Chapter 29
“Mom!”I shouted, seeing her first by the door. I ran into her arms. “I missed you so much!”
“Bailey Bug,” she greeted, tightly hugging me back. “Look how gorgeous you are. This dress and color on you! Oh my goodness!” She pulled away only to pull me back to her again. “My beautiful baby is here! Jackson! Cash! Look who’s here!”
I turned and came face-to-face with my dad and stepdad rushing toward me. My dad hugged me first, and I don’t know why it made me so emotional. I could feel tears forming in my eyes. My stepdad pulled me in next, embracing me just as intently.
“Oh my God!” my stepmom exclaimed, grabbing my shoulders. “Ahhh! This is the best surprise ever!” She hugged me too.
“You didn’t tell them I was coming?”
Mom smiled. “I wanted it to be a surprise.”
The cameraman snapped photo after photo of us, along with the videographer recording. It didn’t take long for more family members to catch on, and before I knew it, I was passed around like a ping-pong ball. I hadn’t even had a chance to introduce Aires to anyone yet.
By the expression on his face, he was having a great time, nonetheless.
I shouldn’t have been surprised when my grandpa Creed pointed him out. “Who’s that?”
I swallowed hard. “That’s my boyfriend, Aires.”
“Boyfriend?” he grumbled. “Since when do you have a boyfriend?”
He folded his arms over his chest, all Creed Jameson-like.
“That’s right, Pops, you show ’em who’s boss,” my uncle Luke chimed in, standing next to him with his arms crossed over his chest in the same stance as his father. Mirroring his demeanor to a T.
“Grandma!” I yelled, locking eyes with her.
Her gaze went wide when she saw why I was calling for her. “Oh!” She didn’t waver, darting toward me. “Bailey, I’m so happy you brought your boyfriend.” She placed herself between them. “So nice to finally meet you. I’ve heard so much about you.”
“That’s funny because I haven’t heard a damn thing.”
“Creed,” Grandma warned, kissing Aires on the cheek.
What shocked me the most was that Aires wasn’t the least bit intimidated by my grandfather or uncle. At least he didn’t seem to be.
“Nice to meet you too.” Aires smiled at her. “I feel like I already know you.”
Her gaze shifted over to her husband. “Creed … we talked about this.”
“Pippin, we didn’t talk ’bout shit ’cuz there was nothin’ to talk about.”
“Bailey, let me handle your grandfather.”
“What exactly do you think you’re handlin’, Pippin?”
Uncle Luke grinned. He always admired the hell out of the barbarian who was his father. Knowing the man she married, my grandmother didn’t pay him any mind.
Uncle Luke stepped into Aires’s face, and I grabbed my grandma’s hand. For some reason, Uncle Luke was always very protective of me. Since my mom was a young mother, I spent a lot of time with my uncle Luke. He taught me how to drive my first dirt bike and was there for me when I found out who my real father was.
I was the product of too much whiskey between my mom and her best friend one night before he made it big. My stepdad was actually my mom’s childhood enemy, but he stepped up when my father couldn’t because he was trying to make a name for himself.
I used to spend the night at my uncle Luke’s, and he’d let me stay up all night and eat ice cream for dinner. He always had a different girl with him and taught me how to punch a mean right hook. He was partially the reason I could drop-kick Aires to the ground; he taught me that too.
I guess since he didn’t have any kids, he treated me like his. He and my mother were always close. Even as kids, my grandparents said they were.
“Now listen,” Uncle Luke drawled out. “Because I’m only going to say this once.”
Oh dear Jesus…
“Uncle Luke, is this really necessary?” I let out, shaking my head in disbelief.
I figured they might give him a hard time, but nothing like this. This was a scene right out of Sons of Anarchy, and I could see the gun just strapped to my uncle’s back.
Uncle Luke didn’t pay me any mind, adding, “If somethin’ happens to my favorite niece…”
“I’m your only niece.”
Again, he ignored me. “If you so much as lay one goddamn finger on her pretty little head, I will take this Glock.” He grabbed it through his suit jacket. “And shove is so far down your throat?—”
“Uncle Luke! Are you for real?”
“Luke!” Grandma reprimanded. “Are you serious right now? I’m so sorry, Aires! He doesn’t mean it?—”
“The fuck I don’t.”
My eyes widened.
“Luke!”
“Pippin,” Grandpa chimed in. “He’s just having a man-to-man chat with him. Mind your business.”
With an unshaken composure, Aires looked into my uncle’s eyes and promised, “You have my word that Bailey is safe with me. She’s the love of my life, and I take care of what’s mine.”
“That was the best shit I’ve seen all day.” My younger half brother by three years, Beau, laughed his ass off, clapping his hands before he threw his arm around my neck, tugging me toward him.
