Unforgiven (The Forbidden Bond 2) (24 page)

Now, over twenty years later, he had the nerve to flaunt his past in public and degrade the life they had built together. Did he believe she would stand by while he made a mockery of her family? Doing her best to remain calm and not give away her knowledge of his whoring, Sarah made a phone call. Her new friend would help her teach Griffin a few lessons. He answered on the second ring.

“Well hello, Mrs. Vaughn. To what do I owe this unexpected pleasure?” His smooth baritone voice made her shiver. It was a shame she hadn’t been a few years older. Life may have been different for both of them if he had been her mate. She knew the identity of the elusive Rogue after physically running into him the night Griffin revealed his bastard child to the world. She couldn’t endure the public slap in the face when Griffin informed her at the Gala that he had a child he would be introducing to all present, whether she liked it or not. So she came face to face with the Rogue and his minions when she made her way to the rear of the building to fetch her own vehicle. The valet was nowhere to be found. But no one would believe her if she confessed and he knew that.

“I did not appreciate the attack on my family. My son was nearly killed.”

“I told you I would do what I had to do to get what I want, darling. If you help me toward my goals it will benefit us both, don’t you think? The last time you fed me information it nearly worked, didn’t it? Too bad your daughter got in the way. That’s the problem with girls today. They have no discipline, no morals, and no fear of their parents.”

He had a lot of nerve to speak of morals. Sarah gritted her teeth. It was people like him that would have the females in their society raised just the way she had been. No way would she watch her daughters suffer as she had for a man they didn’t want, a man who didn’t want them.

“That was indeed unfortunate for my family. Thankfully she is fully recovered. Now to the point, I have information to share. I am willing to trade it for the safety of my children.”

“You only care for your children’s safety? You don’t wish to protect your loving mate?” he chuckled, taunting her.

“Do we have a deal or not?” she pressed.

“That depends of the quality of your facts and the outcome. If it’s worth the lives of your brats I will leave them be. None of them are of any use to me except as bargaining chips.”

“That’s not a fair trade.” She could tell him what she knew and still lose her children because of Griffin and his filthy bastard.

“Well, what would I know about being fair?”

****

Candice looked up into the darkest, most breathtaking green eyes and waited for a response. He said nothing for a long time, maintaining the same cool, aloof expression he had since she let her mouth run away from her and she insulted Greyson’s playmate. Since then he had been very professional and didn’t hesitate to provide assistance with anything Candice needed, but that was it. I was almost as if his personality had been surgically removed.

Candice couldn’t apologize for what she’d said to Greyson, because frankly she wasn’t sorry. If she had it to do again maybe she would have held her tongue in an effort to get closer to Greyson before giving her opinion on his relationship with a neophyte.

“Come on, Greyson. Can’t we just start over? I realize that I insulted you and that wasn’t my intention. I hate this tension between us. We are going to be working closely together for a while and I’d hate for every moment to be uncomfortable because I put my foot in my mouth.”

There. That was as close to an apology as she would ever get. Some of the steel seemed to melt out of Greyson’s spine and he looked off into the distance, contemplating her request for a do over.

“I get it that you’re not attracted to me. We were becoming friends before. That’s all I’m asking for, just a chance to go back to where we were.”

Greyson shook his head and went back to stowing his gear in the truck. They would be deploying in just over an hour and it was going to be damned miserable if this was his attitude. Fine then. She’d be damned if she would beg any man for anything. If he wanted to be an ass, that was his prerogative. Before she made it to the door, he spoke up.

“It’s not that I’m not attracted to you, Candice. I sometimes find myself a little too interested. I don’t want you to think I declined your invitation because you’re lacking in any way, because trust me, you’re not. The issue is that I’m in an exclusive relationship and I want to keep it that way. End of story. I hope you can respect that and let it go.”

“As much as I may hate it at the moment, I do respect the fact that you’re a loyal man and I think that your…” hold your tongue. Do not say anything like tart, or playmate, or arm candy, or infant, “girlfriend is a lucky lady. I’ll go so you can get this wrapped up.”

