Out of Turn (40 page)

I paused, opening the door just a crack and peering through. I wondered where Kade was and why he’d left me alone.

I knew Blane kept his guns in a cabinet in his den. Maybe it was unlocked.

Seeing no one in the hallway, I crept silently downstairs, my heart pounding so loudly I was sure it could be heard. Glancing at the grandfather clock as I passed, I realized it was late. I’d slept over twelve hours.

The den was empty and the gun case was locked tight. I muttered a curse, trying to think of what to do now.

Knives. The kitchen.

I headed that way, relief flooding through me when I heard Kade and Mona talking quietly. I heard my name and paused, unable to resist the temptation to listen in.

“… stay with Kathleen tonight,” Mona was saying.

“I’d planned on it,” Kade replied. “Leaving her alone right now is a bad idea.”

“Did you take care of the awful men who took her?”

“Yes. They won’t be back.”

“What about Gage?”

A pause. “He won’t be a problem, either.”

“Thank goodness,” Mona said with a sigh. “He was such an evil man.”

“And I’m not?”

“Don’t be silly. Personally, I don’t see anything wrong with protecting those you love when the police can’t or won’t help.” She paused. “And I know you love her, Kade.”

“She loves Blane,” Kade dismissed.

“Does she? Things have been so crazy around here the past couple of weeks, I’d be surprised if she knows how she feels anymore.”

“She’s amazing, what she endured,” Kade said. “You should have seen where he left her, that fucking piece of shit.”

“Language,” Mona said mildly, “though I don’t disagree. And I don’t want to know—it’ll only upset me. I just thank God you found her.” I heard the rustle of fabric, as though she were hugging him, and decided I needed to stop eavesdropping.

I walked into the kitchen. “There you are,” I said to Kade a little breathlessly. “I was afraid everyone had gone.”

Mona looked pleasantly surprised to see me. “You’re up!” she said with a smile. “How are you feeling?”

“Better,” I said. “Thirsty.”

She went to the refrigerator and took out a bottle filled with a blue sports drink. “Here,” she said, handing it to me. “Gerard went to the store and got these for you in every flavor of the rainbow. Said he wanted to make sure there was one you liked.”

My heart squeezed and I took a big gulp of the fruity liquid, trying not to cry. I was sick of crying.

“Speaking of which,” she said, untying and removing the apron she wore, “I think I’ll head home. I’ll be back in the morning.” She gave me a hug. “Good night, dear.”

“Good night,” I said, hugging her back. “And thank you.”

She smiled and left through the kitchen door. I glanced at Kade, who was leaning against the counter. He frowned as he looked me up and down.

“What?”

“Why are you wearing that at this hour?” he asked.

I looked down at my dress. “I thought I was alone, and if that guy came back, I might need to run, or fight, or…” My voice trailed away. It had seemed like a good idea to get dressed at the time, though after sleeping so long, perhaps I hadn’t been thinking too clearly.

“You thought I’d leave you?”

“You were gone when I woke up,” I said with a shrug.

Kade stared at me, his expression unreadable.

I glanced away, taking another swallow of the sports drink. Suddenly, all I could think about was the revelation I’d had before falling asleep. I loved Kade, and maybe had for longer than I wanted to contemplate. And I could never, ever tell him.

I forced those thoughts from my mind. Now wasn’t the time to dwell on it. I could fall apart some other time. “Will that guy be back?” I asked. “The one who took me? Or his partner?”

“No, they won’t.” Kade didn’t elaborate.

“What, um—what happened to them?” I asked, still not meeting his eyes.

“You don’t want the details,” he said dryly. “Just know that if they came back, it’d be as ghosts.” There was a drink on the counter and he took a swallow. Vodka, I guessed.

“Hungry?” he asked, pushing himself away from the counter. “Mona made dinner and saved you a plate.” He went to the refrigerator without waiting for my answer and pulled out a dish, which he stuck in the microwave.

