by Linda Kage
I looked down at Eva just as she glanced up at me. The loss in her eyes explained everything, all the sorrow, shame, and regret. Her expression told me exactly who'd been brutalizing her for years.
"Oh, fuck," I whispered.
Her eyes widened. "Pick." She placed her sweet fingers on my cheeks, keeping my focus on her and no one else. "Please, don't."
I vibrated from my rage. I wanted to rip apart the monster who'd terrorized my Tinker Bell.
But fuck. Her own father? I fisted my hands and squeezed my eyes closed, trying to obey her pleas. It seemed vital to her that I not pound him into nothing, but God, I wanted to so bad. I even had to jiggle my knee to alleviate some of the aggression thrumming through me.
"Reese, you saw nothing," the dick was saying, his voice making me twitch, craving to charge him. "I could destroy you, got that? If you say anything to anyone, I'll destroy you and your little prostitute boyfriend over there."
Reese gasped and went sheet-white while Mason flinched against me. Eva kept staring at me, begging with her gaze, asking me to stay calm. I pressed my forehead to hers and attempted to focus on nothing but her.
But her fucker of a father had to point at me next. "And you. You'll pay for putting your dirty, greased-stained, orphaned hands on me."
I probably should've been shocked he knew so much about me. But I was more eager to beat him to a pulp. "Bring it," I said. I would love to—
"No," Eva moaned. She clutched me tighter and pressed her cheek to my chest.
A growl worked up my throat. Damn it. Why didn't she want me to hurt him for her?
Somehow barely respecting her wishes, I kept staring at her father without losing it. Not sure how I accomplished that, but I impressed myself with my own ability to tether in my emotions, even though I could still hear my kids down the hall, wailing for us.
"Get the fuck out of my house," I snarled.
Her father narrowed his eyes. Fucker didn't like being told what to do, did he? Too bad. This was my domain right here.
Finally, his lips twitched as if amused. When his gaze shifted to Eva, I wanted to pluck his eyeballs from his head for even daring to look at her.
"I'll go," he murmured. "For now." Then he turned on his heel.
Reese stood in his path. Realizing he needed by her to get out, she leapt out of his way with a gasp and darted toward us, tripping over spilled shoes in her haste. Mason let go of me to snatch her up and pull her against him. Free of Lowe's restraining hands, I wrapped both my arms around Eva, kissing her hair and breathing in her scent.
As soon as we heard the front door close at his departure, she wiggled out of my arms, and took off down the hall toward our bedroom. When the babies quieted a few seconds later, I finally couldn't contain my aggression a second longer.
I reared back my arm and punched the refrigerator. Twice. The burst of pain that came as I split my knuckles open actually felt good and relieving.
"Oh my God," Reese moaned, pulling away from Mason to pace in a tight circle. She buried her fingers in her hair as she tried to grasp what had just happened. "That was . . . oh my God. Her own father . . . Uncle Shaw was . . . he was trying to . . . "
When she looked to Mason and me as if seeking help, I looked away and gritted my teeth.
"You knew," she realized, staring at me hard. Her mouth fell open. "You . . . but . . . " She shook her head. "When did he . . . how long . . . why did she never tell me?"
"Sweet Pea," Mason started, sympathy ruling his tone.
But Reese held up her hand, warding him off as she stared at me. "Pick?"
"What?" I snapped back, scowling at her. "What do you want me to say?"
"I want you to say I'm wrong," she cried. "Tell me I did not see my uncle just try to rape my cousin. Oh my God. My cousin. My best friend. My—" Tears filled her eyes. "Holy shit, that wasn't the first time either, was it? Holy . . . oh . . . God. I think I'm going to be sick." She cradled her stomach as her tears fell harder. "How could you know that and not say anything? He came to our apartment, looking for her. He came to me and I . . . I told him where she was. I never would've done that if I'd . . . if . . . Mason." Turning to her man, she hurried to him.
He wrapped his arms around her, kissing her hair and murmuring, "It's okay, baby. It's okay."
Pushing back enough to gape at him, she squawked, "Okay? How is this okay? He . . . he . . . to Eva."
