by Bo Reid
I finish dinner, and we sit around the table eating and talking. Kasen holds Brooks through dinner, managing to eat and entertain him.
I can't stop thinking about what Ava said. He looks at you like you’re already his. But how is that even possible, how can she see something that I’m apparently blind to?
When I look over at Ace he is staring at Ava, with nothing but adoration and love on his face. I see him reach over and hold her hand across the table as he laughs and makes faces at Brooks.
When I look at Kasen, he is looking at me, a small smile pulling at his lips.
He looks at you like you’re already his.
I turn back to Ava. She has a sly smile on her face, and she gives Ace a knowing glance. When he looks at me, I grab my wine glass taking a generous gulp. When I look back, Ace is trying hard to suppress his grin. Instead, he just shakes his head at me and shoves a large bite of pasta in his mouth.
Ace and Ava don’t stay long after dinner, and Kasen puts Brooks to bed, giving him a bottle since I had three glasses of wine. When he comes out to the living room, I’m lying on the couch. He lifts my legs and settles on the other cushion, placing my legs across his lap. Resting his hand on my ankle, he starts to rub circles into my skin.
I grab the remote and pass it over to him. He flicks the TV on, flipping through the channels until he settles on Sweet Home Alabama before tossing the remote onto the coffee table. I smile as Jake tells Melanie, so I can kiss you anytime I want.
When I glance at Kasen, he’s looking at me with an expression I can’t quite place. If I didn’t know better, I’d say it’s the same way Ace looks at Ava when she isn’t paying attention. The way he adores her; loves her and would do anything to make her happy.
It’s a look I’d cherish to have from him, but I turn back to the TV. I can't read too much into what Ava said. I can’t let my heart wonder what a life with Kasen would be like. At least not one where he is really and truly nothing but mine.
‘Cause it would break my soul to realize I can’t have that life.
Chapter 23: Pale Pink Rose
Kasen
I walk into the house and Hartley is asleep in the recliner with Brooks asleep on her chest. I can feel my own heart seize in my chest at the sight. How I wish she was mine, that he was mine, that me coming in from working and seeing this sight was my family.
But it’s not. No matter how much I wish it could be, Hart is too good for me, she deserves more than I could ever give her.
I slowly walk over to her, grabbing the blanket off the back of the couch. As I get closer to her, I notice her holding something in her hand. I slowly peel the thick cardstock from her grip intending to set it on the side table, but I notice it’s an invitation.
I shouldn’t read it, but I do anyways. It’s an invitation to some formal black-tie gala. I don’t have a fucking clue what a gala is, but I know it’s a piece of her life that I’ll never be a part of. It just serves as a reminder and drives home our vast differences one more time.
Here and at work, Hartley is fun and energetic. She’s excited to help people, and she’s caring. It doesn’t hurt that both her and Sol could rival models with their features either. They could have done anything they wanted; they don’t even need to work with the wealth that they have. But instead of gracing magazine covers or lounging on a sandy beach in Bali, they bust their asses to make their dream come true.
Both Hartley and Sol live in a modest house on large pieces of land that back up to a forest for hiking in. They just want to live quiet lives. Hartley might seem like any normal twenty-four-year-old women on the surface, but her bank account sits with eight figures in it and that’s just one account. She’s a multi-millionaire and you would never know it looking at how she lives, or how she treats people.
Once I asked her why she would take a chance on not one convict but two, and she simply said not everything is as it seems. That they were taught to treat the janitor the same way as the CEO. That it doesn’t cost her anything to be nice and treat people like they are real people, not whatever their background reads. And if I’m perfectly honest, had I never met the Montgomery’s I can’t say I would have had her same attitude towards people.
“Hey,” I hear her whisper as I’m still looking down at the card, imagining all the ways I don’t fit into her life.
I might fit into her life now in a weird way but someday she’s going to meet someone that is worthy of her love. And whoever that is isn’t going to want some convict that wants her for himself hanging around. Someday she’ll have a family and a new life, one that I won’t fit into.
I look over to see her sleepy smile, and I feel a stirring deep in my belly.
“Hey yourself. Sorry,” I say holding up the card. “I didn’t mean to read it I was just going to cover you guys up,” I whisper, and she shrugs.
“I was going to ask you to come with me anyways.”
I can’t hold back the shock I’m feeling but she just smiles. She shifts Brooks a little in her lap and goes to get up. I instinctively reach out and gently take him from her arms, placing him in the cradle in the corner. When I look over a sleepy Hartley is smiling at me, she motions for me to follow her into the kitchen.
“Hart, I never even went to a prom, I couldn’t possibly go to some formal gala. I don’t even know what a gala is!” I whisper-yell, as she moves towards the coffee pot.
I reach out and gently touch her elbow. “Hart you’re exhausted, no coffee just sleep,” I tell her gently; she sighs but doesn’t move to make herself a cup of coffee.
