Our Darkest Path (Our Darkest Series Book 2)

by Sarah Bailey

  Cole mentioned them going on holiday together.

  “Raphi didn’t tell me any of this.”

  “My son is too busy spreading his wings to notice what we’re doing,” Eric said with an eye roll. “Last time I spoke to him, he said he was finally free of the tyrannical rule of his mother watching his every move.”

  I snorted. Raphi could be dramatic at times.

  “Oh, I’m sure you didn’t tell Ash that.”

  “God no. We argue enough in this family without that.”

  “Raphi is a cheeky little monkey like his father, always has been,” Xav put in, giving Eric a squeeze.

  “You love it.”

  “I didn’t love it so much when he was running riot around the house as a toddler. I swear to god he wore me out every single day.”

  I could well imagine a green-eyed Raphi running circles around them. He might be the quietest of the four kids, but he had a wicked sense of humour and got up to mischief his parents didn’t know about.

  “Aw, Xavi, you were the best babysitter our kids ever had.”

  Xav scowled and flicked Eric’s ear.

  “Babysitter? Fuck off, I’m their father.”

  “Did you want me to start referring to you as Daddy X then?”

  “You… Jesus, you know what, no, I’m not rising to any more of your shit today.”

  Eric grinned wide. Seeing them all interact with each other made me realise how much I’d lost when Cole and I broke up. Not just him, but his entire family who I absolutely adored.

  I noticed Cole walking in, his dirty blonde hair all wet from his shower. He made a beeline for me the moment he saw me. I shuffled closer to Xav to make room for him on the sofa.

  “I didn’t know you were here already,” he murmured as he sat down and leant towards me. I felt him nuzzle my ear. “Sorry if I left you with them for too long.”

  “I’m fine, you know I love your family.”

  He pulled away and smiled at me.

  “How was your day?”

  I shrugged.

  “Okay, I suppose.”

  “Same.”

  I leant my head on his shoulder, staring up at his profile.

  “I’m glad I’m here now.”

  Cole smiled down at me, which made my heart thump against my chest.

  “See, why can’t Aurora and Logan be as cute as these two?” Xav said in a low voice.

  “Don’t say that too loudly or Quinn might go off on one,” Eric replied.

  Cole rolled his eyes as I frowned.

  “Who’s Logan?” I whispered to him.

  “Rora’s boyfriend.”

  “And Quinn doesn’t like him?”

  “Well, it’s more of a case of no one will ever be good enough for Rora as far as he’s concerned. I’ll explain later, they have a bit of a… history.”

  I nodded. Whilst I knew Quinn the least out of Cole’s dads, he and Raphi had told me more than enough to give me an impression of the man. And that was incredibly overprotective and strict.

  All of us lapsed into silence, our attention falling on the TV. I kept my head on Cole’s shoulder, not wanting to be too far away from him. I’d had a lot of time to think during the week. To consider what I really wanted. Our date on Monday had reminded me of exactly why we worked so well together. Being with him was easy. He made me smile. Never failed to take care of my needs. Not that I had anyone else to compare him to, but in the bedroom, Cole was hot as fuck. Every time I remembered the way he’d pinned me down and fucked me, I found my face growing hot and an ache started in my core.

  I guess you could say I’d made up my mind about him and me. Perhaps it was too soon. Perhaps it was crazy. But it all came down to one very simple thing, as I’d told Rhys last night. I loved Cole. And even if he hadn’t said it yet, I knew he loved me.

  Rhys hadn’t exactly been super supportive of my decision. He told me it was my life and he respected what I wanted, but he wished I’d take more time to see if Cole was genuinely going to stick by his word or not. Patience wasn’t exactly my strong point.

  The truth was I wanted Cole to be mine again and for me to be his.

  “Dinner’s ready,” came Ash’s voice, pulling me from my thoughts.

