by Pamela Ann
It was good that we were coming to an understanding. Ready to let myself go and all the bad memories of her and her ex, I focused on her body and how it made me feel. I was about to release my load into her when I suddenly bit into her shoulder, making her yelp and shudder, while I emptied into her womb. I went rigid before my body sagged against her, breathing ever so heavily, feeling spent.
“Don’t put me through that kind of hell again, cara.”
“Never again.” She held me close, kissing my neck. “I love you more than life itself. I’m sorry for hurting you.”
I nodded, believing her. Trusting her once more.
Kinship
Blake
After our jaunt downstairs, it took us forever to get upstairs, make love in the shower, and finally exhaust ourselves to the point we sought the comfort of our plush bed. I was just on the brink of falling into a deep coma when the uninvited sound of a shrilling phone broke into my semi-awake consciousness.
Groaning, I tried to nudge Sienna. “Cara, your cell phone is at it again.”
“I can’t move.” She sighed before dropping her hand on my face. “What time is it?”
“It’s time to sleep.”
We listened for the phone ringing for the last time before we spoke again. “Maybe it was important.”
“Maybe… you won’t know unless you call back.” The only people that called around this time were Chad, Lucy, or Kyle. Usually, they had some emotional turmoil that needed to be unloaded at this ungodly hour, and Sienna, no doubt, would always be there to listen to their qualms.
“Blake,” she grunted out, nudging me.
“What?”
“I think I can hear your phone ringing downstairs.”
Bloody hell. If both of our phones were being blasted at this time of night, then it must’ve been urgent. Reluctantly rolling off the bed, I combed a hand through my hair before I squinted towards the darkness of the room for her cell phone. “Where is it? I can’t see it anywhere.”
“It’s on the side table, charging.”
Right. Once I spotted the bloody device, I hastily took it off its charger before pressing the button to light up the screen. It was asking me to prompt a password. “What’s your secret code?”
When she gave me our wedding date, my heart stuttered a bit, which was quite amazing given that I was only half awake at this point.
Unlocking her device, there were two missed calls from a familiar number. Tapping the digits, it rang before a man took the call on its second ring. “I’m calling on behalf of my wife—”
“Mr. Knightly, this is Manfred, sir. I apologize to interrupt your night, but I’m afraid it couldn’t be helped. I have somewhat grave news about your grandfather.”
My body went on high alert, strung from shock when he told me that he’d had a heart attack and was in the hospital. We didn’t fully discuss everything because I didn’t want disclosures coming from anyone else other than the doctors in charge of my grandfather’s care.
He was the closest thing to a parent for me. He was the one who’d brought me up when I was orphaned at the age of ten. I owed him everything. Sensing his life was on the line brought immense pain and sadness in me, bringing me back to a time when I was merely a boy that couldn’t fully comprehend what it meant when people told me my parents had died.
“Babe?” Sienna came up to me, frowning as she touched my cheek. “Tell me what’s happened.”
“Grandfather just had a heart attack. I have to go to him in the hospital. I’ll call you for updates,” I said in an automated tone, feeling like everything was surreal.
“Call me for updates?” She was dumbfounded. “I’m going with you! This is not something I want you to go through by yourself. I need to be there with you, Blake.”
I made a light nod, not sure what to think anymore, other than I needed to head straight to the hospital.
Married to a Knightly
Sienna
Poor Blake. He’d seemed like a lost puppy ever since he had hung up that phone call. We were in the waiting room area, awaiting the result of William’s operation. He hadn’t let go of my hand, which was making me really worry. Not to mention the fact he had barely said anything to me. I knew he was terrified of what could happen to his grandfather since he was very close to him. But given his old age, hadn’t Blake at least thought of the inevitable?
Blake and I had lost our parents at a very young age, and I could relate to his fears. Unlike him, he grew up loved and cherished while I, on the other hand, was battered—black, red, and blue from abuse.
I just hoped that, if the surgery didn’t come out successful, he wouldn’t be too traumatized. Looking at him now, though, with his lips in a thin line, eyes looking bleak, worry etched his forehead, I wasn’t sure how my husband would fair. No matter what happened in the next few hours, all I knew was that I would remain next to him, holding his hand, and go through whatever life had in store for us.
At seven thirty in the morning, William came out of surgery and the doctor said the operation had been successful. However, the most vital part was the recovery. All different types of complications could arise while he was induced in a deep sleep.
“I’ll stay here. I’m taking the week off and having Luke delegate everything. Why don’t you go to work? I promise to call you if there are any changes.” Blake seemed distant as he said the words, as if he wasn’t seeing me clearly. I mean, he was looking at me, yet it felt like he wasn’t.
“Baby, please,” I begged as I tried to reach out to him, but he looked away, his mind already made up.
“I need some time to think. I need to be alone.” His eyes became blank again, the beautiful midnight blue and the flecks of gold nowhere in sight. They had been replaced by darkness. “I beg of you, cara…”
There was something about his voice when he said cara this time. It was like a broken plea. He wanted to be left alone with his grandfather while he pondered about his past, present, and future, yet he didn’t want to directly hit me with the words of rejection. He was putting me off mildly. Either way, it didn’t comfort me.
