COWBOY ROMANCE: Justin (Western Contemporary Alpha Male Bride Romance) (The Steele Brothers Book 1) (28 page)

Chapter Three

Dermott

              His phone rang, but Kendell continued to sleep, her lashes fluttering as she dreamed. Last night had been more than he could have hoped. As a bear, he had certain instincts. As a man, he had the same instincts. Kendell was his mate. They were meant for each other. Perhaps that was why he had heard her in the woods when she was attacked, or why she had felt drawn to go glamping so near to where he spent his weekends. Maybe it was magic after all. Magic was the only word he could use to describe being with her.

              It was nearly impossible to leave her, but he did not want to disturb her rest, so he took the call in the study. “Yeah?” he answered.

              A female spoke. Mary. “I got your message. I did some research. I know who chases her.”

              Mary was his housekeeper, and she was old, but she was also so much more. During her youth, she had been part of the secret services in Scotland. But after her husband, and partner, died in action, she’d retired. She travelled around, did odd jobs here and there, but when her bones began to show their age, she settled on a much more low-key life, becoming his nanny, raising him like she would have the children she was denied with her husband’s death.

              “And?” he prompted.

              “The wolves work for Freddie Bottimi.”

              It was not good news. Freddie Bottimi was one of the richest men in the city, his wealth comparable to Dermott’s own. But unlike Dermott, Freddie had earned his money in the most unwholesome ways. He owned a real estate enterprise, but most of his earnings came from laundering, brutality, and other illegal means.

              “Kendell must owe him money,” Dermott reasoned, beginning to realize that she hadn’t been completely truthful with him, probably too ashamed to admit why the wolves were after her.

              Mary hesitated. “It’s not about money, Dermott. That girl – she’s not who she makes herself out to be.”

              “What do you mean?”

              “She’s involved with Freddie. Or at least, she used to be. I don’t know all the details, just that they’re connected.”

              Dermott tensed, his body taut. “They’re lovers?”

              “I believe so. Or they used to be.”

              He refused to believe it. “Then why are they chasing her?”

              “Maybe she stole something from him. Or maybe she found something out she wasn’t supposed to. I don’t know. Like I said, I don’t know all the details, just that they’re connected. She’s no damsel in distress. She’s involved in his corruption.”

              Dermott looked out the window. A summer rain began to fall, casting rainbows over the lake, but all he could feel was betrayal. He could forgive a lie said out of shame, but this went far beyond a mere lie. She was involved in something serious. He judged her for her connection to Freddie, but that was not where his hurt lies. It was in the deceit. And the knowledge that she didn’t trust him enough to be honest.

              “I need to go,” he said. “Thanks.”

              He hung up and stormed down the hallway to his bedroom. He wanted answers. Earlier, he was convinced she was his mate, but now he wasn’t so sure. He had to know what was really going on. Not wanting to scare her, though it would have been within his right, he calmed himself outside his bedroom door, steadying his rage, and then he opened it, ready to confront Kendell.

              There was no opportunity to do so. She was gone, her absence speaking volumes of her guilt.

***

Kendell

              Dermott knew.

Kendell had followed him out of the bedroom to the study, ready to jump on him again, eager for more of the spice he’d served her the night before. Then she’d overhead his phone conversation. She didn’t know what the other person on the line had been saying, but clearly it was about Freddie.

And so she went back to the room to dress, and then she ran, unable to confront him with her betrayal. The rain poured around her, slowing her down as she headed for the main road. She feared that Dermott followed her. Equally, she feared that he didn’t. Reaching the main road, she tried to hitch a ride, her frustration growing with every car that passed her by.

As always, Freddie was ruining her life. It was soul shattering. She hadn’t wanted it. She hadn’t wanted any of it. All she wanted was for Freddie to leave her alone.

              When Kendell was a teenager, she’d spent a lot of time with her cousin Derek – a wolf shifter. They were close. They always had been. She was an only child and most of Derek’s siblings were much older, so they had become like siblings.

