Pretty in the Dark (Dark and Wild #2)

Chapter 10

10

CADE

I pulled away from her as she held up my hand and turned to look at me.

Fuck.

I’d been so tired, and she’d looked so peaceful sleeping all curled up in the large leather chair, that I’d forgotten about anything other than needing to take care of her. To hold her. To claim her again.

Concern danced in the depth of her eyes.

"Cade, what happened? Are you okay?" She asked, her voice filled with shocked anxiousness.

Concern. Not accusation.

Guilt plagued me. What would she say if I told her the truth?

What would she say if I revealed the darkness inside of me? That everything her father had ever said about me was true?

I pulled my hand away and shrugged.

“It’s nothing. Just an accident with an engine. I didn’t stop at my place to shower before I came here.”

The lie rolled so easily off my tongue that it made me sick.

Could she tell? Her eyes scanned my face, dipped down the rest of my body, then back up. A smile parted her lips as she leaned in and brushed a kiss against the stubble of my cheek.

“Okay, well—don’t expect me to baby you or anything. You’re a grown man. There are Band-Aids in the bathroom down the hall.”

My stomach clenched, and I reached for my jeans that I’d draped over the back of the couch.

“Noted. You have horrible bedside manners.” I kept my voice even, my tone light, and she let out a throaty chuckle that had my balls tightening again.

"Yeah—they kicked me out of nursing school for it."

I paused, one leg in my pants while the other foot hovered over the remaining pant leg to look up at her in surprise. “You wanted to be a nurse?”

She shrugged and pulled on her discarded pajamas. “It was more of a do anything to get away from slinging drinks while dodging ass grabs and make something of myself type of decision. I saw an ad for some assistant nursing classes and took a chance on it. But apparently, they frown upon telling patients to suck it up when you're trying to draw their blood.”

Buttoning my jeans, I scrutinized the rest of my clothes for any other evidence of last night’s activities.

I knew I’d changed, and the plastic bag full of bloodied clothes that were still in the back of my Bronco would have to be incinerated. But the cuts on my hands had opened back up. Normally, I was very meticulous about these things. Coming to her home in the middle of the night with blood dripping down my hands and rage clouding my vision, perhaps wasn’t the smartest decision.

But after what I’d seen, what I learned, the only thing I’d had on my mind was getting to Juniper. I needed to see her, feel her, touch her and know that she was safe. That she was okay.

The sheriff had been one sick fuck.

But I couldn’t tell her that. I couldn't inform her about what I had discovered and the images that had been burned into my brain forever.

The good sheriff hadn’t been home when I’d broken into his house, and it was apparent that he hadn’t been expecting company either, because it was all too easy to do a quick once-over of the house and find the poorly hidden box of polaroids in his tiny study.

Polaroids filled with blonde hair and glacier, lake-blue eyes. The sheriff had thought himself untouchable to leave such filth like this so out in the open.

My hands had shaken violently as I’d made a call to a friend who had skills that I’d never be able to possess, and in a matter of minutes, had access to the sheriff's firewall protected private server.

My only question to her had been, “Is he on the list?”

Her response had chilled me to the bone. “He is now. If you don’t handle it, Black, I will.”

I didn’t ask any more questions or even want to know. The photos in the box were enough to sign his death warrant.

He’d found me waiting for him in the darkened study, twirling one photo between my fingers. One of the few I could find where clothes were involved.

He didn’t seem as surprised as I’d hoped he’d be. Or scared.

The only words he said before I launched myself at him were, “So, you’ve finally come.”

I blacked-out after the first punch.

And didn’t come-to until I was staring down at a mangled mass of flesh and brain matter.

I’d left the way I’d come in, slipping through an open window and into the chilly night air like a shadow.

Another phone, different from my regular cell, and another phone call, one for emergencies such as this. A rough voice spoke on the other end of the phone, this one male and curt.

“Coordinates?”

I rattled off the address.

“Shit, that’s the sheriff’s?—“

I cut him off. “I know where the fuck it is. Just get it cleaned up, Ric.”

“Are you back, Black? Cause if you are, you can get fucked if you think I’m going to be throwing you a welcoming party.”