  I glanced over to the dining room, finding her standing in the doorway with a bright smile on her face. As much as I wanted to say hello to her, I had something to say to Cole first. Whilst everyone else got up, I put a hand on his arm. He glanced at me for a long moment.

  “We’ll be along in a minute, Mum,” he said, waving a hand at her.

  Ash gave him a nod before leaving the room with the rest of Cole’s parents and shutting the door to give us some privacy. Cole looked at me, his eyes full of caution.

  “What is it, little queen?”

  My heart fluttered at his term of endearment. I took his hand in both of mine, staring down at it as I stroked my fingers along his palm.

  “I have… I have something to tell you.”

  “Okay.”

  It took me a minute to compose myself. I wanted this to come out the right way even though it should be simple for me to say.

  “Cole… I…”

  Swallowing, I took a deep breath and started again. My eyes flicked up to his, knowing I couldn’t be a coward and shy away from confronting this.

  “I forgive you for what happened. And I want us to be together again because the truth is… I love you, Cole. You’re important to me. I don’t want to have regrets about not taking this chance. So… so I wanted you to know that. And before you ask me, yes, I have told Jonah.”

  Before I’d had a conversation with Rhys whilst the two of us were tucked up in his bed, I’d had dinner with my brother. He’d been very understanding, although Jonah usually was. He admitted his feud with Raphi had been partially clouding his judgement when it came to Cole. Whilst him and Raphi still weren’t okay by any stretch of the imagination, he wasn’t going to let that affect his feelings about me and Cole any longer. Especially not now Cole was eighteen and legally an adult. Having Jonah’s blessing had made my choice to be with Cole that much easier.

  “You have?”

  Cole’s expression was neutral. I didn’t know how he felt about my declaration. I hoped he’d be happy since it’s what he wanted.

  “Yeah. He’s happy for me… for us… if there is going to be an us.”

  For a moment he said nothing. My stomach was in knots. All I wanted was for him to smile at me. Reassure me in some way.

  He reached up with his free hand and stroked my face with his fingertips. The depth of emotion he was feeling finally showed through in his hazel eyes. The adoration he felt towards me slammed into my chest, making me giddy.

  “There’s an us, Meredith, there’ll always be an us. You’re mine and I’m yours.”

  “So… we’re back together then?” I whispered, needing him to say the words.

  “Yes,” he murmured, leaning closer. “I’m not letting you go again.”

  I smiled before he kissed me. His lips on mine reassured me. He made me feel on top of the world. I let go of his hand to tangle mine in his hair, wanting this kiss to go on forever. And feeling bereft when he broke it off.

  Cole rose to his feet and took my hand, pulling me up.

  “Ready to have dinner with my family, my beautiful little queen?”

  I stared up at him.

  “Yeah.” I stepped closer, wrapping a hand around his waist. “And I’m ready for the next chapter in our lives… starting now.”

  Cole’s smile set my whole world on fire. And I hoped we wouldn’t have to tackle too many issues from here on out.

  It’s just a pity I couldn’t predict the future. Because the future always has a way of throwing you off course and setting you on a different path. And it was not one I would have ever chosen for myself and Cole.

  Not at all.

  Not one bit.

  Part III<
br />
  crumble

  verb, crum·bled, crum·bling.

  to fall into small pieces; break or part into small fragments.

  Chapter Thirty Five

  The past few months had gone by in a blur of work, college, Meredith and sex. A lot of sex. She and I had made up for lost time any which way we could. Getting to be with my girl without anything hanging over our heads was like a breath of fresh fucking air.

  I’d just rung her doorbell as we were celebrating tonight. I’d officially passed my assessments to get my qualifications, which meant I’d be finishing up my apprenticeship soon. Something I was glad of, considering how much I couldn’t stand being around AJ any longer. I needed to find a new garage to work at no matter what. No way I wanted to put anyone I knew at risk, especially not my girlfriend.

  Meredith had been insistent regarding us having our own personal celebration. My parents were taking us out tomorrow to some fancy restaurant.

