Breaking to Breathe Read online

  “Teach your woman how things are done, Marx.” Ryan laughed as he wrapped Ashley’s hair around his fist and pulled her in for a kiss that rivaled high quality porn. The group dispersed into the night, leaving only Kyle, Cate and a taxi cab on the streets of Charistown.

  “What did Ryan mean about teaching how things are done?” Kyle grinned. He’d been worried that Cate would take issue with being referred to as his woman, maybe she was finally beginning to see what he’d come to realize from day one…err, day two.

  “Red, if we’re around, you girls don’t pay. Plain and simple.”

  “Wait,” Cate stomped her foot but grinned a saucy grin, “That’s sexist and ridiculous and…”

  “That’s the way it is.” Kyle tipped her chin up kissed her lips and ended the discussion all in five words.

  Then he took his woman back to his place and showed her how she repaid him for the drinks. Cate seemed to like the way things were done.

  Call In Reinforcements

  CATE SLIPPED OUT of his bed, her gaze ran the length of his sated body as her lips curved up with pleasure. He’d made it no secret that she rocked his world with her soft lips and greedy mouth. Christ, he acted like a teenage boy with all the moaning and squirming he did, but hell if he cared. It was the best fucking blowjob he’d ever had…again. Fuck, just watching the sultry vixen with her gaze raking up and down his overheated skin had his cock hardening again.

  She glided to the pile of clothes on the floor, her nakedness seemingly irrelevant, as she gathered her garments and headed to the bathroom. The clicking sound of the door closing seemed to be the bucket of water that awoke him from the orgasm induced wave he’d been riding. Shaking what was left of their sexual nirvana from his brain, Kyle played back each of last night’s interludes, the way they touched and stroked, they gave and took, explored and tantalized each other’s bodies bringing climax after climax upon one another. Yet once again, as it had been like the times before, as it had been just a few minutes prior, all of it orchestrated so he wasn’t able to see her face as they made love.

  He knew she cried as he moved deep inside her, he tasted the salty trail on her cheeks, even though there were no sounds of sadness, only pleasure. He wanted nothing more than to ask her about the tears and their origin, but selfishly, his fear of losing her kept his curiosity at bay. He wished she would open up and let him in, let him in to all the ugly parts of her life, the way he did with his. She was still a mystery, and while he didn’t mind learning little pieces at a time, he hated that she was about to walk into the lion’s den alone.

  “Hey there, you sleeping with your eyes open, ‘cause that’s a little disturbing.” Cate was perched on the side of his bed, her flaming hair pulled back in a loose twist and her face freshly washed and free of makeup. Would there ever be a day when he wouldn’t want to see her face first thing in the morning or last at night?

  He lifted himself up, his hands behind him on the bed and leaned forward to kiss her. “Mmm, you smell minty fresh. Did you use my toothbrush? It’s fine if you did.” What the hell? Had some random chick used even his hairbrush in the past, he would have burned it.

  “Ew, no, that’s gross, Ky. I used your mouth wash.” Her smile was bright and beautiful and held no trace of the sadness that leaked from her eyes under the veil of darkness in the middle of the night. Not even a hint of the anxiety which he knew she was feeling about her upcoming visit with her parents in the morning.

  “Angel, please reconsider. Let me come with you today. Why should you have to make such a long drive by yourself, twice?” They both knew it wasn’t so much the drives he was concerned about but the visit in between.

  Sighing, Cate folded her hand in his bigger one, “Sweet Man, if your parents were still alive and they summoned you after years of silence…would you bring me to that lovely family reunion?”

  “Fuck no! I wouldn’t bring my worst fucking enemy to meet those disgusting soul-eating parasites.” The second the words left his mouth, awareness set in. He had just made her point loud and clear.

  “I’m truly hoping that things are…different between us. Maybe even better.” Her bottom lip was pulled tightly between her teeth as she bit into the flesh, “When I get back, maybe I’ll…no, I will fill you in on what tore my family apart. You’ve been patient with me, Kyle. You deserve answers.”

