Undone (22 page)

Ellie was only just getting over the shock of hearing from the security guard that Roan Westport was at her door before she heard the bell ring, signaling his arrival. Everyone was gone for the day, either at school or work, and it was really only her, the staff and Sophie who’d stepped out early this morning and had yet to return. Ellie didn’t know how to feel about this impromptu reunion, but she didn’t have much time to contemplate her emotions when James came into the dining room to inform her that she had a guest. She took a deep fortifying breath before making her way to the living room.

It was
almost
like looking at Devlin. They had the same intimidating build, wide in the shoulders with a tapering waist, long arms and large hands. Where they differed was in the facial structure, there were slight differences, Roan favoring his mother more in the deep set eyes, the full mouth and the high cheekbones. He was really quite striking—rough, rugged in a way that his father hadn’t been. Roan didn’t look like he’d ever worn a suit in his life and that had been all Devlin lived in when Ellie had been with him. He looked completely casual in his dark rinsed jeans and sweater. When he saw Ellie, he scrambled to his feet from where he’d been seated and closed the space between them. Ellie gasped as he enveloped her in a hug, his long arms coming round to hold her tight. It was a hug a son would give to his mother, warm and filled with boyish joy. When he lifted her off her feet just a little, she couldn’t help but laugh, finally returning his embrace.

“Well
, that’s a great welcome,” she said with laughter when he set her back down. “I was wondering when we’d get to finally see you.”

Roan met those warm hazel eyes he remembered from so long ago. For however fleeting it’d been, Ellie had been a great mother figure to him. There was nothing there but love and respect for this woman who’d welcomed him and his father into her loving embrace and made them feel like family. He hadn’t known how deeply those moments he’d shared with her had meant to him until it’d been over. But Roan remembered and he’d cherished it. “I didn’t think I was welcome.”

“Don’t get me wrong, it’s been a shock for all of us, but we’re all learning to readjust.”

She made him breakfast, served him coffee and they sat in the dining room catching up with each other. Roan had expected it to be awkward, but all he received from Ellie was genuine curiosity. He told her everything he could about his life up until this point, wisely choosing not to divulge too much detail about his relationship with Sophie. He wasn’t sure exactly what Sophie had told her and Roan didn’t want to mess things up even worse than he already had.

“So you and Sophie…?” She took a sip from her mug, her hazel eyes assessing him from the rim.

Roan’s eyes burned, finally feeling the awkwardness he’d expected. “She and I…” He grinned and ran a nervous hand over his head. “What exactly has she told you?”

“I think it would be in your best interest if
you
told us exactly what your relationship is with our daughter.” Both Ellie and Roan turned at the sound of the deep, dark indolent drawl.

Roan imperceptibly tensed, but the instant he felt Ellie’s small hand settle on top of his tightly clenched fists, he relaxed. She patted him soothingly before rising to greet her husband. “I thought you were at the office until lunch.”

He kissed her offered mouth and wound an arm around her waist to draw her close to his side. “I was told we had a guest.” Was his dry response, piercing Roan with his gunmetal grey eyes. The younger man had come to his feet at Nicholas’s arrival and though he was a few feet away Nicholas could already tell that Roan stood a few scant inches taller than him. Nervous tension peeled off him, but he stood tall, meeting Nicholas’s narrowed gaze evenly, unflinchingly. A quick flashback of when he’d first met Gabe all those years ago came to Nicholas’s mind and he was suddenly amused by this. He’d finally understood, a while back when his daughters hit puberty, why Gabe toted a firearm.  Nicholas was feeling just a little trigger happy himself right about now. 

In his relentless effort to uncover what was hidden in this guy’s past, Nicholas had been disappointed to discover nothing of interest, nothing that could tie him to Julian Hunter.
Topher, good as he was, had come up with nothing, just a few stupid misdemeanors that had bordered on disorderly conduct and one DUI. The kid was clean, all except for his intimate relationship with his oldest daughter. And as much it irked him, that wasn’t a legitimate reason to shoot him, although he was sorely tempted.

“Mr. Grayson.” He stepped forward and offered his hand but Nicholas let him sweat it out a bit before finally taking it.

