• Twenty-One •

I didn’t want to hear him lie to me.

Rumor

The ringing of the phone woke me, and I reached for it, squinting against the sunshine pouring into the room. King’s name on the screen had me scrambling to sit up as I pressed the phone to my ear.

“Hello?” I said, my voice thick with sleep.

“Hey, sweets. Did I wake you?” he asked.

“Yes, but it’s fine,” I replied, already smiling.

“You slept late. Did you have a hard time sleeping last night?” The genuine concern in his tone didn’t seem as if he knew about what had happened here.

“Uh, I did. I just stayed up late, I guess,” I said, not sure if there was a reason he didn’t know about the men who had come here. Wouldn’t Thatcher have told him even if Maeme didn’t?

“I miss you,” he told me. “I needed to hear your voice before I faced the shit today.”

My hand held on to the phone tightly. “I miss you too.”

“One night down. Only five more, and I’ll be back.”

“Yeah,” I agreed, although it seemed like forever. “What are your plans today?” I asked, not sure I truly wanted to know, but suddenly afraid I’d say something I wasn’t supposed to.

“Nothing important,” he grumbled. “Shit I don’t want to do. But hearing your voice helps.”

My smile returned. “You can call me anytime. It’s not like I have a busy schedule.”

He was silent for a moment. “You bored, sweets?”

I twisted the sheet in my hand. “No, I’m fine. I have books.”

“When I get back, I’m taking you riding. It’s time you got to do more things.”

The book Maeme had gotten me hadn’t come yet, but I didn’t need it to tell me that riding a horse was not safe while pregnant. Especially learning to ride one.

“The reading is fine. I’ll go out for a walk today.”

“Don’t go alone,” he urged.

I was sure walking back on Maeme’s property or over at the Shephard Ranch was fine, but I agreed anyway. No need to make him worry. He had enough to deal with right now.

“We’re gonna be late,” Scotlin called out, causing me to tense up.

Were they in the same room?

“I’m sorry, sweets,” he said with a sigh. “I gotta go.”

I wanted to ask him if they were in a hotel room together. Where were they going? All the questions he wasn’t voluntarily telling me made me fear I already knew the answers.

“Okay,” I said.

“Talk soon,” he replied.

I sat there, holding the phone as he ended the call, closing my eyes and taking several breaths, wishing it didn’t hurt so bad. The words I love you had been right there on the tip of my tongue. Ready to fall right out if he hadn’t hung up.

Dropping the phone to my lap, I covered my face and let out a deep breath, then forced myself to stand up. It was after ten, and Maeme had been up for hours at this point. I was surprised I had slept this late. The wave of nausea that came over me had me pausing, and I let it ease up before I continued onto the bathroom.

I glared at the toothbrush as I walked by it. Although it was a necessary item, I feared that using it would send me to the toilet again. Luckily, I made it through getting dressed and cleaning my teeth carefully without vomiting. The nausea was there, but it was manageable.

The house was bright and cheery, as always, when I walked down the stairs. My eyes went to the windows, and I thought about the man who had been killed out there last night.

Was there blood on the ground? Would the police come? What about the people who would be looking for the men?

I was lost in my own thoughts as I walked into the kitchen. Storm was sitting at the bar with a plate of food in front of him. His gaze shifted from his phone to me. “Morning,” he said, setting his phone down and reaching for the mug beside him.

“Good morning,” I replied. “You’re not going to Kentucky?”

He shook his head. “Nope. Not this year. I’m here with Thatch and Wells.”

I glanced at the coffeepot, then decided I’d better stick to juice and went over to the fridge.

“Maeme left you a plate of food,” he told me.

Turning back to him, I frowned. “Where is Maeme?”

“She had to tend to some business,” he said. “She’ll be back shortly.”

I took out the orange juice, then closed the door before going to get myself a glass.

“You seem to be handling last night well,” he said.

I shrugged, not sure that was the case. When I turned back with my glass and filled it, I looked back at Storm. “What happened to that other man? The one Thatcher took.”

