Fallen Angels: Beguiled\Wanton\Uncovered (17 page)

“Oh.” He looked distracted for just a moment, then suddenly drew her into his arms and swung her in a wide circle. “All right, I'll let that go for now, but only because I have a few surprises for you and I don't think you'll be properly appreciative if you're angry.”

“You've found out something?” she asked, her entire body tensing in hope.

Dane lightly kissed the bridge of her nose in apology. “No, I'm sorry, babe. There's nothing yet, but we're working on it. I contacted a few personal friends in the police department and they're doing some checking for me, looking things over again. Something will turn up soon, I promise.”

Angel bit her lip as disappointment swelled inside her. She didn't think she could take much more waiting. And she knew it was even harder on Dane. He felt compelled to avenge his brother, and to protect her and Grayson. He'd taken on a lot for her sake, and she worried constantly about him. If he got hurt because of her…

“Hey, no long faces now, honey.” He kissed her again, this time more lingering. “I want to see you smiling, not frowning.”

She considered telling him about the phone call, but at the moment, his expression so expectant and happy…There would be plenty of time to talk about that later—if it was even important, which she was starting to doubt. The last phone call she'd received had been verbal, and this one had been silent. Likely there was no connection at all, just a wrong number.

“Where did you rush off to this morning?” she asked, shaking off her eerie mood.

Backstepping to a kitchen chair, he sat and pulled her into his lap. His heavy coat was damp in places and he struggled out of it, then laid it on the table next to the laundry basket. One rough fingertip touched her cheek. “My sister is dying to get back out here and see Grayson. And you. She's overflowing with questions and curiosity.”

Celia called at least once a day, and she was always cordial and inquisitive, but cautiously so, as if she were taking pains not to be pushy. Angel couldn't help but like her. The rest of his family had been ominously silent.

“How would you feel about having her and Raymond to dinner? The roads are much better today, and with no more snow predicted, by Tuesday they should be fine.”

Angel wondered at his reasons for the sudden invitation, but said only, “She's your sister, Dane. If you want to have her over, that's fine.” She hesitated, then added, “Maybe you should invite your mother, too. It might help to smooth things over with her.”

“Not yet.” He said it easily, but Angel was aware of his sudden strain.

“Dane, what ever happened between the two of you? I know Derek told me once that you just didn't see eye to eye, but—”

His laugh, a sound bordering on sarcasm, interrupted her. “A difference of opinion, huh? Well, Derek was right about that. But it's past history honey, and I don't want to bore you.”

“Shouldn't I know what's going on, since the past probably plays a part in the tension now? What if your mother says something? I don't like to be kept in the dark.”

“It doesn't concern you.”

And that, she thought, was the crux of the problem. She wanted everything about him to concern her. “I'm sorry.” She tried to get off his lap, but he made a rough sound at her movement and hugged her close.

“Dammit, I didn't mean that quite the way it sounded.” He gave her a frustrated look, then shrugged. “All right, you want me to bare my soul, I suppose I can live through it.”

He was in such a strange mood, teasing one minute, then solemn, then teasing again. “I don't mean to push you.”

“Ha! All right, I'm sorry.” He tightened his hold on her. “Don't rush off.”

Angel gave him an impatient look.

“All right, dammit, but as soon as I finish this stupid tale of woe, we're moving on to your surprise, okay?” After a brief hesitation, he said, “I was engaged to be married once.” His hands looped around her and he looked off to the side, staring at nothing in particular, merely avoiding her gaze.

“Mother didn't approve, of course, but then I'd already started bucking her on almost everything. Derek went to the college of
her
choice, I went to a state college. Looking back, I realize how infantile I acted, opposing her just for the sake of opposition, but she was so damn controlling about everything, it just naturally rubbed me the wrong way.”

Angel couldn't begin to imagine anyone attempting to control Dane. The very idea was ludicrous.

“Both Derek and I had gotten our business degree in the same year my father died. He and Mother had always planned for us to take over, but not that soon. His heart attack took everyone by surprise. Mother, never one to grieve for long, wanted us to jump into the company together. I wanted to get my MBA. Derek was born to run a corporation, was anxious to get started, but I resisted her. I was glad to let Derek handle things, and despite all her carping and complaining, I went back to school.”

A heavy silence fell and Angel felt him shift slightly, as if he were uncomfortable.

“I met a woman while I was in school, and I wanted to get married. Since that didn't meet with Mother's plans, she did everything she could, including disowning me so I couldn't touch my inheritance money, as a way to discourage me. But the more she did, the more determined I became. When I told her I fully intended to go through with the wedding, she…she bought Anna off.”

Angel had no idea what to say to that. She waited, hoping he'd elaborate. And finally he did.

“I don't like to think it was the money that enticed Anna. She wasn't from the same background as me, and my mother intimidated the hell out of her. She spelled out this grandiose life Anna would be expected to live up to and it spooked her. When Mother offered her the money, she took it and walked away.”

What a fool,
Angel thought. She knew Dane had money, but he didn't flaunt it. His house was very nice, but it wasn't ostentatious. Everything about him was casual and comfortable and understated. Anna must not have known him at all to believe such idiocy. Or maybe it just hadn't mattered to her. “I'm sorry.”

Dane shook his head impatiently. “The worst part was, she was pregnant with my baby.”

Angel stiffened, seized by a mingling of jealousy and confusion. Where was the child now?

As if he'd read her thoughts, Dane gave her a squeeze. “By the time I'd caught up with Anna, she told me she'd lost the baby.”

