The Bad Boy's Biggest Mistake (9 page)

“What is that?” she asked. Her arms were folded
around her body. To Tristan the position looked like she was trying to ward off
some kind of pain.

“You’ve got me. We’ll get through this together. All
your pain and suffering will come to me.”

“You’re invading, Tristan.”

“No, I’m taking over and controlling the situation,
which is what I should have done months ago. I’ve let it go. You don’t eat, and
from the looks of it you barely sleep.
All that is going to
change.”

He finished pouring the alcohol down the sink then
pulled the keys from his pocket. “Come on, we’ve got to go out.”

“Why? Where are we going?” she asked.

“Shopping.
You
need some food in this place.” He didn’t wait for an answer. Taking her hand he
pulled her outside. The town was busy with market day. He didn’t take her to
the market. He pulled her toward his car parked outside of the station. He saw
Stefan’s bike was parked alongside Kevin’s truck. The two men must be trying to
woo the woman inside. “I feel sorry for Marla. Poor woman doesn’t stand a
chance against those two.”

Vicki mumbled in agreement. Opening the passenger
door to the car he waited for her to climb inside before going around to his
side.

“Where are we going? There’s a supermarket several
doors down from the mechanic shop,” Vicki said.

“I know. I don’t feel like listening to everyone
talk about Kate. I know she’s still in town, but the less I see of
her the
better,” he said.

“What happened?” Vicki asked.

“What should have happened a long time
ago.
My eyes were opened to the real woman Kate is. She’s
used to getting her own way. Being married to me and off getting what she
wanted was fine while it was on her own shift. Now, she’s turned nasty. You
might start to hear some crap about me if she decides to stay in town.”

Tristan knew Kate better than his wife realised. He
wasn’t going to let her bring him down no matter how much she wanted to.

****

Buckling up her seatbelt, Vicki listened to
everything Tristan had to say. Her hands were shaking from the small amount of
alcohol she’d drunk. She was ashamed because what Tristan said was the truth.

Up until recently she never touched the stuff.
Watching the way people changed scared her. Alcohol scared her, and yet she’d
started to drink in order to numb the pain inside.

Watching him pour the contents of the two bottles
was enough for her to realise she needed to change. Two bottles were two more
than she’d ever owned. The fact she’d poured whisky into her coffee was even
more shameful to her.

Pushing the few strands of hair off her face she
looked out of the window at the passing scenery.

“Where are we going?” she asked.

“To a quieter place to buy some
groceries.”
Tristan didn’t elaborate, and she wasn’t in the
mood to know more.

“Do you really think Kate will cause you problems?”
Vicki asked. From the way he described the other woman, Kate sounded like a
person to avoid conflict.

“She’s a lawyer. Losing anything is not something
she’s comfortable with,” Tristan said. “I’m prepared for everything. She may
even hit out at you and our age difference.”

“Why would she try? You know her secret about the
pain thing.”

“Yeah, I do. She also knows I wouldn’t out her
unless I had to. If I out her then I’d be blacklisted. The people in our scene
would see me as a snitch. It’s complicated.”

“But you’re not part of the scene anymore. What would
it matter?”

“It wouldn’t, and I’m hoping Kate will realise that
before she tries something fucking stupid.”

Vicki nodded. “You swear a lot when you’re angry.”

“I’ve got a lot to be angry about.” He slammed his
hands on the steering wheel. “I put my life on hold. I’m forty-five years old,
and when I met Kate I thought I’d be settled with a couple of kids.”

She saw when he chanced a glance at her. Quickly his
gaze returned to the road. “When you told me you loved me, I wanted to give you
everything. I was married to Kate, and I didn’t see any other choice than to
push you away.”

Staying silent was the best thing for her to do.
Tristan didn’t need words. He needed to get his thoughts off his chest.

“Finding out about the baby was the worst. I pushed
you away to the point you couldn’t even be honest with me. I remember when we
talked outside of The Dugout after I talked to Steve and Zoe. You asked if
there was any chance I’d leave my wife. Do you remember?”

“Yeah, I remember.”

“Did you know about the baby then?” he asked.

“Yeah.
Your
answer was going to be the deciding factor on staying or leaving Law Castle. I
wasn’t in touch with my dad then. Losing the baby meant I could stay home.”

“But my answer was going to send you away?” he
asked.

She nodded. “Law Castle is my home. Leaving town is
the last resort for me. I know the people would support me, and I’d have Zoe
and her men for company. Stefan would probably move me into his home, but it
wouldn’t have worked. You’d know and I would know the truth, and even if you
didn’t know, seeing you every day and knowing you thought it was someone else’s
baby, would be the worst. I planned to leave into my fifth month.”

Her fifth month had never come about. She’d been
shot and lost the baby before her fifth month came around.

Tristan reached out for her hand. “There will be
more babies.”

Vicki didn’t dispute his statement. She would have
more babies. If she had them with him was the question.

He pulled up into a parking space. The supermarket
was large, larger than anything inside Law Castle.

“Wow,” she said. She’d never been to such a large
supermarket before. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry. You’re showing your small town
roots. Come on. If the outside impresses you, wait until you see the front.”

Vicki got out of the car and was shocked when
Tristan grabbed her hand, shocked and delighted as a bolt of electricity went
up her arm from the simple contact.

He held her hand as they walked through the doors.
Tristan only let her go to get a trolley for them to fill. She did a quick sum in
her head on how much she could spend.

