Bent not Broken (331 page)

****

WHEN SHE SLIDES her hand in mine, I give her a little smile, kiss her knuckles, and check my mirrors to make sure my girls are good to go. “All right ladies, are y’all ready to go get our boys back?”

“Yes!” they all agree. I just laugh. I’ve missed them too.

My gorgeous wife leans her head back on the seat and looks at me with wonder. “Do you think they learned any Spanish?”

“I’m sure they did, babe.” I’m cut off when her phone rings.

She picks it up and groans. “It’s Bonnie. I really don’t want to hear it right now, but I know she needs to vent.”

“Answer it then.”

She releases a deep sigh. “Hey, Bonnie. What’s up?” She listens, nodding at Bonnie’s over the top ass. I feel her pain, so I loosen my hold on her hand and run my thumb over her palm and watch her smile through her gritted teeth. She tries to pull her hand away a little, and I watch her cross her legs. She’s so easy to rile up and fucking insatiable. Lucky me. I let her off the hook and go back to just holding her hand.

“Well, Bonnie, you should have thought of that before.” Pause. “I know you didn’t mean for it to happen that way, but you’re a grown woman.” Pause. “You’re just going to have to deal with it.” Pause. “Stop it. You know I love you, but I’m not choosing sides.” Pause. “OK, I’ll see you later.”

“That didn’t sound good.”

“No, she’s nervous about seeing Garner.” She looks back at the girls who look like they’re dozing already. “She says it’s the same every time he comes to town, and she doesn’t want it to go down like that again.”

“Mmm…well, you know where I stand on that whole mess.”

She narrows her eyes at me and clenches her hand around mine. That’s what she does when she gets pissy. She knows better than to let me go. “Yes, I know. Trust me, I wish I could stay out of it.”

Her phone rings again. She sighs. I laugh. If she wasn’t so gracious, they wouldn’t call her with all their shit. She should just snap on their asses. I know she has it in her; she’s sure as hell snapped on me when I’ve needed it.

“Hello, Daddy,” she says. “Yes, sir. We’re headed there now. I’m sorry. Oh, fine by me. No, that’s great. See you then.”

I tell her what I figured out. “Your dad’s going to be there but not your mom. He’s also had the displeasure of making sure Chip won’t be there.”

“You got it,” she says with a snicker. She checks to make sure the girls are asleep. “Louis still doesn’t want to be around my mother or Chip. He’s not quite ready for that.”

I visibly shudder. “I don’t think I’d ever be ready to know that Chip was my biological father, and that he and my mother had been screwing right under everyone’s noses for years.” Talk about the shit hitting the fan. When Claire found out about Celeste and me and that Celeste’s father was going to support us, she flipped her lid. Apparently her attempt to play nice was all a ruse.

We finally found out why she seemed to hate me more than she hated everyone else too. Her efforts at sleeping her way through our family had been thwarted when my father had refused her. In retaliation of her husband’s “disloyalty,” she blasted everyone’s dirty secrets to the whole family. All the paid off politicians, all the prostitutes and their abortions for Celeste’s older brothers, all the embezzled money, but the worst—finding out about William’s victims. It made me crazy when I thought about how close Celeste had come to being one of many women who’d suffered the ultimate in violence at his hands. Claire and Chip had been the only ones to know about William’s repeated acts of rape, but after her confession, Louis made sure William paid in the legal sense. My only consolation was that he was taking it up the ass multiple times a day at his new home in Angola State Penitentiary. The whole thing was nuts, but it put us all on an equal playing field, that’s for sure. Nobody bothered with Celeste and me anymore.

Celeste lets out a long sigh. “I know. It’s so hard to get used to the fact that my sweet baby brother was sired by that narcissistic pig.”

I squeeze her hand. “You’re not going to think about all that today. The boys have been gone for over a week. Our precious little girls are sleeping right behind you. Louis found a good guy in Chase and they’re doing well. Your best friend and mine will work their own problems out.” I catch her gaze and wink at her. “You got crazy hot birthday sex this morning and beignets. Life is good, babe.”

