Withholding Secrets (3 page)

Sitting in my office, I leaned back in the old green chair and tossed the little orange ball in the air and caught it while waiting for him to answer. But he wasn’t budging. The anger and hatred was too deep in his blood to even care. That was ten times worse than if he was just stealing equipment to get high. But I waited for him to give me some kind of answer, but the tightness in his jaw and the rage swirling in his dark eyes told me that I was just wasting time waiting.

Just as I figured. The duffle bag was filled with skates and gear from the few lockers that he busted open while the boys were on the ice practicing. He was cutting the lock to the fifth locker when I caught him in the locker room after he disappeared from the stands. For those few weeks, he was there, right on time, to watch the practice until today. It was all to steal some gear, but for what? His arms were clear except for a few cuts that he sustained from something else, but not self-inflicted. That much I knew. His dark eyes were clear so he wasn’t high or on drugs, and I was pretty sure that he wasn’t a user either.

“Let me ask you again. Why were you stealing my boys’ equipment?” I put the ball down on the desk and sat forward. Using my size, I needed to intimidate this kid to get any sort of response out of him. If it was money that he was needing for a good reason, I would give it to him, but then he could work it off. If not, then I would need to take further action. No property was actually taken from the rink and the damage was minor. A few locks were cut, but that was the extent. “Listen, I don’t want to involve the cops, but if you leave me that choice then—”

“I need the damn money.” He body locked up with the rage, and flames of anger shot through his eyes.

“What for?”

“What the hell do you care? You call the cops and she will send us away. You don’t and she will send us away, anyway. I need the damn money to take care of my sister, because no one else will and no one else gives a shit.” The pulse in his neck throbbed as the blood pumped through him vigorously, though his eyes were backing down quickly with the fear clawing its way to the open.

Annoyance at his language pumped through my own body and washed over my skin. I’d used bad language when I was his age, but when my mom and dad came into my life, I had it whooped right out of me. Bad language was for horrible people, and I didn’t want my other players using the language on and off the ice. I didn’t tolerate it, just as my dad didn’t.

“For one thing, I don’t allow that language on my ice. Secondly, I don’t know your situation so I can’t help.”

“And what the hell do you care?” Right there. There is was. That break I wanted to see. He looked like a good kid, maybe fourteen to fifteen at the most, but it was that moment of truth in his eyes, that want to have someone actually care, that came through. He didn’t want to steal. It was wrong and he knew it, but he felt that he had to. It was a constant struggle between doing the right from the wrong.

“Maybe I do.” Did I? Could I? I sure in the hell cared about my players, but as for this kid, maybe he just needed someone solid in his life to show that he does have somewhere to turn to.

“Bullshit. Nobody cares.” And there it was again. Whoever was at his house, he was torn and didn’t know what to think. A part of him silently screamed to have her care, but the other part didn’t want to get his hopes up in case if she didn’t. And I knew all that too well.

“That’s exactly what I thought when I was screwing up my life.” Sliding my cell over to him, I nodded hoping he would and could turn his life around. Sometimes, all it took was just one person. “Call who you need to.”

“Why? My dad walked out on us. You want to make sure that she does, too? I just need some money so that I can take care of my sister.”

“Is this woman hurting you?” My heart jumped hard as the hopes of this being something other than a child abuse case was beginning to drill into the back of my head. If there is anything that hinted toward child abuse, I had to turn it in no matter what the circumstances were.

“No.” His eyes glassed over, but he did a damn good job at holding everything in.

“Is she being mean to you?”

The silence filtered in the air as his lips pressed tight together and his chin quivered slightly. It wasn’t something bad about this woman at all. It was the fact that he was scared she would send them away. “No.”

Biting my bottom lip, I nodded. This kid wasn’t a bad kid at all. He had a shitty life and just didn’t trust anyone. It was like seeing myself in a mirror … almost. “Like I said, I’m not going to call the cops, but I want to talk to your … whoever you’re staying with.”

