No More Good

by Angela Winters

  “Like a bat out of hell!” Lyndon yelled back and sped up even more.

  “Lyndon!” Leigh looked back at Jack, who threw both arms in the air as if he were on a roller coaster. She looked at Nick, who was just staring at her without any expression on his face. “I’m serious!”

  When Lyndon looked at her this time, Leigh saw something different. His eyes weren’t just excited; they were jumping out of his eye sockets. Something was wrong and she was scared.

  “Please, Lyndon.” With one hand, she reached out and squeezed his thigh. “I don’t like this. I’m scared.”

  “I’m a great driver.” Lyndon sped around a few cars, jumping in and out of lanes. “This is a flawless machine. She knows how to handle the road.”

  “Lyndon, I—”

  “You’re distracting him!” Jack yelled. “Gun it! Gun it!”

  “Shut up!” Leigh yelled as she eyed Jack. He seemed unsure what to make of it and his arms fell to his sides. “You’re going to get us—”

  The sudden fear on Jack’s face made her turn just in time to see the truck that was heading straight for them. She screamed, her eyes slamming shut. The guys were screaming now too as tires screeched and the car turned in circles until it rammed right into the concrete median. Leigh heard a popping sound and felt something hit her face before everything went black.

  Avery didn’t like being in the hospital courtyard by herself. She hadn’t noticed she was actually alone until a young, teary-eyed mother and her very noisy baby left. The kid made enough noise for several children, but once they were gone, Avery realized she was all alone and it depressed her. So when the door opened to the courtyard, she expected to be relieved to have some distraction. She was anything but.

  “Hey, baby.” As he walked to her, Carter’s heart softened at how vulnerable and small she looked sitting on a stone gray bench by herself. Her hand was on her belly again and it only made him think of how good a mother she’d be.

  The gall of this man calling her baby, but Avery didn’t take the bait. “What are you doing here?”

  She didn’t bother to tell him not to sit down next to her, because she knew he would anyway.

  “Always asking silly questions,” he said as he turned to face her.

  “Always talking down to me when I do,” she retorted.

  He looked at her sweet face, a little fuller than usual. “Still keeping me in line, huh? In that way only you can. I miss that attitude.”

  “How did you find me?” She couldn’t keep herself from looking at him. He was so fine and being this close made her remember how much she enjoyed talking to him.

  “I flirted with the nurses,” he said. “You doing okay?”

  “I come out here to think,” she said. “To get away, you know. It can get kind of intense in there.”

  “He’s doing better, right? You know my offer—”

  “Carter,” she interrupted, “if you really want to do something for me, stay away.”

  “You sound like Anthony,” Carter said.

  “You mean my husband?” She eyed him as he blinked. It hurt him to hear her say that and Avery didn’t feel good about it as she’d expected to. “He came by to see you, I guess.”

  “Did he run back to you with his tail between his legs?”

  “No,” she said firmly. “My husband is not afraid of you. I didn’t want him to go because I knew that was what you wanted. I know how you play your games, Carter.”

  “I thought he’d be on his way to school by then.”

  “Either way,” Avery said, “you shouldn’t have sent the flowers.”

  “It was perfectly innocent to—”

  “Nothing you do is innocent, Carter. And if you really intended for them to be for my father, you would have sent them to the hospital or my mother’s house.”

  “Again sounding just like Anthony.” Carter laughed. “Where is our elderly teacher today?”

  “He’s not elderly.” Avery knew she was playing into his game, but it wasn’t as if he would leave if she didn’t. “He’s only thirty-six and he’s a professor. You won’t get anywhere with this, Carter. Anthony is above your games.”

  “If he’s so great, why doesn’t he practice safe sex?”

  Avery was too relieved at the idea that Carter believed the baby was Anthony’s to think of a comeback for that.

  “But then again,” Carter continued, “we all make mistakes. Some of us get dumped and deserted and others get a wife.”

