Games of the Heart Read online

  Marshall moved closer. He couldn’t resist her and he didn’t want to. Kicking off his shoes, he shed the rest of his clothes, tossing them aside. Insane with desire, he reached hungrily for her, his fingers stroking the delicate curve of her hips. Her skin was soft to the touch. Heart beating a thousand beats per second, he pulled Sage to her feet and kissed her so hard that she staggered backward. Pinning her hands behind her, he licked the tender spot behind her ears and laughed when she playfully bit his shoulder. Pushing aside her panties, he slipped his thumb between her legs and stroked her until she screamed out.

  Body tingling with need, her nipples straining against her push-up bra, she emitted a low, hollow moan. Panting, a glass-shattering scream in the back of her throat, she pressed a hand against the wall to steady her balance. Marshall brought out the animal in her, and the more he stroked her, the louder she groaned.

  Marshall’s cell phone rang. He glanced down at his clothes, lying in a heap in the middle of the bathroom floor.

  “Don’t even think of answering it,” she warned, wishing she could toss the stupid thing out the window. “You and I have some unfinished business to take care of.”

  “I wouldn’t dream of it,” he said with a laugh.

  Giggling, she noted the wild, predatory look in his eyes and his staggered breathing. She didn’t think it was possible, but Marshall wanted her just as much as she wanted him. He felt so nice. His hands were in her hair, on her breasts, her stomach, inside her. His mouth blazed a trail from her ear to her breasts, and just when Sage thought she’d die of pleasure, he scooped her up, stepped into the tub and buried himself between her legs. Twining her arms around his waist, she gripped his butt and pulled him deeper inside her. Marshall knew her intimately, privately, completely. She had never felt more connected to anyone. He took his time loving her, slowly and carefully, with the patience and skill of an artist. It was the sweetest, most delicious sex she’d ever had, and she loved him for making her feel like a jewel.

  The shadows of the night fell away, allowing the light of the sunrise to welcome them into Saturday morning. And when an orgasm tore through her with the ferocity of a category-eight hurricane, her wild, frenzied screams could be heard down the hall.

  Chapter 24

  Opening one eye, Marshall lifted his head gingerly off the pillow. He was in a dreamlike state, and it took him a moment to remember where he was. His eyes hurt and it felt like someone was standing beside him, whacking a pot with a sledge hammer. But that’s what he got for polishing off a bottle of vodka and making love like a Kama Sutra junkie.

  Outside, cooing doves perched on tree branches and the sounds of the busy street below filtered through the balcony windows. The bedroom was redolent of roses and chocolate, but it was the scent of bacon that made his stomach roar in hunger. “Ouch,” he rasped, struggling to sit up.

  Spotting a bottle of aspirin and a glass of water beside the bed, he wondered where Sage was hiding. Aware that he had overindulged himself last night, she had found pain relievers and had them waiting for him when he woke up. His girlfriend was an expert when it came to taking control of a situation, and he admired that about her.

  He was guzzling the glass of water when he heard his cell phone ringing. Even if he knew where it was, which he didn’t, he didn’t have the energy to get out of bed. Just as he was about to roll over and go back to sleep, Sage entered the bedroom, carrying a tray topped with waffles, bacon, fruit and two coffee mugs. “Rise and shine, sleepyhead. We have a full day ahead of us and not a moment to spare!”

  Marshall groaned, drawing a chuckle from Sage.

  “Breakfast is served,” she announced, positioning the tray in front of him. “Did you sleep well, baby?”

  “You know I did.” He grabbed her arm and pulled her to him for a kiss. Stunning in a red silk robe and dangerously high heels, he slipped a hand inside her covering and stroked her delicate skin. “Very, very nice, Ms. Collins. Are you coming back to bed?”

  “Eat first and I’ll think about giving you a taste.”

  Relinquishing his hold, he smacked her playfully on the butt as she sashayed out of the room. “What are we doing today?” he asked, adding cream to his coffee. “I thought we were going to hang out around the resort.”

  “Not today we’re not. You guys have an appointment with Dean Rafferty at noon, and I have some business to take care of in Santa Monica.”

