by J. M. Walker
Jaron white-knuckled the steering wheel. “I keep having these thoughts that I should have made him suffer. That I shouldn’t have ended it so quickly, but being at the party, I didn’t want to cause a scene and make it worse for you. I can’t tell you how many times both Cyrus and Sammy told me what they would have done if it was either of their girls.” He shook his head. “But that doesn’t matter.” He squeezed my hand. “I can’t do this without you, so thank you, Piper. Thank you for not giving up on me, on us, and for waiting it out.”
Pulling my hand from his grasp, I cupped him over his pants. “This is mine. All of you. Remember? You told me those words yourself.”
He nodded, placing his hand on top of mine. “Always yours.”
“Finally mine,” I whispered, his cock jumping under my touch.
Jaron leaned over, placing a soft peck on my forehead before lightly brushing his nose against mine. “I love you, baby.”
My heart stuttered. “I love you.”
He gave me a small smirk. “Let’s get this done and over with, so we can spend the rest of the day doing nothing.”
“I like that idea.”
Once we reached the grocery store, Jaron parked and left the car first. He grabbed Brynlee from her car seat as I slipped out of the passenger side.
It was on the tip of my tongue to tell him that he could have brought her in her car seat but when he sighed as he held her against him, I thought better of it.
I grabbed the stroller from the trunk of the car. If Jaron wanted to put her in it, he could, but I was happy with him holding her.
We walked into the large building as a family. I looked at Jaron every now and again, almost expecting this to be a dream. I found myself pinching my arm every so often just to make sure this was actually a reality. Even though he had been home for a few weeks already, we had a hard start to our relationship. A part of me feared that he would move on after he got his fill.
“I can feel you looking at me,” he said, glancing at me over his shoulder.
I stopped abruptly. “I…”
He tilted his head, hugging Brynn against his chest. “What’s wrong?”
A sigh left me. “Nothing.” I went up to him and kissed his cheek before placing a peck on Brynn’s head. “Nothing at all.” My fears were unwarranted because I knew, I felt, Jaron wasn’t leaving. Ever.
“You sure?” He moved Brynn to his left arm, reaching out to cup my cheek with his free hand. “You can tell me.”
“I know.” I smiled up at him, liking the way my stomach tumbled whenever he touched me. “We can talk later.”
Jaron leaned toward me, pressing his lips to my ear. “If you don’t talk to me, baby, I’ll force my cock so deep inside you, the only word that will leave your mouth, is more.”
My body heated. “I don’t believe you.” I walked away but not before I caught the look of shock on his face. I bit back a laugh and sauntered down the aisle.
“Fuck.” I heard Jaron breathe.
I laughed to myself, enjoying this newfound awareness between us. No matter the issues we were having, we were still able to flirt, touch, kiss, and just hold each other.
The tiny hairs on my body suddenly tingled.
I looked over my shoulder, finding Jaron staring back at me. He closed the distance between us and placed Brynn in the stroller. After he buckled her in it, he came up to me and cupped my jaw.
My breath caught. Even though we were in public, I couldn’t help but get lost in him. His gray eyes. His life. It was like his damn soul was calling out for mine.
Just when I thought he was going to kiss me, he gave me a smirk and released my jaw before pushing the stroller down the aisle.
I huffed, shaking my head.
He chuckled. “Your mom’s a tease, baby girl.”
I scoffed. “I’m a tease.” I stuck my tongue out at him. “Please.”
A wicked grin spread on his face. “I’ll remember that,” he said, walking away from me.
Letting my eyes roam down the length of him, it took everything in me not to bite my knuckles at the way the dark blue jeans sat low on his hips. They did wonderful things for his ass. Mixed with the black hoodie, although it was casual, I found it hotter than if he were wearing a suit. Though, I bet he’d look good in one just the same.
“I can feel you staring at me, babe,” he called out over his shoulder.
I laughed, shaking my head and following him and Brynlee down the aisle. We ended up picking up whatever we needed and even some things we wanted. Whenever I went grocery shopping, I usually only bought things we absolutely had to have. I got maternity pay from the center while I was currently off. Since my mom was one of the owners, I got more time off than usual. I would also get random envelopes in the mail each month with a check in them. I bought what we needed and put the rest in a bank account as an education fund for Brynn.
“Jaron, I need to tell you something,” I said, before I forgot again.
“What is it?” He came up to me and threw a box of Cheerios into the cart.
“I forgot to mention when you first got home how your parents have been helping me each month. I’ve been getting deposits into my account from them and from my parents. I never asked for the money and have put most of it away into a bank account. I figured I’d start saving for Brynn’s education now.”
He cupped my cheek, placing a soft peck on my forehead. “That makes sense, but I want you to know, it wasn’t my parents sending those transfers.”
My eyes widened. “What? But the transfers said Mercer on them. I just assumed…”
“You shouldn’t assume, Piper.” Jaron winked.
A thought came to me. “They were from you. Weren’t they?”
