I also never saw myself sitting around with both my current boyfriend and my former either. But here I am doing a bunch of stuff I never dreamt I would be doing.
The doorbell rings and I get up to answer it, sure it’s my grandmother. Without looking through the peephole, I open the door and there stands a version of Sandy Whitehead. Or Melissa, as Gage knows her.
“Sandy?” I ask as I look at the girl who’d been blonde but now is a brunette with dark brown eyes and pale skin.
“No, I’m Melissa and I’m here to get my fiancé.”
“You’re Sandy Whitehead. We went to school together. You were a couple of grades ahead of me but I do know you, Sandy.” I look her dead in the eyes and I can see she’s got a lot of anger.
“My name is Melissa Cross. I’m only twenty-five so I don’t see how you think you know me,” she looks me right back in the eyes and I have to say this little nut job takes her crazy very seriously.
So I try something a little sneaky. “How’s Patty doing?”
“I just left her, she’s fine,” she says and her mouth does a little twitchy thing to one side but she quickly regains her composure. “Where’s Gage? I see his truck out there and I was told he followed you and some other man on a motorcycle out of town. My source followed you all and told me he’d be here. Now where is he?”
Benny comes up behind me and runs his arm around my shoulders. “Hey, Baby, what’s taking so long here?”
“This woman says she’s Gage’s fiancé. Melissa Cross here, I know her as Sandy Whitehead, but she insists I’m wrong, wants to see Gage. What do you think about that, Benny?”
He shakes his head. “I’m afraid, Gage, is our very dear friend, and he’s told us a little different story and you aren’t a fiancé in any of it. So, we’re going to have to ask you to leave. If he wants to talk to you, I’m sure he knows how to contact you.”
“Well, he doesn’t know my address. Tell him I’m living at 313 Alpaca Drive. And tell him I will talk to him and get to the bottom of whatever it is he’s doing. I didn’t put my life on hold for two years to sit with his ass in the hospital to lose him to this bitch now.” She eyes me and I fight the urge to knock the shit out of her.
I narrow my eyes at her and speak in a very low and very threatening voice. “I’m not the woman to talk to like that. I’ll knock your ass clean into next week, Sandy. By the way, do you think I don’t know the address of your family home, idiot? Do yourself a favor and get some fucking psychiatric help before it’s too late. You need some help bad. And as far as Gage goes, you will not be talking to him. I can see he still has some brain injury and isn’t all himself yet. I’ll be calling his family to be sure they know the real story. Your little scam is about to end, Sweetie.”
My grandmother pulls into the driveway and I look past, bat-shit-crazy, here to see her. Benny looks too and says, “I don’t want to call the cops to get you to leave, but I will. Am I going to have to do that?”
She shakes her head and turns to leave then looks back at me over her shoulder. “You can’t have them both, bitch. I will get Gage.”
I start out after her. “You shouldn’t have called me that, Sandy.” But I feel a hand on my arm and Benny’s holding me back.
He whispers, “Baby, she’s not all there. Don’t take it personally.”
She laughs kind of hysterically and I really want to kick her ass. But Benny’s right. It’s obvious she’s not all there. And now I really believe Gage’s story. As farfetched as it sounds, I think he’s telling the truth.
My grandmother, who’s in her late sixties but thanks to a life full of love with my grandfather, she looks great. She keeps her blonde hair in shoulder-length waves. Sure, the blonde isn’t natural like it once was, but it’s not an obvious dye job. Her blue eyes are still sparkly and full of life.
She looks at Sandy as the laughing chick passes by her then looks back at me with a, ‘what the fuck,’ look.
I nod and wait for her to get to us as Benny isn’t taking any chances and not letting me go. “Who is that?” she asks as she gets to us.
“That’s a woman who’s gone a bit insane. It seems she’s the one to blame for Gage leaving me,” I tell her as I pull her into a hug. “It’s nice to see you. I’m glad you came, Grams.”
Benny extends his hand. “I’m Benjamin Worthington, it’s nice to meet you.”