“Dead. He told us what we needed to know, and then Thatch slit his throat.”

I stared down at my orange juice as that sank in. He had said it as if it were no big deal. This would never be normal for me. How could it? That was someone’s life they had ended.

“I spoke to King this morning. He called, but … but I don’t think he knew about it. Last night.”

Storm raised an eyebrow. “You think he’d stay away if he knew? Fucker has a death wish where you’re concerned. He talked back to the boss as if his life was of no concern when it came to you. He’d tell them all to go fuck themselves and come running back here. Can’t tell him. At least if you want him to live.”

Blaise Hughes’s face flashed in my mind. He’d been terrifying. Beautiful but clearly powerful and ruthless. I didn’t want to think about King upsetting that man. My stomach knotted up.

“I see,” I said because I did. I saw very clearly. We had to keep King there, doing what he was told.

I took a sip of orange juice and set my glass back on the counter.

“Did you know any of your hus—Churchill’s friends? Business associates?” Storm asked me.

I shrugged. “Not really. I met some. He took me to parties, business affairs, that kind of thing in the beginning. I met people he worked with, but I didn’t really know them.”

Talking about Hill made me remember things that I wanted to forget. King made it easy to do that. He wasn’t here now though.

“When was the last time you went to one of those things? Saw those people?” Storm asked me.

I tensed. It felt as if he was digging for something, and I didn’t know what it was. I had nothing I was keeping from them. They knew more about Churchill than I did.

I shifted my feet uncomfortably. “About four months, I guess. Maybe three.”

It had been hard for him to take me places because of the bruises I had to cover up. The last event where they took their spouses, I was limping and couldn’t walk in heels. He was furious about it, too, even if he was the one who had hurt me. I’d paid for being injured with more abuse.

Storm pointed toward the oven. “Your food is in there, covered in foil.”

I started to make my way over to it.

“You were three when you went into the foster system.” It wasn’t a question. It was a statement.

I nodded. I knew they already had my background. They’d known it before they went after Hill. Before I met them.

“Do you remember anything before then? Your mom? It says you had a mother, but doesn’t mention your father. He’s not even listed on your birth certificate.”

I opened the oven and took out the plate that was warm. I didn’t feel comfortable with this line of questioning. What was it that Storm was wanting to know? Why was I getting questioned all of a sudden?

“I don’t know. My memories are vague,” I said, closing the door to the oven, then turning back around. “Why are you asking?”

Storm was taking a drink of his coffee. He swallowed and studied me as if he was deciding if I was telling the truth. “There’re a lot of holes. Things we don’t know about you.”

I tensed. “Join the club. There are things I don’t know about me too.”

Stone’s lips twitched with an almost smile. “Fair enough. Sorry if I upset you. I’m just curious.”

I took off the foil from my plate, feeling my hands tremble. “I think I’ll take this to the sunroom. If you’ll excuse me,” I replied tightly as I grabbed a fork and walked away from him before he asked me more. About things I didn’t know and had stopped trying to find out a long time ago.

It felt as if he didn’t believe me. Like he thought I was hiding something. It was the first time I’d felt like a real outsider here.

I was ready for Maeme to get back. I didn’t like Storm. I decided I liked him less than Thatcher. At least Thatcher was blunt. Said what he was thinking even if it was harsh.

The next two days, I only received one text from King. It was to apologize for not having time to call, and he’d sent it after I went to bed. When I responded the next morning, it went unanswered, although I could see that he’d read it. That stung, and my imagination was starting to get more creative and painful as the time passed. The more he went without contacting me, the more I seemed to get nauseated. I didn’t know if it was because of the pregnancy or my own fear of him leaving me. Being done with me. Ready to move on.

Sitting at Maeme’s, I was letting my imagination run away from me. Nothing was working as a good enough distraction. So, when Sebastian returned early from Kentucky and came to Maeme’s to get me for a Derby party they were having at his house, I decided to go. Anything to get me out of my own head. My emotions were on overload.

