Thursday, March 30 (again)
Seth stood on the back deck at Hammer, Liam, and Raine’s house, sipping beer. A few friends from Shadows lurked nearby, laughing. He didn’t feel like joining in. He glanced at his phone. Heavenly still wasn’t here. She would come to her own birthday party, right? She wouldn’t let Raine down simply to avoid him and Beck.
He hoped not.
Suddenly, the doctor strolled up beside him. “Anything new?”
Seth shook his head. “Nothing beyond what I’ve told you.”
His search hadn’t netted much information. He’d been able to uncover Heavenly’s birth certificate, some high school records, and previous addresses in Wisconsin. None of that told him jack shit. After narrowing his focus to the LA area, he’d found even less. It was like tracking a ghost. She had no California driver’s license, bank account, credit cards, not even a fucking address anywhere on record.
He’d know more about her if he could follow her bus in LA traffic, but that had proven to be a bitch. Sure, he knew the route, just not where Heavenly got off. If he knew the city better, he’d wait at different stops on different days. In New York, he’d have already discerned hers and gotten a feel for her neighborhood. LA didn’t work the same. Still, what kind of PI couldn’t follow one woman home?
“Any luck with Nurse Lewis?”
“No.” Beck sighed. “I’ve tried three times, this last time with chocolate and charm.”
Seth slanted a glance his way. “You’re not charming.”
“Obviously not, since she won’t let me see that file.”
“Damn it. Is Heavenly talking to you at all?”
“Nope. I’m still taking her lunch, but she’s not saying anything more than ‘thank you.’”
“I’m getting the polite routine, too.” He hesitated. “Is she eating?”
“I’m not sure,” Beck admitted. “I’m busying myself with post-op visits and office appointments after I take her tray. The last place I want to sit by myself is the cafeteria. But if I had to guess, not much.”
“She’s lost weight.” It was obvious. “There’s something more going on with her. I can tell. I can feel it. The last week or so, she’s been…”
“Pale. Withdrawn. Jumpy. I’ve noticed.”
“And sad.” Seth shook his head. “No, more than that. She’s growing more fucking despondent every day.”
Hell, she wasn’t even giving him a muted smile anymore. Just one unguarded moment, a stare that reminded him of their instant, jolting connection. Then she’d bow her head and look away. It fucking shredded his heart. How could she visually cling to him, then simply blink and disengage?
Beck nodded. “Exactly. I don’t know why. It’s not Kathryn. It’s not even the rest of the slut squad. After their ringleader got canned, I hear they’ve been on their best behavior.”
“This feels like way more than petty work shit. Do you think whatever’s troubling Heavenly is the reason she suddenly left us?”
Liam had warned them over a month ago to “peel her open fast.” They hadn’t succeeded, hadn’t even come close. He had a bad feeling that the looming darkness shrouding her with trouble had already come.
“I don’t have a fucking clue and I wish I did.” Beck sipped his beer, too. “Any idea what you’re going to say to her tonight? This might be our last chance, you know?”
Oh, Seth was well aware of that. She was like sand slipping through his grasp, and no matter how tightly he tried to hold on, she kept falling right between the cracks of his fingers.
“I’ve already tried so many tactics. Small talk gets me nowhere, and she doesn’t respond to confrontation. She just shuts down. What about you?”
“Same.” He raked a frustrated hand through his hair. “She trusts me. I think she trusts you, too. But only to a point. She’s closed off.”
“Yep. And I have to wonder…” Seth sighed. “If whatever caused her to put up barriers is the reason she thinks she can’t have a future with either of us, despite her obvious feelings.”
“I don’t know. But we can’t let this party end before we figure it out.”
“Amen. First, we have to find her.”
A flash of golden hair caught Seth’s eye through the kitchen window. He leaned left for a better view, eyes narrowing. There was Heavenly. Finally.
She and River were deep in conversation. It didn’t look like party chatter. In fact, she looked decidedly uncomfortable as she sipped her wine. River pressed closer, got in her face.
What the hell?
“Are you seeing this?” Seth elbowed Beck, then pointed to the window.
The doctor turned his head and froze. Silently, they watched Heavenly’s brow wrinkle as she tried to back away. River wasn’t having it.
“Enough to know I’m ending that fucking conversation.” Beck made a beeline for the patio door.
“Damn straight.” Seth was right beside him as they filed into the kitchen, shoulder-to-shoulder.
“Sweetheart, you don’t know squat about satisfaction,” River began. “Here’s what I think happened. You haven’t so much as flirted with another man. You don’t understand why ‘lovely’ sex is bad because you’ve never had it. In fact, not only did you not have sex with this mysterious ‘stud,’ you haven’t offered the virginity you asked me to take to anyone else.”
A visceral, hot rage pinged through Seth. Heavenly had asked River Kendall to take her virginity? When? And fucking why? Seth was more than willing. Beck, too.
Beside him, the doctor stiffened. “What. The fuck. Did you say?”
“Get out,” Seth snapped at River. It didn’t matter that Raine’s brother obviously hadn’t followed through on Heavenly’s offer. He still wanted to strangle the bastard for not bothering to mention a word of this to either him or Beck. He and River would be having a conversation later that wouldn’t require words. “Now. While you can still walk.”
River held up his hands in surrender. “Hey, just so you know, I turned her down because I like my balls where they are.”
At least River had been that smart.
“That’s the only reason you’re getting to keep them,” Beck insisted. “Seth told you to get the fuck out.”
Raine’s brother didn’t need to be told twice. After wishing Heavenly good luck, he beat a hasty retreat.
As soon as he’d gone, the silence in the kitchen turned deafening. He and Beck both leveled pointed glances at Heavenly. They wanted answers. She stepped back like she was trying to shrink into herself. Her expression held a motherlode of guilt.
That expression fucking gutted him.
Finally, Heavenly drew in a shaky breath and pasted on a too-bright smile. “Hi, guys. Can I get you a drink?”
