Quiver (Revenge Book 1) (13 page)

When Todd suddenly released her, Veda’s vision had already been blinded by her tears. She cupped her throbbing arm, blinking them away, her chest heaving in shock.

As the tears spilled down her cheeks and her vision cleared, she realized Todd hadn’t released her at all.

A massive hand locked around his neck, face beet-red as the air was stolen from his lungs, Todd’s stunned blue eyes searched Gage’s face just as he tightened his grip.

“Don’t you ever put your fucking hands on her again,” Gage seethed. “Have you lost your
goddamn
mind?”

Veda covered her thundering heart with her hand. Then she and the blonde both reached for Gage, whose face had gone so tight and crimson with fury that Veda barely recognized him.

“Gage, stop!” The blonde tried to put herself between Gage and Todd.

Gage didn’t even notice her, squeezing his fingers around Todd’s neck even more, tensing until his friend wheezed.

Veda came to her toes, clapping a hand on Gage’s bicep, flexed so tightly she wondered if the boulder under her trembling fingers was going to rip right through his leather jacket.

The moment her fingers brushed his arm, something cracked in Gage that hadn’t cracked with the blonde. He snapped his head toward her, meeting her eyes.

Veda’s stomach tightened at what she saw. A nudity, a sightlessness, an expression so vacant of anything but blind fury she felt like she was looking at a different person.

“I’m okay,” she whispered, hearing the out-of-control vibration of her own stunned voice, feeling the tears that had dried and stiffened her cheeks. “Gage, it’s okay.”

Gage didn’t relent, still clasping Todd’s neck so tightly it prompted Todd to grab the lapels of his leather jacket. He tugged, silently begging for release. Still, even as he struggled, Todd didn’t retaliate physically.

Holding Veda’s eyes, his entire body shaking, Gage released Todd, shoving at his neck until he went flying into the oblivious crowd still dancing around them.

Veda sucked in her first breath in minutes, as if
she
were the one who’d been choking. Her wet eyes grew larger, following Gage as he straightened, yanking at the flaps of his jacket, fixing it on his broad shoulders. He suddenly seemed ten times taller, ten times wider, ten times more threatening than he ever had before.

Veda found herself stumbling backward, away from him, covering her mouth with both hands. Her wide eyes searched his just as his fiancée came up next to him, her blue eyes exploding with concern. The woman grabbed his arm, shaking him, but it took another moment for Gage to break his gaze from Veda and look down at her. She reached up and caressed his jaw with one hand, whispering.

Whatever words she spoke made the muscle that still pulsated under Gage’s jaw relax. He held her frantic eyes for a moment before lifting his own eyes to the crowd.

Veda understood.

He was worried someone had seen him. Noticed his outburst.

Veda watched his fiancée whisper more, saw Gage visibly relax with each word she said, returning him to the man they all knew.

Seeing him brought back to his true self by someone who wasn’t her, however, made Veda move away faster. Away from his fiancée’s delicate hand, still clutching his jaw. Away from his eyes, calming rapidly under whatever soothing words she was saying.

Veda turned her back on the sight and elbowed her way through the crowd, moving as fast as she could until she found herself at the exit, throwing it open and racing toward the elevators at the end of the hall, desperate to be on the building’s first level.

Desperate to get her feet on the ground.

Desperate for escape.

7

Gage hadn’t smoked in years. Not since he’d watched his late grandfather breathe his last strangled, squawking, rasp-fueled breath, his charred lungs struggling even as they gave out.

But tonight.

Oh, tonight.

Gage locked his lips around the burning stick, letting the bitter flavor sting his tongue, his eyes fluttering shut as he breathed in deep and the poison filled his lungs. He pulled the cigarette away and held it out in front of him, staring at it in awe as everything magically disappeared. Everything. His hand around Todd’s neck. The fear in Veda’s eyes. The sight of her running away from him yet again. It all floated away, disappearing into the night air right alongside the string of musty smoke he allowed to billow from his lips.

He knew it wouldn’t stay gone forever. But for the time being, it was enough.

“Taking the CEO of your father’s company in a chokehold in the middle of a crowded club….”

Gage turned his head at the sound of his fiancée’s soft voice. He met Scarlett’s smiling blue eyes, but didn’t smile back.

“Our parents will be thrilled,” she whispered.

The rickety fire escape rocked with the howling wind, hundreds of feet above ground. Neither of them flinched at the unsteady feeling because neither of them was afraid of heights. Or perhaps, Gage thought, neither of them was afraid to die.

The rooftop party was still in full swing above them, and the thumping music made the fire escape shake even more. Gage’s long legs were spread wide, taking up most of the staircase, but Scarlett was tiny enough to squeeze her petite body into the sliver of space left over, and she had. Her slim legs were crossed, her entire body pressed against him, smiling eyes searching his profile.

