by Anthology
Three days a week, Tristan went to the office with his dads when they weren’t out on assignment. Ian Taggart had turned one of the unused conference rooms into a daycare center. The other two days Tristan stayed home with Mom. They liked to say it was the best of both worlds. Serena got to work and be with her boy and so did Jake and Adam.
He wasn’t going to have a kid like Tristan. And it was all Ally’s fault. Before Adam could pick up the pie, Macon grabbed it. It was time to show Ally that he wasn’t playing around.
“Tell Ian the bakery’s closed.”
“I think he’s moved into his anger phase,” Jake whispered to Adam.
“Kai warned us this would happen.” Adam was frowning his way.
He clutched the stupid, probably-had-too-much-cinnamon-in-it pie. Had she even used ice water for the crust or had she thought cold tap would be enough? “You’re the one who started this, brother. You want to tell me why you’re looking at me like I’m the bad guy? And why is Kai saying anything? Does he not understand patient-client confidentiality?”
He was really tired of everyone having an opinion. He’d heard it from Eric and Javier and the line chefs. Poor Ally. She looks tired. She seems so sad.
The other servers had stopped talking to him with the exception of Deena, who still communicated but seemed to think four-letter words and dirty hand gestures were appropriate.
He was the fucking victim here.
“I called Kai because I was worried about you,” Adam explained. “You’ve completely shut down. And don’t think I am not fully aware of the part I played. I acted hastily. I was trying to protect you but I should have brought the problem to the group and figured out how to handle it. Macon, sometimes it’s more important why a person lied than that they lied in the first place. I think we should talk about this.”
“I don’t want to talk. I want to do my job and live my life and I want to do it without that woman.” He couldn’t even say her name sometimes.
But he could dream about her. He dreamed about her every single night. He saw her gorgeous face as she worked over him, her lips mouthing the words “I love you.”
“I’m going to get Tristan in his car seat,” Jake said, his face grim. “Please come help me, baby.”
Serena nodded and followed him out, leaving him alone with his brother.
“You’re not only mad at her,” Adam began. “You’re mad at me and I don’t blame you.”
“I’m not mad at you.” Adam had done what any good brother would have done. He’d brought him the truth. He’d shown him the facts and saved him from making a damn fool of himself.
“Of course you are and until you acknowledge it, it’s going to be difficult around here.”
Well, he should have seen that coming. “I’ll find a place of my own then. I wouldn’t want to make your life difficult.”
“You see. Right there. You take everything I say in the worst possible manner. I don’t want you to leave. I want you to talk to me.”
“There’s nothing to talk about. I’m not angry. Hell, I’m not really even angry with her. She did what she needed to do to get the information she wanted. I suppose now she thinks she’s found a cushy place to land and she doesn’t want to lose it.”
“Are you talking about living in our guesthouse?”
“It’s nice, especially to a woman like her. She’s never had much of anything so she’s hungry for some comfort and she’ll fuck the first guy who can give it to her.” It was the only explanation as to why she was still trying.
Adam’s eyes rolled. “Yeah, buddy. You’re a catch. You live in your brother’s guesthouse, have zero money saved, and don’t even own a car. She’s totally after your wealth.”
But Ally had a car. Between them they had a place to stay, a heap of junk car, and three and a quarter legs. Ally wouldn’t let him forget that quarter leg. It was an asset, she would say. Had she said it to get close to him?
“Fuck you, Adam.” He wasn’t going down that road again.
Adam nodded. “Yes, that’s better. Yell at me. Get it out. I know we were taught to shove everything down, but that’s not what we should do. You don’t cure a boil by pushing it under the skin. You lance that fucker and let it all hang out. That’s the only way you’re going to heal. Say it. Tell me how I screwed up your life.”
He shook his head stubbornly. “You didn’t. You helped me. Although I will admit you’re annoying me now. If you want me to leave, I wish you would say it.”
“Where would you go?”
“Home. I talked to Dad last night. He’s willing to offer me a job.”
Adam’s jaw dropped. “You’ve got to be kidding me. You’re willing to go back there? To a father who dumped you at your lowest moment?” His brother’s expression was so hurt, Macon almost took the words back. “And you say you’re not angry with me.”
Adam shook his head and walked out toward the garage.
He didn’t understand. Adam had always been the smart one. He’d been the rebel, able to shove aside everything. Macon had given in. He’d chosen comfort over Adam when they were younger. He’d let Ronnie blow his own head off. He’d been stupid enough to believe Ally’s lies.
At least he could do one thing. He could break his silence with Ally. She hadn’t taken the hint. He clutched the pie and strode to the backdoor. All he could think about as he made it to the grass was telling Ally he didn’t need her damn pie. He could make his own pie. Hell, he could buy a pie if he really wanted one, but he wasn’t ever touching her pie again. He wasn’t going to taste her sweetness and eat a piece like a starving man. No. She’d ruined pie for him, or maybe it had been the numerous sexual references his brother seemed to make about pie, but it didn’t matter. Pie sucked. He didn’t eat pie any more so she could keep her fucking sweet ass pie to herself. Or give it away to the next idiot. He didn’t care.