Mason didn't have an answer, so he just pulled her against him tighter and forced her to bury her face against his chest.
As I watched her knuckles go white from how tightly she clutched his shirt, I tried to reassure her. "I didn't know," I said. "Not who, anyway. Not until just now."
She sniffed and wiped her nose with the back of her hand. "But you knew someone had . . . ?" When she couldn't finish the question, I nodded. Confusion clouded her expression. "Why would she tell you and not me?"
"She didn't tell me. I figured it out."
"Oh, great." Reese threw her hands into the air with disgust, almost taking Mason's eye out in the process. "So I was just too stupid to realize it myself?"
Spinning away from us, she raced from the room.
"Reese," I growled. "Don't—" When she didn't listen to me, I shot Mason a glower. "Will you stop her? Tink doesn't need a big inquisition right now."
He cursed under his breath but hurried after his girlfriend.
Alone in the kitchen, I took a moment to clear my head. I bent at the waist and blew out a long, hard breath. But raised voices—okay, fine, just Reese's voice—coming from the bedroom compelled me to head that way.
"Does Aunt Mads know?" Reese was demanding as I paused at the doorway and watched Eva sitting on the bed, her arms full of both Skylar and Julian as she rocked them comfortingly back and forth. They clutched onto her for dear life, but I noticed she was clutching onto them just as much. It made my guts tighten, knowing I hadn't been here to save them from this scare. Then my jealousy spiked because she was seeking comfort from them, not me.
Damn it. Why hadn't I taken off work a few minutes early?
"We should tell her," Reese was encouraging, bobbing her head vigorously. "We'll call her right now."
She pulled out her phone before Eva murmured, "Ree Ree, stop. She knows."
"What?" Reese yelled.
"Shh. Don't raise your voice. The babies are still spooked." She glanced accusingly at me before turning back to her cousin. "What're you doing here anyway?"
Reese was too agitated to answer, mumbling, "How could she know this and not . . . how could she stay with him and . . . oh my God." She clutched her face as her eyes went wide. "She's as evil as he is. I can't believe there's that kind of evil in my bloodline."
Answering Eva's question for her, I told Tinker Bell, "They were here to babysit. I was going to take you out tonight. Give you a break from the rug rats."
Her gaze slid my way and she blinked as if trying to keep herself from crying. Finally, she glanced away and her voice rasped. "Thank you. That's . . . sweet, but I don't . . . I don't really feel like going out tonight."
I pressed my back to the doorframe, bumping my spine against it harder than I needed to, seeking more nips of pain to keep my anger in check. I was still so tempted to race from the apartment and hunt down her father.
"How long has this been going on?" Reese demanded.
Eva shook her head. "You don't want to know the answer to that."
Shoulders curling in around herself, Reese started crying all over again. "I can't believe this is happening. I can't . . . why didn't you ever tell me?"
"Because I knew you'd react this way." When Eva's voice went sharp with agitation, the babies responded, whimpering fitfully.
I pushed away from the doorway and went to them. "Give me Skylar."
Eva didn't seem to want to at first, but when she realized she couldn't soothe both kids at once, she finally relented. I took the little girl into my arms and held her close to my face, closing my eyes and
making a silent promise that nothing and no one would ever do to her what had been done to her mother. Not over my cold dead body.
Watching me as I settled next to Eva on the bed so she could still be close to her daughter, Reese's eyes lit with horror. "Oh, shit. She's not . . . He's not Skylar's father, is he? Uncle Shaw?"
"No," Eva instantly answered. "Alec is her father. Not that he's a much better candidate."
"Are you su—"
"I'm positive, Ree Ree. I was sixteen the last time Bradshaw . . . caught me unaware."
Reese gagged and slapped her hand over her mouth. Then she surged forward to sit on the bed and throw her arms around Eva. Sobbing and unable to stop apologizing, she made a mess all over Fighter and Tink. "I'm so sorry, E. If only I knew, I'd . . . I'd have been there for you. I would've driven to Florida and stole you away from that house. Jesus, I can't believe even Aunt Mads . . . " She shook her head and bawled some more.
