Deep Autumn Heat (33 page)

“You were the one who attacked me on the Green that night, weren’t you?”

“Yes. I wanted to finish it right then and there. But when you got away, I realized how much more exciting it would be to scare you. To make you afraid. Especially when you started sleeping with that big guy. Too good for me, huh, Alexandra?” he said bitterly.

She ignored him, needing to get to the bottom of this. Needing to know that everything could be traced back to Frank. “So it
was
you again on Halloween.”

“I scared the crap out of you, didn’t I?” He laughed.

Lexie didn’t bother to respond. “Did you mess with my gas line too?”

“I thought that if something happened to your place, you might be forced to come back to California.”

“You could have killed someone, you know that?”

“Whatever,” he scoffed. “Anyway, nothing happened. That guy you have working for you really knows his stuff.” Then his voice hardened again. “But all that is over. I’m done playing, and now I’ll tell you exactly what’s going to happen. First, I’m going to screw you the way I wanted to the last time we were so rudely interrupted.”

“Let’s call it what it was, Frank. You were trying to rape me because I’d broken up with you.”

“Ha! You wanted it bad.”

“You’re delusional,” she said calmly, as if she were speaking to a child. “Why was I kicking and screaming when you were on top of me? David practically had to drag you off of me, and then I went to the police and filed a—”

“I said shut
up
!” Frank hit her again.

Lexie gasped as the crack of his hand laid into her cheek. It hurt even worse than the first time he’d done it, likely because he’d smacked exactly the same spot. “Frank, stop!”

“I won’t stop,” he said, holding both her hands above her head in his strong grip as he roughly pushed her skirt up with his other. “Always so accommodating, Alexandra. With your little skirts and dainty blouses. Always ready for me.”

Things were rapidly spiraling out of control. She had to keep him talking. “Why are you even here? It’s been three years. You should’ve forgotten me and moved on.”

“Forget you?” He laughed evilly, his clammy hand stilling on her thigh. “I could never forget you. I’ve spent three years trying to track you down. The Internet has made things a lot easier, but I wasn’t able to make any headway until people started posting reviews of your restaurant. ‘Best coconut cake east of the Mississippi.’ That’s when I knew it had to be you.”

She’d been so careful not to put anything personal online. How ironic that her
professional reputation had been her undoing! Still, why had he spent so much time thinking about her when she was long gone? Why hadn’t he moved on?

“Why would you even want me when I didn’t want you?” she asked, her voice sounding hollow.

His silence was deafening. And then she realized why. Because he couldn’t get over the fact that she’d escaped from him. To lose his power over her was too big a blow to his ego. He needed her to succumb to him again. Craved it. Except this time, he wasn’t going to be satisfied with just her mind or her body. He wanted her soul, too. He would take and take until there was nothing left.

As Frank squeezed her leg and pushed her skirt up higher, there was no question in her mind that he was going to rape her and then he was going to kill her. “No,” she said, shaking her head back and forth. “Not like this. Please.” She had to do something. He was so strong, even if she could manage to free her hands, her body would still be trapped under his weight. Still, she had to try. She struggled to recall what she’d learned in that self-defense class she’d taken years ago, just after moving to Star Harbor. She’d taken it to empower herself, never anticipating that she’d need to use those lessons against the very man who’d motivated her to take the class.

“Your begging only makes it more exciting,” he said, wedging her legs apart with his knee. “I can’t wait until I see the look on your face as I push myself into you. When you submit to me.”

Nausea rose in Lexie’s throat. She forced it down as best she could. This was exactly how he wanted her—scared, helpless, and weak. She needed to prove him wrong, to stay strong and wait for her chance to escape. Perhaps something would distract him and there would be an opening for escape. She stopped struggling in anticipation of making her move.

He must have taken her stillness for submission. “That’s right,” Frank said, his voice smug. “I’m in charge and you’re going to give me what I want.”

He shifted his body on top of hers. At the very moment that she heard Frank unzip his pants, she bucked her hips up and twisted her body to the side, hard. The motion caused Frank to
release her wrists, and he let out a shout of surprise as he toppled off of her. Lexie scrabbled on her hands and knees as fast as she could go, trying to put as much distance as possible between them.

