Savage Cinderella (14 page)

The car was crowded, but Justin didn't mind.
He had Brinn's warm, slender body pressed up against him, leaning
past the center console, still clinging to his arm as he drove. She
curled at his side like a purring kitten, seeming to find comfort
in his presence. Maybe now she would let him help her.

He couldn’t believe he’d found her at the
pub. Normally, he stayed away from the bar scene in Atlanta, but
since Cody’s return from Afghanistan, his friend had taken to
getting trashed and picking fights at the Black Horse most every
weekend—not usually in his character. Justin hoped that given time
and a chance to work out his issues, Cody would overcome whatever
demons plagued him. Until then, Justin was along as damage control
and designated driver.

The fight Cody picked tonight had been in
defense of a young woman and that young woman turned out to be
Briana Hathaway. Justin wanted to tell her what he’d found out
about her family, but it would have to wait until they were alone
and she was sober. His friend at the crime lab had confirmed her
fingerprints matched the kidnapped girl from the newspaper
archives. The lab tech agreed to keep a lid on the story until he
heard back from Justin, but made it clear it would cost him a huge
favor. Owing Freddy would be well worth knowing he had found a
kidnapped victim and returned her to her family.

The strong scent of alcohol permeated the
car. Justin’s gut twisted in visceral response. He cracked open his
window. It was too cool a night to put his top down, though the
fresh air would probably do them all good. He resisted the urge to
lecture the couple in the back seat about underage drinking or how
they’d left Brinn alone. It wasn’t his place, and they were in no
shape to listen. Abby sat sullenly between Cody and Phillip,
obviously angry with her date and even more so with herself. She
phoned her parents again to tell them she was staying the night in
the city with friends. After a few minutes of arguing and whining
from Abby about trust, being able to take care of herself, and her
being a grown woman, she hung up the phone.

It was decided that they would get two
rooms—one for the guys and the other for the girls. Brinn refused
to set foot in the enclosed space of the elevator and, rather than
cause a scene, the stairs seemed the best option. Justin paid for
the adjoining suites and led the group up the three flights of
stairs in the newly renovated luxury brownstone.

It was one of the few buildings in midtown
that had survived the Great Fire of 1917. The remnants had been
renovated many times through the years but the latest creation was
the perfect mix of old and new. The building, once a tenement of
apartments, now had eight floors of luxury suites decorated with
antique furnishings in deep reds and golds.

When they reached their floor, Cody ushered
Phillip into one room and led Abby to the other. If Phillip had
planned to ply the girls with alcohol and take advantage of them,
the plan had backfired. He was dead drunk. Abby stumbled into her
room and fell onto one of the queen-sized beds, fully clothed and
already snoring as Cody removed her shoes. He pulled a comforter
over her and joined Brinn and Justin arguing in the hallway.

Justin tried to leave Brinn at the girl’s
hotel room door.

"You need to go to sleep now,” he said. Brinn
grumbled and clutched the door frame. “C’mon, Brinn. You’ll feel
better tomorrow." He doubted the truth of his own words, but he
pried her hands from the wood and wrapped an arm around her waist.
He wished he could sleep beside her again. Thinking of her and
worrying for her safety had kept him from a good night’s sleep
since his return from the mountains. He knew tonight would be
another one of those nights.

Brinn protested when he pressed his hand to
her lower back, trying to nudge her gently through the door. She
acquiesced but stumbled straight for the balcony, sliding the door
open and plunging toward the fresh air. Justin followed in
pursuit.

"I can’t sleep in that room. It smells like
smoke. It smells like—him," she whispered, clutching the railing
and drawing deep breaths.

Justin tensed, “Who, Brinn? Who does it smell
like?"

"Pa, Roy." She whispered again, her gaze
unfocused. Justin caught the girl as she tipped, holding her by the
arms to steady her. She tried to pull away, but he tightened his
grasp.

"Let me go!" Brinn stomped on his foot
sending a jolt of hot white electricity through him.

Justin cried out in pain.

She tore her arms free of his grip and bolted
straight for the fire escape. She launched herself up the ladder
and toward the roof.

