ACHE (Naked, Book 5) (9 page)

the same gun Elijah had kept in the glove compartment of his car before the accident.

She shook her head, tears springing to her eyes. “I really wish you wouldn’t do this.”

“Someday you’ll understand why I had to do it,” Elijah said, reaching in.

“She’ll understand when you explain it to her correctly,” his father said. “That’s your job, son.”

“I know,” Elijah said, nodding. “I know you’re right.” And then, with the quickness of a jungle cat, he ripped the gun out of the bag and sprang forward, swinging his fist hard into Gabe’s belly.

His father made a loud grunting noise that was full of pain, and fell to his knees.

Elijah grabbed Gabe’s chin and pressed on his face until the top of his head hit the door.

Then Elijah pushed the barrel of the gun under his father’s chin and held it there. “You old, stupid fuck, I should blow your brains out and leave you to rot.”

“Do it then,” his father said through clenched teeth.

Caelyn let out a sick moan. “Don’t—Elijah…please don’t…”

Elijah’s arms were shaking with rage, so she knew he wasn’t acting. He was serious, and he was struggling with his decision. “I know if I let you go you’ll try and hurt us. And I won’t let anyone hurt Caelyn, so that means I have to kill you.”

His father’s eyes rolled wildly in his head, as Elijah pushed the gun harder into his chin.

“Kill me,” Gabe said. “If you have the balls to do it. Do it.”

“You’d like that. You’d like anything that makes me into the same kind of sick criminal that you want me to be.” He pulled the gun away and stepped back, breathing heavily. “Get out of my house and take the cash with you.”

His father got slowly to his feet. He had a huge red mark on his jawbone from the pressure of the gun barrel. His eyes were even crazier than they’d looked earlier. He picked up the bag, which had fallen on its side in the melee.

Gabe tucked it under his arm with a bizarre grin, like he’d gotten away with something. “Nice seeing you again, son. And your lovely girlfriend.”

“Get out.” Caelyn stepped forward now. She was so angry that she could have killed him herself. “He’s too good for you. You don’t deserve Elijah in your life.”

“That’s right, little girl. Keep thinking you know it all,” Gabe snickered, as he opened the door and began to slink out.

“If anyone tries to hurt her, I’ll make them suffer. It’s a promise,” Elijah called after him.

Gabe gave a small laugh but didn’t look back. They watched as he got in his car and drove away.

Caelyn was shivering and Elijah put his arms around her.

“Is it ever going to end?” she asked him.

“Of course,” Elijah told her, pressing his lips to her forehead. “I’m going to make sure of it.”

But she wasn’t certain she believed him anymore.

***

Caelyn was too spent from everything she’d been through to do anything but lie on the couch and watch TV for the rest of the day.

Elijah took care of her, making her food and getting her water and tea as needed.

She could tell he was worried about her from the look on his face. “I’m okay,”

she told him at one point—“Just tired is all.”

He smiled, sat down on the edge of the couch. “Don’t worry about my dad. I can take care of him.”

“I’m not worried,” she lied. “I just need to take a break mentally and physically.

Tomorrow I’ve got to go back in and do it all over again.”

Elijah brushed her hair back from her forehead and she closed her eyes.

“Just sleep,” he said. “Rest.”

“Yeah. Rest.” She sighed and drifted off.

When she woke up again, it was much later and she was being lifted off the couch by Elijah. It seemed like he carried her as easily as if she’d been a child in his arms.

“I can walk,” she muttered.

“But you don’t have to. Not tonight, anyway.”

She smiled to herself, feeling comforted in a very primal way. It was almost parental, the way he carried her into the bedroom.

He put her to bed and then climbed in beside her, holding her tightly against him, her head resting on his chest, listening to his steady heartbeat.

As she drifted off, she could have sworn she heard a whisper in her ear. Maybe it was her imagination, maybe it was a dream.

“I love you.”

***

“You’re quiet this morning,” Elijah said, as he walked to the car the next morning carrying two cups of coffee, while Caelyn just tried to put one foot in front of the other.

“My muscles are sore,” she said, which was very true. But it wasn’t the reason for her quiet demeanor.