“Fine.” Grabbing the phone, he dialed the number and handed it back to me. “You can deal with her and see for yourself when she walks out on us also. Her name is Keri Borelli.”

Holding the phone to my ear, my gut clenched. If that was the case, then I would see what I could do. I had no idea about his sister, but I could see that he was just trying to protect her. Maybe a younger one? I would have done the same thing for mine, too, if I had one.

“Hello?” A woman’s voice came through in a huff, full of worry and panic. “Hello? Jordan? Is that you?”

“Hello.” My heart decided to skip as I looked over at the worried face on the boy. He was stocky and strong. That much I could tell when I tackled him in the locker room. I pinned him up against the metal lockers, holding him there until I found out who he was and what he was doing. He had strength, and if he could skate, this kid would be good on my team.

“Who is this?” Then the stern and angry voice came. The growl was deep and the anger poured through the connection.

“This is Kane Bruton. I have a kid here who claims to belong to you.” My look shifted up to the boy and, instantly, my heart dropped hard into the sinking pit of my stomach. What if he didn’t have anywhere else to go and this woman was the only one who would take him in until he got in trouble again?

“Jordan. He’s there? Oh my god. Is he okay? Let me talk to him. Where is he?” Panic arose and the chatter quickened.

“I have him here at my—”

“So help me, if you lay one hand on him, I will freaking kill you. Do you hear me?” I held the phone away from my ear. Holy crap. That wasn’t good. Apparently, the woman was angry and controlling. Not to count threatening. Maybe it was a good thing that I caught this kid. I could see what this woman was like, and if she was anything like her voice, I could do something to help him and his sister. “I got your phone number, and if you do anything to him, I will hunt your ass down!”

“Would you like to come down and pick him up?” Hell no. If this woman was thinking I would hand the boy right over with the threats… No wonder why he didn’t want to go home. I pegged the situation all wrong.

“One mark on him! One mark, and I will be your worst nightmare!” The line went dead.

Looking at the phone, the muscles in my stomach knotted and tightened. Wow. I wasn’t expecting that. Nor that nice voice she had. A mid-thirties woman, I imagined. Maybe a larger one at that. One who thought she could muscle her way through anything. Someone probably not worth taking a second look at. The chicks on the low end of the scale were like that. And that mouth, those threats … yeah, that was a clear stay away sign.

My phone rang back with the number that the kid dialed. I answered with something sparking deep in my gut.

“Um … where … where is he?” Her voice was calmer, almost embarrassed of what she said. Still, she had a damn nice voice to her. I was actually scared to see what she looked like. With this kid in the clothing that looked like he grabbed them out of the trash, I could about imagine what she would look like coming through the door. Probably some missing teeth, maybe rollers in her hair, and wearing a bathrobe. I lived that life once. I had been there once until my parents adopted me.

I gave her directions and told her where to go in the building. Hanging up, I looked over at the boy. “You skate at all?”

“Used to, but what does it matter to you?”

“Just a question to kill time.” I kicked my large black hiking boots up on the old desk and tucked my hands behind my head. This wasn’t what I wanted to deal with tonight. It was Friday night, and I had a club to check on … and some hot chick to pick up for the evening. “She’s mad.”

“Yeah! What the hell did you expect?”

Shrugging, I closed my eyes with the hammers becoming increasingly annoying right in both temples. “Kid, if it’s that bad, then I can get you somewhere that you can be.”

“Nobody will ever help us out. All you are is nothing but a lie.” Anger thundered through him, and the storm was clearly visible all over his face. Maybe he was more worried about her sending him away than what he was letting on. No matter what, this kid had some issues, deep issues. But I couldn’t get involved right now. Not without knowing the story now.

“I’m a lie alright.” My chest tightened as I glanced over at him. The worry was plastered all over his face as he watched the door. He was scared. “I’ve been in a worse place than you, and I came out of it.”

“Whatever.”

