Undone (16 page)

The sudden burst of feminine laughter drew Sophie from whatever spell she was under and she looked across the room to find that Sienna had made a permanent seat out of Roan’s lap, intermittently running her fingers through his hair and whispering in his ear while he played card games with his friends. For just a brief moment she looked in Sophie’s direction and their gazes locked. The corner of her pretty pink mouth turned up into a cold smile that spoke volumes. In those blue eyes
, she saw cockiness and a warning for Sophie to back off. It was a message as clear as any and Sophie had the strongest urge to flip her off. But she chose a higher road, returning her gaze to Roan’s best friend.

“We’re just friends
,” she replied.

“You guys seem close.”

Sophie licked her lips and gave him a smile. “He was almost my stepbrother.”

He laughed, eyes widening. “No shit! What happened?”

“I wasn’t exactly welcoming to the idea.”

“You broke them up?”

She shrugged. “I…” She stopped and watched as Sienna stood and tugged Roan to his feet. She pulled him towards the staircase and he went willingly, setting down his can of beer on a table. He didn’t turn around, despite how hard Sophie willed him to; he didn’t acknowledge her or even remember that she was there on his behalf. He followed the blond twit upstairs leaving Sophie to fend for herself downstairs. Her chest tightened for a second making it hard for her to breathe. But she contained herself, refusing to come apart among a sea of strangers. She stood abruptly startling the man who’d been sitting next to her.

“You’re leaving…?”

“Yeah.”

She found her coat beneath the mounds of several others and slipped into it, Adam was at her tail. “Don’t go.”

“I had a great time, Adam. Tell Roan I’ll call him.” With that she left.

It was mind numbingly cold, the wind chill taking all sense of warmth the second she stepped outside. She found the black Lexus a little ways off and made her way to it. It was nearing midnight now
; she’d told her parents earlier in the evening that she was going to be out with some friends and that they shouldn’t wait up, but Sophie knew they would. They’d grown overly concerned about her after what she’d dubbed as the ‘incident’. Sophie couldn’t blame them. It wasn’t like she’d been forthcoming with information recently, choosing to keep everything to herself because she didn’t want to burden them more than she already had. Especially Nicholas, who’d been nothing but tolerant of her since the beginning. Nicholas—Bella, Dylan and Noah’s father. Old hurts came up like stomach acid, burning Sophie’s throat. She’d thought she’d buried these feelings, thought she’d overcome them even, left them behind in her teenage years, but they kept popping up now, more aggressively than before, like little weeds in her garden.

She swallowed down the feelings,
choked on the bile and hurried to her car. She needed to get home. She needed…

“Sophie!” his voice boomed in the dark still night, scattering her thoughts and sending her heart beating again. She stopped midstride, halted completely and turned. He was coming at her, the self-appointed knight or the wolf in sheep’s clothing. She had yet to work that out. “Where the hell are you going?”

“Home,” she said simply, watching as he neared, stepping within her personal space.

“Thanks for telling me.”

She shrugged. “You were busy.”

He cursed under his breath and raised a hand to run it over his short hair. “I’m sorry about that…about Sienna.”

“You’re sorry for wanting to spend time with your fuck buddy?”

He glowered. “
Soph…”

“Don’t worry about it, Roan. You don’t owe me an explanation
,” she said. “Thanks for the invite.” She turned to go but he captured her wrist and immediately released her when she cried out.

Silence. Nothing but silence and the whistling of the wind. Their breaths whispered along the canvas of darkness, escaping almost in unison. She failed to meet his gaze, looking at everything and nothing except for those eyes that matched hers so perfectly. “Let me see.” She jumped slightly, not having realized how close he’d come until she felt his warmth beating against her. He was so big, so warm that she swayed towards him, needing that warmth, subconsciously needing his strength to buoy her. “Show me, Sophie.” When she remained still, making no move to show him what he wanted to see, he reached out for himself to take a look. He was gentle with his large calloused hands, handling her like
china and when she heard the sharp intake of breath, Sophie tried to pull her hand away but he would not let go.

“Christ…” She knew what he saw and was ashamed that he was seeing it. The crisscrossing of scars, road maps to old and new pains, physical wounds of emotional battles she never really won. They were violent wounds, swollen, red and blood caked they decorated her arms, beginning at the very top of her forearms and ending at the bottom of her wrists. There were stiches there from long ago, stiches from the failed suicide scar that ran down the length of her left arm. “Sophie…” he breathed her name and she felt the weight of his gaze on her, entreating her to look up.

