Seth's Cravings: An Endless Series: Book 2 (7 page)

     “No fucking way.” Landon laughed. “First you play poker
like a savant and now you’re a plumber. You’re like a jack-of-all-things-cool.”

     She looked away from me to Landon and her expression
didn’t get any warmer. Looking off to the side she appeared to be grinding her
teeth down to the roots as her hands clenched into fists at her sides. My
frowned deepened at seeing that one of her hands wasn’t able to make a fist
because it was in a splint holding her middle finger stationary.

     What had happened to her?

     Taking a deep breath she turned back to me looking
resolute but not any less angry. “Do you want me to look at zee pipes or not?”

     Before I could say anything Landon spoke up. “Yes, we
sure as shit do.”

     I continued to stand there staring at her. Her angry
expression darkened further in irritation and she waved her good hand. “You’re
going to hafe to mofe zan.”  

     Landon gave me a nudge to the side and I complied.
Nadia stepped in and gave us another exasperated angry look. “Well, where’s zee
problem?”

     Shit! I was acting like a moronic asshat, but I was
still in shock seeing her looking so different, and acting so different. She
wasn’t trying to be flirty at all. This whole time I’d been thinking she came
from money like the rest of the guys at the gaming table, but it appeared she
didn’t. She worked for it. She was a plumber!

     “It’s down in the basement, this way.” Landon waved for
her to follow him. Ignoring me she trailed after him. I followed behind her and
my gaze instinctively tracked the sway of her hips. It didn’t help the
heaviness in my groin.

     The three of us tripped down the stairs and Landon
pointed out where the problem was. She looked up at it then around the basement.
Her gaze lit on a ladder in the far corner and she headed for it. I
automatically moved ahead of her to grasp it myself and moved it under the
pipe.

     I may dislike her, but I could still utilize my
manners.   

     She didn’t look at me or acknowledge my actions, her
jaw just ticked harder. Gripping the sides of the ladder she stepped up four
rungs to examine the section of pipe that had been spraying water. I held the
ladder to make sure it was stable.

     Safety first and everything…I mean, she already had a
busted finger.  

     I stared again at her hand wondering what had happened.
 

     Nadia reached into her back pocket and pulled out a
small flashlight. Snapping it on she pointed it at the pipe with her injured
hand and inspected the point of the leak. I knew what was wrong with the pipe
and I watched her wondering if she really knew what she was doing…But I had
underestimated her at cards and look how that had turned out.

     She raised her good hand and ran her finger over the
wet fitting. A picture of her fingers running over my flesh flashed in my head
and I almost grunted at the punch of arousal that hit me. I clenched my teeth
infuriated at my reaction.

     Nadia’s flashlight moved further down the piping “This
has to be one of the worst plumbing installations that I’ve come across. It
looks like Mr. Bean went shopping at a flea market and then decided to pick up
a Do-It-Yourself manual. Someone definitely got screwed.” She muttered. I noted
that she seemed to speaking to herself, still not bothering to acknowledge
Landon or me.

     Landon snorted at her comment. “That’s what Seth said.”

     Her gaze flickered down to me and the wrath in them hit
me in the gut the same as the arousal had earlier. Why the hell was she so
angry with me? Did it have something to do with me walking in on her and that
asshole?
She
should be embarrassed, not angry.

     Thinking about that night made me livid all over again.

     Nadia hopped down off the ladder and walked away, up
the stairs, and out the basement door without a word to either of us.

     “Is it me, or is she angry with us?” Landon asked with
a chuckle.

     I didn’t bother to answer his utterly obvious question.

     “I wonder what happened to her hand.” I mused instead.
Even though I was resentful of her it bothered me she’d been hurt.

     “You didn’t hear the rumors?”

     My head swiveled in his direction. “What rumors?”

     “You know that poker game we got invited to at that
Dale douche bags house?” He asked. Neither of us had known the guy. He’d been
an acquaintance of one of our teammates.

     I nodded tightly remembering that night clearly.