“Don’t go too far. We roll in an hour.” His tone was decidedly friendlier.

Candice just nodded and went to fetch her duffle and gear from her SUV.

****

Derek was hiding in the back seat of Candice’s truck. He had purposely spent the night before at her place. He knew from a previous conversation that she would be leaving on a
field trip
with the Wrath in the morning. He needed to get into the Enclave and she was his ticket.

He enjoyed his evening with his adoptive big sister because he feared it would be his last. If she ever found out that he had used her this way, Candice would never forgive him. It would be the end of the only loving relationship of his life.

“So, tell me about your Wrath crush. Have you made any headway with him yet?”

Derek knew damn well that Brandi was still seeing Malibu Ken. He had followed her to the Enclave a couple of days ago and she never came back out. According to his contact Greyson had some time off before this trip. Derek’s stomached turned. Ever since he had tasted the sweet perfection of Brandi kisses it tore him apart to think of her sharing them with someone else. He wanted them to be his kisses.

“No.” She turned away to hide her dejection. “I actually screwed up good. After the last trip I asked him for a date. He turned me down because he has a girlfriend. The word
girl
is the key in that sentence. I kind of implied that she was just a kid, so it really didn’t matter to me because he is surely just with her to get in her pants anyway.”

Derek winced. If anyone had talked about Brandi like that in his presence, he would’ve made sure it never happened again. Just pushing Candice at Greyson would not be enough to bring the big man around. Further intervention would be needed.

“Alright. That was bad. Do you want my advice?” he asked.

“It can’t hurt. He only speaks to me if he absolutely has to now.” She reached into the fridge and came back with a quart of chocolate overload and two spoons.

“I think you should apologize…” She raised an imperious eyebrow. “Apologize to the best of your ability. You don’t have to actually be sorry, but if you want to get back into his good graces you have to start somewhere.”

She shrugged and dug into her chocolate therapy.

“Once you are on speaking terms, you can do what I told you before and show him what a real woman can provide. Act like you’re just being friendly and include the whole team in your conversations so he doesn’t feel like you’re cornering him until he’s ready to relax around you again. Do they go out for drinks after shift change the way cops do?”

She nodded, “Sometimes.”

 “I’m not suggesting you need it or anything, but maybe if you all go out as group and you find him something a little tipsy to suck on it would loosen his strictly loyal moral code. I bet just one kiss from you and he would forget that girl’s name.”

Not likely, but Brandi would forget Greyson’s name when she found out he had strayed and Derek knew Candice would be sure Brandi found out.

Candice humphed and dug around the ice cream container, “I’ve actually thought of that myself. I swear there is some definite chemistry between us. He just won’t give into it. I was thinking if I could get him loosened up and out on the dance floor his body would take over for his brain. It just seems a little desperate to me. Dishonest too. I’m out of my depth here. I’ve never had to pursue a male before. It sucks. I really like him a lot.”

Derek pulled her to him and crushed her in a bear hug. They played a few hands of Gin Rummy before turning in for the night. During the game, Candice had confessed having trouble sleeping while she was on assignment. Being in close proximity to her crush while he slept shirtless in a pair of boxers had her mind spinning in circles and her body aching. She feared the lack of rest would slow her reaction times and leave the team at risk. Derek gave her small vial of Hypno with instruction to use only one single drop and no more in whatever she was drinking before bed. It would guarantee her a solid six to eight hours of uninterrupted sleep. He knew. He used it from time to time.

When she questioned him, Derek explained that his doctor had found an all-natural formula for anxiety relief in humans that acted as a good sleep-aid for vamps. Candice was aware of Derek’s long history of nightmares and insomnia. She seemed to buy his story and accepted the
medication
. He didn’t want her making mistakes in the field and getting her head blown off.

