by Rylon, Jayne
Four Love
Ever and Always Duet, Book 2
Jayne Rylon
Happy Endings Publishing
Copyright © 2020 by Jayne Rylon
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced or shared in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means—including email, file-sharing groups, and peer-to-peer programs—without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
If you have purchased a copy of this ebook, thank you. I greatly appreciate knowing you would never illegally share your copy of this book. This is the polite way of me saying don’t be a thieving asshole, please and thank you!
If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. Refer to the don’t-be-a-thieving-asshole section above for clarification. :)
V4
eBook ISBN: 978-1-947093-15-7
Print ISBN: 978-1-947093-16-4
Cover Design by Jayne Rylon
Editing by Mackenzie Walton
Proofreading by Fedora Chen
Formatting by Jayne Rylon
Contents
About The Book
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Other Books in This World
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About the Author
Also by Jayne Rylon
About The Book
The Ever & Always Duet concludes with Four Love…
Holly has never been more scared in her life. She’s hoping that the bad guys attempting to bank off her realize—like she has—that her temporary husband doesn’t care for her as anything more than a way to cash in on his inheritance and amuse his roommates in the process.
Even if she makes it out alive, she won’t ever be whole. Not unless Trent, Lorenzo, and Owen suddenly decide that the stakes in the game they were playing are a lot steeper than can be paid for with money.
This time, they’re gambling everything on love.
Four Love is the conclusion of the Ever & Always Duet, and should be read following Four Money.
Additional Information
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1
Trent stared at the red numbers glowing on his clock. Six a.m. He’d lain there, awake, since his wife, Holly, had stormed out of his bedroom—his home, and maybe his life, too—just before midnight. The only thing that had made it worse was the fight he’d had with his two best friends following her departure.
Rare anger had marred Lorenzo’s face as he’d lit into Trent, not only for fucking up the incredible foursome he, Owen, and Trent had just finished having with Holly, but also because he was pissed that Trent had scared her away entirely.
Reliving his mistakes and the hurt he’d caused the three people he gave a shit about most in the world had kept Trent wired all night. He might as well get up. Visiting hours at the hospital where Holly’s mother was recovering from a kidney transplant started soon, and he intended to be there in case Holly needed him. Hell, he was hoping she would tolerate him nearby and that she wouldn’t send him away like his own family had while his father lay dying in the same building.
He wouldn’t blame her if she did, though.
Trent rolled out of bed, accepting the single open-eyed glare from his dog Moose—who seemed just as irritated with him as everyone else because Holly wasn’t there to pet him—and then trudged into kitchen to make a pitcher of extra-strong coffee.
He froze when he realized both Lorenzo and Owen were already sitting at the table, dressed, huddled over their own steaming cups as if they hadn’t slept a wink more than he had.
Should he turn around? They had made it perfectly clear they didn’t want to be near him if he was going to continue being a colossal fuck-up.
“Guys…” His throat threatened to slam shut, as if he were allergic to apologizing or eating humble pie.
“Nah, don’t say it.” Lorenzo waved him off. “You’re an idiot, yes, but I get why last night was a recipe for disaster.”
“You do?” Trent wished the guy would fill him in because nothing was making sense. One minute he had been having the best night of his life, and the next... It had fallen apart, exactly as he’d feared.
“We do.” Owen nodded. He picked up the pot of coffee and poured some into the third mug on the table, the one they’d set out for him. “It’s because you care about her. A lot. And it’s scaring the shit out of you. She was getting too close, so you shoved her away.”
Trent had come to the same conclusion sometime around three in the morning, so he didn’t bother to deny it, instead kicking the chair out from the table and sinking into it. Even though his coffee scalded his mouth, he downed a few gulps of his drink. Sometimes what you needed most had the power to burn you.
Holly was no exception.
Trent put his face in his hand and scrubbed his bleary eyes. “So how do I fix this?”
“We’re going to the hospital together. First, we’ll make sure Holly and her mom are okay. Then we’re going to beg her to give you—us—another chance and explain how your family refusing to accept you makes you think no one will, not even a woman as open-minded and perfect for us as Holly.” Owen bobbed his head to punctuate each step as if he was speaking to a child.
Trent deserved that.
And even though he knew that was probably what they should do, some part of him still recoiled like a bug caught in bright light, scurrying away from the thing it was most afraid of.
“What if she doesn’t want to come back?” Trent whispered before fortifying himself with several more long glugs of coffee.
“We’ll have to figure that out on the fly.” Lorenzo knocked his knee into Trent’s. “But I honestly don’t think that’s going to be the case. I saw her last night. The way she looked at you. It wasn’t only about sex. If she knows you care for her too, maybe she won’t keep running. I hope she won’t.”
