Retribution (2 page)

He’d come; I knew he would.

Ian pulled up twenty minutes later and hurried to where I sat on the deserted sidewalk. “Are you okay?” He helped me to my feet, and his gaze fell to my hands. “What happened?”

“I’m drunk.”

“I can see that.”

“The wall pissed me off.”

“You really did a number on your hands.” He put his arm around me. “Come on, I’ll take you home.”

I tripped over my feet and grasped his jacket. “I don’t wanna go home.” My empty apartment was the last place I wanted to go. “Take me home with you.”

“Kayla . . .” His voice dropped in warning. “You need to sleep it off.” He opened the passenger door of his SUV.
 

“I need you.” He moved to shut the door, but I grabbed his hand and laced our fingers together. “Make me feel something.”

“Not while you’re drunk.” He extracted his fingers from mine, and the door slammed with an echo of finality. I settled into the seat with a sigh as he rounded the vehicle.

“I went to see him,” I said as he slid in beside me.

“I thought we agreed you wouldn’t go alone.”

“No, you
told
me not to go alone.”

“How did he take it?”

“He was drunk.”

“That seems to be a theme tonight.” He ran a hand through his short, brown hair. “Are you all right? He didn’t hurt you, did he?”

“He kissed me.” Why was I telling him this?

His fingers tightened around the steering wheel. He turned onto the road and stomped on the gas. “What did he tell you?”

I laughed. “Absolutely nothing.”

We fell silent, and I stewed the whole way to my apartment. He deposited me on the doorstep and straightened my jacket collar, as if I was a wayward ribbon on a present that needed fixing. Too drunk to unlock my own door, he did it for me. Nothing but loneliness and despair awaited me on the other side.

“I’ll come back in the morning and take you to get your car.”

“Don’t leave.” I gripped the front of his jacket, willing him to come inside, though I hadn’t thought much on what we’d do once we got past the door. “Please, don’t go.” I collapsed into his arms and sobbed, body shaking violently as I let it all pour out of me. “I’m such a mess. He fucked me up, Ian.” Gage was still in my system, a parasitic itch I still wanted to scratch. He’d wanted to own me, and now he did. Underneath the fear, the hatred and rage, lurked a sense of gratitude. He’d saved my daughter’s life . . . how could I hate anyone who’d done that?

I gulped in mouthfuls of air, but it wasn’t enough to calm me. Hesitantly, he tightened his arms around me, and I sensed him battling with himself. He closed and locked the door, decision made. My heart skipped as he picked me up, but then he set me on my feet next to the couch.

“No, take me to bed.”

“Kayla—”

“Just hold me,” I interrupted. “Please. I want to wake up with you tomorrow morning.” I wanted the warmth of his body next to mine, then maybe Gage wouldn’t haunt my dreams while I slept.

He cursed under his breath and lifted me again, and the last thing I recalled as my head sank into the pillow was the safety of his arms surrounding me.

3. D
REAM

The gentle way he touched me bespoke of reassurance. His fingers glided along my skin, igniting want and need in their wake. He pushed a little deeper, past the resistance of my innocence and into the center of my heat, and I knew I was dreaming . . . dreaming of the night Ian made love to me for the first time. The one and only time.

I cried out, overcome by him filling me, pressing into me, devouring me. Never before had I dreamed so vividly in life-like detail. His skin slid against mine, hot and damp, and something beyond the physical touched me. Maybe it was the way he trembled as he grasped my hands and held them to the mattress, as if he needed to hold on to something to keep from coming apart. We hadn’t needed words. The brush of our lips, the tender union of tongues, the claiming sensation of his thrusts—the way we came together said more than words ever could.

The dream evaporated, and as the light of day seeped behind my lids, I recalled how the morning after—so many years ago—I’d ended up puking. I’d puked every morning after that for a few weeks. My eyelids fluttered open, the dream still a tickle at my conscious mind, and he was looking straight at me. The previous evening came flooding back. Oh my God . . . had I really begged him to take me to his place? Or even worse . . . had I let some random stranger stick his tongue down my throat?

“I’m sorry about last night. I shouldn't have called you.” I should have called a cab and fallen into bed alone, but now here we were, seven years later.

