Loving a Bad Boy (45 page)

“
I thought –”

She wasn’t interested in what he
thought.

“
What exactly did he say?
Is he here for Tex?” She prayed.
Please
God let him be here for me
.

“
I’m not—”

“
He is, isn’t he?” she
fretted. “I should’ve known better.” All of her insecurities rose
to the surface, drowning her reason.

He frowned. “What? I didn’t say –”

“
He’s rich, young and good
looking, there are a lot of women who want him.” She ticked off
each of his asset with her fingers. “I really like him,” her breath
hitched as she pushed back the pain.

“
I wouldn’t a
guessed.”

Pam ignored what sounded like sarcasm and
continued. “A lot. I mean, I like him a lot. I thought we had
something special. But now…I’m not sure.”

“
What you
mean?”

She shrugged, not wanting to allow him entry
into her private pity party. He’d known Julio was here and hadn’t
told her. What else had he hidden from her? She’d stop blabbing her
secrets since he had no problem holding onto his. With a
self-righteous twist, she turned away from him.

“
This man comes all the
way from the states to see you and now you don’t want to see him!”
His voice rose slightly with incredulous inflection.

“
I didn’t say that.” She
slid closer to the door as her smug bubble burst. She had to get
someplace where she could think.

“
Not exactly.” He sounded
pissed. “What should I tell him?”

Hand on the doorknob, she pivoted slightly,
her lower teeth nibbled on her top lip briefly. “I doubt you’ll see
him again, but if you do, just bring him here,” she said.

“
Bring him here? You want
him here wit your mama laid low?” The growl in his voice was
unmistakable. Even though it was his original suggestion, she knew
he didn’t want Julio anywhere near the house.

“
I won’t leave her, so to
see him at all, he’ll have to come here.” Heart heavy, she left the
room.

****

“
Where is she?” The words
carried from the hall.

The heavy sound of footsteps woke Pam.
Bleary-eyed, she leaned up on her elbows, and peered at the clock
on the bedside table. She did a double take, it was nine am. A jolt
of panic shot through her as she rolled out the bed. Crap, she had
slept through the night without checking on mama.

The door creaked open, allowing a sliver of
light to fall on her face. “Hey,” Pam snapped, lifting her arm to
cover her face from the glare of morning light.

“
Pam?” Tara
whispered.

Stunned, Pam’s arm fell as she stepped back
so she could see. “Tara? What? What are you doing here?” Last Pam
had heard, Tara was back in Florida finishing her last semester for
this year. Tara’s hands stretched out in Pam’s direction.
Surprised, she shared a tight embrace with her niece.

“
You okay?” Pam whispered
as Tara trembled in her arms. Alarmed, she pushed the younger girl
back and looked up. Fear slammed into her. “What happened?” She
shook her niece when she didn’t speak. “What happened?”

“
Tex…”

Pam froze. Something had happened to her
friend. “What about Tex? Is he okay?”

Tara’s tremors escalated into a full scale
body shaking. Dread swamped Pam as Tara fell apart in her arms. The
younger woman’s grip tightened around Pam’s waist. Tara shook so
hard, Pam had to lower her to the bed, unless they’d both fall.

Stomach queasy, Pam pushed down her thoughts
of Julio. If something happened to him, she couldn’t handle it.
Instead she focused on Tara, her mama, even her daddy, rather than
let her thoughts go crazy with worry about Julio.

As the cries subsided, Pam pushed Tara back
a tad, and stared into her face. She flinched at the bruises
covering the right side. Leaning hard on her professional training,
Pam looked her niece over for additional damage. Inside, her heart
broke at the sight of wrapped wrists and a bandaged knee. Someone
had hurt her niece badly.

“
What happened? Who….”
Infuriated, she pushed back the acerbic words on her tongue and
modulated her tone. “Who did this to you?” Pam prayed Tex wasn’t
the guilty party. Her brother would kill him, and by extension,
Julio. Dread latched onto her as she waited for Tara to speak. None
of this made sense. Julio returned to the island. Her niece comes
as well, and then she’s beaten. Surely the two weren’t connected,
or were they?

“
I was going… going to see
Tex.” Tara paused and wiped her eyes.

