Watch Me Burn

by Nikki Drost

  “I was only playing, Jamie. I’d be honored to be your wife.”

  Thank fuck because I don’t know if my wolf could take her saying no. He’s been agitated since my knees hit the hardwood floor.

  “It’s beautiful,” she says as I slide her engagement ring onto her finger.

  “You know what else is beautiful?” I slide my hands over the top of her thighs.

  Now that she is officially mine, I think it’s about time we celebrate.

  “Tell me,” she says breathlessly as I begin to nibble on her ear.

  “Get naked and I’ll show you.”

  Chapter 15

  Kelsey

  “I still can’t believe you are getting married,” Andy gushes as she admires my ring.

  “Neither can I,” I mumble.

  It’s been two weeks since Jamie popped the question and two weeks since I’ve had a decent night’s rest. Ever since he put this ring on my finger, I’ve been overwhelmed with guilt. Jamie found the courage to share his deepest, darkest secrets with me, and like a coward, I still haven’t told him that I’m pregnant. It’s not as if I can hide this from him forever, and honestly, the only thing I am doing is prolonging the inevitable. Jamie has made it crystal clear that he doesn’t want any children.

  I never should have accepted his proposal.

  I know it was wrong to say yes, but when Jamie had dropped to his knees and asked me to spend the rest of my life with him my brain had shut down and my mouth took over. My emotions have been all over the place for days and at that moment, the only thing I could think about was how much I wanted to be his wife.

  As if the guilt I’m feeling isn’t bad enough, I’m also being plagued with awful nightmares. It is the same thing night after night. I’m lying in a hospital bed after delivering our baby. Jamie stands by my side holding my hand, but his attention is focused on the crying baby across the room. I ask him repeatedly to give me our child, but it’s almost as if he can’t hear me or refuses to acknowledge my request. Panic sets in when Jamie lets go of my hand and takes our child from the nurse. He turns to me and tells me to choose.

  I scream at him for putting me in this position, I beg him over and over to stay with me and our baby, but my pleas fall on deaf ears. That is when Michael appears. Jamie hands our child to the angel and before I am able to stop him, the three of them disappear, leaving me alone with my anguish. Each morning I wake curled up in a ball with tears streaming down my face. The overwhelming emptiness I feel is an omen of what is to come.

  “Have you thought about a date?” Andy asks excitedly bringing me out of my reverie.

  “Er…not really,” I answer honestly.

  “Ooh, what about New Year’s Eve? I think that would be perfect!” Andy squeals, “Oh my god we have so much to do. We’ll need flowers, a location, enough food to feed a small army and you my friend need a dress.”

  Not even the prospect of a shopping spree is enough to lift my spirits. I’m too busy trying to decide when I should drop the bomb on Jamie and I am still have to come up with an exit strategy incase this evenings event turns hostile.

  “Are you okay, Kelsey? You’re as white as a ghost.”

  I nod my head as bile churns in my stomach. “I’m starting to think that tonight was a mistake.”

  God, what was I thinking when I agreed to introduce Jamie to my family? I must be out of my freaking mind! My dad will most likely spend the evening trying to belittle Jamie and his life choices. If his standoffish personality doesn’t frighten Jamie away, he’ll resort to his time honor tradition of bribery. Nothing says you aren’t good enough for our family like a check with multiple zeroes.

  “Stop being so paranoid,” she admonishes, “I’m sure your parent’s will be taken back at first, but they’ll get over it because your happiness is what’s important.”

  “I think you need to lower the dosage of whatever delusional happy pills you’re on, and check back into reality. You know that the only thing my parent’s care about more than money is keeping their image intact. My father will see our engagement as some sort of guerrilla warfare and declare war on my happiness.”

  “Relax, Kelsey. If the senator tries to lay siege on your happy day, we’ll set up blockades, minefield the backyard, Micah can even dig a trench around the cabin if that would make you feel better. Just say the word and I’ll start calling in reinforcements,” Andy teases.

