Chapter 27
She couldn’t believe how much had changed between Jacob and her after she came home from the surgery.
The day she’d been released from the hospital, she’d fallen asleep the moment she made it to her room.
When she’d woken up, Jacob was sitting up next to her, leaning back against the headboard, with his legs stretched near hers.
She’d leaned her head back as he looked down at her with a serious expression.
His hand had lifted and his finger traced her cheek and along the scar there.
“I know I told you that I wanted a marriage with no strings.” Then he’d slid down on the bed until he was facing her.
She’d held her breath because he was looking at her like she was the most precious thing in the world to him, but he’d still not dropped his guard completely.
His incredible blues were sincere as he continued. “But I want more with you. I want to see where this will go with us, and this time it will be the two of us working together on this relationship and marriage.
“I tried, Sierra, I really did, but you were right. I still had feelings for you that I thought were dead and with you being here, being close to you and being apart from you, has ignited my need to be with you.” He had moved his head closer to hers, pausing in his confession.
When he’d continued, his voice was even huskier.
“But I don’t want our marriage to just be an all-consuming passion we have for each other.” His smile was rueful, and it had stirred sadness in Sierra to see. “All it takes is a look or touch from you.” His finger grazed her lower lip, and his eyes dipped down before glancing back up.
“I want us to take it slow, without the sex clouding our way. I want this time around to be different and new.” He lowered his hand onto the bed between them and she almost made a sound of protest missing his touch, but he now looked so solemn. “And I think you want that, too. Don’t you, Sierra?”
She nodded, her throat tight from holding in her emotions.
He was going to give them a chance, a real chance.
She did want something new with him. She’d been crazy in love with him before, but it had been about lust and control with the image of the man she’d wanted Jacob to be, not who he really was.
Now being here again after time away, she was seeing him as he was.
Yes, she still wanted him like crazy, but she also wanted more now.
She needed the love and cherishing that came with loving someone, and she was falling in real love this time with her ex-husband.
“Mrs. Sierra Wallace-Norris, will you date me, and this time build something stronger between us?”
He’d moved his head closer, his eyes looking into hers, and she’d smiled like he had given her all the treasures in the world and he had, offering her another chance.
“Yes Mr. Norris, I thought you’d never ask.”
He’d chuckled, the sound low and deep, then cupped the back of her head, raining kisses on her face and mouth.
Sierra sighed. Dating Jacob was different and new, and they were both enjoying the discovery of each other and growing closer.
When they didn’t go out, their nights were spent cuddling and talking; sometimes, there was even some heavy petting, but he would always pull back and walk her to her room and say good night. She was cherishing those moments.
Was everything all flowers and roses, no. They did argue over little things, but it didn’t get to the point that it boiled over into a shouting match. They would work on their differences and made promises to always talk things through.
Like when he was annoyed and hurt when she finally owned up to being a famous erotic thriller author and when he picked one of her books to read and came across a familiar sex scene.
He’d come into his and her office, where she was sitting at the little desk he had purchased for her to work on her writing and looked like a heavy-breathing dragon.
“You wrote about our sex life in your books, Sierra!’
She’d sat back in her chair, nonplussed about the situation and grinned at the outrage on his face. He looked like an old woman with his face all pinched up like that. Sierra then wiggled her eyebrows and said cheekily, “Yes, but I had to amp it up a lot.”
He’d scowled, clearly not amused with the humor she found in the situation. “Now everyone who finds out what you do for a living will know about this.” He shook the book at her, pages flapping indignantly.
Sierra had lifted her eyebrows at him. “Yes, and know that I am one of the luckiest women in the world,” she said impishly.
“Seriously?” His eyes were almost bugging out and she stifled a laugh.
Without missing a beat, she’d asked. “How hard did it make you?”
He rolled his eyes and then laughed and shook his head, turning around to head back out. “Like a rock.”
And she’d burst into laughter.
The persistent sound of the doorbell ringing pulled Sierra from her memories.
She frowned and checked the monitor to see if Kaitlyn was still asleep.
The new nanny had taken her upstairs for a nap before heading out to pick up groceries.
The sound machine was still on and Kaitlyn seemed to be resting peacefully.
She must have turned back because she left the keys with the fob to the house.
The door was currently set to lock automatically behind anyone after they left.
And she knew it wasn’t Jacob because he took his keys with him when he went to go be with his brothers.
Kaitlyn was doing well after her bone marrow transplant, but the operation happened too late for her to attend her uncle Colin’s wedding.
Surprisingly, the other Norris brothers had managed to find partners in marriage within the deadline.
The only exception was the youngest, Bronson.
Jacob was the second-to-last to get married and his brothers had taken him up to their cottage to drink and fish and celebrate.
Though she was making progress in walking without her cane—sometimes bad weather made things worse—Sierra approached the door as fast as her legs would allow.
Though she suspected the ringer to be the nanny, she couldn’t help feeling suspicious.
Looking through the peephole, Sierra felt her stomach dip with dread.
Jacob’s father was standing patiently on the other side of the door.
She’d only seen him a handful of times since he returned, trying to make amends in his sons’ lives.
There were a few visits once or twice where he stopped by to visit Kaitlyn, but Jacob was always around.
