Return of the Bad Girl Page 17

  “I want to know who it was,” Val said. “I’m going to kill him. Eviscerate him. Stake him to the ground in Justin’s cornfield and run him over with the harvester.”

  Caroline was already shaking her head, despite the insane urge to laugh at her five-foot, hundred-pound sister taking Kyle out. “I can’t tell you.”

  “What?” Ellie and Val both cried, but only Val added, “Why the hell not?”

  “Because what good would it do? It’s in the past, and if I was going to do something, I should have done it right after it happened, but I was so afraid—” She caught herself before she finished saying that she was afraid Kyle would hurt them and said instead, “You two just need to be careful, okay? Make sure you aren’t going off alone, especially at night.”

  Val opened her mouth to say something else, but Justin popped his head out at that moment, flashing an apologetic smile. “Sorry to interrupt, but dinner’s on the table,” Justin said, raising his hand to wave. “Hey, Caroline, glad you could make it.”

  “Thanks, Justin.”

  “We’ll be in,” Val said, waiting until he’d shut the door again before hissing, “This is not over. I will have that bastard’s name.”

  “Down, girl,” Caroline said, reaching out for Val’s hand. “I appreciate you wanting to avenge my honor, but I don’t need you to go all vigilante justice, okay? I just need you to be careful and take care of yourself.” Caroline held up her hand, stopping Val’s protest. “Let’s just enjoy dinner with your future in-laws.”

  Val started sputtering that they weren’t engaged and the normal, safe conversation warmed Caroline, who was trying hard to get her emotions in check. For years, she’d imagined what it would feel like to unburden herself on someone else, and even though she hadn’t shared everything, it was still relieving to have this one secret off her chest.

  And to know that her sisters had been supportive. Between Ellie’s compassion and Val’s protective nature, Caroline felt cherished and loved; she had forgotten how good it felt to be accepted.

  Val headed for the porch first, while Ellie and Caroline trailed behind. Caroline touched Ellie’s arm and pointed to her eye.

  “This better not happen again,” Caroline whispered.

  “I told you, it—”

  “What are you two talking about without me?” Val asked, holding the door open for them.

  “Nothing,” Ellie said, quickly.

  “I was just giving her a little advice about what to do in a fight,” Caroline said, catching Ellie’s eye meaningfully. “The first rule is, don’t get hit.”

  Ellie pushed past Val to get inside.

  “What the hell is her problem?” Val asked, rubbing her chest where Ellie had bumped her.

  “She’s a Willis; we’ve never been very good at taking advice.”

  GABE HAD BEEN stewing for hours at the apartment, waiting for Caroline to get home. Despite all the warning signs that getting involved with her would lead to disaster, he hadn’t been able to stop once they’d started, and sure enough, it had ended with him pissing her off.

  That hadn’t been his intention, of course. He’d been nervous as hell, as hard as it was to believe, and when he got nervous, he said stupid shit. He just hadn’t wanted her to read too much into his reaction to their sexcapade—which had been fucking mind-blowing. He’d been reduced to a sixteen-year-old kid, shocked as hell that the hottest girl he knew wanted to “do it,” and he’d embarrassed himself. For a minute there, when their gazes had met as he slid into her, he’d thought there was a connection. Something more than sex, more than just lust. As if their souls had recognized one another.

  Something was wrong with him, that was for damn sure. Flowery thoughts and obsessing over a woman just wasn’t his style.

  Still, he’d wanted to give her time to calm down, so hopefully they could have a reasonable conversation. He hadn’t been prepared to walk into a disaster zone.

  The formula bottles for the kittens had been left on the counter without even being rinsed out. Clothes were littered across the bathroom floor, and her towel was thrown across the back of the couch.

  So, she was in a hurry. You aren’t exactly Mr. Clean when you’re rushed.

  Heading over to the fridge, he’d opened it and reached in, wanting to sit down with a cold beer while he tried to find something to watch.

  Only there was no beer.

  There had been one can last night when he’d gone to bed, and he hadn’t been home at all today. Which meant Caroline had come in here and taken his last beer, just to be spiteful.

