Yours Completely
Page 19
“What did you discuss outside?”
It was the one thing Jack never told me. The one time when everything shifted.
“Jack made his claim, I backed off.”
“No!” I said and tears came faster. “Tell me all of it.”
Cal closed his eyes for a moment. “After he left… we came to an understanding. We both wanted you, so it seemed like our only option was to…”
His stare held mine, and so much anger and hurt rose.
“Say it,” I demanded between gritted teeth.
“Share,” he whispered. He stepped closer. “But not like it sounds. I was crazy about you from the start, but in the end I agreed to back off because of Jack. But after you two broke up . . .”
“You were right there to swoop in.”
“He knew I wanted you. I told him and I was honest about everything. He was gone. And I wanted a shot to prove to you the man I could be.”
“Then what?” I cried. “How was this grand plan supposed to end?”
Cal paused. Whatever he was about to say was clearly painful. Eventually he forced out the words. “Jack still has feelings for you.”
I froze. I felt those words like a punch to my gut. I would have given anything to hear those words just a few short weeks ago. Now I felt as though my world was falling apart. How could everything have changed so much, so incredibly quickly? And if Jack still cared and Cal knew, then why…?
As if he heard my unspoken question, Cal continued, “He stayed away so I could have my time, just like I respected his time. Then, you could decide.”
“Decide what? Who broke my heart more? Who destroyed my trust better?”
“No, decide who you wanted back.”
I scoffed and shook my head. “All this time, you lied to my face.”
“I was trying to give us a chance. Trying to give you and Jack a chance. Everything got messed up after that meeting between him and your dad and Brock.” He shook his head. “We were going to tell you.”
“That doesn’t make it better, Cal!” My breath was catching, and the world wouldn’t hold still. “Everything you said, the both of you said, was a lie.”
“No, it’s not. I love you. Jack loves you. We never lied about that.”
“He left! People who love don’t leave.”
“Jack – he has his own issues. He had to go, he needed time,” Cal admitted. “And then after we… then I wanted him to stay gone, so I could have time. With you.”
“So you two held to your agreement? How noble.”
“Lana, please,” he took another step.
“Don’t. Don’t you dare,” I said. I walked past him into the bedroom and pulled on my pants and jacket.
“What are you doing?” Cal asked.
“I’m leaving,” I said.
“No.”
“You don’t get to tell me what to do,” I said, and put on my boots and walked back to the kitchen, grabbing my prescription.
“We never meant to hurt you. We tried to give you a choice.”
“And what if Jack and I never broke up? Then what?”
Something heavy in Cal’s eyes pierced my stomach. “I wouldn’t have interfered. And I would have spent the rest of my life wondering.”
“Well, you don’t have to wonder anymore. I gave you everything I had left to give,” I sobbed. “And you broke it.” I wiped the back of my hand over my eyes and winced from the pain of my cheek and the pain of my world crashing down.
Something like water looked to line Cal’s eyes.
“Please, love, don’t go,” he begged, a sharp edge catching in his voice. “Remember when I held you, I asked you to remember that moment. Remember that even when things get hard…remember that moment.”
“The one where you promised you’d always be on my side? That you’d always chase after me? That you’d fight for me and with me?”
He nodded.
Tears streamed down my face. “That moment doesn’t matter anymore.” I looked him in the eyes. “Because your promises mean nothing. You’ve already won. You got me to feel for you. Got me to move away from Jack and toward you. I don’t want you to chase me anymore.”
“But, I love you.”
“People who love also don’t lie,” I whispered.
His phone buzzed, it was Jack calling.
I glanced at it, then at him. “You better get that.”
With that, I walked out the door.
Chapter 25
I ran as fast as I could. It was the middle of the night, but my house was only a couple blocks away. Cal would have to at least put on pants first before he could catch up to me, so I had a head start. That is, if he did chase me. Which I was hoping he wouldn’t. Because, no matter how hard I ran, how loud my body screamed in pain, I couldn’t stop.
I heard sirens and lights flash from the fire station just a block ahead. They were going out on a call? Only the truck didn’t go far, just pulled into the middle of the street.
I slowed and saw smoke.
