Falling Hard (Hidden Secrets Book 6) (14 page)

Chapter Sixteen

Aaron

Mum and Dad were using their own search team to try and track Kristy down, but I decided to go out on my own. Remembering the two places I’d run into her, I began my searches around there. No one near the first place looked trustworthy enough to talk to.

I worried because she was in trouble that asking about her would be causing more problems for her. Then she’d hate us even more for that. The problem was the selfish part of me wanted to find her and put a bulletin out on the damn television if I needed to. For fourteen years, we’ve all thought she was dead, but would never say it out loud because our hearts longed for her to be alive.

Since reading her letter, I realized how horrible I have been to her, especially that day. I just wanted so much to make my father proud of me. When he was around, I acted like him. Typical for a son to want to be like his father, I think. But I can’t blame this all on him because I knew the way she was treated was wrong, yet I still kept on going.

The minute Kristy was born, I loved her. She was perfect. Mum and Dad loved her too. They fawned all over her. Mum never went anywhere without her. Actually, there were times when I got a little jealous because of all the attention she got versus me. Kristy and Dad would go places together, having father and daughter days. They really did cherish Kristy, but then Rebecca was born and Kristy was forgotten. But they weren’t with Rebecca like they were with Kristy. But as the years passed, they never tried to bond with Kristy again. They focused on Rebecca and me.

It bewildered me why they changed the way they viewed Kristy when she was the shining light in their eyes until Rebecca was born. Unless I could find Kristy, the mystery may never be solved.

My main priority in finding Kristy was for the simple fact that I had a lot of explaining to do. And if I were to be honest, a lot of making up to do… if she let me, if she let any of us. As a big brother, I let her down and I needed to figure out some way to make it up to her.

After turning up empty for so long, it was really disheartening. My mind was wondering that maybe I was imagining that it was Kristy that day. That I missed her so much that my brain conjured her up. Maybe because it was coming close to the anniversary since she left. Maybe that’s where her image came from? But if that were true, it would have been the fourteen year old image not the adult woman that I’d ran into.

Grabbing my case, I put in the papers I’d need to work on at home because my mind has been so preoccupied with Kristy to focus on work. Shutting down my computer, I was reaching over to shut my lamp off when my office door opened. In walked, Lily McNab.

She was breathtakingly beautiful. When I wasn’t thinking about Kristy, I was thinking about her. But as her boss, that was a line I couldn’t cross. It’d crossed my mind several times to fire her just so I could ask her out.

The name fit her perfectly. As beautiful and graceful looking as a lily flower is, that was my Lily. She could get me hard in a matter of just walking in the door, but then she gives me that smile and I’m thinking of anything I can to get rid of the rock that had taken home in my pants.

“Where are you going?” Lily asked in her beautiful soft voice.

“I’m going to drop my stuff off at home, then go out and look for Kristy again.”

“You still haven’t found her?” She had an unusual look in her eyes. I couldn’t place it.

“No, not yet. She’s out there. I just have to find her… again.”

“Well, I might have some information,” that unusual look intensifying.

Then it hit like a ton of brick what that look was. She was getting ready to bargain information about my sister for something. It was a devious look. I’ve never seen her with a look like that before.

“You do?”

“Yes and I’ll give it to you on two conditions.”

At this point, I’ll do whatever, just to find my sister. “Okay,” I answered hesitantly.

She walked in and closed the door, then walked over in front of me. Raising her hand to my chest, she said just above a whisper, “Kiss me,” all the while maintaining eye contact.

My breath whooshed from my lungs. “You want what?”

“I want you to kiss me. I’m tired of pretending there isn’t anything here. Kiss me so I can prove it.”

Taking a step back, I watched as sadness filled her eyes. They glazed over with unshed tears. She wrung her hands out in front of her, looking down at the floor.

“She, uh, she works at
Fairytales Boutique
. I’ll show you where. Follow me.”

Stunned that she just told me about my sister even after she asked for a kiss from me. It wasn’t until we were standing outside the store that I realized she thought I wouldn’t have done it. She thinks I rejected her. This will go against everything that I’ve stood for in my profession, but damn it I wanted to do it.

