Morgan, Nicole - Sweet Vengeance [Sweet Awakenings 3] (Siren Publishing Classic)

by Nicole Morgan

  Surprised by his remark, she asked, “Get it? I don’t know what you mean.”

  “Well, my parents, God bless them, are once again trying to set me up.” He laughed, “Don’t get me wrong. I love my parents. It’s my mom, really. She is bound and determined to have me married and making babies.”

  Chelsea had to laugh. She hadn’t been sure if he was aware of his mother’s idea to set them up, but obviously, he was very intuitive when it came to her matchmaking ways.

  “I know,” she quickly explained when he looked at her with a surprised expression. “I mean, I met a couple of ladies today that know your mother. They sort of warned me what this was going to be about.”

  “Oh, yeah? Which ladies? Maybe I know them.”

  “I think you do, actually. Tamara and Shelby. They’re married to…” She looked up as she searched her memory for their names.

  “Rex and Jack?” He finished her thoughts for her.

  “Yes! Rex and Jack…That’s their names.” She laughed. “Thanks. So, you wanna go inside and get this over with?”

  He held his hand out to her in a gesture of letting her lead the way. Holding the screen door open, he said to her just before they stepped inside, “Careful, though, I’m pretty lovable. You might end up falling head over heels for me.”

  With a grin and a laugh, they walked into the house and were greeted by a zealous Colleen Bristow.

  “Well…there you two are. I can see that you’ve already met. Wonderful, that’s just wonderful. Come, now, come on, Cullen is already in there carving the roast.”

  Colleen led them in the dining room and made sure to sit her two guests next to each other rather than across from one another.

  Chelsea watched as Colleen unfolded her napkin and placed it on her lap while a pleased smile washed across her face.

  “Everything smells wonderful, Mrs. Bristow,” Chelsea told her.

  “You stop that right now. You can call me Colleen. Mrs. Bristow is someone you hardly know. And I have the feeling we’re going to become very close, dear.”

  Chelsea gave Cullen Jr. a knowing look and smiled at Colleen. “Very well. Colleen it is.”

  Once Cullen Sr. was finished carving the meat, the dishes were passed around the table in an organized fashion as Colleen instructed her son and husband what to move where. Chelsea admired the woman for her pleasant demeanor and organized way of running her home.

  She hoped that when she was married with children, she was able to do even half as good of a job as Colleen Bristow did. It was with that thought that she glanced over and found Cullen Jr. watching her. He gave her a small smile and raised his glass to her.

  They spent the evening getting to know each other. She found herself actually enjoying each one of them and their unique personalities.

  Cullen Sr. had a charming Irish way about him. He still spoke with a bit of an accent. It was barely there but still evident in his speech, especially when he got carried away telling a story.

  Cullen Jr., though—he was the polar opposite of his father. He was casual and charming without all of the cockiness of some of the men she came in contact with these days. Her mind flashed back to Adam for a moment when she thought of just how arrogant he was, but she quickly recovered and pushed the memories away.

  Later, after dinner, as they all sat around the table drinking coffee, Chelsea found herself staring at Cullen Jr.’s hair. It was red but had hints of a sandy blond color mixed in it, and his skin, although freckled in spots, was actually tan. The contrast of his tanned skinned against his reddish-blond hair made him look handsome and a little bit rugged.

  Chelsea was a little embarrassed when she found herself lost in thought as she stared at him and was caught by Cullen’s gaze. In that moment, however brief it might have been, there was an attraction there.

  Quickly, she turned away, ashamed of herself for feeling an attraction to one man mere hours after allowing another one to take her without consequence or even so much as a kiss goodbye. No, instead, she had allowed him to fuck her with an animalistic drive that was unknown to her. Which begged the question—why could she not stop thinking about it and wanting it again?

  Chapter 8

  Rex cursed and got up off the couch as he pulled his jeans up around his waist, fastening the buttons and zippers yet again. He leaned over and kissed his wife. “Don’t you forget where we were.”

  Shelby smiled up at her husband and nodded in agreement. “I won’t.”

