Silent Scars (Surviving #4) Read online

  “Please don’t feed the dog from the table.”

  “Dad, seriously, house arrest is really not necessary,” I pleaded. Okay, so I was being dramatic. He had simply insisted I move into the main house and leave my cosy home situated at the bottom of the grounds in the converted stables.

  “He’s been watching you.” Dad placed his drink down and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Some lunatic has been watching your every move. He’s described in sick detail what he wants to do to you. He was in your home, Aloura. I refuse to take any chances with that.”

  The pain and desperation in my dad’s voice killed me. It wasn’t his fault some nut had decided to take offence at the practises at my dad’s firm. I opened my mouth to apologise, and he silenced me by holding up his hand. He pulled back his shoulders, lifted his coffee to his mouth, taking a sip before a mischievous grin lit his face.

  “There are two security men coming to introduce themselves today. Ryan Dermont and Will Senior. In fact they should be here anytime soon.”

  “I don’t need this.”

  “I hate having to keep saying this, but someone threatened you. They are targeting you because of me. Make an old man happy and let this man stick with you.”

  I huffed my irritation and threw more toast to Hercules.

  “They’re both American, and from what Will explained your bodyguard has recently left the U.S. Marines.” Dad wiggled his eyebrows.

  I simply shook my head and rolled my eyes. I was being an irritable, immature cow.

  “If he’s anything like Will, he’ll be bloody gorgeous. The arse on that man.”

  “Dad, seriously!”

  “What I’m old, not dead from the waist down, kiddo”

  “Urgh! Children need therapy for much less than hearing that.”

  “I don’t know whether I want to bite his arse or beg him to spank mine,” he mused dreamily.

  I was about to be reacquainted with my digested breakfast. I groaned and buried my head in my hands.

  “Honey, men like him are few and far between. He’s tall, commanding, and just delicious.”

  “Stop! You have to stop before I throw up my cornflakes. I’m of a generation where we like to think we invented sex and our parents don’t have any rude bits.” I waved my hands at him. “So shush.”

  Dad threw his head back and laughed. “You remind me so much of your mother when you sass me like that.”

  “At least she doesn’t regale me with her inappropriate fantasies.”

  “Because she clearly hasn’t met the green-eyed Adonis. Even she would be slightly swayed from boobs if she saw him.”

  “Just kill me,” I uttered, covering my face again. My father had no qualms about flaunting his sexuality since he has been out and proud since the age of fourteen. My grandmother found his stash of porn and quite bluntly said she had no issues with him being gay, but he had to find a way to give her grandchildren. My mother and he had been best friends since they could walk. She’s had a bit more of a struggle with being open about her sexuality. She tried to convince herself she was in love with my dad, but the reality was – she loved him, just not in a romantic fashion. They lived together since attending university. They were like an old married couple in every sense, apart from my dad was happily devoted to his partner, Alec. Mum was a little more commitment phobic. She lived in one half of this generous house, and Dad and Alec lived in the other. The kitchen was pretty central, so we all usually congregated at meal times. They both wanted children, and when Mum asked my dad to be a donor he jumped at the chance. They made a pretty awesome parenting team.

  “This house is insane,” I grumbled.

  “What’s he done now? Still droning on about his crazy idea of a bodyguard?” Alec chuckled, finally coming to my rescue. He always acted as my saviour when Dad was being insane. Alec was totally on board with me about not employing someone to be by my side twenty-four seven. He pressed a kiss to my forehead when I laid my cheek against my arm to look at him. I lifted my head and smiled when he walked over to my dad and slid his arm around his waist to kiss him on the cheek.

  “I was telling her about Will’s arse.”

  My cheeks turned pink when Alec gasped and covered his mouth.

  “Oh Aloura, my God, it’s like a firm peach. I dream of having cheeks like that.” Alec patted his backside.

  “Oh, please! I refuse to compliment what you already know is perfect.” Dad huffed and sipped his coffee.

  Alec frowned, as if remembering something. “I didn’t expect him today. Isn’t his girlfriend due to have twins anytime soon?”

