Tainted Legacy (YA Paranormal Romance) (20 page)

Gabe stepped in front of him. “Touch her and I will find a way to kill you.”

A wicked grin spread across Rafe’s face. “I have no plans of doing anything to her. We just needed to see how far you’d let me go. Father said you had
feelings
” he said the word nastily, “for the girl. I didn’t believe it. But, I shouldn’t be surprised. Father is always right.”

“I don’t!” Gabe said, looking appalled. “Why would he say that?”

“Why else would you be so
chivalrous
?” his brother taunted.

“Oh, I don’t know,” Gabe hissed, trying to keep his voice low. “Maybe because I’ve been working my ass off to win that prude over? I’m not going to let you push your way in and ruin everything I’ve accomplished. She trusts me. She won’t trust me if I let you get your hands on her. Then
you’ll
be the one answering to Father.”

“Right,” Rafe said with a provoking nod. “You just keep on believing that if you want to.”

“Get the hell out of my house,” Gabe commanded.

“Don’t worry. I planned on leaving. I was just sent to assess the situation. To see how cn. eed deeply involved you’ve gotten yourself,” Rafe told him. The satisfied look that had spread across his face caused more concern to Gabe than his usual sneer ever had.

Gabe began to pace the moment the door shut behind his brother. What did that look of Rafe’s imply? That he was
supposed
to be protective of Ava? That
couldn’t
be right. It made no sense. Not one to need much, if any, sleep he paced for hours trying to work through a conceivable scenario.

Without having even an inkling as to what his father wanted with Ava, he didn’t even know where to begin. The very idea that Gabe was supposed to shield Ava from his brother or anything else was unfathomable. It went against everything he knew about his father. Cruelty was his specialty. There was not a trace of compassion or caring in his blood. And what had Rafe meant when he said their father thought Gabe had feelings for Ava?

He didn’t, did he? Not the way that was implied. Then why, he had to ask himself, did he walk away from her? Since when did he worry about crossing lines that weren’t ready to be crossed?

Since
never
.

Until now.

He wasn’t sure how that had happened. What had changed? His father’s blood—evil, depraved blood—still coursed through his veins, making him evil as well. His father rarely missed a chance to remind him of this. Gabe was his son, born of his flesh and bone.

What did that make him
? he often wondered. Was he destined to be evil by default? He had certainly carried out his share of despicable deeds at his father’s behest.

Was that why he had walked away from Ava? To prove to himself that he was not entirely contemptible? Ava’s words, telling him he was his own person had taunted him for days. She was wrong. He wasn’t his own person. He never had been.

Or was he?

Did his one honorable act even count if essentially it was done in defiance of his father? In defiance of who…of
what
he really was?

He was physically ill with worry and dread by the time Ava wandered out of his bedroom the next morning. Something was not right. A whole lot of something, actually. He was frustrated that he couldn’t figure it out. He had to be missing something. If only he had a hint as to what.

“Good morning,” Ava said as she yawned. “You’re up early.”

“You too,” Gabe told her, cbe sed a cfeeling more tense around her than he had in a long time.

“Do you mind if I get a drink?” she asked.

“Help yourself,” he told her.

She opened the fridge and found a carton of milk, a bottle of orange juice, a jar of pickles and a variety of condiments. She took the juice out.

“You don’t have any food there. What do you eat?” she asked Gabe.

He shrugged. “I usually grab something out of the main house.”

“Oh, do you cook up there?” she asked as she poured herself a drink.

He scoffed at her. “I don’t cook anywhere.”

She turned to face him. “When’s the last time you ate a home cooked meal?”

His brow furrowed. “We’ve never had a cook. Not that I recall, anyway. We have a housekeeper that does our cleaning and shopping and laundry. I have to say, if I had to choose between clean underwear and pot roast, I assure you, I will choose clean underwear.”

Ava looked at him in surprise as she finished off her juice and rinsed out her glass. “What do you eat if you don’t cook?”

“Take out, mostly. Or whatever I can stick in the microwave,” he told her. He shifted uncomfortably. “Are you ready to go home yet?”

“Sure, I guess,” Ava said, surprised that he wanted to be rid of her immediately. “Are you mad at me?” Gabe had never been so brusque with her before.

“Not at all,” he said as he grabbed his keys. “I just think it’s best to get you out of here.”

&n cNew New Romanbsp;

Chapter 14

“They didn’t suspect anything?” Molly asked.

“No,” Ava answered.

She explained to Molly that, miraculously, the house had been empty when she had walked in. She’d planned on telling her parents that Molly had been running late for an errand and that she had been dropped off downtown, just a few blocks away, therefore explaining why she had walked home.

She had been saved from the dreaded fib by coming home to a note on the kitchen counter stating that they had all gone out to breakfast and that they would be back soon.

