Broken Road (Fate's Intent Book 7) (23 page)

“It would be appreciated if you’d keep that kind of stuff to yourselves.” I smiled. “Or my boys would feel they’re inclined to protect what’s theirs. We wouldn’t want any of that, now would we?”

No one seemed to plan to make any kind of reply to my comment. The last thing anyone wants was problems in my lands and they all continued with their breakfast, being a world united as one.

Chapter 45

Jaylyn

We walked through the quiet halls of the palace side-by-side without a word between us. It seemed none of us had anything to say or it may have been a fear that stopped us from saying it until Ruby let out a long sigh and folded her arms. “This is stupid. Do you think I’m being too dramatic?”

“No!” Adele snatched instantly. “You have every reason to be pissed off at him whether he was drunk or not.”

“Maybe it’s not so much pissed as hurt.”

“Well, whatever the case this won’t just go away, I’ll tell you that. I don’t really want to but we’re all going to have that conversation.”

“Not if we leave.” I replied more so to myself in a quiet tone.

Adele and Ruby heard it and both looked over.

“You couldn’t mean that.” Ruby said. “Really just leave? You know he’d follow. Troy would give up a lot of things for you.”

I laughed with a sad breath. “Yeah. It goes the other way too.”

“Jaylyn!” Adele bellowed in a loud voice, making it echo through the halls.

“Okay, you know what, just stop. This is not the same situation you’re in. I’d give anything to have that but what I have is something worse. Something much worse and I’m not ready to face it just yet.”

I went to the closest door which happened to be entry to my room with Troy and just closed myself inside without another word to them. I leaned on the back of the door, trying to pull myself together and hold back my tears by taking a few deep breaths with my eyes closed. I became more mellowed and just wanted to forget about all of it but as I started to step away from the door, I heard a clicking sound and spun around quickly to see Troy locking the door with a small silver key and his eyes directly on me.

I didn’t want this to come now; I wasn’t ready. I turned from his gaze and swiftly walked to the balcony doors, shaking them repeatedly but they wouldn’t open.

“I’ve already locked those.”

I paused there for a moment and knew I was trapped. It was happening now and there was nothing I could do about it. I took a breath and turned to him, trying to act more mad than sad. “Let me go.”

“No.” Troy shook his head and started stepping closer.

“Then what do you want from me?” I asked, not being able to move a muscle in my body as if I was frozen there from his constant stare.

“Let’s talk.” His steps were slow but they were still getting closer to me and we both seemed to be doing things cautiously.

“I don’t want to.” I said as plainly as ever, trying to keep my emotions under control.

“Jaylyn, please.”

The soft, caring tone of the Troy I once knew came out and my emotions slipped away from me slowly. “Nothing you can say will help.”

“I’m sorry.”

I just stood there looking at him. My arms were tucked tightly around my body and I still fought from crying but the hurt and frustration was clear on my voice. “You should be. You’ve lied to me since the beginning of all of this and I was stupid enough to believe you.”

The look on Troy’s face became confused and he took another slow step towards me then held his ground. “What are you talking about? I’ve never lied to you about anything.”

“That girl?” A tear rolled swiftly down my cheek and hit my arms in front of me. “When we first met you said you weren’t involved with anyone.”

“Because I wasn’t.”

“Bullshit you weren’t!” I shouted it, letting out more tears with my violent scream that echoed around the room, almost capable of shaking the very stone of the walls. “You were with her! I saw it! How she cares for you and how you just simply pushed me aside to be with her. Why didn’t you ever tell me? It would have been a whole lot easier then to let you go than it is now.”

Troy took several fast steps to get in front of me and put his hands on each side of my head so I wouldn’t be able to look away. My eyes were sad with tears but he stared right into them with blazing passion and clear focus. “That’s not going to happen. You know you don’t want it to. I love you, Jaylyn and I truly wasn’t with anyone when we met. We broke that off before that mission when she told me she was leaving.”

“And now that she’s back? I could tell you care about her.”

“That was a long time ago and it’s long been over between us.”

“But you want it back. I saw it.”

Troy shook his head. “Don’t think that’s what I want. Last night I wasn’t myself. Yes, I was happy to see her because it’s been so long but I can tell you, there’s nothing between us now. Just memories.”

I looked into his eyes just for a moment longer and moved his hands from me so I could turn away. “I really want to believe you but I don’t know if I can. You completely forgot about me to be with her. You chose her over me.”

“I would never. I was just caught up in the moment of seeing her. Even if she never left and I was with her when we met, I still would have chosen you. There was something inside you that I couldn’t get enough of. Being around you, hearing your laugh, seeing your smile, that quickly became the world to me and I couldn’t let it go. I still won’t and that’s because there’s something else inside you now that strengthened the bond between us and it has nothing to do with responsibility or doing the right thing. It’s always been part of our future and I want nothing more than to share that with you—and our son.”

