by E. A. James
The plate of food in front of Frankie tasted too greasy yet too ashy. She wasn’t even sure how that was possible, but she surmised her pregnancy was making her taste buds faulty.
Hanes could clearly sense the tension, too, for he kept glaring back at his siblings who glared at her. But his plate was already empty, so perhaps the food wasn’t as bad as she was thinking.
Frankie glanced at around, sweat seeping out of the back of her neck. Were these people…racist? The mere thought was nauseating, and she didn’t want to believe it.
She took another bite of—what was supposed to be—mashed potatoes and smiled at Hanes’s mother, who intensely stared back at her.
“So,” Gina said. She pushed her own empty plate away from herself before crossing her arms. “We talked about the food, the weather—we said hello to one another. Surely we can think of another topic to talk about.”
Frankie couldn’t think of one. In her frazzled mind, she just wanted to come up with an excuse to leave.
“Sure thing,” Hane’s brother Thomas said, scoffing and dropping his fork to his plate. “Why don’t we talk about the elephant in the room?”
“That’s not why I scheduled this,” their mother snapped, her palms slapping against the table. “We are here to be a family, and not discuss business.”
“Yeah,” Thomas spat. “Well, it’s pretty hard to be a family when your family screwed his way into profit and then lies about sharing it.”
Hanes stood up so quickly that Frankie flinched back, a confused kind of panic gripping her chest.
“That’s enough,” their mother snapped. She sneered at Thomas before turning her attention to Hanes. “Sit back down. This isn’t a bar fight.”
“It’s about to be one,” Hanes said, air shooting out of his flared nostrils, “if people keep insulting my lady and our child.”
Frankie blinked. She thought about the words for a few seconds, but when she couldn’t make sense of them, she frowned and turned to Hanes. “What are you talking about?”
Hanes’s face fell, worried gaze snapping to her.
“You haven’t told her?!” Thomas barked, a breathless laugh following. “You really are a greedy bastard.”
“Shut it, Tommy!”
Frankie stood up, regaining Hanes’s focus. As his expression softened, weariness coiled around her heart. She grabbed his arm, as if to steady herself. “What is he talking about, Hanes? Tell me.”
Hanes sighed. He grabbed her arm in return, his grip almost painful. His green eyes glistened. “Look, the thing is—and the only reason I didn’t say anything is because I didn’t think about it, okay? I don’t give a damn about the ranch or the business.”
“Just tell her,” Thomas said.
“I’m getting to it!” Hanes snapped, glowering at his brother before turning his desperate gaze back to her. “In my dad’s will, he gives all of his profit and assets to the first one of his kids who have an heir. A grandchild.”
Frankie’s heart shattered. He…she and the baby were his ticket to a fortune. Of course. He never would have been so sweet, so considerate—
Tears were already forming in her eyes. Not wanting to cry in front of people who hated her, she quickly turned and hurried out of the dining room. She bumped into a cook or a maid—she couldn’t see, couldn’t even bring herself to apologize.
CHAPTER TEN
Hanes rushed after Frankie, his torso nearly colliding with their maid’s.
“Sorry,” he breathed as he weaved around the little woman and continued to chase down Frankie.
They were at the end of the hallway when he finally managed to grab her arm. “Wait, Frankie. Just—”
She spun around and tugged against him. Her angry, wet eyes stabbed into his psyche. “Let go,” she snarled.
He did. Guilt, pain, and fear clutched him, made his mind hazy. Looking at her in such pain floored him. For a second, he couldn’t breathe. “Frankie, the money doesn’t matter.”
“Then why didn’t you ever say anything about it? Were you just using me?”
“No! God no! I just—I didn’t want this to hang over us with the baby on the way, I swear it.”
She snorted, tears crawling down her cheeks. “Of course you didn’t.” She turned and walked away again, shaking him off when his fingers brushing against her shoulder. “Leave me alone, Hanes. Just—” Her voice choked off, and she moved faster as she walked into the adjacent room and then down another hallway.
Hanes remained where he was. Stunned, hurt, he blinked hard as he processed what had just happened—what he had just let happen.
He should have confessed to her that she was his world. That that money was nothing compared to the happiness she gave him. He should have said that he loved her and that he would give her all of the money to prove his love.
But he hadn’t said any of that. He hadn’t said any of the right things. And not only did he hurt the love of his life, he may very well have just lost her.
Hanes went cold, a tremor coursing through him. For a second, he considered going after her again, but she clearly hadn’t wanted that. So instead, he turned around and headed for the people who ruined his life.
Coldness turned to rage—heart pounding hard for several other reasons—and Hanes breathed heavier. Those brothers of his would fix this if he had to force feed them their damn money.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Hanes had been the one to drive them to his parents’ estate, so unless Frankie wanted to go back and steal his car keys, she was stuck.
