Текст книги "Checkmate"
Автор книги: R. L. Mathewson
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Текущая страница: 20 (всего у книги 22 страниц)
He kept grinding against her, not feeling anything as he looked down at her, watching as the tears rolled down her beautiful face. “He doesn’t care that I’m going to miss him. He doesn’t care that he’s making me watch him die and he won’t let me fucking help him! Now that he quit, he doesn’t have health insurance and can’t get the medicine that he needs. He won’t even let me be there for him now. The stubborn asshole doesn’t want anyone to see that, but I need to. I need to be there for him and let him know how much I love him and he won’t give me that!”
“Shhh, it’s okay,” Rory said, putting her arms around him and pulling him down, but he wouldn’t allow it. He didn’t remember letting her arms go or moving to get away from her and didn’t care. Suddenly he couldn’t stand the thought of her touching him, of her comforting him. It made it feel too real, like his best friend really was dying and there was nothing he could do. He couldn’t deal with it, just wanted to pretend for a little while longer. He-
“Shhh, baby, it’s okay,” Rory said as she gently pushed him back down until he was sitting on the floor with his back against the bed. Before he could move, she was climbing onto his lap and straddling him. He went to push her off, desperate to avoid her touch, but when he moved to push her off he found himself instead grabbing her and pulling close, suddenly desperate for the comfort that she was offering him, needing it more than his next breath.
“Everything is going to be okay, Connor,” Rory said soothingly as she wrapped her arms around his head and held him against her chest. “Shhh, it’s okay.”
He tried to tell her that it wasn’t, but he couldn’t. The only thing that came out was an agonized sob and then another and another until all he could do was hold onto her as he lost control and finally gave into the pain.
* * * *
“What do you mean, you and Connor aren’t coming in today?” Craig demanded, sounding stressed and for good reason. They had less than two months to finish the hotel and they were barely keeping their heads above water. They should be at work, but Connor needed some rest and she needed to do something.
She leaned over and kissed Connor’s cheek as he slept, his stubble tickling her lips and making her smile sadly as she looked down at him. He’d been shouldering this secret for far too long. She hated seeing him in this much pain and she refused to let it continue. With that in mind she said, “Our cousins aren’t coming in today either. I need their help with something.”
* * * *
“This has to end,” Andrew said, his legs giving out beneath him, dropping his ass to the ground before he could make a half ass attempt to hold himself up against the wall. He was tired, too damn tired and couldn’t wait for it to end.
He was ready. He’d said his goodbyes and accepted his fate. He’d just wish fate would stop fucking with him and get it over with, because he wasn’t sure that he could-
“Rory?” he asked, sure that he was seeing things as he watched the stunning woman climb through his window. When two very large men followed her inside, he prayed that they were there to finish him off. The woman hated him, always had and he really couldn’t blame her, because he had been an asshole. He’d love to say that he’d had an excuse to treat her the way that he did, but unfortunately he’d been a dumb kid, a jealous dumb kid who’d crushed on her and hated the fact that Connor loved her. Connor was his best friend, more like a brother and because of him, he never tried anything with Rory, but once upon a time he’d dreamed of making her his own. He’d hated that she was off limits, but as the years passed he realized that he’d simply been harboring a childhood crush on her and had been a complete asshole to her for no good reason.
“Oh good, you’re ready to go,” she said, smiling when she spotted him.
Frowning, he looked down at his bare chest and boxers and had to wonder what she was talking about. He moved to open his mouth, but no words came out as he watched more men crawl through the window, a lot more. A few he recognized, but most of them he’d never seen before. He knew by their builds, their dark hair, and bad boy looks that they were all related and they were all looking at him.
“W-what’s going on?” he asked, hating how weak he sounded.
Rory gestured a few of the men forward. “Nothing much. We’ve just come to get you and end the bullshit.”
“Oh shit,” he mumbled when they came for him.
Chapter 37
October
“Get the hell away from me with that, you psychotic harpy!” Andrew shouted, making Connor smile as he headed downstairs, more than ready for this morning’s battle.
