Return of the Bad Girl (27 page)

“Speaking of Daddy, have you heard anything else on why he’s digging stuff up on Kyle?” Caroline asked casually.

“Nothing new, but I imagine Senator Jenner is very thorough at hiding things. Why are you asking?”

“I’m just curious. Dad’s adored Kyle since we were kids.”

“That’s because they’re both assholes, and like follows like.”

“Dad is nothing like Kyle,” Caroline snapped.

“Trust me; they are both cruel, unfeeling bastards. You don’t know—”

“I do know,” Caroline said, avoiding Val’s gaze.

Val paused, studying Caroline’s face, and then she turned white. “Son of a bitch!”

Val headed for the bedroom door, and Caroline knew exactly what she was doing. “No!” Caroline landed on top of Val, pinning her against the door.

“Get off me! I’m going to kill that motherfucker and roast his dick on my barbeque!”

Someone started pounding on the other side of the door, and Caroline stumbled back as it was pushed open.

“Is everything okay?” Justin asked. Gabe stood just over his shoulder.

Val pushed past them, with Caroline hot on her heels.

“Val?” Justin called.

“Caroline?” Gabe echoed.

Val was halfway down the walkway outside when Caroline caught her arm and swung her around. “Will you just
stop
?”

“Are you fucking kidding me? I can’t believe you didn’t kill him after it happened,” Valerie cried, sucking in air. “When did it happen? Did you tell Dad?”

Caroline saw Justin and Gabe in the doorway and pleaded, “Can we not do this here?”

“Answer me!”

Caroline grabbed her arm hard and snapped, “You listen to me. This is my business, and you will not embarrass me.”

“Why would you be ashamed of anything?” Val asked. “You didn’t do anything.”

“There are reasons why I didn’t tell you or anyone else about this.”

“But did you tell Daddy? Is that why he really made you leave?” Val asked insistently.

“No. I only told him recently.”

“Oh my God,” Val said softly. “
You’re
the reason he’s digging shit up on Kyle.”

Caroline took a deep, shaky breath. “Please, Val, just stay out of it, okay? I don’t want you involved.”

“But—”

Caroline shook her head. “I promise I will tell you everything, every reason why I never said anything, but now is not the time.”

Val said nothing for several long minutes, and then: “When I told you what he did to my roommate, why didn’t you tell me then?”

Tears stung Caroline’s eyes. “I was afraid you’d blame me for what happened to her. Because I never told.” Caroline looked away from her sister, ashamed by her admission, but when Val wrapped her arms around her, she froze.

“I don’t blame you.” Val’s softly spoken words made Caroline sag against her, sobbing. “Shh, it will be all right.”

“I can take her,” Gabe said, next to them, but Caroline looked away from him. She didn’t want him to see her like this.

Val squeezed her again and shook her head. “She’s my sister.”

“I know,” Gabe said, before adding, “I promise I’ll take care of her.”

Val released Caroline, and Gabe scooped her up in his arms, carrying her toward the car.

Caroline looked up in time to see Justin come down the walk and hold out his arms to Val. She went into his embrace, wrapping her arm around his waist and looking up at him with so much love. Caroline was happy for her, glad she had come out of their dysfunctional childhood whole and made the best of it. Hell, Val had made the best of it and then done better. She was happy.

Happiness had been elusive to Caroline for most of her life.

When they reached the car, Caroline whispered, “Did you hear?”

Gabe let her slide down his body as he took her keys from her.

“Did you hear?” she asked, louder, angrier.

“I had already guessed,” Gabe said, opening her door.

What?

“But . . . how?” She felt his rough palm brush her hair back, but Caroline couldn’t look him in the eye.

“It was just a feeling I had. I didn’t want to ask you about it, in case I was wrong.”

“And now? Do you want to ask me something?” she said, climbing into the front seat.

Still outside the car, he squatted down next to her and took her chin in his hands, forcing her to finally meet his gaze.

“Whether you tell me or not is up to you,” he said, stroking her cheek. “It won’t change the way I think of you.”

Raw emotion choked her. “How . . . how do you see me?”

