by Lexi Wilson
Because of Nick, she’d be spared some serious trauma.
“Uh-huh,” she said. “We were supposed to go get Chinese food with Daddy, but then Mom told me to go to my room with Nan. I’m really hungry.”
Nick turned to Natalie and Damon. “Hey, how about you guys check out Dragon Wok online and pick out some food. Whatever Jamie wants, OK?”
They didn’t know what was going on exactly, but they could sense it was something serious.
“Yeah!” said Jamie, the promise of food distracting her a little. “And what about Dad? Is he coming too?”
“He’s…not going to be seeing us for a little while,” I said. “He’s really sick.”
“What kind of sick?”
“The kind of sick where he doesn’t act right. He needs to spend some time in the hospital.”
“Will he get better?” she asked.
“We’ll…we’ll see.”
She was going to need a more adult answer than that, but for the moment, it’d do.
“Jamie, you want to get some eggrolls?” asked Nan. “I bet I can eat more than you.”
“No way!” said Jamie.
“Come on then,” said Damon with a smile. “Let’s order – I’m hungry!”
The group left, all going into the study.
It was just me and Nick.
“Let’s go upstairs,” he said. “More privacy that way.”
I nodded, not sure what else to say.
He grabbed a couple of beers from the fridge and together we went upstairs. He led me to the balcony on the second floor, the open space and fresh air doing me some serious good.
Nick handed me the beer, but I shook my head.
“Not after seeing what happened to Marcus.”
“’What happened to Marcus’,” he said, setting down my beer and cracking his open. “Tell me what went down.”
“He…he came over drunk again. I’d seen him the night before, and it was the same story. So, I’d told him to sober up and try again the next day. But he didn’t. He must’ve gone out with his buddies again, spending the whole night drinking. He was a mess when he showed up, aggressive and rude and didn’t take ‘no’ for an answer when I’d told him to sober up.”
“Is that when I showed up?”
“Just about. When I realized that this time there wouldn’t be any talking him down, I sent Nan and Jamie into her room and locked the door. He was…I’ve never seen him like that before. Part of me had hoped he’d changed, but he hadn’t. If anything, he was worse than ever.”
Nick came over to me and put his hand on my shoulder.
“You don’t have to worry about him any longer,” he said.
His words and his touch made me feel instantly better.
It was the exact opposite feeling Marcus instilled in me. Marcus was strong, sure, but he was dangerous and chaotic, like I never knew if I could trust him.
And I couldn’t. That question had been answered that night. Despite all the years, despite all the time he’d had to grow, Marcus hadn’t wasted any time proving he was the same man he’d always been.
Nick. Nick had proven something too – that he was the man I’d hoped he was. He was strong too. And while he was capable of being dangerous, it was the kind of danger directed at those who threatened the ones he loved.
He’d risked himself to protect me and Jamie and Nan from Marcus. We were safe because of him.
All these thoughts whirling in my mind, I turned to Nick, gazing deeply into his eyes.
“You didn’t have to do any of that tonight,” I said. “That was…you put yourself at risk.”
He didn’t miss a beat before shaking his head.
“There wasn’t any doubt in my mind. You were in danger, and I had to act.”
“But Marcus…he’s a bad man. I’ve heard of what he’s done to other people who’ve crossed him. He might-“
Nick cut me off. “It doesn’t matter. Whatever happens, we’re in it together. And there’s not a fucking chance I’m going to let him, or anyone else, lay a finger on you.”
Anger edged his voice, and there was no doubt in my mind he meant every single word.
I was safe. Nick had proven it to me.
“But there’s something else,” he said.
“What is it?”
“It’s what I came over to your place to say.”
I took his hands into mine, feeling their warmth. And the roughness of his skin reminded me that while he was a CEO, he’d come from a difficult upbringing, one that shaped him into the man that stood before me.
“You can tell me anything,” I said. “You know that, right?”
He nodded. “I…I came over to tell you that I hated the way I’d left things the other day. You’d walked out of my life and I hadn’t shared how I felt, what I wanted from you. And I knew I’d be kicking myself until my last breath if I didn’t tell you what was really on my mind…That…”
One more deep breath.
“That I love you.”
As soon as he spoke the words, every fear, every hesitation, every apprehension – they all faded away. It was only me and Nick, and his feelings for me.
And how I felt for him.
“That’s all I can say,” he said. “I’m so damn mad at myself for taking this long to realize it. But I love you. I’d do anything for you, Amber. And if you don’t want anything to do with me, I’d understand. But you had to know.”
I stared into his eyes, a warmth running through my body I’d never known before.
There was nothing to think about. I knew how I felt.
“I…I love you, too.”
As soon as I spoke the words, a calm took hold of me.
There was nothing to worry about, nothing to fear.
It was just me and him.
Then he kissed me.
