Betrayed (15 page)

Chapter Twenty-Eight

B
yron watched McKenzie
leave her place of business, and before he could call out to her, she was around the corner. He followed, planning to talk to her. But before he was able to do so, she stepped into the small put he’d ate at with her and Jewell and sat down. He followed close behind, but his plans were thwarted when he ran into Tyler.

“What in the world are you doing here?” his brother said. “This is so not your kind of place.”

“I’m meeting someone,” Byron replied, watching McKenzie seat herself at the same table he’d joined her and his sister-in-law at.

“Well, have a drink with your little brother first. I haven’t seen you in a couple of weeks,” Tyler said.

“I don’t have time right now.”

“You don’t have time for your brother?” Tyler raised an eyebrow.

“Let’s meet tomorrow,” Byron told him, still staring over at McKenzie’s table. That’s when he watched a man approach and sit down. Fury flooded over him. It wasn’t as if he hadn’t known she was a slut, but to see it firsthand made his stomach turn. “On second thought, I have time for a drink,” he said, and he took a bar stool next to Tyler. But he kept staring over at McKenzie’s table.

“What in the hell are you looking at so intently?” Tyler asked.

Before his brother could focus in on McKenzie, Byron distracted him. “I heard you’re seeing a new woman,” he said, and Tyler whipped his head around.

“Where did you hear that?” his brother asked.

“I have my sources,” Byron said. Then fury overmastered him all over again when the man sitting with McKenzie took her hand.

He wanted to go over there and stake his claim, tell this man, whoever he was, that McKenzie was his, and that he’d better keep his filthy hands off her if he knew what was good for him. But he turned away and focused on his brother instead.

It was better for him that he’d seen this, better for him to accept what she really was. He’d forced himself not to talk to her all last week, tried to tell himself he didn’t need or want her. But then, against his will, he’d found himself approaching her office building. He wanted her. It was as simple as that. If wanting anything, especially a woman, could be called simple.

“Did Blake say something to you?” Tyler asked him.

That caught Byron’s attention.

“What? So you can confide in Blake but not in me?” Byron was surprisingly hurt by this revelation.

“No, Byron, it’s not that. It’s just that Blake and I have talked some. He’s…I don’t know, he’s just so in love. Don’t you ever want that?” Tyler asked.

Byron’s gaze turned involuntarily back to McKenzie, who was still holding hands with the mystery man, and his heart flared. “No.” He said the word curtly at best.

“I think you’re lying,” Tyler told him. “I think you want it, but you’re afraid.” He sounded so sad.

“Don’t feel sorry for me,” Byron growled. “I can have anything I want. And if it were love I wanted, I would have it. In a heartbeat.”

“I don’t think so, brother. I think you’re afraid. Afraid because of what our mother was. But not all women are her.”

Before Byron could reply, someone approached. “I’m sorry I’m so late,” she said, stepping close to Tyler, a clear sign of possession.

“It’s not a problem,” Tyler replied. “I was talking to my brother here.”

“Oh, your brother!” she exclaimed, and she turned shockingly bright blue eyes toward Byron. “I’m Elena. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Before he could stop her, she leaned in and gave him a hug.

“What ever happened to handshakes?” Byron commented, and he watched a flare of hurt enter her eyes before she smiled through it.

“Sorry. I’m impulsive,” Elena told him.

“We’ll leave you to brood, big brother,” Tyler said. He stood up and put his arm around Elena, and they walked away.

So Byron had ticked off his little brother. That was nothing new.

He almost missed it, but the man who was sitting with McKenzie pushed back his chair, and that’s when he noticed the stress on her face. What in the world was going on? Was the man breaking up with her? Okay, she was going from one guy to the next, but Byron wasn’t satisfied to leave it at that. Things were over with him and McKenzie, but he still needed answers. As he watched the man walk out of the pub, he decided to follow him.

The guy didn’t make it far. About a block down the street he entered another bar and sat down. He ordered a cheap beer, piquing Byron’s curiosity even more. Byron sat down next to him and ordered a whiskey, noticing the guy looking at it like it was gold.

“Hey there,” Byron said in greeting as he downed his shot, and the man he’d targeted practically drooled over the drink.

“Hey,” he grumbled as he sipped on his cheap beer. The man didn’t look so good. What was McKenzie doing with a guy like him? He obviously had no money, so what good would the guy be to her?

“Looks like you’ve had one hell of a day. Let me get you a whiskey,” Byron said as he ordered another one for himself and one for the piece of crap next to him.

“Sounds great,” the man said, instantly perking up as the bartender set the glasses in front of them. Byron decided he needed to stay sober for this conversation, and he wanted the man drunk.

