Wicked Burn(47)
Author: Beth Kery

Niall’s eyes burned when she clenched them shut.

“I don’t think I can, Anne. I’m really swamped. Please tell Meg hello, though. Tell her . . .” Niall swallowed hard. Of course she would still be going to Vic’s farm for Christmas. To think otherwise just because of what had occurred last night was pure catastrophic thinking on her part. She really needed to shake herself out of this pervasive gloom. “Tell her how much I’m looking forward to seeing her, Tim, and Ellen for Christmas.”

Anne wheedled and scolded and then became duly concerned when that didn’t work. She hung up without a further fuss only when Niall pacified her by agreeing to have dinner with her at The Art the night before she left with Vic for his farm.

“Bring that gorgeous hunk of a cowboy playwright with you, if you can,” Anne encouraged slyly. “Oh . . . I better go. I’m going to be late for Meg.”

Vic paused in front of Niall’s front door when he arrived home that night at seven P.M. He’d stopped attending every performance of Alias X several weeks ago, although he was still in his office, backstage, or with a member of the technical crew more often than not for at least three nights out of the week.

The show ran smoother than a pricey piece of software on a premium hard drive. The reviews continued to be excellent, and his company usually performed to a full house. He’d started to long for the wide-open space of the farm instead of obsessing about the play, so he figured things must be going pretty well. After Christmas he planned to return to his regular schedule of spending only two or three nights in the city.

At least he had hoped to do that, if he could talk Niall into spending a good portion of her weekends with him on the farm.

Vic couldn’t believe that just last night he had been feeling so content, like nothing could interfere with the smooth roll of his world. How quickly that had all crumbled to ash when he’d turned and seen Niall’s face last night.

It had been like all those nights he’d awakened her from her dreams. Except that last night she’d been fully awake and he’d looked straight down into her wide eyes . . . right into the heart of her nightmare.

It made him feel like a shit to know that he’d caught a hint of her suffering early on, before they’d become more involved, and that he’d made a point of not seeing it. Now that he was ready to acknowledge everything about Niall, however—including her painful past—she was shutting him out.

He didn’t know what the hell to make of that fact. The only thing he knew for sure was that he was tired of it. At some point during the past five weeks, he had decided that he wanted in. Not just in Niall’s body, but in her mind . . . in her life.

Seeing Jenny on the opening night of Alias X had allowed him to resoundingly finish a scenario in his mind that had long been in need of a final act. He’d thought he’d accomplished that by refusing to see or speak with Jenny, but that particular coping mechanism had just served to make her bigger and bolder in his mind than she had ever deserved.

Opening night of Alias X had taught him something valuable—Niall had as much in common with Jenny as a butterfly did with a viper.

His face stiffened at the thought, and he knocked loudly on Niall’s front door. His little butterfly was being buffeted by some turbulent winds, and Vic was determined that she tell him what was going on, so that he could offer her some insulation against them.

She answered almost immediately. His eyes flickered over her in concern. She still wore her clothes from work, a narrow black skirt, black pumps, and an emerald green silk blouse. His gaze lingered for a moment on her elegant, pearl-entwined neck. He couldn’t quite fathom how Niall always managed to convey a sense of timeless, classic beauty and at the same time seem so earthy . . . so utterly touchable. Despite how lovely she looked to him at that moment he noticed the paleness of her cheeks. Her lips trembled slightly as she smiled. Vic stilled an overwhelming, and increasingly familiar, urge to enfold her in his arms and shield her. From what, precisely, he couldn’t say.

Neither could she, and therein lay the problem.

“Hi,” she greeted him huskily before she moved back in the doorway. “Come in.”

Vic didn’t speak as she closed the door and led him into the living room.

“Can I get you something to drink?” she asked brightly when he sat on the couch.

Vic scowled. “I didn’t come over here for a social visit, Niall.” He called himself a foul son of a bitch when he saw her smile fade.

“Shit. Just . . . come here, baby,” he muttered as he reached for her. She felt so good wrapped in his arms. He pressed her head beneath his chin and inhaled the familiar light, fruity scent from her shining hair. His eyes closed tightly for a few seconds as he absorbed her into him.

“Are you okay?” he asked gruffly when he finally loosened his hold and she straightened enough to look up at him. Her large eyes shone with tears and something else . . . something that radiated from within.

“Yes,” she whispered. “I’m so glad you’re here. I’m so sorry about last night.”

Vic winced slightly. “Why do you keep apologizing, Niall? Just—”

She held up her hand. “I know,” she said softly. “Just tell you why I get so jumpy sometimes. The thing is, Vic, it’s not all that simple for me . . . or that easy.”

Her head fell forward as she inhaled as if for courage. Vic felt an inexplicable weight press on his chest and a tightness in his throat as he watched her struggle with her emotions. He grabbed her hand and squeezed it for reassurance.

A knock resounded down the hallway from the front door.

Niall’s eyes widened in surprise.

“I wonder who that is,” she murmured as she stood. “Meg, maybe? She was in town to have lunch with Anne . . . but surely security would have called first.”

“Mom,” Vic heard her exclaim in surprise a second later.

“I had to come, honey. Something amazing has happened.”

Vic stood as Niall returned to the living room with Alexis Chandler at her heels.

“Oh . . .” Alexis started when she saw him. Her beautiful face stiffened. “I didn’t realize you had company.”

“Mom, this is Vic Savian. Vic, I’d like you to meet my mother, Alexis Chandler. I never got the chance to introduce you two before . . .”

Niall paused shakily. Something indefinable passed across Alexis Chandler’s face as she looked at him that reminded Vic of a cloud quickly moving across the sunlight. But it was gone in a millisecond and her icy, impenetrable expression was back in place.