I glanced toward Mason who was silent and solemn. Leaning against the wall, he watched the cousins hug with sad empathy as if he understood Eva's plight. It reminded me of that cougar's visit to the bar, and the word Eva's father had called him. Prostitute.
When he caught me studying him, he glanced away guiltily, his throat working while he swallowed.
Reese wanted to stay; she clung close to Eva. But Eva kept shooing her off. "I really just want to be alone with the babies right now. I . . . I just need some space."
Her cousin finally peeled herself away, but I could tell from her face that she didn't want to leave. She gave Eva one last hug, and Mason shocked the shit out of me when he stepped forward to hug Eva too.
"This explains a lot," he said as he pulled away.
Eva smiled sadly. "I guess you and I share more similarities than you ever thought, huh?"
He didn't answer, just solemnly took Reese's hand and led her from the apartment.
After the door closed behind them, I caught Eva's gaze. "You're crazy if you think I'm leaving you alone in this apartment right now."
I didn't mean to be rude, but I had to put that out there. No fucking way was I leaving her alone.
She smiled softly and rested her cheek on top of Julian's head. "I don't want you to go. I just couldn't say that in front of Reese. Might hurt her feelings if she knew I wanted you here and not her."
My gaze pierced hers. Even though I knew her reasoning probably had nothing to do with who she cared for more, my chest filled with a crazy kind of pride. But I had to guess, "Because you knew I wouldn't ask questions?"
She bit her lip and dropped her gaze before nodding.
I nodded too. Didn't matter why she wanted me, I was just glad she did. I stood and put Skylar in the crib. Then I took Julian from her and put him down too. They were both still awake, but they'd settled enough to lie contently by themselves for a minute.
Turning back to Eva, I held out a hand. "Let's get you cleaned up."
She frowned in confusion before looking down and seeing how torn her shirt was. Dried blood clung to her skin from a scrape on her arm and the backs of her hands bore more marks. Nodding, she took my fingers.
I led her into the bathroom and had her sit on the edge of the sink. Then I wetted a washcloth and dabbed at the cut on her lip first. After cleaning the scratch on her shoulder, hands, and along her neck where her torn top revealed the deepest marks, I leaned in to kiss the worst cut before gently applying a bandage.
She sucked in a breath and looked up at me. "You're being extremely cool about all this."
I snorted out an amused laugh. "You're the one who told me to simmer down."
"So you really don't feel as calm as you're acting?"
I shook my head and studied the bruise forming on her forehead. "Not even a little."
"Well, you put on a good show."
"Thanks." Reaching around to the back of her skull where her father had cracked it against the refrigerator, I winced. There was a decent-sized goose egg back there, but at least the skin hadn't broken open.
"What about you?" I finally asked, studying her eyes for signs of dilated pupils. "You okay?"
"Oh, you know . . . " She shrugged and lifted a nonchalant hand. "Reese, the one person on earth I never wanted to find out about all this, just found out, so . . . no. No, I'm not okay at all." Her chin trembled and she bit her lip to stop it.
I nodded, completely understanding. She was putting on just as good a show as I was. "So . . . your dad, huh?"
Glancing away, she sniffed. "He's not really my dad. The night he found out from my mom that I actually belonged to someone else was the first night he, you know, visited my room."
I swallowed the bile that rose in my throat and blew out a hard breath through my nose.
Shaking my head, I said, "I don't care if he was blood or not, he was still your father." Still a sick, disgusting motherfucker.
Her face fell and her shoulders shrank in around her body as she hugged herself. "I know." Her voice was so small and her expression so defeated. This was not my strong, sassy Tinker Bell.
I hated what that bastard had done to her and was still doing to her.
My breathing picked up. I lifted my hands to my head and buried my fingers in my hair as I coasted right back onto the edge of uncontrollable fury.
"Fuck, Eva. I can't handle this, knowing what happened to you and not being able to do anything about it because it's already over and done. I want to hurt him. I want to hunt him down and hurt him so bad. If I could just get my hands around his neck . . . " I lifted my fingers, all ten of them tensed and curled, eager to constrict.
