Love Thief: The Greystone Family: Stolen Hearts

Chapter 30

Chapter

Thirty

Kasey fucking Becker.

I look at his social media account pages someone has left open for me—what a surprise, they’re all so transparent. After James gave them/us all hell for four days and then left, they’ve tried everything to turn me against my son. No one, it seems, likes the truth. Especially from an eighteen year old with an acid tongue and zero fucks if they care or not.

Xan walks in through the front door to find me in the same place he left me last night.

“Have you seen these?” I flap my hand at the pictures of Cornhill, Becker and Pinky. “How the fuck did he get there?” His navy blue eyes shine out of the screen at me, his hair lighter than mine, but blonde, definitely highlighted, 6ft 2 ripped man, loving it up with Pinky. I can almost smell the sunshine, the flowers, a light rose, summer rain…. No, no, no, get the fuck out of my mind. “Is he there for her? Maybe Lauren is right, they’re not mine.”

Xander walks out.

I close my eyes for a moment, take a deep breath, and stand up. He won’t take much more of my shit, especially that. “Xan. Xan,” I bellow. He walks back in and just stands in the doorway, looking at me. “You know I don’t mean that.”

“Then don’t fucking say it. It’s bad enough they’re all spewing it. It isn’t right, and you need to stop it.” He’s angry and upset. Well, join the club.

“Yeah, yeah I will.” I go outside and lay on a sunbed, a half bottle of whiskey at the side of it. I pick it up and take a swig. “Why is he there, anyway?” I ask, trying to pretend I’m not actually interested. When all I want is to be there, with her.

“Reshoots in London. Bit of down time, then he’ll go stay in her apartment.”

I sit up. What the— “Is he trying to move in on my pregnant wife?”

“Why do you care? You”ll be divorced in a few months. I saw the papers they brought for you to sign. Will you do it before she has them or after?” Spitting fury at me in every word.

I laugh harshly. “You really think it will get as far as that? You’re kidding yourself. And, yes, I’ll divorce her. She promised me,” I roar at him. I’m fucking deranged, my mind disintegrating daily.

“She never. And to be honest, you need to think about what James said. If you didn’t want children, why didn’t you use a condom with her? Why play that game with her? Why? It makes no sense.” He’s defending her as usual. No one takes my side.

“Don’t you fucking start. I’ve got my vasectomy booked, don’t you worry, no more babies. I should have done it years ago,” I hiss out.

“Yeah, you should have. You could have saved Evie from all this shit.” His disgust is evident on his face.

“Fucking Evie. What about me?” I roar at him as he walks out. He doesn’t come back, and I lose myself in the bottle for the rest of the day.

Iwake up with a start, dreaming of Evie and I, in Devon, in her room. With the windows open, the light breeze coming in, blowing the sheer curtains inwards along with her scent, listening to the ocean in the distance.

I groan and see her hair in my hands. But there’s two of them.

What the?

I have two women on me, both with the same colour hair she has. But definitely not her.

“Get the fuck off!” I shout and push at them. They’ve obviously seen the evidence of my dream and it’s given them a bit of encouragement. They’ve pounced.

“You’re so big, let me make you feel better,” Lauren says, making my fucking skin crawl.

“No, leave me the fuck alone,” I snarl, the disgust in my voice amplifying the look on my face. ”And take that shit down about those babies not being mine,” I rant at them both.

“But you don’t know if they are yours. Evie was always flirting with people. She had loads of boyfriends, it was a procession most of the time,” she lies through her teeth.

“They’re mine, take it down,” I demand, my face now deadpan.

She huffs and puffs but agrees to. She’s a lying bitch, she’ll probably reload it under a different guise. I wonder what Jonno is waiting for. I would have thought he would have caused her a few issues by now.

They go off to find Gabe, and as I walk in later in the day, he has them in the lounge, a full-on sex show. One sat on top of him fucking him, whilst the other is sat next to him with his fingers inside her, both making totally ridiculous porn star noises. I roll my eyes at him, and walk on, but he grabs hold of my arm and pulls me down to kiss him.