  Maybe she planned to pick up more on her way home.

  It was almost nine, though, so he wasn’t holding his breath.

  A knock at the door interrupted his dark thoughts. Who the hell would come calling at nine o’clock on a Sunday? He pulled open the door and found a pale blond guy standing on the porch. The guy seemed surprised to see him.

  “I’m looking for Caroline.”

  “She’s not here,” Gabe said gruffly, eyeing the blue suit the guy was sporting. It looked expensive, but then again, the last suit he’d worn had been a rental, so what did he know?

  “Will you just let her know that Kyle came by?”

  There was something about the guy Gabe didn’t like, and it wasn’t just that he looked slicker than snot.

  “Sure, Skip, when she gets home, that’s the first thing I’ll do.”

  Ole Kyle didn’t like that. “It’s important.”

  “I’m sure it is, but I gotta ask, if you need to see her so bad, why don’t you just give her a call?”

  That made Kyle angry, if the deep red of his skin was any indication. “I lost her number.”

  “Well, that sounds like a personal problem, Kyle,” Gabe said and started to shut the door.

  “Kyle?” Caroline’s voice sounded from the bottom of the stairs.

  Gabe opened the door again as Kyle turned toward her.

  “Caroline. I was hoping we could talk.”

  Caroline paled for a half second before Kyle started down the stairs, and every muscle in Gabe’s body tensed.

  This is the guy.

  Gabe came out the door with a vengeance and grabbed Kyle by the back of the jacket. There was no way he was letting the fucker take one more step toward Caroline.

  “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” Kyle shouted as he tried to shake Gabe’s grip. Gabe let Kyle’s jacket go long enough to allow Kyle to turn around and face him. “I’ll sue—”

  Gabe’s fist connected with Kyle’s pretty face, and he stumbled back against the railing.

  “Gabe!” Caroline screamed, starting up the stairs. “Don’t!”

  But he wasn’t going to stop, not until he scared the piss out of the little prick.

  “This is the guy, right?” Gabe said, collecting the front of Kyle’s shirt in his hand, ignoring the blood from Kyle’s split lip as it dripped onto his hand.

  “I didn’t tell you that,” she said.

  “You didn’t have to,” Gabe said, pushing and shoving Kyle down the metal steps. The fact that she hadn’t denied it told him all he needed to know. “Get out of the way, Caroline.”

  Though Gabe might have sounded calm, he was anything but. He reached the ground with Kyle and knocked him backward with a hard upper cut. He wanted to see this piece of shit quake in his fancy suit, for him to beg Gabe to stop.

  Caroline tried to get between them. “Gabe, you can’t do this. He’s a lawyer, and you have a record! Think about it!”

  Gabe’s arms shook with the need to twist Kyle’s neck until it snapped, but her words broke through the fog of rage. He couldn’t go back to prison, not with Honey depending on him. And what would happen to Caroline if he was locked up? If he wasn’t here, would Kyle hurt her?

  With one last punch to Kyle’s middle, dropping him to the ground, Gabe stood over him menacingly.

  “You stay away from her, do you hear me? Do not come to this house again, or I’ll make s
ure you disappear.”

  Kyle groaned and rolled onto his side, coughing. He looked up at them with hatred and rasped, “I’ll be pressing charges.”

  “No, you won’t,” Gabe said, rubbing his sore knuckles. “People might start asking questions about what you were doing here, and I doubt Caroline will back you up when the police want an explanation.”

  Without waiting for Kyle to say more, Gabe turned to Caroline and put his hand on the small of her back. “Come on.”

  She let him gently propel her up the stairs, and when they got through the door, he shut and dead bolted it behind them. Caroline stood by the back of the couch, her shoulders shaking. As Gabe drew closer to her, all his earlier irritation melted away, and he just wanted to comfort her.

  Wrapping his arms around her from behind, he pulled her back against him. His palms rubbed her bare skin, and he rocked her. He wanted to ask her again why Kyle was harassing her, but by the quake of her body, he didn’t think she’d be up for talking yet.

