Renewed Faith (CSA Case Files 3 / Military Romance) (33 page)

“I need to get to work,” Elle said quietly, looking as if she’d just lost a battle.

“Is this about me not telling you about Ryland?” Kevin asked, feeling a little lost here. She needed to throw him a bone. “I already told you I’m sorry about that. I should have warned you earlier, but he’s out of the country with Ethan on his backside. I need you to worry about your everyday activities, Elle. You’re putting yourself in the sights of a killer.”

“Eric isn’t a killer, Kevin.” Elle looked toward the door as if she wished she were anywhere but standing in front of him. Unease returned and he found himself straightening his back for what she was about to throw at him. “He’s the man I slept with when I was seventeen years old. I traded sex with him for a decent meal. And afterward? He introduced me to Bee. He’s the one that got me into the lifestyle.”

Kevin felt like he’d been blindsided by a landmine. His vision tunneled and ringing echoed through his ears. He struggled to accept what Elle was saying and found he couldn’t. There was absolutely no way that the woman he loved sold her body to a man that he suspected of brutally raping and murdering women for his entertainment.

“What did you just say?” Kevin could barely hear his own words.

“Kevin, I was seventeen years old, living on the streets and hadn’t eaten in days. I was standing on the street and wondering what I was going to do when Eric was driving by. He stopped and mistook me for one of the street girls.”

“We’re talking about the same man who runs Reformation for women who want to get off of the streets? Are you fucking kidding me?”

“Not back then,” Elle argued, still standing by the door. She gripped the clipboard in her arm, holding her coffee with the same hand. Her right was gripping the doorknob. “A couple of years later, I heard Eric and his brother opened the doors of Reformation. I honestly didn’t even connect Eric to the man I’d slept with until I met him. It wasn’t like we’d exchanged last names. He was twisted in his thinking back then, rationalizing that him paying for sex was aiding the girls. I don’t know much about his or Cam’s childhood, but I do know that Eric turned his life around and has now dedicated his existence to Reformation. It doesn’t matter how he got there, only that he works hard at raising money for the center.”

“Doesn’t matter? You’re standing there, telling me you fucked Eric Bennett and that he introduced you to your pimp. How the hell did you think I would react?”

“Better than this.” Elle opened the door and walked out into the hallway. His first warning should have been the coolness within her brown eyes. They didn’t sparkle like they had these last couple of weeks and a stillness that he hadn’t witnessed for almost a year appeared throughout her stature. He wanted these last five minutes back to start over. “If you’d have asked me that question last week, I would have said your response was spot on. This morning? Well, I guess it takes more than faith to turn a hooker into a lady, huh?”

“Don’t you walk away from me, Elle,” Kevin warned, taking a step forward. “We’re not done talking.”

“We’re done. Just like I knew it would be the minute you learned the dirty details of what I had to do.” Elle took a step toward him, but didn’t cross the threshold back into her apartment. The regret and shame that was written across her features reached out and struck him that he’d totally fucked this up. He knew what was coming and he was helpless to stop it. “I slept with men for money, Kevin. That’s a fact that I can’t change. I sucked their cocks, I played their naughty daughter, I dressed up as their nurse, mother, and God only knows what else for whatever cash they would offer.”

“Stop it.”

“No.” The word got stuck in Elle’s throat but her eyes remained dry. Kevin felt a fear unlike anything he’d ever experienced. She had showed no emotion. It was as if they’d never existed. “You need to know. I did it in cars, hotel rooms, back alleys, and anywhere they could spread my legs.”

“Do you think any of this matters?” Kevin shouted. “I know what the hell you did, Elle. It’s what you chose to do about it that I love. I love that you had the strength and the courage to take my hand when I offered it. I love that you maintained your compassion, a naiveté those men couldn’t strip from you, and your pride that can sometimes be your worst enemy. I love you.”

Elle had begun shaking her head the minute Kevin started speaking, but that didn’t deter him in the least. It was time she knew how he felt. That no matter what they disagreed on, what they learned of each other, or what came their way…he would love her with everything he had. She didn’t get to ignore that or run away from it.

“You love the idea of what I am,” Elle whispered, stepping back. “The real me is nothing like who you just described.”

*   *   *   *

Kevin sat in one of the sitting areas that gave him a full view of Elle while she worked. He nursed his rum and Coke, blocking out the music and cries that were coming from the play stations, trying to come to terms with what she’d told him earlier. She didn’t just stop at saying that Bennett was the man she’d slept with, which didn’t matter to Kevin. He knew she had a past and was well aware of how she’d made her living. It was how Bennett had served her up on a platter to Bee that had his stomach churning with acid until he was ready to hurl up the measly lunch he’d managed to have that afternoon.

“You look like someone ate your Cheerios, man.” Connor sat down across from him, still in his jacket. It was obvious he wasn’t here to play, which meant he was here in an official capacity as owner. “I take it you spoke to Elle regarding her trip to Reformation today?”

“You could say that.” Kevin took another drink. Elle was speaking with Max, who was the Dungeon Monitor on duty this evening. “Bennett is the prime suspect and Elle just dropped the bomb that he’s the one who got her into prostitution.”

Connor sat back, a whistle hissing through his lips as he digested that bit of information. He turned his baseball cap backwards like he did at the office when he needed to think something through. Kevin hoped his friend could come up with something good, because Kevin was coming up with zilch.

