Branded (22 page)

The agony in his expression surprised her.  Was he
worried she might not care?  She turned farther, reaching up and resting her
palm on his warm cheek.

“Xander.”  She searched his eyes as his gaze bored
into hers.  “I wasn’t even
thinking
about starting a relationship when I
met you.  But now?  I can’t imagine life without you.  My future was looking
bleak, but with you, I have the will to press on.  You make life worthwhile.  I
do love you, Xander.  I love you with all my heart.”

His expression grew more pained, nailing a sharp
spike of fear into her heart.

“What’s wrong?”

His warm tiger eyes chilled, his grip on her hand
growing fierce.  “Then why are you lying to me?”

It was an effort to keep air flowing in her
lungs.  “What are you talking about?  I haven’t lied to you.”

“The money.”

He couldn’t be serious.  “The money that was
stolen from First Freedom?”  She drew back from him as though stung.  “You know
I didn’t take it.”  Where on earth was he coming from?  “You said you believed
me.”

“Then what about the offshore account?”  His steely
gaze trapped her with fierceness as panic set in.

“What offshore account?”  She completely pulled away
from him now.  “What is going on, Xander?”

He pulled a folded paper from his pocket and held
it out to her.

She opened it, first scanning and then looking
closer at the information it contained.  It was from an overseas bank in
Singapore, and it appeared to be an account that belonged to her and her aunt. 
At the bottom left, there was an amount listed at well over sixteen million
dollars. 

She glanced back at Xander, her pulse slowing to sickening
thumps.  “I don’t understand.  What is this?”

“The cards are already on the table, Nicole.  Don’t
keep trying to play me for a fool.”

“You think this is mine?”  Her voice rose to a
panicked level, causing Stormy to lift her head.

“It’s got your name on it.”

“No.  It’s not…”  She glanced at the paper again,
a tiny voice questioning whether her aunt knew about it.  “This has to be
something my father did.  I didn’t take that money.  I don’t want it.”  She
stood and tossed the paper at him.

He followed her up, gripping her waist, forcing
her to look at him.  “It’s right there in black and white, Nicole.  Do you
expect me to believe you knew nothing about it?”

“Yes.”  Tears built behind her eyes.  “Yes, I do. 
I love you, Xander, and I know you love me.”

“Then why can’t you be truthful?  I would have
protected you, Nicole. 
With my life
.”

“This is wrong! 
All
wrong.”

His gaze pleaded with her.  “Please Nicole.  Just
tell me.  At this point, there’s probably nothing I can do to stop what’s
already in motion, but if you love me, if you
ever
loved me, please tell
me the truth.”

Fear jumped to center stage.  “What do you mean,
what’s already in motion?  Did you go to the police?  Where did you get this
information in the first place?”  She glanced at her door.  How long before
they showed up to arrest her?

Heartbreak filled his eyes.  “You’re not going to
tell me?”

“Xander.”  She put a hand over her mouth.  “You
have to listen to me.  I know nothing about that account nor the money.  There
is something seriously wrong here.”

He shook his head, his expression shredding her
heart.  “You are what’s seriously wrong.  I knew what you were going in.  I
never should have trusted you.  You’re just like your father.”

“Going in?  My father?”  The illusion that she’d
had some sort of control over her world evaporated.  “What do you know about my
father?”

Defiance leapt into his expression.  “I know he
swindled my dad out of millions.  And it looks like you’re following in his
footsteps.”

Her stomach threatened to heave.  “No.”

“I know he wasn’t the only one to be pulled into
your father’s scams.  I know that the day he was killed in prison, I
celebrated.”

“You knew this before I met you?  This has all
been a lie?”  Her dinner lurched in her stomach, and she ran for the bathroom.

She continued to purge until long after there was
nothing in her but air.  When she finally regained control of her spastic
stomach muscles, she rinsed her mouth and wiped the running mascara from
beneath her eyes.

She turned to the doorway and found Xander
watching her with a heavy-lidded gaze.  His face was void of expression, a
hardness glinting in his eyes.  “You’re quite the actress.”

A tremor began deep inside her, radiating outward
until she was a shaking mass.  “I would like you to leave.”  She grasped for
anything that would keep her from falling apart.