He leaned forward, brushing her lips with his. “I see a woman who was hurt and lashed out at others because of it.” She bit her lip as he continued. “And then that woman overcame her pain, grew from all that anger, and turned her life around. And I see a woman who, because of everything she’s been through, can look at the people around her and find the good that she thought was lost a long time ago.”

With a sob, she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and kissed him, cradling the back of his head.

He returned the kiss for a minute or two before he pulled away and squeezed her hand. “To be continued.”

Chapter Twenty-Two

“Being loved is not the greatest gift. The greatest gift someone can give is acceptance.”

—Miss Know It All

C
AROLINE HAD NOT
been blissfully happy in her entire life—except for brief times during her childhood—but lying in bed now with Gabe was pretty damn close.

They’d come home from her sister’s and fallen into bed, taking their time with each other until they’d been too sated to move. Now, in the afterglow, Caroline’s mind drifted to all the things she hadn’t shared with Gabe. It didn’t seem fair that he had told her about his mother and sister, about his accident, and yet she had shared nothing about herself.

Had she closed herself off from true intimacy? Was she cutting Gabe short because she really didn’t think they were right for each other or because vulnerability scared the shit out of her?

Clearing her throat, she took a chance. “My dad didn’t really have much time for me or either of my sisters when we were growing up. Not until Mom died just after my fifteenth birthday.”

Gabe’s hand stroked over her back. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, it was just . . .” Caroline swallowed hard, trying to ease the emotional ball welling up in her throat. “Sudden. I mean, one minute we were chasing each other around the backyard and the next, she was on the ground.”

The memory still played out in her mind, clear as day, and she could remember the panic that engulfed her as she yelled for help. Kneeling down next to her mother’s body, she had grabbed her shoulders to shake her, pleading with her. “Ellie was screaming, and Val was . . . She just stood there like a statue. I had to call nine-one-one and take care of my sisters until they got our dad. It’s funny,” Caroline said, sniffling, “the police officer who notified my dad only told him there had been an accident, so he didn’t leave the office right away; he didn’t think it was an emergency.”

Gabe’s arms tightened around her, and he murmured into her hair, and she couldn’t deny how much she craved that. The understanding and the comfort. Snuggling into his chest, she continued. “The doctors said she’d had a heart murmur, but that it wasn’t life-threatening.” Laughing bitterly, she whispered, “I guess they were wrong about that, huh?”

“They make mistakes; they’re human,” Gabe said, rubbing her back. “Believe me, I cursed doctors for the longest time after what happened to Honey, but it didn’t do me any good to blame other people.”

“Instead, you continue to blame yourself,” Caroline said, looking up from his chest to meet his gaze. Gabe’s eyes shifted away, and she lifted her hand to touch his cheek. “Stop it.”

He heaved a huge sigh and said, “We’re not talking about me right now.”

The gentle reminder made her wonder if he thought she was trying to avoid talking about Kyle.

He’s probably right, but once you tell him, you can’t take it back.

“It’s . . . hard to talk about. Before a few weeks ago, I’d only ever told one person, and that didn’t go quite how I expected,” Caroline said, sliding her hand back down until it lay on his chest. “I just don’t want you to look at me differently.”

Gabe shook his head and rolled to his side, kissing her gently. “Crazy girl, I think you are one hell of a woman to have overcome the cards you got dealt. A lot of people would have made worse mistakes to deal with their pain.”

Gabe’s words warmed her, and she kissed him again, just a short press of her lips, but it meant so much for him to try to put her at ease. “Thank you.”

He pulled her close again and kissed her hair. “What happened after your mom died?”

You can do this. You’ve come this far.

“Well, I was a wreck for months, and then my father started asking me to attend political functions with him.”

“Political?” Gabe asked.

She tilted her head back and said, “My father was the mayor of Rock Canyon before he started aiming for higher offices in the state.”

“Look at that. You really are a princess,” he said teasingly. She slapped his abs, and he groaned.

“Be nice.”

“I’m always nice,” he said, threading his fingers through hers. “But actually, I already knew that about you.”

“You did?” she asked, surprised. “How?”

“Hanging with Chase and Eric. I asked why Eric called you Trouble,” Gabe said.

“Oh, really? You didn’t beat it out of him?” Caroline said, feeling like her emotions were all over the place. One minute she was crying and the next she was smiling.

