by RJ Scott
"I can't. I have nothing. Everything I have is in Jeff's name. I only have what he allows me."
"Child, everything Gerald has is in my name. If you check, most of Jeff's assets will be in your name, less tax that way. You need to get what you can, now. Transfer it, take the kids and just go before he destroys my grandchildren, like Gerald destroyed my children."
Lisa sobbed some more, while Sandra just sat and watched, until finally Lisa lifted her gaze, steel in her spine. She dropped her arms and lifted her shirt, turning her back to Sandra, listening to the gasp, knowing what the older woman saw.
"He hurts me," she half whispered, facing Sandra and allowing her shirt to fall back in place.
"I didn't know…" Sandra sounded confused, shocked. "Please… tell me… the children—"
"I swear he never touched the children."
"How long until he does?"
Lisa felt sick with dread. Her children. She struggled with the decision. For the kids, she had stayed. Being with Jeff meant that her kids had everything they wanted, everything they could ever need. She had never told a living soul, but Jeff had taken to using his hands on her without love or respect, smacking her, pushing her around like she was some ten dollar whore. She had become a shell of the woman she had once been, and the children were changing as well. Disinterested in life, spoiled, greedy, stubborn, taking cues from their father about how they should approach life. For the kids, she knew she had to leave. They would hate it at first, but they would grow to see that she was right. With determination, she dragged a suitcase from her closet and dumped it on her bed. "Can you help me?" she asked.
Sandra walked to her side, closed the case and left the photos on the sofa.
"You need nothing from here. Let's just get the children and go."
* * * *
"What are you doing in here?" Jeff sounded stressed, exhausted.
"Waiting for you, son," Sandra said simply.
"Where's Lisa?"
"She's gone, Jeff. I helped her leave." Sandra was staying remarkably calm, not sure how Jeff was going to react, and then instantly knowing he was going to react with the same anger and violence he approached the rest of his life. She knew even as she said what she'd done that he'd hit her. Even as his hand connected with her face, the same as Gerald's had, she knew she deserved every smack, every punch, that she was being made to feel. Finally he stopped —the haze of red lifting— and Sandra on the floor in front of him.
"No one leaves a Hayes," he spat.
Chapter 33
Riley was poring over figures, his brow furrowed in concentration, his coffee mug close by. The Campbells may not want the Hayes money, but he wanted to stop the way the company was being run.
"So, if we are to make this happen and get installed at Hayes Oil, we need to look at figures," he started carefully. "Eden has twenty-two percent, me the same, Jeff has the forty-eight percent, and I think we can track down who holds the remaining eight. From what I've managed to find out today, it seems an offshore holdings company has a total of six and the rest is kind of spread around."
Jack leaned back in his chair, thoughtful, not seeing exactly where this was going.
"I think you should be looking to your momma to fill in the gaps," Jim said, emptying Riley's cold coffee and replacing it with a new mug of hot fragrant brew.
"My mom?" Riley looked confused, and Jim slid the papers over to him, leaning back to swallow coffee in one smooth move. Jack just stared at the paperwork in front of his husband, waiting for him to look and frowning as Riley pushed the whole lot towards him, seemingly unable to even look at what may be more damning evidence against his family. Jack lifted it and opened to the first sheet— certificates, in the name of Sheriton holdings, a total of just short of six percent, the offshore holding company they knew about. Jack dug further, linking the wording in each sheet, following the same path that Jim had. Blinking he looked up, meeting Riley's confused gaze, knowing his husband was scared of what was in the folder, because it would hold more truths about his family, more shovels to dig the grave.
"Sandra Hayes owns Sheriton holdings; she has the six percent." Jack was suddenly excited, remembering Sandra's visit to the D yesterday and her wish to help her son. "And if we can persuade her to side with Riley and Eden, just to give a simple majority, we can push forward with replacing the management team with a new one, namely your team."
"Jack, wait." Jim leaned forward. "Y'all came to me with this idea," he waved his hand dramatically, "to force control of Hayes Oil over to a new management team, and on paper, it all works, the equations balance and we could do this. But…"
"But what?" Riley inquired at the pause.
