by RJ Scott
"He won't. Believe me, I won't let it happen." Jeff matched the venom with the vindictiveness that controlled his every move. "I am not giving up my birthright and certainly not to anyone polluted by association with a Campbell."
* * * *
Jack caught up with Riley as he stood by one of the 4x4s in the drive. His new husband was just staring at him, expectation etched into his features. It sent a skitter of wariness down his spine as the tension permeating the house followed him outside.
"Keys?" he asked. Riley threw them over the roof, and Jack snatched them out of the air and threw them up, thoughtful and suddenly feeling the need for open space. "Where to?"
Riley shrugged. "Beer," was all he said.
"Get in. We're going to the D."
Riley climbed in without argument, but stared resolutely out of the window as they left for the Campbell family home. His phone rang twice. The first time he just cut off the call, but the second time he answered it, with resignation in his voice and words that just fell off of his tongue with practiced ease. Jack only got Riley's side of the conversation, but whoever he was talking to obviously peeved Riley, judging by what he was saying. His frustration and exasperation were obvious, despite turning away from Jack.
"No, we're not. I can't understand why you— Jeez, the kids need their momma. You need to listen to me, Lisa. No, I've heard that before. Okay, okay, yes, it's true. Yes, I will." He shot a quick look at Jack. "Yes we'll be there— Whatever good that does." He closed the cell, settling back to face the front and glaring out of the windshield.
"And?" Jack finally said, curiosity pushing at him to question when Riley didn't immediately answer.
"Lisa, Jeff's wife, wanted to check if we would be back for dinner tonight, that's all. She's aware of what's happened and she's…"
As his voice tailed off, irritation sparked in Jack. What the fuck was up with all the half sentences? It was driving him freakin' mad.
"She's what? Pissed? Sad? Devastated she lost you? What?" Jack snapped, taking the next bend maybe a little too sharply and causing Riley to slide against the door with a loud exhalation of breath.
"Scared, she says she's scared," Riley bit out, rubbing at his shoulder and frowning.
Jack said nothing. He added another question to the long list of questions he was writing in his head, a list he would damn sure pull out later.
When he drove through the main gates with the two D's entwined in an intricate twist of metal, he felt every ounce of stress falling away. He was at home, pulling himself visibly taller, a smile on his face, pride in every pore, whilst next to him, Riley seemed to sink lower into his seat. He drew to a stop outside the main house at right angles to the red-sided barn, turned off the engine and leaned against the steering wheel. He had something to say, something that was eating away inside him. Riley had to know, needed to know, what Jack had inside his heart.
"Okay, Het—" he started with his usual lack of reverence, then pushed that down. This was not a joke. "Riley, this is gonna be one hell of a long year, and before we do anything else, before we take one step outside of this truck, I wanna get something off my chest."
Riley paused with his hand on the door. "Okay?"
"I want you to know that I hate you— what you did— that you used Beth against me. I hate that you knew before me and that I had no choice in this." He realized he sounded confused at what he was trying to say, but Riley wouldn't look him in the eyes.
* * * *
Riley said nothing. He just opened the door and climbed out, his feet heavy on the hard packed ground below them and then he stood, looking at the barns and the house as he had done that first day, wondering at how quickly the week had gone. He knew in his heart, where guilt and anger both battled for dominance, just what it was that Jack was explaining.
Suddenly it was just as important for Riley to say what was inside him. "Are you gonna make my life miserable now?" he started. "Are you gonna get your revenge for what I did?"
Jack climbed down from the seat and came round to stand next to Riley, leaning in so he could speak low and firm. "I don't have the capacity for the kind of hate the Hayes family seems to have, Riley. Beth is ill and has been for a long time. She's pregnant and could die. I have two mares about to foal that could make the D the best horse ranch in the state, and now I have the money to help me with both."
He stopped, sighing, then reaching up to grasp Riley at the back of his neck. His hold firm, he pulled Riley's head down. "I don't have anything left inside to deal with you and your petty squabbles. For now, I need to play my part, keep my end of the bargain, and that starts with fairly obvious public displays of affection."