Eva caught them and lifted them to her mouth. "Just breathe," she instructed as she kissed the dried blood on my knuckles.
"I can't," I bit out. "All I can do is see him pinning you in the kitchen and—"
She kissed me.
Her mouth against mine. It was . . . yeah. Everything. I closed my eyes and sank into her, cupping her face and lifting her chin so our lips aligned perfectly. It might've been dry and closed-mouth, but it was still a perfect kiss and tugged up all these feelings I had for her from the bottom of my soul.
"Better?" she asked as she slowly pulled away.
I kept my eyes closed, reliving that kiss in my head as I swayed forward. "Um, I don't think so. Maybe you should try kissing me some more."
Puffing out a light laugh, she rested her cheek against my neck and hugged me.
I stroked her hair, and pulled her closer as the urge to protect her flared hotter. "If I ever find him near you again, I'll kill him. I won't be able to help it."
"Pick, I was serious when I said he could destroy you. He'll learn all your weaknesses and find a way to use them against you."
Remembering how he already knew I was an orphan, I didn't doubt her. He was probably a very powerful shithead. But the knowledge didn't scare me. I pressed my lips to Eva's temple. "You're my only weakness."
She sighed as if she knew she wasn't getting through to me enough to intimidate me, not until Julian and Skylar started crying from the bedroom. Then she pulled back and looked up at me with a steady, probing gaze. "You sure about that?"
My eyes widened as my chest caved in around my heart with instant dread. "He wouldn't. They're only babies."
Her laugh was bitter. "What? A man who started raping his daughter when she was twelve? Oh, I think he would. He uses every available resource he can against his enemies to take them down and get what he wants. Even innocent little babies."
I closed my eyes and gritted my teeth. "Twelve?" I whispered, bowing my head. "You were only twelve? Jesus, Tink. That's not information that's going to stop me from going out right now and finding him to rip his worthless head right off his shoulders."
"He could make you lose Julian." She snapped her fingers. "Just like that."
My eyes flashed open. When I looked up, she studied me a moment longer before the stark, raving intimidation set in. Blowing out a breath, I slumped onto the closed lid of the toilet
and buried my face in my hands. "Fuck me." I felt sick, nauseated. My head pounded as if someone was whacking a mallet against it. I swear I could even hear—
I lifted my face to realize someone really was knocking, but not on my head. On the front door. Hard.
Oh, if that fucker was back, he was dead. He couldn't use Julian against me if he was dead.
But the muted call that came from outside the apartment said, "Police. Open up."
Shit. Didn't that just figure?
Eva jerked in surprise, her eyes going wide. "What the hell?"
She obviously wasn't used to growing up in the same kind of neighborhood as I was.
Hissing a curse under my breath, I pushed to my feet. "Neighbors must've called the cops again."
Her eyes only grew wider. "Again?"
I let out a weary sigh, and smoothed my hand over her hair before kissing the bruise on her forehead. "Check on the kids. I'll take care of the police."
She nodded and moved from the bathroom. I started down the hall, wishing the night had gone how I'd initially planned it. We'd probably be getting served our meal right about now, the soft glow of candlelight setting the mood as a server refilled our glasses.
But nope, we were stuck dealing with this instead.
Reality sucked ass.
"So, what is it tonight?" The cop who'd arrested me asked as soon as I opened the door. His partner, who'd given me the 'friendly' warning last time followed him inside as I silently stepped aside for them.
"I thought I warned you what would happen if we had to keep coming here, Mr. Ryan." He looked disappointed, which bothered me more than his pissy partner's degrading sneer.
I opened my mouth to answer, but Eva exited the hall, carrying both babies. They took one look at her with the bruise swelling on her face and her blouse still torn, and that was it for me.
Pissy Cop grabbed my wrist and lifted my hand to check out my knuckles. They were still roughed up from punching Eva's dad and then the refrigerator. He sighed knowingly before he twisted his grip and spun me around until my back was to him. After capturing my other arm and holding them together, he whipped his handcuffs off his duty belt.