Hypocritically Yours: A Standalone Age-Gap Romance

by Hayley Faiman

  “You know she cheated in every pageant,” my mom mutters. I snort, believing her. Then my mom’s lips curve up into a grin. “She still didn’t win half of them, even when she laid on her back for the judges.”

  “She won’t win this time either,” I whisper.

  My mom’s smile fades and she shakes her head a couple of times, her eyes shifting to the floor, then slowly lifting to meet my own. She clears her throat and I notice that her gaze is watery. Unlike me, her tears don’t fall. She swallows them down, shaking her head a couple more times, then gives me a small smile.

  “She is going to win. Nobody knows where we are. I’ve been here for days, Tenny. The only person I’ve seen is Danny. Nobody will find us here.”

  “Where are we?” I ask.

  My mother shrugs a shoulder, her eyes staying connected to my own, then she clears her throat. “We’re somewhere near a forest area. Nobody has been around. But we aren’t in the city anymore, we’re on the outskirts somewhere.”

  Licking my lips, I stand and make my way over to the barred window. Looking outside, I see that my mom is right. From what I can see, there is green foliage everywhere. Trees, dirt, leaves, and even a lake in the not-so-far distance. What I don’t see are other houses or any people at all.

  Shit.

  “We’re in a forest,” I mutter.

  She doesn’t say anything, because she already told me that. Sinking my teeth into my bottom lip, I close my eyes and let out a breath. Bouncing Holden on my hip, I will myself not to break completely down and cry.

  My mother reaches out for me, but her chain is too short. I hate it and I vow that when I get out of here, when we all three get out of here, that Danny and Susan will be the ones in chains, not her, not ever again.

  As if I’ve summoned the devil herself, the door flies open and I turn around to see Susan standing there. She’s wearing a tight skirt, a tighter shirt with puffy sleeves that shows off far too much cleavage than she or any other person should be showing off, especially one of her age.

  But I don’t want to seem like a young judgey bitch, so I don’t say anything at all. I do, however, stand frozen solid with my lips parted in shock and awe that she is actually here. She actually had the audacity to show up and that shouldn’t surprise me, but it does.

  “Look at the happy little family,” she sneers.

  My mother jerks her chin up in the air and looks down her nose at Susan. “What do you want, bitch? You’ve kept me here with that asshole, now you’ve kidnapped my daughter and grandson. What the fuck do you think you’re going to get out of this?”

  Susan’s lips twitch. “You three dead will give me everything that I need.”

  “Landry will never take you back. You’re a prostitute, you tried to take his company from him. He doesn’t want you, Susan. As far as I know, he doesn’t even like you,” I snap.

  She takes a step toward me, balling her fists at her side. Then I watch as she tilts her head to the side, her eyes sliding over me until they stop on my finger. Shit. I didn’t even think about turning it around, in fact, I’ve become used to it over the past day or so, I forgot it was there.

  “What the fuck?” she breathes.

  I take a step back, shifting Holden over to my mother. He’s starting to whine, probably hungry along with frightened, but the way that Susan is looking at me, I can’t risk her doing something to him.

  “You will not marry him. I simply cannot allow that.”

  I don’t ask her what she means. I don’t have the time. She lunges for me just like I thought that she might and together we fall to the floor. Lifting my arms, I attempt to shield my face from her nails. She screams, her hands finding purchase in my hair and she lifts my head before she slams it down on the floor, she does it a couple more times.

  My legs kick, my body bucks, but it’s not enough. She has the advantage and she took me by surprise. Looking over to Holden, I whimper as she lifts my head one more time. With my baby in my mother’s arms, my eyes connected to his, everything around me goes black and Holden is the last thing that I see.

  LANDRY

  “We got her,” Hansen shouts into the phone.

  With zero help from Julie, I was able to call IT myself and figure everything out. I don’t know what’s going on with her, but she didn’t even call them. My heart stops beating at the idea that immediately slides inside of my head. Is she in on it with Susan? No… couldn’t be… she hates Susan.

