What Belongs to Her (Harlequin Superromance) (17 page)

Marian raised her eyebrows. “Her and Kyle? Don’t talk daft. Even your mother didn’t consort with the likes of him.” She frowned. “Did she?”

A burst of relief blended with a rush of frustration. If Marian wasn’t aware of her mother’s dealings with Kyle, there was a good chance she didn’t know about Sasha’s molestation, either. She slumped back. It also meant she couldn’t throw any more light on what her mother might tell her.

Forewarned was forearmed, and now she’d have to face her mother as though blindfolded. “Damn it.”

“You’re disappointed?” Marian stared wide-eyed. “Why would you want her to have anything to do with Kyle Jordon? What’s going on?”

“She’s denying it, but there’s some...speculation she might have had a hand in getting Granddad to sell the fair. When I leave here, I’m going to see her but wanted to have all the facts beforehand.” She smiled wryly. “It was worth running things past the Cove’s oracle first.”

Marian frowned. “Who told you she had something to do with Kyle? Not that son of his...”

Sasha nodded. “And I believe him. First it came from Freddy and then John spoke directly with his dad.” She swallowed. “Kyle has no reason to make anything up. He’s dying.”

“He’s...” She closed her eyes. “Oh.”

Sasha couldn’t ignore the hint of disappointment that coated Marian’s tone. “John’s under the impression people in the Cove didn’t hate Kyle as much as he originally thought. From your reaction to him dying, and mine, I think he’s right.”

Marian opened her eyes. “Kyle Jordon is a complicated man, sweetheart. My George says he always has been. If he’s dying and called his son to Templeton, maybe this means worse things aren’t to come. It could mean better things instead. Kyle has his nasty side, yes, but he was also a man who stood up for people he felt were wrongly treated. I’ve seen him help old people across the street and play five minutes of impromptu soccer with kids on the beach. It’s confusing as can be, and his split personality left us treading on eggshells, but you couldn’t deny Kyle was a man with a heart...even if it was entirely unpredictable.”

Sasha blew out a breath. “Choosing when to be good or bad doesn’t make Kyle Jordon a nice person.”

“Of course not. He had zero integrity. There was a payoff for him, no matter what he did.”

“So, you think he could be making this up about my mother then?”

Marian locked her kindly gaze on Sasha. “All I know is your mother wanted out of here and away from that fair. She wanted you and Tanya as far away as possible. Everyone knew it, but not why. Then, bam, one day she comes into some money and she’s leaving.”

Sasha froze. “What money? When she and Tanya left, Mum told me she’d rather live in a pigsty than stay in Templeton and be branded a Gypsy. She didn’t have any money. She lives in a tiny flat.”

“With your father dead and leaving nothing behind, how could she up and move like that? It takes money to move and start again elsewhere. She must have had something.”

Sasha closed her eyes.
So she did give Kyle information he was willing to pay for.
“You’re right.” Revulsion curdled like sour milk in Sasha’s stomach, and she pressed a hand there. She opened her eyes and studied Marian for a reaction. “This is speculation, right? You’d tell me if you knew anything for sure?”

“Of course I would.” Marian squeezed Sasha’s hand on the table. “You know what you young ones mean to me. You’re our future. I don’t want you leaving the Cove any more than anyone else, but I do want you to live here happily. You haven’t been truly happy since you were a young girl, from what I’ve heard.”

Heat pinched Sasha’s cheeks, and she slid her hand gently from Marian’s and into her lap. She swallowed. “Who said that?”

Two spots of color darkened Marian’s cheeks and she shrugged. “No one in particular, but you’re a pretty girl. People are watching you all the time.” She smiled softly. “Especially the men hankering for a second of your attention.”

Sasha shook her head. “I’ve pushed John to go and see Kyle. I told him to ask Kyle everything he wants to know. The trouble is, if John is prepared to do that, it’s only right I keep up my end of the bargain and get to the truth of the sale between Kyle and Granddad.” She stared into Marian’s eyes. “So, it wasn’t my mother who said anything to you about me changing?”

Marian frowned. “No. Why? Did something happen?”

Sasha shook her head and gulped a mouthful of coffee. “It doesn’t matter. I’d better go before I change my mind about seeing her.”