  Her good-natured ribbing isn’t doing much to settle my unruly nerves, but I appreciate her effort just the same. Our friendship has always been about balance. Andy keeps me grounded and I bring a little excitement into her life, it’s a win-win for both of us.

  Suddenly the doorbell rings alerting the household of my parent’s arrival. Time to put on my helmet and battle gear ‘cause it’s show time.

  “Are you sure you’re ready for this?” I ask as Jamie enters the living room with Adam, Henry, and Matt in tow. My grandfather had insisted on showing off his extensive car collection the moment he heard Jamie was into that sort of thing.

  Man he sure cleans up nice. He’s traded in his jeans and T-shirts for a pair of charcoal gray dress pants and a crisp white button up shirt with the sleeves rolled up to show off his colorful tattoos and a black and white striped tie. And to add his own brand of style he added a black vest and a skull and cross-bone belt. Try as I might, he refused to wear anything but combat boots, at least the pair of Doc Martins he is currently sporting are new.

  With his trademark Mohawk and charismatic smile, my wolf looks ready to charm the panties off a group of nuns. Damn, he is so sexy. All I want to do get him naked so I can nibble on all of my favorite parts of his hard body.

  “I’ve faced nests of bloodthirsty vampires, packs of murderous shape-shifters, and covens full of pissed off witches. I think I can handle one human politician.”

  “You don’t under—”

  “I do understand, princess. I’m not exactly the type of man your father envisioned for his only daughter, but that doesn’t change the fact that we will be getting married. As long as I have you by my side, I can handle anything that he throws at me.”

  ***

  “So tell me, Jamie, how did you come to meet our lovely daughter?” My mother politely asks between sips of wine.

  For the most part my mom has been on her best behavior, but I’m attributing that to the mass amounts of wine my grandmother has been pushing on her.

  Bless that woman’s heart.

  My father on the other hand has been silent and that is never a good sign. I’m positive he has already written Jamie off and is just waiting for a suitable moment to tell him as much.

  “We met after Andy and Adam starting dating, but I’m sure we would have met regardless, Kelsey has a way of standing out in a crowd,” he says with a grin so swoon worthy my panties practically dissolve.

  “Yes of course.” My mom smiles coldly before averting her attention to the happy couple sitting at the end of the table. “Marriage seems to agree with you, Andrea, why you are positively glowing.”

  “Thank you, Mrs. Collins.” Andy smiles fondly as she gazes at her husband. “I couldn’t be happier.”

  “It shows, dear, and I must say it pleases me to see you take such good care of yourself. So many women tend to let themselves go after they enter into a relationship, don’t you agree, Kelsey?”

  My forkful of tiramisu never makes it into my mouth regretfully it is placed back onto my dessert plate and slowly pushed out of my reach. Damn her, I really wanted my dessert. I ended up picking at most of my dinner either because it didn’t look appetizing or it flat out turned my stomach. The only thing that even remotely looked good to me was the flank steak and I don’t even like red meat.

  “Mom,” Mattie growls.

  “What?” she says while feigning innocence, “I was only suggesting—”

  “We know what you were suggesting,” Matt tosses his napkin on top of his half-eaten dessert, “and the last time you did something s
imilar, Kelsey didn’t eat for a week. She was perfectly healthy in high school just like she is now, so back off.”

  Matt tosses back his double shot of Laphroaig 18 then promptly refills the tumbler with the expensive Irish scotch.

  “Well, Matthew, I see you’ve traded one vice for another. You always did like to live dangerously. Can I assume that you have this little problem of yours under control or do I need to find you some help?”

  Why did my dad have to go there?

  “Oh now you want to send me to rehab?” Matt scoffs, “Where was all of this concern when I was swallowing Vicodin and Percocets by the handful? Or when I was snorting an eight ball of coke a week? Oh, that’s right. You and your campaign manager were trying to figure out the best way to use my substance abuse to your advantage.”

