Elite Metal-ARE-epub (32 page)

The color faded from her cheeks as her mouth fell open. “How do you know all of that?”

“Adamantium has skills.” He sighed and stepped across the threshold, closing the door behind him and twisting the lock shut. That one-second delay could be the difference between life and death if someone tried to enter.

“And what about the housekeeping staff?”

He worried about other staff, but had no way to confirm that bit of intel. “How many and where are they now?”

“One,” she admitted with a slump of her shoulders. “She’s taking a siesta.”

“Great, then we’ll have to be extra quiet as you tell me everything that’s going on. The truth, Beth. Why are you with Chesterfield? Is it true you dropped out of school before you finished your master’s? And why did you sell your house? Why can’t I find a record of you anywhere from the last five years?”

With each question she shook her head and retreated to the opposite side of the kitchen. “You won’t understand, and you don’t want to know.”

“Bullshit,” he spat. “I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t want to know. Are you in trouble, Beth? Whatever it is, I can help.”

“No, you can’t.”

“Believe me, sunshine, I can.”

“How? You’re a dead man. You can’t help me.”

“Yes, I can. Talk to me, Beth. Whatever is going on, I can help.”

“And do what? Go back in time? Stop me from meeting Jason and ruining my life?” she bit out as tears sprang to her eyes and her nostrils flared. She sucked in a breath and visibly fought to keep her emotions in check.

The sight of her struggle about brought him to his knees. “Please, Beth. I’m begging here.”

She threw her arms wide and shouted, “Haven’t you figured it out yet? I’m his whore, Scott. I’m nothing but a fucking whore.”

The pain, the humiliation, in her confession doused him in ice. Was she serious? “I—I, uh…what?”

“Two days after Jason’s funeral, Brandon showed up at the house with some of his men. It wasn’t enough that the All-American fullback was an alcoholic, but for over a year, he’d been betting on college sports. That big commission he supposedly earned that bought him that damn Corvette?” She shook her head. “Won the money on the Final Four. But then he hit a losing streak and racked up a debt. A big one. The only reason Brandon didn’t break his legs was because Jason was feeding him information he learned from his friends in the booster club. But then he went and wrapped himself around a power pole. Brandon came to me to collect the rest of the money.”

“How much?” Ant asked with a dry mouth.

“Over five hundred thousand.”

“Holy shit.” He ran his hand through his hair. “How is that even possible?”

“Jason was making bets with more than one bookie. Trying to win off one to pay the other, but when he lost, it was bad times four. Brandon bought all of his markers when he found out what Jason was trying to pull.”

“God, Beth.” He pulled at his hair again. At this rate he was going to make himself bald. “Why didn’t you call me?”

Her harsh laughter scratched down his spine like barbed wire. “I did. You had already deployed and your commander said you were on a no-contact mission, return date unknown.”

Steele. That motherfucker. His CO knew about the clusterfuck he’d left behind when Jason died. Steele should have notified him immediately about Beth’s call. He hadn’t left the States until six months after Jason died and could’ve been by her side in a heartbeat. But apparently, Steele kept him in the dark, and Beth was left to face demons she had no hope in defeating.

And it was all his fault.

“I’m so sorry, Beth. You gotta know I wouldn’t have let you face that alone if I’d known.”

She folded her arms across her chest and shrugged. It was as if she had aged twenty years before his eyes. “It’s just as well. You couldn’t have done anything. You didn’t have that kind of money. No one did. The house sold for shit because the market tanked, and it wasn’t worth that much anyway. Simply hurting me wouldn’t have made Brandon any money. I didn’t really have a choice.”

“What? That was his offer? Money or…” He swallowed hard. “Or you?”

“If I cooperated, he wouldn’t make it hurt so bad. It didn’t take me long to realize he wasn’t bluffing. The johns were better too, if I didn’t fight.” She tried to smile and lifted one shoulder, as if it were no big deal, but her lips didn’t cooperate and her eyes shimmered with more tears.

Bile burned his throat as he imagined what she’d had to endure. His mouth worked up and down, but all he managed was a feeble moan. His feet shuffled in her direction, and he lifted his arms, needing to hold her close and take some of her pain away, but she bolted across the room, keeping the center island between them.

