For Love and Vengeance (25 page)

Just then, Aviva flicked back
her head, catching the gunman who held her captive in the chin and Jason nearly
died from shock at the level of her reckless foolishness. Without a moment’s
hesitation, he unleashed two stars with deadly accuracy, one buried in the
forehead of each of the men who held the women captive. At the same time the
rapport of a silenced pistol echoed in the room as it took the life of Forrest
Farnsworth.

Chapter 28

“How
did you get here?” Jake asked MacKenzie, unable to look at her he was so angry.

“We
drove.”

“Where's
the car?”

“It's
around that corner.”

Taking
her by the arm, Jake started walking in the direction she pointed. He didn't
speak as he pulled her behind him, nor did he make allowance for her shorter
legs. If she thought it was okay to eavesdrop on them, and then follow behind,
she better be able to keep up with him.

“Slow
down!” MacKenzie demanded as she quickened her steps even further in her
attempt to keep up with his long strides.

“No,
why don't you concentrate on moving your feet as fast as you move your mouth.
Do that and you should be fine.”

MacKenzie
was in shock. He did not just say that to her. “How dare you speak to me like
that!”

“Give
me a break. The way you run your mouth, I should be canonized for not saying
much worse!”

“Who
the hell do you think you are to speak to me like that?”

“My
dear, MacKenzie, at this point in time and the way I feel...do not imagine for
one moment that I have any wish to enter into superfluous conversation with a
woman who would so recklessly endanger the life of the child she’s carrying.”

MacKenzie
snapped her mouth close, his comment went straight through her and she had no
comeback.

Jake
knew he had hit her low, but he refused to retract the words. They needed to be
said. Reaching the parked car, he opened the door and waited until she got in
before slamming it so hard the vehicle shook from the force of his action.

Walking
around the car, he got in, closed his door and looked over at the woman who had
her head turned away from him, looking out the window.

“Do I
need to tell you to put on your seatbelt?!”

Silently,
MacKenzie pulled her seatbelt across her body and engaged it. Satisfied, Jake
moved the car into the road.

They
drove for about ten minutes before Jake's voice broke the silence. Obviously
still incensed about what she and Aviva had done. “If that was my child you
were carrying, when I got you home, I would put you over my knees and your
backside would be as red as your hair!”

“Well,
it's not your child and for that I give thanks. You're disgusting and I
couldn't think of anything more repellent that carrying a child of yours!”
MacKenzie shot back.

Jake's
eyebrow shot up at her heated words. Never having been called disgusting and
repellent in the same sentence. As a matter of fact, he had never been called
either of those things in his life. He secretly smiled. He kind of admired her
fire but he wasn't ready to let her off the hook for the danger in which her
actions had placed them all. He wanted to know more about her and the man who
would knowingly allow his pregnant woman out of his sight.

“Who's
the father?”

“Stay
out of my business!”

Jake
knew the only way to get an answer from this stubborn, prickly woman was to
rile her. She may never speak to him again after this night and frankly he
didn’t really care.

“You
don't know, do you?”

“How
dare you say that to me...how dare you!” MacKenzie was way past angry. In fact,
she was so mad she wanted to chop him in the throat so he would shut his
disgusting mouth.

“Really,
my dear, one sure fire way to bore me is to be repetitive and I find that is
exactly what you have become...a repetitive, not to mention loose...woman.”

“Repetitive...loose
woman,” MacKenzie sputtered. Did this man have no boundaries? “For the record,
you pompous piece of filth, the father of my child happens to be Carlos
Ernesto.”

“The
rock star?!” Jake asked, unable to hide his surprise.

“He
is not a rock star. He is an R&B superstar!”

“Are
you a groupie? Is that why you're not with him? Did you get pregnant on
purpose, thinking he would marry you? Were you looking for life in the
limelight, MacKenzie?” Jake didn't mean any of the things he was saying, but
for some reason he was unable to stop.

His
words hit so close to the things Carlos had said to her that tears sprung to
her eyes. This was the final straw. She had never met anyone so hateful in all
her life and she refused to speak to him or even look at him.

Jake
knew he had gone too far and that she would probably never speak to him again.
Cutting the engine outside of the house, he turned to her to apologize but she
was already on the move, rushing towards the front door. But it was locked.
Getting out of the car, he went to her. He placed his hand on her shoulder,
knowing he needed to apologize for his behavior.

MacKenzie
recoiled at his touch so violently, Jake dropped his hand and looked down at
her. “MacKenzie, please accept my apology. I didn't mean any of the things I
just said to you.”

