Tomas Meir put a hand on Bay’s shoulder, nodding towards Kym. Everything told her to run, but she couldn’t move. Bay turned toward her. God. Kym saw her friend was using a stick to walk, but other than that, she looked well and healthy. Her long, dark hair hung even longer than Kym remembered, but Bay’s sweet face, usually so warm, was blank as the two women stared at each other.
She hates me. God, I’m sorry, Bay. I’m so sorry. Kym turned away, looking for an escape. Roman caught her elbow and steered her into a room. “Bay knows you don’t want to see her. She won’t force the issue if that’s the way you want things to be.”
Kym closed her eyes and swallowed back the nausea that rose in her throat. She sucked in a few deep breaths and felt Roman’s warm hand on her back.
“Kym?”
She opened her eyes and looked at him. His eyes were soft. “It’s almost over, Kym.”
Bay turned back to Tom, her eyes filling with tears and her body trembling. Tom caught her face in his palms and kissed the tears away. “I know, baby,” he murmured. “I know. Come on, let’s find somewhere to sit.”
He held her hand on the way to the courtroom. Her other hand gripped the handle of the stick. She hated using it, especially now that the rest of her body was healed and good. Even her scars, from bullet wounds and multiple surgeries, were now just silvery lines on her belly, crisscrossing it. Tom would kiss her scars when they lay together at night. She had survived. Stu had failed. That was the only thing that mattered now.
Except …Bay didn’t know how she would cope, seeing him. She still relived that night, that gun aimed at her, the muzzle flash, the sound, and the pain every time she closed her eyes. The pain in Tom’s eyes when she had finally woken in the hospital. The fracture of her dreams. Bay, Pete, and Kym. The 9th & Pine. They had been set for superstardom and were on the verge of touring when Stuart Lawson’s bullets had ruined everything.
Tom led her into a side room. “Lawyer said we should wait here until you’re called.” They sat, Tom pulling his chair next to hers so he could wrap his arms around her. She tilted her face up to his and met his kiss.
“You know,” Tom murmured, “We could be really efficient and get married while we’re here.”
“Wrong court, doofus.” But she smiled. Tom’s lips were firm against hers and she sighed at the sensations that ran through her body. After she’d gotten out of the hospital, it had been months until she was ready for sex again. Now, though, she couldn’t get enough of him.
Tom had vowed that after the trial, after all the horror was behind them, he would take her away for a long, long time. Otis had offered them the use of his private island in the Caribbean—only Otis would have an island, she’d grinned. But she was excited to go and get away from all of this.
Pete arrived with Hank and hugged her. “You okay, sweet thing?” Bay nodded.
“I saw Kym,” she told Pete in a low voice and he gave a quick nod.
“Did she speak to you?”
“No. Roman spirited her away somewhere.”
Pete looked annoyed. “Figures. When does this thing start?”
“Any minute.”
Bay felt Tom’s hand on the back of her neck, massaging the knots there, and she leaned into his touch. “It’s nearly over.”
“Nearly.”
Tom kissed her temple. “Whatever happens, I love you so much.”
She wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his chest so he didn’t see her cry.
“Stuart Roger Lawson, you are accused of the following: one count of attempted murder in the first degree against Miss Baijayanthi Aria Tambe; one count of assault with a deadly weapon against Miss Tambe; one count of possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life; one count of the kidnapping of Miss Kymberly Clayton …”
The list of charges went on and on, but Stu grinned at everyone. He was still smiling when he was asked how he pled.
“Not guilty on all counts, your Honor.”
Roman, the only one who wasn’t a witness, made a disgusted noise, earning him a look from the bailiff. He felt sick as the prosecution lawyer stood to start his questioning. He wished desperately that Bay wouldn’t have to go through this, and when she was called first, his heart went out to her as she moved down the aisle slowly.
As she sat in the witness box, Roman watched as Bay glanced at Stu, then quickly away, her face pale. As the prosecuting lawyer, Jed Lyman, asked her to describe the night she was shot, Roman was impressed with how calmly she was reliving the event. As the lawyer gently probed her about the actual shooting, her voice wavered.