I’d come to the conclusion I was sensitive because of my hormones. Storm hadn’t meant anything by his questioning. He was right. There were gaps in my past that I couldn’t fill in. I had once wanted to so badly. I’d even dreamed that I had a dad out there who wanted me. He’d come for me after finding out I existed and take me home with him. Give me a family. That fantasy had long since died though. It was one from my childhood. Like the one where he would swoop in and rescue me. Beat up the bad men who had been hurting me. In the end, I dealt with it myself. At least I had gotten away.

“I’m glad you came,” Sebastian said to me as we walked toward the elevator doors in his underground garage.

“Thanks for getting me out,” I replied.

I’d needed it more than he realized.

Knowing he’d been with King, I wanted to ask how he was, but I didn’t. That would be admitting he hadn’t called me but once.

“This is a small gathering. If I let too many of this bunch into the main house, Dad would be livid. The ones here are all cleared by security.”

I nodded, stepping into the elevator beside him. “Today is the actual race, correct?” I asked, knowing very little about the Kentucky Derby.

“Yeah. We have a horse in every race. If not us, then other branches of the family. The Hughes—Blaise, he has the one who is running in the actual Kentucky Derby race. We all have some racing against each other in the other races. No one in the States has a horse that can beat Blaise’s this year. There is no point in even trying.”

I didn’t care about Blaise Hughes, but I listened because this was King’s life. I wanted to understand all of it. This was important to him and the family. He had never taken the time to explain any of it, and I wondered if that was because he saw me as temporary. My throat burned as I swallowed. That thought didn’t sit well.

“We’ve got a bartender working tonight. You’re gonna need to try one of the mint juleps,” he told me as the doors opened back up and we stepped out onto a floor I hadn’t been to.

I shook my head. “I don’t feel like drinking anything with alcohol. Water is fine,” I replied, hoping he would let that go.

He looked disappointed. “You sure? The females are all raving about them.”

I nodded. “Yes.”

“Go order one if you change your mind or just let me know.”

“I will,” I assured him.

The noise was slightly muffled by the two heavy wooden doors ahead of us, but not by much. Laughter and cheering filtered through. It sounded like a lot of people, not a small gathering. Sebastian stepped in front of me and opened the door on the left, then stepped back, waving a hand for me to go inside.

The chandelier that hung from the ceiling of the massive room made me think that this was normally a ballroom. Although right now, there was a wall covered in a screen with the happenings at the Derby displayed on it. Sofas, cushy chairs, a full bar, and tables full of food sat to the right of the space, and an ice sculpture of a racehorse sat in the center of it all.

There was so much to take in, and I felt as if I needed a moment. When my gaze landed on a topless woman who had on a wide-brimmed hot-pink hat, I sucked in a breath.

Sebastian moved up beside me. “I probably should have mentioned that. Clothing optional.”

I didn’t move. Was he joking? I swung my eyes back to him in shock.

He grinned and lifted an eyebrow. “Does that really surprise you?”

I nodded slowly. Yes, it did. This wasn’t the lounge room in the stables. It was a … a ballroom they had transformed into something else.

“I, uh, I’m not taking off my shirt or any clothing.”

His smile grew. “Thank fuck. We’d all end up with a bullet in us if you did.”

He placed a hand on my lower back in the exact spot King always touched. I almost recoiled and had to force myself not to react rudely. He didn’t mean anything by it.

“Storm and Thatch are here. So is Wells. After the other night, Dad wanted all of us here that could be, so he sent me home,” he explained. “You saw how well Maeme handles things, but it doesn’t mean that Ronan wants her to. Well, any of them really. They much prefer that she not have to get her hands dirty.”

Did King know now? He hadn’t called and talked to me about it. Was that even something he thought he needed to discuss with me? No, I was doing it again. I was letting my insecurities get the best of me. King was being kept from what had happened to protect him. He’d come back if he knew, and right now, Scotlin was his job. Not me.

A guy with pale blond hair that hung straight to his shoulders took a beer from the bar, then turned, his eyes locking on me, and he smiled. The way he held himself told me he thought more about his appearance than he should. He was attractive enough, but he was maybe five foot ten, and his brown eyes weren’t anything special. They seemed to lack something.

