Beautiful Perfection (Beautifully Unbroken Book 2) (10 page)

I had made sure that under no circumstances were Jo and I to be contacted by her lawyer with absolutely anything to do with the trial whilst we were in London; this was our new home now where any of the bad shit that had once surrounded us was to be left well and truly in New York.

However, just this morning as Jo was sleeping her lawyer had called her cell phone a couple of times, I went straight ahead and temporarily blocked the number in order to make sure that we didn’t have to deal with any shit while we were here.

I had even deleted the two-voicemail messages that had been left asking Jo to contact him at a suitable time. London wasn’t only where Jo and I would begin our new lives but also the place where we were to put the past well and truly behind us, any bad memories from New York would not be following us here, I simply wouldn’t allow it.

I’m not gonna lie, neither of us disliked New York, after all, it had been my home for the past thirty years and had Jo not have moved herself over there then we would never have met. For that, I was grateful, but the memories of what Jo had been through at the hands of Cooper and Sara made going back there because of the trial bittersweet.

The upside of going back was always going to be that our babies would be born there in the next couple of months, so tomorrow we would leave this house as a family of two only to return in the spring or summer as a perfect family of four.

Jo was still sleeping soundly upstairs even though it was just past three in the afternoon. After spending a couple of hours in the treehouse last night, we had then made it out just in time to see the fireworks at midnight whilst standing alongside our family and friends. Once everyone had brought in the New Year with even more celebrations, it had been almost two a.m. We then came to bed where we proceeded to continue consummating our marriage until it was so late that the morning was slowly creeping in. I had managed to sleep for a few hours but once I woke I lay awake watching Jo as she slept with a smile on her face, she did that a lot recently. While watching Jo my mind drifted to everything that had happened to us since that first day that I met her; I had fallen so quickly and so hard in love with her, yet somehow I had allowed myself to mess up everything that we were becoming when she had to return to London suddenly because her father had suffered a heart attack. It had taken a lot to gain her trust back, and for her to allow me back into her life after what her past had presented her with previously. To see how far we had come, and what we now had made me thankful for second chances, thankful for the fact that Jo loved me enough to let me back in at such a vulnerable time in her life and thankful that fate had decided that we were always meant to be together.

“Is it really three thirty in the afternoon?” I turned my attention from the open fire to Jo who was stood in the doorway to the lounge scratching her head with a dazed look on her face.

“It sure is sleeping beauty,” I laughed as she walked over and sat next to me on the sofa placing her head on my chest.

“You should have woken me up,” she yawned.

“You needed your rest beautiful, obviously,” I laughed before placing a quick kiss to her head.

“I need to get food ready for when everyone gets here, we don’t have much time.” I took Jo’s arm as she lifted off the sofa and pulled her back down.

“Jasmine and Robert are bringing take out for everyone, you are not to lift a finger from now on until I say so, do you hear me?” A big smile spread across Jo’s face as she sighed happily and rested her head back onto my chest.

“Yes, sir, I hear you,” She replied cheekily. “I am really going to miss this house,” she said as her eyes began to roam the room.

“Me too,” I agreed. “Is there anything you need to do before we leave tomorrow?”

“I want to go to dad’s grave and say goodbye, you know, just for now. When we return he will be a granddad, I just need to say goodbye to him and thank him for watching over us.”

“Of course, we will go first thing tomorrow and say goodbye, and then we will be back here before you know it, and by then we will be a real family,” I sighed happily as I let my head drop back onto the sofa as my fingers gently stroked Jo’s arm. “I can’t wait to have those kiddies out there in that garden chasing Jasper and me around and throwing and catching a ball; obviously I need to get that in early, don’t want them turning out like me,” I chuckled.

“And then before you know it I will be teaching them both how to ride a bike and you will be nursing them when they fall off and graze their little legs, it’s going to be amazing Jo. Whatever happens when we go back to New York; we stay strong and we stick together because we are a unity now Jo and I am going to help you every step of the way through Sara’s trial and I will do my best to help you through the labor too.” I sighed with contentment, “and then before you know it, we will be back and starting our new life together.” When Jo didn’t respond I lifted my head and looked down at her face, she was fast asleep yet again; the fire was roaring and there wasn’t a single sound in the house, I held my wife close and closed my eyes, cherishing maybe the last moment that will ever be silent in our new home as I pictured the future that we were so close to sharing.

*~*~*

When I opened my eyes I was laying on the sofa covered in a soft blanket listening to Jo singing along to the radio; at some point, she had woken and was now looking vibrant and wide awake as she carefully removed every single decoration with care from the tree and placed them into a box.

“Who is the sleeping beauty now?” she smiled as she walked over to where I lay and placed a quick kiss to my lips. “Everyone is going to be arriving in about half an hour so I’m just getting everything sorted so we can all relax once were packed.”

“I thought I had told you that you weren’t to lift a finger until I said so,” I said trying to hide the smile that formed on my face.

“You fell asleep,” she said simply. “And we can’t leave the tree up until spring now, can we? Now let me finish this and you go and get freshened up.” She smiled happily and headed back to the tree where she continued to hum along to the songs playing on the radio. I lifted myself from the sofa and headed upstairs to get ready, having everyone back here was going to be chaos, but it was always the kind of chaos that made happy memories.

