Chapter 51 #2
I stood there, waiting patiently, wondering if Travis would gloss over it the way we all had.
“Do you really want to know what happened to your mom?”
“Yes.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“Do you remember when Kate was taken?”
Kade’s head snapped over, his gaze slamming into his dad’s face. “Is that what happened to Mommy?”
“It is.”
“We didn’t look for her. We put her in a box in the ground,” Kade stated.
“We didn’t know she was taken. We thought she had died. But your mom wasn’t in that box. We just didn’t know it at the time.”
“You wouldn’t let me see her.”
Travis took a deep breath. “No, we wouldn’t.”
“If you’d’ve let me see her, we would’ve known she wasn’t there.”
I remembered leaning back against the wall, processing Kade’s words. Travis and Gage had already told me it had been a closed-casket funeral, which was why no one had realized I wasn’t dead. And Kade was right. If they had opened that casket…
Dragging myself back to the present, I turned my attention to Dr. Briggs, realizing she had asked a question.
“I’m sorry. What was that?”
“You mentioned Avery. Did something happen with her that makes you believe she blames you?”
And to think that I was prepared to have a good session when I showed up here today. Apparently, that wasn’t going to be the case.
“Last week, she woke up in the middle of the night. I got up to help her back to bed.” I swallowed hard, recalling the painful memory.
“Avery, honey, let’s get back to bed. It’s still nighttime.”
“Where’s my dads?”
“They’re asleep. But I’ll help you.”
“I want my dads.”
“Can we let them sleep? I can help you back into bed. I’ll stay with you until you fall asleep.”
“You won’t stay. You never do. I want my dads.”
“She was so insistent,” I told Dr. Briggs.
“How did that make you feel?”
“Her words stabbed at me. Made me feel like a terrible mother.”
“You felt responsible for how she feels?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I am responsible.” I held her stare. “I wasn’t there.”
“You would’ve been if Martin Calloway hadn’t kept you locked up.”
“Damn right I would.”
“So how is it your fault?”
I took a deep breath, exhaled heavily as I leaned against the back of the couch. I knew what she was getting at. She insisted that I acknowledge that my actions weren’t my own. And she was right.
“It wasn’t,” I admitted. “I didn’t have a choice.”
“No, you didn’t.”
“Rationally, I know that.” I rubbed my fingers on the hem of my shirt. “Lookin’ back, I find myself tryin’ to determine how I could’ve gotten away.”
“And what do you come up with?”
“Nothin’. I would’ve gotten out if I could have,” I insisted.
“I believe you. This week, I’d like you to focus on that. When you feel like the kids are doubting the reason behind your absence, think about what you could’ve done differently. If you come up with something, we’ll talk about it at our next session. But something tells me you won’t.”
No, I wouldn’t. Because if there’d been even a sliver of a chance I could’ve escaped, there was no doubt in my mind that I would have.
Travis
Sitting at my desk, staring at my computer screen, I was startled by the buzz of the phone on my desk.
“What?” I barked after pressing the button for the intercom.
“Mr. Walker, there’s a woman here to see you. She was trying to go to the offices, but we stopped her. She’s being held up here at the front.”
A woman? “Who is it?”
“Her name is … Kylie. She says she’s your wife.”
“Jesus Christ. She is my wife.” Fucking new hires. “Send her back and don’t ever detain her again, am I clear?”
“Yes, sir.”
I closed my laptop, wanting to give Kylie my full attention.
This was the first time she’d come to the resort since she came home.
I figured she was either going stir crazy or she needed to talk.
Either way, I was thrilled that she was here.
Not so much that she was given a less-than-auspicious welcome.
Fidgeting with the few things on my desk, I tidied them up before shifting my attention to my appearance.
Smoothing down my hair and then my shirt, I felt like a teenager about to go on his first date.
It was strange, but that was happening to me a lot lately.
Although Kylie was my wife—in my heart, if not in the eyes of the law—and still the same woman I’d fallen in love with so long ago, this thing between us felt new.
Making my way around the desk, I perched on the edge. After a few seconds, I repositioned, though at this point, I was just wasting time until Kylie appeared.
The smile on my face was genuine. My wife was here.
A soft knock sounded on the door, surprising me. Kylie had never been the sort to knock.
“Come in,” I called out, standing up and waiting for her.
