Rushing into the lounge to look out the bay
window, I sighed in both relief and disgust when the familiar
silver Lexus pulled up at front of the house.
"Oh boy, Hope." I muttered as I watched David
Henderson climb out of the driver's side door and stare up at the
house. "Daddy's gonna be mad."
David shook his head slightly as he tucked
his hands into his tailored slacks. He was a handsome looking
man–an older looking version of Kyle, but I didn’t trust him. There
was something very wrong about that man...
He was a jackass.
The passenger door opened next and out
stepped his wife Anna. Anna Henderson was a different story
altogether. The woman had a kind nature, the same kindness I'd seen
in Mike–before he went and screwed Derek over. After I discovered
Mike and Cam's affair I'd decided Mike had more of his father in
him. Kyle never said much about Anna and I'd only met her a handful
of times, but I liked her. She'd visited me in the hospital when I
had Hope, and a couple of times before I was shot…
"Wish my luck, baby girl," I murmured to
Hope. Sliding my phone out of my pocket, I sent Kyle a quick text
before making my way to the door.
.
****
Kyle
"You wanted to see me?" Mike said as he
stood in the doorway of my office.
"Yeah," I said trying my best not to growl.
"Come in." I was going against every instinct in my body. Red flags
were shooting up in my brain as I fought the very strong urge to
stick my foot up my half-brother's ass.
"I'm promoting you," I told him reluctantly.
"It's Linda's idea," I added in a petulant tone.
"Won't let you down," he mumbled and I shook
my head in confusion.
"You haven't even heard what job I'm
promoting you to," I snapped.
"I don’t need to," Mike said in a weary tone
as he leaned against the doorframe of my office door. "I won't be
letting you down again, Kyle."
Shit…I leaned back in my chair and studied
his face for several minutes before coming to the conclusion that
Mike wasn’t faking this. The guy was…desolate. Standing up, I
slowly made my way over to where he was leaning against the door.
He looked up at me with the loneliest expression and my chest
ached. "I'm taking a huge leap of faith with you," I told him.
"Don't make me regret this, Mike."
"I won't," he replied, his voice full of
honesty.
Shaking my head, I ran my hand through my
hair and chuckled in disbelief. "What the hell am I doing?" I
smirked at Mike's nervous expression. "I'm fucking promoting my
enemy…I may as well stick a knife through my own back."
"I'm not your enemy, Kyle," Mike said in a
firm tone, straightening his back. "Don't confuse me with him."
"You screwed me over before," I shot back as
the memory of Rachel and Mike flooded my mind, followed swiftly by
the image of him and Lee…
"Rachel was mine before she was yours," he
stated calmly. "You just didn’t know it."
"No," I admitted reluctantly. He was telling
the truth…"No, I didn’t know she was yours, but Lee was mine and
you knew it."
"Actually, I didn’t," he countered. I raised
my brow and he met my stare head on, unflinching. "I didn’t know
you were with Lee until the day you showed up at the hotel and
tried to drag her off. I had lunch with her every day for months
before I realized she was yours."
"You didn’t back off," I retorted, feeling
relieved that we were finally getting all of this out in the open,
and even more relieved that we were managing to do it civilly.
"She needed a friend," Mike shot back. "She
was pregnant with your baby. I'm a lot of things, Kyle, but I'm not
that
. She was pregnant with my niece…Besides, you never had
a thing to worry about. With anyone. No one else stood a chance in
hell with her. She only ever saw you." He shrugged his shoulders
and leveled his gaze on me. "Pity you didn’t treat her better in
the beginning."
"Pity you didn’t inherit this place and have
Rachel blackmail you instead," I snapped.
"I don't want this place," he said softly.
"I never have, and I thank my lucky stars grandpa left it all to
you." I blanched at his response and was about to ask him what he
meant, when my phone vibrated in my pocket. Glancing down at the
screen, I froze when I read Lee's message.
*Your dad is here.*
Goddammit.
****
Lee
"Thank you, Lee," Anna said with a smile as
I placed a cup of coffee on the table in front of her. "Your home
is beautiful." I loved her voice. I hadn't met many British people.