     “Well, some people reported that they saw him that
night with a bloody broken nose. Everyone was speculating on how he might have
received it and one possible story was that Nadezhda gave it to him. She was
witnessed leaving the house holding her hand like she’d hurt it. I haven’t seen
her since that night but some other guys said she was wearing a splint several
days later. Broken nose…” Landon balanced his hands. “Broken hand…it
correlates.”

     I stared at Landon in shock and mounting fury. “Why am
I just hearing this now? How come you didn’t say anything before?”

    Landon gave me an ironic look. “You always walk away or
scowl whenever she comes up in conversation. I didn’t think you’d care.”

     I ran up the stairs and out the front door to see Nadia
standing at the side of her work truck rummaging through a tool chest. “What
happened to your hand?” I growled stalking up to her.

     She twirled in surprise, but it quickly morphed into
her previous anger. “What’s it to you?” She growled back returning her
attention to the tool chest.

     “Did you hurt your hand hitting that asshole Dale?” I
demanded taking a step closer to her.

     Her eyes flared slightly at my movement and I stopped.
I didn’t want her afraid of me, and I knew my size could be intimidating. However,
the next second Nadia proved me wrong on the idea that she’d been fearful of me
as she instead moved closer with rage in her eyes and poked me in the chest.

     “Yes I hit him. Did you zink I was going to let him
rape me and not try to stop him? I zought when you came in zat you were going
to help me but instead you just walked away. Didn’t want to interrupt your
mu’dak
friend’s fun for the night, did you? I’m surprised you didn’t stay and join in.”

     She poked me hard in the chest after each one of her heavily
accented sentences as she yelled at me, but I scarcely felt it. Bile was rising
and I felt like I was going to be sick. I had walked in on a rape and hadn’t
stopped it? I’d left her in that room with that guy and he’d…

     I shook my head in shaken denial as my mind flashed
back to that bedroom. “No…you looked fine when I saw you on the bed; you weren’t
screaming or fighting him, you looked happy to be there.” I was sure I’d seen a
smile, that’s what had made the ire simmer hotter in me.

     She gave me a look of disgust. “I’m not a screamer, and
I wasn’t fighting him
yet
because he had my arms trapped under my body, and
I looked happy because you had just walked in and I mistakenly zought you were
going to pull the
dolboeb
off me. But you know what
eblan
, I
didn’t need your help. I handled him fine.” With one last poke she turned back
to the truck and started rummaging once more like she hadn’t just stabbed me in
the gut, twisted the knife, and pulled out my organs.  

     She was trying to give off this cool impervious
attitude, but I didn’t miss the slight tremble to her hands and it had me wanting
to grab and hold her close…but I knew that would not go over well at all. I had
no doubt whatsoever that she was telling me the complete truth and all I could
do was gaze at her with unbearable regret and self-condemnation in my heart and
eyes.

     “My God, Nadia, I am so fucking sorry. I swear I didn’t
know. I didn’t see your arms…” I could not recall seeing her arms trapped but I
believed what she was saying. “Your face…you seemed fine…Fuck!” There were no
words I could utter on how fucking wretched I felt.  

     She paused in what she was doing to stare straight
ahead for several seconds breathing deeply; she then turned toward me. The heat
appeared to have banked some and she stared at me skeptically. “You really
didn’t realize?”

     I shook my head agonizingly. “No! I never would have
left if I’d realized. I would have most likely killed him.” In fact, that might
still happen when I found him.

     She closed her eyes with a sigh and bowed her head. I
stood completely motionless waiting to see what she would say. I needed her to
believe me, and I wasn’t sure what I would fucking do if she didn’t. I don’t
think I would ever forgive myself for what I’d allowed to happen.  

     Eventually, she raised her head and looked at me with
those vivid aquamarine eyes of hers. The overt hostility was gone, but there
was still a certain amount of skepticism there. I was relieved to see the anger
gone but it didn’t release me from my guilt.

     “I’ve known you’ve had a problem with me from the first
night we met…I thought maybe you felt that I deserved it, or something?”