A drink? Was she kidding? Oh, she had guts. He’d give her that, but her piss-poor attempt at redirection only made him want to light up her ass, demand answers…then fuck her senseless.
He stood, arms crossed over his chest, eyes narrowed, fury pinging. Beside him, Beck adopted a similar stance. But she was too innocent to understand the hard, uncompromising Dom in their demeanors.
“I don’t want a fucking drink,” Beck growled. “I want to spank your ass until I get some answers.”
Seth snorted. “I was just thinking the same thing.”
“What the… Why in the holy, ever-loving hell did you…” Beck sputtered, obviously too stunned—or too pissed off—to string a sentence together.
“Offer River fucking Kendall your virginity?” Seth couldn’t keep the snarl out of his voice.
“What he said.” Beck tossed a thumb his way, giving Heavenly the brunt of his displeasure.
She glanced down at her drink, the vino trembling against the glass as her hand shook. “You shouldn’t care if I’m a virgin anymore.”
Seth froze.
Beck grabbed her wine and slammed it on the island, then he lifted her chin and pressed his thumb in, forcing her gaze to his. “Are you saying you’re not? If you didn’t give it to River, who fucking took it?”
Heavenly dodged his question. Beck verbally thrust back, and they slung volleys back and forth. Every one of her evasions frustrated the hell out of Seth, but he gave Heavenly credit for moxie. She didn’t turn tail and run. She simply jerked from Beck’s grasp, lifted her chin, and took their fury in stride.
As much as he itched to mete out discipline that would make sure she never lied to him again, he couldn’t deny that he found her breath-stealingly gorgeous.
But he’d heard enough bullshit.
“Well, as the other guy who’s had his fingers—and his tongue—inside you, I think I’m entitled to know who supposedly popped your cherry.”
She tried more dodging and ducking. He played along for a minute to see if she’d cough up information. But admitting his first sexual encounter had been in the men’s room of a White Castle at fourteen hadn’t persuaded her to be equally forthcoming. His patience was running on fumes.
Apparently, so was Beck’s.
“Who did you fuck?” the doctor demanded. “We’re waiting for an answer.”
“No one you, um…know.”
When she tried to break free from them again, Beck grabbed both wrists and anchored himself in her face, inches from her flushing cheeks. Seth struggled not to devour her where she stood. The trembling of her lower lip and the way she swiped her tongue across it had him seething and starving for her. Didn’t she understand how fucking badly he needed her?
“Let’s try the truth.”
As Beck barked, Seth looped behind Heavenly so they surrounded her—so she couldn’t escape—and grabbed her hair in his fist. He tugged until he had her attention, then bent to her ear. “If you lie again, we’ll find a quiet corner and prove our threats to spank you weren’t empty.”
He glanced at the doctor. Yeah, he might be giving away too much, but a glance told him Beck was totally on board.
Heavenly’s pale cheeks flared rosier. The pulse at her neck jerked faster. And when Beck cupped her face, she gasped. Fuck, Seth could see how wide her eyes had gone, how dilated her pupils. No missing the poke of her nipples under that thin red T-shirt she wore. Then the musk of her arousal hit his nose, and he was fucking ready to tear down the house—hell, the world—to get her into his bed. To get her back into his life.
“Spank me? I’m not a misbehaving child.” Her voice sounded nervous and breathy.
“You’re not, but that won’t stop us from firing up your ass. Because let me tell you, little girl, no other man better be the one to make you a woman.”
“That’s for one of us,” Seth cut in.
Seth hated to concede that, but he’d damn well rather she surrendered herself to Beck, who’d also lost his heart to Heavenly, than to River or a stranger who would make him homicidal the instant they touched her.
His mind was going ninety miles a minute, but he saw the instant Beck’s anger gave way to hunger. The doctor lowered his lips toward her. Seth pulled back on his fistful of her silky blond hair until their eyes met. The moment unfolded in slow motion. She blinked up at him, pleading for mercy, though not a word spilled from her lush mouth. Holding her stare, he deliberately exposed her vulnerable throat to Beck. Her eyes darkened. Heavenly wasn’t trying to go anywhere now. She liked this. She wanted them. No missing the goose bumps breaking out all over her body or the harsh pants of her aroused breaths.
Yeah… The way he felt right now with the air thickening around all three of them…he wasn’t sure anyone would be singing happy birthday to her. He and Beck would be taking her to bed. And then getting some answers.
Holy fuck.
Suddenly, a god-awful air horn of racket pealed in his ears.
The sound was too close to a siren not to get his attention. He snapped upright and scanned the kitchen. “What the hell?”
Everything went downhill from there.
Like a wild thing, Heavenly struggled free from their firm grasp and wrestled to grab her phone from her back pocket. Her hands were shaking so badly she almost dropped it twice before answering it. “Dad, what’s wrong? Are you all right?”
A glance confirmed to Seth that Beck was equally clueless about the fact her father was in the picture.
Within seconds, Heavenly’s panic made it clear he was having some sort of medical emergency. Then Seth helped them scramble into his car and they sped to the hospital. It didn’t take long to pin down that the man had an autoimmune disease Heavenly had talked to Beck about in a strictly academic way. Clearly, she’d failed mentioning all her questions about the ailment had anything to do with the man who’d given her life and raised her.
By the time they reached the hospital, it became even clearer that her father’s secret illness was just the tip of his medical iceberg…
While Beck checked on Abel as he received treatment, Seth coaxed Heavenly down the hall to get some fresh coffee.
They sat together in the largely deserted cafeteria, and a sense of déjà vu played through his head. Their first conversation had taken place across an impersonal white table in the middle of a sterile environment like this. He’d been dazzled then. He was confused and mad as hell…but, damn it, still dazzled now.
He stared at Heavenly—her tear-stained face and slumped shoulders. Exhaustion pulled at her. Seth couldn’t stand it any longer.