"It's simple. I don't understand why you want to hand over control of the company, and unless I do understand, then I won't be signing anything." Jack and Riley exchanged glances, which didn't go unnoticed by Jim. He narrowed his eyes.
"A way back," Riley finally started, "I took over the land exploration side of Hayes Oil, the R&D arm. It was my baby, and it did well. I rode the wave of success, and I never questioned when the exploration turned to acquisition. That was Jeff's forte, his role. I was naive." He stopped, his hands twisting on the table in front of him, and Jack placed a steadying hand on top to still the nervous movements. There was vulnerability about Riley when he talked about Hayes Oil that inevitably made Jack switch to protective mode. "I mean, I'm not stupid. Hayes Oil is huge, competitive, a corporation that wields its power with finality. Some of the decisions that were made were out of my control, but they didn’t sit well with me, on ethical or emotional grounds.
I always knew I was wrong at Hayes Oil, like it wasn't me working there, but some stranger reading from a script. It just felt wrong." He shrugged. "I wish I could explain how unhappy I was. I started to plan my own company away from Hayes Oil, from the ground up, ethical exploration, ethical land acquisition, that kind of thing. I researched other petroleum companies, and there were other business models that I admired. I liked where they were taking their business, and I wanted to do the same to Hayes Oil. I couldn't, I lost it and any control I might have, and I don't think it was ever going to be given to me. Dad gave a larger holding to Jeff, never gave enough to Eden and me that would allow us to make a difference. He came up with this contract proposal, gave temporary holdings to Jeff, citing the crap that I had a year to get married for love, stay married for love, and then he would re-allocate the holdings more fairly. You know all that." Jim nodded, and Jack tightened his grip as Riley continued. "I was never going to be given any kind of control. I know that now."
"Because Gerald Hayes isn't your father," Jim said gently.
"He wanted to do everything in his power to stop you from getting any control at Hayes Oil. But he had a deal with your mom to provide you with the Hayes name and at least some semblance of ownership," Jack added.
Riley raised his impassioned gaze to Jack. "I need to stop Hayes Oil in its tracks, and the only way I can do that is to get my voice heard."
"How watertight is the twenty-two percent you hold?" Jack went to the crux of the matter, because parentage issues aside, they needed to be sure.
"Jim says totally," Riley offered simply, and Jim nodded his agreement.
"Okay," Jack responded, "let's get this thing sorted."
* * * *
Jeff sat opposite the skinny guy with the bad complexion, feeling dirty by association and wiping his hands on a paper napkin. He was like a fish out of water. The coffee in his mug was sludge, and the table was scarred and dirty. He shivered at the germs he was probably touching just by sitting in the chair. Still this needed to be done.
"The fire was an unfortunate failure," Jeff began, stilling the other man's nerves with a dismissive wave of his hand, "this is a simple observation process. Think of yourself as a private eye."
"I don't do observation."
"You do if I pay you three hundred a day, no questions asked." He watched the man's eyes light up w
ith interest; exploitation of greed was always the best way to win a war. "I want every movement she makes off the ranch recorded and reported. I want your eyes on her and your ears to the ground for anything you can find out."
When he discovered she was pregnant… Well, this had become more than personal. He slid an envelope across the scarred top, moving his hand before the other man could touch him, and simply said, "Campbell, Elizabeth. Starting today."
Chapter 34
Riley found Jack leaning against Solo's stall, lost in thought, the sorrel mare nudging at his arm. It had been nearly six weeks since the fire, and Solo had settled into being a momma with an ease that had Jack beaming with pride. Her bay-colored foal, named Solo-Alexandra, was a beautiful breath of fresh air. Her innate curiosity with life could tempt Riley to stand and watch for hours if he had the time. Instead, Jack was working him hard on the ranch, deciding that now, in this limbo time of decisions on Riley's side, he could fulfill the whole twenty-four days on the ranch clause of the contract.
