Checkmate anfh-3

by R. L. Mathewson

  “I’m sorry, but I got a call from Trevor while you went to check up on Andrew. I guess with the all the excitement I forgot to tell you, but Zoe’s not feeling well and Trevor is running himself ragged between work and taking care of both sets of twins. Everyone else is trying to help, but they really need someone to stay with them. I’ll only be a few days,” she said, forcing a reassuring smile.

  “Okay,” he said, sighing and not sounding particularly happy, but at least he let it go. “Drive safe, baby, and give me a call when you get there to let me know that you’re okay.”

  “I will,” she said with another forced smile as she gave him a quick kiss on the lips, glad that this at least bought her a few days to get over her heartache.

  * * *

  New Haven Hospital

  The next day……

  “We’re not supposed to release you unless you have someone to take care of you,” the nurse explained even as she helped Rory out of the wheelchair and into the waiting taxi.

  “My brothers are going to take care of me,” Rory said as another wave of dizziness shot through her head and threatened to make her lose the green Jello lunch that they’d forced down her throat.

  “Are you sure?” the nurse asked, looking uncertain.

  “Yes,” Rory assured her, thankful when the nurse took her at her word and closed the door behind her.

  “Where to, miss?” the driver asked.

  “The Holiday Inn on Tremont Street,” she said, closing her eyes and letting her head drop back against the faded cloth seat as she did her best to ignore the throbbing that was starting to make itself known in her hip.

  Thirty minutes later she was letting herself into the hotel room and praying for death with each step. She thought a soak in a hot bath would help, but by the time she made it to the bed, it was obvious that she wouldn’t be making it that far, at least not today.

  Chapter 38

  “You’re fired. Get the fuck off my site,” Connor told the bastard that he’d caught sitting on his ass and text messaging his girlfriend while the rest of the men busted their assess.

  “What? You can’t fire me!” Dave, the man that he’d foolishly hired as a supervisor and gave one too many chances to, said, getting into Connor’s face.

  “I just did,” Connor said, stepping around the asshole as he gestured to a few of his men to remove the prick.

  “What the hell am I supposed to tell my wife?” the man demanded as Connor walked away.

  “That texting your girlfriend got your ass fired!” Connor yelled over his shoulder, not bothering to waste another second on the asshole.

  He pulled his phone out and after one look, shoved it back in his pocket and kicked a bucket full of sand out of his way, not giving a damn where it went. Three days, three fucking days without a single word from Rory. He’d never gone this long without talking to her or seeing her and he didn’t like it, not one fucking bit.

  This wasn’t like Rory. He wasn’t the type of asshole that expected her to check in. He wasn’t overbearing and would never try and keep tabs on her, but he was really starting to worry. Three days without a word. The night that Andrew received his transplant he called her to tell her that everything was going good so far and to tell her that he loved her, but she didn’t answer. The next day he sent her an email update of the project and still nothing.

  Something was seriously wrong. He didn’t know if he’d somehow pissed her off and she needed space from him, which he could deal with, but he just needed to know that she was okay. Rory wasn’t the type to leave a project of this size for three days without checking in. She wouldn’t do that, not unless she didn’t have a choice.

  He called Trevor and left a message this morning, but he hadn’t heard back from the man yet and-

  “I just got your message. What’s going on?” Trevor asked, pulling on a Yankees baseball cap as he climbed out of his truck and headed towards Connor.

  “What the hell are you doing here?” Connor asked, frowning as he noted that the parking lot was suddenly overrun with trucks sporting Yankees bumper stickers and Bradfords, a lot of Bradfords.

  “Is that really any way to talk to your favorite in-laws?” Jason asked with a tsk as he threw a tool belt over his shoulder and walked over to join them.

  “We’re here to get this project finished,” Trevor said absently as he tossed a hard hat to one of his younger cousins.

  “Why aren’t you home with Zoe and the babies?” he demanded as he headed for the office, because he knew without a doubt that something was seriously fucking wrong. Rory would never volunteer to play babysitter so that someone else could finish building her dream.

  “Mom’s staying with Zoe and the babies and so are Haley and the kids,” Jason said, following after him. “What the hell is going on, Connor?”

  “Why did you call me looking for Rory? Where is she?” Trevor asked, joining them.

  “I don’t know,” he said, opening the trailer door, “but I’m about to find out.”

  “Where’s Rory?” he demanded as he stepped inside the trailer, not giving a damn that Jacob was on the phone.

  When the man held up a finger, indicating that he needed a minute, Connor walked over to the man, took the phone from him and hung up.

  “Hey! That was an important call!” Jacob snapped, moving to take the phone back.

  Connor tossed the phone to Jason and leaned over the desk. “Where. Is. Rory?” he asked, biting out each word as he forced himself not to reach across the desk and grab the man by his neck and shake him until he told him what he wanted to know, needed to hear, that Rory was pissed off at him and giving him the cold shoulder. He’d rather her be pissed at him than hurt.

  Jacob frowned in confusion as he shot a look at Trevor. “I thought she was staying with you.”

