Family Ties (Hidden Secrets) (6 page)

“You ever think of talking about her like that again. I’ll rip you to fucking shreds you asshole.”

Detective Lane pulled me back and Mary grabbed my arm. Looking down at her, I saw concern in her eyes, but when she
wouldn’t meet my eyes any longer my chest tightened. Turning back, I watched as Lane picked Kyle off the floor reading him his rights.

Out of the corner of my eye, I watched as Mary looked around and saw all the attention that had gathered.  I heard her mumble something but
couldn’t make out what she said before she ran from the restaurant.  Immediately, I ran after her rushing past Kyle and the detective.

“
Mary! Wait up!” 

When I caught up to her, I grabbed her arm gently to turn her around.  My breath caught in my throat.  She was crying.  She looked up at me with tears in her eyes.

“What do you want?” She choked out.  I could tell she was embarrassed.

I know I should feel good that she was embarrassed because my plan I had for her was far worse, but I
didn’t.  Maybe I should have listened to Scott and not taken this on.

“
Come here,” I said softly, reaching for her. 

I pulled her into a hug. 
God, she felt good against me
, I thought again.  I held her tight as she cried, trying hard to get the image of her wrapped in Lane’s arms off my mind. When I looked around, I could see a crowd starting to form.  Without thinking, I picked her up and took her around the corner and into my truck.  Climbing in on the passenger side with her, I held her on my lap for a little while.  We sat there in silence with neither of us saying a word.  Just the sounds of her crying and sniffles were all that broke the quiet in the truck. After a few moments, I broke the silence.

“
Tell me where to take you.  I will take you anywhere.” I felt compassion for this woman and I knew I shouldn’t. 
Today I will give her peace.  She deserves it.  Tomorrow the game is on.

“
To my parents’, please,” she mumbled into my chest.

After scooting across the seat and starting the truck, she gave me the directions and I drove us there. While we were driving over there, she was texting on her phone.  She
didn’t say anything to me, but I didn’t ask her anything either.  I was trying to give her a moment to regain her composure. 

Pulling up in front of the house, I shut my truck off.  We sat there quietly for a moment before I broke the silence.

“Are you okay?”

“
I’ll be fine. Thank you, Tobey.  I really appreciate all this.  I will pay you back for lunch.”

“
You owe me nothing Mary.  I’m glad you’re okay.  Does this kind of stuff happen a lot?”

“
Sometimes…” she trailed off.

“
Why don’t you fire him?”

“
If it were that easy…”  She said before she started to cry again. 

Scooting to the center of the seat, I gathered her into my arms and held her in my lap while she cried.

Well, if nothing else, I’m earning her trust right? Get your shit together Young or you’re going to be the one that loses and again this woman will bring down your family.

Chapter Five

Mary

Here I was in his lap again.  I found that I loved the comforting and safe feeling when I was in his arms.  This man was made from one of my dreams.  He saved me from my idiot manager.  He
didn’t even blink an eye to protect me when he was still going off on me.  I wished I could find someone that would love me for me and not what I did or could give.  I just wanted someone to protect and love me.  Like what Kayla has. I wrapped my arms around his neck and he pulled me in closer, rubbing my back. 

“
You need to get away from him, darling.  He’s not a very good man.  Why can’t you just fire him?”

“
You have not seen the half of what he can do.  I have tried to fire him before and I will not make that mistake again.  My sister lived in fear for sixteen years and I watched how her life fell apart every single day in those years.  It was one week with Kyle and I couldn’t do it.  I know now why it took my sister so long to get up the courage to go after her attacker.”

“
He attacked you?” He asked as he pulled back to look in my eyes.

All I could do was
nod my head; my voice was gone. I realized how close I was to his face.   My eyes dropped to his lips as his hand stopped rubbing my back.  He leaned down slowly watching my eyes.  I lifted my lips and closed the last of the distance. 

The kiss was gentle and light at first.  He pulled back and looked at me for a second, before I wrapped my arms tighter around his neck and our lips connected for a more demanding kiss.  He licked and nipped at my lower lip until I opened and his tongue entered my mouth and brushed my tongue cautiously at first.  Once I pushed back, the kiss became eager and full of hunger.  His hands were fisted in my hair and mine were tangled in his as we devoured each other
’s mouth.

A knock on the window, pulled us apart, but we just looked at each other and not at whoever was knocking.  That was the first time I have ever felt anything like that when kissing someone.  Just kissing him was almost enough to send me over the edge.  This man knew how to kiss.  The knock came again.  I turned my head to see who was at the window and I blanched.