“So, after Miss Clayton had left your home, you attempted to escape from Mr. Lawson’s grip?”
“Yes. He released his grip enough that I could defend myself. I rammed my knee into his groin, but he threw me to the ground, cursing at me.”
“What did he say?”
“He called me a ‘fucking bitch’ and aimed the gun at me. He told me he had been waiting a long time to kill me and that I would make a ‘beautiful corpse.’”
Roman heard a woman on the jury gasp. He looked over at the twelve people and saw that they all looked appalled.
“What happened then, Miss Tambe …Bay?”
“He shot me once, in the abdomen. Then he knelt and pressed the muzzle to my belly and fired twice more. He was going to shoot me again, but the gun jammed. I saw him leave just as I lost consciousness. When I woke a few minutes later, the pain was overwhelming and the smell of blood and gun smoke made me feel sick. I tried to pull myself across my floor to reach my cell phone …but he had smashed it. I passed out again and woke up in hospital.”
Someone at the back of the room retched. Bay was green now, obviously back there in that room with her would-be killer. Stu hadn’t taken his eyes off her since she had walked into the room, his gaze full of hatred mixed with desire. Sick fuck. It made anger flood through Roman and he wished he had killed Stu back in that motel. There were not enough words to describe this son-of-a-bitch.
The lawyer was good; after Bay’s description of her shooting, he had waited for a beat, letting the horror sink in.
“Miss Tambe …the day you were shot …it was to be your wedding day. Is that correct?”
“Yes.”
“And you were shot whilst wearing what was to be your wedding dress, correct?”
Bay swallowed. “Yes.”
Roman looked back at the jury. A few of them were openly crying now.
The lawyer patted her hand kindly. “Bay …was this the first time Stuart Lawson tried to kill you?”
“No.”
Roman sat up then. What the hell? He listened in increasing horror as Bay described the night she had fired him at their recording studio, after he had beaten Kym almost to death. How she’d goaded him, making sure the studio’s cameras caught everything. The lawyer turned to the judge. “Your honor, we would like to submit that video into evidence at this time.”
“Objection. We have no knowledge of this video.”
Jed Lyman smiled. “Your honor, this video goes to show the antagonism between the defendant and Miss Tambe, and the violent nature of his interactions with her. I would also like to point out the disparity in height and build between Miss Tambe and the defendant.”
“Objection!”
The judge, an elegant woman in her seventies, glared at the defense lawyer. “Overruled. Miss Tambe, will you be okay if we replay the video of the first attack? If not, you may be excused for a few minutes.”
Bay nodded. “I’ll be fine, your honor.”
“Okay, well, My Lyman, let’s see it.”
Kym sat in the small room, half expecting Tom or Pete or someone to burst in and scream at her. She wouldn’t blame them. Shit. Why hadn’t she had the courage to face up to Bay?
She started as someone knocked. A court clerk poked her head. “Miss Clayton, you have visitors.”
Kym frowned. “Huh?” Then her stomach dropped as her mother and father
pushed their way into the room.
“Darling!” Her mother fell on her, sobbing. The clerk looked impressed and Kym sighed, mechanically patting her mother on the back. Impressed was always the initial reaction to her famous parents. Just as well you don’t really know them, she thought. The clerk reluctantly left them alone.
Her mother, Charlie, finally finished performing and Kym sat back down, waiting for the onslaught.
“Darling …they didn’t even tell us at first that you’d been kidnapped.”
Her father, Mac, looked stony-faced. “I tell ya, some folks are gonna get fired over this.”
Kym sighed. “They didn’t tell anyone because they thought if they let it be known I was missing and that Stu was keeping me hostage, he would kill me to save himself.”
Even her dad flinched at her words. Charlie stroked her daughter’s blonde hair. “Sweetie …but afterward, you didn’t think to call us?”
