I leaned into him, needing his strength and support. Because whatever was happening inside of me was too much. Too much need. Too much want. Too much . . . everything.
Something broke loose inside me. I slid my hands around his neck in a frenzied motion and locked my fingers behind it. I kissed him back with all I had. Sparks fired in my brain. They set off a chain reaction in my body.
How? How does he make me feel all of this? With a hello?
He groaned as my tongue collided with his. That noise made me feel powerful as it vibrated through me. I could make Lincoln Hollingsworth need.
And while falling in love with him was frightening, it wasn’t so bad. Because every breath he took proved that he needed me as much as I did him.
When we came up for air, I was dazed. His chest rose and fell in a pronounced rhythm. He kissed the top of my head.
And as I slowly became more aware of our surroundings, I realized we were alone.
“When do you have a day off?”
I shook my head a few times to digest his question. “Sunday we only have a few deliveries.”
Lines on his forehead creased, though I had no idea why my answer frustrated him.
“We’ll pack up your apartment on Sunday then.”
I drew a circle on his chest as I stared at it. “Are you sure you want to do this?” Insecurity raced through me. What if he’d spoken the words without thinking them through? I wanted to take this step, but not if he had doubts.
He lifted my chin, bringing my view to one I’d never grow tired of.
“I’ve never been more certain of anything.”
A giddiness raced through me, confirming I felt the same. “And you don’t mind if Eric takes over your office?” That was his space and we were invading it with a vengeance.
“He can have any room he wishes.”
If I hadn’t known it before, I would have in that moment. Lincoln was the partner for me because he respected my brother.
I kissed his cheek again. “Thank you.” I laced my fingers with his. “We should go upstairs before everyone starts to worry.”
“I believe they’re well aware where we are.” He held me tighter. “And I don’t give a damn about food right now.”
My stomach dipped. “Oh no?”
“No.”
I froze. “Teague called me your girlfriend.” The realization that I hadn’t even been jolted by the word was almost more staggering than the title itself. Because it had been natural.
“You’re so much more than that.”
I swayed. No one other than Eric had ever appreciated me. Lincoln didn’t have to say the words. I saw it in his dark eyes just how much he cared.
“I like your version of romance too,” I whispered.
He cupped my face. “Not romance. Truth.”
And as he held my hand to go meet our family for dinner, a familiar face peering in the windows evaporated my joy in an instant.
The sneer sent a shudder through me along with a bolt of fear.
Because my father wasn’t alone. Standing next to him was our worst nightmare come to life.
My mother was out of prison.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Lincoln
“You’re trembling.”
Lexie had barely spoken two words through dinner. She’d been silent on the ride home, as had Beau. Eric tried to make conversation, but he seemed to sense his sister’s mood.
We’d taken the dogs for a walk. Beau had slammed her door when we arrived home. Eric had passed out as soon as his head hit the sofa. And Lexie had yet to speak as she changed clothes and crawled into bed.
I pulled her against my side, hating the way she shook. Hating her silence.
“Talk to me. Please.” I was begging, but that was what desperate men did.
“My-my father was at Grey Paws.”
I sat up. “Why are you just mentioning this? We could’ve called the authorities.”
“Looking in a window isn’t a crime,” she said.
“Stalking is.” I shook her shoulders. “Lexie, we have to use anything we can against this man. Don’t you want him back in prison?”
“Yes,” she cried. “More than you could possibly imagine.”
“You aren’t on your own any longer. We have to tackle this as a team.”
She looked at me as if she didn’t comprehend the words. “I just want them to go away.”
“Them?” Now I was the one who didn’t understand.
Her eyes were so troubled when she looked at me, a frisson of fear went through me. “My mother was with him.”
Both of them? What was it they wanted from her? If it was to make amends, her father had an odd way of showing it.
“Don’t they have to notify you when she’s out?”
She winced. “Ever since he started calling all the time, I don’t answer unless I know who it is.” Her cheeks colored. “I haven’t listened to the messages either. Because I’m a coward,” she whispered.
“You. Are. Not. A. Coward.”
Fury lit through my veins. These people had taken my confident girl and terrified her. I threw the covers off.
“What are you doing?”
“Calling Zegas.” I swiped my phone off the dresser.
She scrambled up and tugged on my arm. “What is he going to do?”
“Hopefully put them both where they belong. Out of your life for good.”
“You can’t just make up charges to send them back to jail,” she said, clinging to my wrist.
“They did it to me.”
She dropped her hold and folded her arms over her stomach. I was cold without her touch.
“Why?” She stumbled back as if being near me was too much.
“I’m wondering the same thing about your parents. Why won’t they leave you alone?” I squeezed my phone. “What do they want from you?”
She sat on the edge of the bed. “Money.”
You don’t have much. I regretted the thought as soon as it popped into my mind. Lexie had worked hard for everything they had. She was growing her business and had things that no amount of money in the world could buy.
