Winston Brothers Box Set

by Lewis, Stacey

  “Mav is only borrowing them for a little while,” Reed says, standing to take his son out of my arms. “Isn’t that right, bud?” In answer, Maverick reaches up to grab Reed’s nose. Good grief, he moves fast for someone who’s still so small.

  The banter continues throughout lunch and only takes a short break for the sharing of cake and wishing the newlyweds well before they take their little boy and leave.

  “I wish they were taking a honeymoon.” It’s sad that they are waiting, but I understand it too.

  Remy hums, like he’s agreeing with me. “They’ll get a honeymoon. Fallon just wants to wait until Mav is a little older. It’s not like there’s a rush to take it or that they have to wait until they have vacation time or something.”

  “True,” I muse. It must be nice to have the ability to just take off wherever you want whenever you want. That’s a luxury I’ll never have but having a baby with Remy means at least my child will.

  Taking my arm, he gestures for me to follow him. “Let me get you home.”

  “Um, actually, I’m not going home yet. I need to stop by and see Maddie first.” I don’t know why I’m so hesitant to tell him this. It’s not like he doesn’t know about my sister. I mean, hello? He’s the one who paid off all her medical bills. I’m just afraid he’s going to insist on going in with me and somehow my sister will either find out what we’re doing and why, or she’ll fall head over heels for him the same way I have.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Remy

  I have an ulterior motive for taking her to see her sister instead of letting her take the subway. It’s not just because I can take her home to change first either. No, I want to meet the little sister she’s mentioned so many times. Melody is so careful not to say to much about her, but the more she tries to keep her a secret, the more I want to know her. She sounds like a fun girl.

  Melody is tense when we walk into the hospital and I find myself wanting to comfort her. The only problem is the thing that would comfort her the most is me not going in with her. I’m not compromising on that.

  The look on her face while we stand alone in the elevator has me thinking second, third and fourth thoughts. Maybe I am wrong for essentially forcing her hand this way. When the doors slide open, I step forward and hold the stay open button. “Melody.”

  She doesn’t immediately look at me, but when she tugs on my hand and I don’t go with her, she’s forced to meet my eyes. “What?” The confusion on her face, the way a little frown lines shows up between her eyes when she tugs my hand and I still don’t move, gives me hope. Maybe it’s not so much about me as it is not wanting her two worlds to meet. She doesn’t want to keep me away from her family, she wants to keep everyone away.

  “I don’t have to go with you. If it would make you happy, I can wait in the lobby for you to be done.”

  Those frown lines of hers deepen and her eyes flit between both of mine as she tries to figure out if I’m trying to trick her somehow. Mel’s shoulders straighten and I watch her face smooth out. “No,” she finally says. “You should come.”

  Well, I guess that’s that then. I’m not about to argue if she says this is what she wants.

  The walk down the hallway gives me the willies. Sickness has a very distinct scent and feel when you’re around so many people who have it. There’s a heaviness in the air that presses on your chest, and the cloying scent of the many bouquets of flowers makes it that much harder. The only way I can describe it is antiseptic decay.

  Melody comes to a stop at a door that’s not quite shut, and I can hear the muted sound of voices from what’s probably a television. We walk inside and I almost knock her over. She stops so fast that I have to fight not to crash into her.

  “What are you doing here?” Rage makes her voice tremble and I want to pull her behind me so I can face the threat first.

  There’s an older man who must be Mel and Maddie’s dad, based on his coloring. He’s sitting beside a much younger woman, their hands entwined. Based on the adoring way she’s looking up at him, I’m guessing this is the secretary he blew up his life for. She’s pretty, but just like with my father, why would you do that to your family? Why leave for a few minutes of pleasure? They both made vows to love, honor, and be faithful, but neither one could manage it.

  That’s one mistake I’m damn sure my brother’s and I won’t ever make.

  “Melly,” the soft voice from the bed captures her attention. Melody rushes over to take her outstretched hand, but before she can say anything to her sister, Maddie says, “It’s not worth it. Just leave him be.”

