A Kiss of Color: The Complete 3 Book Collection (13 page)

There was nothing that Helena could do but beat against him in terror and frustration as he carried her towards the door, her grinning mother at his heels.

**

They had traced her phone.

After two days of being an utter mess, barely eating and refusing sleep, Xavier finally got good news from his sister. By that juncture, she was almost as nervous as he was. She left the courthouse every day after work to join him at his apartment in an attempt to calm him in his frenzy of worry.

Despite all her attempts, the young man only perked when Private Investigator Tristan Knowles finally got a trace on the last location of Helena’s cell phone before it had died. Shockingly, the device was traced to an address in Maynard.

The moment the detail was revealed, Xavier knew instantly that Helena’s mother must be involved. The thought made his blood boil. All Helena had ever wanted from her mother was love and acceptance, and the woman had basically tortured and abused her daughter, eventually driving her from her house.

Janette Freeman certainly hadn’t been happy when Xavier’s presence had driven her from the college campus – but that didn’t mean she was done trying to get her daughter to return to her.

With the address in hand and the police on their way to the location, Xavier raced for his car with Brandy on his heels. The twenty minute drive across town to the Maynard district seemed to take an eternity, and for its duration, the young man’s heart was in his throat.

If she had
hurt
Helena…if she had harmed her in any way…he had no idea what he’d do. Probably something stupid; which, of course, was why Brandy was there with him. He’d be damned if some half-baked addict was going to keep him from Helena. Not when she was so close to achieving her dreams.

More than anything, he wanted to be by her side and see her living those dreams. He wanted to feel her in his arms again – to kiss her and tell her that he didn’t give a damn what anyone thought. That she was his – and would be his for as long as she allowed it.

The moment they passed into Maynard, the scenery changed drastically around them. Half of the buildings were abandoned and boarded up, and the few shopping centers they passed were littered with haggard individuals looking for their next fix. At the sight of so much poverty and filth, he shook his head. If Helena could escape it, then so could these people…the only problem that existed was the drive to succeed – something that was unique to Helena alone.

Shortly, they pulled up in front of a dilapidated house. Dim light flickered in the window and Xavier took a deep breath, reminding himself that he was supposed to stay in the car until the police arrived. Brandy placed a reassuring hand on his arm, her blue eyes bright. “It will be OK, Xavier. They’ll get her out. You’ll see.”

Five minutes of waiting turned into ten, and ten into fifteen. It was all the young man could do to keep himself from bursting from the car and stalking up to the door to take Helena from such a frightful place. His entire form was as tense as a bowstring, and despite any peace of mind he tried to retain, everything flew out the window when the door of the house burst open.

An immense man emerged – well over six feet tall and padded with bulky muscle, though he was dressed extremely poorly. Immediately, high pitched, feminine screams reached Xavier’s ears a moment before he registered the scantily clad figure slung over the man’s shoulder.

It was none other than Helena.

He didn’t know what shocked him more: that she’d actually been kidnapped, or the gleeful look on her mother’s face when she emerged from the house behind her daughter.

That grin was absolutely evil.

Xavier immediately reached for the car door handle, only to be stopped by Brandy’s frantic fingers. “Xavier, don’t! That man will tear you apart!”

“I can’t just let them take her away!” He hissed frantically. “Where are the cops? They’re supposed to be here by now!”

And then, suddenly, they were.

Though Xavier could have sworn he hadn’t heard a single siren in the last fifteen minutes, no less than four squad cars suddenly screeched onto the scene, sirens blazing, as a small army of policemen spilled from them.

Xavier’s mouth fell open in surprise as he watched the policemen swarm the house. The moment he regained proper use of his senses, he leapt from the car, rushing past the crowd of cops. Three or four of them were already subduing the roaring, immense man who’d held Helena captive, while another two were arresting Janette Freeman. In the sea of activity, Xavier lost sight of Helena. He called her name almost desperately, shoving his way through groups of policemen in an attempt to find her.

“Helena!
Helena!
”

“Xavier!” Stopping dead in his tracks, he turned to see her between two burly lawmen, who were busy covering her with a blanket to cover her exposed skin. His gaze captured hers and held, taking in her round, frightened eyes and tear-stained cheeks. In three strides, he crossed the small yard and she was in his arms.

Where she belonged.

The dark-skinned girl broke down, sobbing against his chest as he held her close. “
Xavier
…” As hard as she’d cried on the day he’d come across her and her mother on campus, her grief was multiplied ten times. She grasped at his shirt blindly as she wailed her pain to the open air, her legs eventually giving out beneath her. Slowly, Xavier lowered her to the ground, holding her against him as he let her cry.

“Shhhh, honey. Shhh. It’s alright. Everything’s going to be OK. I’m here. I’ve got you.” He kissed the top of her head, finally able to breathe for the first time in three days, now that she was in his arms. Over her head, he watched the police take away both Janette Freeman and her accomplice with wary eyes.

They would never come near Helena again – he would make sure of it. His sister was a lawyer, after all – and one of the best. She would make sure that both of them went away for a long time.

“Xavier…she was going…she was going to sell me...” At Helena’s softly whispered words, the young man shuddered, grasping her even closer to him. “Her own daughter….even after everything she’d done, I never thought…I never
dreamed
…”

“It’s OK, Helena. She’s going away for good. And I swear to God she won’t see the light of day again. Not when we’re through with her.”

Even with his promise, it took many more minutes before Helena was in a fit state of mind to speak; and then, Xavier had to wave off the policemen who were waiting to take her statement. She needed a few more minutes.