When she told Tristan how much he shook her off.

“This is on me. You’ll get what I tell you to get.”

His commanding attitude pissed her off. She wasn’t
going to cause a scene in front of everyone inside the supermarket.

She followed him around as he filled the trolley
with fresh vegetables. When she placed chocolate and unhealthy foods he batted
her hand away and took control. Vicki watched as he allowed some chocolate but
nothing she’d come to regret later.

“You’re going to control my food?” she asked. “Is
that another aspect of your Dom control?”

He paused and stared up and down. “I’ve not been in
charge of your life, and look at you. You must have dropped a minimum of two
dress sizes, and your hair has seen better days. The Vicki I know wouldn’t have
let herself drop so suddenly.”

His remarks cut her deeply.

Food held little appeal, and besides washing herself
in the shower she’d not taken all that much care of herself.

“I didn’t see the need,” she said.

They were alone down the aisle. Tristan leaned in
close. “From now on you better see the need.”

“I’m not going to look pretty for you,” she said.

Tristan shook his head. “You’re going to start
looking pretty for yourself, and in turn you’ll be looking pretty for me.”

She didn’t argue with him even though she wanted to
desperately. Instead she followed him around the supermarket. For as much as
she wanted to hate his belligerent attitude a part of her liked it because he
was showing he was sticking around. Kate wasn’t going to take Tristan away from
her, and for that, Vicki was happy.

Chapter
Eight

By the time Tristan pulled up outside Vicki’s house
it was late afternoon. He’d spent a good few hours in the supermarket buying
everything he felt she needed. Climbing out of the car, he opened the trunk and
started lifting bags. Vicki went to help him, but he nudged her toward the
front door. He would do all the lifting and carrying while she put everything
away.

Leaving the bags inside the kitchen he went back to
get everything else. He’d also purchased a food processor for Vicki. He lifted
the expensive device and carried it through to the kitchen.

When he was finished he closed the trunk and locked
the car. He locked the car more out of habit from living in the city than
anything else.

Law Castle was a safe enough town, apart from the
drug incident last year. Nothing else happened in the small town. Stefan and
the rest of them dealt with it.

Vicki was putting some tins away in the cupboard
when he entered. Going to the far drawer he pulled out a knife and started
setting up some new appliances onto the counter.

“You shouldn’t have bought them,” she said, opening
another bag.

“I don’t care. You need what I got.” He settled them
in place before going to her fridge. He threw everything in the trash and
washed the fridge out before filling it, placing the fresh vegetables, meats,
and cheeses into the fridge as he did.

“You’ve bought enough to feed a family of four or
six,” she said.

“This is more than enough to feed us and your
parents when they come to meet me at the weekend,” he said. He’d already
decided he needed to meet Vicki’s parents.

“What?” she asked. He felt her move closer.

Tristan smiled. He unpacked the fresh herbs and
moved around her to place them in a watered pot.

“You heard me. I was being serious earlier, Vicki. I
intend to stay. I’m going to get my divorce, and you’re going to be my woman.”

The pulse inside her neck jumped. His woman liked
the idea.

“Do you know who my father is?” she asked.

“I know he was a member of the Law Castle group.”

“No, he wasn’t just a member. He was one of the
leaders when he lived here,” she said.

He didn’t know that little detail. When he saw
Stefan again he’d question him.

“You didn’t know that, did you?”

Tristan turned to her. She carried a jar of sun-dried
tomatoes and a packet of dried pasta. “Are you trying to scare me off?” he
asked.

“What? No, I just want you to be prepared. My dad is
not for everyone, even you,
Mr.
Carmichael.”

He smiled. “Call me Sir,” he said.

“What?”

Raising an eyebrow, Tristan waited for her to answer
him.

“Sir?”
She
said the word but looked confused. Taking the jar and pasta from her, Tristan
put them away. “Why did you want me to say that word?”

“I wanted to hear you say it, and you know what I
am, Vicki.”

“Yeah, I know you’re a Dom.”

“Good, there will be times when I wish for you to
say that.”

He turned back to her and folded his arms. The heat
of the day was starting to get to him. When he was alone he spent a great deal
of time walking around in nothing but a pair of loose fitting pants. He didn’t
like to be constricted when he moved around.

Staring up and down Vicki’s body, Tristan wondered
if Vicki would like that about him. He knew she liked his tattoos. Before he
pushed her away she used to like tracing them. Thinking about their time
together they’d never actually made love naked and inside a bed. Their times
together were always rushed. He intended to change that.

“Do you want me to be your sub?” she asked.

Tristan smiled. “Do you even know what the word
means?” he asked, teasing.

“You told me about it, Tristan. I know more than you
think I do.”

“And how would you know more than I told you?” he
asked.

“I’m a curious person. You left me with questions,
and I always need to know more.”

He’d hoped she had gone looking for more
information. There was only so much he could tell her because of Kate. He never
wanted to give her false hope at all.

With Kate soon-to-be out of the picture, the possibilities
were endless.

Closing the distance between them, Tristan pulled
her into his arms. “You’ve got no idea how much your curiosity means to me.”

“I’ve got a small idea,” she said.
“Sir.”

His cock thickened at the word. She was going to do
nothing but tease him. Did she know how much power she held over him?

Tristan caressed her back feeling the lack of weight
on her bones. He didn’t like it. Kissing the top of her head he pulled away.