Steel Rush (In the Shadows#5) (36 page)

“Sebastian runs a security business, so I’m in good hands. And don’t you dare feel guilty. You can’t control your father or your brother’s actions. Your friendship means too much to me to let you feel bad about that.”

Ben cups his other hand over our clasped ones. “My family is just whacked, Cass. My mom is
still
in denial about my dad. Can you believe she’s worried about him? She said he came home furious that his release from jail was contingent on a gun-free home. Makes me think he loves those freaking guns more than his family.”

He sighs and releases my hand to slide his fingers through his dark hair. “Jake sounded pretty unstable when he called me yesterday, ranting about how he planned to destroy our father for what he did. He says he’s going to take away the only thing that ever really mattered to him. Other than money, I have no idea what he was going on about.”

“Do you think Jake would try to hurt your dad?” I ask, unsure how I would feel about one bad guy taking another one out.

His mouth thins as he pushes the elevator button. “After what you told me tonight, I’m so disgusted with both of them…I don’t really care.”

“I’m sorry, Ben.”

He shrugs. “Don’t ever be sorry for telling the truth. I plan to stay away from family drama and focus on building my practice. Work is the only thing that makes sense right now.”

I wince. “And here I dragged you into ours.”

The elevator opens and he walks in. Turning to face me, he smirks. “At least I see caring here. That’s far more than I see within my own family.”

I hold the sliding door to keep it from closing. “You have family here too.” I glance toward Calder’s room and then turn back to him. “If you want.”

He snorts. “I don’t see that happening. He hates the sight of me.”

I shake my head. “He hates the pain and suffering your last name represents. But you just showed him today that not all Hemmings are evil. It’s a start.”

Ben clears his throat, his tone gruff. “Make sure he keeps those stitches dry for forty-eight hours.”

I nod. “Night. And thank you again.”

Once the elevator door shuts, I join Sebastian in the kitchen and glance around. “Where’s Talia?”

“At your parents’ house,” he says, setting his phone on the counter.

“What?” My eyes widen. “When did she leave?”

“She left while you were downstairs and I was distracted with Calder.” Sebastian snorts his displeasure as he opens the fridge and takes out a carton of orange juice. “You were right, by the way. A partial recording was on your parents’ answering machine. That was Talia calling to ask me the Deceiver’s phone number.”

I pull down a glass from the cabinet and set it on the counter for him. “Don’t keep me in suspense. Does it match?”

Sebastian pours the juice, then holds the glass out to me. “Take this to Calder…along with the good news. That bastard was careful for so long, but Phillip Hemming finally screwed up. Thanks to you, he’s going down.”

I start to take the glass, but he holds tight. “That was a hell of a risk you took bringing Ben here. That could’ve gone South very quickly.”

My hand is steady on the glass even though I’m shaking on the inside. Calder may never forgive me for revealing his secret to his half-brother, but Ben had to know the whole story to understand the depth of Calder’s anger and self-disgust. I could only hope that learning the truth would be the push Ben needed to offer his help. “You have no idea how much Calder needed that, Sebastian.”

“Actually, I do.” He releases the glass and stares at the closed door. “I want Calder back. Make it happen, Cass.”

My heart rams against my chest as I stand outside of Calder’s door. I have no idea what kind of reception I’ll get, but I take a breath and turn the knob.

Stepping inside, I smile. “I have some good news. Talia went to my parents’ house and the phone number on the recording matches the Deceiver’s. Hopefully that will be enough for them to revoke Phillip’s bail.”

Calder doesn’t react other than to narrow his gaze on the glass of juice in my hand. “I see you’re following doctor’s orders,” he says in a tight, controlled voice as I set the glass on his nightstand. “What else did my
brother
convince you to share?”

I jerk my gaze to his furious one. “He told you?”

“
Why
did you tell him?”

My chest tightens at the anger and betrayal reflected in his gaze. Sebastian was right…my risk failed. But if Calder and I are over, then there’s no reason for me to hold back.

I take a breath and keep my voice strong. “I didn’t just tell him the truth about you, Calder. I told him what Jake did to me too.”

His mouth thins as if that answer only pisses him off more. “
Why
, Cass?”

I swing my hand toward the closed door. “Ben stood there in that lobby downstairs and had to hear all the horrible things his brother and father have done, and yet, even knowing you despise
every
Hemming, he selflessly came here and helped you anyway. That’s
why
, Calder.”

When he just pins me with a stoic stare, I swallow and tilt my chin up, standing my ground. “You needed to see that DNA doesn’t define the person, the
heart
does. Who better to show you that than your brother?”

“He’s
not
my brother,” he snaps, his hand clenching on his thigh.

“He
is
and it’s your loss if you choose not to acknowledge that.” Lifting my shoulders, I sigh. “You may never forgive me for revealing your secret, but I did it because I was fighting for
us
, Calder. You needed to experience
good
in action so you’d realize you are worthy of your family’s love, no matter whose genes you have. And so you’d accept my love, but you’re apparently too freaking stubborn to acknowledge any of it.”

My heart breaking, I start to walk away, but Calder’s fingers suddenly clasp mine. Holding me in place, the heat of anger is gone from his voice. “Look at me.”