So he ordered a few more rounds, quickly dumping his own in the potted plant sitting conveniently there next to him at the end of the bar. The guy didn’t even notice, he was so focused on his own drinking. And after about fifteen minutes, the man was thinking that Byron was his new best friend.

“My name’s Nathan,” he slurred.

“Great to meet you, Nathan. What has you in here before five?” Byron asked, as he held his hand up to order another round.

“Women!” the man grumbled.

“I hear you there. None of them can be trusted,” Byron said, to spur him on. The sad thing was that he felt this way. He couldn’t trust women.

Nathan’s eyes lit up as he found himself in the company of another woman-hater. Byron had to know what McKenzie was doing with this guy. It was making less and less sense.

“Seriously! You try to help out one of those bitches and they turn on you and stab you in the back,” the man spluttered, getting more and more worked up as he spoke.

Byron got him another drink.

“I’ve been there, man. I would love to put them in their place,” Byron said, but he felt sick even saying the words out loud. No, he didn’t respect women, but that didn’t mean he felt they should be abused. He had Bill to thank for setting him straight on that.

“Yeah, I was just with my bitch of an ex tonight. I helped her out a lot. I gave her the know-how to start a successful career, and how does she thank me? By telling me to get lost, and getting a damn restraining order placed on me,” Nathan grumbled.

This wasn’t what Byron was expecting at all. “Sounds like a typical woman to me,” is what he said.

“Yeah, typical. Screw that whore!”

“How did you help her?” Byron casually asked.

“I found her when she was young, real young, and innocent, you know?” Nathan said with demented glee in his eyes.

Byron instantly tensed. He suspected he wasn’t going to like what came out of this man’s mouth. “Tell me,” he said, and the man was too wasted to notice Byron was no longer quite as friendly as before.

“Yeah, she was just eighteen, all roses and kittens, though her little sister was in some sort of coma or something and it was messing with her head. All I had to do was play the role of her prince come to save her. She was eating out of my hands within a few weeks,” he said with a disgusting smile as he remembered back.

“Well, that doesn’t sound like anything new. All women will eat out of your hand if you rescue them,” Byron said, scoffing, as if the man was boring him.

That did the trick. Nathan obviously wanted to feel important, wanted Byron to see how much power he had. He was too drunk to realize that what he said next could land him in jail — if not dead when Byron’s fists connected with his face.

“So I worked for a man who had a special client list. His clients liked innocent young things. They paid a lot of money for them.”

“Sounds normal,” Byron said, though his stomach was turning.

“Well, my ex ruined my life! She deserved everything she had coming. She was evil, though she hid it behind an innocent face. She was also so damn stupid. It’s okay, though, because I showed her for the true whore she was, and the bitch had no idea what was coming for her. She wanted me, so why not give it up to someone else first for a lot of money? I knew I could have her over and over after that. I don’t mind sharing my cows, if you know what I mean.”

“Yeah, I know what you mean,” Byron said, not sure if he could listen to any more of this.

“Well, the bitch got what she wanted, and then acted horrified when it was done, like she didn’t secretly want it. I know she did. She was sure hot to trot, and she snapped up the money and then went running so fast I didn’t have a shot at catching her.”

“So how did you find her again?” Byron asked through clenched teeth as he motioned for the bartender to give the man another drink. He didn’t want any chance that he’d sober up now.

“She opened a whorehouse,” Nathan said.” I taught her how to do the tricks and then she opens a whorehouse and uses what I taught her to give herself a nice little life. Then the whore acts offended when I come back, acts like she didn’t want it. She don’t care that I have nothing. All she cares about is herself.” His shoulders sagged as he leaned against the bar, too drunk now to even hold himself up.

“That sounds tragic,” Byron said. He realized he wasn’t going to get anything else out of this man. What he really wanted to do was put his hands around Nathan’s throat and squeeze until the guy’s eyes bulged from his bloated head.

“Yeah, I didn’t even have a chance to taste her goodies, if you know what I mean, and even now they are some fine goodies. Dammit! I made her, so I should at least get to try a piece.”

Byron was done with the conversation. His head was spinning with what this man had said. Should he believe the story? Byron just wasn’t sure. That look of disgust and relief on McKenzie’s face as Nathan had walked away from her at the bistro was burned into Byron’s mind though. She hadn’t wanted this guy. But was it because he brought back her past? Or was it because he had hurt her feelings? He just didn’t know what to believe anymore.

Without another word, he paid his tab and walked away from the bar. He needed to talk to someone he did trust, and the list of those people was incredibly short.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

B
yron jumped into
his car and headed immediately toward Bill’s house. He needed to have some of these cobwebs cleared from his brain. He was more confused than ever before, and there was only one person he actually trusted on this earth who had known his parents and his grandparents.

