Chapter 3 #2
I just need time to sort out the details first and figure out what I’m missing.
Whatever it is…I’m pretty fucking certain it’s the key to this whole mess.
It’s the answer to why Brant was laundering money through his company.
It’s the answer to why Marnie killed him.
Hell, maybe it’s even the answer to why she dragged me into it and why she’s trying to cut Raven out now.
There’s always an inciting incident, something that starts the boulder rolling downhill. Trying to find it when you’re missing half the puzzle is a pain in the ass.
“Um, hey,” Raven says from the doorway behind me. “What’s that?”
“Case file,” I say, shoving the last few pages into the folder and then closing it.
“Oh. A big one?”
“Something like that.” I tuck it under my arm, turning slowly to face her.
She looks like a little kid playing dress-up in my clothes, but damn, they look good on her.
She tied the t-shirt up at her waist in a knot, allowing the tiniest sliver of her abdomen to show in brief, enticing flashes that already have my core temperature rising fifteen degrees.
One sleeve hangs off her shoulder. Even dressed, she’s far too tempting.
Far too beautiful. She probably has to beat college boys off with a fucking stick.
Jealousy eats me alive at the thought. The little bastards don’t even know what to do with a woman like her.
They don’t know how to eke out every drop of pleasure from that body, or how to take care of her after.
They probably just pump until they cum and then pass out on top of her, not even caring if they got her off or if she enjoyed it. The bastards.
“Why are you growling at me?” she asks, her nose scrunching. “I’m completely covered.”
Because I want to kill anyone who ever touched you.
Because I’d kill to be the only one who touches you ever again.
“Are you hungry?” I ask instead of opening that can of worms.
“Not really.”
“Raven.”
“I’m not hungry, Rhys.”
“Bullshit. I can practically hear your stomach growling from here.”
“Fine. Maybe I’m a little hungry,” she says, averting her gaze. A pretty blush climbs up her cheeks, staining them pink. “I haven’t eaten today.”
I stare at her for a minute, perplexed as to why she didn’t want to tell me that. And then realization dawns. I grit out a curse, my stomach sinking into my soles. “You’re afraid of me.”
She’s a beautiful little songbird, all shy and sweet.
Compared to her, I’m a gruff, mean bastard.
Her world is probably full of pretty boys and rich assholes in designer duds.
They learned to charm before they learned to talk.
That’s not me. I’ve spent too goddamn long working with criminals, visiting the places no one wants to go, dealing with the kinds of people no one wants to deal with.
When you spend your life in the dark, the shadows stain you. They claimed me a long time ago.
Her wide, startled eyes meet mine. “What? No, I’m not.”
“Then why’d you lie to me?”
“You don’t like me much,” she whispers. “I don’t want to be a bother.”
I stare at her for a full five count, caught off-guard. And then I shake my head and cross to the fridge. “Sit down, princess. I’ll make you something to eat.” I set the folder on top of the fridge and start pulling out stuff to make her a sandwich. “Why do you think I don’t like you?”
“You were mean to me the first time we met.” She shuffles across the kitchen to the table. Halfway there, a clap of thunder rattles the windowpanes, and she squeaks like a little mouse and then laughs self-consciously. “Sorry.”
“Never apologize for being you,” I say, watching as she pulls out a chair and sinks gracefully into it.
She moves like a dream. I bet she danced when she was younger.
Her body flows from one movement to the next like a ballerina’s.
Shit, I wish more ballerinas looked like her.
I might actually watch the shit instead of sleeping through it when my stepmom forces me to go every Christmas.
There’s something beautiful about watching a curvy woman move.
It’s erotic as hell. “Make all the noise you want. This place could use it.”
“You don’t like the quiet?”
“Depends on the day.”
“It’s never quiet in Boston,” she says almost wistfully. “New York City either. I might make too much noise just to fill the silence. I’ve never had much peace and quiet before. I may not like it much. Hopefully, I’ll be able to find a job soon and won’t have to stay here long.”
“Uh, fuck no,” I growl, dropping all the sandwich stuff onto the slate gray island.
She blinks wide eyes at me.
“You aren’t working.”
“I need a job, Rhys. I can’t live off my savings forever.”
“You won’t need to live off your savings,” I say, reaching for the loaf of bread. “Marnie and I will be having a discussion as soon as I can get to Seattle. She can’t cut you off from what rightfully belongs to you.”
“I don’t want to cause any trouble.”
