Deadly Past (Deadly Series Book 3)

by K. L. Humphreys

  “You’ll stay at mine, that way Luke won’t have heart failure and you’ll be safe.” I turn to find Steven standing in my house.

  “Yeah, we’ll stay at Dad’s until you're allowed back here. There's loads of room, so your dad will be comfortable too.” Luke tells me, and I’m pretty sure he was scowling when he said that my Dad can stay there too. Nobody has even asked what I want to do. They’re all making plans for me.

  “What’s Dad’s security system like?” Luke asks Scott.

  “State of the art. Ryder fitted it for him two months ago. I’ll be staying too. The more of us there, the better it’ll be, and the safer Morgan will be.”

  Now Scott’s in on it too? Damn, I can’t believe they’re treating me like I don’t exist.

  I walk away from Luke and go into the kitchen. I just need space, I feel suffocated like I'm stuck in a box and can’t get out. That someone's pulling my strings. I can’t have that. I know they’re all trying to help, but it would have been nice for them to ask me what I want.

  “Morgan are you alright?”

  Shit, it’s Luke. I don’t want to get into this right now. But he’s persistent.

  Luke comes into the kitchen and stands in front of me.

  “What’s wrong? You walked off when we were discussing what our plan is.” He looks worried.

  I’m so mad right now that I can’t hold it in. I needed my space to calm down and think, but he didn't give it to me.

  “I’m not a child Luke, I have my own mind and can make my own decisions. I can’t believe that all of you were discussing me like I wasn’t even in the room.”

  “It wasn’t like that. Damn it, Morgan. We’re trying to keep you safe!” His voice is grave as he tells me.

  “I know that! I’m not stupid and I’m grateful but Luke you’ve got to realize that I'm not used to this. Usually, I make my own decisions. I felt suffocated like I didn’t have a say. I had to walk away before I exploded.” I’m shaking just telling him that. I don’t want it to happen again.

  He reaches his hand out tentatively, gauging my reaction. His fingertips are less than an inch away from my face, so I lean in to them, giving Luke the answer he was looking for. He takes a step forward, and his hand brushes my cheek. I turn my head, so my lips brush against it. The feel of his rough hands against my soft lips, makes me just want to kiss him. Let him make me forget that this even happened.

  I open my mouth and seal my lips against his palm and suck, lick and kiss. This has the desired effect as he roughly pulls his hand away from me but winds it up the back of my neck. With a rough tug from him and me reaching up on my tiptoes we are face to face. I gently place a kiss on his lips. While gently pulling his bottom lip between mine.

  That's when his control snapped.

  Luke lifts me up, and I wrap my legs around his waist. My ass is put on the countertop. My panties are soaked, and the feel of his erection causes me to grind against him. It feels so good. The feeling of Luke’s fingers on my nipples makes me grind harder. His hot breath against my face makes me lean back further, pushing my breasts into his hands more.

  Luke leans forward, capturing my lips as he does, the kiss is explosive. We’re both frantic now; my hands are roaming his body, his pulling and twisting my nipples all the while I’m still grinding against him.

  I’m oh so close.

  “When you guys are quite finished. We still have some things to discuss.” The sound of Scott’s voice is like a bucket of cold water over us.

  “Find somewhere private next time.” His voice is full of humor, and I can hear chuckling coming from the next room.

  Bastards.

  Luke turns his head and must give Scott a look because Scott holds his hands up in surrender and walks out of the kitchen. He then turns back around to me, there’s something in his eyes that I can’t decipher.

  “Come on, let's get this over with.” He helps me down from the counter and adjusts his pants to conceal his erection.

  I’m soaked and need to change. But I doubt I'll be able to unless the crime scene tech has finished. I look at Luke and realize that he didn't say anything other than they’re trying to protect me.

  “So, before we go back out there and everyone but me gets a say in what happens in my life. How about we discuss what we want?”

  “Please stay at Dad’s!” It's a plea, “I need you safe Morgan and I need you with me. That won’t happen if you stay with Sabine and there's not enough room at my place. I can’t have anything happen to you.” He sounds so lost when he says things like that.

