Ryley's Revenge

by L. P. Dover

  My dearest brother,

  One day you’ll thank me. By the way, your bed is a lot more comfortable than mine. I had fun in it last night.

  ~ Cam

  Gritting my teeth, I crunched the note in my hand. I was going to fucking kill him. Throwing the letter in the trash, I ripped the sheets off my bed and opened my balcony door, throwing them over. Washing them wouldn’t be able to wipe away the memory of my brother fucking his whores all over them. They needed to be burned.

  My fingers shook with rage as I dialed his number. I knew he wouldn’t pick up, but it didn’t stop me from leaving him a message. “You motherfucker,” I hissed. “What the hell is wrong with you? I don’t know what you think you’re doing, but it’s going to stop now. You can hide and ignore me all you want, but come time for the title fight, it’s on. I’m not going to hold back and I sure as fuck am not going to let you ruin things between me and Ashleigh.”

  Ending the call, I squeezed my phone in my hand. Now where could she be? Taking a deep breath, I dialed her number. I dialed again when she didn’t pick up, and still nothing.

  Me: Please answer the phone, angel. I need to talk to you.

  Me: Where are you?

  I waited for her to text or call back, but she never did. She could be anywhere. Pacing along the floor in my room, I racked my brain, trying to think of where she could be. Then, my eyes landed on something displayed on my dresser. Walking over, I picked it up and grasped it in my hand. I had a feeling I knew exactly where she was. Now, I just had to hope she’d listen to me.

  As fast as I could go, I sped down the highway to our beach. It was the longest hour of my life. Once I got there, I saw her car in the parking lot and breathed a sigh of relief. Quickly, I rushed out and stopped at the top of the staircase leading down to the sand. My eyes instantly found her sitting on a towel with her staring straight out at the ocean.

  Slowly coming up behind her, I stopped and just stood there, watching the way her chocolate brown hair blew in the wind. I had so much to say, but I didn’t know where to begin.

  “It’s over, Ryley,” she spoke without even turning around. “The lies, the secrets . . . I’m done with them.”

  “What are you saying exactly?” I asked, wishing like hell I could hit something. I wasn’t going to let it end—not like that.

  She turned her head and the tears falling down her cheeks reflected the sun. “It’s just what I said . . . I’m done.”

  WHEN I WATCHED Ashleigh run out of her apartment, I knew she’d watched the video. Hell, I was the one who shoved it in her mailbox. My plan didn’t go quite the way I wanted it to, but by the look on her face when she sped away, I knew it was going to be over between her and that douche bag. Unluckily, I couldn’t watch it all play out since I was on my way to New York, alone. I had hoped she wanted to come with me.

  “So how did it go?” Camden asked, answering the phone.

  “I think it worked. She looked pissed as fuck when she left.”

  He chuckled. “Yeah, and I know my brother definitely is, judging by the message he left me. I’m going to keep a low profile until the fight this weekend. I need you to be my eyes and ears.”

  “Will do. I’m heading to New York for the next two days, but I don’t think we have anything to worry about.”

  “Let’s hope not. If I have to step it up, I will.”

  The thought made my hackles rise. I didn’t want him messing with her more than he already had. She wasn’t in the condition to handle the stress. “Look, you’re not going to do anything, unless I approve it. The video was fine and it’ll do the job. I don’t want you anywhere near Ashleigh, you got that?”

  “Hey, you’re the one who agreed to all of this. You want your girl, right? Well then sit back and let me handle it. She’ll be yours soon.”

  The only problem was, secrets never stayed hidden for long. If she were to find out I had any part in this, she’d hate me. But it was too late. I had to keep going and hope she would never learn the truth. She was mine . . . and I wasn’t going to let her go.

  RYLEY DROPPED TO his knees. “Please don’t say it’s over, angel. Gabby told me about the video. I know it looks like I lied to you, but I swear I didn’t.”

  The way he said it broke my heart. I didn’t mean we were over. “Ryley, no, I didn’t mean it that way,” I exclaimed quickly, turning my body to face him.