He reached out for her, so gut-wrenchingly relieved when she laid her fingers across his palm. “Angel, I can only imagine the pressure you’ve been under, trying to cope with all this on your own. Why didn’t you say anything? Beck is a damn doctor. He could have helped. Hell, I would have—”
“None of my problems were yours.” She dropped her gaze to the cup of coffee in front of her and took a deep breath. “After eight years, you get used to juggling everything alone. Maybe that sounds like an excuse to you. I don’t expect anyone who hasn’t been in my shoes to understand.”
She was right; he didn’t understand. But now wasn’t the time to hound her for answers. Tonight, she needed support, especially since she looked half a breath from falling apart.
He inched his chair back and spread his arms open. “Come here, angel. You look like you could use a friend. Why don’t you let me hold you?”
Tears filled her eyes as she hesitated, then bolted out of her chair and crawled onto his lap. Wrapping her up tightly, he smoothed a hand over her head.
“I’m scared.” She sniffled. “Dad dying is my worst nightmare.”
“I’m sure,” he whispered. “But if that happens, I’ll be here for you. I don’t know what it’s like to watch my father slowly fade away, since I lost mine suddenly. But I get the grief. I can lend you an ear and my sympathy. Think positive right now. Beck will make sure Abel gets the best medical care possible.”
“Dad shouldn’t be relapsing this much. Each time he does, I’m afraid he won’t be coming home with me,” she choked out.
Seth couldn’t help her father, but he could give Heavenly something priceless: comfort.
Wrapping her arms around his neck, she pressed her face against his chest and sobbed in huge, heaving, chest-buckling gasps, like she hadn’t had anyone to cry on in forever. It ripped his goddamn heart to listen to her. Seth wished he could protect her from the world and the pain and whatever happened next with her father. But he couldn’t, so he let her cling, held her tight, and murmured soft assurances as he stroked her hair.
It was well after two in the morning when they pulled to the curb in the slum surrounding the dump Heavenly and her father called home. To say he was shocked was the understatement of a lifetime.
As Heavenly guided her father up the walk, Seth shared a look of disbelief with Beck.
“If you have a couple of assault rifles, pass ’em out,” the doctor mumbled. “We might need them to make it inside her place.”
“No shit,” Seth whispered. “I can’t believe she lives here.”
Obviously, his angel was surviving off the nickels and dimes she made waiting tables. He’d had no idea—and he wanted to howl in regret.
“Not for much longer.”
“You got that right,” Seth vowed.
As he and Beck helped the old man across an uneven courtyard and up to the front door, Heavenly ripped away a bright orange overdue rent notice. Her embarrassment spoke volumes. Fuck, this night kept getting worse. Seth was kicking himself for not looking into Heavenly from the beginning, for ignoring his instincts, and for not pushing her for information. If he’d learned about her dad’s health and her substandard living conditions months ago, would he be hovering over her protectively now? Would he be wondering if tonight would bring her closer or just give her another excuse to pull away?
The whole night had been an epic WTF.
When Heavenly opened the door to her tiny studio apartment and flipped on the light, Beck’s stomach pitched as cockroaches scurried to find darkness. Yes, it was clean, but by the looks of the peeling paint, matted carpet, and water-stained ceiling, the place should have been condemned decades ago.
Well, he understood now why Heavenly refused to let him pick her up for any of their dates. She’d been embarrassed. He’d give her a pass for pride since he had plenty of his own, but he wouldn’t absolve her for lying to him about everything else, especially her father and his deteriorating medical condition. For fuck’s sake, he was a doctor. One phone call, and he’d have set Abel up with the best physicians in LA months ago. All she’d had to do was open her goddamn mouth.
Instead, tonight had felt like a game of Whac-A-Mole. Each time some new problem popped up and he thought he’d clobbered it, another took its place. She had a father. Fine. He was dying. Not so fine, but he’d spoken to Abel, who had already guessed the inevitable. Thankfully, the older man had seemed relieved when Beck had vowed to care for Heavenly after he was gone. Then they’d pulled up to this hovel. He’d been livid and heartbroken that she and Abel called this shithole in the middle of gang turf home. But her living situation could—and would—be changed. He had an empty condo complete with security, a fluffy king-size bed, thick carpet, and pristine walls. He’d get Heavenly moved in there pronto, even if he had to toss her over his shoulder and haul her out kicking and screaming. But before he could whack the mole of her living situation on the fucking head, he’d seen that rent overdue notice.
He was almost afraid to ask what would pop up next.
As he and Seth led Abel to the rented hospital bed, Beck skimmed a glance over the sparse room. A pillow and blanket lay poised on the end of a saggy, threadbare couch. The realization that he was staring at Heavenly’s bed hit him like a punch to the gut. His anger and blood pressure spiked.
“Can you settle Dad on the bed? Then I’ll adjust him until he’s comfortable,” Heavenly murmured.
“I know how to maneuver a hospital bed,” Beck said as he and Seth helped Abel onto the mattress. “Relax, little girl.”
“Actually, if you two don’t mind staying with Dad for a few minutes, I’ll pop across the courtyard and deal with last month’s rent.”
Beck didn’t miss the quiver in her voice. Was she nervous because she knew that he and Seth would sit her down and interrogate the shit out of her the moment they could? Or exhausted because the whole damn night had been a shit show?
Granted, he and Seth were there to keep an eye on Abel, but why decide to pay the rent at two in the morning? A niggling voice in the back of his brain said something wasn’t right. But he’d be goddamned if he could imagine what else could possibly be wrong.
After he and Seth helped Abel into bed, Beck bent and removed the man’s shoes. “Would you like something to drink?”
“Water, thank you,” he replied. “Clean glasses are in the cabinet to the left of the sink. Help yourselves.”
Beck stepped across the room and opened the cabinet, grabbing three clean glasses from a shelf that otherwise held half a dozen mismatched plates, a pair of chipped bowls, and a coffee mug about nursing students always studying. Nothing else. He frowned against his mounting concern as he opened the freezer for some ice but found only a thick layer of frost. No frozen treats or vegetables. Not even a scrap of meat. Worry smacked him like a wrecking ball to the chest.
