“Kensington.”
“Duuuude.” Addison tells me, and I hide my smirk, I bought my house in Kensington only a few months ago, “That suburb is amazing, so Skye, when you said you had money I thought you meant a couple of grand not a couple of million.” She lets out a low whistle, “Can I get a loan?” She starts to giggle, and this is the Addison we’ve all come to know, so very much like her sister. She hides what’s going on internally with laughter and joking.
Skye looks at me, her eyes so full of worry and I know that she’s wondering when it’s going to fully hit Addison. Skye’s eyes hold all the pain that she’s been through, that pain she doesn’t want her sister to go through. I reach across and take her hand, she squeezes mine in return. I pull up outside Skye’s house and her dad’s out of the house before I even switch off the engine. He pulls Addison out of the car and hugs her. I look at Skye’s front door, and I am shocked that her mom isn’t here.
“Dad, where’s mom?” Skye asks the question that was on my mind.
The furious look in her dad’s eyes tells me everything I need to know, Skye’s mom is being a bitch, again. “She's inside.” Yep, what a bitch. What type of mother is she? Not evening coming outside to see her daughter? He walks over to Skye and pulls her into a hug too while whispering something to her, it's so low that I can't hear what he's saying. When he pulls away, he reaches out and shakes my hand. “Thank you, son, for bringing home both of my girls.”
“Skye didn't need me, I was just there as a backup.” I have no doubt that Skye would have found her sister, but I don't even want to bring myself to think if she had stepped foot into their compound.
“Us Taylor's are made of stern stuff.” I don't correct him that Skye isn't a Taylor she's a Marshall. “Let's get you kids inside. Your mom will probably want to see you.” Yeah, Mr. Taylor has had enough of his wife's shit.
As soon as I step into the house, I want to hit Skye’s mom. She's sitting on the sofa drinking a fucking cocktail as though nothing is happening. “Mom?” Addison’s voice is wary and hesitant; she's glancing around the room as though she's waiting for something to happen.
“Excellent. Your back, now I can leave this place,” she says it as an insult as though Skye’s house is beneath her.
“Yeah, I'm back.” Addison moves closer to Skye as I look at her mom in disgust.
“Are you not going to say hello to Skye?” Her father barely contains his rage.
She looks Skye up and down before sneering, “Oh you made it home too? Hello Skye.”
Skye doesn't even acknowledge her, “Addi let's get you settled, dad are you okay with the sofa tonight?”
He gives her an are you stupid look, one that has her smirking, “Of course I'm okay with the sofa. I'm finally able to be under the same roof as my daughters. I'm as happy as I've ever been.”
“Where am I meant to sleep?” Skye’s mom asks impatiently, and I’d love to tell her outside with the rest of the animals.
“Not here.” Their dad tells her, “Skye, you get your sister settled while your husband and I deal with your mother.” Skye takes Addison’s hand and brings her into the spare room as Mr. Taylor and I wait until the girls are out of earshot. “Get your things and get the hell out of here. To think I married such a selfish bitch.”
She goes to slap him, but I see it coming and grab her hand. “It's time for you to leave and don't come back.” I'm so fucking angry, how dare she treat my wife like this. My tone is cold as fucking ice, and I see her fear shine through her eyes.
She doesn't say a word just collects her belongings and leaves.
“Let's not bring up my Mom! From what you've told me about both he and your mom, I know that he's going to be so happy to see you.” We’ll see, I don't think he will, I don't think I would be so forgiving if it were me. “Are we going to see your mom while we’re here?”
“Yes, after I see my dad, I'm going to visit her grave.” It's something I'm ashamed to admit that I've not been back to visit her grave since the day she was buried. She looks as though she wants to say something but seems to change her mind. “What is it?”
“I’ve been thinking about something for a while, and I’ve been debating whether or not I should ask…” She’s hesitant, and this isn’t her, what the hell does she want to ask?
“Just ask.”
