Unwritten (2 page)

He pushed off from the doorframe and approached the bed. The scent of alcohol reached her before he did. Kian didn’t drink often, and when he did, it wasn’t much because he liked to keep his faculties about him. He staggered and bumped his foot against the nightstand, giving her the impression he’d broken his personal rule. She didn’t blame him.

“I thought you were asleep.”

She slid over a little in the bed when he sat down. “It doesn’t matter. I’m glad you’re home.” He removed his jacket, and she helped him get his shirt off. Her fingertips found his warm, taut skin, and her body came to life. He lay down, and she leaned across to kiss his lips. He didn’t respond. “I love you, Kian. I’m sorry this happened. I never meant for it to. If I’d known…”

“I know. Just…”

“Just what?”

He rolled over on top of her and spread her legs. His hand at her apex made her wet, and she pumped against his hand. “Do you want to?” he asked, his mouth at her throat. How could he even ask? One touch from him lit her on fire from the very first day they’d met.

“Yes.”

He sat up. “Then be quiet and take off your nightgown and panties.”

She gaped at him. He’d never been mean. Never. Even when he was angry and they disagreed, he would argue, but he maintained control. Once again, she forgave him and raised her hips to slide the nightgown higher. He watched in silence and made no attempt to help. He didn’t caress her breasts or pinch her nipples, as he was wont to do whenever they made love. When she tried to move so she could take her panties off, an awkward task with him between her legs, he brushed her hands aside. Strong fingers curled into the fabric, and he ripped it to shreds.

“Kian.”

He lay down on top of her and checked how wet she was before he raised her knees and plunged deep into her heat. She cried out, not because it hurt, but because of his lack of feeling, his attitude as if the intimacy they had shared for more than five years was just to satisfy a physical urge.

Tears welled in her eyes when he gripped her upper thighs, arched his hips, and then plunged into her again and again. She struggled to find words to ask him to do it right, but how could she say it? They loved rough sex. He’d pounded into her up against walls and over the couch, even across the kitchen table, so why was it different this time?

“K-Kian.” Her pussy clenched, milking his cock, squeezing it. She’d worked hard to keep her core muscles tight so she could please him, and from his grunts in her ear, she knew he liked it. She did too. Her orgasm built from the moment he penetrated her, but she needed more than physical satisfaction.

Kian picked up the pace. He pumped deep and hard into her pussy, crushing her into the mattress with his heavy bulk. Her pussy stretched around his thick cock, and the eight inches, which never fit as well from the front, hit too far in, and she winced. Kian jerked out of her, and she sighed in relief, but he only flipped her over to her belly and entered her sex again. His hands slid down her sides, and he pulled at her hips.

“Arch,” he commanded.

She did, pushing her ass up to him. He filled her to capacity, and she moaned. Maybe if she showed him what she needed, he’d understand. She reached up to his face and stroked it, captured his jaw and leaned in for a kiss. Kian kissed her back, but she might as well have been a prostitute as his wife. A lump rose in her throat. She wouldn’t cry, not again.

He shoved into her once then twice more, and she reached her hand down in front of her to pinch her clit. Kian jerked out of her, and the next thing she knew, he’d come on her ass and rolled away.

Evie lay frozen in place, shocked, hurt, angry, and confused. She licked her lips. “Um, did you just…”

He turned his back to her. He fluffed a pillow and stuffed it beneath his head. “I want you to go back on the pill.”

A knife of pain in her chest took her breath.

“It’s for the best. We don’t need a child.”

“R-right now, you mean?”

He said nothing more, and soon his soft snores broke the room’s silence.

Chapter Two

Two years later

“Cupcake, got a customer who says you promised to go out with him tomorrow night.”

Evie peered down the bar to where Leo indicated and chuckled. “You know I don’t date the customers. Besides, that guy says that every night, as if he’ll trick me into going to dinner with him.”

Leo smacked her ass. “Good, save it for me. I’ll straighten him out later.”

Evie rolled her eyes. “I don’t need you to fight my battles, Leo. He’s harmless. Leave him alone, and keep your hands off my butt before I sue you for sexual harassment.”

His expression said he didn’t believe her. “I’m your boss and your landlord. You’d be lost without me.”

