Resting my head on the side of the tub, I rub by hand over my tummy. I close my eyes and daydream about our baby and our future together, just enjoying the warm water.
Next thing I know, I’m in Carter’s arms and he’s pulling me from the tub. I’m not sure if I dozed off for a few minutes or longer.
“Cherry, baby, you’ve got to be more careful,” he admonishes me while gently toweling me off. He reaches down to take off his own shirt and slides it over my head. Then I’m back in his arms and he’s carrying me to the bed. He grabs the hair tie that’s currently holding my hair up, and pulls it loose so my hair tumbles down around my shoulders.
“I gotta go out for a few hours, okay, babe? I just got some information I really need to look into,” he says, wrapping a lock of my hair around his finger. I wonder if he even realizes what he’s doing.
“But it’s late. Don’t you want to crawl into bed and love on me?” I pout, trying to get him to stay. I know it’s already dark out. As much as I want this all to be done with, I hate the idea of Carter going out and “handling” it. What if he doesn’t come back? He’s already wasted so much of his life on this, first with his anger and fighting for revenge and now his fight for me – a fight that cost him eight years in prison. If I hadn’t been there he would probably have been free all these years. He’s spent so many years fighting for other people but has anyone ever really fought for him? He fought for his parents and fought to give them justice. Then he fought for me to live when he sacrificed himself to the cops saving me.
He leans down and kisses me softly on the lips. I grab his shoulders and try to deepen the kiss.
“You don’t fight fair,” he murmurs before lazily stroking his tongue against mine. When he starts to pull back I try to lock around him, but he’s quicker than me.
“Cherry, I gotta do this.”
“I know,” I huff, plopping back down into the bed. “Saint going with you?” I really don’t want him to go alone and I know he won't take me with him so I’m not even going to ask.
“Yeah, I need him with me on this. While I’m gone you keep your sweet ass in the warehouse. If you open a door, an alarm will alert me and I’ll be back here tanning your ass before you can blink,” he says, giving me his “you will obey me” look.
“Hmm…if I remember right, I rather enjoyed my last ‘ass tanning’ so you might want to think of something better,” I smirk before rolling over and wiggling my butt at him.
Leaning down, Carter takes a bite of my ass, making me squeal and turn back over to get away from him.
“Trust me. I’ll come up with something,” he says cockily and walks over to the closet, pulling out a new black shirt and black boots. He walks over to a picture in the wall and tugs it, opening it on a hinge. I see then that it hides a safe.
“This is our safe, Cherry. I’ve got money, passports, and hand guns in here. The combination is 1128. The day I first met you,” he says, turning to look at me.
“Why are you telling me this?”
“Just in case, baby, just in case.”
Crawling out of the bed I walk over to him.
“You’ll be back tonight, right? Promise me,” I whisper, needing his reassurance.
“I promise. Now you just promise to keep this phone with you.” He pulls a sliver cell phone from his back pocket and hands it to me. “My number and Saint’s number are in there. Call for anything.”
Taking it from him, I look down and fiddle with it. I don’t want to look at him because I think I might cry. I know my tears will mess with him and I don’t want him worrying about me while he is doing whatever it is he’s doing. He’s telling me these things not just because I need to know them but also because there might be a chance he won’t come back. Something could always go wrong.
Putting a finger under my chin he makes me look up at him.
“Kiss your man, Cherry.”
I stand on my tip toes and Carter leans into me, meeting me halfway, giving me a hard kiss that is over too fast.
“If you need a gun for any reason, you take the revolver. It will never jam on you and it’s already loaded. I’ll only be gone a few hours. I’m just going to check something out to see if we have a solid lead, then I’ll be right back. I’ll be in that bed when you wake up in the morning.”
Giving him a half smile, I say, “I love you.”
“I love you too, baby,” he says before kissing me one last time and leaving.
