Obsession (Steel Brothers Saga Book 2)

T
his book contains
adult language and scenes, including flashbacks of child physical and sexual abuse, which may cause trigger reactions. This story is meant only for adults as defined by the laws of the country where you made your purchase. Store your books and e-books carefully where they cannot be accessed by younger readers.

“
Y
ou
what
?
”

My sister, Marjorie, whipped her hands to her hips, her brown eyes wide and angry.

I let out a sigh. “You heard me the first time. I asked Jade to leave.”

Marjorie shook her head, her lips trembling. “I don’t get you, Talon. Jade is the sweetest person in the world. She’s the best friend a girl could have, and she’s been there for me every time I’ve needed her. It gave me great joy to help her when she needed help, to let her come live here and start her life over after her she got humiliated on her supposed wedding day. Why in God’s name would you ask her to leave?”

How could I answer? Jade had only been gone since this morning, and already an emptiness had surfaced. Even in this sprawling ranch house, the loss of Jade’s body, her soul, was measurable—a thickness that was damn near visible. It percolated through me like a cold fog.

“Damn it, Talon, you owe me an explanation.”

Marj spoke the truth. I just didn’t know how to put my explanation into words without telling my sister things I didn’t want her to have to deal with. My brothers having to deal with them was bad enough.

“So you’re really just going to stand there with your mouth hanging open like an idiot, huh?” Marj bit her bottom lip. “Fine. I’ll call Jade.” She stomped off.

My skin tightened around me. Jade would probably tell my sister that I’d been screaming like a maniac before I booted her out of our house, but at least she wouldn’t be able to tell Marj the truth. Jade didn’t know the truth. She didn’t know I’d had a flashback while she was massaging me.

I reached down and gave my mutt, Roger, a pet on the head. He licked my fingers.

Even canine loyalty wasn’t going to cheer me up today. Life was about to get hard. Not that I wasn’t used to that, but this time, emotion was involved—emotion that was new to me. I sucked in a deep breath. I’d go to the guest house and talk to Ryan. My younger brother’s door was always open. After all, I was a hero in his eyes.

What bullshit.

But Ryan would listen. He always listened, and I had to tell someone what had gone on between Jade and me.

I had to tell someone that I had fallen in love.

What else could it have been? Even now, having only been separated from her for twenty-four hours, she still invaded my thoughts. Her golden-brown hair flowing over her creamy shoulders, her ruby-red lips so full and kissable with the taste of strawberries and champagne. The silvery-blue eyes that darkened and smoked ever so slightly when she was turned on. Her beautiful breasts with brownish-pink nipples that were always hard for me. That soft sigh that escaped her lips every time I entered her.

I had hungered for her since the first time I laid eyes on her, and with each kiss, each touch, each minute in her presence, that craving had turned quickly into an obsession.

Jade Roberts was now as essential to me as oxygen, as sustenance, as water.

And I had thrown her out of my house.

“Come on, boy,” I said to Roger. “Let’s go see Ryan.”

I opened the French doors out of the gourmet kitchen onto the redwood deck, followed the pathway half a mile to the guest house, and knocked.

My brother opened the door. “Hey, Tal, what’s going on?”

“Do you have a few minutes?”

“Sure.”

“I wasn’t sure I’d find you home on a Saturday evening.”

Ryan let out a laugh. “I put in a twelve-hour day, and I’m too freaking bushed to go out. Why aren’t you in the city?”

Good question. My brothers both knew I tended to spend weekends in the city—meaning bedding cocktail waitresses or anyone else who threw themselves at me to release the pressured steam of my life. Maybe Ryan and Jonah hadn’t noticed, but ever since Jade moved to the ranch, my trips to the city had been fewer and farther between.

“The city doesn’t offer much for me anymore.”

Ryan widened his eyes. “Come on in. Sounds like you need to talk.”

I entered, Roger panting happily at my heels. Ryan led me through the living area into the kitchen to the laid-back family room. He walked behind the bar. “I’m guessing you could use a drink.” He pulled out a bottle of Peach Street bourbon.