At least he lightened the mood.
“Looks like you finally brought home a man with some balls. I, for one, appreciate his steady composure. Because I’ve had friends shit their pants when it came to Grandpa and Uncle Luke, and let’s not forget Uncle Noah, who’s around here somewhere. Has he met him yet?”
I mumbled, “Thanks for the help, dickwad.”
“I was enjoying the show. Besides.” Beau nodded to Grandpa and Uncle Luke. “He passed the ‘I’m going to make you shit yourself’ test with flying colors, right?”
They neither agreed nor disagreed. Instead, they walked away and left us standing there, which was probably a good thing.
“Holy shit.” I grabbed Aires’s lapels and dragged him to the dance floor just to escape everyone. Throwing my arms around his neck, I stressed, “I’m so freaking sorry. I did not expect a showdown. I swear I would have warned you.”
He pulled me closer to him. “You’re precious cargo. I understand.”
“Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Compared to my family, yours is a piece of cake.”
“True… but still, I didn’t think they’d threaten you. At least not the first time they’re meeting you.”
We spun in a slow circle to the beat of the music.
“I don’t think my uncle will shove his gun down your throat, but he may put you in the hospital. You could decide which is worse.”
“Are you trying to scare me away?”
“If that didn’t scare you away, you must really love me.”
“I adore you, Bay. You have nothing to worry about. I have no plans to make them my enemies. If anything, maybe one day I’ll get to call them my family too.”
My heart soared. “You mean that?”
“I don’t say anything I don’t mean. You know that by now.”
“I do, and I love you for it.”
“Do you think I passed their test?”
“You’re still alive, so I’ll assume yes.”
He chuckled. “You’re lucky we’re in front of your family because it’s the only way you could get me to dance with you.”
“Not true. I can get you to dance with me when you’re on drugs too.”
“I can never say no to you.”
“Okay, I’m going to test that theory.”
He arched an eyebrow.
“How would you feel about moving in with me?”
He jerked back. “You mean that?”
I smiled wide. “Of course, I want you to live with me, or shit, I can move in with you too. I’m tired of waiting for my life to begin instead of starting it myself, and I want to start it with you. What do you think about that?”
I kissed me. “I think I could arrange something.”
I grabbed his hand and led him onto the beach, wanting to be alone with him for a few minutes and take a breather. He excused himself to go use the bathroom and get us some drinks, so I showed him where I’d be standing by the water, waiting for him. It was my favorite spot.
“Robert,” Capri shouted out of nowhere, making me turn to suddenly find them walking toward me.
Well, Robert was walking toward me. Capri was chasing him.
What the hell?
“What are you doing here?” I questioned, totally caught off guard.
“Robert,” Capri pleaded in a tone that scared me. “You don’t have to do this. Not like this.”
My heart began pounding in my chest. “What’s going on?”
“I’m done listening to you and the team,” he snapped. “This is for her own good! I mean, look at them. She’s introducing him to her family, for fuck’s sake! We’ve already let it go too far.”
All of this was overwhelming, and this was the last thing I wanted. From that point forward, everything happened so quickly. No one had time to intervene. My eyes couldn’t move fast enough.
“For someone who claims to be so in love, Bailey, you don’t know shit about the man you’re sharing a bed with. Do you?”
“Robert—”
“I didn’t want it to come to this, Bailey. Please know that. I tried to avoid this very moment with you, but you’ve left me no other choice. I have to do what’s in the best interest for you, and I can’t let you ruin your career for a man who’s only using you.”
“Stop saying that. He’s not using me, Robert! It’s a low blow, and you know it.”
Opening his briefcase in his hands, he pulled out a file.
“What’s that?”
“The truth of your user boyfriend. I always have your best interests at heart, Bailey, and don’t ever forget that.”
Before I went off on him some more, I nodded to it. “You wasted your time. I’m not looking at that.”
“Bailey, I had nothing to do with this,” Capri interfered. “I didn’t even find out about this until this morning and have tried to stop Robert from doing this ever since. I need you to know that.”
“Then I’m going to assume,” Robert bit through a clenched jaw, “you know the terms and conditions of his contract for your movie together?”
“What do you mean?”
“Oh, since you’re so convinced you know everything about him. I’m going to assume that you knew about his negotiations for you to film the movie with him.”
I grimaced. I couldn’t help it.
“Ah. I didn’t think so. You should look at his contract, Bailey. You need to see for yourself the kind of moocher you’ve attached yourself to.”
“What the hell?” I murmured to myself, ripping the file from his hands.
“I can see your mind spinning. Go to page five. Those are the details I’m sure slipped his mind and he forgot to tell you.”
Oh God…
Right there in front of my eyes was the truth in plain sight. It all started and ended with…
A lie.