by Hamel, B. B.
She walks into the room and takes the seat across from me. She eyes the cup in front of me and seems to understand what I was doing before. She looks back up and stares at me.
“Your father is making my life difficult,” she says.
“I’m sorry.”
“That’s not good enough.”
I gape for a second. “I don’t know what I can do.”
“You can leave.”
I blink. She’s not smiling or laughing. She’s deadly serious. She’s staring at me like I’m some kind of foreign host in her system, and she needs to flush me out to be healthy again. There’s a hint of disgust in her eyes.
“I can’t… I don’t… I thought you and Brent worked things out.”
“No. Brent told me that he wasn’t going to do as I asked. Brent stood up to me, and I’m sure he’s proud of that. But it doesn’t change anything.”
“You don’t want me here.” The words hurt to say and it feels like I’ve dropped a bomb in my own lap.
“No. I don’t.” She sighs and rubs at her eyes. “It’s nothing personal, Amber. I’m sure you’re a lovely girl. Brent likes you and that means a lot to me. But unfortunately, I can’t think of only myself or my son. Your father is becoming a problem.”
“I didn’t know he’d go on TV. I didn’t know he’d do the ads. I just… I didn’t know.”
“Of course you didn’t. But the truth is, those things aren’t what bother me.”
I frown a little. “They aren’t?”
“No.” She shifts in her seat. “Your father is a rich man. That means he has connections. He has friends.”
“I don’t think that’s true,” I say, almost laughing. “Nobody likes him.”
“No, they don’t. But he has money and that’s enough to buy some influence.” She frowns at me. “You can’t see that?”
“I don’t… I guess not. We weren’t always successful.”
“I see.” She drums her fingers on the table. “He’s making inquiries. I didn’t tell Brent this, but I’m telling you.”
“Why? And what kind of inquiries?”
“Inquiries into our family. Into our business. He’s talking to mutual friends about what he could do to hurt us, or at least to undercut us enough to make us want to give you up.”
I take a long breath and let it out. “I really can’t believe he’s going so far.”
“Can’t you?”
“No. I’m just…”
“You’re his ticket.” She stares at me. “Or did you think I wouldn’t find out?”
I feel my whole body go still. My heart almost stops beating. “What?”
“I know about your little marriage deal. I know about the land and the oil. Just like your father, I have friends and connections. It wasn’t easy to find out, but I made some very interesting phone calls.”
“How?” I choke the word out.
“Don’t worry about how, dear. Suffice to say, I know.”
“So then you understand why I can’t go back.” I lean toward her. “He’ll force me into a marriage. He’ll make me—”
“Oh, stop whining.” Her words come out whip-sharp although she doesn’t raise her voice at all.
I sit back, shocked.
“I was young once,” she says. “I had friends, I had loves. I had a family that supported me and gave me everything in the world. And then one afternoon, when I was nineteen years old, my father called me into his study and told me that I was going to marry a Lofthouse boy. He didn’t even say which one.” She smiles a little bit. “I thought it was his brother, Ronald. I’m happy it wasn’t.”
“You were forced to marry Brent’s father?”
“Forced?” She gives me an amused look. “No. I wasn’t forced. I was simply told it was going to happen.”
“But you didn’t have to. Nobody… has to.”
“That’s where you’re wrong.” She shakes her head slowly and lets out a sigh. “I knew what I had to do. I didn’t want to. I had loves, I had friends. But I knew that my family needed me to marry the Lofthouse boy, and so I did. That was a long time ago, dear, and I’d make that choice again. It helped save my family. It gave me five children and a good life. There might not be some wild love between Edward and I, but that doesn’t matter. We have something better than that.”
“What?” I ask, my voice choked and emotional.
“We have money and we have power.”
She stares at me and I swear I don’t recognize her. I can’t imagine that a person like her could even exist.
I push my chair back and stand.
“I can’t,” I say.
“You can, Amber. And I think you will.”
“I’m sorry. I know you don’t want me here… but I can’t abandon Brent. He’s done too much for me already.”
“Oh, I know. But speak with him. Convince him you must leave. Do what’s right, Amber, instead of what you want. That’s the mark of a woman.”
I turn my back to her. I’m shaking and I don’t want her to see it. “I’ll… I’ll think about it.”
“Good. Think hard.”
I limp away, leaning on my cane. My security boys fall into place. They’d been listening the whole time but neither of them look at me.
“Good tea,” Sylvia Lofthouse says behind me. I glance back and she’s drinking from my cup, a little smile on her face.
I turn away and shiver again before hurrying away. My leg hurts but I keep going.
The onion girl gives me a pitying look as I pass her.
His mother wants me to leave. I thought… I thought they’d worked something out. He seems so happy and lighthearted today. I figured that was because he got his mother’s approval, despite what my father’s doing.
But no, I was wrong. He’s happy because he stood up to her and made his own decision.
I can respect that. I can even love that. But her words keep ringing in my ears.
Do what’s right.
I don’t know what that is. I don’t know if the right thing is to leave and marry Michael like she married Brent’s father, or if the right thing is to stay with Brent.