It hurt to see the red splotch in the white
of her niece’s right eye. Someone had hit her. Gritting her teeth,
Pam rubbed Tara’s arms until she composed herself.

“
Go on,” Pam encouraged.
The need to be sure Julio wasn’t involved rode her hard. Her heart
ached with not knowing.

“
I went to Tex’s place.
Pulled in the driveway.” Tara paused again, inhaling
deeply.

Pam waited to hear if the man she loved was
involved in this brutal act. “Was he there?” she prompted.

“
Yeah. I didn’t know that
at first. There were some other guys out front.” She cleared her
throat. “One of them grabbed me out of my car and slammed me up
against it. I tried to speak, ask questions, but he squeezed my
neck so hard, I…I couldn’t.”

Pam’s heart plummeted.
When they’d first met, she’d thought Tara was so tough and nothing
got her down. But everyone had a breaking point. She pulled the
younger woman close and laid her head on her shoulder. “It’s okay.
You don’t have to say anything more.”
What
about Julio
? Her mind screamed. Well,
she’d just have to find out another way.

“
No, no I need to tell you
what happened. Julio was there.”

Pam stiffened. “Yeah?”

Tara lifted her head, her lips twitching.
“Don’t try and act like you don’t care. Tex told me you and Julio
had a thing going on that was pretty serious.”

Heart lightning, Pam nodded. “Okay, tell me
what happened.”

Tara wiped her eyes as she sat up, taking
Pam’s hands. “This asshole was hitting me and I couldn’t fight back
in the position I was in, that’s the only reason he got to me like
this.” Her eyes dared Pam to contradict her.

Pam nodded, wanting her to continue.

Pleased, Tara squeezed her hands again.
“Finally I got in a kick straight to his balls. That’s when he
pulled out his gun.”

Pam’s breath hitched, and her hand flew to
her mouth to stop her from saying something crazy. “Gun? He put a
gun against your head?” Well, repeating Tara’s statement was safe
even if it was redundant.

Tara sniffed again. “Yeah. Started yelling
he was going to kill me.” She frowned. “I wonder why he didn’t fall
down after I kicked him.”

“
Yeah.” Pam said,
wondering where that’d come from. The whole story sounded bizarre.
Based on what she knew and had been told, things like this didn’t
happen on Cat Island. It didn’t make sense. Tara’s head snapped up.
Pam noticed the tears in her niece’s eyes, but didn’t remark on
them.

“
Anyway, he had this gun
to my head.” Tara’s hand flew up and she placed a finger against
her temple. “Started talking bunch’a stuff. For real, I can’t
remember what he said after I felt the metal from the gun. I
thought about mama, daddy, my brothers. Even you and Tex.” She
offered Pam a small smile as she grabbed her hands again. Pam
nodded as tears pooled in her eyes for all Tara suffered.
But why
?

“
Then he pushed me toward
the path leading to the front door. Somebody yelled something to
somebody inside. I didn’t know what was going on. I was too scared
to listen.” She lowered her gaze. “I was praying daddy or Pops
would come save me. Hell, anybody could’ve saved me and I woulda
been happy.” She paused and then whispered. “I thought I was about
to die. Seriously. The look on his face when he called me a
whore.”

She shook her head sending a trail of water
down her cheeks. “It was as if he hated me. And I didn’t even know
him. Plus, I’m not a whore.” The vulnerable look in Tara’s eyes
begged Pam to validate her in some way.

“
You aren’t a whore and
you know that. He’s a nobody who was trying to get under your skin,
don’t let him win. You’re a beautiful person in and out, don’t
start doubting yourself now."

Tara wiped her face and released a breath.
“Ma said the same thing. But she don’t know what you know…know what
I mean?”

Pam nodded, remembering how quickly Tara and
Tex had hooked up. “Yeah, but my answer is the same. You’re not a
ho or whore, however you want to say it,” she said again, stronger
this time to make sure Tara understood.

“
Thanks.” Tara sat
straighter. “We were halfway up the walkway, when somebody attacked
him from behind and he pushed me to the ground.” She waved at her
bandaged knees. “That’s what happened to my legs. I crawled away to
the side, watching the two men fight. That’s when I realized it was
Tex.” Her face lit up when she said his name.