It was hopeless. He wasn’t going to listen and he wasn’t going to talk. That was how I was when I was his age. I didn’t trust the people who took me in. Why would they want an older kid? Older kids had too many issues. The older the kid was, the harder it was to break from the cycle that their parents had caused. Their trust was broken and their minds were shattered already. The younger, the better for adoption. That way, the new parents could raise them the way they wanted.

It wasn’t long until I heard the outside metal door slam shut. Any second now, someone that would give me nightmares would come busting through my office door. Maybe it was a show. Maybe her attitude was a fake so that she could get by with treating these kids bad. Maybe she really did want to get rid of them. I don’t know, but if I saw anything that gave me any inkling as to their safety being in jeopardy, I would bring it to a stop.

The footsteps came down the hall hard and fast. Shit. An elephant would come through the door any second. I braced myself for the mental image that hopefully wouldn’t destroy my night and think about never indulging in a woman again.

“No. I think…” A young girl’s voice splayed over the air and down the vacant hall. A shy and maybe barely teenage girl’s voice. “This way.”

“He said…” The same voice from the phone paused. “There?”

“Yeah.” And that made the boy stiffen up. Fear toppled over in his eyes as he stood from the couch, wiping his hands down the front of his stained and dingy jeans.

“This is it. There’s a light on.” The phone woman cleared her throat as she rounded the corner and walked right into the office. Her face was red with anger, and her soft gun metal gray eyes shot straight to me.

My heart stopped, my body lurched backward, the chair creaked loudly under the undesirable stress, and I nearly flipped over in the chair. Catching myself, I felt the instant ache fill into my jeans. With my mouth hanging open, I went to stand up, but caught my boot on the edge of the desk, almost knocking me down face first onto the spread of the metal and fake, pressed wood topping. This wasn’t no elephant, nor a woman with rollers in her hair and missing teeth.

Her smooth and rich hair the color of milk-tinted coffee was back in a messy ponytail, and there wasn’t any makeup on her face. Her skin was like a porcelain doll that my mother collected; angelic and perfect. Her teeth were straight and perfect. The sweatshirt fit her smaller frame and the jeans hugged her legs to the pair of black booties that she slipped on. She was … hot as hell, and way too young to be the kid’s mother. Hell. She couldn’t be over twenty-one.

Managing to pull the drool back into my mouth, I straightened my shoulders and pulled in some air to still the heart in my chest that decided to take off at a sprint into love-land. But this was not the time, nor the place. I had to see what the deal was with this kid.

“I’m Kane-”

“I don’t give a hell who you are! You have no right keeping him here! How dare you?!” And there was that anger and rage. But who was she? Clearly, the boy wasn’t too happy with her being there, yet her actions surprised him, and his eyes were wide open and his mouth was hanging down to the floor. She stopped right in front of my desk as she pointed at me, right where my heart was damn near pulverizing every muscle in my chest just to get to her. “You have no right holding him here against his will! I should call the police on your ass, you son of a—”

“I wouldn’t do that.” The tightness in my jeans was getting worse. What the hell? I had never been turned on by a raging woman like that before. It had to be an older sister. Maybe that was what the boy was worried about. She was the only one… No. They looked nothing alike. The younger girl looked more like the boy than anything with the dark hair and the dark eyes. But, her? No. No way. Definitely not a sister.

“And why the hell not? They are my responsibility! You have no right to tell me what to do! You are the one who is holding him against his will.” Her lip curled up and her hand trembled as she pointed at my chest, even more beautiful while full of rage. This was sure going to ruin my night now. Probably my whole weekend. This was a sight that actually did something for me, and never happened before.

“He would be the one to get in trouble here—”

“Don’t you dare threaten him!” The growl jolted through me. There was no way that this woman would hurt either one of them. But why was she the one who was battling for him? What was she to him?