“Hey Nick…”

“
Get out here, please.”

Tobey opened the door and lifted me down to the ground and exited after me.  He had a protective hand around my waist.  I loved the feeling of being protected.  However, there was no need to protect me here.  I raised my hand to his face to let him know it was okay.  I ran over and threw my arms around my brother. 

“Nick!  I’ve missed you!” 

Nick wrapped his arms around me and held me tight.  “You just saw me yesterday.  You can
’t suck up to me and have me forget the phone call I just got from Nate. How are you?  Are you okay?” 

I had to laugh at my overprotective brother because as he asked me, he never took his eyes off Tobey. 

“What’s so funny Mare?” He asked finally looking me.

“
You are,” I smiled up at him.

He frowned.
“How am I funny?”

“
Because you’re asking me how I am, but not taking your eyes off Tobey.” 

I laughed as I walked over to Tobey.  Rising up on my toes, I pretended to kiss him on the cheek, but whispered in his ear instead.

“Just go with me on this, it’ll make it easier for you, okay?”  He nodded his head and put his arm around me again. 

“
This is Tobey, my boyfriend.  Tobey this is my brother, Nicholas. We all call him Nick.  He’s really overprotective,” I finished with a giggle.

“
Overprotective?  I stand here while Nate tells me that your crazy ass manager is causing you trouble then come out and find you lip locked with some guy.” 

I
couldn’t stop laughing. My brother sounded more like an old man than my brother.

“
Stop laughing, Mare…”  Nick tries to scold, but starts laughing. “Are you okay though?”

“
Yes, Tobey protected me.” I smiled up at him.

“
Well then I owe you my gratitude for saving my sister.  That guy gets under my skin.  I try to get her to get rid of him, but she won’t.”

I sighed.

“I’ve told her the same thing.  I guess as long as I can be around, he won’t be able to hurt her anymore.” 

They shook hands and Nick turned to me and said, “Seems like a good man you got here, finally.  Sure beats the hell out of the other guys you
’ve dated.” He scoffs.

“
If I am able to defend myself here, I’ve never really dated any of them.  They were just fuck buddies,” I said without thinking and then cringed when my words finally registered in my head.

I felt Tobey
’s arm tighten around me and I saw Nick clenching his fists. Neither of them spoke for a minute and I felt humiliated. What the hell was I thinking?  It wasn’t that it wasn’t the truth, but to say it out loud to my brother… that was a different story.  Nick cleared his throat.

“
Will you be joining us for supper tonight?  Around six o’clock is when we plan to eat.”

“
Do you want me to stay, Darlin’?” He drawled. 

Now, I knew there had to be something wrong with him because he was just too sweet.  He
didn’t even bat an eye to help me with Kyle and he didn’t protest when I said he was my boyfriend.  Now he seemed to have no problem staying and pretending to be my boyfriend for supper.  I couldn’t do that to him, though.  He had already given so much of his time, but I did ruin lunch. 

             
He leaned down to kiss my cheek and whispered, “If you don’t want me to I completely understand.” 

All
I could do is smile.  He was letting me lead this dance. 

“
No, Nick not tonight.  I think I am going to make up for a ruined lunch with Tobey.  If you want that is.  I know you are away from work right now and I don’t want to cause issues there.”

“
That sounds wonderful darlin’.  I have a few things I need to do, but will come back to pick you up.”  He smiled down at me.

“
I’ll leave you guys to talk and see you inside Mare.”  Nick walked away.

Turning back, I looked up at Tobey.  “Thank you for going along with it.  We don
’t have to go out tonight if you don’t want to.  I know you must be busy.”

He cupped my face. “Do you not want to go out?”

“I do, but I don’t want you to feel like you have to,” I said getting lost in his eyes.

“
Then we will go out.  I’d like to have uninterrupted time with you,” he said as he stared at my mouth licking his lips.

“
Okay,” I whispered before his mouth devoured mine.

My hand trailed up his stomach and he groaned as I moved up his chest and wrapped my arms around his neck pulling him closer.  One of Tobey
’s hands tangled into my hair and the other ran down my back to my ass before squeezing it and pulling me further into him.  We both moaned as I slowly began grinding my hips into him.  We completely forgot where we were.  The only thing that mattered to us right now was each other and this moment. Just as I started running my hand down his front almost reaching the front of his pants, someone clears their throat and coughs.