“Don't apologize for calling me. I'm glad I was there. You weren't exactly in the best part of town.”

I avoided his eyes and inspected the nasty scrapes covering my knuckles. “I was in a bad place, and I’m not talking about the area of town.”

“You don't deserve what he's done.” He rolled to his back and sighed. “I wish I knew what to say or do, but I don't. I don't know how to handle this . . .”

The memory of what Gage had put us through hit me square in the chest, and I wondered if the impact would ever lessen with time. If I could withstand the humiliation of that, then last night shouldn’t bother me. “We should talk about it.”

“I know.”

I didn't know what to say either. He'd basically been raped—if not by force, then by threat—and I couldn’t help but obsess over the fact that he’d managed to reach orgasm with Katherine. That alone was messed up on so many levels, as I’d learned firsthand how someone could coax pleasure from an unwilling participant if they put some effort into it. I closed my eyes, but the memory of them together still burned like a scorching brand on my mind and heart. His torment had shone from his gaze, but then he'd shuttered his expression and had moaned right along with her, if only for a moment.

“I don't want you to feel ashamed about it, Kayla.”

Had he pretended it was me? Maybe that was the one question I wanted answered, only I didn't know how to ask, so I remained silent.

“I hate that you paid the price for saying my name, but I don't think I would’ve been able to . . . do what he demanded if you hadn't.” He rolled over and faced me, close enough to breathe the same air. "I thought of you and that was enough to send me over the edge. I want you to know I wasn't with her—every part of me was with you.”

I couldn’t resist kissing him. To hell with the consequences, to what was right and wrong. Getting involved with him was cruel and irresponsible, but I couldn’t fight the draw of him. He was my safety net, and I was falling headfirst toward concrete.

I hoped he was strong enough to catch me, because in that moment I was fresh out of strength.

For a few stolen moments, we lost ourselves in each other, our mutual moans the only sounds louder than my thumping heartbeat. Trapped underneath his body, I found freedom. We finally came up for air, and he dropped his forehead against mine.

“Kayla . . .” His breath caressed my lips, and I parted them, wanting more of him. “I want you so badly right now.”

“I want you too. That hasn’t changed from last night.”

He closed his eyes. “But sobriety has brought back reason.”

Sobriety had brought back a lot of things. “Yeah.” If we gave into our desire now, I might never know for certain, and I couldn’t move on with him until I knew it was for the right reasons.

My phone buzzed on the nightstand, and one glance told me it was Gage. I questioned why I didn’t just ignore the call—I had called in sick for a few days, after all. But the reasons were complicated, a mess of convoluted truth I didn’t want to deal with. Power still tipped in his favor; in the way I submitted to him, in the way I was compelled to answer simply because he called. And with four terse words that formed a demand, he had me sliding out of bed.

“Come into the office.”

4. C
HECKMATE

Ian wanted me to quit my job. He had driven me to get my car, but then he’d had to go to work. I still recalled the apprehension on his face, even now as I approached the fifth floor of Channing Enterprises. He had pleaded with me not to go.

Gage Channing is a monster.

He’ll only hurt you again.

At least let me go with you.

I’d agreed with the first two statements, but I wouldn’t let him take time off from his job to deal with my problems. He’d been dragged into my life enough already.

A ding announced the fifth floor, and as the doors slid open, I wondered what Gage wanted. After his non-reaction to the evidence I’d presented him with, I was more than curious. Maybe he was going to fire me. A part of me hoped he would so I wouldn’t have to face the decision of whether or not to put in my resignation. The idea of searching for a new job was a daunting one, though staying on as his personal assistant didn’t sit well either.

I exited the elevator, not at all recovered from Gage’s beating or my bar excursion, but at least no one would tell by looking at me. I wore my usual heels and skirt ensemble, only the inches on my shoes were shorter and the hem of my skirt longer than his more recent requirements. I looked like the put-together woman I wanted the world to see. No one would know that every inch of my body still ached from the impact of his whip.

“Good morning, Kayla.” Katherine’s sing-song greeting iced my blood. I avoided her smug face and rushed into Gage’s office without knocking. The door slammed shut behind me, making him jump.