It had been almost a month since Rory and her cousins kidnapped Andrew. Well, “talked him into leaving his house and come live with her” as Rory had explained it to the nice police officer that showed up when Andrew managed to get his hands on a cell phone and called for help. The two of them fought day and night and they seemed to hate each other more than ever, but Rory didn’t let that stop her from making sure that Andrew was cared for. She took care of him in the morning, came by several times during the day to check up on him and even had that little snot rag of an assistant of hers help out, and she took care of him at night as well.
Andrew, who’d been ready to give up, hated every last second of it. He bitched and whined and tried to make several escape attempts, but unfortunately for him, the Bradfords decided to take a special interest in him. They now had three Bradfords a week, two to work on Strawberry Manor and one to hang out at Rory’s during the day and keep an eye on Andrew. He’d only managed to sneak past a Bradford one time, but he didn’t get very far, not with Bunny on the job. One vicious growl and Andrew was making his way back to the bedroom Rory had set up for him on the first floor.
Thanks to Rory taking over, Andrew gained back some weight, had health insurance and all his medication. He also made it to all of his medical appointments and Rory somehow managed to browbeat the man into putting his name on the wait list for a transplant. He was somewhat lucky that a bone marrow donation should heal him. The only problem was that he had a very rare blood type, but that didn’t stop Connor from praying for a miracle.
“Take your medication!” Rory snapped.
“Go to hell!” Andrew shot back.
“Take it!”
“Make me!” Andrew snapped, making Connor cringe on his behalf as he stepped over Bunny and headed for Andrew’s room.
When he stepped into Andrew’s room and discovered that Rory had his best friend in a headlock and was trying to shove a pill into his mouth, he wasn’t all that surprised. The man had set down a challenge after all.
“Would you two cut the shit? We have to get going or you’re going to be late for your appointment,” Connor said, ignoring the little power struggle going on behind him and grabbed some clothes for Andrew.
“Actually,” Rory said, pausing just as Andrew muttered and made a few gagging noises, “if you have room for one more, I need a ride to the medical center, too.”
Frowning, he tossed the clothes he grabbed to Andrew, who was chugging down a bottle of water as he glared at Rory. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” she said, waving it off like it was no big deal, “I just have a checkup.”
“Then why do you have to come with us?” Andrew asked, watching Rory suspiciously, probably because Rory had a tendency of taking over Andrew’s appointments and interrogating his doctors, making Andrew feel like a five year old.
Rory rolled her eyes as she snatched the tee shirt out of Andrew’s hands and returned it back to the drawer only to pick out a different shirt and toss it to him. He tried to bite back a smile as Andrew shot him an “I told you so look.” The man bitched day and night about Rory babying him and even though Connor told the man that he was imagining things, he wasn’t. Connor wasn’t about to interfere, for several reasons. One, he knew that Andrew secretly liked the attention. It had been a long time since anyone took care of him. Secondly, it entertained the hell out of him and her cousins. It lightened the mood and helped relieve some of the stress of trying to get the manor done and it kept their minds off of what would happen if the doctors didn’t find a match.
“Because I lent my Jeep to Max so that he could check up on some orders in town for us and help with the manor. Now stop your bitching, eat your breakfast and get your ass dressed or you’ll make us late,” she said as she walked out of the room, only pausing long enough to give him a kiss and then she was off, probably to double check Andrew’s afternoon pills.
“I hate her,” Andrew said evenly as he picked up the toast that Rory had slathered with butter, peanut butter and jelly, part of her effort to put some weight back on the man.
Connor chuckled. “No, you don’t.”
Andrew sighed long and loud as he took a big bite, knowing the little general would just shove it down his throat if he didn’t eat it. “You’re right. I don’t. But if she tries to check up on me in the bathroom one more time, I’m going to throttle the little pain in the ass!”
“I’ll let her know,” Connor said, chuckling as he headed out the door to give his friend privacy.
