by Chloe Walsh
"I’ll fight him for you, Jacob," I told my son quietly before looking out the airplane window.
The Atlantic Ocean, several thousand feet beneath us, gave me comfort.
“I won’t let him take you from me. I promise.”
I took comfort in the knowledge that I was putting distance between that man and my heart – between Lucas and my unborn child.
****
Lucas
Dealing with Julie and the reporters had taken longer than I’d anticipated and by the time I got home I was truly shattered. The knowledge that I was coming home to an angry wife didn’t help matters. I was in a foul mood and wanted nothing more than to bury myself inside Kate. Angry or not I needed the feel of her – needed the joining of our bodies to ease the uneasy feeling flittering inside of me.
Letting myself into the house, I went straight for the staircase and didn’t stop until I was standing outside our bedroom door. Inhaling deeply, I steeled myself before opening the bedroom door. The sight of our empty bed caused my heart to squeeze in my chest, but it was the note on the bed and the check placed beside it that truly ripped my world apart.
Lucas,
I can’t do this anymore. Not after tonight. I’m going home to Ireland and I’m taking our son with me. I won’t keep Jake from you, but I won’t let you take him from me, either. I wish things could’ve been different between us, but they can’t be – not when you continuously choose to believe a lie. I found something in the back of my purse that I thought I threw away years ago.
As you can see it’s the un-cashed check made out to me for €10,000. The check I thought you wrote to me…
Dropping the note, I grabbed the check and studied it carefully. It was dated five years ago – a month before my father’s death.
Pain like I’d never known existed coursed through me.
Kate had been telling the truth about the letter.
And if she had told the truth about the letter then she…
“Hello brother.”
The sound of Jared’s voice filled my ears and I stilled.
Turning slowly I faced the man who for five years I’d held responsible for ruining my marriage.
Tall, dark and tanned, Jared DiMarco stood in the doorway of my bedroom looking more grownup than I’d remembered.
“What are you doing here, Jared?” I managed to grind out through clenched teeth. “You know you’re not welcome in my home.”
“I’m here to set the record straight, Lucas,” Jared replied calmly, his brown eyes locked on mine. “Then I’ll go.”
“And what record would that be,” I sneered.
“Me and Katy? It was all a lie, Luke,” Jared told me in a hoarse tone. “I went along with it when I was younger, but I’m not the guy I used to be – and there’s a kid involved.”
“What?” I asked, deadpan. My heart felt like it was shriveling up in my chest as I slowly digested Jared’s words. “What…is that supposed to mean?”
Jared sighed heavily. “It means that five years ago mother came to me with a plan.”
“A plan?” I demanded in outrage. “A plan for what?”
“A plan that would ensure her inheritance,” Jared husked. “Dad loved Katy,” he added softly. “Even though he only met her a handful of times, Dad knew she was the one for you. He knew he was dying, Luke, and he was planning on leaving the business to you – as a wedding present…”
“Stop,” I roared as my chest heaved. I bent over, twisting at the middle, as my brain struggled to comprehend what Jared was telling me. “Don’t tell me this, Jared,” I begged him. “Because….” It will prove how badly I’ve wronged my wife and son…
“Mother was frantic,” Jared continued, against my wishes. “She was afraid of losing everything the second Dad died, so she asked me to…”
“To lie about my wife?” I whispered. “To invent an affair that would end our marriage?”
Jared nodded. “I made it all up, Luke. I never touched a hair on Katy’s head.” Shrugging he added, “Not because I didn’t want to, but because she didn’t want to – she only ever had eyes for you.”
“And the baby?” I demanded breathlessly. I could hardly draw a breath. I felt like I was choking, smothering on the toxic words spewing from my brother’s lips.
“I didn’t know about the baby, Luke,” Jared vowed. “I only found out today, but I’ve spoken to mother and she told me that Katy confided in her about the pregnancy.” Jared sighed wearily. “And Mother forged a note – pretending to be you – telling Katy to have a termination.”
“Jesus Christ,” I hissed as my eyes filled with tears.
Everything Kate had told me…it was all true.
“For what it’s worth I’m sorry,” I heard Jared say but I didn’t respond. I was too busy looking for my passport.
****
Kate
I should have known Lucas would be waiting for us when Annie parked her old Volkswagen polo outside my cottage. Annie had been over three hours late collecting us from the airport and traffic had been brutal.
But there Lucas was, leaning against a silver sports car, looking more disheveled than I’d ever seen him look.
“Will I keep driving?” Annie asked and I shook my head before unclipping my seatbelt.