Heart thudding, he peeked inside the refrigerator. A nearly empty container of milk, two eggs, and a half-empty bottle of catsup. His alarm only grew when he pulled open the rest of the cabinets and found a few packages of Ramen, a canister of oatmeal, and some saltines tucked into one shelf. A bottle of wine lay on its side beside them. Everything else was bare.
He bit back a roar, his hands shaking with rage as he gripped the kitchen faucet and filled the glasses before striding across the room and taking a seat beside Seth. After sending the PI a sidelong glance that signaled more shit, he began mentally counting the minutes until they could talk and he could make some phone calls and start changing Heavenly’s life.
“Thank you for helping Heavenly and me tonight.” Abel took a long gulp from his glass, fighting his shaking hands. “We truly appreciate it.”
“We’re happy to,” Beck assured the man.
Seth nodded. “I wish we could do more.”
“I know this place isn’t fancy. It’s certainly not as big or homey as our farmhouse in Wisconsin…”
Abel’s uneven voice told Beck the man’s strength was fading, but he rambled on with the verve of someone lonely who suddenly had an audience willing to listen. He waxed on about how cozy their house had once been, about their dairy cows, about how much it had killed him to sell the farm once his illness had progressed.
“How much has Heavenly told you?” Abel’s voice quivered even more as the joy on his face dimmed.
As little as humanly possible. But Beck would love to hear whatever details the man was willing to spill since he clearly didn’t know shit.
“I’d appreciate it if you filled in the gaps,” Seth remarked as if he had all day to listen.
“In other words, she said nothing.” Abel sighed. “That girl… She’s private, a bit shy, and even more proud. You may have noticed she doesn’t trust easily.”
No, she didn’t. Not at all. Not when it mattered most.
“We did,” Beck grumbled. “Why is that?”
“Well, my wife left after I got sick, said she hadn’t signed up to spend her life taking care of an invalid. Heavenly was just a teenager, in school and far too young to manage the spread by herself.”
Beck’s heart tripped in his chest, thundering in his ears. He forced himself to keep his expression neutral.
I’m the guy your mother warned you about.
My mother never warned me about anything. I haven’t seen her in eight years.
Their conversation careened through Beck’s head. Sympathy and fury mingled and crushed him in a single wave.
“Heavenly must have taken that hard,” Seth murmured somberly.
“She felt so abandoned after Lisa walked out. I’m afraid the experience taught her that those who should care most often don’t give two shits. Unfortunately, she’s had to shoulder most of the responsibility since. But Heavenly is a good girl. She’s taken good care of me all these years.”
The man’s words went off like a bomb in Beck’s brain. In a couple of sentences, Abel had explained the reason Heavenly kept every last one of her fucking secrets to herself. She’d had no one to rely on since she’d been a child. Her own mother had crumbled the very foundation of Heavenly’s life before she’d been mature enough to understand. When she should have been thinking about boyfriends, football games, and prom, she’d been a cook, caretaker, maid, and helper. She might still be a virgin, but the minute her mother had abandoned her, she’d lost her goddamn innocence.
And there was another fucking mole to whack on the head…maybe one that could never be vanquished.
He knew now why Heavenly hadn’t asked him for help. But Beck still intended to take control of her situation.
Seth quickly banked his shock, then pinned him with a pointed stare. Yeah, he fully planned to stick his two cents in to help Heavenly, too.
Yippee.
“After I sold the farm, I rented a little house in town for us…” Abel went on about his illness, his doctors in Wisconsin, and the reason he and Heavenly had moved to LA. By the end of his speech, his strength had waned. His voice was cracking, his sentences trailing off.
“I promise I’ll make some phone calls and set you up with the best neurologist in the city,” Beck said, patting the man’s shoulder.
When he pulled back, he couldn’t help but notice the slew of prescription meds on the table beside the bed. After a quick scan of the labels, he closed his eyes and sighed heavily. Jesus, no wonder his little girl couldn’t afford food. Every dime she made waiting tables must be paying for medicine. If she had anything left over, it couldn’t be much.
The older man smiled in gratitude. “I can’t thank you enough. If your medical friends can’t cover all the expenses, maybe we can pay some now that Heavenly got that raise at the hospital and started working so many hours. It’s the only way we’ve been able to afford that gawd-awfully expensive medicine my doctor recently prescribed…”
Raise? Abel’s words sent Beck’s warning bells ringing, his pulse racing. His mouth went dry. The old man thought she earned money volunteering at the hospital? Was that the well-meaning lie she’d been telling her father so he wouldn’t worry?
Oh, little girl… You’re going to have the reddest ass when I get done with you. You will learn never to lie again.
Beside him, Seth tensed and whipped a concerned look Beck’s way. So the PI knew her “raise” was bullshit, too.
And if she barely had money to buy meds, how the hell was she paying rent?
Skin prickling, Beck glanced at the door. Heavenly had been gone a long time for someone who merely intended to drop off cash. And she hadn’t actually taken money with her.
Because she didn’t have any. So how exactly had she planned on keeping this roof over her head?
Goddamn it, there was another fucking mole.
A sick feeling tilted his gut as the pieces of her reality slid together. Heavenly hadn’t asked River to have sex with her because she wanted the prick. She simply hadn’t wanted to give her virginity to her fucking landlord.
Beside him, fear and rage warred across Seth’s face before he shot out of his chair and charged for the door. So the PI had put two and two together and come up with shit, as well. Good. That saved him the time and explanation.
Beck leapt to his feet, too. Abel—nearly asleep—mumbled something Beck didn’t hear.
“We’re going to check on Heavenly,” Seth shot over his shoulder as he ran outside.
Beck followed. Then they both skidded to a stop, eyeing the units across the courtyard.
