by A. D. Roland
He kissed her. “I am, trust me. You terrify me.”
Thrilled and empowered, West moved quickly and pinned her to the chair with his weight. She flushed with excitement and squirmed beneath him. “You can hurt me all you want, West.”
He captured her wrists and held her hands captive against the headrest of the recliner. “There’s so much about you that I don’t know.” His other hand moved along her body, into the stretchy waistband of her sweatpants. She thrust her pubis against his hand, seeking his fingers. He stroked her hot center and was rewarded with her soft sigh.
“I’ll tell you—” she gasped against his neck. “When it’s all over with, I’ll tell you everything.” Faster than he expected, she came, crying out his name.
He waited until her body relaxed before he asked, “What do you mean?”
She kissed his throat. “I want to tell you everything. I hate when there’s being stuff between us.” West pushed her hair behind her ear, the thin strands clinging to his sticky fingers. “Why can’t you tell me now?”
“It’s safer. West, I might...I might have to leave for a little while. But if you want me to, I’ll come back. Do you want me to?” She pulled his face to hers and peppered his lips and cheeks and jawline with hot, damp little kisses.
“Babe, we shouldn’t have this conversation now.”
“Why not?”
“Cuz we both say things we don’t mean when we’re all worked up.”
“You mean you say things you don’t mean. I mean everything I say.” She poked him lightly in the chest. West sat up, straddling her hips. Both of them in the chair was a tight squeeze, but being close to her was worth it. The ancient chair creaked beneath them.
“Why do you have to leave?”
“I might have to go take care of some things, just tie up some loose ends back in Atlanta.”
“I’ll go with you.”
“No, no.”
“Yes. ‘Cuz you’re going back to him, and you’re not doing it alone. You won’t come back to me.”
“I will. Nothing would keep me from you, West.”
“You’re not going by yourself. You’re carrying my baby, Mattie, and you’re not putting Mini-Me in danger.”
“Mini-Me? Are you serious?”
“Hell yeah.” She smiled and tried to hide it behind one hand. He pulled her palm away from her mouth and kissed her. “I know you want this baby,” he whispered, rubbing his rough cheek against hers. “The more I think about it, the more I want it, too. And the more I want you, here with me, forever.”
“Are you...asking me to stay?”
“No. I’m telling you you’re staying. And damn it, I mean it, Mattie.”
She sucked in a gasping breath, fighting back tears that made her gray eyes shimmer in the lamplight. “West, please mean that. Please don’t tell me tomorrow you didn’t mean it. I can’t take it if you do.”
He kissed her hard, tasting her tears and her passion. He came up for air. “There’s a stipulation on that, though.”
“What?”
West maneuvered himself out of the chair and pushed it into the upright position. Kneeling in front of the chair he pulled the cell phone out of his pocket. Mattie’s face went white when he placed it on her lap. “I want to know everything about him. And you’re going to let me help you get away from him.”
Seeing the phone made Mattie sick to her stomach. She closed her eyes and fought back nausea. “He’s a sociopath. I’ve seen him do horrible things to people for absolutely no reason. He lies, cheats, and steals. He does whatever it takes to get what he wants. I think he’s gotten himself into trouble and my money is the only way out.”
West nodded, thinking. “You’re not Elaine. How much do you stand to inherit as Evelyn?”
Mattie raised an eyebrow. “You don’t know?”
He shook his head and half-shrugged. “I’m guessing a couple mil?”
She snorted and leaned close to his ear. “Try seventeen.”
“Holy mother of Jesus,” West breathed. “I know for a fact Emeline is only getting about five million, and she won’t even get most of that until McKendrick dies. How the hell do you get so much?”
“Other than Ruth Ellen feels really, really guilty, I have no idea. I’m not going to argue, though.”
West turned around and sat against the foot of the chair. “Me neither, especially if you’re so dead-set on staying here with me.”
She nudged him with her knee. “Only if you want me to.”
He looked up at her. Finger pointed, he said, “You have to promise to behave.”
“I’m more worried about your behavior.”
“On a serious note, babe, I don’t want you out by yourself, not even outside. If I can’t be right with you, I want you with Jose.
He fished the remote out from under the couch and turned on the TV. Mattie ran her fingers through his silky-smooth hair. For a man who wouldn’t use any soap but Zest or Irish Spring, he sure liked his fancy shampoos. The wind blew hard outside, smacking against the side of the trailer. They sat in silence while the noon news played. It was going to be a warm Christmas, the weather girl reported with a fake smile.
“Do you want it to be a girl or a boy?” Mattie twisted his hair around her fingers.
“I don’t know. I haven’t even got beyond the fact that you’re pregnant.”
“There’s always the chance that I’m not.”
“I don’t know. You’re all different now. There’s just something about you.”
“What, am I glowing?” West laughed and shrugged. “Maybe it’s just because I know, but you’re just different. Softer?”
She knocked him lightly in the back of the head. “What do you want for lunch?”
“Sandwich is fine.”
“Good. ‘Cuz I don’t feel like cooking.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Ruth Ellen didn’t bother talking once West arrived at the nursing home. Her ever-present lawyer sat in his usual chair in the corner. Silently, Ruth Ellen presented him with an envelope. He read it, and he wasn’t sure whether he was happy or mad.