  “If you want me to feel guilty about leaving,” Avery said, “I do. It was immature and cowardly. Are you satisfied?”

  “I’m never satisfied,” Carter answered. “You know that about me. I always want more. I always have to win. That’s why you left me, right? Even though my mother was in the hospital and—”

  “Enough. That’s all in the past, Carter.” Avery felt herself getting choked up just thinking about that horrible night in his apartment when she gave him his ring back.

  “It will never be the past,” Carter insisted. “Nothing with you and me is in the past. It’s always with us. It has been since the first day we met. I wanted to strangle you and you wanted to run me over with a truck, but we both knew.”

  “No.” She turned to him, feeling anger at his arrogance. “When I met you, I loved Alex. Do you remember him? He was my fiancé and you set him up to be seduced by that British whore. The same one you tried to make me think I was crazy when I told you I recognized her.”

  “Avery . . .”

  “Maybe you remember that?” she asked. “You told me—”

  “Don’t you think I’ve paid the price for that?” Carter was angry, even though he had no right to be.

  “I think you paid about two and a half million dollars for it,” she answered. “That was what you paid her to go away so you could marry me under a veil of secrecy and lies.”

  Carter rolled his eyes. “Don’t forget the quarter of a million bucks Michael and I paid her to sleep with Alex in the first place.”

  Avery didn’t think before she slapped him in the face. “You think this is funny?”

  Carter was rubbing his cheek, trying not to smile. “Avery, you know what happens to me when you slap me. I get very turned on and so do you.”

  It was wrong, but she did remember and suddenly her senses came alive. She was in danger, wanting something she could never have again.

  “My point is . . . My point . . .” She slid away from him as his closeness seemed to overcome her.

  He reveled in his effect on her. “Your point is that you want me to suffer forever for my mistakes.”

  “No, I . . .” She clenched her hands in fists. “Jesus, you make me so . . .”

  “You talking to Jesus or you talking to me?” he asked.

  His arrogance infuriated her. Avery pressed her lips together, refusing to let him make her laugh. “Just leave, Carter.”

  Carter didn’t move. “You’re the big churchgoer, right? Always coming back on Sunday talking about, ‘Carter, I wish you had come today. The sermon was so good. Pastor Milton talked about forgiveness and understanding. ’ ”

  “What difference would forgiving you make?” she asked. “You wouldn’t learn from it or change your ways. You are who you are.”

  “And if you really loved me, you would have accepted me for that.”

  Avery gasped at the accusation. “How could you say that?”

  Carter regretted his words as soon as he saw her eyes begin to water. “Avery, I . . .”

  “I loved you with everything I had.” Her words caught in her throat as the emotion threatened to overwhelm her. “I ignored so much because I wanted to spend my life making you happy. I would have given anything to—”

  She slapped his hands away as he reached for her, but Carter didn’t give up. “Baby, I’m sorry.”

  “I’m not your—” The baby kicked so hard, Avery gasped as she reached out and grabbed hold of Carter’s arm.

  “What is it?” Car
ter asked anxiously. “What’s wrong?”

  “The baby.” Avery let go, trying to steady herself. “She doesn’t like it when I yell.”

  Carter sighed in relief. “Who does she think she is?”

  Avery let out a quick laugh. “I’ve told her she better be glad she’s in there or I’d give her a spanking for all the carrying on she does.”

  “Please.” Carter made a smacking sound with his lips. “You’re going to be such a pushover. You’ll spoil her rotten.”

  “I will not.” She smiled. “Okay, so maybe I won’t spank her, but I will be firm and—”

  “Is she doing it again?” Carter asked. When Avery nodded, he said, “She’s a little brat, already.”

  When his hand came to her stomach, Avery wanted to push it away. She wanted to tell him to stop, but she couldn’t. All she could do was look at him and watch while he reacted to their baby running a marathon under her belly.