  “He wasn’t supposed to be meeting me today. But I think he feels he needs to introduce Ryan personally. We’re meeting him shortly. Apparently he’s Will’s brother.” Dad grinned. “Can you imagine? More of those sexy genes in the world.”

  I rolled my eyes.

  The sound of heels clacking against the wooden floor warmed me.

  “Mum, save me, I need to schedule some therapy with you immediately.” I sighed dramatically as she entered the kitchen. “It’s been nothing but talk of men, arses, and men’s rude bits.” I did an exaggerated shiver, making her mouth curve in a gorgeous smile. She worked at the hospital as a child psychologist, helping kids pre and post surgery. I looked very much like Mum, jet black hair, tall frame, and brown eyes. I wished I’d inherited her gorgeous olive complexion, but instead I had Dad’s pale skin tone.

  “Yucky things.” She hugged me before grabbing a coffee.

  “Even you, Sally, would be impressed by his gorgeous package.”

  “Sorry, babe.” She kissed his cheek and sat down, opening the newspaper. “When it comes to a man’s meat and two veg, I am definitely a vegetarian.” She smirked at me.

  Meet the Cavendishes – my family was insane.

  My hands were fisted in my lap as I tried not to fidget as my brother drove us towards his newest client. I hated being a passenger, more so after my convoy was blown to smithereens. It was the loss of control and the way Will insisted on chatting my fucking ear off making the tension build within me.

  “Listen, I know you don’t really want to take this job.”

  “I never said that.”

  “I distinctly remember the words ‘I ain’t no fucking babysitter’ and ‘I’d rather cut off my nut sack before some rich princess makes me her lap dog.’”

  I grumbled a response because the fucker was right. But Will needed my help, and the only thing I was good at was bailing my brothers out of shit. Honourable discharge had wiped me of my dignity. Honourable? What the fuck is honourable about being blown up and letting your men fucking die in front of you? I clenched my fists and refused to let the pain in.

  “Look, I know this isn’t ideal. But Rob is sick, and to be honest I don’t think he has the...what’s the word...”

  “Balls?”

  “Professionalism.” Will glared at me before turning his attention back to the road. We were heading towards the home of his new client. Who had more money than sense, clearly seeing as he was employing Will to play bodyguard to his precious daughter who refused to come to heel.

  Fucking sap.

  I was all for protecting family, but if the spoilt little rich girl didn’t give a shit about her own safety, then why the fuck should I? I’d spent my entire adolescence with superior rich bastards who thought they were some fucking Godly creature because Daddy had a fat wallet.

  “Ry, she isn’t...” He released a long frustrated breath. “Her father owns a medical research company that has been doing trials with new cancer treatment drugs.”

  “And?”

  “They test on human patients, and some people are opposed to that.”

  “And?”

  “Doctor Graham Cavendish, that’s our client’s name, has been receiving death threats.”

  “Doesn’t that come with the job?”

  “They...whoever made these particular threats brought his daughter into it. He said he has been rece
iving them for a long time, but these are more specific. More personal. Someone broke into his daughter’s home and...” He trailed off, letting silence fill the car.

  “Not psychic here, Will. I need to know this shit.”

  “They used personal items of hers, defecated and urinated over her bed. They were disturbed by her mother.”

  “Was she hurt?” I took a deep breath.

  “No, nothing happened. Aloura was apparently in her music room or something. She was pretty rattled, but other than that her dad says she’s okay. But as you can see, we need to take this seriously. This sick fucker means business, and he’s trying to use Aloura as leverage.”

  “Aloura?”

  “Graham’s daughter.” Will tapped the steering wheel. “She really does seem like a nice woman, Ry. She’s nothing like those bitches we grew up with, I swear. She’s quiet, apparently, and likes to keep to herself. I know she isn’t happy with her dad for employing us. She works at the local library, and from what I can digress from her dad, she’s a bit of a loner. I think that’s what worries him more. She has no one looking out for her.”

  “Siblings?”

  “No, only child. Alec has a son the same age as her they are pretty close.”

  “And why the fuck isn’t he watching out for her?” I snapped, turning in my seat to glare at him.

  “He does. He is. But...this is more serious than a school bully.” Will rubbed his hand across his forehead and blew out a breath. I swallowed, feeling sick for adding pressure to my already over-stressed brother.