Carefully, he helped the dark-skinned woman to her feet, wrapping the blanket firmly around her as he walked her to his car. From within, Brandy smiled out at the both of them, and he returned his sister’s gesture briefly.

“Helena.” When she had calmed down enough to speak to him, Xavier cupped her cheek gently, raising her gaze to his. “Are you alright?”

“No.” The young woman’s voice was hoarse, but her tears had finally dried – even if pain was still evident in her lovely gray gaze. “I don’t think I’ll ever be alright. Xavier, my life is completely fucked. I’m a girl from the wrong neighborhood trying to escape a legacy that will follow me wherever I go. Why…why would you come after me?”

How
could she even ask such an idiotic question?

Without a word, he pressed his mouth to hers hotly, pouring every emotion he’d felt for the past three days into the kiss-fear, anger, desolation, and finally, relief that she was alright. That she was safe and would be returning to him. When he finally drew back, she stared up at him, her eyes glazing over once more. “I came after you because I fucking
love
you Helena. Because you had me worried sick, and because I don’t give a damn where you came from. All I care about is where you’re going.” Opening the back door of his car with a hand, he drew out her blue notebook, holding it up forcefully before her line of vision. “You say you’ve got such a damn awful legacy, well, what about your father, huh? What about what he left you? You’ve got all it takes to follow in his footsteps, and you know it.
I
know it.”

Helena reached up to wipe the tears from her eyes, shaking her head slowly. “Xavier, this
can’t
work. You’re a Thompson…your parents will never approve. They’ll fucking…disown you for coming near me. How are you going to start your business with all this drama? I’m telling you, I’m just…I’m bad luck.”

She was so blind….so utterly and completely blind.

Pressing her notebook into her hands, Xavier looked into her eyes, enunciating each word slowly and plainly. “I. Don’t. Care.” He brushed a finger over her full lower lip, marveling at her beauty, even in the face of adversity. “I don’t need their money, and I don’t need their support. All I need is you. And you’re the only one who can give me that.”

Helena searched his gaze for a long moment, as if looking for any form of deception. Then, finally, she fell into his arms, pressing herself tightly against his chest as she buried her face in his neck.

“Xavier, you’re
crazy
. You’re utterly out of your mind.” Her body hitched with another soft sob. “And I love you. Does that make me crazy too?”

As his heart leapt, the programmer shook his head, cradling her close to the heat of his body. “I’d say we’re both the craziest sane people in existence.”

For a long moment, he just held her.

She loved him. Those were the words he’d been waiting for her say for what seemed like an eternity. Helena didn’t want his money, his prestige, or his title. All she wanted was him – and that was the greatest gift he could ever receive.

***

“This is insane.”

With an irrepressible grin on her face, Helena watched Xavier gaze down at the check on the table before him. Earlier that morning they had graduated, and she had thought she’d never feel prouder than wearing her cap and gown as she received the diploma that would begin the rest of her life.

But now, she was proud of Xavier.

He worked so hard, and despite all it had cost him, he followed his dreams.

Neither his mother nor his father had come to his graduation. Helena supposed that his choice of major, along with the news that he wouldn’t stop dating her just because of what they thought, might have been too much for them. They’d cut their son off completely, leaving him to fend for himself in the wake of his graduation, with only a couple hundred dollars to his name.

But his money had never mattered to her.

What mattered to Helena was the man’s loyalty – his utter devotion. When he’d first said that he was willing to give up everything for her, she’d been skeptical. Then, she’d watched him do it, and all her doubts had been washed away.

She loved him, beyond a shadow of a doubt – and she was sure she had chosen a man that her father would be proud of. She knew that she certainly was – and that pride deserved a gift.

Shortly before Helena and Xavier had walked across the stage, the young woman had been shocked and delighted to discover that she’d been awarded a full scholarship to one of the medical schools she’d applied to. Banded together with her paperwork had been a letter from Xavier’s sister, Brandy. She spoke of the change she’d seen in her brother since he’d met her, and thanked her for supporting him where their parents had not. Her husband, it seemed, had pulled some very hefty strings involving Helena’s education – and since the man’s affairs were secret from that of his in-laws, Brandy’s parents were never the wiser.

Which only left Xavier.

When Helena’s father had died, he’d left her everything. His condo, his possessions, and every cent in the savings account he’d amassed throughout his life – close to one million dollars. Three hundred thousand of she wrote a check for before slipping it into a graduation card she’d bought for Xavier.

And now he stared at the amount incredulously. “Honey.” He looked from her to the check. “This is some kind of joke, right?”

“If it was a joke, Xavier, it would be in extremely bad taste.” Helena’s grin just wouldn’t quit. It was apropos, she admitted, that after so many years of emotional trauma that she finally had a reason to smile. “It’s very real. Think of it as my investment into your business.”

“But…but,” He spluttered, looking absolutely charming in his graduate cap and gown. “I can’t accept this. It’s too damn much!”

“Oh, I expect you to pay me back. I’m sure you’ll be able to within the next five years – if that long.” Stepping forward, she wound her arms around his shoulder from behind, breathing in his heavenly scent as she held him close.

They had chosen a very uncertain path – both of them – and there would still be many hurdles ahead. Helena knew that she wasn’t perfect, and Xavier was still working on being a one-man show, but she didn’t doubt that they would make it.

He’d told her that all he needed was her, and now, after a few slip ups, Helena realized that as long as she had him by her side, little else mattered. Not where she’d come from, who her mother was, or the past that she’d very nearly let define her.

No.