Looking past the boy and the younger girl who was shaking, I nodded, needing to get this woman under control before I really had a fight on my hands. And the younger girl didn’t need to hear about her brother’s mistake. She most likely looked up to him just as he wanted to do nothing but protect her. “Take her out in the hall. Let us talk for a minute.”

Just as I stepped around the desk, the woman jumped in front of me with her hands up, trying to block me off. Her sweatshirt had ridden up, exposing her nice hips and her little waist. God have mercy on me. That was a sight that was going to be imprinted in my mind for a long time. But, I had to get the boy out of there; his sister, too. She didn’t need to know what was going on. And I didn’t want them to see the woman’s face when I told her the reasoning behind why I had the boy there in the first place.

“Don’t you dare tell them to go away from me! I will take you down in a heartbeat!” She balled her fists, waiting to strike.

There was no way that this woman would be the one hurting the kids. There was something more to the story. And with the woman’s eyes filling with fear, mixing in with that anger, this wasn’t good at all. She would be the one who would rather put herself in harm’s way before it came to those two kids.

“Go out in the hall, please,” I said again, taking a step back. Not in fear of the woman hitting me, but not wanting to cause a ruckus. She wouldn’t be able to take me on, anyway, as if I would ever touch her. Maybe not in an angry way, but after the things that I would do to her in bed, she would need a week’s worth of pampering. “I need to talk to her.”

The two nodded and started for the door when the woman’s eyes filled with tears. She held her hand up to me, holding me back, as if I was going to go after them.

“You better leave them the hell alone, and I mean it.” Her teeth gritted together as she stepped back, keeping her eye on me.

“You have the wrong idea. I’m only holding him here because he broke in and he was taking some equipment.
That
is why I wouldn’t suggest calling the cops.” Going to my chair, I slipped back into the seat while the color drained from her face. Her mouth hung open with shock as if she couldn’t say anything, or didn’t know what to say. “I figured that we should talk about this first.”

“Well … I didn’t … I’m sorry.” Pulling herself together, she pressed her lips together and her back stiffened as she did her best to maintain her strong stance. Finally, her lips parted, but nothing ejected from her mouth. How I wanted to taste that mouth. I wanted to feel her lips and see if they were as soft as they looked.

Instead, I pulled my eyes away from the sight of lust and focused on what was at stake—the kids. “No need to be. I didn’t want them in here when I busted your bubble. That girl doesn’t need to know what was going on either.”

“I wasn’t going to leave her home alone at this time of night.” Shaking her head, she shrugged a little as she glanced back at the door. “My mom wouldn’t leave me home alone at that age.”

“Nothing wrong with that. Let’s talk a moment, shall we?” I watched her hesitate before she decided to take a seat cautiously on the green couch as if it would bite her. I would like to bite her…

Tipping my head, I tried to focus on the day calendar spread across my desk. It was the easiest way to keep track of schedules, but still, I had a hard time doing even that. My mind was always on the ice, not in the office. And currently, my mind was on the hot ass woman who was in my office, ready to fight me a moment ago. She couldn’t have been more than five-foot four at the most and small; not very small, but a damn nice shape to her. I towered her at least by a foot and I had to have a shoulder span twice hers.

She sucked in a long, deep breath as the breasts under the sweatshirt had risen. Damn. She had some nice mounds under there. Just the shape and the firmness of them … I was going to need a cold shower before I hit the club later, before playing for the evening, if there was even a chance now.

“I don’t see a problem as long as he doesn’t do it again. If it’s money that you are needing—”

“We are fine. Thank you very much.” Her eyes watered as she glanced around the office, but she tried to hold on to the last thread of dignity she had just at the mention of cash. “We are just fine. What’s the damage? I will write you a check.”

I leaned back in the chair. Paying his way won’t teach him a damn thing. I knew that, too. And if the boy was stealing for some money, I didn’t want her to shell out anymore. She was too young to be taking care of those kids. She couldn’t have been much older than the boy. “The damage wasn’t much. Just a few locks that I can replace.”