The door opened slowly and there she was. My heart kicked a little harder than normal just as it did every time I looked at her. From the day I saw her standing by the river, after nearly two painful years of mourning her death, I found I no longer took for granted simply being able to look at her.
“Hey,” I greeted, remaining where I was when I noticed the downturn of her eyebrows. “What’s goin’ on?”
“Quite the security you’ve got out there. They all but tackled me when I walked in.”
Oh, Jesus. “I’m sorry about that. It won’t happen again.”
Kylie closed the door before peering around. “It looks the same in here.”
She sounded surprised by that.
“I figured for sure you would’ve redecorated by now.”
“I happen to be quite fond of the decor.” After all, Kylie was the one who designed the space back when the resort first opened. I saw no reason to change it.
The crease in her forehead smoothed out a little, her attention on me.
I wanted to pull her into my arms and crush my mouth to hers, but I refrained.
Although the other night had been a revelation of sorts, it had been nearly a week since the three of us were intimate.
Unfortunately, there hadn’t been any replays.
And despite how desperate I was to rekindle that magic, I didn’t want to make any assumptions when it came to what Kylie wanted from us at this point.
Pretending it was just any ol’ Tuesday, I perched on the edge of the desk again. “What brings you by?”
“I thought we could talk.”
“About?”
She peered around the space again. “I want to go back to work.”
I wished I could say I was surprised by that admission or that she was getting right to the point, but I’d been expecting it.
Kylie had always been a hands-on mother, making the kids a priority regardless of what was going on, but she had still needed something for herself.
Her work had given her great pleasure. Enough that she had limited the projects she would work on and eventually moved her office to the house, rather than the space we had rented for her.
However, she had enjoyed that independence and the feeling of having something that belonged solely to her.
We were alike in that sense.
“How do we make that happen?” I asked because I damn sure wasn’t going to stand in her way.
“I don’t know.”
“Well, we can brainstorm about it tonight if you want. With Gage.”
Kylie’s full attention shifted to me. The heat of her gaze traveled over me in a way that I didn’t expect but most definitely welcomed.
When she took a step closer, my body hardened with anticipation.
“Kylie?”
Her eyes continued to roam over me when she muttered, “Hmm?”
I wasn’t sure what I wanted to ask, so I didn’t bother.
Instead, I waited as she closed the distance between us.
I had to spread my knees when she moved into my personal space.
I planted my hands on her hips when she leaned into me, her fingertips brushing my jaw before sliding behind my neck to tease the hair at my nape.
I loved when she touched me. It brought to life nerve endings I didn’t even realize I had.
At this point, my cock was like a steel bat in my slacks, threatening to annihilate my zipper. I’d never wanted anything more than I wanted her right then, right there.
“Travis?”
“Hmm?”
“I need you to do somethin’ for me.”
There was no seduction in her tone. No syrupy sweet manipulation, either. Just her blunt words.
“Anything, Kylie.”
“Fuck me.”
The air rushed out of my lungs as my cock pulsed with its own fucking heartbeat.
Bringing my hand up, I cupped the back of her head, pulling her in slowly. “Here on my desk?”
“Anywhere.”
I wanted to ask if she was sure about this, but something told me that wasn’t the right thing to say.
Based on the gleam in her eyes, she had come here with the intention of blowing off steam.
And my Kylie had never been the indecisive type.
She knew what she wanted, and she went after it, so I could trust that she wanted me since she was here, in my office, looking at me like I was dessert.
Not to mention, I was more than willing to oblige her.
“And I don’t want you to be gentle,” she whispered as she leaned in, her mouth hovering a hairsbreadth from mine.
A soft rumble sounded in my chest. It was involuntary. A reaction inspired by the only woman I’d ever loved.
Sliding my hand from her hip to her ass, the other remaining on the back of her head, I pulled her in until my lips covered hers. Kylie’s kiss was pure ambrosia, fueling the already simmering need, stirring the embers into a conflagration.
God, I ached for this woman. Ached for her in ways I never thought possible.
Kylie’s hands were rough as they began pulling the buttons free on my shirt.
Once she had it open, her hands moved to my chest, causing me to hiss in a breath.
It felt so good to have her touching me.
The past couple of months had been painful in the sense that she had been so fragile, still healing from her harrowing ordeal.
I had wanted to hold her in my arms, to shield her from everyone and everything, but I’d held myself back.
It wasn’t an easy feat, but she hadn’t needed that from me.
And while I acknowledged it, accepting it had been something entirely different.