Her hands touched soft dirt, and she realized she must have crawled into the hearth. Almost immediately, Frank had her by the ankle. How he’d grabbed her so quickly, she had no idea. Realizing she had just seconds before he would haul her back, she desperately groped for something—anything—that she could use to defend herself.

Frank pulled her leg with both hands, and just as she felt herself being yanked toward him, her fingers clutched onto something hard and metalic. He flipped her onto her back once again and her head hit the hard dirt floor with a sharp crack and a burst of pain.

“Bitch,” he spat. “That’s the last time you’ll
ever
run from me.”

As hard as she could, Lexie swung the metal object into the direction of his face, trying to gouge him. She hit flesh and something harder—night vision goggles. No wonder he’d said something about the look on her face. He could see her in the dark!

“Aigh,” he screamed. Distracted by the pain she’d inflicted, he let go of her, allowing her to flip away once again. For good measure, she kicked back in his direction, feeling the satisfying thud of her foot against his body, before she scuttled toward what she hoped were the stairs. She felt the bottom step and began to climb. Lexie was sure she was home free when she felt the cruel bite of his grip on her leg.

Kicking furiously, she knew she couldn’t let herself be dragged back down again. He’d shown his hand. She’d have no chance if he got his way. She had to break free, but he was too strong.

“No!” she gasped as she was yanked down the stairs, the fingernails of one hand scratching at the wooden steps, the other hand still clasping the metal object. He grabbed her waist, but she pushed him hard while stomping on what she hoped was his foot, and he let go. She was rewarded by a scream and the sound of breaking glass.

Just then, she heard a deep voice call from street level. “Lexie?”

She’d never been so glad to hear anyone’s voice in her entire life.

The sights and sounds of the Cape hit Sebastian as soon as he crossed the bridge over Buzzard’s Bay. In the dimming evening light he could see the steep-roofed Cape Cod–style houses and the scrubby pine trees that lined the quiet roads. It was all just as he’d remembered. The clang of steel rigging, the creak of the shipyards, and the whistling of wind through the dunes would get louder as he came closer to Star Harbor.

But when he reached the ocean, it was the smell that would bring him home. That unmistakable tang of the salt water, the damp spray of the sea air intermingled with the aromas of fish, peeling paint, and dried shells. Day or night, the smell stayed the same.

Every time he came home he was hit right in the gut with the realization that even though he’d left, even though he’d escaped—to London, Paris, New York—he’d always belonged to Star Harbor, and always would. But returning had never felt as poignant to him as it did now. Because he wasn’t simply returning for himself. He was returning for Lexie Meyers.

The woman he simply could not live without.

When he’d woken up to an empty bed that morning, he’d been furious. Furious that she’d thought so little of him, and of herself. He’d bared his soul to her—something he’d never done before with any woman—and in return?

She’d run from him.

With any other woman, he would have tamped down his anger, let it go. Or simply found someone else.

Briefly, Seb laughed aloud.

With any other woman, it wouldn’t have happened. It had never happened before.

But with this one?

Thinking about that morning fanned the flames of his anger. Seb had wanted to
immediately track her down and confront her. But he’d had to wait until he could get free from the restaurant. He had responsibilities to his investors, to his staff. People depended on him. He couldn’t just up and run without clearing his schedule first, but he’d taken off as soon as possible. And he knew exactly what he was going to do and say to Lexie Meyers when he saw her.

He’d hold her against him, crush his lips to hers and kiss her senseless. When she was calm, he’d stroke her body the way he knew she liked until she was mindless with pleasure. Until she admitted that she loved him.

Because she did. He knew it deep within the fibers of his being. Except she was too scared, too deeply
scarred
, to acknowledge it as love.

Seb gripped the handlebars of his bike more tightly as he rode toward Star Harbor. A chill wind lashed his body, but he barely felt it, heated as much by his anger as he was by his cold-weather motorcycle gear.