“I would quit tomorrow to prove you wrong. You know me better than that!”

He held up his hands in surrender. “Okay, you win. I have you back, and I’m not going to run you off. Hands to myself—for now.”

Evie didn’t believe him. He’d been claiming to reform for months, and she hadn’t seen it yet. The decision to take Leo up on his offer of a place to stay and a job had been a tough one. Living in Leo’s building and working in his bar felt like she had taken a step backward, but she hadn’t had many choices at the time. She needed to put distance between herself and her husband.
Ex-husband now
. The divorce had gone through a year and a half ago, another hard choice. She loved Kian, but his coldness toward her and the way he’d all but turned his back hurt too much to deal with. They had gone to marriage counseling at first, but it seemed like she was always apologizing for her mistake, and although she still fought with guilt, she knew in her heart she deserved better than the daily punishment Kian served, even if he didn’t mean to do it.

Shaking herself from thoughts of the past, she smirked at Leo. “I’ll believe that when I see it.”

Leo flipped a nozzle forward and filled a glass with beer, then sent it sliding down the counter. When he wiped his hands on a cloth and flipped it over his shoulder, he approached her. His rough fingers brushed her cheek. “All you have to do is give in.”

Evie waited for her body to ignite like it had done with Kian’s touch, but nothing stirred. She still loved Leo in her own way, but not the way he wanted. Sometimes, she wondered if she was being fair to him letting him help her, staying close by. Maybe she should move out of North Carolina and go somewhere no one knew her to start over.

While she pondered leaving town and Leo waited for her response, the noise level and music blaring continued all around them. Customers shouted to each other in conversation above the din, and others called for another drink. In the midst of it all, Evie had the distinct feeling someone watched her. She ducked out of Leo’s reach and turned to scan her surroundings. Several men cast her appreciative glances, but that was nothing new. A couple signaled to her, and she served them drinks. The sensation continued throughout the night until Leo announced last call.

The crowd began to thin out, and Evie got a better look at all the faces. No one she recognized was among the crowd, rather just the regulars, those who didn’t seem to want to go home and had nowhere else to go. Leo shuffled stragglers to the door, and Evie walked to the storage room to locate bottles of Hennessey to restock the front. Leo’s raised voice reached her, which she heard clear enough now that he’d turned the music down.

“What the hell are you here for? Do you have a search warrant?”

Evie’s heart raced. She almost dropped the bottles in her hands, but clenched them tightly. Leo would kill her for the waste if she broke them, plus take the cost from her pay. She made decent money tending bar, but she saved most of it for when she decided what to do with the rest of her life.

Maybe whomever he spoke with was the regular police. There was no reason to think it was the FBI, more specifically Kian. Licking her lips and rolling her shoulders, she started toward the front, but froze in the doorway when she spotted him. He looked the same—same dark hair, same big, muscular build and air of authority. He still wore suits, the jackets of which did not disguise the perfect body with not a hint of excess flesh. He glared at Leo with those icy green eyes, eyes that had softened whenever they focused on her—until the incident.

Of course not much time had passed since she had seen him last, but every day over the last year and a half had felt like a thousand, and she’d just recently begun to believe she would be okay without him. Now, here he was. Did he sense his hold slipping, so he had come to strengthen it?

“I haven’t come to accuse you of anything or to search your bar,” Kian bit out through clenched teeth. “Trust me. The last place I want to be is here.”

“Then what?” Leo stood with his feet apart, his knuckles on his hips, as if that would threaten Kian. Sure, Leo met her ex-husband nose to nose. Both were tall men, but Kian had Leo by about forty pounds of muscle, if she had to guess, and being FBI, he had training that meant he could take a man’s life in seconds. She knew for a fact Leo could handle himself, but still, her money went to Kian in a fight between the two, and she did not want to bail Leo out of jail should he assault an officer of the law.

She strode over to the two men on shaky legs and hoped her expression hid how much Kian threw her off being there. “Cool it, Leo.” She grabbed his arm and tugged, but he wouldn’t be moved. Kian kept his gaze on her ex-boyfriend a moment longer, and then the frosty stare slid to her. A chill raced down her spine and then changed in an instant to fire in her belly. Her throat dried, and she dared not lick her lips again, because he watched for signs such as that. “What are you doing here, Kian?”

