The Other Sister (Sister Series, #1) (22 page)

“You knew it wasn’t going to happen.”

“I know. I just wish I could be normal.”

“You will be one day.”

“You don’t even like me.”

He was quiet, but finally, he said softly, “I like you.”

She laughed. It came out like a strangled, sad sound. “I didn’t know that.”

“No, you just don’t know how to believe it.”

She let their conversation die. His body relaxed next to hers and his erection disappeared. “Will?”

“What?”

“I won’t see you after you leave, will I?”

“No. You won’t see me.”

“Because you think I need you too much?”

“Yes.”

“And my father?”

“Your father won’t know where you are, as far as I can help it.”

“Do you think he’ll ever get punished for any of it?”

Will suddenly tensed and shifted. His arms tightened around her, and she was surprised by the sudden change in him. The sudden blast of heat from him. “Yes. I think he’ll get punished someday, somehow.”

“Thank you. If I never have the chance to tell you but now, thank you for saving my life today.”

Will watched Jessie. Something had definitely shifted between them, and it was due to last night, and touching her. He finally let his guard down with her, even though he knew better. How does one turn down a person who could be pleading for her very soul? How do you say no to Jessie when all she wanted was the most basic human need, which she was always denied: affection. She also lacked validation. Hearing someone tell her just once that she was worthy of love, care, and respect and so much more than she’d ever been given.

He fell in love with his young, troubled, moody wife. She was not what he intended to have in his life. Neither was she whom
he wanted to love. But love her he did. She thought she couldn’t be his type, but little did she understand him. He could barely obey her wishes, and show her how to kiss and touch with no sexual connotations. How could he resist? He loved her. It was only natural for him to want to make love to her, simply because she was the woman he loved.

The only hope he saw for her, and ultimately, for them, was by leaving her. That was the last thing she thought would be best for her, however. Getting her the specific care and help she needed that he couldn’t give her, as well as getting her away from the military and her father were the only solutions in Will’s mind.

Jessie started closing up the moment the sunlight peeked through their drawn drapes. Neither of them slept. They both pretended to towards morning, but neither did. He finally got up and left her, knowing it very well might be the last time he touched her. His first and last time in one night. He had to hurry. So many things to do. Things for Jessie. Things she might never know about.

She came out of the bedroom hour
s later and glared at him. Her black hair was messed up, and her eyes were rimmed with makeup. “When does operation ‘Save Jessie’ start?”

“I leave tonight.”

She blanched. “Tonight?”

“That’s why last night happened, and why I ambushed you. I don’t have any time left, and neither do you, or we.”

She sat down on the couch, crossing her arms over her chest. She didn’t bother to pull at her nightgown, which was riding up her legs. “I think it’s all stupid.”

He smiled behind her back. “You’re right. It’s stupid.”

“You’re placating me. Don’t think I’m so stupid not to see that.”

He smiled a lopsided grin at her. “Of course, I’m placating you.”

She looked at her feet. “How long before I see you again?”

He sighed, and crouched beside her. He touched her knee so she’d look up into his eyes. “Years. Think in terms of years, rather than days or months.”

She flinched. “I don’t understand.”

“I know. I hope you will someday. It’s what’s best for you. Try to remember that, at those times when you hate me the most. Whatever I did for you was what I thought was best.”

“Fuck you. It’s the military you want. The life you want to get back to. I know what a burden I am. I know it’s easier to saddle me with Gretchen and Lindsey, than to try and deal with me.”

“It’s not easier. Not anymore.”

She opened her mouth, but nothing came out. She finally raised her eyes to him. “How do I survive without you?”

“One day at a time.”

“What about this baby? Tell me what I should do with it! How do I have it without you?”

“By healing.”

There was knocking at the door, but Will looked into her eyes for a moment longer. Then he slowly rose to his feet and answered the door. Lindsey was there, as he expected.

Jessie groaned behind him. “Wasn’t yesterday enough humiliation for even me?”

Lindsey came forward and saw her sister on the couch. “We’re just starting. I’ll be here every day.”

“Be where?”

“Wherever you’re going.”

Jessie glared at Lindsey. “Right.
You can’t just leave the post. What about the general?”

“What about
him? I don’t want to be anywhere near him. Besides. I’m taking an emergency medical leave. I can’t stay with you for as long as I want, but I will as long as I can.”

Jessie’s face slowly loosened from her scowl. Something deep, but hopeful flashed in her eyes. Will felt a physical ache just watching her. “You’re staying with me?”