  While it was clear she reached for bravado, there was no hiding the angst that clouded her normally bright amber eyes and that worried him to the quick. Stroking the back of his fingers down the side of her jaw, Kyle used his thumb and tilted her chin up meeting her eye to eye. “Promise me something, Angel.”

  Cate nodded.

  “Promise me that if you need me, you’ll call. I will come for you, Cate, all you have to do is ask and I will come for you.” She nodded again, her gaze flitting to the side, making Kyle’s gut clench.

  “Words, Angel. I need words.”

  Whispery soft, Cate glanced up to him, “I promise, I’ll call you if I need you.”

  Throwing on a pair of jeans, Kyle walked Cate to the door. After a lingering kiss and more promises of phone calls and texts, he sent her on her way.

  Now, only if he could pull her back.

  “Catey, are you sure you don’t want me to go with you?”

  “Wow, Ells, are you and Kyle reading from the same script?” Cate grinned as she tucked the last of her toiletries into her duffle and zipped the bag closed. Elliot waved off the allegation but wasn’t able to erase the worry lines that had crept between her brows during the course of the day.

  “The guy isn’t just a pretty face, Cate. He may not know for certain what you have waiting for you in Branchland, but I do.” She scooped her knees up to her chest and tugged her favorite extra-large sweat shirt over her entire frame. “Honey, I know you have an open mind, and that’s great, but I’m worried about you. Five hundred miles is a long trip to make on your own if things don’t go the way you hope they go.”

  Cate removed her overnight bag from the bed and set it on the floor, making plenty of room for her to sit next to her best friend. “Ells, I’m trying to be a better me. More positive, more accepting. You, my soul sister, have been trying to drive this into me for how long? I’m thirty-one years old. It’s time I take a risk, right?”

  Elliot opened her mouth, but Cate held up her finger to stay her friend’s objection. “Look at me, I’m doing okay…hell, better than okay. The freaking roof at our store fell in…OUR STORE, Ells, our baby! And I’m still standing. I’m seeing a man for the first time in my life, and while it’s been difficult, I’m actually letting him in. I think I’m going to tell him about everything I went through after I was returned, all those years ago.” She knew she was rambling, but she couldn’t stop herself, she didn’t want to. “And…and, I have friends, Elliot. Friends, plural as in more than just you and Derrick from the gym. Sure, they don’t know much about me yet, but I think in time I’d be willing to let them in. I just need to go and deal with my parents and Fara first. See what they have to say, and hopefully move on. I’m not naïve enough to believe we can ever be a real family, but, I don’t think they have the power to hurt me anymore.”

  Elliot blinked her soft blue eyes, usually so bright and cheerful, now glassy and full of concern. Elliot swallowed hard, “Okay, honey.” Ells reached out and gripped Cate’s hand, squeezing just a bit too tight, “Just, umm, call me when you get there tonight, and call me after you see them tomorrow.” Had Cate been more attuned to her friend’s signs, she would have seen all of the warning and dread clearly written on Elliot’s beautiful face.

  “I will. Have a great time at Danny’s tonight. Give everyone a kiss for me.” Cate threw her bag over her shoulder and headed on her road trip to Branchland, West Virginia.

  The bar was slammed as it always was on Thursday nights. Kyle, Ashley, Ryan and the new guy, Ando, were entertaining the masses and enjoying every minute of it. Ando with his chin length dark hair and brownish bl
ack eyes seemed to be melting panties and breaking hearts with his bright smile and Latino charm. Kyle always wondered if he’d be jealous when the next big deal came in and dethroned him, but as he watched the bar bunnies strut their stuff for the young bartender, using the same tricks he’d seen most of his life, all he felt was relief. No longer did he have to play the games; he could finally turn in his dice and walk away a winner.

  Not only was Ando a hit with the customers, he seemed to be working out well with the rest of the staff, regardless of his limited previous bar experience. It never ceased to amaze Kyle how Danny and Julie knew just who would be the right additions to the Danny’s family. Their hires had almost never been wrong, the only exceptions being when they caved and took on someone as a favor to one of their beloved kids. Those situations never ended well, and after a while, Kyle and the rest of them learned to accept Danny’s and Julie’s litmus tests as gospel. Even with all of the changes in the new Danny’s on Main business, all hiring was left to the Marcus’, and they were happy to keep that responsibility solely on their shoulders.