He didn’t answer, but continued to stare at her, saying nothing, his face an unreadable mask. Not until the other man spoke did she realize Kian hadn’t arrived alone. She had been too focused on Kian to notice him.

“Ma’am, we’re here because—”

“Taggert,” Kian interrupted. He glanced at the other agent and then looked at Leo. “If there’s somewhere we can speak in private?”

Evie’s mouth fell open. He did not just ignore her as if she didn’t exist. Never mind the fact that he’d been staring at her nonstop. She started forward, but Leo threw his arm out to stop her. “Whatever you have to say can be said in front of Evie. I don’t have anything to hide from her.”

Kian frowned. She knew he jumped to the conclusion that she and Leo were dating. She just caught herself from rolling her eyes. The idiot did that on purpose, and she knew it. He would pay for it later, but then again, why should she care what Kian thought? Let him believe she’d moved on, even if it wasn’t true. There hadn’t been anyone since him, and he didn’t need to know she would not choose Leo when she felt like dealing with the emotional turmoil of a relationship again.

Kian spared her a glance and then spoke to Leo. “Anthony Paine has escaped from prison.”

Evie didn’t know she had fainted until she glanced up to find Kian lowering her onto a couch in Leo’s office. She pushed at his chest and could have sobbed at the tense muscles, so unyielding and sexy. “Get off me, Kian!”

“You didn’t have to catch her,” Leo said over his shoulder. “I’ll take care of her.”

Kian sneered at him. “You’re too slow.” He made sure she was settled on the couch and then released her to step back.

Her head spun, and Leo disappeared only to return seconds later. He held a glass of amber liquid out to her. “Drink it.”

She took the glass with gratitude and took a sip. The alcohol burned going down, but it did fortify her a little. “Tell me I misheard you,” she whispered.

“This is why I wanted to speak with Mr. Vitali in private, Evie.”

“I’m fine, Kian. Besides, my welfare isn’t your concern anymore.” She sat up.

“I wouldn’t wish it to be,” he growled back, and she itched to smack his face.

Taggert looked from Kian to her and back again. His eyes widened. “Wait, it took me a minute, but Evie Sloane? You’re Agent Sloane’s wife.”

“
Ex-
wife, thank you very much.”

At both Evie’s and Kian’s glower, Taggert’s teeth snapped together, and he said no more. Evie had no doubt Kian knew where she lived and who owned the bar where she worked. When he saw her, no surprise registered on his face. He’d known she might be here, but he hadn’t informed his partner. Taggert seemed to come to the same conclusion, and from the expression on his face, he didn’t appreciate it.

“As I was saying,” Kian said, “Anthony Paine has escaped from prison, and the FBI believes he may be headed here.”

“To get his revenge on me, huh?” Leo asked. “My testimony put him behind bars. I guess I don’t blame him for wanting me dead.”

“That’s not funny, Leo.” Evie’s stomach stirred, and she swallowed, hoping she could keep it together.”

“I’m not making a joke, cupcake.” He touched her face, but she smacked his hand away. Enough was enough with the pretending they were a couple. He grinned when Kian scowled. “I did it for Evie, to make sure she was safe, and if I had to do it all over again, I would. You’re the fool who let him get out of a maximum-security prison, so you better find him quick.”

“We don’t need you to tell us how to do our job,” Kian shot back. “I wanted to inform you of the situation. We will be around should Paine show his face. If he contacts you, I expect you to give me a call.”

“You can expect anything you want.” Leo took the offered business card and crumpled it in his fist.

Kian turned to go, but she jumped to her feet. “Wait, Kian. Shouldn’t you put him in protective custody or something, a safe house?”

Her ex-husband frowned. He started to speak, but Leo cut him off. “Why would they do that? They want me out in the open to draw Anthony into revealing himself. Don’t you realize, Evie, he’s leaving you open too. After all, you’re Anthony’s cousin. Why wouldn’t he come find the woman he loves like a sister? If he’s thinking of fleeing the country, he’ll take you of all people with him. Isn’t that right, Agent Sloane?”