  “Okay, as long as your dad doesn’t mind. We’ll stay with him until my place is cleared. What about clothes? I need underwear and clean clothes.”

  “I already have that sorted; you’ll have them when we go to Dads. Now come on, we better get this over with. No doubt they’re being assholes and making jokes!” His words are a contradiction to his face. His words make out as if he hates it, but the smile on his face says that he’s happy. And men say women are hard to understand!

  As we walk into the sitting room every single one of them has a knowing smirk on their faces! Scott has a big smile on his face.

  “You two really need to get some privacy.”

  “We had some until you walked in on us. So, what have you discussed?” I smile as Luke changes the subject.

  “Okay, so if you're happy staying at Steven's, he has the best security system. Also with Steven, Scott and yourself there, you’ll have three-armed people in the house. Also, whenever you're not at work, and there’s no one at Steven's we’d really like you to be either at P.I.G.S or come to Smithy’s.” Ryder says and is all business. No messing with him. He’s straight to the point, but he is giving me a choice, which I’m incredibly grateful for.

  “Is that okay?”

  “I can do that. But I doubt I’ll be at Steven's for very long. A night or two at the most.” I tell them and watch as every single one of them shifts slightly.

  “What? What is it that you haven't told me?”

  “Well, we think it will be best if you stayed with us indefinitely. Until Alex is found she’s unstable and we don’t know what she wants.” Steven tells me looking as though he’ll start shouting if I say no.

  “Um, I don’t want to sound ungrateful, because I’m not. You don’t understand how much it means that you’re all looking out for me. But I have to be able to have my space and do my own thing. Saying that, I agree that Alex is unstable, and she may harm Luke or me. So, I will stay with Steven until my dad goes home and then Luke can stay here with me.” I want them to understand that I need my house, my sanctuary and I won’t allow her to run me out of my own home.

  “We thought that you would say that, so we have a compromise,” Ryder tells me with a knowing smirk.

  “Okay, what is this compromise?” I’m dreading their response.

  “You’ll have house guests. We will take it in turns to stay with you.” Ryder announces.

  “Who’s we?” I ask, looking around the room. There’s Ryder, Asher, Scott, Nathan, and Steven here, and Nathan has a family, and they all have their own lives.

  “We’ve discussed it, and there will be no arguments Morgan.” Scott tells me with narrowed eyes, “We all agreed to stay with you until this is over. So, myself, Ryder, Asher, Oscar, and Steven have agreed that we will take it in turns to stay as well as update this house with security.”

  Steven, as though he can see right through me tells me, “Your part of our family now Morgan and we do anything to keep our family safe.”

  My eyes fill with tears, this is so overwhelming. It’s too much today, and I just want to cry, but I won’t, not in front of everybody.

  “Thank you, I really do appreciate you all doing this for me.”

  “Don’t thank us, it’s what family does. Now, will you promise us that you will either go to P.I.G.S or Smithy’s if you’re not working and one of us isn’t with you?” Scott asks with a pointed look.

&nbs
p; “Yes, I promise. I won’t be by myself even though I have a gun and can probably shoot better than all of you.” I know I’m being sarcastic, and I shouldn’t be, but I can’t help it, I feel as though they perceive me as being weak and I’m anything but.

  “That may be so, but Morgan, safety is in numbers, and I’d be saying the same to any of my guys,” Ryder tells me, and I feel a bit better.

  “So, you’ll come to Smithy’s or go to P.I.G.S if you’re alone just until we get this crazy bitch sorted out, none of us wants anything to happen to you.”

  “Who’s after my daughter and what the hell happened to her house?”

  Oh god, Dad’s here earlier than expected.

  I turn and see that he has aged so much since the last time I saw him. His once brown hair that was so much like mine has become gray and his face is full of wrinkles. He looks frail and old. Not what I was expecting at all. Right now, he seems furious.

  “Dad, you’re here early. I thought you weren’t arriving until six-thirty?” I ask sounding as shocked as I feel.