I can feel myself shivering all over as I limp back to the room. When I get there, Brent’s still gone. I shut the door, leaving my security boys outside. I throw myself onto the couch and cover myself with a pillow.
If I leave, he’ll get me. I know he will. But if I stay, Sylvia is going to hate me forever, and she might just throw me out eventually anyway.
And worst of all, I’ll drive a wedge between Brent and his family. I’m already doing it. I can already feel it happening.
God, I don’t know what to do.
Any choice I make is the wrong one, or at least it all hurts.
But maybe I’m already used to hurting.
18
Brent
Amber is in an odd mood when I find her in our room after I finish working out. She doesn’t want to talk about it, just buries herself in some book and refuses to talk.
I take a shower and clear my head. Something happened when she left. I want to know what it is, but I don’t want to force her to talk if she doesn’t want to. When I’m clean, I get dressed, and join her on the couch.
We don’t talk for a while. I don’t press her. I find an old paperback and read it, although mostly I’m just looking up at her.
“I see you staring,” she says. “Stop it.”
“Can’t help myself.”
“Brent.”
“If you want to talk, we can talk.”
“If I wanted to talk, I’d just come out and say it.”
“Are you sure?”
“Brent.”
I sigh and lean my head back. “Okay then. We don’t have to talk.”
“Good.” She starts reading again.
I toss my book aside. I slide closer to her and run my fingers through her hair.
“Brent,” she says.
“Yes?”
“What are you doing?”
“I’m grabb
ing your hair.”
“I see that.”
I kiss her neck. I kiss her cheek. I kiss her lips. She frowns.
“What are you doing now?” she asks.
“Kissing you.”
“So because I don’t want to talk, you think I want to—”
I grip her hair hard. “I don’t think it. I know it.”
She bites her lip. “Brent.”
I pull her head back. She gasps softly and drops her book. It hits the floor with a thud. I kiss her neck and push her legs open. She lets out a little purr when I find her lips and kiss them, biting them softly, tasting her.
“You don’t want to talk,” I say. “You can be as quiet as you want.”
“You’re an ass.”
I pull her hair again. She groans and wraps her arms around my neck. I kiss her hard, tongue in her mouth, and her breathing gets faster.
I drop to my knees in front of her. I lean over top of her and push her shirt up. I kiss her chest, her breasts. I kiss her stomach and tug down her yoga pants. I slide them off and she lifts her hips to help. I toss them aside before I tease her spot with my hand, feeling her warmth and her wet.
“See, you act like you don’t want this, but I know you do,” I whisper in her ear. I push her panties aside and sink two fingers deep inside her. “When we’re in the gym, stretching you out, I see the way you’re looking at me. You want me to rip off your pants and fuck you right there. I think you want to ride my thick, hard cock right in the gym. You want to get nice and sweaty and tired then take my fat cock, over and over, until you come.”
“Oh, god,” she moans. “Yes, god, I want that.”
“You’re a dirty girl.” I sink my fingers in and out of her, fucking her with them. “You can’t stop thinking about my cock between your legs.”
“I can’t stop because you won’t let me.”
I chuckle and bite her lip. She gasps. “Damn right I won’t.” I pull her hair with my free hand and sink my fingers in as deep as they’ll go. She wiggles her hips, slick and groaning.
I release her hair and drop down between her legs. I hold her panties aside and lick her top to bottom. I tongue her clit and slide my fingers nice and deep.
She tastes like honey and heaven. I suck and lick her as my fingers fuck her nice and deep. She groans the whole time, losing herself and loving it. I can’t help myself as I keep going, my body ringing with need and joy. I’m buzzing on her pleasure, loving the way her body tenses and flexes. I can tell she’s losing all her worries, all her frustrations.
Whatever happened, it doesn’t matter now. My fingers fuck her, my tongue licks her, my lips suck her, and she loves it.
Her fingers glides through my hair. “Oh, god, Brent,” she moans.
I pull back and kiss her as my fingers fuck her faster. I fuck her hard, making her body tense and shake. I kiss her and she grabs my hair tighter, panting and moaning into my mouth. “Yes, yes, yes yes,” she groans “Oh, fuck, yes.”
I keep going, fingers fucking her, pushing her, making her moan. Her body tenses as I find her spot and keep rolling over it again and again.
Finally, she throws her head back, gorgeous hair spilling around her like rain. “Brent,” she moans and I feel her come. I drop between her legs and lick her clit as she comes, making her body flush and tense with pleasure.
I love her taste and lick my fingers clean when I’m done. She leans back on the couch, grinning like an idiot.
“Okay, I need to hold out on you more often,” she says.
“I could tell you needed a little release.” I kiss her lips and she returns it with a hunger. “Now, darling. We need to talk.”
I stand up straight and move away. She groans.
“No fair.”
“Yes, fair. I need to know what happened.”
She glares at me and puts her clothes on with some difficulty. “Look, I’m not doing this, okay? Just because… just because you can get me off, doesn’t mean you can know everything, okay?”