When I lift my gaze to his, he slides his fingers between mine. “I admire that you’re not afraid to go the distance, that you never let another person define your worth, and that you refused to let me hide from a past I couldn’t control, but mostly…” He pulls me down to the bed beside him and thumbs the tears off my cheek. “For being the strongest fighter I know. For all those things…and not just because you’re sexy as hell, I love you, Cass Rockwell, so fucking much it hurts every time I look at you.”

Emotion swells in my throat and I exhale a sob of happiness as I lay my head on his hard chest. “It’s about time. I love you too, you beautiful, bull-headed man.”

Calder exhales and slides his fingers in my hair, pulling me close. “One day, I’ll find a way to make Jake and Brent pay, Cass. I promise.”

Careful to avoid his wound, I burrow my nose against his chest and breathe in his wonderful smell. “All I care about is you. The rest is just noise,” I say, smiling that I finally understand the peace behind my sister’s statement.

Calder presses a kiss to the top of my head and grumbles, “Ben’s still a Hemming asshole.”

I lift the mug of hot coffee to my lips and take a long sip. Swallowing its warmth, I set the cup down and push my hands against my lower back, grimacing at the tightness.

Talia walks into the kitchen yawning, her hair a mess of wild red tresses. She stops when she sees me. “Good morning. What are you doing up so early?”

“You look well-tumbled. How was your evening?” I say with a wicked chuckle, remembering last night.

Sebastian had just informed me that they didn’t find any bullet shells on the rooftop across from Calder’s apartment, but they did get a partial shoe print and were running it down when Talia walked in. She barely got out, “Hi, Cass. Your parents said for you to call them,” when her husband walked over to the entryway and scooped her up, saying gruffly over his shoulder as he carried her off to their bedroom, “Night, Cass.”

Talia’s cheeks turn red and she touches her hair self-consciously. “Um, good. I didn’t expect you to be up.”

I gesture to her couch. “The leather’s soft, but it’s not the most comfortable bed.”

Turning to take a cup from the cabinet, she says, “Why did you sleep there?”

“That’s what I want to know,” Calder’s deep voice resonates directly behind me at the same time his hands settle on the island, his warm body blocking me in.

A shiver rushes through me, but I calmly take another sip of my coffee. “Because I didn’t want to accidently bump your wound.” After I forced him to drink his juice, I told him that the only way I was sleeping with him was if he kept his hands to himself. Calder rumbled his displeasure and tucked my back against his chest. The second he slid his hand between my thighs and promptly fell asleep, I knew he’d lost more blood than he wanted to admit and needed his rest, so I quietly got up and moved to the couch.

Taking the mug from my hands, Calder sets it in the middle of the counter. “Here’s a fresh cup, Talia.”

“Hey—” I frown and lean to retrieve it, but big hands grip my waist and I’m quickly lifted and cradled against his muscular chest. “Put me down before you pop a stitch!” I want to struggle, but I’m afraid any excess movement will open his wound.

Talia snickers and reaches for my mug as Calder rumbles, “See you later, Talia,” then he carries me into the bedroom and kicks the door shut.

The moment he sets me down, I immediately touch his bandage to see if blood is wicking into the gauze. “Have you lost your mind?”

Calder clasps my jaw and tilts my face up, his intense gaze locking with mine. “Waking up to find you gone isn’t how I wanted to start my day.”

I fold my fingers around his wrist. “You need to heal.”

He swiftly pulls Talia’s long sleep-shirt over my head and hauls me against his sleep-warmed chest before the shirt hits the floor. “The only thing I need at this moment is you, angel.”

I want him so much I’m trembling inside, but the few times we’ve been together it has always been very physical. He
will
rip open his wound. I push against his chest and take a step back. “We can’t, Calder. Not until you’ve healed. We’re too…um vigorous.”

His lips curl in a predatory smile and he steps close to slide his finger along the curve of my breast. Tracing his beaded necklace up my chest to my neck, he moves to my jawline. “While I admit you definitely bring out my primal side, I promise to be gentle.”

The lethal purr in his voice shoots straight to my toes, but I shake my head. “I’m not worried about me, you obstinate man.”

“
Determined
, Raven mine.” He tips my chin higher while his other hand slides down the curve of my back to hook the edge of my panties. Lust flashes in his eyes and with a flick of his wrist, my underwear floats to my ankles “
Very
determined.”

I’m naked and tense with want, but I shake my head. “Calder, this is a bad idea.”

He glides his fingers into my hair, cupping the back of my head. “The only bad idea is making me wait, because then I won’t be gentle. Take off my pants.”

I exhale deeply as I tug his black silk pants down, and I can’t help running my tongue along his hard cock as I straighten.

Calder’s fingers tangle in my hair and he gently pulls me up and fully against him. “That’s playing with fire with the way I want you right now.”

I smile and slowly trail my palms over the hard slabs of muscle resting at his hips. “You need to take it easy. Do you think you can do that?”

When I trace my fingers down the side of his erection, he exhales harshly and closes his eyes, then snaps them open. As the deep green sparks with heat, he rasps, “Lay down, Cass before I toss you down.”

My limbs shake as I lie down on the bed and stare up at Calder resting his knee on the mattress, his thick cock jutting toward his defined abs.

He moves over me and I can see the mixture of pain and yearning in his face. My heart twists and I touch his biceps, then clasp his shoulders as he settles between my thighs. “Are you sure? I think we should wait.”

Calder nudges my entrance, then rubs the tip of his cock against my clit. “You’re soaked for me. How can you say you want to wait?”