Fall on Me

by Chloe Walsh

  "Don't you dare threaten me." I knew he wasn't being serious. I knew it was an empty threat. But the thought of being physically forced to do something–even by Kyle–made me sick to my stomach. "Don't even joke about it."

  Regret flickered in his eyes and he ran his hand through his untamed hair. "Princess…"

  "Just trust my choices and stop trying to force me into doing what you want," I hissed as I shook his hand off my elbow. "I don't force you to do anything you don't want to do, so stop trying to force me. I'm a grown woman, Kyle. I have my own mind."

  He released me immediately and ran his hands through his hand. "She's your mother, princess."

  "Oh my god." I threw my hands in the air. "I can't talk to you." He didn't get it. Stepping around him, I moved towards the door. I needed to remove myself from this situation before I said something I'd regret.

  "Dammit, will you just hear me out," Kyle growled as he pushed past me to block the doorway. He towered over me. His height and muscular build intimidated me. But there was no way in hell I was backing down on this one. I squared my shoulders and forced my eyes to meet his. "Don't even think about running, princess," he warned me. "There's nowhere you can hide that I won't find you."

  "Nice choice of words, asshat," I growled even though my heart was in my mouth. "Do you plan to bully me for the rest of our lives, or only when I don't do what you want me to do?"

  "Not if you stop behaving like a spoiled little brat for two damn minutes and fucking listen to me," he tossed back at me.

  His words took the air out of my lungs. I felt physically winded. "Spoiled brat." I whispered. "Good to know what you really think of me."

  Kyle hissed in frustration. He threw his hands in the air. "You know I didn't mean that…Fuck, you ruin my thought process." He was breathing hard as he pinched the bridge of his nose. I wanted to pinch his nose. I want to pull his stupid nose right off his face.

  "And you are ruining our relationship," I snarled.

  "I'm doing this for you, Lee," he growled, eyes full of hurt. "Every damn thing I do is for you…is to make you happy."

  "You're making me miserable," I spat. "And be honest, Kyle, the only person you're doing this for is yourself. If you're so damn desperate to have a 'mommy' you don't need to use me as your excuse to play happy families. Take my one. She's flighty and probably won't stick around for more than five minutes. But hey, she's all yours."

  I regretted the words the moment they slipped out of my mouth. The look of disgust on his face tore me. "Kyle…" I started to say. but he held his hand up and shook his head.

  I didn't need to walk out.

  Kyle beat me to it.

  ****

  Kyle

  I was regretting getting out of bed this morning. If Marcus hadn't called me–about some stupid emergency I was yet to be briefed on–I would still be at home trying to talk some sense into Lee. Jesus Christ, what she'd said hit a nerve. Worse than a nerve…She'd severed a damn artery with those words. I never spoke much about my mom to anyone besides her and she'd thrown it in my face.

  Pacing the length of my office, I attempted to calm myself down. Calmness wasn't coming though. I was too riled up.

  'If you're so damn desperate to have a 'mommy' you don't need to use me as your excuse to play happy families. Take my one.'

  I knew she didn't mean it. I'd seen the regret in her eyes. If I'd stayed I had no doubt she would have apologised. It didn't matter much though. The fact that she'd thought it and said it out loud was enough. It was out there now. It was between us. She thought I was substituting my dead mother with hers…

  My phone vibrated in my pocket. Sliding it out, I glanced at the screen and quickly sent the call to voicemail. That was the seventh time Lee had called in the past hour. Ignoring her was a shitty thing to do, but I couldn't deal with her right now. She was fragile and I was furious. Bad fucking combination. I needed to cool down first.

  The door of my office swung open.

  "She's called in sick again, Mr. Carter," Marcus, my weekend manager, complained as he came and sat in the chair in front of my desk. Scrolling through his iPad, Marcus continued to ramble like a lunatic. "I'm going to have to bring in a temp to help run this place. She's not dependable. I'm down two waitresses in the front bar and I can't man the desk while I'm doing double my workload."

  "Who?" I asked, not one bit interested in what he was rambling on about.