Riley didn't argue as Jack placed warm lips against his, his hands twisting harder in Riley's hair, holding him in place. Jack ran the tip of his tongue over Riley's lower lip, pushing for him to let him in. Pulling back briefly, all he said was, "Fuck's sake, make it a good one for the audience, Het-boy," and then he was drawing the very breath from Riley's body as he slanted his mouth and began the hottest open-mouth kiss Riley had ever been on the receiving end of. It wasn't hard to go with the flow. His hands rested on Jack's hips, one moving to settle at the dip in his spine and one, resting on the belt of his jeans. Whispers of wanting more drifted in his subconscious.
This wasn't a woman, a soft gentle woman, bending back in his arms and letting him lead. This was a battle to take control. A small groan started in his throat as he felt himself hardening against Jack's leg and the flush of arousal burning in the tight restricting denim. Jack said nothing, just twisted slightly, pushing Riley back against the car, his own arousal hard and insistent against Riley. Finally Jack pulled back, Riley chasing the kiss and whining at the loss before he realized where he was and exactly why they were kissing.
"I signed the damn contract, Riley," Jack whispered against damp kiss-marked lips, "and I will be the husband you need. Doesn't mean we have to like each other." Without another word, he turned on his heel, walking halfway to the house and stopping. "Coming?"
Riley was stunned and verging on embarrassed. For a good few minutes, he didn't know what he felt, apart from freakin' turned on. He willed his hard-on to go away as Donna stood on the steps calling down to them both. Riley pasted a smile on his face, a genuine I'm pleased to see you smile and joined Jack, who was damn well holding out a hand to grasp, like they were a real couple. Taking a deep breath, he climbed the stairs for the third time in one week.
"The vet is here, Jack," Donna said quickly. "Nothing awful; Solo-Col was just restless." Jack looked back at the first barn, clearly torn between what he wanted to do —visit with family— and what he needed to do— visit with his horses.
"Riley, I just need to go check on her. I'll be back in a bit," he finally said.
"Er— you want me to come with you?" Riley offered, also weighing up pros and cons, though it was more along the lines of death-by-horse versus death-by-Campbell family.
"I'll be ten minutes," Jack said, releasing Riley's hand and jogging towards the barn.
Riley sighed and climbed the last few steps. Jack's mom quickly and efficiently pulled him into a tight hug and guided him into the warm kitchen. It smelled the same. Something was cooking, and Riley guessed it was some kind of stew in the large pot on the stove. The smell of bread permeated the rooms. He sniffed the air appreciatively and was treated to the incredibly awesome sight of fresh cookies and coffee on the table.
Donna glanced out of the kitchen window towards the barn. "You know what Jack can be like." She chuckled. "You realize he'll be at least an hour, if not more." She pushed a fresh coffee his way and indicated he should help himself to cookies, which he did, with a polite "Thank you, ma'am."
Beth came in sometime between the first and second cookie, sitting down diagonally across from Riley. She didn't look at him, just sat quietly sipping on some foul-smelling herbal tea and nibbling on a cookie of her own. Where was the brave girl who'd stood between him and her
brother, the one who questioned his motives? She wasn't here in this quiet child-woman who didn't say a word.
"So," began Riley, just for something to say, deciding to stay off the subject of pregnancy in case Donna wasn't in the loop yet. "I've seen you hanging around sometimes with my friend, Steve."
Beth actually smiled and then blushed. "I met him in the hospital when I was fourteen, I guess. He had been through all the same stuff as me and come out the other end, living and well, and he looked after me in the ward. He was only there when my family couldn't be, but it was the lonely times. Three in the morning, the dead hours." She paused, her thoughts obviously lost in memories.
"He's a good guy," Riley offered, wanting to tell her about the Steve that he knew, the Steve who supported him and laughed with him, the man who gave him space away from his family, and put up with all his shit. But he found he couldn't stumble on the words to talk to the girl he'd betrayed to her brother.