*~*~*

Saying goodbye to Diana and my new family along with Jasper and the house was tougher than I had imagined. We would be back here as soon as possible but seeing Jo sat at her dad’s grave this morning while she chatted happily to him about the wedding as though he were sat in front of her was heart breaking. She told him all about the car breaking down and how funny she found it; I’m not entirely sure that I remember her laughing at all until we were almost home, but talking to her dad about it had made her smile and that is what will always be important to me, she then asked her father to look after Diana until we returned with his grandchildren in a couple of months’ time, she thanked him over and over again for guiding Anthony and myself towards the house when it had come up for sale; that was something that I whole heartedly believed that he had done for us too. She said her goodbyes and kissed her hand before placing it to his headstone for a few moments before heading back to the car where she finally allowed herself to cry for him. She told me that even though she knew that her dad was with her every minute of the day, she hated crying when she sat at his grave because that was where she felt his presence the most and he would hate to see her so upset. I don’t think I will ever forgive myself for not being there for Jo when she needed me the most last summer and even though Jo constantly reassures me that what happened during that time made us as strong as we are today, I would give anything to be able to go back and hold her while she sat at her dad’s bedside before he passed away.

Jo, along with everyone else slept soundly on the flight back to New York, I however had struggled to keep my eyes shut even for a second; I felt nervous at what awaited us both in New York. There were bound to be many missed calls and messages back at the apartment since I had temporarily blocked Jo’s lawyer from calling us yesterday morning.

I had given them strict instructions not to call either of us no matter what, but I couldn’t help wonder if they were calling with some important information about the trial but regardless of anything that they needed to tell us, there was no way that I was ever going to allow New York to follow us to London. I also couldn’t stop thinking about the conversation that I had had just this morning with my agent.

I had been thinking a lot lately about when filming was due to re-start in the summer and even though it was still six months away, I couldn’t help think about the fact that we wouldn’t have come home to London many weeks before that.

The thought of leaving Jo and my children behind felt like a kick to the stomach. I had made a big decision this morning and I just hoped that Jo would see it from my point of view and that I was doing the right thing.

It soon became apparent that something was definitely awaiting us as we walked through arrivals; a sudden surge of people seemed to appear from nowhere as they tried desperately to push past security who was struggling to keep them back. The constant flash of cameras and people shouting our names was both deafening and blinding. A tall security advisor approached us as he spoke into a cell phone before turning his attention to us, “If you could all follow me please, we have cars waiting to get you out of here.”

“What the hell is going on?” Jo asked confused.

“I don’t know Miss Summers.”

“It’s Mrs. Mackenzie.” Jo corrected him.

“Oh, er, okay yeah, Mrs. Mackenzie.” He nodded, “If you could all just follow me, I can’t apologize enough that you have landed to this, we are doing our best to contain the situation but we need to get you all out of the airport as quickly and quietly as possible before other passengers begin to get upset.” Jo’s hands wrapped tightly around my arm, I could feel her insecurities as her eyes roamed the crowd that we needed to get past.

“What the hell has happened?” I heard her ask quietly.

“Just keep your head down Jo, we will be home as soon as possible and then I am sure that we will find out.”

I felt nervous, something had happened and we had no idea what it was; but the media obviously did, I placed my arm around Jo’s shoulder and pulled her to me as we headed passed them.

“Jo! What do you think about Sara’s confession? Is she telling the truth?”

“Jo! This way! Over here! Jo!”

“Jo! Is it true that you had an affair with Cooper Henderson while Blake was working in Miami last summer?”

“What!” Jo looked up to me immediately with a look of shock on her face.

“Just keep walking Jo, ignore them.”

“Why are they saying those things Blake? I swear I never…….”

“Ssshhhh….. I know you didn’t, I know, now let’s just get out of here away from this pack of fucking wolves.”

“Blake! Can you confirm that you tried to kill Cooper because he allegedly raped Jo?”

“Blake! Are you sure that those babies belong to you and not Cooper!”

The airport turned red as my anger boiled to the highest level. Some asshole journalist shouting out to me about Cooper and my babies in the same sentence was the final straw; I shrugged away from Jo quickly before I turned and headed back to find that piece of shit and beat his ass until he was begging me not to kill him.

“No you don’t fella,” Alex said as he and Robert stood in front of me, holding me back before I had a chance to even pick him out from the crowd.

“Let me go right now,” I said through gritted teeth, but neither of them would let up as they continued to hold me back calmly but with force.

“This is what they want Blake,” Robert said quietly. “You have a wife and babies to think about now, they are goading you and you are taking the bait. Let’s not have another court case on top of the one that you already have huh?”

I shrugged away from Alex and Robert and took numerous deep breaths before turning back to find Jo who was stood against Casey. Casey had her arm wrapped firmly around her in a protective stance; Jo gave me a sad smile before turning and following the security guard out of the airport and to where the cars were waiting for us.

I was already hating being back in New York and if I thought it was safe enough for Jo, I would have walked straight back into that airport and got on the next plane straight back to London. For the past few weeks no one had harassed us, no one had followed us and we had been allowed to live happily with no fear of the outside world, seven hours away from that and everything had changed.

Jo didn’t speak for the entire journey back to the apartment; we were sharing our car with Alex and Casey as they lived in the same building as Jo and me. I had briefly said my goodbyes to my parents along with Jasmine, Robert and Fraser who all displayed their concerns for us both; I made a promise to call them all as soon as I knew anything. Both Alex and Casey tried to lighten the mood a couple of times in the car by talking about the wedding and our time in London but nothing could draw Jo’s attention back from the window where she watched the world pass by. I had reached over and tried to reassure her by taking her hand but she had snatched it away quickly and was nervously knotting her hands in her lap, Casey smiled sympathetically at me and continued to mouth
‘give her time’
to me over and over again.

We had made it into the secure underground parking and away from the vultures that were camped outside the apartment building. I quickly climbed out of the car and headed around to Jo’s door just as she was getting out of the car.

“I’ve got it,” she snapped as I tried to help her climb out of the car, she then headed straight past me and into the building alongside Casey. I could see how upset the episode at the airport had made her but for some reason she had now completely shut me out.