“How much are they?”

“Not the issue here. Look: I don’t know what the situation is, but maybe if he takes the responsibility for what he did—”

“If you are suggesting that Jordan does some sort of…” Disgust washed through her ashen stricken face.

“No. Not at all, and I wouldn’t allow anything like that here. I’m the coach of the juniors’ team, and he can work it off. I need an equipment handler, and this would give him some responsibility, maybe get him on the right path.” Nothing wrong with giving the kid a job. Besides, he was at the rink after school, anyway, watching in the stands.

She was silent, drawing her bottom lip through those nice white teeth, which about made me come off that chair. God. She was sexy in every way. She had to be. Of course this would happen tonight. I hadn’t gotten laid in a long time, and it was hitting me harder than usual.
She
was hitting me harder than usual.

“We practice after school until five.”
If
the kid was here, she would be here, and I could see her when she arrived to pick him up. That would make this worthwhile.

“I don’t know about this. I don’t know anything about you or this place.”

“Listen.” I forced a deep breath, hoping to think of the woman who I originally pictured coming into the building, but it wasn’t happening. She was right there, sucking in those damn deep breaths that enhanced those luscious mounds hidden under that sweatshirt.
Focus
,
coach
, I told myself, but there was no way that was happening. She had me already. “He’s a good kid. I can see that, and he does show some interest while watching the team practice. But, he’s angry and upset. This might help him see what else is out there … or he could be headed down a bad path.”

Her eyes shot open wide as she gaped at me. “He’s been here? I’ve been looking for him, wondering where the hell he’s been.”

“He’s been here watching.”

Tears dripped from her eyes as she nodded. Trying to collect them, she faked her composure even more. “That’s good … good to know.”

“Let him come and work off the locks. Five an hour won’t be much, and if he likes it, I don’t mind paying him a better wage after the locks are paid back. At least this way, he will have something to do and keep him out of trouble.”

“And if he doesn’t?”

“I think that he will.”

“I just… No. He can’t…” Her look went to the drab green and black checkered rug. “I don’t want Sky alone that long after school. I just … I can’t. Not with me working.”

“She can come, too, and she can stay on the bleachers. That way, he can look after her and they will be home by the time that you get home.” The rad flares dissipated, and I suddenly knew her situation. She wasn’t their parent, but a guardian. She was someone who was put in a hard spot and had no idea how to handle it. Clearly, she wanted to protect the kids, but she had no idea how to, and had no help either. “And I will be able to keep an eye on both of them while they are here. Another player’s sister comes along often, so it won’t be a problem.”

“And you would call me if something happened?”

“Of course I would. You are trying to get the trust of two kids whose trust has been broken. Maybe you need to trust someone, too. I’m not going to let anything happen to them. Nor am I going to do anything to them. You can call any member of the teams’ parents for references if you would like.”

She shrugged a little. “So, what if he doesn’t want to do this?”

“He will.”

Pulling herself back, she stood and straightened her sweatshirt. Good God. When she turned, the ache become a starvation as I noticed that nice, tight ass of hers. That was heaven right there. Pure lustful heaven. An ass that I wanted to bite and…

“Jordan? Sky? Can you two come in here, please?” Her voice sang out with a little tremble in there. She was nervous and worried, but doing everything she could to keep her calm and cool. As if she had this in the bag.

The two kids came back into the room, and Jordan, the boy, had a look of complete worry to him. His eyes wouldn’t connect with hers. And the girl, Sky, had tears running down her face.

“Jordan, Mr … um … Mr…” The woman’s cheeks darkened, embarrassed that she hadn’t remembered my name.

“Kane.”

“Mr. Kane…” Shame sheeted her face, darkening it a shade or two, but still, the beauty rang out in the fog.

“Just Kane.” I held back my smile. I had to. I couldn’t use my charm on her. She just needed someone who would help her out, not to prance on her and take every advantage I could in bed with her before tossing her out.