  Matt shakes his head before taking an unhealthy sip from his glass. I can’t stand to watch my brother go through this. He has worked so hard to regain control of his life and stay clean and all of it could be for nothing if I don’t find a way to take some of the heat off of him. Fortunately, it seems that Henry has similar thoughts.

  “Come on, Mattie, how about you and I go for a walk? I could use some fresh air and we can check out the tree house for old time’s sake.”

  “Ah, the treehouse,” my father sighs dramatically, “I’ve lost count of how many girls Matthew defiled on that dirty wooden floor. You always did have a particular talent for attracting the ones who possessed very little self-respect. I do hope that isn’t still the case.”

  “You really want to go there, old man?” Matt asks smugly. “Because if memory serves I wasn’t the only one banging bimbos on hard surfaces, at least I didn’t have to card them first.”

  My god would someone please just shoot me right now and get it over with. Andy and Henry have been to enough of our little family get togethers to be used to this sort of thing by now, but I can only imagine the sorts of things Jamie and Adam must be thinking. This whole night is a disaster. I should cut my losses while I still can.

  “Well, I think our delightful trip down memory lane has officially come to an end.” My grandmother eyes my father and brother with narrowed eyes. “Sweetheart, perhaps you would like to use this opportunity to regale us with a happier topic.”

  Great, my dad is already in a foul mood and I don’t think dropping this particular bomb into his lap will help elevate the animosity in the room. Jamie tightens his grip on my thigh as all eyes turn toward us. God, I don’t want to do this, but if I don’t, then Jamie will know that something is up and I’m not ready to deal with losing him yet. Well, here goes nothing.

  “Jamie has asked me to marry him and I’ve said yes.”

  Three, two, one…

  “Oh my god you’re pregnant!” my mom gasps.

  Play it cool, Kelsey. Show no emotion!

  “You’ll marry him over my dead body!” my dad shouts.

  “This is wonderful news,” my grandmother gushes.

  At this point, I decide to tune out the rest of the chaos and focus my attention toward the other end of the table. There is no point in arguing with these people, they only hear what they want to anyways.

  “Henry, Matt, would either of like to weigh in on this?”

  My long time friend offers me a shit-eating grin. “It’s about damn time, I couldn’t be happier for the both of you.”

  I wonder how he’ll feel when he finds out the truth.

  “Kelsey, please think about your future. If you are in some sort of trouble there are ways to make it go away, discreetly of course,” my mom offers her special brand of advice.

  “Christ, here we go,” my brother sighs loudly.

  “Why can’t the two of you just be happy for me? I have finally found a man who treats me the way that I deserve and not like some stupid trophy. He is an amazing man who is insanely talented. I love Jamie and that is why I want to marry him.”

  The sound of my father’s humorless laughter causes my blood to run cold.

  “Marriage isn’t about whimsical emotions, young lady, it’s a business transaction. You marry someone to secure your place in society or for power and money, but not for something as trivial as love because it never lasts. Do you think he’ll feel the same way about you when your trust fund money runs out? Will love dry your tears when he leaves you to raise his bastard children because someone better came along? Is that really the type of life you want?”

  Well, at least now I know why my parents have stayed married for all of these years, it was never about love for either of them, just business. Hell, I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that Matt and my conception had been prearranged in some law office.

  “And he wonders why I drink.” Matt leans over the table to refill Jamie’s empty glass.

  “Are you listening to me, Kelsey?” my father’s voice rises in anger. “I’m not going to let you ruin our family’s good name, do you hear me? You are not marrying this man.”

  “The hell she’s not,” Jamie growls, “we didn’t come here for your permission or your blessing. As far as I’m concerned, tonight was nothing more than a formality and since Kelsey is an adult there really isn’t anything you can do to stop this from happening.”

  No, finding out that I am pregnant should take care of it.

  “You can drop the act, Mr. Trudeau. I can see the dollar signs in your eyes when you look at my daughter. Just tell me how much it will cost to get rid of you.” My dad reaches into his jacket pocket and pulls out his checkbook. “How does fifty thousand dollars sound?”