She pushed to her feet, and Marian slid from the booth. She opened her arms and Sasha tried not to collapse into the older woman’s embrace. In that moment, she would’ve given the world for Marian to be her mother...and to not have to face her real one.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

“J
UST
LEAVE
, F
REDDY
. Just get your stuff and get out of here.” John feigned interest in his laptop, grappling to suppress the overwhelming urge to grab Freddy’s wide neck and throttle him.

“You can’t do this. When Kyle finds out—”

John snapped his head up. “That I fired your ass because I don’t need you he’ll come after me? I don’t think so. When will you listen to me? He doesn’t care. He used you and you’re not worth anything to him now. He won’t give a crap you’re gone. Trust me.”

Freddy’s eyes bulged as his chest rose and fell. “I’m not walking away with nothing after years of working for Kyle.”

“I’ve paid you fair and square.” He nodded toward the brown envelope in Freddy’s hand. “There’s a wad of extra cash in there because I figured you deserve some compensation for the risks you’ve undoubtedly taken for Kyle over the years, but that’s where it ends. I don’t owe you anything. If you think Kyle does, take it up with him.”

He slid his gaze back to the laptop, his heart pumping. If Freddy wanted to fight him, he could bring it on. A morning spent going over Kyle’s file box of names had left John in a murderous mood. If Freddy wanted to feel the brunt of his anger, that was fine and dandy. One by one, John intended on going through Kyle’s list and paying off the people he’d manipulated for his benefit. It was the quickest and easiest way to get rid of the tainted money he didn’t want.

What was left, John had saved for DI Garrett’s husband and his plans for a new drop-in center in Marchenton. The thought of Kyle’s immoral proceeds being used to help the people he’d hurt held no end of ironic appeal.

“You’ll regret this, Jordon.”

John shook his head. “The hell I will.”

With a grunt and a curse, Freddy left the office, leaving the door wide open behind him. John shoved back his chair and strode to the door, slamming it succinctly. He fisted his hands on his hips as the need to get out of the office, the fair—God damn it, Templeton—rose like a tsunami inside him. He glanced at the wall clock. Sasha was most likely with her mother by now and thoughts of her hurting sent his brain pulsing with helplessness. How was he supposed to sit and do nothing? Worse, wait until tomorrow until he saw her again?

He marched to his desk and forced his ass into the chair. He had plenty to get on with. He glanced at the computer screen once more. He could get in the car and start distributing Kyle’s money. Damn, he could get in the car and go see Jay Garrett and hand over a big fat check right now. He could think of nothing else to bring him more satisfaction....

How would Sasha get to her mother’s? He didn’t even know where she lived. John frowned and stared at his cell phone on the desk. It had been tauntingly silent all morning. As far as he knew, Sasha didn’t own a car. He’d only seen her on her bike. Maybe she’d appreciate a lift there. Save her having to pay for the train.

“You sad sap,” he muttered.
Leave her be. She’s managed well enough without you so far.

He didn’t want her to
manage;
he wanted to take care of her. He wanted to atone for some of the pain that Kyle, and maybe her mother, had caused her. He reached for his cell and tapped it against his bottom lip. He’d called the prison and put in a request for a visiting permit. The official there had said if Kyle agreed to the visit, the permit would then take a couple of days to produce. That couple of days fell on the weekend, so now John faced four days of waiting. He ground his teeth together and hissed out a breath.

He hated waiting.

Waiting was for people who had time to sit around doing nothing. People who liked to have time to linger and think. That wasn’t him.

He snatched up his phone before he could change his mind and dialed Sasha’s number.

“John?” Surprise, followed by a hint of apprehension, laced her tone. “Everything okay?”

He grimaced, wishing he felt more like a gentleman wanting to help a woman than a stalker hassling a Spanish princess. “Sure. Everything’s fine.”

Her exhalation sounded down the line. “Good. For a moment there, I thought Freddy might have you strung up on the Ferris wheel by your pants.” She laughed.

“Funny.” He smiled, his shoulders relaxing. “Where are you?”

“I’m just waiting for a taxi to take me to the station, then it’s on to visit with Mummy Dearest. Have you spoken to Freddy?”