In the two years since we had gotten together, Blake had never had this lifeless look in him. Even when he had been angry about my indiscretion with Kyle, he had showed anger and fury—all types of emotions, whether it was good or bad—had rolled off him consistently, but it had never been this. It had never come to this.
As much as I wanted to pester and try to convince him he needed me here, I knew giving him some space might help him recover from the shock he had been dealt just six hours prior.
Standing up, I hovered above his sitting form and cradled his head before planting a kiss on his forehead and another on his lips. “I love you.” I looked him straight in the eye, hoping my words got through to him. As much as I would love to tell him comforting words, I knew nothing would make a difference to him until he knew for certain his granddad was clear from any danger.
Taking a deep breath, I tightened my light wrap around me before striding out of the room. Since Blake drove here and I didn’t want to further pester him about the car, I decided to just get a cab once I was outside the hospital. However, this simple thought became a difficulty the moment I stepped foot on the pavement with reporters, paparazzi, and all the microphones and cell phones shoved at me, paralyzing me momentarily before I shook myself out of shock and started to make my way towards where the bank of cabs were parked on the other side of the building.
As I tried to walk and avoid all of them, a few persistent ones rushed at my heels, desperate to get something out of me.
“Miss Sienna, could you please comment on William Knightly’s condition? There are rumors saying that he’s already at the death’s door?”
“Blake Knightly has a lovechild in Spain and he denied all allegations; did he give you a confession?”
“Your husband is bound to inherit a bigger fortune once his grandfather dies; do you guys have any plans with all that money in y
our bankroll?”
Each question was a stab to my heart. And as much as I wanted to lash out at them and kick them in the gut, I didn’t pause for a second until I was safely inside the black cab and on my way towards my home. I wasn’t going to lie, one question had stood out above all:
“Blake Knightly has a lovechild in Spain and he denied all allegations; did he give you a confession?”
I admit, I was pissed off because where the flying fuck had that shit come from? Was that question invented because they wanted to get a kick out of my aghast reaction and to cause a rift between Blake and I because it was a critical time for us to need each other, or… Then there was that.
The or.
Or was it because there was a grain of truth in the story, that there was a baby truly hiding somewhere in Spain? After all, Blake had spent a lot of time on the Spanish coast before the casino had opened. And since he’d slept with a lot of women right after we broke up that first time, would it be possible that he forgot to use protection? Or worse, maybe he had forgotten to check if it broke right after they fucked each other brainless.
From the stories I had heard from Toby and Blake, he had been quite the budding stud for those months, fucking anything and everything beautiful on a nightly basis.
Biting my bottom lip, I was frightened to think further because I knew where my train of thought could lead. Besides, there was the matter of bringing this controversial subject up that would most definitely cause an uproar between us. After all that, when everything was said and done, could I stand and support my husband if, in fact, the rumor was true of him fathering a child somewhere?
It felt like I was being stabbed each time I thought of a baby, maybe about two-years-old. A baby that looked exactly like Blake. It was an indirect betrayal, yet I couldn’t fault him for sleeping around right after I broke up with him and turned down his proposal.
My thoughts went on a reprieve once the cab deposited me at our house in Chelsea. After I got past the gate, I pulled out my house keys and let myself in. The vast foyer and the silence greeted me coldly.
Looking around, I hugged my purse to my chest, wondering what I would do once Blake found out, if the rumors were true, that he had fathered a baby. I wasn’t an idiot. I knew he had wanted a baby for so long, and once the shock wore off, I knew in every fiber in me that he would seek out his child and do anything to be with his son or daughter. Would he leave me then and resume his relationship with the child’s mother since I knew he would want everything for his child?
Blake loved unconditionally, and knowing that fact scared me to no end. Because, even though he loved me until Kingdom come, he’d readily give me up to have what he had longed for, for quite some time now.
If that day came, could I give him up, or should I set him free? The question made me feel faint.
My mind was a battle zone. My heart was full of grievance. How could life be so cruel? Hadn’t I suffered enough just to be with him? I had fought as hard as I could since day one, fending off all those aggressive, borderline crazy women, and now, another bomb had been dropped before me. It ticked ominously until it was ready to welcome itself to the world, blasting everything I had worked so hard to get, everything that my heart treasured.
This was my home. Blake Knightly was my home. However, without my man by my side, I would be the same abandoned girl again, drifting about life, unsure of everything and with nothing to look forward to.
Reflecting on what life would be like without Blake was a grim future. Yet, I couldn’t help myself. I thought of all the possibilities because, after the tragedy of my parents, life had been beyond cruel. Therefore, being enabled to picture all these scenarios actually helped with my mental health. I didn’t want to be surprised or shocked. This was my way of preparing for all the wrong things that could happen.
This was how I survived. This was how I lived.
