Their Ex's Redrock Midnight (Texas Alpha) (3 page)

The second Carly saw Vega with bruises, a busted lip, and torn dress, sitting on a curb of the Senta Hotel parking lot, Carly made a compassionate exclamation and rushed with him to Vega’s side. Cabe caught Vega when she threw herself at him, and he cracked more inside as he always did.

“I don’t know what’s wrong with me!” Vega wailed, as if some uncontrollable outside force made her screw around like an alley cat.

Carly was trying to push Vega’s hair back to see her injuries, and Cabe caught Carly’s angry and concerned look. “It’s bad. Hospital,” Carly mouthed.

Vega was babbling at him about how messed up she was and how sorry she was. It was the same old crap he’d heard so many times before, and it made him sick. But she’d never been beaten before, and he was afraid to ask her about rape. Normally because of his work at WTSF he was calm under female crises, but he had too much emotion tied up in Vega—most of it no fucking good.

However, at that moment, she was still his wife. He’d made his vows: through good and bad. He could have divorced her to get out of the bad, but she kept promising him that she desperately wanted him and their marriage, and not these other men. He didn’t even know what it was she found in them that she couldn’t find in him or why she couldn’t stop, as if it was an addiction.

Cabe swung Vega up into his arms. “We’re going to the hospital.”

Hours later, Cabe sat in the nearly empty waiting room at the hospital holding a half-filled paper cup of cold coffee, while Carly sat by his side. Carly had been wonderful as usual. She was always good with the girls at WTSF. But she wasn’t happy with him, and he didn’t blame her.

A young doctor showed up, and they both raised their heads. “Mr. Santos?”

Cabe nodded, and the doctor continued, “Your wife has no broken bones, but a bruised rib and a concussion. We put stitches in her lip and five on a cut on her temple.” The doctor lowered his voice, “She claims that no rape kit is necessary, sir, but we find it is best if—”

“I know it’s best to get one. I’ll talk to her,” Cabe said.

The doctor nodded, not asking Cabe how he knew that, but it was through numerous times being at that hospital for the troubled young women he tried to help.

“We are keeping her overnight to watch the concussion.”

“Thank you,” Cabe muttered, standing and shaking the doctor’s hand.

“She is asking to see you,” the doctor added as he turned to leave.

Cabe started forward, but Carly’s hand on his arm stopped him. “When are you going to cut these crazy ties, Cabe? What would you tell any of our girls about getting away from destructive people dragging them down?”

Cabe slanted his lips with a bitter tilt; he saw only compassion and yearning in Carly’s eyes. “You’re right,” he finally said. “She doesn’t fucking love me and
I
need to get that.”

Carly winced at his harsh outburst, and Cabe could see that she understood he’d meant it for her too. They were not right for each other either. She swallowed, her eyes bright. He leaned forward to lightly kiss her temple.

“Thanks,” he murmured, then he turned to go see his wife.

Cabe realized coming out of Vega’s hospital room, after he’d convinced her to press charges and do a rape kit, that Carly didn’t hate him. Because Carly had obviously called Vincent Whitehorse for him, and Vincent stood across the hall from Vega’s door. Vincent’s cowboy hat was tilted down as he looked toward his boots while his long, straight black hair hung forward.

As Cabe approached, his head lifted. “We getting the bastard or letting the police do it?” Vincent asked, with hard lines on his face.

Cabe reached out and they clasped forearms. “Brother,” he uttered to Vincent being there, then while looking Vincent in the eye, he said, “Cops. I’m cutting loose of Vega as soon as humanly possible.”

Vincent’s expression barely faltered, but Cabe saw the surprise in his black eyes as Vincent uttered, “Righteous, brother. About fucking time.”

Then they went for a drink. He, Vincent, and Sam Blackfoot had known each other since they were in the same boys’ home together. Vincent had never been fostered out, but Cabe had gotten lucky at the age of ten to get placed with his foster mom. None of them were from the Redrock area, but it turned out Vincent and Sam’s tribe was, so they’d settled there.

Sitting side by side at the bar at Lulu’s, Cabe found he was asking Vincent in a low voice, “Could you do something for me without asking questions?”

Vincent didn’t hesitate: “As long as you’ll be my best man, brother.”

