Banished (A Retribution Novel) (9 page)

“I’m pretty sure she hates me and doesn’t want to
show me anything. Isn’t Flo here?”

He met her gaze again, a hint of a smile on his
lips, and she decided he must be enjoying her discomfort. “Flo is off for the
evening. She has a problem with swollen ankles, and her doctor ordered her off
her feet. Even if he hadn’t, I would have.”

“Oh,” she said as the awkwardness grew. “I’m sorry
to hear that. Will she be okay?” She couldn’t change her mind now. Not when Flo
obviously needed her. The size of the crowd in the dining room had made it
clear that all-you-can-eat battered fish was a popular menu item.

“Yeah,” he said with a sigh. “She works too hard.”
He pointed toward a closet behind him. “Aprons are in there.”

She followed his direction and pulled a red apron from
a hook inside, similar to the one Ryan wore. She looped a strap over her head
and fastened the ties around her. “What should I do first?”

He lifted his brows in disbelief. “You ever worked
in a restaurant before?”

She widened her eyes and shook her head, unable to
stop a smile from reaching her lips. This had to be the most ridiculous thing
she’d tried. “I’ve eaten at plenty. Does that count?”

“Hell.” He cursed but smiled.

Her thoughts jumped to the moment on the beach
when the magic and romance of the moonlight had stolen her sanity and she’d
kissed him.

“Mama said you’d know what to do.”

Longing twisted inside her, making her crave another
taste of him. “I’m a fast learner,” she said with a hopeful glance.

“How about tending the bar? You ever done that?”

She shrugged. “No?”

He dumped his mound of fish into the deep fryer and
set a timer. “Follow me.”

Violet admired the way Ryan’s jeans fit as she
followed him into the main part of the restaurant. He walked behind the bar and
tugged her in there with him.

“Listen up, everyone. This is Violet. She’s going
to be playing bartender tonight. She’s still a virgin, so I want you all to go
easy on her. She can do draft beer and a few mixed drinks.” He glanced at her
with lifted brows, and she nodded, indicating she could do that although she
never had. “If you order something out of the usual, you do so at your own
risk. Understood?”

A few whistles and claps sounded through the
restaurant, and Ryan turned to her. “Do what you can. If you get stuck, holler
for me or Cami. If you can handle the majority of the drinks, Cami and I can do
the rest, okay?”

“Okay.” The way he talked gave her confidence, and
she was suddenly happy she’d agreed to help Flo. The bar and grill emitted
energetic vibes, and she very much liked being there. She hadn’t been able to
help herself, so at least she could do something for someone else.

The next few hours passed in a fog of sloshed beer
and soda mixed with Jack Daniels. At first, she’d measured the whiskey in a
shot glass like she would have at home, but then she’d given up and eyed it
instead. The customers didn’t complain, so she either hit it dead on, or she gave
them too much, and they didn’t care.

As the dinner hour wound down, people ordered more
drinks and less food. At eight, Cami’s shift ended, and Ryan let her go home.
If it had been Violet’s restaurant, she would have bribed her to stay, but Ryan
seemed to think the two of them could handle it alone.

At nine, someone turned down the lights and turned
up the jukebox. Several couples danced to the slow songs, and Ryan joined her
behind the bar.

“How’s it going?”

She blew out a breath. “We haven’t had a rebellion
yet, so I’d say okay.”

“She’s doing great,” added her newest friend. Big Jake
had come to the bar with his lovely wife, Sharon. Both were a little older, Jake
a big bear of a man with a fluffy gray beard while his thin wife had super
short dark hair. They’d arrived nearly two hours before and spent their time visiting
with friends as they came and went. It seemed they’d known Flo for years and came
in every Wednesday for Fish and Beer Night.

Ryan nudged her with his elbow. “If Jake says
you’re doing good, then you are.”

“Thanks.” She grinned, a smoldering ember catching
fire inside her. She’d watched for him all evening, and every time he’d
appeared in the dining room, her heart had beaten faster. She couldn’t pinpoint
exactly what attracted her. Definitely his good looks, but there was something
more. Something in his haunted eyes. Something about his smile that anchored
deep in her soul.

She should keep her distance. If she laughed or
smiled too much, he’d think she’d flattened the wall she’d erected between them
days earlier. But seeing him from Flo’s point of view made it hard to believe
he was capable of hurting her. The interest in his eyes drew her in, and she
wanted to stay close, wanted to keep seeing him smile.