Just as Lily was walking away, I grabbed her hand, spun her around into my chest and kissed her with everything I’ve felt for her over the past four years. One thing that finding out that Kristy was still alive has shown me is that sometimes second chances come around, but not unless you work for them. Lily has been a constant effort to forget.

Her arms wrapped around my neck as I pulled her tightly against me. A moan escapes me when her hands tighten in my hair pulling slightly. My hands moved from her waist to her ass, pulling her into me. It was her turn to moan.

Breaking the kiss before things went too far on the street, I rested my forehead against hers. “I’ve always been interested in you Lily. But I’m your boss…”

“I don’t care about you being my boss. You can give me twice as much work if need be, but please don’t tell me that we can’t be together,” she breathed as tears fell from her eyes.

“I’m here holding and kissing you… I’m not turning around now.” I pressed a light kiss to her lips. “I need to go see if my sister is in here.”

Grabbing her hand, I walked inside. The bell signaled us entering, but no one was at the counter. We walked around for a bit looking for her. Lily pulled on my hand and pointed to a woman hanging some clothes on a rack. She kissed my lips and walked over to look at some shoes.

Nervously, I walked over to the woman and worked to swallow the lump that has now taken residence in my throat.

“Kristy?”

“What the fuck?” She whispered. “How do you know my name?” She practically bit out.

“Oh, God,” I took a step toward her.

She immediately took a step back. “Who are you?”

“It’s me, Aaron.” I paused. “Your brother.”

“Oh my God,” she breathed as she stumbled backwards.

I grabbed her arm and Lily appeared out of nowhere on the other side of her. We helped her over to a chair in the changing area. Lily grabbed a small glass of water from the water dispenser and brought it back over to her.

“My name is Lily. I’m…”

“This is my girlfriend,” I smiled at her and she smiled brightly back.

“How… How did you find me?”

“My Aunt Grace owns this place. I came in one day to see her and I saw you. Your whole family has been searching for you. I told him you were here.”

Kristy stood and brushed down her dress. She looked so much better than when I saw her last. She was beautiful, glowing even.

“I need to get back to work. Let me know if I can help you find anything.” She walked out of the room.

“Kristy, wait,” I hollered hurrying after her.

“I’m working.”

“Well, when do you get off?”

“Don’t know,” she clipped still walking away.

“Damn it, will you stop and talk to me!” I snapped.

She whirled around and glared at me.

Lily stepped in closer to me with her hand on my arm. Then Lily stepped away saying a quick, “I’ll leave you two alone.”

I didn’t blame her for running off. That look was lethal. Nice to see that she was still tough as nails as she was as a kid. But she wasn’t a kid anymore. She was a grown woman.

“Why! Why should I give you the time of day!” She yelled as she stalked toward me.

“Because I’m here, I found you after fourteen years. I get that I’m an asshole and turned on you when you needed me the most. I know I screwed up, but can’t you just give me a chance to talk?”

“Talk. You have exactly five minutes.”

She made show of looking at her empty wrist before glaring at me. Not about to miss the chance to get this all out in the open, I pushed forward.

“I know I fucked up back then. I know I should have stood up to them and told them that it was all my idea. Don’t think that there hasn’t been a second in my days since then that I haven’t beaten myself up over it. Maybe it was because of almost losing you or that I wanted so bad to make Dad proud of me, I don’t know. But that isn’t really the important thing. I’m so sorry Kris. I’m so unbelievably sorry. My heart has never fully been able to heal without you.”

“You seem to be doing just fine,” her eyes shooting in Lily’s direction.

I started laughing. “We’ve been dating for all of ten minutes. She helped me find you and I put aside my… Never mind that’s not important. None of us have ever wanted to believe you were,” I swallowed hard. “We kept hoping that you’d still be alive and had found the happiness we denied you for far too long.”

“We?” She asked, trying to hold the glare, but I could see the shock in them.