She lets me go and pulls him into a hug, ignoring his hand. “Nice to meet you too! My, you’re keeping my granddaughter in very nice surroundings, I must say. You call me Grams, Son.”
He smiles at me. “Grams it is then.”
I take her hand and lead her inside as we see the looney bird has left our place and we can hear her car jetting off down the road. In the great room, I see Freddy has several trays of appetizers out and a few bottles of wine and a pitcher of what looks like margaritas.
“Margarita or wine, Grams?” I ask as I lead her into the large room where everyone else is gathered and talking like old friends.
Her footsteps falter and I see her eyes are set on Benny’s grandfather. When I look at him, I see him getting up and coming our way. He’s wearing a smile and an expensive suit.
Benny’s grandfather is a very distinguished looking man as one can imagine a wealthy lawyer would look and he does not disappoint. Silver hair is neatly combed and light blue eyes look both strong and inviting at the same time.
I feel a tremble in my grandmother’s hand as his grandfather takes her other one and lifts it to his lips, placing a kiss on top. “Hello there, I’m Samuel Worthington. And you must be this little angel’s very pretty grandmother. I can see where she gets her great beauty from now.”
My grandmother doesn’t bat an eye. “She looks like her mother. I’m her father’s mother. My name is Rebecca Jennings. It’s nice to meet you, Samuel.”
His grandfather looks at me and asks, “Might I steal her away from you, Angel?”
I nod and release her hand. “Of course, you may.”
He takes her to meet his son- and daughter-in-law and I’m seeing a light in my grandmother’s eyes I haven’t seen in some time and it has me wondering. A light has sparked in Benny’s grandfather’s eyes too.
Benny whispers, “Oh my God, Angel. I’ve never seen my grandfather look like that in my entire life.”
I giggle a little and pull him along with me to check on the food in the kitchen and whisper back, “I’ve seen my grandmother look like that before. When she was looking at my grandfather, though.”
Gage jogs up behind us and puts his hand on my shoulder. I turn back and see him smiling. “Hey, Angel, what took you so long at the door? I thought I heard Melissa’s voice, but I wasn’t about to come see.”
I look at Benny who gives me a nod. “Tell him.”
Instead of the kitchen, I take his hand and lead him to a small sitting room where we all sit down. I look into his eyes. “Gage, that woman is mentally unstable.”
He frowns at me. “I’m well aware of that. What did she say? Did she threaten you?”
“Not really. Not directly. I do think she’s going to be a pain in the ass unless we do something about her. I think you should go to the authorities with what’s happened. Let them investigate the whole thing.” I pat his leg and see something in his eyes that tells me he’s left something out. “Do you want to tell me anything else, Gage?”
“I probably should.” He looks at Benny and gets up to move away from me. “Hey, can you hold her over here and not let her go when I tell her this. She might try to hit me.”
Benny’s hand takes mine. “I won’t let her hurt you, Gage. Just tell her what you have to say.”
Gage looks like a kicked puppy. “Angel, I kind of lied to you before.”
“You did mess around with her before you left, didn’t you?” I ask as I hold tight to Benny’s hand.
He nods. “I need your help, though. You’re one tough chick and I don’t know anyone else to help me. That woman is crazy. Even h
er friend, Patty, told me she was worried about her mental state.”
I find I’m clenching my jaw. Then Benny’s hand on mine makes me think that things happen for a reason. “That’s the past and I can’t hang onto that. I can help you. I do care about you and I can see the accident has taken some of you away. I’ll protect you, Gage.”
He looks relieved. “Not mad, then?”
“I am mad. But, I’m not exactly mad at you. I’m mad at me too. I was hanging on to you for selfish reasons. I didn’t want to be alone. Not completely. I’ve always kept to myself and you were the very first person I let in. I knew we weren’t really compatible. I knew I was heading a different direction than you were.” I look at Benny and smile. “And although I’m sorry you were hurt in that accident when you left. I’m glad you did leave me.”