  "Linda," Marcus growled and he had my full attention immediately. "This is the eighth sick day she's taken this month, Mr. Carter," he grumbled. "Christmas is around the damn corner and I'm sinking in paperwork."

  I wasn't bothered about Linda taking time off. She could have as much time as she wanted. God knows, the woman had done enough for me. She could have whatever the hell she wanted. But I was worried. She was never sick. I couldn't think of a single day in the past eleven years where I'd seen her come down with anything worse than a cold. I hadn't phoned her in a few weeks. I'd been too self-absorbed with my own life…

  Shit.

  "Who were you thinking of?" I asked, stretching my legs out under my desk. I couldn't concentrate. I was agitated as hell. I was worried…

  "I think you should promote Mike to temporary manager." That got my attention. Marcus looked at me with nervous eyes and wiped his brow. He was in his late forties and a loyal employee hired by my grandfather. I respected the man but he was pushing my buttons today. "I know there's some tension between you two, but he knows this place inside out. I can't think of anyone more suitable. It will take weeks to find, hire and train someone new."

  He got that fucking right. Tension was an understatement. "No," I snapped. I felt sorry for Mike over the whole Cam thing, but I wasn’t naïve enough to trust him…He could be playing me. It could all be a game… "No way. Find someone else."

  "Fine," Marcus muttered. "But I'm gonna need you here until I can get someone else. Linda has been flaking on her duties and things have been slipping with a while."

  ****

  I hadn't realized the place had gone to shit so much. Walking around the hotel I was stunned to realize that Marcus was right. The damn bar was understaffed. There was only one waitress on the restaurant floor with thirty tables full with customers and, like he'd said, the front desk was empty.

  Shit.

  Pulling my phone out, I dialed Linda's number. She answered on the fifth ring. "Hey, kiddo." Damn, she really did sound sick.

  "What's wrong with you," I asked in a quiet tone as anxiety clawed at my gut. "You're never sick."

  "I'm sixty-for years old, Kyle," she chuckled, but her voice was weak and raspy. "I'm getting old. I'm gonna get sick sometimes."

  "What's wrong with you?" I repeated as I rubbed my brow. "Tell me, Linda." The line went quiet and I knew it was bad. Fuck. I knew it. Something was wrong.

  "Just an infection I can't seem to shake off," she finally said in a placating tone of voice.

  "Bullshit," I growled as I ran my free hand through my hair. "You're lying to me. I can hear it in your voice."

  "Don't be so dramatic, Kyle," she warned before coughing. "You'll give yourself wrinkles with all your damn worrying. I'm fine. But I'm gonna need some more time off."

  "You know you don't have to ask me for that," I whispered. She was lying. Something wasn't right. This was bad. I fucking knew it. "Can I come see you?"

  "Not today," she said quickly. Too quickly. "I'm going away for a couple of days. I need the rest and recuperation. Gonna go visit my sister, Patty. You remember Patty, don't you? The lady who used to tease you for that Mohawk phase you went through."

  "Yeah," I sighed. "I remember Patty." Couldn't forget her if I tried. Woman was bat shit crazy. "Don't try and change the subject."

  "I'm not," she assured me. "You're overthinking things."

  "What am I gonna do around here?" I mumbled.

  "You're going to have Michael do my job until I'm back," she said before adding, "Calm your temper, Kyle." I bi
t down on my lip in an attempt to keep my mouth shut. She knew me too well. "He's the right person for the job and it will only be for a few weeks," she coaxed. "And to be honest, the boy's been a mess since the shooting. Help your brother. Be the bigger man, Kyle, and make me proud."

  ****

  Lee

  I was a horrible human being. My brain was like a broken record, playing out every nasty word I'd said to Kyle this morning until I felt I would burst if I didn't apologize to him. The anxiety building inside of me quadrupled when he'd sent my calls to voicemail–all seven of them.

  I was sitting on the floor in the lounge watching Hope bounce in her jumperoo when the intercom for the front gate alarm starting buzzing. My first reaction was to crouch low to the floor until my lungs re-filled and my heart returned to its normal rhythm, which was a bad move since it gave my daughter old ample opportunity to grab a fistful of my hair.

