Sweet Jayne (30 page)

“But why?!” I exclaim and struggle against his grip. “Why would she pretend to be me? This makes no sense.”

He frowns. “Because she was doing it for you. Selene’s rent on the apartment had gone up and the hotel she worked for was downsizing. She could barely afford to keep a roof over your head, much less send you off to college like you deserved. Your mother had big dreams for you. Dreams that included you living and working in America.”

I gape at him in shock and he presses a soft kiss on my mouth.

“Shhh,” he coos, “let me finish.”

But I don’t want him to finish. I’m not sure I can take much more of what he’s saying. In an effort to distract myself, I hook my legs around him and urge him to me. He lets out a grunt but I can feel his cock harden between us. A few uncoordinated slides against me and then his cock is stretching me wide as he fills me. But instead of fucking me, his eyes find mine and we remain physically connected while he continues his story.

“Once she explained everything, I still wanted to see you. It was fucked up, especially once I knew you were only seventeen, but I craved to take care of you. To touch you. To hold you. To protect you. She told me her plan that we’d play it off as a marriage to get you and her the proper citizenship, but that the marriage would be a farce. I went along with it because I only wanted to help you.”

He slides in and out of me slowly causing me to moan.

“So your plan was to make me fall in love with you?”

Donovan grins and my pussy clenches around him. He drives himself all the way in to the hilt. I cry out before digging my fingernails into his shoulders.

“No, baby,” he murmurs as he kisses me. “I told her I’d take care of you despite what she did to trick me. I was in love with you and if that meant it had to come from being your stepfather, then so be it. But I was taking you home with me. I had no plans to pursue it any further. I just wanted you safe and near me. I wanted you to come back to Colorado and do whatever you wanted with your life. If you found some nice guy in college, I would have paid for your wedding and been there for you.”

My body tightens around him when he quickens his pace.

“I didn’t want you to fall in love with me because it wasn’t right. I’m nearly twice your age and essentially in a position of power over you. But then we did fall, baby. We fell so fucking hard.”

I gasp as my orgasm slices through me. I’m sure I’m drawing blood from his shoulders but he doesn’t complain. Seconds later, his heat pours into me. As soon as dick stops twitching, he relaxes and kisses me on the nose.

“I’m sorry,” he says, remorse in his voice. “I’m sorry about how it began but I’m not sorry for how it ended. In the end, we have each other and that’s all that fucking matters.”

I smile at him through my tears. “I’m going to kill her. But, Donovan, you’re right. It was fate. You’re my best friend. I love you and I can’t imagine not loving you.”

“Baby?” he murmurs.

I open my eyes, still lost in my memory, and stare into the silvery blue ones of Donovan Jayne. “I’ve missed you,” I admit in a whisper.

He lets out a frustrated breath and I can tell he’s dying to kiss me. But he won’t. Not in front of all these people. Not in front of Logan. Donovan knows me well enough to know what would do me in. Kissing me in front of all of these people would fuck everything up.

“I love you, Nadia,” he tells me in a fierce voice before resting his forehead against mine. “You’ve always been mine and you always will be. I don’t know what the fuck is going on but I’m going to figure it out. Then, you’re coming home to me for good. Got it, baby?”

I close my eyes and nod. “I want to believe your words. God, how I do.”

“Then believe them. When it comes to you, I can’t stop. I refuse to stop. I’ll always do whatever it takes to keep you. And if I truly believed you loved Logan, I’d let you go. But you don’t,” he says almost viciously at the end. “Because you love me. You can walk away from the mess you got yourself in. Whatever hold he has over you, we can find a way to get rid of it. I swear to you we can.”

I’m about to speak when a firm grip on my elbow jerks me from Donovan.

“May I have this dance?”

My entire fantasy world comes crashing down around me when my gaze meets the murderous one of Logan Baldwin. Back to reality.

Shit.

D
onovan stalks over to us with his hands fisted at his sides, his rage barely concealed. When he reaches me, he loses it.

“I’m going to kill that motherfucker. I am going to put a bullet in his skull and dump him in the goddamned lake,” he snarls under his breath, completely ignoring Ames at my side.

“Calm down,” I urge.

He scrubs his face with both palms and his shoulders hunch forward. I’ve never seen him so dejected. “Why can’t she just let it go, man? I’ve funded her searches, stood by her, and even sacrificed my business at times to help her. She’s made it her life’s mission to find your sister and it absolutely consumes her. I know this has something to do with Kasey. It
always
has something to do with Kasey with Nadia. But she jeopardizes her own safety for her cause. This is too much, though. I’m not going to be able to sit by and watch him destroy her, all so she can accomplish her goal…whatever the hell that may be.”

The more Donovan speaks of Nadia as an advocate for my sister, the harder it is for me to focus on everything I’ve tried to piece together all these years. Anger and hate have fizzled. Determination sets in. I have the urge to bring both Nadia and Donovan down to the station, open Kase’s file, and demand answers. Real answers. Not whatever bullshit that I’ve been working with this entire time. Then, I can confront Logan and find out what he knows too.

