“Chelsie said yes. We’re getting married, and we’re having a baby.”
I stuck my left hand out so that the girls could see the beautiful ring Ian had given me.
“Engaged, baby, I take off for a week and look what happens.” Izzy was giddy.
She hugged me. “So this is why you’ve been sick?”
“Yes.”
She leaned close to my ear. “But when? I thought you hadn’t seen him.”
“The night of your engagement party. He was waiting for me when I got home. It was Jason who brought him back.”
She looked confused. But, Sabrina and Parker were waiting to hug me, so we’d have to talk later. Everyone was busy talking when the door opened, and Jason walked in.
Ian’s face froze in mid glare.
“I thought you said it was over between you two,” he said tersely.
He didn’t lower his voice, so everyone heard him speak. All eyes turned to me. “We’re friends as I told you, and he’s dating Sabrina.”
Jason watched the exchange, and I noticed a protective, worried look on his face as he came to stand by Sabrina. He extended his hand to Ian. “Jason Stone. I’ve heard many great things about you.”
Ian shook his hand. “Ian Briggs, Chelsie’s fiancé.”
Couldn't he wait to do that? Like an animal marking his territory.
“Congratulations on your engagement and your baby. You’re a lucky man.”
Jason was a class act. He handed Ian, the upper hand, and I watched as mutual respect filled the air.
“Can I speak with you two for a moment?” Jason asked.
Ian and I looked at each other. “Sure, let’s go to Sabrina’s office,” I suggested.
We followed as Jason led us to a place he’d obviously become comfortable with. Ian gave me a sideways look, but I could only shrug my shoulders as to what was going on.
Ian shut the door behind us as we stood in the tight space. “I wasn’t sure how much you’d shared about Carson with everyone, but, I got a call this week from the jail. Carson wants to see me.”
Shocked was an understatement. “How did he find you and what does he want with you?”
“I have no clue to any of it,” Jason shrugged.
Feeling weak, I sat on the edge of the desk. That ugly monster would never go away. “Go see him. See what he wants.”
“I’m going with you,” Ian exclaimed.
“That might be a good idea, actually. He won’t be expecting you, and there’s power in duplicity,” Jason agreed.
“Exactly,” I answered.
“Can you go now?” Jason asked.
“Yes.”
I trembled with fear. Carson was always up to something, and it was never good. But, the fact the two of them were working together meant something, and Jason was right—they had the power.
Chapter Fifteen
Ian
Jason drove with quiet fury downtown to the Dallas jail. We were told it wasn’t visiting hours by the gatekeeper and were turned away initially. After a trip to the District Attorney’s office and several quick meetings, we were given permission to have a two on one visit with Carson in a room,
God help him if the officer turns his back for even a second.
“Well, well, well. So it’s both lovers in one room. She must be a good girl to keep both of you going. I must’ve taught her something after all.” The jerk was so fucking smug.
I stood up so fast my metal chair flipped backward and made a crashing sound. The officers were on us in a second.
“Ian, don’t.” Jason pulled me back. “Let’s hear what he’s got to say.”
“What do you want, Carson,” I asked, picking up my chair.
“Well, I wasn’t expecting you, Ian, but I guess you’re back in town?”
“Yes, and my fiancé’ and I are very happy. I’m not going anywhere.”
“Your fiancé.' What a laugh. Did you know that she hired this prostitute?” He pointed to Jason.
It was Jason’s turn to fly out of the chair, and he was so fast, he got a punch in before the officers could stop him. I heard bones crack with Jason’s right hook. Carson was going to feel that punch for a few weeks.
“Officer, I want to press charges for assault,” he screamed holding his eye.
What a pussy.
“What assault? I didn’t see anything but you falling. You guys got five minutes, and we’re out.” The uniformed brute wasn’t one to jack with.
