by Chloe Walsh
"Love you," I whispered as I kissed her brow. "Love you so much."
I watched as her eyelids fluttered and her breathing slowed. If I could hold her like this forever I would. The love I felt for her was so overwhelming. I never wanted her to be exposed to this cruel world. She'd always have me. I would always protect her.
****
Kyle
"Don't give me that crap, Patty. I know something's wrong with her." Linda's sister was as stubborn as she was. Jesus, trying to get information from her was like pulling teeth. I'd gone to Linda's apartment as soon as I'd gotten my sneaky fuck of a father out of my goddamn house. Linda worked fast. By the time I got to her place she was gone. "Put her on the phone," I demanded.
"Kyle," she sighed. "I've told you this three times. It's not my place to tell you anything. It's down to Linda and right now she's busy. Has she ever lied to you before?"
"No," I muttered reluctantly. Linda had always been honest with me which was why I was so irritated. Why the hell was I being kept in the dark? "I'm not being nosey. I'm worried, dammit."
"She has her own family to worry about her," Patty said in a kind tone of voice, but I got her meaning. I got it loud and fucking clear. Her own family. I wasn't included in that statement.
"Fine. If she needs me she knows where I am," I whispered before ending the call. They could try and block me out all they wanted, but I'd be damned if I was letting this go. I was not going to be kept in the dark. No fucking way. Dropping my phone on the wooden deck, I gripped my hair fought the urge to roar. Jesus.
"Are you okay?"
I swung around from where I was standing on the deck to see Lee hovering in the doorway. "I'm sorry, I wasn't listening on purpose," she mumbled. "I could hear you from inside. I can go away if you want me to. I just need to apologize to you first."
Shaking my head, I let my shoulders sag. The sight of her in front of me–still with me–was enough to drain the tension from my body. "Come here," I said in a gruff tone.
She walked straight into my arms. "I'm sorry, Kyle," she whispered. "I didn't mean what I said."
Jesus, I needed her right now. I needed her to ground me. I was like fucking electricity and she was my earth. Lifting her chin so I could see her face, I whispered, "The only place I want you to be is with me. And the only place I want to be is moving inside you."
****
Lee
Something was bothering him.
He was hurting. I knew he was. I could see it in his eyes when he was tearing the clothes from my body. I could feel it in the almost frantic way he crushed his body against mine. "What's wrong?" I murmured against his lips. Kyle didn't answer me as he carried me through to kitchen to the hallway. My back slammed against the back of the door as he crushed his lips to mine. His fingers dug into my hips as he filled my mouth with hot swipes of his tongue. Every nerve in my body was alive and tingling. My back was aching, but the throbbing in my core needed the attention much more.
"Jesus," he groaned as he dropped his mouth to my breasts. "The fucking taste of you. Even the taste of you drives me insane."
I pressed myself into his touch. "Oh god…don't stop." I needed him everywhere. His teeth grazed my nipple and I had to bite back a moan as his fingers trailed over the cusp of my panties. "Open up, baby," he ordered as he tore them away. His hands moved to free himself from his pants. "Let me in. I need in right fucking now." He could have me anyway he wanted. I was so worked up I was about to come apart.
"You want me, princess?" he crooned as he rubbed the head of his rock hard erection over my folds. I swear if he didn't stop teasing me I would scream. My legs shook every time he rubbed my clit with his shaft. "Yes," I begged. "Please, Kyle…I want you."
Fisting my hair in one hand, he dragged my face to his with the other and kissed me almost savagely. "No more fucking fighting," he snarled as he bent his knees. "We stick together..." Dropping his hands to my ass, he hoisted me onto his hips and slid inside me. "No more lies…"
"No more lies…" I cried out. He was so big it was almost painful to take him to the hilt. Grinding his hips against me, his erection stroked my g-spot as his used his hands to hold my hips in place "Yes…" I cried out as my thighs began to spasm around him. "That's it."