  Fire flashes in Melody’s eyes. “Leave him be? You must be joking.” Those angry eyes focus on her dad and the woman beside him who shrinks back like she’s trying not to be seen. “So, you, the bastard who cheated on my mother and left us when Maddie was at her lowest, you want me to take it easy on you? What’s the matter, you can’t handle the consequences of what your actions wrought?”

  “Mel—” the woman with him starts to speak, but my girl doesn’t stand for it. She takes a step closer and I worry she’s going to do actual damage to the woman.

  Wrapping an arm around her waist, I pull her into my chest and keep her still. “Don’t,” I whisper, for only her ears to hear. Once she stills, I turn to her sister and hold out my free hand for her to shake. “Hey, I’m Remy. You must be Maddie.” She nods, grinning widely. “Melody’s told me so much about you. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

  I’m careful to avoid looking at her father. Manners dictate I should introduce myself to him too, but that might make Mel’s head explode. That doesn’t stop him from studying me though. I ignore him, maneuvering Mel so she’s on the opposite side of Maddie’s bed than he is and keeping her turned away from him so she can ignore him too.

  He tries to start a conversation with her more than once, but Mel takes the hint from me and ignores his presence, pretending he’s just not in the room with me. The grateful look Maddie gives me has me smiling down at her, and finally their father, and I use that term loosely, takes the hint. He and the woman with him leave, the only farewell he gives is to wave at Maddie from the bottom of her bed.

  Since Melody and Maddie are engrossed in their own conversation, I follow them out of the room. They both stop when they hear the door shut behind me and the look her father gives me is full of trepidation and probably a little bit of fear. He knows I’m not out here to help him with his daughters. In fact, that’s the last thing I would do. Melody needs to know I’m on her side, always, and by the time I’m done with her asshole father, there won’t be any question.

  “Why are you choosing now to show up?” I don’t pull any punches, figuratively at least. I’m pretty sure if I punched him for real, I’d end up spending tonight in a jail cell. That’s not how I want today to end.

  He looks around, like he’s looking for someplace we can go that’s private. I know why. He wants to keep people from hearing what a shitty human being he is. Well, I’m not about to let him hide. The decisions he made are his to own, no one else’s.

  “How about we go—” he starts to head for one of the waiting room, but I cut him off with a shake of my head.

  My eyes bore into his, hoping he can see the disgust I feel for him and the fury over how he’s treated his daughter’s. “No, I think we can stay right here. I don’t want to be that far from Mel.”

  “It’s not polite to air your dirty laundry in front of everyone,” the woman standing beside him is quick to tell me.

  My laugh can’t be contained. “Yeah, well, if you ask me, it’s not polite to sleep with someone else’s husband. Guess you weren’t too worried about etiquette then, huh?”

  She sucks in a breath but says nothing. That’s fine. I don’t need their input for the things I want to say. “Look, Mr. Jackson… is it okay if I call you James?” I don’t wait for his permission. “Great, thanks. Now, before we get started, I don’t know your name because Melody told me.” His shoulders slump
at this statement. He thought he was important enough to her for her to tell me his name, but she does her best not to ever think about him.

  “I know your name because I wanted to be sure you wouldn’t be able to get your grubby paws on the money I paid for Maddie’s treatment.” Both their eyes widen when they find out I’m the one who paid everything and the satisfaction I get from that is immeasurable. “You see, a decent father would move heaven and earth to make sure his daughter had everything she needs. A decent man wouldn’t abandon his family when they needed him the most.”

  His face is turning a mottled red and if I gave a shit, I might be worried he was going to have a heart attack right here in the middle of the hospital. I guess, at least it would be the right place to have it happen. James sputters, trying to come up with a comeback even though he knows there’s no defense he can give. I’m done listening to this, and any excuse he gives is only going to piss me off more.