In the morning after Derek said his good-byes, he hopped onto his bike and drove around the corner. Sneaking back with the spare key he had lifted from the key rack by the front door, he climbed into the floor of the backseat and was thankful Candice owned a larger vehicle. He pulled the blanket from her emergency kit and covered up with it. Candice loaded up her things in the rear of the truck and drove to the Enclave, never checking the backseat for intruders. Silly girl. She unknowingly smuggled him in to center of the warrior population. He hated the things he had to do, but in the end he had no choice. 

****

After riding around for hours, Brandi parked and went to see the only person she believed might understand her. The fight with Grey had rocked her. She had been so sure New Brandi was the girl Grey would want and equally sure he had no idea she ever been any other way. Brandi had been certain all her new friends truly liked her and enjoyed the company of her new persona. She was wrong. Brandi knew Grey would never lie to her. He may not tell her everything she wanted to know but he wouldn’t lie. She believed he had heard the things people said about her and their acceptance of her only due to her family name.

She also had not made the conscious decision to leave Grey out of her social circle but she had. He would never be accepted in her circle because of his low breed status as a warrior. What a snob she had become if taking a date to an event with you and refusing to introduce him to your friends had become acceptable. They actually believed him to be a body guard. And why not? She had never said otherwise. It was amazing Grey had stayed with her this long. He was a strong, proud man and she had relegated him to being her babysitter instead of her lover in public. She needed help sorting all this out.

Brandi wanted to talk to Dani about her man troubles but just before she entered the building that housed the downtown condo Dani and Chase shared, Brandi had a horrible realization. She couldn’t talk to her half-sister about Greyson without thinking about Derek. As much as Dani strived to control her telepathic power she would surely pick up more than Brandi could safely tell her. Dani had told her several times that people tend to broadcast their thoughts and feelings when they’re under stress. Her half-sister would be crushed if she knew Brandi was involved with the man that helped ruin her bonding ceremony.

Brandi beat a hasty retreat back to her car to find a tall, thin female in jeans, a dark hood pulled over her head and ballet flats, leaning against her hood. Brandi immediately went on the defensive. She felt relatively safe on the bustling city streets but she also felt safe at home and that’s were her brother and father were attacked. The thought of her baby brother being snatched from his bed while the rest of the family slept just down the hall made her blood boil.

Brandi stopped on the curb with the car between her and whoever this stranger was, “Can I help you?” she asked.

The female turned around and the shock nearly felled Brandi. Samantha pushed the hood off her head and glared down at her twin. It was impossible. It had never been seen before, not even when Sam was sick. Her clothing alone made her look like a stranger. Her platinum hair was pulled back in a messy knot. Her face was scrubbed clean of make-up but just as beautiful as ever in spite of the dark circles under her eyes. Her scowl was so fierce it pulled wrinkles into her forehead. Sam was really upset to allow her face to show expression. She rarely ever smiled in an effort to avoid laugh lines.

“Yes, you can help me,” she snapped at Brandi, “We need to do something about Mom and JR is a mess. Dad buries himself in his office if he comes home at all and you haven’t been there in days.”

“What’s wrong with JR?” Brandi’s heart skipped. She had worried about his experiences over the last year or so affecting him adversely but when she tried to talk to him, he just gave her a half smile and said,
“I’m good,”
in his best ‘hey man, I’m not a baby’ tone.

“He’s having nightmares again. He refuses to sleep in his own room so you never know where you will find him. He could be in the hall bathroom sleeping in the tub or in the coat closet in the family room. This morning when I went to breakfast I fell over a pile of table cloths. When I opened the sideboard doors I found him curled up in there. He had emptied the shelves and removed them to make room for a sleeping bag and a camping light. I don’t know if you have noticed, but at eleven years old JR is on his way to being as big as Dad. It was not a comfortable fit in that cabinet.” She took a deep breath and turned her face away, tears glistening in the warm brown eyes she had inherited from their mother.

“He’s terrified, Brandi.” She sniffed and stepped up onto the sidewalk, “He doesn’t believe we can protect him anymore and who can blame him?”