"I know exactly where your little spot is, baby," he crooned. He pressed deeper and I shuddered in pleasure. "You drive me crazier than any fucking woman I've ever met."
"I'm sorry for what I said," I moaned. My head fell back against the door. He moved faster inside me heightening the pulsing waves and shocks of pleasure until they joined together in a wave of ecstasy.
"Me too," Kyle mumbled. He stopped suddenly and I felt like screaming in frustration. "I'm gonna fuck up sometimes," he said in a gruff tone, his blue eyes locked on mine, his forehead pressed to mine. "You know it and I know it. Just…just don't give up on me." Taking my hand, he placed my palm on his chest. I could feel his heart pounding against my hand. "Can you feel it this?" I nodded and he smiled and brushed his lips to mine. "This starts and ends with you," he whispered. "I start and end with you. You got it?"
I nodded my head and pulled his lips to mine.
"I got it," I breathed.
****
Chapter 17
Stand by your man
Lee
Kyle received another letter from Rachel this morning. I'd recognized the handwriting on the envelope the second I saw it lying on the coffee table in the lounge–along with all his other mail, Christmas cards and newspapers. It was the identical to the one's I'd spied him slipping into his messenger bag when he thought I wasn’t looking. Like the other letters she sent him, this one was unopened. The fact that it was lying out in the open surprised me. He usually hid them from me. He thought I didn't know about them. Curiosity burned inside of me.
"Are you going to open it?" I asked as I leaned against the doorframe and watched Kyle. He was standing at the sink in our kitchen, dressed in gray sweat pants and a black vest, holding a baby-formula scooper and a knife in his hands. Hope never woke up before eight am, but Kyle hated being unprepared so he always had got up early and made a bottle. He'd told me about how hard it was settling Hope when I'd been in hospital. I'd been breastfeeding Hope, and rarely expressed for bottle feeds. Linda had helped him to wean her onto formula, but it had been a tough stage. One I had missed. Even though I'd been home almost three months, Kyle sometimes forgot that he wasn't on his own anymore. I was home. I would share the load.
"Nope," was all he grunted, not even turning around to look at me, as he measured the scoops of formula, shaved the extra formula off with the flat side of the knife before plopping them into Hope's bottle. He looked deep in concentration as he frowned at the can of formula perched on the sink in front of him like it was a dangerous animal ready to attack him. I watched his lips moved silently as he added scoop after meticulous scoop.
"Why?" I asked. "Kyle, maybe you should at least…"
"Dammit," he hissed and tossed the bottle into the sink before turning around and smiling sheepishly at me. "I lost my count."
"You were on five," I muttered as I fetched a clean bottle from the sterilizer and handed it to him. "And I think you should at least read one of those letters."
"One, two, three, four," he muttered as he refilled the bottle. "Five."
He wasn't even listening to me…
Rolling my eyes, I left him alone to continue the tedious task of preparing a baby bottle. On my way out of the kitchen, I grabbed the letter from the coffee table in the lounge and rushed upstairs. I only had so much self-control. I had resisted reading that folder–and looking for Cam's journal. I had a feeling that these letters were going to drive me insane if I didn't find out what she wanted from him.
****
Kyle
"You know, opening other peoples mail is a federal offence," I said with a smirk, while inside I was fucking quaking. This could blow the hell up in my face.
Lee's head jerked up
from where she was engrossed in my letter. She stared at me with a guilty assed expression as she attempted to hide what I'd already seen her doing. "I'm sorry," she mumbled, cheeks glowing, eyes wide. "I just…I needed to know what she wanted. It's been driving me insane watching these letters arrive every week and not knowing. Knowledge is power, Kyle. Fail to prepare, prepare to fail…" She shrugged her shoulder and sighed. "I needed to know." Well...shit.
We'd been doing well with the past few days. No arguments, no goddamn drama. And now, two weeks before Christmas, my woman decides to turn into Sherlock Holmes. Christ…
"And what did she want?" I asked as I sat on the edge of our bed. How the hell did she know about the letters? I'd been so fucking careful about hiding them from her. Dammit…I wasn't pissed with her for opening my mail–what's mine was hers–but I was worried. I couldn't understand why she would want to read anything Rachel Grayson had written.