“That doesn’t make sense.”
“I receive money for Eric’s care from the state every month. They want custody of him again so it can be theirs.”
I leaned against the dresser and looked up at the ceiling. Greed. It was the root of everything ugly in this world. So much so that it could drive parents to only have interest in their children for what they could get from them.
“They have no rights to him any longer,” I said through my teeth.
“If I screw up, there’s a possibility.”
“Screw up as in an assault that lands you behind bars.” All of her father’s actions made so much more sense now. Not in the logical path, but I understood his motivations. And that could be the very thing that would put him back where he belongs.
I called Daniel. He’d be better to handle this than Zegas, though Zegas needed to know her parents were stalking her.
“Calling to wish me goodnight?” he answered dryly.
“Her mother is out. I have an idea.”
“I’ll be over immediately.” He hung up.
I threw on a T-shirt.
Lexie was right behind me. “What are you going to do?”
“Keep them from ever hurting you or Eric again.” I changed into a pair of jeans and slipped on loafers.
“Don’t do something stupid,” she pleaded. “They’re not worth you getting into trouble”
“I won’t be doing the foolish thing. Hopefully they will.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Lexie
Lincoln had been gone for two hours.
I’d watched every second tick by on the bedroom clock. He and Daniel had agreed it would be best if I were as far removed from their discussion as possible. They didn’t want any connection back to me.
I agreed, but I didn’t bother to point out that I was alrea
dy connected to both of them.
If I hadn’t been such a coward, I might have known about my mother’s release from prison. Gathering my courage, I listened to the messages I’d been avoiding.
Six were inquiries from potential new customers. Six.
Some of them were from several days ago.
I hung my head. If I’d contacted someone about their products and it took days to get a call back, I probably wouldn’t be too keen to buy anything from them.
But it was too late to return calls at this hour.
I grabbed my notebook where I kept client info and jotted down the names and numbers and what they were interested in if they mentioned anything. That action alone helped me to feel like I was taking back some control of my life.
I’d listened to the messages from callers with actual numbers shown first. It was the unknowns that had my nerves ramping up again.
I held my breath as I hit play on the first one.
A car warranty solicitation.
I exhaled. That was annoying, but not so bad.
The next message I played was just dead air. I’d take that too.
You can do this, Lexie.
My finger hovered over the play button. There were too many more messages to count. But I had to keep pushing.
Another potential customer.
My confidence grew with every message that wasn’t related to my parents.
By number five, I’d stopped holding my breath.
“Baby doll, we can work this out. You know what to do.”
I dropped the phone onto the bed like it had scalded me. No, I didn’t know what to do.
I was tempted to delete the message but didn’t in case I could use it to build a case against them.
I hit play on the next one.
“Stop avoiding your daddy, baby doll. You ain’t too old for that closet.”
I put a hand to my throat. It had happened so long ago, but the memories were as fresh as if it had only been minutes.
The next message was more dead air, but it brought me no relief. My heart beat erratically, and I was nauseated.
“How are you gonna take care of your brother if you’re in jail?”
“Daddy has a surprise for you.” His voice sing-songed in my ear, turning my stomach.
“You always were a stubborn little bitch when it came to that shit for brains. Call. Me. Back.”
“I see you’ve moved into that fancy apartment. Maybe you did take after your mama. But you must be a lot better than she was.”
I threw the phone down again and raced to the bathroom, barely making it to the toilet before I vomited. My head felt like it split in two with the effort, causing me to get sick again.
When it seemed like it was over, I folded my arms on the toilet seat and rested my forehead on them. Completely and totally exhausted. I didn’t care I was on a toilet.
The accusation . . . it cut so deep I wasn’t sure the wound would ever heal. He shouldn’t have the power to hurt me anymore, but he did.
I hadn’t slept with Lincoln. I’d barely flirted with him. Yet here I was, shacking up in his expensive apartment when I hardly knew him. And I’d been willing to take my clothes off for him. We just hadn’t had another opportunity.
I was my mother’s daughter.
I heaved all over again.
Except I wasn’t with Lincoln because I wanted anything more than him. This opulence and his wealth meant nothing to me. I did want stability, but not in the financial form. I would take care of that. In terms of a steady relationship, he and I could work on that together. As partners.
Did he think I wanted him for his money?
It had to be in the back of his mind anytime someone showed interest in him. If I were him it would be. But he’d been so generous with us. With his time and space.
My mother had sold her body to anyone willing to pay.
I didn’t want to give mine to anyone but Lincoln. And now, they’d tainted that for me. Because if the time came for intimacy, I’d think of my father’s words.
I couldn’t live with Lincoln ever thinking I’d used him.
“Lexie?” His worried face appeared in the lavatory. “Are you sick?”
“I’ll be fine.” My voice was strained and scratchy.
“What do you need?” He sounded panicked, and I hated I’d caused that.
I struggled to my feet. “I’ll just go get some water.”