And even with Jacob nearby, the way that man looked at her with disdain and hatred left her feeling cautious around him; often, she’d simply make an excuse to leave the room.
The other spouses had told her Brock Norris gave some of them a hard time, while also doing his damnedest to convince each of his sons that marriage was not for them. It seemed like it was her turn today.
Opening the door was the last thing she wanted to do, but he was practically leaning on the bell again and the knocks shook through the front room. Worried he would wake Kaitlyn at this rate, she twisted the knob and pulled the door aside.
“Mr. Norris, Jacob is not home yet, and Kaitlyn is asleep.” Her voice was frosty and she tried to block the entrance with her body. “You can com—”
“Call me Brock. Mr. Norris is so formal, and we are going to be relatives again.” He moved closer, looming over her. “I can wait inside if you don’t mind for Jacob to arrive home or Kaitlyn to get up.”
When Sierra didn’t seem to budge, his face softened, along with his tone. “I would like to see her. How is she doing?”
Caught off guard by the sudden show of vulnerability, Sierra turned to look toward the stairs, wondering what she should say. Then he pushed past her and walked inside the home.
Though unsettled, Sierra tried to stay cordial.
“She is doing very well, still gets a bit tired but her progress is great.” She smiled, shutting the door.
He followed as she moved further down the hallway; his presence left her nervous and on edge, despite the pleasant conversation they were having.
“Oh, that is nice, and I see you have too.” He smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. The air suddenly filled with awkward silence.
“I was just tidying up the kitchen, you can wait for Jacob in his den if you like.” She gestured toward the room with her arm, hoping he’d just stay away from her.
“Yes. But first I need to use the washroom. Oh, would you be so gracious as to mix me a drink while I wait?” He didn’t tell her what to mix or what glass; Sierra knew he was plotting something, and the alarm bells got louder.
She narrowed her gaze on him. “Sorry, I do not touch the stuff, you are going to have to help yourself. Now if you will excuse me.” Though she knew Jacob kept the liquor behind a passcode-lock, Sierra was certain this man would find a way to get some.
Entering back into the kitchen, Sierra dialled Jacob’s number, once, twice, but only his voicemail greeted her each time.
She tried again and hung up when she heard Brock’s voice behind her. “We need to talk.”
When she turned around, Brock Norris stood in the doorway, a glass of dark liquid palmed in his hand. Sierra tensed. Sonofabitch.
She was not going to pretend to see what he was up to. Her face set and her body stiffened in anger. “You need to leave. Now.”
He sat down at the table, swirling the drink. “Not ’til I’ve said my piece. Sit down.”
Sierra moved to sit across from him, wanting him to say whatever he was going to say and get out.
“How much will it cost for you to leave my son and granddaughter alone?”
She rolled her eyes and leaned forward, sneering in disgust. “Aren’t you tired of trying to bully your kids and their spouses into doing what you want? There is nothing you have that I want or cannot give to myself. I have my own money and don’t need the Norris wealth.”
He opened his mouth, but she didn’t let him speak. “And you can save whatever petty speech you have ready. I love Jacob and my daughter; I am not going anywhere. And I will fight whoever I need to, to prove it.” She lifted her chin, glaring coldly at the audacity of this man.
His eyebrows snapped down in anger, and he gave her a cold smile. Standing up, he set the glass down and pushed it across the table in her direction. “The problems that you and I have always get the best of us in the end and you will only hurt them with your addiction once you succumb to it again.”
“Get the fuck out. I am not like you and never will be.” Sierra clenched her hands at her sides, the anger close to exploding out of her chest. “I know how to feel love and give love, not a walking waste of skin like you.” She paused, then shook her head.
“I feel sorry for you because you have missed out on so much. Yes, once we were alike; we both hurt the ones we loved and crashed and burned. But I got out of my despair and destruction, while you are still wallowing in it like a warm blanket.”
He reared back as if she had shot him. “My son will soon realize what a mistake it was to trust you.”
Having enough, Sierra pointed toward the kitchen doorway and said firmly through gritted teeth, “Now leave. I won’t ask you again.”
He nodded, losing all the hot air he came in with and in that moment, he suddenly looked old to her.
He glanced at something over her shoulder before finally taking his leave, not saying another word to her and she heard the door open and close.
That man has worse demons than I do. Sierra took deep breaths, trying to calm her nerves and shaking hands. Though she could empathize with his struggles, it was difficult to feel sorry for him. He had brought this lingering pain on himself.
Once the adrenaline had drained from her system, Sierra got to her feet and picked up the glass of liquor, getting ready to dump it, and stared into its dark amber depths.
This was the cause of so much pain and destruction and wished she’d never tried it.
Lost in her thoughts, she jumped when she heard.
“Are you fucking kidding me? I knew I shouldn’t have trusted you!” Jacob shouted from the kitchen doorway.
And that’s when Sierra realized that he’d not only just come to talk to her but his dad had set her up too.
After forcing his way into the house, he’d left too easily.
He’d no doubt called Jacob to find out how soon he’d be home, and only in that moment did she remember Brock Norris looking in the direction of the wall clock before walking out.
Shit.
She knew from Jacob’s increasingly red face that he wasn’t going to believe her. “I can explain.”