  “How’s Emily?” I asked and watched as his hands tightened around the wheel.

  “Fucking terrified.”

  “Everything is okay though, right?”

  “She’s getting closer to the benchmark where she lost Clara, and she’s terrified of losing the twins. She’s weeks away from the due date, but reaching the exact gestational stage she lost her baby girl seems to be messing with her mind.” Will ran his hand through his hair, and I finally noticed how unkempt he looked. I mean, yeah, he was a laid back guy and finally the uptight suits and precision grooming had disappeared thanks to him finally kicking Marissa, the queen bitch, to the curb. But he looked tired.

  When we were growing up, Will discovered a hard on, and shortly after that - Marissa. At the time he was such a sappy shit, all goo-goo over her. I never said much, but then he proposed and shit changed pretty quickly. I’d heard rumours that she was hooking up with Brock behind his back, but after I beat Brock’s pansy ass, I thought he’d know to keep his dick in his pants. Clearly, he was too stupid because years later they decided to reconnect – genitals to genitals and created another spoilt bastard in the world; problem was she was still married to Will at the time and claimed the kid was his. Jo, my younger brother, said Will had been pretty cut up about it for a while until he’d come to the UK and met Emily. The tiniest little demon you had ever met. She looked fragile and dainty, but the mouth on her – she could cut any man down to size. Currently she was expecting twins, and due to losing a baby years ago, before she met Will, she was kinda stressed out.

  “Gestation for twins is around thirty-seven weeks anyway.” I stopped talking when I could feel his eyes on me. I turned to look at him thankfully we were stopped at traffic lights otherwise we may be wrapped around a truck by now. “What?”

  “How the hell do you know that?”

  “They are my nieces or nephews obviously I know this shit.” I glared at him like he was insane.

  He stared at me a moment before barking out a laugh. His face transformed into the relaxed man I was familiar with. He scrubbed his hands down his face and put the car in drive. “I needed that.”

  “She’s going to be fine, Will. Those babies are going to be fine. The only thing you need to worry about is never getting to hold them with Mom around. I’m surprised Jo ever gets to see Molly and Alfie.” Will’s mom was in a fog of grandbabies. Molly was the newest addition to our family. She’s almost two years old now and the cutest little girl you'd ever seen. Alfie was a total dude. God I love that kid. Alfie was Jo’s step-son, and Molly was his darling baby girl.

  “Yeah, she kind of kidnaps Izzy more frequently too.”

  “That kid is cute as a button,” I said, smiling. Emily had shared custody of Izzy with her ex. And the kid is awesome. “How is my biggest fan?”

  When Will didn’t reply, I glanced across at him to see a frown creasing his brow. “What?”

  “I don’t know. she’s been off lately.”

  “Off?”

  “Yeah, not acting up or anything just...she’s real quiet. And we’ve had a few mornings where she has kicked up a major fuss before school. So much we’ve had to call Jack to come and deal with her.”

  “Do you think it’s anything to do with Em being pregnant?”

  He lifted his shoulders and shook his head. “I wouldn’t have thought so. She seems more excited than us to be getting two babies. I’m certain the problem is at school, but when we ask her, she shuts down. We’ve talked to her teachers, and they all say she’s quiet lately, but there seems to be no concerns. Emily is feeling guilty for switching her schools, she blames that. I came home the other day to Emily in tears because Izzy had stomped on her hearing aids, screaming at Em that she hated being a freak.”

  I clenched my fists so tight my knuckles cracked. “Well, clearly there is something to be concerned about. The little toadstool isn’t happy.”

  “Yeah, I know.” The stressed look returned to his eyes.

  “I’ll talk to her, see if I can find out anything. In fact, I’ll go pick her up from school today and take her for some supper. Give you and Em some time alone.”

  “I don’t know... “

  “Spend some time with Em, just the two of you,” I insisted. They needed to reconnect, to ground each other. If anyone could take that hopeless look away from my brother’s eyes, it was his blonde pixie, as he called her.

  “Let’s just get this meeting over with first. If you still don’t want to do it that’s fine.”

