Chasing Wicked (The Mitchell Brothers - Wicked Series Book 1) Read online

  “Do you remember Pamela Kline, the waitress who worked at The Red Kitchen? Just after New Year’s, she was struck by a vehicle while walking home from work, killing her instantly in a hit-and-run. A few days after the funeral, I stopped by the diner for coffee, and lo and behold, her daughter, Misty, sat in the back corner. When she saw me, the girl started crying, asking me to sit with her. She told me about a letter she’d found while going through her mama’s things. Pamela had paid someone a hundred dollars to make it look like Georgina cheated on Lee. Stone was at the right place at the right time, and you two kids got caught up in it.”

  “Dovie, why did she want it to look like my mother cheated on my father? To ruin my family…and us? Why?” My voice cracked.

  Tears burned my eyes, my throat so tight I didn’t think I would ever swallow again. Stone wrapped his strong arm around my shoulder, drawing me close. Anger boiled inside while questions raced through my mind so quickly I couldn’t keep up.

  “Have you actually seen the letter?” he whispered as our gazes caught each other.

  “I have it. Misty had no reason to fabricate this, Stone. She’s ashamed of the impact it had on your families, but also what it did to our town. She vividly remembers sitting on the church pew next to her mother the day Lee resigned as pastor. She was just sixteen years old, and she said it was the first time she recalled anything bad happening in West Tempie. Now that she knows her mother caused it all, she’s too humiliated to return to the community. She hired an attorney to handle the estate and her mother’s affairs.”

  As the details soaked in, I sucked in what felt like the last of the air the world offered. I paled, and nausea-induced waves sent bile burning my throat. Stone kept me pressed against him, drawing me tighter.

  “Gammy, I’ll call you back.” He didn’t wait for her reply before he tapped the red symbol to end the call. I didn’t realize my legs moved or my feet automatically walked as he directed me to the sofa.

  I was part relieved, part angry, and completely consumed with fear.

  The one thing I’d kept a secret, the sweetest one thing…

  Focus, Avery. Focus.

  “Take a drink.” He handed me a glass of water and knelt at my knees. “Breathe, just breathe. It’s all going to be okay. We can finally start putting this behind us.”

  I wanted to argue, but couldn’t find the words. I couldn’t allow things to blow wide open. I wasn’t ready for my secrets to be discovered.

  “I need to call my parents.”

  “Stay put. I’ll get your phone for you.” His hard expression was unreadable, but turmoil swam in his eyes.

  Stone returned in a heartbeat with a watchful eye, handing the phone to me. Our fingers brushed in the exchange, sending warm tingles through my hands. All the hate I’d carried for years was evaporating away into thin air, piece by piece. With trembling fingers, I tapped my dad’s name.

  “Hello, baby girl.” His soothing voice answered on the first ring, like he’d been waiting for my call. He didn’t have to say anything else; I heard relief in the way he breathed. For the first time in six years, my dad had peace.

  “Hey Daddy. How are… How…”

  “It’s finally over.” He paused. “How are you, princess?”

  I glanced toward Stone. “Over? Why did she do this, Daddy? Why did she do this? Why would anyone want to hurt you and Mama?”

  “That’s not our burden to carry. We’ll all answer for our wrongdoings. None of us are perfect, and I have my own failures.” He paused. “It’s time for you to do what you should have done long ago. Make things right, Avery girl.”

  My father always saw the good in everything. He had a light in his heart that never turned off. Eyeing Stone, I chose my words carefully. “I can’t, not yet. I’m with Stone right now. Dovie schemed for us to be in the same house together when she told us. The storm has blown over and as soon as the roads are open, I’ll be heading home. I’ll drop by to see you and Mama.”

  “Avery, do the right thing,” his stern, calm voice pleaded.

  I wasn’t like him. I had things to work out, and I need time to sort through this.

  “Love you, Daddy,” I said from my soul.

  “Your mother and I love you too. The longer you put this off, the worse things will be. The sooner the better.”

  We ended the call, and the room shifted. I had to get out of there, far away from Stone Mitchell. More than ever, I had to go home and forget I’d ever been there.