“You aren’t.”
She falls silent, staring out the windows.
With dark falling, there isn’t much to see.
The water is inky black, Orcas Island invisible behind the wall of rain still falling.
Not that she’s really trying to see any of that anyway.
The kitchen reflects back in the glass. She’s watching me and trying to be sneaky about it.
It’s cute that she thinks I don’t know what she’s doing.
I don’t call her on it, though.
“I’m sorry I was a dick to you,” I say instead.
She turns back to me.
“The day we met,” I clarify. “It wasn’t because I disliked you.”
“Oh.”
“Can we start over?”
“I’ve cried all over you more than I’d like to admit.
And you’ve seen me naked. I think it’s too late to start over, Rhys.
” She laughs softly, the subdued sound both rich and burbling.
Her voice has power. Then again, I already knew that.
She sells out every performance she books.
“But maybe we can pretend we met for the first time when you picked me up at the airport for my dad’s funeral? ”
“Hell no,” I growl. “I’m not pretending I didn’t see you in that swimsuit, songbird.”
“You remember that?” A pretty blush creeps across her cheeks.
“You think I’d forget you looking like a goddess?” I scoff at the thought, slathering mayo on a piece of bread. “I couldn’t keep my eyes off you, Raven. That’s why I was a dick.”
“Oh,” she whispers. “I thought you were annoyed I was there. Marnie was.” A tiny frown pulls her lips down at the corners, crinkling her brows. “She didn’t want her friends to see me in that swimsuit. She thought it was inappropriate.”
“Marnie’s a shallow, self-absorbed bitch.”
Raven’s eyes go wide.
“It’s true.” I shrug unapologetically. “She likes to be the center of attention. If anything draws attention from her, she can’t stand it.
It’s part of why she loved your dad so much.
He was always happy to show her off and let her have the spotlight as often as she wanted it.
” I scrape the butter knife on the side of the mayo jar and set it aside before piling turkey on the bread.
“If she didn’t like you in that swimsuit, it wasn’t because she thought it was inappropriate.
It was because she couldn’t stand the thought of you outshining her. ”
“No one outshines Marnie. She’s beautiful.”
“You’re right,” I say with a wry snort. “She is beautiful. But that’s all she is.
She’s something pretty to look at it. She’s not interesting.
She’s not talented. She’s not driven, compassionate, kind, loving, affectionate, warm, or funny.
There are a million things she could be, but she chose to be none of them.
The only thing she has to offer the world is beautiful.
” I rake my eyes down Raven’s body, my gaze pointed.
“You’re the whole package—beauty, brains, talent, and heart.
You outshine her, princess. She knows it.
I know it. Everyone at that party knew it.
You need a mirror if you don’t see it too. ”
Raven dips her head, shyly looking at the tabletop.
Jesus. I love how sweet she is. It confuses the hell out of me at the same time. How does she not already know how incredible she is? Whoever she’s been dating has done a piss-poor job taking care of her. She shouldn’t have a single doubt in her mind about how beautiful she is.
“She’s in for a rude awakening when she has this baby,” I say, trying not to think too hard about the assholes who have put their hands on her.
“Baby?” she squeaks. “Marnie’s pregnant?”
“Fuck.” I lift my gaze to hers again, reading the shock written across her face. “You didn’t know.”
She shakes her head, her expression completely dumbstruck.
Son of a bitch.
“I thought she told you.”
Why the fuck didn’t Marnie tell her? What game is she playing here?
“No,” Raven whispers, her face pale. She swallows hard, unable to hide the hurt in her eyes. “She didn’t tell me. Um, how…how far along is she?”
“A little over four months. They found out two days before…” I trail off awkwardly, ready to strangle Marnie. “Brant never got a chance to tell you. I assumed Marnie would tell you after the funeral.”
“She never told me.” A powerful sadness passes through her expression, making her look younger, lost in a way she hasn’t since Brant died.
She quickly blinks it away, putting on a brave face.
“She never liked me much. I guess this just confirms that I’m not family in her opinion.
But I’m…happy for her. I’m happy for my dad. I wish he were here.”
“Me too,” I say simply. “He’d be fucking thrilled about this kid.”
“Right?” She smiles a tremulous, watery smile. “He always loved kids. I bet he was so excited when he found out. I’m glad he knew before he…” She trails off with a sigh. “I mean, I’m glad the last news he got was good news, you know? He deserved that.”