Knowing I won’t be able to sleep, I go to one of the bags I packed and pull out some yoga pants and a dark-green, off-the-shoulder sweater before going to find Jeanette. We haven’t gotten much time to talk. When I told her I wanted her to come with me she said yes without question. I was actually a little scared for her. If someone came looking for me, she would be the person they would go to first. She hesitated initially, but when I told her to trust me and that she needed to come, she did it without pause. If something happened to her while I was hiding out here, I would never forgive myself. And like Carter said, my father likes to use women to cause others pain and his hurting Jeanette would cause me and Saint a whole lot of pain.
Knocking on her door, I wait a moment before pushing it open. The bed is a mess but empty so I make my way downstairs to see if she’s there. As I pass through the living area, I can’t help but stop and stare at the beautiful grand piano. How I missed this when we first got here is beyond me. Carter really thinks of everything. I hear a noise in the kitchen, and I make my way there.
I find Jeanette sitting at the breakfast bar eating a sandwich
“I figured your ass was worn out, and I wouldn’t see you until the morning, Lays. Man, that name really fits now. You two go at it like rabbits in freaking heat…they go into heat, right?”
“I have no idea, to be honest, but I catch your drift.” I laugh, and sit down next to her. I swirl my chair to face her because I know what’s coming.
“Eat this,” she says, handing me the other half of the sandwich. “And before you ask, I used mayo not Miracle Whip”
“You know me so well,” I say, and take a giant bite. It doesn’t take me long to finish the sandwich.
“All right, you ate, so spill it. What. The. Fuck. Is your ass doing back with that motherfucker?” Jeanette asks.
“He showed up when he found out about the hospital and kind of just stormed right in and confessed everything.”
“Everything?”
“You know, I thought you would have been madder by now. You seem pretty calm about all this. Not really your MO,” I say, eyeing her.
“A man doesn’t do eight years in prison and the first thing he does when he gets out is drive for hours to get to a woman he doesn’t love, Lays. I never hated Carter, I just didn’t get him and I was upset he made you upset, but I knew that man would be back.”
“Why didn’t you say anything?”
“There wasn’t much I could say,” she shrugs. “You were angry and hurt and you needed someone in your corner, not someone cheering for what was the other team at the time.”
“You’re right,” I say.
“Like always,” she quips.
I give her a questioning look.
“What? When aren’t I right?” she says, looking offended.
“Saint,” I say.
“Not going there right now. You’re supposed to be telling me what’s up with Carter – why he’s back and why we’re in this fortress.”
She deserves to know it all. I pulled her into this. Who knows how long she’ll be stuck here with us. “I guess the story of Carter and me begins years before we even met,” I begin, and I tell her everything that Carter told me, all the missing pieces I didn’t get or understand before and how we now have to clear some things up so we can finally be free and together.
“Wow. Lays, that’s a sweetly fucked-up love story.”
Laughing, I agree. “Let’s just hope we get our happily ever after.”
“You will. After all that, you guys
deserve it,” she says, walking over to the fridge and pulling out some ice cream. “Want some?’ she asks, holding up the carton and I notice it’s the kind I always eat, cherry chocolate chip. He really does remember everything.
“Hell, yes,” I reply and start going through all the drawers, trying to find bowls and spoons. I hear my cell phone go off and I know from the ringtone that it’s Justin. Going over to my purse, I pull it out completely forgetting that I had the thing with me.
“Justin, I’m so sorry about the other day,” I say, still feeling bad about what Carter did to him.
“Hello, daughter.”
Holy fuck. I haven’t heard his voice in years. I feel my heartbeat pick up.
“Dad?” I say hesitantly, still not believing it’s him.
“Cut the crap, you little slut. It’s time for a family reunion. I even have your mother here.”
I look up and see Jeanette staring at me.
“Why the fuck would I want to see you?” I bark into the phone.
“Seems someone has gotten a little bit of a backbone. Don’t forget I made you, Layla, and I can easily take you down, along with everyone you love,” he says smugly.
“Carter is going to kill you,” I say in an equally smug voice.
“You shut your mouth, you fucking good for nothing whore! I knew I should have passed you off years ago. Just like a typical woman, spreading her legs to get her way.”
“Fuck you, asshole! I don’t have to listen to this.” I go to hang up the phone then I hear him speak.
“I’ll kill them.”
I feel my blood go cold.