“You be sure to do that,” Andrew mumbled and Connor didn’t need to look back to know that his friend was smiling. Rory was a hell of a woman and he’d been damn lucky to snatch her up before some other asshole realized how great she was.
Damn lucky.
* * * *
“What's taking them so long?” Andrew asked as he fidgeted in the waiting room chair.
“No idea,” Connor said, looking at his watch, again. It was a doctor’s office so they usually were running behind, but never like this. They were running an hour and a half behind schedule and if Rory hadn't already gone in an exam room and Andrew needed this appointment, he would have told his friend to reschedule. He had a lot of shit to do today.
“Connor, can you go see how long Rory is going to be?” Andrew asked, sounding tired, which was a side effect of the medication and something the doctors should have considered before making him wait this long.
“Yeah, no problem,” he said, trying to figure out how to convince his friend to wait a little while longer.
He walked through the door that led to the examination rooms, not bothering to ask where Rory was since he overheard the nurse tell her which room to go into. Plus, they’d just tell him to wait in the waiting room since they weren’t related and he wasn’t her husband. Next month could not come fast enough as far as he was concerned.
“Rory?” he asked as he knocked on room ten’s door.
“Connor?” Rory asked, sounding happy, which of course pleased him.
“Can I come in?” he asked, already opening the door and walking in just as Rory pulled on her shoe.
“Yes,” she said, smiling and looking happy, which was a bit unexpected, but he wasn’t going to complain since he liked seeing her happy.
“Andrew’s appointment is running behind. I just wanted to see how much longer you were going to be,” he said, leaning in and kissing her.
“Just a few more minutes. Can you sit with me?” she asked, taking him off guard.
“Is everything okay?” he asked, not that he had a problem with sitting with her, but it was just an unusual request coming from Rory.
“Yeah, it’s just boring in here by myself. Do you mind?” she asked, giving him a sweet smile that he was helpless against.
“Sure,” he said, returning her smile as he moved to stand next to her as she sat on the exam table.
They didn’t have to wait long before a doctor came into the room, looking surprised to see Connor. But when Rory quickly explained that he was her fiancé, the doctor nodded and sat down.
“Your test results all look great, Rory. I ran a pregnancy test,” the woman announced, making his heart skip a beat.
Oh shit…………
“The test came back negative. You’ve been under a lot of stress and have been working too hard. I think once you’re able to slow down and take a break then your cycle will go back to normal,” the doctor announced with a polite smile.
“Thank you, Dr. Hahn,” Rory said, quietly.
Connor chuckled as he leaned down and kissed the top of Rory’s head. “I guess we got lucky, huh? Maybe you should see if you can get a prescription so that we don’t have to worry about this for a while.”
“I can write you a prescription for birth control if that’s what you want,” Dr. Hahn said, smiling. “But, I’d like to talk to you about your other request first.”
Connor was just about to ask what the other request was when a nurse popped her head in the door. “We found a match for your friend,” she said, worrying her bottom lip as relief surged through him before she added, “We also need you to help pick him up. He may have passed out when we told him the news.”
“Aw, shit,” he said, giving Rory a quick kiss on the cheek before he followed the nurse out the door, thanking his lucky stars that he’d managed to avoid becoming a daddy and been given a chance to keep his friend for a little while longer.
Definitely a great day.
* * * *
“Do you think that you could swing by and visit Andrew in a couple of hours?” Connor asked, sounding excited when all she wanted to do was curl up into a ball and cry and mourn the child that wasn’t meant to be.
It had been foolish to let herself get her hopes up. She should have gone to the doctor sooner or at the very least, bought a home pregnancy test, but she’d been so damn positive that she was pregnant. She’d never been late before a day in her life. It was only natural to assume that she was pregnant. She’d been stupid, so damn stupid and now her heart ached and all she wanted to do was cry, but she couldn’t.
Connor was happy and she didn’t want to wreck that for him. He didn’t want a child yet and as much as that hurt, it would have hurt a heck of a lot more having a child with a man that didn’t want it.
