My family, or at least my father, would not want to meet Erik. Nor did I want to flaunt this new relationship in front of Jarod who helped manage the farm and land back home. That heartbreak would be coming all too soon, and I was not eager to poke at that fresh, open wound.
“I’ve never been to Norway,” I said and clung to my wine glass. Heck, I’d never been anywhere besides Montana and now Nevada. Getting out of here, away from it all, sounded like a mighty fine idea.
“Then it’s settled. After the meeting tomorrow, we’ll head to Oslo.” Erik smiled.
The waiter approached right then and dished out each plate and refreshed our drinks. I was still dumbstruck about what Erik had said earlier about following me anywhere.
“You okay?” he asked .
I nodded and picked up my silverware, eager to relax. “So… Guess where we were right before here?”
Both Jade and Memphis focused on me.
“At the Little White Wedding Chapel watching Dakota get married,” I dished.
“What?” Memphis said. “Damn. Bidder didn’t let grass grow under his feet, did he? Lordy, that’s lightning fast.”
“And how did Dakota take it?” Jade asked with a hint of a maniacal grin.
“About as well as can be expected.” I chuckled.
“So not good, then,” Memphis supplied.
“That’s one way of putting it. Let’s just say the groom was bleeding after the marital kiss,” I said as they both leaned forward to hear all the tea being spilled. I knew my sister wouldn’t care in the slightest, and I needed to offload the drama so I could sleep tonight without worrying endlessly.
“This is how it went down…”
Episode 25
Fear No More
JOEL
Hatred. Disgust. Rage.
Those were the prevailing feelings that filtered through my veins and heated my blood to boiling. I barely kept my cool as the fissures of anger sizzled out through every last one of my pores, ready to react.
To maim.
To hurt.
To destroy.
I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply, holding the breath for as long as I could without passing out, before allowing the air to ease from my chest. The burn around my lungs was a familiar feeling, one I could hold on to. One I could remember and bring back any time I needed to calm the fuck down.
Like right now.
Faith had been raped. By a man she’d once loved and trusted. This angelic-looking woman with ocean eyes, tawny skin, and glossy pink lips had been defiled by a monster. Was still being threatened by the cretin.
My nostrils flared, and my hands curled into fists so tight they turned white around the knuckles. A vile, sour taste coated my tongue, and I poured myself another drink and slammed it back, allowing the alcohol to chase away the revulsion digging into my heart, mind, and body.
No man would lay a finger on a woman in my care or under my protection. No man would lay a finger on a woman ever in my presence. The things I’d like to do to Faith’s ex would have made a horror novelist run scared.
For a long time, I stared into Faith’s eyes. Hers were frightened, vulnerable in a way that made me angrier, but also filled with a spark of hope. Because she’d shared. With me. She’d given me a truth I knew had never been uttered to a single soul. I wouldn’t allow her to regret that choice.
“Please, Joel… Don’t. Don’t say you’re sorry.”
I clenched my teeth and took a sharp breath. “I won’t.”
She closed her eyes in what I had to believe was relief. Another white-hot fuse of fury sparked through me. I’d have to dig far deeper than I’d thought to get to the heart of this woman. But like my Alexandra always used to say, “If you want something, you work for it. Then when it’s yours, you appreciate it more.” Getting to the place with Faith where she trusted me implicitly would be work. Good. Honest. Worthwhile work. And I was no stranger to hard work of any kind. That’s how I’d built my empire. It’s how my legacy would be taken care of for generations to come.
“Thank you,” she whispered and stared into her tumbler as though seeking the answers to her problems. When all she needed to do was look up. At me. I was going to solve all of her problems. Show her that I was a man of honor. A man to be trusted. A man who would worship her and all she brought to my life and that of my daughter. It’s everything Alexandra would have wanted. It’s what I wanted. Suddenly, more than anything in the world, outside of my daughter’s happiness.
“I would never lay a finger on you in anger,” I stated, holding my head high and my spine straight. The same however, could not be said for her ex, Aiden Bradford. But that was a matter for another day. “You don’t have to be afraid of me.”
She glanced down and away as though ashamed of what she’d revealed. “Yeah, well. I hope that’s true.”
I reached out, unfurled her fingers from around her glass, held both of hers across the bar, and leaned over until my elbows were resting on the wooden surface and our faces were closer together. “If I could give you anything right now, anything at all that could bring you peace, what would it be?”
She didn’t even wait a single second to think about it.
“Take me to my dad’s so I can check on him and my niece. Knowing that Aiden’s men are harassing them is killing me.” She squeezed my hands so hard, I could feel the need shift from her to me.
“Done. Let us go. Now.” I tightened my grip on her hands briefly, wanting her to feel the urgency I had to make her happy. Even if it was in such a small thing as visiting family. And seeing her family would have the extra, added effect of allowing me to learn something far more intimate and private about my wife-to-be.
Her eyes widened, and the tiniest hint of a smile slipped across her lips. That small bit of joy seared through my chest like a blade to the heart. Her delight ripped through any armor I had and destroyed it with a single small smile. I didn’t know what it was about this woman that moved me so. Maybe it was the belief that my late wife had chosen her for me. Maybe it was the chemistry when we’d kissed. Divine intervention, perhaps? Whatever it was, I wanted more.
Silently, I vowed that I’d personally see Faith happy if it was the last thing I did on this Earth.
I let go of her hands and moved around the bar. “Come. Follow me. My driver will take us.”
She didn’t hesitate to jump into action, slipping her hand into mine without being prompted.
I took that as a slight win.
The neighborhood was an older development of standard, desert-weathered, single-story ranch homes. Most of the yards were either xeriscaped with rocks and cacti or filled with desert plants that could withstand the dry heat. Unlike my own homeland which was filled with the ocean breeze, its mist soaking into the surroundings giving everything it touched the breath of life, of peace. I couldn’t wait to get back. I’d been gone far too long for my liking.
I stood back a couple of feet as Faith knocked on the door.
“I already told you guys, she’s not here! Hasn’t been here in ages!” A man’s voice came roaring through the still-closed door.
“Dad!” Faith called out. “It’s me! Open the door.”