Family Ties (Hidden Secrets) (15 page)

“
I, uh, am not really hungry right now, Tobey.” I said as I climbed off his lap and walked a few steps away.

“
Sure you are.  You didn’t have a big breakfast and you have busted your butt until now.  Come on enjoy a nice picnic lunch with me.”

It
was obvious now that he wasn’t going to give up.  God, why does he have to be so nosey?  He would never understand why I was doing what I was doing. 

Of
course he wouldn’t because you won’t tell him,
said a voice in my head.  Squaring my shoulders as he piled food on a plate for me, I tried to make my voice more firm.

“
I am not eating Tobey.”

“
Why?”  Now I see the anger in his eyes.  Well he was about to get even angrier because I was going to be brutally honest with him and leave; even if I had to run all the way back to the ranch.

“
Because I am not eating right now, that’s why.”

“
That is stupid!  You are going to get over here and eat before you end up killing yourself.”

“
You can’t make me eat, Tobey. You’re not my boss!”

“
I may not be your boss, but dammit I care about you!  I’m not going to sit by while you slowly kill yourself!”

“
If I eat I might as well be dead!” I screamed, tears falling down my cheeks.  Tobey rushed over and took me in his arms.

“
Why, sweetheart, why would you think that?”

“
Because Kyle will… If I gain weight or worse… stay the same weight…I am too fat as it is, he says…” I couldn’t complete any of the sentences I started to explain.

“
Sweetheart, you’re perfect.  You don’t need to lose weight.  You’re beautiful.”

Pushing
away from him, I paced back and forth trying not to take what I was feeling out on Tobey. But I was so worked up that when I spun around to yell at him I got really dizzy and started to stumble backwards.  Tobey caught me and sat on the ground with me cradled in his lap.

“
Baby, are you okay?”

“
Yes, I’m fine.  I’m a little dizzy and tired.”

Standing,
Tobey carried me over to the blanket and got me some food.  “Don’t fight me on this, just eat please.” 

I
could hear the concern in his voice.  So I ate the food he offered me.  He gave me some juice and more to eat.  After finishing up, I started feeling a little better.

“
Thank you.”

“
You don’t have to worry about gaining weight out here Mary.  You work too hard for any of the food to stick.  Please promise me you’ll eat.”

I
nod my head unsure if I can trust my own voice. Tobey sighs in relief. 

“
Why don’t you just get rid of Kyle?”

“
I can’t,” I sighed. 

There
was no way he would understand unless I told him the truth, but I wasn’t sure I could do that.  I liked having him around too much to want to risk any of it.

“
What do you mean you can’t?  You’re the boss, just fire him.”

“
You wouldn’t understand.”

“
So explain it to me, sweetheart.” 

By
the look in his eyes, I could tell that he was not going to give this up until he got the answers he was after.  With no other choice, I would have to tell him and hope it didn’t change anything between us.

“
Okay, I’ll explain it to you, but I want no interruptions.  You’re the first person I’m telling this to and it’s a lot to tell, so please let me get it all out before you say anything, okay?”

He
nodded.  Taking a deep breath, readying myself for what I knew was going to be a fight to get him to stay out of it.  He watched me carefully.

“
Kyle is abusive.  It is not just hitting me, which he does a lot.  It is more than that.  When I first hired him, my old agent cleared his background check and I hired him for just my manager.  Shortly after starting my agent quit, which was weird because she was a good friend of mine; or at least I thought she was.  Anyway, when she quit is when things started to go downhill with Kyle.  He would yell at me for little things.  Well I’m a big girl and this industry is full of things like this, so I paid no attention to him.  I brushed it off and continued on.  Well, not too long later, he started get touchy.  I didn’t like it.  I started fighting him back and trying to make sure I wasn’t alone with him.  That was the first time I tried to fire him.  When I told him that I no longer wanted or needed his services, it was also the first time he hit me.  When I had a gig the next day, he told the press that my house was broke into and this is what happened.  I don’t even own a house.  I stay in a hotel when I am out of town and with family when I am in town.  The press bought it though.”  I took another deep breath. “A couple of weeks after this, I told him again that he was no longer working for me.  I went to my dressing room to get ready to go home and he came in and locked the door behind him.  He tried to rape me.  My size may be small but I can pack a good punch. After all, I do have a kick boxer for an overprotective brother who wanted to make sure I knew how to protect myself,” I say smirking at him.

“
But he, uh, marked me in another way. He, um, stabbed me in my ass cheek and ran it up along the crack.  A dancer found me and I was rushed to the hospital and was stitched up. Anyway, other fights left me with some cuts and he even cut my hair.  It was longer than this.  He still kept showing up.  The more I fight on getting rid of him the worse things got, so I gave up.  He demands I work practically all the time and then he gets mad when I have a family emergency.  When all the stuff happened with Kayla, I took time off.  I ended up being off for about six months.  When I went back to work, he broke two of my ribs, gave me a black eye and caused me to ‘twist’ my ankle.  I was out of commission for a while, so he tells the press that I am working on a solo album.  That is how I got into the singing and song writing portion of it.  Not sure I would have been otherwise.  Anyway, he controls everything and if I don’t comply then I pay the price.  Being here…I am going to pay dearly for especially since he has called several times and I haven’t answered the phone.  So there you go. That’s why I have not fired him and that is why I worry about gaining weight.  Now you know everything.”

