Our Cracked Pieces (The Pieces Series Book 2)

by M. E. Clayton

  I knew it.

  “Well, he can’t have me,” I told her. While Mystic and I have shared some serious dark secrets, she didn’t know that I was still unsure of my demons. While Mystic embraced hers, mine were a different monster, altogether.

  “Gotta give him points for consistency, though. It’s been a year, and he hasn’t given up.”

  “Tell me about it,” I grumbled under my breath.

  Goddamn Lorcan Cavanaugh.

  Chapter 18

  Lorcan~

  I didn’t bother knocking because I knew Mystic’s brother was in town this week, so there was no chance of her being bent over Gage’s desk in the middle of the day.

  Even at eight months pregnant.

  I met Gage Evans back during our sophomore year in college. I’d been fucking this girl on the regular and had gone back to her dorm for a quick fuck. But when I had walked in, she’d been naked, on all fours, with Gage fucking her from behind. It was sad to say I hadn’t been surprised, but by then, my opinion of women had already reached its lowest. With the exception of my mother and sister, women hadn’t held a notable spot in my life.

  They still didn’t, truth be told.

  So, instead of flipping out, I had walked up to the bed-Chelsea wide-eyed, Gage wary-unzipped my pants and had fed her my cock. Gage had continued to go about his business, and we had used her for over three hours before we’d had our fill.

  It was the first time I’d ever shared a girl, and my last. My only time had been an experience I had tried and found wasn’t for me. As for Chelsea, I had tossed her aside after that night, never speaking to her again. But Gage and I had become friends after that. Best friends within a few months.

  And while my opinion of women came with a legitimate reason, Gage’s had been a result of some serious heartbreak. Losing the only girl who he ever cared about had done a number on him, and he had discarded women like they were tissue. That’s not to say he slept around, just that there was never an ounce of emotion in his hookups beyond basic lust.

  Last year, Mystic had started working for me, and it had been the shock of the century to find out my newest employee was the same girl who had broken Gage’s heart. And within a week of finding her again, he had reclaimed her, and they’d been married the following week.

  Now, the grumpy bastard was happy as hell with twins on the way.

  “How’s my favorite baby maker?” I said, announcing my arrival.

  Gage looked up, dropping his pen on the papers in front of him. “How the fuck would I know how your dick’s doing?”

  I grinned and made myself comfortable in one of the chairs positioned in front of his huge oak desk. “My dick’s made no babies, yet, Evans,” I reminded him. “I’m talking about your wife, and you know it.”

  “She’s bummed since she’s finalized her decision not to go back to work, if you must know,” he replied.

  “I must know,” I informed him. “She’s carrying my godchildren.”

  When Gage and Mystic had found out they were having twins, it had been a pleasant surprise to everyone. Especially, me. I’d been resigned to the fact that me and Rowan Lewis, Mystic’s best friend, were going to spend the rest of our lives fighting over our godchild, but with the announcement of two kids, well, now we didn’t have to share. The only fucked-up thing about it was that Mystic and Gage had wanted to be surprised, so they had refused to find out the sex of the babies. So, I had no idea what I was dealing with here.

  The selfish assholes.

  Gage rolled his eyes. “She’s fine, Lorcan.”

  Of course, the sex of the babies didn’t matter, but if we got one girl and one boy, then I could have the boy and Rowan could have the girl.

  “Maybe I’ll call her later,” I muttered, thinking out loud.

  Gage let out a disbelieving laugh. “Christ, you sound just like Rowan,” he said. “She was over yesterday, interrogating me damn near, making sure Mystic was taking it easy and getting enough rest.”

  “Rowan was at your house yesterday?” I asked, disapproval in my voice.

  Gage’s eyes narrowed. “Don’t fucking start with me, Lorcan,” he said. “It’s not my fault you can’t seal the deal with the woman.”

  I met Rowan Lewis last year when she had met Mystic for lunch while Mystic had been working for me. One look, and I’ve been stalking the woman ever since.

