by Lexy Timms
Things had been so much simpler on that tour.
I tossed the picture on the chair as I started up the stairs. I followed the sound of Hailey crying and found her curled up in our bed. She was shaking underneath the covers as I sat on the edge of the bed, trying not to disturb her as she took her moment. If it hadn’t been clear to me before, it was now. Hailey was overly emotional, and I needed to get to the root of it now.
“I’m not cheating on you,” I said.
“Not like you can prove it,” Hailey said.
“I don’t know why Laura showed up today, but I’m willing to track her down and chew her out. What she did to you was wrong. What she made you believe was wrong. And those things she said to you? I would never hit a woman, but I’m prepared to do it now,” I said.
“She knew so much about you,” she said.
“And I have a feeling as to where she got the information,” I said.
“She was so beautiful.”
“Not nearly as beautiful as you,” I said.
“Cut the shit, Bryan,” she said. “You should hate me, and you know it. I don’t know why you don’t.”
“You are not going to talk to me like that. You know damn good and well that I love you and only you. And you know all the reasons why. It’s your stubborn head that won’t allow yourself to believe it because our lives are changing too fast. But now? It’s time to act like adults.”
I saw Hailey’s shoulders tremble with her breaths as she lay there. Silent and steadfast. She was trying to keep up her anger. She was trying to be angry with me. And I wasn’t sure why, but I was trying not to question it. Maybe being angry was better than what was really going on. Maybe being angry was a way to displace whatever metaphorical guilt she was still concocting in her head. But it needed to stop.
And it needed to stop now.
“Hailey,” I said as I scooted closer, “something’s very wrong. And I know it’s not the baby, and I know it’s not about my mother. Something has happened.”
“How do you know?” she asked.
“Because I’ve done this twice with you already. I’ve done the whole ‘you keeping a secret from me to protect’ me shindig twice. And I understand your train of thought, but look where it’s gotten us. You’re throwing things at me, and I almost stormed off and left. It’s time to start working on this. Because we might be okay now, but in a few years when we’ve gone through this rodeo a few more times, we aren’t going to be.”
“You’re saying you’ll leave,” she said.
“I’m saying it’ll strain us to a point where we will change in one another’s eyes. And I love you enough to tell you the hard truth now to spare us a divorce later,” I said.
I watched as Hailey shifted around in bed. When she turned toward me, my heart sank. Her eyes were so swollen with tears and frustration that they were almost closed. Her nose was red, and her cheeks were chapped. She turned over on her side as her stomach rolled with movement, our child using her as a battering ram. The pain washed over her face, and I instantly slid over to her, massaging her stomach as she sighed.
“Thanks,” she said with a murmur.
“You’re welcome,” I said.
I massaged her stomach as her eyes fluttered closed. This conversation wasn’t over, but she needed to settle down to have it. I watched the anger and resentment drain from her face, and replaced with it was the exhaustion I knew she felt deep in her bones. I massaged up her sides and gripped onto her hips, trying to provide her some relief. She was getting bigger by the day, and I loved it, but I knew it was one of the many things that was stressing her out so badly.
“Something else is going on, and I need you to tell me,” I said.
“I can’t,” Hailey said.
“At least you admit it. You’re being extra emotional, and it’s detrimental to our child.”
“It’s not just our child being affected, Bryan,” she said.
“But that is a figure you have to take into account. If I could take this pregnancy from you and carry this child on my own, I would. But I can’t. The only thing I can do is help you to settle down so you and this child are healthy. But I can’t help you if you don’t let me in. And if you don’t want to do it willingly, then we’re going to lie here, or I’m going to call us a psychologist so we can go talk to someone. This is a very serious kink in our relationship, and it needs to get sorted out.”
“I’m not crazy, Bryan.”
“No, but you’re convinced I’m eventually going to leave you like everyone else. So you keep up a fortress to keep me out so it hurts less later. But that fortress you have up is going to be the one thing that rifts us more than anything. You’re creating your own worst nightmare, and I’m trying to stop that from happening.”
Her eyes fluttered up to mine, and I could see a pain behind them, an aching pain I’d only ever seen once before. It was the first fight we’d ever had, when her past with John had come to light. I could still remember what she’d looked like the moment I backed away from her shed. When she tried to reach out for me, and I continued to backtrack.
That was the moment in our history that set precedence. That set an expectation that I would walk away from her. This wasn’t her fault. Her keeping things from me wasn’t solely on her. I had responsibility in it too. I was as much at fault for this as she was, and I had to own up and take responsibility for that.
“Come here,” I said.
I pulled her close to me and spread my legs for her. She wiggled in between them, her head settling against my shoulder. She took deep breaths as her nose nuzzled into me, her body relaxing against mine. I kissed her forehead over and over while the shaking of her body settled, then I pulled the comforter up over our bodies.
“Please don’t get upset. I was only trying to save you from more heartache,” Hailey said.
“I know,” I said. “I know you were. But it’s time to talk now, okay?”
“Okay,” she said. “Just don’t interrupt me, okay?”
“I’ll sit here and listen.”