  “Yeah, well I caught an earlier flight. Thankfully I did. Otherwise, you would have hidden all this from me.” He’s being short and sharp with his answers just like he used to speak to me.

  I can’t believe I thought he had changed. I start to close up, I don’t want to be in his presence right now. I’m so stupid.

  “I would have told you we can’t stay the night here. We’re going to stay at Steven’s tonight.” I tell him indifferently, that’s it, and we’re back to how it always was.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Luke

  I’m so fucking close to punching her father. He is the rudest man I have ever come across, and I’ve only been in his presence for two minutes. In those two minutes I’ve seen the woman I love close up and go into herself, she’s upset, and I don’t blame her, I look around the room and know that I’m not the only person looking at her father like he’s an asshole.

  Who the hell speaks to their daughter like they’re a piece of crap?

  “Your daughter is being stalked, and we think that her stalker also broke into her house. I’m Steven, it’s nice to meet you.” Dad tells him and is actually being really polite, although I can tell that he doesn’t like him.

  “I’m Bryson Yates. Morgan, as you know, is my daughter.” Again, the Jackass is just rude.

  “Morgan, can we talk in private please?” His tone is a bit softer, but he is still a jackass, I don’t think I will ever like this man.

  Before Morgan can answer him, the crime scene guy comes out of her room and calls her over to him.

  “So, Bryson, while Morgan is momentarily unavailable, I’ll make the introductions.” I have to hold my breath to stop laughing, since when did my dad speak like a pompous ass?

  “So, this here is Scott, my son, he is a bodyguard as well as a Private Investigator. The man that was standing beside your daughter that is my eldest son. He is the A.D.A. here in New York.” My dad is just showing off now, he’s letting the ass know that Morgan is safe with us.

  He continues his introductions of everyone. “The guy with the big muscles that looks like he’ll kill you with one hand is Ryder. He was a Sergeant in the Army and is a Co-Owner of Smithy International, a security and Intelligence agency. Standing next to Ryder is Nathan, he’s my soon to be son in law, he is the owner of P.I.G.S., the Private Investigative Guard Service, he’s Scott’s employer, and that brings us to Asher, who also works for Nathan. Now as for me, I’m a homicide detective.”

  Geez, Dad needs to take a breath, but I smile at the look on Bryson’s face, he’s pale and looks as though he’s about to be sick, with all the people in the room.

  “Um, it’s nice to meet you all. How do you all know Morgan?” His tone isn’t sharp anymore, in fact, it’s calm.

  “I’m Morgan’s boyfriend.” I don’t offer my hand, I told Morgan that I didn’t think having him here was a good idea. Leopards never change their spots and the way he spoke to her when he arrived, it proved that he hasn’t changed.

  “Morgan’s told you about me hasn’t she.” He seems ashamed, probably because I know how he treated her.

  “Yes, she has.” I get a look from Dad, I know that I’m being insulting, but he deserves it.

  “You don’t like me very much, do you?”

  He’s asking stupid questions now.

  “You don’t deserve her forgiveness. You completely ignored your daughter since the age of twelve. You were supposed to look after her; instead, you didn’t even know she existed. Hell, she went to Disney World for two weeks and you didn’t even know she was gone. So, no, I don’t like you.” I answer him truthfully and watch him flinch almost as if I hit him. He deserves to be told that he was wrong.

  “I know what I have done, and I need to make amends for it. You have to understand that I lost the love of my life. I was hurting. I was wrong in the way I treated her.” He sounds genuine, but I still think he’s an ass.

  “You’ve hurt her more than you will ever know. Morgan will forgive you because she is that type of person. She’s loving and caring and is willing to forgive. But I’m warning you now. You hurt her again, and I’ll be making sure that it’s the last time you even get the chance.” It’s a promise I fully intend to keep. Morgan has been through enough without letting people treat her like crap.

  “What am I missing?” Dad asks, and I don’t know whether or not to tell him. Morgan doesn’t really tell anyone her business, she’s a really private person. She kept us a secret for a few months, only telling Sabine.