Her heart and lungs constricting, she ended up stopping her escape on the front deck. Tears blurred her vision—blurred the beautiful property before her. She shuffled away from the window and released a restrained sob.
Stupid hormones, she thought, cradling her lower belly—starting to show now. She sniffled and tried to breathe deeply, but sorrow squeezed every bit of her; she could barely breathe right, let alone breathe deeply.
She had managed to hiccup out a breath when she heard the front door squeak open. Frankie wiped her moist cheeks and turned around to yell at Hanes. She reeled back when she saw that it was Gina standing there, her hand resting on the door and her head tilted to the side curiously.
“What’s it like being pregnant?” the girl asked.
Frankie wiped her cheeks, feeling them heat up as more tears crawled down her face. “Um…emotional.” She choked on her forced laughter.
“Can you actually feel the baby inside of you?”
“Kind of. It’s still a little early though.”
Gina lowered her eyes to Frankie’s stomach, a little bigger now than it was the last time Gina saw it. “When it starts kicking and stuff, let me know? I want to feel it.”
“Sure thing. You are the baby’s aunt.”
Gina’s expression lit up. “That’s right. I’m going to be an aunt. How cool is that?” She hurried over to Frankie before leaning toward her belly. “You hear that, baby? I’m your auntie Gina.”
Frankie smiled, some sense of betrayal being soothed away. She inhaled and plenty of air filled her lungs, relieving her.
“You know,” Gina said, still staring at Frankie’s stomach, “Hanes isn’t like Thomas or our other brothers.”
Frankie’s smile vanished, as did her good feelings. She looked away. “Gina—”
“Hanes lives in a trailer by choice. He hates what greed did our family, so he avoids it—and us—as much as he can. It’s only because of you and the baby that he has spent so much time with us now. Well, that and dad dying.”
Guilt bloomed in Frankie’s gut. She turned back to Gina. “I am very sorry about your loss.”
“So is everybody.” The girl shrugged. Then she straightened and looked Frankie square in the eye. “I know you don’t know me or this family, but I’m telling you that when Hanes says he forgot about the inheritance, he really did forget about the inheritance. He likes to charm people, but he never tricks them.”
“There�
�s a difference?”
“Yes.”
Frankie nodded. As she thought over Gina’s claims and Hanes’s earlier reaction to Frankie’s accusations, silence fell upon herself and the girl. It didn’t feel awkward though. Perhaps it was because Frankie was sinking deeper and deeper into thought, trying to make sense past her own emotions.
Was Hanes a good man because he was a good man? Or was he a good man because that was what Frankie wanted to picture?
God, if this turned out like it had with Jack—
“Can we sit down?” Gina asked. “I don’t mind having a weird staring contest with you, but I grew up rich; I don’t do standing.”
Surprised more than anything else, a genuine laugh burst out of Frankie. She patted the girl’s shoulder—such a strange, endearing child—and nodded. “Yeah. We can sit on the porch swing or something.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
Hanes burst back into the dining room, only to witness another argument taking place.
“Offending our future sister-in-law is stupid!” Sammy said, smacking Thomas’s head.
Thomas shoved Sammy away. “He’s not giving her the money. He’s just using her.”
“But what if he did?! You’re going to be mean to the only other person who has access to our family’s company?”
His mother slammed her palms against the table. “That is enough vulgar talk at the table! You all should be ashamed for hurting that girl! She is the mother of your future niece or nephew!”
George shouted something, Thomas shouting something over his shouting, Jeff and Eunice were pushing each other for some reason, Gina sneaked out of the room, their mother crossed her arms and shook her head in disappointment.
Family dinner, Hanes thought. Bitterness chilled his earlier rage, though it left him aching more than he would like. He brought his fingers to his lips and whistled sharply.
Everyone cringed and snapped their attention to Hanes.
“You can have it all,” Hanes said. “Someone give me a damn pen and paper so I can sign over dad’s company and assets to each and every one of you. You can divide fairly amongst yourselves—you can do whatever the hell you want with it. I do not care. All I care about just walked out of this room, her eyes full of tears because of you petty jackasses.”
As he finished his little rant, Thomas took out a pen and a few pieces of paper from the inside of his jacket. He pushed is way past Sammy and the others until he was in front of Hanes.
Hanes rolled his eyes, but he did snatch up the pen and paper. Then he used the dining room table to write up his own little contract, which he signed before handing it Thomas.
Thomas, pouting, took the paper. “Should we have it notarized.”
Hanes seethed at his brother while his mother let out a string of curses. Even his other brothers, all nearly as greedy as Thomas, looked a little appalled.
“What?” Thomas shrieked, shrugging. “It’s good business sense.”
Hanes swiped his hand through the air as he exited the dining room.