Jake
could see that she had shut him out so completely, his words of regret appeared
to float into the air without registering with her. Turning his key in the
lock, he opened the door, and she was gone.

~~~~~~~~~~

Josh
drove with Jason beside him and Aviva sitting in the back. The silence that
surrounded them was so complete, Josh knew it was not the time for levity he
didn't feel. What the women had done was way too serious to make light of. Were
he in Jason's position, he was unsure how he would handle the situation.

Coming
to a halt outside the house, Josh saw the door just closing behind Jake's back.
Leaving the engine running, he waited as Jason got out of the car and opened
the door for Aviva.

“Aren’t
you coming in, Josh?” Aviva inquired.

“Nah.”
He didn’t need more than a one word response.

“It's
got to be close to 3am. Where could you possibly be going at this hour?”

Raising
an eyebrow at her, he decided to be completely honest. “I'm going to get laid.”

“Oh,
I see. Umm...well, enjoy yourself.” She wanted to bite out her tongue at her
comment, now too embarrassed to maintain eye contact.

“That's
the idea,” Josh told her as Jason slammed the door closed.

Taking
her by the arm, Jason led her towards the house without a word spoken between
them. He was still too furious to speak.

Once
inside, he stood looking down at her, his expression blank. If he could raise a
hand to this little woman, he would put her over his knee and paddle her ass. When
he was finished, if the thought ever entered her head to do something so
reckless in the future, memory alone would be its own deterrent.

“Go
upstairs.” They were the first words he spoke to her since leaving the house of
death.

“Jason,
let me explain.”

“Aviva,
do – not – push – me,” Jason told her through gritted teeth, his eyes black
with fury.

Knowing
when to shut up, she did as she was told. Reaching the top of the stairs she
saw MacKenzie heading towards her, bag in hand.

“Where
are you going at this time of the morning?”

“I'm
leaving. I refuse to spend another moment in this place!”

“Why...what
happened?”

“That
man is the biggest freaking bastard I've ever met, and I'm not looking to spend
the rest of my life behind bars for killing him.”

“Jake...what
did he do?” Aviva was concerned, could this night get any worse!

“I'm
not having this conversation with you right now. I'll call you.”

“But
how are you going to get home?”

“Cab's
on its way,” MacKenzie said, giving her friend a quick hug as she hurried down
the stairs and out the front door while Aviva stood watching her departure.

~~~~~~~~~~

As
Jason watched Aviva disappear from sight, he headed for the family room. He
needed a drink to calm himself down.

Entering
the room, he could see Jake had beat him to it. Without comment, he headed for
the bar and poured himself a good measure of whiskey and threw it down his
throat. He closed his eyes as the heat of the liquid spread throughout his gut.

Pouring
another, he looked at his twin who was watching him. “What did you do?” Jason
asked him.

“Insulted
a woman to an extent that even surprised me.”

“Why?”
Jason asked as he took a seat beside his brother.

“Don't
know...even though I knew I was being insufferable, I just couldn't seem to
stop.”

“What
did you do?” Jake asked him in return.

“Nothing.
I can't even bring myself to speak to her.”

Jake
didn't even try to offer advice. He was in no position to do so. He had made a
complete mess while speaking to MacKenzie, so maybe Jason had the right of it by
remaining silent.

The
brothers remained side-by-side, each lost in thought, sipping from their drink.
Looking down at his glass, Jake saw it was empty and rose to get a refill.
There and then he decided he was going to get roaring drunk.

“Would
you like to join me in a drunken binge?”

Jason
looked at his twin, giving his question serious consideration. “No, I think I'm
going to head upstairs.”

Raising
his empty glass to him, Jake reached for the decanter and poured himself
another drink as Jason left him alone to carry out his plan.

~~~~~~~~~~

Aviva
had showered and was sitting up in bed when Jason finally came into their
bedroom. He didn't even glance in her direction. Aviva watched his every move
as he walked over to the bathroom and closed the door between them. She heard a
brief quiet followed by the sound of the shower that returned to quietness once
again.
He's really mad at me
, Aviva thought as she sat in silence and
waited for his return.

When
the door reopened, Jason walked to his side of the bed and pulled off the towel
he had secured around his waist and moved under the covers. With his back to
her, he switched off the bedside lamp and grew still.

“Jason,
we need to talk.”

“Not
now, Aviva.”

“Yes,
now. I know how angry you are with me but I can explain.”

Silence.

“I
had to go. If I wasn't there, that bitch would have put a bullet through your
back!”

Silence.

“Okay,
don't talk to me. But I'm telling you that I don't regret going, and if I had
to do it again, I would!” Aviva spoke to his back emphatically.

Turning
over so quickly she gasped at the speed of his movement, although she should be
used to it by now. He was on her in an instant, pinning her down with his body.

“Do
you know what you did to me tonight? Do you?!”

With
only the glow of the lamp on her side of the massive bed, he appeared as a
shadowed specter hovering over her, and Aviva grew a little frightened.

Swallowing,
she shook her head, silently telling him no.

“What
do you suppose I would have done if something had happened to you tonight? How
do you think I would have been able to live with myself, knowing you had been
hurt or worse killed?!” Jason said, grabbing hold of her face so she had no
choice but to meet his gaze.

What
she saw there took her breath away. His eyes shone with such pain, Aviva was
rendered speechless.

Releasing
her, Jason sat up, pulling his legs to his chest as he bowed his head and held
it between his hands, elbows resting on his knees. “If you
understood
what you mean to me, you would never have acted as you did tonight. If you
understood
how much I love you, you would never tell me you would do it again.”

“I do
understand, Jason, I do!”

“That's
just it, Aviva, I don't really think you do.” His words were so softly spoken,
Aviva barely heard them.

Turning
away from her, Jason stretched out his long body and placed an arm under his
head.

“Jason?”

“Not
now, Aviva!”

She
could tell he had shut her out so she decided to say no more. She switched off
her lamp and turned onto her side, closing her eyes as they lay side by side, a
gulf of more than just bedding separating them. Aviva tried to hold in the
tears but they found their escape even as she bit her lip to ensure she didn’t
make a sound.

~~~~~~~~~~

Jason
knew she was crying even as she held herself rigid to keep it from him. Closing
his eyes tightly, he hardened himself. She had nearly felled him when he saw
her in that house tonight, and moments ago she had thought nothing of telling
him that she would do it again.

God,
did this woman not know? How many times must he tell her, show her, before she
realized she was his life? The feel of her trembling as sobs passed through her
body was his undoing. Reaching over, he switched on the lamp before turning and
pulling her onto her back even though she resisted.