Trent winced, realizing what it must have done to Lorenzo to be walked out on with his pants down by the first woman he was getting attached to since he’d been left at the altar. Had to suck. And Trent had caused it. For the first time, he realized how much his roommates were banking on him, and he didn’t want to let them down.
“Now go get dressed. Wear the blue shirt Lorenzo bought you for Christmas.” Owen pointed toward the bedroom Trent had barely emerged from.
He grumbled but rose, draining the last of his cup before clunking it onto the table, resigned. “Fine. But you two are coming with me, right?”
“We wouldn’t risk letting you screw this up for all of us. Again.” Lorenzo was mostly giving him shit, his mouth quirked up in one corner. But there was a kernel of truth to his ribbing.
That was fine with Trent. He felt better with them by his side. Though the three o
f them were damaged in some way, together they balanced each other out. All of them might have a shot at convincing Holly they were worth a second chance.
Trent gripped the rail on the elevator wall hard enough he was afraid he might put a dent in the thing. He hadn’t felt as much ominous dread in the pit of his stomach when he’d been waiting to hear about his father’s prognosis.
Holly’s reaction felt like a matter of life or death.
His happiness—as well as his best friends’—was hanging in the balance.
“It’s going to be okay,” Owen promised.
“She’s going to forgive you, as long as you’re honest with her,” Lorenzo agreed. “You can’t hold anything back. It’s risky, yeah, but you have to put it all out there.”
“So I should admit that I’m falling for her. Hard? You’re sure?”
Both of his friends looked at him like he was stupid and said, “Yes!”
“Some groveling might not be bad either.” Owen smacked him in the gut. “You hurt her, asshole. I saw the pain in her eyes when you offered to pay her to stick around and entertain us in bed for a few more months.”
“I didn’t—”
“Whether or not that’s how you meant it, that’s how she took your suggestion.” Lorenzo shrugged. “You need to tell her your relationship isn’t about the cash or your business anymore. This is something more.”
Had it ever really been? Sure, marrying Holly “temporarily” had satisfied the clause of his trust and allowed him to inherit an obscene amount of cash. It had made it possible for her mom to get the transplant she needed and paved the way for all his dreams—starting his own company and meeting someone who could desire the same type of relationship he did—to come true.
Suddenly, that was all that mattered. He couldn’t wreck the chance to show her that no matter how desperately he’d craved success, she was what he needed. He wanted to give her everything he had, and for a hell of a lot longer than ninety days.
“So much more.” Trent banged his head against the rear wall of the car as they glided to a stop on the floor housing the ICU. “But mostly, I have to make sure she’s okay.”
He couldn’t stand the thought of her alone and afraid for her mother in addition to stressing about what had happened between them the night before.
Lorenzo smirked. “See?”
“What?” Trent tipped his head to the side like Moose sometimes did when he couldn’t comprehend what his owner was doing.
“You care.” Owen crossed his arms as they exited the elevator together.
“I do. Even if I should know better.” Trent groaned. That had never worked out for him before.
Then he put his own shit on the back burner as he approached Holly’s mom’s room. The door hung open. The early morning glow of the desert surrounding them illuminated her private space. He peeked in at Mrs. Hendricks, who appeared to be sleeping.
No sign of Holly. Damn it! Had she gone to the cafeteria to grab breakfast?
“You can go in. She’s been awake on and off.” One of the nurses passing by shooed them inside, out of the way.
“Mrs. Hendricks?” Trent called softly, feeling awkward as hell intruding on the recovering woman without her daughter present.
The woman took several tries to blink her eyes open. Then she smiled. “Hey. Where’s Holly?”
“She hasn’t been here yet this morning?” Trent couldn’t believe that. Mrs. Hendricks must mean Holly had stepped outside or gone to run a quick errand.
Without an ounce of doubt or confusion, Mrs. Hendricks shook her head slightly. “No. Haven’t seen her since they rolled me into the operating room.”
Trent’s stomach dropped. Surely Mrs. Hendricks had simply forgotten about her daughter’s presence since she had been so recently under sedation and was on some heavy-duty pain medication as well. That had to be the case. Didn’t it?
“She… Well, shit, I don’t exactly know where she is.” Trent squashed the unease bubbling within him before it could boil into full blown panic.
Lorenzo elbowed him when Mrs. Hendricks tried to sit up, and failed. The monitor beside her bed showed her blood pressure spiking.
