What the Heart Takes (43 page)

“Faith, did something happen while you were there?”

Tears welled in Faith’s eyes as she nodded. “Not long after I went to the room, there was a knock on the door. When I opened it, I found Matt standing there holding my purse. He said he found it on the bar and didn’t want me to forget where I’d left it.” She paused long enough to sit down on the steps. “We started talking a little bit, laughing about the pool game, as well as how drunk we were. Jerry came up the stairs a few minutes later, checking to see why Matt disappeared. I don’t remember how the subject got brought up, but somehow, Matt tried to get Jerry to leave so we could, you know.”

Sweet mother of God, she was right. This Matt was the baby’s father.

The revelation shook Heaven. She pressed her hand to her face, rubbing over her eyes. “Did you sleep with him, Faith?”

A moment of silence had Heaven dropping her hand to her side and focusing on her sister. Faith nodded, swiping at her eyes and then her nose as she said, “I slept with both of them.”

Heaven’s eyes fluttered closed. She drew in several breaths, trying to steady her heart, but nothing helped. “Did you… Are you telling me that you not only slept with a complete stranger, you slept with your best friend’s boyfriend?”

“You’re a flipping genius, Heaven. Bravo.”

Opening her eyes, Heaven locked them on to her sister, gritting her teeth to avoid punching her in her sarcastic mouth. “What the hell is wrong with you? Why would you do something so selfish? Oh wait, I forgot who I was talking to.”

Her sister didn’t resort to her usual comeback—an eye roll. She dropped her gaze to the yard behind Heaven, shrugging her shoulders. “I wanted to punish Layne for ignoring me. I knew he and Jerry were bandmates as well as friends, so I knew if he ever found out, it would piss him off.”

“So sleep in another room,” Heaven shouted. “Hell, ignore him altogether. You don’t go off and sleep with his friend, or his friend’s neighbor!” Anger consumed her like a blazing inferno. The longer she stared at Faith, the more she wanted to shake some sense into her. Was she really that stupid, or just that heartless?”

“I know it’s not right, Heaven, but at the same time, it’s right for me. You didn’t see the way Jerry looked at me. Layne never looked at me like that.”

Gripping the rail, Heaven tried to force the anger away. She didn’t have a right to judge her sister after the thoughts she had about Layne. Yet he was the reason she felt so impassioned to rip Faith to shreds.

“I’m trying hard to wrap my brain around this, Faith. Why Jerry?”

“I don’t know.” Faith took the opportunity to shout her own words, causing Heaven to jerk her head back. “He told me he feels something for me, like he’s drawn to me and needs to protect me. He cares about Brooke, but it’s not the same.”

It seemed like some psychotic conclusion an insane person would think perfectly sane. She wanted to question her sister’s sanity, but it would have to wait for another time. She still didn’t have the answer she wanted. “So let me guess. One of them is the father. Right?”

“Jerry’s the father.”

Faith’s answer was precise. She said it without any hesitation, but it wasn’t enough to convince Heaven it was the truth. “How do you know? You slept with both of them.”

Her sister met her gaze, holding it long enough for Heaven to sense a twinge of maliciousness. “Yeah, I did sleep with both of them, but only one time and one way with Matt.”

“Huh?”

Of all the times for her sister to start spouting riddles, she chose this moment. Heaven didn’t feel like playing her games. She wanted the rest of the story. At least she thought she did until she sensed Faith’s urge to make her squirm.

“I could really embarrass the shit out of you right now, but I’ll be nice and put it to you like this. Matt had a
backstage
pass
.
”

The heat in Heaven’s cheeks burned hotter as she made the connection. “I did
not
need to know that.”

“I tried to warn you.”

Yes, she had, and Heaven ignored the warning of her own free will. She covered her lips with her hand as she stared at the sky. “I can’t believe this.”

“Well, believe it. It’s the truth. When Matt left, Jerry didn’t. We talked for hours. He told me that he didn’t want to share me but that I seemed in to it. He wanted to please me, yet he couldn’t bring himself to let Matt have me any other way. He said it’s because he wanted to look into my eyes, wanted to see the expressions on my face when I climaxed. No man’s ever told me that before. No man’s ever cared enough.”