“Roan.”

“Roan has been catching me up on his life, Nicky.” Ellie broke the tension, subtly patting her husband’s chest in a signal for him to ease up a little. “Did you know that he works in an auto repair shop?”

Nicholas was privy to nearly all aspects of Roan’s life. The kid was as honest as they came. “You dating my daughter?” He wanted to put that honesty to the test.

“I’d like to, Sir. With your permission, I’d like to see your daughter.”

“And if I refuse to give it?”

“Then I’d ask until I received it. I would prove to you that I’m worthy of her.”

Nicholas scowled. “
No one
will ever be worthy of her,” he said curtly, his gaze veering off slightly to Sophie who stood at the entrance of the dining room. “Did you have a good run?” he asked, calling her presence to Roan who in turn spun around to face her.

It didn’t appear as though she was too happy to see him.  In fact, the glower on her face was a clear indication that she didn’t want him anywhere near her in that moment. “Yeah, it cleared my head a little.” She tugged on the ubiquitous white Apple headphones as she made her way further into the dining room. “What are you doing here?” she acknowledged Roan a little nastily.

Roan had never seen her more beautiful—covered in sweat, hair gathered up in a messy ponytail and cheeks flushed from overexertion. He wanted nothing more than to corner her against the nearest wall and do unspeakable things to her. The form fitting athletic wear she was wearing didn’t make things any easier for Roan. The withering look on her face would’ve made a lesser man quiver, but Roan was man enough to withstand her scorn. “I came to see you.”

The force between them was so undeniable that Ellie felt it crackle along her skin. It was powerful, saturated with so much emotion. It felt like when she’d first met Nicholas, the gravitational pull he’d exerted, inevitably drawing her in until she fell in his gravity, was exactly what was happening here and now between her daughter and Roan. Deciding to give them the privacy they needed, Ellie tugged on Nicholas’s arm. Getting her husband to leave wasn’t without effort, but Ellie managed the feat and led him out of the dining room. Neither Sophie nor Roan even noticed.

“You should go.”

“Not until we talk.”

She scoffed. “There’s nothing you have to say that I want to hear so I suggest you get the hell out of my house before I get my…” He silenced the rest of her words with a kiss, cupping her face between his hands. Sophie resisted at first, striking at his chest with balled fists in an attempt to stop him. But he was not to be deterred as he unleashed pent-up passion that hit her like a wave yanking her deep beneath the depths of his control. Before Sophie knew it she was clinging to him, her fingers flexed of their own volition to wrap around his neck, rising to her toes to fall deeper into her ravishment.

He pried her lips apart, groaning with male satisfaction when his tongue found hers and those cock stroking whimpers and moans only intensified his sexual assault.
He could feel his appetite for her rapidly rising and if he did not pry himself from her now, Roan feared he would not stop until he slaked his hunger between her thighs. Violating her in her parents’ dining room was a fantasy that would never come to fruition. He released her as abruptly as he’d taken her, putting just a bit of distance between them.

Her mouth burned from his kiss and Sophie’s fingers tingled to touch her swollen lips. But she refrained, knowing she was already embarrassing herself enough with flushed cheeks and her body’s wanton betrayal. He didn’t look like he was faring well either. Sophie could clearly see that he was aroused, his usual composure nearly rattled from just that kiss alone. He looked as shaken as Sophie felt.

Appalled that her body was ready to submit with just a kiss from that generous mouth, Sophie took a step back with a shuddering breath. “Why exactly are you here? Do you need me to supply more things for you to talk about with your fuck buddy?” She held on to indignation because it was better to be angry at him than show how truly devastated she’d been just hours prior. The thought of him and Sienna talking about her behind her back, using her problems as pillow talk, felt like the worse sort of agony. Sophie had known falling for Roan was going to hurt. She’d anticipated it from the very beginning, but no amount of preparation could’ve readied her for this. She wanted to carve her heart out of her chest so that she wouldn’t hurt so much. If she hadn’t been in love, maybe it would’ve been easier to sustain.

Neither one spoke, only their harsh breathing permeated the silence around them. Sophie could see that he was trying to say something, tried to find the exact words to relay his emotions. The battle was in the depths of his obsidian gaze beneath furrowed brows as he looked at her.