  “How much longer do you think it will be before the roads are open?” I swallowed back desperation and panic.

  “Not long,” he growled, expression tight like he wanted to smash something.

  He left the room and strode outside, slamming the door behind him. At the window, beside where I still sat on the sofa, he manually opened the shutters. Afterward, he strolled over to the ledge of the deck, standing in the drizzling mist. Small gusts of wind tossed his hair about as he looked up into the sky.

  Tears filled my eyes. Six years of wasted hate, of missed time. Five years of nurturing a three-pound premature baby girl and watching her grow into a vibrant, happy child.

  Without a father.

  Chapter 4

  Regrets?

  Not when it came to Savannah. I’d never have regrets. The moment I first held her in my arms, she became everything. I’d been careful to keep her from the Mitchells, even my sweet Dovie. She had been kept a secret because my heart couldn’t handle her being the reason my parents had to see Stone again, and I never wanted her to know the history of her father and grandmother.

  Both my parents disapproved of my decision to keep her from Stone. They had always been willing to swallow their own pride so Savannah could have a father.

  Misery angrily ate at me while happiness filled my heart for my parents. They finally had closure, all the heaviness and doubt finally behind them. Even I had a bit of closure—Stone hadn’t cheated. He hadn’t slept with my mother.

  Through the floor-to-ceiling glass walls, I saw him clenching the wooden railing. Still facing the depths of the sea, he looked as if he was searching his very own soul. A tear slipped through my lashes, rolling down my cheek.

  Savannah.

  A sense of guilt washed over me. I had no real reason to hate Stone, but I had every reason to fear him. He could change Savannah’s life—and mine—forever, and I wasn’t ready for that. In a twinkle, life had pulled me farther and farther down a rabbit hole of lies.

  A swift thought hit me: what if she’d been here? Oh. My. God. What if I had brought her along? It was the first time I’d ever been separated from her. It had been painful enough to take the advice of Savannah’s neurologist, but after much persuasion, I’d enrolled her in a week-long camp for epileptic children. I trusted Dr. Grimes; she’d been Savannah’s doctor since the seizures first started and highly recommended this program. It promised activities on adaption and socializing with other children who lived with seizures, and the bonus was that she was going to volunteer as a camp physician during Savannah’s attendance.

  Lost in my own tribulations, I didn’t hear Stone barging inside until the door slammed behind him. With fists balled to his sides and clothes soaked, he stopped a few feet short of me. He breathed hard and fast and our eyes clashed together, locked in place for several seconds. My pulse raced, pounding and thumping like a bass drum.

  “I’m going to make them pay, Avery. Every single person who had a hand in this!” A fiery bitter edge laced his voice.

  “It’s over, Stone. I doubt anyone else is going to talk. It was just some miracle that her daughter came forward. Yesterday you said you’d moved on and told me I needed to do the same.”

  “For six damned years, I thought I fucked your mother. I lost everything because of what they did. I lost what I can’t ever have again…but still think about all the time.” His eyes burned into mine and I couldn’t pull mine away. He moved toward me like a predator as I waited in a trance, as if hypnotized
by my captor.

  Savanah. Think about Savannah.

  “I need to make a phone call, if you’ll excuse me.”

  On my way around him, he reached out, grabbing my upper arm in one hand and the nape of my neck in the other. In one brisk sweep, my body pressed flush against his chest and his fierce lips crashed down on mine, making me forget every ounce of common sense I possessed. Pent-up anguish imploded into a delicious madness.

  One hand fisted into my loose blonde curls while the other cupped my face, his thumb under my chin. He wrapped strands around his fingers, drawing them tight against the base of my neck and pulling a whimper of delight from my lips. The moment he slanted his head to the side, deepening the kiss, my mouth opened, inviting his warm tongue against mine. My body surrendered in his vice grip, his lips binding me to him erotically.

  Shivers rippled through my body as I circled my arms around his neck. In a whirl, my back landed hard against the wall. It wasn’t hard enough to cause discomfort, but it was hard enough that Stone’s shoulders stiffened before he pulled back and his lips left mine.

