Chapter 10
Chapter Ten
“He knows where you are,” Cora’s panicked voice filled the line, making Kendra gasp. “So unless you want to confront the fire-breathing Gideon, I suggest you get the fuck out of there.”
Kendra had awoken disoriented, for a second forgetting where she was and why she was there, but then the ringing phone pulled her to complete consciousness. She saw the name of the screen and immediately answered, fearful that something had happened to the kids.
However, she was not expecting Cora’s frantic words.
“What?” Kendra replied, apparently still not awake because she did not hear what she thought she heard.
Cora repeated, “He knows where you are and he is coming for you!”
Kendra flew from the bed, barely missing getting tripped by the comforter.
“How the hell did he find out?” she shrieked, not in the least ready to deal with seeing Gideon again, especially not with red-rimmed eyes, a body that ached for him, and a heart that missed him so…so much.
Cora swore. “It’s my fault. I knew that as soon as you called me and then I called you back, Logan would have a trail to follow if he ever thought to look at my phone records.”
Flabbergasted and not entire sure what Cora meant, Kendra asked, “Why would he do that? Does he regularly check your phone?”
Cora snorted. “Usually, he couldn’t if he tried.
Usually, I would have my contacts list hidden from any potential intrusive asshole, but this time, blocking your prepaid number slipped my mind.
There’s been some shit with Adrian….” She trailed off, but Kendra didn’t miss the pain in her dear friend’s voice.
“But that doesn’t matter right now,” she asserted.
“Most of my calls come up UNKNOWN so no one looking will know who called or where they called from, but I didn’t even think about your prepaid number.
” She dragged in a breath Kendra could tell was heavy. “I’m so fucking sorry, Kendra.”
Blinking, her mind still playing catch up, Kendra asked, “So…Logan looked through your call log and saw a prepaid number, assumed it was mine, and traced it?”
“Yup.”
Forcing air into burning lungs, Kendra took a moment, willing her heart to slow down and her thoughts to calm—though who could be calm with a confrontation with powerful and sexy Gideon Maddox in the very near future?
Depending on when Gideon got the information from Logan, it would still take four hours to drive from NYC to the Schroon Lake house, so how much time did she have to escape?
Escape to where? This was your last refuge!
She could, realistically, use the money LaKeisha gave her and get a hotel room or weekly rental somewhere, but that felt too much like taking advantage of her friend, even though the woman had given the money freely.
Kendra had never been one to burden others, and right then, she felt like the biggest suck ever to suck.
So where did that leave her?
Finally, she breathed out, “But why would Logan even bother looking for me?”
Cora hummed. “Because Gideon finally got his head out of his ass and realized he wants his wife back?”
Kendra snorted, rolling her eyes. “I doubt that. More like he’s tired of ordering takeout and wants me in the kitchen toiling over the stove.
” Her words were bitter, laced with anger—and she hated that.
She’d never been a bitter, angry person.
Too much of a people pleaser, especially for those she loved.
Like Gideon.
I guess being betrayed by the man you love will twist you in ways you never imagined….
“The way you cook, I’d miss it, too,” Cora offered, her voice softening. “Seriously, Kendra, I know Gideon’s an uptight, unsmiling, unfeeling, cold-as-ice asshole, but somewhere under all the polished gold, glinting diamonds, and Italian wool is a man who genuinely cares for his wife.”
But Gideon’s words from that cold winter’s night were still being slowly and painfully carved into her heart, word for word, a permanent, bleeding wound that would only ever scab but never heal.
“You honestly think I married you because I loved you, like some lovesick sap? Our marriage has always been about my convenience—I needed a wife so I’d look like a family man to the board and the media, and I needed a uterus to carry my legitimate heir.
And despite all the times I choked down my disgust and fucked you, you still couldn’t do your fucking job and get pregnant. ”
Barely able to speak for the lump in her throat, but determined to unburden her soul, just enough to breathe a little, Kendra swallowed, closed her eyes, and rasped, “Cora…I have tell you something….”
And she did. Through sobs and profound heartache, Kendra told her about trying to get pregnant, the prescheduled sex nights, finally finding out she was pregnant and how excited she’d been, and then she tore open her chest and told Cora about that night, when she found out her marriage was a glittering, shallow lie.
Cora swore with so much violence and color, Kendra had to pull the cell away from her ear just to keep the baby in her womb from hearing it.