“I disagree with that premise,” I say.
She rolls her eyes. “I don’t care.”
“Amber.”
“Brent.”
“Tell me. I can’t help you… I can’t protect you if I don’t know everything.”
“Your mother came to me, okay?” She turns away. I blink and frown. I can tell she’s angry. “God, way to ruin an orgasm, you asshole.”
“My mother?”
“Yes. Intense lady, real scary? She came to me when I was eating.” She limps over to the bed and sits down on the edge. I linger across the room and watch her.
“What did she say?” I ask.
“She doesn’t want me here.” She looks up. “She said you knew it, too. You didn’t tell me.”
I wince and look away. “I didn’t think it mattered if you knew.”
“Well, it does. Why wouldn’t you tell me?”
“I thought—”
“This goes two ways, Brent.” She glares at me and I finally look back at her.
“I understand,” I say. “I’m trying to keep you safe. And part of that might mean having to keep certain things from you.”
“No,” she says. “That’s not how this is going to work.”
“Amber—”
“No.” She stares at me, real anger now. “Listen to me. Your mother doesn’t want me here, which means she can kick me out whenever she wants. Why she hasn’t yet, I don’t know. But I hate being here if she wants me gone.”
I clench my jaw. “I know. I’ll convince her. I’ll—”
“We need to do something.” She shakes her head. “We can’t just keep running.”
I take a deep breath and close my eyes for a moment. I have to center myself, calm myself. I can feel my anger threatening to get away from me, and I can’t have that right now. I have to be centered and clearheaded if I’m going to think this through.
I know she’s right. She’s right that things aren’t good here. My mother wants her gone and that’s a problem. We’re only still here because she hasn’t decided to throw us out yet. As soon as she gives the word, those two security goons outside this door will come in, grab her, and throw her on the street. They might not do the same to me, but they know damn well I’ll go with her.
We have to do something. We can’t keep hiding. She’s fucking right about that, too.
“I’ll talk to your father.”
She stares at me. “What?”
“I’ll talk to him. I’ll offer him something.”
“What can you possibly offer him?”
“I don’t know,” I admit. “But I’ll make an offer.”
“Brent—”
“You’re right.” I step toward her. “We have to do something. And your father is the problem right now. If we can work some deal out with him where you don’t have to marry anyone, we can get through this.”
“He won’t accept anything else. He wants that land.”
I cock my head slightly. “Right. He wants that land.”
“And to get it, he needs me to marry that boy. Damn it, Brent. I don’t know what you think you can do.”
I smile a little. “I’ll figure it out. First thing though, I have to get in touch with him.”
“That won’t be hard. He’s all over the internet.”
I walk over to her. She looks up at me as I kneel down in front of her and take her hands.
“Are you okay with this?”
“No,” she says. “Not at all. I don’t want him involved. I want him to disappear forever.”
“But he’s not going to.”
“No, he’s not. Unfortunately.”
“I’ll work it out. For now, we’ll lay low.”
“How long will we even have? Your mother’s not going to let us stay forever. She said something about my dad making… inquiries.”
I grunt at that. “I can only guess what that means.”
“It’s not good.”
“I’m sure.” I hold h
er hands tighter. “I promise, I’ll work on something.”
“Fine. Work on it.” She looks away. “I’m exhausted. I think I should take a nap or something. My leg’s killing me.”
“Yeah. Go ahead and do that. I’ll figure some things out.”
“Sure.” She lets go of my hands and climbs into bed. She curls up and I put the blankets over her.
“Don’t go anywhere.”
“I won’t.” She stretches. “I think a nap is exactly what I need.”
She closes her eyes and I walk away. I linger at the door before slipping out, shutting it behind me.
The security guys just look at me, bored expressions on their faces.
I walk on. I’m running out of time. I doubt my mother’s going to give us more than another day, maybe two at most. If her father is asking around our little circle of rich and elite people, that means my timeline is shrinking rapidly.
So I need to figure it out and fast.
19
Amber
I wake up from my nap and the sun’s starting to set. I check the clock and groan. I slept for a few hours, way longer than I thought I would. And I’m not even a nap person.
Brent’s not in the room. I get up and shower off. When I get out, Brent’s still gone. I poke my head out of the door and look around.
The security guys are gone, too.
I frown a little bit and duck back inside. I put some shoes on and limp out into the hall again. I look around and start to walk. I want to find Brent and talk about this plan he’s coming up with.
The idea of contacting my dad freaks me out but I know he’s right. We have to find some way to negotiate with him. I just don’t know how we can possibly do that. The only thing he wants is that land, and Dave isn’t going to sell without a marriage in place.
I limp down the quiet halls until I get to some stairs. They’re steep, dark, and winding. I can’t see what’s beyond the turn just a few feet down. I look at them for a second before slowly stepping down. I have to take it one step at a time, but I can do it if I’m careful. It doesn’t hurt too bad, actually, which surprises me. A week ago, this would have been really painful, but it’s actually not that bad at all.
Which means I’m getting better. A little bit at a time, but still, getting better.