He tripped, not looking where he was going, and cursed his fucking leg as he fell to the ground. His not leg. His fucked up, blown to shit body that only one woman had ever really wanted.
The pie fell to the ground, glass pan cracking and sending the insides all over the grass.
He tried to get up, but he stumbled again, his leg unable to move the way he needed it to.
“Macon!” Ally’s face suddenly loomed over him.
And he wanted to hurt her the way she’d hurt him.
***
Ally had seen him walking across the yard like a man on a mission. She’d taken a deep breath because she’d been waiting for it. She’d been waiting for the moment when he finally confronted her. She’d thought it would go one of two ways. He’d either realize he forgave her and couldn’t stay away a moment longer or he would realize he couldn’t stand two more seconds without telling her what a lying bitch she was.
From the look in his eyes, she’d been willing to bet he’d chosen door number two.
But it hadn’t mattered what his intentions were once she’d seen him fall.
She threw open the door and raced across the space between them. She hadn’t cared that she was wearing nothing but a tank top and a pair of boxer shorts. She ran to get to him. “Macon!”
She dropped to her knees.
He was on his back, his eyes closed. His handsome face was set in mulish lines. “Go away.”
“Let me help you.” She reached for his hand and the minute she did, his closed around it.
His eyes came open and she could see the blazing emotion in them. He was so mad, so angry. God, she was afraid of him in that moment. “You won’t go away then you get what you deserve.”
He tugged her down on top of him and then rolled his big body over, pinning her down. She caught a glimpse of his face before he took her mouth. There was no kindness in this kiss, but it didn’t matter. It was still Macon and the minute his lips met hers, it started a wildfire low in her gut. Her whole body softened.
His tongue plundered, his hands gripping her wrists over her head. She was completely immobilize
d, held down as he savaged her mouth.
She managed to get her legs spread, wanting nothing more than to feel his erection against her core. He was dressed in sweats and a T-shirt, likely getting ready for either PT or a workout. The thin layers of clothing that separated them did nothing to obscure the feel of his lengthening cock. He grew by the second and she responded.
She wrapped her arms around him. If he needed this, needed to be rough with her, she could handle it. She could take everything he had to give. She’d spent day after day praying he would get that hard glint in his eyes and order her someplace private where he could spank her for lying to him. If he would do that, be the Dom he’d told her he wanted to be, then she would know there was hope.
Taking out his anger through sex was certainly a better way than taking it out by yelling at her. She didn’t care. All she knew was they had to break through his rage.
He ground his cock against her, the big erection hitting her clit. It didn’t take much to make her ready for him. In the time they’d lived together, he’d trained her to expect pleasure from him, and her body was ready. Night after night she’d gone to their lonely bed and lain awake thinking about all the ways they’d made love. And it was love. He might be telling himself it was all about sex, but it wasn’t. It wasn’t even about sex now. Even as he thrust his hand under her shirt and started to cup her breasts, she knew emotion was riding him. This wasn’t lust. It was dominance and possession. She’d stripped him of his newfound confidence and she had to find a way to get it back.
“I love you.”
His head came up. “Don’t you fucking say that to me again.”
“I can keep my mouth shut, but it doesn’t change the truth.” She wasn’t going to back down. This was too important.
“Do you love me enough to let me fuck you again?” He said the word “love” with a nasty twist of his mouth, like it was something distasteful.
“Yes.”
His hips moved, sliding his cock along her core. If they’d been naked, he would have been inside her. “What does that make you, Sarah?”
She was sure he would use all kinds of nasty words on her. They wouldn’t mean anything. He was a wounded animal and they tended to bite the hands of the people who healed them because they didn’t know any better. She’d had two long talks with Adam since the day Macon had left her. He’d shown up on her doorstep—his doorstep really—the morning after the debacle and demanded to know why she was still here. He’d offered her cash to leave and when she wouldn’t, he’d finally sat down and listened to her. And then he’d spoken. He’d told her about his and Macon’s childhood. There had been no softness, no love. Macon didn’t know how to react. He was just learning and she’d made him stumble in a brutal fashion.
She reached up and brushed back his dark hair. “What does that make me? A woman in love with a man.”
He growled and rolled off her. His back was on the grass, one arm thrown over his eyes. “Go away, Ally.”
She sat up, staring down at him. “I can’t.”
“Why the fuck not?”
“Because I think this is my home.” Because she loved the people around her. She loved what she’d found here. “Macon, I’m so sorry for not telling you who I am, but I think I fell in love with you the minute I saw you. I was afraid I would lose you.”
“You never had me.”
“Of course I did. I think we were more real together than we’ve ever been apart. I like who I was when I was with you.”
His eyes opened slightly. “A liar?”
She sighed. “A woman. I’ve been a scared little girl for so long, but when I was with you, I was finally a woman. The last of that scared girl is gone now so you should know that while I think I’ll love you forever, if you can’t find it in your heart to forgive me, I’ll move on eventually.”
She’d thought about it for the whole two weeks they’d been separated. Every day that had gone by felt like they were further and further apart. She’d even heard he was talking to his father again. He’d told one of the line chefs he might be going back home to New York. She’d come to a decision. Her life couldn’t be over because one man refused to forgive her. She had to value herself. She had to be meaningful and that meant forgiving. Forgiving him for being too broken. Forgiving herself for screwing up.