  From his position on the bed, he could see clear into the bathroom, and he grew aroused as he watched her lotion her legs. “Sage, come here. It’s no fun eating alone.”

  She exited the bathroom. Holding out his cell phone, she said, “I took the liberty of fishing this out of the garbage can.”

  He frowned. “How did it end up there?”

  “I didn’t want you to be distracted from your assignment, so I put it in there for safekeeping.”

  “My assignment, huh? What’s my grade?”

  She leaned in. “An A plus, plus.”

  “Is that so?”

  Nodding, she picked up his fork and fed him a piece of sausage. “I can’t wait until we finally get to Maui. You’re going to love the—”

  Marshall’s cell phone rang and Sage rolled her eyes. “Tell Denzel I’m going to kick his ass. Just because he’s having problems at home, doesn’t give him the right to call every five minutes.”

  “Go easy on the guy. Heather’s making his life miserable.” Putting the phone to his ear, he popped a strawberry into his mouth. “Hey, D. What’s up?”

  Sage threw open the closet, selected a multicolored dress and laid it on the bed.

  “This is Marshall Grant.”

  Whipping around, she examined her boyfriend’s face. Sage knew Marshall well enough to recognize alarm in his voice and the troubled look in his eyes. “Babe, what’s the matter?” she whispered, moving closer to the bed. “Is everything okay?”

  “But that’s impossible.” He pressed the phone to his ear. “My son’s here, at the Bentley Beach Hotel. He’s been here since eleven-thirty last night.”

  Sage felt a pain in her chest. Fear pelted her stomach and her throat was so thick she could barely swallow.

  “Are you sure?” Marshall flung off the blanket, sending the breakfast tray crashing to the floor.

  Frozen in place, she watched helplessly as Marshall struggled to his feet and threw on his clothes. He had a wild, crazed look in his eyes and the muscles in his jaw were pulled tight. “What is it?” she asked, gripping his forearm and forcing him to look at her. “Is Khari all right?”

  “Cedars-Sinai. First floor. Room seventy-one,” he repeated. “I’m on my way.”

  Forty-five minutes later, Marshall burst through the emergency room doors at Los Angeles’s largest hospital, his face awash with fear, concern and confusion. Sage had to run to keep up with him, and by the time she reached the nurses’ station, sweat was gushing down her face and legs.

  “I’ll page the on-call doctor. Please have a seat.” Marshall started to move toward the row of blue plastic chairs, but Sage stepped forward, surprising the plump, blue-eyed nurse. “We’re here on a family vacation, so I’m sure you can understand our anxiety. It would help if we could see Khari while we wait for the doctor to arrive.”

  The nurse looked from Sage to Marshall, then nodded. “He’s just around the corner. I’ll show you.” As she moved briskly down the hall, she read the scribbled notes off the metal clipboard. “Your son was lucky. If he hadn’t of been wearing his seat belt, he wouldn’t have survived the crash. He has a dislocated shoulder, a broken leg and severe whiplash.” She stopped in front of a partially opened door. “I should warn you,” she began, lowering her voice in a soothing whisper. “He’s pretty banged up, but don’t be alarmed. The cuts and bruises will heal in no time and he’ll be back to his usual self.”

  Sage sighed in relief, but when the nurse pulled back the curtain enclosing the bed, she stifled a gasp. Her worst fear had come true. Khari lay lifeless, his
face black-and-blue, wires and tubes stuck to his hands, all because she’d been too wrapped up in herself to think things through. Anxious to get back to the hotel, she’d allowed him to talk her into something she knew Marshall would disapprove of.

  Sage stretched her hands toward the bed, but didn’t touch him. His big, beautiful brown eyes were swollen shut, he had a large welt on the right side of his face and his busted lip looked like it had a hundred stitches. “He’s unconscious, but that doesn’t mean he can’t hear you.” The nurse smiled kindly. “I’ll be at the front desk if you need anything, and I’ll notify Dr. Van Der Meer that you’re here.”