Once they’d returned, they’d been so busy with their guest that other than a perfunctory question of how her night had gone, nothing more had been said. The potential crisis had been very successfully averted.

“Okay, so next question,” Molly asked as she slid into a chair. “Are you sure Gabe behaved himself?”

“Yes, I swear, nothing happened,” Ava told Molly.

“Then I ask again, why do you look so freaked out?” her friend demanded.

Ava pushed her textbook aside so she could lean her elbows on the kitchen table. Finals were coming up soon and she was supposed to be helping Molly get a better grasp on calculus. Her family was at the church, preparing for the special luncheon the following day to honor their guest, Pastor Mitchell. She had been excused to help Molly study.

She let out a frustrated sigh. “Because this morning he was acting so distant, like he couldn’t get rid of me fast enough,” Ava explained. “I tried to talk to him on the way home and he gave me the shortest answers possible, which is so unlike him. He dropped me off a block from my house and if I hadn’t asked, I don’t think he would’ve even kissed me goodbye. When I asked him if we could get together later today, he told me he was busy.”

“Did he say with what?” Molly asked.

Ava shook her head. “He just said he fNew Nlly asked had some things to take care of. He’s never been unwilling to get together before. Well, except for tomorrow, when I have my solo. So I asked him if he was going out of town or something since he said he was busy tonight and couldn’t come tomorrow. Do you know what he said?” Ava asked in disbelief. Molly shook her head. “He told me to stop talking because I ask too many questions. He’s never talked to me like that before.”

Molly looked affronted. “Is he mad because you didn’t—”

“No,” Ava quickly cut her off. “He’s the one that completely put the brakes on. Even last night, one minute he was all…you know…and then the next he literally jumped off the bed and slammed the door in my face.”

Ava could see Molly’s concern. Maybe going to Gabe’s had been a terrible idea after all. Maybe he felt it was too invasive. Or maybe he didn’t like that she had essentially invited herself over. But he could’ve told her no. And he’d seemed fine at first. It wasn’t until this morning that
she felt as though his whole personality was off-kilter. He wasn’t cold, exactly, but he had never been more distant.

At first she thought perhaps he was worried Rafe would show up. But when his attitude didn’t change once they were away from his house, she started to worry. She’d tried to ask him about it but he kept blowing her off with half answers.

He had told her she needed to start being more careful. He actually had the nerve to tell her she shouldn’t have tried the punch. She had retorted that accidentally drinking spiked punch one time in seventeen years was about as careful as she could get. His response to that had been an aggravated sigh that had bordered on a growl.

Which frustrated her.

Because the conversation had become suspiciously reminiscent of an argument.

“You can’t tell me you’ve never done anything worse than accidentally drinking spiked punch,” she’d declared, exasperated. She had not been prepared for the look that had crossed his face. “Sorry,” she had muttered, wondering what, exactly, had evoked the mixture of emotions that he quickly tried to cover up.

“What else?” Molly finally demanded.

“What do you mean?” She looked away, as though she knew exactly what Molly meant.

“You’re thinking about something. Something important,” Molly paused, giving Ava a discerning look as she shifted in her chair. “If you don’t tell me, it would be like breaking the sacred covenant of friendship.”

Ava shook her head then blew out a frustrated breath. “Okay. You really want to know? I feel like he’s hiding something from me. But
what
?”

“A girlfriend?” Molly carefully asked.

“I don’t know. Maybe,” she admitted. “He told me he wasn’t seeing anyone but maybe he was lying.” She paused, trying to process her thoughts. “But it seems like, until today, he’s always free when I ask him if he wants to go out. His phone doesn’t ring incessantly when we’re together. He’s not shy about being seen with me.” Ava shrugged. “I can’t think of anything that would actually hint at another girl. I don’t know how to explain it but I feel like it’s something else. He’s so secretive about his family. In a way, it really bothers me that he’s not close to them. But on the other hand, if they’re as terrible as he makes them sound, I guess that’s a good thing.”

“Maybe his behavior this morning was because of them,” Molly suggested. “You said he and his brother both work at the radio station. Maybe there’s something going on over there that they both need to take care of. Maybe he’s stressed because he can’t stand to be around his brother. I don’t know, I guess I’m just saying it could be a number of different things. None of them necessarily have to do with you.”

“I did try calling him a while ago, to try to smooth things over, but it went straight to voicemail so maybe he really is busy,” Ava decided. “Actually, you’re right. I’m not going to worry about it. I’m being ridiculous. So what if he was acting strange? It was one time. It is possible it has nothing to do with me at all.”

Molly got up from the table and helped herself to a glass of iced tea. “You know, since last night wasn’t the girl’s night we’d planned, maybe we could do something tonight. We can call Julia and see if Grier wants to come?”