“Gabe, you”re losing it brother,” I tell him and pull away, his eyes totally glazed over—the lights are on, but nobody is home.

I walk off, into my shower and shut the door. I put my head down and she’s there, smiling at me. So much fucking love in that smile, I could cry. I want her so badly, I touch my cock with her in my mind and I come immediately, ribbons of cum painting the walls of the shower. It should be her skin, not the bland, emotionless tile.

And then I do start to cry. Why hasn’t she come to claim me? Drag me back to where I belong. When will this call come and put me out of my fucking misery. My breath is stuck in my chest, and I can’t fucking breathe. I can’t fucking breathe without her.

Igo out, I get high, I get drunk. I’m photographed with my arm around Grace. If I’m miserable, she should be too. My fucked up brain tells me it’s a good idea.

Retaliation is swift. My son, the most ruthless bastard to walk this earth. A twenty-week scan photo of my babies. I can see their faces, the fine detail. I think they look more like Evie than me. God, I hope they have her eye colour.

What am I thinking? They won’t, because they won’t make it.

Days, weeks later, more nightclub shots of me—Lauren this time—and an audio recording of their heartbeats arrives.

Tears fill my eyes, panic claws at my chest, I can’t breathe, I can hear them, I can see them, she is twenty-three weeks pregnant. If they come now, they may survive. I looked it up.

The photos start in earnest. He’s not even waiting to see if I do anything, he’s just hitting me again and again.

James

Come home Dad. She needs you. They need you. I need you *audio heartbeats*

James

Come home, Dad.

Attachment:

A photo of Evie stood sideways, just as she was with James on her slideshow she did for me, all those months ago. With Eamonn, the littlest Purcell, kissing her belly.

James

Come home Dad.

Attachment:

same pose again, this time with all three of my pseudo nephews, Oisin, Colm, and Eamonn, with the twins

James

Come home Dad. Mum at twenty-two weeks babies on board.

Attachment:

side photo, they are measuring them each week

James

Come home Dad. Mum and twins at twenty-three weeks.

Attachment

a recording of the babies moving and Eamonn, yet again touching her stomach and squealing in delight when they kick his hand.

Xander grabs my phone. “You’ve been staring at that for two fucking days. What is it? You’ve not eaten, washed, nothing. You stink. Time to move it, or Mick and I will do it.”

Mick is stood ready for action. Xan looks at the messages, puts the phone onto the speakers, and plays the heartbeats through it. I stare and stare at him, trying to get my fucked up brain working. He plays the audio of Eamonn squealing when they kick him, asking if he’s their favourite and Evie telling him of course.

God, her voice. It’s lower, more husky. My body responds to it, coming alive, like someone’s set it on fire.

Xan scrolls through all the texts, the photos James has bombarded me with. “The little shit.” He smiles, the fucker. “You’ve bred one ruthless man.”

I shake my head. “No, they have,” I spit. “He is relentless.”

Xan looks at me. “We need to go home. You need her, Marcus. You’re dying, they’re killing you. James was right in what he said about them. They wanted what Evie had. They saw Kellen, how you are when she’s around, and they want him. But you only give them Marcus, and even then it isn’t. Not really. Let’s go home, Kell.” He’s begging me with his body and eyes.

“She won’t have me. I’ve done too much damage. I went out with her former friends, was photographed with them, let them hang off me. They touched me when I was asleep. She won’t get past that.”

“You never fucked them. Never, not once. You never touched them, anyone, because they weren’t her.”

“She won’t see that. She won’t want me. Maybe she’ll be with Kasey Becker. He seems to want her, with my children in tow.” Feeling completely dejected, desperate, I raise my eyes to the ceiling, hoping to find some inspirational ideas there.

“You can’t let that happen. What will you feel like if Kasey fucking Becker is co-parenting your children. No way, Marcus. No. We need to go. Now.”

We stand, listening to the heartbeat sounds on repeat.

