by A. M. Myers
“Baby,” he breathes, reaching for me and I shake my head again. As much as I want to fall back into his arms and believe him when he tells me that everything will be okay, I can’t. Not anymore. These issues between us are bigger than either of us realized. He sighs, running his hand through his hair as he glances down the street. “Let’s go inside.”
I nod and ignore his outstretched hand as I pass by him to go into the house. It’s not that I want to be cruel or hurt him back but I know if I let him touch me again, our connection will overwhelm me and demand that I give into him. I can’t do that this time. As I step into the living room, memories of the last few weeks in this house flood my mind and a few more tears slip down my cheeks. The morning we went over to his parents’ house pops into my mind and I remember his promise to always follow me anytime I run and as I turn back to face him, I know I have to do the same.
I won’t give in.
I won’t just forgive.
But I will fight for my man and I will fight for our love.
Wyatt runs his hand through his hair and peeks up at me, his nerves painted across his handsome face. “I don’t know what to say…”
“Why don’t you start with whether or not you’re still planning on signing the divorce papers today?” My heart skips a beat as I wait for his answer and I cross my arms over my chest, struggling to take a full breath as he looks up at me. Until last night, I didn’t even know he still had those and it kills me to think that he kept them as an insurance policy. He wanted an out from the very beginning. After what feels like an eternity, he turns and walks down the hallway to the bedroom as my heart sinks. When he comes back, he has the papers in his hand and my lip wobbles as my world crashes down around me. Stopping right in front of me, he holds his hand out to me. “Come with me.”
Maybe I’m a masochist or on some level, I assume that I deserve to watch him sign our lives away but I slip my hand into his, savoring the feeling because I know this will be the last time, and let him lead me into the kitchen. We stop in front of the sink and I scowl as he digs a lighter out of his pocket and holds the flame to the corner of the papers.
“Oh,” I whisper, a sob overwhelming me as I grip the counter and watch him drop the burning papers into the sink before he turns to me and cups my face between his hands.
“Blaze had Streak investigate all the things that have been happening - the flowers, the reservations, and the guy that showed up yesterday - and he found an online dating profile for you run by someone else.”
Who in the hell would run a fake dating profile on me and for what reason?
“Blaze and Streak both think it is the same guy who is targeting the club…”
A bolt of fear slices through me.
“I was the one leading the charge on these cases but I haven’t been doing as much lately because I’ve been so distracted with everything going on between us. I…” He pulls his hand away from my face and runs one through his hair. “I was tracking you and following you to make sure you didn’t leave me or cheat on me and each time something new happened, it just made me feel crazier.”
“Wyatt,” I breathe, closing my eyes and rubbing my fingers into my forehead. I don’t even know how to process all of this and I know we’ll have to talk about this in more depth later but right now, I don’t want to interrupt him.
“I know, baby…” His voice cracks and he shakes his head. “I don’t know why I was so quick to believe the worst of you because when I look at you now… It’s so crazy to me that I ever believed you could do that to me. I mean, I know you… I’ve known you since we were ten years old and I know you would never do that to me. It’s just… I was going crazy… Fuck, Pip. I’m so fucking sorry that I’ve been such an ass lately. Clearly, I have some issues from our past but I promise you that I’m going to work on that.”
I nod, searching his eyes and for the first time in a long time, I can see the boy I fell in love with staring back at me. “How?”
“How what?”
“How are you going to work on it?” I ask and he shakes his head, blowing out a breath.
“I don’t really know yet. I hadn’t really gotten that far.”
That is what I was afraid of.
I’m happy that he is identifying the problem but it’s not that easy to overcome. For ten years, my betrayal became part of who he was and just because it didn’t actually happen doesn’t mean the trust issues disappeared. Looking down, I take a deep breath and my heart skips a beat as I meet his gaze again. “Will you go see Dr. Brewer with me?”
“What?” he asks, jerking back.
Shit.