  Freeing my hair from her chubby little fingers, I climbed to my feet and went into the hall only to stare in dismay at the keypad. "Which button did daddy tell momma to push, Hope?" I mumbled as my eyes roamed over the dozen or so buttons–all identical–all flashing.

  Taking a gamble I pressed the one on the bottom of keypad. The noise stopped and I sagged in relief, until I realized I hadn't checked who I was buzzing in. Dammit…

  Rushing into the lounge to look out the bay window, I sighed in both relief and disgust when the familiar silver Lexus pulled up at front of the house.

  "Oh boy, Hope." I muttered as I watched David Henderson climb out of the driver's side door and stare up at the house. "Daddy's gonna be mad."

  David shook his head slightly as he tucked his hands into his tailored slacks. He was a handsome looking man–an older looking version of Kyle, but I didn’t trust him. There was something very wrong about that man...

  He was a jackass.

  The passenger door opened next and out stepped his wife Anna. Anna Henderson was a different story altogether. The woman had a kind nature, the same kindness I'd seen in Mike–before he went and screwed Derek over. After I discovered Mike and Cam's affair I'd decided Mike had more of his father in him. Kyle never said much about Anna and I'd only met her a handful of times, but I liked her. She'd visited me in the hospital when I had Hope, and a couple of times before I was shot…

  "Wish my luck, baby girl," I murmured to Hope. Sliding my phone out of my pocket, I sent Kyle a quick text before making my way to the door.

  .

  ****

  Kyle

  "You wanted to see me?" Mike said as he stood in the doorway of my office.

  "Yeah," I said trying my best not to growl. "Come in." I was going against every instinct in my body. Red flags were shooting up in my brain as I fought the very strong urge to stick my foot up my half-brother's ass.

  "I'm promoting you," I told him reluctantly. "It's Linda's idea," I added in a petulant tone.

  "Won't let you down," he mumbled and I shook my head in confusion.

  "You haven't even heard what job I'm promoting you to," I snapped.

  "I don’t need to," Mike said in a weary tone as he leaned against the doorframe of my office door. "I won't be letting you down again, Kyle."

  Shit…I leaned back in my chair and studied his face for several minutes before coming to the conclusion that Mike wasn’t faking this. The guy was…desolate. Standing up, I slowly made my way over to where he was leaning against the door. He looked up at me with the loneliest expression and my chest ached. "I'm taking a huge leap of faith with you," I told him. "Don't make me regret this, Mike."

  "I won't," he replied, his voice full of honesty.

  Shaking my head, I ran my hand through my hair and chuckled in disbelief. "What the hell am I doing?" I smirked at Mike's nervous expression. "I'm fucking promoting my enemy…I may as well stick a knife through my own back."

  "I'm not your enemy, Kyle," Mike said in a firm tone, straightening his back. "Don't confuse me with him."

  "You screwed me over before," I shot back as the memory of Rachel and Mike flooded my mind, followed swiftly by the image of him and Lee…

  "Rachel was mine before she was yours," he stated calmly. "You just didn’t know it."

  "No," I admitted reluctantly. He was telling the truth…"No, I didn’t know she was yours, but Lee was mine and you knew it."

  "Actually, I didn’t," he countered. I raised my brow and he met my stare head on, unflinching. "I didn’t know you were with Lee until the day you showed up at the hotel and tried to drag her off. I had lunch with her every day for months before I realized she was yours."

  "You didn’t back off," I retorted, feeling relieved that we were finally getting all of this out in the open, and even more relieved that we were managing to do it civilly.

  "She needed a friend," Mike shot back. "She was pregnant with your baby. I'm a lot of things, Kyle, but I'm not that. She was pregnant with my niece…Besides, you never had a thing to worry about. With anyone. No one else stood a chance in hell with her. She only ever saw you." He shrugged his shoulders and leveled his gaze on me. "Pity you didn’t treat her better in the beginning."

  "Pity you didn’t inherit this place and have Rachel blackmail you instead," I snapped.