I stood awkwardly in silence, drinking until I’d finished the bottle.

Kade took the dish from the microwave and set it on the table along with a fork and knife.

“Thanks,” I said, sitting down. Mona had made some kind of chicken with a sauce and potatoes. It was awesome, as was everything she made.

Kade sat down opposite me with his drink in hand. After a few minutes of silence, he spoke.

“Why won’t you look at me?”

I glanced up from my nearly empty plate, my face heating. I didn’t know what to say, how to act after everything that had happened between us. How did I deal with the fact that I loved two men? Two
brothers
? It was a disaster that left me reeling, my heart breaking inside. Two men who were far better to me than I deserved, and I loved them both. Mona had been right, there wasn’t going to be a happy ending to this.

“I’m not avoiding looking at you, if that’s what you’re suggesting,” I lied. “It’s…” I stopped because I had no clue what to say.

“… that we’re just now having that awkward morning after,” he supplied, his eyes narrowing.

Well, yes, there was that.

I got up to take my dish to the sink so I wouldn’t have to answer right away. Unfortunately, Kade was still waiting when I finished, and he wasn’t sitting at the table anymore but was standing right behind me.

I turned off the faucet, staring at the window above the sink. I watched our reflection while his eyes were solely on me. His hands settled on my shoulders, his brow creased as though he was in pain. His palms skated down my bare arms to my hands where he slotted our fingers together.

Mona had been right. I hadn’t even realized that my feelings for Kade had grown so much. Though if I was honest, I should have realized I never would have slept with him in Vegas if I hadn’t known, deep down, that I loved him. I just hadn’t wanted to face it then, any more than I wanted to face it now.

Kade pressed a kiss to my shoulder, crossing my arms in front of me so he could hold me. His lips moved toward my neck and I closed my eyes, leaning back against him and tipping my head to the side. A soft sigh escaped me at the touch of his tongue, warm and soft, to the skin that had been scraped and abraded by the metal collar.

“Let’s get you to bed,” he said softly in my ear.

My pulse jumped, though I knew he didn’t mean anything by it.

Kade kept my hand in his and walked me upstairs to my room. Even after sleeping all day, I was still tired. I worried about Blane and what he’d endured since they’d arrested him. I worried about what would happen when, and if, this was all over. If I’d thought it best for me to leave before I’d realized how I felt, now it was imperative.

“Has it been on the news?” I asked. “About Blane?”

“Yep,” Kade answered, turning the bedside lamp on. “It got leaked almost immediately.”

“Damn it,” I said with a sigh.

“Don’t worry. The public has a notoriously short memory,” Kade said. He dug in my dresser drawer, pulled out my white nightgown, and handed it to me. “Here you go.”

“Turn around,” I said.

Kade’s smirk made my heart beat faster, but he did as I said. I unbuttoned and shed the dress, not bothering to try
and put on panties or a bra before donning the nightgown. It was enough of an ordeal to raise my arms to put through the straps and pull the gown over my head.

“You really should be more aware of your surroundings.”

I jerked my head up. “Wh—?” I began, then I saw that he’d been watching me in the mirror. I flushed as he turned around, not a trace of remorse on his face.

“You’re shameless,” I said with a raised brow.

“You’re gorgeous.”

I flushed even more and quickly looked away as I climbed into bed. I pulled the covers up over me.

“I guess I’ll flunk my classes,” I said. “I missed a final today and have two tomorrow that I won’t be able to take.” I knew I wasn’t going to miss Blane’s arraignment, no matter what—and besides, it wasn’t as if I’d spent a lot of time studying the past few days. All the money and time I’d spent on those classes had been wasted.

“Don’t worry about that,” Kade said, flicking off the overhead light before lying down next to me on top of the covers. He bent his arms behind his head and stared up at the ceiling.

Easy for him to say.

Kade reached for the bedside lamp.

“Wait,” I said, grabbing his arm. He looked at me, questioning.