“Kasen, I hate going to these things, but I haven’t been to any events since before I had Brooks. I can’t avoid them any longer. It’s an unfortunate side effect of living here with the Montgomery name. Even though Sol and I detest them, in a way they’re a requirement. Please come with me, I’ll have a much better time if you’re there,” she pleads with me, jutting out her bottom lip and batting her eyelashes in an overdramatic pout.
I roll my eyes and smile, she looks ridiculous but adorable. If she was really mine, I’d reach over and bite her full bottom lip, but she’s not mine. Even so, I can’t tell her no, I just nod my head. Her face brightens and she jumps into my arms to give me a hug. I wrap my arms around her and squeeze her tightly before letting her go.
“Yes, thank you, Kasen! You can go get fitted for a suit with Sol, he’s going tonight.”
I groan, even though I realized it was black tie I still wasn’t expecting to get a suit. But again, I can’t tell her no. I swear if she asked me to jump off a bridge, I would probably do it.
I make her a cup of tea and get her to lay down on the couch. She insists I stay with her until she falls asleep, so I do. She lays her head in my lap, and I cover her with the blanket. I turn the T.V. on low and rest my hand across her hip. It doesn’t take long for her to start snoring softly.
I sit there for an hour silently watching over Brooks while Hart sleeps with her head in my lap and I gently stroke her hair, allowing my mind to play a future I will never have. One where this is my actual life, where Hartley is my forever and Brooks is mine. A life where Hartley carries a child that is mine and hers, where we give Brooks a sibling or five. However many she wanted I would give her. A future where she walks down the aisle in a white dress and I promise to always take care of her, and she swears to always be mine.
Thoughts like these are dangerous because the more I think about it, and the more moments like this we have, the more I want nothing more than the future I see in my dreams; and the more I want that future the more concerned I get that nothing else would ever measure up.
But at the end of this, her happiness is what matters most to me, and I’ll do everything and anything to make sure she is always happy.
The rest of the week flashes by and before I know it Saturday night is here and we’re getting ready for the gala. I hear a soft knock on my open door and when I turn, Hartley is in the doorway and I almost forget to breathe.
Her makeup is light but highlights the dark blue of her eyes, the dress almost matches her eyes perfectly. The only piece of jewelry she wears is her rose gold heart pendant around her neck. Her hair is piled on top of her head in curls that she managed to make look both effortless and high fashion.
She sees me staring and does a little twirl, revealing a very low-cut back that has me adjusting my pants.
“Well, what do you think?” she asks biting her lower lip. I wish I got to do that instead.
“You look beautiful.” She blushes slightly.
Walking over to me, she shoos my hands away from the tie I’m failing to knot properly. Sol helped me pick out a black suit with a dark blue undershirt and matching tie. She effortlessly ties my tie for me and presses her hands down the front of my shirt.
“You don’t look so bad yourself,” she says smiling up at me.
I turn and look at us standing together in the full-length mirror. I’m a foot taller than her normally, but even in her six-inch heels, I tower over her. Yet, she looks like she belongs on my arm. Turning my head slightly I make a face at the prison tattoos trailing up my neck. I flex my hands and see the ink that spreads across my knuckles and hands. Hartley notices and reaches for the hand closest to her. She looks at the prison ink, then into my eyes and smiles.
“People will know I don’t belong,” I sigh.
“People can go fuck themselves. You belong wherever you want to be and I want you by my side.”
“If that’s where you want to be,” she whispers looking down at where she has intertwined our fingers.
I reach out and tilt her chin to look in my eyes.
“I want nothing more than to be with you tonight.”
And every night after that.
“Besides, if they have a problem with tattoos, they should probably stop inviting me to these things,” she says as a smile pulls at her lips and she twists her arm up showing off her forearm that is covered in bright ink.
She just finished her nature inspired tattoo, and ink has never looked so good.
“Come on we gotta get going,” she says and tugs on my hand.
I grab my suit jacket and trail behind her. She passes Martha and gives Brooks a kiss on his head, I do the same and whisper,
“Be good little man.”
I was expecting a fancy car service to pick us up, but I should know by now not to expect anything from Hartley. Instead, she grabs her keys and we stroll to the Jeep. Halfway to the car, she tosses me her keys.
“You drive.”
I open her door and help her in then round the vehicle to the driver’s side. When I get in, she turns to me with a stern look on her face.
“You scratch my baby I’ll cut you,” she says so casually I almost believe she would.
Almost.
We pull up to a mansion where the gala is being held. Getting out of the Jeep, I round the hood to Hartley’s side before the valet can reach her. Reaching out, I open her door and help her to slide out of the lifted vehicle. I gently place my hands around her hips as she reaches out to grip my biceps, sliding gracefully down my chest.
“You scratch my baby, and I’ll cut you,” she says to the waiting valet in a low voice only for his ears and a smile on her face so no one would guess she’s threatening him.
The poor kid looks absolutely terrified but he nods his head. I’ve never seen My Hart so menacing and it's damn near adorable. With a smile on my face, I wrap one arm around Hartley, resting my hand on her lower back. I place I small kiss on her head and lean in close to her.
“You’re scaring the poor kid,” I whisper, and she chuckles.
