by B. B. Reid
Did he know?
How could he not know?
“Shhh. Calm down. You don’t want to hurt the baby.” His hand rubbed ever so lightly, and for a moment, I forgot myself and closed my eyes, leaning into his touch.
“Judging by his kicks, I’d say he’ll be just fine.”
“His?”
“Oh. Uhhh, yeah. He’s a he.” I laughed, but it sounded nervous and awkward. I didn’t know what else to say. I was afraid of what would come next. Would Dash deny his son? Would he resent me for being pregnant when he wanted nothing to do with me?
“I’m having a son,” he whispered. I had never heard his voice so delicate. It was a healing balm to my own fears.
My brain must have truly taken a break because I found myself saying, “I have pictures… if you want. They’re at my father’s place, but I can have them sent after the honeymoon… well, I guess it will be sooner rather than later.”
His eyes darkened with an emotion I couldn’t place. “Don’t worry. I’ll take care of it.”
“I’m sorry… How? There is no way I can find a priest on such short notice,” I exclaimed in disbelief.
“There’s always a way.” With that, he pulled out his phone and walked away. I stared after him and tried not to feel anything. I never expected him to be this civilized or calm about the pregnancy after I kept it from him for five months.
Ten minutes later, he returned with a wide grin. “I have good news. I was able to call in a few favors and find a priest who can be here within two hours.”
“Are you serious?” He nodded and took my question as elation when in truth I was disappointed and… hurt. I was hurt that he went to all the trouble to see me married off while I was feeling confused about it all. He seemed to notice my hesitation and frowned. “Why the long face? You should be smiling. You’re going to marry the man you really love today and start a family with him.”
My tongue completely dried in my mouth and I felt like I was choking on air. “Why are you doing this to me?”
“Doing what? I don’t understand.” His expression told me he really didn’t.
“Why are you saying these things? You should be mad at me, throwing things, cursing my name.”
“Why would I do that, Angel?” His eyes implored me to tell him exactly why.
“Because you love me,” I blurted.
I expected him to deny it and call me crazy given the last time we had seen each other. I finally realized when I saw him last that we had done nothing but destroy each other slowly.
“I do. Very much.”
“Then why?”
“Because I love you enough to do what I have to do. Loving you means it’s my responsibility to make you happy. I finally realized you belong with the man who makes you happy.”
“Wow, that’s very good of you to say.” His answering stare was dark and lingering, sending chills up my spine.
“And the baby?”
“If it’s okay with you, I’d like to be in his life. I won’t interfere with you and Thomas, but I want to know my son.”
I nodded and finally asked the question that had been lingering since he came back. “How did you know?”
“I didn’t. Not until I walked in and saw you. I can’t wait to meet him.”
Just then, the baby kicked as if returning the gesture. Without thinking, I grabbed his hand and placed it back on my stomach where he kicked. After a few seconds, he kicked again and my greatest wish was for a camera so I could capture the look of wonder on his father’s face.
“I think he likes me.” His grin was boyish bringing out his dimples.
“Yeah…”
“Maybe even more than you.”
“Hey, I’m carrying him. He’ll never love anyone more than me,” I joked smugly.
“I can relate.” He dropped his hand and stepped back. “I guess I’ll see you in two hours.”
And just like that, he was gone.
Two hours later, I was walking down the aisle. The wedding march played and I clung to my father. My mind wasn’t on the man to be my husband, the music, or the guests. My mind was fixed on putting one step in front of the other and on my heart… Well, my heart was somewhere else watching.
I didn’t need to see him because I felt him. He was close and he was watching.
I chanced it and looked back. Dash stood in the outer aisle between the first and second row, burning a hole through me with his stare.
I made it to the alter and stood where I was told and spoke when prompted. I recited my vows from memory rather than speaking from the heart. Thomas also seemed to be going through the motions though he seemed a bit more pleased than I did.
It didn’t take long before we were announced husband and wife. We kissed, but I didn’t feel it and counted the seconds until it was over.
I turned with Thomas to face the guests and a loud cheer went up in the air. I chanced another look at where Dash had been standing only he was no longer there. I no longer felt strong because he took my strength with him.
When it was time to walk down the aisle, I cried. I didn’t bother to conceal my tears because the guests mistook them for tears of joy. I looked straight ahead and refused to make eye contact with anyone.
The large, wooden doors opened up to the street and the sunlight beamed down, temporarily impairing my vision. When my eyes had finally adjusted to the sunlight, I was brought to a jarring stop.
Dash stood at the bottom of the stairs wearing a fierce expression. His hands were shoved in his pockets, but I could tell they were clenched. Behind him was the limo, my new mother-in-law insisted we get… with Keiran and Keenan sitting on top of the car as if guarding anyone against getting near it and looking far too smug. Lake and Sheldon with Kennedy in her arms stood off to the side trying their best to appear innocent.