“I’m going to have to talk to him,” I said quietly, glancing quickly at my son asleep in the back seat. “Could you take Jake to your house tonight please?
“Of course I can,” Annie mumbled. “But I’d prefer if you came with us.”
“So would I,” I muttered before climbing out of the car.
I watched Annie’s car pull away and inhaled deeply, trying to steady my nerves, before making my way towards where Lucas was standing.
"Are you okay?" he demanded the second I came within touching distance.
"I'm fine," I whispered. I could barely speak. All I wanted to do was fold my body into his and the look in his eyes told me Lucas felt the same.
Lucas seemed to realize what I was thinking and drew my body to his, holding me tightly, stroking my hair, rubbing my back. "I'm sorry," he murmured as his face nuzzled into my hair.
"For what?" I asked, half afraid of the answer but needing to know all the same.
“I love you now,” he croaked out. “And I loved you back then – more than humanly possible. All those memories…our marriage…. Fuck, I ruined it all, Katy.”
My heart stopped. “Luke, what are you talking about?”
“I should have believed you.” He cupped my face with trembling hands and I could see the tears in his gray eyes, the torment in his expression. “I spoke to Jared. He told me the truth.” Gently leaning his forehead against mine, Luke let out a heavy sigh. “Kate, I’m so goddamn sorry.” His voice broke as the tears in his eyes fell onto to his beautiful cheeks.
“And the letter?” I whispered with my heart in my mouth.
“All Julie,” he husked. “You were right all along, Katy.”
“Well,” I managed to choke out when my voice finally found me. “At least we both know the truth now.”
Dropping to his knees, Lucas wrapped his arms around my waist and squeezed tightly. “Forgive me, Katy,” he begged, pressing soft kisses to my stomach. “And I will spend the rest of my life making this up to you.”
“Lucas, don’t,” I whispered, trailing my fingers through his hair. He didn’t need to beg, and all the squeezing was making me nauseous.
“One more chance,” he continued, his voice raspy and torn. “Please, Katy, give me another chance. Let me be the husband you deserve. The father Jake deserves…”
“I love you too,” I interrupted, unable to bear watching him grovel a second longer. “And I’ll give you one more chance.”
“You will?” Lucas rasped.
“Yes I will, but first I’m going to vomit,” I warned him as my stomach heaved.
Shoving Lucas away, I twisted my body around and emptied the contents of my stomach on the garden path.
“Jesus,” Lucas muttered as he wrapped an arm around me. “Are you okay? What’s wrong with you?”
“Nothing’s wrong,” I managed to squeeze out, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand. “I’m just pregnant.”
“You’re…” Lucas’s voice trailed off as he held me in his arms. His eyes burned with a mixture of shock and adoration when he said, “I’m sorry for making you sick, baby.”
“You can make it up to me by doing the night feeds,” I said with a smirk.
“Oh really?” Lucas grinned and wrapped his arms around me.
“Yeah,” I teased, hugging him tightly. “Consider it co-parenting in the fairest way.”
The End.
****
Acknowledgments
As always my gratitude goes out to the wonderful ladies and gents
on Facebook and Twitter who continue to support me throughout this journey.
I would also like to acknowledge and thank my husband, parents,
relations, friends, and children for supporting me every step of the way.
I would also like to thank every single person out there who has supported
me by buying, reading, rating and reviewing my stories.
****
About the author
Chloe Walsh is a twenty-five year old wife and mother from County Cork, in the south of Ireland. The youngest of five children, she used reading and writing as her escape as a child.
In January 2014, she started to write about a cocky, self-assured man named Kyle Carter, and five weeks later, on Valentine's day 2014, she self-published her debut novel, Break My Fall, for a handful of her friends who had called over for tea, read bits and pieces of Kyle, and wanted to read the story on their kindles rather than printed sheets. Shockingly – and no one was more surprised than her – the book was a huge success, reaching No 1 in the UK iTunes and Amazon bestsellers lists, and Chloe followed it up the sequel Fall To Pieces in April 2014, vowing that book two would be the final chapter for Kyle and Lee.
The demand for a third installment was overwhelming and alas a series was born. The final book became two and Fall On Me, released in August 2014, became the third book in the accidental broken series. Forever We Fall was released in October 2014.
In March 2015, Chloe released both Treacherous, the first book from the Twisted Youth Series, and DiMarco’s Secret Love Child: Part One, a story she wrote many years ago but was nervous to publish. On April 1, 2015, Chloe released her seventh book, DiMarco’s Secret Love Child: Part Two.
An avid reader, she enjoys lurking in a corner with her kindle, and playing sports.
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