Healing Rain.

The Rain Trilogy.

Karen-Anne Stewart.

Dedicated to all of the survivors and the heroes who help them.

Acknowledgements.

To my husband, thank you for of your love, continued patience, support, and encouragement. I love you!.

To Jim Guilliams and Talor Stewart, thank you for your expertise.

To Todd Ervin, my favorite alpha geek, you are the man!.

To Valeria Gardin, Diane Maxwell, Shannon Lopez, and RJ Galloway, your encouragement and faith mean more than you know.

To my parents, what can I say that you don't already know? Love you both!

To the best beta readers and helpful editors, Bret Stewart, Diane Maxwell, Jackie Parker, Heather Lindall, Keri Wilson, Penny West, Karen Galloway, Julie Weatherman, and Bobi Gillespie, all of you are AMAZING!!! Thank you for your time, advice, honesty, and awesome support.

To all the authors and reviewers out there who have given me priceless advice throughout the journey thus far, it is much appreciated and will never be forgotten.

Last, but not least, to all the readers who have already sent me your support and kind words regarding The Rain Trilogy, I couldn't do it without you. You rock!.

CHAPTER ONE.

The rain continues to pelt relentlessly against the windshield as Kas drives to nowhere. Brutal memories of earlier in the evening replay in his head. 'Raina Kapture, will you do me the great honor of becoming my wife.' He shakes his head, fruitlessly trying to dislodge the memories from his mind. Gritting his teeth, his grip on the steering wheel tightens as he steals another glance at his phone, swearing loudly when it remains silent. Bitter agitation mounts in him as he anxiously awaits the call from Chase, telling him where the trace on Raina's cell leads.

Agonizing thoughts keep exploding inside of his head. 'I can't-I'm so, so sorry, but I just can't.' His heart is broken and bleeding from the transgressions committed earlier tonight.

The punishing rhythm searing through his temples is welcoming, he would take any form of physical pain to distract him from the torment ripping through his soul. Thoughts of Raina ravish him. He thinks back to the sadness in her jade eyes when she had pulled away, her expression had cut through him like the sharpest knife. His heated words ring through his head, 'Do you think that I'm going to let you down, that I'm going to disappoint you like every other man in your life has so far? I am not your father, and I am not Chris!'

Despair seeps through him like poison. His knuckles are taut and white from his rigorous grip on the wheel. 'What do I have to do to prove that I will not hurt you, that I will never hurt you? Rain, talk to me...please.'

His jaw twitches angrily from how he handled the situation, just letting her leave when she was obviously in torment. 'Just let me go-I can't be who you want, who you need. I'm not good for you.' He viciously hits the steering wheel as he thinks of how he would have never had let her walk out of the door if he had only known her father had found her.

The earlier call to Henry was futile, the judge hasn't heard from Raina and has no idea of where she might be, but he was adamant about having Kas promise to call him when he finds her. The thin thread of his remaining sanity is vigorously unraveling. His usual inflexible grip on control has steadily eradicated since meeting Raina, but the derailing loss of control he is experiencing right now threatens to destroy him. He is known for his strength, his adept skills of being a leader. Kas' authority is both respected and even feared at times, but, right now, in his current state of brokenness from not knowing where Raina is, or if she's okay, he is only a sh.e.l.l of the man he usually embodies.

Unable to take another second of maddening silence, he calls Dexter, needing both a distraction from the waiting and a favor from his boss to pull some strings. He is prepared to beg Dexter if he has to, he doesn't care about what anyone thinks of him anymore, he just needs to find Raina and make sure her father is nowhere near her.

The call goes to voicemail, and Kas lets out a string of strong expletives as he nearly crushes the phone from his furious grip. Seconds later, the abused phone finally rings, and his heart jumps to his throat when he sees that it's Chase. "Where is she?" he demands.

"She's at BWI. Kas, what the h.e.l.l is going on?" Chase demands in return.

"I don't have time to explain it to you right now, just meet me there." Kas hangs up before Chase has the chance to protest. He whips his jeep around, the tires squealing on the wet road as he grabs his light, throwing it on his dash. Flipping on the bright flashing blue emergency signal, he tears down the interstate to the Baltimore-Washington International Airport.

The airport traffic is a nightmare. Deciding to bypa.s.s the b.u.mper to b.u.mper line by pulling onto the median, he effectively cuts through and screeches to a jerky halt in front of the main entrance. Sprinting towards the doors, he flashes his badge at the security guards yelling at him about leaving his vehicle in a no parking zone. He scans the overly crowded airport, filled to capacity with the Christmas pa.s.sengers trying to get home, or wherever they are going over the holidays, but doesn't see Raina anywhere. His already acerbic agitation steadily increases as the man behind the ticket counter insists on following protocol and checks his credentials.