I wanted to scream and demand an answer, but Thomas’ father beat me to the punch.
“What the hell is going on? Have you no respect?” Spittle flew out of his mouth and his face turned red and purple. “Pipe down, old man,” Keenan called out.
I let go of Thomas because I couldn’t bear to have him touch me with Dash watching so intently. I held on to the rail and made my way down the steps to stand in front of him. “What’s going on?” I whispered.
“I didn’t come all this way to not do what I came to do and leave empty handed.”
“Which is?”
“You.”
“Me?”
“I came for you and I’m not leaving without you.”
“No,” I protested. “You are not doing this.”
“I already am.”
“What about all that stuff you said about letting me be happy and marrying the man who loves me?”
“And I meant it. The only one who will be making you happy is me.”
“Have you forgotten that I just got married not five minutes ago?”
“Did you?”
“You were at the fucking ceremony.” A smile threatened to break free on his lips and I knew he was laughing at my cursing him. I only cursed when riled and when I was riled, horniness usually followed.
“Oh… right. Father Casey is not a father after all. Oops.”
“Come again?”
“He’s an aspiring actor.”
“You son of a b—”
He gently cupped the back of my head as a warning before I could finish that sentence. “You didn’t want him.”
“You don’t know that.”
“It doesn’t matter. Did you really think I would let you marry him while you carried my child—or at all, for that matter?”
“You can’t do this.”
“I already am,” he stated with authority.
“What is going on here? Say, man, please remove your hands from my wife.”
Dash’s eyes trailed from me to Thomas, darkening with every passing second.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
DASH
I COULDN’T BELIEVE it took me as lon
g as it did to come after her. Five months and not a moment too soon, apparently.
She had actually been ready to marry another man with my kid inside her. If she weren’t pregnant, I would have surely strangled her.
I finally realized Willow was prone to make fucked up decisions though she meant well, and this one took the cake.
I never would have even known if Keenan hadn’t overheard Sheldon on the phone with Lake discussing how they could talk her out of it. I hadn’t even known they kept contact, but I wasn’t surprised. Those three could bounce back from anything as if it never happened it seemed.
Me? I clung to my resentment for warmth at night until I couldn’t take it anymore.
I plotted how to convince her to come back to me, but nothing ever seemed good enough. Keiran gave me the idea to simply take her from that prick’s hand if I had to. Though the idea appealed to me, the chance to fuck with her and punish her appealed to me more.
So I showed up and pretended to be okay with everything all the while planning her wedding’s demise. Starting with her original officiator.
Turns out priests could be bribed after all.
The plotting took little effort.
Seeing her again spurred me to go through with it.
It was seeing her walk down that aisle and fake marry that prick that had nearly done me in. When it was time for the kiss, I high-tailed it out of there, ignoring the dirty looks from the other guests.
It was better that way because had I stayed, I wouldn’t have been able to keep from smashing his face in.
I would have tossed her over my shoulder and carried her away, but it would have been impossible. Her glowing body was ripe with my son.
My son.
Damn.
I waited for her outside the church with Keiran and Keenan to back me up if things got out of hand. I wasn’t going to leave without her and would take on everyone who stood in my way including Angel.
The doors finally opened with fanfare and flowers thrown about. I fought not to roll my eyes. I was jealous and wasn’t ashamed to admit it. They may not have been legally married, but the animal inside me didn’t give a fuck.
Seeing is believing.
The second her eyes connected with mine, I knew I had made the right choice. She didn’t know it, but her soul had been calling out to mine, bringing us together at this moment.
I knew she felt it.
I just had to get through all the red tape first.
She finally broke away and approached me although hesitantly. She knew something was up when she spotted Keiran and Keenan behind me.
These fools had scared the driver off and then took up residence on top of the car. It was a wonder they hadn’t realized sooner that they were brothers. They were each two sides of crazy of the same coin.
“What’s going on?” she whispered. Then again, maybe she wasn’t whispering. The loud fuck who was the father of the groom was shouting obscenities around us.
“I didn’t come all this way to not do what I came to do and leave empty handed.”
I could swear I heard her heart skip a beat. She looked almost relieved. “Which is?”
“You.”
“Me?”
“I came for you and I’m not leaving without you…”
And you better fucking believe I didn’t.
After listening to her protest about right and wrong and blah blah blah, she leaned her head against my chest and cried, “What took you so long?”
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
WILLOW
DASH HAD SWEPT me away from the wedding, not giving me anytime to change my mind. Not that I would have.
He also wasted no time bringing me back home either. I wasn’t even allowed to stop for my belongings. He simply told me to have my father send them and if he wouldn’t, Dash would replace it all.