Maybe I shouldn’t have asked that.
The look on his face makes it clear that he doesn’t like the idea but I remember sitting on the beach with him the morning we left Charleston and how he told me that he would do whatever it took to make this work. I just hope that still applies now.
“Wyatt, I can’t fix you with my love anymore than you can fix me and if you really want to make this work, I think this is what we need to do. And I know that it’s my fault that you have these trust issues but we have to find a way to move forward.”
He shakes his head. “I don’t know, Pip… I don’t want to talk to a shrink.”
“Baby,” I say, reaching forward and grabbing his hand before placing it on my belly. “We have to find a way to get past this, for us and for this baby that we are bringing into the world and these past few weeks have been hell for both of us. I’ve been worried sick that I was losing you and you were feeling the same and it doesn’t really matter who was manipulating you because the point is, you believed it. We have to fix us and you promised me that you would do whatever it took to make this work.”
“I…” he says before sighing and running his hand through his hair again. The silence stretches between us and I can see him working through it in his mind before he looks up at me and nods. “Okay. I hate the idea so much but I’ll do it for you.”
I shake my head as he pulls me into his arms. “No, Wyatt. You’re doing this for you.”
“Let’s compromise and say I’m doing it for us.”
“Fine,” I answer, rolling my eyes and he flashes me a grin as he pulls me closer and his gaze drops to my lips. His tongue darts out, tracing along his full bottom lip and just like that, I want him.
“Do I get to kiss you now?”
I nod. “Yes, please.”
His lips crash down on mine and our bodies meld together as I grip the back of his cut and moan into his kiss. Tears sting my eyes, slipping down my cheeks as his hand slips into my hair and he massages the back of my head. Too quickly, he pulls back and brushes his thumb over my cheek, wiping away my tears.
“I love you, sweetheart, and I’m so sorry for everything I put you through.”
Closing my eyes, I lay my head on his shoulder. “Pretty sure we’re about even now.”
Silence descends over us again but this time, it’s comfortable as he holds me close and we enjoy the quiet moment together, letting go of the past twenty-four hours. When he pulls away again, there is stress lining his face.
“We’ve got to pack and get back to the club, baby.”
I nod, blinking up at him as a chill runs through me. “What’s happening?”
“A woman walked into the clubhouse this morning, saying she had been kidnapped and her abductor brought her to us and told her to pass along a message.”
Sucking in a breath, my heart races as I look up at him. “It’s him?”
“Yeah, baby. It’s him.”
“What was the message?” I ask, not really all that sure I want to know and Wyatt presses his lips into a thin line and sighs.
“I am just getting started.”
My stomach drops and the fear is so overwhelming that I feel rooted to the spot. I stare up at my husband, his eyes flash with the same dread coursing through my body right now and I shake my head, my mouth opening but no words come out. I drop my head and try to b
reathe through it just like Dr. Brewer taught me but my mind runs wild with the possibilities, making it impossible to calm myself.
What do we do?
No one has any clue who this guy is and he is one hundred steps ahead of us.
“Hey,” he whispers, smoothing his hand over my hair and pulling my gaze back to his. “One step at a time, okay? Let’s go pack.”
I nod and we turn to walk out into the dining room when a loud pop comes from outside followed by the sound of glass breaking. Wyatt’s wide gaze turns to me and as the second pop echoes through the neighborhood, he pulls me to the floor.
“Is someone shooting at us?” I hiss as we flatten our bodies against the dining room floor. Wyatt’s hard gaze flicks to me as he pulls his gun out of his holster.
“You stay here, okay?”
I shake my head, trying to grab for him as he starts crawling away from me but he breaks free of my hold. “Wyatt!”
He disappears behind the table and I gasp for air, my pulse spiking as he pulls the curtains back to peek outside. The window breaks, raining glass down on him and I clamp my hand over my mouth to hold back my scream as tears sting my eyes again and my heart thrashes in my ears. When he appears on the side of the table, crawling toward the front door, I’m able to breathe a little easier until he opens the front door.