When Anna spoke it was a novelty for me. "Hope has grown so much,"
she continued she bounced my daughter on her knee. I secretly hoped
she wouldn't bounce her too much. Hope had just ate lunch and
Anna's clothes were designer. "Is she sleeping through the night
yet?"
"Thank you," I said returning her smile.
"And yes, actually. She's been sleeping through since she was eight
weeks."
"She's is the image of Kyle," Linda cooed as
she gazed at Hope. "You're just like your daddy, aren't you, little
one?" I didn't miss the snort that came from David.
"Can I get you something to eat or drink,
Mr. Henderson?" I said through clenched teeth. What I really wanted
to ask was why he was here. He wasn’t fooling me with his
'I
want to make amends, Kyle'
crap. He was a liar and the man made
my skin crawl.
He turned around slowly from where he'd been
standing looking out the kitchen window. "No," he said with a tight
smile. "I've lost my appetite, Delia." I wished Kyle would hurry up
and respond to my text. He needed to come home. That man gave me
the creeps. "How's your father?" David asked with a smirk. "Have
you spoken to him lately?"
His question caught me completely unaware.
"Uh…." The front door slammed and I almost leapt out of my
skin.
"Where is he?" The sound of Kyle's deep
voice was like music to my ears. He was angry, but I didn't care
about that. He was here. Angry or not, I needed him.
"We're in here," I called out. Kyle walked
into the kitchen and I paled when I saw his expression. His jaw was
strained, his eyes wild and completely focused on his dad. Oh god,
he wasn't just angry. He was livid.
"Hello, Kyle," Anna said in a nervous tone.
Kyle swung around to look at her and I thought his eyeballs were
going to pop out of his head.
Storming past me, he stalked towards Anna,
swept Hope out of her arms without a word, before turning and
fixing his glare on his father. "Out," he hissed. "Now."
"Kyle, your father wants to make it up to
you…" Anna started to say but quickly closed her mouth when Kyle
swung his head around and glared at her.
"Come on, darling," David said in a weary
tone as he held his hand out for his wife. "He's a lost cause. Not
one compassionate bone in his body."
"Now, wait just a damn minute…" I started to
say, but Kyle interrupted me.
"That's right," Kyle snarled. "Not a single
one." With that, he silently handed me our daughter before walking
into the hallway and opening the front door. "You're not welcome
here. Either of you. Get the fuck out."
"You need to grow up, Kyle," David said with
a smirk as he guided Anna out of the house. "This 'poor me' act is
getting old."
"Eat shit, asshole," Kyle countered. "Is
that grown up enough for you?" He didn’t give David a chance to
reply. Instead, he slammed the front door shut.
"You do that on purpose, princess?" he asked
in a quiet tone of voice, eyes locked on mine in pure fury. "You
let him in here to teach me a lesson?"
"What?" I shook my head in confusion. "N-no,
of course not," I stuttered. "He just showed up."
Kyle gave me one long hard glance and nodded
his head. "I need to go out for a while," he said before turning
around and opening the door.
The sound of front door slamming was all the
proof I needed.
I was in deep trouble.
****
Kyle was in a horrible mood when he came out
of his office. He barely spared me a passing glance as he stormed
through the kitchen with his phone welded to his ear. A few moments
later the sound of the back door slamming drummed in my ears. I
deserved his silence. I'd been a bitch to him. The things I said to
him this morning made me feel sick with guilt. I wasn't sure
whether I should follow him out there so I could apologize, or give
him space to calm down.
Deciding on the latter, I bathed Hope and
changed her into her jammies. Tucking her bottle into my back
pocket, I struggled up the staircase with her in my arms. These
steps were a killer on my back and I was aching by the time I
reached her bedroom. Slipping her bottle out of my pocket, I
settled into the rocking chair by her bedroom window and started to
feed her.
"Love you," I whispered as I kissed her
brow. "Love you so much."
I watched as her eyelids fluttered and her
breathing slowed. If I could hold her like this forever I would.
The love I felt for her was so overwhelming. I never wanted her to
be exposed to this cruel world. She'd always have me. I would
always protect her.