While he was trying to remember which fucking apartment belonged to the landlord, a door on the far side of the atrium suddenly slammed against the stucco wall. A terrified, gut-churning cry followed.
Heavenly.
Beck spied the whip of pale hair in the moonlight as she raced across the concrete toward them barefoot, frantically tugging her shirt over her bare breasts. A sob tore from her throat. Tears spilled down the cheeks. Horror twisted her face.
“You still owe me, puta.” A guy in a dirty wife-beater with a paunching beer belly chased after her, waving her bra in his fist. “You promised me that cherry pie.”
A violent blast of fury filled Beck’s veins. A low growl rumbled up from deep in his chest. The beast he’d kept locked away for months tore off its chain.
The son of a bitch who’d threatened his girl was going to pay.
As Heavenly neared, he felt terror and revulsion pour off of her. She shuddered, struggled to catch her breath between the panting and the tears. The sight ripped him in two.
Seth gripped her shoulders. “Get inside.”
“B-but—” she sputtered, peering over her shoulder as if she expected hell to be nipping at her heels.
“Go!” Beck snarled. “We’ll take care of this.”
The moment Heavenly dashed to her unit and slammed the door, he and Seth stormed across the cracked cement.
“I’m going to fucking kill him.”
“Not if I do it first,” Beck growled right beside him.
“We could make it hurt more if we did it together.”
Beck shot the man a nasty grin. “You’re on.”
Fury pumped through his veins. He welcomed it as he and Seth sprinted across the concrete. Beck narrowed his eyes at the cocksucker, who had the balls to flash them a smarmy smile and dangle Heavenly’s bra in the air.
“She offered me her poontang. You can’t do nothing about it,” Sanchez spouted.
“Watch me.” Seth wrapped a hand around the prick’s throat, lifted him off the ground, and slammed him against the door.
Suddenly, panic replaced the dipshit’s bravado. Frantically, he groped for the knob with a flailing hand.
“Touching her was your last mistake,” Beck vowed before he nudged Seth aside and slammed his shoulder into Sanchez’s kidney. The man’s grunt morphed into a long, tortured moan. Beck didn’t feel sorry for the asshole at all. Hopefully, he would be pissing blood for a week.
The next time he and Seth landed blows, the combined force splintered the door. It gave way, tumbling the cocksucker back into his apartment. The man cursed, arms flailing as he futilely tried to defend himself, legs scrambling as he struggled in vain to stand.
Seth straddled the asshole and pinned him to the cracked tile before unloading what looked like months of pent-up rage, each fist landing in a perfectly timed arc of power and bone-crushing force on his face.
Feeding off Seth’s malice, Beck used the shitsack’s rib cage like a soccer ball, not giving two shits about the muscles he pulverized or the bones he shattered. Oh, revenge felt sweet. And violence was even better when the fucker’s high-pitched screams cut through the night.
As Seth continued pummeling the prick, blood exploded from the bastard’s nose and mouth. Teeth sailed across the floor. More facial bones cracked under each brutal punch. It made what he’d done to Pike weeks ago look like a friendly pat on the back.
Moving in between the man’s thrashing legs, Beck stomped his foot on the prick’s crotch with a snarl, mashing his junk under his heel. Yep, he was ignoring the hell out of his Hippocratic oath and basking in the fucker’s howls of pain. Then he enjoyed some gurgling pleas after slamming the landlord’s kneecap beneath his loafers.
When the pig fell limp and unconscious, Beck sucked in a ragged inhalation, braced against the wall, panting to recover his breath.
Seth hadn’t let up.
“Stop,” Beck growled, gripping the PI’s taut shoulder. “Unless you know where to hide a body and how to clean a murder scene, you need to let him go.”
Seth whirled, sending him a glare filled with inhuman rage. “Why the fuck do you care? If I kill him, I’m out of your hair permanently.”
“Because Heavenly cares.” Acknowledging that sucked, but tonight had been too full of reality to ignore this one.
They coveted the same girl, and neither one of them were giving up. Unless he was really fucking wrong, on some level she loved them both, too.
“Son of a bitch,” Seth muttered as he finally opened one fist and flexed his hand.
“Come on. Let’s find Heavenly. The way that sack of shit was screaming, it’s only a matter of time before the cops show up. We need to be gone.”
Seth blinked and gave a jerky nod. He stood slowly and stared down at the bloodied landlord as he dragged up a wad of phlegm and spit in his face.
Beck made a mental note not to piss Seth off—ever. Thank god the guy hadn’t agreed to fight that night he’d wanted to brawl at Shadows. He’d probably still be recovering in the ICU.
Both covered in blood, they hauled ass across the courtyard. Beck had to ask, “Where’d you learn to throw fists like that?”
“After I left the force, I ran with people no one should.” He shrugged. “And I learned.”
Beck wasn’t sure what that meant or why it sounded so ominous. He dismissed it when they reached Heavenly’s door. “I don’t know if I want to wrap her in my arms or take her over my knee.”
“Both are in order. But you’re right. We have to get out of here now. What happens to Abel?”
“That man needs dedicated care. The VA had no business releasing him tonight. But I don’t have admitting privileges there, so objecting wouldn’t have done shit.” Beck sighed. “After we get out of here, I’ll make some calls and arrange a bed for him tonight. I have friends in neurology I’ll call tomorrow. They can help us piece together a longer-term care plan.”
“Great. And Heavenly?”
“I keep a condo near the hospital for the nights I’m on call. She can stay there.”
“I’ll help settle her in.”
Beck arched a brow, then shrugged. Better if they didn’t argue now. “Fine. Then tomorrow…”
“Tomorrow, we start making a few things clear to that stubborn woman.”
“Couldn’t agree more.” Beck shook his head as he smirked Seth’s way. “Look at us, getting along and shit.”
“Will miracles never cease?” Seth countered with a crooked grin. “Now let’s see how our girl is doing.”
