Page 13 of Hart of Darkness
5
Dillon
Iparked in the driveway alongside Rafe’s souped-up truck then absorbed the quietness for a few minutes. Pinching my nose, I closed my eyes. Sleep was starting to take over. Rafe was right. I needed to find an outlet or a woman. Too many sleepless nights at the shelter plus bills, spreadsheets, and a dead girl in a morgue were all starting to take a toll on me.
The small gym in the basement sounded like a great way to unwind, and so did getting laid. The problem with the latter was that I didn’t have anyone I could call. My past hookups had been with women I’d met at clubs. Since I’d bought the shelter, I hadn’t even been out to eat, let alone to a nightclub.
I couldn’t help but remember how I’d almost opened my heart to someone. Man, she was still beautiful, with black hair and blue-gray eyes, not like the usual blondes I had a thing for. I grinned when I thought of how she’d been trying to avoid a guy at Rumors nightclub and how I’d decided to make out with her so he wouldn’t notice her. I’d been waiting for her to slap me. Instead, her body had molded to mine, soft and perfect. And then there was the kiss.Whoa!Her lips had been like silk. Her tongue had tasted of mint, and the way it had played with mine had made me hard in an instant.
I shucked the images of Lizzie Reardon. I couldn’t have a girl who’d been saving her heart for her childhood sweetheart, Kelton Maxwell. Besides, love didn’t have a home in my world, not only because I was afraid any woman would run like my mother had, but also because until I found Grace dead or alive, I couldn’t give my entire self to someone.
Then you might not ever get married, fall in love, or have a family.
At some point, I would have to call it quits. My problem was that I couldn’t. My blood began to boil at how I wanted to turn back time and change my decision to go into the merchant marines. I’d trusted my brothers, though.
“I did watch after her when you joined the merchant marines,” Duke had said. “I couldn’t babysit her twenty-four hours a day.”
Grace had never believed that Denim or Duke would protect her from our father. I banged a hand on the steering wheel. It was my fault that she was missing. She’d trusted me. I was such a fucking asshole. I’d wanted to get away from my old man so badly. I’d wanted to find a better life rather than get abused by my father or even die from some gang fight. More than that, I’d wanted to make money so I could return home and take my sister out of the caustic environment she had been living in.
I growled, recalling a conversation between Duke and me in his penthouse about eight months ago, right before I’d signed the mortgage papers for the shelter.
“She’s probably dead,” Duke had said.
“How can you stand there, dressed in your fancy suit, and tell me Grace is dead?” I’d shouted at the top of my lungs. “How can you believe that? No one has found her body.”
“I’ve seen what the streets can do to people. Come on, Dillon. Use that smart head of yours. It’s been four years since Grace left home. Don’t think for a minute I didn’t go looking for her. I did. If she’s still alive, maybe she doesn’t want to be found.”
“Or maybe, brother, someone kidnapped her.” That was the last thing I’d said to Duke. Since then, we hadn’t spoken, even though he lived in the city.
I rubbed my eyes, shook off my ire and every other emotion burning through my body, and went into the shelter.
As soon as I was inside, I heard a car’s engine. Rafe was monitoring the cameras on Norma’s computer screen. “VW. They’re parking in front of the house.”
I stalled in the doorway that connected the entry to the common room. “Where’s Norton?”
“I did what you said and called Josh in. He’s got his eye on Norton.”
The doorbell rang.
Not taking his attention away from the screen, Rafe said, “Two girls. One looks in bad shape.”
I hurried the short distance to the front door, with Rafe not far behind.
When I opened it, my eyes landed on the redhead first. Her hair was disheveled, her body was black and blue, and it appeared she’d been rolling around in a pile of leaves. Then my gaze flicked to the blonde, and my jaw came unhinged.
“Dillon? I’m Maggie. You called.” Her voice slid along my tattooed arms, smooth, silky, and downright ball-squeezingly sexy.
I opened the door wider.
The redhead immediately padded in, appearing a little agitated. She craned her neck up at Rafe then pivoted on her heel and went back to the door. “I’m out of here.”
Rafe and I swapped confused shrugs.
Maggie blocked the girl. “Nadine, they’re not going to call the cops.” Maggie gave me a pointed look. “Right, Dillon?” Her voice was soothing, like a mom’s.
That all depended on what we were up against. My goal in taking in women was not to interrogate them, but to give them refuge. However, I had a couple of questions, or one important one. First, Nadine needed some medical attention, as in Band-Aids and antiseptic. I didn’t see any cuts that required stitches.
“Rafe, can you get the first-aid kit?” I asked.