She twists her hands together, she’s nervous, what the fuck? “Did you…” She stops and takes a deep breath before glancing at me quickly before turning to face the window, “Are you the reason that both David Masters and Sergeant Bell are dead?” My hand grips the steering wheel tighter, “The truth, no lies remember?”
“Are you sure you want the answer?” Nothing good can come from it.
“Yes, I’m sure.” She doesn’t look it; in fact, the paleness of her face tells me she’s dreading the answer.
“Yes, I’m the reason they’re dead.” There’ no point in sugar coating it, she wants the truth.
She contemplates my answer for a while in silence, I let her internalize it and wait for the aftermath. “Can I ask why?”
“Why did I have them killed?” She nods, still not looking at me, “Those girls, they’re part of our family. I watched that asshole Mullah Al Mohammed come after Soph after he tortured her, and then we watched that fucker Masters come after Winter after he raped her. It had to stop, she was living in fear, and I had the means to end it, so I did.” It’s that fucking simple, don’t mess with my family.
“Okay, but what about Bell?” She really doesn’t understand it. “Why did he die?”
“He kidnapped your sister and wanted to hurt you. He wanted you to join him and his criminal enterprise, come on Skye; you must realize that men like him don’t let things go. He would have gotten away with kidnapping, and he would have come after you. You’re my wife Skye, you mean the world to me and I’m not going to sit back and ignore a potential threat.” Anyone who is that fucking twisted where they want to harm someone to get what they want needs to be put down.
“Okay, Ry.” She speaks softly, I know that she doesn't agree with it, but she’s not going to say anything else about it.
We pull up outside my parent's house, and I just sit and look at the door. How the hell did I let it get to this? I should have been here for my dad instead of running off. But I joined the army, and it's something I'm proud of, I met my wife there. I don't know how long I just sit and stare out the window just looking at the house. Nothing has changed, it looks almost identical to how it was the day I left, just older.
I open the car door, and Skye pulls on my hand. I look back at her, and she looks serious, “Whatever happens you've got us.” She places her hand on her bump, and she's right, if my dad tells me to get lost then I'll know that I tried, and my family is waiting for me.
The door opens as I approach it and there stands my dad. Fuck! He looks old and fragile. Something I wasn't expecting. Yes, I know he's in his sixties, but I didn't expect the fragileness, he has a walking cane. As I reach the door, I see the tears in my dad's eyes. Fuck, maybe this was a bad idea. “Son. Is that really you?”
“Yeah dad, it's really me.” I don't know what to say to him. What can I say?
“Don't just stand there come in and give your old man a hug.” Why the hell do I ever doubt my wife? I walk into the house and pull him in for a hug. He sobs into my arms, and I feel like shit. What the fuck have I done? I've broken my father. “It's good to have you back, son. I'm proud of you.”
A lump forms in my throat and I swallow hard to try and remove it, “That's nice dad, but I don't deserve it.” He doesn't know me to be proud of.
“Bullshit. Sergeant Ryder Marshall deserves his father to be proud of him.” I stare at him in shock, how the hell does he know I was a sergeant? “Come on son, I thought you were smart?”
“You kept tabs on me?” I laugh at his look, “Of course you did.”
“Are you staying for supper?” I nod
, it’s not what we had planned but the old man has a smile on his face now, and I can’t disappoint him. “Well go out and bring in my daughter in law. I want to meet her.” He has kept fucking tabs on me. I smile knowing that I've made one of my parents proud.
“I'm sorry mom. I'm so damn sorry! I should have been here. I promise that I'm going to come by more often.” I clean off the dead flowers from the grave. “Next time I'll bring Skye, you'll love her Mom, and she’s everything you ever wanted for me.”
I sit here and talk to her about my life, I tell her all the things I've done and all the things I will do, “I've got to go, poor Skye’s left with dad. I'll look after him from now on, just like I should have done from the get-go. He's excited to be a grandpa and is looking forward to staying with us when the baby is born.”