“What you heard with Sienna…it was during that first week that we met. She asked about you and I was just venting I guess. But aside from that one time, I’ve never spoken to her about you.”

“Is that what you think of me, Roan?”

“God, no!” He closed the small gap between them again, intertwining the fingers of his right hand with hers, he stroked her cheek with the other, his thumb gliding gently, savoring the softness. “I can’t even begin to describe how I see you. You have this strength, this inner fire that I find so amazing. You try to be so strong for everyone around you even when you’re ready to shatter. I haven’t known you for that long, Sophie, but I see you…I see the person you try to hide from the world, I see the vulnerability in your beautiful eyes and it calls to me.” He smiled. “There are things you make me feel, things that I want explore further with you...if you’d let me…?”

It wasn’t a declaration of undying love, but it was exactly what Sophie wanted from him. He wanted to be with her, he wanted to get to know her more, maybe even build something fruitful from a friendship that ran so deep. It was enough for now; no more and certainly no less than what she could handle. She still had her own issues to work through—her depression still a factor that would probably never go away, but she had to learn to cope with it again. Having Roan there to help her, hold her hand and tell her that she was worthy, would ease Sophie down her road of recovery. She looked into his soulful eyes and saw the depths of his feelings for her written there like scriptures and she allowed it to wash over her as she consumed every emotion. In her kiss she whispered of her burgeoning love for him, with the sweep of her tongue along his she permitted him to teach her, to lead her down an unknown path, trusting him to keep her safe along the journey.

Chapter 20

Bella hadn’t seen her sister smile that widely in a while. The dark cloud that had loomed over her had dissipated somewhat leaving behind the sister she remembered when she was younger. She was still pretty small though, her bout of depression taking her appetite along with her personality. It’d been touch and go there for a while, neither Dylan or herself knowing how to help. But Bella was happy to see that Sophie was bouncing back. It was breathtaking watching her with Roan and how easily she came alive when he was around; she couldn’t remember her being this way with that douchebag from a few months ago. Bella was glad that her father had intervened when he
had, otherwise, she wasn’t sure what would’ve happened. He’d been abusive and Sophie had been in denial, but that part of their lives was over now. She smiled looking towards the direction of Sophie protesting to something Roan was about to do.

“You’re going to let me fall.”

“I’m not going to let you fall, Soph, now move your ass.” The tender expression on his face belied the severity of his tone. “Come on, babe, you can do it,” he encouraged, tensing his arms and bearing her weight when she wobbled onto the ice.

“Don’t let go,” she warned, her gloved hands grasping his with herculean strength as he very slowly led her around the skating rink.

Bella stooped down with a giggle, lacing up her own skates. Having Roan around was good, although their father had yet to warm up to him, Bella knew it was only a matter of time. Besides, it didn’t seem like Sophie was going to give him up any time soon anyways.

This activity had been Bella’s idea and while her sister wasn’t big on ice skating, she’d readily agreed because she’d wanted to spend time with her and Dylan. With the weather beginning to warm up, this was probably the last of their winter activities together before Bella and Dylan went to college next year. Prom was just around the corner but just before that, they were going to celebrate their father’s birthday. Their father wasn’t showy in the least and when they’d began celebrating his birthdays, they started small and intimate, but it’d somehow morphed into an event spearheaded by their
Nanna Sonya and their mom. Ellie minded the guest list, making sure to keep it at a strict minimum of twenty of Nicholas’s closest friends and, of course, their extensive family—Roan now included in that set.

As opposed to when Sophie had been with the sleaze Andrew or whatever his name was, Bella didn’t mind sharing the little bit of time she had left of her sister with Roan. Bella had always liked him and after nearly eight years the sentiments remained the same. With one last tug on her laces, Bella slipped on her gloves and went to join her twin, her sister and Roan.