  Now, that’s not to say I’ve been a monk this past year, but there was something about Rowan Lewis that made every woman I’ve been with lately just a little less appealing.

  Rowan came at only five-foot-four-inches, but she was a powerful five-foot-four-inches. The woman had silky blonde hair that stopped just below her shoulders, a perfect fit for my fist, and her face was the classic blonde beauty. With blue eyes, arched brows, a dainty, straight nose, pink cheeks, and a full mouth, Rowan Lewis was truly beautiful.

  And that body of hers?

  Christ Almighty.

  Looking at Rowan, you’d peg her for a typical air-headed, gold-digging blonde, but she wasn’t. The woman had a degree from Georgetown and was a fierce little thing. Strong, independent, and confident, Rowan was what little girls should aspire to be when they grew up.

  However, her face paired with a body that belonged on a stripper stage, Rowan was underestimated often. I’d done it myself the first couple of months of knowing her. But could you blame me? Her face was perfect, and her tits were so big, I knew they’d spill out between my fingers if given the chance. Her wide hips gave her the sexiest hourglass-shaped figure, and my dick wanted her.

  Badly.

  But the woman kept turning me down, assuming I wasn’t serious beyond conquering her for a night. And while I did want to conquer her, for the first time in over a decade, I wanted to conquer a woman for more than one night.

  Tilting my head from side-to-side, I cracked my neck. “I just don’t understand what her deal is,” I said. “We’d make pretty babies.”

  Gage barked out a laugh. “Maybe she’s allergic to bullshit, Lor.”

  “You know me better than anyone, save Molly, asshole,” I pointed out. “You know I’m not bullshitting. When have I ever chased a woman, much less for over a year?”

  “Never,” Gage conceded. “But I think Rowan Lewis is probably the only woman on the planet who might be just a little too much for you, my friend.”

  I grinned. “I hope so.”

  Gage shook his head. “What the fuck are you really doing here, Lorcan?”

  I straightened in my seat. “Simblastic Innovations,” I said. “What do you think?”

  “I think the son who inherited the company is a fucking twit,” Gage replied. “But his wife seems sharp.”

  “Let’s talk about that, shall we?”

  Gage gave me a sly grin. “Let’s.”

  Chapter 19

  Rowan~

  I was still at the office, but I didn’t mind. You had to put in the work to reap the rewards, and if I busted my ass this week, I could take off early on Friday to start my vacation.

  My long overdue vacation.

  It was only a week, and I had absolutely no plans, but I was looking forward to the downtime more than anything else. I also had plans on shopping for bassinets and baby stuff now that Mystic was in her eighth month. Those babies could pop out at any moment, and I wanted to be ready.

  Already past seven, my phone rang, and I groaned when I saw who was calling. I loved my mom, but the woman had a tendency to hover, though I didn’t blame her.

  Answering the phone, I said, “I know it’s late, but I had dinner delivered at the office, and I’m only here, so I can leave early on Friday.”

  “Smartass,” Mom chuckled. “Maybe I just called you to tell you I love you.”

  Silence.

  “Fine,” she huffed. “I was checking on you, but don’t feel special just yet. I just got off the phone with Grayson, checking on him, too.”

  “You do you know we’re adults, right?” I teased. “I me
an, it would make sense since you’re the one who gave birth to us and all.”

  “I’d call you an asshole, but then I’d have nothing to call Grayson,” she fired back, and I laughed.

  God, I loved my parents.

  “I’m doing fine, Mom,” I told her. “I promise.”

  “Are you really there just to get a head start on your vacation?” she asked. “You’re not burning yourself out, are you?”

  “I swear, I’m not,” I assured her. “I really am just trying to get a jump on my weekend.”

  She let out loud sigh. “Fine. I’m going to choose to believe you this time.”

  I chuckled. “How generous of you.”

  “Isn’t it, though?” Her laugh filled the line before she got serious again. “Okay, I’ll let you go, but don’t forget, our package for Mystic’s babies should arrive within the next two weeks, so be on the lookout.”