“Wyatt!” I hiss but he ignores me as he stands on the side of the door and takes a deep breath before stepping outside. When I don’t hear another gunshot, my mind starts to run wild and I shake my head. “Fuck this.”
Crawling along the floor, I move to the table and grab my bag off of the top before digging my gun out with my gaze fixed on the front door. Just as I’m standing up to move toward it, another gunshot rings out from the backyard and I spin around. Moving as quickly and quietly as possible, I cross the kitchen and stop at the back door, pulling the curtains back to peek out of the little square window at the top of the door. Someone in a black hoodie has their back to me as they point a gun at Wyatt, who has his hands up. My gaze flicks to his gun on the ground and my stomach flips.
Oh, God, I’ve got to help him.
Moving slowly, I turn the door handle and gently pull the door open, careful not to make any noise and when I reach the spot where the door creaks, I hold my breath and lift it up as hard as I can, relief rushing through me when I get it open without a sound. The screen on the outside door is already open and I crouch down as Wyatt’s gaze flicks to me. His eyes tell me to run but there is no way in hell that is going to happen.
“Why did you have to go and ruin everything?” the person in the hoodie says and all my thoughts screech to a halt. Wait… I know that voice.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“She was mine!” Lillian shrieks and I shake my head, trying to understand what is happening right now but no matter which way I look at it, it doesn’t make sense. Why the hell is one of my best friends holding my husband at gunpoint?
Standing up, I tiptoe backward until I hit the dining room then I turn and run out of the front door before hooking around the house. Creeping along the side of the house, I hear more of her ranting at him, telling him all about her plan to make him leave me with the flowers and the dating profile and the hotel in Seattle and I breathe a sigh of relief.
As long as she’s ranting, she’s not shooting.
Rounding the back of the house, I raise the pistol in my hand, holding it just the way Wyatt showed me as I stop a few feet behind her. “What are you doing, Lil?”
“Piper,” she gasps, wheeling around as she lowers her gun but when she sees the gun in my hand, she lifts it again, pointing it at me.
“No! Point that back at me,” Wyatt urges her, pointing to himself and I narrow my eyes and shake my head as she glances between the two of us before backing up until we form a triangle in the yard. She trains her gun on Wyatt and my heart sinks.
No.
No.
No.
“Lillian, what are you doing?”
She shakes her head as her gaze turns to me but she still keeps the gun pointed at my husband. “I’m fixing this mess.”
“What mess is that?” I ask, eyeing her warily and waiting for her to make her move. Images from the night my parents died flick through my mind but instead of reducing me to a bubbling mess like they usually do, this time I use them to fuel me. As much as I don’t want to, I will protect my husband at all costs. She shakes her head again and when her eyes meet mine, they fill with tears.
“You’re not supposed to be with him.”
I scowl. “He’s my husband, Lil. Of course I’m supposed to be with him.”
“No!” she screams, shaking her head again. The blank look in her eyes scares me and the tired look on her face tells me just how close she is to snapping and I know from all my time with Dr. Brewer and in the group that I have to be careful. “Stop saying that. Don’t you see, Pippy? I love you…”
“I do see that,” I answer, remembering what Dr. Brewer said about people lost in a delusion before I remember Wyatt admitting to me in the kitchen that he was tracking me to make sure I didn’t cheat on him. Where did he put it? In my car? My phone? Sucking in a breath, I meet his eyes and hope that he will understand my plan. “I can’t believe I didn’t see it before, Lil. I’m so sorry.”
“It’s okay,” she whispers and I shake my head.
“No, it’s not. You’ve always been there for me. Do you want to get out of here? Just you and me?”
She gasps, her eyes widening and hope flickering in her eyes. “Really?”
“Yeah. Let’s go right now.”
