Playing in SECRET (Corrigan & Co. Book 9) (10 page)

“For you it is.”

She kisses me again,
and then gets out of bed. “I’m just going to clean up a little.
I’ll shower once Jeanne goes to school.”

“
We’ll
shower then.”

“Don’t you have
work to do today?”

“Nothing that can’t
wait. I told you I’m on a break.”

“If Ainsley has the
answers we need, I may have to leave. To go get the bastard who set
this up.”

“You’ll come back?”

“Yes.”

“That was easier than
I thought it would be.”

“You said we’re
more than last night, and I told you I believe you. Why wouldn’t I
come back?”

“I love you, Audrey,”
I blurt out before I can stop myself.

“Blake?”

“I’ve always been
at least half in love with you, and I’ve never forgotten you. I’ve
thought about you so much over the years, and the regret’s not only
about hurting you. It was also about never acting on my feelings.”

Her phone rings before
she can respond. She answers it, and a smile lights up her face, but
then fades. “Oh, thank God…how bad?...we’ll be right down.”

“Was that Ainsley?”

“Yes. She found out
who it is, but said that it’s going to hurt you.”

“Who is it?”

“She wouldn’t say.
She just asked that we head downstairs.”

“Let’s go.”

I throw on my clothes
from last night, and Audrey does the same. “Whatever happens, I’m
here. I love you, too, Blake. I always have.”

I give her a quick kiss
as I take her hand. We walk down the stairs next to each other, hand
in hand. Jeanne’s waiting for us at the bottom, with her backpack
on. “Can we just go to school now, Dad?”

“Did you ask Isa?”

“I want you to take
me. Please.”

“I can go with you,”
Audrey says.

“No. Just him.”

“What’s going on,
Jeanne? I thought you wanted to leave school. Now all of a sudden you
can’t wait to get there.”

“She’s hoping to
avoid me,” Ainsley says, walking out of the dining room.

“Avoid you? Why?”

“All that talk about
the person behind this all being smarter than me. It wasn’t just a
curiosity, was it Jeanne? You thought you could hide from me, but you
couldn’t.”

“What are you talking
about?”

“The mastermind
behind the kidnapping attempts is your daughter. She paid those men
to kidnap her.”

“That’s crazy. She
wouldn’t do that.”

“I did it.”

“Jeanne? Why?”

“I thought Mom would
finally care. I thought she’d come home, and we could be a family
again.”

Audrey tries to pull
her hand from mine, but I hold firm. “Jeanne, baby, I wish she
cared. I honestly do. You have to know that even if she did, she
wouldn’t be living here again. We’re not getting back together.”

“Why?” she asks,
looking at our hands. “Because you’re fucking Audrey now.”

Audrey does pull free
then, and moves away from me, looking horrified. I love my daughter,
but this is not okay. None of it is okay.

“Apologize to
Audrey.”

“No.”

“Blake, it’s fine.”

“It is not fine,
Audrey. My daughter hired people to kidnap her. Using
my
money, because there’s no place else for her to get any. And now
she’s being inappropriate with you, when all you’ve done is care
for her, and try and keep her safe.”

“I didn’t…”

“Shut up, Jeanne. Not
another word right now.”

“I sent a message
from Jeanne’s email, canceling the contract, and then gave them
each a small payment from her account to solidify it.”

“Thank you, Ainsley.”

“She should be safe
now, but we’ll have some of our local support staff keep an eye on
all of you for a little longer,” Reina tells me.

I didn’t even see her
enter the room, but she’s here, along with everyone else. No one
looks happy, and I don’t blame them. The threat was real—those
men were real—but it was my daughter who sent them. And then she
did more. She mocked them as they were searching for her, thinking
she was too smart to be caught. Well, the joke’s on her, because
she’s not too smart to be grounded. For the rest of her life, or
until she’s 18. I’m not sure which one’s going to come sooner
since if she wasn’t my daughter, I’d probably kill her myself
right now.

“What are you going
to do to her?” I ask, swallowing hard. “What she did is wrong,
but I can’t let her be hurt.”

“We don’t hurt
little girls, Blake,” Audrey says, placing her hand on my arm.

“I’m not a little
girl.”

