His arms tightened around her until she had trouble breathing, but she didn’t say a word. He abruptly loosened his hold, his voice trembling now. ‘I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you.’

She pressed her fingertips to his lips. ‘I’m fine. You don’t have to tell me any more.’

‘I haven’t told you anything yet,’ he said wearily.

Her heart sank. What was coming was much worse, then. She kissed the base of his throat, tasting the salt of his sweat. ‘Then tell me,’ she murmured. ‘But you don’t have to.’

‘I think I do. No, I know I do. You need to know. But you need to know why.’

Need to know what? she wanted to demand, but she let him tell it his way. They had time.

‘You read the articles so you know that Matty was killed and Stone almost died. They were tied up close to the door, an easy shot. They’d put my chair toward the back. I threw myself down and the chair teetered just enough that the bullet missed my head and grazed my ear. I ended up on the floor and stayed there, waiting for the second shot, but finally realized the bastard thought he’d hit me. He pulled the door shut and left us alone there. In the dark.’

Swallowing the bile that burned her throat, she struggled to hide her horror, but knew that was useless. ‘Jesus, Marcus.’

He pressed his lips to her temple and kept them there for a long time. ‘I could hear Stone crying, but I couldn’t hear Matty at all. Not even breathing. I was thrashing, trying to get free. I’d been thrashing ever since they’d tied me up.’

She cleared her throat. ‘How much time, Marcus?’

‘We were held for a little more than three days.’

Her chest hurt. ‘Three days was an eternity.’

‘It was.’ A long, long pause. ‘When I fell, the wooden back of the chair broke. Between that and the thrashing, I managed to get my hands free. My feet were still tied to the chair’s base, but I dragged myself to the door, chair and all. It was locked – the bastards had padlocked it before they ran with the ransom cash, so we were trapped. I got my feet free and tried to use part of the broken chair to get us out. Stone had stopped crying and I thought he was dead too, but I couldn’t see to know if he was okay. I guess I became kind of an animal, trying to break the door down. The officers searching our warehouse heard me. When they came in, I saw the uniform and thought they were the kidnappers, come back to finish us off, so I attacked them. I didn’t want them near Stone and Matty. It took two officers to pull me away and hold me down.’

‘I’m so sorry about Matty.’

He nodded, the stubble on his face catching in her hair. ‘He died almost immediately, so he didn’t suffer so much. Stone . . . he was hurt bad. I still remember the blood when they carried him out. He was in a coma for a week. In the hospital a lot longer than that. He missed Matty’s funeral, which was probably a blessing for him.’

‘How did you find out that your father was involved?’

‘A few days after we were rescued, the phone rang in our apartment. Gayle was at the hospital sitting with Stone and my mother was asleep. She’d taken a sleeping pill that the doctor had given her. That was the beginning of her addiction. Anyway, I answered the phone before it finished ringing because I didn’t want it to wake Mom up. And, um . . .’ He swallowed hard. ‘I heard him. One of the guys who took us. The one who hurt Stone and Matty. I didn’t scream, didn’t make a sound. It was like I was frozen with fear because I thought he was coming back. Then I heard my father answer the phone from another extension. It all happened pretty fast. They started talking, and I realized they knew each other. My father was angry. He said, “Nobody was supposed to get hurt. You killed my son and the other might die too.” Then the guy told my father that he’d broken the agreement by sending in the FBI. My father blew up, so angry that my mother had involved the law. But he was madder that the other guy hadn’t given him his share of the money.’

Scarlett wanted to curse, to hit something. Wanted to kill his father, rip out his withered heart with her bare hands. But she kept her cool. Kept her voice calm and her hand warm on his chest. ‘What did you do?’

‘I wanted to tell someone, but I didn’t know who. Mom was out like a light and Gayle was at the hospital with Stone. My paternal grandfather lived nearby and watched us sometimes, but he was just like my father and I was afraid to tell him. Afraid he wouldn’t believe me. I tried to walk out of the apartment to find a beat cop, but my father stopped me from going out, said I could be kidnapped again because they’d gotten away and I’d seen their faces.’

‘Sonofabitch. He deliberately terrified you.’

‘I didn’t know what to do. I got paranoid, thinking he was watching me. I was afraid to pick up the phone, afraid that he’d listen to me like I’d listened to him. So I cowered in my room and didn’t tell anyone. I didn’t know who I could trust.’

‘What about your Grandfather Yarborough? You trusted him.’

‘I loved him. I loved spending time with him when we visited him, but even back then I never knew who he was going to be, so I was a little scared of him too. He came down to Lexington as soon as we were taken, but he spent all his time at the hospital with my mother and Stone after we were rescued. I never had a moment alone with him when my father wasn’t hovering.’

‘Your father kept you isolated.’

‘Yes. Plus, my grandfather liked my father. Everyone liked my father. He was pleasant and fun and threw a good party. My mother was the moody one, the one everyone said was eccentric. My father was well-loved by everyone who didn’t live with us.’

‘Gayle lived with you.’

‘Gayle got days off. Vacation. My father timed his outbursts very well. And when he couldn’t hold back . . . Well, my parents were very good at fighting in private.’

‘Dammit, Marcus, I hate the thought of you being so alone in your own home. Surely your mother would have listened when you told her what you’d heard your father say.’

‘She would have listened, sure. But she wouldn’t have heard. She was in shock. Matty was dead, and Stone almost was. And the bottom line was that she loved my father, even though he’d slap her around sometimes. Nobody knew. I don’t even think she knows that I even knew. I kept trying to find the right time to tell her what he did to Stone and Matty, but I never did.’

To Stone and Matty, but not to you. ‘How did your father die, Marcus?’

He drew a deep breath and held it.

‘Marcus?’

The breath rushed out almost desperately. ‘At the funeral, a man came up to my father. Big guy. Really big. Bold, too. Came right up to the casket where we were standing. Asked where his money was. My father said, “It’s my son’s funeral. Can’t you wait?” He asked the man to call him later. So when we got home, I listened and waited. I didn’t dare pick up the phone again, but when the call came, I hid nearby and eavesdropped on my father’s side of the conversation. He said, “I’ll get you the money even if I have to inherit it.”’

Scarlett’s dread amped up. ‘He was going to kill your mother?’

‘That’s what it sounded like to me. And I made my decision then. I remember that night she tucked me in and sang me a lullaby. Kissed me goodnight. I guess I knew she was sad and scared, and I let her treat me like a little boy.’

‘You were a little boy, Marcus.’

‘I sure didn’t feel like one anymore, I remember that. I wanted to warn her then, but I didn’t know how. I stumbled through it, being all cryptic. It should have been simple. I should have just said, “Your husband paid someone to kidnap your children so he could get some money and now he’s trying to kill you.” But I couldn’t get the words out. I started with “My father” but then stumbled and said “Your husband”, and then I just couldn’t get the words out. All she got was that I was afraid of my father, and she told me that the psychologists said I might mix up reality with fiction for a while as I processed things.’