If I'd Only Known (Milan Women Series Book 1) (41 page)

Sometime
later that day, Barrington finally made it to his wife's parents' home.

“How's
Perri?”

“How
do think she is?” Hunter glared at Barrington, mad because she hadn’t checked
the peephole before opening the door.

“I
guess I'm mud in your eyes.” He frowned, but refused to give up.

“You
think?”

“Hunter—”

“No,
Barrington, save your poor excuses for someone who cares. What I care about is
my sister and the devastated state of mind she's now in because of you,
Barrington. You did this to her!” she accused, pointing her finger.

“I
know,” he acknowledged so softly Hunter barely heard him. “I want to . . . I'm
trying to make it up to her . . . .”

“Barrington,
please,” Hunter rolled her eyes. “Make it up to her?” She was disgusted with
her brother-in-law. “Just how you think you gonna go about doing that? Really,
Barrington, how?” she demanded, feeling anger spread throughout her body.
“There is no making this up,” she announced not caring how much her words stung
him.

Ashamed
of his actions, Barrington looked down then back at his sister-in-law. “I don't
know what to tell you, Hunter. I honestly don't. All I can say is I love my
wife and I don't mean to lose her if I can help it,” he vowed.

“Well,
you could help it, Barrington, by staying with my sister; being there for your
wife, instead of off tending to the witch who set out to ruin your relationship
with Perri from day one. And she didn't stop there; when she saw that failed,
she set out to attack your marriage with Perri. And you,” her eyes raked him up
and down, “you just let her do it, helped her do it.”

An
uncomfortable silence hovered over them.

When
Hunter could talk without feeling the need to spit in his face, she said, “So,
dear brother-in-law, I don't know how you think you're gonna make it up to my
sister, but I can tell you this. You're a long way from hitting the right spot
to promote forgiveness in her heart.”

Catching
the tail-end of the conversation, Usher tried to rescue his brother-in-law from
the lethal tongue that, even without being there to hear, he knew his wife had
thrashed Barrington with. She didn't play when it came to her family. And
Hunter being the most outspoken of the three sisters' had a way of using her
tongue to back you in such a tight corner, you'll wish she'd just shoot you
instead. “Hunter, baby, I wish you'd calm down.”

Hunter
turned on her husband, “Don't you tell me to calm down! I don't want to calm
down! You need to be telling him to get out!”

“Can't
you see the man feels bad enough?”

“No,
I don't see that.” She looked at Barrington. “What I see is a pathetic man
standing here spouting out poor excuses which are really just dumb reasons as
to why he came down on Nia's side instead of his own wife's. My sister!”

“He
made a mistake, Hunter.”

“And
you're making one by defending his sorry butt to me.” She glared at her
husband. “Don't you dare take his side in this crazy mess that he helped to
create,” she said. Her clear blue eyes flashed an angry warning. “Don't you
dare take his side!” She all but screamed and stormed out of the kitchen.

For
a moment, Usher stood shocked, staring at his wife's back as she made a hasty
retreat from the kitchen. Then as if remembering Barrington was there, he
turned and shrugged at his brother-in-law with sympathy. “I gotta live with
her, man, you don't. If I were you, I'd leave before she comes back.”

“No,
man,” Barrington said. “I'm not gonna run from this. She's right; I made this
mess, now it's up to me to fix it.”

Usher
looked down the hallway and back at Barrington, “You sure about that? She's mad
as a queen bee right now. I know my wife, man. And to be honest, where you're
concerned, I don't sense any understanding from her in sight.”

Barrington
hesitated then decided, “Hunter's bark is worse than her bite.”

“Except
when it comes to her sisters' then her bite is worse than your hide can stand.”
Usher let out a low whistle. “You really don't know my wife, man.”

“And
your wife really don't know me when it comes to my determination to keep my
family from falling apart permanently,” Barrington informed him. “No offense,
man.”