“Rory?” Connor asked as he pulled into Strawberry Manor’s parking lot.
“Yes?” she asked, feeling like she was in a daze.
“Can you check up on him for me later?” he asked, reminding her that at least she had something else to focus on for a while.
“I’ll try to, but I might not be able to,” she said, avoiding his eyes as she lied to him.
“Why not?”
“I have to go away for a few days.”
“What the hell are you talking about? Now? You need to go away now when Andrew is getting his transplant?” Connor asked, sounding confused and a little disappointed.
“I’m sorry, but I got a call from Trevor while you went to check up on Andrew. I guess with the all the excitement I forgot to tell you, but Zoe’s not feeling well and Trevor is running himself ragged between work and taking care of both sets of twins. Everyone else is trying to help, but they really need someone to stay with them. I’ll only be a few days,” she said, forcing a reassuring smile.
“Okay,” he said, sighing and not sounding particularly happy, but at least he let it go. “Drive safe, baby, and give me a call when you get there to let me know that you’re okay.”
“I will,” she said with another forced smile as she gave him a quick kiss on the lips, glad that this at least bought her a few days to get over her heartache.
* * * *
New Haven Hospital
The next day……
“We’re not supposed to release you unless you have someone to take care of you,” the nurse explained even as she helped Rory out of the wheelchair and into the waiting taxi.
“My brothers are going to take care of me,” Rory said as another wave of dizziness shot through her head and threatened to make her lose the green Jello lunch that they’d forced down her throat.
“Are you sure?” the nurse asked, looking uncertain.
“Yes,” Rory assured her, thankful when the nurse took her at her word and closed the door behind her.
“Where to, miss?” the driver asked.
“The Holiday Inn on Tremont Street,” she said, closing her eyes and letting her head drop back against the faded cloth seat as she did her best to ignore the throbbing that was starting to make itself known in her hip.
Thirty minutes later she was letting herself into the hotel room and praying for death with each step. She thought a soak in a hot bath would help, but by the time she made it to the bed, it was obvious that she wouldn’t be making it that far, at least not today.
Chapter 38
“You’re fired. Get the fuck off my site,” Connor told the bastard that he’d caught sitting on his ass and text messaging his girlfriend while the rest of the men busted their assess.
“What? You can’t fire me!” Dave, the man that he’d foolishly hired as a supervisor and gave one too many chances to, said, getting into Connor’s face.
“I just did,” Connor said, stepping around the asshole as he gestured to a few of his men to remove the prick.
“What the hell am I supposed to tell my wife?” the man demanded as Connor walked away.
“That texting your girlfriend got your ass fired!” Connor yelled over his shoulder, not bothering to waste another second on the asshole.
He pulled his phone out and after one look, shoved it back in his pocket and kicked a bucket full of sand out of his way, not giving a damn where it went. Three days, three fucking days without a single word from Rory. He’d never gone this long without talking to her or seeing her and he didn’t like it, not one fucking bit.
This wasn’t like Rory. He wasn’t the type of asshole that expected her to check in. He wasn’t overbearing and would never try and keep tabs on her, but he was really starting to worry. Three days without a word. The night that Andrew received his transplant he called her to tell her that everything was going good so far and to tell her that he loved her, but she didn’t answer. The next day he sent her an email update of the project and still nothing.
Something was seriously wrong. He didn’t know if he’d somehow pissed her off and she needed space from him, which he could deal with, but he just needed to know that she was okay. Rory wasn’t the type to leave a project of this size for three days without checking in. She wouldn’t do that, not unless she didn’t have a choice.
He called Trevor and left a message this morning, but he hadn’t heard back from the man yet and-
“I just got your message. What’s going on?” Trevor asked, pulling on a Yankees baseball cap as he climbed out of his truck and headed towards Connor.
“What the hell are you doing here?” Connor asked, frowning as he noted that the parking lot was suddenly overrun with trucks sporting Yankees bumper stickers and Bradfords, a lot of Bradfords.