  The door was pulled open to reveal Rhys. He gave me a nod and stepped back, letting me walk in.

  “Hey.”

  “Meredith’s in the kitchen,” he told me, waving at it as he walked away into the living room.

  Rhys didn’t entirely approve of me. I didn’t hold any animosity towards him for it. I had made the effort to get to know him. He was a decent guy and cared a lot about my girl. Meredith told me he liked me well enough, but the fact I’d hurt her had left a black mark against my name as far as he was concerned.

  I hung up my jacket and popped my helmet on the rack above the coats next to hers. She loved going out on the Ducati with me. I dumped my bag down as well since I’d take it up to her room later. Then I walked along the hallway until I reached the kitchen, finding Meredith by the stove with her back to me. She had an apron tied at her back and was wearing a rather short pale blue dress. I took a second to admire her as she had soft music tinkling out of her phone. She was still sporting her pink hair and it fell down her back in waves. Fuck, she was beautiful and all mine.

  “Little queen.”

  She turned her head and smiled at me.

  “Hold on, let me just get this.”

  Meredith shuffled back and opened the oven, bending down to get something out of it. I swallowed hard when her dress rode up, revealing she had very skimpy lace knickers on underneath. Plans formed in mind involving pulling her into my lap and ripping them off her so I could make her sink down on my cock. The way her tits would bounce whilst she rode me. The little pants and moans she’d make. And the way she’d cry out my name when she reached climax. Those had me reaching down to adjust myself.

  Fuck.

  I had plenty of time to enact those ideas later.

  Meredith straightened and set a dish on top of the stove before tugging off the oven gloves and setting them on the counter. Then she turned and practically ran towards me. I had to take a step back when she launched herself into my arms, curling hers around my neck before she kissed me.

  “Hello to you too,” I murmured when she pulled back slightly to nuzzle her nose with mine.

  “I’m so proud of you.”

  I smiled.

  “Oh yeah?”

  “Yeah, you’re officially my hot mechanic boyfriend and that’s pretty damn amazing.”

  I kissed her, feeling my heart fucking swell at her words. Despite us being back together for months, I still hadn’t yet told her I loved her. I don’t know what was holding me back. It never felt like the right time to say those words, even as she told me every day how much she loved me. Meredith had never pushed me to admit my feelings.

  I guess in a lot of ways it was hard for me to express it verbally. I preferred to show her in the way I made love to her, gave her the things she wanted and took her to the places which made her happy. Perhaps I was like my dad in that respect. He had a tendency of showing how much he cared and loved us as opposed to saying it all the time. Don’t get me wrong, he said the words ‘I love you’, but it was rare and more meaningful when it did happen. I’d always been okay with it. It was just his way.

  Meredith pulled back and patted my shoulder.

  “Okay, you need to go sit outside and I’ll bring dinner out.”

  I raised an eyebrow.

  “Oh?”

  “I’m treating you as we’re celebrating.” She waved me towards the back door. “Now go.”

  I put my hands up and walked towards it. I gave her a wink before I disappeared. Out on the patio in the garden, Meredith had set the table complete with candles, flowers in a vase and a bottle of wine. I fought hard not to smile but failed. I took a seat and poured a glass for each of us before pulling out my phone when it buzzed.

  Mum: So proud of you, baby boy!

  Cole: Thank you.

  Mum: I hope you have a lovely night with Mer.

  Cole: She’s made me dinner so I’m sure we will.

  Mum: Oh, that’s so sweet of her. See you both tomorrow. Don’t be late.

  I rolled my eyes. As if I would ever be late to a meal with them. Quinn would go off on one, and then the entire night would be soured. Duke had done it once on his own birthday. We’d never heard the end of it. Since then, Mum always reminded us to be on time.

  I tucked my phone away when Meredith came out, minus the apron, carrying two plates piled high with lasagne accompanied with salad and garlic bread. She set them down and kissed my temple before taking her own seat.