“Angel, you don’t know how good that is to hear. I thought the same thing the entire last year we were together. You were so into your schoolwork and learning as much as you could by watching the mechanics at your uncle’s garage that I knew you were destined for greatness. I was destined for just getting by.” He smiles at me. “And I knew I would never be enough for you. I knew you’d leave me one day when you figured that out on your own.”
I look at Gage. The man I loved first. Not the most, just first and think to myself that he was a good guy. He was a stand-up guy who went to work at a fast-food restaurant so he could stay in this town to date me.
After six months, we moved in together in the little house we rented. He lived in a motel room until that time. He stayed for me and worked as many hours as he could so he could get us a place.
And I did spend very little time at home the last year we were together. And when I was home, I was holed up in the bedroom, studying or doing online school work. It left him alone much of the time.
Yet, when he left, I was devastated by it. I recall not understanding at all why he’d leave. But now I can see it very clearly.
I ask him, “Gage, did you and she leave together then?”
He shakes his head. “No. Everything else I’ve told you is the truth. She wanted me to leave you and threatened to kill you if I didn’t. I was trying to get out of town without her knowing but somehow she figured it all out and found me on the road, I guess. That part I’m unclear on. I know she was there at the scene of the accident because when I was able to talk again, the paramedics who were first on the scene and took care of me, came to see me and told me she was right by my side from before they got there.”
“Okay, so we know she was there from the beginning. Gage, are you sure you and she weren’t leaving together?” I ask him one more time because he’s letting little things out a bit at a time and I’d hate for him to give the police information that’s strewn with lies. They would stop pursuing the case if that’s how he’s going to be.
“I was going to go back to Texas. That’s the truth, Angel. And I wasn’t leaving you. Not altogether, I wasn’t. I was just making sure she didn’t hurt you.” He looks at Benny and smiles. “Angel and I did a little rough stuff, sex wise. And Melissa was into that too. Only she could take phenomenal amounts of pain and had me do some really hard shit to her. I won’t get into the details but I knew Melissa could take any kind of ass whooping Angel could dish out. So I was afraid for Angel, even though she’s tough.”
My stomach hurts all of a sudden as I think about my Gage and that crazy bitch. Gage sees the look on my face and he looks away. His expression tells me he’s sorry. But it doesn’t make the pain stop.
Benny pulls me to him and I snuggle into his side. His warmth helps me to try to come to peace with the fact so much was going on behind my back at that time. “It’s okay, Baby,” he whispers.
No, it’s not, okay. But I guess someday it will be.
Gage looks at me with a sheepishness to his handsome face. A face I used to really like to look at. His rugged jawline with softness around the edges always fascinated me.
His mouth moves into a crooked grimace. “I’m really sorry, Angel.”
I nod. “I’ll get over it.”
Benny asks him, “Gage, did that woman ever hurt you?”
Gage’s eyes go very dark. “Yes.”
I sit up and am suddenly furious. “Before or after your accident?”
“After,” he says then he looks despondent.
I move quickly to sit next to him on the small sofa across from the one we’re sitting on. I take his hands in mine and make him look at me. “After you were hurt? What did she do to you? Tell me, Gage!”
He just stares into my eyes for what seems like forever then he says very quietly, “She tied me up when I told her I was leaving. I had pain pills to help with the really bad headaches that would crop up after I woke up from the coma. I still get them only not as often as I did when I first woke up. Anyway, she must’ve put some of them in my drink or something because I recall telling her I was leaving. Then I found myself waking up in the bed. I was all tied up and tied down to it.”
“She drugged you and tied you up. Then what did she do to you, Gage?” I ask as I see in his eyes that wasn’t all she did to him.
He looks from me to Benny. “I’d rather not say.”
Benny gets up and takes me by the shoulders. “Angel, don’t make him relive that. Whatever it was. Don’t make him do that just so you can get really pissed at that crazy chick.”
Gage nods at me. “You wouldn’t look at me the same way. I couldn’t take that, Angel.”
And now I know I’m going to make that bitch pay for what she did to us both.