With Carson seated back in his chair, his hands cuffed and propped on the table and his swollen eye shutting down, he let out a cocky laugh. “I’ve got recordings of her and this prostitute that will ruin her name in the business world. She’ll be the laughing stock of the community if anyone hears what she’s done. Tell her to back off on the charges, or I go public.”
His demand was both stupid and calculating, and he pushed it to the wrong person. If he’d said that to Chelsie, she would’ve crumbled. But he made a mistake bringing his bribe to me.
“First, you just admitted that in a recorded room. Score one for the DA. Second, my future wife is carrying my child, and I’m not taking any of your demands back to her and risking her health or that of our baby. Third, no one cares what you recorded. You don’t have a platform to show it. You lose. Enjoy being someone’s bitch in jail, you sorry piece of shit. What you did in front of your son has no excuse.” It was all I could do to keep from pummeling him. If only my hand worked.
“Knocked up, wow. Check out your videos on RedTube. Doesn’t take much to sweet talk a whore, does it.” He smirked.
That was it. I flew across the table and tried to choke the life out of him. “Don’t ever let me catch you walking the streets because here’s my promise—you can’t take back a bullet.”
The officers pulled me off of him. “I’ll be back with papers. You’ll sign over rights to Ty, or this is far from over.”
Jason and I were told to wait in the room until they cleared that piece of junk out. As we sat there, my heartbeat roared in my ears, and my breath escaped in labored pants. I wanted to kill him.
“Dude, I thought for a moment he might’ve been done for,” Jason said with a slight laugh.
“If they’d let me, I’d finish that piece of shit off. He’s terrorized Chelsie and Ty for years. You wouldn’t believe the stunts he’s pulled.”
When Amy Klinger, the assistant DA walked in, she was not happy. “You boys done scuffling in here?”
“No. We need a few more minutes, and that would make it a party,” Jason scoffed.
“Look, tensions are high; I get it. But, I can’t have my judge asking me more questions that help the other side. Unfortunately, you both took your turns assaulting him, so I can’t use the tape. But, I suggest you check out these links on RedTube.” She handed me several sheets of paper. “He did post videos of you and the victim. It looks like he sold them, because there're multiple listings that our IT specialist found. Unfortunately, I don’t know how many are out there.”
“Chelsie’s pregnancy is high risk. We can’t talk about this right now.”
“The trial won’t be for at least six months. I can delay it as long as possible, but it’s going to come out, and you’re the best one to tell her.”
Back in the car, Jason and just sat there, staring out the windshield. “He’s a piece of shit,” his mumble barely audible.
“Look, I’m not stupid. You care about her, I see it in your eyes. But you can’t tell her right now.”
“She’s suffered, man. By you, by that piece of…” He stared me down.
He was right. I’d caused her as much grief as Carson. I had no room to talk. Her words were rattling through my brain. “Carson told me I was a lousy lay. He made me feel the lowest a woman could feel, and he kept me there.”
He was watching us on his hidden cameras. Sick fuck. Thinking about what he did make me nauseous.
“How much damage will this do to you?” Everyone’s motivated by their ow
n skin in the game.
“Not going to lie. I am a hired escort. I’ve had sex for money, and I’ve done well at both.” He scratched his chin. “But few people know me here. I didn’t sleep with Chelsie, so there’s no damage to come from that, it’s just poison to my name since I used my real one here.”
Jason put the car in drive, and the rest of the way back to the shop was quiet. I’m sure both of us were thinking of what could be done to diffuse Carson. There wasn’t much. He had the truth behind him, regardless of how illegally it was acquired.
Chelsie was going to lose her ever-lovin’ cool when she finally found out, there was no escaping that explosion.
When he pulled the car into the back parking lot, I’d come up with nothing. “We need a story. Want to go with Carson wanted you to sweet talk her into dropping charges and leave it at that?”
Both of his hands had a death grip on the steering wheel. “Both of us are too mad for that. She’ll read right into us.”
“That’s all I got, and look, she’s coming out the door, better think fast.”