The kiss was like nothing else I’d never experienced. The second his lips touched mine the lust I’d felt for Nick blended with the love in perfect harmony. He placed his hand son my hips and led me back inside, the two of us making our way to the master bedroom.
Once the door was shut, we wasted no time getting one another out of our clothes. When I was nude, he stepped back and took in the sight of my bare body.
“The moment I first saw you like this, I thought you were the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen in my life. Now I know it’s true.”
I smiled, tears in my eyes. But we kissed again, and soon his touch was all I could think about. He scooped me off my feet and carried me over to the bed, laying me down and climbing on top of me.
His cock was thick and solid, and the moment he spread me open, the moment his head pushed into my body, I knew there was no man on earth who’d be able to satisfy me the way he could.
I moaned, my pussy wrapping around him as I took all his inches into my body.
He felt perfect inside of me, so perfect all I could think about was his movement, how he pushed his length into me and pulled it back, his cock sending out hot, molten pleasure through my quivering body.
And as he drove into me time and time again, our eyes locked onto one another’s, I knew there was something different about this lovemaking.
It was just that – we were making love.
Not merely sex, not merely fucking, it was our bodies joining, becoming one.
We came at the same time, his cock erupting inside of me, my cunt eagerly accepting every drop of him.
When we were done, he wrapped his arms around me and held me closely.
We were in love. Nothing else mattered.
But I still had a secret.
Chapter 40
NICK
The rest of the evening was simple, but wonderful. Amber and I, after a little more cuddling, threw our clothes back on and rejoined the rest of the family.
And that’s what we were – a family. Me and Amber and Jamie and Nan and Damon and Natalie. We were all a family, happy and together.
Luckily, they’d gotten so into the
food ordering that they hadn’t noticed we’d been gone an unusually long time. We settled in downstairs, having some sodas and waiting for the Chinese to arrive.
After it did, we settled in for a movie that Jamie had picked out, all of us eating and watching together. Damon had his arm wrapped around Natalie, I did the same with Amber, and Jamie was curled up next to Nan, her head resting on her grandmother’s leg.
It was perfect. After the movie we had some ice cream, me and Amber putting Jamie to bed after. This was followed by drinks out on the patio, all of us enjoying the weather and each other’s company.
That next morning, however, we had more pressing matters to attend to. The police showed up wanting to discuss the matter between me and Amber and Marcus. I called my lawyer, who quickly arrived. Nan and Damon and Natalie watched after Jamie while Amber and I and my lawyer spoke with the police in the study.
“I have to say,” I said. “I’m surprised you weren’t here last night.”
One of the officers spoke up. “When we arrived at the house, your husband was in…quite a state.”
“What happened?” asked Amber, concerned.
“As far as we could tell,” said the other officer. “He woke up a short time after your fight. Then he got into your liquor cabinet and went on a tear, smashing up whatever he could.”
Amber gasped, and I clenched my hands into fists, ready to beat his ass all over again.
“It’s…kind of a disaster,” said the first officer. “We arrived as quickly as we could, but he’d already done some major damage.”
“Whatever’s broken, we can replace,” I said to Amber. “The important thing is that you’re safe.”
She chewed on her lip for a moment, then nodded.
“Then they’re staying with you?” asked the second officer.
“Right,” said Amber. Then she quickly glanced at me. “That is…assuming it’s OK?”
“Of course it is,” I said. “As long as you need.”
“The good news,” said the first officer. “If you can call it that, is that because he was in the process of committing a crime when we showed up we were able to arrest him right then and there.”
“We’re going to need more than that,” said my lawyer. “We’re going to need an immediate restraining order – followed by the book getting thrown at him.”
“That’s for the courts to decide,” said the second officer. “But for now, he’s locked up and not going anywhere. His wrap sheet’s about three miles long, so even if all we got him for was the property damage, he’d still be away for a good long time.”
“Especially with him being on probation,” said the first officer.
We finished up the conversation with the officers, them informing me and Amber that they’d be keeping us posted on any developments with the case, and that for the next week they’d have a squad car parked nearby to be on-call if one of Marcus’s friends were to try anything.
“And I’ll call a private firm,” I said to Amber one the officers were gone. “We’ll make sure he never comes near you again.”
“I’ll get the process started,” said my lawyer. “He’ll have a restraining order on his ass by lunchtime, and I’ll make sure whatever charges we can think of, we’ll get. And we can also get the family court process started so if and when he ever gets out, he won’t be able to get anywhere near Jamie. Don’t worry about the divorce, we can serve his ass in jail and you’ll never have to see him.”
Amber said nothing as he spoke, and I could sense she was thinking it all over.
I took her hand and looked into her eyes.
“Is this what you want?” I asked. “He is Jamie’s father, after all.”
But a determined expression formed on her face.
“He stopped being Jamie’s father the first time he tried to hit me. When he did it again, it was all the warning I needed to cut him out of my life. I’m done with him. He can rot for all I care.”
