Tomorrow. I’ll tell him tomorrow.
16
Landry
I adjust my glasses as I figure out the last glitch on my program and sense eyes on me.
“Have I been working so long that I’m starting to hallucinate, or is there really the most breathtaking woman standing in my doorway?”
“Corny,” Magnolia drawls, walking into my office with a big smile on her glowing face. She kisses me too quickly, and I pull her back, wrapping my fist into her long blonde hair, deepening it. “How’s your day been?” she whispers against my lips.
“Great now. How’s yours been?”
“Could be better,” she pants, slowly straddling my lap, and I groan, pushing my hips up into her.
“Fuck, Lia. Don’t tempt me,” I warn, moving my hands to her back and sliding them down to squeeze her ass.
“I’m not,” she whispers. “I sent Henry to get us lunch.”
“Son of...unzip me.”
She nods frantically, fumbling with my zipper as I reach between us and move her thong to the side, feeling her already wet for me.
“Fuckkk,” I hiss. “Sit on my cock, baby. Sit that tight little pussy down on this cock.”
“Oh God, Landry, that mouth,” she growls, roughly squeezing my cheeks as she engulfs my mouth with hers.
I squeeze my shaft, lining it up with her entrance, and thrust up into her in one movement. My mouth captures her moan, and I wrap my arms around her back as I start my rhythm, matching her pump for pump.
I hear her heels clacking against my marble floor as she tries to keep up with me, but I need more. Standing, I lean her ass on the side of my desk and lay her down as I palm my desk above her shoulders, watching her pussy swallow my thick cock.
“Fuck, look at that, Magnolia. Look at what a good pussy you have gobbling up my cock.”
“Shit,” she gasps, “keep talkin’. Keep goin’.”
“I wanna hear that mouth, baby. Tell me what you want.”
I run my thumb down her neck, moving to her breast as I pinch her nipple through the material, still unleashing everything on her.
“F-fuck me, Landry. Fuck me harder.”
“Yes, baby. That’s what I want.” I grit my teeth, hearing my balls slap against that perfect ass of hers, and she grips the edge of my desk with a gasp.
“Yessss. Right there, right there, right there,” she chants, her back arched off the desk.
I see the moment she lets go, her mouth opened in that sexy as fuck O, her lips red and puffed from my kisses.
“I’m coming, Lia. I’m gonna come.”
She nods, running her nails down my abs, and I groan, jerking my body into hers as my release explodes into her. We stay that way for a few minutes, both of us trying to catch our breaths, and then she gives me a sleepy smile, and I pull out, cleaning her up before I put her back together.
“So, um...my parents are coming into town. They just came back from their cruise and wanna meet Sylvie, so I thought maybe we could...tell them our news?”
Magnolia’s eyes snap up to mine, and she keeps her mouth open, but no words to come out.
“We can wait, no pressure. I just thought maybe before the baby is born,” I say with a laugh.
“No, no, that’s fine. I...I just realized my own parents don’t even know,” she says softly, sitting back in the guest chair now, licking her lips.
“You don’t think your brother told them?”
“I hope he didn’t because then that means they know and they didn’t even…” She trails off, and I have to keep my anger at bay as I kneel down in front of her.
“I’m sure he didn’t. We can tell everyone when you’re ready. No rush.”
“No, that’s okay. We can tell them. I’m excited,” she says, mustering up a smile.
Despite everything she’s been through, she keeps that damn smile on her face, and I love her for it. I love her. Well, fuck me, I love Magnolia Giordano. The realization should shock me, but it doesn’t. I think I loved her a hell of a lot longer than just now, and I find myself smiling like an idiot at her.
“What?” she asks, confused.
“I love you,” I blurt out. “I love you, Magnolia.”
“W-what? Landry, I was—”
“I’m sorry. Maybe I should have waited for a more romantic time, not in the middle of my office after we just fucked on my desk, but I can’t hold it in. Fuck, I love you,” I laugh, cupping her cheeks and planting a hungry kiss on her lips.