He walked through the large manor in search of Frankie. Unless she hailed a cab or walked on foot, she couldn’t have left this place. And he highly doubted that she would have done either of those things just to get away from him. She was too considerate of the baby’s wellbeing, as well as Hanes’s feelings.
But as convinced of all of that as he was, a slight panic began to buzz through him when he didn’t find Frankie after the first ten minutes or so.
He jogged toward the front doors, his intent to find her the only thing guiding him. He jolted when Gina walked inside, a sincere smile on her face.
“Have you seen Frankie?” Hanes asked, unable to keep the stress form his tone. “I’ve looked all over this damn—”
“Yeah, she’s on the porch swing.”
The relief felt dull compared to his growing panic. He huffed and closed his eyes for a moment before moving forward. “Good.”
“Whoa,” Gina said, holding up her hands and getting in his way. “She said she wanted to be alone for a little while.”
“She’s been alone.”
“No, she’s been with me.”
Hanes frowned, his narrowing eyes coming dangerously close to a glare. “Well, I’m her baby’s father, so I think it’s time that I be with her now and explain myself.”
“You didn’t do such a good job of it last time.”
“I’ll do better this time. Now move, Gina.”
He tried to maneuver around her, but Gina was a fast little brat. She met him step by step.
He growled. “Gina—”
“I told her you never cared about the family business or the money. She’s processing that. Just leave her alone for a little longer, Hanes. You didn’t handle this situation perfectly, but you didn’t really do anything wrong. Just be patient, okay?”
“How did you end up being the mature one in the family?” Hanes quipped. Gina shrugged back at him with a puzzled look.
Hanes clenched his teeth. He was the one who was supposed to know the most about Frankie Carmichael. He wasn’t the one who was supposed to break her heart.
It was foolish to be jealous and guilty all at once. In the back of his mind, he knew Gina was right. But at the same time…it was Frankie, and he had failed her. And he couldn’t even make it right? It had to be his baby sister?
His emotions swirled together into something akin to frustration but ultimately not nameable. It hurt to breathe, to think.
He turned and hurried away, toward the back exit of the manor. In truth, he was storming away like a toddler, but it didn’t feel like that. It felt like he was losing whatever kind of control he had over that situation, which was starting to realize was none.
He had been idiot.
Frankie hated him. Worse, she was crying because of him.
Hanes clenched his hands into tight fists, anger searing through him and making him quiver. If only that anger wasn’t directed inward, he could do something productive with it and not self-destructive.
He past the dining room—heard his mother call his name—but he ignored her. He ignored all of his brothers, some of whom also called to him.
If he couldn’t do right by Frankie, then he didn’t want anything to do with this mess. He was done. He was so tired, so angry…
He slid the back doors open before hurrying through them and to the side of the manor, where his car was parked by the garage. A small part of him reminded him that he couldn’t just abandon Frankie there, but his empowering anger swallowed that part whole.
She didn’t want to talk to him? Fine. He would give her space, and he would find space of his own.
Hanes was loud as he opened the car door, got in, and then slammed it shut. He was even louder when he started the engine before driving off of the property. However subconscious as it was, he wanted everyone to know that he was leaving.
He looked in the rear view mirror. He saw a great puff of dirty dust in his wake, but not Frankie. She must have stayed on the porch swing.
Frowning—heart twisting—Hanes’s gaze fell forward again, his foot pressing a little harder on the accelerator. The sudden jolt of speed sent adrenaline rushing through his veins. His lips bent upward at the reprieve.
Not a second later, he decided where exactly it was that he wanted to go – the stables.
“You sure, Hanes?” Paul asked, eyes full of pity. His lips twisted from side to side a bit before he turned and spat into the dirt. “It takes a while to prepare them for these things, you know? It’s why we have the schedule.”
Hanes’s nostrils flared. Inside the stables—the stalls containing all sorts of animals, from horses and bulls to goats and llamas—the shade did little to cool the hot air. It made his blood hotter, his temper worse—he needed this thrill, something to focus on and lose himself in.
“Okay, okay,” Paul said, shrugging and turning around. “Don’t give me that look now. I was just making sure. It’s for your safety as well as the bull
’s.”
“I know, Paul,” Hanes said, seething. “Don’t patronize me. If I want to practice now—”
“I said okay. What’s gotten into you? Something you need to get off your chest?” Paul walked over to Stanton’s stall, Hanes’s favorite bull.
Hanes followed him, though he kept back a ways as he tried to calm himself. Just seeing Stanton eased some of Hanes’s pain. He bellowed out a breath. “I just need to ride. Then I’ll see things clearer.”
Paul cooed at Stanton as he opened the stall. Then, as he ran a hand over the animal, he glanced back. “That’s a weird thing to say, but I trust you, Hanes. You do what you got to do.”