“Sorry. Let me go find out.” Trent tried to smile reassuringly, though it felt hollow and fake, before he spun on his heel and bolted into the corridor once more, ignoring the narrowed eyes of the nurse, who was now sitting at the station in the middle of the ward clearly unimpressed by his commotion and the disturbance to the other patients on the ward. He rushed toward her. “Excuse me?”
“Yes?” the woman waved her hands down, shushing him.
Trent couldn’t seem to control his rising voice. “Has Holly Hendricks been in this morning to see her mother?”
The nurse shook her head. “You’re Mrs. Hendricks’s first guests.”
“Are you sure?” Trent asked.
“Of course.” the woman snapped, slightly less friendly now. “I would have had to buzz her in. And we keep a log of everyone who enters the ward.”
“Sorry, it’s just that…” Trent backed up a step and then another. He would have taken off running if he knew where to go to look for her. “I have to find her.”
“Holly would never miss being here with her mom as soon as she was able.” Owen groaned from behind him.
“Take deep breaths, Trent.” Lorenzo patted his arm. “Maybe she’s exhausted and overslept.”
Trent cut his stare to his best friends. There was no way he believed that bullshit.
He was already taking his phone from his pocket, then slipping out of the ICU so he could use it in the hallway as the rules permitted. He tapped Holly’s icon on his frequently used contacts list and waited the eternity it took for it to ring and ring before dumping him to voicemail.
Obnoxious or not, he did it a few more times before also texting her, asking her to call.
“Something’s wrong.” His gaze flew to Lorenzo’s then Owen’s.
Neither man argued with him or told him he was overreacting. Fuck! He began to pace. His stomach knotted. “Should I call the police?”
“Call Andi first. See if she’s heard from Holly.” Owen suggested.
“Good idea.” He punched in Reed’s number, then waited impatiently. If Holly’s best friend didn’t know where she was, then no one would.
“Hey, Trent!”
“Sorry, dude. No time to chat. Where’s your woman? I don’t have her number, but I need to ask her something. It’s urgent.” Trent pinched the bridge of his nose. His only hope was that his “fake” wife had talked to one of her best friends about how badly he’d fucked up the night before. Embarrassing, yeah. But worth it if they could help him track Holly down and make sure she was okay.
“Oh. Uh, she’s right here.” Reed must have heard the alarm in his tone. He didn’t even try to bust Trent’s balls. “Hang on.”
“Hello?” Andi asked, a laugh embedded in her greeting. “Having girl trouble?”
“How’d you know? Have you talked to Holly?” He would have pounced on her through the phone if he could have.
“Yeah. She told Kari and me that your dinner with her mom was a bit rocky.” Andi answered, making the queasy feeling in his gut a million times worse.
Sure, that had only been yesterday evening. But so much had happened since then, it seemed like a lifetime ago.
“Not after?” Trent asked again. “You haven’t heard from her since then?”
“No. I assumed you two were…making up.” She snorted. When she realized he wasn’t laughing along with her, she got quiet. “Trent? What’s going on? Is something wrong? You did apologize, right? Tell her that your head is shoved so far up your ass because you’re freaked out about having a real relationship with her. Right?”
Was it that obvious to everyone else? Where did he start? “Holly’s mom had her transplant last night.”
“She did?” Andi’s excitement at the news seemed kind of muffled by hurt.
“Yeah. Mrs. Hendricks got
the news after the dinner disaster. I wasn’t home. And then I was here, with her. And our phones had to be turned off. Everything moved so fast, it’s all kind of a blur.”
“Is her mom okay? How is Holly? Why are you calling? Oh no, something awful happened, didn’t it?” Andi’s imagination obviously had gotten the best of her.
“Yes. I think. Maybe.” Trent was getting more confused by the second. If Andi didn’t know any of this, then why was he talking to her? He needed information. And fast. Something was really screwed up. “But not with Mrs. Hendricks. She came through the surgery well. Holly was exhausted after the doctor let us know. We all were. We went home in the early morning and…well… things happened.”
“Sex things?” Andi wondered.
“Yeah.”
“With you, Holly, Lorenzo, and Owen, right?” She was catching on quick.
“Uh huh.” Even now, remembering affected Trent despite the cold dread still hammering at his hindbrain. “But after, I fucked up again. I offered her more money to stay an extra three months.”
“You did what?” Andi shrieked. “After you all had sex together? Trent, do you have any idea what that sounds like?”
“I do now.” He groaned. “I can only say I was wrecked too and it seemed like a good idea at the time. She was worried about her mom’s hospital bills and the rehab she’s going to need. Extra stuff Holly hadn’t counted on. I was trying to help.”
“You’re an idiot,” Andi huffed.