“Who did call you?”
“No one called us,” her father said gruffly. “We saw it on the internet.”
Jesus. “What about Bay? Did you know she’d been shot? Didn’t you think it strange I wasn’t calling you, upset?”
Charlie and Mac shared a guilty look. Of course not—their world only contained the both of them and no one else mattered. Same old, same old. Kym got up.
“Look, Mom, Dad, I think you should go. This is nerve wracking enough.”
“But sweetheart, we should be here to support you.”
Kym looked at her mom, professionally made up and in tight leather and her dad, tour t-shirt stretched over his still athletic physique. His current tour.
God.
Roman Ford chose that moment to walk into the room. Kym introduced them, and instantly, a light went on in her mother’s brain. She switched into flirting mode. Kym got a little satisfaction at the lack of response from Roman, but seeing as he was a robot …
“Kym, they’re calling you next. Bay has testified already.”
How is she? Is she okay? But Kym kept her mouth shut and ducked out of her mother’s reach. “I’m ready.”
“We love you, darling.”
“God,” she said as Roman took her elbow. “Parents …do you have trouble with yours?”
Roman stopped and looked at her. His eyes were dark, his face a mask of pain just long enough that she knew she’d hit a nerve.
“Roman …”
Roman opened the door to the courtroom and practically shoved her in. “Your turn,” he said roughly. “Don’t fuck it up.”
“Just drive. I don’t care where. Just, please …I need to feel the wind in my hair.”
Tom put the Mercedes into gear and took her hand. “You got it, beautiful.”
Bay sat back in the seat and let out a long breath. It was over. She never had to see Stuart Lawson again or relive that night. Over. Gone.
The car slid smoothly down the interstate, the wind streaming through Bay’s long, dark hair, whipping it around her face. She looked over at Tom. Even he looked relieved now. The rest was up to those twelve people on the jury and Lyman had reassured her, “Lawson will never be released, Bay. He’ll die in jail.”
God, those words made her want to scream with joy. Now, she could really start to look forward to her new life, with Tom, and with Pete and their band …
There it was. The cloud in her soul. The dark place she couldn’t reconcile. Kym. No, don’t think about her. She made the decision to leave.
Instead, she touched the back of her hand to the cheek of the man she loved and smiled at him. “Baby?”
He caught her hand and kissed the back of it. “Yes?”
“You know any secluded beaches near here?”
Tom grinned. “I don’t know about beaches, but I do know of a private lake with a little jetty. Somewhere we could …be alone, unobserved.”
“Then let’s go there.”
Kym waited until the court had emptied before leaving. She’d been unfortunate enough to witness the press frenzy when her mom and dad had left and she’d seen how much they loved being the center of attention. She could only imagine how they would if it had been her who had been shot. Assholes.
Roman was waiting with her, tapping his finger on the table idly. She looked at him in irritation.
“Do you want to stop that?”
Roman didn’t glance her way. “Nope.”
Kym shifted in her chair. “Look, I did it. I testified, okay? You got what you wanted.”
The finger stopped tapping. “You think this is what I wanted? For any of this to happen?”
Kym sighed and stood. “I’m going, so you’ll never have to put up with—“
“What’s next, Kym? For you, I mean. The band …you owe them a real goodbye if that what you plan. You’re still under contract to Quartet.”
Kym hesitated, then took her seat again. “Roman …are you saying that if I leave, I’m in breach of contract?”
“Technically, yes.”
Kym rubbed her eyes, smudging her make-up. “What now, Roman? Are you trying to force me to go see Bay and Pete or you’ll sue? So all that crap about me being free after I testify …”
Roman leaned forward. “Kym, I’m not totally insensitive. I know it’s difficult. No, of course, we’re not going to sue if you want to leave the band. The band can go on without you. I just think you all be happier together if at least you talk and settle things.”
Kym sighed. “Fine.”
Roman looked startled. “Fine?”
“I’ll meet with them. Just …give me a couple of days to psyche myself up for it.”