As he pulled up to the house, Byron couldn’t help but smile. It was a modest place, and he’d spent many long and lazy afternoons there as a child. When McKenzie had told him he didn’t know what it was like to be in a small place, he could have corrected her, but he’d chosen not to. There had been no reason for her to know that for a few years at least, he’d had a somewhat normal childhood in a modest home. A home that had been filled with love.

Bill had made the boys do chores, teaching them how to have a good work ethic. If truth were to be told, he enjoyed working up a sweat. It was good for the body and the mind. That’s something Bill had taught him when he was young.

It didn’t take Bill long to answer the door and invite Byron in. “Wow, two visits in such a short period, and you’re still wearing the same expression I saw on your face last time. What in the world is going on in your life, my boy?”

“I just…I need to talk to you.”

“Well, let me get some food and drink. This looks like it could take some time,” Bill told him. Before Byron could say anything, Bill was sitting him down at the kitchen table while he went and rummaged through the fridge.

“I want to know why my dad did it. I want to know why he stayed with my mother when she was destroying his life.”

Bill paused briefly and the refrigerator door stood open. He finally finished pulling out the pitcher of what Byron assumed was iced tea, then he set it on the table and grabbed two glasses and a bag of chips and some artichoke dip.

He sat down and looked at Byron for several long seconds before he spoke. “Are you sure you should keep bringing up the past and dwelling on it? I would think it’s time you started looking forward instead of backward,” he finally said before pouring their tea and leaning back. “I’ve been told that it’s no damn good to drive when you’re staring in the rearview mirror.”

“I need to know why he did it. Did my mother hold something over him? Why else would he stay with her when she was so awful, and when she despised him?”

“Even though your mother truly was a cold hearted bitch. She turned into that. It wasn’t something she started as. I think life shapes you into the person you become, but it is still a choice how you choose to treat others,” Bill said with a sigh. “Your father certainly wasn’t a saint, either, Byron. It’s something I haven’t wanted to tell you, but he made several wrong turns himself. But is that important? I don’t see how any of this can help you.”

“My father was beaten down, and she was the one who did it,” Byron replied. “Of course he wasn’t a saint. He allowed it.”

“He’s the one who started it,” Bill said with a long sigh.

“Wait! What are you talking about? Start from the beginning, dammit.”

“Don’t use that tone on me, young man,” Bill warned him.

“I’m sorry, Bill. But please, just tell me the truth.”

“Your mom and dad met when they were young. She had high aspirations in life, wanting to have a career, a family, and a lot of money. But then your father walked in the door. The man you knew was nothing like the young man he used to be. He was full of life, full of confidence — a lot like Tyler, actually. He was good-looking and he knew it, but he was the life of the party with no chips on his shoulder like the ones you and Blake have worn for so long.”

“That’s not fair. I have reasons for having those chips,” Byron said in self-defense.

“I’m not saying you don’t. I’m just saying that your father was a cocky, fun-loving son of a bitch at one time, and he enjoyed the ladies, lots and lots of ladies.” Bill snorted in disgust.

Byron prodded him. “But then he met my mother…”

“He met her at a party,” Bill said. “She was there with some friends, a chance meeting, but your father was immediately attracted to her. When he wasn’t able to…um…bed her that first night, his fascination grew. He chased her. She knew about your father and his reputation. Girls talk too, and she wanted nothing to do with him. That made your father chase her all the harder.”

“I honestly can’t picture my father as a ‘lady-killer.’ He was just such a weak guy when I was a child.”

“You reap what you sow, boy.” Bill took a drink before continuing. “It took him months, and by the time your mother agreed to go out with him, he was completely infatuated with her.

“They dated for a few months, and she eventually fell head over heels in love. You see, at one time she actually did believe in love and romance and what a lot of people call happily-ever-afters. That ended about a year into their marriage,” Bill said with a sad shake of his head.

“Why?”

“Because as soon as your father had her toeing the line, he went back to his wild ways. Of course, he kept it hidden from her until after the wedding. He needed to have a beautiful wife to produce beautiful children, but he didn’t want to give up his extracurricular activities. Almost as soon as they returned from the honeymoon, she found him with her best friend in her own bed.”

“Ouch. That had to hurt.” Though Byron used those words, he felt zero sympathy for what his mother might have been feeling.

“Yeah, it did. And your dad didn’t even promise to never do it again. He said she could shut up and give him the kids he wanted, and in turn, he would give her the lifestyle she wanted. She was already pregnant with Blake, and she knew to leave him would mean a life of poverty and hardships trying to raise the child. You see, your father assured her he’d disown the kid and leave her with nothing. She’d signed an airtight prenup,” Bill said.