“Move on now. I want you out. I’ll give you the money for a down payment. I want you gone,” he said stubbornly.
“I don’t want to leave.”
“It’s my family. I get to stay. I want you gone by this weekend and find another job.”
Now he was pushing her too far. “I understand that you’re angry, Macon. I really do. I understand that you’re backed into a corner and you don’t know how to do anything but fight your way out. I’m willing to take some abuse. I really am. I did this. I’m the at-fault party, but if you think for a second I’ll let you force me out of a place that’s good for me, you’re wrong. Maybe you could have before now. Maybe before I met you, loved you, you could have bullied me right out of town, but I’m a different person than the street rat who showed up on your doorstep. I never once used you for information. I gave that up about two weeks in. I slept with you because I loved you. I slept with you because I’ve never wanted a man the way I want you.”
“I can’t look at you and not see your brother. Do you understand that? You’re alone because he chose me over himself. Think about it for two seconds, Sarah, and you’ll be as mad at me as I am at you.”
She sighed. He understood nothing. “My name is Allyson and he did what his heart told him to do. And Macon, he didn’t leave me alone. He left me with you. I don’t believe in coincidence. I believe we walk a road no matter how twisted and broken it is. It leads us where we need to be. We’re the ones who choose to stop, who stay in a place too long or simply give up moving down the road. Ronnie died and I loved him and his death led me to a man I love even more. So get up and walk with me. If you don’t, I’m going to start again. I’ll go without you if I have to because I believe in you, but I recently realized that I believe in me, too. I won’t quit. I love my job and I can go to school during the day.”
Besides attempting to make all the recipes in his mother’s cookbook, she’d spent her time trying to figure out her next move. Her whole life had been about running from the past or taking care of someone else. It was time to build a future with or without Macon.
“School? College?”
“Not all of us made it through West Point. Yeah. I think I’m going to school. I’m going to study business. At first I wanted to because I thought I could help you. You’ll want your own bakery one day. I thought I could learn how to run it so you could concentrate on what you love. Well, maybe I can do it for someone else. I’m learning the restaurant industry. Maybe I can manage one someday. I don’t have to be a street rat the rest of my life. I can be more.”
His face softened and for a moment she thought he would say something sweet to her. Then he closed his eyes again. “I don’t care what you do. If you don’t leave, then I will.”
Tears threatened again. “All right then.”
He huffed and the steel was back in his eyes when he looked at her. “So what? You standing around waiting to help the cripple up?”
She was thinking about kicking him in the ribs. “Nope. I’m sure you’ll manage fine all on your own. Good-bye, Macon. I’ll be out of the house tonight.”
“Tell me how much the down payment is.”
If he was going to be an ass, she definitely wasn’t taking a dime from him. She was sure it would reassure him she was some kind of gold digger. “Nothing. I’ll manage.”
“I don’t want you sleeping in that car again, Allyson,” he called out.
“I guess what you want doesn’t matter any more.” She walked away, her soul sagging. She watched him through the window. Eventually he managed to struggle to his feet and go back inside.
He didn’t need her help and she was beginning to believ
e she didn’t need him.
***
Macon strode into Chef Taggart’s office with his gut in a knot. It was Friday night after dinner service. He had to catch his boss before he disappeared to go to whoever’s house was hosting Sanctum this week. Friday nights were a standing playdate between Sean and Grace Taggart.
He needed to get this shit over with. He couldn’t take too much more of watching Ally with her sad eyes and luscious body.
Not that she’d been too sad earlier in the afternoon. She’d stood over him and told him off. Like she had a right to do that. Like two weeks was too much time to ask for. Not that he’d asked for time. He didn’t care. He didn’t care that she’d been so beautiful telling him she believed in herself, that she’d made plans to stand behind him, to be his partner, but if he was an idiot, she’d move on.
Nope. He didn’t care. He wanted her to move on. He was going to do the same. What she’d done was unforgivable. In his family, you didn’t get a second chance. You got it right or you were done.
Was he really hearing his father’s voice in his head? Was that what he wanted his life to come to?
“You wanted to see me?” Sean Taggart sat behind his desk, going over the nightly reports. “Make it quick. We’re due at Ian’s in an hour.”
“I’ll pass tonight.”
“Oh, okay. I guess you heard Ally’s there. You know just because you’re not together doesn’t mean you should stop going to the club.”
He stopped, his heart clenching. “What do you mean Ally’s going?”
Sean sat back. “She’s asked Ian if she can be accepted as a trainee. Smart girl. She showed up at Ian’s office with a lemon icebox pie about a week ago and negotiated so she doesn’t have to pay fees. She’s taking care of the kids for three months twice a week and then training on Saturday nights. Tomorrow is her first training night. I think Ian’s going to put her with Ten.”
He felt his eyes widen. “With Ten? With cold as ice, probably killed someone five minutes ago Ten? I know everyone is claiming that guy is just a friend of Ian’s but I swear if he wasn’t Special Forces I’ll eat my C-leg.”