His
anger was palpable; his body was tense, every muscle tightened while I explained everything to him.  Now he sat there silent, not saying a word only rubbing my back.  So I made a move to stand up, I thought for sure he would stop me, but he didn’t.  Wrapping my arms around my waist, I turn then start walking away.  Turning back to him, I watch him a moment. Give him a moment to say or do something. He didn’t even look at me.

“
This is why I haven’t told anyone and why I didn’t want to tell you.”  I said sadly then turned and ran away.

Chapter
Sixteen

Tobey

I
sat there for a while unsure what I should do.  The only thing I knew for sure was that I wanted to kill Kyle.  Watching her as she ran from me, she was hurt. My stomach knotted and before I could think better of it, I pulled out my cell phone and dialed the number I was given that night at the William’s family dinner.

“
Williams and Williams, how can I direct your call please?”

“
I need to speak to Elijah Williams.”

“
He’s in a meeting. Would you like to leave a message?”

“
No I don’t want to leave a message. Get him on the phone. It’s a family emergency.” Trying desperately to keep my anger in check.

“
Please hold.”

The
stupid elevator music playing while I am on hold was helping me in no way to keep myself under control. My grip on my phone was tightening and I wanted to punch something badly. After a few minutes, Elijah finally answered.

“
What’s going on? Who’s hurt? Where do I need to go?” He answers almost franticly.

“
Elijah, it’s Tobey.”

“
Damn it! What’s happened to Mary?”

“
Nothing. Well nothing since she’s been with me.”

“
What are you talking about?”

I
sighed knowing what I was doing was going to cause some major problems, but something told me I needed to do it.

“
Okay listen. This is probably going to severely piss your sister off, but I think it’s a matter of doing what’s needed to keep her safe.”

Elijah
yells a bit into the phone. “Tell me what you’re talking about!”

“
Your sister just told me everything that has happened between her and him. I think you should know.”

“
Go ahead,” he said sounding a bit on edge now but less aggravated for my calling.

So
I went through everything that she just told me. I left nothing out even when I heard his gasps. Pushing forward, I talked fast enough that he couldn’t interrupt me with questions but slow enough so he could understand everything I was saying.

“
Fuck,” Elijah breathed once I finished talking.

“
He’s made contact with her since she’s been here threatening her, but he doesn’t know where she’s at.”

“
I’ll get with Jason. We’ve been trying to dig into him the past few days. I’ll get back to ya if I think there’s anything you can do to help. Thank you for letting me know about my sister. I’ve got to go.”

We
hung up and I ran to my horse jumping up I rode back to the house in search of Mary. Spotting Scott, I toss him the reins.

“
Did she go inside?”

He
nods. “You fuck up again? Eventually she’s going to stop forgiving you.”

“
I didn’t fuck up.” I start walking toward the house. “I don’t think.” I mumble under my breath.

Rushing
up the steps, I run directly to my room but she’s not in there. Turning around I head into the spare room, she was there sitting on the bed with her head in her hands. Quickly I moved in the room shutting the door with my foot.

“
Just go away, Tobey.  You made your point.”

“
No, I don’t think I did.  You left before I could talk.”

“
Fine then talk!”  She turned and I could see she was crying. It killed me to know that I might be the cause of those tears.

“
Fine I will talk.  I think you need to quit with Kyle.  Stay the hell away from him.  Maybe work from here and stay with me?” My eyes widened in shock that I had actually said that out loud. Taking a deep breath, I pushed ahead. “I want to see where this is going.”

“
What?” She breathed.

“
You heard me.  Stay with me, don’t leave after this week is up.  Make a home here, with me, work on my ranch and then do your singing from here.”

“
Are you serious?”

I
moved to sit next to her, “Yes, I am serious.”

“
You want me around?” She still seemed shocked. It was time tell her the truth.

“
Yes, more than anything I want you with me. I want you in my bed at night. To wake up to you in the morning. To share my day with and everything in between.”

“
You just want me here for my cooking,” she laughs with tears in her eyes.

Chuckling,
“Well that is also a bonus.” She hits me in the chest and I lean up and kiss her briefly before pulling back and looking into her eyes. “So what do you say? Will you move in with me?”

She
nods her head. “Yes.”

My
mouth crashes down on hers and my heart soars. Finally the pressure of this week was off my shoulders and I could finally just enjoy her the way she deserves without the worry of our goodbye coming soon.

“
I need you,” I breathed against her lips.

“
Yes,” she breathed while undoing my pants.