  Vibrating in his pocket alerted him that a text just came through. At half past ten, it had to be Cate saying she arrived in West Virginia. Once he poured the drafts, and mixed the cocktails for the customers waiting patiently for their liquid fun, he tugged the cell out of his pocket.

  Cate: I’m here safe and sound. Going to sleep. But I’ll call you after I see them tomorrow. Can I sleep at your place when I get home tomorrow night?

  SweetMan: I’ll be waiting for your call. Angel, never need to ask about being in my bed. The answer is always yes.

  Cate: Night, Sweet Man

  SM: Night. Xx

  Slipping the phone back in his pocket, he made his way to the far end of the bar.

  “Dude, you have a goofy look on your face; you hear from our girl?” Lyla asked, her eyes quickly roaming the bar.

  “Ly, is it possible for you to play it cool?” Kyle shook his head.

  Her midnight brows arched, “Oh please, you know how cool I can play, so let’s not go there. Anyway, you’re smiling like a fool. That have anything to do with a certain redhead that not only took you off the market, but set fire to the store?” The more Lyla pointed out the obvious, the bigger his smile became.

  “Yes, you little brat.”

  “Oh good. I received a text when she was two hours out,” Elliot informed them. “Did she say she was at the hotel?”

  “Yep, and that she’d call tomorrow after she met with her folks.” The way Elliot’s smile faltered at the additional information made his gut feel leaden.

  “What’s goin’ on, Ells? There’s something you aren’t saying,” Ashley needled from Kyle’s side.

  Elliot tucked a long blonde curl behind her ear and pulled in a deep breath before speaking. “Guys, I’m sorry, but there is a lot going on and a ton that I’m not saying… but it needs to be that way, at least for now.” Kyle clenched his jaw as he watched his new friend continue to fumble for words. “I’m not sure if you all have ever kept secrets to protect those you love, but I do and I will. I’m sorry.” She reached into her purse, grabbing a couple of twenties and placing them on the bar just as she stood from her stool. Her eyes were filled with tears as she moved to grab her jacket from the iron coat tree.

  “Wait, Ells, where are you going?” Janie’s question was nearly a squeal as the shock of Elliot’s departure seemed to hit everyone at once.

  “I’m just gonna leave. It’s obvious what a tight knitted group you are, but Catey and I…” She shook her head, “She thinks she’s the one that needs me, but truthfully, I need her just as much. I can’t sell her out.”

  “Please don’t leave, Ells,” Janie begged. Kyle watched the interaction amongst the ladies play out in front of him, but didn’t intervene. Some things were better left between women. Not to mention, every part of him was screaming that he’d made a huge mistake not forcing Cate to let him go with her when she left his place this morning.

  “Honey, we may be a tight group, but the way we became a family was by trusting each other. Not only do we share our lives, but when need be, we keep each other’s secrets.” Janie’s eyes moved from Elliot to Lyla then back. “Girlie, there are a shitload of secrets in a family this size. When one of your own is suffering, it doesn’t mean you need to open your vault; it just means sometimes you may need to call in reinforcements. That, my new friend is the difference between being a good friend and being a great one. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

  Out of the corner of his eye, Kyle saw Elliot give a slight nod before handing her coat to an eager Lyla, and then his attention was pulled back to the throng of Thursday night partiers. Logic promised that in just twenty-four hours he’d have Cate back in his arms; it was that little voice in his brain whispering otherwise that made him want this night to end.

  It Is Tomorrow

  “CATHRYN, DEAR, IT’S nice to see you. You turned out…fine, just fine.” Cate knew almost immediately by the tight sound of her mother’s voice, and the disgusted look her father didn’t bother to disguise that the reunion was going to be a mistake. She forced herself not to cringe when her mother hugged her too tightly and her father merely offered his hand.