I look up at the sky and see the sun setting, “I'm sorry Mom, I'm sorry for being a coward and leaving dad. I'm going to make it up to him. I'm going to make you proud. Bye Mom, love you" I reach out and touch her name before standing and walking away. It's time to rescue Skye from my dad. He won't stop asking her questions. I think she loves it really, I'm just glad that we both have our families back especially when we’re starting our own.
Epilogue
Skye
“So let me guess Ryder’s putting Shannon to bed?” Addi asks, and she’s right, it’s Ryder’s ritual, he has to be the one to put Shannon to bed. I’ll come in afterwards and give her a kiss goodnight. “Of course he is.” She answers her own question, “I was calling about girl’s night.”
I’m so excited about girl’s night, it’s been way too long since I’ve even managed to feel human let alone go out with the girls. “What’s up?” I hope she’s not cancelling on me. She’s finally starting to come out of her shell again, and Ryder hates that Will has something to do with it, Will’s been checking in on her, and they’ve become really close. Ryder’s hoping that they remain friends, but I’ve seen the way they look at each other, they’ve definitely developed feelings. If Will hurts Addi I honestly think that Ryder will kill him.
“I need a new dress; can we go shopping tomorrow?” I can feel her excitement through the cell; I wonder what’s got her so happy although I doubt I have to ask. Will.
“Yeah sure, we’ll make a day of it. Would you mind if I asked Hailey to come?” She’s also been in hiding, her bruising took about six weeks to fade, and she wouldn’t step foot outside while she had them. She, like Addi, is finally starting to be herself.
“Yes, of course, I haven’t seen her in a few days is she okay?” Hailey and Addi have been spending some time together; I think they’re leaning on each other. Addi told me that she and Hailey have been talking about what they’ve been through. She said that it’s made them close together, she won’t tell me anything that Hailey tells her, and that Hailey will tell us when she’s ready. But what I do know is Eric is back in town and looking for her.
“Yeah, she’s busy doing the courses she needs to join Smithy International.” The two teams have so far merged seamlessly, as we’ve all met before and we’re all practically family.
“How is Keely?” Yeah, that is a tough one, Asher and his girlfriend broke up, and the ass has been trying to get Keely back into bed, it’s become so bad that Ryder and Nathan had to step in and tell him if he didn’t stop harassing her he’d be fired. It’s not that he’s being a leech, he really likes Keely. He fucked up and hurt her, now if he really wants her he has to win her back, but not being a creep as he does so.
“She’s okay, excited that she’s having someone to help her with the workload.” Since the two teams have merged into one, our busy business has boomed. Thankfully we have the manpower to deal with it, even with me and Sophia taking time off since we’ve had our babies. Soph and Nathan’s twin girls are adorable; Lydia-Louise and Winter-Skye are beautiful and look so much like their mother. I still can’t believe they named their daughter after me; I’m so honored and absolutely adore my namesake.
I hear a horn sound in the background, “I’ve got to go, see you tomorrow.” She doesn’t wait for me to say goodbye, just hangs up and I know that tone, Will’s there.
It’s been a transition for Addi since we’ve come back; she’s living in my old house. It’s hard for her some days as she remembers her best friend and not having her around. I’m proud of the way she has handled herself, she’s been to see a grievance counselor and it seemed to help her come to terms with her death and be able to move on, while still honoring the memory of Gloria. Winter too has been to a counselor, she’s happy with her decision to shoot Bell and she said she’d do it again in a heartbeat. She’s badass and I love it, she’s even taking up kickboxing something she’s doing with Hailey and they have grown closer over it. Hailey misses Maddie and Winter and Addi are helping her through it.
I tiptoe down the hall toward our bedroom, Shannon’s sleeping in her crib in here until Ryder, and I can finally sleep knowing that she’s going to be okay when she’s out of our line of sight. As I reach our door, I stop and listen. The same routine every night, he sings her lullabies as he rocks her to sleep, right now he’s singing ‘Hush Little Baby.’ He doesn't have a fantastic voice, but I must admit his deep baritone voice is extremely soothing.