“A couple of weeks ago, this guy came into the art gallery.”
I held her close as my fingertips traveled up and down her arms.
“He gave me the creeps, but I’m never going to turn someone away from the gallery. If they want to enjoy the art I have, then it shouldn’t matter what they look like or how they make me feel.”
“It’s one of the many traits I love about you. How you’re so open and accepting of others,” I said.
“No interrupting.”
“Sorry.”
“He started talking to me about John’s paintings. Asking me how much they were worth. I told him they weren’t for sale, but he was wondering if they were worth something. I told them they were priceless, and he said that was interesting because I owed him money.”
I bit my tongue as my heart began to thunder in my ears.
“This guy’s name is Ben. He’s related to one of the guys who killed John in the alley that night. From the sounds of it, his cousin paid a hefty price because he could never get the money back for the drugs that girl was giving away in my studio back in Los Angeles. They tried tracking her down, but I think they killed her, Bryan. He told me it was my debt to pay now. One hundred thousand dollars. And if I don’t, he’s threatened you and my family.”
She was shaking in my arms again, and I was seeing red. What in the hell was Hailey doing hiding something like this from me? Had this woman lost her fucking mind? I bit down on my tongue to keep from talking as she drew in another breath, my body trying to listen as my mind was screaming out for vengeance.
Someone came into my wife’s gallery and threatened her life?
I was going to kill them.
“And I figured you had been through enough with John. This was my past with him, not yours, and if I needed to rectify it, then so be it. He saved my life, Bryan. Your brother saved me, and now he’s saving me again.”
“What does that mean?” I
asked.
“In order to get the money to give to Ben, I’ve sold John’s duo paintings to Ramon. They’re packed and set to be shipped out next week.”
I held Hailey close to me as her crying started up again. My body was trembling with fury. I thought we were done with all of this. I thought we were past all of this. I was ready to wrap my hands around this little asshole’s neck and squeeze the very life from his eyes. Who the hell did he think he was, threatening a pregnant woman? If he was threatening Hailey, then there was a good chance he had threatened my unborn child at some point.
And that wasn’t going to fly with me.
“I can’t believe I have to sell what I have left of the man who saved my life just to free myself from his past,” Hailey said.
“We have to go to the police,” I said.
“No,” she said. “No, we can’t. That was his one condition. He said he would be watching me. We can’t do that. He’s going to hurt us, Bryan. I can’t let you get hurt.”
“Nothing is going to happen to me, and nothing is going to happen to you either.”
“He knows Anna. He’s going to hurt Anna,” she said as she sobbed.
“No one is hurting anyone, okay? Not on my watch. Not as long as I’m around. This man is trying to punish you for something you have nothing to do with. He’s desperate for money and he’s trying to find any way to get it. You are not selling off those paintings of John’s. I won’t allow it.”
“I’ve already made a deal with Ramon. It’s done, Bryan.”
“Then we’ll find a way to undo it. We have a good relationship with Ramon. We’ll figure it out,” I said.
As I sat there holding my trembling wife, I wondered if Laura had something to do with Ben. My original thought was that my mother had sent Laura to fuck stuff up, but now I wasn’t so sure. If this Ben character was tracking Hailey down and knew enough about her life to threaten us by name, then maybe he had come into contact with Laura and decided to use her as a pawn.
I didn’t know what the hell was going on with that situation anymore, but Ben now trumped the thing with Laura.
This needed to get handled, and it needed to get handled quickly.
Chapter 22
Hailey
“Just calm down. Everything’s going to be okay.”
As I lay in Bryan’s arms, I felt the rest of the boulders I’d been carrying crash to the ground. I felt helpless and insecure. I felt bloated and guilty. But most of all, I felt terrible for keeping this from Bryan and for creating this situation. The worst was that I’d made him feel like this was a facet of my personality that would eventually destroy us.
But he was right. It would if I didn’t find a way to get it under control.
“From now on, Hailey, you can’t keep things like this from me. I understand that we are our own people, but you are carrying very precious cargo. And you’re precious to me in your own right. This is serious, and the fact that you kept it from me tells me a lot of things like the fact that you don’t trust me.”
“I do trust you,” I said breathlessly. “I was trying to protect you.”
“Then stop. Because you’re doing a shit job of it.”
A breathless chuckle left my lips as Bryan placed a kiss on my forehead.
“I’m going to do whatever it takes to protect you. We have to go to the police, but I know that makes you uncomfortable for many reasons. I’ll come up with something. I’ll make sure you don’t have to sell John’s paintings.”
“I don’t know how you’re going to do that,” I said.
“Trust me, Hailey. Now that you’ve told me what’s going on, trust that I can get this under control.”
“It shouldn’t be your problem in the first place.”
His finger crooked underneath my chin and pulled my gaze up to his. I found myself lost in his eyes, in their concern and in their fiery need to protect. His arms wrapped around me and lowered my back to the bed as we continued to start into one another’s eyes.
I spread my legs for him as he dipped in between them, his fingers tucking a strand of hair behind my ear.