“Come on,” Sebastian said, leaning closer to me. “I’ll get you a water.” Then, he pointed toward the elaborate spread of food. “If you’re hungry, help yourself. The lobster and shrimp were fresh caught and flown in this morning.”

I nodded but followed behind him, unable not to watch as the topless woman with the pink hat grabbed a fancy glass from the table full of shrimp that looked like it had already been peeled. She stuck one in her mouth, then turned around to strut back over to where Thatcher was sitting with another topless female on his lap. Was he with both of them?

“I wondered where you had run off to,” the blond guy said, drawing my gaze from the woman back to him. “You always did have excellent taste.”

Sebastian shook his head. “Not mine. But off-limits,” he informed him, then looked at me. “Rumor, this is Oriel. He is one of our newest trainers down at the stables. He’s also a friend of Wells from his college days.”

The blond guy leaned against the bar, smiling appreciatively at me. “It’s nice to meet you, Rumor.”

I smiled, not sure what I was supposed to say or even if I should say anything.

“She’s King’s,” Sebastian said firmly.

This didn’t seem to affect Oriel.

He shrugged. “I’m just being friendly.”

“Keep it that way,” Sebastian said, then shifted his attention to the bartender. “Water and my scotch.”

“Or! Where’s my drink?” Wells called out from the sofa.

“I’m being beckoned,” Oriel said with a shake of his head and a smile that was meant to hide the annoyance, but I didn’t miss it.

As he walked off, carrying a glass of whiskey that he had taken from the bar, a glass of ice water was placed in front of me.

Sebastian slid it over. “There you go.”

I took it, then turned to see the screen while he waited for his drink. There was a sea of colorful hats as the camera scanned the crowd. Some people were talking about the upcoming race, but it was hard to hear over the noise in the room. I was just lifting the glass to my mouth when Scotlin’s face appeared with a floppy white hat over her perfectly styled hair. She was laughing, and I could hear her name being said just as she tilted her head back. That was when I saw him.

King. Beside her. Looking down at her with a smile.

She was so close that his hand had to be around her back. Like he did with me. My breath caught in my chest as I watched the next three seconds that they showed him. The room went up in a roar at his image on-screen, but it all seemed so far away. There was a whooshing in my ears. When the horses replaced them on the screen, I was still unable to move. I sucked in air. My lungs had started to burn.

“She’s just a job,” Sebastian said near my ear.

I nodded, wanting to act like I believed that. But she’d been so close to him. They’d looked happy. Like they fit. Two beautiful people in a world that I didn’t belong in. I swallowed hard and fought off the urge to run. At least no one was aware of my reaction. Just Sebastian. The others were drinking, enjoying themselves. I wasn’t their concern.

Could I do this? Setting my glass back down before I dropped it, I clasped my hands in front of me so that Sebastian didn’t see them trembling. Falling apart right now was unacceptable. I had to act fine. Convince Sebastian I was okay too.

“Rumor,” he said, leaning down close to me, “he wants you. I swear.”

I nodded, but couldn’t force a smile. Not when my chest wanted to crack open. The sight of them was going to haunt me. He hadn’t called me but once. Seeing him with her … I wasn’t stupid.

I turned my head so that I could look into Sebastian’s eyes. Read his answer even if he didn’t tell it to me. “Are they sharing a hotel room?” I asked him.

There it was. The barest flicker in his irises that told me the truth.

“Never mind,” I replied. “Forget I asked.”

I didn’t want to hear him lie to me. I’d had enough lies. I didn’t want to know I’d been told another one.

“He isn’t sharing a bed with her. That I can fucking swear to you.”

No, he couldn’t. No one could. No one knew what happened behind the closed door. She was stunning. Absolutely beautiful. He was a man used to getting what he wanted and when. He liked things I had never given him, and now, I couldn’t. It would be dangerous to our child.

Closing my eyes, I inhaled deeply. I could survive this. I had to.