TATIANA: Book Three; The Trouble Sisters Saga Read online

  TATIANA

  Book 3: The Trouble Sisters Saga

  By

  Taylor Lee

  TATIANA

  Book 3: The Trouble Sisters Saga

  Trouble with a Capital T

  By

  Taylor Lee

  If her father knew what Arnold was doing to her, he would destroy him.

  She promised herself that wouldn’t happen.

  If anyone killed Arnold, she would.

  Main Menu

  TATIANA: Book Three; The Trouble Sisters Saga

  Afterword

  Taylor Lee’s OMNIBUS Collections

  Books by Other Authors

  About the Author

  Contact Information

  Copyright Page

  Prologue

  Tatiana sucked in a deep breath. Even as she did, her lungs constricted dangerously, making the next breath uncertain. Willing her pounding heart to settle, she forced herself to breathe normally. As if that were possible. It wasn’t as though she hadn’t been in this situation before. A barrage of images flashed before her. They were convoluted, run together, a kaleidoscope of fear gone crazy. But their essence was clear, overpowering. She was in danger. In danger for her life.

  Shrugging off her coat, she hung it on the hall tree and turned to face him. She forced herself to speak normally, refusing to betray the fear threatening to choke her.

  “What are you doing here? How did you get in?”

  Arnold’s eyes narrowed as he settled farther back in his chair. Tatiana didn’t have to see the telltale maroon splotches mottling his face or the glass in his hand. The nearly empty bottle of Maker’s Mark on the table beside him and his bleary, red-streaked eyes were evidence enough. The sneer capturing his lips foretold his response to her query as did his dismissive snort. He dangled a key from his pudgy fingers. “How do I always get into what used to be my house? No matter how many times you change the locks?” He added with an ugly chortle, “You’d think as long as you’ve known me, Tatiana, you’d know that you will never be able to keep me out—keep me away from you.”

  Arnold Loomis reached for the bottle of Maker’s Mark and emptied the remaining inches of liquid into his glass. Tipping it back, he swallowed the powerful alcohol without so much as a hiccup. Tatiana shuddered, knowing that the bottle of potent booze wasn’t the first her former husband had emptied tonight. She recognized the signs. She should. They had been the stuff of her reality for five years. Even though their divorce had been final for nearly three years, she knew only too well what more and more alcohol, stoked with a gut-punch of acid or meth, did to her ex-husband. Unlike other hardcore alcoholics and druggies she’d known who had the decency to drink themselves into incoherence, Arnold only became clearer. More articulate, more focused. And more dangerous—to her.

  “I want you to leave. Now.”

  Ignoring her insistent order, he frowned. “You want me to leave?” He snorted again. “Why should I, Tatiana? I know Max and Marcie are with your sister Tara. Which means that you’re alone tonight.” Again his sinister chortle underscored the danger lurking close to the surface of his mocking threat. “Besides, Tatiana, it’s been a long time since you and I have been together . . . alone. I couldn’t let this opportunity go by, now could I?”

  Tatiana stiffened, forcing herself not to retreat. Instead, she reached for her purse, intending to get her cell phone.

  To her shock, he was beside her in seconds. With an openhanded strike, he knocked her purse across the floor, the phone skittering out of reach. With his other hand, he grabbed her arm and yanked it up hard behind her back. Tatiana couldn’t suppress a cry at the crippling pain. Smashing her face against the wall, Arnold pressed his heavy body against hers. The stench of his sweat was overpowering. It was riddled with a smell she knew only too well. Feeling his engorged arousal against her thighs, she knew she had to escape. Her fear galvanized her. With a mighty effort, she twisted free and drove her knee into his groin. His enraged shout confirmed she’d hit her intended target. Unfortunately, her compromised position kept her from escaping.

  The blow she knew was coming was hard enough to knock her to the floor. Ignoring the pain of the strike, she tried to get away, scuttling across the floor like a wounded crab. But he was on her in seconds. Catching her ankle, he dragged her next to him and flipped her onto her back. Straddling her, he grabbed her hair with one hand, then raised the other and struck her across her face. Tasting the blood in her mouth, Tatiana knew he’d split her lip. The rage in his eyes confirmed that he wasn’t done with her. She should have expected what came next. It was a too-familiar litany.