Hanging out with Derek meant spending time with his friend Freddie, also a wolf shifter. Freddie was Kendell’s least favorite thing about her time with her cousin. Freddie was always there, leering at her, trying to win her over. To honor her cousin, she was respectful to Freddie, but she never gave him what he wanted. She never gave him her.

After high school ended, Derek moved out of state to attend college, leaving Kendell alone in the city. Thankfully, Freddie seemed to disappear too. Where, she neither cared nor asked. It was a relief. But soon, she began reading about him in the newspapers. He was doing well for himself. He seemed to have matured.

When she got an invite to meet him for dinner at one of the most exclusive restaurants in the city, she’d accepted, curious to see the man he had become. The thing was, he hadn’t changed. He still leered at her, still tried to get his way. If anything, he was worse. He thought his money gave him authority over her. He was wrong. She had ended up leaving the restaurant in a rage, listening as he called out to her with his threats, knowing it was only a matter of time before he tried to take what she would not give him.

He thought she was his mate. He was delusional. She would not touch him. She’d rather die first. When the wolves had chased her in the woods, she’d thought that was what they meant to do. Freddie would rather her dead than be with another man. Even if she had been wrong about Freddie’s intentions, even if he did not mean for her to die, it was still a dark fate he had in store for her.

It was best that Dermott knew. She shouldn’t have let him get involved. He deserved better. He deserved the happy family he craved to fill his house.

“So you finally left the nest, little bird,” a man said, stepping out from the woods. He wore a sharp suit, but he was vile, with eyes that could murder poison.

“Freddie,” she said, her guard flying high. “Where are your henchmen?”

“They’re here,” he said, looking beyond her as a black limo came up the road. “Care for a lift back to the city?”

It wasn’t an offer. It was a demand. She should run, but she was tired. She didn’t know if it was her night of love making with Dermott or the weight of the years running from Freddie’s grasp, but she was exhausted. Her body ached with fatigue. There was nowhere else to go, except where he wanted.

***

The drive back to the city was long. Freddie sat behind her in the limo like a hunter showcasing his prize. He tried to put his hand on her knee, but Kendell pushed him away, making her opinion of him clear.

              “I should kill the bear,” he deliberated as the forest around them began to thin, replaced by billboards and retail outlets. “But I’ll let him live, only because I need his business.” He brushed a piece of her hair off her cheek. His hand felt like a snake slithering against her skin. “It’s good to know powerful businessmen are your type.”

              Once again, she pushed his hand away. Not as forgiving this time, he slapped her across the face. “You will respect me, Kendell. I’m your destiny.”

              “You’re my nightmare,” she spat, denying him her fear. “I don’t know how you and Derek were ever friends.”

              He wasn’t listening. “I did this for you, you know,” he claimed. “I built my empire for you.”

              If he were any other man, she may have felt compassion for him. But Freddie was a creep. He was unkind. He didn’t warrant compassion. He warranted a grave in the ground.

              “You did this for yourself,” she said, her voice weaker than she meant. Her fatigue continued to eat away at her, and her stomach was sore. If only she could close her eyes… But she couldn’t. Not with Freddie looking at her the way he did.

              To her relief, they continued on in silence. She assumed they were heading for the mansion he had in the city, but upon crossing the city borders, the limo took a sharp left, away from the posher side of town, and to the gritty underbelly of the city, a place that made even her neighborhood look tame. They parked outside what looked like a club for heathens.

              “I just have to make a detour,” Freddie said, stepping out of the limo. “It’ll be awhile. Don’t go anywhere.” He laughed as he walked away. She couldn’t escape, even if she tried, not with three men sitting in the limo with her – three wolves.

              Knowing his men wouldn’t touch her, not without death as the penalty, she allowed her eyes to close. She welcomed sleep. At least in her sleep, she was not living out her worst fears.

              A dream filtered her away from reality. She was by the lake, rays of sunlight shining down on her peacefully. It was such a sweet serenity. She lost herself in it, opening her arms out wide as if evoking the sun, embracing its warmth. There was a familiar smell around her – earthy. Like Dermott’s dress shirt. Like Dermott himself.