“Oh yes you are,”
Isa tells her. “You may be smart, but your maturity level is on par
with your age. It’s a good thing your father has kept you in your
current school and grade. You’d never survive college right now.”

“Are you going to
turn her in?” I ask, knowing it’s the right thing to do.

“No. Ainsley’s
wiped all traces of the emails and payments. But you should know that
if she tries it again, we won’t be riding to her rescue.”

“Thank you, Reina.
She won’t have the opportunity to try it again. As of today, she’ll
have no access to any electronics, TV included.”

“What? No? You can’t
do that, Dad.”

“I can, and I will.
Can you recommend a good set of bodyguards?” I ask Reina.

“Yes, but I don’t
think she’ll need protection.”

“They’re not to
protect her. I need people here who will make sure she doesn’t
touch a phone, computer, gaming system, nothing.”

“Daddy, please.”

“Shut. Up. Jeanne.”

“I’ll get you a
list, Blake. Good luck. You’re going to need it. Is everyone ready
to go?”

“I need to grab my
suitcase from upstairs,” Audrey says and I look at her in shock.

“I thought you were
going to stay. You said you had a week off coming after this.”

“Things have
changed.”

She looks pointedly at
Jeanne, but I shake my head. “Not with us they haven’t.”

* * *

Audrey

“We can talk while I
grab my stuff. Will you guys keep an eye on Jeanne for a few
minutes?”

“Take whatever time
you need, Aud,” Darcy says, looking at me with knowing eyes.

She had to give up the
man she loved for noble reasons once. Yes, it was technically his
choice, and not hers, but she knows that it hurts like a
motherfucker. I have no choice in this situation, I have to do what’s
right.

I practically run up
the stairs and into his bedroom, because I can’t have him touch me.
If he touches me again, this will be so much harder. I already don’t
know how I’m going to survive losing him again, especially when I
actually had him this time. I have to be Audrey the Society girl, and
not Audrey the woman in love, if I’m going to survive this.

“Stop running from
me, Audrey.”

“I have to go.”

“No. You don’t.”

“I won’t come
between you and your daughter, Blake. None of us would ever be able
to forgive me if I did that.”

“You’re not coming
between us.”

“If I stay, I will,”
I say, finally turning to face him. “This wasn’t some childhood
prank she orchestrated. Jeanne paid people to kidnap her. Bad men who
didn’t know she was the one who hired them. They could have done
anything to her.
Anything
.”

“But they didn’t.
You and your friends made sure she was safe.”

“That’s not the
point.”

“I know. She needs to
be punished. I’m taking care of that. You heard me down there.”

“I heard you, but I
also heard
her
. She
did all of this because she wants her mother to come home.”

“That won’t
happen.”

“It could. Misha
still wants you.”

“I don’t want her.
You know that. It wouldn’t work.”

“You owe it to your
daughter to at least try.”

He knows it. I can see
it in his eyes before he looks away. “I want you, Dree.”

“Do this for her, try
for your daughter. If it doesn’t work out, and I’m still single,
then we’ll try again.”

“Still single? You’re
going to see other men?”

“I won’t be out
looking, but you’ll be here with
her
.”

“Not like that. She
can move in, but I’m not sleeping with her.”

“You might, if you
truly give this a chance.”

“This isn’t how
things were supposed to go. Not for us. This was our chance. We never
really had a first one, and this was it.”

“I believe in second
chances, Hollywood.”

“Then hold onto that
thought, and hold onto me. I’ll do what you ask—what I know I
have to do for Jeanne—but we both know this isn’t going to work
out. Misha will never care about our daughter the way she deserves,
and I’ll never love her. You can tell me to try, but it won’t
happen. You have my heart, Audrey Sanchez. It beats only for you, and
that’s not going to change because I move Misha into a guest room.”

“Don’t make
promises you can’t keep. You have to try. For Jeanne, and for us.
If that leads her into this room with you, then that’s what was
meant to be.”

He pulls me into his
arms and kisses me. I don’t fight him, or push him away. I sink my
hands into his hair, and pull him closer. “We’re what’s meant
to be. I’m not going to forget that. Not because of Misha, or
anyone else. Promise me that you won’t forget it either. No matter
what public pictures you see, or the ‘rumors’ she’s going to
supply to the tabloids. Promise you’ll remember that while I have
to try, I don’t want to.”