“How do you know all of this?” Byron asked.

“I’ve been around a long time, Byron,” Bill told him.

“Go on.”

“After she had Blake, she changed. Her strength — if you want to call it that — increased, and she gave back to your father what he’d been giving to her. She slept with every guy she could find, and she grew colder and colder. She pulled away from you and Blake. And…” Bill stopped himself.

“What?” Byron demanded.

“There’s more to it with Tyler, but I won’t share his secrets,” Bill said with another sad shake of his head.

“I need to know!”

Bill ignored that, but he continued with his story. “Your father had a minor stroke. Maybe drugs, maybe fate — I don’t know — but it changed him. He was no longer such a devil-may-care guy. He’d met his own mortality and he begged your mother to forgive him. It was her turn to tell him to shut up and do what he was told. That’s the man you knew, the man who appeared to be so beaten down.”

“Whipped,” Byron said.

“In a way he was, but they equally killed their love for each other. Now I’m not saying what your mother did in the end was acceptable. Far from it. I’m just saying that when two people set out to destroy each other, there’s going to be a very unhappy ending.”

Byron sat back in stunned silence. This sort of thing didn’t happen in real life, did it? Not really. How could these two people who had given him life be so monstrous? How could he ever trust love? Hell, how could he ever trust himself? He didn’t think he could.

“I know what you’re thinking, and you’re wrong,” Bill insisted. “Just because your parents made mistakes doesn’t mean that everyone is evil — women or men. If you have a chance at love, grab it and don’t make the mistakes your parents made.”

“It doesn’t sound like anyone really knows what love is,” Byron said slowly. “Unless you count Foreigner.”

“I loved my wife completely, from the first day I met her until the day she died. No. That’s not even true. I still love her now and it’s been a few years since I’ve gotten to hold Vivian in my arms. She was my everything. And because I had her, my life was a much better place to be.”

“You’re certainly the exception to the rule, then, Bill, because you’re the only person I know who had a good marriage.”

“Your brother has a very good marriage, and soon he’ll have a baby,” Bill pointed out.

“Maybe it just looks good on the outside.”

“And maybe you should have a little more faith. Have you ever seen Blake look happier?”

“No, but what guarantee do you have that it will last forever?”

“And so we’ve finally come to why you’re really here,” Bill said with a smile. “And I hate to tell you this, but there are no guarantees in life, Byron. I couldn’t have said without a doubt that my beautiful wife would love me forever, but she chose to do just that, just as I chose to cherish her and love her beyond the grave. When you marry someone — hell, when you just love someone — you’re taking a leap of faith. You are giving something of yourself, and to truly love someone, you can’t expect anything back from them, not even their love.”

“That makes no sense,” Byron said. He stood up from the table and walked to the window, dragging his hands through his hair. “I need it to make sense. I need it to be black and white.”

“Love isn’t black and white,” Bill told him. “It’s multicolored, and multidirectional, and it will take you on the best ride of your life. But you can’t even begin the adventure until you give your heart away.”

Bill became silent, and, with his heart aching, Byron looked out the window at the empty field behind his mentor’s house. There was so much information passing through his brain he didn’t know what to do with it.

“You’re in love with McKenzie, aren’t you?” Bill asked.

Byron shook his head. No. He wouldn’t and couldn’t say that, but he felt a strange sensation in his throat and knew right then that he was in denial. Somehow, against his will, he had fallen for this woman, he had given her a piece of himself. He’d given her a piece of his heart. And what really frightened him was that he didn’t know if he wanted to get it back.

He’d sat there with her scum of an ex and heard what the man had said, and he knew Nathan was a liar. He knew the man had probably put her through hell, and then some, and he knew there was no way McKenzie could ever be the monster he’d wanted her to be. She was strong and kind, and she had been through a lot. He didn’t want to hurt her anymore.

“I need to go,” Byron said, overwhelmed with what he had heard and the way he was feeling.

“I understand that, but if you take anything with you today, Byron, then take this. If you can’t let go of the demons of your past, and you care anything at all for this woman, you have to let her go. Don’t punish her for mistakes she hasn’t made. She’s not your mother, and you aren’t your father. You’re better than that. To love someone is to truly want the best for them — even if that’s letting them go.”

“I don’t know what I’m going to do,” Byron had to say.

“You’ll make the right choice,” Bill told him. “It’s just who you are.”

As Byron drove away from Bill’s house, he realized that the man who had stepped in and raised him and his brothers had a lot more faith in him than he had in himself. But he didn’t know if he could be that man that Bill saw. Not even for McKenzie.