Chapter 7
BLAZE
The evening went by faster than I ever expected it would. My family has turned into a bunch of people I didn’t know they could be. Angel and her grandmother have spun some magic, and it seems to have captivated my family.
Guess I’m not the only Worthington to find a Jennings so remarkable. Grandfather couldn’t seem to leave Angel’s grandmother’s side. And it wouldn’t surprise me to find him leaving her bedroom in the morning.
We had Gage stay the night too. I have a feeling that crazy chick would be massive amounts of trouble for him if he were to stay at the motel in town. And he does seem more than a bit fragile the more time I spend around him.
Angel climbs into bed next to me and snuggles up to me. “Benny, why did you say your family was so stuffy?”
“Because they are.” I run my fingertip over her collarbone and kiss the top of her head as she wiggles her body to get in closer to me.
Her hand moves over my chest as she seems to be feeling every muscle I have. “No, they’re not. I think you have some kind of a chip on your shoulder about them. Like you just don’t like to be told how to act so you really rebelled against them.”
I take her hand and kiss it. “I don’t like to be told how to act.”
“I doubt anyone does. But when you’re a little kid, you do have to be taught how to act accordingly. Don’t you agree?” She turns her deep blue eyes up to mine and smiles.
Her smile does something to my heart. It flutters and in her eyes, I see my future. “I do. And you’re right, I do have a chip. But I came by it honestly. My grandfather has ruled my entire family since the very beginning. I don’t know how my mother stood it all these years. He overrode her and Father’s every decision.”
“But he seems very smart,” she says. “I’m sure it’s only because he had no other family. He felt very obligated to make sure his son and his son’s family were taken care of and learned the things he thought were important.”
“Probably.” I pull her up on my chest to lie on top of me. Pushing her dark hair back, I say, “He won’t be overruling you and me about our kids.”
Her right eyebrow cocks to up as her lips curve into a smile. “Our kids. That’s sounds oddly enticing. I wonder if our son will have your rebellious streak. I wonder how you’d handle that.”
“Don’t wish that on us, Baby,” I say with a laugh. “If you knew half the
shit I’ve done in the name of nonconformity, you’d shit.”
“Yeah, don’t tell me about any of it. I won’t shit as much as I’ll want to smack you around a little bit.” She smiles but I think she’s being pretty damn honest. “What are we going to do about this Gage mess? We can’t keep him safe with us forever.”
“My grandfather’s wheels are turning on it. He’s a lawyer to his core and if anyone can figure out how to press charges that will stick, it’s him.” I kiss her and she melts on top of me and the conversation is over.
I roll over with her, covering her body with mine, savoring the feeling of her soft body giving into mine. Her leg moves up the back of mine and I feel her foot on my ass.
The heat from between her legs calls out to my cock and it grows to life with a want to fill her. I run my hand over her cheek and sigh. “You’re so beautiful, Angel.”
Her deep blue eyes dart back and forth then she kisses me back. Her lips press hard to mine. Her tongue pushes past my lips and runs over mine
My entire body is tingling. This is like a fantasy come true. A fantasy I never knew I even wanted. The light from the television is the only light there is, and she looks gorgeous in the muted tones.
I run my hands over the soft flesh of her back as her sweet kiss takes me to a world far away from this place. Her hands roam all over my body, leaving electric trails in their paths.
I run one hand between us and cup one of her breasts. She arches a little and her breath catches as I squeeze it. Her mouth leaves mine, and I move down to take a breast into my mouth. My lips press the nipple between them as my tongue flicks over the tip.
She moans as my hands roam over her hips and run around to grip her ass. I’m on fire for her with a dull ache to be inside her.
Her hands travel over my arms, stopping to feel my biceps. “I love your muscles, Benny,” she says with a low moan.
I pull my mouth from her breast. “I love your juicy tits.”
She giggles and I kiss my way down her body, pushing her legs apart as I make my way down. My heart is pounding as I stop. My face is right at her apex.
Hot Nights in Sturgis The Complete Series: A Billionaire, Bad Boy, Motorcycle, BDSM, Romance (Billionaire Romance Novels) Page 17