The truth was, she’d woken up that morning with Elijah’s words ringing in her ears still. Only, she wasn’t sure if she’d heard him correctly or imagined it. Caelyn wanted desperately to ask him—but what if she was wrong?

It would be embarrassing for both of them.

She wanted him to have said it, and she wanted to say it back to him too. But the thing was, she didn’t know of any way to really discuss it.

Maybe he’ll try and say it again.

Yes. But the fact that he’d waited until he thought she was asleep (if he’d even said it at all) made it seem unlikely that he’d say it again anytime soon.

She sipped her coffee and tried to act normal the entire way to the clinic. But Elijah kept glancing over at her, as if he knew something was on her mind.

They arrived at the clinic and were called into the rehab session. Knox was there setting up some stations for Caelyn to use in her workouts. She was already nervous with butterflies in her stomach, anticipating the gut wrenching effort she’d be putting in that morning.

Knox glanced up from where he was adjusting a weight bench. “You’ve got a visitor,” he said.

At first, Caelyn thought he meant Elijah. But that didn’t make any sense, because Elijah was with her and had been with her the previous day as well.

That was when she saw someone bent over, drinking from the water fountain on the other side of the room. The person’s face was concealed, but the figure was very familiar. At first, it was as though Caelyn’s mind refused to process who it was.

And then the person stood up straight and turned, waving happily.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Elijah muttered.

“Deena,” Caelyn groaned.

What was she doing there?

“I’ll tell her to leave if you want,” Elijah said, moving as if to intercept her before she could reach Caelyn.

“No, it’s okay. I can handle her.”

He stopped and stuffed his hands in his pockets. “You sure?”

“Yeah, I’m sure.”

Deena came waltzing over to them with a huge smile on her face. “So I’ve met your trainer, Knox,” she said, her eyes widening as if to suggest that she thought him plenty cute.

Knox looked up. “Your sister’s really proud of you, Caelyn.”

“She is, huh?” Caelyn said, watching Deena closely. Deena was acting way too happy and friendly.

“What, I can’t be proud of my big sister now?”

“You can, it’s just kind of odd.” Caelyn sat down and tried to rest her aching legs.

“Listen,” Deena said, pulling a strand of stray hair behind her ear. “I know things have been crazy between us. Between all of us. But the thing is, I’m getting older and I realized the other day that this feud we’re having is ridiculous.”

Caelyn raised an eyebrow. “Did Mom send you?”

“Stop being so paranoid, Caelyn.” Deena put her hands on her hips. “Nobody sent me. I wanted to come and see you. I want to be here for you.”

“Well, it feels weird.”

“Weird?”

“Fake. You’ve said a lot of stuff about me to Mom and Dad. You lied about me and about Elijah, and now they hate him.”

Deena knelt down in front of her. Deena’s large eyes were larger than normal, and her lips trembled as she spoke. “I know I’ve been a bad sister,” she said.

Caelyn glanced at Elijah, who just rolled his eyes.

But Deena continued, her voice full of emotion. “The thing is, I’ve been so mad at you for so long. You have no idea.”

Knox seemed like he was pretty much finished setting up for her workout. He looked uncertainly at them. “We should probably get started.”

Caelyn glanced back at her sister. Deena appeared to be sincere, but Caelyn was having a hard time understanding what had brought about the sudden change of heart.

“Listen, I need to do this workout. Can we talk later?”

Deena nodded, wiping at her eyes. “Yeah. Of course. I’m just being overdramatic.”

“I do want to talk. After I’m done?”

“Sure.” Deena sat down nearby with her purse slung over her shoulder, pulled out her cell phone, and started texting.

Elijah took off his jacket and got up to help give Caelyn encouragement as she worked out.

Knox stood on the other side of her, talking her through the different workout stations. “This is essentially a circuit regimen, just like what you might do at any gym.

I’ve simply tailored it for your needs, Caelyn.”

She thought to herself that he’d also tailored it to make her as tired and uncomfortable as possible. Whether she was on the stationary bike, or doing shoulder presses with three-pound dumb bells, or trying to do a half dozen sit-ups, it felt like she was constantly on the edge of total fatigue and muscle failure.

Sweat was pouring down her face after just the first round of circuit training. And then Knox gave her a three minute break to drink some water, after which he made her start the circuit all over again.

