“All I wanted you to do was tell the truth. You consciously accused another man of fathering your child when you knew it wasn’t his. You had no problem ruining others’ lives, and maybe if I saw a bit of remorse for your actions, I could feel some kind of sympathy toward you, but I don’t.”
Christa muttered a derogatory name, but she had already turned her body toward the stage. For as quiet as it had become, Jane was surprised crickets weren’t chirping in the background.
“I—” Trevor licked his lips and cast a weary glance at Rys and William. Both of her men crossed their thick arms across their equally thick chests and waited for Trevor to continue. He opened his mouth and told the entire bar his dirty little secret.
When he was finished spilling it, everyone was either staring at Trevor with slightly open mouths or casting stares at Christa, who looked embarrassed and furious. A lot of whispers were filtering around the bar, and Jane knew Christa was feeling the ridicule Jane once felt.
“Can you believe she’d do that?
“I can’t believe she would try to trap Rys like that.”
“Wasn’t she just drinking a beer?”
The comments went on and on until Christa pushed her way out of the bar. Trevor followed after her, his head down in shame as he passed everyone. For several long minutes, no one did anything but stare at everyone else. Then, as if the entertainment for the night was over, the music started back up, and everyone resumed talking. Rys and William hopped off the stage. Everyone cleared out of the way until they were standing right in front of her.
She looked from one to the other, and like there was no one else in the room, they each wrapped an arm around her and pulled her in tight. She knew people were watching, but she didn’t care. Standing on her toes, she kissed William on the mouth and then did the same to Rys.
“Thought they might put up more of a fight,” Rys murmured against her mouth, and she nodded.
“Come here, sweetheart.” William claimed her mouth next, and she melted into him. With everything else around them falling into nothingness, Jane finally told the world to fuck off.
Chapter 29
One year later
Jane still couldn’t believe a year had passed since she reconciled with Rys and William. A lot happened in those twelve months, some bad, but most good. Her mother had been seeing a therapist to work through the problems that concerned her father. She had finally realized Charles Silver hadn’t been the man she had initially grown to love.
She had been dependent on him, and he had been like a sponge, sucking up everything that was good about her. After months of speaking to someone and working through her problems, she was starting to make progress, working through her issues to the point that she was able to see the positive side of a life that didn’t include Charles. They hadn’t heard anything from her father in years, and Jane hoped it stayed that way. Their life had changed for the better.
Jane finally told her mother what happened with her father. There had been a lot of tears, a lot of self-blaming on her mother’s part, but they eventually worked through it, were still working through it. It was still a rough road, but Jane and her mother were realizing neither had been to blame.
Missy left Trevor after the whole pregnancy situation, and Jane was glad she had made the decision. After their conversation in Jane’s car, things had been different between them. Missy realized Trevor had just been dragging her down. She was enrolled in school, studying to be a social worker. Christa delivered a healthy baby boy, and for a while there, Jane thought she’d gotten her life on track, but when Christa was caught drunk in the car with an inebriated Trevor driving, Child Welfare had gotten involved. Last Jane heard, the baby was with Christa’s mother and father while she was getting help. Trevor, on the other hand, had been arrested and was spending some much-needed time in a minimum-security prison. Apparently, he had several out-of-state warrants for alcohol related offenses.
Jane dried the last plate and stacked it in the cupboard. Two strong arms wrapped around her, and she leaned back and closed her eyes, enjoying the feeling of being loved. She knew instantly that Rys held her from the rich, masculine undertones of his cologne. He swept her hair away from her neck and started a slow caress of his lips and tongue on her throat. All she could do was tilt her head to the side and absorb the pleasurable assault.
“Come to the bedroom, baby.” The way he said the words held a note of darkly wicked intent. He had no intention of going to sleep, but that was quite all right with her, because she didn’t want to sleep either.