  It killed him that this strong, beautiful woman didn’t feel like she had anyone she could turn to. Nobody to keep her safe.

  But it wasn’t true. And he wished he was the kind of guy to tell her that. That he could be open about what he was feeling, but he wasn’t very good with words. He was the thug, the tough guy who used violence to get his point across.

  Apparently, he hadn’t changed as much as he’d thought. He’d lost his head over a threat to his woman, and he’d dealt with it the only way he knew how.

  You just called her your woman.

  Deep down, it was how he felt. Like she belonged to him. Like she needed him.

  And he wanted her to need him.

  “It’s okay. You’re safe. You’re all right,” he said, holding her a little tighter.

  “I told you not to get involved,” she whimpered, her hands gripping his forearm as she tried to turn around. He loosened his hold enough to let her, and when she faced him, he was surprised by her dark scowl.

  “That guy assaulted you,” Gabe said.

  “And I’m still standing. Believe me, he’s done worse. But the things he could do to you . . . Gabe, do you really want to go back to prison?”

  “That punk is a fucking pussy,” Gabe said, dropping his arms from around her waist. “He’s not going to do shit to me.”

  “You don’t know what he’s capable of, especially when someone humiliates him,” Caroline said, taking his hand and bringing his bruised knuckles to her mouth.

  He caught his breath at the gentle brush of her lips, his heart hammering. Trying to play it cool, he used his other hand to tilt her chin up, and he studied her face.

  “You trying to say you care about me, Caroline?” She tried to look away, but he wouldn’t let her. “Answer me.”

  “I think you’re an idiot who’s going to get hurt if he keeps getting involved in my problems,” she snapped.

  “Hey,” he said, releasing her as she struggled. “I’m a big boy. I can handle it.”

  “I don’t need you to fight my battles for me,” she said, pushing him all the way back. “I was handling my own shit just fine before you came along, so don’t think you’re going to come in here on a white horse and save me. Is that your plan? To make me indebted to you?”

  Gabe tightened his fists, his muscles aching with rage. “Forgive me, princess. I promise, it’s the last time I get involved in your drama.”

  “Good. That’s all I want!”

  Without saying anything else, he grabbed his jacket and slammed out the door. Fuck her. If she didn’t know the difference between someone stepping up because he cared and someone trying to get something from her, then she was more damaged than he was.

  Taking off down the street on foot, he headed toward Chase’s tattoo parlor with his mind racing. What the hell was going on with her? Something had happened to her, and that bastard Kyle was involved in it. Was he blackmailing her? Did she owe him money or something? It seemed unlikely, but what else could it be?

  Maybe he was a lawyer. Had he helped her cover up a crime or just gotten her charges dropped? Had the charges been buried in exchange for . . . what?

  Maybe you’ve just been watching too many procedural cop dramas.

  As he opened up the door to Jagged Rock Tattoo Parlor, he saw Chase inside, sitting down with Eric, the bartender.

  “Hey, man, sorry to interrupt.”

  “Naw, we were just shooting the shit,” Chase said. “Eric, have you met Gabe? We grew up together.”

  “Not officially,” Eric said, holding out his hand. “You’re the guy living with Caroline Willis, right?”

  Gabe didn’t correct him that they weren’t living together, still remembering the too-familiar way Eric had kissed Caroline. “Yeah.”

  “She’s a good kid,” Eric said, squeezing Gabe’s hand hard enough to be painful.

  “She’s not a kid,” Gabe said, returning the grip.

  The silence stretched as the two men sized each other up, and it was Chase who finally broke the tension. “Whoa, are you two about to throw down or kiss?”

  Both of them swung around to face Chase, yelling, “What the fuck are you talking about?”

  Chase laughed. “You both looked intense. I was just trying to lighten the mood.”

  Eric was the first to speak. “I’m just looking out for her.”

  “Well, good luck with that, because she doesn’t need that from anyone, according to her,” Gabe said bitterly.

  Eric seemed to be fighting a smile. “Yeah, why do you think she got the nickname Trouble?”