  He pressed his forehead against mine as I stared into his blue eyes. I recognized the wanton desire beneath the heavily hooded lids, and his easy smile let me know he read the want in my own sky blue eyes.

  “I’ve wanted to do that since the moment I saw you.” He trailed his thumb along my bottom lip, placing his other hand on the wall and partially caging me in.

  Panic weaved its way into every cell of my body. I wasn’t ready for any of this—not that kiss, and especially not sharing Savannah.

  Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

  I shoved at his chest. “I can’t do this.”

  “You already did.”

  “No. It was frustration and anger, that’s all.”

  I dipped to slip underneath his arm, but he only lowered his hand on the wall, blocking my escape. On the opposite side, he braced his other arm, keeping me between his corded arms. My heartbeat went haywire as I stared into his dark blue eyes.

  He brought his lips to the curvature of my neck, breathing his warm breath against my skin. I waited for his mouth to graze my skin, but it didn’t. Only his breath teased my ear, oh so close. I pressed my palms against the antique white wall at my hips, waiting and wanting.

  His chest grazed mine as he rocked upward, teasing the peaks of my breasts with his rock-hard body. I shifted my feet, forcing my leg not to lift and curl around his hip. The slightest tremble would be enough movement for his mouth to brush against my skin.

  “You’re so fucking beautiful.” His warm lips nibbled at a sensitive spot, making my spine quiver.

  I leaned in closer, trembling as he trailed his tongue across my skin. My mind blanked out everything in the world. Slipping my fingers into his tousled hair, I leaned my head against the wall, angling to the side, inviting more.

  While his mouth kissed its way across my jawline to my lips, his hands clutched my waist, pulling me roughly against him. My body was on fire, eager and begging for more of his mouth. His lips were soft but demanding, his tongue owning mine.

  Both of his hands trailed down the yellow dress I wore, stopping at the hemline. His fingers moved slowly over the edge onto the silkiness of my thighs, and I released a soft moan in approval, craving more. I drew my leg up his, hitching it around him—anything to get closer.

  I was desperate for more of his mouth, more of his hands, more of anything Stone Mitchell. His hardness pressed against my abdomen, giving me a sample of what the juncture of my thighs hungered for.

  “If you want this to stop, tell me now,” he whispered against my mouth.

  I dug my fingers into his back before jerking my mouth from his. God, I was a fool, a complete idiot. His desire-laden eyes studied me carefully as I held his beautiful heated gaze. We both panted heady breaths, reminding me of how fast I had succumbed to temptation, but the ache for his lips to cover mine pressed hard against what would never be. It wasn’t allowable, regardless of how he made me burn like a firework about to explode into something beautiful.

  “Oh, my God, I’m sorry. I don’t know what happened. I…I-I wasn’t thinking.” The words spilled out between breathy pants

  “Your body knows what it wants.”

  “Stop it, Stone.” I pulled my eyes from his, afraid they would hypnotize my body into betrayal. One look, one needy gaze was all it would take.

  “Look me in the eye and tell me you didn’t want it. Look me in the eye, Ave. Say you don’t want this,” he growled, lips hovering above mine.

  I whipped around, shuffling to put as much space between myself and the truth he spoke, but I didn’t make the first step before I was yanked around and crushed against his chest.

  I pushed against him. “No! I’m committed to the one person I would never hurt…”

  Damn!

  Damn! damn! damn!

  I’d nearly said her name.

  Inch by inch, he pulled away. “Shit, for the love of God, tell me you’re not married.”

  Relief filled every layer of my emotions with his assumption. Lips sealed, I forced my head proud and high, letting him believe the lie in my silence. My knees went weak, fighting to maintain a poker face. I’d never been a good liar.

  “I’ve been blessed with the love of my life”—and she has sandy brown hair, striking eyes that twin yours, and a heart-stopping smile like her daddy—“and I would never…never betray my vow. There can never be anything between us.”