His phone rings, and he answers it gruffly, "Are you here yet?"

"I'm walking through the door now, I don't have a handy badge like you do that I can waive around so I can leave my car parked half on the curb."

"Meet me at the ticket counter," he growls.

Chase finds Kas ready to jump across the counter and cause serious bodily harm to the poor man who doesn't seem to be typing fast enough to satisfy him. He places his hand on Kas' shoulder, pulling his attention away from the nervous recipient of his foul mood. "Would you like to clue me in on what is going on now?"

Kas gives the ticket agent a deadly glare before turning to Chase. "Raina took off. Seth said her father went to the university to see her. I don't know where Waterford is now, or if she's with him."

Chase tenses, hearing that Raina has seen her father causes worry to seep through him as he thinks of how the encounter may have affected her.

The visibly shaken ticket agent interrupts, informing them hesitantly, "Miss Kapture took the last flight to Pisa, sir."

Kas runs his hand through his hair exasperatedly, but relieved, deducting that she's not with her father if she's on her way to a different country. His relief is short lived as he realizes that she's probably running away from Waterford, or maybe even him. He looks at Chase wildly, "She went to Italy? She can't go back to her cabin, or to a hotel? She has to go to Italy! Why does she always have to be such a flippin' over-achiever?"

Chase places his hand rea.s.suringly on Kas' shoulder, knowing that he is about to come undone any second, "We will find her." The man has shrunken away from the counter, and Chase gives him his best calming smile, the psychologist in him shining through, "When is the next flight to Pisa?"

The ticket agent shoots a panicked look to Kas before Chase expertly steps in front of him, blocking the petrified agent's view of the man who looks like he might take off his head. "Tomorrow morning," he manages to answer Chase without hyperventilating.

Kas looks like he's going to shoot fire straight from his eyes, and Chase gives him a warning glare, knowing that if anyone can calm him down it's him or Raina, and since she's the one they are looking for, it looks like he's the only man for the job.

After a silent struggle, Kas reins in his anger enough to not appear murderous. He takes out his wallet and hands the man his credit card, "Two tickets to Pisa." He doesn't have to ask if Chase is going with him, he knows by now that his best friend since kindergarten has his back.

Raina slips her phone inside her purse, wishing she had her iPad with her. It would have been much easier to send the e-mails to Seth and Dexter from that instead of using her phone. She is only one hour into the nine hour flight and is desperate to keep herself distracted so she doesn't break down sobbing in first cla.s.s.

Normally, she would be perfectly happy to fly coach, but she needs to be far away from people right now, at least as far away as a crowded plane can possibly allow. Barely hanging onto her fragile composure, the emotional torrent inside of her is threatening to break her into a million splintering pieces. She knows that it's useless to try to distract herself, it's an impossible task to turn her attention away from her current state of emotional h.e.l.l.

Closing her eyes, her treacherous mind replays Kas' sweet proposal, over and over, in her head. She wanted to tell him 'yes', more than she has wanted anything else in her life, she had wanted to tell him 'yes'. A tear slides down her cheek as she remembers the broken affliction in his eyes when she had told him 'no'. She grabs her side when the plane hits a small patch of turbulence; the pain in her abdomen from her father's vicious punch is making the flight very uncomfortable. She thinks of her father's cruel words when he told her that she will only ruin Kas' life, and another hot tear escapes, scalding her shattered heart.

The vibration of her cell phone startles her, dragging her away from the memories of earlier tonight. Raina can't stop the tears from running down her face as she reads Seth's response to her request to fill in for the translation specialist position until Dexter can find her replacement. She knew that Seth would take her place, but she wasn't prepared for his news that he knows about her father, or the heartfelt apology he e-mailed for leading him to her. Fear p.r.i.c.kles through her as she reads that Seth has told Kas about her father paying her a visit.

Her father's threat of destroying Kas' career sends a shot of panic through her veins. She has hurt him enough, she won't be able to handle it if she is the cause of him being subjected to her father's wrath and powerful means to damage what Kas has worked so hard to achieve. Any doubts she was struggling with by taking such a drastic step, getting on the first plane to Pisa, vanish. She realizes that her being far away from Kas is the best way to protect him from her father. The agonizing ache in her heart is in drastic discordance with her mind, and she furiously wipes away the tears that she can't seem to control any longer.