  “No, I haven’t seen her since the babies were born,” Trevor said, starting to look worried and for damn good reason.

  “Then I don’t know where she is,” Jacob said, rubbing his hands down his face as Jason pulled out his phone.

  “Craig, any idea where Rory is?” Jason asked, pacing the office while Trevor and Jacob waited for an answer, but he was done waiting. Something was going on and he was damn well going to find out what that something was and when he found Rory he was going to spank her ass until his hand fell off.

  “Pull up her bank records,” he said, pointing at the computer.

  Jacob’s brows arched a few seconds before he started shaking his head. “I can’t do that.”

  “Oh, I think you can,” Trevor said, crossing his massive arms over his chest as he joined Connor in glaring down at the nervous man.

  “No, I mean, I really can’t do that. I don’t have her passwords for her personal accounts,” Jacob rushed to explain.

  “Then who does?” Connor asked, praying that someone had that information, because if they didn’t then he didn’t know what else to do.

  “Maybe one of her brothers,” Jacob said, sounding hopeful as he stood up and made his way around the desk.

  “Where are you going?” Jason asked as he placed his phone in his pocket.

  “To see if she left any clues on her desk,” Jacob explained, heading for Rory’s office door, but Connor already knew that he wouldn’t find anything.

  “I’ve been working in there for three days and I haven’t seen anything,” he said, fighting back the need to slam his fist into something.

  Where the hell was she?

  Wherever she was, he wasn’t going to find her by standing around here.

  “Where are you going?” Jason called after him as he stormed out of the trailer.

  “To find Rory so that I can kill her.”

  * * *

  “Oh my God yes! Oh, right there…..yes, oh…….that feels sooooooooo good,” Rory moaned as she settled back into the deep tub that she really needed to have her brothers steal for her. It really would make things a lot simpler for her if she didn’t have to sneak into Con
nor’s house for these late night soaks.

  Granted, this one was more of a mid-day soak, but that didn’t change the fact that this tub really belonged in her house. Maybe she could get Connor to install it as a wedding gift, she thought with a pleased little smile as she looked down at the engagement ring that she loved.

  She knew that it was small and was reminded of that fact by the catty remarks made by other women almost every day, but she really didn’t care. She loved this ring, because she knew how hard Connor had worked to buy it for her. He’d offered to replace it for her and even went as far as to drag her into several jewelry stores, but she absolutely refused to wear anything else. This was her ring and she loved it and she loved the man that had given it to her.

  Before her unintentional mini vacation, which had been out of this world, she’d been nervous and unsure if she could go through with marrying Connor. She’d worried that her feelings for him were wrapped up in the overwhelming attraction that she felt for him. Since he’d proposed, well, told her that they were getting married only a few short months ago, she’d been stressing out about the future.

  What if they got married only to discover that they really hated each other after a few months of marriage? What if he lost interest in her? What if he broke her heart? She wasn’t sure if she could survive having her heart broken by him and was even less sure that she wanted to take that chance on him, but not being able to walk for a day or two had helped her sort through everything.

  It didn’t hurt that for the first time in years she got to relax, just relax. She didn’t have to get up before the crack of dawn, put in a minimum of twelve hours a day, wasn’t working herself into exhaustion to meet a deadline, trying to take care of someone, or running around trying to get errands done. She actually had time to rest and relax. She knew that she should have left the hotel as soon as the pain started to ease up, but she just couldn’t make herself.

  She slept in late every morning, went to bed at a decent hour every night and took as many naps as she damned well pleased. She lounged in the bathtub, watched television while she pigged out on ice cream and junk food and when she wasn’t relaxing, she was thinking about Connor. She missed him and by this morning she couldn’t take it anymore and decided to end her vacation and come home to him. She loved him and she decided that she was going to tell him that. She was also going to marry him and she couldn’t wait, she thought with a small sigh as she closed her eyes and just enjoyed the hot water. She couldn’t wait to see Connor’s face when she told him that she loved him.

  * * *

  “Time to wake up, baby,” that deep sexy voice that sent shivers down her spine said, pulling her away from one of the best dreams that she’d ever had and into one of the strangest dreams of her life.

  How exactly did she end up in her bed? The last thing that she remembered was closing her eyes and enjoying a nice long soak in the tub that she decided was hers. It was possible that she climbed out of the tub and made it back to her room, but she doubted that’s what happened since she was still naked and she wasn’t the type to willingly give the neighbors a show. That and the fact that her arms and legs were tied to the bed, putting her in a spread eagle position told her that she probably hadn’t got here on her own.

  “What’s going on?” she asked, thankful that there was at least a sheet covering her naked body. It wasn’t as if she was shy around Connor, but something about this position made her feel a little too vulnerable and she wasn’t exactly sure that she liked it.

  “How was your nap?” Connor asked, sounding bored and drawing her attention to her left where she found him, half-naked and lounging in a chair where he watched her.

  “Good,” she said, absently, wondering if this really was just a dream.

  “That’s good, Rory,” Connor said, his eyes never leaving her face and she decided that maybe this wasn’t a dream since he looked kind of pissed and she couldn’t will the ropes away with just a thought.

