Broken (27 page)

She was bursting with excitement still and hoped this feeling lasted for a very long time. “Can we take the others out to celebrate? I want to show them my ring.” She was back to gazing at her finger again with a silly grin on her face.

“Sounds good. Let me call gramps. You want all the guys there too? Or just him and Ms. Lucille?”

“Let’s invite them all.” She twirled around the room on a cloud, happier than she had ever been in her life, ever. Somehow she knew that this time was for keeps. The man sitting on the old broken down couch with love and lust in his eyes as they followed her

silliness around the room, was not going to break her heart into a million little pieces. She was as sure of that as she was breathing.

There was still a tinge of anxiety, but she put that down to everything happening at once and so sudden. The memory of what once was no longer had the power to bring her to her knees, and it wasn’t just the ring or the mansion, it was him. He’d freed her somehow, with his impatience and hardheadedness.

She’d always thought she needed someone quite the opposite. Someone more…reserved she guessed, someone who wasn’t so in your face. Not exactly a wimp, but let’s face it, she never believed in a million years that she was woman enough for someone like him.

He was fire and ice. Gruff, opinionated and so strong it was hard to imagine that anything could break him. She found safety in that strength yes, but it was the way he made her feel strong too. Like her strength was no threat to his.

She was free to be herself and that self was someone she didn’t know she had inside her because she’d always had to stifle her natural inclinations for fear that she’d start an argument in her past life. It was weird to think of it in those terms now, so soon after she’d been on the bathroom floor bemoaning her plight. Life sure is strange.

That night they invited gramps, his friends and  Ms. Lucille out for a celebratory dinner. The elder people were as excited by their news as they were and Kyle could see from the looks on their faces and the

way they puffed their chests out that they each thought they had a hand in bringing things about.

They kept the news of the baby to themselves for now, preferring to wait for a doctor’s confirmation, but Kyle was sure the deed was done. And maybe he shouldn’t be thinking about it now while they were sitting around the restaurant table with friends because it always made him hard and ready to fuck.

Kerryanne seemed a bit nervous at all the well- wishers who came by to congratulate them. Some of them heard the good news as soon as they came up to the table to say hi, because the old guys and Ms. Lucille were only too pleased to fill them in. And then there were the ones who’d made a beeline for them once they got a look at the mammoth rock on her finger.

Kyle was gauging everyone’s reaction, culling the ones who were hiding their dismay from those who were genuinely happy for her. It’s one of the things that made him so good in the business world, his ability to read people. So while the others, including his bride to be, were enjoying the festivities and caught up in the celebratory air, he was taking it all in. Later he’d compile his notes and go from there.

His plan was a simple one. The house was just the beginning. After the wedding and the honeymoon, he was going to start his systematic destruction of Paul and Jen.

The only thing that was going to save them from complete annihilation was the fact that they had a little kid to care for. He wasn’t a complete animal, but he was going to bring them to their fucking knees so that they’d never forget what they’d done to someone who hadn’t deserved it.

***

News was travelling faster than an email around town. People were texting from under cover of their tablecloths, and the news was all about the rock on Kerryanne’s finger. The two foremost recipients were anything but pleased with the news but for two completely different reasons.

Jen felt thwarted in her efforts and couldn’t for the life of her understand how things had gone so terribly wrong. She’d finally had Kerryanne where she wanted her, beat. All their lives she’d hated the other woman, ever since they were teens anyway. It had started with her parents constantly comparing her to the other girl, and her always coming up lacking in their eyes.

They’d found the little orphan as she was fond of calling Kerry back then, to be everything they could’ve wished for in a daughter. Just because she was more outgoing and the opposite sex found her more appealing than the mousy little bitch that was afraid of her own shadow didn’t mean she was the slut they’d seemed to believe her to be.

They’d been so proud of the girl’s accomplishments, in fact the whole town had been. Because her parents had died when she was so young it was like everyone thought they had to go that extra mile to make her feel loved. No one else had had a problem with it, but Jen had hated it.

Then when they went up against each other in academics and Kerry always came out on top everyone had always been so proud of her. But what had been her end? What had she done with all that smarts she supposedly had? Nothing. She’d been a man’s doormat is what.

