I didn’t want to belittle what “hard times” my sister might’ve endured during her college years, but I was pretty sure they weren’t nearly as bad as what I’d been through. “I’m afraid.”

“That’s understandable. But relationships can’t exist without honesty. Without trust.”

Trust.

Jade had shown me her trust. She had given me her trust without question, when I didn’t deserve it.

Could I give her that same gift?

“I will tell her, Marj. But in my own time, in my own way.”

“Have it your way.” My sister turned back to the counter and began to chop a head of broccoli.

Would I ever see her smile again? Only a few days had passed since we’d told her the truth. It was still very real and new to her. She would get through it. Hell, if we had gotten through it, she certainly could. But Marj’s smile—that toothless, innocent smile of my baby sister when I came home from hell—had helped get me through a lot of pain.

“Right now I’ve got to figure out a way to keep her from getting a tattoo.”

“That’s another thing I don’t understand, Talon. Why do you care so much about the tattoo?”

“You don’t understand. That tattoo she wanted to get…that exact image…”

Marj stopped chopping and turned to me. “What?”

“One of those awful guys who kidnapped me. He had that exact tattoo.”

Marj dropped her mouth into an O, the knife slipping from her hands and clattering to the floor, just missing her sandaled toe.

I picked up the knife quickly and set it on the counter. “Marj? What’s wrong?”

“Did Jade ever tell you where she found that image?”

I nodded. “Yeah, she said she found it in one of Toby’s books.”

“She did. But that’s not where she first saw it.”

My blood ran cold. “And where was that?”

“Her mother’s new boyfriend had that exact tattoo. On his forearm.”

Chapter Thirteen

Jade

I was changing out of my work clothes when someone pounded on my door.

“Just a minute,” I yelled. I threw my red silk scarf, white linen pullover, and black skirt on the bed and hurried into a tank top and a pair of heather-gray sweats.

I walked to the door. “Who is it?” I’d have to talk to Sarah about installing a peephole. Snow Creek was a small town and all, but I was a young woman living alone. I needed to see who was behind my door.

“It’s me.”

Talon. I opened the door. He was red with rage.

“Oh my God. What’s wrong?”

“Your mother’s boyfriend. What’s his name?”

“Nico. Nico Kostas. Why?”

Talon ran to my sink and turned on the water. “God, I met him. I fucking shook his hand.”

The water turned hot, and steam rose from the falling cascade. Talon pumped out some soft soap and scrubbed his hands. They turned red with the heat.

I strode quickly to the sink and turned off the water. “You’ll burn yourself. What the hell are you doing?”

“Where is your mother’s boyfriend now?” he asked through clenched teeth.

“I… I don’t know. I haven’t seen him since the night of my mom’s accident. He said he was flying to Des Moines. He hasn’t been back.”

“God… Goddamn.” Talon raked his wet hands through his tousled hair. “So fucking close!”

“Talon, please. Tell me what’s going on.”

He turned to me, gripping my shoulders. “What color are his eyes, Jade? This Nico guy. Does he have brown eyes?”

“Y-Yes, I think so. I never paid that much attention.”

“Neither did I, goddamnit. If only— Damn!”

“Talon, you’re scaring me. What the heck is going on?”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Tell you what?”

“Tell me where you saw that fucking phoenix tattoo!”

“I did.”

“You told me you saw it in one of Toby’s books!”

“I did. I didn’t—”

“You saw it first on him! You saw it on that fucking psychopath!”

Psychopath? Nico struck me as a little slimy, but I figured he just wasn’t my type. “Talon, my mother would not date a psychopath.” Of course, I knew so little about my mother. Maybe she would. But Nico, a psychopath?

“Well, she is.”

I shook my head to clear it. “I don’t understand. Please just tell me what—”

He grabbed me and slammed his mouth down on the mine. It was an angry kiss, a punishing kiss. But what was I being punished for this time? For not telling Talon I had seen the tattoo on Nico?

But still I opened to him, let him take from me, let him punish me with his lips and tongue.

He broke the kiss and ripped my tank top off me. “Get on the fucking bed,” he gritted out.

“Talon, I—”

“I said get on the bed. Don’t make me repeat myself again.”

My lips trembled, but I obeyed. Equal parts of fear and arousal coursed through me.

I sat on the edge of my bed, my breasts bare, my nipples hard and longing for his touch. He grabbed my legs and pulled my sweatpants off. Then he ripped my lace panties in half getting them off me.

“Get on your hands and knees,” he commanded.

Shivering, I complied.

Slap! His palm came down on my ass.

Slap! Slap! Slap! Three more times, and the sting tingled through me, morphing into pleasure as I cried out.

“Damn it, Jade!” Slap! Slap! Slap!

“Talon—”

“Shut the fuck up!”

Slap! Slap! Slap!

I moaned into the comforter, bracing for another smack. But a feathery light touch drifted over me. First over my stinging ass, and then over my back, and then down my thighs.

“This is a pretty red scarf, blue eyes.”

My red silk scarf. It had been one of the last gifts from Colin. I’d gotten rid of most of them, but this one had seemed too nice to give away. It added a splash of color to my otherwise mundane lawyer’s wardrobe.

“What can we do with this?” Talon asked.