Struggling Free (Hidden Secrets Book 5) (18 page)

“I didn’t realize you weren’t alone,” he said almost coldly.

“Casey, this is Jake. Jake, Casey.”

“How’s
it going?” Jake tried to pass off as friendly, but the tension was so thick right now I was practically choking.

“Not
so good, but seems to be going all good for you,” Casey practically sneered. He looked down at me. “You can’t be with me because your heart belongs to your ex, but the same day you fall into the arms of an actor. Come on Vicky, you’re better than that.”

My
head popped back and I took a step away from him. “That hurts a lot that you’d think I’m some kind of slut or even insinuate I’m money focused. No you didn’t say the words, but they’re there. They aren’t hard to miss.” I started toward the house and turned around. “Jake’s my ex and the father to my babies. He’s the one that I told you my heart was still with.”

I
didn’t look back or wait for Jake, I just continued up the hill and into the cabin. To keep my head away from what could be happening down there, I started cooking. Casey was a great guy and I know he’s hurting, but that hurt a lot.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Jake

So
here I stare at the man that had his lips on my woman. He probably felt her up. Pictured her naked. Hoped to get her naked. The more I thought about what his thoughts of
my
woman were, my anger notched up another level. Then I watch Vicky hug him and smile at him. My anger was simmering now.

“How’s
it going?” I tried to seem calm, but I was anything but.

Judging
by Vicky’s look between us, I knew I hadn’t even come close to pulling it off. Then he had to pop off at the mouth and bad mouth her. Nope, definitely not happening. I have to say though I was proud of how Vicky handled herself, but once she was out of sight and hearing distance my fist connected with his chin.

Casey
didn’t take it sitting down. He came back at me, throwing his own punches. We are knocking each other around pretty good. I could taste the blood in my mouth. Casey’s eye was cut, along with his lip and his nose was bleeding.

We
were both breathing heavy as Paco and Dean stood between us demanding to know what was going on, who Casey was and how he got passed the gate.

“That’s
Casey, Vix’s
friend
. I’m assuming she’d given him the code. He insulted her. I was setting him straight,” I summed it up as I still panted from the scuffle.

No
one said anything for a minute. Casey stood there staring at me, wiping his nose and mouth every few seconds, but never taking his eyes off me. Every few minutes, I’d spit the blood in my mouth out. Finally, Dean broke the tense silence.

“My
guess is that Ms. Vicky wants you two to get along or she’d have told you to leave,” he looked between us. “She’s going to flip a bitch when she sees you two.”

That
immediately caused me to tense up. There was one thing I was being extra careful of from now on and that was working Vicky up. The doctor said she was considered high risk because she was carrying three babies. That meant she was more fragile than a normal pregnant woman, well it did in my mind anyway.

“Look,
she’s told me about you. I may not have reacted in this manner had you not talked to her the way you did.”

He
huffed, and then sighed. “Yeah, I’m sorry. I would have done the same if the roles had been reversed. I just… well, I love her and it hurt to see her all cozy and wrapped in your arms.”

“I
can understand that. When my sister told me about the two of you dating…”

“Wait,
before you go on. We weren’t dating, well, wait she wasn’t dating me. We never really labeled it, until I did at lunch. I thought that was where we were. I fell in love with her and that baby almost instantly,” he laughed sadly. “Figures she’d have to love someone else. She did warn me in the beginning and I fell anyway.”

“Thank
you for being honest. She wants to stay friends with you. Are you prepared to do that? Because if you can’t, then you need to leave her alone. I’m more than willing to accept that you all can be friends because I trust her, but I don’t know you. Do you get what I’m saying? Can I trust you?”

He
looked up the path not saying anything for a moment. “You can trust me. She’s a great woman and I do enjoy her company and our conversations. Yeah, you can trust me. I know me saying it isn’t good enough, but I’ll prove it to you too. I’d never do anything to jeopardize her happiness.”

“I
know because I was prepared to walk away if it was you she had chosen. Not saying it wouldn’t have killed me, but I would have if it meant she was happy.”

“Why
did you all break up anyway?”

“My
brother just passed away. She was with me at the hospital with him the day he passed. My brother was calling out for Amber, which we thought was a long lost love, but turned out to be his wife. She stepped in and pretended to be Amber to give him some peace and he died right after that. I blamed her for him dying. Then I about killed myself. By the time I was out of the hospital and the funeral had passed, the hurt had already hardened her and she kicked me out when I came to tell her I loved her and I was sorry. Now here we are,” I shrugged.

“It
took you two months to realize what you wanted? I mean, come on. That doesn’t sound good on your part.”

“One,
my brother just died. We had a bunch of stuff to handle with his estate. Then we found out that Amber was his wife and they had twins together. Some of that time was trying to get to know my two year old nephew and niece. Two, I wanted to be clean when I came back to her. I wanted to be worthy of her love…if she still loved me. I didn’t know if she did or not at that time. So suffice it to say, I was not just sitting around twiddling my thumbs and just decided one day to just reappear in her life because I had nothing better to do,” I replied angrily and defensively.

“You
had a drug problem?” He asked almost shocked.

“Yes,
that’s how I met Vicky. No one knew, but a couple of people in my family who kept trying to get help for me.”

“I
don’t get it. You have it all; looks, talent, money… why do drugs?”

“None
of that makes for a good life just because you have it. Actually, it makes things harder. That wasn’t the reason I turned to drugs. I didn’t handle what happened to my sisters and brother well. I hit a real low and a crew member introduced me to them… The rest as you say is history.”

“Yeah,
I remember hearing about your sisters. I can’t say that I’d handle it well either if my sisters went through something like they did. I’m sorry about your brother and what your family has gone through,” he said sincerely.