“All of us Kris. Mum is the worst of all of us with Dad in close second. Becca and I kind of had to take care of them since you left. Since we forced you to leave,” I added sadly.

“Why would you guys even miss me? I pictured parties being thrown.”

“You heard that saying
‘you never realize what you have until it’s gone’
? Yeah, well, we all learned the hard way. Mum and Dad especially. Dad cries a lot while he’s sitting in your room. Mum never leaves the chair in front of the sliding doors. She watches and waits…”

Her hard exterior slowly fades away and she slumps to the floor. “Do you realize what I’ve been through? Do you realize the kind of trouble I’m in now?”

Kneeling down next to her, I tentatively reached for her hand. When she doesn’t balk from my touch, I grip it firmly in my hand. “Well, you’re not alone anymore. We want a chance to be in your life again. Will you come with me to the house?”

She looked up at me with tears in her eyes. “I’m not promising you anything, but I’ll go and listen to what everyone has to say. That’s all I can do for now.”

“Kristy?”

Kristy stood from the floor and brushed herself off. “I’m sorry, Mrs. Darting. I…”

“Nonsense, dear. You go and tie up those loose ends. Better to leave on, don’t you think?”

Kristy nodded and I was curious as to what was meant by leaving. But I didn’t have time to question it for long before Kristy was walking toward the front door. Hurrying behind her, I kissed Lily quickly before telling her I’d call when we were done. Once outside, I got Kristy’s attention and pointed to my car sitting by the curb. It was a long ride out to our parents’ house.

Once I’d pulled up to the house, I gently shook Kristy awake. She’d fallen asleep about five minutes into the almost ten hour drive.

“Nate please don’t leave me,” she mumbled before stirring awake.

Kristy looked at me then a bit of confusion on her face before her brain came fully awake.

Chapter Seventeen

Kristy

“Well, that’s everything. I can’t believe I’m heading home,” Nate said, sitting on the bed next to me.

“Me either,” was all I could manage through my emotion filled throat.

Nate looked at me with those eyes begging me to do something. I don’t know what they were begging for, but damn if I didn’t want to do whatever it was he was wanting. He stood from the bed and kissed my forehead.

“Take care of yourself, Kristy. There’s something in the bathroom for you. Please don’t open it until I leave.”

Again, his eyes implored me to speak, to say something. I wish I were a mind reader. If there were ever a moment I wished for a superpower, it was right now in this moment.

He was walking out the door and the clicking of the door broke the haze I sat there in. Hurrying off the bed, I ran out to the hallway, looking up and down until I saw him heading toward that Nick guy.

“Nate! Nate!” I screamed with tears streaming down my face.

He turned around and caught me just as I threw myself in his arms. Sobbing uncontrollably into his neck with my arms wrapped tightly around it, his hands wrapped around me and squeezed me just as tight as I was holding him.

“Nate, please don’t leave me.”

“We’re here,” Aaron said from beside me.

“I see that,” I shot back as I swallowed hard looking at the house. “Are you sure this is a good idea. They have always hated me. Never wanted me…”

“Trust me, okay? This is your big brother. I’ve always protected you…” He trailed off when I shot him a glare. “Okay, sorry bad example,” He frowned as if trying to come up with something to give me strength to enter the hell that this house was for me.

“Let’s just go. I’m really tired.”

After placing a quick call to let them know he was almost there to talk strategy, Aaron hurried into the house peeking around the corner to see where everyone was. Then after he whispered to me to stay here until he said that he had new information on my whereabouts, he walked into the dining room.

“Hey,” he said as I watched him sit down at the table.

Dad, who looked strung out, spoke first. “My guys are working tirelessly on trying to find her. We just can’t seem to find anything on her. Nothing. Are you sure it was her you saw son?”

“Baby, we want her back as bad as you do, but could it be possible that you thought it was her or maybe…” Mum said in a voice that sounds hopeful but filled with sadness.

“I know what I saw. It was her. It was Kristy.” Aaron said firmly.