“Um, do you mind leaving it on?” The thought of being in the dark terrified me enough to swallow my embarrassment at asking for a nightlight like a child.

I couldn’t read the expression that crossed Kade’s face, but he gave a nod and lay back down.

“Will you stay with me?” I asked, hating that fear had prompted the question but unwilling to face the night alone. Or without Kade.

Kade looked at me. “Absolutely.”

I abandoned any pretense that I didn’t want to be close to him, scooting over until I was pressed against his side. His eyebrows climbed, but he didn’t say anything, just wrapped one arm around me as I rested my head on his shoulder, my arm lying across his chest.

What would become of him? He’d said he couldn’t stay away from me, but us being together wasn’t an option. How could I possibly be with Kade when my feelings for Blane were still so confused? Blane said he wanted me back, but how could I go back to him when I also loved Kade?

I loved them both, but Kade had been wrong when he said one of them would have me. That wasn’t going to happen. Not when I knew it would drive them apart for good. I couldn’t—I wouldn’t—be the catalyst for that.

Convincing them was going to be another story.

The next time I woke, sunlight streamed through my window. I glanced at the clock. It was early, which was good since I needed to get ready to appear at Blane’s arraignment.

With a pang, I noticed Kade was no longer in bed with me. I figured he had probably known I’d be okay once the sun came up, but it still would have been nice to have him by my side.

I showered and blew my hair dry, my aching arms making it take longer than usual, then stood in front of my closet in a towel, trying to figure out what to wear. Though they were healing nicely, there were still the cuts on my chest from James. So something to cover up the scabs would be good.

A knock at the door interrupted my perusal. I opened the door to find Mona standing there with a tray.

“Breakfast,” she said with a smile.

“That’s so sweet of you,” I said, stepping back so she could come in. “Thank you.”

“It’s no trouble,” she said, setting down the tray. I saw her eyes flick over my neck and chest when she turned around and I self-consciously hitched the towel higher to hide the
J
.

“What are you going to wear?” she asked, brushing by me as she headed for the closet.

“I’m not sure,” I confessed. “Do you have any suggestions?”

She picked out a deep pink tea-length dress with fitted elbow-length sleeves. It had a vintage feel to it and, though it wasn’t something I’d normally wear, it would probably work well for where I had to be today. “And you can wear this, too,” she said, opening a drawer and pulling out a pale nylon scarf printed with pink flowers.

I thanked her and she left. I drank the water she’d brought, only had one cup of coffee, and ate some of the yogurt and fruit she’d brought for me. Half an hour later, I was adjusting the scarf around my neck, glad to see it concealed the marks from the metal collar.

I headed downstairs and found Kade in Blane’s den, sitting in front of the muted television. He was dressed nicely,
too, and my breath caught at the sight of him in black slacks and a black button-down shirt. He didn’t wear a tie and had left the top button of his shirt undone.

“How do I look?” I said stepping in front of him and doing a pirouette. “Am I suitably pure and innocent enough to be Blane’s fiancée?” I smiled wryly at the joke, since the last thing I felt was pure and innocent.

The look on Kade’s face was enough to wipe the smile from mine.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, my heart plummeting. “What’s happened?”

Kade didn’t answer for a moment, then he said, “Your friend Tish called you.”

I frowned. “She did?” That reminded me. “Where’s my cell?”

Kade pulled my phone from his pocket and handed it to me. “She wanted to let you know that your boss, Romeo, was going to go to the cops with something he’d found.”

I looked up from the phone, alarmed. “What did he find?”

“Apparently, unbeknownst to you or the other employees, he’s had video cameras installed for monitoring. And one of them is located in the storeroom.”

I stood in shock, staring at him.

“In reviewing the footage,” Kade continued, “Romeo felt it should be turned over to the police, but he thought you should make that call. He felt uncomfortable, given the content, about talking to you himself, so he had her bring this by.” He picked up a DVD that I hadn’t noticed was on the table.