Once he puts Shannon down into her crib, I come in and kiss her tiny head, it’s hard to imagine that she’s five months already. As I kiss her, I inhale, smelling that baby smell and I smile; this little girl is my whole world, and she looks just like her daddy. He’s waiting for me as I leave the room. “How’s Addison?” He’s really protective of her, they have a bond, and I’m so happy that they have it. We walk into the sitting room and I know I’ll be asleep soon, about eight at night I tend to wind down, and I’ll be fast asleep by nine. “Is she okay?”
“She seems to be okay, we’re going shopping tomorrow, and we’re going to ask Hailey to come with us, she hasn’t seen Shannon in a while. It’ll be good for her.”
“I heard that she and Travers were going out tonight, I hope he’s a gentleman. I really don’t want to kill him.” He has that glint in his eyes.
“Liar, you’d love any chance to kill him.” I smile at him, loving how close we are. We both are open and honest with each other now, and that’s one of the reasons we have a happy relationship. We hear Shannon crying through the baby monitor, and I get up of the sofa, but Ryder waves me back down as he jumps up and goes to soothe our baby. I can hear him talking to her, he tells her that he loves her and that he’ll always protect her.
He walks past me taking off his t-shirt, Shannon must have gotten sick over him. Damn, I hope she’s okay, she’s got reflux and some nights she’ll be okay, just a little spit-up, others she’s really bad. When he walks back into the sitting room, he’s pulling on a new t-shirt and I catch a glimpse of his new tattoo, Shannon’s date of birth. It’s just curved underneath the other date. “You know, you never told me what that date was.” He smirks, and I point to his chest.
“It’s the day you were finally mine. Our wedding date.” XXVII - VI - MMXVII
My heart fills with love and I blurt out what's on my mind. “Thank you.” He gives me a curious look, “Thank you for loving us like you do.”
He gives me his sexy smirk, “Baby, you don’t need to thank me, loving you and Shannon is the most natural thing on this earth.”
Newsletter
Deadly Mistake, Book 5 of The Deadly Series is set for release this August.
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Acknowledgements.
Darren and Alannah: You both mean the world to me and thank you so much for putting up with my crazy. I love you both more than words could ever say.
Jessica and Stefanie: You two have been with me from the very beginning and there isn’t a day that goes by that I’m not grateful for your love and support. No matter what, you’ll always read anything I write and you bo
th are amazing women who I love dearly.
My Beta Readers: Jessica Davey, Stefanie Carney, Julie Tinkler, Emma Johnston, Kim Jones, Katy Birch, Trisha Reynalds, and Amanda Williams. Ladies you are the best, thank you so much for your input, thank you for loving my books like you do and thank you for supporting me in every single way possible.
Tracy-Lisa Phillips Fry: Thank you for proofreading. You are amazing, and you dropped everything, so you could get it done.
Danni Etherington/Williams: I love you! You are seriously amazing. You’re there to offer encouragement and support as well to fix my grammar. Hehe, thank you, from the bottom of my heart, Thank you.
Lee Ching: I love the design, you captured what I wanted and magnified it. It’s beautiful. There’s so much I want to say but I’ve said so much already. You know how much I love and respect you. You’re a great friend and it’s been such a pleasure to get to know you. Get some new pillows because girl you’ve earned them.
Natalie Louise Hill; My sounding board and the other half of my brain. I love your face so hard!!
Mel, Charity and Amanda, you ladies do so much for me, you keep my head screwed on and I’m so grateful. You ladies deserve a medal because I know how scatty I am.
Maria Lazarou: For as always being on hand to do the amazing formatting. For just being amazing and sweet. Thank you.
My Brazen Bitches you and that group are my sanctuary, thank you each and every one of you for being a part of this process.
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