“Yes. And yes, he’s gone. And yes, he’s pissed.”

“He’s not going to go quietly. I hope you’re prepared for the fallout.”

“I am. Don’t worry.” He inhaled a long breath. “Listen, I want to get out of here. How about I keep you company and drive you to your mum’s?”

Silence.

John stared ahead, ignoring the voice in his head telling him he’d taken a step too far, was pushing into her personal life at a rate of forty knots. Getting personal was never the deal, but they obliterated the business boundary the moment his lips hungrily touched hers.

“You don’t have to do that.”

“I’d like to. We’re in this together now. And that means more than the fair. We’re in it together with regards to your mother and Kyle, too.”

“Did you call the prison?”

“Yes. It looks as though I’ll be seeing him Monday or Tuesday next week.”

“Right.”

“So? Can I drive you?”

“Okay.”

He stiffened as surprise rippled through him. “Okay?”

“Sure. It beats getting the train, but you don’t get to come in my mother’s house. You’ll have to grab a coffee somewhere while I talk to her. Agreed?”

He smiled, relief pumping through him. “Agreed.”

“What about leaving the fair unattended?”

“I’ll lock the office and leave the others to it. It’ll be fine for a few hours.”

“What if Freddy comes back? The stallholders can’t be held responsible for having to deal with trouble. Each stall is a separate franchise, but the fair itself is mine...I mean, yours, to take care of.”

John squeezed his eyes shut, willing the pang of guilt that struck his gut into submission. Keeping the fair from her for the time being was an indisputable decision. Kyle couldn’t be trusted. Sooner or later, she’d realize John was doing what he thought best for her right now. He opened his eyes. “The stallholders and the people who run the rides will handle it. I trust them to do the right thing while I’m gone. Don’t you? I thought you knew the people here.”

“I do.”

“Do you trust them?”

“Yes. But if—”

“I don’t deal in ifs and maybes. I don’t want to be here today...I want to be with you.”

“That’s nice, but—”

“Nice?” He pulled the phone from his ear and stared at it.
Nice?
He put it back to his ear.

She laughed. “What’s wrong with nice?”

He scowled, his male pride well and truly dented. “Sasha, when a man has taken a woman on a kitchen counter and had her whisper her pleasure in his ear, he doesn’t appreciate being called
nice.
”

“I can’t believe you just said that.” She laughed. “My God, you’d better be alone right now.”

“I am.” He grinned. “Where are you?”

“Outside Marian’s.”

“Cancel the taxi. I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.” He snapped the phone shut and strode to his desk. Whistling, he yanked his jacket from the back of his chair and his keys from the desktop.

Walking outside, he locked the office and made his way through the fair, talking to as many employees as possible, telling him they were on their own for the afternoon and making sure they had his cell number. Nerves leaped through him. Sasha’s words of warning about Freddy pummeled at his conscience no matter how hard he tried to fight them.

He couldn’t stay here day in and day out, waiting for Freddy’s next move. When or if it came, he’d deal with it. Deep inside, the right thing was for Sasha to have Funland and make it hers. Once he found out the real reason she wanted it so badly and that it wouldn’t bring her more pain—or that Kyle hadn’t done anything to make someone else want it more and potentially threaten her—he’d find out for sure if his suspicion that the contract clause would be invalid now Funland was his. If he was right, John would hand it over and didn’t want a penny in return.

Until then, he’d watch her back and hope she came to care for him as much as he cared for her. He’d yet to find a way to break through the barrier of distrust that lingered like a black shield in her eyes. He yearned to explore the feeling that Sasha was his destiny. A destiny he would never acknowledge Kyle had unwittingly—or wittingly—brought about.

He strode toward his car and slid onto the seat. Turning the ignition, the engine roared to life and John left the parking lot.

* * *

I
T
HAD
TAKEN
ducking into Marian’s for a can of diet soda to cool the fire burning in every feminine pore from Sasha’s lips to her panties after John’s referral to her ear whispering. Hardly an hour had passed since their kitchen
thing
without her quivering as she reminisced over a snatched moment or two. Her memories were driving her insane. Once John had left her apartment the night before, she’d bounced from being relieved he was gone and knowing it was for the best, to wanting to yank open her apartment door and slam him against the elevator wall for some more wild sex.