  "I don't want this place," he said softly. "I never have, and I thank my lucky stars grandpa left it all to you." I blanched at his response and was about to ask him what he meant, when my phone vibrated in my pocket. Glancing down at the screen, I froze when I read Lee's message.

  *Your dad is here.*

  Goddammit.

  ****

  Lee

  "Thank you, Lee," Anna said with a smile as I placed a cup of coffee on the table in front of her. "Your home is beautiful." I loved her voice. I hadn't met many British people. When Anna spoke it was a novelty for me. "Hope has grown so much," she continued she bounced my daughter on her knee. I secretly hoped she wouldn't bounce her too much. Hope had just ate lunch and Anna's clothes were designer. "Is she sleeping through the night yet?"

  "Thank you," I said returning her smile. "And yes, actually. She's been sleeping through since she was eight weeks."

  "She's is the image of Kyle," Linda cooed as she gazed at Hope. "You're just like your daddy, aren't you, little one?" I didn't miss the snort that came from David.

  "Can I get you something to eat or drink, Mr. Henderson?" I said through clenched teeth. What I really wanted to ask was why he was here. He wasn’t fooling me with his 'I want to make amends, Kyle' crap. He was a liar and the man made my skin crawl.

  He turned around slowly from where he'd been standing looking out the kitchen window. "No," he said with a tight smile. "I've lost my appetite, Delia." I wished Kyle would hurry up and respond to my text. He needed to come home. That man gave me the creeps. "How's your father?" David asked with a smirk. "Have you spoken to him lately?"

  His question caught me completely unaware. "Uh…." The front door slammed and I almost leapt out of my skin.

  "Where is he?" The sound of Kyle's deep voice was like music to my ears. He was angry, but I didn't care about that. He was here. Angry or not, I needed him.

  "We're in here," I called out. Kyle walked into the kitchen and I paled when I saw his expression. His jaw was strained, his eyes wild and completely focused on his dad. Oh god, he wasn't just angry. He was livid.

  "Hello, Kyle," Anna said in a nervous tone. Kyle swung around to look at her and I thought his eyeballs were going to pop out of his head.

  Storming past me, he stalked towards Anna, swept Hope out of her arms without a word, before turning and fixing his glare on his father. "Out," he hissed. "Now."

  "Kyle, your father wants to make it up to you…" Anna started to say but quickly closed her mouth when Kyle swung his head around and glared at her.

  "Come on, darling," David said in a weary tone as he held his hand out for his wife. "He's a lost cause. Not one compassionate bone in his body."

  "Now, wait just a damn minute…" I started to say
, but Kyle interrupted me.

  "That's right," Kyle snarled. "Not a single one." With that, he silently handed me our daughter before walking into the hallway and opening the front door. "You're not welcome here. Either of you. Get the fuck out."

  "You need to grow up, Kyle," David said with a smirk as he guided Anna out of the house. "This 'poor me' act is getting old."

  "Eat shit, asshole," Kyle countered. "Is that grown up enough for you?" He didn’t give David a chance to reply. Instead, he slammed the front door shut.

  "You do that on purpose, princess?" he asked in a quiet tone of voice, eyes locked on mine in pure fury. "You let him in here to teach me a lesson?"

  "What?" I shook my head in confusion. "N-no, of course not," I stuttered. "He just showed up."

  Kyle gave me one long hard glance and nodded his head. "I need to go out for a while," he said before turning around and opening the door.

  The sound of front door slamming was all the proof I needed.

  I was in deep trouble.

  ****

  Kyle was in a horrible mood when he came out of his office. He barely spared me a passing glance as he stormed through the kitchen with his phone welded to his ear. A few moments later the sound of the back door slamming drummed in my ears. I deserved his silence. I'd been a bitch to him. The things I said to him this morning made me feel sick with guilt. I wasn't sure whether I should follow him out there so I could apologize, or give him space to calm down.

  Deciding on the latter, I bathed Hope and changed her into her jammies. Tucking her bottle into my back pocket, I struggled up the staircase with her in my arms. These steps were a killer on my back and I was aching by the time I reached her bedroom. Slipping her bottle out of my pocket, I settled into the rocking chair by her bedroom window and started to feed her.