“It better work, because I got nothing.”
She approached Jason’s car, parked next to her own. “’Bout time you got here, we’ve got to pick up the boys and get back here for the rehearsal.”
She threw her purse in her car. “Let’s go.”
I eyeballed Jason, and we had good unspoken communication as to what our story would be, because I knew the moment she and I got in her car, she was going to hit me with the one-two punch about our jail visit with Carson.
Lying to her posed serious repercussions.
Jason went inside the building to find Sabrina and avoided Chelsie altogether. “Did you two play nice?” She asked over the roof of her car.
“With each other, yes. With your ex, no. He was shocked to see me, which we banked on. He wanted Jason to sweet talk you into not pressing charges on the assault. Not going to happen. We talked to the DA.”
“If he would sign over rights to Ty, I’d do it,” she declared with sarcasm.
If anything, Chelsie was predictable in her request, but we both knew Carson would never agree to a rights revision.
Chapter Sixteen
Chelsie
I had many questions and so little time to get them answered. With trying to round up my family and not ruin Isabella’s wedding rehearsal barbecue and barn dance, my issues with Ian required tabling.
“You’re not off the hook, I just don’t have time to digest all of this right now.”
“I know,” he uttered.
We closed both the store and bistro at noon on Friday so that that we could move stuff around and the wedding coordinator could take over the place. Denise was supposed to have both boys at home by the time we got there. It was going to be a fast shower and turnaround time for all of us. Ian offered to cook a light dinner while I got ready. I missed being in the kitchen with him. It was something we enjoyed and he really was a great cook—better than me. Ty would eat anything that Ian made and never say a word of complaint or feed it to Yolo. Let me do it and I got the complete opposite response.
Bro’ Code.
We got in the house and everyone rushed in separate directions to get ready. Denise left to have dinner with friends, but she was coming back in the morning for the wedding day to be available for Sabrina's little one and us.
Nannies were angels on earth and irreplaceable.
I swirled my hair up tight in a spa wrap and hopped in the steamy shower. Normally I’d spend twenty minutes in a shower, but Ian was standing in the bathroom waiting his turn.
“Get in,” I yelled.
“If I get in, we’re missing the party,” he laughed.
Mind over matter. We shared it. I could use the stress relief myself.
When I stepped out, he stepped in and almost slipped. The door sprung open. “What is so slick in here, you damn near killed me,” he laughed.
“Coconut oil. It makes my skin soft and shiny.”
He cracked the door open. “Remind me to use it for lube when I fuck the shit outta you later, babe.” His voice was almost a whisper, but it held seriously sexy undertones.
Sexy Ian was back.
I grinned. “Promise?”
He winked.
Dressed and handsome in new, tighter jeans and a Rock Revival button down that I had delivered, he looked yummy.
Maybe I should start carrying men’s clothes. Nah. Stop!
I stood in my closet, rethinking my outfit. We’d received some shorter dresses with jackets at the store and I pulled one out to save for this occasion because it would hide my pregnancy, but that was before Ian was back in the picture. He would think the dress was too short.
Hmm. What to do? Tights! I had them in all colors. Problem solved.
When I entered the kitchen, the boys were snacking on loaded french fries and mozzarella sticks. One big pile of mess in the center of my table.
“Hmm, looks healthy and delicious,” I teased. But, it didn’t stop me from diving in. I was starving too, and it was going to be a late night. The mozzarella sticks were just what I needed. I put two in a napkin to take with us.
The four of us piled in my car. Ian looked in the backseat then back at me before backing the car out of the garage. I watched him struggle with the gear shift, but it had always been sticky, even for me. “We gotta get you a bigger car.”
“I know. It’s on the to-do list. What do you think is the best option? I’m not a fan of sport utilities but with the boys’ gear bags and now a stroller, I don’t think I can get away from one.”
“BMW and Mercedes have wagons?” He snickered.