While she was drinking water, Deena gave her a big thumbs’ up. “I’m so proud of you!” she said.

“Thanks,” Caelyn told her and then drank the rest of her bottled water. Elijah kneeled down beside Caelyn and massaged her calves. She looked at him and grinned.

“You’re my hero.”

As he worked over her most troubled calf muscle, he grinned back at her. “The feeling’s mutual, kid. You’re kicking ass.”

“I’m getting my ass kicked, is more like it.”

“Rest time’s over,” Knox said, clapping has hands and strutting back and forth like a drill sergeant.

“I’m going to run to the bathroom,” Elijah said. “You okay?”

She nodded. “I’m fine. I’m fine. You can leave me alone for five seconds, you know.”

“And what about her?” he said, nodding in Deena’s general direction.

Caelyn glanced covertly at her sister, who was texting on her phone, oblivious to the world around her. “She’s annoying, but fine.”

“Okay. I’m just getting a weird vibe. I don’t trust her.”

Elijah went to the bathroom and Caelyn got back to circuit training. The next time through was even harder. At one point, she stopped in the middle of doing a set of jumping jacks, certain she was going to throw up, but the feeling passed.

After what seemed like forever, the session finally came to an end.

“You did amazing,” Knox said, smiling, but restrained. He didn’t touch her or offer up so much as a high five. “See you here tomorrow?”

“Yeah, absolutely,” Caelyn replied, patting her face with a towel.

Deena came up to her right away. “I’m totally floored by how hard you’re working, sis.”

“Thanks, sis,” Caelyn laughed, trying hard not to show her impatience. “Look, I know I said we could talk after my workout, but I’m really worn out. Can I get a rain check?”

“Oh, totally,” Deena said, waving at her. “I needed to go home anyway. Mom and Dad want to do lunch, so…”

A brief sense of disappointment and rejection washed through Caelyn, as she pictured her family getting together for a meal without inviting her. But then she remembered that she wouldn’t have wanted to join them anyway.

Not after everything they’d said and done.

“Maybe we can talk on the phone later this week,” Caelyn offered, but knew it wouldn’t happen.

“Definitely. I’ll text you.” Deena leaned in and gave her a hug. “The truth is, I feel so so sorry for you,” she whispered.

Caelyn’s brow furrowed. “What?”

“Gotta run,” Deena giggled, and then quickly headed out of the clinic.

Elijah put on his jacket and came walking up beside Caelyn as her sister flounced out of the room. “What got into her?”

“I have no idea. But she said something weird before she left.”

“What did she say?”

“I think she said she felt sorry for me. But it was really strange.” Caelyn put a hand on her belly. There were knots of tension and a strange sensation of dread bubbling inside her now.

“Don’t let her get to you. She’s just trying to push your buttons.” He took hold of Caelyn’s hand and then they headed for the exit.

Before long, they’d gotten in the truck and started for home.

“I can’t shake this horrible feeling,” Caelyn said.

Elijah shifted the truck into higher gear as they hit the main road. “Because of your sister?”

“I—I’m not sure.”

He sighed. “You’re probably just physically and mentally exhausted again.

You’ve been working too hard.”

“Maybe,” Caelyn said, doubtful. There was something wrong. Deena had come for a reason, and if only she could figure out what it was…

“I’m seriously amazed by how well you’re handling this,” Elijah said. “Nobody can believe how quickly you’ve recovered. Not the doctors, no one.”

“Thanks,” she told him. “I only want to impress you, though,” she joked.

He looked at her for a long moment. “You do more than impress me, Caelyn.

I’m in awe of you, your strength, how much you care and the kind of person you are.”

As he was talking, Caelyn glanced in the side mirror of the car and noticed a police car coming up from behind. It was still one or two cars away from them—

probably nothing.

But she couldn’t shake that awful feeling in her gut.

“I’ve been thinking about how much you mean to me,” Elijah continued. “And I have to tell you something. It’s something I say to you sometimes when you’re asleep, but now I want to tell you for real.”

She looked at him, knowing he was going to say the words she was dying to hear.

But just as he opened his mouth to say it, a loud siren whooped behind them.

He glanced in his rearview mirror. “What the hell?”

“Deena,” Caelyn said.