“I love you, Hailey. You are the mother of my child and the best wife a man could ask for. Any problem you encounter is mine, just like any problem I encounter is yours,” I said.
“I don’t know how to fix this anymore,” I whispered.
“It’s no longer yours to fix. It’s mine. You’ve done enough. You’ve been strong enough. Now let me solve this for us so we can start our life together in peace.”
He cupped my cheek as I raised my lips to his. They were warm and soft. Inviting and comforting. I felt a sense of peace rush over me as my arms threaded around his neck, pulling him closer to me. I needed to feel him. I needed him to blanket me. I needed to feel normal and beautiful and wanted and loved.
I needed to lose myself in him.
His tongue begged for entrance as it swiped over my lips. I opened my body to him, his hands roaming along my curves. Our tongues battled for dominance as my hands raked down his back, clawing at his shirt so I could get it over his head.
Our bodies were harmonizing with one another. I rolled him over and straddled his lap, peeling my clothes from my body. His hands roamed over my stomach and thighs, my waist and my breasts. He cupped them, squeezing their aching peaks before he leaned up and kissed me again. He rolled me over onto my back as his hands slid down my body, grasping the material of my skirt and pulling it down my legs. I heard his jeans fall to the carpet as his lips descended onto my ankle, his mouth kissing all the way up my body to meet my lips again.
“I could never cheat on you,” Bryan said. “Cheat on this. You’re everything to me. Everything I’ve ever wanted. You’re my life and my source of strength. The reason I get up in the morning with a smile on my face. No woman has ever made me feel the way you do, and no woman ever will.”
I felt his girth pulsing at my entrance. I felt my arousal dripping down the cracks of my body. I rose my hips up to encompass him, drawing a groan from his lips as my body devoured him. I shook with want, aching to be touched and caressed and kissed. I crashed my lips up into his again as he sank to his hilt, and then I ran my toes up the backs of his legs.
“Fuck, you feel so good,” Bryan said.
“Make love to me, Bryan McBride.”
He slowly slid out, coating his thickness in my juices. I trembled with every movement he made as my hands ran up and down his back. I took in the peaks and valleys of his rippling muscles, their strength working for my pleasure as he began to thrust into me. I fell to the bed and moaned as his lips descended to my breasts. He nibbled and bit and marked my body as I whimpered and shook underneath him. Electricity surged through my veins as he picked up the pace, knocking against my body. I could feel his hand grabbing onto my thigh, hiking my leg further up his body.
“More, Bryan. Give me more. Please.”
He threw my leg over his shoulder and pulled me to the edge of the bed. His pounding was relentless, and it left me without any breath. My body was bursting with flames as my jaw unhinged in silent pleasure, my clit brushing against his body with every thrust he made. He bent my leg toward my body, and I felt his lips on mine, so I forced my eyes open to look at him.
So I could lose myself in him, and so I could remind myself of the beauty of what we shared.
He rolled me over and lifted my hips as my cheek pressed into the bed. His girth slid back into my body, coaxing moans from my throat. I could feel my ass jiggling for him with every thrust he took, his hands meandering over my curves while I perched on the edge of the bed. The mattress was shaking, and my body was lurching. I could feel my breasts rasping along the bed as they tingled with sensuous electricity. There was no way Bryan could cheat on me. There was no way he would ever be the type of man to compromise what we had. He loved me too much and made me feel too good to seek something out elsewhere.
I could hear his pleasure dripping from his lips as he slammed into me. I could fe
el the way his hands gripped my hips as his girth pulsed against my walls. My eyes rolled into the back of my head when I felt my climax wash over me, and it rendered me speechless as my body shook.
“I feel you. Hailey, I feel ... you. Shit.”
My body pulled Bryan deeper into me, and I groaned with my orgasm. I fisted the sheets on the bed as my body fluttered around his cock. My legs grew weak, my arms shaking. My breasts were flailing as the love of my life continued to pound into me. He wrapped his arms around me and tossed himself onto the bed, rolling me onto my side as he stayed sheathed within the confines of my body.
Bryan’s hands cupped my breasts, pulling me back to press against his chest.
His lips peppered my shoulder with kisses as my arm reached back for his hair. I cocked my head off to the side and captured his lips, feeling him growing bigger within my body. I lifted my leg and hooked it back around him, parting myself for him as his hand slid down my body.
He captured my lips with his as his hands parted my folds.
“I love you,” I said breathlessly. “I love you so, mmm, much.”
He slowly moved, inching his way out of me before he slammed back in. I whimpered into his lips as his mouth swallowed my sounds. His hips slammed into mine, jiggling my ass as his fingertips worked my swollen clit. I could feel my body coating him with my arousal, dripping for him as his muscles contracted and expanded against my skin.
His fingers pulled at my aching nipple as his other hand worked between my legs. I shivered against his body as his cock continued to sink into me. I rolled my hips back into him, setting a furious pace as we writhed against one another. I could feel his sweat dampening my skin as droplets formed on the back of my neck. His lips were everywhere. My neck. My shoulder. My back. My arms. Any part of me he could touch with them, he did. Murmuring how beautiful I was. Murmuring how much he loved me.