She bit her bottom lip and shook her head to dispel the tears that were prickling her eyes. She attempted a smile, she needed to smile otherwise she would break down again. “I’m fine.” She tried to reassure him. “It’s not as bad as it looks.”

“Why would you do this to yourself?” Sophie didn’t have a concrete answer for him, she didn’t have a concrete answer for herself either.

She shrugged. “It beats taking drugs,” she joked but he didn’t laugh, he didn’t even crack a smile. He just kept looking at her, compassion in his Colombian coffee eyes.

“Let me take you home.”

Sophie looked over his shoulder and saw the platinum blond head first before the petite blond spotted them. “I think you already have your hands full.” When she pulled away this time, he allowed her to go. “Goodnight, Roan.” The automatic starter on the car was a sweet little thing and by the time Sophie buckled her seatbelt, the engine was already warm and blasting her with hot air.

Roan could remember a time when he’d professed to hate Sophie Holbrook. Back then he’d thought she was a spoiled, ungrateful little know-it-all who didn’t know how to mind her own business. She’d been overly impetuous, intervening in their parents’ relationships when she didn’t even know the gravity of the
situation. She’d been careless and single minded and completely irrational when it’d come to getting what she’d wanted. So Roan had taken it upon himself to teach the little brat a lesson. He’d even crowned himself king of the I Hate Sophie Holbrook” fan club and had relished coming up with clever ways to ruin her plans. Every time he’d received a glare or a scowl or even one of her smart-alecky replies, he found that he’d accomplished something. So it came at a complete surprise the heartbreak he’d felt when she and her sibling had been kidnapped. 

He
remembered the kidnapping all too well. For those three days that the Holbrook children had gone missing, life had grounded to a halt for nearly everyone, Roan included. The second he’d learned of their kidnapping, Roan’s world fell in on itself and where once hatred had ruled, something far more tender flourished. He’d worried. God, how he’d worried! Guilt that his resentment and jealousy had somehow caused this, Roan had prayed for forgiveness. He’d prayed with fervent desperation for their safe return. He promised to be nicer to Sophie. He’d bargained to give up all that was important to a fourteen year old if Sophie was returned safely. He hadn’t wanted them to be taken away. Roan had only wanted a family. He’d only wanted Ellie Holbrook for a mother.

When they were finally rescued, Roan had had every intention of going to Sophie and telling her that he was glad she was home safely. He’d wanted to tell Sophie a lot of things, but his father’s broken heart had put a bullet to those intentions. Then it’d been nothing but seeing to his father’s wellbeing. Roan no longer wanted to be part of the Holbrook family, because he’d known, despite how much it
’d hurt to acknowledge it, he’d known that they didn’t belong there. In the aftermath of it all, they found themselves overseas, in Greece, where his father had a home. Despite his fervent protests of wanting to remain at his father’s side, Roan’s hopes had been completely obliterated when his father stuck him in boarding school and completely immersed himself in building his company into a global superpower.

As expected of any firstborn of a wealthy family, Roan was to get a business degree and join his father in running the
multinational corporation and he’d initially been on that path, doing all that he could to make his father proud. But along the way, Roan had come to the realization that nothing could truly make his father happy. Devlin Westport had allowed business to consume his life and Roan could no longer reach him. He found that he could no longer sacrifice his own happiness, his own goals for something he never wanted.  He’d made the ultimate decision of dropping out of college, leaving behind the wealth, the power and the prestige for the plebian lifestyle that had suited him far more than what he’d been accustomed to.

He’d returned to
the states and, refusing to rely on his trust fund, Roan had found odd jobs to support himself, online ads for menial labor that had been long hours and shitty pay, but it’d been great for him. He eventually found a crappy little studio apartment on the fringes of downtown that had cost way too much for a room and a toilet, but again, Roan had been fine with it. He’d found the manager job at the restaurant off an internet listing and they’d hired him on the spot. But his love affair was with the cars he worked on down at Drago’s Auto Repair. He hadn’t known how much he would love fixing cars until the first time he slid under the hood. He’d gotten burned, cuts, scrapes and worked up a great bit of callouses, but when he’d tinkered and repaired his first car, that had been it for him. The surprising thing was how good he’d been at it. A natural, Julio Drago had called him. While he’d been a grease monkey at the shop, Roan had gone to an automotive school specializing in the classics. It wasn’t a just a paycheck to him, it was a passion that drove him, that made him happy. 