“Through it all. Better late than never, right?”

Jessie finally nodded. “Late is okay.”

Lindsey smiled. “There’s a place we think you should go, and stay before you go to Will’s friends.”

Jessie looked from Lindsey to Will. “What place? Like a mental hospital?”

“Like a place for you to get the help you need. You’re not a mental patient. You aren’t sick, Jess, you’re hurt. There’s a huge difference.”

Jessie looked at Will. “You want me to go there?”

There was physical pain in his heart. The hurt and the abandonment she so obviously felt nearly made him fall down to his knees, and hug her, while telling her to stay in his apartment if she needed too. Wait for him, and he’d be back. He’d save her.

Instead, he nodded.

Tears filled her eyes. “Okay. I’ll do whatever you want.”

“Thank you.”

He glanced at the clock, and she noticed. She stood up. “You’re leaving now, aren’t you?”

“I have some things to attend to before I leave tonight.”

Lindsey stepped aside, moving towards his kitchen. Her eyes wearily watched her sister and him. “You want to come to
the base, and say goodbye there later? You can.”

“Like all the other proud military wives? No fucking way, Will. I’m not your proud military wife, am I? I’m not anything really to you. You just
—”

He stepped forward, putting his arm around her. She was about to attack and he knew it. He didn’t blame her. “Not today, Jessie,” he said quietly into her ear. “Today, you’re just going to be quiet.”

Lindsey’s eyes opened in awe when Will glanced at her. How easily he managed to stop Jessie. How easily she responded to just a little bit of care, a little bit of respect, a little bit of love.

“I want you to let your sister help you.”

“And you? Do I pretend I never knew you?”

“No. Write to me. Like you did before. Only send them through a friend of mine. This time, no one will intercept your letters.”

“Will you call me?”

“No. I won’t contact you very much.”

“Why?”

“You know why.”

“I hate you for this, soldier.”

He looked into her eyes and saw the opposite. “I know.”

He surprised her, as well as Lindsey, when he lifted her off her feet, and held her to him. In his arms. Next to his face. Her arms encircled him, and he held her. He leaned down and his lips touched hers in a soft, gentle, closed-mouth kiss that spoke of leaving and longing and all the other things he couldn’t tell Jessie.

“I told you a long time ago, someday, things would be different for you. This is the only way I know how to fulfill that promise for you.”

With that, he released her and watched her eyes filling with tears as she nearly collapsed on the couch. Lindsey came over to her and they awkwardly figured out how to hug each other. Will leaned down and gathered his bag. As he turned to leave, he saw the two sisters huddled together, tears falling from their eyes.

“Goodbye
, Jessie,” he said as he turned and left her.

General Bains stood up when Will entered his office. Will was waiting for almost an hour. The general was deliberately making him wait, hammering into Will once again how inferior he was to the great General Travis Bains.

Will saluted as he entered and stood before the general. The
secretary scurried around the office before finally, quietly, shutting the door as he left. Will dropped his hand.

The general leaned back in his chair and regarded Will. He had a strange know-it-all glint in his eye.

“You’re off for awhile, huh, soldier?”

“Yes, sir. I am. But then you arranged that, didn’t you?”

“Why would I do that?”

“To get to Jessie.”

The general smirked. “You make it sound so sinister that I want to see my own daughter.”

“You won’t see her. She’s gone.”

“Gone?” the general’s chair bobbed slightly as he suddenly sat forward. “Gone where?”

“Gone away from you.”

“I’ll get you court-martialed for that. You fucked with the wrong man, Will Hendricks. To say I’m disappointed in the soldier you turned out to be is an understatement.”

“Ditto that
, sir.”

“What does she have? What does Jessie have that you would ruin your life like this? A magic pussy or something? Let me tell you, son, you can find another one just around the corner. Hell, probably in the next office over.”

“Why her? Why did you abuse her and not Lindsey?”

“Do what, soldier? Abuse her? I was merely trying to get the best out of her I could!”

“You pimped her to your friends. You arranged for her kidnapping in Mexico. Why was it all directed at Jessie and never Lindsey?”

The general’s mouth opened, and his left eye twitched. Other than that, he was completely still. “When did she tell you all that? You really are a chicken shit to believe her.”

“She didn’t tell me. I figured it out. You were always mean to her. That’s why she didn’t fight you when you started offering her to your friends. She was already broken by you.”

“You don’t know shit. I’ll have your ass for this.”