“I didn’t have to.” Gabe traced his thumb across her palm. “But I did warn him if he kissed you again, I was going to beat the shit out of him.”

Caroline choked. “You did not tell Eric Henderson you were going to beat the shit out of him.”

“No, but just so you know, if he does kiss you, he’s dead meat.”

“Okay, first of all, you don’t own me or my lips, buster,” she said, pushing away from his chest, “and second, dead meat? Really?”

Gabe tried to kiss her but only got cheek when she turned her head. His warm breath grazed her ear as he whispered, “Hey, I know I don’t own you, but that doesn’t mean I want you kissing anyone but me.”

Caroline’s heart skipped and then beat out a hearty tempo. “So, we’re kissing exclusively?”

“Well, if Jessica Alba shows up . . .”

Caroline squeezed his hand hard, and he kissed her cheek. “Yeah, we’re exclusive.”

Silence stretched between them, and her mind raced at the implications. Was he freaking out, putting everything out there and admitting they weren’t going to be seeing anyone but each other?

She could admit; it was freaking
her
out. But just a smidge, really.

“We keep getting off topic,” Gabe said.

“What? Oh . . .” On top of the intimacy associated with exclusivity, he wanted to hear about the most painful parts of her past.

This is what people do in relationships. They share things.

But things were getting heavy, fast. And now she wasn’t sure . . .

“Look, there’s no pressure. You don’t have to tell me.”

“No,” Caroline said abruptly. “Sorry, I’m just . . . I’m ready, okay? Just give me a minute.”

Gabe lay there quietly while Caroline collected herself and finally continued.

“There was this senator my dad was good friends with, and we spent a lot of time with his family. He had a son a year or so older than me, and when he started paying attention to me, I didn’t mind. I was flattered,” she said softly, ashamed that she had been so taken in by Kyle’s deadly charm. “So about six months after my mom’s death, I go to this dinner party with my dad. They were usually pretty boring, and I never liked most of the girls who attended, but Kyle took me to a private game room.”

Closing her eyes, she held Gabe’s hand tighter as she spoke. “I wasn’t supposed to leave the party, but it felt good to be a little bad, you know? I was excited, because out of everyone, he’d picked me to hang out with. He brought down this cherry-flavored punch that was a little syrupy, but I didn’t want to complain. Honestly, though, whenever I smell or taste that artificial cherry flavoring now, I get sick.”

Gabe didn’t say anything; the only move he made was to kiss the top of her head, which was good. Any more interruptions, and she might’ve lost her nerve.

“After a while, though, I just started feeling out of it, and when I tried to get to my room, Kyle took me the rest of the way,” she said, choking on the words as she finished. “I kept drifting in and out of it, but I remember him on top of me, laughing when I begged him to stop.”

“I should have killed the son of a bitch,” Gabe growled.

“As much as I would have loved to see that, it wouldn’t have helped, and you would have gone to prison.”

“Still, the fucker needs to pay,” he said, and the quiet that followed was lengthy. Caroline had a feeling he was wondering why she’d never done something about Kyle.

“You want to know why I never told anyone.” Gabe said nothing, and it was answer enough. Sighing, she sat up with her back to him, pulling her knees into her chest. “Fear, mostly. I was scared as hell of what Kyle might do to me or my sisters. He threatened to . . .” God, even saying the words out loud were terrifying. “The night after it happened, he threatened to do the same thing to my sisters. That if I pressed charges, he’d get out on bail, and they wouldn’t be as lucky as me, because he’d make sure they were awake for everything.”

“How old were your sisters?” Gabe asked, his voice guttural.

“Val was thirteen,” Caroline said, wiping at her watery eyes. “Ellie was only six, though.”

“Jesus, Caroline, the man is sick as fuck,” Gabe said, and she felt the bed shift as he sat up.

“Yeah, I know, but it wasn’t just Kyle’s threats that kept me quiet. I was selfishly afraid that no one would believe me, that my father wouldn’t believe me. I mean, I told my best friend and she didn’t seem to believe me.”

“Listen, no matter what anyone said to you, what that bastard did was not your fault,” Gabe said, his hand on her shoulder. “You have to believe that.”