  “I’m on my way, I’m landing in fifteen,” I shout.

  “I’ve got an officer there to bring you out to the site. It’s going to take you about forty minutes to get here. We’re rolling out now.”

  “Where is she?” I demand.

  The track on Tennessee’s phone took far too long. I wish that it could have all happened faster, but I suppose I should be grateful that it’s all done now. They know where she is and they’re on their way to get her and Holden.

  I’m nervous. No, I take that back. I am flat out terrified of how I’m going to find her. The condition she’s going to be in, mentally and physically, along with Holden. Then there’s the simple fact of, who has actually done this? I have my suspicions, but will it be this easy? Will she go down for this, or will this be another Aaron Anderson situation?

  The pilot announces that we’ll be descending soon. “She’s in a forest area. It’s not Susan’s parents’ place, but it’s in the name of a company. I haven’t been able to find the owner.”

  “Bet I know who it could be,” I growl.

  “I have my suspicions, but I haven’t had time to research. Just hurry.” He ends the call and my stomach twists.

  The plane takes the longest fifteen minutes on fucking earth to land, but when it does, I don’t waste a second. My luggage is still in the hotel room, I don’t need to be on this plane a second longer.

  Running down the stairs, I dash toward the unmarked blacked-out police car with the uniformed and suited men waiting for me. They dip their chins, the suited one taking a step toward me.

  “I’m Detective Campbell,” he offers, reaching out to shake my hand.

  I grasp his palm in mine and give him a quick, firm, shake. “Landry Astor,” I say.

  He nods his head once. “It’s going to take about forty minutes for us to get there, I’ll brief you on the way?”

  Jerking my chin, I reach for the handle of the door and jump in the back seat. The uniformed officer and Detective Campbell climb inside as well, and thankfully the officer doesn’t waste any time at all, he puts the pedal to the metal and speeds out of the airport.

  Detective Campbell tells me that thankfully Tennessee had her phone on, so they were able to pinpoint her location. She’s in a house, in the middle of a wooded area, in a subdivision that has very large parcels of land, and this house she’s in, the property butts up to a lake.

  “Fuck,” I hiss.

  “Do you have any idea who could be involved with this? Hansen has told us his theory, but I’m curious as to who you think that it could possibly be?”

  I don’t even have to think about it. I don’t even have to take a breath, I know exactly who is involved without a doubt.

  “Susan Astor, my ex-wife,” I state.

  He nods his head. “Just her?” he asks.

  I don’t know if he’s trying to make me seem suspicious or not, but it doesn’t matter because I know that I’m innocent.

  “Her and whatever man she paid to help her, that’s how she operates. I never thought that she would hurt someone like this. I didn’t think it was possible. She’s selfish and money-hungry, but I figured she’d just try to ruin me financially in the divorce, not attempt to hurt another person.”

  Chapter Forty-Seven

  LANDRY

  Detective Campbell doesn’t say anything right away, in fact, he doesn’t say much the rest of the ride to wherever the fuck this house is in the middle of goddamn nowhere. The closer we get, the more anxious I become.

  I noti
ce that Detective Campbell is watching me through the rearview mirror, but I ignore him and text Hansen. When he doesn’t answer immediately, I get a sinking feeling. He should be there, he should have called me by now with an update.

  Deciding that I can’t wait another second, I call him. Lifting the phone to my ear, I hear it ring, then it rings again, and again until it goes to voicemail. Ending the call without leaving a message, I flick my gaze up to meet Campbell’s in the mirror.

  “What the fuck is going on?” I demand on a growl.

  It’s his turn to shift uncomfortably in his seat. I don’t look away from his reflection though, I’m staring straight at him and silently demanding an answer. He grunts, then as we drive deeper toward our destination, when I know that we must be close, only then does he speak.

  “There’s a hostage situation,” he rasps.

  “I’ll kill that cunt if she hurts my fiancée or my baby.”

  Campbell’s eyes widen, he turns around, his gaze finding mine. “Fiancée? Baby?”