It took some doing, but I eventually convinced him to let me call and apologize to Thomas. I was fully expecting to lose a friend, but he was more than understanding and revealed that his father had cornered him into proposing and even accepting the baby. He told me how he would always be there for me, but he wasn’t ready to be a father and had actually been terrified. By the end of the conversation, I hung up feeling as if all was right with the world.
My father was also surprisingly easy. He gave the incident no more than a cursory acknowledgment and simply stated, “As long as you’re happy.”
“Dasher?” I called sleepily. We had just finished making love. He had worn us both out and now held me tight while lazily stroking my protruding stomach.
“Yeah, baby?”
“Why do you call me ‘Angel’?”
He was silent for too long that I began to think my simple question wasn’t so simple. “Remember when I told you I didn’t remember you?”
“Yeah?”
“Well, later I did. I don’t know how or why, but I remembered the Christmas play our school held when we were in the fifth grade. Your hair was so odd in the white costume. I don’t see how I could forget.”
“Wow… really? That’s it?”
“Pretty much.”
“Hmmm.”
“Are you disappointed?”
“I just think if we ever get married and someone asks us the story behind it at our wedding anniversary we should have something more profound.”
“See that’s where you’re wrong. There is no if. We will. You’re pregnant. You love me. It’s done. The way I see it, all I need are papers on you so you’ll never forget.” I felt his arm tighten around my body and felt his breath tickle my neck where I was most sensitive. “I won’t let you run away from me again, Willow.”
I did my best to conceal my surprise. His use of my name told me one thing only and that he was completely serious.
How did I reassure him that running away was no longer an option for me when it giving up was all I’d done to us in the past? He’d done so much to break my heart but I could no longer deny my role in breaking the love we created that summer.
“So what do we do now?”
I felt him shift until his entire upper body hovered over mine. He stared into my eyes and I held him with my gaze. “You promise to love me and never leave me again.”
“And you?”
“I promise to chain you to my bed if you try.”
I batted my eyelashes dramatically. “You say the most romantic things.”
Instead of responding, he spread my legs, careful not to rest his weight on me. I was responding to him long before he touched me. “Only you can make that crazy, Angel.” He entered me with a slow, smooth stroke, forcing me to feel every thick inch of him. “Never forget that.”
Breathless, I whispered, “I’ll never forget.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
ONE MONTH LATER
WE FELT THE need to all be together that day so we ordered pizza and wings and made it a movie night, but hanging out, soon turned into a strategy meeting for survival.
“We still don’t know who kidnapped Kennedy and killed John.”
“What are you talking about? It was that crazy whack job. Sorry, Di.”
“None taken.” When Keenan turned his attention away, she threw a chicken wing and hit him in the head.
“It wasn’t Esmerelda. When we were taken, I questioned her about it. If she didn’t take the opportunity to brag about it to two people she was about to kill, then she couldn’t have done it. She only said she wished she had because then Kennedy wouldn’t be alive, and I would be suffering much more than physical pain before I died.”
“Damn,” Keenan murmured. “He turned to Di and said, “My mistake, Di. Your mother is a super crazy, whack job.”
She flipped him off and leaned forward. “So we still have a major problem on our hands.”
“Fuck! I need answers now.”
Just then the door burst open and what seemed like the entire police force rushed in, shouting for everyone to get down.
Everyone put their hands
up and assumed they were there for Keiran, but we were in for the shock of our lives when the police bypassed him and placed the love of his life in handcuffs.
“Lake Monroe, you’re wanted for questioning in the murder of Mitchell Masters. You have the right to remain silent…”
When faced with broken love
will you succumb to fear
or will you be
FEARLESS
Broken Love Series
BOOK FIVE
Take one last ride with Keiran and Lake and the rest of the Broken Love gang in this fifth and final installment as they face stronger enemies and bigger obstacles while fighting to hold tight to the tattered existence of their love.
Coming Early 2016
Turn the page for a teaser…
COMING SPRING 2016
Fearless
LAKE
“Did I do this to you?”
“What do you think you did?” My voice and heart were pleading because I didn’t understand the look in his eyes. He looked confused, heartbroken, and ready to bolt.
“Did my being with you turn you into this? I don’t even know you.”
“What is there to know, Keiran? Everyone always says how weak I am. How you’ll destroy me. How I can’t handle you. I just wanted to prove them wrong, and I wanted to protect you.”
“You killed my father, Lake.”
“I did it for you.”
“Yeah? What would make you think I would ever be okay with this?” he asked forcefully.
When I couldn’t find the answer, he turned and walked away from me, and I felt my world crumble right before my eyes.
INTERVIEW WITH DASH & WILLOW
If you could have a phone conversation
with Dash, what would you say?
CELESHA CARILLO: Dash, if you were to have an affair, would you chose me?!
DASH: Celesha, if you weren’t my employee and married, and I weren’t irrevocably in love with Angel, I would be honored to choose you.