  He walked toward the front door and looked out the peephole. “What the fuck?”

  He opened the door to find Andrew Dollaghan, a friend and local police officer, holding Adam’s arm, apparently in more of a gesture of assisting him to stand than of his position of authority.

  “Hey, Andrew…what’s up?” Rex asked cautiously, knowing all too well that the look on Andrew’s face was not one of a social visit.

  “Does this asshole belong to you? Because when I tried to arrest his arrogant ass down at Rooster’s, he threw your name around like it was an engraved pardon from the governor.”

  Rex made a slight nod of acknowledgment. Not only was Andrew angry, he was downright pissed off. He knew damn well that Adam and he were old Navy team members from their SEAL days, but he obviously was trying to make a point, so he when ahead and bit on the bone that Andrew was dangling in front of him.

  “What did he do?” Rex asked.

  “Huh? Let’s think about that. What did he do?” Andrew looked up to the sky, searching for his answers. “Oh, I know. He tore up the bar, fought with about three different men, sent one to the hospital, and all because someone made a crack about his pregnant girlfriend being a pain in his ass.”

  Realization set in, and Rex looked to Adam, who, for all intents and purposes, was barely conscious. His eyes were glazed over from the effects of way too much alcohol, and he could see the pain resting just below his exterior.

  “Andrew, thanks for bringing him here. I…I know you didn’t have to. He has some issues. Sometimes, he acts without thinking.”

  Rex went out to the porch and grabbed onto Adam’s shoulders, attempting to help him walk. Shelby came out and greeted Andrew with a hug and smile.

  “What happened to him?” she asked of the two men.

  “Long story, hon. Can you help me get him settled in the guest room?”

  She looked to Andrew, who just shrugged his annoyance off. “You need help?”

  Rex smiled at him, knowing that Andrew was a big softie at heart. “That’d be great.”

  Ten minutes later, they had Adam’s boots removed, and his unconscious form was lying face down in their spare bedroom. Walking Andrew down the stairs, Rex did his best to explain.

  “I’m sorry he put you in that position. I shouldn’t be telling you this, but, shit, I guess the asshole deserves it if he’s gonna be throwing my name around to anyone and everyone.”

  “Should I get us something to drink?” Shelby asked them as she wrapped her arm around her husband’s waist.

  “No, thanks, Shelby, I can’t stay long.” He turned to Rex. “So, out with it. What’s his problem? Why is he so damn pissed off at the world?”

  Rex hesitated for a moment. Not sure how much he should say but seeing as how Andrew had saved Adam from going to jail tonight, he knew he at least owed him a small explanation, if nothing else.

  “He had a girlfriend, a fiancée, really.” Damn, he didn’t want to do this, but he knew he had to explain Adam’s actions away somehow, so he continued, “She was pregnant, about four months along when she was killed.”

  Shelby audibly gasped at the news. Rex wrapped his arms around her and hugged her body close to him. “That’s so horrible.” She looked up to him as she whispered the words.

  Andrew was quick to add, “That is horrible, but really, Rex, losing a loved one is hardly a reason to—” He was silenced by Rex’s hand lifting in the air.

  “There’s more.” He took a deep breath, hoping that by tell
ing them this, he wasn’t totally betraying his brother in arms.

  “I don’t think he loved her. I mean, he cared for her, and he would have died for her in a heartbeat, but I don’t think he was in love with her. When she got pregnant, he treated her really bad. He blamed her for getting pregnant.” He shook his head at Shelby when she was about to say something.

  “I know. It takes two, but they only dated for a few months, and she fell for him really hard. He wasn’t ready to settle down, and they talked about it, actually broke up over it a couple of times, but she decided to take matters into her own hands. She went off the pill without telling him.”

  Andrew got a knowing look on his face. “So, you’re saying she trapped him? I didn’t know women really did that.”

  Rex merely nodded. “In a sense, the way she told it, though, she loved him, didn’t even expect him to marry her. She just wanted his child. It took about a month of fights and arguing and him going to a couple of doctor’s visits with her when he realized that he’d rather be with her than without her.”

