Chapter 7
Carrie and Connor
“I can’t believe the nerve of that woman,” Carrie said as she paced back and forth around their bedroom. “Thinking that we’ll all crawl back, offering our forgiveness. And then admitting to selling her own son! How totally disgusting!”
Although Connor knew he should be as outraged as Carrie, he wasn’t.
From his investigation, he had first-hand knowledge of what a vile woman Edwina Montgomery was and had vowed to make sure his wife would never have to deal with her again.
And he’d meant it. He merely enjoyed lying here in bed with his hands up behind his head as she paced the floor, looking so damn sexy.
He remembered the first time he’d seen her, when she had shown up for their appointment.
He had watched her through his office window and felt an immediate stirring in his gut.
She had looked a lot younger than she was.
Hell, she still did. And although it had been cold as hell outside, she had gotten out of her car wearing a short jean skirt, and a midriff shirt with the words Born to Be Wild emblazoned across it.
And he hadn’t missed seeing the gold ring that had dangled from her navel.
She’d been wearing a leather jacket, for all the good it did.
A rush of lust had surged through his body, making him wonder just how wild she could get.
He got aroused again, just thinking of all the ways he’d since discovered.
His Carrie could definitely be a savage in the bedroom, and he relished every minute of it.
Another thing he loved about her was her penchant for wearing cute shorty PJs—ones that he usually managed to get off her the minute her ass touched the mattress.
Tonight, they were black with an orange Jack o’Lantern design.
The midriff top matched the shorts and since she wasn’t wearing a bra, her breasts looked pretty damn awesome pressed against it.
She had stopped breastfeeding when the twins turned six months old.
How those twin globes could produce enough milk for his greedy sons was beyond him.
“Connor! Are you paying attention to me?”
If only she knew just how much attention he’d been paying.
Especially to that gorgeous body of hers.
As for what she’d been saying, not so much.
“I heard you but wasn’t really listening.
I like watching you instead. And just so you know, Mr. P is hard, and the more you move around the room, the harder he gets. ”
“How can you think of sex at a time like this?”
He lifted a brow. Was that supposed to be a serious question? “Baby, I’m always thinking of sex when I’m alone with you. Haven’t you figured that out yet?”
“Well, I’m not in the mood,” she snapped.
He smiled because he knew just how to get her in the mood. And he intended to do it. “That’s okay.”
“Don’t you see what she’s done?”
He frowned. “Who?”
“Edwina. She’s messing with our lives again. Why won’t she just go away?”
Naked, he eased out of bed, and when her gaze settled on his sex, he said, “I told you he was hard. And talking about that witch Edwina won’t make it go down.”
He walked over, coming to a stop in front of her. “Why are you letting Edwina get to you? You and Lance made it clear that neither of you have any intention of going to see her. Hell, neither one of you even bothered to read the letter. So, what’s the problem?”
Carrie placed her hand on her hips and lifted her chin. “The problem is that it’s clear she’s trying to take advantage of Pop again. And I won’t let her.”
Connor crossed his arms over his chest. “How is she trying to take advantage of Jeremiah?”
“By writing him that letter, she’s playing on the goodness of his heart. Pop is a wonderful and caring man. Who else would claim me as his long, lost daughter without requiring a DNA test first? I begged him to get one, but he refused, saying it didn’t matter what any test said.”
“And in the end, he proved that he was right,” Connor said.
A smile touched her lips. “Yes, I am Pop’s true daughter. Tricking Edwina into admitting it that day was priceless.”
Connor knew how much that had meant to her.
“Why are you so worried? Last time I checked, your father was of sound mind. And he’s a happily married man.
Edwina doesn’t have a chance against someone like Thea.
They are total opposites. Edwina is vulgar, nothing but trash, whereas Thea is sophisticated, cultured, civilized, and polished. There’s no comparison.”
“I know that, but what if Pop gets too wrapped up in wanting to do the right thing by Edwina and ends up losing Thea. What woman wants her husband caught up in his ex-wife’s drama?
Especially, an ex-wife who was the reason he stayed single for more than twenty years.
Pop hasn’t even been married to Thea a year.
His time and energy should be focused on her, not Edwina. ”
“You think it’s not?”
