Mine to Keep by Cynthia Eden Page A

than enough already.”
    Parker’s eyes narrowed into angry slits.
    He’d heard this story before, but Alex needed to hear it again.  So he said, “They took them in, but the first night Trace Weston was there—”
    “The asshole attacked me!” Parker’s trembling hand slid over his nose.  “He pounded my face, again and again. The jerk is crazy. Fuckin’ insane!”
    “And why did he attack?”
    “I
told
you last time, when you came sniffin’ around—”
    “Tell me again.”  He kept his voice flat.
    “Because that slut Skye was playin’ us both! He caught us together and freaked the hell out.”
    “Playing you both,” Alex repeated.
    “Don’t buy her innocent act.” Now disgust thickened Parker’s voice. “It’s bullshit. She wanted me, and she came after me.”
    Alex cocked his head. “If Trace had just arrived at the house, then how was Skye playing him? How did she—”
    “I think he knew her from before. He had to.”  Parker’s breath blew out on a hard sigh. “The way he looked at her. The way he acted…it was like she was already his. I should’ve read the signs. I should’ve stayed away from that cock tease.” 
    “But you didn’t,” Alex murmured.
    “And he nearly beat me to death.”  Fury was there. Reddening Parker’s cheeks and snapping in his words. “Trace  deserves payback,
that’s
what he deserves.”
    “Why did he stop?”
    Parker shook his head.  His hair was thick and matted, and it sagged over his eyes.
    “Why didn’t he kill you, Parker?  Why did Trace Weston let you live?”
    Parker seemed to think about that.  Thinking didn’t exactly look easy for the guy. “Because…because Skye told him to stop.”  The memory was there. Alex could see it on Parker’s face. He also saw the flash of rage that followed that memory. “He always has been her dog, tied on her leash.” 
    Alex hated talking to the jackass, but Parker Jacobs was the one person who was actually linked to Skye and Weston. He knew their past—and he was willing to talk about it. 
    Now, with calculation, Alex threw out, “Both Trace and Skye told me that you were a liar. That you fed me a story of bull about what really happened that night.” 
    Parker glared up at him. “What happened…I kissed his precious Skye. He went psycho, and I wound up in the hospital.”  Once more, his fingers slid over his nose, as if checking the old wound. “When it comes to Skye, Trace isn’t exactly the controlled kind of guy. Some women are like that, you know. They can push a man too far.”
    “Did Skye push you too far?”
    And there it was. The faster breathing. The gaze that darted nervously around the room.
    “Did she push you,” Alex asked softly, “and you decided that you just had to take what she was offering?”
    “I was just
kissing
her—”
    And Alex took a stab in the dark. “Then why’d she cry out for help?”
    Parker jumped to his feet once more. “Because she wanted to set me up! She was a cock tease, I told you! She wanted me to kiss her, but when things got rough, she started crying and begging me to stop. I had to put my hand over her mouth, but it was too late. Trace had heard and—”
    Parker grabbed him and shoved the guy against the nearest wall. “So that’s what the truth sounds like from you.” 
    When Skye had been stalked, Alex had questioned the guy. Cleared him because the man had plenty of people to back up his alibis. And Parker had been too happy to tell him about Weston’s dark side.
    No wonder Weston attacked you.  You were hurting Skye.
    Alex had come to realize that Weston didn’t let
anyone
hurt Skye. The last man who had—the bastard who’d kidnapped her—Weston had sent him to hell.
    Alex’s muscles were hard with his own fury. “You were hurting Skye, and Trace stopped you.”
    “He tried to beat me to death!”  Parker heaved against him.
    Alex just tightened his grip. “Yet you’re still breathing.”
    “Only because of