Love Desired

by Kelli McCracken

  The thought had me quickening my stride. I had to get to her before she got in one of those vehicles and left the grounds. There was no way she was walking away from our conversation. She ran when things got tough. I wouldn’t let her do it this time.

  As I neared the corner, I heard Bentley shouting my name. It sounded as if Andi were too. I didn’t check to see. I didn’t have a second to waste. Time wasn’t on my side.

  Rounding the building, I spotted Mia approaching a cherry red Corvette. She had once told me that the car belonged to her mother before she died. It wasn’t the same vehicle she died in, just one she kept around for certain occasions.

  “Mia, don’t do this!”

  Her eyes widened when she realized I had followed her. She fumbled with the handle then swung the door open. By the time she closed it and engaged the locks, my fingers were under the handle. I was too late.

  Placing my hands against the window, I leaned down enough that I could look at her. She was ignoring me. Her hands shook as she fumbled with the keys and slid them into the ignition. As soon as I saw it, I banged on the window.

  “Mia, don’t you dare leave.”

  “Move,” she shouted back.

  “I’m not leaving until you admit the truth. Confess to cheating on me. Confess to lying to me and fucking with my head. I think it’s the least you can do.”

  The car revved to life just as I noticed Bentley and Andi coming around the corner of the condo. Both stopped when they saw the vehicle moving.

  I grabbed the handle. “Open this door. Come on, Mia. Open this door and tell me the truth.”

  “Leave me alone, Ayden. Go sleep it off.”

  “I’m not going anywhere until you talk to me.”

  The car was moving faster, but I hadn’t released the handle. Mia noticed it too. Then her eyes met mine once more. “I’ve told you the truth, but it doesn’t matter. Now get out of the way. I don’t want to hurt you.”

  “Too late for that.”

  Tires squealed as she pushed down the clutch and the gas before easing off the brakes. It was enough of a warning for me to release the handle. Good thing I had too. Mia spun out of the parking spot and drove down the road that led to the front gates.

  “Damn you!” I shouted as a cloud of dust and sand blurred my vision. The car disappeared from my sight. It wouldn’t take her long to go through the main gate and head off to wherever it was she was going.

  I wasn’t sure where that was, but I knew it was to get as far away from me as she could.

  Chapter 19

  ~Ayden~

  The dust had settled back to the ground, but I wasn’t able to tear my eyes away from the road. My mind was plagued by too many thoughts—my heart by too many emotions. Despite how much I still had to say, those words would have to wait for another time. Mia was gone.

  Slumping my shoulders I turned toward the condos and trudged in the same direction. By the time I was halfway there, Bentley and Andi approached me. Stern faces greeted me. I couldn’t tell if they were pissed, worried, or a combination.

  “What the hell, man?” Bentley was the first to express his disapproval. “Why would you let it go this far?”

  I shrugged, unable to find my voice. There was no right answer anyway. I acted on my anger, and I’d made a bigger fool of myself than Mia.

  “I thought I was right about you, Ayden,” Andi’s voice shook. “I told Mia I thought you were the one. I can’t believe I urged her to let down her guard around you.”

  “She’s not the only person who’s hurt, or have you forgotten that she’s the one who cheated on me?”

  She examined every inch of me then shook her head. “I haven’t forgotten anything. The truth is coming out, Ayden. That much I promise.”

  “It already has.”

  “Not Wesley’s distorted version of the truth. Trust me, Ayden. You are going to regret every single bit of this.”

  It was too late. Part of me already did, but I wouldn’t give her the satisfaction of knowing that. “Andi, I know how close you and Mia are. You’d die for each other. Why would I believe anything you say?”

  “Because I know Mia better than anyone, even herself. What you just did in there . . . it shattered her.”

  “You think I wasn’t, after all of this shit came to light? Why is everyone on Mia’s side?”

  She didn’t respond. Instead, she glanced at Bentley then pressed her lips tighter. He was the one to speak instead.