Pure rage boiled off her words, and there was no doubt in my mind she meant every word.
“Alright,” I said to my lawyer. “Let’s get this started.”
We shook, and that was that. He left and me and Amber were alone.
“Can he do it?” she asked.
“He’s one of the best in the city – the last guy you want to be facing down in a courtroom. If you want it to happen, we can make sure Marcus isn’t within two miles of you and Jamie.”
She sighed, dropping into the chair behind my desk. I grabbed her a bottle of water from the mini fridge and handed it over.
“What’s on your mind?” I sat down on the edge of the desk, watching as she twisted off the top of the bottle and took a long sip.
“It’s just a lot to process. All these years in the back of my mind I wondered what would happen if Marcus were to come back. Part of me thought jail would straighten him out, and when he was released he’d be ready to be a dad. But he wasn’t. He was the same shithead he’d always been.”
She shook her head.
“But I don’t want to talk about him any longer. The moment he took that swing at me, the one you stopped him from doing, he was done in my book. Fuck him.”
Worry painted her face, as if something she’d forgotten about had occurred to her in that moment. She glanced up at me.
“There’s…something else I need to talk to you about.”
“What is it?”
“Let’s go outside.”
She set the bottle of water down on my desk and hopped up out of her seat. Something was on her mind, something I needed to know.
We went out to the office balcony, Amber looking out onto the city. I stepped next to her and put my hand on her shoulder.
“Are you…shaking?”
She turned to me and there was unmistakable fear in her eyes.
“What’s wrong?” I asked. “Whatever it is, you can tell me. I love you, Amber. We can get through it together.”
“It’s…not bad news,” she said. “It’s good news. But it’s good news I’m not sure how you’re going to take.”
“Tell me.”
She glanced aside, trying to find the words. Then she took my hand and placed held it for a moment. She dragged her fingertips over my palm, then leaned in and placed her lips on my skin.
“What…what is it?” I asked.
She shook her head. “It’s not a matter of what it is. But who.”
I was confused.
But then she took my hand and placed it on her belly.
“She’s in there,” she said. “Or he.”
I understood right away.
“You’re…you’re pregnant?”
She was worried. “I didn’t know how to tell you. I only found out a little while ago when we went to the doctor and…everything just sort of happened.”
My mouth slacked open. I couldn’t even begin to put into words what I was feeling.
“If you’re mad, then I’ll understand,” she said. “I know I told you I was on the pill, but I messed up with taking it. And then I found out and I was…I just don’t know what to even do.”
She was becoming more and more panicked with each word that passed her lips. But before she could get too carried away with herself, I decided to shut her up.
A grin on my face, I put my hands on her shoulders and brought her in for a kiss. Her eyes went wide as I pressed my lips on hers.
Just the reaction I wanted.
When I stepped back, she had a look on total surprise on her face.
Moments passed before she spoke.
“That…I assume that means you’re not mad?”
I laughed. “Are you kidding? I’m going to have a son or a daughter with the woman I love. Jamie’s going to kid a little brother or sister to play with. What possible thing would there be to get upset about?”
The confusion on her face faded, replaced by total relief.
“We’re going to be a family,” I said. “You and Jamie never have to go back to that h
ouse of yours ever again. And Nan can come too – hell, she can have the whole guest house.”
“You mean it?” she asked. “That’s really what you want?”
“I want you,” I said. “I want to start a family. There isn’t a thing in the world that would make me happier. And…there’s something that I never told you. Something I’ve been meaning to share.”
“Tell me,” she said. “Anything.”
“I was married. A long time ago – almost a decade.”
“Then we have that much in common,” she said, taking my hand.
“And I lost her. I lost her and the baby she carried.”
Sympathy appeared in Amber’s eyes. “I’m…I’m so sorry to hear that.”
“It’s not going to be easy to for me to love again,” I said. “But I can’t think of a woman I’d rather do it with.”
She smiled, standing on her tip-toes and planting a kiss on my lips.
“I love you,” she said. “And we can take all the time in the world.”
“And I love you, too.”
“But we still need to tell everyone,” she said. “Do you want to do it tonight?”
“Of course,” I said. “The sooner we tell everyone, the sooner we can celebrate.”
“How do you want to do it?”
It was a good question.
But as I thought about it, I realized there was something more to do, something else to take care of.
“Let’s talk about this in a little bit,” I said. “I’ve got some unfinished business.”
She was curious. “What’s that?”
“Between me and Damon.”
“Ah. Say no more.”
Hand-in-hand, the two of us went back inside.
The rest of the family was watching TV together, snacking on a light lunch of cheese and crackers that Nan had put together.
“Damon,” I said. “Can we talk outside?”
He appeared confused. But right away he appeared to understand what it was about. Natalie squeezed his leg in support before he got up.
I grabbed a couple of beers and we went outside. The weather was perfect – another gorgeous day in LA.
“Nick,” he said. “I-“