In the days leading up to Nicholas’s birthday party, there were a slew of delivery trucks going in and out of the estate, bringing in decorations and flower arrangements and the caterers prepping the area where they would be serving food. The multitude of staff members on hand busied themselves with getting the house ready while the groundskeepers tended the landscape, finally able to do something now that the snow had gone. It was really quite typical so no one really paid much attention when a delivery truck cleared through security and rolled up to the front entrance. The delivery man was no one of great consequence, although he did inform James the butler that the cargo was for Nicholas Grayson and was advised not to allow anyone to see it but him. He handed James a rather large black box with a dark red ribbon tied in a beautiful bow on top. James took the box and the information he’d received to his employer who luckily was working from home today. One brief knock on the solid oak door prompted a muffled response to enter from inside. The Grayson patriarch was seated behind his imposing desk poring over some documents that had his complete attention. Before James could interrupt, he saw his employer raise a hand curtailing him from going further. He wasn’t made to wait too long. Nicholas scribbled his name with one last flourish of his pen before looking up.

“James,” he greeted.

“My apologies for interrupting, Sir, but you have a package.” 

Nicholas didn’t know whether to be irritated or resign to the inevitable. He chose the latter for the sake of peace in his marriage and his sanity. If it were up to Nicholas, he would be celebrating his thirty sixth birthday with bottle of his finest whiskey and the company of his wife, naked and at his complete beck and call. There would be nothing she would deny him in the course of twenty four hours, every orifice on her body his to violate. Ellie had promised him that one little fantasy, she’d promised him unmitigated control and Nicholas was counting down the days, cursing even now the slow crawl of time. He’d agreed to go along with this whole fiasco because of that promise. Nicholas’s cock stiffened at the thought of his little wife and all the wicked things he would do to her once he had her. Yes, he thought, this was a small price to pay for the immense pleasure that was to come for them both.

Clearing his throat he sent James ahead of him, giving Nicholas time to subdue his arousal. Five minutes later, he was composed again and gradually making his to the foyer of his home. He saw the black box first which James had set on the antique table off to the side. Nicholas yanked out the small card with his name scrawled on the front and opened it up.

Here’s to the past repeating itself
. Cheers dear, old friend.

Nicholas’s brows furrowed at the cryptic message, looking over the card to see who had sent it. It wasn’t signed. Believing the box would hold some answers, Nicholas set the card down and anxiously tugged on the silk ribbon and then popped the lid off. Nestled in a bed of black tissue paper and white calla lilies, was a severed arm and in its hand was a silver key with a black head. He stared at that arm for a very long time, shock rendering him momentarily dumb, Nicholas did not move and he was sure that he did not breathe. It was only when he felt the gentle hand on his shoulder that he nearly jumped out of his skin, recoiling violently and very nearly injuring Ellie in the process. Luckily, she moved just in time to avoid the swing of his arm.

“Nicky…?” Concern was written all over her face as she took in Nicholas’s ghostly pallor. “Nicholas!” she called again when he failed to respond. Finally he looked at her, his silver eyes blinking rapidly as though waking from a dream. “Nicky, what’s wrong? What is it?” He simply shook his head and soon after bellowed for James. Ellie frowned, her concern turning to real fear at the expression on his face. It took a lot to shake her typically pragmatic husband and so for him to look as he did now, something must be terribly wrong. Before he could prevent her from taking a look, Ellie craned her neck to peer inside the box and immediately wished she hadn’t. Her breakfast worked its way up but thankfully she managed to settle her stomach down, but just barely.

“What…who’s…” She couldn’t get the words out; traumatized, Ellie went into her husband’s open arms and took strength from him.

“I don’t know,” he said in response to her unspoken question, knowing exactly what she was going to ask because it was the same question slamming around in his own head. “But we’re going to find out.”

James arrived just then and Nicholas was quick in spouting orders. “Call the police and get the head of my security in my office now.”

“Yes, Sir. But there is one other thing, Sir.”

“What is it?”

“Another delivery, Sir, just in the front driveway.”

Nicholas was heading for the door even before the last word could be spoken, Ellie hot on his heel. The
Ducati Desmosedici RR appeared as though time had never touched it, plucked from memories and deposited into present time; it was just as Nicholas remembered it. The moment he saw it parked so neatly in his front driveway he came to an abrupt halt, his heart slamming against his sternum in sheer disbelief.