  The tension eased out of Gabe’s shoulders. “So, you two never . . .”

  “Hell no. Like I said, sweet kid, but have you met her daddy?” Eric shook his head as he let out a whistle. “Let’s just say, even if I had been interested, working for her daddy dissuaded me from any future plans.”

  Gabe walked over to one of the tattoo chairs and sat. “Tell me about him.”

  GABE RETURNED TO the apartment two hours later and, thanks to his new bartender friend, knew a lot more about Caroline’s father than when he’d walked in. Eric had had a lot to say about the former Rock Canyon mayor, Edward Willis, and the way he treated his three daughters—and none of it was good. After hearing about what a control freak her father was—when he wasn’t tearing the girls down for every infraction, that is—he could understand why Caroline had a hard time accepting help. It seemed like everything her father had given them had come with a stipulation.

  Flopping down on the couch, he turned on the TV, but before he’d even made it through the beginning credits of Turner and Hooch, he was asleep.

  Suddenly, he sat bolt upright. At first, he wasn’t sure what had woken him, but then he heard Caroline screaming. Jumping up from the couch, his heart hammered in his ears as he burst through her door. He flipped on the light, ready to grab her attacker, but there was no one there—just Caroline thrashing on the bed, still asleep.

  Relief swept through him. He’d thought there was someone attacking her, but she was just having a nightmare.

  He took her by the shoulders, gently shaking her. “Caroline . . .”

  She thrashed harder, whimpering, “Stop . . . please.”

  “Caroline, it’s me. It’s Gabe,” he said. “Come on, baby, stop. Wake up. It’s just a dream.”

  She came to slowly, blinking up at him and then throwing her hands over her eyes to block the light. “Gabe?”

  “Yeah, you okay?” he asked.

  “Can you turn off the light?”

  “Sure,” he said, getting up to flip the switch before coming back to her side. Taking her hand, he added, “Seemed like some dream.”

  “Yeah,” she whispered. “It was.”

  Neither one of them said anything for a minute or two, and Gabe released her hand, figuring she’d fallen back asleep. But when he started to rise from the bed, she grabbed his hand.

  “Stay with me . . . please?”

  He sat back d
own and said, “Are you sure?”

  “Not for . . . I don’t want that,” she said softly. “I just don’t want to be alone.”

  Climbing in with her, he lay down on his back and smiled as she snuggled into him, her cheek pressing against his chest. As he stroked her back, he waited for her to say more, and when she didn’t, he said, “I know you say you don’t need anybody, and I believe you. You are one tough woman, and I respect that. But I’m here if you change your mind. Okay?”

  Seconds ticked by before she answered him.

  “Thanks, Gabe.”

  Gabe brushed her hair back with one hand as he pulled her closer with the other. After several minutes of quiet, Caroline’s breathing evened out, and her body relaxed. Once he was sure she was asleep, Gabe slipped out of her bed and headed for his own, a volcano of thoughts erupting inside: Caroline’s anger at him for having Kirsten stay over, how she’d accused him of taking advantage of her, Caroline’s reaction after his kiss. The nightmare . . .

  Gabe didn’t want to even think it, but it made a lot of sense. Especially her fear of that bastard, Kyle. But if Caroline had been raped by him—when had it happened? And why hadn’t she reported it?

  She’d said the man who’d assaulted her in the alley had worked for her father. Is that why she hadn’t told? Because she’d thought her dad wouldn’t believe her? But then why was Kyle stalking her now? Had she finally threatened to expose him after all this time?

  So many unanswered questions, but one thought outweighed all the worries. Despite her protests, Caroline did need someone. And Gabe was determined to show her that someone was him.

  Chapter Nineteen

  “Anyone who says he or she has never experienced the walk of shame was just never caught sneaking out.”

  —Miss Know It All

  GABE WAS STILL kicking his own ass on Friday as he closed up the shop. He had received the last of the tools he needed and would be ready to open in a couple of weeks, as long as he had customers. So far, things were looking pretty slow for custom bikes in Rock Canyon.

  But it wasn’t the lack of orders that was eating at him—it was Caroline.