His Bahamas Affair (The Albury Affairs) (32 page)

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Authors: Christina OW

BOOK: His Bahamas Affair (The Albury Affairs)

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He leaned against the
bed his forehead pressed against the back of Loraine’s hand clasped in his as
he cried. How could it hurt so much, losing a child he didn’t even know
existed? He’d have to have loved it for the loss to feel like his heart was
been ripped out of his chest over and over again which just seem impossible. He
just found out about it.

“Reno, what’s wrong?
Why are you crying?”

Reno sat up at
Loraine’s groggy voice. Her violet eyes were open, staring at him with
confusion. He kissed her hand, then her forehead and finally her lips. “I’ve
been waiting for you to wake up.”

“Why were you crying
and what happened to your head?” She pointed to the bandage that covered his
left temple. “Why is your arm in a sling?”

His stomach dropped.
She didn’t remember and he wasn’t looking forward to reminding her, anything
but that. Maybe if he was the one to tell her, maybe he could leave their dead
baby out.

He scooted his chair
closer, placing his elbows on her bed as he held her hand to his cheek. “Lori,
how much of last night do you remember?”

Her brows furrowed,
“Last night…” She shifted her gaze to the hand he held, the one that bore her
ring and her eyes widened a little. “Wedding, yesterday was our wedding. We
spent last night at the house—”

Reno saw the moment her
memory came back to her on her face. There was fear, pain and worry as tears
flooded her eyes.

“Tyler, is he okay?”
she cried, struggling to sit up.

Reno moved to sit next
to her on the bed, pushing her back to lie down. “Tyler is okay. A little shook
up, but okay. He’s at the resort with Riana and the girls. Ruiz, Allan and your
parents are here. They are waiting outside.”

She nodded, tears running
down her temples. She lay there staring up at him, her face void of emotion
except for the tears that fell. Reno wasn’t sure what to do or say, so he just
stared back.

“Georgia is dead,” she
stated with a deadpan voice.

Reno nodded. He already
knew that. It was her pool of blood he had been laying in. He’d been told her
body had been there for a few hours, naked with her throat slit from ear to
ear. She’d been killed in one of the guestrooms apparently after having sex
with Pierre. He didn’t say that to Loraine though, she didn’t need to know
that.

“I know.”

“He said he did it for
me.”

Reno squeezed her hand.
“It’s not your fault Lori. He was an obsessed sociopath.”

She went on as if she
didn’t hear him. “He said she wanted to kidnap Tyler. Jeb promised to help her
but for some reason she took Pierre’s help instead, gave him sex in exchange
for his help. Did you know he—”

Reno placed his fingers
over her lips. “That’s enough Lori. None of this was your fault.”

She pushed his hand
away. “But it is. Jeb’s obsession led to Pierre’s obsession. I put you in
danger, I put Tyler in danger,” she choked. “Tyler could have died you could
have died. Our baby is dead because of me.”

Reno closed his eyes,
shutting out her pain. It broke his heart seeing her hurt over their dead baby.

“How—” he cleared his
throat and began again. “How long did you know about the baby?”

She chuckled, but it
was sad, pained. “I found out I was pregnant the same moment I lost it. Our
first child together bled right out of me and I couldn’t do anything to save
it. How could I not know I was pregnant?”

Reno pulled his sling
wincing at the pain from his adjusted shoulder then lowered himself next to her
and gathered her in his arms, laying her head on his chest. “Loraine, you were
just a few weeks along. Some women don’t notice they are pregnant until months
later.”

She sniffed, burrowing
into his side. “I’m not some woman. I’m Loraine Larson Albury, mother, wife,
daughter and best friend to the most extraordinary people in the world. I should
have known. Riana knew and I was further along than her when she found out she
was pregnant.”

Reno wasn’t so sure
about that, but it wasn’t the time to negate her. He kissed her temple. “Riana
has a weak constitution. Of course it will be obvious if she’s become a host to
another life form. If one of those zombie movies were to become a reality, she
would be first of us to go.”

She shook against him
and he wasn’t sure if she was laughing or crying. He hoped she was laughing.

“Funny, I’ll be sure to
tell your sister that.” She sighed loudly, the hand he held tightening around
his. “What happened to Jeb?”

That had played out
like a scene from a movie. Ruiz and Allan came crashing into the room with a
few of Allan’s bodyguards when Reno was on the floor fighting off Jeb but
tiring out quickly with a dislocated shoulder as Jeb tried to drive a piece of
broken glass through his throat. When Jeb noticed them, he’d picked up his gun,
raised it only to drop next to Reno with a bullet in his head. Reno didn’t see who
shot him but he was glad for it all the same.