A pa.s.sing flight attendant notices her anguish and hands her a box of tissues, "Honey, are you okay?"

The kindness behind the woman's words is Raina's final undoing, and she drops her head into her hands and weeps.

Chase wraps his jacket tighter around him as the bitter December wind whips punishingly through his wet clothing. After moving Kas' jeep to the correct parking area so it doesn't get towed, he shoves the keys into his pocket as worry causes tight creases around his dark blue eyes when he contemplates Kas' combustible state. He has never seen him this close to completely losing his head. He has witnessed his friend's inflexible grip on control slowly loosen over the past several months, knowing that Raina has played the main role in that change. Despite the dark circ.u.mstances behind it, the transition in Kas' release of total control has been mostly healthy and positive, until tonight.

Chase has no idea how many laws Kas has bent this evening, but he's pretty sure it's a lot. He can't blame him, though, he would do exactly the same thing to protect Raina. His worry deepens as scenarios of what her father may have done to her play unwanted in his mind. The thought of him hurting her and unraveling the progress she has made sickens and infuriates him. He jumps into the welcoming heat of his Lexus and gazes steadily at Kas, his own determination fueling his resolve, "We will find her, bro, now, tell me everything that happened tonight."

Kas divulges all of the sordid details of earlier in the evening as they head to his home to pack an overnight bag and his pa.s.sport before heading to Chase's condo to do the same. He is bone tired, and his emotions are bitterly raw as he describes how Raina had turned down his marriage proposal, saying that she isn't good for him. Anger soars through him as he recounts how Seth showed up, telling him how he had led Raina's father straight to her. His voice is hoa.r.s.e as he tells Chase how she had finally cried after so many years, only to run away almost as soon as the tears started to fall.

Hearing that Raina cried is a major breakthrough, but Chase knows that this also means she will be in an extremely vulnerable state. He chooses his words carefully, not wanting to upset Kas any more than he already is, "You do understand that Seth is not to blame? He had no way of knowing that Raina's father has abused her."

Kas' strong, angular jaw twitches and tightens. He knows Chase is right, but it doesn't change the fact that Seth's ignorance probably caused Raina to be harmed somehow.

"I realize that," he replies bitterly, a shred of regret seeping in when he recalls his harsh treatment of Seth earlier. He pushes the thought out of his head, he has enough turbulent emotions swirling around in there, he can't add guilt to the toxic mix right now. He decides to call Dexter again, needing him to track down her father, the one who is to blame for everything that has taken place tonight.

"Pierce, you better tell me what is going on!" Dexter's deep voice booms. "I was reading the cryptic e-mail Raina sent when I got a phone call from airport security, pitching a fit about one of my agents causing a ruckus."

"Raina e-mailed you? What did she say?" Kas doesn't even try to keep his desperation out of his voice.

"Not much, she kept it short and sweet, informing me that she is unable to continue with her position and how sorry she is about no notice, but giving me no reason as to why. She said that someone named Seth is qualified to take over until I can find a replacement." Dexter pauses, not knowing what is going on between Kas and Raina, but he knows that Kas is his best agent and realizes that something more than just a disagreement, or whatever else prompted his actions, must have occurred for him to act so out of character, "Is Raina alright?"

Kas tries to process the information his boss just told him. His battered heart sinks from the realization that it doesn't sound like Raina is planning on returning any time soon.

"Pierce!" Dexter's sharp voice drags Kas away from his thoughts.

"Sir, I don't know-I don't know if she's alright. I need you to do me a favor. I need you to find William Waterford."

"The lawyer? h.e.l.l, son, what kind of trouble are you in to need a pit bull of a lawyer like him?"

"William Waterford is Raina's father. I think he has hurt her tonight." Kas gives Dexter enough details and history for him to realize the seriousness of the situation.

"Why didn't you tell me, Pierce, I would have dragged his a.s.s through the mud if I knew?"

"I plan on doing more than that when I get back. I need to take some time off."

"Back from where? Raina's not with him is she?"

The concern in Dexter's voice touches Kas. He knows how much he cares about her, how much his whole team cares about her, "No, she's not with him . . . she's on her way to Italy."

"Italy? That girl never does do anything halfway does she? You haven't taken a vacation until that Sutton boy put her in the hospital, not that I would cla.s.sify that as a vacation, and you haven't taken one since. You take time off. Go get your girl, Pierce. Bring her back, I will find out if her father is still here. You tell her that he won't touch her ever again."

