Heart of a Stripper (24 page)

Chapter Twenty One

Mitchell
knelt to his mother’s grave and brushed the leaves away. Staring at her name, he sighed. This was the last place he thought he would be today. He was supposed to be headed out of the country for his honeymoon, but instead, here he was mourning. Not only was he mourning her, he was mourning everything he’d lost in the past month.

“Shouldn’t you be on a plane right now?” He heard a voice call and he looked around startled.

Nevaeh was standing there staring at him. Brushing himself off, he stood up as she walked over to him.

“I needed to see my mom.” He whispered. “What are you doing here?”

“I felt like I knew you’d be here.” She simply replied. “Where’s Kate?”

“Probably cursing the day she met me.” He replied. “I just couldn’t go through with it. She said her vows and I completely shut down.” He said thinking back to the wedding. 

“I thought a lot about what I wanted to say to you Mitchell.” Kate smiled. “It took a while for us to get here, but we made it. I want to spend my life with you. Where there has been cold, you have brought warmth; where my life was dark, you have brought light. I pledge before this assembled company to be your wife from this day forward. Let us make of our two lives, one life, and let us always honor and respect each other.”

Searching their faces,
Mitchell stopped at his dad. Kate nudged his hand and his eyes darted back to her.

“Wow, that was—” searching his brain for the right word, he found it. “Emotionless.”

“What?” Kaitlin snapped narrowing her eyes at him. 

“That was so rehearsed that I felt like a robot said it to me.” He said truthfully.

“Mitchell!” she snapped through clenched teeth as she smiled fakely.

“It’s my turn to tell you how I feel
. I was positive I could do this with you, but after listening to you, I realized what I already knew. You don’t love me; you love what my name can give you.” He replied as she released his hands appalled.

“
Mitchell, I love you.” She insisted.

“You don’t know how to love.”
He muttered.

“How dare you?!” she snapped irate and embarrassed.

Her whole family and every one of her friends were there, so for him to do this in front of everyone was excruciating to say the least.

“
I’m sorry Kate.” He said walking off down the aisle and unloosening his very expensive tie.

“You come back here
Mitchell!” she screamed bawling her hands into fist, but he ignored her.

Snapping bac
k into the present, he looked at Nevaeh. She was staring at him with saddened eyes, and he hated that. She still looked drained from everything and he didn’t blame her. He was willing to bet that she still wasn’t eating nor sleeping properly. Seeing her like that killed him inside. Even though they’d been through the ringer, he still loved her. Nothing would ever change that, even if they weren’t meant to be together.

“My mother would’ve never approved of her.
While I was standing there in front of everyone, I just kept thinking ‘I don’t want to be in a loveless marriage’. I didn’t want to end up like my mom. She was so unhappy
every
day and it killed me to see her like that. But the thing was, she would’ve never left my dad because she was waiting for him to love her back. I realized that was how my relationship with Kate was.” He explained falling silent.

“Good for you.” Nevaeh smiled slightly.

“My dad sure as hell isn’t going to think so.” He grumbled.

“I think
––he may surprise you.” She responded.

“Yeah, right.
My dad has hated me since the day my mother died. I was driving us home one night—and it was raining so badly.” He said looking away from her. “A truck swerved at us and I lost control of the car.”

“That’s not your fault.” She said grabbing his hand.

There was no way she was letting Mitchell blame himself for an accident he didn’t cause. Losing his mother was enough to deal with, but blaming himself for it was even worse. She could tell it was something he’d lived with for a long time. It was time to let that pain go. That certainly explained why he was always doing any and everything to try and please his father. He wanted him to forgive him.

“It doesn’t matter.” He said. “She’s gone.”

“It
does
matter. You need to let this go, your mother would never want you to carry this pain so long.” Nevaeh insisted, as she pulled him closer to her.  

Standing silent for a moment, he welcomed her embrace. Wrapping his arms around her waist, he held her. Feeling her warmth in the dead cold was comforting. Knowing he wasn’t alone put him at ease, but he still couldn’t understand why she had showed up to his mother’s grave. S
he was the one who had left him so harshly after he’d declared his love for her.

“You left me—so why—”

“Your dad forced me to leave you. I was scared Mitchell. He threatened to keep you in jail, and I couldn’t let him do that to you. Not over me.” She said truthfully staring him in the eyes.

“I can’t believe he would—
” falling silent, he realized that his father would pull that kind of stunt.

“But that still doesn’t explain why you’re here.” He answered.

“Truthfully, your dad brought me here.” She answered.

“What?!” he asked
, feeling betrayed by her.

That was the last thing he needed at the moment. He was hoping she had a damn good explanation for being involved with his father.

“Not like that Mitchell. He came to me, saying you walked out of your wedding and they needed to find you. I just—I knew you’d be here.” She explained.

It was the first place to pop into her mind when she knew he’d gone M.I.A. She knew him better than his own father it seemed. She was glad that out of everyone in his life, he chose to share the spot with her.

“Why would you even help him, after what he did to you?” Mitchell barked.

