Pretty Little Lies (Lie #2)

by J.W. Phillips

  Ethan

  I needed to get to Dylan. I needed to touch her soft skin and try to show her how much I loved and needed her and the baby. Whatever hurt her enough to make her leave, I would fix it. Even if I couldn’t marry her at the moment, she would always be my forever.

  I pulled up to the address Margaret Ellen emailed when my dad gripped my arm. “E, before you get out, I need to tell you something.”

  “Shoot,” I said with my hand on the door handle. I wanted out of that truck.

  “I didn’t tell you everything Marge’s email said. Her lawyer DeMarco is a baby broker.”

  “Huh?”

  “He sells these babies to the highest bidder. He’s a piece of crap.” He squeezed my arm. “In Alabama you can sign your rights away at any time. You don’t have to wait for the birth.”

  I caught my reflection in the rearview mirror, and it startled me. Dark circles encompassed my sad eyes, my once confident demeanor unrecognizable. I looked like the hell I was living in. I was being sucked into a living nightmare. I closed my eyes. Her smiling face burned behind my eyelids. My trusting Dylan was once again in the hands of a savage wolf. All she wanted was to be happy, and all she found was misery. I rammed my fist onto the dashboard, shaking the cab of the truck. I choked backed a lump welling up in my chest. The pain was oppressive. “Please forgive me, Privy. Come back to me,” I whispered to myself.

  My dad tapped his fist over my knee, unsure of what else to say. After wallowing in my despair for a few more moments, I took a deep breath and got out.

  I caught a glimpse of a man smoking at an old wooden picnic table. He was huffing on that cancer stick as if it was the only thing keeping him alive. He stared up at a patio connected to a dilapidated apartment building and a girl slumped over a small metal table. Long red hair hung down and sprawled over the tabletop. A pair of small shoulders vibrated as she cried. I was looking at a woman that was totally shattered. It was my sweet Dylan the man was staring at. Taking in the sight of her, I finally felt whole until . . . I remembered the reason she was there was because she was running from me.

  She never realized that someone was watching her . . . that I was watching her. I counted the decks across the back of that rundown structure to figure out which apartment Dylan was in, before I took off running around to the front of the building. I noticed the man still looking at Dylan. I was pissed and wanted to beat the shit out of him for following every movement of the girl that was mine. I couldn’t blame him though. Even totally broken, she was ravishing.

  I took out into a full-fledge run. She was inside the third apartment from the left corner. I glanced back at my dad sitting in the truck before I started banging on the front door. I pounded my fist onto it until I heard a key turn in the lock. She slowly opened it, and stuck out her head. When she saw it was me her eyes with wide, and she dragged her bottom lip through her teeth.

  “Why are you here?” She opened the door and stepped aside.

  “Because you are?” I walked through the open door and closed it. I locked my eyes on her and hungrily devoured every inch of her succulent body.

  She put the entire length of the room between us. She didn’t stop until she rammed her back against the wall. She crossed her arms and rubbed her shoulders as if she was trying to ward off the cold.

  “How did you know where I was?”

  “They called about the scholarship.”

  Her eyes had a brief glimmer as if it was all coming back to her. Could she have possibly been remembering that I’ve always tried taking care of her?

  “Why didn’t you kill me?” Dylan asked.

  I flinched at the thought of that ever being a possibility. I took a few steps toward her, trying to close the gap between us.

  “You promised Victoria you would make me pay. E, I wished you would’ve killed me instead of making me believe you cared.” She backed farther into a corner. “I should’ve had enough sense to know you couldn’t love me. My own mom didn’t love me so why should someone like you?”

  The room spun around me, and tunnel vision set it. All I could see was her cowering in the corner crying. I couldn’t stand seeing her in so much pain. I had no idea how deep the extent of her pain truly was. She didn’t even believe I could love her. Hell, I was the luckiest son of a bitch in the world because I got the privilege to love her. Her mother had to been the biggest fucker ever not to realize what a treasure she truly had in her daughter. I prayed every day that my daughter would just be half the woman Dylan was.

  I couldn’t respond. God, I couldn’t stand seeing her like that. Words suddenly seemed inadequate. I encompassed her against me. I couldn’t hold her close enough. If I couldn’t find the words to say, I would show her what she truly meant to me. How fucking crazy I was about her. She buried her face against my chest. I felt her hot tears as they soaked my shirt. She clutched my hand and bought it to the swell of her stomach.

  “E,” she said against the lapel of my suit coat. “Did you ever even care about her?” She choked back another round of tears. “Do you love her just a little bit?”

  She started shaking her head. Would she even believe me when I answered? Abruptly, she shoved me hard enough to topple me backwards. “Just get the hell out. I’m tired of your shit.”

  I started to take a step in her direction when she held up her hands to keep me away. Sometimes a person can hurt so deeply that they’re unable to hurt again. That was where I found her. I snapped.