Jack wasn't as long as Donna had suggested he might be but was definitely away longer than ten minutes. When he walked back into the kitchen, he had a look of uncertainty etched into his features.
"Wanna see the horses?" he offered.
It seemed like an impulse question, but Riley took him up on it. He found himself in the dim interior of the main barn, his hands gently stroking the softness that was Solo-Col. He listened as attentively as he could as Jack explained her bloodline, her potential, the one point four million her foal could bring if it all went well, and how this foal could be the making of the D.
Riley followed Jack to the fence that formed one end of the corral, leaning against it and looking thoughtfully at the horses in the fields beyond. Quietly Jack leaned in for another kiss, quick and fast, whispering, "We're being watched" against Riley's warm face.
As Riley listened to Jack, listened to the pride and love for bloodlines and the family ranch, he could feel the tension across his neck start to release, as if this was maybe somewhere he could just listen to Jack ramble on and relax.
* * * *
Donna watched them from the kitchen, thoughtful, knowing her son, loving her son, wanting him to be happy. It was easier to lose herself in times when she was happier, before Alan had gone too far, lost his dignity and her love, before resentment took him from her. The pride of the D was in her son, in every inch of him, and she just wondered what deal he'd made with the devil to keep his family safe.
Beth started to leave the table, and Donna couldn't keep things inside any longer. She turned to pull her youngest into a close hug.
"Sweetheart," she began, trying her best not to cry, not to scream, to be the best mother she could. "I think there's something you maybe want to tell me?"
Chapter 17
The knock on the door was loud in the quiet apartment. It had been a long, hard, tiring week, and a virus had laid Steve low. His usual sunny outlook on life was somewhat dented. He had received final word from the lawyers on his trust fund and discovered he couldn't get access to it before his thirtieth birthday, whatever the reason. But that wasn't even all of it.
He'd been sitting in silence ever since he had received the phone call, and now he was waiting for Beth, worried to death. Seven simple words— "Are you alone? Can I come over?" —but she had sounded half defeated, quietly sad, and it sent shivers down his spine. He knew what it was like to deal with the threat of death. He had pulled through, and he thought she had too, and it was all over.
He hesitated before opening the door, twisting his hands in his hair, his heart heavy. This wasn't the first time, nor would it be the last, that Elizabeth had called or visited just to talk. But with the whole pregnancy thing, his levels of support and love for Elizabeth and her unborn child threatened to break him in half. Last time they'd met had been the worst. On his knees, with a diamond solitaire in his hand, he had proposed the best solution— "Marry me Beth." He had asked out of love, but all she saw was the age difference, seven long years that had made him a man, and the fear of why he was proposing.
She wouldn't tell him who the father was, but he had his suspicions. He'd even considered confronting the person he thought responsible for creating life with the girl he loved, but he didn't. Not when she cried and begged him to leave it, telling him that one day he would know. "You can't protect me, not from him," she'd sobbed, and then just stopped, like every word she said would be a clue for Steve's fertile imagination to build on.
Taking a deep breath and pasting on the best friend smile he had practiced to perfection, he opened the door. Beth was standing there on the threshold, looking like the world had been pulled out from under her. Without words, she fell into his embrace, standing still and silent, her head on his chest, her breathing shallow, and he pushed the door shut.
"Hey, princess," he began softly, "what's wrong?" He felt her full body sigh as she gripped into the soft cotton of his shirt.
"Momma knows," she said simply and quietly, so soft he had to strain to hear. Donna knew?
"Oh baby girl." He didn't know what to say to that one. "It was gonna happen sooner rather than later." Beth nodded against his chest. "How did she… What did she say?" A sob hitched in her throat, and if it was possible, she was burying herself deeper into his embrace. Had Donna not understood? Had she been angry? That wasn't the Donna he knew. "Tell me, Beth, what did she say?"