I nodded. “That’s the God’s honest truth.”

Ryan poured me two fingers of the whiskey, straight, and slid it across the bar. He poured a glass of red wine for himself. Then he came around and sat next to me on a barstool.

“So what’s eating at you?”

Where to begin? Ryan knew my history. So did my older brother, Jonah. But we didn’t talk much about it. Neither of them knew the gory details. I had spared them that. Ryan was my little brother by three years. He had gotten away that horrible day. He had run because I’d told him to, and the poor guy harbored a lot of guilt for that.

“Have you ever been in love, Ry?”

Ryan raised his eyebrows and swallowed the sip of wine he had taken. “For a man of few words, Talon, that is certainly not a question I ever expected to hear from you.”

I rubbed at my jaw and took a drink of my bourbon, letting the spicy warmth slide down my throat. “It isn’t a question I ever thought I’d ask either.”

Ryan took another sip of wine and set his glass on the bar. “I can at least answer you honestly. No, I haven’t.”

“Not even with Anna?”

Ryan shook his head. “Anna and I had a good run, not to mention some amazing sex, but in the end, we both agreed that what we had wasn’t anything lifetimes were made of.”

“What about Joe? Do you think he’s ever been in love?”

Ryan smiled. “I think you’d have to ask him.”

My brothers were both married to their work—Jonah to the beef ranch and Ryan to the winery.

“There are a lot of women in town who would like to take one of the Steel brothers off the market.”

My brother laughed. “What’s the hurry?”

“Well, none of us are getting any younger.”

Ryan looked at me pointedly, his dark eyes serious. “What the hell is this about, Talon?”

I wasn’t much of a talker, not even to my brothers. They both knew that. What had I been thinking? I was about as uncomfortable as a grizzly in tights. I downed the rest of my whiskey like a shot and set the glass on the wooden bar. “Nothing. Sorry to bother you.” I stood.

“Oh, no, you don’t.” Ryan grabbed my arm. “You’re not coming in here and opening up that can of worms without explaining why.”

I sighed and sat back down. “Jade left.”

“What? Why?”

“I asked her to.”

My brother shook his head. “What did Marj say?”

“She’s not happy about it. She’s probably on the horn to Jade right now, finding out what went on.”

“Well, what
did
go on, Talon?”

I picked up the bottle of Peach Street, poured myself another drink, and met Ryan’s dark gaze. Time to lay the cards on the table. “I fell in love with her.”

I
grabbed
my cell phone off the night table where it buzzed.
Marj.
Of course. I couldn’t believe she had waited this long to call, but she had been in Grand Junction last night and most of today in a cooking class. I inhaled. How was I going to explain to her what had happened? We had to have this conversation sooner or later. I just hoped she wouldn’t be too angry with me for keeping my relationship with Talon a secret from her.

“Hi there,” I said to the phone.

“Don’t ‘hi there’ me. Where the hell are you?”

“I’m in a hotel in Grand Junction. I just got back from the Carlton, where I had dinner with my mother and her current boyfriend.”

“Brooke’s in town? How in the world— Oh, no, you don’t. I won’t be sidetracked by Brooke Bailey or anyone else. What the hell is going on, Jade?”

“How was your first cooking class? Is it worth giving up Friday night and Saturday for?” Okay, cheap shot, but Marj was a bit spoiled and might take the chance to talk about herself.

“Nice try.”

“Yeah, well…” I had no idea what to say to her. She was my best friend in the world, and we never had secrets. Until now.

“Jade, this isn’t funny. Why did you leave?”

“Why don’t you ask Talon?”

“I
have
asked Talon. All he would tell me is that you had to leave.”

“He demanded that I leave.”

“What the hell is going on? Why would Talon ask you leave? I don’t get it. Why would he care one way or another whether you’re at the ranch?”