“Let’s pay for this stuff and get out of here. Then we’ll talk on the way home.” He grabbed the cart from me and wheeled it to the nearest checkout.
This was something we should have talked about before. If I would have known that it was him sending me funds, I wouldn’t have been so worried about actually spending the money. I loved his parents, and I loved my own, but they struggled just like the rest of us. I didn’t want them thinking I was taking advantage. I knew it didn’t make sense when they wanted nothing but the best for their granddaughter.
While Jaron paid for the groceries, the hairs on the back of my neck tingled. I looked around me, but found nothing out of the ordinary. It was early afternoon, so the store wasn’t overly packed. But that familiar tingle didn’t go away.
“Piper, what’s wrong?” Jaron asked.
“I don’t know.” I continued putting the items on the conveyor belt but that feeling of being watched wouldn’t go away.
“Babe.”
I met his gaze then. “I feel like we’re being watched.”
Jaron stood up taller, his dark eyes moving around the vast room.
“Not to butt in or anything,” the young cashier said softly. “But you probably are being watched.”
Our heads whipped around.
“What the hell are you talking about?” Jaron demanded, his voice rough.
“She’s been in here before.” She nodded toward me. “I’ve seen other women whispering about her. They would point. But you never noticed,” she told me.
“I was more worried about other shit,” I mumbled.
“Our city is getting bigger, but it still has that small-town mentality,” the cashier continued, still ringing through our items. “There was a woman who would ask us about you. Apparently, she saw you at Rouge, picking up two guys.”
Jaron’s dark eyes shot to mine, his jaw clenching.
“She’s talking about Cyrus and Sammy.” I rolled my eyes but appreciated the jealousy rolling off of him just the same.
“Still hate that shit,” he mumbled. “We need to go.”
“Thank you for the information,” I told the cashier.
She nodded. “One last thing. The mayor has been asking about you two.”
“Fuck.” J
aron paid for the items and tossed the bags into the cart.
I thanked her and grabbed the stroller, following Jaron out of the store. The mayor. I hadn’t seen him since Jaron’s trial. Not in person anyway. I had seen him on TV and in the newspaper. He’d lost weight but it was like as soon as the pounds came off, he became meaner. There was something in his dark eyes that whenever I looked into them, I knew that he was the devil in disguise.
“Jaron.” I rushed to keep up with him. “Have you seen the mayor since the last time?”
“No. I’ve been home with you.”
When we reached my car, Jaron put the groceries into the trunk and slammed the hatch closed. The sound jarred through me. The tension rolled off him in waves. He was plotting and I didn’t know how we were going to survive his wrath.
Once I put Brynlee in the back in her car seat, she babbled about something, probably warning me that her father was about to lose his mind. I kissed her cheek and closed the door.
I folded up the stroller and put it in the trunk as well while Jaron paced.
“Jaron,” I said gently, fearing that he was once again closing up on me.
“I need a moment,” he muttered, heading around to the driver’s side. Once he was seated behind the wheel, he slammed his fists against it.
My heart jumped, knowing that this was either going to turn into a discussion, a fight, or worse.
Jaron
I hadn’t seen or heard from the mayor in weeks. Cyrus and Sammy tried keeping tabs on him as best they could, but it was like Price just disappeared off the face of the fucking earth.
I tried keeping my nose clean, not caring in the least about the shit he did but I wasn’t kidding anyone. I did care about what he did because the fact he was mayor of our small city, was only a cover-up. He was a shithead and the worst kind of human. If you could even call him that.
When he had made those threats about Piper and Brynlee, I instantly put a watch on them. Not that Piper ever left the house much anyway and especially not without me, but I still wanted to her to be safe for when she got over her anxiety of leaving the house. She would become stronger and leave the house again on her own. Especially now that was I home to make sure that they were safe.
“Tell me about the money you received,” Piper said, turning toward me.
We were still in the parking lot at the grocery store. I could have driven us home already, but I knew that we needed to talk. I texted Sammy and Cyrus, asking them to meet us at the house. Besides my parents, they were the only ones I truly trusted when it came to my girls.
“I had them transferred to you every month,” I told her. “Not all of the money was earned the legal way, Piper, but it’s yours.”
“Who did you take it from?”
I leaned my elbow on the windowsill, scratching my jaw. “The mayor.”
She barked a laugh. “No wonder he hates you.”
“I also killed his son, so I’m sure that has something to do with it too,” I said, my voice flat.
“How did you get the money?”
“That doesn’t matter.” I looked at her then. “The less you know, the better. It’s already dangerous for you to be with me.”
“Hold on.” She pointed at me. “You better not be saying that you’re going to leave me just because the mayor has it out for you.”
“No, I’m not leaving you but I’m giving you a choice, Piper. It’s not safe. Being with me is not safe. I should have realized this weeks ago, but I missed you so fucking much, I couldn’t think about anything other than being with you and our daughter.”
“And future baby,” she whispered.
My heart jumped. “What the fuck did you just say?”