With a searing shock of pain that shot
through his injured foot, Justin hobbled backward and nearly
tumbled over the railing to the pavement below. He regained his
balance and swore under his breath. “Brinn, stop! Don’t run
away.”

Not fast enough to stop her, even in her
condition, Justin followed. He watched her climb the narrow stairs
upward like a treed bear. He took to the ladder but his own
progress was slowed by the throbbing pain in his ankle. Each step
sent pins and needles through his foot and up his leg.

“
Damn it!” he cursed. She
wasn’t going to make this easy. Her first time into the city and
she’d found all kinds of trouble to get into. Her friend should
have known better. It wasn't Brinn's fault. His temper cooled by
the time he reached the roof, despite the throbbing in his foot.
"Brinn!" His voice caught in his throat.

She stood perched on the raised ledge of the
building looking out over the busy street below. She didn't react
as he hobbled closer, but she rocked precariously as her head
bobbed forward. He swallowed his panic and steadied his churning
insides, his pain becoming distant. He didn't want to startle or
distract her. He had to get her away from the edge.

Circling around wide so he was in plain view,
he spoke her name again, softly. "Brinn, it's me, Justin. Please
come away from the edge. It's a long way down and I don't want you
to fall." He forced his voice to remain calm as he slowly
approached. She rocked side to side, stretching her arms wide as if
riding on an unseen current of wind that might carry her up into
the night at any moment.

Humming mournfully, she lifted her face to
the starlit sky and rising moon, and then let out a keening wail
that sent shivers along his skin. The sound pierced the night and
echoed off the city’s buildings. With her chin lifted heavenward
and the halo of moonlight behind her, she resembled an angel
tortured by earthbound tethers. Justin’s fists tightened as he
restrained his urge to grab her.

Brinn stopped abruptly, finally registering
that she wasn’t alone. "Justin, I want to go home." She continued
to look out at the city, her voice small now against the sounds of
night life below. "This all seems so familiar to me, but this is
not my home. It's his home. If I stay here, he will find me. He’ll
always find me." She wrapped her hands around her shoulders and
trembled.

Justin stepped closer, reaching his hand up
toward her. "Come down, Brinn. I’ll take you home and he will never
hurt you again. I won't let him." Even as he said the words, Justin
knew he couldn’t make her believe he could protect her. His own
self-doubt gnawed at his gut. He stood next to her, a mere foot of
space between them, but he didn't touch her. He had to convince her
to come to him. "Please, Brinn. I can't stand to see you hurting
like this. Let me help you."

She smiled, still looking down over the city
and then up to the heavens. "I've imagined how perfect life would
be if only I could fly. I have stood at the edge of cliffs much
higher than this and thought how easy it would be to step off the
edge and soar through the air like the great hawks I see circle the
canyons." She stretched her arms wide again, and cried out, "I just
want to go home!"

His chest tightened at the pain in her voice.
"I'll take you home. I'll take you anywhere you want to go." He had
planned to wait until their meeting after the full moon to tell her
what he’d found out about her, but coincidence or fate had led him
to that bar tonight and maybe the good news would help her now.
"I've found your parents. They’re alive, Brinn."

Her motion stilled. "They’re dead. Why are
you saying this?" She glared down at him, fists clenched at her
sides.

"No, Brinn, they’re alive. They’ve been
looking for you ever since you disappeared. They live just outside
the city. I’ve spoken to your mother. She doesn't know about you
yet. I didn't want to tell them until after I told you. Do you
understand? Your parents are alive and they’ll be so happy to have
you back."

Emotions flew across her face—confusion and
shock, apprehension to comprehension, and then a flicker of a smile
as she stared down at Justin, her eyes misty. She jumped down from
the ledge and into his arms, nearly knocking him down onto the
rooftop. She laughed and then cried and then pushed back from his
arms and awkwardly straightened her dress. She’d lost her shoes
again, but she didn’t seem to notice or care. "Are you sure? Is it
true, then? They’re alive...and they want me back?"

Justin held her close. He silently thanked
God that she was in his arms and safe, and then he leaned back,
looking into her teary eyes. "We can call your parents tomorrow."
He looked her over, making sure she was really okay. She was
frazzled and clearly intoxicated, but no worse for wear. "I don't
think you want them to see you like this, do you?"

