Broken In Pieces: Billionaire Stepbrother Romance (Wounded Hearts Book 1) (16 page)

“We’re well aware, Mother, but you need to let us worry about that. I’m not giving up what I have with Blade because you’re worried about what people are going to say. Blade’s been by my side the whole time, when no one else was. He’s helped me survive and heal,” I explain.

“Sheridan, you…”

“Enough, Sophia,” Carter finally speaks, “Sheridan, dear, we’re happy for you both. Blade, you be the man I know you are and take care of her.”

“Yes, sir. You know I will,” Blade answers.

When the call is finally over there is a relief that settles in. With every secret revealed and every truth told, there is another part of my soul that is freed. I hope Blade finds this kind of freedom soon. He’s been so quiet and withdrawn since yesterday. This is going to be hard for him but I can’t accept anything less than the truth, all of the truth. Secrets make me feel like I can’t fully trust him which is unbearable. That night he holds me as I fall to sleep and it’s just what I need to renew my hope that he’ll reveal himself to me.

On Tuesday morning, Blade gives his interview to the reporter from the New York Times then calls me into his office. “The interview went well,” he wraps his arms around me, “and we can trust him to tell the truth.”

“Good. One fire put out,” I smile at his affection.

He begins to kiss my neck when the office door burst open. “Blade!” Bridgette squeals as she puts her hands on her hips, “What the hell are you doing?”

Blade keeps one arm around me and pulls me to his side. “Bridgette, how nice of you to drop by,” Blade doesn’t try to hide his sarcasm.

“You,” she snarls and walks toward me with her finger pointed, “I knew you were the problem.”

“Bridgette, that’s e-fucking-nough. I told you, the last time you came by, not to come back,” Blade stops her in her tracks.

“You’re making a huge fucking mistake, Blade Hawthorne. You will regret this,” she storms.

My anger and jealousy rises to a dangerous level, “No, you’re the one making a huge fucking mistake!” I point my finger and start poking her in the chest as she begins stepping backward, “Now, you’ve been told, get out and don’t you fucking dare come back. If you do, it’ll be me that you deal with, you cunt.” Her eyes are wide and there is fear written across her face. “Do you understand?” I question her harshly. At this point, I’ve backed her out the door way.

“I understand. You’re a crazy bitch,” she says as she turns and practically runs to the elevator with me slamming the door behind her.

I turn back to Blade and he has a huge shit eating grin on his face, “Is it awful that I get a hard on every time you turn into a badass?”

“Is that so, Mr. Hawthorne?” I tease as I wrap my arms around him and feel his erection hard against me.

“Oh yes, it is so and I do believe it’s time we christen my conference table,” he releases me and goes to lock the office door.

“Here? Now?” I question.

“Yes, right here and right now.” He pulls the window blinds.

He turns and his eyes begin to ravish my body as he slowly struts toward me. “I don’t know if this is such a good idea,” I resist.

There’s a fire in his eyes that I haven’t seen before, “I don’t recall asking you what you thought, Miss Stollings.” His mouth begins to dominate mine. His dick is hard as a rock now and I can tell he isn’t going to take no for an answer. He reaches down and yanks up my skirt. Both hands go to my panties and there’s a ripping sound just before he throws them to the floor. “I don’t want my pussy covered in panties today,” he growls. His forcefulness makes me hot as hell and my pussy is instantly wet. He spins me around quick, shoving me chest down on the conference table.

I take a deep breath as he leans over my back and whispers in my ear, “Now baby girl, the office is full today so you have to be very quiet.” As he speaks, I can feel his erection, hard at my ass. He steps back and slams two fingers deep inside me. My pussy immediately responds with a quiver. “MMMM, so wet baby girl. Your pussy is always so ready for me.” He removes his fingers and within seconds I feel his hot breath on my pussy.

His tongue begins twirling my clit just before he bites down, sending sensations down to my toes. He flattens his tongue against my pussy, licking me all the way back passed my asshole. I feel his finger traveling in a circle around the outside of my rear entrance, “Soon, this will belong to me too.” This sends a sudden fear rushing over my body followed by an immediate intrigue. His hands begin squeezing the cheeks of my ass, hard. It’s almost painful but there’s a wonderful delight beneath it. “Your pussy belongs to me.”

I catch my breath to speak, “Yes.” I feel his right hand leave my ass cheek, then slap….a hard unforgiving slap to my ass. A loud groan escapes me before I can stop it.