West got out of his chair and paced again, the letter with the DNA results crumpled in his palm. Shit. This changed everything.
“She’s Karen and James’ daughter,” he said after a while, breathlessly. “Did I get that right?”
“Yes.”
He scrubbed his face with his palms, dragging his fingers through his hair.
Ruth Ellen seemed a little surprised by his lack of astonishment. “You knew, didn’t you?”
“Mattie told me she was Karen’s daughter. She got tired of keeping secrets from me. She doesn’t know she’s McKendrick’s, does she?”
“No. I found out several weeks ago. I’ve had to rewrite my will several times.” The old woman gestured towards the lawyer. The skinny man in the corner leaned forward with another envelope for West.
“What is this?” he said, a measure of dread weighing him down.
The lawyer handed him another set of DNA test results. West started to feel like he was living an episode Maury. He unfolded the letter, slicing his finger in the edge of the stiff paper.
“These are for Emeline.” A second later he looked up. “This can’t be right, Ruth Ellen.”
“I’m afraid it is. We had the tests repeated to be sure.”
“Emeline’s not McKendrick’s daughter.” The news hit him hard, abruptly. “She can’t inherit anything from him.”
“She won’t inherit anything of mine, either.”
“Why not? She’s Karen’s kid.”
“Why do you care, Brant? It’s more money in your pocket.”
West shook his head. “Money isn’t everything. Mattie and I don’t need…” The lawyer scribbled something on a piece of paper and held it out. West read the figure and dropped heavily into the nearest chair, lightheaded. “Oh God above…” He fanned his face with the envelope.
Ruth Ellen grinned. “You won’t ha
ve to live in a run-down trailer for much longer, Brant. You can pay off that man who keeps harassing Mattie--or…” She leaned forward. “I know people who can take care of him.”
Stunned, still reeling from the outrageous number the lawyer showed him, West just stared at the old woman. “You mean--“
She nodded.
“Emeline is still your granddaughter.”
Ruth Ellen rolled her eyes. “It’s nothing personal against her. James and Justine are involved in things that will ruin my family. Emeline would never see her money, Brant. James would take it, presumably to invest it, double it—who knows what story he would use to convince her to give it to him—and then he would pay his enormous debts and hide the rest of the funds. He knows his luck won’t last forever. It won’t be long before the IRS discovers everything.”
“How do you know all this?”
“I taught him everything I know.” A long, stunned moment passed. “Then all his money is...”
“Dirty. Laundered, but still dirty. I know for a fact that James is only months away from being arrested on a long list of federal charges. He isn’t nearly as smart as I am. My money is untouchable. Mattie’s money is untouchable.”
West looked over at the lawyer. Jones had his iPod on. Convenient. This was going to kill Emeline. She couldn’t exist without the dense cushions of money beneath her. She would lose her friends.
He was all she had left.
“So Mattie stands to inherit everything?” West held on to the birth certificate and Mattie’s DNA test results, shaking his head when Jones held his hand out for them. “I’m keeping these. My wife needs to see them.”
“No, Brant,” Ruth Ellen said. “It’s not time—”
His firm tone silenced the old woman. “She’s part of your family, and it’s time she knows how much of one. You need to tell Emeline.”
“She’ll find out.”
“She needs to be told. It’s not fair to have her entire future ripped away and given to a woman that no one even knew existed until four months ago.”
“Brant, do you realize that Mattie’s money is your money as well? Why are you so eager to be rid of it?” Ruth Ellen’s mouth curved up in an evil smile. “I understand. She plans on leaving you as soon as she receives her share. You’ll have nothing. Emeline is your back-up plan.”
“What? No. No. Mattie is staying with me. She’s pregnant, Ruth Ellen. She’s not running off.” Ruth Ellen’s eyebrows arched, but she didn’t say a word. Wisely, West decided.
“Emeline has been raised in that lifestyle. She needs her fair share.”
“She’ll party it away in a year,” Ruth Ellen predicted. “And no. I believe Mattie deserves my fortune. She has a good head on her shoulders.”
“Mattie’s strong. She can exist without vast amounts of money. And she has me. Emeline will have nothing, if what you say is true and McKendrick’s world is about to crumble. She can’t make it out there.”
“It’s a pity.”
Angry, West folded the papers in his hand and shoved them into his pocket. “That’s not right. I’ll fight that. I’ll get my own lawyer, and I’ll help Emeline. McKendrick’s name is on the birth certificate, and he’s raised her as his. She’s entitled to that money.”
“Would you fight so hard for Mattie if the roles were reversed?”
“Mattie wouldn’t be Mattie if that were the case.”
“So no, then? I see where your loyalties lie.”
“I don’t want to see Emeline getting screwed out of what should be hers.”
“If it came to a choice between Mattie receiving the trust funds, or Emeline, who would you choose?”
“What?” The lawyer had another set of folded papers in his hand, already extending them to West. West snatched them away from the man. Another set of DNA test results, one identifying Emeline as James and Karen McKendrick’s biological child, and Mattie as completely unrelated. The blood drained from West’s face. He stared at Ruth Ellen, who sat in the hospital bed smiling smugly. “Which one is real?”