Trying to calm my nerves, I pushed myself to get on my feet and attempt to get ready for school because today I had to go straight to my internship with Stella von Berg’s PR firm. As much as I liked her, that woman was pretty intuitive. Her warm smiles and comforting demeanor would make me spill all the ugliness that was threatening to come out of my mouth, and I wasn’t ready to say it out loud because, once I did, I could never take it back. Because, in the depths of my soul, a major part of me wished to God this was all it was, just a plain, nasty rumor.
Blake was bound to inherit an obscene amount of money once William died. Topped with his own billions, one could imagine all the raving gold-diggers that had rubbed his shoulders would claim anything they could to get their hands on a chunk of that pie.
Moreover, knowing how Blake had been before, the gold-digger line probably was beyond vast.
~
After school, I immediately went straight to work. I wasn’t even seated before Stella cheerily appeared before me while I gave a suspicious look because I was thinking that this could be her way of trying to cheer me up because Callum—her hot husband—must’ve confirmed the lovechild. I mean, come on, these people were powerful. I was sure they had the capacity and means to confirm the rumor with a click of a button.
I did, too, if I wanted to. However, I couldn’t comprehend heading straight into a blazing fire without being prepared for it. I needed more time.
“I heard about William Knightly. Is he out of danger?” Stella asked me with a concerned look while I got reminded that Blake hadn’t yet called me, nor tried to send me any messages.
I shook my head, feeling the melancholy settle in my system. “Blake is a mess…” So was I, but for completely different reasons.
“Poor love. I’m sure he is. He’s lucky to have you to support him through this difficult time.”
If he would let me, I wanted to say, but I changed my mind at the last second. The last thing I needed to do was give any indication to anyone—even if it was Stella, whom I trusted quite a great deal—that Blake and I were having some mild issues with him deciding to be incommunicado.
“Well, I was hoping you were up for some coffee. We could go to the café a few blocks down the road.”
Yeah, maybe walking and some fresh air would clear up the insanity that ran havoc in my head. “I think that would be a lovely idea, actually. I could use some caffeine in my system.”
Plucking my purse out of the drawer, we both headed downstairs and out of the building. Strolling with comfortable silence, we were lost in our own thought and didn’t speak until we were finished ordering our chosen hot beverage.
Cradling our steamy cups, I was slowly sipping mine when she took the initiative in breaking the silence. “I know this might be an odd time to bring it up, but I’m beyond ecstatic and needed to share the news with people that I’m close with.”
She was such a lovely person. Not only was she beautiful, but her heart was pure gold. I was honored that she considered me a great friend. I didn’t have much in that department, and having such a friend as her was worth more than having ten people in my life that didn’t care much about me. There was friendship and there was the friendship. Stella was categorized in the latter.
“Remember that time I told you that Cal and I were trying?” she added, making me pause, frowning, as I tried to recall what she truly meant. She said a lot of things to me, subsequently this was such a tricky question.
“Yes, I think I do.” I thought a second and hoped we were on the same page since I was a little slow on the uptake today. “Why? Did he change his mind?” I teased, hoping this was about their baby-making pact.
She made a face, grinning. “Well, even if he did, he has little choice in the matter because I’m five weeks pregnant.” She rushed out the words in haste, almost making me choke on my coffee.
“What?” I jumped out of my seat, perplexed. “My God, congratulations! I’m so happy for you!” I went around and hugged the living crap of her, over the moon for her and her new baby bean. Of all the people I knew, Stella deserved all the happiness l
ife had to offer. She was just so nice and so kind-hearted it would be heartbreaking to think someone meant to hurt her.
“Me, too. I just found out earlier today,” she said in between laughs as we situated ourselves back to our seats. “After all this frenzy at work, I seriously had forgotten about my cycle altogether.” Her eyes became glassy, and she had this awe and glowing look about her.
And for a tiny, miniscule second, there was a painful tug in my heart, thinking about that lovechild rumor earlier today.
“I bet Callum is over the moon,” I murmured as I focused on my coffee, wanting to banish the thoughts of weighing the possibility of Blake’s baby.
“Maybe,” she said mildly before she decided to reach out for my hand and give it a light squeeze. “The thing is, I don’t know how to tell him.” She paused before making a sour face. “We had a small tiff, and he’s been ignoring me until I say I’m sorry…”
They, too, shared quite a passionate yet over-the-top, crazy relationship. I supposed it was quite common when you paired an over-confident, dominating man and a woman who was not used to being bossed around, stubborn, and didn’t like to be second best. Both demanded everything from the other. Intense. Passionate. Raw and unhinged. Those were the best kinds of crazy that made me fall mad for Blake in the first place.
Back to Stella’s quandary, I raised my eyes, wondering out loud, “What did you do to get him mad?”
“I made a tease, and he took it to heart.” She sighed before folding her arms around her chest. “One would think that a man with his caliber wouldn’t be such a drama queen.”
This time, I did choke on my coffee. “You’re definitely hormonal,” I said the second my passages cleared out.
The naughty, sexy Callum Kensington a drama queen? Goodness. That was the funniest thing I had heard in such a long time. And I admit, belting out a laugh felt truly fantastic.