  “That lot in there can serve themselves,” she told me as she picked up her wine glass.

  “You made dinner for everyone?”

  “Well, it’s not like we can eat an entire lasagne between us.”

  I grinned, reaching out to take her free hand.

  “I could try.”

  Meredith shook her head before tilting her glass towards me. I picked up my own.

  “To you passing all your assessments and almost finishing your apprenticeship.”

  We clinked our glasses together before drinking from them. Then we tucked into the meal she’d made, which was amazing. Meredith had told me she had to learn to cook because her mum and grandmother left her and Jonah to fend for themselves a lot after her dad died. She didn’t see either of them much, but she did meet up with her brother at least once a week. Sometimes I’d join her. He was a lovely guy who cared about his sister deeply. It made me wonder what on earth my own brother had been thinking when he fucked things up between them. Honestly, I was with Meredith on this point. The two of them needed to sort their shit out.

  “So, your brother wants us to come out with him next week,” Meredith said as she leant back in her seat with a piece of garlic bread between her fingers.

  “Does he now?”

  “Just drinks, not clubbing or anything.”

  “Raphi doesn’t want me to show him up with my dance moves.”

  She snorted and rolled her eyes as I busted out a move whilst still seated, waving my arms in the air.

  “With moves like that, you’ll have Raphi bowing down to your superior skill.”

  I gave her a wink. She knew I could dance. We’d been dragged out clubbing with Jazz several times. We always got lost in our little world with each other under the strobe lights and loud music.

  “He’s got two left feet.”

  “Poor Raphi, not his fault he’s uncoordinated sometimes.”

  “I don’t know where he gets it from. I genuinely think E is the best dancer out of all of my dads.”

  She cocked an eyebrow.

  “When have you had to watch your parents dancing?”

  “Oh, we went to one of their employee’s weddings last year, but there’s been a few times before that. As you can imagine, Xav was out there straight away with Mum, followed by E… Dad and Quinn hated it when Mum made them get involved too. You know they have a hard time saying no to her.”

  “Ash certainly keeps your dads in check.”

  I grinned. My mum definitely ruled our hou
sehold. I don’t think my dads would have it any other way.

  Meredith and I continued talking about my parents for the rest of our dinner. She gathered up the plates when we were done and took them into the kitchen. When she came back out, she grabbed her glass and curled up in my lap. The two of us sat watching the fading light, just content to be in each other’s company for a long while.

  “Cole,” she murmured from where her head was resting on my chest.

  “Mmm?”

  “I have another treat for you.”

  “Oh yeah?”

  She looked up at me with a sly smile on her face.

  “It’s in my bedroom.”

  I had a feeling I knew where this would be going.

  “Did you get me a gift?”

  She bit her lip before sliding off me and taking my hand, pulling me up.

  “If you consider what’s under this dress a gift.”

  I watched her pick up our discarded wine glasses and the half-empty bottle.

  “It’s a gift only I get to see.”

  She winked at me over her shoulder as she sauntered back towards the house.

  “Coming to get your gift then?”

  No way in hell I’d be turning that shit down.

  “You better run or I’ll be tempted to unwrap it before we’re alone.”

  She squealed as I chased her into the house and up the stairs. I definitely couldn’t wait to unwrap my gift and take full advantage of her.

  Chapter Thirty Six

  Cole caught me as we made it to my bedroom. He plucked the glasses and wine bottle out of my hands, placing them down on my desk before shoving me towards my bed. The boy had this look in his eyes which told me I would be getting no mercy from him. And fuck, if it didn’t turn me on.

  His hands ran down my body to grab hold of the dress and pull it off me. I put my arms up to help him out. Cole’s eyes roamed over me, taking in my lacy pink underwear. It was new and I’d bought it especially for this evening, having gone shopping earlier since I didn’t have classes on Friday afternoons.