He held my elbows to steady me. “I’ll do that. Let’s get you back in bed.”
“I need to brush my teeth.”
“Of course. I’ll get you that water now.”
Once I was done, my beautiful rescuer was standing before me, ready to guide me toward the bedroom. But when I saw the bed and my phone, my stomach roiled all over again.
I stopped and squeezed my eyes shut. “I’m not using you,” I whispered before I could think about the words.
“Look at me.” He held my arms.
I didn’t want to open my eyes. Didn’t want to face him or that stupid phone.
“Look at me,” he repeated the longer I stood in the darkness. Finally, I did, and I wanted to close them all over again. “That thought has never once occurred to me.”
My eyes stung with the kindness of his words. I didn’t want to cry. I just wanted to sleep, then wake up and everything be a horrible nightmare. Except being with Lincoln.
“What’s brought this on? Did I say something to indicate I felt that way?” He searched my face, almost in desperation.
I didn’t want to tell him. I didn’t want him to know the filth from which I’d come, but he deserved the truth. I just hoped he wouldn’t see me differently, despite his proclamation of moments before.
“I listened to my messages. Some of them anyway.” Enough of them.
His features shifted into hard granite. “What did he say to you?”
“That he saw the fancy apartment I’m living in now. And that I’m just like my mother. Maybe better,” I whispered. A wave of nausea rolled through me. My father’s callousness hadn’t lost its potency. Not one ounce.
Lincoln’s jaw tightened. There was anger and then there was this. Something beyond mad that I’d felt before but never seen.
He didn’t say anything. If it were anyone else, I’d be concerned. While he’d become more talkative, I still wouldn’t call him a chatterbox.
And then I let out a choked laugh as a tear rolled down my cheek. “Thank you.”
Some of the anger evaporated into confusion. “For what?”
“Not being a chatterbox.” I wrapped my arms around his waist and clung to him.
He stroked my hair. “I’m trying, but I really don’t understand, Lexie.”
I inhaled, letting his calming scent infuse me. “You only speak when it’s important. And somehow thinking of you not being a chatterbox made me laugh when I wouldn’t have thought it possible.”
He lifted my chin. “We can walk through fire and come out on the other side laughing.”
My cheeks loosened even more. “If you do this”—I arranged his mouth into a flat line—“that will be your version of laughing.”
He tried to scowl but failed. His jaw was slack, though his hold on me was still tight. “You’re making me a better person.”
A minute ago I’d been devastatingly upset. Lincoln had turned that around without meaning to.
“I don’t want to change you. I’m a grumpy pants a lot too.”
“When you’re hungry,” he defended.
“True.” I patted his back. “I mean it. We can all be better people, but I love you just as you are.”
His eyes drifted shut as though he were taking in those words.
It was clear that Lincoln had kept himself aloof from others. Reserved. Reticent. When was the last time he’d heard someone tell him he was loved? It was then I knew what my newest goal in life would be. To help this strong, resilient man in front of me see how amazing he really was. I had so much love to give him.
As did Eric.
As opposed to my mother.
She wasn’t capable of loving anyone but herself.
She treated her children like garbage.
She destroyed others with no regrets.
I wasn’t my mother.
I recognized my fortunes. I was blessed to have a brother who had made life fun even when it was hard. He’d showed me how to keep an open heart and a forgiving spirit. Because of Eric, I was here with Lincoln, as happy as I’d ever been.
And I’d been so close to allowing my parents to rob me of that. For what? To prove to them I wasn’t a user like they were?
I had nothing to atone for when it came to them. They would always be able to hurt me. I accepted that.
But I didn’t have to give them control of how I let it affect me.
“I was going to take us back to my apartment,” I said quietly. “I didn’t want anyone to be able to say I’m only with you for your money.”
He sighed. “People are always going to say that.”
I hadn’t thought beyond my immediate circle. Lincoln was a high-profile individual. Once our relationship became public knowledge, the slings and arrows would fly in my direction.
I frowned.
I was guilty of thinking that about other women too. And it hadn’t been fair. I wouldn’t make that mistake again.
“I hope this is the worst it hurts.”
“Ignore them. The only thing that matters is that we know the truth.” He touched my forehead with his. Such a simple gesture, but it made me feel safe. “Tell me you didn’t delete those messages?”
“No, I kept them. I was too busy running to the toilet to . . . well, you know what.”
He made a noise of dissatisfaction at the mention of me getting ill.
We stayed forehead to forehead for a while, just leaning on each other in the quiet.
“I needed you to teach me how to say a proper greeting,” he finally said.
“And you better not be giving it to anyone else.” Apparently I had a jealous streak I didn’t know about.
“I only see you.”
My heart twisted. “You can’t say stuff like that.” Because I wasn’t sure my heart could survive a sweet Lincoln Hollingsworth.
Fall: Rise & Fall Duet Book 2 (Shaken 4) Page 13