As much as she didn’t like hearing about Faith’s sexual escapades, she understood where Faith was coming from. Jerry’s need to please her, as well as witness the pleasure, said that he cared for her. Maybe it was love.

“So what are you going to do?”

“I don’t know. If what our parents told us is true, then Jerry is my soulmate
and
my Keeper.”

The vibrant pulse of Faith’s energy was proof that she believed what she was saying was true. Yet Jerry’s actions left them both in a state of confusion. “I’m not saying you’re wrong, but I have to question why he bought an engagement ring for Brooke. You told me that he didn’t want to be with her.”

“He doesn’t,” Faith answered, motioning for Heaven to hand over her phone. When she did, Faith pulled up the picture of the ring. She stared at it and then turned the phone in Heaven’s direction. “There is a reason Brooke found this ring in Jerry’s carryon. It wasn’t meant for her. I think he bought it for me because it looks identical to the one I picked out when he and I went shopping.”

“So he’s the one who came to see you in New York.” When Faith nodded, Heaven remembered the rest of what her sister had said about his last visit. “You said the reason you didn’t tell him about the baby is because his girlfriend is pregnant. Chelsea didn’t mention anything about Brooke being pregnant.”

“Jerry told me that they weren’t telling anyone yet. He’s superstitious about stuff like that. Said it can jinx a pregnancy and cause a miscarriage. It’s some old wives tale his mother told him. I don’t know if he was being honest about it, but he had never lied to me before.”

“Why would it matter to him if he doesn’t want to be with Brooke?”

Faith jerked her head back. Her hand slapped against her side as she shook her head at Heaven. “Jerry’s not heartless. The child is still his. He wouldn’t want it to die.”

Guilt burned in Heaven. Her sister was right. Jerry might not like the situation, but it didn’t mean he was a jerk. That said a lot about his character. Of course, so did his cheating on Brooke.

“This is a huge mess,” she said, releasing a deep sigh. She balanced her weight against the rail, doing her best to wrap her head around the nightmare unfolding before her. “Not only is Brooke going to be upset, Layne will be too. You led him to believe you aborted
his
baby when it was you trying to hide your misdeeds.”

“Don’t worry, Heaven. Karma is paying me back. Brooke has my soulmate. She’s having a child with the man who is not only supposed to keep me safe, but love me for the rest of his life. I’m paying for my mistakes.”

Maybe Faith was paying for them, or maybe she’d been right. Maybe she and Jerry were soulmates. Unfortunate soulmates. The mess that they’d created was causing enough chaos.

Sadly enough, Heaven doubted this was the end. If anything, it was only the beginning.

CHAPTER 27

Breaks squeaked and horns blew from different directions, forming a rhythm that Dylan struggled to ignore. The rush of morning traffic did little to help distract his mind. Nor did the ten or so red lights he had the misfortune of hitting on his way across the unfamiliar town.

It was double the size of Brightsville, maybe even triple. Communities, both business and residential, spread as far as the eye could see. He couldn’t remember the name of the town, but he knew it ended in ‘ville’. The majority of towns around there did. Not that the name mattered one way or the other, because after today, he’d never set foot here again.

The GPS signaled his arrival when he reached an abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of town. A chain link fence surrounded the place. It did little to prevent vandals from sneaking their way inside. The outside walls were sprayed with graffiti. Some images were so lifelike that he had to take a moment to appreciate another artist’s work, regardless of the canvas. Broken panes of glass were random in pattern, but clearly evident of the lack of concern the owner had for his property.

The parking lot stood vacant of any car except Dylan’s, which had him questioning the accuracy of his GPS. Had he punched in a wrong number? It wasn’t like him not to double-check for accuracy, which only left one other possibility. His father had lied. This was a setup, a well-thought-out plan to get him to leave so that someone could attack the Lewises. There was no other explanation.

He pulled out his phone, his finger poised to press Heaven’s number after he put the car in reverse. Yet before he could do either, he noticed something, or rather, someone, moving toward the main entrance. It was hard to see anything other than a silhouette thanks to the dim lighting inside the building. As the person grew closer to the opening, daylight lit up the stranger’s face.