The warm body beside him moaned a little, stirring slightly and breaking Roan from his moment of introspection. The sheet slid further down her back as she slung an arm across Roan’s chest, cuddling closer. He and Sienna had been doing this song and dance for the last two years now, on again, off again and so on and so forth. They didn’t really work together when they were dating because she was way too high maintenance and way too much drama all the fucking time.

She was beautiful, there was no denying it; ethereal and so delicate with skin like snow, hair like sunshine and big blue eyes that drew you in—Roan had been mesmerized the first time he’d seen her.

But he’d grown immune to her beauty over time, discovering that there was little substance beneath the exterior. He’d been the one to call it off, but she’d proposed this idea of using each other strictly for sex and nothing more. No emotional ties, no drama. She’d cried and begged and Roan had gotten the promise out of her before agreeing to it. He’d had his reservations
, but it’d been good for a time. Now he could sense that she wanted a relationship again and that was something Roan wasn’t up for…at least not with her.

He frowned a little when his thoughts circled back to the biracial girl with the sad, sad eyes and the horrifying cuts he’d seen on her arm. She was more lost
than he’d initially imagined. His heart lurched painfully against his chest comparing the girl in his memories, who’d been so full of fire and life to the woman he’d rescued nearly a month ago, who was swimming in a mire of desolation that Roan could not began to understand. But he wanted to. For some inexplicable reason, Roan was drawn to her, he yearned to help her and protect her. She needed help, maybe more than she even realized, and Roan was determined to provide it. He wasn’t sure how yet. Although alerting her parents did have its appeal, he wasn’t sure it would be appreciated, especially not when they were just learning to trust each other. He would need to tread carefully where Sophie was concerned, a wrong move and he feared she would be lost.

~*~*~*~

There wasn’t a move that his children made that Nicholas wasn’t aware of. After what had transpired only a few weeks ago with that scum who’d preyed on his oldest daughter, Nicholas had tightened up his security even more than before, taking every precaution. He knew he was driving his family crazy but it was a small price to pay for their safety. So Nicholas understood Sophie’s need for secrecy. He understood her need for escape. But what Nicholas didn’t understand was why she’d suddenly rekindled a relationship with Roan Westport. He was fully aware of their clandestine meetings that occurred far more frequently than he preferred. He’d had her followed and watched now for the better part of a month and she had yet to tell them about Roan, the son of the man who Nicholas had taken Ellie from.

Nicholas was a suspicious man by nature. There’d been far too many incidents in his life for him not to be leery of people
, so he didn’t trust Roan. Nicholas did not believe that his reappearance back in their life was simply coincidental, not when there was motive there. He had yet to uncover the people who had aided Julian, the trail of his escape having run cold after it’d been discovered that a crooked cop had released him from jail. There was no hint of him anywhere. Not even the eyes and ears he had in the underground could tell him of Julian’s whereabouts. But Nicholas was beginning to suspect that Roan was involved in this somehow. He had the wealth and resources to accomplish such a feat, not to mention the need for vengeance. After all, Nicholas had been a facilitator in the demise of Roan’s father’s engagement to Ellie. If Nicholas hadn’t come along, Devlin would’ve been married to Ellie now. So Nicholas had every right to suspect Devlin’s son. Hell, it was the only thing that made sense anymore.

He was having Roan investigated and would soon discover the connection he had to all of this. Nicholas couldn’t possibly be wrong on this. He was sure it was
Roan. He sighed heavily, weighed down by the gravity of what he would have to do once again if Roan turned out to be the person who’d helped Julian. Sophie would hate him after this. Nicholas was already starting to see the sign of her distancing herself from not only him but her mother as well and it was killing Ellie.