Piper sighed, leaning her head back against the seat. “I wanted to make it a surprise or do something fancy, but I think I might be pregnant.”
Every cell in my body stirred. “You think?”
She nodded. “My period is almost two weeks late. I had some home pregnancy tests that I had from when I was pregnant with Brynn. I took a test this morning.”
I turned toward her and grabbed her hands. “Tell me.”
Her eyes slid to mine. “It was positive, Jaron.”
All breath left me at what I was hearing. Cupping her cheek, I slid my hand to the back of her head and leaned my forehead against hers.
“I want to take another test and go to the doctor’s to make sure everything is fine before we tell anyone,” she murmured.
I nodded, brushing my nose against hers before placing a soft peck on her full mouth.
“I know Brynn’s still young…”
When her voice trailed off, I lifted my head. “I don’t care about that. People have twins and triplets and more, all the time. And with them being close in age, it could help them not fight as much and shit.”
Piper smiled. “True. So, you’re not mad?”
“Fuck.” I kissed her harder. “No. Never, baby. But I do have to warn you of something.”
“Oh?” She leaned back. “What’s that?”
“If the test confirms that you are in fact pregnant, I’m not letting you out of my sight. Ever. I wasn’t there for your pregnancy with Brynlee, but I’ll be here for this one, every single step of the way. I’ll be so damn annoying, I’m sure it’ll drive you fucking crazy, but I can already tell you, I won’t be able to help myself.” Add to the fact that when her body becomes big and swollen, I could already guarantee that I would fuck her every chance I get. Pregnant women were beautiful, but seeing the woman I love swollen with my baby? I was going to be a fucking goner.
“I look forward to that.”
“Seriously?” I was taken aback by her words. Most women wouldn’t want their men being so damn protective.
A husky laugh left her. “Yeah. Even though I didn’t see them often, I heard about how Zach and Vince were when both Luna and Gigi were pregnant. I often wondered if you would be the same way.”
I gave her a smirk. “No, baby. I’m going to be worse.”
Her laugh deepened. “Somehow, I’m not surprised.”
Starting up the car, I reached across for her hand.
Piper linked our fingers, holding my hand on her lap. “I’ll make an appointment with my doctor.”
“I’ll be there,” I said before she could ask me. Not that she had to. Ever. I would be there. Now. Tomorrow. Forever.
“I love you, Jaron.”
I brought her hand up to my mouth. “I love you, Piper. More than I could ever tell you.”
I was on the verge of snapping. I wanted to know now if she was in fact pregnant or not. But deep down, I had a feeling that she was. It was the only thing that made sense. I had been home for nearly a month already and never once did I see her buy feminine products and she never asked me to pick them up for her. I never even saw her use them when I walked in on her going to the bathroom. She also never told me if she started or not. It had never gotten in the way, especially when it came to us having sex. And we had a lot of it. Especially recently.
“Jaron, that car’s been following us for a while.” Her words pulled me from my thoughts.
My eyes snapped to the rearview mirror. The car was dark. It was farther back but it was big, so I could only assume that it was an SUV of some sort. I didn’t remember seeing it following us out of the parking lot at the grocery store but now I couldn’t keep my eyes off it. “When did you first see it?”
“We left the grocery store and then I saw it pull out from a side street.”
As much as I appreciated her being observant, it didn’t sit well with me that we were being followed. For most people, it would be nothing and just a pure coincidence, but with the people I knew, especially the mayor, I feared for the worst.
Between the grocery store and Piper’s house, there was a stretch of open road that didn’t consist of any other houses or buildings. It was a farmer’s field while the houses were a few miles from the main road.
My stomach twisted, my h
eart suddenly picking up speed that this damn SUV wasn’t going anywhere.
“Jaron, something’s wrong,” Piper said, her voice shaking.
“Call Cyrus or Sammy,” I told her. “They’re supposed to be meeting us at home.”
She pulled her phone from her purse and dialed a number before placing it on speaker. “I called Cyrus.”
“Yeah,” came a deep reply.
“Sammy, where’s Cyrus?” I asked, clenching the steering wheel.
“He’s in the shower and then we’re heading over,” was all he said.
“I think we’re being followed,” I told him, getting right to the point. I knew with the twins they hated small talk. Especially Sammy.
“Shit. Where did you go?”
“We needed to get groceries before you guys stopped by,” Piper told him. “We have Brynlee with us.”
“Fuck.” There was some movement on the other line. “Cyrus,” he yelled, banging on the door. “We got a problem.” We could hear the running water shutting off as Cyrus stopped his shower.
“What’s wrong?” he asked in the background.
“You’re on speaker, J,” Sammy said.
“We went to get groceries and Piper noticed someone following us. An SUV pulled out of a side street as soon as we left. We were heading home but they’re still following us.” I would drive for the rest of the day trying to get them off our tail if I had to, before I led them to our house.
“Make your way to the clubhouse but take every side street you can,” Cyrus instructed. “We’ll head there now.”