“I’ll have to call you back,” he said into his cell. He ended the call and leaned back in his chair, staring at me, though instead of his usual cocky air, his face was bathed in uncertainty.

I hadn’t expected uncertainty. “I was debating whether or not to put in my resignation, but I can’t work here with Katherine.” How interesting that his presence didn’t bother me half as much as hers did.

Pinching the bridge of his nose, he closed his eyes, and I assumed he was suffering from the effects of his drinking binge. “I’ll have her transferred. I can’t fire her—she and I have an agreement.”

I bet. “Let me guess, her job back in exchange for destroying me?”

He ignored my scathing question and gestured to the seat in front of his desk. “Sit down. We have a few things to discuss.”

“I’ll stand, thank you. And you’re the one who needs to do the talking. Why is my ex blackmailing you? Is he doing it for money, or does it have something to do with me?”

“He thinks he can keep me away from you,” he said with a smirk. “Your ex is an ass.”

“A bit hypocritical, don’t you think?”

His face darkened, and he rose and rounded the desk.

I took a step back, remembering how he’d kissed me last night. “Don’t come any closer.”

“What do you think I’m gonna do, Kayla? Bend you over my desk and put a belt to your ass?” He had me against the door before I was able to blink. “You made it clear the rules have changed, remember?” His eyes lowered to my trembling mouth. “Only I’m a little unclear on what they are now. Am I still allowed to touch you?” He feathered his fingers across my nipples, as if testing how far he could push me. “Kiss you?” His words whispered across my lips, breath laced with the richness of coffee. “You didn’t seem to mind last night.”

“No, you don’t get to touch me.” I shoved him back a few inches, hating how he still had the power to make my pulse race. The bastard still turned me on; that out of everything pissed me off the most.

“I called you in here to negotiate my own terms.”

I raised a brow. “I didn’t realize you had anything left to negotiate with.”

He laughed. “You didn’t quite achieve checkmate yet—my king is still in the game, believe me.”

I flattened myself against the door, but it didn’t give me the distance I wanted. His chest felt like steel under my hands as I pushed against him. “I’ll scream.”

“Do it, then the cops can come and arrest you.” His grin was too triumphant, and I wondered how he’d so easily turned the tables on me.

“And you think the police will ignore your embezzlement? You’re not above the law, even though it’s clear you think otherwise.”

“You won’t turn me in.”

“Really? What makes you so certain?”

“Because upon further investigation, the Feds will discover that your friend Jody Palmer is also guilty. If I go down, she does too.”

My jaw went slack. “You’re lying.”

“Am I? Do you want to test me?” He quirked an eyebrow. “Why do you think she resigned?”

A chill traveled through my body. He was basically telling me I had no leverage. Oh my God . . . this wasn’t over yet. “Gage, don’t do this to me. I can’t take anymore.”

Something flickered in the depths of his eyes, something that gave me hope, but he dashed it with the words he whispered against my ear. “Doing the right thing isn’t in my nature. I want you.” He grabbed my ass and lifted, and his erection pushed against my opening.

Where I instantly throbbed for him.

“No!” I shoved him away. “Turn me in, if you want, but I can’t do this anymore.”

“You’d risk your daughter’s life?”

“No,” I choked out. “God, you’re despicable. The fact that you’d use her like this tells me everything I need to know about you.”

He frowned. “Maybe you don’t know me as well as you think.” He returned to his chair, which shocked the heck out of me. Deep down, I’d expected him to take me right there in his office.

“Then do the right thing. Let me go.”

“So you want me to let you out of our contract, but I’m supposed to keep paying for Eve’s medical bills?”

“Haven’t I paid enough? You’ve put me through hell and you know it.”

“I’ll do it under one condition.”

His words stunned me, but then suspicion set in. “What do you want?”

The edge of his mouth turned up. “I already told you what I want.”

He wanted me. “Why, Gage? I don’t understand. You could have any woman you wanted.”

“Not any woman,” he said wryly.

And that was it. I was the forbidden fruit on the tree, though why he’d placed me into that category was unclear. If he’d approached me like a decent human being, I might have liked him. Now all he had going for him was my chemical reaction to him. It was just sex—really fantastic sex mixed with really horrific pain. “I’ll ask again,
what do you want from me
?”