  “Wow.” Carter wasn’t sure if this was wonderful or just very weird. Her stomach was moving, rolling around like a snake. Then the rolling turned into one bump and then another. “She’s trying to get out.”

  He hadn’t intended for their hands to touch, but when they did, Carter looked up and caught Avery’s eyes in his own. His hand instinctively went over hers, and the touch of her soft skin made him weak.

  Avery was suddenly taken into a fantasy world, one where she had never left Carter and she was sitting with her husband as they both touched the belly that held their baby. In that one second, she felt happier than she ever imagined she could. This was all she wanted, what she’d imagined and hoped her life would be.

  He took her lips in his own, and the touch sent a blaze ripping through her entire body. The familiar command of his mouth sent her mind to a wicked distraction and she only wanted more. His lips were demanding her surrender and she wanted to give in to his demand. This was just like her dreams, her dreams on the beach in Saint-Tropez when . . .

  A kiss was never enough for Carter when it came to Avery. Just a second and all the electricity between them came rushing back. The urgency that tasting her eager mouth created inside him was strong, he couldn’t control it. But then . . .

  “No,” a breathless Avery managed as she pushed away. “Carter, no . . .”

  “Please, baby.” Carter didn’t care about anything but touching her, tasting her, having her back in his life. “I miss you so much.”

  “I’m married.” She pushed again. “I won’t do this.”

  “You can’t help yourself.” He reached for her as she started to stand, but she pushed his hands away again. “You’ll never be able to. Neither of us will.”

  Just then, Avery saw her mother standing only a few feet away and she was speechless. She couldn’t remember ever feeling so ashamed.

  When Carter turned to see the hateful stare Nikki Jackson held for him, he looked away. Standing up, he turned to Avery, who was already in tears, and he felt like a monster. But he wasn’t. All he wanted was to be with the woman he loved.

  “You can leave anytime.” Nikki’s voice was as cold as her expression. If she had the strength, she would hit him.

  Carter didn’t make eye contact with Nikki. He wanted to say something; he was stubborn enough that it angered him to be dismissed, but he kept quiet. There was nothing to say, so he left. He couldn’t be greedy. He would have to be happy with the kiss and wait for his next chance.

  “You’re going back to Coral Gables,” Nikki said as she approached her daughter. “And I don’t want to hear another word.”

  “I’m not going anywhere,” Avery protested. “I’m sorry for what just happened, but—”

  “You kissed him, Avery. You came close last time. This time you actually did it. Next time—”

  “Mom, please.” Avery’s hands fell to her sides as she looked at her mother with all the helplessness of a child. “I don’t know what just happened, but I can stop it.”

  Nikki, who felt she had used up all the emotion she had for the day, still had enough left to feel compassion for her child. “I know what just happened. The man that pushes all your buttons, the father of that baby you’re carrying, has a hold on you that is stronger than your will is right now.”

  “I would never cheat on Anthony.”

  “So you kissed him because you wanted to?” Nikki asked, waiting for Avery’s response. “Exactly. You’ll do what you have no intention of doing with Carter because he brings it out in you.”

  “I’ll just stay away from him,” Avery said.

  “He won’t stay away from you.” Nikki sighed helplessly. “Baby, I can’t do this. I can’t worry about you too.”

  “Don’t worry about me, then. I can take care of myself.”

  Nikki fell to the bench, lowering her head. “I’m exhausted and I can’t spare anything.”

  “I’m not leaving.” Avery joined her. “No matter what you say, I won’t . . . not until at least Daddy is better.”

  “That boy is going to destroy your life,” Nikki warned. “You know he will.”

  “He believes the baby is Anthony’s.”

  “I’m not talking about the baby,” Nikki said. “That will be nightmare enough when it comes to that. I’m talking about your marriage. How can you protect your marriage from Carter Chase?”