Cabe was startled, and he sat back on his stool, looking at Vincent. “No way. You mean it?”

Vincent gave him a nod. “I asked, she said yes.”

Cabe knew it had to be more than that and much more romantic, because Vincent was seriously in love with his woman, as she was with Vincent. But who wouldn’t love Tess? Cabe had even had a little lust crush on her. Now it seemed impossible that had ever happened.

He stood and grabbed Vincent into a hug. “Congratulations. I know this is the right thing for you, man.”

R
usty didn’t cry until she got into the shower, then she pounded her fist on the wet tile. How stupid was she! She decided she was pretty darn stupid, because the guy she thought she was lusting after would never have just left her without a word, after what they’d just had together.

“He might as well have left money on the table for the lay,” she muttered, angry and done with her tears as she dried off in the bathroom.

It was her fault. She’d known he was married. Unhappily or not, it was still married. There’d been seconds when he’d first kissed her into glorious submission that she’d told herself it was only going to be a quick sexual interlude. Heavens knew she needed to be laid, and she’d be lying if she hadn’t thought a tiny bit that maybe she could give Cabe a different perspective. But it hadn’t taken long for that to morph in her head into much more. Yards and yards more.

She knew she wasn’t imagining the intense connection that had exploded between them. She’d never let another man do what Cabe did to her. It was as if he was mastering her—and her body and mind dug it.

“Oh baby did I dig it,” she muttered while pulling on her black sports bra. She wasn’t without sexual experiences, but she’d never ever had sex as good. She could barely believe it had been her.

“Hell,” she muttered. She was going to go for a damn run—maybe it would keep her from going to find Cabe and slapping him in the face. Even as she put on her running shoes, she couldn’t reconcile the Cabe that had blown away her mind and body with the one that could just walk out on her without a word.

The first half of her run, she hated Cabe. During the middle part, she started trying to imagine having a crazy, cheating, flighty, and needy husband, which would be everybody in town’s accurate description of Vega. Rusty decided through the pounding of her feet on the pavement that it would suck and be all kinds of difficult. So maybe she could “get” that Cabe had to go and help or rescue his fickle, nympho, and deceitful wife. What Rusty couldn’t reconcile was the way Cabe left her without a word.

Sneaking out that way meant she’d been just a slut with a really hot guy, who had then walked all over her and not even paid for the privilege.

“Babe, seriously, you need to watch your surroundings.”

Rusty nearly squealed in surprise at Vincent Whitehorse’s voice snapping at her just as she ran up to the front door of her house while her head was down. Yes, and with her gaze totally on the ground and her not looking around at all. She was glad she didn’t stumble backward like an idiot.

Instead of acknowledging that Vincent was right, and because she was instantly concerned, she exclaimed, “Is Tess all right?”

There wasn’t much reason for Vincent to come alone to see her, except Tess, his woman, was her best friend.

“Yeah, she’s fine,” Vincent muttered while slinging off his cowboy hat. His pitch-black hair slid like silk forward on his shoulders as he got a badass look on. Rusty had seen the edgy male look before. It was hot. But then she realized, kind of sourly, that Cabe’s badass look was much hotter.

“Cabe’s hearing about this,” Vincent muttered.

What was that? Cabe would hear.

Rusty’s interest immediately spiked as she swiped her brow and did some deep breathing to slow her heart rate from her run, while Vincent glared at her.

“Vega Santos got beat up by the dick she was screwing. Hospital-worthy,” Vincent ground out like he was chewing gravel at her.

Rusty’s eyes widened while her heartbeat did a little flip of fear and awareness. That bad? “Why are you telling me this?” she asked in a whispered voice.

He shook his head. Meaning clearly he wasn’t going to say why he thought it important to show up at her house and give her that amazing and scary news.

“Tomorrow, you and I have an appointment together,” Vincent next ordered in his growled voice. Making Rusty stand immobile, in shock, then Vincent finished by blowing her world: “To put security into your taxi. Cameras, panic button, lockout switch, and whatever it takes to make you a no-fuck-with taxi driver.”

What!
screamed inside Rusty’s brain, while out of her mouth came, “I can’t afford that—”

Vincent interrupted her by blowing her world again. “Been taken care of,” he uttered, then he walked past her. “Nine sharp at WTSF.”

