Chapter 18
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Win
The tension vibrating through me could light the entire estate. Fuck, it might be enough to power all of England.
Two officers arrive, taking my statement and then Katarina’s.
It’s quick and effortless, and considering the driver was completely drunk, no one questions my version of events.
But it’s after two before Katarina and I are returning to my home.
We sit in the back of the cruiser, Katarina silently holding her backpack in her lap as she stares out the window.
She’s been near silent since I pulled her up the shoulder of the road, and I don’t like it. That first night I met her on the plane, she wasn’t afraid of me. She taunted me, teased, full of life and sassy brass.
But tonight…
She’s been like a wounded animal, watchful and afraid.
I did that to her.
I have no idea if I can ever make it up to her, but I’ve decided to try.
My entire body is sore from the way I smacked into the back of that car, but it was worth it.
I saw that shit stain with his hands on Katarina, the other one getting out of the car and I went…dark.
My vision, my temper, it turned from ice to red hot in a split second.
“Are you sure there isn’t somewhere else we can drive you, miss?” the officer asks, his gaze going to Katarina in the rearview mirror.
She doesn’t even flick her gaze toward him. “No. There’s nowhere else.”
Her words cut into me.
I played it off like Katarina and I weren’t acquainted. It made my story of hitting the car accidentally much more plausible.
But now, the officer is offering a ride to wherever she wants to go.
“Where were you headed?” he asks, his brow furrowing, even as he rolls up the long drive of the estate.
“Dover,” she answers. “I’ve always wanted to see the Channel.”
The officer smiles, looking relieved. “Right. But maybe thumbing for a ride isn’t the best travel plan.”
“Too true,” she says, sounding a bit more like herself. “I won’t do it again.”
He nods and then he turns to me. “Nice of you to offer her a place for the night, Your Grace.”
I’m many things, but nice is not one of them. “It’s not as though I don’t have the room.”
He laughs, but my gaze flicks to Katarina who has gone back to staring out the window.
Her silence is more powerful than any argument I’ve ever had.
When people argue, I can find ways to be right. But in absence of sound, I find my reflecting on all the ways I’ve done this all wrong.
The car stops and I wait for the officer to open my side. Not because I’m a lord of the realm. I don’t have a choice, no interior door handles in the back of a police vehicle.
He does and then goes around to help Katarina from the back.
But he doesn’t let go of her hand. “You’re sure you’ll be all right?” I can see the concern that lights his eyes and the interest.
Bruises are blooming on her jaw, her clothes are covered in dirt, and yet she’s still stunningly beautiful.
“Fine,” she answers with a sweet smile that looks completely sincere. Little liar.
But I manage to wrest her from the officer’s attention and walk her up the stairs and into the foyer.
I half hoped when the front door closed, she’d return to herself. Maybe yell at me.
Or at least give me a sarcastic comment about how obnoxious or superior I am. I’m both.
Instead, she stands there, still holding her bag.
“Katarina,” I start, wanting her to say anything.
“Not tonight, Win.”
Her words are something. An admission of sorts, but I don’t feel any better.
Frowning, I study her profile as she stands there, still holding her backpack, her eyes far away.
Without another word, I sweep her into my arms, starting for the stairs. “What are you doing?” she snaps, and I’m glad to hear a little grit in her voice.
“Taking you upstairs.”
“I can walk by myself,” is her only answer. She at least sounds more like Katarina. But she makes no move to wiggle out of my arms.
I don’t bother to answer as I carry her to her room and then straight through to the bathroom.
She doesn’t ask as I sit down on the lip of the large soaking tub, settle her in my lap, and turn on the taps. Nor does she say a word as I pry the backpack from her arms and set it on the floor.
I pull off her sneakers and socks, wrestle her jacket off, and start pulling the T-shirt up her torso.
Her scars come into view, and I stop, my hand spreading out over them. That’s when I see a tear slip down her cheek.
“Why are you crying?” I don’t mean to ask a stupid question. She’s been through hell tonight. But I’m hoping to know which specific thing has upset her.
She swipes at the tear and then pushes out of my lap, standing and turning away from me. “I don’t need any more of your help. Thanks for starting the bath. A soak is a good idea.”
