by M. N. Forgy
“I can see why our trainer, Harron, was so appalled when he taught you how to eat with etiquette. You eat like an animal.” Landon laughs, taking a large bite of his apple. He has the top of his hair pulled into a short ponytail, the other half down since it’s too short to put into a ribbon. His jaw is sprouting that delicious stubble. He tears into the apple, his sharp jaw flexing as he chews. It causes my sex to throb with a craving so strong I have to clench my thighs.
I still can’t wrap my mind around being pregnant. I’m not sure how I feel about it. I’m not mad, not happy. Maybe it hasn’t hit me yet, the reality that I’m going to be a mother, be responsible for another life.
I shrug. “That guy was a pompous ass anyway.”
Landon dips his brows and nods.
“He was; I agree.”
Thunder sounds from outside, catching my attention. The pool lights shine brightly from within the pool just outside the double glass doors.
I turn and smile wolfishly at Landon.
“Wanna go for a swim?”
“Now?” Landon’s eyebrows raise.
I shrug and look back at the pool.
“Why not now?” I could go for a swim to relax my mind.
“It’s getting ready to storm,” Landon points out.
“So?” I stand from the chair and walk backwards. I didn’t put on any clothes, so my body is bare for his hungry eyes.
Landon’s eyes grow heavy as he tosses the rest of his apple onto the counter and follows me out. I dip my toe into the water, testing its temperature, but before I can push my foot in any further, large hands grasp my hips and turn me. Landon smirks as he grips both of my thighs and lifts me. My legs wrap around his waist and my hands tangle behind his head as he smirks and walks us into the lukewarm water.
Landon raises his hand and brushes his thumb along my bottom lip, his green eyes holding the warmth of a forest fire.
His excitement pushes into my butt cheek, and my nipples ache as they caress his hard chest.
“I admit, having a child right now is not ideal. But a Blackwell and an Evans having a child together is the beginning of something epic. Besides, you were meant to be mine nine years ago.”
“It’s like God was testing us, seeing if we would find our way back to each other,” I whisper, my eyes watching his mouth, that sliver of a scar shining against his lips. “How did you get this scar?” I gently rub my finger over the silver line. Landon smirks.
“Roman and I were fighting over a girl. I didn’t like the girl. I just liked pissing him off.” Landon chuckles, and I smile.
His eyes trail to my lips and he dips his head, taking my mouth without a second thought. His tongue massages along mine. With the taste of apple lingering on his tongue, I moan into his mouth and tangle my hands into the bottom of his hair. He angles his hips just right, the head of his length pressing against my sex. My body sparks with excitement, my heart thudding against my chest in anticipation.
The skies open up and rain comes pouring down, droplets diving into the pool water all around us. His large hands edge themselves up my thighs and pull them apart wider, and he pushes himself inside me. I close my eyes and part my lips to let out a satisfying sigh. I loll my head back as Landon fills me with his hard cock. His teeth scrape along my jaw, a raw moan vibrating his chest as he slowly thrusts into me. Thunder sounds from above, and rain pitter-patters off my head and shoulders.
His hands slide from my bottom and push against my back, the action smothering my chest to his. His jaw is clenched and his eyes take in every inch of my face. Pressure builds in my core with the way he looks at me, like the storm around us isn’t even happening.
“If I could take it all back and make your life easier, I would.” He pants, water splashing between us as he thrusts his length inside of me. “I would take it all back and become my father, just so you didn’t have to suffer one day of being alone.”
I bite my bottom lip to keep from getting emotional, but a sob escapes anyway. Like a fire claiming a wick, my heart vibrates in my chest. I feel alive to the fullest, and I know at this moment I want nothing more in life than to be with Landon.
“I really want to hate you. But I love you,” I whisper, not taking my eyes off his. Landon smirks and thrusts his hips harder.
I moan loudly in response to his cock hitting me just right, warmth building in my lower half and buzzing its way through my limbs.
“I love you, too,” he groans, dipping his head and sucking my nipple into his mouth as he drives himself into me over and over.