****

PUSHING A DOUBLE stroller through the terminal is one thing I never thought I’d be doing . I have five beautiful children. That little thought never fails to stagger me. I watch as my oldest son picks up and spins my beautiful wife in his arms. He sets her down, and she is attacked with hugs from our three boys. I stand back and let them talk for a minute. There’s nothing like watching a mama with her boys. After a minute, I push in a little closer and hug each one of their necks. I’m pretty sure Paris has grown because he’s starting to catch up with me. Archer’s been able to look me in the eye for a while, though. When Finn wraps his arms around me, I’m happy that I can still pick him up and jostle him back and forth a little.

“Boys, how was your trip?”

“It was awesome,” Finn answers first. “I taught the kids how to play American baseball and football when we had breaks from working. I have a bunch of pictures too. I can’t wait to get home and get them printed up and mailed to them.”

I ruffle his hair and hug him to my side. “I missed ya, kid.”

“Missed you too, Papa. The girls are knocked out,” he says with a nod to the stroller.

“They got up early and made your mom breakfast, ate a bunch of sugar, and then went into a coma.”

He laughs. “I thought mom said no more beignets.”

“We won her over.” I say with a grin.

Louis, Chase, and Celeste’s dad make their way over and hug the boys. The boys regale us with talk of their mission trip for a few minutes before an excited Paris grabs a magazine from his bag and thrusts it in my face.

“Pops, look at this. Can you believe it? The Dog Tags on the cover of
People en Español
.”

I laugh and look at my former band mates in all their glory. They’ve been kicking ass. I’m proud of them.

Archer pipes up. “I can’t believe you gave all that up to hang out with us and our mom, dude. They’re living the life.”

I nod my head knowingly. “Yeah, I know exactly what kind of life they’re living, and I wouldn’t trade mine for theirs for anything in this world.”

Celeste’s dad pats me on the back and jumps in with his opinion, and my eyes almost bulge out of their sockets with what he says. “The work Adrian is doing with our veterans is commendable, boys. You’d do well to take note and remember that.”

I look over at Celeste and my look of astonishment must mirror hers. Then we both grin. It had been better between us for a while now, but for him to outright state his approval was still unexpected.

His next question has me cringing for Archer. “Archer, you’ll be leaving for college soon, son. Have you made your final decision?”

I’m impressed with Archer when his gaze doesn’t waiver and his voice is strong. “Yes, Grandfather. I’ll be heading to Annapolis. The Naval Academy has accepted me into their Cyber Operations program.”

“Excellent. Navy or Marines?” Yep, there it is.

“Marines, sir.”

“They’ll be lucky to have you, son.” Wonders will never cease.

Celeste doesn’t hesitate to hug her dad right then. Acceptance—it’s all she’d ever wanted for her and her family.

“Louis, how’s entertainment law treating you, son?”

And that little change never failed to grate on my last nerve. Bradford had put a good word in for Louis when Louis stepped away from the family practice, which meant Bradford was around a lot more since they were such great friends. Which meant that I had to pretend not to want to punch his face in every time I caught him checking out my wife. If he were just admiring how damn gorgeous she was, I could handle that. But, no, he looked at her like if I stepped one tiny fucking bit out of line, he would whisk her off and nurse her wounds. Bastard. He needs to get a woman of his own.

Louis rubs the back of his neck and grins. “It’s good. More relaxed pace. A little more traveling. I’m enjoying it.”

“Well, someone’s got to do it, but I never thought it would be you with all your brilliance.”

Louis just laughs. “They need brilliant people too, Dad.”

“Well, at least we still have Chase around the firm,” his dad says with a sigh.

I see the girls stirring and their brothers are on top of it. They abandon us and lift them from their stroller, hugging and kissing and passing them between the three of them.

My eyes burn at the sight of them. I feel Celeste burrow into my side and look down at her. Tears shimmer in her eyes, so I hug her to me tight and lean down and kiss them away. “Happy tears?” She just nods. Planting a long kiss on her forehead, I murmur, “Thank you for this family, baby.” I feel her hiccup, so I squeeze her ass to make her laugh.

“All right, family. We’ve got a long day ahead of us. Let’s get going.”

****

GETTING THE TWINS settled takes a heck of a long time, so when I get to the sunroom I’m whupped. But when I see her sitting there in her little blue silk camisole and shorts, I get a rush of energy. I walk over and pull her up so that I can sit and then pull her back down on my lap.

“Hey, baby,” she murmurs.

“Hey, yourself. How’s this for a hot birthday date? You, me, and this loveseat?”

