It hurt so much, this sharp, aching, bitter jealousy that burned and sputtered like a candle flame right where my heart was.
And that wasn’t the worst part. Because even now, I could see something in his eyes, hear something in his voice, when he talked about Salina. Maybe it was just the fondness of first love or the good times they’d shared, or maybe it was something more serious, but it was there all the same—and it worried the hell out of me.
“So what happened?” Finn asked. “What went wrong with your life of love, loot, and larceny?”
Owen stared into space, not answering him. Eva let out a disgusted snort, which roused my lover out of his memories.
“Owen?” I asked. “What happened?”
He sighed and looked at Eva before finally turning his gaze to me. “Phillip tried to rape and murder Salina.”
14
Nobody spoke. Nobody moved. We were all frozen in place by the ugly, ugly thing Owen had given voice to.
Finn let out another low whistle. “And I thought Gin and I had skeletons in our closets.”
I shot him a warning look, but Finn just grinned at me.
The reaction that surprised me the most was Eva’s. Her blue eyes flashed in her face, angry splotches stained her pale cheeks, and her features pinched together in disgust. She opened her mouth like she wanted to argue with Owen but clamped her lips shut at the last second. I could see her struggling with something, although I had no idea what it could be. Eva noticed me staring at her, and she grew very still, as if a new thought had just occurred to her.
“Not again,” she finally muttered and surged to her feet.
Not the reaction I expected from her—not at all. It made me wonder exactly what Eva knew about Salina—and what she was hiding.
Owen sighed. “Eva, don’t do this. I know you never liked Salina, but you know what Phillip tried to do.”
Once more, Eva pressed her lips into a thin line, as if she was biting her tongue to keep from saying what was really on her mind. Owen started to go over to her, but she backed away from him and shook her head.
“All these years later, and you still have on blinders when it comes to Salina,” Eva snapped. “Well, I’m old enough now that at least I don’t have to listen to it anymore. I’m going to take a shower and go to bed. Is that okay, Gin?”
I nodded. “You do whatever you need to, sweetheart. You know where everything is. Go help yourself to whatever you want, and curl up in whichever guest bed you like.”
Eva nodded, left the den, and stomped up a flight of stairs to the second floor. A minute later, a door slammed, and I heard the water coming on in one of the showers.
Owen sighed and scrubbed his hands over his face, as though the motion could slough all the old, painful memories out of his mind. “I’m sorry about that. Eva might be right about me when it comes to Salina, but she’s the same way about Phillip. She was always tagging after him back then, asking him to play with her. She was only about four when it happened, too young to understand what was really going on.”
“What do you think happened?” I asked, careful to keep my voice calm and neutral.
His whole body tensed, and his hands clenched into fists as though he wanted to lash out and punch someone—Kincaid. “I know what happened. The bastard tried to rape Salina, and when she fought back, he decided to beat her to death.”
Finn let out another whistle, but I remained quiet. I’d been an assassin for a long time, and I’d dealt with a lot of bad people. With most, it was easy to tell what their predilections were—gambling, drinking, beating their wives and husbands, abusing kids, hurting people just because they could. I didn’t really know Kincaid, and the tense conversations we’d had these past few days was all the interaction I’d ever had with him, but the casino boss didn’t strike me as a rapist.
Then again, a restaurant owner didn’t strike most people as being the kind of woman who’d moonlight as an assassin either.
But I’d been fooled by people in the past. Maybe Kincaid was just better at hiding his true nature than most folks were.
“Tell me about it,” I said, determined to keep an open mind.
“It was a typical night,” he began. “Phillip and I had scouted a mansion in Northtown. The owners were supposed to be gone, so we figured it would be easy pickings. We left Salina behind to watch Eva, but Phillip said he was feeling sick and went back. I went on to the mansion, but when I got there, the whole place was lit up, and the owners were there. So I turned around and headed home.”
Rage darkened his rugged features. “I heard the screams and shouts as soon as I went inside. I thought that maybe someone we’d robbed had decided to get some payback, but instead I found the three of them in the bathroom. Salina had been giving Eva her bath for the night, and Eva was still in the tub, dripping wet. But Phillip was on the floor, on top of Salina. Her face was cut and bloody from where he’d been hitting her. He was . . . he was still hitting her when I pulled him off.”
Owen drew in another breath. “Salina started screaming about what Phillip had tried to do to her, about how he’d tried to rape her. Phillip said it wasn’t what it looked like, but I didn’t believe him. We fought. I was older and bigger and stronger, but Phillip was tough, even back then. He shoved me into the bathroom mirror so hard it broke my nose. The glass shattered on impact, cutting up my face.”
Owen reached up and subconsciously touched his nose. I’d always wondered how it had gotten to be just a bit crooked. He’d probably gotten the scar on his chin that same night.
“And then?” Finn asked.
“Then I got hold of Phillip, and I beat the hell out of him,” Owen said in a cold, flat voice. “I should have beaten him to death. I would have, if Eva hadn’t kept tugging on my arms, crying and screaming at me to stop. I didn’t want her to see me kill Phillip, so I dragged him to the front door and threw him out of the house. That was the end of our friendship. Although he goes out of his way to speak to me whenever our paths cross, like it’s some great joke to needle me as often as he can.”
“Like at Mab’s funeral,” I said.
Owen nodded. He was looking at the framed drawings on the mantel, but I knew he wasn’t really seeing them. No, right now, my lover was remembering the fury he’d felt that long-ago night and how he’d almost killed a man because of it.
It was a horrible story all the way around. Still, I couldn’t help but wonder whether or not it was entirely true—especially since it seemed like Eva remembered things far differently than her brother did. But if she did, why hadn’t she spoken up tonight? Why hadn’t she told me and Finn her side of the story? And why hadn’t she tried to get Owen to listen to her back then? There was something going on with Eva, something that was making her keep her mouth shut about Salina. I had no idea what it could be—but I was determined to get to the truth one way or another.
I looked at Finn. He nodded, telling me he had the same questions I did. I had no doubt Owen believed what he was saying, but I had a funny feeling it didn’t quite mesh with what had actually gone down.
Owen sighed. “That was the beginning of the end. Two nights later, I came home, and Salina was gone. Just—gone. So were all of her things. All her clothes, all her makeup, all the jewelry I’d bought her, all the money I kept stashed at the house for emergencies, everything. Just—gone. She left me a note saying she needed some time to herself, some time to get over what Phillip had done. Of course, I looked for her for months afterward, but I didn’t find her. Eventually, I just figured that she didn’t want to be found. I never heard from her again, and she never came back to Ashland.”