Page 70 of Malice and Surrender
“I noticed your patch last night.” She lifted a shoulder and let it drop. “A girl that worked at my club used to hook up with one of the members. She used to talk about this place and where it was.” Raine pointed to the fence and the guards keeping watch. “I asked for you, and they pointed me here.”
I was going to have to have a chat with those fuckers. I didn’t care who it was. They shouldn’t tell anyone where the fuck I am.
“Fine. Why are you here?”
Pulling her hands out of the pocket, she played with the cuffs of her hoodie, a nervous habit she had even back when I met her. She’d ruined more sweatshirts than I could count when the threads would finally give up and the cuff would fall off. I always loved to see her in mine when she stole them, but I would scold her for trying to ruin them.
“May I come in? I promise I won’t stay too long. I just need to speak to you.” She met my stare, and I cocked a brow at her as I ignored the steadily growing interest in my jeans that very much wanted her to come inside.
“You trust coming in here and being alone with me after last night?”
She crossed her arms and looked away.
“You proved that you will find me and take what you want anyway, so what does it really matter if I’m here or somewhere else?” she asked, and my back bristled. She wasn’t wrong, but I still didn’t like being called out like I was the bad guy.
“Whatever.”
I stepped out of the way, letting her walk past me, and closed the door. She jumped but tried to hide it. Once again, I was conflicted by her presence. I loved that she jumped, and my cock stirred more with her reaction, but the reason she was so scared bothered me. A psychiatrist wouldn’t even be able to wade through the confusing shit floating around in my head.
“Alright then, speak,” I said and went to sit on the couch.
Raine looked like a cat, wary of its surroundings, as she slipped across the living room and sat in the chair Roach had occupied not long before. I watched her carefully and took in every bit of her body language. Raine rubbed her hands on her legs and then sat on her hands. Again, something she’d always done.
“I came to say I’m sorry.” She paused and looked at me, and I shrugged.
“That’s it? That’s all you got?”
Her eyes narrowed before she took a deep breath. “All night, I thought about what you said, and you’re right. I should’ve talked to you before I gave the police your name.” She turned her head to look out the window, and I could see the stress in her eyes. I had the urge to wrap her in a hug like I would’ve done before all this shit went down, but now I stayed put.
“What is this? Do you feel guilty or some shit now? Little too late for that, don’t you think?” I leaned forward, and her heated glare met my own. “Look at me. You ruined my life. Your guilt is not my problem. That’s a you problem.”
Her eyes filled with tears, but her jaw tightened, and I could see her fighting not to let them fall.
“You’re right. It’s not your problem.” She bolted to her feet. “Forget it, Kai. I just wanted you to know that I’m going to speak to a lawyer about the steps to retract my statement and have the charges removed from your record. I’ll pay for it, of course.”
“What fucking good is that going to do? I already did ten years.”
“Well, at least this way, you won’t have to worry about police seeing that you’re a parolee or have a record for rape. I’ll have it all removed, and I’m going to have it sealed. I’ll probably need you to sign paperwork, but it’s the only thing I can think of to apologize for what I did.”
A wiped record? I actually liked the idea, but instead of saying that, I stood and stared down at her. I liked that she stood tall and held my gaze.
“It will never make up for what I went through.”
“Maybe, maybe not, but I haven’t learned how to build a time machine, so it’s all I’ve got,” she snipped back, and my lips curled up. Fuck, she was hot when she was scared and sexy as fuck, riled up. My eyes went to the bruise, peeking through the makeup on her neck before I stared her down.
“Okay. Thanks.”
Nodding, she turned to walk away, and I called out to her, unsure why I asked.
“Tink, before you go. Tell me something. Who found you, and why did Dave and Irene never come to see me?”
She turned to look at me, and her face was twisted in confusion. “I don’t know.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, I was in an old industrial building and didn’t make it to a phone.” She held up her wrists and walked close enough that I could see the scars I hadn’t been able to see in the dark last night. “My wrists and ankles were bound with zip ties. As for the Collinses…” She shrugged. “I don’t know. As soon as I mentioned the tattoo to the officer, Dave ranted about how he always knew that under all of the trying to get good grades, you were a fuck up. Then Irene chimed in and said you’d propositioned her. She started crying and said she could’ve prevented this from happening.”
“She said what?” I barked out, and Raine took a step back. Her eyes went to my hands, clenched into fists.