He looked so troubled, Angel curled down against his chest and hugged herself close to him. She'd never before seen Dane like this, and she didn't like it. Derek's death had filled him with calculating determination, with a purpose. His mother's disdain had only seemed to amuse him. But now he sounded hurt deep inside. She preferred his arrogance any day. And at that moment she'd have given a lot to ease his pain.

His large hand settled against the back of her head and he idly tangled his fingers in her hair. “I've never admitted this to anyone, but to this day, I'm not sure Anna didn't have an abortion. I blamed my mother because it was a hell of a lot easier to blame her than to accept that I might have been wrong about Anna, that I might have made a colossal mistake marrying a woman who didn't care enough about me to believe in me. She told me, rather tearfully in fact, that she'd been afraid and taking my mother's bribe seemed her only choice.”

Angel could feel his pounding heartbeat, a little faster now, and she slipped her hand inside his shirt, smoothing her fingers over his warm, hair-rough skin. Dane went still even as his breathing changed, grew a little rougher and quicker. Angel pulled his shirt from his pants and pushed it upward, kissing his chest, his small tight nipples. Dane groaned and quickly yanked the shirt over his head.

Whispering against his chest, Angel said, “She could have come to you, and that's what bothers you most?”

Dane tilted his head back against the chair. “She didn't trust me.”

“I trust you. I've been trusting you with not only my life, but Grayson's.” He started to speak and she straightened, cupping his jaw with her palms, holding his head still as she attacked his mouth. Dane groaned again and Angel used that as her cue. With their lips still touching she breathed, “I'm not like her, Dane. Your mother can't send me away. Only you could do that now.”

Rather than answer, he kissed her again, and there was hunger in the way he held her, the way his mouth moved heavily over hers. He might not love her, but he needed her, and from that, love could grow.

He pulled himself away from her with a harsh sound of impatience. “Damn woman, you distract me.”

“I'm glad.”

Laughing, he avoided her mouth as she tried to capture his again. “Your surprise, remember?”

“We could do that later?”

“Insatiable wench. Stop that!” He caught her hands and pulled them away from his belt. When she pretended to pout, he grinned. “Show just a modicum of patience, okay? Now, first off, Mick got your apartment rented, so you can stop worrying about that.”

That wasn't at all what she'd been expecting. Dane had insisted, against her and Mick's protests, on keeping up the rent until Mick found a new tenant. Angel knew Mick and his mother needed the money, and she'd felt bad leaving as she had, without notice, but Dane wouldn't hear of her paying the rent herself, and Mick hadn't wanted either of them to pay. He was such a proud young man.

“Who is it?” Angel still worried about Mick. She talked with him often, but she missed their daily school lessons together. As soon as the weather permitted, she intended to start them back up again. Dane was all for the idea.

“You'd never guess so I might as well tell you.” He took a moment to build the suspense, but when she gave an impatient growl, he grinned and said, “Alec.”

At her look of surprise, he nodded. “Yep, I showed him the apartment myself. It's not too far from the office, and Mick is a fantastic manager, especially for a kid.”

“And you wanted Alec there to keep an eye on him, to make certain he was okay?”

“Not at all. I knew you would worry, and I figured this would put your mind at ease for the most part. But Alec really was looking for a new place, and he likes it there.”

Angel smiled at him. “It's a wonderful surprise. Thank you.”

“That's only part of the surprise. Now don't get angry before you hear me out, okay?”

Like a red flag waved before her face, his words had the effect of putting her instantly on guard. She stiffened. “What have you done?”

“We've agreed that it's best to get married, and that means I want to do what I can to ensure you and Grayson are taken care of. I know how you feel about money, but it's silly. Thanks to my inheritance—”

“I thought your mother took that!”

He shrugged. “She gave it back, sort of another bribe to bring me back into the fold. It's been sitting in a bank gathering interest because I had no use for it until now.”

“I don't want you going against your principles for me, Dane Carter!”

He laughed. “It wasn't a principle. It was plain stubbornness and the fact that I like to prick my mother's temper whenever possible. But since we'll be married Tuesday morning—”

“Whoa!” Angel held out her hands, astounded by having so much information thrown at her at one time. She needed a few minutes to assimilate it all. “What do you mean we're getting married Tuesday morning? Since when was this decided?”

He had the grace to look sheepish. “Ah…Actually just today. That was another part of your surprise. I talked with my doctor and the lab will do the blood tests tomorrow. As soon as we do that, we'll head downtown and pick up the license. A pastor from my sister's church has agreed to do the deed on Tuesday.”

There was a brief struggle as Angel tried to remove herself from his lap and he was just as determined to keep her in place.

Dane won.

“You agreed to marry me, honey.” He held her securely, his eyes never leaving hers. There was a look of challenge on his face, and something else, something not so easily defined. “We've made the deal, you and I. Grayson needs me, and I'm not about to turn my back on him, not now, not ever. If you're thinking about changing your mind, it's too late.”

Realization hit, knocking the breath from her. He wanted things confirmed, he wanted a guarantee, and he was afraid to leave it up to her because he thought she might back out. Knowing he felt such an obligation for Grayson, and that he was afraid of losing the baby, was a revelation. But she couldn't merely condone his autocratic behavior. He'd become a tyrant in no time if she let him.

She scowled darkly, and grumbled, “Next time, check with me first before you set things up.”

His eyes widened and the arrogance was immediately back in his gaze, along with a healthy dose of relief. “There won't be a next time, honey. I told you, regardless of why we're getting married, it's still forever.”