  Avery didn’t answer because she didn’t know. She wanted to believe she had the moral fiber to handle the situation, but that was out the window now that she’d kissed Carter. As usual, her mother was right. Carter wasn’t going to stop. He was a Chase and they never stopped until they got what they wanted. And as her finger unconsciously went to her lips, Avery closed her eyes and prayed that she had strength she wasn’t yet aware of.

  “There has to be more money!” Kimberly was already losing her patience as she paced the backyard with the Bluetooth in her ear.

  “Mrs. Chase, of course there is more money. I just can’t—”

  “Don’t tell me you can’t,” she ordered. “It’s my money and I need more.”

  She was trying desperately to find the million to give to David. She had taken everything she had from her credit cards, checking account, savings account, and hidden stashes. She had sold stock Michael had given to her as gifts over the years. She had taken cash out of the safe in the bedroom floor. She had even sold some of her jewelry, but being who she was Kimberly had to stay under the radar. She was stuck at half a million dollars, and with only one day left, was beyond panic.

  “This is a joint account,” the banker said. “You’ve already—”

  “Do you know what a joint account is?” she asked. “It belongs to both of us, so why are you questioning me? You’ve never had a problem before.”

  She was now trying to pull funds from another of the many accounts in the diversified portfolio of Michael and Kimberly Chase. She knew there was at least three million in this one because she was already pulling from it for pool renovation. After this, she planned on raiding the online trading account that Michael liked to play around with for his own entertainment. She wasn’t sure what was in there, but there was something.

  There was money everywhere. She might even have a chance of getting into Michael’s trust fund, which he never touched. He invested it all and paid little attention to it. If worse came to worst, she would have to dig into the twins’ trust, but she cringed at the thought of doing that.

  “But it’s beyond your limit, Mrs. Chase. There is a three-hundred-thousand-dollar maximum withdrawal per year. You’ve already withdrawn one hundred and thirty thousand for decorations and renovations of your home and it’s only March. I can give you the other one hundred and seventy, but nothing more than that.”

  “That’s bullshit,” Kimberly said. “I’ve taken out more than three hundred thousand before—”

  “Yes, that was before,” he interrupted. “Your purchase of the house last year caused Mr. Chase to move money around. This account is 2.5 million dollars smaller than it was just six months ago
. There are minimums to maintain and that requires—”

  “Fine.” Kimberly didn’t want to hear any more. “Wire my savings account the rest today.”

  She hung up before he could respond. As Marisol brought a glass of Chardonnay to her table, Kimberly searched her iPhone for the number to the bank that held the trust funds for all four Chase children and the two grandchildren. It took her longer than it should have, but she felt confident once she reached the family’s personal banker at the firm. He seemed eager to please and once she read off the passwords, security codes, and numbers, he was more than happy to give her two hundred thousand until they ran into a glitch.

  “What do you mean you can’t approve that amount?”

  He cleared his throat. “This account has been flagged.”

  Kimberly froze, afraid to know what this meant. “Explain everything and don’t mess around.”

  “Your husband has requested that any withdrawal be cleared with him first.”

  “Are you saying I have to get permission from him to withdraw from this account?” Kimberly asked. “You mean at a certain limit, right?”

  “No, Mrs. Chase. Any amount. It’s okay. These are pretty normal. All I have to do is complete the request and contact Mr. Chase at—”

  “No,” Kimberly said. “I’ll handle this myself.”

  Kimberly hung up wondering why in the world Michael would do this. Did he know something? Did he suspect something? Was he up to something? She looked at the glass of wine on the table in front of her.

  “Marisol!” She was going to need something much stronger.

  Leigh was in her office, rubbing her sore shoulder, when James Monroe walked in without knocking. She had met him only once when he interrupted a dinner at Nobu in Beverly Hills with Lyndon.

  She didn’t want to see him, and his rudeness only made that more so. It had been two days since the accident and she was still sore all over. The bump on her forehead wouldn’t go away for a long time and her new bangs were barely covering it. None of that really mattered. She was just angry and trying hard to forget everything by throwing herself into the clinic.