She only cried harder, and desperate to just see into her eyes, he swept her up into his arms, wincing at the slight weight of her and crossing to the sofa, slumping into the corner and holding her close. With his free hand, he tilted her head back, her beautiful blue eyes wide and full of tears, and he buried that same hand in her long dark brown hair. "Beth?"
"She was good. We talked and… She said she was worried, but she knew having children… She said it completed her. It made me feel…" She stopped, her voice choked. "I'm just so sorry…" Those simple words shattered him.
"Sorry? What for?"
"For letting her down, for letting you down, for Jack, for Josh… I've failed every one of you."
Steve tightened his grip. He couldn't reconcile her thought processes here.
"What?" He wished he could form a better sentence.
"I've done this. This is my fault. I'm a burden on my family, and I've been so stupid."
"No, never, I love you Elizabeth Campbell. Your family loves you, and you saying you have failed us is just plain stupid." His voice cracked with emotion, and her eyes filled with more tears as she half-nodded.
"I want to make it all go away, Steve."
He held her as she cried, talking and muttering, until finally, she grew quiet in his arms, her breathing steady as she slept against his chest. He reached for his cell, scrolling to find Donna's number and quickly letting her know Beth was there with him.
It was only much later that night that he remembered one single sentence Beth had added as they talked quietly.
Jack was broken when he told me he knew.
What did she mean? Had he guessed? How had her brother known about the baby? Had he guessed? He'd thought she wasn't telling him yet.
* * * *
Jack sat back on the sofa in Riley's apartment, waiting for Riley to get out of the shower, as relaxed as he could be. In less than half an hour, he'd be facing the entire Hayes clan at dinner. Riley had given him as much of a heads up as he could about each member, but none of that explained why a clearly inebriated blonde was leaning against the inside of their door, a glass of red wine in her hand and a thin smile on her face. Clearly this was Lisa. Jeff's wife.
Dressed in little more than what he imagined qualified for underwear, a thin silk wrap falling off delicate shoulders, she glanced towards the shower and began to walk that way. Jack stood and blocked the movement with a polite, "Ma'am?"
Carefully she leaned into him, her eyes a little unfocused. "Jus' have some business to take care of with the stud there," she all but purred, syllables lengthened and sultry as she pouted up at Jack and gestured towards the closed
bathroom door.
"I'm sure it can wait," Jack offered politely, wincing as scarlet-tipped nails rested on his fresh white shirt, and her pout grew bigger.
"When I got the invite, I'm sure it didn't mention a threesome, handsome." She slurred her words, tossing back long blonde hair and tilting her hips to his. Carefully he placed hands on her arms and pushed her back, wine sloshing in the glass, her heels making her unsteady. Jeez, talk about cliché, underwear, a little silk robe and heels. Not so much for the classy then.
"I'll be sure an' tell Riley you visited," Jack said firmly, guiding her to the door. A sudden look of clarity sparked into otherwise dead eyes, and she narrowed them.
"You're that Campbell boy, John, Justin—"
"Jack."
"Jack. Jack Campbell, what you doing here in the Hayes prison?" she finally asked, sipping at the wine and leaning into his hold, the only thing keeping her vertical.
"Campbell-Hayes actually," Jack returned. "Riley and I are married." Her eyes dropped to the platinum ring on his ring finger, and then back up to his face. In a smooth movement that belied her apparent drunken state, she thrust the wine at him. He took it out of pure reaction, releasing one of his hands and causing her to stumble.
She pulled herself tall. "You're so gonna need that, big guy," she said simply. Tottering on her heels, she let herself out of the room, leaving Jack wondering what had just happened, with a glass of wine in his hands. He was still standing there when Riley emerged fully dressed from the bathroom, his eyebrow raised in question at the wine in Jack's hand.
Jack just shook his head, silently saying, don't ask. "Have you been there, Het-boy?"
"Where?" Riley was clearly confused.
"Lisa."
"My brother's wife?" Was Riley being deliberately obtuse about this? After all, he had allegedly invited Lisa up here for some inter-family sex.
"Your brother's wife. Yes."