“I’m not back, dickhead.” I slipped between the shadows of tall trees and brick buildings, my eyes scanning for any witnesses or pesky doorbell cameras. This was so completely off from the way I usually took out my targets, that I was more pissed at myself for losing control like that.

Control kept everything from getting out of hand.

Control kept things clean and efficient.

Control kept the black rage from overtaking me.

Control kept me from going back to prison.

“Then why are you calling me? This number is for Diablo business only.” Ric growled into the line. “I’m not sticking my neck out for you.”

“Trust me Ric, this is Diablo business. And if Kage finds out you left me out to hang, it will be more than your neck on the line. Get a fucking clean-up crew out here, now.” I’d made it to my Bronco, the matte black paint job doing a good job of hiding it among the shadows of the dark alley where I’d parked it.

I didn’t wait to hear if he would obey. The threat of the President breathing down his neck would be enough. And if he fucked up the job, it would likely be Kage, himself that would remove Ric’s ugly mug from his useless neck, and probably several other body parts as well.

Then I’d smashed the burner phone under my foot and kicked the pieces toward a sewer gutter before climbing into the cab and taking off toward Juniper's place.

Breaking in had been easy. Her flimsy security system was something I could bypass in my sleep. I’d searched her house one room after the other, until I finally found her curled up in the oversized leather chair, her blonde hair fanned out over the arm like a waterfall, those pouty lips I’d dreamt about for years turned down in a frown, as she tried to snuggle into the chair for warmth. The fire in the fireplace had long since burned out, and the room was freezing.

I’d gathered her in my arms and wrapped my body around hers, covering us with a blanket that had been draped over the back of the couch. Somewhere in the middle of the night, the combined heat of our bodies had me stripping out of my clothes. Or maybe I was still subconsciously trying to get as close to her as possible.

I finished pulling on the long-sleeved thermal, the only other shirt I’d had in my Bronco, and turned to see her with her ear pressed against the thick, double doors of the office. I might have smiled at how adorable she looked with her hair pulled up high in a messy bun and her soft, striped pajamas accentuating her curves, but then I caught sight of my hands again.

I’d fucked her with these bleeding and bruised hands. Hands that had ripped apart a man who didn’t deserve to breathe the same air as her. I’d fuck her in a pool of my blood if it meant she was safe. If it meant she was protected. If it meant I could keep her away from the darkness that was my world.

Did Juniper know? Did she remember? The sheriff had been a sick bastard, but it took an even more deranged and vile piece of shit than him to exploit a child like that. And I knew of only one disgusting person who fit the mold. The dark beast that lurked just under my skin threatened to consume me again, and I had to take a few deep breaths to clear my head. He would pay. The fucking bastard would pay.

Juniper pulled open one door and tossed a smile over her shoulder at me. “No one's up yet. I’ll make some coffee, and then you can tell me how and why you snuck into my house last night."

"The how you don't get to know." I followed her into the dimly lit hall. The light from the morning sun was just beginning to filter through the windows that framed either side of the large entry door, casting a soft glow over the threadbare carpet. Something about the faded carpet triggered a thought. I'd gathered from other things that Juniper and Dean had both said, that their father's death hadn't left them in the best of ways financially. But Edmund Wild had been the wealthiest businessman in the county. So what happened? "But as for the reason..." I grabbed her elbow, stopping her mid-stride and pulling her against my chest before leaning down to capture her mouth in a slow kiss. "You already said you're mine, pretty girl. And I plan to wake you up like that as much and as often as I can. Any complaints?"

Her blue eyes blinked up at me with a haze of desire and amusement, but she didn't pull away. "Hmm... maybe not about the wake-up. But we need to talk about your lack of personal boundaries." She grinned and gave me a pat on the chest. "Go clean up, big boy. I'll see if I can find us something to eat." Then she headed toward the kitchen while I stepped into the small powder room to clean up.

My phone buzzed in my pocket just as I finished drying my hands, and I cursed when I saw the name as well as the number of missed calls. But Kage would have to wait. No doubt he'd already deduced what I'd discovered, and was more pissed about the fact that I'd handled the sheriff before he could. For now though, I had to find out what Juniper had been up to the past several days, and why she'd fallen asleep holding a picture of Kage's dad.