“Who me?” she asks with mock surprise and a hand to her chest. I just chuckle softly to myself, shaking my head.
I turn to lead Hartley up the walkway to the front of the large mansion. There are photographers everywhere taking pictures of people coming in. I stiffen at the sight of them.
“Relax,” Hartley whispers.
She wraps her hand in the bend of my elbow moving to walk up the pathway. I want nothing more than to tuck tail and run, but I stay with her.
“Keep your head up Kingston, these people are no better than you just because their ancestors made good decisions that resulted in money,” she tells me. “People can only make you feel bad if you let them. You decide how you feel. Don’t give them that power over you. They don’t deserve it.”
When we enter the main hall of the mansion there are people milling around, and servers walking with trays of champagne. People almost immediately turn and take in our presence. At first, they glance at me, looking me up and down knowing I don’t belong here. When their gazes move and notice it’s Hartley on my arm, their faces change. They don’t know what to make of us together.
The millionaire and the felon.
The heart and the convict.
The best and the worst.
Before we have the chance to walk around and greet people, I feel Hartley stiffen ever so slightly and I look over to see My Hart gone. Her face is an expressionless mask, her chin is held high, her gaze doesn’t waver from a spot in the room. I think the temperature around us actually drops ten degrees from the chill coming off of her now.
This isn’t My Hart, this isn’t even Hartley, owner of Wild Hart Outfitters, kind caring individual. I’m not sure that this cold person can even be classified as Hartley Rae Montgomery, heir to the Montgomery fortune and multi-millionaire from old money and new.
I’ve yet to see anyone who has elicited this reaction from her, and I wonder why now. She feels me watching her but doesn’t turn to look at me. And I don’t even have the opportunity to ask her what has her feeling this way.
When I see someone stop in front of us, I turn to see a man not much older than Hartley. He’s tall but I still tower over him in both height and width. He has shaggy blond hair, brown eyes, and wears a cruel smirk.
I recognize the vibe coming from him, he’s evil. In prison you learn to trust your gut, a vibe, the little things might save your life. He doesn’t even spare a glance in my direction.
“I see My Hart has returned to the spotlight,” he says to her; her face doesn’t change and when she speaks there is a chill in her tone and venom dripping from her tongue.
“I’m not your Hart, Lucas, I never was.”
“Hmm.” He taps his chin in thought, “You were for a night, how’s my son doing anyways.” I feel her grip tighten on my arm just a little.
“Last time I checked you didn’t have any children,” she says.
“Maybe not legally, but biologically? Well that’s another story isn’t it Hartley? Motherhood is clearly treating you well, I mean you’ve always looked fantastic, but,” he stops biting his lower lip and looking her up and down making my own skin crawl, but Hartley doesn’t waver, “well the extra weight landed in all the right places didn’t it?”
I want to send my fist through this fucker’s face, Brooks father. How could she have ever slept with someone like him?
“I’ll be seeing you My Hart,” he says and roams his gaze over her body once more, clearly eye fucking her. He winks at her before turning to walk away through the crowd.
“So that’s Brooks father?” I state, trying hard to mask the disgust in my tone, but failing.
“No,” she says, her voice still cold as ice sending a chill down my spine.
When she turns to me her eyes are vacant of any emotion. She’s a hollow shell of the women I know her to be. I cock my head to the side in confusion.
“That’s my rapist.”
Chapter 24: Cedar Tree
Hartley
“Do we have to go tonight? You know we can see the fireworks from The Point,” I complain to Sol.
“Yeah, I know,” I say, sighing and resting my head against the glass of my window.
“They’re going to start in ten minutes, we don’t have to stay for very long at all, okay? Just to the end and we’re out, we’re here for him not them,” Sol says as he pulls into the reserved Montgomery parking spot at the country club.
“Yeah okay,” I say and climb out of the car. “Can you go get seats, I’m going to go to the bathroom,” I tell him.
“Yeah bring a drink back,” he says.
“You’re driving,” I scold him, and he rolls his eyes.
“One drink Hartley, or you can drive home, and I’ll get hammered.”
“Nice try,” I say rolling my eyes at him.
When we get to the patio we split off, Sol to go find our seats and me to the bathroom and then the bar. I should have started drinking earlier, then maybe this night would actually be bearable. But Sol is right, we’re here for dad.
On my way to the bar from the bathroom, a door in the hallway opens and I feel hands grab me, pulling me inside. I’m slammed against the pool table in the middle of the room and the air is knocked from my lungs.
“What the...” I start but when I look up, I see Lucas Chambers and two of his friends. I study each of their faces and see nothing but cold, empty, malice in their expressions.
“My Hart, I was hoping you would show up,” Lucas says taking a step towards me.
“Lucas, what are you doing?” I ask backing up, but I run into Jesse Frazier.
“Hartley, I think I have given you enough time to come around, consider this your last chance.”
“What are you talking about?” I ask.
“You’re mine and you know it, you belong to me. You’re a bitch for denying me what’s always been mine,” he growls stepping into my face.