  “If you know what’s best for you, you’ll take this opportunity to get the fuck away from Maddie and Melody. They don’t need or want your toxic version of affection. You can either do it on your own, or I can get my lawyers involved. If that happens, you won’t like the outcome. I have absolutely no problem dragging your name and hers,” I nod in Tammy’s direction, “through whatever mud I can. By the time they’re done with the two of you, all those fancy parties and dinners you like to go to will stop issuing invitations. You’ll both be pariah’s in this town and wherever else I have connections.”

  As expected, James doesn’t stick around. God forbid his lifestyle is threatened. He’s still huffing and puffing when he grabs his mistresses’ hand and storms off to the bank of elevators. I don’t feel even the least bit sorry for scaring him off or threatening to ruin him. His reputation and ability to get into all the society functions are the only things he cares about. Taking that away would hurt him more than anything else I could come up with.

  Her soft sob distracts me from watching the elevator doors close on the person who’s made Melody’s life hell, and when I turn my head, she’s standing in the doorway to her sister’s room. One hand covers her mouth and I watch tears roll down her cheeks.

  Fuck.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Melody

  Remy turns to face me, and I can see the fear flit through his eyes. The way he just stood up to my dad, the way he threatened to take away everything my dad holds dear… I can’t even describe how that makes me feel.

  I don’t bother to wipe the tears from my eyes before I launch myself at him, wrapping my arms around his neck and my legs around his waist. “I can’t believe that just happened!”

  No one has ever done for me what Remy just did. He pulls back, and I move so I’m looking straight into his eyes. “You’re not mad?” he asks as though he’s a little scared to hear the answer.

  “Mad? How could I possibly be mad?” An inappropriate giggle slips out between lips that are smiling so wide they’re going to hurt later. I can’t seem to wipe the grin off my face. “That was amazing, Remy. The best thing I’ve ever seen.”

  His stiff body relaxes, the arms around my waist pull me closer and our foreheads touch. “I’m glad.” His voice is soft, almost reverent and I can’t help but press my lips to his. His brush mine lightly once, then twice, but he doesn’t try to deepen the kiss. “I was worried I overstepped, but I know how much pain he’s caused you and I didn’t want him to have that kind of power over you anymore.”

  The words are out before I realize I’m going to say them. “Remington Winston, I’m pretty sure I’m falling in love with you.”

  His smile is radiant. “Melody Jackson, I know I love you.”

  Did that just happen?

  Clapping from behind me has us both turning to look. Maddie, who isn’t supposed to be up for more than a few minutes at a time, is the one standing in the doorway now. Her moon and stars pajama pants hang off her thin frame, the cardigan she always wears wrapping around her torso more than once. Her eyes still look dull, but there’s so much happiness on her face when she looks at us.

  Remy lets me down, making sure the front of my body drags along the hard lines of his until my feet touch the floor. My cheeks heat, and I have to struggle not to drag him into the nearest room to have my way with him.

  “You’re not supposed to be out of bed, Mads.” I know I’m not scolding her, but it sort of feels that way.

  Imp that she is, Maddie just shrugs, a huge grin on her face. “I know, but I wanted to see what all the commotion was. You can’t always protect me, Melly.”

  “That might be true, but can you blame me? I’ll always want to protect you. You’re my little sister.”

  Maddie rolls her eyes, crossing her arms over her chest and glaring up at me. “I’m seventeen.”

  “True, but you already have so much you’re dealing with. Is it wrong that I want to make things a little easier for you?”

  She can’t dispute that, no matter how much she wants to. “Fine,” she says with a huff before changing the subject too quickly for me to keep up. “So,” she draws out the word, “are you guys dating?” She sounds so hopeful.

  Remy is quick to answer. “Yes, yes we are.” I shoot him a death glare, because we haven’t talked about any of this and what it means yet. He shouldn’t be just telling my sister we’re together. What if it doesn’t work out? What if he wakes up tomorrow and decides I’m not worth it?

