Seeking Love in Salvation (10 page)

Sure enough, it was breathtaking. As Valentina walked into the main entryway, she saw all the large windows and the old black and white pictures that decorated the walls, and she could smell remnants of whatever delicious meal someone had made for dinner.

“Hello?” she called out.

Jace appeared, and his shocked expression made her stand in place. He looked good in a button-down shirt, the sleeves rolled up to his forearms revealing muscles galore. He was clean shaven and looked ready for a date, and she wondered if he was expecting company.

“I’m sorry to bother you. I wanted to drop off this rent money.”

“It’s not a bother. Come on in. My brothers are just cooking outside. We got home late tonight, too,” he said to her as he looked her over. She was wearing a black skirt and a button-down long-sleeve white blouse, complete business attire. He turned around and headed inside where he ran to the stove, pushed around some vegetables, and then turned it off. She stood there looking at the beautiful country kitchen. It looked like something out of
Southern Living
.

“Sorry, I had to turn that off. So, you said you have rent money?”

“Here you go.” She stuck the envelope out toward him and he didn’t move.

“What was with your sister today? I heard she gave Evan a hard time when he was offering to teach her kid how to swim,” he asked her, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

She pulled back her hand and the envelope and stared at him. He was a tall guy, older than her, very muscular and filled with attitude. He also had great posture and stood like a soldier, but she didn’t care for his attitude one bit.

“Funny you bring that up. I was going to ask you to tell your cousin to keep away from my sister and from Kenny. She doesn’t need any strange guys coming over making her feel scared.”

He uncrossed his arms and squinted at her. “Scared? Why the hell would she feel scared? Evan is a nice guy.”

“Just tell him to stay clear.” She held the envelope out toward him and he didn’t take it. Instead he looked her over. She stepped closer and placed the envelope onto the counter.

“I can’t do that. He asked to be her guardian.”

She felt her jaw drop and she was stunned for a second.

“Why would he do that?” She was shocked.

“Like I said, my cousin is a nice guy.”

“Well, we don’t accept the guardianship thing, so if you could tell him, I would appreciate it.”

He stared at her. “What are you so afraid of? What are you hiding from my brothers?” he asked. The fact that he said brothers and not us warned her that he was distrusting and didn’t like her. They’d bashed heads from the start, which is why Valentina wondered why she felt attracted to the man. Maybe it was just his good looks and muscles. His attitude toward her ruined it all.

“Listen, I’m tired, I had a long day at work, and I just want to make sure you all understand where we stand on this guardianship crap.”

“What?”

She turned to the left to see Beck standing there.

“What’s going on? When did you get here?” he asked and stepped closer to give her a kiss. She stepped back and wound up cornered by the cabinets.

“What’s wrong?” Beck asked.

“Seems your little lady here has a problem with us being her guardians and our cousins being her sister’s guardians.” Jace stepped closer. She stepped back and planted her hands on the counter behind her.

“Is that so?” Sparrow asked, joining them along with Ridge as they carried steaks into the house.

“I should get going. You are about ready to eat and look like you have company coming.”

Jace stepped in front of her and let his eyes roam over her chest and then her lips. “What makes you think we have company coming?” he asked her. She stepped back and there was no place else to go.

“I just assumed so. You’re all dressed nicely and cooking up a good dinner and sitting at the table.”

He reached out and played with a strand of her hair. She inhaled his cologne, felt the intensity of his gaze, the heat of his body and the pure, magnificent size of him caging her in.

“What? You think we eat with dirty hands and farm-soiled clothes? Maybe with our hands like animals, instead of men with manners?”

“No.” She shook her head.

Jace released her hair and brushed his thumb along her lip. He placed his hand on her waist, shocking her and singing her skin with a force of desire so bold that she parted her lips.

“I do have a voracious appetite for delicious things, and I hear from my brothers that you’re really delicious.”

She went to turn, and then he hesitated. She looked back at him and he snickered right before he kissed her lips. The man had tricked her, but she couldn’t focus on that. All she could do was hold on as Jace explored her mouth with his tongue and lips. He had her moaning into his mouth as he gripped her hips with hard, warm hands that lifted her up onto the counter so he could be more thorough.

When Valentina felt his hands move from her hips to her thighs and then under her skirt, she knew she needed to stop him. This was too much, too wild.

“Jace,” she said, pulling from his lips and gripping his hands

“My brothers were off. Way off. You’re incredible.” He reached up under her hair and head, gripping her fully then covering her mouth again. They battled for control of the kiss and she felt him cup her breast and moan into her mouth. She felt her blouse open wider, and she couldn’t believe how turned on she was. Then she felt his hand move from under her hair and back to her thigh again.

“Brothers share, Jace,” Sparrow told him. Jace released her lips and Sparrow was there. His dark blue eyes held her gaze before he gave her a wink and leaned forward to kiss her. She couldn’t believe this was happening. Two men, brothers, were kissing her, touching her, while their other two brothers watched, and maybe waited for a turn to kiss her, too. She panicked and Sparrow pulled back. “Easy, baby. This was bound to happen.”

“What the hell is that?” She was stunned, under some spell a moment, when Sparrow spoke to her and then Jace raised his voice and pressed her blouse open wider. Reality came crashing down quickly. They saw the bullet wound. She pressed Jace’s hands away, only for him to press between her legs so she couldn’t move. He pushed her blouse off her shoulder. Sparrow looked angry and shocked, then Ridge and Beck were looking over their shoulders. “Fucking bullet wound?” Beck asked.

“A new one, too. What the fuck happened? Was this why you moved from New York? You were shot?” Ridge asked her.