I let out a heavy sigh. I didn’t want to have this conversation with Marj over the phone. This talk would be best served with a pizza, a bottle of dry red, and a pint of Ben and Jerry’s. “Can you come to the city?” I asked.

“Jade, I just got back from the city.”

“I don’t want to have this conversation on the phone.”

“Frankly, neither do I, but we don’t have any choice because we are going to have this conversation now. I need to know what’s going on with you and my brother.”

If only I knew. What I
didn’t
know about what was going on between Talon and me could fill up a tome. We were attracted to each other. No, that was way too tame. We had wicked sexual chemistry. No, again. It was more than that, even for Talon. I was sure of it. We had unbridled passion and need for each other. Still not enough. So why not drop a bomb?

“I’m in love with him.”

Silence on the other end of the line. An entire minute passed, according to the second hand on my watch. “Marj?”

“Yeah, I’m here.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.”

“You
should
be sorry.” Her voice was rough, strained. “I thought we didn’t have secrets.”

A lump clogged my throat. “I know. I’m so, so sorry. I just didn’t know how to tell you. The thing between Talon and me kind of came out of nowhere.”

“Jade, you lived at the ranch for over a month. You don’t really expect me to believe that there was no way you could find a minute to tell me in that amount of time.”

I bit my lip. Marj had every right to be furious with me. I was furious with myself. I owed her more than secrecy. “I know. I’m sorry. I just didn’t know what you’d think of your brother and me…”

“You didn’t give me the chance to think anything about it.” Her voice was tight, as if the words were strangling her.

Worry choked me. Talon had been more than his usual “off” last night. He’d gone crazy, yelling at me to “make it stop.” Make
what
stop? I still didn’t know. “I… I think Talon needs help, Marj. I think he needs to see a psychiatrist or therapist or something.”

“Jade, you have to help me out here. Which conversation are we having? Are we having a conversation about my brother’s mental health, or are we having a conversation about the fact that you and my brother have been falling in love for the last month and I didn’t even know about it?” Her voice shook, anger lacing through her words.

You and my brother falling in love
, she’d said. The truth was, I had no idea if Talon was in love with me. He’d told me from the beginning that he’d never love me, and my desire for him had been so great that I hadn’t cared at the time. I’d told Marj that I was in love with Talon. I hadn’t told her he was in love with me.

“Look, I don’t have a car. I took a cab here. I really can’t talk to you about this over the phone.” Tears misted in my eyes. “Tomorrow? Please?” After the dinner I’d just shared with my mother and her boyfriend, Nico Kostas, I was exhausted. Marj deserved better than dealing with me in this state. Hell, I was lucky she was still talking to me after this secret I’d kept.

“Nope. Sorry. We’re having this conversation now.”

I nodded, knowing full well that Marj couldn’t see me. “All right. Where do I start?”

“Start with why the hell my brother asked you to leave my house.”

“The answer to that question is a big, resounding ‘I don’t know.’”

“I don’t buy it, Jade. You say you’re in love with my brother.”

“Yes.” I gulped.

“Then why in the world would he ask you to leave? Does he not share your feelings?”

“I have no idea. I never told him
my
feelings.”

Silence again. Then, “Is he in love with
you?
”

A jackknife slid into my heart. “No. He’s not.”

“I’m not understanding any of this.”

“I don’t understand either. Let me just start at the beginning.”

For the next hour, I chronicled my time with Talon. I left out the specifics of our incredible sex, but other than that, I spared no detail to my best friend. I told her how we’d met in the kitchen during the night and talked, how he kissed me, how he told me he’d never love me but that he needed me, craved me…right up until last night, when he’d treated me to an elegant dinner in his room.

“I can’t believe all this was going on under my own roof and I had no idea,” Marj said.

“Well, it was mostly at night, and you know you can sleep through anything.”

“But Jade, why would you keep this from me? We tell each other everything.”

I sniffed. “I know. It’s just… He’s your brother, and something about him… I guess I just didn’t feel like I was at liberty to say anything. You know how closed off he is.”