Jen had got the idea early on. Paul wasn’t a bad looking guy though he was a bit soft for her taste, but she would’ve fucked a snake if it meant destroying Kerryanne. She’d started off subtly enough, dropping little hints in her ear about how stupid it was to give up her life to put a man through school. That didn’t seem to work though, and so she’d started working on Paul.

It hadn’t taken much, he was hot for it. All she’d had to do was let him know the coast was clear. But she’d caught on early that her usual brashness wouldn’t work with him. He seemed to have an obsessive need to prove his manhood and she soon realized that all the time her ‘friend’ had been working to put him through school, he’d resented it.

So instead of her man-eating persona, she’d played the little innocent. She still didn’t know how he never knew-never heard any of the stories about her that had been floating around town, but just in case she’d used that too.

She’d convinced him that it was because she was so beautiful that other women out of jealousy had made up horrible stories, and boys to score points with their friends had done the same. By the time she was done, she’d almost convinced him that she was pure as the driven snow.

Her parents had been incensed when the news broke, in fact they’d stopped speaking to her, but she wasn’t worried. She knew they’d come around as soon as they learned about the baby and they had. Now it was beginning to look like she’d done it all for nothing.

How was Kerryanne coming out on top? She felt a cold chill rush down her spine at the thought of all she’d done unraveling. Was this a harbinger of things to come? Would the world get to see the truth of what she was?

Yes, she’d gone to college but she hadn’t graduated as they all believed. Only her parents knew the truth about that. She’d tried fooling them as well and it would’ve worked too if the stupid Dean hadn’t contacted her dad since he was the one paying the tuition. It was the only time her sexual wiles hadn’t worked in her favor, well that and one other time.

When she thought about that night and the way that Kyle person had shot her down, her face grew hot with anger. She’d thought he was nothing more than a bike riding thug, good for a ride in the sack, but certainly not someone she would’ve given up her doctor husband for. Now it seemed he was more if the rumors were true.

She peeped out the door to see where her husband was and once ascertaining he was shut up behind his home office door she pulled out her tablet and went to work. It was time she found out a little bit more about Kyle Clancy.

***

While his wife was reeling from the information she’d uncovered, Paul was pacing back and forth in his office with a sick feeling in his gut. He couldn’t let her marry him. That was the only thought in his head. How was he going to win her back if that happened? He hadn’t thought it all through but he knew he had to get his wife back. He wasn’t thinking about his new family or the fact that he was the one who’d screwed things up. All he could see in his mind’s eye was the way things once were.

In high school, Kerryanne had been the prettiest girl, in fact she was the most beautiful girl in the whole town. Soft blonde curls that fell to the middle of her back and the softest blue eyes he’d ever seen. Her beauty wasn’t beach girl brazen, instead it was old world perfection, and he’d known he was the luckiest guy around when she’d chosen him.

He’d been the envy of all the other men in town and he knew it, and she’d only had eyes for him. Her lady-like manners had won the hearts of his parents and the way she catered to him even in the beginning was just what he’d needed for the man he wanted to become. A doctor should have a woman like that at his side, and as a bonus the town was in love with her.

Everyone always had a kind word to say about Kerryanne and her unassuming ways. She wasn’t one to put on airs and she never seemed to be aware of her own beauty and charm. Where had it all gone wrong? Was it after the first year together after the wedding when he first realized that he wasn’t satisfying her in bed? He’d never brought it up but he knew.

He knew every time he rolled away from her that she was waiting for more. It had started wearing on him, until it had started making him angry. What did she want from him? She never complained, she was too good for that, but he knew. He sneered at the memory.

It was all her fault, the divorce, and the way his life had been turned upside down. Why couldn’t she just be satisfied with her lot in life? Why did she have to make him feel like less of a man for not fulfilling her sexually? Didn’t she know that a man needed to feel like a man in his own home?

He’d come to resent everything about her, and after Jen had started opening his eyes to the reality of his life it had made him hate his wife. She was the one who’d borne the brunt of the hardships they’d faced while he was struggling to make it through medical school. Did she have to be so strong? Never a complaint, never a whine about how hard it was for her to carry them both.