Warmth flares in my core, and my eyes clench to the point of seeing stars. My legs squeeze around Landon like a vise as I teeter on the edge of pleasure. I scream out as I fall over the cliff of release. Lightning ignites the sky and thunder booms as I ride my wave of satisfaction. Landon buries his head into my neck and growls, his body pulsing and tensing against mine as he follows his own release. Rain clings to my eyelashes as I try and catch my breath, Landon glancing at me from under his own. We should move, the storm around us becoming more hostile by the second, but we just cling to each other, not wanting to part.
“What are you going to do about Miller?” I question loudly so he can hear me above the rain.
“Whatever I have to. I’ll kill him before I let him get between us.”
LANDON
“Holy shit. There’s no way I can take that. Look at that thing!” Charlie’s face twists like she’s physically in pain as she eyes the prenatal vitamins in my hand. I smirk at her dramatic response to a couple of pills.
“I can hold you down, make you take them,” I offer. Charlie rolls her eyes and holds her hand out, knowing I’ll do just that. In fact, holding her down and showing her who’s in control is not a bad way to start the morning, in my opinion. I still can’t believe this is the same little girl who was under the table nine long years ago. I never thought I could care for another. I just didn’t care to before. Nobody came along that I felt like I needed to pursue. No woman interested me past a one-night stand. Nobody but Charlie. It’s like she said, it’s as if fate was trying to tell us something the whole time we had been together. We just weren’t listening.
She pops them in her mouth and takes a sip of water. She looks amazing this morning. Her dark, curly hair is down, and her cheeks are flushed from the round of sex we just had, which ended with us tangled in the bed sheets and falling on the floor.
She runs her hands through her hair and sighs loudly. She’s nervous, not that I blame her. Taking her back to the estate where I know my father will be is risky, but I won’t hesitate to protect her from him, even if it kills me. Miller and his bimbo are out of the Blackwell estate as of today, peacefully or otherwise.
“Stop worrying. Everything will be fine.”
She snaps her head toward me and huffs. “Just leave me here. Come back and get me when everything is over,” she whines.
“I told you, I don’t feel comfortable leaving you alone. Not when my father has hired men to capture you. You’re coming with me,” I growl. I find her hand and pull her from the bed, give her a kiss on the forehead, and smack her ass. I’m not surprised Niko came to the house last night after Charlie. When my father puts out an order, it’s a challenge among our most ruthless men. When I saw the person holding the gun at Charlie, I didn’t hesitate. I killed the motherfucker. I didn’t know it was Niko, but the ending would have been the same even if I had. I will do everything in my power to protect Charlie, to prove to her I am what she needs.
“Let’s get a move on.”
I slide my hands through my hair, slicking it back, and head toward my car to start the journey back to the estate. I set the alarm system and leave with Charlie.
During the drive to the estate, Charlie shifts and messes with her hair nervously. She keeps looking down at her stomach with an unreadable expression. I’m not sure if she’s accepting the pregnancy or still on the fence. I admit, it’s a fucking shock. There are pieces of me that have m
e scared out of my mind to be a father, but if I was going to have a child with anyone, I’d want it to be with Charlie.
Parking at the estate, I can tell everyone is on high-alert. Osborn is standing at the front door, along with some other no-named guards here and there.
“Osborn,” I greet, shutting my door. I hurry my step and open Charlie’s door, helping her out. Her face is pale, and her eyes dart around the yard.
“Landon.” Osborn takes my hand and slaps my back.
“My father in?” I ask.
Osborn nods, his sunglasses blinding me from the glare of the sun reflecting off them. I open the large door and find my father yelling at a man in a police uniform at the top of the stairs. I lift my chin and exhale, my hand finding Charlie’s as we charge forward.
“Last time I checked, Miller, you weren’t running the show anymore. So why am I even talking to you? You can’t benefit me in any way. What I’m doing is a favor to your father,” the cop sneers, his hand on his gun.
“What’s going on?” I question, turning to shut the door but stopping when I find Osborn following me in.