Like an itch she couldn’t resist scratching, he provided a tantalizing combination of pleasure versus pain every time she looked into his sea-blue eyes. His humor, his protectiveness and even his anger toward Kyle resonated through her, making her want John more and more.

At the sound of an approaching engine, Sasha snapped her gaze to the right. His car moved slowly through traffic, indicator flashing. She straightened her shoulders and ignored the knot that yanked tight in her lower regions when he pulled his stupid fancy car to a stop at the curb.

The warm temperature was the perfect excuse to lower the roof. Why did the sight of his car with the top down fill her with such girlish excitement? Clearly, her lack of interest in boys and their first cars when she’d been a teenager had left behind a residual need to play passenger in a hot car with a hot man.

He moved to get out of the car and she quickly yanked on the passenger door handle. “Stay where you are. I’ve got it.”

He slumped back and smiled. “You really don’t like me opening doors for you, do you?”

“Among other things. I’m sure by the end of the day you will have managed to add a few more to the list.”

She flashed him a smile and slid into the luxury of butter-soft leather, instantly reminded of Liam’s revelation that John was a multimillionaire, albeit from his father’s less-than-moral earnings. If John came away with a different feeling about Kyle after being reunited with him, he had the money to do whatever—and go wherever—he wanted. For her, the entirety of her money would be used in getting the fair back, if he agreed to sell it back to her, of course. She’d have the fair and she’d be in Templeton, just like she always wanted.

So, why did that scenario suddenly make her feel trapped instead of free?

A shiver whispered up her spine, and she snapped on her seat belt. She glanced toward John.

He frowned. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” She forced a smile. “It might be best we move away from the bakery, though.”

He glanced past her toward the shop window, and she followed his gaze. Marian stood at the other side of the glass, scowling at them, her hands fisted on her hips. Sasha waved, and Marian promptly shook her head. Sasha turned to John and quirked her eyebrow. “Do you think?”

He checked the mirrors before pulling into traffic. They sped from Templeton with only the radio breaking the silence. Yet the atmosphere didn’t feel awkward or tense, and Sasha slipped deeper into the seat, her head falling back against the headrest. It felt comfortable and right. Her gaze danced over his hands as they maneuvered the steering wheel, down to his biteable forearms with their sinewy tendons and muscles, up to his biceps encased in black cotton...

“You’re staring.”

She started and flicked her gaze to his smiling profile. “So?”

Without hesitation, he reached for her hand and lifted it onto his denim-clad thigh and held it there. Her heart stuttered, but she didn’t pull away. She’d allow herself to enjoy this drive and be thankful she wasn’t alone on a train, going through each anticipated second of her visit with her mother.

This was better,
much
better.

“Shall I program the GPS? Or will you direct me?” His voice broke through her happy reverie.

“I’ll direct you. It’s about an hour’s drive. I hope that’s okay? I did warn you about leaving the fair too long.”

He glanced at her, his gaze meeting hers. “I’m glad. It gives us a chance to talk.”

“About what?” She stiffened, knowing it was only a matter of time before he mentioned what happened at her apartment.

He smiled. “Anything we want.”

Relief that he wasn’t pushing her softened her rigid spine, and she shifted back into the comfort of her seat. Maybe he would let her outburst about her mother go. She lifted her finger toward the windshield and a sign directing them from Templeton toward the neighboring town. “Follow the signs to Abbeyfield. Once we get there, I can direct you again.”

The next few minutes lapsed into silence, and Sasha pondered the prospect of seeing her mother again after three months of non-face-to-face contact. She tapped her fingers to the music from the radio and tried to think of a way to bring up the subject of Kyle talking with her mother without simply demanding answers from her.

Her mother would most likely withhold the information Sasha wanted if she sensed her desperation. Her best strategy would be to keep ahold of her temper and play it as cool as possible.

Sasha pressed her hand to the trembling in her stomach. If she learned her mother had betrayed her, it would be another blow to her already wafer-thin sense of trust. It was one thing to deal with her mother not helping to get the fair back, but quite another if she’d had a hand in taking it from her and her granddad in the first place.