Night Heat (Forged of Steele 2)

“All right,” she said wearily. “But I want you to promise you’ll be patient and understanding and—”

“My God, Joce, of course I’ll be patient and understanding. I love Leah,” he said in a tortured moan. “I’ve never stopped loving her even when I thought she had done me wrong. If you think I’ll turn my back on her now, knowing what she’s been through, then you don’t know me.”

Jocelyn inhaled deeply. She did know him and she knew how much he loved her sister. Somehow, through it all, his heart had remained intact even when his mind had assumed the worse.

Assumed.

She shook her head. Bas had helped her to see how that one little word could cause a world of trouble. “Okay, I’ll tell you what she told me.”

“On that note I think I’ll wait out in the car,” Bas said, turning to leave, thinking he’d heard more than he should have already. This was a private matter between Jocelyn, Reese and Leah.

“No, please stay, Bas,” Jocelyn said, not understanding why but knowing she needed him there.

Bas turned back around and met the silent plea in her gaze and knew at that moment he could deny her nothing.

He glanced over at Reese. “You’re okay with me staying?”

Reese nodded. “Yeah, man. I’m okay with it.”

Moments later, after telling the two men everything, Jocelyn shifted her gaze from Reese. It was hard not to see the tears that filled his eyes without getting misty-eyed, as well.

And then there was Bas. She had seen him ball his fist in anger several times, and although he hadn’t said anything, the tightening of his jaw and the fury that lined his eyes had said it all.

“Did she get any professional help?” Reese asked, breaking the silence.

“Yes, but there are still issues she’s trying to work through, hurdles she’s yet to cross. It takes time recovering from an ordeal such as that.”

“No matter how long it takes, I’m going to be there with her,” Reese said in a firm voice. “We’re going to work through this thing, Leah and I. Together.”

Jocelyn smiled. “She’s not going to make things easy for you, Reese. Already she’s talking about returning to California in a few weeks.”

Reese nodded, and although he didn’t say anything, Jocelyn knew he had no intentions of letting Leah go anywhere. “She’s sleeping now, but I want to be there when she wakes up, to talk to her, Jocelyn. Alone.”

Jocelyn knew what he was asking of her. The mothering instinct in her demanded that she see to her sister herself, but she knew Reese was right. He was the one who needed to be there for Leah. “Okay.” She then glanced over at Bas. “Do you want to go grab some lunch?”

Bas smiled. She had a feeling he agreed wholeheartedly with her decision to let Reese handle Leah in his own way. “Yes, lunch sounds good and I know just where I want to take you.”

Leah came awake, remembering where she was. Then she recalled her argument with Reese and…“Oh my God!” She covered her face with her hands when it all came tumbling back to her. He knew. There was no way he would not have figured things out.

“Are you okay?”

She jumped then turned in the bed to face Reese, her eyes going wide. He was standing in the doorway. “What are you doing here?”

“I told you I wasn’t going anywhere, Leah. Besides, I think we should talk.”

No! She didn’t want to talk. She wanted to be as far away from him as she could. Knowing that he knew what had happened to her was too much. She quickly slipped off the bed. “I just want to finish my laundry and leave. Jocelyn should be back any minute and—”

“Jocelyn is already back. She and Bas went somewhere for lunch. They knew I wanted to talk to you alone.”

“We have nothing to talk about.”

He ignored her and took a step into the room, and she automatically backed up. Her seemingly frightened retreat almost broke Reese’s heart. “Why didn’t you tell me what Neil had done to you? Why did you run away instead? Didn’t you think I had a right to know?”

“Why? So you could kill him with your bare hands and go to jail? He wasn’t worth it, Reese. He was nothing but a troublemaker and I knew I couldn’t tell you or my father. Besides,” she said, lowering her voice, fighting back her tears, “he wasn’t your problem.”