“Beth, don’t. Let me fix this.”

“Fix what?” she interrupted. “This has nothing to do with you. It was Jason’s fault. And I’m stuck cleaning up his mess because I was stupid enough— I didn’t think— I—” Her chin quivered and the tears finally crested her lower lashes to spill down her cheek. “Just go, Scott— Adam— Whoever you are. Just go. Please.”

“No.” He curled his hands into fists. “No. I can’t let you live like this. I won’t. Come with me. I can protect you. I can take you someplace safe, and you’ll never have to worry about Chesterfield again.”

“Oh my God. You are insane. I can’t leave. I have two years left on my contract.”

“Fuck your contract,” he shouted. Okay. Bad choice of words, he realized when she flinched. “You’re the insane one if you think I’m going to leave you to—to
this.
You deserve better, and I’m going to make it up to you. I swear.” The distance between them killed him and he strode around the island, pulling her into his arms before she even made it two steps.

“Don’t touch me.” She struggled in his hold. “I’m too dirty.”

“Believe me, sunshine, if you knew a fraction of the shit I’ve had to do, you wouldn’t be saying that.” He cupped her sweet face in his hands and gave her a little shake. “You’re coming with me. Let’s get you a bag and I’ll take you to where he’ll never find you.”

“I can’t.” She wrapped her fingers around his wrists and tugged. Tears cascaded down her cheeks and pooled against his thumbs as she sobbed. “It’s not just me I have to worry about. If I leave, he’ll hurt her.”

“Hurt who?”

“My daughter.”

The world around them stilled. “You had a baby with him?” He knew he asked the question, but he couldn’t hear the sound of his own voice.

“No. Jason.”

Two words. Three little syllables, but they sliced through him like razor wire. Quick. Painless, until his blood began to flow and the sting erupted like wildfire.

“I don’t understand,” he mumbled.

She closed her eyes and caught her breath. “I was two months pregnant when Jason died.”

He sucked a breath in so hard, it stabbed him in the heart. Twice before in his life, the world as he knew it collapsed and swirled out of existence like grains of sand in a windstorm. The first time had been the night Jason died. Not then, and not even when his team had been ambushed by Red Wolf’s men, had he been so mentally knocked on his ass as he felt right then.

“I didn’t know.” His mouth still didn’t have the ability to fully form the words. “Jason didn’t tell me.”

“I hadn’t told anyone.” She sniffed and looked at the floor. “Jason’s drinking had gotten worse, and I had heard rumors… I—I had been thinking about leaving him. But then I found out about the baby, and I thought I should try to give her a chance at a life with two parents. Like a normal family.” She drew in another breath. “But then Jason died and Brandon came along. When she was born, he took her from me and gave her away. He said if I ever tried to leave, he’d hurt her. He— He—” She choked on a sob and buried her face into his chest.

The last time he had held her, it had been exactly the same way. Beth in tears and him numb to everything but the pain shaking her body. Only this time they were in a kitchen instead of an emergency room.

Guilt and shame rushed through his veins until his vision swam and the urge to be sick made him sway on his feet.

Why hadn’t he just punched the fucker in the face like he had wanted? If he had given in to the anger he had felt that night, Jason might still be alive. Oh, his face wouldn’t have been as pretty, but he’d be left breathing. And Beth would have her baby and be a mom who cuddled with her daughter at night, and baked cupcakes for tea parties, and showered her with love. But no. He had to be honorable, and walk away, leaving a drunk Jason behind with his car keys still in his pocket.

Words failed him. The only sound he could make was to moan her name and rock back and forth as she cried. He ran his hands, one after the other, over and over down the back of her head and spine. “Beth. God, Beth.”

With a strangled cry, she wrenched out of his arms. “Go. You need to go.” She rubbed her eyes with the sleeves of her hoodie. “You can’t be seen. The only thing I can do for my little girl is not give Brandon any cause to hurt her. You have to go and forget about me.”

“I can’t just leave you,” he croaked. “Never.”