  “I’ll tell you what you’re missing. That Bryson is a sorry excuse for a man. I thought I saw the last of your face when I left Detroit. What are you doing here? Spreading your misery?”

  Geez, I don’t even need to turn around to know that Sabine has entered the building.

  “Hello, Sabine, nice to see you again,” Bryson says, with a genuine smile on his face.

  “Can’t say the same to you. Seriously, Bryson, I thought when Moy told me that you were planning on coming that you were lying. Hell, I hoped you were. What happened?”

  “Let’s just say my conscience caught up with me.” He says shrugging his shoulders which just pisses me off even more.

  “Are you dying?” Sabine asks him really cheerfully.

  “No Sabine, I’m not dying. Sorry to disappoint you. How is your mom?” he seems genuine in his asking.

  “Don’t know, haven’t spoken to her in a few weeks. Seriously though Bryson, you’re telling me that after twenty years you suddenly had a change of heart and decided that you want your daughter in your life?” She’s as skeptic as I am.

  “Yes Sabine, that is what I’m telling you.” He seems to be getting agitated at all the questions.

  “I don’t buy it. You didn’t get a change of heart when she begged you to come to her graduation. Nor did you give a fuck when she told you that she made detective. Hell, you didn’t get a change of heart when she told you she was moving over six hundred miles away. So why now? And I don’t want you saying that you have had a change of heart. I see straight through your bullshit.”

  Damn, Sabine is really going at him. I agree with everything she says, although hearing that she begged him to go to her graduation and he didn’t go makes me want to kick him out of the house.

  “You didn’t go to your own daughter’s graduation?” The disgust in my father’s voice is something I haven’t witnessed before.

  “So, spill it, Bryson. What the hell are you doing here?” Sabine says not letting him answer my dad’s question, even though that was answered earlier on. Sabine not satisfied with the length of time it’s taking Bryson to answer her question starts to tap her foot while crossing her arms over her chest.

  “Fine, I met someone, and she wants to meet Morgan.” He says, and he at least has the decency to look ashamed.

  “You’re a bastard! What the hell are we supposed to tell her? That her dad really didn’t have a change of h
eart, he just wanted to get laid? Fuck Bryson, I have watched you hurt Morgan for years, but you’ve never been this sadistic before. You’ve never gotten her hopes up just to crush them. I hate you more than you will ever know. So, who is the unlucky lady?” Sabine says, and she has tears streaming down her face.

  “Mrs. Larson.” He responds, and again, he looks ashamed. His head is down almost as if he’s about to bow.

  “My history teacher? Damn, everyone was right. I’m so stupid! I should have listened to them.” You can hear the rawness in Morgan’s voice. So full of hurt. My anger is about to reach boiling point, and I don’t think I can keep it in check.

  “I’m sorry Morgan, I never wanted you to find out like this.”

  Funny, he doesn’t sound sorry, in fact, other than being ashamed he looks kind of relieved.

  “You came here for her. What about me, Dad? Do I not matter to you at all?” She chokes on her words, and Sabine rushes to her, engulfing her in her tiny arms. My Morgan looks utterly distraught.

  “It’s not like that Morgan.” He doesn’t say it isn’t true, just that it’s not like that.

  “Hey asshole, what was in it for you? What are you getting if you got Morgan to come home? Mrs. Larson already knows her. Hell, Morgan fucking hated her. So, come on Bryson, what are you getting out of this deal?” Sabine is screaming at him now.

  I look around and see that the crime scene guy is gone and all the guys look like they’re about to tear Bryson to pieces.

  “If Morgan and I reconciled then Fiona will marry me.” I hear a choked cry and see that Morgan looks devastated.

  “You know what Bryson, tell Fiona that we reconciled. Tell her that I wish you all the best.” Morgan tells him, and Sabine is shocked. I’d say it’s a similar expression to the one I must be wearing.

  I hear Bryson let out a ragged breath. “Thanks, Morgan, so you’ll come to the wedding then too?” He can’t be serious.

  I turn and look at him, and he’s actually got a hopeful look on his face. I feel a hand on my shoulder, and I know that Morgan is beside me.