“This loveseat holds some of my best memories, so I love it right here. And you’re taking me to the concert tomorrow, so I’m good.”

I lean in and get a little taste. “Mmm…you’re better than good.”

“Today was a great day,” she says as she runs her hands through my hair. “I’m so happy to have the boys home.”

“Me too. And your dad blew my mind, by the way.”

“I knew he’d come around eventually, baby. You’re amazing. I just happened to be the lucky one who saw it first.”

“You weren’t always so lucky,” I say, thinking back to how I’d put her through hell for a while. It still boggled my mind that she was strong enough and loved me enough to see what I needed and to do something about it.

She runs her fingers over my neck, massaging me. “Baby, that’s all behind us now. You asked me how I could forgive you, how I could put my trust in you. It’s so simple—you give me everything, Adrian. It’s only fair that I give it all right back.”

I run my hands up her jaw and bring her face close to mine. I pray that she can see it all in my eyes—all my love, all my respect, all my awe—because I know that my words could never do my feelings justice. “You’re my life, my love, my heaven,” I pause for a second before I give her words back. Her words that rocked my world. “My everything I’d never had,” I whisper.

Then There Was You

So Much It Hurts Book #2

By

Melanie Dawn

Prologue

Fairbanks Juvenile Detention Center

Age 17

CHRIS

“No!” I screamed as I slammed my fist into the side of the metal phone booth. “It can’t be true!” My knuckle immediately throbbed, but it was nothing compared to the pain in my heart. Falling to my knees, I cried out in agony, “Oh god, this isn’t happening!”
This isn’t fucking happening!
Blind rage took over my body, and I punched the floor relentlessly. Searing pain exploded in my fist, but that didn’t stop me.

Within seconds a guard had me in shackles, lifting me to my feet. He escorted me down the hall, while I writhed and howled like a caged animal, directly past my own bunk and straight into segregation. He shoved me into the tiny cell and locked the door behind me. I slammed myself against the wall.
Please let this be a nightmare!
My shoulder ached with pain, but I didn’t give a fuck.

Officer Blevins abruptly slid open the tiny window in the metal door. “Chris? You’ve got to calm down. Talk to me, man. What happened?”

I glanced toward his caring, steel-gray eyes, the only things I could see through that tiny fucking window, but I didn’t answer. How could I? The weight on my chest was almost too much to bear.

A sob escaped my throat, but I quickly tried to reel it in. I groaned, slamming my fist into the wall to redirect my emotions. I wanted to break the concrete blocks into a million pieces, just the way my shattered heart felt, so I kept pounding it over and over. I needed to give meaning to the pain I felt inside—a real reason to cry. The throb of my knuckles almost alleviated the agony in my heart.
Almost.

“Chris, if you don’t calm down, I’ll be forced to call medical.”

I turned to glare at him. “I don’t give a fuck!” I howled. “Call them. Dope me up. Put me out of my misery!”

Officer Blevins stared quietly at me for a moment, hoping I’d calm down on my own. I glared back at him, chest heaving and jaw twitching, until he slid the window closed and disappeared.

I don’t really know what happened after that. Everything was just a blur. All I knew was that I completely fucking lost it. I couldn’t stop myself. I was flipping the hell out and had no control over my body or my actions. Blood was splattered on the tile floor. My knuckles were a fucking mess, and my shoulders hurt from ramming them into the wall.
Why the hell can’t there be punching bags in these cells?
I needed to pound the shit out of something.

I leaned on the wall, throwing my head back against the cinder blocks and closing my eyes
. I can’t believe this. I can’t fucking believe this!

I could feel the roar in my throat as I tried to push back the sobs that threatened to escape. With a growl, I pounded my fists backwards against the wall behind me.

Just then, as if the heavens opened up and sent me an angel, I heard the quiet voice that had been a balm to my pain for the past few months.

“Chris?”

Chapter One

Fourteen years later

CHRIS

Jeremy, my best friend and drummer, didn’t question my most recent alcohol binge. He just accepted it, knowing alcohol was the only thing that would numb my pain. He remembered my heartbreaking history with Kaitlyn, recalling how broken I was several years ago during the weeks following our brief reunion at the beach. So a few days ago, when I ran out of the grocery store empty-handed, Jeremy knew something serious had happened.