“SHHH! Say it, baby girl.”

I exhale, “My pussy belongs to you, Blade.”

I feel both hands on my ass again and the kneading intensifies. He pulls the cheeks of my ass apart, as far as he can and I feel his dick rubbing up and down my asshole. “Soon, baby girl. Very soon.” Then he slams his dick deep into my pussy, still clutching my ass with his hands. He finds his rhythm, in and out, deeper and deeper. I moan in ecstasy, then his hand leaves my ass and wraps firmly in my hair, yanking my head up from the table.

His lips come to my ear, “Shhhh, baby girl.” He keeps a firm grip on my hair moving in and out of my pussy. My entire body is consumed by lust for him. “Give it to me, baby girl. Give me what I need,” he begs as he pounds me harder. My pussy spasms at his desire for me and I release.

I hear him groan, “Son of a bitch,” as his dick explodes and marks my pussy as his.

On Wednesday, everything moves along slowly and there are no fires to put out. I’m grateful for the lull but the only downside is that it gives my mind time to wonder. I’m back to Blade’s past and the secrets that lie in it.
Who is he really
? I only know a small piece of him and the rest seems dark and dismal. Being lost in thought has my attention diverted to the point that I don’t see Detective Torres until he’s at my desk, “Good afternoon, Miss Stollings.”

“Detective Torres,” I greet him, as I rise to shake his hand.

“I need to speak to Mr. Hawthorne, if he’s in.” I buzz Blade then escort the detective into his office. They shake hands and the atmosphere is heavy as we all take a seat.

“Blade, I need to apologize,” Detective Torres begins. I’ve never heard him call Blade by his first name. “We have the murder suspects in custody on the Jarrod Davis case. Seems Mr. Davis’ rapist tendencies had been very active since he came to town, not only had he accosted Miss Stollings but he had also raped another woman. She didn’t report it to law enforcement but she told her brothers. The two of them decided to exact their own type of justice.”

“I can’t say I’m sorry they did. That bastard deserved everything he got and more,” Blade’s distain is apparent in his voice.

The detective nods his head as if he’s in agreement, “Well, you know what my official stand on that has to be.” They both smile a friendly smile at one another and it hits me that these two know each other better than I had thought. “I just wanted to touch base with you and make sure you understood that I was only doing my job on this. I didn’t believe you had delved back into to your past life but I had to ask,” Torres continues.

Blade assures him that he understood and they move on to the subject of the home invasion at my apartment. “My guys didn’t find anything of any help and you were right about the video in the parking garage, you couldn’t tell anything about the person. Until we can figure this out, you need to keep a constant eye on this little lady,” Torres shoots a smile my way.

“Absolutely,” Blade responds. They speak about some sports event for a brief time then they say a friendly goodbye.

The rest of the afternoon, I think about their connection and Blades’ past. I decide that tonight, I need the truth. The press has been handled and Blade doesn’t have any worries about Jarrod’s death now so most of the pressure is off. He needs to come clean, to explain all the implications that have come out of the conversations over the last several days. I deserve to know the person I’m with, I deserve for there to be no secrets. I’ve given him everything and now it’s time that I get the same.

At the house, dinner is quiet and a little tense on my side. I’m worried about what Blade’s reaction is going to be when I push him to tell me his secrets. When dessert is over, we retire to the living room and he gives me the opening I need, “Baby girl, what’s wrong?”

I take a deep breath, trying not to lose my nerve, “I’ve given you the time you asked for and I think I deserve some answers.”

He pulls me closer and nuzzles my neck, “Can’t this wait until later.”

I gently push him away and look him dead in the eyes, “No, it can’t wait until later. That’s always your answer….later, and then later never comes.” He shifts in his seat and gets very quiet. I finally decide to break the silence, “Blade, you asked me to give you a few days and I did that. Now, I need you to give me what I need. I need to know who you are, who you used to be. I need the secrets and the lies to stop tonight.”

“What the fuck does my past matter? Who I am now is all you should be concerned with,” he rubs his hands through his hair, and then sits up with his head in his hands.

“It does matter because it’s part of who you are, whether you like it or not,” I insist.

“Why the hell is this so important, Sheridan? Why?” he asks as he gets up, walks to the fireplace and leans against the mantle with his face away from me.