“Leave!” she screamed and reached for the closest object, which happened to be a bowl of fruit. She tossed the apple at his head, then pitched the entire wooden bowl in his direction. “Go now, or I’ll call for security myself.”

When she reached for the chef’s knife protruding from the butcher block stand, he held up his hands. “All right! I’ll go. I’ll go.”

Beth stared up at him, her ponytail outta out of sorts and her bloodshot eyes glittering with near hysteria. The purpose of his visit was to help her, not push her over the edge to where she’d be a danger to herself and others. He recognized a creature backed into the corner and hell-bent on survival. He even bore a few scars from when he had worked with animals in the same situation in his youth. Beth needed space. As much as it killed him, he had to back away.

“I’ll leave. I’ll leave.” He crept toward the door. “Lock up behind me. Don’t open the door for anyone. I want you safe, Beth. Just know that’s all I want.”

As he stood in the doorway for one last second, he wept inside as he realized the girl he once knew was no more. Circumstances beyond her control stole her happiness, and he was just as guilty as all of the other men in her life. Beth deserved better, and nothing was going to stop him from giving her everything she could ever desire. His promise to Steele and his team be damned.

Chapter Three

As she watched, Scott pulled the solid wood door shut behind him and the latch caught with a soft catch of metal no louder than a whisper.

In comparison, the sound of the knife hitting the tile floor was as loud as a shout as that last image of him gazing at her with haunting devastation burned into her memory.

Scott Maguire.

Never in a million years would she have guessed that the handsome, clean-shaven cowboy from her past would have turned into a big, broad-shouldered biker with bulging muscles, fierce scowl, and shaggy hair. He had always been so sweet around her, so caring, sometimes even a little goofy. If it hadn’t been for the way he called her “sunshine,” she never would’ve believed the two men were one and the same.

But they weren’t, were they? He was now Adamantium. A stranger who appeared to be as every bit as dangerous as the mobsters Brandon brought to his home.

Even now, she remembered the way Scott had looked the last time she had seen him. He had been dressed in his fatigues, holding on to her tightly after the doctor had told them Jason hadn’t made it through surgery. He was to board the plane that afternoon to join up with a special-ops Marine squad. The best of the best. He had tried to arrange a delay of his assignment, but he had to go, no matter how much he had wanted to stay with her.

And then he left and went dark for three years until word came that he had died in action.

When she had read the news in the paper about the local boys who had been killed in action, she had cried for days. In her heart of hearts, she had harbored a secret wish that Scott would somehow hear about her plight and come for her, even though she knew there was nothing he could have done to save her. With his death, everything she had once known and believed in had been taken from her forever. Nothing remained to tie her to her old life. There was no one left to remember the Beth who wasn’t a whore.

Her knees gave out and she collapsed to the floor as old wounds tore open. Hot tears slid down her cheek and splashed on the cold tile.

Long ago, she had resigned herself to her fate. Accepted it as punishment for not following her instincts when they had screamed for her to move on. For believing Jason was the best she could do for a partner. It had taken years to become numb to her reality, and with one horrified look, Scott had stripped away all of her delusions. In his eyes, she saw just how worthless and dirty she had become. Just how far removed from her former life she was. Scott may have been alive, but Beth Bradshaw was dead. No matter how she wished otherwise.

Crack! Boom!

The back door flew open in a shower of splinters and slammed into the wall with enough force to shatter the nearby window.

She sat up with a startled shout and stared in shock and awe at the vision of Adamantium standing in the doorway with a determined set to his jaw and an unwavering dominance shining in his eyes. He had strapped a gun belt around his lean waist and a Kevlar vest hugged his chest. With the sunlight streaming in behind him, he looked like an avenging angel, and he was on a mission hell-bent on salvation.

The heavy clomp of his boots on the tile echoed in her ears like bass drums as he strode toward her. His big hand reached for her and grabbed her sleeve, jerking down with a vicious twist and ripping the cloth off her arm before tossing it aside. The brush of the cool air-conditioned air on her overheated flesh broke her reverie.

“What the fuck are you doing?” she shouted.

“Kidnapping you,” he replied with all seriousness as he snagged her wrists in one hand and bound her with a plastic zip-tie he withdrew from his back pocket.