“Because you can’t face the truth?”

She pushed past him, walking to the front door and
opening it.  He followed her to the doorway, stopping inches from her.

“I should have known better, but I fell in love
with you, Nicole.”

Her heart crumbled.  “I love you, Xander.  I wish
you’d believe me when I say I’m telling the truth.  But you won’t.  I’m sorry
about your dad.”  Her voice cracked.  “My father was a bastard.”  She looked
away, her throat tightening, and waited for him to leave.

He stood there a moment longer and then called
Apollo.  She watched his dog leave through watery eyes and then shut the door
behind them.

If she’d had anything left in her stomach, it
would have revolted.  Instead, her heart ached as though the world had come to
an end.  She took a few shaky breaths and then sought out her phone from her
purse in the bedroom.

When her aunt answered it, she could barely speak
beyond her grief.

“Oh my God.  Are you okay?”  Concern came in waves
across the phone line, sending sustenance to Nicole.

“Xander accused me of stealing the money.”  She
sat on her bed, no longer sure her legs would hold her up.

“What?  Why on earth would he do that?”

“He had a paper.”  She took another breath, trying
to stave off the tears.  “It had information about a bank account in Singapore. 
There’s a lot of money in that account, and it has our names on it.  Yours and
mine!”

Dead silence was her aunt’s answer for several
merciless seconds.  “Let me explain.”

“
No
.  Tell me it’s not true, Aunt Claire.” 
The muscles in her chest contracted as she grasped for power over her emotions,
but her efforts were as futile as swimming in quicksand.

“It’s not what you think, Nicole.”

“But the money
is
there, isn’t it?”  Cold,
gray emotion settled over her, encapsulating her heart.  Xander had been right,
and of course, he wouldn’t trust her after learning about the money.

“It has been for a while.  A couple of years. 
Your father opened the account, and there wasn’t much I could do about it
afterward.  How did you find out?”

“Xander told me.  You were right about him.  He
wasn’t being honest with me.  He knew about my dad.”

“Who was he working for?”

“I don’t know if he was working for anyone.  He
said dad stole money from his father.”  She couldn’t repeat the fact that he’d
been instrumental in his dad’s suicide.  “I think he just wanted…revenge.  Our
whole relationship had been nothing but a lie.”  She took a breath.  “Sound
familiar?”

“I was trying to protect you, Nicole.  You have to
believe me.  I haven’t touched much of the money.  I was afraid it would bring
danger to our doorstep.”

“It’s already here.”  She choked on her last
words.  “You were the one I could trust.  The one who wouldn’t lie to me.”

“Nicole.  Please listen.”

She couldn’t stand it anymore.  There would never
be a good enough reason for her aunt to withhold something like that from her. 
“I can’t talk to you now.”  She heard her aunt telling her to wait as she hung
up the phone and sank to the floor next to Stormy, burying her tears in her dog’s
soft fur.

She cried until she was dry and then picked up her
phone again, dialing Janie’s number.

“Are you home,” she asked when her friend
answered, her voice sounding nasally.

“I’m not off for another half-hour.  Are you okay?”

“No.”  She started to cry again.

“Oh God, Nic.  What happened?”

“Just…can you stop by on your way home?”

“Of course.  I’ll see if I can get off early.”

Her phone rang seconds later, and she glanced at
the caller ID.  Aunt Claire.  She tossed the phone on the bed.  Talking to her
would be pointless.  There was nothing her aunt could say to her at the moment
to make things better.

*        *        *

Xander was sure he would explode.  He knew if he
got behind the wheel he would be a liability, so instead, he threw on a jacket,
leashed up Apollo and headed for the park near Nicole’s house.

He was so fucking pissed he couldn’t get her to
tell the truth.  Why couldn’t she just say it?  He knew she cared for him.  Why
couldn’t she care more about them than she did herself?

His shoes pounded as they ate up the pavement.  He
sucked in a breath, but the crisp autumn air didn’t clear the anguish from his
soul.  If Apollo sensed his agony, he didn’t show it.  He seemed quite content
to race across the sidewalk, having no idea that Xander hoped he could outrun
his pain.