  “Well, I’m tired of yours too.” I was trying to be gentle with her, but I felt the asshole I tried to suppress around her come to the surface. “I’m tired of rehashing crap. No, I haven’t told you shit since I found you again. But then again, your ass-for-a-roommate threatened me daily if I did. I’m tired of trying to convince you that I care. Hell, what else can I do? I’m tired of you running every time something goes wrong.” I kicked a small table, sending it barreling across the room. “But I promise you something right now, you can run anywhere but my sorry ass is following you.”

  I jerked her hand and started to pull her to the front door. “Where are we going?” she asked.

  “I don’t know but somewhere besides this dump,” I answered but kept walking.

  She tugged on my shoulder. “I can’t leave.”

  I spun around and hovered over her. “Why the hell not?”

  “Because they said if I left I couldn’t come back.”

  “Great, because I’ll never allow you to step foot in this damn place again,” I screamed and shook with pent-up rage. “You want to give our baby away to a baby broker?”

  “I don’t want to give her away but what other choice do I have?”

  I glared at her. My breath caught in my throat, and my heart started thumping in my chest. The atmosphere started to shift around us. I watched as Dylan’s eyes widen before her head dipped slightly, and she gazed up at me through her long lashes. Her body was totally contrite, and for a brief moment, I saw something I had never caught in her gaze before. Why I’d never seen that look was beyond me. My sweet Dylan was a submissive at heart. She had spent her whole life trying to just breathe. She needed a Dominat to take care of her and fight for her. She ran when she was backed in a corner because she was looking for a lifeline. She didn’t want to figure it out anymore. She wanted someone to tell her what to do. She was tired of fighting alone. I would be that lifeline.

  “You have me. You asked me if I wanted our baby. If I love her? The answer is yes. I can hardly work for dreaming about her. Who she’ll look like? Act like? But as much as I already love her, it has nothing on what I feel for you. I’ve done so much shit in my past. I’m fully aware I don’t deserve you but I’m not letting you leave me.”

  The next thing I was aware of was the small smile shadowing on her face and throwing her over my shoulder. I stepped outside her apartment, raced down the stairs, and was greeted by two security guards.

  “Sir, you need to let the lady down and leave the premise im
mediately.” They crossed over the sidewalk and stared me down.

  “She doesn’t want down,” I said matter-of-factly, my eyes never leaving them.

  “That’s for her to say.”

  I fisted my hands in her hair and lightly yanked her head up. “You want me to let you down?” I asked and smiled as her eyes soften before she shook her head.

  The look on Dylan’s face caused an unexplained rush of adrenaline to pulse through my veins. I quickened my pace to get away from them and to get Dylan safely in my truck. They were not going down easy. They stepped in front of us.

  “I think you men need to move,” Dad said as he walked up behind the security guards. “Or my son here, who’s a D.A., will gladly show you what an overprotective papa-bear is capable of.”

  It didn’t take much to get those thugs to step to the side. Those simple words did it.

  Once I got Dylan in my truck, I could finally think straight. I climbed in right beside her. When I shut the door, everything felt totally right. My impatience made it feel like forever to drive into the city and get a hotel.

  Dylan

  Ethan was just on the other side of the doors leading into the hotel, but that didn’t stop him from leaving Neal to guard me. I watched out the windshield as Neal leaned against the hood of the truck, chewed on a nasty cigar, and motioned for me to join him. I hopped out of the truck and slammed the door behind me. Neal Asher was in on the making-me-pay scheme. The thought of spending anytime with him alone caused my skin to crawl. When Ethan lost his temper with me back at the apartment, I admit I was terrified. He had lost all control until he looked at me, and I saw a peace wash over him. It was then I realized how much fight Ethan had in him. He would rain Hell down on anyone that tried to hurt someone he loved. There was no one he wouldn’t fight except me. It was in his eyes; I was the one calming force he had in his life. There was nothing I wouldn’t do for him, including listening to whatever his dad had to say.

  “I’m sorry for everything you’ve suffered in your life. Especially, everything my family put you through,” Neal said and took a puff of his cigar. “I’ve already watched one son lose a child. I won’t watch another one. Ethan wants you and that makes you an important part of this family. Just remember we take care of what is ours.”

  I couldn’t speak past the lump in my throat. I just hoped Neal could see in my eyes how much Ethan meant to me. I wasn’t sure why I always ran when I got upset. But I knew where I felt the most at home, Ethan’s arms. I sat down on a nearby bench, feeling physically ill. I curled into a ball and cried silently, unable to contain the feelings overwhelming me. I didn’t even pay attention to everything around me until I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked up and lurched up into the arms of Ethan.

  “Don’t,” Ethan said.

  He turned his face away from me and didn’t hold onto me, sending me falling to my feet. I yelped from the pain shooting down my hip. He ignored it.

  “You’ll never run from me again, understood? This is my daughter too. Do you really hate me so much, you want to give her away?”