  “Will do, Mom,” I said. “I’ll talk to you later. Love you.”

  “Love you, too, Rowan.”

  Hanging up, I went back to work. I didn’t blame my mother for worrying, but, all these years later, I still got tired of reassuring her I was fine.

  Even on the days I wasn’t.

  The weeks after our arrest, and that of Officer Connors also, had been hell on my eighteen-year-old self. Tammy, Carly, Mandy, and I had gotten arrested, but then, so had Officer Simon Connors, and the scandal that had followed hadn’t been pretty.

  While Carly, Mandy, and Tammy had been aghast that I hadn’t told them what had been happening, many other people had accused me of lying just to get out of the burglary charges. The girls had done their best to defend me, but you had an entire police department fighting for their image, and they had used the media to do their dirty work. A lot of the people of the community had been divided between believing a girl, who’d never been in trouble before, over a man who they had been conditioned to trust.

  When me and the girls had gotten off with probation and fines, the people in Officer Connors’ camp had made their displeasure known. It had been a real hate-fest, and my family and friends were really what had gotten me through that time in my life.

  The girls had rallied and had turned out to be vicious little things when Officer Connors’ trial had begun. In fact, we were all still friends to this day. Though scattered around the country like we were, we relied heavily on social media and our phones to keep in touch.

  Mandy and Darnell were still married and living in California, where Mandy was a stay-at-home-mom, with three kinds, and Darnell played for the NFL.

  Tammy was a talent agent living in New York, and she worked mostly with models in the fashion industry. She had two kids and her husband, Norman, worked as a financier.

  Carly was an actual, honest-to-God, news anchor in Texas, and it was nothing to see her face on television every now and again. She was still single and childless, but none of us were surprised. She was seriously career oriented right now, and I couldn’t be happier for her.

  But out of the three, Mandy was who I saw most. Hell, Mandy was who we all saw the most because she traveled with Darnell a lot for his away games, and when she was in any of our states, we made the effort to connect.

  When the trial had come to an end, and Officer Connors’ had been found guilty, the previous accusations had turned to pity. I’d gone from that horrible juvenile delinquent to that poor broken girl.

  But had the police department called upon the media to announce their apologies? That would be a no. Had people owned up to their baseless judgements of me and apologized when they’d found out how wrong they’d been? That would also be a no. Even when it had come out that I hadn’t been Officer Connors only victim.

  Apparently, he’d had a few sexual relationships during the time he’d been the school’s utility cop. Mine had been the only non-consensual one, and that was the only one he’d been tried for. He’d made sure that the other girls had all been eighteen, covering his tracks legally, if still immoral.

  Staring out through the window of my office, lights twinkling like stars scattered all throughout the city, and thinking about Office Simon Connors, I realized I really didn’t think about him a whole lot these days. Last I heard, he was living on a ranch in Montana, married to the rancher’s daughter. And the only reason I knew that was because my father made sure to always know where Office Connors was. Being the girl who ruined his career, Dad didn’t want to take any chances that he might come after me one day. I doubted it, but a father’s love and all that.

  My phone buzzed and I looked down and smiled.

  Grayson: Dinner. The Highlands. Friday

  Me: Hell yeahs

  Grayson: Lush

  Me: Hey! My first night of vacation. Celebration time. U’ll b my DD

  I got a thumbs-up emoji, and I laughed. Grayson really was the best brother in the world.

  The best person, period.

  Chapter 20

  Lorcan~

  “You and your new jobs. Christ, woman,” I grumbled, no real heat in my words.

  “They are not new jobs, you jackass,” Molly snipped. “Quit calling them that.”

  “Then what are they?” I asked as I sat across from my sister in her kitchen. She’d invited me over for dinner, and while I hated attending her endless parties, I loved spending time with her one-on-one. Even as great as our parents were, Molly was my person.