He was certain they would arrest her soon.  Sam
wouldn’t sit on it if he’d been assured the rest of the evidence would be
available before long.  The trial would ensue, but thankfully, he wouldn’t be
called to testify.  Their group always tried to bring their target to justice
without shedding any light on their vigilante activities.

The less the cops knew about them, the better.

But they knew about Nicole, and there was no going
back for her.  If only she would have trusted him.  Confided in him.

Then what?

Would he have seriously tried to escape with her?

He was afraid he might have.  Then what kind of
fool did that make him?

*        *        *

Nicole pulled herself to her feet when the knock
sounded on her door.  Twenty minutes had barely passed since she’d called
Janie.  Her boss must have agreed to let her leave early.  Gratitude swelled in
her heart.  She and Janie had always been good friends, but had never taken it
to the best friend level.

Yet here she was rushing to her aid.

It was funny how hard times could show a person
who she could count on.

She opened the door, surprised to find Riley
standing in the hall and not Janie.

“Hey Nicole.”  He took a step forward, but she
didn’t move aside. 

Stormy growled behind her, and she turned and
shushed her.  “I’m sorry, but this really isn’t a good time, Riley.”  How had
he gotten inside the building?  Come to think of it, how had Xander?

He searched her face, concern evident in his
eyes.  “Are you okay?  Anything I can help with?”

She wiped her nose with a tissue.  “No, I’m just not
in the mood for company.”

“I could make you a cup of tea or something.”  He
advanced forward again, putting his hand on the door jam and his foot on her
carpet.

His perseverance annoyed her.  “I’d really like to
be alone now.  Can I call you later?”

“I know you’re upset, but I’m afraid I must
insist.” 

Before she realized it, he’d shoved her inside and
shut the door.  She opened her mouth, but the words died on her lips when she
spied the gun hidden beneath his jacket.

“Oh my God!  Riley?”

Stormy must have sensed her fear and began
growling and barking.

“Make her stop.”

Nicole grabbed Stormy’s collar to keep her from
attacking and getting shot.  “What are you doing?  I thought we were friends.” 
There was no rhyme or reason why he’d show up on her doorstep like this…unless
he’d snapped.

“Put the dog in a room.  We’re going to talk, and
I don’t want it in the way.”

She dragged Stormy to the bedroom with Riley
following behind.  She eyed her phone sitting on the bed and knew there was no
way to get it without Riley noticing.  As soon as she shut the door, Stormy
began scratching at it and barking.

She walked back into the living room with him
following closely behind.  “If you want to talk, we can talk.  You don’t need a
gun.”

“I call it my insurance policy,” he said with a
laugh.  “But I don’t think I’ll need it, do you?”

She didn’t dare comment. 

He nodded toward the couch, and she sat, her mind
racing for a way to extricate herself.

Another knock sounded on her door, and she froze. 
Janie?  Someone else?

“Who is it?” he whispered, circling around in
front of her, pulling his gun from his jacket.

“I’m not sure.”  At least he wasn’t expecting any
cohorts that would make things worse for her.

The knock sounded again, followed by Janie’s
voice.  “Nicole?  Are you there?”

She shifted her frantic gaze to the door and back
to Riley.  “My neighbor.  I’m afraid she’ll keep knocking until I answer.”

He waved the gun.  “Get rid of her.”

With her heart pounding in her chest, she walked
to the door and opened it only a few inches.

“Sorry, it took me so long.”  Janie frowned when
she didn’t allow her entrance.

“It’s okay.  Things are actually better now.”  She
twisted her features into the most frightened expression she could.

Her friend narrowed her eyes, a puzzled look on
her face.  “Are you sure?  I thought I heard a man’s voice.”

“That’s just Jack.  He’s back from Brazil.”  She
scrambled for anything that wouldn’t make sense, praying her friend would pick
up on her clues.

Janie drew her brows together.  “I didn’t know
Jack was back,” she said in a friendly voice even though her face was a mask of
questioning concern.  “Tell him I said hello.”

“I will.”  She mouthed the word “help”, and Janie
nodded.  “I’ll call you tomorrow.”  She shut the door, certain Janie had
understood her, and now fearful of how everything would play out.