  “Tennessee and I are engaged and when we’re married, I’m adopting Holden, her two-year-old.”

  Before he can say a word, before he can react at all, I see it. We approach the house and I see blacked-out SWAT vans and police cars. I see a firetruck and an ambulance off in the distance. I see uniformed officers and others in SWAT gear.

  What I don’t see is Tennessee or Helen. I also don’t see whoever took them or Susan. I know that Susan has to be here, there is no way she isn’t. Not with what happened to Lucinda. If she was innocent, she would have made a big show about what happened with Lucy. She would have been overly dramatic and making it about her.

  My stomach drops, because I know that this moment, this is going to change everything. Every single fucking thing. If Susan succeeds in hurting Tennessee, she’ll come out getting exactly what she wanted, which was everything from me.

  I’ve finally found my happiness. I’ve found my peace. I’ve found the woman who truly completes me. A woman who loves me for me. A woman that I love wholly. The woman that I want to spend the rest of my days with.

  Without a second thought, I open the door and run toward the house. Men shout behind me, I can hear them calling out for me to stop, but I ignore all of them.

  Opening the front door, I see a man standing in the living room. He starts to charge me, but I’ve got years of boxing and twenty pounds of muscle on his thin frame. Without hesitating, I reach back, balling my hand into a fist and punch him in the side of the head. He falls down without an ounce of fight.

  Running through the house, I follow the sound of Holden’s cries. I don’t even recognize them, because Holden is not a baby that cries. He’s content, happy, and adjusted. The only reason I assume it’s him is because he’s hopefully the only child in the house. That’s when I see them.

  Helen is sitting on a filthy, soiled mattress holding a screaming Holden as she tries to rock him. My gaze slides down to the floor and that’s where she is. Tennessee is lying on the floor, lifeless.

  “Where is she?” I growl.

  Taking a couple steps inside, I turn my back to Tennessee to protect her in case Susan comes back in and she does. As soon as she realizes I’m here, she makes an appearance from the bathroom.

  Susan laughs softly. A laugh that once, decades ago, I found alluring. “I see you found my gift for you. It’s pathetic how obsessed you are with her. It’s the young snatch, right? I find that hilarious, men pay for my pussy, Landry. Pay for it. And here you are, with someone that probably doesn’t even know how to truly please you. Or is that what this is? You want to be a teacher?”

  She doesn’t realize it, doesn’t sense them approaching behind her. I don’t alert her to the fact that not only are SWAT team members here, but so is Detective Campbell and some other men who look equally important.

  “What did you do to her?” I rasp.

  I want nothing more than to turn around and take Tennessee in my arms, but I cannot risk this moment. I need Susan to say it, I need her to admit it. Even if Susan is a witness, Susan has to say the goddamn words.

  Susan leans forward, her tits about to fall out of her low-cut top, and she chuckles. “I bashed her head into the floor. Fuck her and fuck your happiness, Landry. She’s not the first bitch I’ve ended and she won’t be the last. I am Susan Astor and I always, always, come out on top.”

  Before she can say anything else, the police swarm her, they take her down to the ground and cuff her. I watch for just a moment before I turn to Tennessee and sink down to my knees. I hear someone shout for an ambulance and then I realize that it’s me, it’s me shouting and yelling.

  I don’t remember anything that happens after that. Everything is a blur, even when Helen and Holden join me in the ambulance with Tennessee. All of it is just—blank. All I can do is stare at Tennessee, who doesn’t stare back because she’s barely breathing.

  Susan will not get away with this. No way in fucking hell will I allow her to breathe free after this shit. She’ll be lucky if she’s breathing at all by the time I’m through with her.

  Fuck Susan and her fucked-up shit.

  I wasted the first half of my life with her, I should have left as soon as she gave me my three beautiful children. I will not allow her to take away the second half of my life, the bit of happiness and love that I’ve found despite all of her shit.

