“No. No you don’t. You don’t care about me or the fact that I’m going to get killed. They are going to kill my sister and my nephew.”
“You have a sister and a nephew?” Flynn asked, taking a step toward her.
She grew angry. “You’d know that if you really cared.”
“Damn, baby, you’re right. We should know more about you, but we haven’t asked,” Jett whispered.
“Because you don’t care. I get it. I admitted that part to myself weeks ago.”
“We do care. It’s not like that. We’ve been pushing you away on purpose,” Flynn told her.
“On purpose? But why? What do I matter? You can have any woman you want and anything you want. What would I matter?”
Flynn took her hand and brought it up against his chest. “You’re wrong. We’ve been assholes.”
She shook her head. “I don’t understand.”
Flynn looked at Jett.
“Fuck it.”
He pulled Adelina closer, pressed his hand over her shoulder, under the back of her head and pulled her to him. He covered her lips with his and kissed her.
Jett watched as Flynn devoured her moans and explored her mouth with his tongue. She gripped his waist, but when he pressed her against the door, she gasped in pain and pulled from his mouth. She hugged him as she lay her cheek against his chest.
“Why did you kiss me like that?”
“Because I’ve wanted to for far too long.”
She looked up at Flynn. “You never said a thing. You never made a move or even tried.”
“We wanted to. But we didn’t feel as if we were good enough for you.” Jett reached up and pressed a strand of hair away from her cheek.
She stared at him as he cupped her cheek. The tears rolled down her face.
“I wish you had. Now it’s too late.”
* * * *
Adelina couldn’t believe what they were telling her. Part of her wanted to believe that they were lying to try to get information from her, but then came the instant guilt and recognition that she trusted them too much to believe them capable of such a thing.
But what could she do now? Their proclamation of caring for her came at the worst time. She was supposed just deny her feelings, her care for them and do what that madman, Raymond, wanted her to do. She would be finished. They would hate her, her sister and Bryer would be safe, and she would go with Raymond, and be his…whatever it was he expected. She closed her eyes and squeezed them tight. The pain in her back seemed to intensify with the thought of going willingly with Raymond. He’d own her like some sort of object. Could Jett and Flynn somehow save them all? Could she trust them and tell them everything or would she be digging her own grave even deeper?
“You’re hurt,” Jett whispered, as he ran his finger gently down her shoulder and back to the zipper of her dress. She could feel the ache beneath the tight material, yet somehow Jett’s gentle touch eased it.
“Tell us what happened.”
She was silent a moment as she contemplated her words. She didn’t want to see their disappointment in her for allowing Raym
ond to do what he did. Despite the fact that deep down she knew she had no choice and that he intimidated her, she still felt guilty and like a failure in these perfect men’s eyes.
Flashbacks of being bent over the desk in that dirty back room at O’Connor’s went through her mind. The way Raymond’s large hands caressed her skin, and then hurt her, with each strike he broke down her fight, her independence, and her belief that right won over wrong. No, in life it seemed that power, dominance, and evil would prevail.
She gulped at his tone. The instant feelings of defeat, unworthiness, and self-deprivation filled her soul. Somewhere in the back of her mind she yelled out “No, don’t give up, don’t give in, fight.” But this was real. Raymond killed people, and he would kill Kaitlin and Bryer, and more than likely kill her when he was done with Jett and Flynn.
“Baby, please. You need to talk to us. What happened? What did he do to you?” Flynn asked. She looked at both of them, as she crossed her arms, hugging herself.
“You said that you have ways of making people confess and do things you want…so does he.”