She’d just plodded along doing whatever was needed to keep their heads above water. Why did she have to be so damn…perfect? She’d endured when he knew he’d have given up long ago.

And then there was the fact that at night when he’d sate his lust on her body, she’d still be wide eyed as if left wanting while he was done for.

That had started to eat away at him. What man wouldn’t have a problem with the fact that he couldn’t please his woman in bed? Maybe that’s why it had been so easy to fall prey to Jen. At least she’d appreciated his efforts.

Though here lately he was beginning to see the same empty look in her eyes, that is when she did let him anywhere near her. He’d been had, and it was only his pride keeping him from admitting it.

At first she’d used the baby and giving birth as an excuse, but he knew that it wasn’t that. She was fine in every other aspect of her life. She still found time for her friends, but once they went to bed the headaches started or she was too tired. He didn’t see how since she didn’t do anything around the house.

Now, just as he’d decided that he should win his wife back this biker had to show up. Why did he have to choose her? Weren’t there any women where he came from? And what about her? how could she jump into bed with the first man to come sniffing around when only a few months ago she’d been wanting him back?

That was the problem. Paul had subconsciously always believed that she would always be there waiting for whatever scraps he was willing to give her. Maybe if he explained that it was all Jen’s doing she would stop this foolishness.

He made up his mind that the very next day he was going to confront Kerryanne and have her put an end to this nonsense. Either he was crazy or he was truly clueless, but he felt good with that settled in his mind. He didn’t see anything wrong with his thinking and had no doubt that he could sweet talk the girl who’d given him her innocence into giving him a second chance. He hadn’t quite figured out what he was going to do with his new wife and baby girl.

Chapter 20

***

K
yle pulled out and rolled away from Kerryanne early the next morning, but when he moved in for his snuggle and kiss she pushed him away and made a mad dash for the bathroom.

He followed her, and kneeling on the floor next to her, held her hair back. Since this was the third or fourth time he’d seen this he was getting good at knowing what to do next. So after wetting a washcloth he cooled her brow, and helped her wash up, before leading her back to bed. “I’m making you a cup of tea and then we’re going to the doctor.”

“But my appointment isn’t for another two days.” She sounded pitiful.

“I don’t care, we’re going.” His first choice had been to find her a doctor in Chicago but both her and his mom had convinced him that it didn’t make sense for her to travel all that way by private plane for every appointment.

Of course the asshole wasn’t a choice so they’d found one in the next town over. Female. He didn’t care how much everyone laughed at him, no male doc was putting his woman in stirrups, the fuck outta here.

He headed into the kitchen and made her tea since it was the only thing that seemed to help.

“Here, let me help you.” He held her as she sipped her tea then let her rest until she wasn’t breathing like it was her last breath. Kyle had no experience with pregnant women, he wasn’t there when his sisters were throwing up their guts when they were carrying his nieces and nephews. And why the fuck did no one tell him this shit was going to be so hard on his woman?

He didn’t say anything as he got her dressed and ready. He’d stopped her from calling ahead because he didn’t want to be put off. A quick call to his mom had been no help and he’d hung up the phone even more frustrated. What did she mean this was natural? How the fuck could her being that sick every damn morning be natural? The damn doctor better have something to help or there was going to be hell to pay.

“Kyle you need to calm down. This can go on for months, do you plan to lose it each time it happens?” He just gave her a look and concentrated on the road with her hand in his. “I’ll calm down as soon as we see this quack and she gives you something to make it all better.”

“I hope you don’t plan on calling her that to her face.” He seemed to have a healthy aversion to doctors. “She did spend a lot of years getting her degree, I don’t think she’d appreciate it.”

“The asshole is an MD how hard can it be?” It was a testament to how far they’d come that he was the one to bring Paul into the conversation. Granted he wasn’t speaking in glowing terms, but still.

“Honey be nice, we’re having a baby it’s a good thing.” He was amazed at her resilience. A few minutes ago she looked like death, and now she was all teasing smiles. Lifting her hand to his lips, he kissed her fingers. “I am being nice sweetheart-I just don’t like seeing you hurt.”

She laid her head on his arm and enjoyed the warmth that enveloped her at his words. The last few days have been like something out of a movie. Each day better than the one before. Kyle was on a mission to make her every dream come true it seemed, and spent every moment when they weren’t making love, bombarding her with questions.