"She wants to see you," Lee whispered, as she sat cross-legged on our bed with the letter resting on her legs. "She says it's important. She has some…information." She paused and pulled her bottom lip into her mouth and glanced down at the letter before back at my face. "She says we're in danger."
Here we go…
"For Christ's sake." I blew out a breath and twisted around to face her. I had a nice day planned for the three of us. I had planned to take the girls out to get a tree and some gifts, but from the look on Lee's face I guessed those plans were about to change…She held the letter out for me and I tried to take it as gently as I could from her hand, but my temper was rising. My brain felt like it was about to explode in my head. This was crap. Pure and utter bullshit. Unfolding the letter, I glanced down at words scrawled across the page.
Dear Kyle,
I'm assuming since you haven't barged into the prison, and demanded to see me, you haven't read my letters. For your family's sake, I hope you read this one. I have something to tell you. Something important. He's planning something. I know. I know his plans. You aren't safe. Or the baby. And her …She's even less safe. Danger is watching you. Lurking where you least expect it. I know. I know it all. Every tiny detail. Trouble, Kyle. More than I have ever caused. Your world is about to come crashing down on you. Everything will be gone. You will lose everything. She will be gone. Come see me. Let me explain. You need to know. You don't have to trust me. But if you don't hear my words, you won't have time. No time. Not enough time. You don't know what he's capable of. What they are capable of. I need to see you. See you soon. As soon as you can. Your world will crumble. You'll be better off dead. She'll pray for death when they are finished with her. She'll wish she died that night. She'll wish my bullet killed her. That was the intention. The plan. Not Camryn, just her. Cut off your lifeline. You're little princess. Stab you through the back by shooting her through the heart. It went wrong. So wrong. The plan's…The plan is set. It will happen. You have to stop it from happening. We need to talk. Time is of the essence.
I'll love you forever, Kyle.
Rachel.
x.x
"You shouldn't have read this, Lee," I groaned. There was a reason I didn't read these fucking letters. Every drop of ink on those pages was laced with poison. "She's just messing with our heads."
"Are you sure?" she whispered.
No…no, I'm not.
"Of course I'm sure," I lied. The only thing I was sure of was what I intended to do with this letter. "I need to go out," I blurted as I stood quickly and grabbed my keys off the bedside table and my hoodie off the chair.
"Are you going to see her?" Lee croaked out, causing me to freeze.
"What?" I shook my head. "No, baby, of course I'm not." I bent down and kissed her hair. "I'm taking this to Kelsie. Maybe Rachel's done us a huge favor by writing this and they'll lock her up without a trial. No point in pleading not guilty when you write a fucking confession letter."
This was the letter I'd been waiting months for. Only now, I wasn't sure if I felt relief or terror…
****
"Well?" I asked as I paced Kelsie's office. She was reading the letter and taking her sweet ass time answering me.
"It's good," she said with a grin. "It's very good."
"But is it enough?" I asked anxiously. It better be enough. Time was running out.
"I'm going to make a few calls, Kyle," she said as she pushed her chair back and stood. "I'll contact you as soon as I have more information."
"Wait," I snapped. "That doesn’t tell me anything, Kelsie." I ran my hands through my hair and sighed. "Do we have her?"
Kelsie smiled a cat like smile as she stepped towards me. "I think we have, Mr. Carter," he purred as she stroked my arm. What the fuck? "And I'm going to make sure that we do."
My phone started to vibrate in my pocket and I pulled it out and glanced at the screen. "I need to take this," I muttered as I backed towards the door. "Call me as soon as you have news," I told her, feeling a little uncomfortable at how close she had inched up to me. "I need to get home to my fiancée."
Kelsie nodded professionally and stepped back to her desk. "Will do, Mr. Carter."