There was a long pause even after I had stayed silent through his speech and I turned around, lowering myself down on the bed. “I want to share that with you too but you didn’t come home and it still hurts to think of what you were doing. I don’t know if I can. I’m not strong enough.”

Troy’s face saddened and he dropped to his knees in front of me. “Jaylyn, please. I’m begging you. You are strong enough.”

I was shaking my head as tears continued to fall. “I don’t think I am.”

“But you are.” Troy leaned his chest against my knees and put his hands around my back while he was still on the floor in front of me. “I can assure you that I was not with her last night in the way you think.”

“You can’t be so sure.”

“Yes I can. Knowing from past experience, if I had, I would have woken up in a completely different manner than I did. All clothes were still on—for both of us. That I know but I can’t go as far and say that nothing at all happened because I don’t fully know that myself and I don’t want to lie to you. You have to believe me, Jaylyn. I could never share with someone else what I do with you.”

“But there’s still that possibility that you have and you just don’t remember it. It shouldn’t matter how you woke up. It could have happened hours before and she had time to get redressed. I know you wouldn’t have to take off much if a thing at all.”

Troy put his head down on my lap with a sigh before he started to speak again. “I didn’t. I know I didn’t but if you don’t want to believe that then I’ll find out and tell you every truth. I love you, Jaylyn and I deserve whatever punishment you come up with. Just don’t talk of walking away. You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me and I won’t lose you because of this. Please. I’ll do whatever it takes. Just tell me and it’s done.”

I sat still, tears almost dried up as I looked down at Troy. His eyes, like looking into the deep green of an emerald crystal, sparkled and glimmered with a sorrowful regret. I couldn’t look passed it to see anything else and wanted nothing more greatly then to trust his words but I was still hurt by them. Just thinking of actually knowing the truth forced out more tears and I slid my hands along his arms that rested around my legs. “Maybe I don’t want to know.”

“Jaylyn, you know somewhere you do and this won’t be over until then. I want this to be behind us. We have a future to think about and I won’t give up on that. You’re the one I want, the one I chose to be with. That’s never going to change for me and I hope it hasn’t for you.”

A tear fell from my eyes and I shook my head while sliding down to the floor with him, throwing my arms around his body. “No, it hasn’t and it won’t!”

I was crying hard into the side of his neck and Troy held tightly around me. “It’s all right, Jaylyn. I’ll get the truth just so we both know and together, we’ll put it behind us.”

Not another word came from me as I continued to cry while being in Troy’s arms. He carefully got us both up off the floor and I was completely supported in his arms as he walked around the bed and tried to set me down on it.

“No!” I tightened my grip around him through the stuttered breaths from my tears. “Don’t let me go!”

“Okay. I won’t.” Troy kept his hold around me and turned around, lowering himself down on the bed in a sitting position. He waited there just for a moment, long enough to get his boots off his feet then lifted us up onto the bed and laid himself back with me still in his arms. “Rest. We’ll fix this. I’ll fix this. Don’t worry about a thing.”

His words comforted me but I still knew what needed to be done. No one would have been able to change my mind on the matter.

Chapter 46

Ruby

“She’s right, you know.” Adele said.

I looked down at the floor when we started stepping away from Jaylyn’s door. “Words can hurt as much as actions. I guess I better prepare for yet another wonderful conversation with my husband. Good luck with yours.”

Adele just nodded and I walked into my room, the next door down. The door closed behind me and I walked right over to my stuff and started putting a few things around it away. I was ready to just go back home.

In a brief pause of silence my head turned towards the closet when I heard a sound and Darius was standing in the doorway, holding a shirt he planned to put on. He paused from seeing me just as I did and we just stared at each other.

“Hey.” He said in a low casual tone.

“Hey.” I replied just as casual.

I got back to putting some things away again and Darius slowly stepped out towards me. “Ah, sorry about not coming home last night. Things must have gotten a little crazy and—”

“It’s okay. It’s fine. Don’t.”

“I know you’re upset about something. Something I did. Will you tell me why you left?”

I stopped what I was doing with a quiet heavy breath but kept my eyes down just so I wouldn't have to see him. “I found out how you really feel about us.”

“About us? Something I said to you? I don’t—”

“Not to me.” I cut in again with a more noticeable sigh. “You were talking to someone else.”

“Ruby, whatever I said, I didn’t mean it. You should never believe anything I say when I’m like that.” I kept quiet and turned my back completely to him as I started to cry. “What did you hear me say?”

I sniffled and my voice was clearly broken by my quick rapid breaths. “Just everything that would make sense. People there know how you are.”

“What did I say?”

I paused for a moment and looked back at him. “Basically that I don’t mean anything to you. I’m just the chick you knocked up.”

“Oh, Ruby, no.” Darius reached for me and tried getting me to come to him. “You know that’s not true.”

