Midnight Sins (40 page)

past deeper inside his soul and twisting it cruelly.

“Why, Rafer, did he show up on my doorstep at a time

he would be least noticed to attempt to warn me of

something more than his wrath if I continued to see

you?”

“Because he’s a smart, manipulative, evil old

bastard, and if he died tomorrow I wouldn’t shed a

tear for him,” he growled, wondering himself if that

were even true.

“Or is it because you’re too damned scared to

know the truth? All three of you are,” she accused.

She didn’t know the effect that accusation had on

him. She couldn’t have known the bitterness that filled

him, Logan, and Crowe, or the questions that haunted

them as well. Questions they had no hope of finding

because those with the answers were dead.

“There’s not a damned thing I’m scared of in this

county, Cami,” he informed her furiously as he stared

at her back, watching as her shoulders tightened, as

she refused to turn back to him.

“I really don’t want to discuss this with you any

longer,” she informed him, her voice low as he stood

watching her, the fact that she had her back to him

bothering him more than he wanted to admit. “I have

things to do in the morning, Rafer, and I don’t have

time to deal with you before I leave.”

And she sure as hell didn’t want anyone to know

he was here, he thought mockingly. God forbid

someone on her street would actually realize she was

screwing one of the Callahan cousins.

Son of a bitch if he wasn’t sick and damned tired

of dealing with this bullshit with every lover he’d had.

He’d thought Cami, with her fire, her restless courage,

and warmth would have cared more about whatever

they could feel growing between them than whether or

not her daddy approved of her lover.

“Do you think I don’t get damned tired of this,

Cami? Why don’t you just admit to the fact that you’re

so damned scared of daddy finding out you’re fucking

his daughter’s killer that you’ll come up with any

excuse to put a wedge between us?” he snapped

furiously. “And the least you could do is turn around

and face me, damn you!”

She shook her head furiously, her hand lifting in

rejection, and in that moment, he knew she was

crying.

Damn her. He didn’t want to see her tears. He

didn’t want to see the hurt in her eyes, or the pain that

drifted down her cheeks.

His Cami should never cry. And especially not

because of him.

The knowledge of those years was like a dagger

shoving inside his gut. Why would she care? For

God’s sake, nothing was going to change the past,

nothing would ever affect the barons until he, Logan,

and Crowe established the vengeance they’d

returned home to put in place.

Striding across the room, he gripped her

shoulders, pulling her around as he gripped her chin

with one hand and lifted her face to see it in the low

light on her bedside table.

And she
was
crying.

Silent, miserable tears washed over her cheeks

and dripped down her face to her neck. Her gray eyes

were dark, filled with pain, and silently begging him for

something he didn’t know how to give her.

“You need—” Her voice hitched. “You need to

leave.”

She tried to pull away from him, to hide her tears

from him again.

“And you’d rather stand here with your back to

me and cry than fight for a damned thing you want.

And you have the nerve to berate me?”

He released her slowly.

“You don’t know what the hell you’re talking

about,” she cried out roughly. “I haven’t cared what

Daddy
thought since the day I realized he was moving

the family to Aspen the summer I graduated. And I

wasn’t invited,” she sneered tearfully. “You know

Rafer; you should give your grandfather more credit.

Because the two of you are more alike than you could

ever know.”

“Oh, baby, trust me, I’ve heard that accusation

more times than you could ever throw it at me.”

He released her quickly before striding a few

steps away from her. “At least I’m willing to admit to it.

I know damned good and well that I could be a clone

of that old bastard. But you, Cami?” He flicked her an

angry look. “You won’t even admit to the fact that the

only reason you’ve slipped out of my bed at dawn and

run like a scared cat over the years is because you

didn’t want that son of a bitch father of yours to know

who you were screwing.”

He couldn’t get around her. He couldn’t touch her

because he didn’t trust himself. Because he was

getting hard. He was so damned ready to fuck her

again he couldn’t stand it. And how much sense did

that make? She had him so mad he could probably

bite nails in half, and what was his response? A

fucking hard dick and a need to push her over the bed

and fill the liquid heat of her pussy with every

throbbing inch of it.

“You think you just know it all,” she bit out, the

anger suddenly pouring through her, filling her voice,

roughening it as her gaze flickered with the same

aroused rage.