“I love you, too,” she laughs against my lips. “I was gonna tell you last night, but then so many things kept interruptin’ us and...God, I love you, Landry!” She wraps her arms around my neck, and I spin her, feeling like nothing wrong in this damn world can touch us.
“Let’s get out of here. Let’s do something,” I suggest.
“Like what? I work at the hospital tonight, and Henry is gonna be back with lunch,” Magnolia laughs.
“Let’s just drive for a little. Come on.” I grab her hand, making sure I have my keys, and we take the elevator down to the parking lot, kissing and touching every chance we can until we get out to my car.
Rubbing my thumb along Magnolia’s knuckles, I glance over at her before I put the car in drive. “I love you,” I repeat, not ever getting tired of telling her, and when she says, “I love you too,” I know I’ll never get tired of hearing them.
We pull out onto the street, the windows down, and her blonde hair flowing around her face in the wind, her lips turned up in a gorgeous smile will forever be etched into my brain. One second. That’s all it took for our heavenly day to turn into hell.
“Landry! Watch out!”
I see it too late as the sound of metal crushing metal echoes off the car walls.
Screams. Pain. Blood. Blackness.
17
Landry
I wake to the sound of beeping, the smell of sterilization, and my body feeling like it’s been rocked by a thirty-ton truck. I groan, slowly opening my eyes and see my sister sitting in a chair next to my bed, eyes closed as she leans against her arm.
“Hey,” I whisper, my voice gravelly.
Her eyes burst open as she rushes to my side and grabs my hand. “Oh God, Landry, how are you feeling? Thank God you’re awake.” She silently cries into my hand, and I nod, trying to sit up then wince.
“Fuck. Where’s Magnolia? Is she okay? The baby?”
“I think so, she...she had to get surgery, but let me get the doctor.”
She rushes out of the room, and I try to rack my brain for the last thing I remember. That car came out of nowhere, not even with any indication of stopping. I remember reaching for her, seeing all that blood. Fuck. Please, God, don’t take them. Don’t you dare take them from me.
Ellie comes back in with the doctor, and I sit up a little more but then wince again.
“Easy, Mr. Laurent. You have a few broken ribs.” I groan, looking around at the rest of my body. “Concussion and collapsed lung. A little bit better than your wife, though,” the doctor says softly.
“Where is she? Is she okay? The baby?”
“She’s in surgery,” the doctor confirms. “Let’s monitor your levels first, then you can—”
“I need to see her.”
“Landry, you need to rest,” Eloise soothes.
“I swear to God, I’ll rip all this shit off and walk around this hospital myself until I find her!” I growl.
The doctor and Ellie exchange a look, and then he nods, walking out of the room.
“Landry, you need to take care of yourself. She’s in surgery; there’s not much we can do right now.”
I press my lips together, gritting my teeth as I clench my fist. “I can’t lose them, Ellie. I can’t...I can’t lose them. Please. I need to see her. I’ll never forgive myself,” I whisper, hating that we went from the highest of the highs to the lowest of lows in just a few seconds.
“Okay, okay. I’ll see if we can... I’ll see what we can do
. Please, rest, Landry. I thought I lost you for a second.”
She brushes away a tear, and I sigh, lifting my arm for her.
“Come here.” She gingerly wraps herself in my arms, and I suppress the wince, hugging her back with everything I have. “I’m not going anywhere, Ellie. I promise.”
She sniffles, wiping at her nose again, and a nurse enters with a sad expression on her face.
“Hi, Landry. My name is Jolie Palmer. I’m a friend of Magnolia’s.”
“You helped deliver, Sylvie, I remember,” Ellie says, nodding.
“I did, yeah. Listen, we normally don’t do this, but if you wanna see her, you can. I’ll wheel you up to her room. She’s in recovery now.”
“Thank you.”
She nods as another nurse helps with the hooks and machines, dropping a few to my bed to take with us. Ellie squeezes my hand, letting me know she’ll be back later, and I nod as we head down the hallway.