I pulled back, my voice becoming more serious with anger. “I’m not done. Then he went on in saying that with your luck the baby wouldn’t make it and you’d be free of this life-ruining mistake and you—you laughed like you hoped so. Do you really want that to happen?”

“What? No. You should know I don’t. I love you. I want this.”

“Maybe you don’t. Maybe you’ve just been lying to yourself and had to be drunk to finally realize it.”

I started getting upset and crying again and Darius took me in his arms whether I wanted him to or not. “No, Ruby. We’ve been over this. That part of me is gone. I’m sorry about what you heard. I didn’t mean any of it. Shit, I don’t even remember it. That should definitely prove that I didn’t mean it. I was drunk. I’d say anything to make whoever I was talking to happy. I don’t start the fights. I finish them.”

“Are you sure? I’ll give you time to think about it if you need.”

“But I don’t need time. None of it meant anything. I love you and I want this life. I don’t want to go back to what I used to be. I thought you would have already figured that out.” He took my hand and rubbed his thumb over the ruby of his mother’s ring.

“Okay. I have. I just—it hurt and with everything that’s already happened between us, I didn’t—”

Darius quickly pulled me back into his arms. “Stop. Nothing is ever going to come between us. I promise. I’m not going to mess this up again. You’re my life. I wouldn’t change it for anything.”

“I’m sorry. Maybe it was partly my fault. I shouldn’t have just took it so realistically.”

“I really wish that you would have stayed. I needed you to be there to keep me under control. I was so out of it that I didn’t even know you left until this morning.”

I backed away and looked up. “Is this another confession?”

Darius laughed. “No. Nothing like that happened but I’m not going to lie and say I wasn’t in the company of anyone.”

I laughed slightly. “I understand that. You’ve always attracted attention.”

“Yeah but I can assure you that I didn’t compromise us—again.”

“If that’s what you say then I believe you. I think we’ve had enough fighting for a while and this was just completely stupid. I don’t want to go on about it anymore.”

“Then we won’t but I’m still sorry that I didn’t make it back so I could have spent the time with you.”

“It’s okay. My fault for leaving.”

“Are you sure we’re okay?”

I paused while looking in his eyes and nodded with a smile appearing on my face. “Yeah. As long as nothing happened that’s going to need me to go kill some woman, we’re okay.”

Darius laughed. “No. You don’t have to. Even if I wanted to, I don’t think I could have—”

I laughed a little louder than him. “You’re well equipped enough that you wouldn’t need to that much!”

“But I was pretty wasted. I don’t think I could have even done it a little.”

“And now?” I had a wanting smile while I brought my hands down to the waist of his pants. “You’ve kind of made me lonely being away like that.”

Darius smiled and slid his hands lightly down my arms. “I’d say I’m back to fully functioning. My head is still spinning but I would never let that get in the way of any request you may have.”

“Good. Open for requests now?”

Darius got his arms more around me and kissed me fully on the lips. “Most definitely. What’ll you have? We’re having specials on personal you-only pleasures this morning with a side order just how you like it or a majority favorite sweat bath with my famous thick cut of meat doing very invasive things to your choice of placement.”

I bite my bottom lip when he explained it in a form of ordering food and I became more aroused just by thinking about it. “Mmm. It all sounds so tasty. See me not as hasty to want to gorge myself in all of it.”

“No one here cares to judge. Shall I bring out your appetizer?”

I nodded repeatedly. “Please hurry.”

Darius smiled and lifted me right up into his arms as our lips locked. I held tightly around his neck so I wouldn’t fall and let him turn me right towards the bed. His hands slid all over my body and he lowered me down, leaning over me to let our lips linger in this passion for another second.

Just as soon as we parted, I scurried to get myself to the head of the bed and tried removing my clothes at the same time with anxious anticipation just waiting to get the pleasurable perfection my husband always gave.

I quickly grabbed his neck as he got closer, forcing his lips back down into mine while my heavy breaths started and I wanted everything happening now. Darius parted our lips, continuing his kisses down my body.

My hands were on him the whole time and I pushed on his head, leading him lower but he paused from it all when he reached my stomach and looked up. “Is it safe?”

“Please don’t stop.” I begged through my already panting moans as I lifted my head slightly. “I’d tell you if it wasn’t.”

“You know I’d never want to hurt you.”

“I know but you’re not. Now hurry! I’m starving!”

Darius laughed and slowly kept going with his kisses, closer and closer towards my hips. “It’ll have to wait. I get first taste.”

I returned the laugh and dropped my head back on the pillow. “By all means do.”

My body trembled from the feeling of his soft, flickering tongue against my skin and I reached down to him, grabbing handfuls of his rust tinged hair. I twisted and pulled on it with soft moans of pleasure and Darius showed no signs of stopping, no matter how much I squirmed.

For once, glad we weren’t in another stage of fighting, I easily got passed the mishaps of my night spent alone and made my morning with Darius something to remember.