Nerves buzzed like an angry beehive in Heavenly’s belly as she forced back a sniffle and grabbed the last of the clothes from the plastic chest. She shoved them into the mustard-colored suitcase her father had helped her pack when they’d left Wisconsin seven short months ago, seeking fresh hope out West.
That hope had already been snuffed out. She wasn’t sure where to go next.
The doctors here hadn’t cured her father. The cost of living had finally eaten away the last of their savings. And since she’d lacked the courage to pay her rent in the currency Mr. Sanchez demanded, he was going to evict them. What could she possibly tell her father? How was she going to take care of him now?
After everything she’d done to try to build a future for them, she’d failed.
A wave of defeat threatened her with a new splash of scalding tears. Heavenly sucked them back. There was no time for sorrow or self-pity, only for packing up, getting out, and trying to decide where she and Dad could go for the night. She’d heard homeless shelters were dangerous…but where else could she go?
Thankfully, her father slept, oblivious to the fact that in the ten minutes since she’d run across the courtyard like a coward, she’d managed to pack up most everything they owned. She shoved aside the memories of Mr. Sanchez’s mouth crawling up her neck as he yanked her shirt over her head, of his fingers violating her skin, of the vile things he’d whispered that he’d do to her before he let her leave his bed…
A shudder wracked her. She heaved, wishing she had time to shower. But she had to focus, be practical, stay strong.
Ten seconds, she promised herself. She would give herself ten precious ticks to cry, then she’d figure out how to carry on.
Her childhood flashed through her head. It had been so easy then. She’d had clothes and toys. She’d never worried where her next meal would come from or where she’d sleep at night. Mom had worked as a cashier at the grocery store. Dad had tended the farm. Summers had been sunny and idyllic, winters full of snowy adventure. Life had been carefree.
Today, most everything she owned fit in a single suitcase. She hadn’t eaten in more than twelve hours, and her stomach felt glued to her spine. She had no idea where she’d lay her head tonight.
What the hell was happening to her life?
Worse, what would happen tomorrow? No, later today. She’d still have no place to live, and her boss expected her at Bazookas or she’d lose the only job she had. Where would her father spend the hours while she waited tables? He couldn’t stay on the streets.
Even though her ten seconds were over, Heavenly fell to her knees, buried her face in her hands, and sobbed. Because as terrible as all those problems were, it hurt so much more knowing that Beck and Seth now knew every single one of her woes.
How long would it take them to make their excuses and bow out of her life?
Not long, she was sure. That’s how people were; she didn’t blame them.
Behind her, the door opened. Heavenly scrambled to her feet and swiped at her tears, not completely sure who she’d find standing in the portal. She breathed a sigh of relief that it wasn’t Sanchez.
Then she realized Seth’s shirt was soaked in blood. The legs of Beck’s pants and the toes of his shoes hadn’t fared much better. Had they beaten Sanchez up? She let loose a shaky breath. Was he still conscious? Alive?
Do you care?
Even if that made her a horrible human being, no.
Beck took in her suitcase in a glance. “Good. You’ve packed. Time to go.”
She nodded and stacked her lone box by the door, taking care with her mother’s old sewing machine. “I-I know. I’ll have my dad’s things and all our papers packed up in a few minutes.”
“You take care of your father’s belongings. I’ll get the papers,” Seth insisted.
Heavenly froze, then horror set in when she thought of the past due bills for the phones, Dad’s hospital bed, and her fall tuition sitting in the drawers. Beck and Seth had already glimpsed the worst of her problems, but the thought of them knowing about all those burdens too made her chest clench tight.
“I’ll get them.” She rushed across the room, swiping away at the hot teardrops still making their way down her face. “I need to grab my laptop for school.”
Seth stepped in her path. “We don’t have time to argue. Get your father’s shit together. I’ll get your computer and take care of the desk. Beck will get Abel up and out the door. We’ve got to go.”
In case Sanchez came for his money.
With shaking hands, she plucked up Dad’s clean pajamas and his one pair of slacks for doctor’s visits, doing her best to fold them into the lovely wicker picnic basket Seth had given her. “You’re right. I hate to ask, but would it be too much trouble for you to drop us off at the homeless shelter?”
Beck spun around on his heel and flashed her an incredulous stare. “Are you fucking kidding me?”
She shrank back. “I’m sorry. I’ll call a cab.”
Seth sent her an equally stupefied glare. “You’re fucking serious?”
“Yes!” Why were they making this so hard on her? “I can’t pay the rent anymore. I know you understand what happened here tonight. I already feel horrible enough that I’ve put my comfort over my father’s well-being.” Tears rushed to her eyes like acid again as she threw the rest of his clothes, his meds, and his lone pair of shoes in the basket. “Why are you trying to make me feel worse?”
“How much money do you have right now, little girl?” Beck snarled.
“Not enough, obviously.” She stomped to the kitchen and grabbed the food out of the pantry. She refused to leave behind the coffee cup and wine Seth had given her. They were some of the few happy reminders she had left. Sniffling, she returned to the main room. “Do you want it in exchange for taking us somewhere safe?”
“How. Much?”
Heavenly reared back. With her, Beck had always been kind, affable, patient, wry, intellectual, and sexy enough to make her shiver. She’d never heard the hard edge in his voice. She’d never seen his temper. If he wanted to humiliate her, he wouldn’t be the first person to try, but no way would she cower before him—or anyone.
She settled all the kitchen stuff in the basket, then lifted her chin. “Fifty-four dollars.”
“Total? To your name?” Seth looked somewhere between horrified and heartbroken. “Damn it, angel…”
“I don’t want your pity. And I’m not asking you for anything.”
