Carrying Hope (20 page)

“I was wondering when you’d decide to show up,” he said drolly.

“Y-you knew I was coming?” I hated that I stuttered, but I was so surprised by his lack of reaction that I momentarily lost myself.

“Of course I did. Remember: I know who
you
are. It’s not hard to keep tabs on you. Now, I suppose you’d like to discuss some things with me?”

I closed the door behind me and walked over to him, my entire body trembling with rage.

“You need to leave Marcie alone. I know your secret now and I don’t give a fuck about you. If you leave us alone, I leave it alone. If you ever make threats toward her or anyone I care about again, know that I will ruin you and cause you ten times more pain than you cause me.”

He chuckled and closed his book casually before standing to meet me eye-to-eye.

“I remember when I had that temper. You’ll need to get a handle on that before it gets you into trouble, son.”

“Leave my family alone or you
will
regret it. I promise you,” I ground out through clenched teeth.
My family?
Was that really how I viewed Marcie and the baby? Now wasn’t the best time for revelations, but it still shocked me for a moment.

My father scoffed, wrinkles creasing his once-handsome face.

“What? That whore you have living in your house? I’m sure she’s fun, son, but she isn’t someone you
marry.
I had the sense not to stay with your mother. I guess you take after your old man after all, hmm?”

I couldn’t make out his face through the haze of red that clouded my vision. Before I could stop myself I drew back my arm and punched him squarely on the jaw. There was a sickening crack as my fist connected with his face. I wanted to hit him again, but I restrained myself.

“You son of a bitch,” he howled, clutching the side of his face.

“You’re nothing but a bastard and you’ll never be anything but the bastard son of a whore.”

My hand shook with rage and I almost couldn’t stop myself from hitting him again. I knew if I hit him a second time I wouldn’t stop hitting him until he was dead. He wasn’t worth losing Marcie and the baby.

“And you’re nothing more than a pathetic old man too scared to face his own son.”

He spat blood on the floor and glared at me. He knew that he was no match for me physically, but I could see his wheels turning.

“This is
your
last warning. You can’t hide from me anymore and if you don’t let this go, you won’t be able to hide anything from anyone,” I said with much more composure than I felt.

“Fine,” he growled, realizing he’d been defeated. “But don’t ever come to me asking for a hand-out.”

I let out a bark of sarcastic laughter.

“I will
never
ask you for anything. I would be perfectly happy if you dropped dead any second.”

He sneered at me and winced at the pain the movement caused him. I had nothing else to say to him. I believed that it was really over. I had enough information on him to ruin his career, his marriage, and put him in jail. He wasn’t going to risk everything to get revenge.

I left the hotel feeling lighter than ever. I called Tanner, knowing that he’d be worried until I did.

“It’s done,” I told him.

“What’d you do?” He asked, dread apparent in his voice.

“I just sat down and had a nice heart-to-heart with him. What the fuck do you think I did? I told him to stay the fuck away from Marcie and I punched him in his stupid face.”

“At least you didn’t kill him,” Tanner said with a sigh.

“I wanted to.”

“I don’t doubt that.”

“How’s Marcie?”

“Dude, seriously? You asked me that like half an hour ago. She’s fine; just excited to see you.”

“You told her I’m coming home? I wanted it to be a surprise.”

“Well, she’s scarier than you told me. She got it out of me.”

I grinned. Nothing could ruin my good mood now. It was over. I could be with Marcie now.

“I’ll be back tomorrow, I have one more thing I want to do first.”

I didn’t want to tell Tanner my plans just yet, especially after he’d proven that he couldn’t keep a secret for shit. I wanted to buy Marcie a ring. I didn’t know if she would accept it, but with nothing in my way now, I had to try.

Chapter 23

I had everything all set up for Bryce’s homecoming. I gave Clara and Francis the night off and spent the entire day in the kitchen making a nice meal for us. I wanted everything to be perfect. I tried not to think about my deal with Tanner. I knew he would know if I went back on it and then he would tell Bryce everything. I couldn’t let that happen, so I couldn’t be chicken. I just had to go through with it.

Snowflakes descended from the heavens in droves, blanketing the vineyard. I hoped that Bryce’s plane would be able to land okay with the weather. I didn’t know exactly what time he expected to be in, but I had the impression that it would be around dinner time. My phone rang; it was Bryce.

“Hey stranger,” I answered.

“It’s good to hear your voice again,” he said quietly. My heart skipped a beat and I suppressed the giant grin that was trying to make its way onto my face.

“Likewise. Are you nearly home?”

“Yeah. I tried to call Clara and Francis and Tanner and no one answered.”

“Hmm, that’s weird. I guess you’re just stuck with me then,” I teased.

It was weird to talk to him so easily like this after the last time we saw each other. I still didn’t know what made Bryce blow up like he had, but I trusted that he had a reason for everything. Tanner convinced me that Bryce and I made a good couple and complemented each other. I was afraid that I only liked him because he was the first person I saw after Kevin, but the more I thought about it, I realized I love so many things about him. This wasn’t some spontaneous fling.