              He was nowhere to be seen, but she wasn’t alone. A little bear cub stood beside her, reaching down to splash her paws in the water. She caught a fish, and instantly turned into a little girl with dark brown pigtails in her hair and cheeks full of freckles. “Look, mamma, I’m strong,” she sang, waving the fish around.

              Kendell looked around, but there was no one else there. “Are you talking to me?”

              The girl giggled. “Of course I am. Look how strong I am, mamma. And look how strong you are too.”

              Kendell suddenly woke, gasping for air. She hadn’t wanted to leave the dream, she’d wanted to scoop the little girl up in her arms and hold her tight, but a noise had woken her. It sounded like a gunshot coming from the club.

              Reliving the dream, Kendell looked down as she clenched her fist, wondering how true the little girl’s words were. Her fear transformed to anger. Thinking of the way Freddie had slapped her, and the hopelessness she’d felt unable to defend herself, she drew her fist back and punched her hand through the window of the limo. The glass broke on impact. It was easy, like slipping her hand through water.

              Before the wolves could stop her, she unlocked the door and ran, heading down a dark alleyway. Night had descended upon the city. The wolves chased her. When they caught up, one reached for her, grabbing her arm, but she pushed him away, sending him flying against the graffiti on the wall. The others were stunned. They pointed their guns at her, but they hesitated, not knowing if they should shoot Freddie’s prize. She stopped as well. Her strength was powerful, but it was no match against a bullet. It was a standoff, their weapons against her strength. Eventually, Freddie broke through the line of wolves, seething, his own gun pointed at her.

              “You think you can escape me!” he shouted. “I am all you have, little bird. The sooner you realize that, the better off you’ll be.”

              The smart thing to do would be to keep her mouth shut. But she couldn’t. Freddie may have control over her fate, but he did not own her mind. “You disgust me,” she snapped. “I prefer death over another moment with you.”

              “As you wish,” he fumed, and he shot her.

***

Chapter Four

Dermott

              As he drove back to the city in his SUV, Dermott tried to focus on the meeting he had the next morning, but he could not get thoughts of Kendell off his mind. Finding his bedroom empty had not made him angrier, it had left him in despair.

              So this is what it’s like losing a mate, he thought. Only, I didn’t lose her. She left me, probably to go back to him.

              He didn’t care that she was connected to the wolves. Her fear of them had been real. That, he could not deny. He cared that she hadn’t trust him enough to tell him the truth. That she didn’t trust he would protect her. She was in trouble, but there was nothing he could do about it. She had left. She had made her choice, even though it was the wrong choice.

              That’s what he told himself. Somewhere deep within him, his instincts cried out the opposite. She’s your mate! They screamed. Find her!

              He shook his head and turned up the radio, trying to drown out his confusion. What if he did find her? He couldn’t trust that she wouldn’t continue lying to him, or that she wouldn’t run away again, choosing the wolves over him.

              The city came into view, the silhouette of the buildings a shade darker than the night. He could see his offices from here. His building was amongst the tallest. The lights shone bright, his employees hard at work.

              Suddenly, the voice of a child whispered in his ear, “Papa, save us.”

              Nearly wrecking the car, he swerved into a ditch, a telephone pole inches from him. “What the hell was that?” he cried, and he began searching around the car, knowing full well that there was no child there.

              Something changed inside of him. He didn’t know its source, but all anger and hurt he felt towards Kendell instantly disappeared. It was insignificant. She was his mate, and she needed him. He was sure of it now. His only thought was to find her and live up to his promise to protect her.

              Sniffing the air, he caught her scent. It was intoxicating, with the honey of a meadow but the resilience of the sea. No one had a better sense of smell than a bear. Turning the SUV back onto the road, he followed her scent into the city to the more elite neighborhoods, parking just outside the mansion Freddie owned. She was in there – his mate. His family.

***