“
Tex?” Pam didn’t doubt
his ability to fight, but she’d been expecting to hear Julio’s
name.

“
Yeah. He was beating the
shit out of that guy while I heard some shooting somewhere. I
rolled to the side, covered my head and watched. I’ve never seen
anything like it. Once Tex got on top, he kept punching until the
guy stopped moving.” Tara frowned. “He picked up the dude’s gun,
looked at it, and then pointed it at the guy. That’s when I called
his name.”

She looked at Pam as though she was trying
to figure out something. “I yelled to him that my leg hurt. He
looked at me. Then back at the guy on the ground. That pissed me
off cause my arms, face and legs were hurting like hell and the
guns had stopped. I started yelling and cursing for him to get his
ass over here and take me to the doctor.” She chuckled. “You
shoulda seen the look on his face. He probably didn’t remember I
was there. He tucked the gun in his pocket, picked me up and took
me to my car. I had to wait while he went inside, but I didn’t care
until I saw him and Julio arguing on the porch. They were looking
around. Some other men came outside and they started looking
around. I got out the car and asked what they were looking for.
Julio walked over to the car.”

Profound relief poured over Pam knowing he
was okay.

“
He asked if I was
alright. I’d barely answered him before he asked if I knew where
you were.”

Pam’s heart skipped a beat. “He did?”

Tara smiled. “Yeah. I told him you were
here. He asked if I knew how to get to Papa’s place, and I said
yeah.” She grinned evilly. “But I made him wait until I got checked
out. Boy, you shoulda seen how hard he clenched his jaw. I thought
it was gonna break.” She laughed and then winced holding her
jaw.

“
Yeah?” Pam grinned,
overjoyed at Tara's words.

“
Yeah. First thing this
morning, he and Tex were knocking on my door. Daddy talked with
them a bit, thanked them for yesterday. But Julio wasn’t interested
in talking.”

Giddy with excitement, Pam held her breath.
“He wasn’t?”

Tara shook her head, her swollen lips
refusing to allow her to smile bigger. “As soon as there was a
break in the conversation, he asked about you. Told my dad he
wanted to come see you. You shoulda seen daddy’s face. His brows
rose so high on his forehead it was funny. Julio just got up and
walked over to me, asked me if I was ready. I felt sorry for him
and said yes.” She held her hands out in a “ta-da” movement, “and
here I am.”

Pam hugged her, mindful of her bandages.
“I’m so glad you’re alright. I didn’t know you were here. When did
you get here?”

Tara eyed her dubiously. “I got here a few
days ago. But, did you miss the part where I said Julio brought me
here to see you. I asked for a few minutes to talk to you, but that
man is not going to wait long. He’s going to come looking for you
and then Pop’s is gonna get mad.” She stood up slow and pulled Pam
up. “Wash your face and brush your teeth. I love you, but morning
breath is no way to greet your man.”

Pam’s hand flew to her mouth as she headed
to her bathroom. “Ugh, you should’a said something.”

“
I was too caught up in
yesterday’s horror to focus on current sights and smells.” She
waved at Pam. “Go ahead, but make it quick. I’ll pull you out some
clothes.”

“
Thanks,” Pam said rushing
into her bathroom. Alight with pleasure, she whipped through her
morning routine. Stepping out of the bathroom, she grimaced at the
tights and large top Tara had placed on the bed.

“
Hey, don’t blame me for
your bad wardrobe choices, there’s not much in here. Where are your
clothes?” Tara asked while leaning carefully on the bed.

“
I left them at Tex’s.
Daddy was supposed to go pick them up, but Tex was never there when
he went around.” Pam pulled on the black leggings and
stood.

Tara snorted. “Tell me you don’t believe
that.”

Pivoting slightly, Pam answered. “Why
wouldn’t I believe him?”

“
Really? Pops is all about
Pops, don’t you know that? If you'd had your clothes, you could
leave and go out in the village, meet new people, make friends.
Very few people even know about this place, let alone come up in
here. He keeps to himself and don’t let nobody in.”

“
You’re here.”