  He pulled me into his arms, his expression wild. “Thank fucking God. You have no idea how bad I want to kill my brother right now. I did some stupid things after you left, but I stand true to my word. I never slept with any of those women. You have to trust me, angel. Don’t let my brother tear us apart.”

  I breathed him in and let him hold me, the visions of those women plaguing my mind. “He’s not going to tear us apart. I’m not going to let him. I just don’t know how much more of this I can take. What’s going to happen next, when he finds out his ploy didn’t work?”

  Ryley sat back and took my face in his hands. “I don’t know, but whatever it is, we just have to stick together. If he sends another video, we’ll break it apart and laugh in his fucking face. Just promise me you won’t let him get to you. I’m already going to beat the ever-living shit out of him when we fight for the title. That will be my revenge.” He kissed me on the lips and touched his forehead to mine. “Promise me, angel.”

  Placing my hands on top of his, I nodded my head. “I promise. But now there’s something I need to tell you.” He let me go and sat beside me on the towel, keeping his attention on me. My hands started to shake so I busied them in the sand, looking out at the horizon.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked softly.

  I shrugged and laughed through my tears. “I don’t even know where to begin. I’m scared to tell you because I’m afraid you’ll hate me.”

  “I could never hate you, Ashleigh. Even when you left, I wanted to hate you but I couldn’t. I don’t think it’s possible. You have to have faith in me. I know that might be hard to do, considering my past, but I love you.”

  “And I love you too. I understand your reasoning for not telling me about your exploits with girls. With that being said, I’m hoping you understand why I didn’t tell you about the following . . . I didn’t keep you in the dark for malicious reasons or anything like that. I did it because I wanted to wait until the right time.”

  He froze, his eyes widening with uncertainty.

  Taking a deep breath, I let it out slowly and focused on my hands. I was too afraid to look at him. “I’m pregnant, Ryley. We’re going to have a baby.”

  His breath hitched and I was preparing for him to storm away. But then, his hands gently grasped my face and his lips touched mine. “Holy fuck, this is insane—our lives will be altered forever,” he murmured. “I don’t know whether to be happy or angry right now. Is this why you left Colin?” He pulled back, but kept his hands on my face.

  “Yes,” I whispered. “Deep down, I knew I was pregnant. I was in love with you but I knew it was too late, you had moved on. I didn’t know what else to do but leave and pretend everything was okay. Staying away only made it worse for me. That’s why I had to come back and make things right.”

  I stared at him, trying to decipher his expression. So many emotions swirled through his crystal blue eyes. At least he hadn’t stormed off. Taking this as a good sign, I continued. “For the last month, I didn’t know for sure if I was pregnant or not. I was too afraid to take a test. I took one just a week ago and confirmed my suspicion. Please tell me you understand,” I begged. “I didn’t want to tell you and have you be with me out of obligation. I had to know you still loved me for me.”

  “And what if I didn’t?” he countered. “Would you have told me then?”

  The tears ran hot down my cheeks because I honestly didn’t know the answer to that question. “I don’t know, Ryley. I’m sure I would have approached you at some point.”

  “Does Colin know?”

  Swallowing hard, I no
dded once and hung my head. “Yes, which is why he won’t leave me alone. I originally told him in hopes he would give up on me, but instead, it fueled him even more. He’s determined the baby is his. I know it’s not.”

  Without looking at him, I could feel his tension crushing me, smothering me. “How do you know it’s not?” he asked in a low, cautious voice.

  I opened my eyes and took his hand, placing it over my heart. “Contrary to what you might think, I didn’t run into his arms and fuck him as soon as I left you. There’s a time difference there. I go the doctor next week to find out when I’m due. If you want to come with me, you can, but I understand if you don’t.”

  My stomach was in knots. I just gave him an out and if he took it, my heart would split in two. He released a heavy sigh and got to his feet. I was about to burst into tears and then his hands grasped under my arms and lifted me up. Eyes wide, I bit my lip to keep it from trembling.