Dean
and Paco relaxed their stances and backed off Casey some. It was great having Dean and Paco around. They were great friends and I trusted them with my life, and now the life of my girl and kids.

“I
need to get back up to her. Do you want to stay and chat some?”

He
looked back up toward the cabin, then back at me. “Yeah, sure.”

We
all headed back up the path toward the cabin. Dean and Paco headed down to the apartment to change out of their wet clothes. Casey and I walked into the cabin and the house smelled absolutely fantastic. Moving into the kitchen, I wrapped my arms around her kissing her neck gently.

“What
smells so good?”

“Pizza,”
she sighed, leaning back into me.

I
kissed up her neck, traced the shell of her ear with my tongue before whispering, “You look sexy as hell in this kitchen, barefoot, and pregnant.”

She
elbowed me and I laughed. “I missed this.”

“
Mmm, me too,” I murmured, trailing kisses back down her neck.

She
popped her butt out at me, causing me to groan as she laughed. “When are the kids coming up? I made enough for everyone. Did they find the door that leads to the cabin? I’d hate for them to have to walk up and down that hill at night.”

She
turned around and screamed. “Shit! Casey, I didn’t know you were here,” she blushed red. “I’m sorry,” then she glared at me.

“What?
Don’t get mad at me. I forgot the minute you started rubbing that ass of yours into me,” I said as I slapped her ass.

She
squealed. “Jacob!”

I
grinned at her over my shoulder and walked toward the living room. “Why don’t you have a seat in the living room? Vicky will be joining you.”

She
glared at me. “I’m cooking.”

“You’ve
been on your feet long enough. You need to rest. You heard the doctor.”

“I
did, but apparently you didn’t. He said I could do as I normally do.”

“Whoa,”
I joked. “You were in a completely different appointment than I was,” I laughed.

“Jake,
we talked about smothering the carrier of your children,” she growled and it was sexy as hell.

“I’m
not smothering you or them. I’m taking care of you. Big difference,” I grinned. “Now, sit right here,” I led her to the chair. “Talk with your friend here and I’ll finish up in the kitchen.”

“You
and I are going to have words, Mister,” she hissed.

I
kissed her deeply. “I look forward to it,” I gave her a small peck before leaving back to the kitchen.

It
wasn’t until I walked back into the kitchen that I realized I had no idea what I was doing. Vicky’s laughter carried into the kitchen and I turned and saw her watching me.

“There’s
nothing to do right now. It’s baking. Has about ten minutes left before it needs checked,” she finally said.

So,
I walked back out to the living room. Grabbing her hand, I pulled her to stand. Once I was seated, I pulled her down on my lap. She kissed me on the cheek before settling into my hold.

“I
know what you’re thinking Casey,” Vicky said. “He’s not doing this to state a claim. This is how he is with me,” she laughed.

“I
was once too,” he mumbled.

Just
then Dean and Paco walked in. I laughed as Paco blushed. Vicky looked at me in confusion.

“Nice
of you two to grace us with your presence,” I teased.

“Well,
you know us, always like to share the love,” Dean joked right back.

A
buzzer goes off. Vicky tried to get off my lap, but I stopped her. Standing, I set her back in the chair and went into the kitchen. I could hear her mumbling about treating her like she was going to break and I laughed.

“You
know he was already freaking out when he thought it was just one, but now that he knows its three… Sorry, but you’re going to get it times three,” Paco laughed.

“What
the fuck? Three kids? You’re having three kids?” Casey blurted out.

Everyone
laughed.

We
all sat around joking and talking while eating up the delicious pizza that was definitely on my top favorite list. Casey was actually a decent guy. I could tell that he did truly care about Vicky, but I also know that what he felt for Vicky wasn’t the love we have for each other. It was like the love that Nate had for Mary. The strong kind, but unstable. Vicky and I shared an empowering love, enduring and strengthening. It was her love that changed who I am and the direction my life will go now.

“Well,
I need to get back to the house. I just wanted to come check on you, but I can see you’re going to be just fine.”

“You
can still come by. You don’t have to only come by to check on me. You said we could be friends.”

“I
know and we are, I just…”

“If
you’re worried about me, I’m fine with it. I trust Vicky. I had to or I never would have given her my heart,” I said looking at her.

Casey
nodded his head and stood. “Thank you for tonight it was fun.”

“Come
by on the weekend, we’ll have a proper night; games and everything,” Vicky grinned.

I
laughed. “Sounds like fun,” I kissed her nose. “You game, Casey?” I asked.

Yeah,
it might seem unconventional to most that I am befriending the very man that was with my girl for a while. But the truth of the matter was, if it made Vicky happy that was all that mattered to me. Her happiness was that important to me. I’ve broken her heart enough, brought enough pain to her life. It was time to bring back that smile, that sparkle, that life. If befriending Casey was a start, then damn it, that’s what I’d do.

Casey
looked confused. “Um, sure. Jake can I talk to you outside please?”

I
nodded, setting Vicky on the chair. As I headed out onto the porch, I asked Dean and Paco to clean up so that Vicky didn’t. They were more than willing to do so. The minute I stepped on the porch, Casey started talking.

“What
is going on with you? I mean, I’m thankful that you let me stay here tonight and invited me to supper, but what the hell man. I was with Vicky. I kissed her. I fell in love with her and you seem to be asking me to be around at every turn.”

“Vicky
has been hurt so much and I don’t plan to hurt her any further. If you being around is something that will make her happy then I’m more than willing to allow it. Besides, I don’t think that you’re that bad of a guy and I kind of owe you for helping her through these past few months.”

He
looked at me shocked for a few minutes before he walked over to the rail and looked up at the sky for a moment. Something told me he was trying to figure out how to say something, so I kept my mouth shut and waited patiently for him to come up with the words.