  “This isn’t about taking sides, Ayden. It’s about getting the truth. I know how much this shit has you messed up. The way you reacted tonight is proof.”

  “Do you think I enjoy this? I never loved Izzy. Mia’s a different story. The shit I went through after Izzy . . . that was nothing compared to this.”

  Bentley placed his hand on my shoulder and urged me to walk with him and Andi toward the condo. As I forced myself to take each step, I took deep breaths and released the anger inside of me. I looked forward to getting to my room and passing out. The tequila had caught up with me, just like Bentley warned me it would. The liquor packed a powerful punch, one that snuck up on me when I least expected it.

  “Get some rest. We’ll discuss this tomorrow when you can think clearly and after we’ve all had time to reflect on what’s happened. I’m sure Mia will calm down too.”

  “Yeah. Whatever.”

  I didn’t waste any more words. My mind wouldn’t form them anyway. I’d used up all my intellectual resources to badger Mia.

  Damn . . . In the midst of this chaos, I’d become the exact thing I hated about Wesley. I was a jerk who’d put his hands on a woman.

  I may not have struck her, but I had no right to force her to talk to me or squeeze her arms when Bentley did his best to get between us. It was the worst of it, but arguing in front of everyone and following her once she left wasn’t much better. Tonight, I wasn’t a man. I’d been a jealous control freak.

  Fuck. The hole I was digging myself had grown deeper.

  Entering the back door of the condo, I scuffed my shoes against the floor as I stared at the tiles. Mia’s suite wasn’t far away, but I didn’t glance in its direction. I kept pushing myself to take another step toward my suite.

  Just as I came closer to the door, movement caught my attention. Standing a few feet from my destination was the last person I wanted to see tonight. I groaned at the thought of what was next. All the hell I’d been through this evening didn’t want to end.

  “What do you want, Izzy?”

  “I just came to check on you. I saw what happened with you and my sister.”

  “Good. Now get away from me.”

  Fishing my key out of my pocket, I reached toward the lock, but Izzy stretched her arm in front of it. “Are you sure you don’t want company?”

  “Are you fucking kidding me?” I snorted.

  She slid her finger down my lips and chin as she whispered, “No, but I’d like to be fucking you. Revenge sex is the best sex.”

  Brushing her arm away, I slid my key into the lock and opened the door. Just before I closed it, I regarded Izzy once more. “You would know all about revenge sex, wouldn’t you? I’m sure you’ve had plenty since we split up. Go find someone else to be your bitch boy.”

  Slamming the door in her face, I stormed toward my room, stripping off my clothes along the way. Once I reached the bed, I fell against the mattress. It took the rest of my energy to pull myself onto it and roll over to my back.

  The ceiling provided little distraction from my thoughts. I’d never screwed up something this bad. Worse, my actions tonight may have done more than ruin everything I had with Mia. It may have hurt my friends as well. Mia had the power to pull the plug on everything she’d done for us. All it would take is a phone call. We hadn’t made the label or our agent any money yet.

  Why would they take a chance on us if Mia backed away?

  * * *

  ~Mia~

  No matter how many miles I put between Music Ha
ven and me, I couldn’t resist glimpsing into the rearview mirror again. There was still no sign that anyone had followed. All it did was remind me of what I‘d left behind the moment I pulled out of the driveway.

  Music Haven was my legacy. Giving it up meant throwing away everything my grandfather had built. It meant my mother’s death had been in vain too. Had it not been for our wealth, Izzy’s mother wouldn’t have sought out my father, seduced him, or given birth to her.

  I didn’t begrudge her life. I hated the fact that we shared similar DNA. She would have been a different person otherwise, maybe even someone who I would have considered a friend. Not now. Not ever.

  Had Izzy not been born, Ayden would never have had his heart torn to pieces. He wouldn’t have been the same tortured soul he was now. He sure as hell wouldn’t have believed the lies Wesley told.