She was going to try and make something up, deny it, minimize it. But the looks in their eyes warned her not to be dishonest.

“Let me down.”

“You’re not leaving,” Jace said to her firmly.

She nodded and he let her down. She unbuttoned her shirt the rest of the way. They saw her bra and her breasts anyway and kissed her like that to boot, so she didn’t think standing here in only her bra to show them the scars was a big deal.

“I was shot twice. Here and here,” she said, showing them her side under the ribcage. Jace ran his fingers along the raised skin that was still tender looking.

“How long ago?” Sparrow asked.

“Months ago. After I recovered, we decided to move out here from Helena’s advice.”

“Are you in some kind of trouble? Someone after you?” Ridge asked her. She shook her head.

Jace clutched her chin and jaw with his hand and held her gaze. “Don’t lie to us. Is anyone coming after you?”

“No.”

“Are you sure?” Sparrow asked.

“I don’t believe in ghosts, so yes, I’m sure.”

Jace shocked her when he pulled her into an embrace and hugged her tight. They surrounded her and she couldn’t believe the emotions she felt, and then the guilt again. Lois and Kenny needed to come first.

* * * *

Jace was shocked at this situation. He knew he wanted to kiss Valentina and feel what his brothers had felt. They talked about her constantly, about ways to get through to her. It was crazy how their cousins were interested in her sister and being her guardians. He couldn’t believe that Valentina had been shot twice and was alive. He felt her pushing away from him, and he slowly let her go but kept his hands on her waist. She reached for the buttons on her blouse but Sparrow stopped her. Jace released her to his brother.

Sparrow cupped her cheeks and tilted her head up towards him.

“This has something to do with Lois and Kenny, and why they’re so scared to let our cousins near them? Why you keep pushing us away?” he asked her.

She tried looking away.

“Don’t. Just be honest with us.”

“Yes,” she whispered.

“What happened?”

“No,” she said and tried pulling back. Sparrow kissed her on the mouth and deepened that kiss until Valentina was limp in his arms.

When he finally released her lips, she looked so sexy, her voluptuous breasts pouring from the white silk bra she wore.

“Stop kissing me. I can’t think,” she said.

“Good,” Ridge stated, taking her from Sparrow and kissing her next. He lifted her back up onto the counter and then Beck tapped him on the shoulder. Ridge moved out of the way and Beck kissed her next. He released her lips.

“You feel it. Don’t deny the truth.” He kissed her again. He trailed his mouth along her neck and they all watched and waited for another chance to kiss her and explore her sexy body. When Beck lowered down to kiss the scar, her eyes widened and she gripped his shoulders.

“I can’t. I’m sorry, but I can’t do this.”

“Why baby? Why, when it feels so powerful and so right?” Jace asked her.

Beck pulled back and shook his head. “Why?”

Tears filled her eyes and Jace felt his gut clench with fear of what she was going to say.

“Because of Lois and Kenny. They come first. Anything I would want for me can’t happen. It can’t,” she said, and as a tear fell she wiped it away and pushed off the counter. She buttoned her blouse.

“I’m sorry I made your steaks get cold.”

They watched her run from their kitchen and out the front door, the sound of the screen door slamming behind her and echoing through the house.

“Holy shit,” Beck said, running his fingers through his hair.

Jace felt immediately sick to his stomach and his mind began to wander to his own past and the injuries he’d sustained. The nights had been getting difficult again. As his brothers talked about what just happened, about Valentina’s injuries and about her body and how they wanted her, he felt the anxiety begin to increase. He had been fighting it for days, wondering what was making him hold on to staying here and not to disappear into the woods to camp out and be alone. He knew exactly what was making him stay home this last month and a half.

He looked out the door and thought about Valentina. He was sticking around because of her. To catch a glimpse, to have a small conversation, and that led to wanting to kiss her and taste her lips like his brothers had gotten to. She was pushing them away and denying these feelings because her sister and Kenny were her responsibility.

“We should call Helena. She knows what happened to Valentina. We’re her guardians, and we have a right to know.”

* * * *

“Shit, Val, that’s why my cousins called me last night. I was working a midnight and they left messages. I never got to call them. What am I going to tell them?”

“Nothing,” Valentina said as she walked with Helena through the farm and all the various booths set up with fresh produce and fruit.

She looked at Kenny and Lois, who were talking to a woman by the strawberry stand. She was shaking their hands and smiling wide. “Who is that?” Valentina asked on guard.

“Evan’s mom, Dora. Those three men are her husbands.”

“Oh, God, there’s Evan.”

Valentina went to walk over, but Helena grabbed her hand.

“Helena?” she questioned her, looking back at her sister. Lois smiled and then Kenny gave Evan a high five.

“Sometimes fate just steps in.”

“Really?” Valentina asked her.

“Sure, like with you and my cousins. They want you, and you want them.”

“I don’t,” she said and looked away as they continued walking toward a fence and a little stream beyond it. It was put up around the stream like a garden, with tiers of rocks like a manmade waterfall on a smaller level.

“Don’t lie to me. I know you like them. Hell, you let them kiss you in their kitchen and fondle those big, sexy breasts of yours and see your scars.”

Valentina gave her arm a slap. “Stop that.”

Helena chuckled.

“They’re good men. You know it doesn’t surprise me that it was Jace who confronted you and basically bombarded you with questions. I’d say he’s the least trusting when it comes to meeting new people.”

“Why is that?”

“I think from his experiences as a Green Beret. The other guys seemed to transition easier, but not Jace. He would disappear for weeks at a time without a word. Like he needed to just be alone.”