| |
The house was quiet when I walked in, the drone of the television filtered from the back room and I slapped a lock on my thoughts, guarding them against Steve’s unfiltered mind probe. He looked up when I stepped into the family room and his brow scrunched, but I just kept walking, right out into the backyard, crossing through the bloody grass where Damian had annihilated a group of hellhounds, to the rock wall at the far end of the lawn.
I stood, staring out at the churning Atlantic, my jaw clenching and unclenching in concert with my hands. The anger overwhelmed me and my eyes darted for a source to aim at. Nothing suitable for destroying entered my field of vision and I let out a guttural roar, slamming my fist down on the flat slate rock.
Pain snaked up my arm and I straightened, pulling my fist to my chest, blinking back the sudden mist covering my eyes. The agony of splintered bones tempered the fury and my chin dropped to my chest.
A hand descended on my shoulder and I turned, expecting to see Steve, but instead Jennifer stood at my side. Her green eyes were soft with concern, enough so that when she pulled me into a hug, I allowed it.
“Sandy called?”
“She was worried,” Jennifer whispered in my ear.
“I blew her car up,” I said and lay my forehead on Jennifer’s shoulder. The admission opened up the wall I’d built around the pain, and it nearly bowed me over. I was so consumed with anger that the reality of losing Sandy hadn't registered until now. Tears started and she just held me, stroking my back and whispering ‘shh’ as I cried.
I shifted, knocking my hand against her and winced before pulling away. “I think I broke my hand,” I whispered and she dropped her gaze to the swollen appendage before giving me a nod.
“I’d venture to guess you did, too,” she said.
I wiped the sleeve of my jacket across my face, mopping up the damp tears before I sniffled and glanced out at the ocean.
“Steve will fix it when you’re ready to come in.” She gave my shoulder a soft pat and stepped toward the house.
“Jenn?”
She turned, meeting my gaze.
“Did she say why?”
“No, honey. She just said you two broke up and she was worried about you.”
“Broke up. That’s what she’s calling it.” I laughed and shook my head, turning toward the water. “It feels more like she put a butcher knife in my chest.”
“CJ,” Jennifer started and I glanced over my shoulder.
“I walked in on her fucking another guy.”
Jennifer took a step back, her jaw dropped open before she recovered and stepped closer.
“Yeah, that’s the same look I think I wore when I first saw them,” I said and turned back to the ocean. “It felt good to let the power rip. I’m sure some of the cars are probably still burning.”
“Did you...”
“No, I didn’t hurt anyone,” I cut her off. “I wanted to, but I didn’t.”
Her hand squeezed my shoulder and I detested the fact that her show of compassion brought forth more tears. I squeezed my injured hand, welcoming the sharp pain instead of the ballooning agony in the center of my soul.
“Come on, let’s have Steve take a look at that,” she said and I let her lead me back into the house.
Steve’s gaze dropped to my hand. “Looks like the slate won,” he said.
His response surprised me and I snorted. “Better my hand than the entire East Coast.”
“True.” Steve approached me.
I wasn’t sure I wanted Steve to fix the broken bones with his miracle healing power. “Maybe I should just go to the hospital.” I flexed my hand again, wincing. The pain dulled everything and I rather liked the diversion.
“Excuse me?” Steve said, stopping short.
I met his gaze but didn’t say a word. Instead, I just curled my fist and clamped my jaw tight, sending a smile in Steve’s direction.
The silent showdown was broken by the ring of the doorbell. Jennifer traded a glance with Steve before she headed out of the room to answer the door.
Steve reached for my hand and I stepped back, knocking his hand out of range. Footfalls echoed through the house pulling our attention to the doorway and Damian Andreas stepped into view.
“Sorry to interrupt, but I need to grab our stuff from upstairs.” Damian hesitated, trading a glance with me. His gaze dropped to my hand and his eyebrows shot up in an amusing arch. “Assuming it’s still here,” he added snapping his gaze to Steve.
“The feds left your stuff alone. It’s still in the bedroom.”
Damian started across the room and slowed to a stop before he got to the stairs. “I’m sorry about your father,” he said with his gaze still locked on the floor.
Damian’s remorse drifted over me, his sense of loss for not only his relatives but for mine as well, made my voice stick in my throat. Instead of responding, I squeezed my fist tighter, sucking air through my teeth.
Damian’s gaze shot from the floor to me. “What the fuck are you doing?” he asked, echoing Steve’s exact thoughts.
“My girlfriend broke up with me today.”
“So, you thought smashing the bones in your hand would somehow make the heartache go away?” Damian asked, filling in the blanks accurately, like he had a special line directly into my mind.
“Get out of my head,” I muttered, glaring at Damian.
"I'm not in your head." Damian said. "Besides, it doesn't work for long," he added pointing his chin toward my hand before disappearing up the stairs.
“What do you know,” I whispered under my breath.
“A lot more than you.” The answer drifted down to me from upstairs.
Steve crossed to the window, pulling the curtain back. When he turned, irritation was written in the lines on his face and he pressed his lips together, waiting for Damian to return.
“You stole a car?” he snapped when Damian stepped into the family room.
Damian shrugged as if it’s no big deal. “I couldn’t exactly rent or buy without ID.” He held up his wallet before tucking it into his pocket. “I’m going to return it,” he mumbled and shifted, dropping his gaze.
“There was a car in the garage at the cottage.”
“I know. The battery was dead and it’s too small for three car seats. Before Naomi and the kids can leave the hospital, I need a vehicle that will be big enough. I already found what I want, but I didn’t have my ID or bank cards on me, so I was shit out of luck.”
I couldn’t help but smile. Damian’s justifications seemed valid, but that little tick over Steve’s left eye engaged, and I knew he was pissed.
“You ever hear of a phone?”
Damian glanced at me for help, and I raised my hands, giving him the ‘you made this bed yourself’ look and he pressed his lips in a thin line, focusing back at Steve.
“I didn’t want to inconvenience you anymore than I already had,” he finally said and started for the door.
“CJ, why don’t you go with him and make sure he gets that car back to where it belongs,” Steve said and turned towards me. He used my shock as his opening and closed the distance before my brain restarted, but it was too late, he planted a quick kiss on my temple and the healing vibe slid from the point of impact, down my arm and into my hand in a progression of pins and needles I was helpless to stop.
“Damn it,” I muttered and sent a glare his way as a crushing pain surrounded my hand. That’s the thing about his healing power, it always hurts like a motherfucker.
He grinned and shrugged, waving me toward the door. Sometimes I hated the man.
“I wasn’t put here to make your life easy,” he said to my internal commentary.
I bit down on the automatic ‘Fuck you’ his comment elicited, but his smirk told me he heard it anyway.
“Go keep Damian from getting into any more trouble, will you?” He pointed to the door.
“I don’t...” Damian started and Steve sent a glare in his direction, silencing him, but I heard the unspoken ‘need a babysitter’ in his mind.
A layer of irritation surfaced and I knew exactly what Steve was doing. It wasn’t Damian that needed babysitting. It was me.
“Damned straight,” Steve said. “You need a diversion,” he added, his gaze dropping to my hand and back to my eyes, using my own thoughts against me. “I figure helping our new friend find a car and a place to live might occupy your mind for a little while.”
From the look on Damian’s face, he was about as happy as I was about this, but to his credit, he kept his mouth shut.