God, she was getting just as hot, filling with the

same fiery blast of lust that he could feel striking at

him.

“That son of a bitch father as you call him

probably couldn’t care less who I was fucking,” she

suddenly yelled back at him. “I’m so low on his fucking

radar these days that he only calls me when he needs

my signature at the nursing home to authorize

payment for medical care. To see her, I have to pay

for the expenses her medical insurance doesn’t.

Other than that, I’m lucky if I get to see my mother at

all, and I sure as hell don’t care what my so-called

father thinks.”

Hell, he hadn’t known that. He couldn’t imagine

the anger Jaymi would have felt if she had known how

their father was using his youngest daughter.

“He didn’t even care when—”

He watched her face suddenly pale.

Her lips clamped closed as she turned quickly

away from him once again and pushed her fingers

through her hair before clenching the strands in a

gesture of pain and rage.

Rafe’s eyes narrowed on her.

“When what, Cami?” he asked softly. “What

happened that he didn’t care?”

He could feel a hard, tight ball of suspicion

forming in his gut that Cami was hiding something

from him. He’d always known when she was hiding

something. It seemed even when she was a teenager,

before Jaymi’s death, he’d known how to read her

much easier than any other female he’d known.

She had been a bright, curious teenager with

what he had believed was no more than a strong

crush. He’d never imagined in those days that he

would end up wanting her more than he wanted air to

breathe at times. Or that she would become as vital to

him as he could sense her becoming.

Watching her, touching her, seeing her laugh and

even cry were experiences he hungered for when it

came to Cami.

“I don’t want to talk about this any further,” she

told him, her expression closed and tight as she all

but glared back at him over her shoulder. “It’ll be dawn

soon, Rafer, and you really need to leave. There’s

nothing going on, and there’s nothing wrong except

the fact that I really don’t want to deal with the

aggravation for a man who even refuses to see the

danger that’s chasing him. Not to mention the danger

chasing his lovers. I have enough problems.”

She had enough problems?

And she was lying to him. What the hell was

going on besides those fucking phone calls?

Whatever it was, she had no intentions of telling

him. He could see it in her closed expression, in her

eyes, which despite the tears were filled with steely

determination.

Damn her, he hated it when she lied to him.

His lips tightened as his head jerked up, nostrils

flaring in anger.

As if he were going to just walk away after

learning some bastard was calling her, threatening

her. If he’d known Jaymi had been receiving such

calls, he would have ensured she was protected

better. But he hadn’t. He couldn’t bring her sister back

for her, but he could do everything in his power to

make damned sure that no one dared to hurt her as

they had hurt her sister.

He would leave now. Not because she didn’t

want anyone to see him, because he was suddenly

aware if he was seen, then catching the mysterious

caller could become that much harder.

“Yeah, just let me get my ass out of here before

someone sees who’s slipping out of your house at

night and most likely fucking your brains out every

chance he gets,” he snorted, his pride still smarting at

the fact that she wanted him to leave, despite the fact

that he needed to go. “And when you decide to be a

woman willing to face me with the truth of whatever

you’re hiding, why don’t you just let me know?

Because I’ll be damned if I’m going to get down on my

knees and beg you for it, Cami. You’re going to have

to be woman enough to admit you want it.”

He turned, grabbed the jacket that had fallen to

the floor earlier, and stalked from the bedroom.

He hadn’t really believed she would be so

stubborn as long as he attempted to ensure no one

saw him coming and going. He’d thought he could

have her, tease her, and charm her. That there was

something burning between them, unresolved and

waiting to blossom into something they could have

both found some peace within.

It seemed he would never learn. There was no

peace to be found in Corbin County. And there was

no love, no respect, and no hunger strong enough to

combat whatever Cami suddenly found herself

frightened of or fighting against. Or was there?

He’d damned sure be finding out what that

“something” was, though. Who was calling Cami and

threatening her over the relationship developing with

Rafe? Or any of the other women who had been

involved with the Callahan brothers? What was going

on that none of them was aware of?

Perhaps he should have questioned it sooner.

Even more, perhaps Cami was right. Because Jaymi

wasn’t the only woman who had died that summer

who had been involved with the Callahan brothers.

There had been one other. And that one had been

planning to meet with Crowe to give him something, a

picture she thought he would want to see.