“Go ahead and laugh, mister, but you’ll be driving it too and as tall as you are, you’ll love getting in and out of one.” I snickered back.
“Are Y'all fighting,” Oliver asked.
“No son, we’re playfully discussing new cars. Chelsie needs a bigger car for you boys, your toys and baby stuff.”
I looked over my shoulder and I could see Oliver processing everything.
“It will be months before the baby is born. Your dad is just planning, but what would you like me to drive?”
“I liked Dad’s truck. It was my favorite because it had a TV in it.”
“Me too,” Ty added on, not that he was really paying attention.
“He’s right. The Tahoe is what I was thinking. I know it’s big and harder to park, but, you’ll be happy with a third row and drop down video monitors.”
Dads know best.
We got to the bistro and went upstairs where everyone was hanging out. Cutter was in a good mood and toddling around with Jason chasing him. They both looked happy. I watched Sabrina’s face and it made me warm and fuzzy to see her falling in love with Jason. He was good for her, for them.
“Finally. Y’all are late,” Izzy squealed.
The wedding coordinator gave an overview, put everyone in line and we did the first run through. We were done in less than forty-five minutes. Shortest rehearsal I’d ever been too. Enjoyment came easy watching Sabrina stand in for Isabella since it’s bad luck for the bride to walk the aisle before the big day. A prediction crossed my mind.
The live music was already playing when we got to Whiskers Barbecue and Barn and the food spread was enough to feed an army. I was hungry enough to eat half of it for them. The boys saw other kids and ran off to play without so much as a bite.
“I’m glad you fed them earlier. They won’t eat now.”
“Relax, sweetheart. Kids eat when they’re hungry. Our boys are healthy. You are the one I’m worried about. You’re far from healthy. See anything that appeals to you?”
“Everything,” I growled. “Dress might not fit tomorrow, but I’m enjoying tonight.”
After dinner, we danced and being in his arms was like a dream come true. We were genuinely happy. I worried when the sky would fall.
Why worry so much?
Taking a break while Ian danced with Sabrina, I play
ed with Cutter. He was truly an adorable baby, with curly dark hair, dark eyes and dimples. He loved anything that made noise.
“How’s it going?” Jason asked before taking the seat across from me at the large, round table.
“Really good. It’s new, it’s fun and happy, but there’s a real world adjustment coming. How about you and Sabrina?”
“I really like her and that little guy makes it all worthwhile.”
“Yeah, babies have a way of doing that, and I think this one just filled his britches.”
“I’d ask you to dance, but I don’t think your fiancé would like it too much.”
“No. Look, I’m sorry it was a bull match this morning. He’s very territorial and now that he knows about the baby, he’s going to fight like hell.”
He got up from the table and came to my side to get Cutter for a diaper change. “Just don’t forget to fight like a girl, Chelsie.”
When he walked off, I pondered the meaning of what he said.
With Ian by my side, I felt like superwoman—the power of the universe in my hands. As we danced to a slow song, he held me close, our hearts beating together to the same drum. Before yesterday, I thought the world had taken him away, that he was untouchable. But today…
“I just want to touch you. I can’t stop, it doesn’t feel real,” I whispered.
“I know. The honeymoon period will end soon and we’ll be barging in on everyday life. Are you ready for that?”
“Yes, I am.”
“You know; I don’t think anyone is placing bets on us.” His voice was sad.
“I am and that’s all that matters.”
He kissed me hard and needy, regardless of who was watching. “Another song and I want to take you home if that’s okay?”
The gentle, uncontrolling side of Ian. I hoped he didn’t think he had to walk on eggshells with me.
“I’m ready.”
The band did a cover of I Want Us Back and I fought tears in my eyes as Ian sang along in my ear. It was true, I did want the old us back, but that wasn’t going to happen; too much had changed.
Captivated On 5th Avenue: Book 3 (5th Avenue Romance Series) Page 9