Fumbling
with her pants, my hands shook with the need for her.  She stood up and undid her pants then lowered them and her underwear to the floor. Next she moved to me, grabbing the top of my pants and working them down. Mary didn’t pull them all the way off. Instead she stopped when they were at my calves.

Before
I could ask what she was doing, her mouth was wrapped around the head of my cock. My head fell backwards and my hips pushed forward. Her mouth wrapped around me felt amazing. Beyond what I ever imagined.

Her
tongue circled the head teasing me before she lowered herself down, taking me further into her mouth. She moved up and down vigorously before I had to pull her off me. She looked up at me with a little sexy smirk on her face.

Slowly
she stood, placing her hand on my chest pushing me backwards. Climbing over me she lowered herself down on my hard throbbing cock. I moan loudly as does Mary. No matter how many times we have sex this would never feel any less incredible. Placing her hands back on my chest, she starts to raise and lower herself.

Before
long I’m thrusting my hips up as she lowers herself down. Every moment with Mary is magnified beyond anything I’ve ever felt. She was it for me. She had me mind, body and soul.

“
Oh Fuck Tobey! I’m cumming!” She screamed.

“
Fuck yeah! Me too!” I roared as my climax took over. 

Grabbing
her hips, I slam her down on me as I thrust up and hold her there. Everything in me clenched tightly on my release and a growl escaped me. My hips jerked slightly against the force of my orgasm.

Mary
dropped to my chest and I wrapped my arms around her holding her tightly against me. Both of us were breathing ragged.  My world was right with this unbelievably amazing woman in my arms. Her breathing slowed and I thought she fell asleep. The thought caused me to chuckle.

“
Are you asleep?” When she didn’t answer me, I whispered the one thing I was scared to say. “I love you, Mary.”

Several
minutes passed when she stirred on my chest. “Tobey?”

“
Hmmm?”

“
I love you too.”

I
’m pretty damn sure she felt me tense up. My breath left my lungs. Laying here with the most beautiful woman in the world, my heart was afraid to beat. Finally moving, I cup her face and raise it to look into her eyes.

“
Say that again,” I whisper.

She
starts laughing then moves off me. I lay there half naked watching her pull on her clothes. When she was dressed, she wouldn’t look at me. Finally breaking out of it, I pulled up my clothes and walked over to the window where she stood looking out.

“
Hey,” I said quietly turning her around to face me. “What’s wrong?”

She
turns her head to the side taking a shaky breath. “I just thought I heard… I thought I heard you…”

“
Say I love you.” Her head snaps in my direction. “Yes, Mary. I said I love you. And oh God do I love you. It scares the shit out of me, Mary. You are the only person in this world that I have ever loved. I meant what I said on our ride. You are my everything.”

A
tear fell down her cheek. Just as I heard the door open behind us she said, “I love you too Tobey.”

Not
caring who was behind me or what they wanted, I claimed her mouth in a kiss so intense I about stripped her clothes and took her again. If it weren’t for my name being yelled behind me, I would have. Breaking the kiss and resting my forehead against hers.

“
This better be a
damn
good reason to barge in here.”

“
Um, Mary got a package.” Scott said.

Mary
stiffened in my arms and just like that our beautiful bubble broke.

“
This asshole is really beginning to piss me off!” I growled as I turned and started to walk out of the room before stopping and turning back to Mary. “Sweetheart?”

She
still stood in the same place that I left her. Her eyes were huge and I could see her shaking. Quickly I moved back to her and cupped her face in my hands.

“
Mary. Mary look at me.” Her eyes turned toward me and focused in on my face. “I’m not letting anything happen to you. I’m not. Now I think we need a good supper since you nor I got a lunch. How about you make us some supper? Can you do that?”

After
a moment she blinked and nodded her head. “Cooking, yeah I can do that.” She started to walk by me when she turned kissed me senseless. “Thank you.” Smiling she turned and walked out of the room.

“
Damn man! I might be a little hard from just watching that,” Scott said hitting me in the arm.

“
Shut up Scott.” I growled.

“
So you told her huh?” He asked a little more subdued.

“
Yeah and then you had to come in and burst our damn happy bubble. Where the fuck is that package?” I hissed.

“
In the barn. Didn’t want to bring it in just in case it was something dangerous.”

I
just nodded my head continuing to head out to the barn. There was no way this sick and sadistic monster was going to get a hold of Mary. There was no fucking way I would let that happen.

Slamming
the barn door open, I saw the box right away. “Who delivered it?”

“
Dan from
UPS.
There’s no return address.”

Standing
in front of the box, I wagered on whether or not to open it or just throw it out. If it was a warning I wanted to know, but if it was something that I was going to have to break to Mary…I wasn’t looking forward to doing that. Shaking my head I carefully open the box to find an envelope inside. Reaching in I grab the envelope, while Scott checks the rest of the box.

Inside
the envelope was a single sheet of paper. On it the most chilling message…

I
know where you are.