“We want her back too, but it’s like searching for a specific piece of wood in a wood pile,” Rebecca sighed.

“Well, I’ve got some new information on Kristy’s whereabouts,” he smiled.

Yeah, it was easy for him to smile. He wasn’t the one walking in front of the firing squad right now. It was me and me alone that had to face down four people from my past that caused my life to take the turn that it did. Had it not been for the fact that I met Nate because of all this happening, I wouldn’t be standing here in this house again. I would have told Aaron to kiss my ass and get the fuck away from me. But how could I resent them for causing something that led me to the love of my life.

“Well, out with it boy!” Dad urged.

It was Mum’s scream and sobbing that caused Dad to turn around and see me as I walked in. For the first time in my life, I watched the tall, proud man, that I’ve always known him as, fall to my feet in a mess of tears begging for my forgiveness. I looked up at Aaron with a confused look on my face.

“I told you, everyone’s missed you.”

* * *

The story slowly started to come together as Mum and Dad pulled themselves together and started their speeches. When Mum came over to touch my face, she wrapped me in her arms and cried. It was instinct to hug her back. Mum, Aaron had said, had really taken it the hardest. Getting that hug from me was probably more healing than any kind of words I could say to them.

“But if you were so happy with me… What’d I do to make you hate me so much?”

“We never hated you, Krissy. We loved you more than anything. I want to tell you something that will justify our treatment but nothing will. Here’s the truth, though. It’s petty and it’s not… You aren’t our biological child. You are my sister and his brother’s child.”

“Wait, what?” I asked, confused.

“Right before you were born, they came to us and asked us to raise you as our own until they could get you back. We did because we didn’t think we could have any more. You were our miracle. A reward for countless nights of tears and heartache.”

“Then, if I was such a blessing, why treat me that way? Why if you couldn’t stand me didn’t you just send me back to my fucking family!” I yelled, unable to hold in the pain of their rejection all those years ago.

“Because they were killed!” Mum screamed, and then lowered her voice. “They were killed by the people that were after them. The sole reason you were in our care to begin with. Every day looking at you was a reminder that they weren’t around anymore. That was why we started treating you poorly. Not because of Becca or because we hated you. You just reminded us of our siblings that we lost.” Mum looked at me with tears falling down her cheeks. “We never hated you baby doll. We loved you more than anything. You were our daughter. It was just so hard seeing that constant reminder. You are so much like them. Your intelligence, looks, personality, everything, you are just a spitting image of them combined.”

“I know it’s inexcusable and nothing we say now, no amount of apologies will ever make up for the pain we have caused you over the course of you living here…”

“You think this is my only pain? The way you treated me? No, try being raped when I was fourteen because I stayed in a shelter. Or how about having Vin after you because he wants you and because you ratted him out to the cops. Or getting beat to a bloody pulp by people that were sent to protect me…” I broke off crying. “I’ve been on the streets jumping from shelter to shelter until four months ago. Four months ago, my whole life changed,” I said allowing the happiness just thinking about him brings to me.

“Forget the bad right now. Can you tell us the good?” Rebecca asked, speaking for the first time since I came out of hiding.

“I needed money. So I came up with this plan to go to the high end hotel and find a drunken rich man and steal his money, to survive not for frivolous wants. Well, I met a guy. I stole from him. But it wasn’t until I ran into him again that I realized that I’d started falling for him. Then he asked me to stay with him. I showed him all over the country for two months. But he left two months ago. He bought me an apartment left me some money told me that he lost his heart to me. So for the past two months I’ve been working to save up money to go to him. He lives in the United States.”

No one spoke for a moment. I willed my tears to stop. But they just kept falling. Everything was wearing thin on my nerves. I’ve gotten little sleep since Nate left. You try falling asleep alone after having fallen asleep so often in the arms of an amazing man. Plus the only thing on my mind right now is getting back to him. The numbers running through my head kept me awake most nights. Mrs. Darting has suggested I take some
Melatonin
to help me fall asleep at night. Maybe I need to.