“Because—”

Nevaeh sucked in a hard breath, and Mitchell felt her tremble in his arms. Grabbing her face gently in his hands, he looked into her eyes. She looked exhausted, and that worried him.

“Are you ok?” he inquired
, and she nodded.

“Fine, just a little tired.” She answered.

“Are you sure?” he asked concerned, and she nodded again.

“Ok, so you helped him because—”

“Because I told her I needed to talk with both of you.” Bruce answered startling Mitchell.

Looking up, he narrowed his eyes at his father evilly.
He wanted to tear the guy from limb to limb.

“There’s nothing you can possibly say to me.”
Mitchell barked. “How dare you try to ruin this place for me? This is my only solitude away everything!”

“I’
m not trying to ruin anything.” Bruce grumbled.

He was getting sick of hearing the same old crap over and over.
Hell, he knew he wasn’t the greatest person in the world, but he wasn’t the devil either. He was sure they would change their tune after he told them what he had to. Who was he kidding? He knew his son would resent him more than he already did. Listening to them bicker, Nevaeh grew lightheaded. The ground seemed to melt away as everything went black. Her knees gave way, and she began to collapse.

“Nevaeh!”
Mitchell shouted, catching her in his arms before gently taking her to the grass beneath them.

Holding her in his arms, he felt her for a pulse. It was racing and that sent him into a panic.
Patting her face lightly, he tried to get her to regain consciousness but she wasn’t responding. Dread seeped through him as his father stalked over to them.

“Take her to my
car; I’ll drive you to the hospital.” Bruce insisted.

“I’m not going anywhere with you.”
Mitchell snapped looking up to his father irate, with a menacing glare. He was willing to bet that whatever was wrong with Nevaeh had something to do with him.

“I’m pretty sure you didn’t
drive here, and she needs a doctor.” Bruce insisted smugly.

Sighing,
Mitchell looked down at Nevaeh. Even though he knew his father was right, he refused to let him help. It was his fault that they were where they were, but as much as Mitchell wanted to blame his father, he took fault where fault was due. If he wasn’t such a push over, and didn’t let his father run his life, he and Nevaeh would’ve met without all the nonsense that had been in their way.  It was too late for that kind of thinking.

“
Nevaeh, open your eyes for me.” Mitchell said again, this time concern was dripping from his tone.

“
Mitchell, she’s pregnant. The longer you stay here, the more chance something can go wrong with her or the baby.” Bruce finally blurted out.

“Are you really that much of an asshole?!”
Mitchell snapped cradling Nevaeh. “You made her lose the baby remember?”

Running a hand through his perfectly placed hair, Bruce stared at his son. It was time to rip the band aide off and tell his son the much needed truth.

“She didn’t lose the baby.” Bruce responded.

“Yes, she did. You were there at the hospital when the doctor—”

“I had him lie to you.” Bruce snapped cutting him off.

“You—you what?”
Mitchell asked through gritted teeth.

“That was what I wanted to tell both of you.
He was a friend of mines and I wasn’t thinking straight. I know it was—look I’m sorry.” Bruce said rolling his eyes.

“You’re not sorry.”
Mitchell said disappointed. 

Taking Nevaeh in his arms, he picked her up off the
cold ground. Standing, he faced his father, and glared him in the eyes. If what the prick was saying was true, he needed the ride to the hospital. So knocking his father out cold wasn’t an option at the moment. Getting Nevaeh to safety was. So, swallowing his anger, he hustled to the car outside the gate. Bruce followed, and watched as Mitchell carefully placed Nevaeh in the backseat, before climbing in himself. Staring at his son, he could see how much his son had really loved her despite everything. Going to the front seat, Bruce jumped in and sped off. Arriving at the hospital, Mitchell carried Nevaeh inside the emergency room, and brushed past everyone.

“I need help!” he shouted
, as Nevaeh clutched him tight.

Looking down at her, he was glad that she was stirring. That was a good sign. He was hoping she was just overexerted
, and only needed rest. Her eyes fluttered, as she glared up to him with her beautiful chocolate brown eyes. Moaning, she shifted in his arms and he gripped her tighter as a female doctor ran over to them. She was wearing glasses, and had her brunette hair cut short, no more than shoulder length.

“What’s the problem?” the doctor as
ked as she motioning him to move her over to a gurney.

“She passed out.”
Mitchell answered.

Laying her down delicately, he watched as a nurse rushed over. The doctor
pulled out her little white flashlight. Clicking it on, she looked into Nevaeh’s eyes. Mitchell grabbed Nevaeh’s hand, and felt her grip his back.

“Is there any chance she’s pregnant?” the doctor asked concerned
and Mitchell hesitated.

“Yes.”
Mitchell said frantically.

“
Mitchell—” Nevaeh called nervously.

Her vision was blurry
, and everyone crowding her made her nervous. The last thing she remembered was being at the cemetery, so opening her eyes and being in a hospital scared her half to death. She hated hospitals, especially since her last visit. Seeing Mitchell had put her somewhat at ease, but not enough.

“Nevaeh, don’t worry. You’re going to be fine.” He reassured
, bending down and whispering in her ear.