“Oh, you don’t have to ask. Let me tell you exactly how this is going to unfold, little girl. We’re loading up your things and taking your dad to the hospital tonight so our neurological team can do a full evaluation in the morning. After we leave there, Seth and I are taking you to my condo. I’m going to fix you a massive fucking plate of food and watch you eat every bite. Then we’re going to tuck you into the huge, clean bed alone. And you’re going to sleep until the dark circles and worry disappear. Tomorrow, you’ll visit your father, shop for a whole new wardrobe with Raine, then explain how the fuck you got into this mess.” Beck leaned close, nostrils flaring. “All of that is nonnegotiable, and you will do it without a word of disobedience. Is that clear?”
“No.” When Beck’s eyes narrowed, she shook her head. “I-I can’t. I can’t ask for that much. I can’t pay you. I can’t miss work. You’re trying to help, and I appreciate it. But—”
“Don’t you dare say they aren’t my problems and that you’re not my responsibility.”
“Why not?” She tossed her hands in the air. “It’s true.”
“Bullshit,” Seth tossed in, grabbing papers from the drawers of the old desk in the corner. “We just made you our responsibility. And we don’t have time to argue. We’ve got a handful of minutes to get this shit in the car and leave before the police start asking questions.”
Heavenly almost dropped everything. “The police?”
Seth grabbed the basket and slid her laptop and their papers inside. “Angel, do you think all this blood on our clothes came from a simple busted nose?”
Her eyes widened. “He’s…really injured?”
“We beat the shit out of him, so we don’t exactly have time to chat. If you’re done packing, get in the car.”
“Heavenly?” Abel woke, sounding disoriented. “Boo?”
“I’m right here, Dad.” She speared both the men with frantic glances, then tuned them out and focused on her father. “We need to get you up and—”
“We’re going to take you to a better hospital, Abel.” Beck helped the man to his feet and grabbed his nearby walker, completely ignoring her blinking stare.
“I need to go back?”
“Not to the VA. We’ll take you where Heavenly and I work.”
The frail man frowned, bewildered. “Where is Heavenly going, then? I don’t like the thought of her staying here by herself. Not the best neighborhood.”
“We don’t like that, either.” Seth nodded. “So…”
Heavenly pleaded silently with him not to worry her dad. He’d been through enough and didn’t need to fret about her virtue, too.
“So Beck knows of an empty condo near the hospital in a very secure building. The owners aren’t using it right now, and Heavenly can stay there as long as she wants.”
“Absolutely,” Beck promised, helping the older man slide into his slippers.
“Well, that sounds wonderful. Hear that, boo?”
“Yeah, Dad. It should be great. You and Beck head for the car. Seth and I are right behind you with our stuff.”
“In fact, why don’t I help you, Abel?” Beck didn’t wait for his reply, just lifted her father and carried him in one arm, dragging his walker behind.
Her dad gave a grunt of surprise but nodded. He must still be half asleep. His nighttime meds were meant to help him nod off, so they often left him groggy.
As soon as they were out the door, Seth lifted her box with a scowl and tucked it under one arm. “What the hell is in here?”
As he grabbed her suitcase with his free hand, Heavenly took hold of the picnic basket that included her father’s clothes, the food, her computer, and their papers. “My mother’s sewing machine. Sorry it’s heavy.”
“It’s fine. Is that everything? Take a quick look around. You’re not coming back.”
Heavenly scanned the room, scooping up her pillow and blanket, along with the princess mouse ears Beck had bought her at Disneyland. She clutched those to her chest. “What about the hospital bed?”
“We’ll call the rental company to pick it up tomorrow. Let’s go.” Seth shooed her to the door.
She walked out for the last time, and she couldn’t say she was sorry to see this place go. Nothing good had happened inside these four walls.
Seth gave her a nudge and slammed the door closed as she heard the first wail of sirens a few blocks over. “Go!”
“I don’t have my key to lock the door.”
“This place is Sanchez’s problem now. We’ve got to move!”
Or he and Beck could get arrested. Right. Everything was happening so fast, and the shock of tonight, coupled with the exhaustion now tugging at her after all those pointless tears, was making it hard to think straight. It probably didn’t matter if she didn’t lock the door. After they’d beaten the crap out of Sanchez, the man wasn’t going to return her five-hundred-dollar deposit.
They made a mad dash to Seth’s SUV. Beck was waiting by the back with her dad. He grabbed everything from her hands, stare lingering on the embroidered ears. “Backseat. Now.”
She didn’t hesitate. The last thing she wanted was for either man to suffer consequences for trying to help her. And maybe she shouldn’t be surprised they’d stayed and dragged her from that miserable apartment. Beck had been feeding her for months. Together, they’d slayed the Kathryn dragon for her. They’d said they both wanted a future with her. Hell, Seth had uprooted his entire life for her.
Was it possible they’d still want her now that they had seen the mess she’d made of her life? It seemed incredible they would when her own mother hadn’t.
As she rushed Dad into the backseat and followed, she mentally gnawed on the fact that, despite the worst possible circumstances, sometimes people stayed. After all, she hadn’t once considered leaving her father. And she saw people at the hospital every day who stuck by their loved ones, no matter what. So what made the difference? The character of the person? The strength of their love?
Heavenly didn’t know.
“Give me the keys.” Beck held out his hand to Seth.
“I can drive.” Seth fished them from his pocket.
“I know where I’m going.”
With a sigh, Seth tossed Beck the ring.
Seconds later, the capable doctor turned the engine over and shot down the street, lights dark. He was already at the stop sign at the end of the street and sliding into sparse traffic on Figueroa, heading for the freeway, when Heavenly caught sight of flashing red-and-blue lights in the rearview mirror. She turned to look out the back window. Sure enough, the police were stopping in front of her old building.
They really had gotten out just in time.
A knot of tension loosened in her belly.
The drive to the hospital passed in a blur. Beck made calls as he drove. A crew was waiting by the ambulance door. They wheeled her half-sleeping father to the neurological unit. Thankfully, the seasoned personnel barely gave Beck and Seth’s bloody clothes a second glance. Once the staff wheeled him to a private room, Heavenly squeezed her dad’s hand.