Roman smiled. “I’ll set it up for early next week. Kym …whatever’s happened, I know this is the right decision for you.”
Tom slid his hands under Bay’s shirt and slipped it from her shoulders. The evening was cool, but neither of them minded. The lake was, as promised, quiet and private. They had walked hand in hand along the little wooden jetty. At the end, a weak lamp swung from a pole, and over the water, a light fog rolled in.
His lips pressed firmly against hers. He felt her small hands at his shirt, unbuttoning it, and letting it drop to the wooden jetty. With an expert flick, he unclasped her bra, letting her heavy, full breasts fall into his waiting hands. He dipped his head to take first one, then the other nipple into his mouth, tasting her and savoring her salty skin. His tongue ran over the tiny bud and the small bumps that rose as her nipple hardened. Bay swayed slightly, murmuring his name. Her skirt hit the deck next, then his pants and underwear. Then, naked, skin to skin, Tom lowered her to the jetty, kissing her lips, her throat, and down to her belly, tracing the circle of her navel with his tongue. He lifted her legs over his shoulders and buried his face in her sex, biting down gently on her clit before lashing his tongue around it. Her sex swelled and blossomed for him as he ran his tongue along the soft peach of her outer labia. Then he plunged deep inside of her.
Bay’s body tensed, her fingers tangled in her hair, and she shuddered through an orgasm as Tom set every nerve ending in her body on fire. God, she wanted him. She wanted to feel his cock driving hard into her, but first …
She pushed him on his back and crawled down his body, grazing his nipples with her teeth and feeling his stomach muscles contract under her fingertips. Grinning up at him, she wrapped her hand around the root of him and took him in her mouth, gliding her lips over the quivering, wide crest of his cock, sucking gently as her tongue teased the sensitive tip.
“Jesus, Bay …”
She could taste salt and pre-cum on her tongue and increased the suction and the pull of her lips until he was shuddering and jerking beneath her, groaning her name. He made to pull out, but she held him in her mouth until he couldn’t hold back and hot semen shot onto her tongue.
“I want to be inside you …now …” he growled, and in a flash, he had her on her back, her legs back over his shoulders and his cock, so hard and so thick, was pushing into her. Bay shivered with pleasure as Tom began to fi
nd his rhythm and rammed himself as deep into her as he could.
“God, I love fucking you, Bay Tambe …”
She laughed, gasping as his pace increased, her body moving with his, and their lips meeting hungrily, her fingers tangled in his hair. The cool evening air swirled around their hot bodies. Bay couldn’t stop gazing at Tom’s face. Was there really a time she hadn’t known him? It seemed impossible.
Afterward, they dressed slowly and walked hand-in-hand back to the car. It was almost night now. As he drove back into the city, Tom looked over at Bay, her hair streaming behind her in the night air, and wondered how they had gotten through the last months. He had nearly lost her and that fear still lived inside him even though she had survived the impossible. A tiny part of him wanted to shut her away somewhere where no one would ever hurt her again, but he assumed it was the same for anyone who loved someone as much as he loved Bay.
She smiled at him. “That was a perfect way to spend an evening. Thank you.”
“After the verdict, we’re going away and I’ll make sure every evening is even more perfect.”
Bay grinned. “Right back atcha. Tom?”
“Yes, babe?”
“I want to go back to work.”
Tom was confused. “I don’t follow.” For the last few months, Bay had been in the studio, making a name for herself songwriting while she recovered.
“I mean the band. I want us to start up again, make plans, and give it a real shot. Pete’s going crazy working at Hank’s bar. It’s time.”
Tom nodded. “I think it’s a great idea. Bay …what about Kym?”
She looked away from him, but not before he saw the glint of tears in her eyes. “If Kym wants out, that’s her right. We’ll just have to find a replacement.”
Tom took her hand. “I think that’s a healthy way to look at it. I’ll talk to Roman in the morning.”
Rockstar Untamed: A Single Dad Virgin Romance Page 94