Sebastian was still high on adrenaline when he reached the outskirts of Star Harbor. He was still just as riled up when he parked his bike outside the LMK and pounded on the front door. After a few brief moments, he checked his watch. It was nine-thirty. The lights were on inside the restaurant, and he could see a dim light in the doorway to the kitchen, but no one was answering.

He walked around to the back alley, the dark street nearly pitch-black save for a small light outside the kitchen door. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he walked directly to the door and pounded on it.

And got no response.

Surely someone was still there. Why else would all the lights be on?

Just then, he heard something. A muffled grunt and a small shriek. But where was it coming from? Sebastian quickly glanced around the alley, and his eyes were drawn to the open doors of the underground cellar. A crash sounded into the night, and the tinkle of breaking glass preceded another small shriek.

“Lexie?” he called.

His heart pounded in his chest, and the adrenaline rush he’d been nursing kicked into even higher gear. Was Lexie down there? And was she in trouble?

As fast as he could, he ran to the open door of the cellar.

“Lexie?” he roared into the dark hole.

“Seb?” a small voice answered. “Help me!”

Needing no further encouragement, he vaulted down the small wooden staircase leading to the cellar floor. It was even darker down here than it had been in the alley. He blinked, trying to adjust to the near-blackness. But as soon as he turned around, he was met with a sharp punch to the face.

“Damn!” he yelled, grabbing his nose as he felt blood begin to trickle down. “What the—”

“It’s Frank!” Lexie screamed from a dark corner. “He’s here.”

“Lexie, get out of here!” Seb yelled, blinking his eyes furiously. He needed to see to be able to help.

“No,
you
get out of here,” a nasty voice said. “Alexandra and I have some unfinished business.”

“You’re disgusting,” Lexie said.

“I mean it, Lexie. If you can see, get out. Call Cole. Let me deal with this scumbag.”

“I’m not leaving you down here,” Lexie vowed. “He came prepared—he’s wearing night-vision goggles. He’ll kill you!”

“ ‘I’m not leaving you down here,’ ” Frank mimicked in a singsong voice. “I give you two good years and this is how you repay me?”

“By ‘two good years’ do you mean abusing her? ’Cause that’s what you did,” Sebastian said. He was rewarded with a punch to his stomach. “Oof,” he cried, doubling over in pain.
Damn
. He needed some light.

“Abuse her?” Frank laughed. “Is that what she told you? I gave this woman everything.
Everything!
” he screamed. “And what does she do? She runs away.”

Sebastian ignored him. “Lights, Lexie,” he yelled. “I need to see.”

Another punishing blow hit him, this time right on his chin. In the blackness, he saw stars. Sebastian was about to call out to Lexie again when the lights suddenly switched on.

Standing about four feet away was a well-built man a few inches shorter than himself. Seb took in no other aspect of his appearance besides the fact that he was, indeed, wearing night-vision goggles. Frank whipped out a knife, but Seb charged him anyway, knocking him down with one powerful blow. Trying to fight back, the man stabbed at him, but Sebastian’s skills as a fighter had been honed by his work with a professional trainer and years of practice with his brothers. Before the blow could fall, he grabbed Frank’s arm and forced it to the ground, pinning it with his leg. Frank dropped the knife. Then, methodically, Seb began to beat him senseless.

The man’s goggles cracked, then fell off entirely. Though Seb’s hands grew bruised and sore from the blows, he didn’t care. Blood swam before his eyes. It was satisfying in a way he never could have imagined to hurt the man who’d caused Lexie so much pain. Over and over again, he hit him, barely noticing that the man wasn’t even responding anymore.

Dimly he heard someone calling his name. It took several moments for him to realize that it was Lexie.

“Seb! Seb! Stop! Please, Seb! Oh, please stop. Please—” Her voice choked away on a sob.

Slowly, Seb became present in his own body again. He stopped punching the now unconscious man and focused his gaze on Lexie. She was standing at the bottom of the staircase, looking utterly disheveled. Soot covered her clothes and dirt was smeared on her face. Her hair had been pulled free of its pins and was hanging limply around her shoulders. She was clutching something in her fist so hard that her knuckles had turned white.

But the worst was the haunted, hollow look on her face.