  Smashing her head against the floor, he began to rail, “You fucking bitch. You think you can get away from me?” His voice was thick with fury. “Where were you tonight, Tatiana? Who were you with? And why the fuck do you think you can come home after midnight?” His voice rose, became harsher. Grabbing her arm, he twisted it. “Goddamn you, Tatiana, answer me! Who did you spread your legs for tonight? One of your sisters’ he-men? That fucking FBI agent of Tanya’s? Or Tara’s fiancé, the multimillionaire?” His voice dropped precariously. “Or am I hearing right? That you’re chasing after that big shot DA everyone says is hot for you?”

  Hovering over her, his massive weight crushing her, his foul-smelling breath choking her, he rasped, “That’s what you like, don’t you, Tatiana? Big, powerful men. I wasn’t powerful enough for you, was I? Not man enough. Not rich enough for one of the Trouble sisters, even the one who was my goddamn wife!” Tightening his grasp on her hair, he yanked her face up to his. Spittle sprayed from his frothing lips. “You pretend to be shy, reserved, but we both know what a hungry little cunt you are. What a skaggy bitch you are.” He said angrily, “You’ll let anyone in your cunt, won’t you, Tatiana? But he has to be a big guy, doesn’t he? Has to be an important guy to be good enough for a daughter of that asshole Sheriff Titus Trouble.”

  Knowing that the disgusting rant was just beginning and Arnold would only become more violent, Tatiana made a break for it, her only chance to escape his wrath. Buoyed by her fear, she threw him off her with a ferocious wrench and dove for the desk. Yanking out the drawer, she scattered the contents on the floor and grabbed her Ruger LC9. Rising up on her knees, she grasped the powerful weapon in both hands and pointed it at Arnold. Her hands were shaking but her voice was deadly cool. “Come one inch closer, and I swear to God I will shoot you.”

  When he moved toward her, she released the safety and fired, intentionally missing him. At his shocked scream, she scrambled to her feet and aimed the deadly pistol at him.

  Her voice was so fraught with fury she barely recognized it. “Get up, you fucking coward, and get the hell out of my house.” When he just stared at her incredulously, she said, “You have ten seconds to get the hell out of here, or so help me God, I will kill you.” Training the gun on his face, she began counting. “Ten, nine, eight . . . ”

  Arnold stumbled to his feet and backed toward the door. Clinging to the door handle, he warned, “You fucking bitch. You don’t scare me. You’re too much of a ‘principled’ slut to kill your children’s father.” Flushing darker and ruddier, he sputtered, “But, Tatiana, you say one word of what happened tonight to that fucking father of yours or that deputy whore sister, and I swear I’ll—”

  “Four, three, two . . . ” Before she got to one, the cowardly son of a bitch was running to the side of the house. Tatiana hadn’t seen his car when she drove in and realized he must have parked in the back. She waited until she heard the sound of his engine peeling out of her driveway, then with a supreme effort, lowered the gun. Shaking so hard she didn
’t know if her rubbery legs could hold her, she sank to the floor and leaned against the wall. After several long minutes she began to snag breaths that were stronger than shuddered gasps of air. With a concerted effort, Tatiana forced herself to come to grips with her terror.

  Clutching the gun at her side, she rose unsteadily to her feet. Closing and locking the front door, she slid the double chain into the latch and made her way to the hall. Standing in front of the large mirror, she focused on the pale, trembling woman staring back at her. Seeing the mottled bruise blooming on her cheek and the blood leaking from her split lip, she raised the gun in front of her and stared at the barrel reflected in the mirror. With a slight, confirming nod, she acknowledged that Arnold didn’t have to worry. She would never tell her righteous father or fierce sister what had happened. Although she was sure they suspected the truth, she’d never admitted that she was an abuse victim. She knew if she confessed her shame, both her father and sister would make it their mission to take Arnold down.

  Meeting the wide-eyed, fierce woman’s glare, she promised herself that wasn’t going to happen. If anyone killed Arnold, she would.

