclaimed him to be Detective Walker. “Blane Kirk?”

“Yes.”

The cop’s eyes flashed to me. “Kathleen Turner?”

I swallowed. “Yes,” I confirmed, but my voice was thready. I tried again. “Yes.”

“Ma’am, we’d like to take you downtown for questioning in the murder of Kandi Miller.”

My jaw fell open and the blood rushed from my head so fast I saw spots dance before my eyes. Blane’s grip on my waist tightened. “Wh-what?” I stammered in disbelief.

“Why do you need to talk to Miss Turner?” Blane asked, his voice curt as he slipped into lawyer mode.

“We have reason to believe Miss Turner had motive and opportunity,” Walker said. “That’s all we need.” His gaze didn’t falter as he looked at Blane. “You of all people should know that, Mr. Kirk.”

He and Blane were locked in a staring contest, the tension thick between them as the cops hovered in the background. I glanced from one to the other, confused. Was I missing something?

Finally, Blane’s lips curved in a cold smile. “Well played, Detective,” he said calmly. “There’s no need to take Miss Turner in for questioning. As I’m sure you know, she was out of town the night Kandi was killed.”

“Blane!” I exclaimed in dismay. He’d just blown the alibi I’d concocted for him. His hand tightened painfully on mine and I shut up.

“Do you have another witness who can vouch for your whereabouts that night?” Walker said, looking wholly unsurprised by Blane’s confession.

“I do not.”

“Then I’m afraid you’ll have to come with us,” he said, motioning to the two uniformed cops. They moved forward to flank Blane.

I panicked. “No! You can’t arrest him!”

“Give us just a moment, if you would,” Blane said to Walker, who nodded, a flash of sympathy or maybe pity crossing his face as he glanced at me.

Blane took me by the elbow, moving me a few steps away from the door and out of earshot. “It’s okay, Kat,” he said softly. “I knew this was coming.”

“Y-you can’t—they can’t!” I stammered, tears flooding my eyes. “You didn’t kill her!”

“Shhh, Kat, it’s okay,” he said, folding me in his arms. “Be strong. I need you to be strong.”

I swallowed the sob building in my chest, nodding and clutching his shirt. I inhaled deeply, memorizing the scent of him, the warmth of his body, the strength in his arms, the press of his lips to the top of my head.

“Stay here,” Blane whispered in my ear. “I can’t think of you anywhere else right now. Promise me.”

I nodded again, unable to speak.

“Kiss me.”

I obediently tipped my face up to his.

Blane’s lips met mine with a sweet tenderness that sent a shaft of pure pain through me. He cupped my jaw, lightly brushing my cheek with his thumb. There was the softest touch of his tongue against mine, then he was pulling back.

“I love you,” he whispered in my ear.

It took every ounce of willpower I had to stand there and do nothing as they cuffed his hands behind his back. Blane never took his eyes off me while Walker read him his rights, as though he were memorizing me the same way I was him. Then they turned him, leading him out the door and into one of the squad cars. I watched, standing silently in the doorway, as they took Blane away.

Hands settled on my shoulders and I turned to lean into Kade, the tears flowing freely now. His arms circled me in a tight embrace.

“What now?” I asked, raising my tearstained face to look at him.

“We need to call that chick, his lawyer,” Kade said, gently brushing the wetness from my cheeks. “And the cop, Jared, who said he’d help Blane.”

I nodded, trying to push away the despair I felt and concentrate on how to best help Blane.

“Did he tell you how to reach that guy?”

I shook my head. “No.”

“Go call the lawyer,” Kade said. “Tell her Blane’s been arrested. She needs to get over there ASAP and make sure they keep him in isolation.”