He leaned forward on his splayed knees, flicking the ashes off his cigarette. “I hope you can forgive me. I know how important it is to your family that we keep up appearances.”

Scarlett looked amused. “Like I give a shit.”

Gage shot her a surprised look, fighting a smile. “Never heard you talk like that.”

“A man…” Her eyes fell to his lips. “Fighting for his girl. There’s nothing more pure or more noble than that. If it were the other way around, and it was my guy in the crosshairs? I wouldn’t hesitate for a moment to throw a punch in his honor.”

He frowned softly. “Your guy?”

Her smile grew knowing. She linked her arms with his. “You have a pure heart.”

“You’re seeing someone else?”

Her blue eyes expanded. “Are you angry with me?”

He searched her eyes, then looked away with his eyebrows raised. “No.”

“Good. Because that girl? If she’s yours, and you’re hers, I wouldn’t be angry at you either. It’s important that we remain discreet, of course, but there’s no sense in staying away from the people we really….” She didn’t finish.

He didn’t need her to. “Yeah, well.” He tossed his cigarette. “Veda’s not mine, so….”

She tightened her hold on his arm, voice conspiratorial. “But you’re hers?”

He didn’t answer.

“Does she mean something to you?”

He looked at her, hesitating. “I don’t know.”

A heady silence fell between them, their eyes locked tight.

Gage was the first to break the stare.

Scarlett reached up and brushed the edge of his jaw, nudging until he looked back at her. They held each other’s eyes. She leaned in, just an inch. He followed. This went on, one of them leaning a little closer and then the other, until their foreheads met, their breath warming the sliver of space between their mouths, mixing with the night air.

Their lips brushed.

Scarlett was the first to pull back. “No,” she whispered.

Gage shook his head, his forehead moving against hers. “Nope.”

She giggled, and his deep laugh joined in. Their eyes lit up as they both pulled back completely, laughing softly together.

Scarlett laid her head on his shoulder, sighing. “There you have it. If we didn’t know it before, I guess we definitely know it now.”

Gage swallowed heavily, feeling like a hundred-pound boulder had taken up permanent residence at the bottom of his stomach. “Yeah….”

He definitely knew it now.

—

Maybe she just wasn’t a killer.

Maybe coming back to this miserable island had been a huge, stupid mistake. Maybe the gods of fate had sent her a very clear signal that revenge wasn’t hers to deliver but theirs, and as long as she continued trying to take matters into her own hands, innocent people would continue getting caught in the crosshairs.

Veda’s breath got trapped in her throat when she thought of the blonde woman who’d been seconds away from taking the lethal swallow meant for Todd. What if Veda hadn’t been watching them so closely? What if she’d turned her head? Allowed herself to again become distracted by Gage’s heated eyes? Allowed even a moment to pass without keeping her eyes on that drink? That blonde would’ve been dead as dirt.

And her blood would’ve been on Veda’s hands.

Her eyes lowered as she walked through the hospital halls that morning, as if all the doctors, nurses, and patients passing could see in her eyes what she felt in her heart.

How could she be trusted with the lives of innocent patients when she couldn’t even get a hold of her own?

Still, she couldn’t see any other way to escape the monsters in her head outside of killing the monsters who’d put them there. She simply had no other options.

She had no other choice.

Coming to a stop at the end of the hall, she pressed the button for the elevator, frowning at her own thoughts.

Was it really not enough that she’d almost killed an innocent woman? Was that not enough to drive her to reconsider her entire strategy? Rethink this entire thing?

No.

It just taught her that she needed to be more careful. When she finally took Todd, it couldn’t be in public. Too risky. It would have to be just the two of them.

But where?

As she pondered the various different places she’d love to end his life, and all the fun ways she could do it, the elevator doors slid open.

She didn’t even try to hide the soft gasp that dashed up her throat, or the emotion she could feel singeing her eyes. She didn’t attempt to breathe past her racing heart, opting instead to just hold her breath.

As she stepped into the elevator and next to Gage, pressing the button for the top floor, she noticed that his chest had come to a complete standstill too. She tapped at the pockets of her scrubs with her free hand, horrified to discover she was out of suckers. Nothing to distract her mind or her mouth, which was already salivating for a taste.

The doors slid closed. It was the slowest elevator in the entire building, always having problems, and as it trudged to the highest floor, Veda knew one of them would have to take a breath eventually, lest they die a slow, painful death.

Then the elevator jolted.

Both Veda and Gage planted their feet, eyes flying to the ceiling when the lights began to flicker.

The subtle buzzing noise the elevator always made faltered before coming to an uneven stop.

Then silence.

Stillness.

“Oh, no, no, no….” Veda leaned over, slamming her finger into various buttons, staring up at the ceiling. Nothing.

She felt him move in close. His body heat came in behind her, surrounded her, and he reached out an arm beside her.