Rusty’s mouth opened and closed like a guppy’s as she watched Vincent stride way, while she remained speechless.

But two minutes later, she wasn’t speechless on the phone to Tess her best friend and Vincent’s woman.

“You what! Ohmygod, Rusty!” Tess screeched Rusty’s name over the phone so high that Rusty had to pull her cell away from her ear for a second. Yeah, she’d just told Tess the mind-blowing fact she’d slept with Cabe Santos. She could relate to Tess’ screaming astonishment. “How the hell did that happen, babe?” Tess demanded, after it sounded like she’d caught her breath.

Rusty kind of wondered that too, but she was freaking out and she needed to get to the important (to her) part, so she sucked in a breath and did a drive-by explanation about Cabe and her getting together in maybe under a minute, before she blurted, “Why would Vincent come by and tell me Cabe’s shit with his wife, and then demand I be at WTSF to get my taxi fitted with security?”

“Throwing badass-ness around, babe,” Tess told her, sounding wise on the subject.

“Badass? Well, Cabe certainly has badass in him, and through him I’ve experienced it directed at me.”

“Cabe?” Tess asked, sounding surprised.

“Oh yeah,” Rusty whispered with shivers, remembering how commanding Cabe was in bed. It was hot, but—“He just left? No explanations. It was rude.”

She heard Tess sighing. “No way Vincent goes to your house, sweetheart, and tells you that. It had to be from Cabe.”

Rusty felt flutters around the regions of her expectations. She knew she should shut that down ... not hope. “Still, it feels like a fuck-and-go quickie to me,” she whispered to Tess.

“I know, but first that was no quickie, babe. A man loves on you like that; it is more than a fuck-and-go. But I agree, Cabe is tangled up and you do not need in the middle of that. But he’s a good man and I can very much see him getting untangled, before he—”

Rusty clutched the phone so hard her hand hurt. Untangled? Would he untangle? Did she want him that quickly after he’d untangled?

“—puts his attentions on another babe. It’d be his way of being honorable,” Tess finished.

That was freaking hard to believe, Rusty thought. They were not young babes; guys fucked and left chicks all the time. Cabe had been dealing with his faithless wife for several years. He could have left her at any time. But he hadn’t.

“I know, honey, I think all that stuff too,” Tess whispered, reading Rusty’s mind with commonly attuned women’s thoughts. They knew they’d think the same stuff. “But Cabe has honor, and because he does, he is not the type to fuck them and leave them. I’m telling you the proof is the security upgrade on your taxi.”

“You think?” Rusty breathed, back to hopeful from the pits of reason.

“It’s not Vincent, so it has to be Cabe.”

Now the big,
huge
question. “What do I do?”

She and Tess never could decide what to do, so compulsion did it for her. Rusty was so curious over the summons to WTSF to equip her taxi to be safer, which she really could use but could no way afford, that she actually did show up at the WTSF offices. But she went too early, at six in the morning; however, she had weird shifts trying to get the best results, as in cab fares.

Maybe she went so incredibly early so she would miss everyone, but still say she’d been there. Maybe it was because she was wired after being up all night bringing people in to a large convention at Redrock Casino. Maybe she was a coward. Yes. But maybe she was so curious that she’d just leave Cabe a note with her cell number on it. Because maybe he—

“Ugh!” she exclaimed, trying to stop her incessantly wired thoughts as she pulled up to WTSF. There were trucks and SUVs there, which made her nervous, until she figured out they were just loaners or stored there. So she sat looking at the main office door, wondering how to execute her plan for the leaving of her note with cell number.

She must have been overly exhausted, because how she thought she could leave a note with no one there was lame and delusional.

“I just need to
get
him out of my head,” she blurted, grabbing the Styrofoam cup out of the cup holder by her knee to take a bracing slug of cold coffee. She really needed sleep. Like four hours, so she could get back out to Redrock and take advantage of the cash cow the convention was for her.

The sound of a knock on her side window sent her ballistic, and her coffee flew—luckily mostly empty—as a startled screech left her lips. Her eyes soared to the window and her heart instantly started hammering harder as she looked into Cabe’s mahogany-brown eyes.

Everything she’d been holding back inside her surged into full arousal upon contact. It was only eye contact—but still, she was that pathetic.