  Shelby kissed her husband’s shoulder. “So, how did she die?”

  He took a deep breath before continuing, “That’s why he has such a rough time of it every time someone complains about their pregnant wife or girlfriend. He had felt the same way. He was angry with her for getting pregnant, not wanting to be a father, but just as things were starting to change for him, he witnessed a murder. You ever hear of the Bianchi crime family?”

  Andrew and Shelby both nodded knowingly. Everyone who read a newspaper or watched the news surely would have heard of them at one time or another.

  “Yeah, well, the youngest son, Danny—he was executing a former associate old-school style when Adam walked down the wrong alley at the wrong time. Ally—that was his girlfriend’s name—begged him not to testify. She told him she had a bad feeling, but he was adamant that he do the right thing. So, needless to say, he went against her wishes and agreed to testify. A week later, they killed her.”

  Silence settled in the room at Rex’s last statement. He looked down to see his wife’s eyes shimmer, causing a small tear to slide down the side of her face.

  A few moments later, Andrew spoke. “Shit. That is rough. If I was a betting man, I’d say he blames himself?”

  Rex only nodded.

  “Thank you, Andrew, for bringing him here.” Shelby kissed his cheek and opened the door. “Say hello to Amanda for me, okay? Tell her I’ll call her, we’ll get together sometime soon before Tamara has the baby.”

  “Sure will. Thanks.” He was almost down their spacious porch steps when he turned back. “Oh, I was supposed to ask you.” He motioned toward Rex. “Aren’t we supposed to be taking Jack out on the day of the baby shower?”

  “Actually,”—Rex turned to Shelby, who was smiling at him and shaking her head—“I was thinking we’d take a night trip to Vegas. Leave the night before and come back the following night. You know, kind of like the bachelor party we never got to throw him, but this will be like a baby party.”

  “Which means that you’ll go looking at babies, right? Not strippers?” Shelby teased him.

  Andrew laughed. “Yeah, well, I’ll let you deal with this hole you dug yourself in Metcalfe. I gotta get back on patrol. I’ll see you two later.”

  After Andrew was on his way and the door was locked, Rex swiftly lifted Shelby in his arms and started carrying her up the stairs.

  “Rex! Stop. You know we can’t. Adam is just down the hall.”

  Walking in their bedroom, he slammed the door with his foot and set her down on the bed. “Shelby, honey, have you ever known me to not finish what I start?”

  When she giggled at his cockiness he knew that he was right. “Well, no, but I would like to point out that we have a guest just down the hall from our bedroom, and I really don’t…oh…Rex…you know when you do that, I can’t…”

  He had pushed her back on the bed, lifted her skirt, and pulled her panties to the side, gliding his tongue against her already moist pussy.

  “Take it, honey. God damn, I love how you taste.” He did, too. If there was one thing he would surely die from, it was not having Shelby. He could go without food or water his entire life, but never could he go without the succulent juices that flowed from her body.

  Chapter 9

  Chelsea woke to the sound of her doorbell ringing. She squinted and looked over at her alarm clock. Half past nine in the morning. Those couple glasses of wine she had last night must have really knocked her out. She hardly ever slept in past eight.

  At the sound of the doorbell ringing for the second time in as many minutes, she climbed out of bed and grabbed her robe off of the back of her door. Tying it around her waist, she rose to her tiptoes to see who it was. Shelby?

  Chelsea opened the door and rubbed her eyes against the sunlight. “Shelby? Hi, what can I do for you?”

  “I know it’s early. I just wanted to stop by and ask you to lunch. Tamara and I are going to meet another friend of ours, Amanda. I would have called, but we had to bring Adam home. He ended up crashing at our house. He got a little drunk.”

  “Oh…is he okay?” She didn’t want to appear too interested but couldn’t help her reaction to the news.

  “He’s fine, just some issues from his past boiling to the surface, so to speak. Anyway, what do you say? We’re thinking one o’clock at the Rose Garden.”