“Those Maddox brothers are all pieces of shit!” Cora blasted, her vitriol shocking Kendra who now wondered what Cora’s Maddox brother had done to earn such poisonous rage. “Seriously, Kendra,” Cora continued, a bite in her voice, “Logan hacked my phone an hour ago—”
Heaving a sigh of relief, Kendra immediately started planning her next moves. “That leaves me at least three hours to—”
“Not if he takes the helicopter,” a voice she hadn’t heard in days drawled from behind her, and every nerve ending in her body fired at once, locking her muscles.
Her breathing accelerated, her blood raced, and her heart pounded—her prey drive kicked into gear—Run! Flee! Hide!
No! No! No!
He couldn’t be there—she wasn’t ready!
Her voice ragged, she rasped, “Cora…I-I’ve got to go.”
Cora was silent for a moment, then sneered, “That asshole is there, isn’t he?”
Behind her, Gideon grunted.
Swallowing, Kendra replied, “Yes.”
Cora cursed, then said, “Call me if you need me, and I’ll be there.”
“Okay,” Kendra murmured, shaking.
“Be careful, and take care of yourself—that baby needs you healthy, okay?”
The baby…oh God! Did Gideon know about the baby, is that why he was there?
Before she could say goodbye, a hand she could trace in her mind reached around her, took the phone from her hand, and disconnected the call.
He was right there, right at her back, and her body knew his by instinct, raising goosebumps on her flesh in response—its master was there, and the primitive drive to obey master was overwhelming.
Immediately, she was hit with the heat of him, emanating from a body hewn from hard work, and carefully crafted for the maximum effect—making her weak and needy and desperate. But that wasn’t he worst part; his scent enveloped her, warm cloves, rich sandalwood, masculine and utterly spellbinding.
He knew she loved how he smelled, would often sigh at her when she tucked her face into his throat and sniffed him. His scent had never failed to bring her comfort, that sense of home and rightness, that contentment and joy at being close to the man she loved…and she thought loved her.
But it had been a lie.
Her muscles still locked, she didn’t stop him from gripping her shoulders, and slowly turning her to face him.
Still not ready to see him, she snapped her eyes shut—like a kindergartener who truly believed that if she couldn’t see him, he couldn’t see her, and she could hide there until he left.
She stood there, long moments, holding her breath, wishing herself away—anywhere—but nothing happened. She could feel his gaze on her, but…it was different.
Before, it was cold as ice, penetrating deep, and only sometimes scorching her with his desire, his need in times of passion. But now…it was…softer, like he was looking deeper, sketching her in his mind, with gentle yet strong hands.
When a large, warm hand pressed against her belly, right where the baby was nestled, the air trapped in her lungs exploded out, making her stumble back and her eyes fly open.
And there he was, standing before her—and she’d never seen him look so darkly beautiful.
Powerful, tall, dangerously masculine, magnetic, predatory—in a hand-tailored Italian suit, the man was devastating, capable of bringing any woman to their knees before him.
And she’d been one of them, losing her breath that first night, three years ago, when she’d first spotted him across the gala.
The man was walking, talking, thrumming intensity on any given day, especially when he was dressed to kill in the boardroom.
But today…he was dressed in a pair of distressed jeans, a black t-shirt, and a black leather jacket.
A pair of black biker boots on his feet completed the packaged look of a dangerous man.
His hair, usually held in place by God and pomade, was mussed—more than likely wind tossed by the helicopter rotor as he exited.
His face was the same one she’d adored over three years, cut from stone, dark stubble on his chin, but where there were typically hard lines of tension and cold deliberation, there were now lines of weariness and concern beside his eyes.
And his eyes—emerald green, glinting, sharp—were now vibrant, dark and yet lit with fire, and beneath it all was a hauntedness, like he’d experienced things he couldn’t unsee, couldn’t undo.
And…even deeper than that…an atavistic light that was all animal.
She drew in a breath, held it—she wasn’t seeing that, was she? The man looked to have been reduced to an animal.
What had happened in the three days since she’d been gone?
He looked unpolished, almost wild, and he’d never looked more incredible.
His voice, ragged, more growl than words, rumbled through the air, “I caught you, wife,” he stepped forward until their bodies were flush against one another, “don’t even think about running again.”
She opened her mouth to reply, but he cut her off, slamming his mouth down on hers, taking her lips with a voraciousness that left her reeling. His hands holding her head captive, he deepened the kiss, invading her mouth like a starved beast presented fresh meat.
He groaned, the sound animalistic, primal, savage—more creature than man.
Her body throbbed, her pussy responding to the most basic of human drives—mate!
And for the first time in the whole of her life, she felt utterly devoured.