“None
taken, man,” Usher said and grinned. “I admire your spunk, you gonna need it.”
He chuckled. “The only man I know with balls enough to take Hunter on is me.”

“Man,
I'm prepared for her to rake me over the coals.”

“Huh?”
Usher laughed out loud. “Is that what you think?” He shook his head. “Man,
that's way too easy for her. She's gonna drag you over the railroad tracks by
your balls. Trust, I know my wife inside and out. She aims to put you out.” He
proffered his hand. “Welcome to Club Hunter, man. I hope you brought your own
bat because I keep mine exclusively for my use.”

They
shared a brief laugh before Barrington went in search of his sister-in-law.
Finding Hunter on the terrace, he joined her.

“We
need to clear the air.”

Without
looking at him, Hunter replied, “Yeah, well, it's not enough air out here for
both of us to breathe, so . . .”

Barrington
folded his arms across his chest with a dogged expression on his face. “I'm not
leaving, Hunter, until I talk to my wife,” he promised. “If that means going
through you then that's what I'm here to do. But understand this: no one
including you is gonna keep me away from my wife, and considering she's married
to me, I have more rights to her than you do. Do the words leave and cleave
sound familiar to you, Hunter?”

Unable
to help it, she smiled inwardly. He was good, Hunter thought, but I’m better.
Like a well-versed professor, she flipped the script, using his words to
ensnare him. “Oh, dear brother, you shouldn't have taken it there. But since
you did, allow me to finish it. You see, the words leave and cleave do go together.
And Perri did that. It wasn't easy for her, but she did it. But you better
believe it took me and Madear staying on her case for her to even reconsider
giving you the time of day. So if I were you, man, I wouldn't be standing there
all cocky acting like you done put in a full day's work.

“Your
load was not that heavy that you couldn't have taken the same kind of vow and
stuck with it for her. Perri said it wouldn't work, that you were too selfish,
and I, fool that I was, took up lobbying your case. I told Perri that she was
wrong for keeping you in the dark about Imani, and that still holds true. But
now, I can kind of understand why she felt that way back then. And if given a
chance to go back, while I'd still encourage her to let you be part of Imani's
life, I would beg her to keep the door of her heart closed to you and the
damage you could do.”

“I
tripped up, Hunter—”

“No,
you
fucked
up when you decided to say screw your marriage, and that's
exactly what you said, Barrington, when you left your clinging wife's side; left
her to take up with that nut case Nia.”

Barrington
resented her choice of words. “I did not take up with Nia,” he grated through
clenched teeth. “And I did not leave my wife. I did not, could not, and would
not roll out on my wife like that. Never!”

“And
yet when she needed you the most you weren't there, now were you, Barrington?”
Hunter tapped his forehead hard with her right index finger.

Scrambling
to keep his temper in check, Barrington reminded himself that this was not only
a woman, but it was Perri's sister. However, he did warn her, “Don't do that
again, Hunter.”

“Or
what, Barrington?” she demanded. “What are you gonna do?” She pushed up the
sleeves on her Cardigan. “You want a piece of me? Because right now,
Barrington, I definitely wanna deck you.”

Because
he knew this was no time to step out of line, Barrington fought to keep a
straight face. But something about seeing a big time top runway fashion model
ready to throw down with her fist made him laugh out loud. And he continued to
laugh until Hunter realized how ridiculous she looked as well, and started
laughing, too.

After
about five minutes or so, Hunter playfully punched his shoulder, saying, “Don't
be laughing at me when I'm trying to be mad with you, boy.”

Catching
his breath, Barrington said, “Feel better, sis?”

“In
a sense, yes; but in a bigger sense, no, and I won't feel completely better
until my sister does,” she told him honestly. “Barrington, you really did a
number on her this time. I mean, you hurt her more than the first time you guys
were separated.” She shook her head. “I hate you broke Perri's heart like this,
man.”