She wobbled and grinned sheepishly in
response. “No, I ‘spose not. But I can't wait to see them!" She
gushed with excitement and words began to spill out so fast, Justin
couldn't make sense of most of what she said. She stumbled and
tripped her way across the roof. When he reached for her hand to
help her onto the ladder, she pulled away and refused his help. She
went over the edge and down the narrow metal steps. Much to his
relief, she reached the bottom without incident.

Cody was waiting on the balcony, lit
cigarette in hand. Brinn stopped abruptly and hissed, covered her
nose and mouth, and scowled sharply at Cody. Justin stepped
protectively in front of her and warned his friend with a look.
"She has a problem with smokers."

Cody immediately snubbed the cigarette and
put it back in the pack. "I really need to quit, anyway." He sent a
reassuring smile Brinn's way and then addressed Justin, rolling his
eyes and nodding toward the room. "The love birds have decided to
shack together. The little lady made her way into Phil’s room and
insisted they were “engaged.”

He accentuated the word with an oddly girlish
gesture of waggling his ring finger and then he grinned. "She's got
a rock on her finger, so I couldn't argue. Besides, Phil doesn't
look like he could do her much harm tonight. He's barely conscious,
let alone up for..." He let the sentence hang in the air as Brinn's
knees wobbled. She wore a scowl of concentration on her face and
gaped at him disapprovingly. Ignoring the girl, he addressed his
friend once again. "If you two want the room, I can take your car
home."

Justin shook his head. “No way, Bro.” He
wasn’t about to let Cody behind the wheel half lit. Recalling
Brinn's earlier comment about the smell of smoke in the room and
her apparent aversion to it, Justin looked down at the tipsy girl
at his side. Whatever had her so frightened and despondent, he
didn't want any more upsets with her tonight.

"I have a better idea. Why don't you take the
room, I'll take Brinn home to my place for tonight, and we'll come
back first thing tomorrow to get Abby and Phillip back to the bar
to pick up their vehicle. I'll take you home then."

Cody scratched his head and yawned. "Whatever
you say, Man. As long as you’re payin’. I just want to get some
shut-eye.” He gestured with his thumb toward the occupied room and
smirked. “Don’t worry; I’ll keep an ear open for trouble.”

Headaches and Healing Hearts

Justin finally had Brinn belted into the
front seat and was cruising down Route 75 toward his condo in
Centennial Park. His attention was drawn to the girl who was
lolling her head and talking gibberish by this time. She really
could not handle her liquor. He made a mental note to remind her of
this incident should she ever want another drink. He might also
consider having a little chat with Phillip when the idiot was sober
in the morning.

He turned the radio down to hear the
incoherent babbling, listening for clues as to why Brinn would come
down from her mountain and risk the discovery she so desperately
feared. She’d found her way to the Black Horse Tavern, a pub he’d
mentioned to her while at the cabin. His heart jumped at the idea
that she was there looking for him, but he dismissed it
immediately. Partly because he didn’t want to assume that their
time together had affected her so profoundly, and partly because he
didn’t want to admit the muddle of feelings he had for her.
Whatever her reasons, Justin now had two goals: to keep her safe,
and to reunite her with her family. He would focus on that for now.
It would be a shock for all of them, but he was certain it was the
right thing to do.

He turned off the exit heading onto Peachtree
when his phone rang. Justin connected the call. “Hello?”

“
Hi, Son.”

Justin tightened his grip on the steering
wheel. The last person he wanted to talk to was his father. It had
been a couple of months since his last call and still Justin had
little to say. “What’s up?” He asked coolly.

“
I read about your
adventure and I was calling to make sure you were all right. You
should have called.”

“
I’m fine, Dad.” He let the
silence grow, assessing his father’s sincerity. The man was
impossible to read. Cal Spencer was good at covering up the truth.
After his mom caught his dad in yet another affair, his parents had
finally divorced. Justin was just nineteen and his brother Steve a
year younger. Steve was old enough to join the Marines—a ticket out
of one hell and into another—but Justin was left behind to pick up
the pieces. He wasn’t sure which one of them had gotten the short
end of that stick.