“Sounds like the perfect welcome home to me.” I could hear the smile in his voice and it was infectious. After nearly two months of not speaking or seeing each other, I finally felt like things were falling back into place.

“Hurry home,” I said, before realizing who I was talking to, “On second thought, drive slowly. The roads are icy.”

“Okay, I’ll see you soon.”

I hung up the call, the words still on the tip of my tongue. Not yet.

I heard the tires of his car crunching in the snow before I saw him. He climbed out of the car looking sexier than ever. How could I have forgotten just how beautiful he was?

Rushing out of the house, I flung myself into his arms, inhaling his piny scent and reveling in the feeling of his embrace.

“I missed you,” I whined before taking a step back and smacking him on the arm.

“Don’t ever leave like that again! I was worried sick. So was Tanner.”

He laughed and pulled me into another hug.

“I’m sorry. It’ll never happen again. It’s all over now.”

“What is?” I asked, confused yet again.

“Let’s go inside where it’s warm and I’ll tell you all about it.”

“Okay,” I said cheerfully, pulling him by the hand.

“I made you dinner.”

“
You
did?” He asked with disbelief in his tone.

“Yes;
I
did. Don’t act so surprised.”

“Well, I’m just wondering where Clara is,” he replied, “if she was here she wouldn’t let anyone touch her kitchen.”

“Clara and Francis are enjoying a night off. I didn’t want us to be interrupted.”

He raised his eyebrows at me with a smirk and I hid my blush in my hand. I didn’t mean it like… okay, I totally meant it like that, but I wasn’t about to tell him that!

“So, what’s for dinner? I’m starving,” Bryce said, sitting at the head of the table.

“Roast lamb, rosemary potatoes, and glazed carrots,” I said, uncovering each dish as I announced it.

“Wow, that looks fantastic.”

I carved the lamb and served us both before lighting a couple of candles and dimming the lights.

“So, why don’t you tell me where you’ve been,” I said casually, even though I was dying to find out.

He tried a bite of his food and closed his eyes with a moan.

“This is excellent.”

“Don’t try to change the subject,” I chided.

“Okay, I’ll tell you. Just remember that it’s all over now and everything is okay.”

“Okay…”

For the duration of dinner he explained the whole situation with his father and how he’d been worried about my safety. He told me about his month going back and forth between D.C. and New York, gathering clues and trying to narrow down the man that sired him. He told me how he felt he owed it to his mother to make the man answer for his sins, but also about how he wanted to live in the present now rather than the past.

I had a hard time accepting that all of this was going on right under my nose and I knew nothing about it. I now totally understood why he was so upset the night he left, and the fact that he was so protective of me gave me butterflies.

“Okay, if we’re going to be honest with each other, I have something I need to tell you, too,” I sighed, clearing the table.

“Should I be worried?”

I smiled over my shoulder at him.

“Just remember that it’s all over now and everything is okay.”

He laughed and helped me clean up before we headed into the den.

The large room was comfortably furnished, but at the moment it was freezing. Normally, Francis would have a fire going, but I’d been too preoccupied with dinner to think about it.

Bryce knelt in front of the fireplace, arranging the wood just so before lighting it ablaze. I admired his quick efficient work and the view of his tight ass that I got.

We sat on the plush rug, basking in the glow of the fire and the joy we felt with one another.

“So, what was it that you wanted to tell me?”

“Right. Promise me you won’t be angry?”

“I reserve judgment until I hear the story. But I promise even if I’m angry, I will forgive you.”

That was going to have to be close enough.

I took a deep breath and launched into my whole story again. I wanted to be honest with him about my problems like he had been with me. I didn’t want to keep any secrets from him. I was ashamed of my behavior and how weak I’d been. I was embarrassed that I had such an addiction. I hated to think that Bryce would decide he didn’t like me anymore. But I had to tell him anyway.

“So, Tanner picked me up and I begged him not to tell you about any of it. I was just so afraid of what you were going to think.”

“What did Tanner say?” I thought it was a strange question to ask after all the information I’d just given him.

“Um, he said he would keep it a secret, but I needed to tell you.”

“I see. That was very nice of him.”

I could tell that he didn’t believe my version of the events. What was I just saying about no secrets? Time to grow a pair, as Tanner would say.

“Okay, that’s not everything.”

“No?” He asked with a quirked eyebrow.

“No,” I sighed. “He promised he would keep it a secret if I told you how I feel about you.”

“And how’s that?”

I glowered at him. Was he messing with me or just that clueless?

“I’m probably going to sound crazy, but here goes nothing… If tonight hasn’t made it perfectly clear, I like you a lot… really a lot. More than like even,” I rambled, trying to find the words that refused to leave my lips.

“Oh yeah?” He asked with a smirk before swooping in for a kiss.

“Yeah,” I sighed happily, kissing him back with everything I had.

His tongue did marvelous things to me, his lips rained down over my soft skin. He peeled my dress off of me, inch-by-tantalizing-inch, drawing out his sweet seduction.

Gentle hands caressed my body and manipulated my sensitive flesh. This couldn’t really be happening. After all of this time of wondering… of dreaming.