  They met at the Denny’s in Branchland. Cate hoped the public setting would thwart any kind of emotional scene good or bad. They aged beyond their years with yellowed teeth and grayish pallor. They smelled stale like old alcohol, cigarettes, and body odor. Their clothing was threadbare, but wrinkle-free, as if they tried to make themselves presentable for today, but those were the best clothes they owned.

  “Where’s Fara? I thought she was coming with you guys?” Cate couldn’t mask the disappointment in her voice.

  “She’s not nearly as forgiving as we are, Cathryn. She’s with her husband.”

  “Ron,” her mother’s warning tone and forceful grip shut her father up quickly, but the words were already out in the open. That was the first gash made in the new coat of confidence Cate had been wearing with pride.

  “Don’t listen to your father, Cathryn; he hasn’t been well lately. Fara’s been…busy, that’s all.” Her mother back peddled, smiling as she twisted her hands together. Tucking a stringy strand of hair behind her ear, her mother asked how Cate had been over the years, but seemed to not listen to the answers that were given. I see not much has changed in two decades, Cate thought, more annoyed than sad at the realization. The small talk was stilted and awkward and felt like a prelude to something more, but she still hoped she was wrong.

  Once the three of them ordered breakfast, and the waitress poured the coffee and left them alone, Cate’s father spoke again in his gravelly broken voice, “Cathryn, we’ve fallen on hard times, and we need some money.” Ahh, the something more. He slid a piece of paper across the linoleum table. “So, here is our bank account. Transfer cash into it by Thursday…” Cate watched as his body jerked, and she realized her mother must have kicked him under the table when he quickly added, “Please.”

  Had she not been sitting already, her legs may have given out on her. As it was, her vision went spotty, and her hands trembled in…sadness, anger, and frustration…every single emotion. “What?”

  “What, you couldn’t hear me?” He repeated his previous statement, only this time he enunciated each word, his intention clear; he wanted to demean her. Make her feel stupid, childish. She remembered this tactic extremely well.

  “I heard you fine the first time,” she replied quietly, quickly trying to wrap her mind around the situation before it turned completely out of hand. “What I don’t understand is what you did with all of the money you made from me before, and why you would come to me for more money now?” Thank God she hadn’t eaten anything yet that morning because her stomach tied itself in knots so large she wasn’t sure she’d ever get them undone.

  Surprise set in again when it wasn’t her father that answered her questions, but her mother. Gone were the soft smile and the warm e
yes; in their place were the hard, take-no-prisoners woman Cate had known since being rescued from her kidnapper. After years of thinking about it, that woman was probably there all along, simmering under the surface, Cate had just been too young with nothing to offer to even notice.

  “Listen, we didn’t want to come to you. Trust us, we knew you’d give us a hard time; you’ve always been a selfish brat,” her mother hissed. “And frankly, what we’ve done with our money has nothing to do with you. But we are in a serious situation, and we need cash. Now.”

  Cate swallowed, taking the few seconds to comprehend the words her mother had said. Selfish. Brat. Their money. They wanted more from her, and still they treated her like shit. Clearly her mother took Cate’s silence as weakness and continued to browbeat their point.

  “Your father and I know you have money now. You think just because we haven’t spoken that we don’t know how you’ve been doing?” Cate was stunned, paralyzed by the venom that secreted from the two people facing her. “What’s the matter, Cathryn, got nothing to say? Just like when you were little, never wanted to be a team player then either.” Cate opened her mouth and closed it, the words still stuck in her throat.

  “What was that? I didn’t hear you, Cate,” her father taunted her, using her legal name. “Shout It Out for me.” Like a twig, she snapped the moment her father waved her company in front of her.

  She kept her voice low as to not create a scene, but pointed her finger and spat, “The two of you are nothing more than glorified trash.” She snickered humorlessly, “Wait, look at you; there is no glory. You’re just plain trash. How dare you come to me and ask for anything. ANYTHING,” her voice raised, but she immediately, caught it and brought it back to a whisper. “I lived through a nightmare that no child, no person should ever have to think about, and by the grace of God, I came home to the two of you. I would have been better off with him. You used me and my situation for your own financial gain, and when I stopped being a ‘team player,’ you swapped me out for Fara. You disgust me.”