  Chapter 1

  Excited shrieks of childish laughter filled the air. Tatiana grinned at the horde of children romping in the oversized inflatable swimming pool she’d set up in the backyard of the Sanctuary. She shook her head in wonder. It was amazing how a few inches of water could entertain a group of preschoolers. One would think that they would tire of splashing water in each other’s faces or belly flopping into the three inches of water. Reaching for the hose, she started to refill the dinosaur-shaped plastic receptacle when a shock of cold water hit her face. Too late to duck, she saw Henry Mason point a shark super soaker at her and press the trigger, releasing another torrent of water over her head and back.

  Within seconds all of the kids scrambled out of the pool and into the yard. Shrieking in excitement, they stormed toward the pile of green, yellow, and orange crocodile and shark foam water guns that one of her grinning aides was unloading from a pack of party supplies.

  Focusing a mock scowl on him as she swiped at the water drenching her face and hair, Tatiana called out, “Thanks, Henry. Just what these little scallywags need. Super soakers to attack each other and me!”

  Laughing at the water streaming over her tee shirt and shorts, the brown-skinned teenager with dancing black eyes ragged her. “C’mon, Miss Tatiana, you know you love playing with these kids. And nothing is more fun for a little kid, heck, for any kid, than to blast their teacher with a water gun.”

  Not able to hold back a laugh, Tatiana brushed at the water on her face and shook out her cloud of water-streaked bright-red hair. Glancing at the squealing children, she confirmed that Max, her three-year-old son and the youngest of the crowd, was having as much fun spraying his sister as Marcie was drenching him. Knowing that the genie was out of the bottle and there was no way she could confiscate the water guns, she turned to the grinning aides surrounding the children. “Sophie, Emma, and you, Henry, listen up. All of you need to make sure that no one gets hurt. Remember, some of these kids are only three years old. Don’t let the bigger ones get too rough.”

  At that moment, she heard a loud laugh. Turning, she saw Gretchen Samuels standing at the gate to the yard. It didn’t take Tatiana long to see what had stamped the chagrined expression on her partner’s face. Clearly it was the tall, shaggy-haired man standing beside her, whose boisterous laugh Tatiana had heard. The smiling man asked mischievously, “Hey, is it possible for visitors and ‘grown-up’ children to spray water on the founder of the Sanctuary?”

  To her horror, Zane Wilder, the Cochise County district attorney, added with a knowing grin at the drenched clothes plastered against her body, “May I say, Ms. Trouble, that is one of the more enticing outfits I’ve seen you in.”

  Hugely embarrassed that the imposing man was seeing her wet and disheveled, Tatiana shook her head, spraying a torrent of water down her back. Forcing herself to sound as controlled as she wished she were, she forced a smile to curve her lips. Walking over to the grinning interloper, she managed to speak in a relatively calm voice. “I . . . I . . . needless to say, Mr. Wilder, I . . . wasn’t expecting you.” Turning a helpless look to her concerned associate, she said, “Gretchen, will you please take Mr. Wilder to my office? I’ll meet you there as quickly as I can.”

  Wilder’s grin widened. “Does that mean you rejected my request that I get to join the youngsters who are having the time of their lives drenching their inimitable teacher with super soakers?”

  Managing to smile through her embarrassment, Tatiana said, “No, Mr. Wilder. I don’t allow ‘children’ older than six to handle super soakers. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to get out of these wet clothes.”

  ****

  Tatiana fled barefoot across the lawn toward the side door of the Sanctuary. She was horrified that the impressive district attorney had not only seen her in a ragged tee shirt and short shorts but soaking wet. And naturally she would have to be barefoot. God, talk about embarrassing. She felt her cheeks heat, remembering his salacious grin when he told her that was the most enticing outfit he’d seen on her. She snorted dismissively. As if a woman who looked more like a half-naked teenager than the founder of a notable women’s shelter could be considered enticing.