"Yes, sir . . . Dex, thanks." Kas lays his head against the seat and closes his weary eyes, trying to savor the small feeling of relief from Dexter tracking down her father. He knows that if Waterford is still in D.C. Dexter will find out if he has hurt Raina.

It takes sheer determination for Raina to pull herself together enough to stop the monsoon spilling from her eyes. Shame would fill her every pore at her pathetic behavior if she weren't too emotionally broken to care. More e-mails from Kas tempt her weakened state, and she quickly deletes them, knowing that she will break down and read them, sending her straight back into his arms if she doesn't remove their existence.

She tries to avoid eye contact with the sympathetic flight attendant, with everyone actually, not wanting to succ.u.mb to a mess of waterworks again. Closing her eyes, she prays for the remainder of the flight to be quick and merciful. She wishes she had her iPod to distract her, but then is grateful she doesn't, knowing that every song will only remind her of the man she is trying so hard to forget.

Stinging, hot pain burns through her abdomen and side as Raina stands, carefully stretching her muscles after the excruciating flight. She exits the plane and heads straight to customs, thankful she still carries her pa.s.sport in her purse due to her using it as a form of identification before Kas helped her get her license. She should be ecstatic to finally get the stamp from Italy on its pages, but, instead of excitement, a heartbreaking emptiness settles inside of her as the customs agent checks her features to the photo, kindly not saying anything about her swollen eyes and red nose, before hastily stamping one of the middle pages and thrusting it back to her, his eyes averting to the next person in line.

She proceeds through the first part of the crowded airport in Pisa rather quickly due to her not having to collect any luggage. Trying her best to ignore the laughter and happy tears of pa.s.sengers reuniting with loved ones, she slips her cell phone from her purse, double checking the reservations she made in-flight. She was very relieved when she was able to rent a villa at the last minute, desperately needing to be alone. The one bedroom villa looks beautiful and inviting, a place she would thoroughly enjoy under different circ.u.mstances. Her heart aches as she thinks of how it was vacant, everyone wants family size villas during the holidays.

Kas makes his way through the narrow aisle, not an easy task for his 6'1"muscular build. Finally reaching his seat in coach, he stows his carry on in the crowded compartment before dropping exhaustedly into his seat. He glances at Chase, who is four rows back due to it being impossible finding adjoining seats on the packed plane at the peak of the holiday season. He is not looking forward to the long flight, knowing the hours will drag by torturously.

Kas checks his cell phone before they demand they be turned off, and his jaw tightens as he sees that Raina still hasn't responded to any of his e-mails or text messages. He remembers that he put her iPod in his pocket when Seth had given it to him, dropping the bomb that her father found her. Murderous thoughts run through his mind. He will make Waterford pay if he has laid one finger on Raina, hurting her again. His mind flashes to the images of her covered in the welts and bruises from her father's belt and fist, and he squeezes the arm of the chair in his vice-like grip, wishing it were Waterford's neck.

Desperately needing to feel close to Raina, he slips the iPod out of his pocket, fitting the ear pieces securely as he turns on the music. His jaw sets in fierce determination as the songs that remind him so much of her start to play. Closing his eyes, he allows bittersweet memories to flood his mind.

A smile manages to cross his lips when the song she was singing the night he had walked in on her starts to play. Images of her singing and dancing, with her hot, seductive body swaying mercilessly to the music that only she could hear, overwhelm him. His lower body begins to ache from the erotic memory of how she had unwittingly given him a very s.e.xy private show. His bulging ache is a merciful distraction to the pain slicing through his heart. As he listens to the music, thinking of the woman he loves more than he ever knew he could possibly love anyone, he vows that he will find her and fix everything somehow. He will bring her home, even if he has to toss her stubborn derriere over his shoulder to do so.

CHAPTER TWO.

The Pisa International Airport is difficult to navigate as Raina continues forward, trying to find the exit. The crowd of people rushing around, hurrying to get to their destination, and the heavily armed guards walking around everywhere, leaves Raina feeling a little nervous. Even with her ability to understand Italian fluently, it's surreal to be surrounded by people who are speaking their dialect in their native tongue.

The panicked feeling of regret threatens to overtake her as she stares at all of the people, some brushing roughly up against her as they pa.s.s by. She forces the feeling away, refusing to feel panic or regret, knowing her rash decision is best if she wants to stay far away from Kas. She bites her lip as memories of him and their time together spin painfully through her head. She doesn't want to stay away from Kas. What she wants is to be buried deep inside his protective, loving arms right now, but what she wants has nothing to do with why she is here, over nine hours away, in a completely different country. No, what she wants is definitely not what she is doing right now.