  I spend countless hours in the hospital waiting. Thankfully, Helen and Holden are perfectly fine. Hansen sits with us, though I wouldn’t call what he’s doing actually sitting. He seems to be just getting up and down every few minutes, talking on the phone and pacing.

  “Detective Campbell will be here in a few, he has an update for us,” Hansen announces.

  “Andry,” Holden calls out, his arms outstretched from Helen’s lap.

  He’s been quiet this entire time. Eating snacks and drinking water as Helen holds him in her lap. I wondered if he even realized that I was here next to him. It’s okay, I know that he hasn’t seen his grandmother for a while and although I love him, we’re still learning one another.

  But that changes the second that Helen releases him, and he crawls over to me. Picking him up, I hold him against my chest. He nuzzles his face in my neck and simply lets out a breath. Then he quickly lifts his head, his blue eyes finding mine.

  He frowns, slapping his palms against my cheeks as he looks into my eyes, holding on to me.

  “Andry,” he says in a little toddler shout.

  “Holden,” I murmur.

  His frown slowly turns into a smile. “Mama okay. No sad.”

  Helen can’t hold her shit together, I hear her whimper beside us. Placing my palm against Holden’s back, I gently pat him.

  “Yes, Holden. Mama okay,” I lie.

  That’s how Detective Campbell finds us. He clears his throat and dips his chin to me, then I watch as his gaze flicks over to Helen. His eyes widen and his lips twitch as he looks her over. I almost say something to him, but decide I don’t care if he wants to flirt with Helen, I honestly don’t care about anything other than Tennessee’s health and nailing Susan to a goddamn prison cell wall.

  “Landry?” Detective Campbell asks when he finally looks over at me.

  “Hansen said you had news?” I ask.

  He nods his head once. “The man in the living room was Danny Bradley, Tennessee’s biological father.”

  Helen snorts next to me. “Sperm donor is more like it,” she snaps. “I could have told you all of that, what else do you have?”

  His gaze flicks to hers, and his lips twitch again before it slides back to meet mine. “We found phone records from his cell, not hers. She had a burner, and it was on her, so we got the call history. But Susan and Bradley had been in contact over the last month. This was planned, premeditated, and that makes all of it even worse for them.”

  “She’s in jail?” I ask on a growl.

  He nods his head. “She is, though she’s already asked for an attorney. But we
are going to get more evidence. This is just the tip of the iceberg,” he explains.

  Nodding my head once, I give him the only smile I can muster, it isn’t much, it’s barely a grin. “Thank you, Detective Campbell. Whatever you need from us, you have it.”

  He dips his chin, says his goodbyes, then leaves. I turn to Helen to open my mouth, to say something, when a doctor asks for us. All conversation drops as we jump to our feet and practically sprint over to him.

  TENNESSEE

  Everything hurts. My neck, my head, my entire body. But worst of all, my heart. I don’t know where Holden and my mom are, I hope they’re safe. I don’t know where Landry is, but I have a feeling that Susan had something up her puffy sleeve for him too, and maybe he isn’t here? I am filled with anxiety and panic as I wait for the doctors and nurses to come back in here.

  When the door opens, I debate even opening my eyes, but something internally forces me to. When I do, I gasp at the sight in front of me.

  It’s Landry.

  Holding Holden.

  My mother standing behind them.

  They are all okay.

  None of them move, they just all three stare at me for a moment. My head is fuzzy, something the doctor told me was normal, since I have a concussion. But he said it didn’t look like I had any brain swelling, and he thinks that I’ll have a completely full recovery.

  “Honey,” Landry finally breathes.

  “I’m okay,” I say softly.

  Holden reaches out for me, saying mama in a chant. Landry walks over to the bed and sinks down on the edge. Holden reaches for me, but Landry is careful not to let him lie all over me with his full weight.

  “Lub you, Mama,” Holden whispers.

  “I love you too,” I say, trying to keep from crying.

  My mom takes Holden from me, and Landry takes one of my hands with his and cups my cheek with the other, his eyes focused on mine and nowhere else.

  “You are so fucking brave and smart as shit, honey,” he rasps.