****
Kyle
"Don't give me that crap, Patty. I know
something's wrong with her." Linda's sister was as stubborn as she
was. Jesus, trying to get information from her was like pulling
teeth. I'd gone to Linda's apartment as soon as I'd gotten my
sneaky fuck of a father out of my goddamn house. Linda worked fast.
By the time I got to her place she was gone. "Put her on the
phone," I demanded.
"Kyle," she sighed. "I've told you this
three times. It's not my place to tell you anything. It's down to
Linda and right now she's busy. Has she ever lied to you
before?"
"No," I muttered reluctantly. Linda had
always been honest with me which was why I was so irritated. Why
the hell was I being kept in the dark? "I'm not being nosey. I'm
worried, dammit."
"She has her own family to worry about her,"
Patty said in a kind tone of voice, but I got her meaning. I got it
loud and fucking clear. Her own family. I wasn't included in that
statement.
"Fine. If she needs me she knows where I
am," I whispered before ending the call. They could try and block
me out all they wanted, but I'd be damned if I was letting this go.
I was not going to be kept in the dark. No fucking way. Dropping my
phone on the wooden deck, I gripped my hair fought the urge to
roar. Jesus.
"Are you okay?"
I swung around from where I was standing on
the deck to see Lee hovering in the doorway. "I'm sorry, I wasn't
listening on purpose," she mumbled. "I could hear you from inside.
I can go away if you want me to. I just need to apologize to you
first."
Shaking my head, I let my shoulders sag. The
sight of her in front of me–still with me–was enough to drain the
tension from my body. "Come here," I said in a gruff tone.
She walked straight into my arms. "I'm
sorry, Kyle," she whispered. "I didn't mean what I said."
Jesus, I needed her right now. I needed her
to ground me. I was like fucking electricity and she was my earth.
Lifting her chin so I could see her face, I whispered, "The only
place I want you to be is with me. And the only place I want to be
is moving inside you."
****
Lee
Something was bothering him.
He was hurting. I knew he was. I could see
it in his eyes when he was tearing the clothes from my body. I
could feel it in the almost frantic way he crushed his body against
mine. "What's wrong?" I murmured against his lips. Kyle didn't
answer me as he carried me through to kitchen to the hallway. My
back slammed against the back of the door as he crushed his lips to
mine. His fingers dug into my hips as he filled my mouth with hot
swipes of his tongue. Every nerve in my body was alive and
tingling. My back was aching, but the throbbing in my core needed
the attention much more.
"Jesus," he groaned as he dropped his mouth
to my breasts. "The fucking taste of you. Even the taste of you
drives me insane."
I pressed myself into his touch. "Oh
god…don't stop." I needed him everywhere. His teeth grazed my
nipple and I had to bite back a moan as his fingers trailed over
the cusp of my panties. "Open up, baby," he ordered as he tore them
away. His hands moved to free himself from his pants. "Let me in. I
need in right fucking now." He could have me anyway he wanted. I
was so worked up I was about to come apart.
"You want me, princess?" he crooned as he
rubbed the head of his rock hard erection over my folds. I swear if
he didn't stop teasing me I would scream. My legs shook every time
he rubbed my clit with his shaft. "Yes," I begged. "Please, Kyle…I
want you."
Fisting my hair in one hand, he dragged my
face to his with the other and kissed me almost savagely. "No more
fucking fighting," he snarled as he bent his knees. "We stick
together..." Dropping his hands to my ass, he hoisted me onto his
hips and slid inside me. "No more lies…"
"No more lies…" I cried out. He was so big
it was almost painful to take him to the hilt. Grinding his hips
against me, his erection stroked my g-spot as his used his hands to
hold my hips in place "Yes…" I cried out as my thighs began to
spasm around him. "That's it."
"I know exactly where your little spot is,
baby," he crooned. He pressed deeper and I shuddered in pleasure.
"You drive me crazier than any fucking woman I've ever met."
"I'm sorry for what I said," I moaned. My
head fell back against the door. He moved faster inside me
heightening the pulsing waves and shocks of pleasure until they
joined together in a wave of ecstasy.