  “Um, sure. Yeah, that’d be great. Thanks so much for inviting me.” Why was her heart racing? What issues from his past? Was he okay?

  “Great. You know where it is, right?” she asked before walking away.

  “Yeah, I do. I’ll see you there at one. Bye.” Chelsea watched her new friend wave goodbye and couldn’t help but smile at the vision before her.

  A very large and handsome man grabbed her and pulled her into an embrace that wasn’t just filled with love but was incredibly erotic for the time of day it was, especially being out in the open. She waved to them both and closed her front door.

  Once inside, she walked to her kitchen to make some coffee and hopefully clear her mind from the thought of Adam. Why was she even thinking about him? Why did she care? He had dismissed her so crudely yesterday that she was ashamed of herself. So why was the idea of going over there to see how he was suddenly so appealing to her?

  As the first cup of coffee was settling in her stomach, she started to feel a little more awake. She couldn’t shake the urge to go next door and see if Adam was okay. Even though every part of her screamed, “Do not go over there,” she found herself getting in the shower, knowing that she had every intention of doing just that.

  An hour later, she found herself walking toward Adam’s house. This was insane. He treated her like yesterday’s trash. There was no reason she should be going over there. She should just turn around and go home.

  Even knowing that, she kept on her path for his front door.

  Adam felt like hell. Worse than that—he felt like whatever lurked below hell. His head was pounding, and his knuckles were raw and sore from the many punches he had thrown the night before. He didn’t remember much. Most of what he did know he learned from Rex, who had given him a thorough ass chewing at the breakfast table this morning.

  Apparently, his old Navy buddy didn’t take too kindly with him using his name as a way to get out of trouble. He had to admit that he didn’t really blame him. The truth of the matter was that he really couldn’t remember doing it, but he did find it ironic that Rex Metcalf, who was the wildest of his old SEAL team members, was now an upstanding, responsible citizen.

  After the wet washcloth had been sitting in his freezer for about twenty minutes, he went to retrieve it. Also grabbing a bottle of water and four ibuprofen tablets, he made his way back to his small couch. He swallowed the pills with one large gulp of the water and lay down with the cloth covering his eyes.

  He tried to ignore the pounding behind his eyelids and just concentrate on the peace and quiet. That idea was
short lived, though, as he found himself listening to the loud banging that was echoing through his house.

  “What the fuck?” He got up from the couch and all but stomped to his front door. He swung it open, ready to scream at whoever it was when he saw her standing there, scared and unsure.

  The memory of how he treated her the night before was still fresh in his mind, and he knew he had treated her like no less than a whore. Seeing her sad, hazel eyes now made him wish he hadn’t.

  “Come in.” It was all he said as he walked back to the living room, lay back down on his couch, and covered his eyes.

  Chelsea closed the door behind her. Slowly, she walked into the living room.

  “Sugar?” he whispered to her.

  “Yes?”

  He didn’t miss her hesitance. The different emotions on her face made him wonder why she was even there in the first place. Did she hate him for the way he had treated her yesterday?

  “Why are you here?” he asked.

  She just stared at him. She should know the answer to his question, shouldn’t she? Surely, there was a good explanation for her to even want to be here after his rough handling of her sweet little body. There wasn’t, though, and he knew that. There was no explanation that would possibly explain her need to see him.

  “Sugar? Why’d you come over here?”

  “I don’t know. I…my new friend, Shelby, she said you got drunk and…I just…I’m sorry. It was a bad idea. I’ll leave.”

  She turned to leave, but he stopped her. “Don’t go. I’m sorry for the way I talked to you yesterday. I shouldn’t have. Will you stay?”

  “Why?” She turned back to face him.

  He only shook his head at her. “I’m sorry. I have no right to ask you for anything, but I’d like you to stay.”

  She turned back toward him and walked around the coffee table. He sat up to make room for her on the couch. Once they were side by side one another, he realized they had absolutely nothing to say. How did they get to such an awkward place in the short span of twenty-four hours? By having sex, that was how.