“Kristy,” Dad said after a moment of silence from everyone. “Will you let me pay for you to go over there and everything while you’re there? If I can give you an ounce of happiness, it’ll be worth the pain of letting you go after just finding you.”

“Why in the world would you want to do that?”

“Because for so long, we’ve been the root of your unhappiness, we may not have been the cause of everything happening, but we were the first to start the dominos to fall… Wait a second, did you say Vin is after you? As in the leader for the Night Hawks?”

“Yes. One of the stops, a café, I went to I met a girl. She told me I could stay at her place. I had no other place to go,” I shrugged. “She lived with Vin. Vin took an interest in me, but I didn’t in him. One day I get approached by a guy working for Chain in the US to kill a deal that was about to happen with the Sidewinders. Anyway, I did it only because of what the deal would cause… Shelby, the girl I met, must have told Vin I ratted on him. He’s been looking for me since.”

“Oh, God!” Mum said, putting her hand over her mouth. “That group is who killed your parents,” Mum barely whispered.

“Well, then it’s decided. No objections young lady. You’re going to the United States. It’ll get you away from him and his devil worshippers. You are done running. Go get your man and find your life.”

Just as a smile started to form on my face, it dropped just as quickly. “I can’t go.” I whispered sadly when realization dawned on me. “I have no clue where he’s at or anything.”

“Do you have his full name?” Aaron asked.

“Yes, Nathan Lane.”

“Then leave it to me. I’ll have his information in no time. You’ll get your happily ever after, Sis. I promise you.”

Another thought occurs to me then. “You know, if Vin puts the puzzle pieces together like you have, he might be coming after you guys,” my heart hung heavy.

“Let him try, my dear. We’ve been waiting for revenge on that rotten pack of losers for a long time.” Mum growled, which was so unlike her to do.

Everyone kept talking around the table, no one really addressing me. My eyelids start to get heavy again. Jerking up in my seat, when I felt I was falling out of it.  Everyone looks at me funny.

“I’m sorry. Aaron, can you take me home? I’m really tired.” As if to prove the point, I yawned.

“Oh, uh, baby doll would you mind staying here tonight? I would really like to get time in with you before you leave again,” Mum asked nervously.

“Oh, uh, I… I guess,” I mumbled.

Mum’s smile was huge. “Thank you. Your room is exactly how you left it.”

* * *

When I woke the next morning, it took me a moment to remember where I was. Stumbling down to the kitchen, I find my Mum standing at the stove humming away as she cooked.

“You’re awfully happy this morning,” I grumble.

“Morning? Honey, it’s almost two in the afternoon.”

“What? Why’d you let me sleep so long? I need to get back to work.”

“Aaron already called Lily and got a hold of Mrs. Darting. She said get your man. I didn’t wake you because it looked like you needed the rest.”

The door opened and in walked a beaming Aaron. He walked with so much confidence. It was a completely different man from yesterday. Before I realized I was even talking, my voice was hitting my own ears.

“Someone got laid.”

“Kristy!”

“Sorry,” I cringed.

Aaron blushed bright red and it made the kid sister side of me kick in. “Ooh, you did,” I poked him.

“Shut up, Kristy,” he tried to growl, but it didn’t come across like that. His smile didn’t help convince me either.

“K-I-S-S-I-N-G…” I started to taunt.

“If you don’t knock it off, I won’t give you what’s in my hand.”

Immediately knowing it must be Nate’s information, I shut my mouth and hold out my hand. Open and closing my hand in my impatience to see it in front of my face.

“I thought you’d see it my way.” He handed me the paper and whispered in my ear, “I did get
laid
as you put it. And it’s all because of you.”

“Eeww, that’s gross.”

“Not the way I meant it. I mean I never would have taken that chance with Lily if it weren’t for you. I’d had kept admiring her from a distance like I have for the past four years.”

“I’m happy for you,” I smiled and I was.

It seemed like everyone was getting their happily ever after, I thought as I stared down at the very information that would bring me to the love of my life.

“You leave tomorrow.”

Nate, baby, I’m on my way. Please want to see me.