“I have to warn you, she looks worse than she is. She’s a fighter, but she’s pretty banged up. Hell, she was, but...she made it.”
“Is the baby okay?”
“Both their levels look fine. The second trimester is the safest to perform surgery, so they should both recover okay.”
I sigh, running my hand down my face, and feel the soreness hit me. I probably look like a fucking wreck right now too. Shit.
“What happened to her? Why did she need surgery?”
“Her face is pretty bruised from the airbag, concussion, but her knee is...she shattered her patella, and it nicked a vessel, she was bleeding a lot and... she’s okay now. You were both out cold when you were brought in, and she hasn’t woken up yet.”
“What about the person that hit us?”
Jolie is silent as we wait for the elevator, and I hate that I already know what she’s gonna say before she says it. “They’re um...tryna find them.”
“They hit and ran?” I boom.
“That’s what it looks like, yeah.”
“Jesus.”
We finally get to a door, and I try and sit up a little higher, looking through the glass at my girl. “Magnolia,” I whisper, gritting my teeth because I can’t do a damn thing about this. “Can I stay here with her? These are double rooms, right?”
Jolie sighs. “Yes, but this is the surgical recovery floor, then she’ll be moved to antepartum, Landry. You need to—”
“Stay with the mother of my child and make sure she and our baby are okay. Please, Jolie. Please,” I beg.
“I’ll see what I can do.”
She wheels me into the room, and Lia’s usually olive skin is purple around her eyes. A long, white bandage covers her nose, and my heart shatters into a million pieces when I see her knee wrapped up and elevated.
“Is she ever gonna…” I swallow down the words because I’m gonna vomit if I have to utter them out loud. I know how much she loves to dance. How much this will kill her if she can’t anymore, and it’s all my fault.
“She’ll walk again for sure; she’s a tough bitch. Dancin’ though, I don’t know about that.”
I nod, reaching over to cup her hand, and I look over to the monitors, seeing a big strap around her stomach.
“That’s the baby’s?” I ask, nodding toward the screen.
“Yep. He’s a fighter too. Levels dropped for a few seconds durin’ surgery, but he pulled through. He’s been movin’ like a maniac ever since.”
I let out a soft sob as I open Magnolia’s hand and rub my cheek along her smooth skin. I kiss her palm, hoping like hell that she doesn’t hate me when she wakes up. She has to be okay. She has to dance.
“I’ll talk to Dr. Harrison, but he might not allow it so take whatever time you need now.”
I nod, leaning as far over as I can in the bed and as well as I can be hooked up to all these machines.
“Stay strong for me, baby. Both of you.”
18
Magnolia
“Hey, baby, wake up for me.”
I hear his soft voice and smile, opening my eyes. Blurry. Everything is so blurry, and I blink a few times to focus on Landry. “Hi,” I rasp.
“Oh, Magnolia,” his voice breaks as he cups my cheeks and presses his forehead to mine.
“Landry, what....what happened? Why is my...why can’t I move my leg?”
“We got into an accident yesterday. Someone hit us, do you remember?”
I shake my head and then wince, gripping my forehead. “I...maybe it’s kinda fuzzy.”
“You had a concussion, and you didn’t wake up. You needed surgery; you shattered your patella.”
“No..no I...I couldn’t have...the baby?’
“Is okay.” He swallows, cupping my cheek and a tear slips down my face as I feel safe again. “I’m so sorry, Magnolia. God, I’m so sorry. I almost...I almost lost both of you, and it’s all my—”
“Landry, stop it. This wasn’t your fault. Are you okay? You’re in pain, your face...”
I see him babying the left side of his body and reach for him. He’s still in his hospital nightgown and hooked up to an IV and a monitor.
“I’m fine, I’m fine. Just focus on getting better, okay?’
I nod, glancing over at the machines hooked up to me, and focus on our little guy. “See that there? On the monitor? He’s okay,” I instruct. “That’s a strong heartbeat and rhythm.”