“Jesus Christ! What am I going to do?” he demands.

Ames reaches out and touches his shoulder. If I didn’t think Donovan was obsessed with Nadia, I’d be jealous. But he is obsessed. Borderline manic.

“He’s a lunatic. I’m pretty sure he was hurting her today at the mall. When women are abused, they’re afraid,” Ames tells him. “My sister, Ash, was in an abusive relationship in high school. I know the signs. It took a long time for me to convince her to leave him.”

Donovan swivels on his heel and I can see he’s about three seconds from attacking Logan. I grab on to the back of his suit jacket and jerk him backwards.

“Not here,” I rumble. “I’ll get you your moment in a little bit and you can try to talk some sense into her. But clobbering his ass on the dance floor will only make things worse for Nadia. Trust me.”

He snaps his gaze over to mine but gives me a clipped nod. “Room three seventeen. Find a way to get her there without Logan seeing. Please.”

When he storms off, I frown at Ames. “I’m sorry our first date couldn’t be a little more romantic.”

She smiles. “I prefer adventure over romance. I climb mountains, explore mines, and dig in dirt for a living. Romance is overrated,” she says with a wink.

Her purple colored eyes glitter with mischief, and for a moment, everything around me fades into the background. For the past week, amid all the chaos, Amethyst has had a way of making me forget the past ten years. She brings me fucking happiness just by being her.

“Then you won’t mind me doing this,” I say with a smirk, grabbing her ass with both hands and pulling her against my now hard cock. I slip one hand around her neck, just under her jaw, and hold her in place while I go to kiss her. My kiss isn’t soft or sweet or anything romantic. It’s hungry and desperate. Needy. It’s a kiss that promises adventures to follow.

Her hands, starting at my waist, running up my chest are enough to drive me mad. I’ve almost convinced myself to bend her over a table and fuck her right here when the notion is quickly snuffed out by the idea of anyone other than me seeing her naked.
Fuck that.

A giggle erupts from her and I reluctantly pull away.

“What?” I grumble but can’t help but smile back.

“You,” she says, with a half-smile. “I like it when you’re a caveman. I like playing in caves so we kind of fit together.”

I tug her to me again and ravish her mouth. Eventually, I release her with great reluctance. Her pink, swollen lips are driving me fucking mad. “I’ll show you how we fit together later, Lames,” I tease.

Her eyebrow lifts up. “Ugh, Lames? Really?”

I chuckle. “Kaspy and Lames. Kind of has a nice ring to it.”

“Fine, I’ll give you that,” she concedes. “It is cute.” Her smile is radiant. “Better not disappoint me, though, Lieutenant.”

I’m about to respond when my gaze falls to Logan and Nadia. I look over just in time to see him forcefully gripping her hips in a way that is more than possessive—it’s predatory. So much so that it causes her to wince. My mind is once again on the fact that she’s been trying all these years to help find Kasey but my asshole boss decided to keep this information from me. Maybe he was trying to protect me from what I’d find. Or, maybe he knows I’ll find something they screwed up on when they worked the case. Whatever it is, I need to know.

“I have to stop this. He’s fucking hurting her,” I snarl. I may have a thing for Ames but I still have a sense of protectiveness over Nadia I can’t explain.

“This is our chance. I’m going to, uh,” Ames says with a stutter, “start some trouble and create a diversion. When it all hits the fan, sneak Nadia away. I’ll meet you outside his hotel room door.”

Before I can ask what she means to do, she disappears into the crowd. I start making my way over to Nadia and Logan. He’s bitching her out under his breath but stills when I walk up.

“Mr. Dunaway was asking for you,” I lie.

Logan’s nostrils flare in anger. “Of course he was. Keep an eye on her,” he spits in Nadia’s direction with a jerk of his chin. He’s practically coming apart in front of all these people. This town’s good ‘ol boy is having trouble keeping that perfect mask in place. “We’re not done talking.” He storms off and I turn to look at Nadia.

“Room three seventeen,” I hiss. “Go.”

She frowns at me. “What? I can’t go—”

Grabbing her shoulders, I give her a tiny shove toward the door. “Don’t be stupid, girl. Just go. Donovan’s waiting.”

At the mention of his name, her face crumbles and she runs off. Weird as fucking hell, that woman. I’m just striding over to Logan and Mr. Dunaway when a couple of women start screeching from the doorway that leads outside.

“There’s a car on fire in the parking lot! Chief! I think it’s your Tahoe!”

My eyes widen in shock. Logan curses and trots toward the exit while I make a hasty retreat to the third floor. When I make it out of the elevator, Ames is leaning against the wall with a shit-eating grin on her face.

“Room three twenty-eight,” she says and waves a room key at me. “Come on.”

She slips off her shoes and carries them in her hand while I follow her like a lost puppy. What the fuck is it about this girl that makes me crazy?

Once we slip into the room, she beams at me. “How was that for a distraction?”

Shaking my head at her, I can’t help but smile back. “Um,
illegal
comes to mind. What the fuck were you thinking, you little pyro?”