  “There wasn’t a chance in hell I was looking for an us. I don’t do anything putting me in an equation of us, not anymore.” He leaned into my ear, close enough to nip it with his lips. “Too bad, Ave, because I know how wet you are for me. I remember everything about how you used to respond to me. Before you deny it, touch your sweet pussy. Prove me wrong, if you can.” He swallowed hard. “Tell the lucky son-of-a-bitch congratulations.”

  He strode out the door, slamming it behind him before I had the chance to catch my next breath. I caught a glimpse of him sailing down the stairs of the deck, and seconds later, his Jeep roared to life.

  I was alone and shaken. He’d left me gaping and more confused than I’d ever been in my life. I sank to the floor in a flustered mess, letting the hem of my dress bunch up around my hips. I had let him kiss me, and I’d fucking kissed him back. I had to be the stupidest woman in the world.

  Before you deny it, touch your sweet pussy for the proof. Tell the lucky son-of-a-bitch congratulations.

  So crass. He’d never said things like that before. Back then, he was a sweet guy, full of kindness and warmth. I wondered about the man he’d become as I ran my fingers across my swollen lips. Tingles lingered. For a moment, he’d opened the gates of desire, something I hadn’t had a taste of since the last time I’d touched him. I’d had the chance to have casual sex, but no one did it for me like he did. Dampness pooled between my legs, and I couldn’t deny what he did to me.

  That kiss left me a hot mess wading through dangerous territory, a realm I couldn’t afford trespassing into. If he hadn’t spoken, interrupted the moment, I’d have let him take me against the wall, would have come apart with my dress hiked around our hips, exploding into a zillion tiny cinders.

  In a frantic rush, I gathered my things to get the hell out of there before I slipped underneath the quicksand. Finding my phone, I scanned through the news sites, searching for road closures. Relief washed through me as I read that all roads were open and the ferry was up and running.

  It was time to go home.

  Thank God I’d made him believe I had someone else. I could return to Savannah knowing she would be sheltered from the danger of conflict. I let out a sigh, knowing I would never forget the last twenty-four hours and what could never be.

  Slinging my purse over my shoulder, I laughed a sarcastic laugh at the thought of Dovie wanting me to find peace and embrace it.

  Instead I’d found hell.

  Chapter 5

  Over the course of two weeks
, three days, and nine hours, I fell back into the routine of normal life. Keeping up with Savannah, household chores, and hanging out with Lindsey kept me preoccupied during the day; it was the nighttime that was hard. Lying alone in the dark, I had nothing but time to think.

  I knew I wasn’t being fair, but I couldn’t let myself think about it or I’d make myself crazy. Maybe one day there was going to be a good time to tell Stone, but it still wasn’t the day.

  Lindsey and I spent a day with the girls at the zoo and on the way home, they both fell fast asleep. We’d talked about what happened at Port Bolivar, and like my parents, she thought I should come forward, but understood it had to be on my terms, when I was ready.

  “Are you ready to work your ass off tomorrow night? Krista said the choreography on the new routine is going to burn our buns.”

  “More than ready. I probably won’t be able to walk afterward since I’ve missed classes for three weeks. She’s going to kick me out of the Bombshell Pussycat Club.” I let out a soft chuckle.

  “Hardly. Everyone would kill to move like you. Plus, Krista wouldn’t have anyone to act as instructor on the days she’s out. You totally rock that place.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Oh whatever. Did I tell you I ordered a pair of super cute lacy Daisy Dukes?”

  Lindsay chuckled. “If someone peeked inside our closets, they would think we were full-time strippers instead of teachers.”

  “Can you imagine if Mr. Kinard saw us? He would flip his shit and wouldn’t care if we were exercising or not.” Our principle’s strict rules would never allow for our choice of exercise, even though it was innocent fun.

  We chatted, laughed, and sang along with the radio the rest of the way home. Her signing a lease on the house next door had been a blessing beyond measure. Not only did our girls play every day, we were each other’s built-in babysitter, which was really one-sided because Lindsey had had more dates with the high school coach in the past month than I’d had in a lifetime.