An unfamiliar nurse nodded their way. “Dr. Litchfield has already ordered the admitting paperwork. He’ll start the tests in the morning.”
“Thanks.” Beck nodded.
“I’ll visit you tomorrow, Dad,” she promised.
He raised a tired hand and closed his eyes.
When Beck and Seth led her away, Heavenly’s heart stuttered. She wrapped her arms around herself. She was doing the right thing. Her dad needed good care, certainly better than she could provide. But this was the first night she’d spend without him since…well, ever.
Suddenly, Beck’s arms circled her shoulders. “He’s fine here.”
“He’s where he needs to be,” she acknowledged with a jerky nod.
Seth took her into his arms and cupped her face. “Yeah, he is. And now we need to get you where you need to be.”
“Maybe I should stay and—”
“There’s nothing you can do for him tonight, angel. The hospital is taking care of his needs. He would want us to take care of yours.”
She blinked, looking down the empty hall, then turned back to the expectant men. She was so accustomed to being responsible for her father’s life and well-being. Heck, for her own, too. Someone else planning everything for her, despite the fact they were far more capable, made her anxious. And totally overwhelmed her.
“Heavenly?”
Slowly, she nodded. “Yes.”
Seth caressed her face, then brushed his palm down her arm before he took her hand. “Time to go.”
“You’re right.”
As they backtracked to her familiar unit, the edges of her vision blackened and tunneled in. Her equilibrium tilted. She was so tired her legs felt like noodles. She stumbled over her own feet.
A soft curse rang in her ears. Seth. Then he wrapped an arm around her shoulders, tucked the other under her knees, and lifted her against his chest. Suddenly, she was floating.
No, he was carrying her.
“I can walk,” she croaked out. Funny, what she said sounded more like slurs than words.
“You can if I put you down. But I’m not going to. End of conversation.”
No missing his implacable tone. She didn’t have the energy to argue anyway. Tomorrow she’d start making plans again and take all this responsibility back from them. Tonight, she needed sleep.
Heavenly closed her eyes and laid her head on Seth’s shoulder, barely aware when he eased her into the car. She had no memory of the drive to the condo, only of being lifted out of the car and carried across a bright parking garage. A keycard and an elevator ride later, they emerged into an enclosed atrium. It was industrial and sleek, obviously new and pristine and very upscale.
Beck was willing to let her stay here? Ha. Even if he didn’t intend to make her pay rent, she’d insist…but she could never afford it. Still, she had to admit, spending a night or two here would be absolute paradise.
He let them in the front door. Absently, she noticed he carried her suitcase. Everything else he must have left in the car. Fine. Tomorrow would be soon enough to take that off his hands.
Seth set her on her feet just inside the condo. Beck flipped on the lights.
Heavenly’s jaw dropped. A gorgeous, tufted black leather sofa and a flat-screen TV took up most of the space on her left. Blinds covered the huge windows on the far side of the room where she saw a commanding yet comfy matching recliner.
“Follow me,” Beck said as he walked past a bar area, then turned on more lights that illuminated a state-of-the-art kitchen and breakfast nook and pointed through a dark opening on the far side of the room. “Inside is a bedroom and bath. Go take a hot shower. I’ll start making food.”
She didn’t have the energy to argue or even to offer help. “Thank you.”
He nodded, then pointed Seth to another bathroom and offered to let him borrow some clothes. They were discussing taking shifts in the shower when Heavenly closed the door and found herself in a luxurious black and marble bathroom with hot water that felt like Shangri-La. She scrubbed vigorously, as if she could wash away not only the blood and memories of Sanchez’s touch but her worries, fears, doubts, and dread.
Finally, she stepped out, wet hair in a haphazard braid, and found her suitcase on a bed that was covered in a mountain of soft pillows. Tiredly, she fished out a pair of underwear and one of her old nightshirts. On the other side of the door, she heard the sounds of bacon frying and the murmur of the men talking.
They must have a million questions. She owed them some answers. But she also had some things to say, too.
Heavenly sucked in a deep breath and tried to find the energy to face them as she opened the door.
When she padded barefoot into the kitchen and stopped beside the island, she was surprised to see they’d both showered, tossed on sweats and T-shirts, and now stood, each manning a burner on the stove, seemingly comfortable.
“Can I help?”
They swiveled their gazes in her direction. Stared. Froze. Gaped. She swallowed, nerves buzzing again. What was wrong?
Finally, Beck cleared his throat. “We’re almost done. Can you get the forks out of that drawer, the napkins from the holder on the counter, and, um, set them on the table?”
She shrugged. “Sure.”
Seth still hadn’t blinked. “Damn.”
He’d muttered the word almost under his breath, and she frowned. Beck elbowed him, and Seth finally jerked his stare back to the stove and the rapidly cooking eggs.
They must be exhausted, too. The gratitude for all they’d done welled up as she set everything on the table. She’d been too overwrought earlier, but the magnitude of their outreach truly sank in now.
She was shocked. Humbled. More than a little confused. And she owed them big.
The day she’d told Beck and Seth there could be no future with either of them, she hadn’t given any reason. She hadn’t wanted to open her scars and bleed. But as much as it would hurt now, they’d earned that—and more.
As soon as she set three places, the guys hustled over with steaming food. Seth handed her orange juice. Beck helped her into her chair. Then the two of them sat. Only the clatter of dishes and the clink of forks broke the silence.
Heavenly reached for a piece of toast. “Thank you for everything tonight. I can never repay you for all you’ve done. And I know you have questions. I want to explain—”
“Not tonight.” Beck set down his fork. “We do have questions.”
“Plenty of them,” Seth assured her. “But not until you’ve slept.”
“Exactly.” Beck nodded. “Right now, eat.”
She let out a sigh of surprised relief. It was nice to breathe. It was also nice to be clean, have hot food, and know that both she and her father would be safe and warm.
It wasn’t as if it would be hard to yield to their wishes.
“All right. We’ll talk in the morning.”