Wyatt grits his teeth and shakes his head. “Piper. No.”
“Shut up,” she hisses, turning back to him and raising the gun to his head. My heart jumps into my throat and my mind screams but on the outside, I remain calm.
“Lillian? Please don’t do that. If you kill him, they’ll come after us and rip us apart.”
Her eyes widen and she shakes her head. “No… they can’t take you away from me.”
“Then let’s just go,” I whisper, lowering my gun and holding my hand out to her as my heart hammers against my ribs. Wyatt’s face is tortured but he doesn’t say anything and I just hope he will understand what I’m doing and go along with my plan. Her gaze flicks between Wyatt and me before she starts walking over to me, still pointing the gun at my man. When she reaches me, she takes my hand and I resist the urge to shudder at the fear racing through my veins as we start backing up toward the side of the house as she continues aiming the gun at Wyatt.
“Don’t follow us,” she warns him, flashing him a glare and I shake my head, mouthing the words “I love you” to him just before we disappear around the side of the house. Once we’re in the clear, she starts running, pulling me along with her. “Come on. We have to go.”
We step into the front yard and she turns to me. “Do you have your keys?”
“Yes. They’re in my pocket.”
She grins and nods. “Okay. Let’s go.”
“But wait, I don’t have my wallet or anything,” I tell her, suddenly doubting my plan. Her gaze flicks to the side of the house and she shakes her head, pulling me along.
“I’ve got plenty of money for us and I’ll drive.”
I nod, trying to think but my brain won’t work. My gaze drops to the gun in her hand and I suck in a breath. “Can we leave the guns here?”
“Sure,” she answers cheerily as she drops his pistol into the grass and I do the same. Maybe it’s a bad idea but I feel a whole hell of a lot better knowing there’s not two firearms in the car I’m about to get into.
My stomach flips as we reach the car and she pulls open the passenger side door.
Oh, fuck, this is such a bad idea.
Why the hell am I doing this?
Slipping into my seat, I buckle up and pull the keys out of my pocket as she runs around the front of the car.
Okay, just breathe, Piper.
I just need to keep her distracted long enough for Wyatt to call reinforcements and track us down. Reaching down, I feel the phone in my back pocket and pray that he put the tracker in there or on the car… otherwise I’m screwed. My hands shake and my stomach does another flip as Lillian slides behind the wheel and reaches for the keys. As she starts the car, Wyatt runs around the house and stops when he sees me sitting in the passenger seat. I wish I could press my hand to the glass or anything to let him know how much I love him in case I don’t make it back from this but I can’t let Lillian get suspicious of me.
“So, where to?” Lillian asks, flashing me a wide grin as she pulls away from the curb. I shake my head as my chest aches and my shoulders feel tight. I wrap both of my arms around my body and hug myself as I look over at her.
“I’m open to anywhere.”
She scowls. “Are you cold?”
I shake my head and release my arms as I lean back in the seat and my stomach twists. Oh, God, I’m going to throw up.
“You know, I got scared there for a minute… thinking you were like everyone else but now you’re here.” Her smile is wide and happy as she looks over at me. “I never should have doubted you.”
“What do you mean, like the other ones?”
She rolls her eyes. “My ex…”
“Your fiancé?” I ask, remembering the story she told in group not that long ago and she nods, tears filling her eyes.
“You know, he asked me to marry him and then that night, as we were going to his parents’ to share the news, he tells me he’s having second thoughts and maybe we shouldn’t say anything just yet.”
I drop my gaze to my lap and scowl as I try to put all the pieces together. What exactly is she saying? “I’m sorry. That must have been hard.”
“I begged him to just give us a chance, you know? But the more I begged, the more he stood his ground and then he said that he wanted to break up instead so I did what I had to do.”
“What did you do, Lil?” I ask, my eyes snapping up to hers and she shrugs.
“I couldn’t let him leave me.”
Oh my God…
Jesus fucking Christ.