“I
hate it too, Hunter. I swear it wasn't my intention to do so. I was just trying
to do the right thing and take responsibility for Nia being in our lives in the
first place. Regardless of how Nia got herself pregnant, Hunter, she was
carrying my child.” Barrington shook his head. “I couldn't just turn my back on
that. I don't expect you to understand, Hunter, but I just couldn't make myself
do it.”

“Why
not, Barrington?” she wanted to know because she didn't see the logic.

“You
don't know what it was like for me finding out about Imani the way I did. It
took something out of me, Hunter, something I can't get back. I lost out on the
time Perri was pregnant with my baby. I didn't get to go with her to doctor
appointments, viewing ultrasounds to see my daughter in her embryo form. I
didn't get to attend Lamaze classes with the woman I've loved since the first
time I laid eyes on her.” Barrington couldn't and didn't try to disguise his
emotions.

“Hunter,
I missed my own daughter's birth. I was supposed to be the first man my baby
girl saw, the first man to welcome her into the world. I was supposed to be the
one to cut the umbilical cord. I didn't get to hold my minute old squirming
baby in my arms, hear her first cries, inhale and memorize her natural baby
scent. Damn it, Hunter, Perri robbed me of all that, and more than any of you
could ever know! There was no way I could miss out on another one of my kids
being born into the world, Hunter. There was no way. It just wasn't . . . .”

For
the first time since he first found out he was Imani’s daddy, Barrington broke
down, feeling the loss all over again.

Without
another word, Hunter embraced her brother-in-law and held him until his body
stopped shaking from the tears that racked him. She cried with him and for him.
She cried for Perri, for the birth and untimely death of her nephew. She cried
for the poor baby girl who was innocent in all this, but looked guilty as sin.
She cried for the bitterness she felt towards Nia and her hellish actions.
Hunter cried for the rift that was finally repaired between her and her
brother-in-law, whom she’d come to love with all her heart.

***

Nails
posed to strike her brother-in-law’s face, Tyler met Barrington at the bottom
of the staircase landing. “Where do you think you're going?” she hissed at him.

Hunter
was right behind him. “It is okay this time, Tyler.”

Her
sister glared at her like she'd lost her mind.

“Tyler,
they really do need to talk, hon.”

Raising
her head defiantly, Tyler announced, “You hurt my sister.”

Barrington
nodded.

She
sucked in a breath that did nothing to calm her agitated nerves. “Don't do it
again,” she warned with a single accusing finger.”

“I'll
try my best not to.”

“No,
Barrington, that's not good enough. It's not a request, it's a command.” Her
honey-nut colored skin seemed to produce steam and her light gray eyes narrowed
at him. “I said don't hurt my sister again, and that's exactly what I mean. So,
if you don't think you can handle the assignment, don't even think about
climbing our stairs and going into her room. If you're not here for the long
haul this time, if you not gonna stand by her side from now until eternity,
then you stay away from her, Barrington. I will not allow you to hurt my
sister, break her heart a third time.” Coming closer, she stared up at him,
“You hear me, man.”

Only
when Barrington acknowledged out loud, “I hear you, little sister, and I
understand,” did Tyler step aside. He took the stairs two at a time.

Perri
could feel her husband’s presence before she heard him climbing the stairs and
prayed for strength to deal with him, knowing he wouldn't leave without having
his say.

Barrington
slowly turned the doorknob, stuck his head in the doorway. He was not prepared
for the sight that his eyes met, as they examined Perri's body from head to
toe. He had to remind himself to breathe, looking at his sweet Perri, the lost
faraway look in her eyes, he knew without a doubt he'd messed up big time. He
cursed himself inwardly, at the same time praying he'd get through to her;
hopefully she'd listen to him, though he didn't deserve it and could completely
understand if she cursed him for all he was worth. And at the moment, in her
eyes, he knew his value wasn't much. A distinct pain tore at his heart and he
felt ripped apart.