  Brushing away another tear, I shifted the car into a lower gear and pressed the gas pedal. The air blew through my hair as I rolled down the window and relaxed one arm atop it. For the first time since I’d left, I didn’t feel like I needed to clench the steering wheel.

  An hour had passed since I left the Interstate in my wake. It had been busy tonight. Most of the congestion began once I crossed the Nevada state line and increased when I neared Las Vegas. Now that I was past the city and on another back road, I didn’t care how fast I went.

  Shifting back to a higher gear, I glanced at the clock, noting how late it was. Even hours after leaving my home, I still couldn’t shake the thoughts of everything that happened earlier. Nothing was going to make this right, nor would anything relieve the painful twinges in my heart. They pulsed harder every time I took a breath. As much as I loved D, losing him didn’t hurt this much. This was the worst pain I’d ever experienced.

  As I continued down the road, I glanced at my cell phone while it lay atop the other seat. Missing the text messages on the screen was impossible. Most were from Andi, but I noticed a couple came from Ayden.

  I would neither answer his texts nor call him. There was no fight left in me. Calling Andi wasn’t an option either. I knew she would beg me to come back to Music Haven. I couldn’t. The thought of being near Ayden was more than my heart could handle.

  Yet, I needed someone. Otherwise, the thoughts racing through my head would drag me under. I could handle a voice of reason. What I couldn’t handle was someone telling me what to do. Empathy and sympathy were two different things. I wanted the former, not the latter.

  Grabbing the phone, I searched through my contacts and clicked on the number I wanted. The phone rang on the other end twice. And then the voice I longed to hear resonated in my ears.

  “Hello?”

  “Did I wake you?”

  A brief moment of silence followed and then a snort sounded over the line. “Just because I’m older than you doesn’t mean I go to bed early.”

  D’s laughter made me smile through the tears forming in my eyes. “Besides, it wouldn’t matter if you did wake me. I’m always here for you.” His voice fell away a moment before I heard him sigh. “And if I’m reading the clock right, you must really need a friend right now.”

  “You have no idea how bad I do.” I didn’t want to drag him into this, but he was the only person I could talk to under the circumstances. He would empathize with me, not pity me for the mess I was in thanks to my ex.

  “Tell me what you need, baby girl. You know I’ll do what I can.”

  I couldn’t answer him. He couldn’t give me the thing I wanted most. No one could but Ayden.

  “I’m not sure what I’m even doing right now. My mind is twisted from confusion.”

  “You don’t need to be driving in this condition.”

  “Don’t worry. I’m not far from where I’m going.”

  “And where would that be?”

  I bit my lip, debating on answering him truthfully. Not that it would matter. He was in Florida. Even if he took a flight, it would be hours before he would reach me. There was no point in hiding it.

  “I’m on my way to Death Valley.”

  The line went silent again. I didn’t doubt it would, but I waited patiently for him to register the news. As soon as he did, he would speak.

  “Why would you go there, Mia?”

  I gripped the steering wheel as I held my breath. Admitting this was one of the hardest things I’d ever done. “My life is falling apart again. Everything went to hell in Death Valley. Maybe it should end there as well.”

  “What do you mean end there?”

  I regretted my choice of words, but it was too late to recant them. “Don’t think the worst. I’m not even sure what I’m saying right now. I’m so confused.”

  “You don’t have to go through this alone. I’m here for you if you need me. Say the word and I’ll come to you.”

  Fighting back the urge to speak, I kept my lips together. It would be easy to tell D what he wanted to hear. All I had to do was open my mouth and let the words come out. I couldn’t. He’d worked too hard to get to a good place. I refused to ruin that.

  “I’ll be okay. Don’t worry. Goodbye, D.”

  He called my name, but it was too late. Pressing the end button, I powered off the phone and threw it back into the passenger seat. A soft murmur drew my attention to the radio. I cranked the music to drown out the memories tormenting my mind.

  They would be nothing compared to the ones I would have when I reached Dante’s View.