We broke from the kiss and he rested his forehead to mine.  Both of us struggled to catch our breaths.  Finally, Tobey opened his eyes and looked at me with a smile.

“Definitely want uninterrupted time,” he winks and I laugh.

Turning, I find Nate standing there with a look on his face that killed the buzz I was feeling.  He looked hurt
… no it was worse than that.  He looked broken.  All of a sudden, I felt guilty and I had no reason to feel guilty.

“
I’ll be back to pick you up at five.  See you then.” Tobey kissed me one more time before turning and getting in his truck and driving off.

Nate approached me taking my hand. “Are you okay?”

“Yes, I’m fine.  Kyle just got out of hand and Tobey told me to call someone.”

“
He’s the one who’s been hitting you, isn’t he?”

I just stared at him,
then turned to walk inside.  He grabbed my hand to stop me.

“
Are you with that guy, that Tobey?”

“
Yes, I guess. I mean I don’t know.”

“
Is he the reason you turned me away?”

“
No…”

“
Does he love you?  Do you love him?”

“
Jesus, Nate! I don’t know, we just fucking met.  What is your damn problem?”

He pulled me toward him and tried to kiss me, but I shoved him back.

“Mare please…” he pleaded.

“
No, don’t ‘Mare please’ me.  I have told you that we are friends.  We
are
friends, Nate.” I end softer than I started.

“
But I don’t want to be just your friend Mare.” He sighs. “You want someone to love you for you, right?”

I nod my head and he smirks.

“I already do Mare.”

“
What,” I breathed.

“
Mare, I’ve been in love with you for a while.  It just took me this long to take the risk in telling you.”  He pulls me back into his arms and I’m so shocked I let him. “I love you, Mary.”

He leaned down with a smile on his face and just before he touched my lips I turned my head.  There was no way this was love he was feeling.  He was confusing his lust for love.

“What did you do last night?” I asked, stepping away from him.

A confused look crossed his face. “I went to the bar like I normally do.”

“Yeah? Did you have some company last night?”

“
What are you talking about?” He went to reach for me and I stepped back again.

“
What I’m talking about Nate is you don’t love me.  If you loved me, there would be no other women.  You are confusing your lust for me as love. Nate, you are my best friend.  Please open your eyes and let’s not ruin our friendship.”

Nate stood there looking at me for a minute before nodding his head.  “You
’re okay, I mean after today?”

“
Yes, Nate.  I’m fine. I hope you aren’t too mad at me.”

“
Not mad at all.” He smiled sadly, then whispered, “I’ll be here for you no matter what Mare.” He kissed my cheek and left.

I stood there a moment, unable to move.  That was Nate like I have never seen him before.  Part of me wished I felt for him what he thinks he feels for me, but it just
wasn’t there and I couldn’t lead him on thinking that there was.  He really was my best friend. Sighing, I turned and headed inside to get ready for the date that I was going on.  I was determined to have fun tonight.

There was a knock at the door just as I was walking downstairs.  It was exactly five o
’clock. Smiling to myself, I hated waiting.  Bonus points for him right there.  When I opened the door, he stood there smiling down at me with a single rose in his hand.

“
Wow, no one has ever got me a rose before,” I teased as I walked past him out the door.

“
What no third degree from your brother?” Tobey asked as he walked beside me.

“
No,” I laughed.  “They gave those speeches up long ago.” I smiled.

“
Good to know,” he says with a wink before opening up the passenger side door and helping me in.

As Tobey walked around the truck, I tried to get my nerves under control.  This definitely
wasn’t my first date… well it kind of was since I became a celebrity.  It is kind of hard to date when your every move is watched and everyone seems to have some kind of agenda for the reason they are there at all.  It has never been because they wanted to get to know me. Smiling as Tobey climbed into the truck, I wondered if it would be this time.

“
Where to?” He asked, smiling.

“
Are you familiar with this area?”

“
A little,” he said shrugging.

“
Do you know where
Fortress
is?”

He nodded his head and pulled out.  For the first time, I was nervous.  Normally I could carry on a conversation just fine, but tonight
… nothing would come to my mind to talk about.  He reached over, slightly brushing my leg to shift gears and then turned on the stereo.  Staring out the window, I tried to come up with something to talk about.

“
Have you ever been to
Fortress
?” I blurted all of a sudden as the idea popped into my head.

He laughed softly, “No, I haven
’t.”