“Is that really any way to talk to your favorite in-laws?” Jason asked with a tsk as he threw a tool belt over his shoulder and walked over to join them.
“We’re here to get this project finished,” Trevor said absently as he tossed a hard hat to one of his younger cousins.
“Why aren’t you home with Zoe and the babies?” he demanded as he headed for the office, because he knew without a doubt that something was seriously fucking wrong. Rory would never volunteer to play babysitter so that someone else could finish building her dream.
“Mom’s staying with Zoe and the babies and so are Haley and the kids,” Jason said, following after him. “What the hell is going on, Connor?”
“Why did you call me looking for Rory? Where is she?” Trevor asked, joining them.
“I don’t know,” he said, opening the trailer door, “but I’m about to find out.”
“Where’s Rory?” he demanded as he stepped inside the trailer, not giving a damn that Jacob was on the phone.
When the man held up a finger, indicating that he needed a minute, Connor walked over to the man, took the phone from him and hung up.
“Hey! That was an important call!” Jacob snapped, moving to take the phone back.
Connor tossed the phone to Jason and leaned over the desk. “Where. Is. Rory?” he asked, biting out each word as he forced himself not to reach across the desk and grab the man by his neck and shake him until he told him what he wanted to know, needed to hear, that Rory was pissed off at him and giving him the cold shoulder. He’d rather her be pissed at him than hurt.
Jacob frowned in confusion as he shot a look at Trevor. “I thought she was staying with you.”
“No, I haven’t seen her since the babies were born,” Trevor said, starting to look worried and for damn good reason.
“Then I don’t know where she is,” Jacob said, rubbing his hands down his face as Jason pulled out his phone.
“Craig, any idea where Rory is?” Jason asked, pacing the office while Trevor and Jacob waited for an answer, but he was done waiting. Something was going on and he was damn well going to find out what that something was and when he found Rory he was going to spank her ass until his hand fell off.
“Pull up her bank records,” he said, pointing at the computer.
Jacob’s brows arched a few seconds before he started shaking his head. “I can’t do that.”
“Oh, I think you can,” Trevor said, crossing his massive arms over his chest as he joined Connor in glaring down at the nervous man.
“No, I mean, I really can’t do that. I don’t have her passwords for her personal accounts,” Jacob rushed to explain.
“Then who does?” Connor asked, praying that someone had that information, because if they didn’t then he didn’t know what else to do.
“Maybe one of her brothers,” Jacob said, sounding hopeful as he stood up and made his way around the desk.
“Where are you going?” Jason asked as he placed his phone in his pocket.
“To see if she left any clues on her desk,” Jacob explained, heading for Rory’s office door, but Connor already knew that he wouldn’t find anything.
“I’ve been working in there for three days and I haven’t seen anything,” he said, fighting back the need to slam his fist into something.
Where the hell was she?
Wherever she was, he wasn’t going to find her by standing around here.
“Where are you going?” Jason called after him as he stormed out of the trailer.
“To find Rory so that I can kill her.”
* * * *
“Oh my God yes! Oh, right there…..yes, oh…….that feels sooooooooo good,” Rory moaned as she settled back into the deep tub that she really needed to have her brothers steal for her. It really would make things a lot simpler for her if she didn’t have to sneak into Connor’s house for these late night soaks.
Granted, this one was more of a mid-day soak, but that didn’t change the fact that this tub really belonged in her house. Maybe she could get Connor to install it as a wedding gift, she thought with a pleased little smile as she looked down at the engagement ring that she loved.
She knew that it was small and was reminded of that fact by the catty remarks made by other women almost every day, but she really didn’t care. She loved this ring, because she knew how hard Connor had worked to buy it for her. He’d offered to replace it for her and even went as far as to drag her into several jewelry stores, but she absolutely refused to wear anything else. This was her ring and she loved it and she loved the man that had given it to her.
Before her unintentional mini vacation, which had been out of this world, she’d been nervous and unsure if she could go through with marrying Connor. She’d worried that her feelings for him were wrapped up in the overwhelming attraction that she felt for him. Since he’d proposed, well, told her that they were getting married only a few short months ago, she’d been stressing out about the future.