  As she stripped off her wet clothes, raked a fluffy towel over her naked body, and did her best to dry her hair, Tatiana tried not to think about the imposing man waiting for her. Dear God, he made her nervous. Remembering the scene at the bar three nights ago, her concern ratcheted up. She and her younger sister and Tanya’s impressive guy, Agent Ryker Thompson, had joined their father for a nightcap at the Bitter n’ Twisted. Tanya had waylaid her as she was dropping Max and Marcie off at Tara’s house for a sleepover. Intending to go home and begin the arduous monthly task of reconciling the books for the Sanctuary, Tanya stopped her in mid-flight. Her fierce sister declared that one of the reasons Tara was taking care of her kids was so that Tatiana could have a little fun. Draping an arm around her older sister’s waist, the pint-sized autocrat confirmed that she wasn’t taking no for an answer. She insisted that by damn, Tatiana was coming to the Bitter n’ Twisted bar with them and, more than that, she was going to enjoy a night away from her darling little kids.

  After she’d consumed the porn star martini that Tanya and Ryker had foisted on her and was taking a sip of the second pint-sized glass Tanya had put in front of her, Tatiana had to admit she was having fun. She didn’t see her father nearly as often as she wished. She admitted that she was envious of the fact that her little sister, the deputy sheriff, was with the impressive sheriff of Cochise County on a daily basis. Seeing her father’s obvious joy when she came in with Tanya and Ryker, she reminded herself that she was the one who kept a ring of privacy coiled around her. It was a conscious choice she made. Her sagacious father and equally perceptive sister were too knowledgeable about the issues that plagued Tatiana.

  While both of the accomplished “lawmen” had pushed her hard about the details of her failed marriage, both had seemingly accepted her stated reasons for getting a divorce. Tara, her older sister, had joined her father and Tanya, stating flatly that they more than supported her kicking Arnold Loomis out of her life. All three of them made it clear that if anything, she’d stayed with the guy Tanya called the world’s biggest loser far longer than she should have. Unfortunately, Arnold hadn’t accepted her flat assertion that the marriage was over and nothing he could do would change that fact.

  Sitting next to her father at the bar and watching Tanya and Ryker tease each other mercilessly, which underscored the fact that they were crazy in love with each other, Tatiana felt a small tug of envy. She was thrilled that her outrageous little sister had found a guy who was more than her match. But she couldn’t help wondering if she would ever be willing to let down her guard when it came to men, much less ever allow herself to fall in love. As if the universe was determined to kick
her when she was down, a hearty voice at her elbow brought her back to reality.

  “Well, well, well. This must be my lucky night. Not only are two of my favorite drinking buddies here, obviously intent on pushing their limits with Dante’s high-class booze, but they convinced the formidable sheriff of Cochise County to join them.” Zane Wilder, the impressive district attorney, returned Ryker’s one-armed hug and upped the ante when he turned to Tatiana and whistled softly. “But as glad as I am to see the three of you, I’m most impressed that you managed to shanghai the elusive red-haired Trouble sister.” Smiling broadly, Zane reached for Tatiana’s hand, dwarfing her much smaller hand in his. Giving it a little squeeze, he winked at her. “Tell me, Tatiana, if I may call you that, what does it take to get you to grace these ignoble premises? An arrest by the fearsome sheriff, his deputy, and her FBI agent?”

  Before Tatiana could answer him, her irrepressible sister chimed in with a laugh. “That’s too darned close to the truth, Zane. At least tonight it just took Ryker and me to spirit my sis away from her apparently never-ending tasks. Damn, you’d think that since Tara had claimed my adorable niece and nephew for the night we wouldn’t practically have to kidnap my beauteous sister to get her to have a little fun.”

  Her father spared Tatiana from having to answer when he wrapped a protective arm around her shoulders and tugged her closer to him. Nodding to the chair on the other side of her, Titus returned the district attorney’s grin. “I’ll ask you to join us on one condition, Zane, and that is you don’t try to intimidate my middle daughter. It’s hard enough for us to convince her to occasionally join this rowdy crowd without adding another arrogant law enforcement professional to the gang.”

  Zane laughed and gave the sheriff a small salute. “Scout’s honor, Sheriff Trouble. I promise I won’t do anything to scare off this lovely woman except perhaps move this stool an inch or two closer to her.”