How is that going?”“About as well as you’d expect.”“When are you coming home? Carl and I miss you.”“I miss you both too. I’ll go home after she has the baby. I want to be here for her.”“Okay. Tell Lucien I said hi. I’ve called him and he hasn’t answered. I imagine he’s preoccupied.”“Yeah, he is. I’ll tell him. Kiss our baby good night for me.”Tracy hated being away from her son, but she had to be there for her friend. She could only hope her child had a friend like that someday. Someone to watch over him no matter what.The three of them slept in the hospital room. Lucien slept on a pullout sofa, and Tracy shared the bed with Audrey. The night was peaceful, quiet. Each of them slept, their dreams taking them in very different directions.Suddenly, Tracy felt something squeezing her hand.“Audrey?” Tracy rubbed the sleep from her eyes. “What’s happening?”Audrey’s eyes were screwed shut, and her hold on Tracy’s hand tightened.“My water broke. Everything hurts. I think… I think t
Tracy narrowed her eyes at him. Something was wrong. His tone was… off. She couldn’t quite place it, but something didn’t seem right.“Tell me something,” he said.“Did Mark feel like this? Like the center of his universe suddenly shifted? Like he was willing to walk through hellfire, if it meant keeping this little person he’d just met safe?”“It’s remarkable, isn’t it? How quickly they take over us?” Tracy was starry eyed. “When Carl was born, Mark was someone else. Every priority just changed. Nothing else mattered.”“I’d do anything for her. Be anything for her. I never knew I could love someone so much… so completely. I’d… destroy anyone that even thinks about hurting her.”“Is… everything okay, Lucien?” Tracy asked. His stance was rigid, as though something else had taken hold of him.“Yeah, it’s fine,” he answered. “It’s just… I want to be good enough for her. I need to be good enough for her.” He was thrilled to be a father, but terror had crept into his heart. There was more
“I know this seems like a lot. But you’ll see,” Minnie winked. “You’ll be thankful for the help.”“And the company,” Kelly said.Audrey quickly learned they were right. Kelly was sweet, attentive, and caring. Minnie was snarky, sarcastic, and funny. She liked them immediately. It was clear that they knew what they were doing, as they were an immense help to just that first night alone.Audrey had no idea that babies got up every two hours, and by morning she was a frazzled mess. It would have been a million times worse if Minnie and Kelly hadn’t been there.Bella’s first week home, Lucien was there every day.Audrey had begun to get used to his presence and actually looked forward to his visits.“Sorry I’m late,” he said one day.“Just in time for dinner,” Minnie said, ushering him to the table.Bella’s bassinet had been set up by the table.“Hi, Lucien.”Audrey said as she emerged from the nursery. “Look, she opened her eyes.They were right.Lucien looked at his daughter and bright h
We have a lot of history here,” she said. “In the schoolyard. It’s where you kissed me for the first time, where you first told me you loved me… do you remember?” Her voice was high pitched and far away. He looked back at her. Her eyes were red, puffy and her pupils were dilated.“Are you… okay?” he raised an eyebrow.“I miss us. I know I pushed you away and did some things I’m not proud of. But it was all because I love you.”“Mia—”“Please let me finish,” she put a hand up. “No one is ever going to know you or love you the way I do. No one.Audrey is nothing and no one compared to me. I’m willing to forget everything that happened if you do. We can start over. Run away, just you and me.”“You’ve got to be kidding.”“Please,Lucien. I know you love me! I know you want to be with me!” she cried. Tears streamed down her face. “You want me!”“I tried to be as clear as I could,Mia. I do not want to be with you. I do not want anything to do with you anymore. Ever.”“Then why are you here?”
“I…” her words were stuck in her throat. “I want to trust you. I do. But your track record doesn’t help.”“I’m not that man anymore, Audrey.”He yearned to reach out for her hand, but he wasn’t allowed to touch anyone, and the guard was watching like a hawk.“Prove it. I’ve had enough of your words. You need to show me. I’ve changed to!”The moment hung between them, and it was everything Lucien could do to keep from grabbing her and kissing her until she begged for air.“I will prove it. You’ll see. But you don’t need to worry about this. At least not yet.”“Fine,” she softened a little. Audrey had come over with the intent to read him the riot act. Her anger burned in her body, a raging fire that smoldered in her soul. The fire soon changed from rage to worry as she walked in saw Lucien.He was a far cry from the sleek, sophisticated man she knew. His skin lacked its signature glow, and his gorgeous face was hidden beneath a scraggly beard. She wouldn’t have recognized him if not for
While happy to see her friend, she was still upset for being shut out. Becca was never one to lie though. Before getting too mad, Audrey’s figured she should let her explain what was going on. Then she could decide if she wanted to stay angry at her friend.“Oh boy,” Becca sighed. “Okay. So you two know my dad is a building contractor. It’s not a big business, but he does all right.” They nodded. “Well, he had a pretty slow month and started having money issues. That’s when I first sort of disappeared. I went back home to help.”“Back in Darlington?” Audrey clarified.“Yeah.”“We were still in contact at that point,” Tracy added. “We lost touch not long after though. You went radio silent.”“Like, I said. Things got out of hand. The business finally went bankrupt. It was a good thing I had already graduated or else I would have had to drop out. But because of everything going on, I had to quit my own job. I was actually going to ask you guys for help. But then I found out what the rea
I’ll ask Lucien about it. It’s his company, right?”“That’s the problem,” she huffed. “After everything that happened, I went through all the paperwork and saw that it didn’t say ‘Reynolds Industries’ on it anywhere.”“How is that possible?” Audrey asked.“I asked Dad about it. He told me that the project manager explained that Reynolds Industries had handed the building over to one its subsidiaries. Dad had the good sense to question it at first, but after he saw those dollar signs, all good sense flew out the window.”“That’s suspicious,” Audrey said.“It gets worse. I contacted Reynolds Industries to confirm all of this. The subsidiary is a company called RS Holdings. It was under the Reynolds Industries umbrella but had been operating alone for years.”“Like they broke away?”“More like Reynolds Industries pushed them away. The woman I spoke to wouldn’t say much. But she told me that RS Holdings was a stand-alone company now.”“This is getting shadier and shadier by the second,” T
Lucien knew he didn’t imagine the way Audrey’s eyes glazed over when she looked at him. He knew that look. He’d seen it many times when his body hovered over hers.‘She’s really going to make me fight for this,’he realized. It was evident that she was struggling to keep her desires at bay.“Let me put on something more suitable for the public eye,” Lucien smirked.“Uh huh,” Audrey managed. “I’ll wait in the foyer.”“Sure.”Audrey rushed out. The tension in that room had been getting thicker and thicker.“Ugh,” she said to herself. “Why does he have to be so hot?”Before changing, Lucien decided he needed to make a quick phone call. If all the things going on were connected, he would need to ensure that he was around to keep Audrey safe. At least until things had been figured out.“Hello, Mr. Reynolds,” his assistant answered. “It’s great to hear from you. I’m glad you’re out.”“I’m glad to be out too,Tiffany. Listen, I need a favor.”“Yes, sir.”“Go ahead and submit for my paternity l