  Chapter 20

  ~Ayden~

  A steady thump formed in my head as I struggled to open my eyes. They were heavy, but not as heavy as my heart. It felt as though it weighed so much it was keeping me pinned to my bed.

  Part of me wanted to stay here and never move again. It beat going outside and facing people who’d witnessed everything that happened last night. I could only imagine the rumors that were flying around this place. If people didn’t realize it before, by now, they knew that Mia and I had been dating. Any attempt she made to protect my name was ruined in a matter of one night.

  I had no one to blame but myself.

  Glancing at the clock beside my bed, I groaned when I saw the time. Eight-fifteen. Why couldn’t I have slept in later? Now I had the whole day ahead of me, and I had no idea how to go about it. I didn’t want to face my mistakes.

  A creak resonated from the front of the suite. I perked up to see what had made the noise when a voice called out. “Ayden? You in here?”

  “In the bedroom,” I answered Bentley.

  The door closed as footsteps crossed the floor. “You feeling like shit this morning?”

  “Yeah,” I chuckled at the humor in his voice. “Don’t remind me.”

  He knocked on my bedroom door a second later. “You decent?”

  “Yeah, man, I’m still in bed.”

  “Okay, cool.” He pushed the door open and laughed. “I love ya, man, but I don’t want to see your . . .” His voice fell as his eyes widened. “What the fuck?”

  Frowning at him, I didn’t understand the confused expression on his face. “What’s wrong?”

  All he did was point toward me. Then I realized he was looking past me. When I turned to see what he was staring at, my blood grew cold. I didn’t understand. How was this even possible?

  Jerking into a sitting position, I pushed myself away from the woman lying in my bed. The movement caused her to wake, and when her eyes opened, they went straight to me.

  “Izzy?”

  “Good morning, handsome.”

  I stood from the bed, relieved to see I was still wearing my boxers. I couldn’t say the same for Izzy. Her bare shoulders had me curious as to what she was wearing, or rather, not wearing.

  “What the hell are you doing in my bed? And how did you get into my suite?”

  She batted her lashes at me like she always did when she was flirting. “You invited me into your suite and into this bed. You said you wanted to be with a real woman, not some slut who can’t keep her legs together.”

 
; “I believe you just described yourself, Izzy,” Bentley grumbled from the side. “You’re the one who spreads her legs for anything with a dick.”

  The smile she was wearing faded. She narrowed her gaze at Bentley then turned them toward me. “You told me last night as we were fucking that you wouldn’t hide this from anyone.”

  “I never invited you in here and I sure as hell didn’t touch you. You can’t do anything but lie, can you?”

  “Excuse me?”

  I pointed my finger at her. “You were waiting outside my suite when I got here. I told you to leave me alone, and I shut the door, came in here, and passed out.”

  “I know how she got in,” Bentley added as he raised his hand and waved my key in front of me. “This was in the door when I got here. It’s how I got in your suite.”

  “That makes sense,” I said as both of us looked at my ex. “Nice try, Izzy, but there is no way in hell I’d sleep with you.”

  “You must not remember changing your mind. You were pretty drunk, but even so, you reopened the door and dragged me inside. Then you started kissing me and tore off my clothes. I told you the key was in the door, but you didn’t care.”

  “Liar,” I growled. “Get your sorry ass out of my bed and out of my suite. You’re not welcome here.”

  “Fine.” As she stood, the sheet fell away from her body, revealing every single inch of her skin. I’d been right. She was laying under the sheet with nothing on but the wicked grin she always wore.

  Bentley and I both faced the other direction. I knew he was pissed at me for bringing him into this situation. “Ben, I don’t know what she’s doing, but I swear that I didn’t touch her. I told her to leave.”

  “I’m not lying to Andi over this.”

  “This isn’t what it looks like. Come on, man. You know how Izzy operates.”

  Instead of replying, Bentley grunted. Then he nodded. “Yeah. I know how she is.”