“How did you handle that announcement?”

“How the fuck do you think?” Kevin barked, agitation shooting through him. His knee now had shooting pain from his race down the stairs to get to Elle before she entered the club. “My initial reaction wasn’t good and I made myself sound like a total ass.”

“Not to rub salt in the wound, buddy, but you knew about her past.”

“Which is why I tried to fix it, but the damage was already done.” Kevin downed the rest of his drink. “I fucked up royally.”

“Oh, man.” Connor placed his elbow on the arm of his chair, rubbing his forehead as if Kevin didn’t already know his mistake. “Tell me you didn’t say the L word after that kind of argument.”

“If you’re trying to make me feel better, you’re doing a poor fucking job,” Kevin growled, slamming his tumbler on the side table. “I know it was bad timing, but it still doesn’t change the fact that I love her. I’ll wait until she closes down the club and then I’ll talk to her again. The longer this sits, the more she’ll believe she’s right.”

“Then what are you waiting for?” Connor asked, shaking his head. “I’ll cover the club while you sort things out with Elle. You don’t want to have this hanging over both of your heads the rest of night.”

Kevin knew he was right and he was just about to take Connor up on his offer when he felt his cell phone vibrate. Technically members weren’t supposed to have their cell phones on in the club, but Kevin hadn’t been thinking about that rule when he’d followed Elle down the stairs. She’d gotten to the back door and let the other employees inside before he had a chance to catch her. He reached into the front pocket of his jeans, ignoring the looks that were directed his way, and retrieved his phone. Displayed across the screen was Taggart’s name.

“Please tell me you’re going to bring Bennett in for questioning.” Kevin didn’t bother with the pleasantries. If he had solid concrete evidence that Bennett was the guilty party and wrap this case up, he’d be able to take the day off tomorrow and show Elle that he meant every word of what he’d said tonight. “He’s the one.”

“The DNA finally came back on the first murder. It doesn’t match the DNA that we recovered from the rapes, but there
is
something you have to see. Meet me at the station. I’m filing an affidavit with the judge for an arrest warrant.”

Taggart disconnected before Kevin could ask whom the warrant was issued for. Was Taggart suggesting that the rapes and murders weren’t connected? Had they been working the wrong angle from the beginning? It didn’t make sense, as the lipstick used on the murder victims had also been used on the rape victims. They’d just been beaten unconscious and had no recollection of the makeup being placed on their face. Taggart had to be wrong.

Kevin stood and adjusted the leather strap on his holster. Looking around for Elle as he shrugged into his jacket, he couldn’t locate her. He did see Lauren by the display case, adding additional items.

“Listen, the DNA came back and Taggart’s getting ready to issue an arrest warrant.” Connor stood and walked with Kevin toward the back entrance where the parking garage was located. “Do me a favor though. Tell Elle that I had an emergency. Stress to her that every word I said was true and that we’ll talk in the morning. I don’t see her out on the floor, so she must be in the stockroom. If I go in there right now, I won’t be leaving. This case needs to be over so that Elle and I can concentrate on us.”

“I hear you.” Connor slapped Kevin on the back as they approached the back door. “Go. Don’t worry about Elle. Lauren and I will pass on the message.”

Kevin turned once more to scan the crowd, hoping to catch a glimpse of Elle. Flint and Shelley were using the St. Andrew’s cross. Mistress Beverly had one of her subs in the open area, displaying positions for the newer submissives to see. Dante was flogging Casey while Brie was getting a punishment from her new Master on the Sybian. Mistress Vivien was giving Kimmie a lesson in posture while Max was handing off his vest to Nick. Swinging his gaze to the bar, he saw the normal crew. Elle was nowhere to be found. She must be out front with the new hostess, showing her the ropes. He contemplated backtracking and going through the front, just to plant a kiss on Elle so that she understood he meant every word, but decided against it. He’d finish this case with Taggart and then show her without words that her past didn’t matter. It was the here and now that was most important to him…and that was Elle.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

E
lle barely managed to make it two hours into her shift before she couldn’t take it anymore. Having Kevin watch her from one of the sitting areas was just too much. She didn’t know a person could physically hurt from emotional damage. That’s what it felt like too. Damage. To her mind, to her heart, and to her soul. The moment he’d said those three words, she knew that was how she felt about him. If she thought for one second that he truly believed what he was saying, she’d have handled that situation entirely differently. But she knew better. Kevin didn’t love her. He loved the idea of her.

Seeking Lauren out, Elle was grateful when her friend didn’t hesitate to take over the club this evening and didn’t even ask why. At least one positive thing had occurred upon Elle extending out of her comfort zone. Not looking back in case she faltered upon seeing Kevin, she walked through the front door and quickly explained to Hannah, the new hostess, that she should go to Lauren with any questions. Dialing for a taxi from the entryway because she didn’t want to have to reenter the club to walk upstairs and retrieve her cell and jacket, Elle waited inside the door and mentally tried to make the driver appear sooner. She needed to be anywhere but here.

“Come on, come on,” Elle muttered underneath her breath.

Did she really think that Kevin would have reacted any different upon hearing about Eric, her belief that he’d changed, or her path into life on the streets? Elle had known it could possibly change once he got a true visual of what she’d done and who she was. People didn’t like to think of the choices they would make when being placed in a survival setting. The streets were just that.