“Aren’t you two going to dance?” Ryan asked Jake
and his wife.

Jake groaned, and Sharon punched him in the arm.
“I haven’t gotten him to dance with me in over two years.”

“
What
?” Ryan asked in mock disapproval. “I
can’t believe you’d disappoint your woman.”

Violet switched her gaze to Jake, anxious to see
his reaction. He drew his brows together and nailed Ryan with a look. “I’ve
never left a woman disappointed.”

She couldn’t help but snicker at his underlying
meaning, and the next thing she knew Big Jake’s gaze was on her. His moustache
turned up in a grin before he turned to Ryan. “I’ll make you a deal. I’ll dance
with my wife, if you’ll ask this pretty little lady.”

Ryan lifted his hands from the bar, holding them
up as though he was about to be robbed. “I don’t dance.”

Relief and disappointment filtered through her.

Jake released a raucous laugh, and his belly
shook. “Look who’s disappointing a woman now, right Violet?”

“Oh no,” she said. “Don’t put me in the middle of
this.”

“Please Ryan.” Sharon sent him a sweet smile. “If
you dance with her, then Jake won’t be able to say no. Don’t be his excuse.”

Ryan gave Sharon a long look before he rolled his
eyes and turned to Violet. “Care to dance, ma’am?”

A forceful shiver rushed through her. She needed to
tell him no. “Okay.”

He held her gaze for a moment as though he wasn’t
certain of
her
motives, and then he took her hand. Heat coursed from his
fingers into hers as excitement mounted inside her. She tried to pretend it
meant nothing.

Dancing was a harmless excuse to be next to him,
she reminded herself. Four minutes of sensory pleasure, and she could head back
to safe territory. She’d said yes to avoid conflict and not be the source of Sharon’s
disappointment. She didn’t need any other reason than that.

Right?

He stopped and turned, assessing her as he waited
for her to move closer to him. She inhaled an uncertain breath and placed her
hands on his wide shoulders. He took her by the waist and tugged her forward
until their bodies touched.

She swallowed as she glanced upward into his eyes,
their seemingly innocent actions one of the most sensual experiences she’d had.
The uneasiness between them made her aware of each place he touched her, each
breath he took, and the way their closeness left her all soft and aching
inside.

She followed as he turned them to the slow beats
of the song, his body moving in perfect synchronicity with hers. “I thought you
didn’t know how to dance,” she said as his hips softly bumped hers.

He kept his gaze trained over her shoulder. “I
said I don’t. Not that I couldn’t.”

“I see.” She wished she could return to the first
night they’d met, when they were both looking for something to distract them
from the reality of their lives. She wanted to be there now, away from
responsibilities and expectations, where she lived only to feel the next
moment.

He surprised her when he pulled one of her hands
from his shoulder and wrapped his around it, moving their casual slow dance to
something with more finesse. She grinned as he moved them about the makeshift
dance floor, bumping a few other people in the process before he twirled her
and then resumed their original dance.

She laughed. “I take back everything I thought.”

He looked down at her, his expression thoughtful.
“What exactly would that be?”

“That you had two left feet.” She smiled, trying
to revive their good-humored moment.

“What else?”

She exhaled as the last of her amusement faded
into something more serious. “What do you mean?”

He tightened his hold on her, increasing her
pulse. “I know you looked through my closet. You didn’t put the lid back on the
box all the way.”

Heat infused her cheeks as heartbeats separated
his words from hers. What could she say?

“I’m sorry. I did. After we said good night, I
couldn’t sleep. I worried that maybe I’d made a stupid choice going home with a
man I didn’t know. I mean, really, all women need to be careful about that sort
of thing.”

He gave her a slow nod. “And you found some
newspaper articles that made you question my integrity.”

She bit her lip and agreed.

“Did you read the other stuff in the box? The articles
about commendations? The awards for service?”

“Some.” She’d seen the one about the Bronze Star Medal,
but she’d doubted him because of the others. “Honestly, I’d freaked myself out
by then.”

“So you read two newspaper clippings written by
someone who needs to sell papers, and you believed every word they said. More
so than the articles that said good stuff.” He glanced over her head. “Why is
it people are always so quick to judge and condemn?”

The song morphed into something faster, but they
continued to slow-dance.

“I didn’t know what to think. I’d had some extremely
rough days, and I only wanted to be safe.”

“Mama thinks you’re in trouble.”