I step away without
answering, because I can’t. I blink back as many tears as I can,
but some are still falling as I make my way to the front door. Jeanne
won’t look at me, and that’s just as well. I’m going to give
her what she wants, what she thinks she needs, but it’s going to
cost me to do it. Maybe more than I can afford to give after all
these years, but it’s the right thing to do.

“Audrey,” Blake
says from behind me, sounding as tortured as I feel.

“I promise,” I tell
him as I turn to look at the only man I’ve ever really loved. “I
promise.”

I say the words we both
need, and then I walk out the door. Reina puts her arm around me as
we climb into the backseat of one of the cars, and I make it to the
gates before I let myself fall apart. With Reina on one side of me,
and Ainsley on the other, I sob uncontrollably. I know I did the
right thing, but that doesn’t make it hurt any less. They say if
you love something, set it free, and that’s just what I did. I
can’t dwell on whether he’s going to come back to me or not, I
can only pray that I’ll be strong enough to survive again if he
doesn’t.

Blake

“I need you to call a
locksmith, Wanda. Ask him to come out as soon as possible.”

“Are we changing the
locks?”

“No. I need a new
lock on my bedroom door. One that can’t be picked.”

“You’re bringing
her back.”

“Yes.”

“Mom? Are you talking
about Mom?” Jeanne asks.

“I am.”

“I can’t believe
you really sent Audrey away.”

“I didn’t send her
away,” I say, letting my anger show. “She left, because she
thought it was the right thing to do. I would’ve done anything I
could to change her mind if I thought I could’ve.”

“I told you she was
the best,” Wanda reminds me.

“And you were right.
I’m going out to the pool house. Call me when the locksmith gets
here.”

“Thank you, Daddy.
It’s all going to work out. You, me, and Mom are going to be
perfect this time.”

Wanda and I exchange a
look because we both know that’s not going to happen. I’ll play
out this charade because Jeanne needs me to, and so does Audrey.
There’s no doubt in my mind that Misha will show her true colors,
and then I’ll be dealing with a heartbroken daughter yet again.
Maybe this time she’ll finally understand that it’s better for
her to love her mother from afar than have her break her heart up
close. I can only hope.

I look longingly at the
wet bar in the pool house when I walk in, but while it’s five
o’clock somewhere, having a drink is not the best idea right now. I
need to be on top of my game for the call I have to make. I haven’t
won an Academy Award yet, but I know how to perform. Misha should see
through it—Audrey would—but she’s too vain. She’s going to
eat it all up.

I close my eyes as I
sit down, and then run my hands through my hair and over my face a
few times. “Fuck,” I yell to no one in particular. “Fuck.”

I take a few deep
breaths to slow my breathing, and then I dial. “Blake?” Misha
asks, picking up before the first ring is even done.

“Hi Mish. Do you have
time to talk?”

“For you, always.”

“I was thinking.
Jeanne needs to have you in her life, and I have all this space here
in the house.”

“You want me to move
back in?”

No. Hell to the fucking
no. “Yeah. I’m thinking it would be good for all of us.”

“What about Audrey?”

“She went home.”

“That’s classic.
Like really classic. You chose me over her once again. I bet she’s
off crying in a corner somewhere.”

“You will not mention
her name, or even think of talking about her,” I say, letting my
façade slip.

“You’re the one
calling me, Blakey.”

“Do not call me
that.” This is a bad idea. I knew it a half hour ago, and I have no
doubt right now.

“Fine.
Blake
,
I would be happy to move back in with you. I have some new lingerie
you’ll love.”

“Save it for someone
else. I’m doing this for Jeanne, and you’ll be in a guest room.”

“Maybe to start with,
but we both know how good we are together in bed.”

“Good isn’t enough
for me anymore.”

I hang up before she
can toss out a comeback. Getting in the last word with Misha is
always best, especially when it’s the truth. I won’t settle for
good, in or out of bed, ever again in my life. Not after I’ve had
Audrey, who blows my mind with her brains and compassion, and makes
my body come alive with just the thought of having her hot body
again.