“It might be that neither of them is real. She might be a full heir, or she might be nothing to this family.”
“This is wrong, Ruth Ellen. You’re better than this.”
Ruth Ellen sighed and took the second set of results from West. “The first set is real, Brant. These are my contingency plan should your wife fail to find Elaine.”
“What are you talking about?”
“If she wants to be a part of this family, if she wants to inherit my money, then she has to prove herself. If she fails to find Elaine by the time I die, then these will come to the executor of my will’s attention. I have my hands in many, many things, Brant. The results you have in your pocket will be deemed falsified. Your darling Mattie will be found guilty of fraud and grand larceny.”
“You are a horrible old witch,” West ground out through his teeth. As implausible as it seemed, Ruth Ellen Carruther had more influence and sway than he liked to admit. She could easily do everything she threatened.
“I suppose I am. Perhaps you should hurry home and help your wife find Elaine.”
West stalked out of the room, rushing for home. The hard crease of the folded papers bit into his hip the whole way.
***
Mattie’s stomach clenched, but she managed to fight the urge to throw up again. More miserable than she’d been in ages, she perked up only when she heard West’s rental truck pull into the drive.
He came in, red-faced, silent, and seething with pent-in anger. Mattie froze in the process of rising from the couch. A tortured expression crossed his face. He dropped to his knees in front of her and cupped her face, holding her tight. Almost too tight. “Because of you, baby,” he said, nearly crying. “Emeline’s lost everything.” Distraught, he slid his hands into her hair and squeezed. Mattie gasped from the tension. He let her go and stumbled away from her.
“She’s lost everything, Mattie.”
“I didn’t want that,” Mattie said, shaking her head. “West, I didn’t come here to hurt anybody. I just wanted to see my grandmother and—and—I didn’t want to hurt anybody.”
“You’re killing people, here, Mattie! Emeline won’t make it without her money. And me...I’m not going to let you hurt me.”
“I would never hurt you, West.”
“Yes, you will. Yes, you fuckin’ will. This is why I didn’t want to get involved with you.”
“West, I’m right here. I’m not doing anything to hurt you.” Mattie gulped back a huge knot of emotion in her throat, one that refused to budge. She hurried after him, frantic to touch him and assure him that she wasn’t going to hurt him in any way.
She latched on to his arm. He jerked away from her hard enough to knock her off balance. Her heel clipped the bottom of the entertainment stand.
West grabbed for her, missed. She scraped her back on the entertainment stand on the way down.
“West, please.”
“I can’t do it, Mattie. I can’t hang on to you and then just let you leave me. I told you at the beginning that I wasn’t going to get attached to you. I wasn’t going to lo—I wasn’t going to let you ruin my life. I’ll make sure the baby’s taken care of, but I’m not going to let your tear my heart out when you leave.”
Mattie stared up at him and shook her head. “I wasn’t going to leave,” she said. “I want to stay.” He shook his head, his eyes hopeless.
“You’ll leave anyway.”
“No! I’m having your baby, West. You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me. If I left it would the stupidest thing I have ever done, or ever will do.”
“Mattie, Mattie, Mattie, I swear, woman, you’re my heaven and my hell.” West dropped to his knees in front of her and captured her face in his strong, callused hands. Mattie grabbed ahold and pressed kisses to his palms and wrists.
“I’m not going to leave you,” she sobbed into his hands, soaking them with her tears. “West, I don’t want to be alone anymor
e. Please don’t make me leave you!”
He crushed her to his chest. Mattie felt his chest hitch. Dimly through the thick haze of her desperation, she realized West was weeping into her hair. Daggers shot through her chest. She hugged him tightly.
“Please, please, believe me now. Trust me, baby. I’m not going to leave you. I need you too bad. You’re my heaven.”
Then he was kissing her, deeply, hard, holding her tight against his body. Gripping her face between his hands, he peppered her forehead and her cheeks and her lips with kisses salty from their mingled tears.
West swiped his wet face on his sleeve. Tucking Mattie’s hair behind her ears, he shook his head. “It’s just sex, baby. Nothing else, okay? We can’t do this to ourselves when we both know how it’s going to end.”
He pushed away from her and disappeared out the front door. Mattie scrambled after him, completely confused, heart pounding. She caught up with him at the foot of the stairs.
“Is it the money? Emeline can have every damn dime, West! I don’t want the money. It’s not what I came here for!”
He shook her grasping hand off her arm and stomped to the truck. Hot tears blinded her. She couldn’t see it, but she heard the truck roar to life, then bounce down the rutted driveway. The wind slammed the thin metal door in her face.
“He’ll come back,” she whispered to Scruffy. He whined at her feet, head cocked. Her legs went weak. If she didn’t sit down, she was going to fall down. She stepped backwards and dropped to the steps.
Scruffy nuzzled her arm. She wrapped her arm around the mutt. “He’ll come back,” she said again. Her voice broke on the last word and she buried her head in her arms. Scruffy’s wet nose and concerned whines only made her cry harder.
***