Free The Gate (Dark Path Series) by KT Grant Page A

together.
    “Hey, girls! Sorry I’m late.” Kim shivered, a brisk breeze encircling them from her entrance.
    She rose to embrace the blonde, Alyson doing the same. When she sat down, the two women started chatting.
    Instead of joining in, she opened her purse, eyeing the napkin tucked inside. It taunted her, pushing her to make the phone call.
     
    ***
     
    “I can’t believe Cameron’s been gone eight years.” Catherine wiped her eyes with Max’s linen handkerchief.
    “Father also.” They’d eaten breakfast together, recalling their favorite memories of Cameron. Afterward, Max drove them to the cemetery, so they could be there around the time his brother had been pronounced dead eight years ago. They did the same thing every year, their morbid mourning they couldn’t let go.
    He studied the grave of the man who molded him into the person he was today. His brother and his mother’s graves lined up next to it between two empty plots that would be filled when he and Daniel left the world.
    She blew her nose then stuck her hands in her black hoodie’s pockets. Your parents didn’t have a vault or some huge stone statue of an angel or two? Why such simple gravestones?”
    He shrugged. “The family vault is already filled with Crawford’s past.” He motioned down a few rows to where the rest of the vaults stood. “I never bothered to ask after Mom died. I just assumed there wasn’t enough space.”
    She knelt in front of her dead fiancé’s grave, rearranging the flowers they bought. She moved to his father’s and then his mother’s grave where flowers had been distributed as well.
    He stuck his hand in his pocket, clutching his cell phone. It gave him a sense of calm to know he had it. But out of respect for the dead, he’d shut it off. He didn’t want to be bothered by the outside world.
    “Did Daniel call you?” She rose, wiping her palms on her legs. Streaks of dirt stained the denim.
    “We talked last night.” He started up at the murky sky. A raindrop splashed on his cheek. “He shocked the shit out of me when he told me he went to Sunday Mass to light a candle in Cameron and our father’s honor.”
    She raised her eyebrows. “When’s the last time you were in a church?”
    “I think the day I was baptized.” He rubbed the back of his neck. His entire body was stiff, and he had a slight pounding behind his eyes that had been there since he woke up. All he wanted to do was go back to bed.
    “You look like you’re ready to drop. Why don’t we sit for a few minutes?” Taking his hand, she led him to a wooden bench.
    “It might rain soon. It’d better if we sit in the car.” He indicated his silver Jaguar.
    Catherine smiled. “You just want to show off you new baby. What is it with men and their cars? The rain won’t melt us.” She inhaled, rolling her shoulders. “The air here smells cleaner, fresh.”
    “It smells cleaner because we’re away from the smog of the city.” He sat down.
    She joined him. “Shit,” she whispered, wincing as she shifted around.
    “Your ass still hurts?” he asked, concerned but also pleased.
    “Stop being such a cocky SOB. It’s not because of your heavy hand that my ass still stings.” She set her elbows on her knees and cupped her chin in her palms. “I met with Raymond for lunch on Sunday. I told him I still needed space. He acted as if he was okay with that even though he keeps texting me and leaving these long phone messages. I think he’s doing it on purpose because he knows how much I get off on his sexy accent.” She faced him. “He invited me back to his place to talk. He didn’t order me like he usually does, but was sweet as could be. Against my better judgment, I went with him. As soon as he shut his front door, he took out my collar and told me to get naked.”
    “And?” he asked when she didn’t continue.
    She stared down at her lap. “I-I tried to leave but he wouldn’t let me. The next thing I know, he’s carrying me up