  “Why am I tied to the bed?” she asked, giving her restraints a slight pull, hoping the knots were loose. After a moment she came to the conclusion that Connor was definitely pissed and the man knew how to tie an excellent knot.

  “No reason,” he said with a one shoulder shrug, still watching her expectantly.

  “I see,” she murmured as she looked around her room, but she didn’t see anything out of place or anything to clue her into what was going on.

  She did a quick sweep of the bed and was about to move on when something caught her eye and made her stomach drop. Her ring was gone. Oh God, she lost her ring. She looked around the bed anxiously, but it was useless. She couldn’t see anything and couldn’t move and she very much feared that the ring had fallen off when she was in the tub.

  “What are you looking for, Rory?” Connor asked in that bored tone that she really didn’t appreciate at the moment.

  “My ring. I lost my ring, Connor,” she said, yanking on her restraints as she tried to sit up, but she couldn’t move. “Let me go so that I can find it!”

  “No.”

  “You don’t understand, Connor. I think I lost my ring in the tub,” she said, letting out a frustrated growl as she yanked on her restraints.

  “You didn’t lose the ring in the tub, Rory, so relax,” he said, leaning back in the chair, appearing even more relaxed.

  “Then where is it?” she demanded.

  “It’s right here,” he said, gesturing lazily to the desk behind him.

  “Why’s it over there? And why am I tied up?”

  “Because I took it back,” he explained, getting to his feet.

  “Why?” she asked absently as she tried to pull her hands through the rope, but there was no give.

  “Because I decided not to marry you.”

  Chapter 39

  “What?” Rory asked, her voice barely louder than a whisper as all the color in her face slowly faded away.

  A few days ago that hurt expression would have done him in and had him apologizing and saying anything and everything to make her happy, but not now, not after everything that she’d put him through. For three days he’d worried about her, missed her and all along she was less than five minutes away from their houses, shacked up in a hotel with another fucking guy.

  When he needed her the most, she hadn’t been there for him. He could have used her support while he sat in that hospital waiting room, doing his best not to lose it as he waited for the doctors to tell him that Andrew’s body hadn’t rejected the bone marrow and that his best friend was going to make it, but she hadn't been there. She wasn’t there for him and now he knew why.

  “You heard me,” he murmured as he walked over to the bed and ran his fingers over her sheet covered leg until his fingers touched the little toes that he loved to kiss. Slowly, he pulled the sheet away, revealing her body inch by inch until the sheet was pooled by his feet.

  “What the hell is going on, Connor?” Rory demanded, not bitching that she was naked and for some reason that made him wonder who the other guy was.

  The thought of another man seeing her body, touching her and making her tremble turned his stomach. He had to force himself to focus on something else or he wouldn’t be able to see this thing to the end and he would damn well be the one to end this. After twenty years of playing games with her, he was finally going bring the game to an end. Then he was going to walk away from her. After today she was just going to be his neighbor and the woman that he was going to run out of business. She was going to mean absolutely nothing to him.

  “The transplant worked,” he said, reaching out to toy with one of her toes before he could stop himself.

  “I know that. I called the hospital. He’s doing well, but he’s driving the nursing staff nuts with his bitching,” she said, shifting her foot to the side and robbing him of the contact. “Now tell me why you’re acting so damn bitchy and give me back my ring.”

  He ignored her, because there was no way in hell that he was putting that ri
ng back on the finger of someone who didn’t love him. He’d worked his ass off for that ring. He’d been so damned proud and excited when he bought that ring and couldn’t wait to give it to her, to the woman that he loved, but that wasn’t her. She cheated on him and he couldn’t fucking believe it. If anyone would have told him that Rory James would cheat on him, he would have called them a fucking liar and broken their jaw for trying to start shit. Now he just wanted to kill the bastard that had touched her and make love to her one last time to show her exactly what she'd lost and because he just couldn’t say goodbye to her without having her one last time.

  “Where have you been for the last three days?” he asked, tilting his head to the side as he watched her, waiting for her to lie, needing for her to lie so that he could hate her enough to push her away.

  For a moment Rory watched him, glared and then muttered a few words that he didn’t quite catch as she squeezed her eyes shut and said, “You know, don’t you?”

  “Yes,” he said, deciding that if she was done playing games then so was he. “What I don’t know is why you lied.”

  “I didn’t want you to get upset,” she said, shocking him into stunned silence.

  “Upset? I’m going to fucking kill him!” he shouted, wondering if he’d ever really known Rory. Up until today he would have sworn that he knew her better than he knew himself. He never thought that she would do this to him.

  She opened her eyes to frown up at him. “Kill who?”

  “Oh, don’t play this fucking game with me now, Rory,” he said, somehow stopping himself from demanding the name of the bastard. He would find out, but later. Right now he needed to let Rory know that he was done with her. It was over and he was the one that ended it.

  “Are you serious?” she asked, laughing without humor. “You tied me up, you jackass!”

  “And you fucking cheated on me!” he shouted, regretting the loss of control as soon as the words left his mouth. He was a fucking idiot.