“He got shot. He’s
dead, never to bother us again.”

She was silent after
that and Reno thought she’d fallen asleep until she whispered, “I’d made peace
with it.”

“With what?”

“Dying. I’d made peace
with dying, as long as Pierre left you and Tyler alone. I was ready to do what
he wanted. I knew he would kill me after and I was okay with it.”

Reno stiffened, turning
so that he was above her. He grabbed her chin, holding her head steady so that
she wouldn’t break eye contact. “Don’t ever think it would be okay with me to
live without you. I wouldn’t survive without you, Lori, neither would Tyler. I
love you Lori and I wished you’d said you would fight to be with us, not give
up.”

She blinked, tears
flooding her eyes. “Just because I said I made peace with it, doesn’t mean I
was going to die without a fight. It’s not in my nature to give up something I
love without at least trying, Reno, and I did.”

He pressed his forehead
against hers with a grateful sigh. “I thank God that you did. I should have put
up more of a fight, but seeing that knife against Tyler’s neck…”

Loraine wrapped her
arms around his neck. “If you had, Pierre would have killed him, then you and I
wouldn’t have put up a fight when all I have to fight for lay dead at my feet.”

He rolled on his back,
taking her with him. “Your parents want us to move to the States. Your dad said
if you say no, I should start the plans of building a cottage for them next to
our house. I love your mom and respect your dad but I don’t want them as
neighbors.”

Loraine chuckled. “Are
you sure? You could go sailing with my dad. Do some fishing and deep sea
diving?”

“Not funny. I’m cool
with seeing them once a week, spending the holidays with them but nothing more.
I can’t risk one of them dropping by for a cup of sugar and catch us buck naked
doing the nasty on the kitchen counter. Anyway, the general manager at the
resort is due for a promotion and I want my family close together. They are
quite handy during an emergency.”

“Yeah, my psycho
stalkers issue was a great test run.”

As much as she meant it
as a joke, Reno knew differently. It hurt her as it should since it was a fresh
wound. He just hoped the day would come when it didn’t anymore.

“What about Ruiz, has
he agreed to the great Exodus?”

“Well, Melody is going
back with Allan and Riana in a few weeks— they decided to prolong their
holiday.” She snorted, telling him she didn’t believe the holiday excuse, but
he chose to ignore it. “Since he has a huge crush on her, he’ll probably follow
her. Matthew and Amy are staying too. He’ll be working, overseeing the merge
and redistribution of the Red Roses shares. Your parents are staying as well. I
think your mom wants to find herself and your dad is about ready to do anything
to make things work. They already moved into the house, yippee!”

Loraine punched his
chest playfully. “My grandparents are going to love that. The kitchen—has it—”

“It’s being ripped
apart as we speak, so is the living room,” The guestroom, too but he wasn’t going
to mention that. “Your mom said something about bad juju and the spaces needing
more color and bullet proof glass. Did you know white isn’t a color ‘cause I
didn’t?”

“We are going to be
okay, aren’t we?” she whispered.

Reno kissed the top of
her head. “Yes we are.”

“And we are going to
have more children—I can have more children?”

Reno rubbed her back
soothingly at the panic in her voice. “Yes, we’ll have more children, after we
mourn the one we lost. We’ll take a few months and try again, but I don’t want
you fretting if it doesn’t happen immediately.”

“A year. Let’s wait a
year. Tyler needs to feel more secure in our lives before we have more
children, okay?” She turned her head to look up at him.

Reno caressed her cheek
and stared into those violet eyes he loved so much. When she looked at him like
that, he would give her anything she wanted if it was humanly possible.

“We’ll wait a year.”

“Thank you, Reno, for
everything and most importantly for loving me. I love you,
hubbie
.”

Reno pulled her higher
against him and whispered against her lips before he kissed her. “I love you,
my wife, with all my heart. My beautiful
Crazi
Lori.”

*The End*

About the Author

Christina OW

loves reading novels that take her on
a ride of wild emotions. Books have always been an escape for her, for a few
hours she gets to live the lives of characters she grows to cherish and admire.
She's always had an active imagination and because of it has lived in her head
more than she has been in the outside world. She always imagined scenarios and
wondered how they would turn out in the end, and

what kind of emotions they would invoke. Thus
began her writing career.
Besides her twin sister, her pajamas

are
her best friend. She'd rather curl up on the couch with a good book than join
the night life. Raised by a selfless mother who put up with the twins playing
pranks all the time, Christina feels she owes her mother a lot and strives to
make her proud every day. To find out more about Christina, please visit her
website, blog, or follow the links below.