She jerked her gaze upward, finding him studying
her with a sharp look. “She told you about my brother.”

He nodded. “Was she right?”

Violet looked away, no longer able to hold his
gaze without spilling her guts. “It’s complicated.” She should tell him, see if
he could help her. But somehow telling him would make it real, concrete, not a
bad dream that she might awaken from. The thought terrified her.

Ryan took her chin and forced her to look at him.
“How complicated?” The fierceness in his gaze surprised her.

Her immediate impulse was to lie or lessen what
Kenneth had done, but she couldn’t with him watching her so closely. “He…tried
to have me killed.” She sucked in a breath and held it.

He abruptly stopped dancing, and she stumbled
against him. “Are you serious?”

Buried, frustrated tears surfaced, and she pulled
away from him, heading back to the safety of the bar. She didn’t want to cry,
and she couldn’t talk about it without doing so.

He quickly caught her arm, kept a firm hold on her
as he continued past the bar toward the kitchen. “Hold down the fort,” he said
to a couple of guys sitting near the back.

Ryan pushed through the door to the kitchen,
pulling Violet along with him. She’d literally dropped a bombshell on him, and
he wasn’t about to let her get away without finishing the story. “Tell me,
sweetheart.”

She took a breath and focused on him, her dark
lashes shimmering with tears. “It’s nothing. I can handle it.”

He wasn’t sure why she seemed to be retracting her
story, but she couldn’t hide the fear in her eyes. “If you can handle it, then
why are you hiding here in Seaside?”

“I’m not hiding. I’m…” She turned away. “I’m
dealing with things,” she whispered.

Hell. He walked around and stood in front of her.
“You don’t get to tell me enough to make me care, and then shut the door in my
face.”

“I didn’t.” She seemed taken aback by his
accusation.

“That’s exactly what you’re doing. Same thing you
did to Flo, except she caught on to what you weren’t saying.” He took her by
the shoulders. “Now, tell me why you think he wants you dead.”

She opened her mouth and paused before she spoke. “Because
he wants complete control of the family business. I think he killed my father,
too. He was dying anyway from colon cancer, but his death was so sudden. He
still had months.”

He drew his finger over the healed cut near her
collarbone and she shivered. “Did your brother do this to you?”

She held his gaze, hers looking too vulnerable.
“Yes,” she whispered.

“
Jesus
.” Heated anger boiled inside him at
the thought of someone hurting her.

The kitchen door flew open, and one of the guys
he’d left in charge stepped inside. “They’re revolting. Are you going to be
much longer?”

Damn it. “No, I’ll be right there. Tell them one
minute.”

He waited until the door closed again. “We’re not
done with this conversation. Not by a long shot. You’re going to stay and help
me close, and then we’re going to talk. Until then, I want you back behind the
bar where I can keep an eye on you.”

*        *        *

Violet bit her tongue to keep from sobbing. Ryan’s
anger on her behalf and protectiveness flayed open her heart. She’d had no one
to turn to, no one to lean on, and the idea of having someone on her side
toppled her right over.

He held her hand as they headed out into the
restaurant. Big Jake and Sharon carried on enough conversation to keep her
distracted during the next hour, but she constantly found Ryan’s gaze trained
on her. It made her shiver and warmed her at the same time.

She didn’t know if she should trust him, but Flo
and everyone else who knew him seemed to believe in him, and she was beyond
desperate. He’d saved her once. Maybe he could help her again.

At eleven o’clock, he ushered the few remaining
customers out the door and locked it behind them. He cleaned the kitchen while
she wiped down the tables and mopped the floor. When she’d finished her chores,
she walked back to find him.

Her nerves felt raw and exposed. He’d made her
sound like her father, keeping everyone at arm’s length, either emotionally or
physically, and those traits in her father had always made her feel less than.
She didn’t want to be like her dad in that respect and leave everyone around
her to suffer.

She found Ryan tossing towels into the washing
machine. He threw his apron in after them. “Here’s mine,” she said as she
lifted hers over her head and handed it to him.

“Thanks.” He closed the lid and started the
washer.

Mechanical sounds filled the silence along with
the sound of running water. He turned and led her into the dimmed dining area
where it was quieter. He studied her with eyes as dark as a midnight forest.

“Talk to me, Violet. I can help.”

He was no longer someone to suspect. He was the
strong man who’d rescued her and given her a safe place to be when she’d been
wounded and scared. Whatever his past held, right now, he was all she needed.