  “It sounds like chump change,” my brother snorts. “He’s wearing a Greubel Forsey, that watch costs six hundred thousand dollars and did you happen to see his brand new range rover in the driveway? I don’t think he’s hurting for cash.”

  “Fine,” my father crosses his arms over his chest, “if you aren’t after money, then what is it that you want? Perhaps a job in the private sector, I could get you a position with a private security firm. Just name it and it’s yours, anything to end this farce of a relationship.”

  “Alright, I’ve heard enough.” Jamie jumps to his feet and drags me right along with him.

  “I’ve met some real sick bastards in my time, but you two,” he points at my parents, “take the fucking cake. You may be a great politician, Mr. Collins, but you suck at being a father, and believe me, I know what I’m talking about. Just because you didn’t smack your kids around like my dad did to me, that doesn’t mean you still aren’t abusive and it ends tonight.”

  Jamie begins to pull me away from the table toward the door. “I should warn you, I love your daughter and that means I will go to the ends of this Earth to protect her and seeing as how she has a twin, my protective streak now extends to your son as well. Looks like I’m taking both of them off of your hands. Let’s go, Matt, Henry you too.”

  Without so much as a peep out of either of them, both Henry and my brother jump to follow us out. Just as we reach the dining room threshold Jamie stops in his tracks.

  “Just one more thing,” he turns to face my parents, “you’ve made one hell of an enemy tonight, senator. If you’re planning on coming after me I hope you bring your A-game cause I fight dirty and I play to win. But if you do anything to fuck with either Kelsey or Matt, well, let’s say your squeaky-clean image will be the least of your problems. You aren’t the only one who has friends in high places. Nobody fucks with my family, senator, nobody.”

  And with that, I’m escorted out the front door. The image of my parents’ stunned expressions will stay with me for the rest of my life. No one has ever had the balls to stand up to my father until tonight. If I didn’t love Jamie before this, I sure would now.

  “Man that was fucking epic, you, my friend, have balls the size of grapefruits.” Matt holds his hand out toward Jamie. “If you can stand up to my father and not break a sweat I know my sister is in good hands. I’ll be proud to have you as my brother-in-law.”

  Jamie returns the handsha
ke. “Good, because I meant every word, Matt, you need anything you come to me, got it?”

  My brother nods his head, he then says Goodnight to the rest of us before getting into the passenger side of Henry’s F150.

  “Well, that was…interesting. Remind me to never go to a dinner party with either of you two again,” Adam says as he leans against the trunk of his classic Camaro. “Although, I must say that I am impressed with the way you handled yourself in there, brother, you kept a level head and that couldn’t have been easy for you.”

  As I watch Jamie and Adam continue their discussion, it hits me that I could be worrying for nothing. It’s one thing to say that you don’t want children when they are hypothetical, but maybe once Jamie has some time to process the news he’ll be okay with it. If he’s not, then leaving him to raise this baby on my own will not only break my heart, but it will shatter my soul.

  “Are you sure you’re alright, Kelsey? You seem to be off lately.”

  Andy gives me a concerned look. She has been my best friend for so long it isn’t any wonder that she can sense something is wrong. God, I wish I could tell her what is going on without feeling guilty. I need to get all of this off of my chest and if nothing else, I need some major advice on how to deal with all of this, but Andy doesn’t need my drama right now. She has enough on her plate at the moment.

  “I’m fine, although, I think I might be coming down with something,” I lie through my teeth. I also notice that Jamie and Adam are staring at me like they know I’m a big fat pregnant liar, but that also might be the paranoia setting in. Either way it makes me completely uncomfortable.

  Jamie clears his throat, he then holds out his hand for me to take. “Come on, princess, I have a surprise for you.”

  ***

  “What on earth are we doing here?” I ask as Jamie opens my door and helps me out of the car. When he said he had a surprise for me I never would have imagined we’d end up at a nightclub in Greenville.