I don’t trust her. I recognize the tone she takes when she’s saying what someone wants to hear.
I stand, kicking off my Italian loafers, and shrug my jacket off. She spins to look at me, her eyes wide. “What are you doing?”
“Every muscle in my body hurts.” I take off my sweater, then my shirt, so I’m in nothing but trousers.
Her eyes are wide as they slide down my bare chest.
I know there isn’t much about my personality that’s cuddly, and my body is the same. Chiseled is the best word to describe me.
I work out religiously to help take the edge off of the hard lines of my personality.
“So go soak in your own tub.”
My lips curl up into a small smile. There she is…
“I’d rather do it here.”
“I’d rather you go to hell.” But she pulls her shirt off.
I smile at her words, but it quickly disappears when all her scars come into view.
She unsnaps her bra shrugging it down her shoulders like she’s gotten naked in front of me every day of her life.
The intimacy of it makes my muscles loosen and I undo my pants, shucking them down my legs and climb into the tub.
“Close your eyes,” she says to me. I want to see every inch of her, but I do as she commands as I sink down into the water.
Is she going to bolt again? It would be foolish. If she wanted to leave, she could have had the officer drive her wherever she wanted to go.
But a few seconds later I feel her enter the water.
When I open my eyes, I find her at the other end of the tub, her knees drawn up to her chin.
She looks so lost and it hits me in the chest. I’ve broken a beautiful woman. Not just her physicality. Her strength, her energy, is stunning and my betrayal has stolen both.
“Come here.”
She doesn’t move, doesn’t speak, so I lean forward and gently turn and pull, until I’ve settled her back into my chest.
Just like the last time, I have this sense that she fits me perfectly. “Why are you doing this?”
“What?”
“You went to great pains to be clear tonight, Win. You’ve been using me from the start. Even last night… Why muddy the waters now?”
She doesn’t need to say more. I know she means Rebecca, and her own role in my plan for revenge. I wrap my arms around her, holding her tight. “Tomorrow I’m spanking your ass for running off in the dead of night and allowing yourself to fall into the hands of men like that.”
Her head whips around, her eyes full—full—of fight. “You spank me and I’ll shred the skin off your back.”
“I’d deserve it.”
That makes her eyes go wide. “You would.”
“Now lean back and let me wash all that dirt off you.”
“I can wash myself.”
“You can, but it’ll be much more fun if I do it.” I grab the soap and start gently gliding it over her skin.
She relaxes back into me, her eyes fluttering closed, falling silent again. But this silence is one of contentment, so I take my time, gently soaping every inch of her body. Her pale skin has turned pink in the water, the color no less pleasing.
I bring one of her palms to my mouth and kiss the wet skin.
“Win.” The warning is unmistakable.
I smile into her skin. “You know, I’ve never met a woman who matched me in strength.”
She snorts. “Fear not. You are superior in every metric.”
My jaw tightens, my teeth grinding together. Is that what she thinks? “I’ve been given every advantage you’ve never had.”
“It doesn’t matter.” She shakes her head, her hair brushing my chest. “I’m not winning against him or you. I see that now.”
Her words gut me. Katarina should not be trying to win. She should be given a protected space to heal and bloom. “My father was a piece of horse’s dung, not like yours. Mine was more run of the mill in his cruelty. Until I met you, I blamed him for my hard nature.”
“What has changed since you met me?” she asks, looking back.
“If you can sparkle this much with a father who was ten times worse than mine, then shitty parenting isn’t my only reason I am the way I am.”
She snorts again but I feel the shift in her, the way her mood lightens. “Sparkle. What am I? A unicorn?”
I like her snorts. I like her jokes. “Unicorn? You know, that fits. You’re beautiful enough, and you’d have the alicorn for goring men who piss you off.”
“So, you admit my claws are much bigger than a kitten’s?”
“They are. But with me, you can just be a kitten whenever you want. Curl up in my lap. Purr.”
“No, Win, I can’t. That’s what tonight has been about, hasn’t it? You letting me know the exact part I play in your game.”
“That game has changed, kitten.” I say to her and mean every word.
“So, I’m not a pawn?”
She is. She’s a pawn, but I think I’m changing the rules. “I’ve got a new proposition for you.”