She took a deep breath to steady herself and leaned
against a nearby counter. “My father owns…owned a shipping business. My brother,
Kenneth, has been his right-hand man for a long time until recently when my
father took ill and my brother took over. Before my dad died, he named my
brother and me as co-owners of the business because he questioned Kenneth’s
recent activities and business decisions.

“My brother wasn’t happy and tried to force me to
give up my rights, and he threatened me when I wouldn’t.” She exhaled. “I
promised my dad I wouldn’t.”

He tilted his head. “How did you get those wounds?”

“Detective Haskell, a close friend of my
brother’s, came to my father’s viewing. We’ve never gotten along. He’s always
hit on me, and I put him in his place.”

Ryan lifted a brow in interest and gave an
approving nod.

“That night, as I walked to my doorstep, he pulled
a knife on me. He cut me and would have done more if I hadn’t fought back and
escaped.”

He straightened. “
The cop
did that?”

“Yes.” Fear rose up in her again as she recalled
the terrifying, surreal experience. “He threw me to the ground. Told me I’d pay
for always being a bitch. But I punched him in the balls and escaped.”

“Maybe he acted alone and your brother wasn’t
involved.”

“I’d like to think that. I really would.” She
folded her arms in front of her, needing someone to hold. “But there have been
too many things. My dad’s suspicions, which I doubted at first. Strange people
at the office. My dad’s assistant said Haskell had been there a lot, too. Newly-created
computer files that I can’t open. The way my brother threatened me. I think
he’s into something big, and I’m in his way.”

Ryan scrubbed a hand across his jaw, sending
another wave of emotional need rolling through her. His expression and demeanor
proved he cared, strengthening her bond to him.

“So I ran immediately after he attacked me. I
drove all night and all day until I stopped here. The ocean made me stop. It
called to me. Then I met you, and this place felt right.” She released a shaky
breath.

“I have no idea who I can trust back home except
my dad’s assistant, and I need time to figure things out. She said Dad’s tox screen
showed an overdose of painkillers that the hospital hadn’t given him. The
police
deemed it suicide based on a statement my
brother
gave them.

“Except I’m not figuring anything out,” she rushed
on, the words tumbling from her now. “I have an encrypted flash drive and knife
wounds on me. Other than that I have no proof.”

He stared at her for a long moment.

“Ah, hell. That is messed up,” he whispered and
then opened his arms. “Come here.”

She didn’t hesitate. She needed him, wanted him to
hold her and make her believe everything would be okay. He offered her a soft
place to fall, and she needed that desperately. She was lost on an ocean of
fear, grasping for anyone who’d save her.

God had smiled on her when he’d sent Ryan.

When she reached him, she wrapped her arms around
his waist, and he crushed her to him. Relief from having someone to love her
sent emotion pooling in her eyes.

“Ah, baby.” He wiped the tears from her cheeks and
kissed her softly on the mouth. “I’m not going to let anyone hurt you.”

“Oh, God.” She wrapped her arms tightly around his
neck as her heartache poured out.

“It’s okay.” He drew a hand down her hair, the
sensation soothing her.

She wiped her eyes and sniffed. “I’m sorry. I
guess I’ve been holding it in.”

“Hell, sweetheart. Don’t feel bad about that. I’ve
been in a couple of situations that almost killed me, so I know what it’s like.
Staring death in the face isn’t for sissies.”

She looked up at him and studied his face. “When
you were in the Army?”

“Yeah,” he whispered.

“What happened?” She put a hand on his cheek.
“Will you tell me?”

“A lot of things happened. Too many things.” He
shook his head, his own grief showing in his eyes. “We were out one night,
heading to a patrol base in enemy territory and came under heavy fire. The
rebels cut us off. They hit a couple of guys, and we couldn’t get to them.

“I couldn’t let them die, you know? They would
have if we didn’t fire back. So I ran to where I could shoot at the sons of
bitches and clear a path for evacuation.”

He pulled his shirt over his head, giving her a
view of his glorious chest. He pointed to a puckered scar on his shoulder and
another on his chest. “They hit me, but they didn’t kill me, and the other guys
all survived, too.”

She touched his scars and then met his gaze.
“You’re the bravest person I know.”

He snorted and looked away. “Hell.”

His modesty charmed her. “Is that how you earned your
bronze star?”