He wanted her to have the perfect wedding, but that was the only place they butt heads. He refused to give her the year both she and his mother told him was the norm for a wedding this size. She’d thought their wedding would be a simple little to-do right here in town with just their new elderly friends, but Kyle had other ideas. He’d reminded her of his colleagues in the business world and once his mother had forwarded a list, she’d almost passed out.

There were more than five hundred people on the thing, and according to her soon to be mother-in-law, none of them would dare refuse an invitation. She was told she was lucky they’d cut the number by more than half. Who knew that many people? It was crazy.

When she’d started to panic he’d called his mom and told her to take the reins, just double check with her on everything.

The other woman had been only too happy with the news, she’d acted like they’d given her a gift, when Kerry knew it was anything but. She’d had flop sweat planning her own little wedding at the courthouse years ago, so she knew this was going to be a nightmare.

She’d tried arguing that she could do it, but they’d outnumbered her. In the end it was decided that they’d Facetime and she’d fly out whenever it was necessary. She was secretly happy about that, she wanted Kyle to have the perfect wedding since it was going to be his only one.

When it wasn’t the wedding, they were talking furniture for their new home, and hiring a staff. The man was a dictator, he wanted everything in its place before they moved in and he didn’t seem to want her to lift a finger to do anything more than write. If she pouted hard enough he’d give in to her wants, like when he suggested an interior designer and she told him she wanted to do it herself.

He seemed to think carrying a baby was a debilitating disease and it was up to her to show him different. That’s why this morning sickness thing was a kick in the ass. Not that she minded all that much, believe it or not, she wanted the whole experience. But it was hard convincing him that she could do more than lie in bed all day until the baby came, when she turned green every morning and was sick as ten dogs for the first hour of every day.

The pampering was something new as well. She would never have expected the rugged biker to be so in tune with her every need, but he cosseted her like no one ever had, telling her always how special she was to him.

She was afraid to be this happy, no one can be this happy without some kind of fallout, it was like the laws of nature or something. But she was afraid to mention that to him for fear of what he’d do. Knowing him, he’d lock her away somewhere until the baby was born and keep everyone away.

She hadn’t heard from Paul since a few days ago and was hoping against hope that that was the end of it. She was sure by now he’d heard the news and with the way he’d been acting lately wasn’t sure how he’d take it, but she couldn’t let that bother her. Paul was no longer her responsibility.

She’d realized in the middle of the night on one of those nights when Kyle had fallen asleep and she’d stayed up writing, that that was her problem. She’d always felt like she had to take care of him, because somewhere along the way she’d stopped being just his wife and had also become his caregiver.

It wasn’t that she hadn’t still loved him, she had, and would’ve stayed married to him forever if that’s what he’d wanted. But she realized now that he was more like the boy she’d met than the man he was supposed to have become.

Then when Jen tore their world apart, she was afraid that he was no match for the other woman-that she’d end up hurting him in the long run. It was all too confusing to think about, but at least she could be happy that she was in a much better place now.

“What are you thinking about?” His voice brought her back from her thoughts. She guessed she was going to have to get used to the fact that he always knew when Paul hopped into her mind.

“I was just counting my blessings. My life is so changed from just a few short months ago. It’s one thing to write a story that goes from zero to sixty in a few pages, but quite another to see it unfold in reality. Thank you.”

Now it was she who lifted their joined hands and kissed his knuckles.”

“For what baby cakes?” He pulled into a parking space outside the doctor’s office.

“For finding me, loving me.” He turned the key in the ignition and kissed her hair. “You’re more than welcome.”

***

The doctor turned out to be a nice middle-aged woman who seemed to know her way around a disgruntled father to be. She answered all his questions with a patience that could only have been born with time and experience because he had a lot.

Kyle had been reading up on pregnancy and fatherhood, but he still didn’t know shit and decided to lay it all out. He didn’t want any surprises, none.

It was too soon to tell the baby’s sex but he or she was definitely in there-and thank heaven there was something she could take to help with the nausea or Kyle would’ve had poor Kerryanne committed to the hospital for the duration.