  “I’m not going anywhere, angel. Whatever happens with the baby, I’m going to be by your side every step of the way.” Wrapping his arms around my waist, he looked down at me and smiled. “In fact, I have a few extra rooms in my house we need to figure out what to do with.”

  “Is Camden gone?” I asked. “Because I refuse to let my baby live anywhere with him.”

  “Correction . . . our baby. And yes, he’s gone. He moved everything out today.”

  Lifting up on my tiptoes, I stared into his gorgeous blue eyes. “So what are you saying?”

  He trailed his fingers up and down my back and smiled. “I want you to move in with me. I know it’s early, but it’s bound to happen anyway when the baby comes. Besides, I like the idea of having you to myself every single day.”

  It was crazy, but I didn’t have to think twice. “I must seriously be insane. When do you want me to move in?” I didn’t want to leave Gabriella, but he was right, it was going to happen eventually.

  “Today, angel. I want you there now. Besides, I’m going to need your help picking out the furniture. We can go to your apartment and get some of your things if you want.”

  “I can’t believe we’re doing this,” I remarked excitedly, letting him go to pick up my towel. He grabbed my bag and shoes while I dusted off. “How did you know I would be here anyway?” We started up the beach toward the steps leading to the parking lot. Our secrets were out and I felt amazingly light and free.

  Putting his arm around my shoulders, he dug in his pocket and pulled out the small sand dollar I’d given him when we walked along the beach together almost two months ago. “I saw this and knew.”

  Smiling, I took it out of his hand. “You kept it all of this time?”

  He took it back and put it in his pocket. “Believe me, there was a time I wanted to throw it away, but I couldn’t let it go. Let’s just say, I liked the torture of seeing it every day. Now let’s go get your things and tell Gabriella. She was worried about you.”

  When I got in the car and we started on our way, I was on air. I couldn’t get the smile off of my face if I wanted to. Hopefully, Gabriella would understand why I was leaving. Dialing her number, it didn’t take long for her to pick up, her voice full of concern.

  “Ashleigh, where the hell are you? Are you okay?”

  “Yeah, I’m fine. Ryley found me.”

  “You didn’t break up with him did you? If you did, I’m seriously going to kick your ass. He was so upset when I told him.”

  I chuckled. “No, we didn’t break up, but there’s something I need to tell you. What would you say if I moved out?”

  “Moved out?” she gasped. “Why do you want to do that?”

  I looked at Ryley following behind me in his car, his head bobbing to music. He looked so happy. My heart swelled with the thought of being with him and having a family together. “Ryley asked me to move in with him and I said yes. He wants me to move in with him today so we can be together . . . us and the baby.”

  “Holy fucking shit, you told him? What did he say? I mean obviously he’s happy since he wants you to move in with him,” she squealed excitedly.

  “He is, and I was so afraid he would be pissed. Now that Camden moved out, it’ll be just me and him. I want to do this, Gabby. I’m ready for this next step.”

  “Well then do it, girl. I’m happy for you. I’ll be perfectly fine on my own. I’ll be home in just a little bit, so don’t leave before I get there.”

  “I won’t,” I laughed. “I have to pack up all of my clothes. Soon, none of them are going to fit, so we’ll need to go shopping.”

  “I’m always down for that. Have you told Colin yet?”

  “No,” I replied sadly. “I’ll tell him on Friday when he gets back from New York. He called me this morning and told me about them wanting him on the team out there. I don’t want him upset right now.”

  “He’s going to be pissed when he finds out, Ash. I hope you and Ryley are ready for that.”

  I hope we are too.

  ONCE RYLEY AND I got to the apartment, I packed up all of my clothes and had them all ready to load up by the time Gabriella came home. She was sweaty from working out, but she dashed through the front door straight to me, folding me in a big hug.

  “I’m going to miss you.” When she pulled back, she glared over at Ryley and pointed. “You better take care of my girl . . . both of them.”

  Ryley lifted his brows and laughed. “So we’re having a girl now?”