“It’s because she’s not yours, isn’t it? Jessie isn’t your daughter. Her mother cheated on you. That’s why you only abused Jessie and left Lindsey alone.”

The general’s face turned red, then purple, and the veins in his face bulged like he was about to have a stroke. Will only hoped he would.

“God, you believe everything she spins for you, don’t you?”

“She doesn’t know. She doesn’t know why. It took me awhile to figure it out. But I know now. Why did you have to hurt her so much? Even if she wasn’t yours, why would you be such a perverted fuck to her?”

“My wife never cheated on me. She wouldn’t have dared.”

“But she did, didn’t she? What did you do to her? What happened to her? That’s the thing Jessie is strangely unclear on. How and why did her mother leave her?”

The general slammed his fist onto his desk. “Your life is going to hell for this.”

“No. It’s not. Nothing is happening to me. To Jessie. Or to Lindsey. I have proof. And you’re not going to fuck with me or Jessie ever again
, or it all hits the press before you can shit. And if something ‘accidentally’ happens to me during my deployment, don’t worry. I have it safely and securely guarded. Just in case, sir.”

“You have nothing.”

“It took me awhile. I finally decided to follow the money. The trail from you to Mexico. To her kidnappers. I found them again. It was easy to get them to see my way, because they wanted to live. They gave me the proof I needed. Photos even. Why did you do it? Why did you do that to her on top of everything else?”

General Bains was so quiet, a pin dropping would have made an echo. “She wasn’t supposed to be raped.”

Will let out his breath with a sigh. He was right. He was playing Russian Roulette with the general, and never thought Bains would cave to him. Never.

“Then what?”

“Scared straight was the goal, and the purpose. She went too far. The sex tape made a joke of the military. She was ruining everything. I had to do something.”

“What happened then?”

“She disappeared. I finally tracked down where they took her. But they wanted more money, so much more than we originally agreed on. I didn’t know that was going to happen to her. I didn’t know they’d, do... what they did to her.”

“You didn’t even care.”

“I didn’t know how to change it. If it ever came out, it would ruin me.”

“What about her?”

“She brought it all on herself. She was and is impossible.”

“You wanted her saved though?”

“I’m not a monster.”

Will stared at the general in astonishment. The only part Will believed was that the general thought he wasn’t a monster.

“You’re done with Jessie. I mean it. You’ll never contact her again. You’ll never do another thing to harm her. If you do, I will destroy your career, your reputation, your entire life, and send you to prison, where you belong. Fuck with Jessie or me, and I’ll make sure you’ll get so fucked, you’ll finally know what Jessie went through.”

General Bains stood up. “You can’t do anything to me.”

Will smiled. Clicking off his phone, he raised it and showed the gun he had unsheathed in case the general attempted to take the recording. “I can do anything I want to. I own you now.”

His stunned face grew more serious. “You don’t have the money trail. You have nothing.”

“I have the truth. The truth, sir, is on my side.”

The general fell into his chair. His face turned gray, and his eyes seemed to age years before Will. “And Lindsey? She... she knows?”

“Nothing. Nothing real, that is. Jessie wanted to spare her the pain she lives with daily. Good luck, however, getting Lindsey to ever forgive you for how little help you gave to Jessie. Lindsey’s eyes are wide open, sir.”

“What are you going to do?”

“My job.”

The general stared. “Meaning?”

“Meaning just that. Never contact Jessie again and you’ll never hear from me again.”

The general took a breath before a smile crept onto his
face. “Because you don’t want Jessie’s name drug through the shit again, do you? You’re just as stuck with this information as you were before. You can’t reveal it, anymore then I want it revealed.”

“Oh, I can and I will. Jessie didn’t do anything to deserve it. But I would do it. I would love to do it. The only reason I won’t? Your daughter doesn’t deserve that.”

“Lindsey?”

The general’s Achilles heel. He had actual affection for Lindsey and she seemed to be the only
one that evoked a sense of accountability.“Yes, Lindsey. So are we agreed?”

The general was quiet for a long while before he finally nodded. Will accepted it and turned to leave. He hoped the general bought it, because the general was correct. There was no way he could ever drag Jessie through the courts to expose her father. Never. He would never do that to her. So he had to hope the general would let Jessie go because he didn’t want to lose whatever was left of his relationship with Lindsey. Despite his faults and despicability, he loved Lindsey.

Will hoped that Lindsey loved her sister more. He was counting on it.

Will departed that night for the first of
several deployments. His heart was heavy, sad, and almost as broken as he feared Jessie’s would always remain.