“He’s not as closed off as I thought he was. Frankly, I’m thrilled that he connected with you. I’m not sure Talon has ever connected with anyone before.”

“But that’s just the problem. I’m not sure we really ever
did
connect. I mean, he would shut me out at every turn. Even after an…intimacy.”

“You mean a fuck? You can say the word, Jade. You were fucking my brother. I can take it. I just don’t understand why you couldn’t confide in me.”

I didn’t know how else to explain it to her. I had wanted to confide in her, but Talon was so impenetrable sometimes. He had so many walls built up around him. I didn’t feel like I could tell anyone about what was going on between us, not even my best friend. How could I make her understand that?

“Please don’t be mad at me, Marj. I couldn’t handle losing you too.”

“Oh, for Pete’s sake. You haven’t lost me. And you probably haven’t lost Talon. Just tell me why he asked you to leave.”

“I’ve told you. I don’t know. I was in the middle of giving him a massage, and all of a sudden he had this meltdown. He started screaming, and I couldn’t make out any words other than ‘make it stop.’ Frankly, it scared me a little. When I finally got him calmed down, he wouldn’t talk to me. He just said that I needed to leave. I told him I couldn’t until morning, and he told me to leave then. This morning, when I was done in the shower, I came out to find a red rose on my bed.”

“A red rose?”

“Yeah. No note or anything. I assumed it was from him since you weren’t home.”

“Even if I had been home I wouldn’t have left you a red rose. Don’t you know what that means?”

I didn’t know what anything Talon did meant, and he wasn’t exactly the floral type. “No. Do you?”

“Jade, a red rose—a single red rose—means love. Talon loves you.”

My cell phone slipped from my hand and clattered to the floor, my heart pounding.

“…where he got a rose?” Marj was saying when I got the phone back to my ear.

“Sorry, what?” My hands shook.

“I’m wondering where he got a rose. We don’t grow roses anywhere on the ranch.”

I was still stuck on the “Talon loves you.” Sweat coated my palms. I stayed silent.

Finally, Marj went on. “I want you to come back. Come back tomorrow morning, okay?”

“I can’t,” I said, still trembling.

“Why the hell not? This is my house too, goddamnit.”

I still hadn’t quit my job at the Snow Creek city attorney’s office. I had planned to call my boss, Larry Wade, on Monday. Tomorrow was Sunday. Going back to Snow Creek would keep me from having to find a new job in the city. Plus, I could use all the investigative tools at the city attorney’s office to do some sleuthing of my own. But I couldn’t go back and live in Marj’s house, not with Talon right down the hall. Whatever the rose meant, it didn’t mean he loved me. He didn’t want me there, and I couldn’t do that to myself. Constantly seeing him, wanting him—it would be easier to rip my heart out of my chest with my bare hands.

“Do you know where I could rent an apartment in town?”

“You’re not renting an apartment in town. You’re staying with me.”

“I can’t, Marj. Seeing Talon would be too difficult, and he doesn’t want me there.”

Marj gritted her teeth. Yeah, I couldn’t see her, but I knew she was doing it.

“All right. We’ll get you set up at the hotel tomorrow. You can stay there for a few nights until we can arrange for an apartment for you.”

“I…” God, why was this so complicated? “I can’t come back tomorrow. I used up all my cash for the cab fare to get here.”

“Cash? You’re really worried about cash? I’ll pay your fare, for God’s sake.”

“You’ve already done too much.”

“No, I haven’t done enough. My best friend in the entire world kept a serious secret from me. Obviously I haven’t been a very good friend.”

“Marj, you’re the best friend ever. You know that.”

She sniffled into the phone.

“Oh, God, please don’t cry.”

“I’m okay. Please, just let me pay for your cab fare. I’ll help you out with the hotel until we can find you a nice place to live that you can afford. Okay? Please?”

“No. I wasn’t thinking. A cab here in the city will take a credit card. I’ll be fine.” I drew in a deep breath.

I was going back to Snow Creek.