Only it wasn’t a stranger.

His fingers tightened around the steering wheel as he locked eyes with his father. Nothing about him had changed in the last few months, not that Dylan expected something different. He couldn’t deny that a part of him still hoped his dad would come around. Judging by the lines creasing his face, that hope was about to be extinguished forever.

Dylan shifted the car into park, killing the engine soon after. The thought of getting out made him angry. Anything to do with his dad had that effect on him. Neither of them should be here. They wouldn’t be having any type of discussion if his dad were half the father Dylan planned to be.

No. He wouldn’t just plan to be, he would be. He’d be everything his father wasn’t and more, because he loved his daughter. She wasn’t even here yet and the amount of love he felt for her overwhelmed him.

He loved her mother too, would do anything for her, even stand idly by and watch her connection with another man grow into something more, something deeper.

Pulling the handle toward him, he opened the door with a firm push, slipping the key out of the ignition. He tucked it in his pocket as he stepped outside.

Now came the fun part. Dealing with his dad. He hated to call him by that name. It shouldn’t be given to a man just because he’d helped create a life. It was a name of honor, a name a man should feel privileged to have. His father had no honor, nor did he deserve the title.

Step-by-step, Dylan made his way toward his dad, keeping his eyes glued to him. There had never been any true form of trust between them, even less now. Knowing what he did about his father’s past, his descent to darkness, his high ranking within The Fallen, Dylan didn’t doubt that he had people watching them at this very moment.

Then again, maybe his father was that sure of himself and his abilities. Or maybe it was that his father knew, short of beating the hell out of him, Dylan had no abilities that would hurt him.

When he was within a few feet of his dad’s shorter, solid frame, he noticed his mouth parting. “You got here a lot quicker than I expected. Were you that excited to see me, son?”

Clamping his jaw tighter, Dylan refused to let his father bait him. He stopped just shy of the main entrance, clenching his hands into fists. “Is that why I drove here, to hear you crack jokes?”

“No. You came here because you are weak. You’d do anything to save that girl, even take a chance meeting me alone.”

“Why would I be afraid of you?”

His father sized him up. A smirk played across his face as he shifted his weight to his other foot and leaned into the doorframe. “You’ve been staying with
them
. I know they’ve told you our history, about who and what I am.”

“Yeah, I know our history,
Dad
. I know everything. It doesn’t make me afraid of you.”

“It should.”

The icy tone in his voice hit a nerve. Dylan stepped forward, just past the entrance. “If you have the balls to kill your son, then by all means, do it. Because that is what it will take to separate me and my wife.”

“Ah, yes. Your
wife
…the little whore that claims to love you.”

And so it began.

Dylan rushed toward his dad, forcing him further inside the building. They passed through another entrance that led into a lobby area. A few lights flickered above, which seemed unusual for a building this abandoned, but he paid it little attention. Right now, he wanted to punch his dad in the face.

“She’s not a whore. She’s known no one but me and she never will.”

A guttural laugh echoed through the building. His father stopped short of an old water cooler near the wall behind him. His chest shook as laughter continued to erupt from his mouth.

“Don’t be so sure about that. Has she found her Keeper yet?”

Ignoring the dig, Dylan focused on the fact that his dad had to ask. It meant he didn’t know about Layne, which gave Heaven an advantage against him and The Fallen, an advantage Dylan intended to keep. The less his father knew about how prepared they were, the less chance he had to hurt Heaven.

“Your games aren’t going to work, Dad. I know about the Seeker-Keeper bonds. I’m not worried in the least. I’m her soulmate.” He jabbed his finger in his chest, taking a step closer to the wall where his dad stood. “We’re a fortunate pair, which means nothing will tear us apart. Not her Keeper, not your people, not even you.”

“That girl is going to break your heart, Dylan. You don’t know what is in store for you.” His voice, as well as his retreat, stopped short when he backed into a corner where the cooler and wall met. Even with no way out, he continued sputtering his negativity. “I’m sure your mother has only told you what
she
thinks is important. I doubt she’s told you everything you
need
to know. There’s much more to our world, Dylan, much more to your abilities. You were destined to be one of the greatest Seekers of our time.”