“Fuck,” he cursed, hastily reaching inside his pocket for his cell phone. The matter had just gone from alarming to nuclear. Nicholas cursed again, doubling back once he realized he’d left the phone in his office.

“Nicky, what’s going on?!”

“It was, Matt!” he bit out wrathfully, the anger not directed at her but himself for his stupidity. He couldn’t believe he’d been so blind, so completely oblivious to the one person he should’ve checked in on first when this entire fiasco began. He’d overlooked Matthew fucking Bates because Nicholas had thought he’d been of no consequence. He’d not only underestimated him, but Nicholas’s own ego, his own conceit was the reason why this had gone on for as long as it had. His mind worked now, wheels spinning on overdrive as he thought of what needed to happen. 

“What do you mean it was Matt? Who’s Matt? Nicky, stop for a second and talk to me!”

He couldn’t ignore her, not even if he wanted to, so he stopped when she put her hand on his arm and turned around to face her. “Matthew Bates, Ellie. The Ducati outside, that’s
his
bike. I can bet my life on it that he was the one behind the whole Julian fiasco.”

“What?
But why…? Why now, after all these years? I don’t understand this…”

“Listen to me, Ellie,” he ordered, gentling his voice so he didn’t scare her further. “Whatever happens, I’m not going to let you or the children get hurt.”

“What are you going to do?”

“What I
have
to.”

“But Nicky…”

“Matt is dangerous. His unstable and desperate; he has everything to gain and nothing to lose by coming after me. I need you to let me do whatever is necessary to stop him from hurting any one of our children.”

The whole situation was insane. Ellie had thought they’d buried that part of their lives. She’d thought those old threats, those old enemies who’d worked so tirelessly to tear her and Nicholas apart were gone. How could you feel threatened and scared in your happily ever after? Never in her wildest dreams would she have imagined this. Her stomach twisted, her heart ached and the tears in her eyes were the results of that.

“I’m so damn tired of this,” she cried. “It’s not supposed to be like this, Nicky.”

“It’s going to be OK, my love.” He pressed a tender kiss to her forehead and then held her face as he kissed her tears away, absorbing the sorrow that echoed his own.
“For as long as I breathe, I will never let anything happen to you. I’m going to take care of this and we’re going to get back to celebrating our life and our love together. Besides, wife,” he whispered with that devastating grin. “You have a very delightful promise to fulfill for your husband.”

Ellie sniffed, wrinkling her nose when he kissed it. “Do I?”

“Hmm.”

“Remind me what I said again?”

He kissed her senseless, leaving her breathless before his warm, wet lips found her ear. “Every. Single. Tight. Little. Hole.” He whispered huskily, making her knees weak and a delicious shiver lick down her spine.

He made her forget for a moment that their lives were once again being threatened, but having the hope that he would see to it like always made it just a little easier for Ellie to let him go. When he finally returned, it was nearing ten p.m. and he looked not only exhausted but angry as well. They’d been unable to find any trace of him at the psychiatric hospital that he’d been in; any evidence of him ever having been there was completely gone. It was like he vanished into thin air and no one was able to tell Nicholas anything he wanted to hear.

He hated being in the dark. He hated feeling like a victim. He’d always prided himself on being two steps ahead of his adversaries but in this, Matt was proving to be far ahead in this game that Nicholas had come to master. His ignorance had given Matt the opportunity to get ahead of him and he was using that kick start to his advantage. And that frustrated Nicholas to no end. He did not sleep that night or the ensuing two nights leading up to the party which he’d tried on several occasion to cancel or even postpone until the matter was taken care of. But Ellie, as usual, had curtailed his rashness, pointing out in that roundabout Ellie way that canceling the party now would only raise more suspicion and cause a panic among their family members, the children especially. Going around pretending that there wasn’t a psychopath lying in wait in the shadows to spring up on them at any given moment was extremely hard for Nicholas to do. But he managed, all but with a few more dozen security detail around his home and his children.

The things he’d received Nicholas had given to the proper authorities as evidence but not before sneaking a bit of tissue off to the lab. The results had been as expected. The appendage had belonged to Julian Hunter. Neither Nicholas nor Ellie told Sophie about any of this, deciding that ignorance was probably best in this case.