  “They’re…new clients,” she stumbled to explain. “They’re not new jobs.”

  “That’s a new job, isn’t it?” I asked right before grabbing her last breadstick from her plate.

  “Saying it like that sounds like I can’t keep a job, Lorcan,” she complained. “Saying I got a new job, and saying it every few weeks, sounds ridiculous.”

  I shrugged. “Fine,” I relented. “I’ll start calling them clients.”

  Molly started jabbing at her steak. “And there’s nothing wrong with parties, Lorcan. They’re festive and are meant for happy times.”

  Good thing I’d already swallowed the food I had in my mouth or I would have choked. “Are you forgetting last year when your friends tried to trap me into fatherhood?”

  She had the grace to flush. “That was one time,” she muttered. “And I took care of those conniving bitches. They’ve been shunned properly.”

  Last year when I’d agree to go to one of Molly’s job parties-oh, sorry-client parties, I had gone back to the Sphynx Hotel, own by CI, and had been ready to show two lovely ladies the time of their lives. However, they quickly turned out not to be that lovely when I’d overheard them planning on poking holes in the condoms, hoping to trap me with an accidental pregnancy.

  I had, of course, thrown them out, and had lit into Molly. And because she knew I had issues with dishonest women, she had let me. She had also taken care of those two cunts, and had spent a month apologizing, even after I’d gotten over my anger.

  But to be honest, my temper has always been a problem, even before Vanessa had turned out to be a cheating whore. I’d like to think I’ve mastered it, but every now and again, I was reminded that I will always be trying to master it.

  My temper was a vicious little bastard.

  After I had gotten arrested for beating up Mr. Hostettler, anger management had been a must. While sympathetic and understandable, I had beaten a man-rather badly-and the courts could not let that go unpunished. I had gotten probation with mandatory anger management. And since my probation had been for a year, we’d had to see if Randall County would be willing to accept a probation transfer. Luckily, they had agreed, and I had managed to get through my first year of college incident-free.

  As for Mr. Hostettler, even with Vanessa’s abortion, a scandal had ensued, and their business had been broadcasted everywhere. Mrs. Hostettler had filed for divorce, of course, and Vanessa had gone on independent study for the last two months of school. And having blocked her from my entire life, I never knew whatever happened to her, nor did I care.

  It hadn’t
been until my second year in college that I had started partying and fucking around again. While I had taken my studies seriously, I had done my best to put Vanessa, Mr. Hostettler, and that entire mess behind me, though I wasn’t sure how successful I’ve been at that. All these years later, I still didn’t trust women.

  Not a one.

  Now, that’s not to say I didn’t enjoy them, or I was a woman-hater, because I wasn’t. On the contrary, I loved women. But I loved them most when they were getting me off and nothing more. Vanessa was the last serious girlfriend I had, and I was okay with that.

  Or, I had been until recently.

  “By the way, before you go back to being an asshole, I think I found the perfect cribs for your house,” she said, bringing us back to a happier topic.

  “Oh, really?” I asked, after eating a piece of steak. Molly still couldn’t cook, but she knew where to order the best food from.

  Her grey eyes sparkled. “I saw this article about a wood carver whose work brought in thousands for his pieces. I had managed to get a hold of his office commissioner, and I had asked her if he did cribs. She told me he had actually finished a set last month, but he hadn’t presented them yet.” Her smile lit up her entire face. “I told her you’d pay any price for them.”

  “Did she send you any pictures?”

  Molly jumped up and ran to grab her phone from her purse. Racing back to the table, she shoved the phone at me. “They’re beautiful, Lorcan.”

  I studied the picture on her phone, and they really were exquisite. It was the kind of work that was destined to become family heirlooms. And they were a dark, cherry oak which went great with my condo’s interior design. Granted, even if the cribs didn’t match, I wouldn’t care, but the fact that they matched was a plus.

  “How much?” I needed to get the nursery ready for the arrival of my godchildren soon.

  “Eighty for each. One-fifty for the set,” she said.