He met her gaze then, his eyes fierce with honor.
“Damn straight. And then I trusted the wrong guy and lost it all. A so-called
friend was stealing confiscated weapons and selling them back to the enemy. They
busted me with his lot. I couldn’t prove it wasn’t me, so I did time, lost
everything I’d worked so hard for, and he still walks free.

“
Hell
.” He scrubbed his face before running
his hand over his hair.

She found everything she needed to know about him
burning in his gaze. The emotion that tortured him tugged on her heart. He
needed someone to save him as well.

“They can’t take everything from you.” She placed
a hand over the scar on his shoulder. “They can’t take back what you did for
those men, and they never owned what’s in your heart. You’re a hero in the
truest sense of the word. You saved your friends despite your personal cost,
and you saved me, too.”

She put a hand on his cheek, a shadow of a beard
tickling her fingers as she stood on tiptoe and pressed her lips against his. “I’ve
wanted to do that ever since the last time.”

“Violet,” he said, shaking his head as though to
warn her that she’d caught him in a weak moment.

She stared into his beautiful green eyes, wishing
she could take away all the hurt buried there. He’d bared his soul to her, and
she wanted more. “It’s okay.” She pulled his head to hers, claiming his lips
again.

He groaned as he tightened his hold on her, as
though he sought solace from her kiss. Need exploded inside her, and she buried
her fingers in his hair as she pressed against him.

He groaned and gripped her tighter. “We should
stop.”

“I don’t want to,” she said as she kissed him
again and pushed against him until he bumped into the wall behind him. She
dropped her hands to his warm chest, pressing her palms against his pecs and
then curling her nails into his skin. He felt so damn good.

“Violet,” he whispered as he cupped her ass.

“Yes.” She slid her fingers over his tight abs and
then around his back. He was so solid, so strong, and she needed to touch all
of him. Hot, smooth skin met her fingers as she greedily ran her hands across
him. It had been a good eighteen months since she’d made love with a man, and
she didn’t want to wait any longer.

She’d focused on work, on her father, which had ultimately
ended her previous relationship. Now all of that had been ripped from beneath
her like an old rug tossed out with the trash. Life had made her rethink her
priorities and had forced her to start anew. She couldn’t go home, not with the
way things were, and honestly, she wasn’t sure she wanted to go back to the way
things had been.

Not that she could.

She didn’t want to think about her father’s last
request or her brother’s ability to commit murder. She didn’t want to think about
the damn flash drive or worry if Ellen was worried about her. Her money was
dwindling, her future uncertain, and, God forgive her, all she wanted was
Ryan’s lips on hers.

She narrowed her focus to this room, this man.

“If we go much further, I’m not going to be able
to stop.” He trapped her with his heated, fierce gaze.

She loved that about him, his serious
determination, but she wanted to change his black and white view of the world.
“I don’t want to stop,” she whispered before she dropped her lips to his chest.

“Jesus.” He hissed in a breath before pushing her
t-shirt up her abdomen and over her head, leaving a shiver to ripple through
her.

He lifted his gaze to her. “I won’t deny it,
Violet. I’ve wanted you since that first night.”

“I know. I want you, too.” The Violet who’d lived
in Denver would never do what she was about to, would never seek solace in the
arms of a man. But she’d nearly died…twice, and Ryan was more than she could
resist.

She intended to start living.

She stepped out of his grasp and undid the button
on her jeans. He lifted a brow as he watched.

She gave him a slow smile as she unzipped them,
and then slowly slid them over her hips, to the floor. She tugged the black
lace into place and bent over to dislodge her feet from her jeans.

“Be careful there, ma’am. You might show more than
I can resist.”

“You don’t seriously think you’re getting out of
this, do you?”

He grinned and shook his head. “No. Not if I’m
alive.”

If she was doing this, she wasn’t doing it halfway.
“Good.”

She swallowed past the desire tightening her
throat. “All I have left are my panties and bra. Is there something you’d like
to do about those?”

“Ah, hell, Violet.” He raked a greedy gaze over
her and strode forward, his gait lithe and sexy. “You’re beautiful. Do you know
that?”

She smiled. “You make me feel beautiful.”

He grabbed her by the thighs and lifted her,
coaxing a gasp from her, but she loved it. Loved that he could scoop her up and
make her feel as though he could protect her.

She wrapped her legs around him and hung on as he
carried her to the counter of the bar and sat her down. She sat higher than he
did, and he looked up at her with his dark and sexy gaze as he settled between
her legs.