"Der, you okay?" I asked as soon as I stepped out of Kelsie's office. His heavy breathing was a sure sign he wasn't anywhere close to being okay.
"He's gonna pay for this," he snarled. His breathing grew deeper–rougher. "I can't take this shit, Kyle," he roared. "They are both going to fucking regret this."
"Who's gonna pay?" I asked.
He didn't reply.
"Derek," I demanded as I rushed down the back stairwell and into the foyer through the back entrance of the building. "Who is going to pay?"
The sound of a click in my ear was proof to fact that he'd just hung up on me. "Shit," I hissed as I made a dash for my car. Yeah, this was turning out to be a real fun day…
****
Lee
'She'll wish she died that night. She'll wish my bullet killed her.'
My mind repeated those twelve words until I felt like screaming in frustration. I expected myself to feel terrified, and I was, but I was also angry. Really freaking angry.
"That bitch," I mumbled as I sat on the couch, in a state of utter disbelief, with my feet up on the coffee table, and my eyes locked on the photo of Cam.
Who the hell did Rachel Grayson think she was? I would never wish myself dead. Never. Not for her. Not for anyone.
'I'll love you forever, Kyle.'
Uh…the woman didn’t know the meaning of the word. She had battered Kyle senseless for no reason. Robbed him of his money, his happiness and his freedom. Lied to him for years, faked a miscarriage and had the audacity to say she would love him forever…What a joke.
Hope was still asleep and I was growing agitated, waiting on Kyle to come home.
Dropping my feet to the floor, I sat forward and grabbed the newspaper. The minute I glanced at the cover my eyes bulged in my head and my heart sank in my chest...
****
Kyle
When I got to the house Derek was already gone. I ran around the place like a lunatic, checking every room before admitting defeat. I hadn't the slightest clue of where to look for him. Where the fuck would he go, and most importantly, who the hell was going to pay? Sliding my phone out of my pocket, I dialed his number. It went straight to voicemail. Just as I was sliding my phone back into my pocket it started to ring and the name Princess lit up the screen.
"Lee." I tried to make my voice sound as calm as possible. "You okay, baby? I can't talk for long. I'm...in a meeting with Kelsie." She didn't need to be worrying. If she even got a hint of how fucked up Derek was it would crush her. She was probably scared over that stupid letter. No. She needed to be protected from this.
"Have you read this morning's paper yet?" she asked in an urgent tone of voice.
Holding my phone to my ear with my shoulder, I fastened my seat belt and started the engine. "No," I muttered as I reversed out of the driveway. "And I hope you haven't either." Jesus, I could barely control the
steering wheel my hands were shaking so badly. If anything happened to Derek I would never forgive myself. Never.
"Your father gave an interview to a journalist," Lee whispered.
Her words were enough to make my entire body stiffen.
I swerved to the roadside, killed the engine, and took a few calming breaths before speaking. "What did he say?" I managed to ask through clenched teeth. Rage was an understatement for how I was feeling.
"I…um…it's really strange…" She stopped talking and I could tell she was panicking.
"What did he say, Lee?" I said slowly. "Just tell me, baby?"
"I'm just going to read it out…" She paused and I could hear papers shuffling in the back ground before her soft voice drifted into my ear. "This is a direct quote from your…from David," she told me before continuing. "I love both of my sons with all my heart. I was appalled and devastated for my boys when the news broke about their girlfriends being shot by that grotesque woman. As a father it is your worst nightmare to discover one of your children has been subjected to such a calculating transgression, but to find out both were hoodwinked by that loathsome woman makes my blood boil. One of my son's has buried his beautiful girlfriend, Camryn–the woman he had planned to spend his life with…" Lee's voice broke and I heard her inhale deeply before continuing. "My other son's girlfriend has been left in-inca-incapacitated," she stuttered. "As a result of that vile woman's actions, my grandchild was left motherless for months. My wife and I have tried our best to support both Kyle and Michael during this difficult time, but it hasn't been easy for our family…"