  “Good,” Maddie says, her smile matching his. When her attention turns back to me, the sparkle in her eyes tells me she’s up to no good. “I’m tired.” She yawns, but it’s so fake a toddler could tell. “You guys should go… celebrate or something.”

  I can’t. Please, someone, anyone, tell me she didn’t just say that. How embarrassing. Madison wraps her arms around me and gives me a hard hug, practically squeezing the life out of me. “I want you to be happy. It’s the most important thing for me, just like me being happy is for you.” I want to argue, but, how can I?

  * * *

  We walk into Remy’s loft and I’m in awe. I’ve never been here before, but the contrast between his place and mine is stark. I can’t get over how big it is… I know, that’s what she said. Insert eye roll here. But seriously, it is huge. We’re ten stories up in the middle of downtown Chicago, and an entire wall of the apartment is floor to ceiling windows.

  It's also one big space that includes both a living room and a kitchen, separated only by an island in between. The cabinets are white, the floors a pale honey wood. It screams I have money and you don’t. It’s hard not to be intimidated.

  Remy walks up to where I’m standing at the wall of windows looking out at the city. Wrapping his arms around me, he rests his chin on my shoulder. “I’m glad you’re here.”

  “Me too.” I’m deep in thought so the words are quiet, but I still mean them with my whole heart. I’m so nervous to give voice to my thoughts. What if Remy isn’t interested? What if it’s a deal breaker? “Remy?” Once his name is out, I have to go through with this.

  His eyes study mine, brows furrowing in seriousness. “Yeah?”

  “Can we talk?”

  Taking me by the hand, he leads me over to the sofa that sits just in front of a large television. I don’t know how big it is, but good grief, it has to be at least seventy, maybe eighty inches. Who needs a television that big?

  Once we’re seated, Remy turns his full attention to me. “What’s on your mind, babe?”

  I take a deep breath. “It’s about the contract we made, our baby bargain.” His hands on mine stiffen, so I hurry to tell him my thoughts. Now that I’ve started this, I can’t just quit. “We set that up when we were just two people who’d slept together a few times, right?” He nods, and I know he’s not sure where I’m going with this.

  “So, I was thinking…” This is so hard for me to do. I know he wants a baby. I just hope he’s willing to wait for a little while on that part of our relationship. The next words come out in a rush, so
fast it’s probably hard for him to follow them. “Fallon and Reed had a baby because your dad manipulated them, and Ava and Ryker did it by accident.”

  Remy’s quiet for a few seconds, before he finally agrees. “Yeah, that’s how they both were. What’s that got to do with us?”

  Damn. I was really hoping he would figure it out and say he was good with what I’m about to ask for before I had to actually do it. “I want to do this the right way. The right way for us. When we first agreed to this, it was when we weren’t going to be in a relationship. I was going to get pregnant, carry the baby, then hand it over to you.” He starts to say something, but I shake my head. “I know. You were hoping I would change my mind once the baby was a real thing.”

  Remy’s cheeks turn a pale shade of pink and it’s so adorable. “That might have been what I was counting on.”

  “I thought so. Remy,” I hold his hands tighter in mine, looking up at him with big eyes. “Please, can we let this relationship progress naturally? I never thought I would say this, but after being around you, seeing how you treat me and how you are with your siblings and Maverick, I do want that with you. Just, not right now. Maddie is about to go through so much with her treatments and I need to be there for her and my mom.” I’m not above begging him if I have to, but I hope he sees this my way.

  Dropping my hands, Remy stands and walks out of the room. Oh no. I should’ve kept to the original plan instead of trying to change everything when we finally got ourselves straight.

  Five minutes pass, then ten, and I’m starting to seriously panic. Should I leave? Should I try to find him and explain?

  I’m about to go out of my skin when Remy finally walks back into the room. My heart stops when I see what he’s holding—the folder containing our agreement. He holds out a hand and I rush over to grab it, close to sobbing in relief. I was so worried he would say no, granted he still might be.