  Marshall took Khari’s hand, his eyes filled with a father’s love. Emotion threatened to overtake her, but Sage ordered herself not to cry. She had to be strong. Marshall needed her. At a loss for what to do, she stood off to the side, a thousand thoughts—each one crazier than the last—running through her mind. Guilt rained down on her like torrential rains, blurring her vision and deepening her fears. How could she have been so stupid? So careless?

  “I’ve always tried to lead by example.”

  The sound of Marshall’s voice, so soft and gentle, made her eyes fill with water. “I pushed you too hard, but my dad raised me with an iron fist, and that’s the only way I know.” His voice cracked. “I’ve made a lot of mistakes, but from this day forward, I promise to not only be your father, but your friend.”

  Sage lost it. Tears came fast and steady and her throat burned with emotion. This wasn’t the time or the place to tell Marshall the truth, but she couldn’t listen to him blame himself for what happened. He hadn’t failed Khari, she had. Telling the truth wouldn’t be easy, but it was the right thing to do. Wiping her face with her sleeve, she stepped forward, clasping his forearm. “Marshall, there’s something I have to tell you.” She took lengthy pauses between her words, gathering her strength and shunning her fears. “It’s about last night.”

  The door creaked open and heavy footsteps filled the room. Staring down at the bottom of the curtain, she wondered when this nightmare would end. But when she saw the starched polyester pants and the thick black boots, she knew it was just beginning.

  “Mr. Grant?” a raspy masculine voice said. “I’m Detective Alvarez, and I’d like to have a word with you outside, if it’s not too much trouble.”

  Taking a seat on the couch in the main floor family lounge, Sage sipped her coffee and waited anxiously for the detective to finish questioning Marshall. The young, baby-faced cop couldn’t have been over thirty, but he had the hard, angry eyes of a man who’d seen the worst the world had to offer.

  “I was the first officer on the scene, and although the weather was a factor, I have reason to believe drugs and alcohol were to blame.”

  Marshall dragged a hand over his face. He’d aged years since arriving at the hospital, and Sage wondered how much more he could take. “What happened?”

  “According to eyewitnesses, the Lincoln Navigator truck your son and his friends were driving in sped through the intersection as the light turned red and T-boned a city bus.”

  His shoulders sagged. “This is like a bad dream,” he confessed, shaking his head despondently. “None of this makes sense. We’ve only been in L.A. for a couple days. Who could he have snuck out to see?”

  “Maybe it will help if we start at the beginning. Let’s go over the events of the last week, starting with your arrival in Las Vegas. Go slow and try to remember as much as you can.”

  Sage listened patiently, waiting for an opportunity to inject the truth. Her moment came when the detective asked where Khari went last night. “He was with me. We went to a birthday party in Beverly Hills.” Carefully not to mention Renegade’s name, she answered his questions truthfully and honestly.

  “Where was the party?”

  Sage coughed. “At Renegade’s house. I’m his manager.”

  “Were there drugs and alcohol?”

  “Alcohol, yes. Champagne, wine, the usual party stuff. I didn’t see anyone doing drugs, but it’s possible.”

  He surprised her by saying, “If the party was at Renegade’s house, there were definitely drugs. Lots of drugs.”

  “Are you sure?” Marshall asked, his eyes wide with terror.

  “Do NBA players like blonds?” His sneer revealed yellow, stained teeth, and when he shifted in his seat, his stomach jiggled. “A couple of guys from my squad pulled the rapper’s limo over last summer,” he explained. “Not only did they find a thousand dollars in cash and an unregistered gun, they found dime bags of weed in the glove box.”

  Sage swallowed. It felt like there was a watermelon lodged in her throat. She remembered the incident all too well. The local news had covered the story, and every paper in the country had splashed Renegade’s wild-eyed mug shot across their covers.

  “When did you guys leave the party?”

  “I, ah, left around eleven.” Sage didn’t dare look at Marshall. The heat of his gaze was burning a hole in her cheek. “Khari wanted to stay, so I arranged with Renegade to have him dropped back at the hotel when he was ready.”

  “You did what?”

  Sage chanced a look at Marshall. His eyes were red and narrowed.

  “You left my son at a party with a bunch of gangbangers?”