So here he was, and Riley had aches in muscles he'd never known he possessed before. Of course it didn't help that their sex life was verging on the insanely physical. With neither man able to get enough of the other, they often collapsed into each other's arms, sleeping the few hours left until dawn, unable to even move.
They had fallen into a routine. Jack always offered himself just at the point that Riley was incapable of saying anything, let alone no, and the strength and power he used to get them both off was intoxicating. In his head, there was nothing better than Jack lying beneath him, begging for more, demanding harder, faster.
Last night it had been different. Something indefinable had switched itself on in Riley, the need for right now being replaced with the need for forever, and it scared the ever-living shit out of him. He didn't even question how he'd gone from the poster boy for Het-city to craving a man as he craved Jack. It wasn't even just physical; he admired Jack's mind, his determination, his love for his family, his seemingly never ending need to sacrifice his own happiness for others. It shocked Riley to see the depths of passion his husband had inside him, and the erotic dreams he was having about him didn't help.
Riley wanted to be held down the same way he could hold Jack down. He wanted to know what it felt like to have Jack inside him. The need was becoming the only thing he could think about. Jack was strong and muscled through manual labor. He was rough and ever so slightly dangerous, as demonstrated in the bar brawl, and it sent shivers down Riley's spine to imagine submitting to Jack. Allowing Jack to take him, push him over the edge, fuck him into next week… Jack hadn't broached the subject. They had gotten close, but the latent alpha in Riley inevitably took control, and Jack was more than happy it seemed to let him take the lead, despite topping from the bottom with his counter pushes and his demands.
Riley had researched a bit, if you call Wikipedia and various random porn sites research. The dynamics of a gay relationship were as fraught with potholes and problems as any other kind of relationship. Thing is, in all the many one night stands Riley had enjoyed, it was always him calling the shots. They'd wanted that, these simpering girls that killed his time. He sighed. How did he go about telling his husband what he wanted? How did he get Jack so worked up that he didn't question what Riley wanted?
He stood for a moment, simply watching his husband. His jeans were worn and white in places, his boots scuffed, his denim jacket loose over a Black Sabbath T-shirt, and his thoughts clearly a million miles away. Jack was beautiful, rugged, slim-hipped, broad-shouldered, relaxed and strong; a study in cowboy if there was such a thing, and Riley shifted to relax some of the instant pressure in his jeans.
"Hey, husband," he said softly, making Jack jump and turn to face him, the sapphire in his blue eyes so clear in the early morning light, a smile lit across his face. Riley crossed to pull him into a close one-handed hug, aware he was still damp from his shower, shaking his wet hair in Jack's face playfully. Jack grimaced and punched him on the arm. "Careful, you'll spill the coffee," Riley teased, offering Jack one of the mugs he had his fingers threaded through. Jack fell on it as if it was from the gods, inhaling the bitter smell and sighing.
"Did I ever tell you I loved you?" Jack said as he sipped at the hot brew, wrinkling his nose at how dark it was compared to what he would make himself. Riley winced. They had this conversation every morning on the merits or not of black coffee. Jack drank his with milk, and Riley had his black, but with so much sugar Jack swore he could stand a spoon in it.
"Too dark, yeah?" Riley smirked.
"People have been shot for less," Jack growled low.
Riley leaned in for a good morning kiss, one of many they'd already exchanged and would carry on exchanging throughout the day. They couldn't get enough of touching, kissing, hugging, or just talking, holding hands, exploring limits for public displays of affection. Jack only ever said the love word as a joke or during sex. He never said it with meaning. Or at least not the meaning Riley was starting to want, but then Riley hadn't said it at all yet so he couldn't exactly talk. Something was missing. He knew everything had started so damn badly, with the worst plan in history, with Jack being blackmailed into marriage, but it was good now. Wasn't it? They had slipped into a routine that was hot, passionate, new, and Riley felt loved, felt needed. It was just… Would Jack ever really trust him, could he ever really love him?