  I shook my head. He couldn’t truly believe that? Could he? He jerked my hand, jostling me. He pulled me through the lobby and onto a nearby elevator. The doors finally opened on the top floor. He stood there as his dad exited then clasped my hand into his large, manly hand. I felt a jolt of current run through me and my already racing heartbeat accelerate. He guided me out of the elevator and down a long corridor.

  He slid the magnetic card through the lock strip and opened the door. He stepped into the room and let go of my hand. He headed to a small wet bar set up on the opposite side of the room. I watched him pour a glass of bourbon and toss it back. He refilled the glass before ever looking at me. My stomach churned. I wanted to say something, anything. But I couldn’t.

  His eyes were hard orbs of topaz. His face was stern and callous. “We need to talk,” he said and slammed his glass on the bar. “You’re mine damn it.”

  I swiped away the tears streaming down my face. “I know who I belong to. I’m sorry I left but Victoria . . .”

  “I don’t want to hear it,” he snapped cutting me off. “You were going to try to give my child away. She doesn’t just belong to you.”

  I shook my head violently. I never thought of it that way.

  “Do you love me?” he asked before taking another drink.

  “Yes,” I whispered and bowed my head. “You’re the only person I’ve been capable of loving since my dad died.”

  His eyes closed. I took the opportunity to move closer to him, hoping he would touch me.

  “Bullshit, I bet you even tried to love the monsters your mom brought home.” Ethan’s eyes opened and focused on me. They had never been clearer or colder. “Why should I believe I’m not just someone you love hoping to have that love returned?”

  I cringed and stepped back, all of the sudden aware he might not want to touch me. He didn’t need me after all. A line of women would gladly take my place. Ethan had the face, the body, the money, but most importantly, he had the heart to make any woman lucky. But I didn’t care if all of that vanished. I wasn’t there for the success or looks but because of how my heart healed when I was with him.

  He followed my steps and hovered over me. He leaned forward to rub his thumb roughly across my lip then encompassed me in his arms.

  Ethan

  I was unsure how the next few days would go, but I relished in the sight of her exquisite face nestled against my chest. There was nothing about her body I didn’t love, even down to the small mole on her left ribcage. The thought I was harsh with her stung, but if she was a true submissive, she needed the power exchange to clear her mind to talk.

  I traced over her lower back side and felt her squirm in my arms. That natural, innocent movement caused my dick to stir. I had always prided myself on my self-control but I should had known by then that nothing concerning Dylan was ordinary. Her startlingly blue eyes fluttered open, and streams of tears poured down her unbelievably stunning face.

  “Just ask and I’ll tell you the truth,” I whispered and placed a small kiss on the tip of her nose.

  She reached up and itched her fingers over my three day growth of stubble. I hated the lazy look of facial hair, but Dylan loved it, so I would learn to live with it. I rubbed over a tear drop sliding down her rosy cheek with the pad of my thumb. “Why are you crying? We haven’t even started talking yet.”

  “Why are you mad?”

  “Not mad, just, hell, I don’t know. Pissed.” I couldn’t find the right words for what I was feeling. My heart ached. Part of me wanted to admit Dylan and I would never work. I was a realist and not some idiot who believed in fairy tales. But Dylan was the one addiction I never wanted to break. She was the one person in life who made me truly happy. I reminded myself we had one more secret to overcome then we could move past the bullshit and be that couple she deserved.

  “I want to see my tattoo?”

  I sighed before I started unbuttoning the dress shirt I was wearing. My mind started racing at what she would feel as the memories of that day rushed back. I slid the shirt off my shoulders and down my arms. Tossing it across the room, I turned around revealing the intricate tattoo of orange primroses. Since her amnesia, I often wondered if the tattoo stood out to her. I etched it on my body, so she no longer had to see the awful tattoo that haunted her dreams. I gladly covered up the symbol of my family for her. I turned around and saw her shake her head in disbelief, and for a brief moment, I prayed she understood how much she meant to me.

  “I’m sorry,” Dylan said. Her hands touched the side of my head as she gently stroked her hands through my hair.

  “For what, babe?”

  “Leaving you, not only this time but the first time too,” she murmured. I leaned down closer, so I could hear what she was saying and smiled when I caught the small sad smile playing on her lips. All of the sudden, her body twisted and her back was to me. She gripped my hand and led me to th
e nearby bed. “E, I don’t want to rehash everything. I’ve already read that book, and I’ve worked it out in my head. You’ve never hurt me, only tried to repay me for sending your brother to my doorstep. But I need to know why you want me?”

  I laid my hand protectively on her stomach. Want her? I fucking needed her. “Because when I’m with you, I’m at peace with the world. I can’t explain it, but the first time I ever held you in my arms, I knew that there was something about you I couldn’t live without. I was right too. Because I’ve tried living without you, and I was in constant night.”

  “Why though?”

  “You’re a rare breed. I’ve never met anybody stronger than you. As full of love and willing to forgive as you. I envy you. But I’m also the luckiest bastard in the world because I get to love you.”