He’d always admired Ellie and Sophie’s special bond
. From the very beginning when he’d met them, Nicholas had loved how Ellie could effortlessly communicate with her daughter, how easy and sweet they’d been when talking about the most inane things or even when it came to far more serious issues. There was the mother and daughter relationship, yes, but there was also always a bond of friendship. But that bond had taken a hit over the years, especially when Sophie had been younger. The kidnapping had affected her far deeper than they’d all thought and it’d taken nearly losing her before she began to open up to her mother again. And Nicholas, despite all his wealth and power, had been completely helpless in the face of Sophie’s depression. It’d taken a long time to heal back from that and for a time they’d all been happy, but now Nicholas felt as though they were moving backwards.

He needed to fix this. He could not allow the rift that had grown between them and Sophie to get any wider. She was his first daughter, the first child he’d had the privilege of nurturing. He remembered the day he met her and how in just a small amount of time she’d wormed her way inside his heart. It was because of Sophie that Nicholas had learned how to love; she’d made them a family even before he knew the meaning of the word. Sophie was everything to Nicholas. They’d solidified their bond the very moment he’d held her in his arms and he needed to remind her of that.

***

Returning to school was the worst thing she could’ve possibly done right now, but Sophie didn’t want to raise anymore suspicion, so she declined the chauffeured rides and opted instead to make the hour long ride back and forth to school when she had classes. She didn’t really stay in her dorm room, there was nothing there for her but sleepless nights anyways. She spent most of her time at Roan’s place when he was there or at her parents’ home. She wasn’t quite failing her classes yet, but Sophie knew it was only a matter of time. Concentrating proved impossible and she couldn’t even remember the number of times she’d dozed off in class, completely missing her lectures. Her attendance was beginning to lag too, choosing instead to spend her time with Roan’s best friend.
She always had a good time with Adam and Sophie needed to have a good time; she needed to forget for a moment that she wasn’t worthless. He made her laugh, made her feel uninhibited and didn’t judge. He also had no link to Sophie’s past. He didn’t know her—didn’t know who she’d been or any of the things that made her life so messy; Adam didn’t care about all that. What Adam cared about was getting into Sophie’s pants. He was pretty straightforward with his intentions and Sophie was glad to know that she had options.

She was at his place now with a couple of mutual friends he shared with Roan. He’d texted and invited her over and Sophie had come because she’d needed a distraction from her
econ paper. There was a basketball game on the widescreen that had most of the guys glued to their seats bursting out every now and then when the players made a stupid move. The most interesting thing about Adam’s loft, in Sophie’s opinion, was the steel metal pole in the middle of his open living room. There were a few drunken girls giving it a go, giggling and laughing while swinging around like idiots.

Sophie had just taken shots of something ice cold that went down smooth and
burned when it hit her stomach. She was on the loveseat with her eyes closed, the effects of the alcohol relaxing her. She wondered whether Roan would make an appearance. They hadn’t spoken in a few days which was odd considering he’d formed the annoying habit of contacting her almost every day since that fateful night. But then Sophie remembered Roan’s blond headed shadow and knew he’d probably been busy screwing her to give much thought to anything or anyone else.

Sophie understood Roan and Sienna’s relationship just fine and she didn’t really care. Well, she
tried
not to care. It just sucked that she felt the oddest little twinges in her chest when she saw them together. Roan didn’t see her that way, hell, she’d practically thrown herself at him and he’d flat out rejected her. He wasn’t interested in anything but friendship and Sophie was just fine with that. She was grateful in a sense; he’d allowed her to unexpectedly come into his world and hide from her troubles. He’d introduced her to his friends, welcomed her to his life in spite of their history. If it wasn’t for Roan, Sophie certainly wouldn’t have met Adam, who she was beginning to realize was a great alternative to fixing her virginity problem.

The alcohol put her mind in a haze but Sophie could still admire the auburn haired man who was Roan’s best friend. He was handsome, not quite up to the same degree as Roan, but there was that little something that made him interesting to look at. He had a great physique, athletically built, tall, chestnut brown hair that was cut short on the sides and long on top. He had those classical facial features that made women take notice
—a straight bridge nose, high cheekbones and those beautiful honey gold eyes. The longer Sophie looked at him the more potential she saw. Her alcohol fogged mind liked the idea of losing her virginity to a man she hardly knew. There would be no emotional baggage there, no messy feelings to fuck it all up. As though aware of the direction her thoughts, Adam glanced across the room at her and, with a grin on his lips, made his way over, a joint between his fingers.