Veda froze in place when their arms brushed, the feeling she still couldn’t make sense of zapping her bones and making her question her common sense in a way she never had before.

He pressed the green Call button and, seconds later, a voice rang though.

“Shadow Rock Security.”

Veda straightened, adjusting her scrubs and giving Gage a sheepish look over her shoulder. His hands weren’t even shaking. Was she the only one on the verge of falling apart?

When he spoke, his voice was smooth as butter. “Yeah, Javier, elevator five is stuck…
again.
”

Javier moaned. “We just had it serviced last week, boss. You know it’s on its last leg. Any surgeons in there?”

“Just an anesthesia resident and myself. She’s already seen her last patient of the day, about an hour ago, so no worries on that front.”

Veda bit her bottom lip and fought a stupid smile. He knew her schedule? She rolled her eyes at herself as she became aware of her own thoughts. She was officially five years old.

She didn’t have to look at Gage to know he was gritting his teeth; she could hear it in his voice. “How long?”

An extended pause from Javier’s end. “Gotta call the guy. Last time, it took him a little over four hours.”

“Four hours!” Gage roared. “Four hours to fix an elevator?”

“Uh….” Javier laughed nervously. “It took him four hours to get here, boss. It took him another five hours to fix the elevator.”

Veda felt Gage shooting her a look, but she didn’t dare return it.

He began taking several deep breaths. “Just… get him here. To hell with the budget. Tell him we’ll pay whatever it costs. Just get him here as soon as possible, and get back to me when you have any new information.”

“Sure thing. Stay put.”

“Don’t really have a choice.”

Veda hid her head in her hand as Gage released the button, tittering softly. They quietly returned to the middle of the elevator, facing the doors as if they were still moving. As if those doors would slide open any minute on their requested floors, releasing them from the awkward stew they were simmering in.

Another long silence passed, and Veda was unable to stop herself from sneaking a peek at him.

She gasped when she found his eyes riveted to her. Unable to break away, she waited for the predictable conversation to begin. She’d say, “So I guess we’re stuck here,” and he’d immediately take the bait, lamenting about what a piece of shit this elevator was. He’d chide himself for not taking it out of service sooner. Then she’d jump in and say it was a good thing she’d already seen all of her patients or someone’s surgery would be getting postponed. Then he’d joke that it was a good thing he wasn’t a surgeon, or somebody might’ve ended up dead tonight.

Instead, she whispered, “I never got a chance to thank you for the pancakes….” She swallowed and met his eyes. “The way you made them into the shape of a sun… That was… really sweet.” She turned away when she felt the embarrassing sting of tears in her eyes. It had been bad enough that the pancakes had made her cry the first time she’d seen them sitting on the edge of the bed, and now she was going to multiply that embarrassment by giving him a private show? She took a deep breath to calm herself, thankful when that seemed to work and the emotion in her eyes dried.

“When I was a kid…,” he started.

Veda drank in his deep voice like water, sneaking another look from the corner of her eyes.

He kept his eyes forward, a small smile playing on his lips as he massaged his beard. “Turning breakfast foods into random shapes and animals was one of the few things guaranteed to make my mother smile. By the time grade school rolled around, I’d gotten pretty damn inventive. A breakfast food Picasso.”

“Is that what you’re trying to do?” she asked softly. “Make me smile? Because it worked.” It had also made her hysterically cry, for reasons she still couldn’t understand, but she left that borderline psychotic tidbit out.

He faced her, the smile on his face vanishing as he whispered back, “Did I scare you last night?”

Unable to stop herself from pivoting on her heel, she faced him with wide eyes, clutching her chart to her chest. “
No
.”

“Just—” A lump moved down his throat. “The way you looked at me. You looked at me like—”

Veda stepped closer. “I wasn’t scared. I think I was more surprised than anything. You protected me, and that’s… really new for me.” She breathed deep. “I guess I’ve grown so used to always having my own back, taking care of my own problems, fighting my own battles that… When you just jumped in there and got Todd around the neck….” She chuckled. “I think I was a little bit in
shock.
I was in shock,” she decided. “But I wasn’t scared.”

“I just… I heard you screaming and… He wouldn’t let go. He should’ve never had his hands on you like that. I went blind.”

“The screaming was over the top. Came out before I could stop it. I’m really sorry it startled you so badly.” She blinked, wondering when they’d both come to face each other, looking into one another’s eyes openly, neither bothering to uphold the false sense of aloofness they’d been doing a stand-up job of displaying over the last week. “I just… When he grabbed me? It took me back to a really….” Shit, were her eyes burning again? She tried to fight past it, but when she spoke she heard the tears manifesting themselves in her voice, making it hitch. “It took me back to a really bad place—”

She couldn’t even finish before Gage closed the space between them and wrapped his arms around her shoulders, pulling her to him.