“Landon.” When the cop turns, I recognize him as Arlen, his caramel-brown curly hair sticking out from under his black police cap around his bright freckled face. He’s built like an athlete and has been a client of ours before he was ever on the force. I head up the steps, and Charlie squeezes my hand. I turn my head and find her eyes wide as saucers and staring past me. Following her line of sight, I see my father looking right at her with hunger in his eyes. I’ll deal with him in a minute.
“What can I do for you, Arlen?” I ask, shaking his hand.
“As I told your father, we cannot locate Charlotte Evans. We–” He stops and lifts his index finger, pointing at Charlie. “Is that—” His brows furrow.
“Thank you for your time, Arlen, but it’s been handled,” I interrupt.
“I see. Well, good. My men and I can get back to our job then.” Arlen looks over his shoulder, glaring at my father before trotting down the stairs. I wait for him to leave before I turn to address Miller.
His face is still blistering red. He’s in his red robe, his dark silk sweats showing from under it. You can tell he’s not slept with the large bags forming under his eyes.
“You betrayed me,” he spits, his fists clenching. I don’t respond.
“An Evans. You let an Evans into my household after what her whore of a mother did to me.” His lip curls, and his eyes squint with insanity.
I sigh.
“Maria got pregnant by you. We all knew she was here for money, and she had dreams, goals. We all knew that. Getting pregnant by your bastard baby and getting stuck here as your side ass wasn’t going to happen,” I remind him. Maria was a quiet person, but that was something she did tell everyone. She wanted better.
He turns, running his hands over his face. “She killed my blood. There is no explanation that could justify that!” he shouts, pointing at me. “But to make it worse, she had a daughter.” He twists his face in anger, looking directly at Charlie. My body tenses as anger fuels my veins. “And she was alive this whole time.” His face goes lax as he looks at me. “Did you know she had a daughter? Because she never told me. She didn’t tell anyone.”
I swallow, my tongue feeling thick in my dry mouth.
“I did,” I respond strongly.
His head whips up and his jaw clenches. He wasn’t expecting me to answer, nonetheless admit to knowing Maria had a daughter.
“I saw her hiding under the table that day,” I continue, rolling the cuffs of my sleeves.
“You what?” he hisses, blood vessels protruding on his forehead.
“You were out of line that day. Out of your mind, to be exact. You would have killed a nine-year-old little girl,” I fire back.
“Damn right I would have. And I will,” he sneers, pointing at Charlie. Hearing him threaten her makes me want to snap his neck.
“No, you won’t,” I seethe, stepping nose to nose with him.
“I will, and I will do the job myself this time, seeing how incompetent you are. I should’ve made Roman the head of the estate. At least he has the balls of a Blackwell,” my father states.
“I’m good. I don’t want the position,” Roman adds, stepping up the stairs in his usual messy attire.
Father looks down and scowls at Roman.
“You won’t go near Charlie,” I tell him, my tone serious.
Father laughs, his bellows echoing through the estate.
“Oh, please don’t tell me you’ve fallen for the whore. After everything I taught you about them. Let my mistake be a lesson, son. They don’t care about us Blackwells. They just want what’s better for them.” He chuckles, his eyes watering from his amusement.
“Fuck you,” Charlie clips, her body puffed out in absolute fury. I grab her hand and pull her behind me. I don’t need her to make him any angrier than he is.
“So, Charlie is just okay with you killing her mother in cold blood,” he states loudly, trying to look around me.
“I told her how if I hadn’t, I wouldn’t have been able to save her from you.”
My father sighs loudly and looks to the heavens. “Oh, how my son has deceived me,” he mutters.
“What I should have done was turn the gun and killed you that day. It would have saved everyone a lot of grief,” I grit.
“It’s not too late,” Roman clips, standing next to Charlie.
“Screw you. Screw all of you. You don’t know what power is, what control is.” He points at all of us.
“Baby?” Tara walks out of the hallway, concern written on her face as she makes her way toward us.