  “It wasn’t like that,” she protested weakly, shifting in her seat. “I thought—”

  “Are you insane?” He surged to his feet. “You don’t know Renegade any more than I do. You see him, what? Once a month, or whenever he’s in trouble? For all you know, he could be selling dope from out of his house!”

  Sensing the impending blowout and not wanting to be caught in the eye of the storm, Detective Alvarez closed his notebook and stood. “I’ll leave the two of you alone.” On his way out of the lounge, he shut the door behind him.

  “I didn’t mean for any of this to happen.” Sage reached for Marshall, but he ripped his arm away. Pacing the length of the room, his eyes blazing with fury, he grilled her for what seemed like hours. How many people were at the party? What did Khari eat? Who did he talk to? The questions came fast and furious, but she answered them all.

  “Did Khari have alcohol? I want the truth. Enough lies.”

  Sage pried the words from her mouth. “He had a beer. One beer. That’s it.”

  He struck his fist on the table. Khari was unconscious, and the only reason he was alive was because of the quick response of the paramedics. The driver had a shattered collarbone and an unidentified man was still in surgery.

  “Marshall, I’m sorry. I’m truly sorry. It was a horrible error of judgment on my part. I wasn’t thinking.”

  “I don’t know why I’m surprised. This is just another kick in the groin, huh, Sage?” His anger had cooled, but there was something chilling in his tone. “You don’t care who you hurt, as long as you get what you want. You took Khari to that party for one reason and one reason only. To persuade him to turn pro. That’s what this whole trip has been about. Wooing him with expensive gifts and stupid parties. That’s what this is all about. Money.” His eyes were filled with hatred and matched the venom in his voice. “You’ve been trying to brainwash Khari since day one.”

  “That’s not true. I’ve been encouraging him to get his degree.”

  “Right. And running into me at Champions Sports Bar was a coincidence.”

  Once they had laughed about the lengths she had gone to meet him and now he was throwing it back in her face.

  “Do me a favor, will you?”

  A glimmer of hope coursed through her. “Anything.”

  “Get the hell out and don’t come back!”

  “Marshall, you don’t mean that. It’s been a—”

  “I do.” He pulled back his lips, baring his teeth. “You’re a liar, and I don’t respect you. You lied about who you were, lied your way into my home and lied to my face about where my son was last night.”

  “It’s not like that. I know in the beginning I—”

  �
��You haven’t changed, and it was stupid on my part to think you would. You’ll always be a scheming, conniving…”

  Hurt gave way to anger. She wasn’t going to just stand there while he shouted at her and hurled groundless accusations. “And you’re perfect, right, Marshall? You’ve never screwed up or made a mistake?”

  “Leave.” His tone was ice.

  “I made a mistake. I’ve made a lot of mistakes. I can own up to that. But you’re so blinded by your anger and resentment toward Roxanne, you can’t even see the truth. You have to control everything, and you’re not happy unless things are done your way.”

  “And you’re a master at weaving tales! Is that something to be proud of?” His voice was full of disgust. A dark shadow fell over his face as his eyes swept down her body. “You’re a manipulator. I can only imagine how many men you’ve screwed to get what you want. I’m sure there’s a long list of us.”

  Her eyes swam with fresh tears, but Sage fortified herself against her emotions. She didn’t cry when she’d spent that first night at the halfway house, and she wouldn’t cry now. “I might be a lot of things, Marshall, but I’m no coward. And I’d never do anything to hurt someone I love. Can you say the same thing?”

  Sage held in her tears. Her knees shook and her legs felt like rubber. Though she wanted to be there when Khari came to, she didn’t want to fight with Marshall anymore. For a brief moment, she considered reaching out to him again, but drove out the thought. They were finished. And if she was smart, she’d leave before he lashed out at her again. Without another word, she picked up her purse, wiped the tears spilling down her cheeks and fled the hospital waiting room.

  Chapter 25

  The second she stepped into Sage’s car, Tangela knew that her best friend had a serious case of the blues. The gut-wrenching classic “Hard Times Blues” played on the stereo, and the sad, pitiful lyrics sucked the life out of her. It was enough to make Tangela fling open the passenger door and hurl herself into oncoming traffic.