“No…” I raced faster. The smoke was coming from my house. “No!”
I ran up and my little yellow house was in flames, burning as if soaked with gasoline and glowing in the night.
Everything I’d ever owned, ever valued, was in there.
“Whoa, stay back,” Dave caught me.
“It’s my house.”
“Is there anyone in there?”
“No.” Thank God, Harper was out of town. She was safe. I bawled and watched as my entire life, literally, went up in flames. “What…how?” were the only words I could get out.
Dave clearly didn’t have time to explain, but did say, “The fire went up quick, we can tell by the flames and how fast it’s burning already that some kind of lighter fluid was used.” With that, he ran toward the truck.
Oh, my God. Someone set my house on fire? If fluid was used, this was no accident.
“Lana!” Cal yelled, and ran up next to me.
I pushed away from him and walked to other side of the street. I wanted to scream and cry. The pain was so real it felt like it’d taken up residence in my entire body and would soon topple me over.
“Lana, listen to me,” Cal said, cupping my shoulders. “You’re in trouble.”
I shook my head. I was so overwhelmed with everything. “Why would Brock do this? Why?” I looked at Cal. “Why would you do the things you do?” Everything was crumbling.
“That’s just it. Brock’s in jail. They’re holding him overnight. He couldn’t have done this.”
That meant Brock wasn’t alone, and whatever they, he, whoever, wanted from me was big, or they wanted me dead.
My mind went blank like a curtain of shock overtook it and forced me to stop thinking. Too much. This was all too much.
I sat on the curb across the street from my burning house and held my head in my hands. The sounds of men yelling, tires screeching, and the fire roaming all rang in my ears like a bad dream.
“Lana,” a deep voice that I recognized called out. I knew that voice. I knew it so well it sent shivers up my spine. I looked up to find Jack. He resembled some kind of dark knight in his black coat and pants. His eyes were as onyx as the night that surrounded us, while an orange glow from my house haloed him.
I couldn’t move. Couldn’t speak. I wanted to yell at him. To curse him and tell both him and Cal right where they could jump off. But I sat there, dazed and destroyed, with every ounce of my will, my world, burning and crumbling like my home.
“Baby,” Jack rasped, and knelt to face me. The endearment hit something in my soul that made me want to hate him even more than I loved him. “Whatever plans you have of pushing Cal and me away are going to have to wait,” he said, as if he could read my mind. “You’re in danger. Do you understand?”
I just looked at him.
Snap.
I just snapped.
“Are you kidding me? I haven’t seen you in months!” I shot to my feet, and Jack followed suit. He was flanked
by Cal, and they both stared at me, their towering frames hovering. But I would have none of it. “You lied to me! Left me. Messed with my life and my emotions and…” I gripped my head. “My house is burning! And you stand here and tell me what I’m going to feel and what I’m going to do?”
“Yes. Because you are our first concern,” Jack said.
“You don’t get to make me your concern. Either of you. You both lost that right when you lied to me, made me love you, then broke my heart.”
“Lana, this is serious. Love, something bad has happened. Your—”
“I know! I’m staring at it!” I pointed at my house.
“No,” Jack said sharply, his dominant voice snapping me to attention. His eyes softened and he stepped toward me. “Baby,” he whispered, “I’m so sorry, but your father is dead.”
NOT the end…
Look for Yours Forever, the third and final book in the Reign Series.
Books by Joya Ryan
The Reign Series
Yours Tonight (Book #1)
Yours Completely (Book #2)
Yours Forever (Book #3)
The Shattered Series
Break Me Slowly (Shattered #1)
Possess Me Slowly (Shattered #2)
Capture Me Slowly (Shattered #3)
The Sweet Torment Series
Breathe You In
Only You
The Chasing Love Series (Entangled Brazen)
Chasing Trouble
Chasing Temptation
The Sweet Hill Series
Sweet Hill Temptation
Sweet Hill Homecoming
Book ~1 in the Reign Series: Yours Tonight, is available here.
For more books by Joya Ryan, visit her site: www.JoyaRyan.com or click here.
Table of Contents
Copyright
Dedication
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Other Books by Joya Ryan