“I love you. I love you so much, Magnolia.”
“I love you too. Tell me what happened. I’ll just talk to Jolie, you know,” I smirk.
“Just a few broken ribs and a collapsed lung. Probably concussion too, but I’m fine.” He runs his finger down my nose, and I flinch. “Shit, that hurt?”
“Just a little sore. Do I look like Rocky?” I laugh.
“A cute Rocky. The airbag really got you.”
“Magnolia!”
Addy, Eden, and Everleigh all rush into the room, sweeping me up into hugs and reaching for Landry too.
“God, y’all damn near gave us a heart attack. Are you okay? The baby?” Everleigh gasps, looking us both up and down.
“We’re okay, the baby’s okay,” I assure them.
“Lia, your leg,” Eden whispers, noting the huge cast keeping my leg completely still.
I swallow down the hurt, the fear that I’ll never be able to dance ever again, and give everyone a smile. “I’m okay. I’m alive. We’re all okay,” I say softly, hearing my voice try to break but hold firm.
“Oh, Lia.” Everleigh wraps me in a hug, then Eden and Addy, and I finally let the tears fall as this all comes crashing down on me.
We almost lost each other. These girls. The girls that I’ve been through everything with, who have picked me up on nights I never thought I’d get through, celebrated with me on days I accomplished things I never thought possible. We almost lost each other.
“I love y’all,” I whisper through my tears.
“And we love you. Now get your ass better so we can start your physical therapy. You’ll be back on that pole in no time,” Eden demands.
I laugh through my tears with a nod as the girls hug Landry and all disappear.
“Want anything?” Landry asks.
“This is weird; I’m usually the one takin’ care of people.”
He smiles, brushing the hair out of my face, and kisses me on the forehead. “Well, get used to it, Nurse Giordano. I’m at your service.”
“Never thought I was into the hot nurse thing, but…” I wink as Landry laughs, pressing the call button back at the bed next to me.
“Wait, you’re... you’re stayin’ in here with me?”
“Your friend Jolie—”
“Worked her magic. I may or may not have promised a date with Ramon to sign off on this, so you owe me,” Jolie deadpans, pointing her finger at me.
“Date, huh? You finally puttin’ yourself out there again?”
I’ve known Jolie since elementary school but lost touch once I got married. Hell, I lost touch with a lot of people
when I got married. We saw each other again last year when she was stationed here for part of her residency. A night of drinks and catching up, and she confided in me about her useless husband and their terrible marriage. Fast forward a few months later, and she’s trying to cut him out of her life completely, but the damn guy keeps holding out hope.
“No, but for my girl, I had no choice. If there’s one thing I know, it’s douchebag dickholes, and you don’t get yourself one,” Jolie smirks, pointing at Landry. “I guess I’m still a romantic. That or his blue eyes got me. Seriously, how do you say no to those things?”
“I don’t,” I rasp, eyeing Landry.
“All right, well, no hanky panky in here; otherwise, my ass will get chewed out. Y’all should be released by tomorrow, and you’re not cleared for sexual activity until you see your doctor a week post-op anyway,” Jolie warns with a wink.
I laugh, opening my arms for a hug, and she squeezes me back.
“Glad you’re okay, girl.”
“Thank you for all this.”
She nods, walking out of the room, and I lay back, feeling my eyes start to get heavy. Everything is okay, at least it will be. Someway, somehow it’ll all be okay.
19
Landry
I brush Magnolia’s hair off her face when there’s a knock at the apartment door that stirs her awake.
“It’s probably the girls. I told them to at least give us a few hours when we got back,” she whispers, trying to sit up on the couch.
I walk over to the door and open it, seeing Everleigh and Quinlin and let them through.
“Eden and Addy will be here later with dinner. We’re lunch duty,” Everleigh says with a smile, holding up the brown paper bag as Quinlin holds up another.
“Y’all didn’t have to do that,” Magnolia says, sitting up a little further with a wince.
Delivered in Sin Page 19