“All I know is that he didn’t say he wouldn’t go and see her,” she said.
Connor’s fingers reached up to tuck back a few strands of hair that had fallen in Carrie’s face. “And if he does decide to go see her? He has that right. You can’t make his decisions for him.”
“But I want to protect him, Connor. He’s done so much for me—him and my brothers. Logan, Lyle, and Lance stood up to Edwina. You were there. You saw the sacrifices they were willing to make for me.”
“Yes, baby, I was there, and I know that your father took you in without proof that you were his. Because they are real men, ones who stand up for what’s right. But only they can decide what is right for them.”
Her eyes began filling with tears. “I’m afraid this is just another sadistic ploy on Edwina’s part, to gain some people’s sympathy.”
“You heard your father, Carrie. His minister verified Edwina’s medical condition. Don’t let her appearance back in your lives scare you.”
“She is not back in my life, and nothing about her scares me anymore,” she said, wiping her eyes.
“Good. And you can’t worry about what decisions your father and brothers might make. That will be up to them. Not you.”
“I can’t help it,” she said. “I love them so much. They took me off the streets, Connor. They offered me a life I could only dream about. They protected me from Edwina.”
“And now you feel the need to protect them from her,” he said. “Trust me, those Montgomery men can handle anything thrown their way. Even someone like Edwina.”
He pulled Carrie into his arms and held her tight as she sobbed. It broke his heart to hear her cry. The woman he held in his arms was his life, the possessor of his heart, his one and only true love, and the mother of his sons. She was his everything.
Sweeping her off her feet, he headed for the chair in the room.
She needed him to hold and comfort her more than he needed to make love to her.
That would come later. At this moment, his job was to assure her that everything would be alright, and that she couldn’t fight her father’s and brothers’ battles for them.
They were more than capable of doing it themselves.
He had gotten to know Jeremiah, Logan, Lyle, and Lance pretty well since he’d become a part of Carrie’s life.
And he knew her family would proceed with caution where Edwina was concerned.
Still, Carrie had a point. Though Conner doubted Edwina was faking her soon-to-be death, he wouldn’t put it past her to milk it for all it was worth, likely at the Montgomerys’ expense.
He was certain he wasn’t the only one thinking that way, but still Connor decided to check things out, see if there was an ulterior motive behind what the woman was doing.
Like Carrie, he didn’t trust her as far as he could throw her.
“Connor?”
He hadn’t realized she had stopped crying. “Yes, baby?”
“Thank you for loving me.”
At that moment, his heart felt full. Especially when he thought about how their relationship had started. “Thank you for trusting me enough to love you, Carrie.”
He stood with her in his arms and kissed her. Without breaking the kiss, he headed toward their bed.
Connor came awake when he felt Carrie stir beside him. He glanced at the clock. It was two in the morning. Although he felt drained after making love to his wife numerous times over the past few hours, he knew he wouldn’t sleep through the night until he got his investigation started.
First, he would locate Silas Kingston for Carrie’s brothers, and then he would conduct some research into Edwina’s medical records.
Like he’d told Carrie, chances were, her mother was truly dying.
He couldn’t see any reason for Edwina to make up such an outlandish lie if that wasn’t the case.
Especially going as far as to have a chaplain back it up. But then, he’d heard crazier things.
Gently untangling their legs, he slowly eased from the bed and slipped into his robe.
He glanced back at his wife and smiled. In sleep, she was mumbling his name.
He couldn’t resist leaning back over to place a kiss on her lips before leaving the room.
Crossing the hall, he stepped into the nursery where his sons were sound asleep.
They had begun sleeping through the night a few months ago, and both he and Carrie had been relieved.
While he loved them dearly, those two o’clock feedings had been rough.
Already, they were talking about having another baby since he had convinced her to take three years’ leave from her job. They were hoping for a girl next and would name her Serena, after Carrie’s friend, who had kept her safe when she’d been a young runaway on the streets of LA.
Going down the stairs, he entered his home office, grateful he had connected his outside office equipment to his home for those days he wanted to work here. Because now he had two cases to investigate. One, he wanted to find Silas Kingston. The other involved discovering just what Edwina was up to.
He would work on finding Silas Kingston first.