Chapter 14 #3
“And I love you,” I respond in a trembling voice as my body starts to tense, the first beginning spasm of pleasure kissing my nerves.
I moan as he tenses and shudders into his own release on the heels of mine.
I give in to this fully, to the utter and perfect bliss, until he finally slumps against me.
Our breathing unites, and he nestles his head on my chest.
I love Lyam Gerard. He’s not only the father of my child, he also owns my heart. But if the two of us are going to make this work, he needs nothing but the truth.
The whole truth.
I need to tell him. I need him to know the truth, so we can face this together.
I open my mouth to tell him everything.
I’m the bastard child of Francois Montague.
Will he believe the worst? Does he trust me?
My heart pounding, I’m about to tell him everything when he speaks first.
Still, I can’t help but feel that something’s wrong.
Something’s terribly wrong.
We just made love and he told me he loved me, but it feels like… goodbye.
Why does it feel like goodbye?
He doesn’t look in my eyes when he pulls out. He doesn’t look at me when he cleans me up and tucks a blanket around me.
He doesn’t look at me when he deals the final blow that feels like a fist to my heart.
“I want you to understand that it’s because I love you that I need you to go.”
I sit up. My body’s still heated, my pulse still racing from making love.
Did I mishear him? I feel as if someone splashed cold water on me. A prickle of fear and apprehension washes down my spine. I start to tremble.
“What?” I whisper.
“If you’re anywhere near me, you’re in danger.
Don’t you see? They want to get to me. They killed Rousseau because they know that we met.
They know that the two of us were together, and the fact that you weren’t harmed makes me feel like you escaped by the skin of your goddamn teeth.
” He shakes his head. “You can’t stay here anymore, not with me.
I can’t keep you safe if you’re with me. ”
“Of course you can,” I protest. He can do anything.
But I know before I speak that it’s fruitless. If he’s made up his mind, then he won’t be talked out of it. He can do anything if he wants to, I know he can. My voice sounds pathetic even to my own ears as I plead with him. “Lyam…”
“I’ll give you everything you need,” he says, his voice harsh but choked, and it gives me some consolation to know that he’s struggling with this, too. “I’ll make sure you have money and protection, and I’ll even have a decoy with me so that it looks like you’re still here.”
A decoy? I feel my eyes go wide.
A decoy would be a woman just like me.
My rational brain tells me to simmer down, to not get carried away, but I can’t help it.
He’s going to have a… woman… with him? So that no one suspects he’s hidden me? The hot flames of jealousy lick at my skin.
No.
No.
I stand and shake my head, nausea forgotten. I can’t let him push me away. I can’t let him give in to his fears about not being able to protect me. I won’t give up on us.
“No, Lyam,” I say. He stands with me, facing me, towering over me. I know that look he gets when he’s made up his mind about something, and I should really take heed of that look, but I’m pushing forward.
Your refusal to obey me intrigues me.
Does it, still?
“I won’t let you do this,” I say, shaking my head. Our baby is worth me fighting for this, but even as I protest, I feel the gnawing suspicion I had from the beginning clawing at me. If I force him to stay with me, is he really staying at all?
His phone rings. A muscle twitches in his jaw, and his eyes narrow on me. It rings again, the blaring sound like the clang of a doomsday gong. It could be important, each of us knows that, but we both stare at the phone as if it’s a viper ready to bite.
“I fucking hate technology,” he growls. “Fucking hate it.”
When he lifts the phone, I fear he’s going to throw it through a window, but there’s too much going on right now for him to have the luxury of going dark.
“Take it,” I whisper. “You have to.”
We stare at each other.
“It’s Thayer’s ringer.”
“Fucking Thayer,” I mutter. “Does he wipe his ass without telling you?”
A corner of his lips quirks up and my heart thumps with a flicker of hope.
“What?” he snaps into the phone, his eyes on me.
I watch the flare of surprise.
His parted mouth.
The heartbreaking shutter of his gaze on mine.
I watch as, one by one, the dominoes fall.
He shakes his head. “Montague?”
Noooo.
No, not now. Not this way—
He places the phone on the table and hits speaker.
“Say it again, Thayer. Tell me what you just said, loud and clear for both of us to hear.”
The tone of Lyam’s voice tells me everything I need to know before Thayer speaks another word.
“Cosette, are you there?” Thayer’s harsh voice makes me flinch.
I open my mouth to speak, but nothing comes out. I will myself to push through this, to tell them, to explain everything.
I manage a shaky, “Yes, I’m here.”
“Tell him, why don’t you?”
“I was going to,” I say in a whisper, but even I feel my words lack authenticity now. They took me into custody for betrayal, and now I know I’ve only confirmed their suspicions.
“Francois Montague is my father.”