"Ti possa aitare?"

The words from a pa.s.sing guard startle her. She releases her lip from her punishing teeth as she looks into the kind eyes of the large guard asking her if he can help. His benevolent eyes look so out of place with his armored exterior. She smiles shyly, "Dov e l'autobus?"

"Grazie," Raina gives the guard an appreciative smile for his directions to the buses, desperate to get to the villa so she can suffer alone, her unabashed tears finally free to fall without embarra.s.sment.

The bus is too large for the narrow Italian roads, and Raina closes her eyes, not wanting to witness the harrowing drive to Chianti. The six hour time difference is wreaking havoc on her senses. She is beyond exhausted, but doesn't feel comfortable sleeping alone on a bus full of strangers. Her thoughts unscrupulously turn to Kas again, and she grits her teeth, furious with herself for not being able to restore the protective barrier that was once so infrangibly built inside of her.

The trip seems to pa.s.s in slow motion as she absently views the foreign scenery. When the bus finally pulls into the station, she drags her spent, battered body down the aisle. Pulling the villa address from the e-mail on her cell phone as she hails a cab, she shivers from the cold in only her thin b.u.t.ton up shirt. She refuses to think of last night and the reason why she is outside in December with no jacket, completely alone in a foreign country, with a burning pain in her abdomen and side that is pestering the heck out of her every time she moves.

A cab pulls up next to her, and she gingerly climbs inside. Once the address is given, the driver pulls onto the road, mimicking the erratic driving style of the bus driver. Her empty stomach growls and rolls in protest as the driver speeds through the curves. She grabs her side, a gasp of pain escapes before she can suppress the ragged breath.

"Va tutto bene?" The concerned brown eyes of the driver reflect in the rearview mirror, his driving slowing only a fraction as he gazes questioningly at her.

Raina forces a smile and flat-out lies, telling him that she is fine.

A half-hour later, the cab pulls into the cobblestone drive of the beautiful, traditional stone villa that has a magnificent view of the Chianti countryside with a picturesque vineyard framing the scenery in the background. The driver gets out and opens her door, giving her a look that too closely resembles pity, and Raina wants the ground to open up and swallow her.

"Quanto Le devo?" she quickly asks, removing the euros from her purse.

The driver gives his head a little shake and takes her hand warmly in his, his gaze imploring, "Trascorre il Natale con la tua famiglia."

Raina blinks back tears, wishing she had a family to spend Christmas with. She knows she has Judge, and her heart aches knowing she could've had Kas, if only she had accepted his proposal. A tear slides down her cheek, and she wipes it away with her cold fingers before squeezing the driver's hand, placing euros inside it, wishing him a Merry Christmas.

She turns to go, but the driver slips his jacket off and puts it over her shivering shoulders, looking at her with a mixture of compa.s.sion and concern, "Buon Natale, Signorina." The driver gives her one last look before motioning for her to go inside to get out of the cold.

Raina forces herself not to cry as she smiles and nods her head, rushing towards the villa so the driver will be spared seeing the tears she can't seem to control from falling anymore. She blinks back the imminent waterworks as she walks towards the villa's owner, waiting for her next to the fireplace roaring warmly on the patio.

"Benvenuti."

Raina fixes a smile on her face as she shakes the outstretched hand, managing to maintain respectful eye contact with the owner who introduces himself as Signore Mancini. He is dressed smartly and warmly in his nice wool overcoat and black slacks. She self-consciously smoothes her shirt, knowing she is dressed inappropriately for the culture and the importance of first impressions. Pulling the driver's jacket tighter around her shoulders, she wishes she had gotten his name so she could properly thank him for his kindness. She introduces herself, hoping to get the formalities over with so she can finally be alone.

Raina relaxes a little as Mr. Mancini seems to graciously overlook her appearance and opens the beautifully ornate dark wooden door to the villa, ushering her inside, out of the cold. Raina gazes upon the charming villa with its warm interior, creamy yellow stucco walls, and wood high beam ceiling. She notices that the cabinets are crafted from the same dark wood. There is a large welcoming Tuscan stone fireplace on the far wall of the living room, adding to the charm. Mr. Mancini leads her up the curved staircase to a bedroom loft with French doors leading to a balcony that overlooks the side of the terra cotta patio surrounded by Mediterranean trees and shrubs. "E' bellissimo."

"Grazie," he replies, and Raina can tell he is wanting to ask her more, probably why she is there, alone, five days before Christmas, looking like death warmed over, but he respectfully refrains and hands her the key.