     I could hear the hesitant question in her voice and stared
at her in shock. Unable to stop myself took a step closer. “God no! I would
never wish that on anyone.” Fuck! That she would think that. But how could I
explain my feelings of anger and hunger toward her. I’d been dealing with them
for over a month and I still didn’t understand. “It wasn’t really you
personally that I had a problem with, it was something I was dealing with.
Please believe me. If I realized what I had walked in on…”

     Nadia’s hand settled on my bicep briefly as she
interrupted me. “I believe you. I was only seeing it from my point of view before.
I wasn’t all that scared at first and when you walked in I did smile, pleased
to see you. In retrospect…I can see how you might have thought it was consensual.”

     Her acceptance only made me feel worse. I can’t believe
I’d fucking left her in that room with that cocksucker. How could she forgive me
after what had happened to her? I was going to kill that fucker when I found
him.

     “Are you…okay?” I tried putting softness in my tone in
an attempt to cover the tsunami of rage inside me. The question was stupid because
how could she be okay after what she’d been through, but I had to know
something…anything…about how she was doing.

     She shrugged and lifted her injured hand. “I’m fine;
just a couple broken fingers and one of them is already better.”

     I hadn’t been thinking about her hand; although, I was
glad it was healing. “What are the police doing about it?” I asked trying a
different route.

     Her look turned startled and then cynical. “I didn’t go
to the police.” She snorted. “He’s got money and I’m blue collar. It would be
his word against mine. I wasn’t going to put myself through that.”

     Anger vibrated through me on her behalf. “But he needs
to pay for what he did to you.” Really, really pay.

     A vindictive smile curled her pink mouth and her eye
narrowed. “Oh, he paid.” She said fiercely.

     “Landon just informed me about his broken nose but that
isn’t enough.” I declared furiously. She should want him castrated. I know I
did.

     “I broke more than his nose. I’m pretty sure I
dislocated his balls from his dick as well. He won’t be using it for awhile,
and hopefully he’ll think twice before he tries using it again on someone else against
their will.”

     “But what about
you
? Don’t you want more justice
for yourself?” Again, I wanted to wrap her up close in hopes of making
everything better; even though I knew it wouldn’t. I think it would have mostly
been for me anyway, she was probably at a point were she didn’t want to be
touched by another male in this lifetime. That he might have done that to her
made me want to kill him twice.  

     She frowned, and then her eyes went wide. “Oh, he
didn’t rape me. A minute after you left I got loose and took care of him. The
only thing he did was feel me up and kiss my neck. Which was more than enough.”
She growled in remembrance.    

     The relief I experienced on her behalf was almost
debilitating. My knees almost buckled. “Are you shitting me?” I had walked away
from her and would feel guilty about that my entire life, but at least she
hadn’t been raped. She wouldn’t be weighted down by that
her
entire
life.  

     A small smile tilted her lips at my shout of relief. “I
am not shitting you.”

     “Thank fuck.” I blew out in a loud exhale.

     “Yeah.” She agreed with a nod.

     I gave her a deeply regretful look knowing that I could
never make up for what I’d done…just walking away like that. “I still feel like
the worst asshole ever. I’m unbelievably sorry, Nadia.”

     “Thank you.” She said simply and sincerely.

     At a loss now after everything had been revealed and
somewhat wrapped up, except for my profound and irreversible guilt, I shifted awkwardly.
She looked just as discomfited.

     “Uhm, I should probably get started on what I came here
to do.” She said breaking the heavy silence.

     “Can I help?” I asked instantly.

     Her brow pinched as she turned to transfer some
materials from the tool chest to a tool box. “I don’t really need pity help.”

     Shit! I didn’t want her thinking that. “Nadia, it’s not
pity. I’d just like to help if I could?” For a multitude of reasons

     Her brow arched in mocking skepticism. “I wouldn’t want
you to get your hands dirty or anything.”

     Guilt and shame weighed me down but a small grin split
my mouth at her sass. “You think I’m some pansy ass rich kid, don’t you?”

     Her gaze flickered to my mouth with a touch of surprise
before she shrugged casually reaching for the portable tool box she’d been
stocking. “If the loafers fit.”