He guessed he had a kind of love from Jack. It amazed Riley how Jack made him feel so different, almost special. He couldn't get his head around just how much Jack appeared to want him, how Jack found him sexy, praised him, and told him so often how much he wanted him.
"I'll be ten minutes," Jack offered quickly, handing back the mug and crossing to Alexandra. The poor thing seemed to be struggling with feeding this morning, and Jack had mentioned he was mildly worried that maybe Solo-Cal wasn't up to nursing her baby. Riley nodded, seeing the worry in Jack's eyes again, and a similar worry skittered down his own spine. He adored Alex and her horsey ways, something he would never have expected. In his world, horses were for amusement, for recreation.
He let his mind wander as he stared out at the Texas morning, and thought back to two nights ago when Steve and Beth sat at the table with Anna and Donna talking weddings. They planned a simple wedding at the D, in the new barn being constructed on the site of the old burned horse stables. They had a list of people to invite, a local band to do music, Jack and Josh as joint fathers of the bride, and Eden and Anna as bridesmaids. It sounded perfect, and Riley lost himself in images of his best friend in a tux tying himself to the beautiful Beth for the rest of his life, or hers.
The bridesmaids and Beth were discussing flowers.
"Can I talk to you?" Steve had asked him. Standing from the table, Steve walked to the door.
Riley snapped out of his thoughts as he realized Steve was talking to him. He grabbed two beers and followed Steve out to the porch, the night dark around them, and the haze of the Dallas lights on the horizon. Behind them the canopy of stars appeared low to the ground as the land dipped in the distance. Riley, at ease and relaxed, felt peace settle around him like an old blanket.
"Wassup?" Riley was prepared for anything now. They had done the whole "you are a shitty friend thing" whereby Riley admitted he'd been one and Steve had agreed. He wondered what Steve was going to add now.
"I have this favor to ask." Steve seemed nervous. The only other time he'd seemed this nervous was when he'd originally approached Riley for the money for Beth. That had been way back before the whole arranged marriage thing. "I want you to be my best man." Riley blinked. He hadn't expected that in any way, shape or form.
"Yes," he said quickly, his answer instant. "Jeez, I would be honored." He didn't know what else to say, blown away that Steve had asked him after what he'd done. He really couldn't ask for a more forgiving friend. Steve smiled, pulled him into a back-slapping hug then stepping away, still with the nervous looks.
"There's just one
thing, Riley," he said, a hint of hesitation in his voice. "I'm being totally honest with Beth, about my past, things that I've done, people I've been with. I don't want any secrets." Riley thought of his secret-driven marriage and inwardly thought Steve was definitely making the right decision. "That starts with telling her about the money you gave me for her medicine, for the visits to the specialist when she became pregnant."
Riley paled. Jack wasn't even aware of the details of all that. Shit, promising money for Beth had been the one thing that had gotten Jack to agree to the whole arranged marriage idea— the promise that Riley would provide for all of Beth's care, putting money in trust for her.
"Shit, Steve," was all Riley could form in the way of a response, leaning back on the railing, the beer loose in his hand.
"I'm telling her tonight when everyone has gone. She worries about Jack and you, worries about your marriage, about you. Despite the whole fire-rescue-hero thing, I know there's something there, a hesitation in her whenever your name is mentioned. I want her to know what kind of man you really are. That you're not just some playboy Dallas prince with money to burn, but a genuine person who can be trusted." Steve looked so earnest, and Riley wanted to say it was okay, but all he could think of, albeit selfishly, was facing Jack over this. Steve squeezed his shoulder. "It will be fine, and Jack will think you even more of a hero for helping out his sister."
Chapter 35
Riley hadn't really believed that, not even as he stood toe-to-toe with Jack in the bedroom, his husband's temper so close to the surface that Riley could almost touch it.
"So," Jack said, icy calm, his arms folded across his chest, "the one thing that made me decide to do this, the money for Beth, you had already gone and done, and you lied to me."
"Yes." Riley offered nothing in defense, his voice dejected, and his heart twisting at whatever was going to happen next.