“You need to leave.” I take a step forward, ready to throw my father out the door if I need to.
“What?” He stops, his eyes wide.
“Why?” Tara cries, draping herself across my father.
“You need to pack your things and leave the estate. I can’t have you here anymore. You’ve done enough damage to the Blackwell name.” I lower my head and glower at him. “Besides, I’m sure Charlie will feel uncomfortable having you under the same roof.” Now, I’m just trying to piss him off. I’m past the point of caring.
“You will not kick me out to move that… that…” He stutters on his words, his tone becoming flustered as he points at Charlie.
“I will, and I am,” I interrupt. I stomp forward and clutch his arm, pulling him, ready to throw him out the fucking door in nothing but his robe. Tara screams and starts slapping my back in a fit of rage. It doesn’t surprise me, Tara is obsessed with my father. She’ll do anything to protect him.
“Don’t you touch him!” Charlie shouts, grabbing Tara by the hair. Tara suddenly stops her belligerent slapping. I look over my shoulder to see where she went when Father roars, flinging his robe open and pulling a black pistol out. His chest heaves as he points it at me. I let go of his arm and take a step back, my hands raised. I look over and see Tara and Charlie going at it. Tara is pulling Charlie’s hair, her teeth baring with anger as Charlie tries to gain her balance on the edge of a step. I take a step toward them to break them up and help Charlie, but father shoves his gun in my face, stopping me. Roman raises his hands, too, standing right next to me.
“Tell Maria I’ll see her in Hell,” he growls, cocking the gun. My eyes widen and my body tenses before a loud bang rings out and I flinch. Realizing I’m not hurt and the sound came from behind me, I turn to find Osborn in position, his gun aimed right at my father. A loud thump sounds as my dad falls on his back. He’s sprawled out on the stairs, eyes wide and blood pooling underneath him. One bullet hole rests in the center of his forehead.
“Holy shit,” Roman whispers, turning to look away from Father.
Tara screams loudly as she sees my dad on the stairs, shoving Charlie off her. She falls to the floor, crawling toward him and in slow motion, Charlie loses her balance from the violent shove and goes flying down the stairs.
“No!” I bell
ow, trying to grab her, but my hand just misses her and she tumbles down.
I rush down the stairs to Charlie, a bundled mess at the bottom step, and pick her up.
“Are you okay?” I ask, looking her over frantically, my heart racing in my chest. She holds her head and groans.
“Roman, call the doctor!” I demand.
“On it,” he calls out with a shaky voice.
“I’ll get this cleaned up. You get Charlie to her room; the doctor should be here quickly,” Osborn instructs, hovering over my father. Without another question, I step over a sobbing Tara and head up the stairs. My heart is slamming against my chest in fear, my legs shaking with the possibility that I may lose my child.
I set Charlie on the bed and start tearing her clothes off. The sound of fabric ripping and shredding fills the room.
She has red marks all over her arms and legs. She’s holding her wrist, and her lip is bleeding.
I thumb her lip, wiping the blood. Her eyes fill with tears as she looks at me like I’m her answer for everything.
“Am I going to lose the baby?” she whispers, tears spilling from her eyes.
I swallow and grasp the back of her head, pulling her into me.
TWENTY-FOUR
CHARLIE
Landon had the doctor stay at the estate to keep an eye on me, but he said there was nothing we could do but wait. He was a middle-aged man with extremely cold hands. He said we would know soon if I’d lose the baby or not. Twenty-four hours later, here I am, in a tub of warm water, cleaning the blood off me as Landon sits on the edge of the tub and sponges my back.
I woke up and had to pee. When I went to the bathroom, I found blood spotting my panties. I instantly felt failure, and emptiness. I screamed and sobbed, waking Landon up. I didn’t think I would miscarry, convinced the world wouldn’t do that to me and Landon after everything we had been through. Landon called the doctor straight away. The middle-aged doctor examined me, and shook his head unsure. He said he would do an ultrasound in a few days to see if we had indeed lost the baby, but to keep off my feet until then.