  “Gabby seems to think so,” I explained. “Or at least she keeps changing her mind. I keep telling her it’s a boy. Either way, I’ll be happy as long as the baby’s healthy. I can just see a little tyke running around with his father’s bright blue eyes.”

  “Oh hell,” he chuckled. “If we have a boy, we’re going to be in for one hell of a ride.” Holding out his arm, he pulled Gabriella into his side and squeezed. “Are you sure you don’t mind me taking her away from you?”

  Smiling, she kissed him on the cheek. “Oh, I mind, but I’m glad to see you both happy. I’ll be more than fine, I promise.”

  “All right, well I’m going to start loading the car while you say your goodbyes. If you don’t mind, I’m going to have someone come here tomorrow and load up the rest of Ashleigh’s things. Is that okay?”

  She nodded. “It’s fine with me. I’ll just get some baby furniture to fill up the empty space, so that Aunt Gabby can babysit her little niece.”

  “You are too much,” I giggled. Then to Ryley, I looked at him and bent down to grab one of my bags. “Do you want help?”

  He smacked my hand and shook his head. “Hell no, I don’t want you falling down the stairs trying to carry your heavy ass bags. I’ll get them.”

  He disappeared out the door and as soon as he was out of earshot, both Gabriella and I laughed. “He’s going to be one overprotective ass, isn’t he?”

  Gabriella nodded. “Yes, he is, but he loves you. That’s all that matters.”

  After we dropped off my bags and my car at his house, we decided to go shopping. His bed sheets were in the driveway when we pulled up and he regretfully told me about the part of the video I missed. We were going to put them in the fire pit by the pool and have a bonfire tonight. Needless to say, he wanted me to pick out a new bedspread and sheets. Even when I picked out a set that had pink flamingos on it, he smiled and let me put the set in the cart. We walked around for about thirty more minutes, until I couldn’t hold a straight face anymore. I burst out laughing and stood there while everyone in the store turned to look at us.

  “Come on, let’s put them back,” I chuckled, bumping him in the side.

  “Thank fucking God,” he exclaimed. We walked back to the section where we got the flamingo sheets and he put them back. “Don’t get me wrong, if that’s what you wanted, I would live with it, but damn those sheets were ugly.”

  “Yes, they were. I was only doing it to get a rise out of you.” There was a bedspread set I really liked, so I walked over and picked it up. “What do you think about this one?
I like the different shades of blue and green.”

  Ryley took it from me and put it in the cart. “Much better.”

  We walked around the store until we finally got to the baby furniture. Instinctively, I rubbed a hand over my stomach and smiled. I didn’t know how long I had, but in a few months I would have a baby in my arms with Ryley by my side. It was too good to be true.

  “Do you think we should go ahead and buy a crib?” Ryley asked, looking at the various options.

  I knew better than to get ahead of myself. “It’s probably not a good idea,” I murmured low.

  He furrowed his brows and looked over at me. “Why do you say that? We’re going to need one eventually, right?”

  I ran my hands over the dark cherry sleigh-style crib and frowned. “There are a lot of things that can go wrong in the first trimester, Ryley. I would hate to have the nursery done and then something happens to the baby.”

  A pained expression crossed his face and he tensed. “I never thought about that. You’ve been taking care of yourself, right?”

  “Of course,” I claimed wholeheartedly. “I haven’t had any alcohol since before we went to Vegas, when I had my first inkling I was pregnant. I didn’t want to take the chance.”

  He put his arm around me and kissed the side of my head. “Then we’ll be fine. My girls are strong.”

  Rolling my eyes, I smacked him in the arm. “Not you too. I told you we’re having a boy. You and Gabby are going to drive me insane.”

  We walked up to the register and Ryley paid for the new bedroom set, smirking at me. “What can I say? I see us having a little girl with dark brown curls and green eyes. I’m going to have fun scaring off her boyfriends.”

  “No, you won’t. She’ll have you wrapped around her finger,” I teased.

  Ryley leaned over and placed his lips against mine, holding me close. “Just like her momma.”