“I’m going even if you aren”t,” Xander finally says. “James sent me the photos as well. By the looks, he’s applying leverage. Come with me. They want us there, they must. Why would James be bothered if they didn’t. They would have walked away. She can do it on her own, she has before. She’s older now, wiser, more money, more family around her. Jonno is her partner, he’s been attending all the appointments.”

“How do you know?” I ask him.

“He sent me messages after each one, calling us names. Telling me to bring you home. Let’s go, Marcus. You don’t want to be on this side of the Atlantic when she goes into labour.”

Lauren storms into the room, screeching, “How do you know they’re his children?” Xan just looks at her with contempt, he doesn’t say a word. “She was with any number of men. She’ll have to do a paternity test to find out who’s the dad.” She goes on, desperation dripping from her voice, “In fact, one of her brothers could be. She’s always with the younger one. Grace said she heard the security team saying they slept together all the time.”

I ignore her, turning fully away from her.

“I can’t, Xan. What if I go and something happens? It’s me, it’ll be my fault if something happens. No, I need to stay here. I”ll go see her after. She’ll?—”

“Why? Why go at all. You’ve everything here,” Grace implores me as both she and Becky come towards me, followed closely by Gabe, half dressed and half baked.

“If they are your children, and I doubt it, you can get a test done and fetch them here. There’s enough of us to look after little kids, we work in a school.” Lauren points to herself and Grace. “We’re better qualified to look after your children than the crazy Greystones. You could go for full custody.”

Xan starts to laugh. “Yeah, because James and Bucky are well damaged. Who’d want whoever brought them up to deal with your kids?”

“Well I thought he was damned rude and so cocky when he was here. Who did he think he was, telling us we were skanks, stalkers, and no good for you,” Grace puts in.

“He was always unruly and opinionated,” Lauren adds, and I raise my eyebrows at Xan. That one sounded familiar.

Xan is smiling, and I can see him thinking yes, he is unruly and opinionated, and thank fuck for that.

“Well you do what you want, Marcus, but I’ll be gone shortly. I’m not staying here, I’m bored to be honest. I think it’s time we had a clearance sale, too much samey is no good for us. The rule is one and done, and these have overstayed their welcome. Gabe, take them to yours or they go home,” he says, totally serious.

“It’s not up to you, Xander, it’s Kellen’s house,” Lauren whines.

I look up sharply. “My name is Marcus to you. I’ve fucking told you so many times… In fact, I agree with Xan. Go to Gabe’s or leave, get your stuff. Mick,” I shout, and he leaps forward.

“You bastard,” gasps Grace, “we are together.” Desperation laces her every word.

I look at her, disgust evident in my tone and face, my lip practically curling back on itself. “In what fucking universe are we together? Do you think I would fuck you? Not a chance. We are not together, we have never been tofuckingether, and never will be. Do you think dying your hair the same colour as hers will keep you here?” I laugh at her audacity. “Your trouble is you think you are her, or could be.” I shake my head. “Go to Gabe’s, he”s still bothered, or leave.”

“I’ll tell everyone about you and Gabe, oh and Xander,” says Grace, even more distressed than before.

“Yeah, yeah old news. I went on a morning show and said that earlier in the year, nothing new there.”

“We’ll tell Evie what we’ve done with you, every last detail. If you think she’ll be interested then, you’re crazy. She won’t lower herself to have you,” spits Lauren.

“Gabe’s or home,” I say, pointing at the door. “I’ll take my chances. Now get the fuck out of my house.” I walk outside and leave Mick to move them all on, including Becky.

Xan walks out to me. “Are you coming home?” The hope in his voice is palpable.

“No. They are right about that, she won’t want me now. I know I never had sex with them, or anyone, but they’ll spin some shit and she’ll think I’m trying to get out of it on a technicality. Would I like it if she had turned to Kasey Becker for comfort? No, I would fucking hate it. So, Xan, you go if you have to, but I can’t.”

He throws his hand up in desperation.

“You’re a fucking idiot at times, Marcus. You would forgive her, just like she will forgive you.”

But he stays. We go out, pick up a few models, stumble out of a nightclub and get photographed. Back to normal, standard MO.