  “I can take the job, Will. I was just yanking your chain.” I laughed. I hadn’t been joking, but I didn’t want him having to stress over this shit when he had his woman and kids on his mind. “We’ll do the meet and greet. It will take a day for the security systems to be put in place. You go home to your woman, and I’ll go get my little buddy.”

  “You sure?”

  “Absolutely.” I nodded. “Now stop being a fucking drama queen and get laid already. You turn into a right diva.” I laughed when he punched me in the arm.

  ***

  I whistled loudly when Will pulled up to huge wrought iron gates. He opened the window and spoke into a box beside the car. Christ, was I about the meet the freaking Queen of England? A whirring sound echoed before the gates separated and disappeared into the brick wall. Will rolled the car forward through the gateway.

  “Fuck me,” I muttered as we drove up an endless road through woodland, which opened into the most majestically maintained garden. Will followed the gravel road until it curved and circled around an ornate water fountain, bringing us to the foot of the steps to our client’s castle. Okay, so castle was a slight exaggeration, but holy hell the place was huge. I thought I had grown up in a massive home, but this was colossal. It was like something from that TV show Em likes to watch – Downton Abbey.

  “I feel like I’m about to meet royalty.”

  Will chuckled beside me. “It is pretty impressive. I’d love to bring Em here. She would love it.”

  A guy in a light grey suit opened the door holding a fucking teacup and a newspaper under his arm. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

  “Ssh.” Will’s barely hidden amusement had me glaring at him.

  “I am so kicking your ass for this little brother.”

  He rolled his eyes. Will had been my best friend in high school, and when shit hit the fan, his family took me in.

  “Days, Ry, you are thirty-one days
older.” The bastard got out of the car with a satisfied grin on his face. Truth was I may have only been days older, but it felt like years. I pulled my skull cap lower, making sure to hide the messed up scars of my failures.

  I jumped out of the passenger side, thankful Will had upgraded Em’s matchbox car to something more suitable for a man to sit in. I was in no way sexist, but her car was a joke. Even Izzy had trouble getting into the tiny thing.

  “Will, it’s nice to see you again.” A guy, who I assumed was our new client, greeted Will. The man carried himself with an air of grace, definitely fit for all this grandeur. His grey suit was tailored and fit his slim frame perfectly. His silver hair was styled, and it was easy to see he took care of his appearance. Although his hair was perfectly grey, he didn’t look a day over forty. Unlike me, who at this moment in time was feeling like a wrinkled tramp.

  “Doctor Cavendish.”

  “Graham, please.”

  Was the guy blushing?

  “Graham. This is my associate I was talking to you about, Ryan.”

  I smothered a grin at Will’s formalities. I was wearing a skull cap, faded jeans, and a sweater, hardly formal clothing. The guy held out his hand. I gave it a brief shake before burying my hands in my pockets. Why all of a sudden did I feel like a total clown?

  “Please, follow me. Aloura is in the music room.” He chuckled softly. “We have a home of seventeen rooms, and the only three she uses are the music room, library, and her bedroom.”

  I glanced at Will, who was surreptitiously shaking his head as if he knew what I was thinking.

  “What if I lose her in her own home?” I whispered from the corner of my mouth.

  “You heard the guy, library, music – wait – you know what a library is don’t you?”

  He laughed again when I pushed him forward.

  We followed Graham through a maze of corridors. The rhythmic thud of our steps sounded around us. The formal march of boots hitting the polished floor. I sucked in a breath as the familiar sound echoed around me. I clutched at my hat, pulling it as low as possible. The mixture of stone walls and mahogany panels gave the place an ancient feeling. Like I was wandering through history just by walking these halls. The massively high ceilings even made me feel small. Chandeliers hung in large open spaces. Almost as if the sun couldn’t touch this time and place. The smell of polish and cold stone permeated the air. We turned yet another corner. Where the fuck were we heading? I forced my hands deep into the denim pockets to hide my shaking hands. We headed past a window that was as big as one of my apartment walls. It faced out onto the garden, but the scenery was marred by the intricate beauty of stained glass. Ornate frames hung uniformly along the walls, showcasing men and women of time gone by. It was like walking through a museum.