“Why! Because I love you and I need to know who you are,” I blast with my anger rising.

He turns toward me quickly with a strange look on his face, “You what?”

“I love you with all my heart and soul,” I answer softly.

“No, no, no, no!” He waves his hands in the air, as if he’s giving a warning. “This is not what I want. I don’t want you to love me. Love isn’t something I have room for in my life,” he shouts.
Oh shit, what have I done?

His anger is written all over him but I don’t let that stop me because I’m pretty damned mad myself, “That’s a chicken shit cop out, Blade, and I’m not buying into it.” I rise from the couch and walk toward him, “I’ve shared everything with you, I deserve the same in return.”

He backs away as I’m approaching him so I stop. “You get what I can give you and right now I can’t give you this. I don’t want to give you this. My past is MINE and it has nothing to do with you,” he says through gritted teeth. His words are full of angst and each one is like a stabbing knife. “I can’t deal with this right now, I can’t deal with you,” he storms out the door.

I stand there lost in the hurt and anger of what just happened.
How can he treat me this way?
I’ve been so wrong about everything….about him….about us. It feels as though the wind has been knocked out of me and I can’t breathe. With all that’s happened, this is the most painful.
Get a grip bitch. You knew this could happen and you still pushed so you got what you asked for….
my inner witch brings me back to earth. I did know this could happen but I had to have some answers. I couldn’t live with all the secrets and now I don’t know if I can live without him.

Insanity

I
t’s after midnight
and he hasn’t come home. I’ve texted and called but he doesn’t answer. I’ve resigned myself to the fact that this is it,
it’s over
. He doesn’t want my love which definitely means he doesn’t love me. The pain is suffocating me, I need some fresh air. I meander out into the garden, feeling lost and numb. I find a seat on one of the marble benches and drink in the soothing, soft lights from the fountains. In the darkness, I try to hide from the pain but it finds me and my tears begin to flow. I put in my earbuds, start the music on my phone and
A Great Big World’s,
“Say Something (I’m Giving up on You)”, adds fuel to my crying.

My text message
alert goes off and relief floods my body, it has to be him. I open the message and there it is….a picture of Blade, undressed and lying in bed with Bridgette. She’s wearing a small piece of racy lingerie and he’s leaned into her neck. My heart shatters and I’m instantly sick to my stomach. Then, another picture comes through. In this one, Bridgette is straddling Blade, holding his face in her hands and leaning over kissing him. My hurt turns to anger as I jump to my feet.
I can’t fucking believe he would do this
. I have to leave, I have to get my shit and get out of here before he gets back. I never want to lay eyes on that son of a bitch again.

I turn to leave and someone grabs me from behind, putting their hand over my mouth. “Shhh…not one word. If you scream, I’ll shoot you,” a female voice says as I feel the gun poking in my side and I drop my phone. It’s dark and she’s behind me but I’d know that southern drawl anywhere…
it’s Caroline
. “I’m gonna take my hand off your mouth and, I’m serious, if you make one sound I will blow you away. Do you understand?” I nod my head to let her know I do. She removes her hand and turns me around, always staying behind me, “Stand right there and don’t move.” I’m so terrified that I’m trembling. I can see, out of the corner of my eye, she’s writing something on the bench in red.
The red lipstick.
It was her in my apartment. As hard as I try, I can’t tell what she wrote.

“Move,” she commands as she pushes me toward the back of the garden. When we squeeze through the hedges at the end of the property, there’s a black sports car waiting, “Get in.” I do as I’m told like a robot being remote controlled by her words. Thoughts of trying to get away start running through my head but I believe she might just shoot me if I push her. She gets in the driver’s seat, starts the car and we speed away.

“Why are you doing this?” My voice is shaking.

“Shut up!” she shouts and I retreat back into silence.

We pull into an abandoned alley way, “Sit still. If you make one move, you’re a dead bitch. Got it?” I nod in confirmation and she gets out of the car. I can see her in the rear view mirror, she’s doing something below the trunk of the car.
Should I try to escape, to get out of the car and run as fast as I can?
Hell, I’m so terrified that I don’t know what to do. She gets back in the car with some wadded up paper and tape and throws it into the back. Then she reaches behind my seat and pulls out some rope, “Put out your hands.” I do as I’m told and she begins tying my hands tight. The gun is lying in her lap and I’m thinking I should try to grab it but she’s done before I get my thoughts together.