They left with a little packet of everything and anything to do with her pregnancy and she was a little nervous at how intensely Kyle had listened to the woman’s orders. She saw her pot of coffee a day habit going out the window as well as the greasy food she was so fond of.

They made a stop at the grocery store and this time there were no mishaps. Instead of her chips and cookies, which she was rather fond of these days she was laden down with fruits and veggies. He bought enough saltine crackers to last a lifetime and cases of water.

Every other aisle he’d break out the nutrition sheet the nurse had given him and peruse it like it was the meaning of life. She gave herself up to the fact that this is what she had to look forward to for the next few months.

Back at the apartment, he refused to let her help him put away the groceries even though she assured him she was more than fine. She could just imagine sitting on her ass for the remainder of her pregnancy, since the crazy man had got it into his head that pregnant women were supposed to be feeble.

“I’m gonna go check on gramps, you sit and write. When your back starts to ache get up and walk

around a little. I’ll be back soon.” One hurried kiss and he was out the door with her laughter following him. She wondered how she could write his brand of crazy into her story as she sat down at her computer. The knock on the door had her getting back up with a grin.

“What did you forget?” She pulled the door open expecting to see him. Paul pushed past her into the room and she stepped back in surprise. “What’re you doing here?”

“I waited for him to leave, where did you go with him?” She didn’t bother to answer, because the question was too strange even for him.

“You can’t be here. Kyle will be back any second.” She didn’t like the look in his eyes, had he always had that manic look? She couldn’t remember, but she knew she felt a little unsafe with him there. She refused to move back and let him in any farther and the door was the only exit.

“I’ve come to talk some sense into you, you can’t possibly go through with this.” He’d been set to come here before, but then Jen had told him a story. One she’d been only too happy to share, about who Kyle Clancy really was. Instead of the penniless biker he’d believed the man to be, he was a multi-millionaire.

The news had incensed him and the sneer on Jen’s face hadn’t helped. He’d wanted to smash it right off. Instead he’d had to pretend indifference. Though for some strange reason he thought his wife had wanted him to have just the reaction he was having now.

How could he win her back if she went ahead with this? He’d scoffed at Jen’s words but then she’d shown him the proof. He was all over the Internet. His picture taken with some of the country’s leading elite. After Jen had slammed out of the room, he’d done some searching of his own, and every new discovery had been like a dagger in his heart.

Kyle Clancy was not only wealthy beyond anything he himself could ever imagine, but the man was also some kind of rogue. He was a lone wolf-one of those men women went crazy over. There wasn’t a bad word to be found about the guy, which was suspect. But no matter how he dug there was nothing he could use against him.

“Paul, I want you to leave, we have nothing to talk about. Please go home to your wife and child and leave me alone.”

“I will not. Now I want you to listen to me and stop this nonsense. How do you plan to fit into his world? You’re a small town girl with a high school education. A man like that needs someone with more than you have to offer.”

He did move forward then, invading her space. When he reached out to touch her she actually felt like she would throw up. “Leave.” She was a quivering mess inside but she had to take a stand. How dare he think he could dictate to her after what he’d done? How insane was he to think that she could possibly care what he thought.”

“I’ll find you a new apartment, I’ll…” He never got to finish that statement because the door opened up behind him and Kyle was there.

He didn’t say a word but the look on his face was murderous. “I warned you-you fuck.” She screamed when he picked Paul up and threw him into the wall. When he went after her ex and dragged him up by his neck before plowing his fist into his face she tried pulling him off.

“Get back before you hurt the baby.”

“Baby…” Paul looked like someone had shot him.

“Don’t talk to her asshole. I told you, if you come near her again I’d kill you did you think I was playing?”

“Kyle let him go, he’s not worth it just let him go. Paul if you come here again I will go to the police and take out a restraining order against you. We’re through, get it through your thick skull. I’m in love with Kyle we’re getting married and having a baby. Now leave.”

“You heard the lady, now get the fuck out and stay the fuck out.” He wasn’t too gentle when he opened the door and tossed Paul out on his ass before slamming the door.

She wrung her hands with worry. Would he blame her for this? Just when things were going so well. Damn Paul.

“Come here.” He pulled her into his chest and looked at her eyes. “Are you okay, did he touch you?”