What if they got married only to discover that they really hated each other after a few months of marriage? What if he lost interest in her? What if he broke her heart? She wasn’t sure if she could survive having her heart broken by him and was even less sure that she wanted to take that chance on him, but not being able to walk for a day or two had helped her sort through everything.
It didn’t hurt that for the first time in years she got to relax, just relax. She didn’t have to get up before the crack of dawn, put in a minimum of twelve hours a day, wasn’t working herself into exhaustion to meet a deadline, trying to take care of someone, or running around trying to get errands done. She actually had time to rest and relax. She knew that she should have left the hotel as soon as the pain started to ease up, but she just couldn’t make herself.
She slept in late every morning, went to bed at a decent hour every night and took as many naps as she damned well pleased. She lounged in the bathtub, watched television while she pigged out on ice cream and junk food and when she wasn’t relaxing, she was thinking about Connor. She missed him and by this morning she couldn’t take it anymore and decided to end her vacation and come home to him. She loved him and she decided that she was going to tell him that. She was also going to marry him and she couldn’t wait, she thought with a small sigh as she closed her eyes and just enjoyed the hot water. She couldn’t wait to see Connor’s face when she told him that she loved him.
* * * *
“Time to wake up, baby,” that deep sexy voice that sent shivers down her spine said, pulling her away from one of the best dreams that she’d ever had and into one of the strangest dreams of her life.
How exactly did she end up in her bed? The last thing that she remembered was closing her eyes and enjoying a nice long soak in the tub that she decided was hers. It was possible that she climbed out of the tub and made it back to her room, but she doubted that’s what happened since she was still naked and she wasn’t the type to willingly give the neighbors a show. That and the fact that her arms and legs were tied to the bed, putting her in a spread eagle position told her that she probably hadn’t got here on her own.
“What’s going on?” she asked, thankful that there was at least a sheet covering her naked body. It wasn’t as if she was shy around Connor, but something about this position made her feel a little too vulnerable and she wasn’t exactly sure that she liked it.
“How was your nap?” Connor asked, sounding bored and drawing her attention to her left where she found him, half-naked and lounging in a chair where he watched her.
“Good,” she said, absently, wondering if this really was just a dream.
“That’s good, Rory,” Connor said, his eyes never leaving her face and she decided that maybe this wasn’t a dream since he looked kind of pissed and she couldn’t will the ropes away with just a thought.
“Why am I tied to the bed?” she asked, giving her restraints a slight pull, hoping the knots were loose. After a moment she came to the conclusion that Connor was definitely pissed and the man knew how to tie an excellent knot.
“No reason,” he said with a one shoulder shrug, still watching her expectantly.
“I see,” she murmured as she looked around her room, but she didn’t see anything out of place or anything to clue her into what was going on.
She did a quick sweep of the bed and was about to move on when something caught her eye and made her stomach drop. Her ring was gone. Oh God, she lost her ring. She looked around the bed anxiously, but it was useless. She couldn’t see anything and couldn’t move and she very much feared that the ring had fallen off when she was in the tub.
“What are you looking for, Rory?” Connor asked in that bored tone that she really didn’t appreciate at the moment.
“My ring. I lost my ring, Connor,” she said, yanking on her restraints as she tried to sit up, but she couldn’t move. “Let me go so that I can find it!”
“No.”
“You don’t understand, Connor. I think I lost my ring in the tub,” she said, letting out a frustrated growl as she yanked on her restraints.
“You didn’t lose the ring in the tub, Rory, so relax,” he said, leaning back in the chair, appearing even more relaxed.
“Then where is it?” she demanded.
“It’s right here,” he said, gesturing lazily to the desk behind him.
“Why’s it over there? And why am I tied up?”
“Because I took it back,” he explained, getting to his feet.
“Why?” she asked absently as she tried to pull her hands through the rope, but there was no give.
“Because I decided not to marry you.”
