Misty Reigenborn Romance Boxed Set (59 page)

“There’s got to be something you can do Brandy.”

“Like what?  I can’t exactly tell someone that he paid my son’s adoptive parents to give me him back.  And even if I did, I’m pretty sure that he’s got enough money to pay for a birth certificate that looks pretty damned legit.  If anybody questioned him he could just lay down another one of his lines of bullshit and say that I was pregnant with his kid and never told him.”

“He couldn’t do that.  Gabe’s a couple years older than you isn’t he?  Wouldn’t it have been statutory rape?”

“No.  The age of consent where I grew up is sixteen.  My parents tried to pull that shit with Joey’s dad.  When I got pregnant the first time they wanted to pretend it never happened.  The second time they were going to punish anyone they could find.”

“I can’t let you do this Brandy.”

Brandy was very afraid that he was going to tell her that he couldn’t be with her anymore if she was with Gabe again.  “I have to Rich.  If it was just about me, it wouldn’t matter.  But it’s not just about me.  It’s about Joey, and the baby.  He said that he’d leave us alone about custody of the baby too, if I did this.”

“You know you can’t trust him Brandy.”

“I’m sorry Rich, but I have to do this.  I have no other choice.”  She took a deep breath and let it out. “Will you be there when I get home?”

“No.”

She wanted to cry.  “I understand.  I still love you Rich, and I’m sorry.”

“No baby.  I told Alton Bruce that I’d take that load tomorrow remember, as sort of a try-out?  So I probably won’t be home when you get back.  With Joey.  Now we’re gonna have two kids.  I’d just be a lot happier about it if Gabe wasn’t mixed up in everything like usual.  I told you that I’d stick by you through anything, and I meant it.  I love you Brandy.  Hell, I’ll marry you when I get back if you want.”

“My engagement ring’s not even ready yet.”

“Yeah, I know.  Please call me when you get back to let me know that you’re safe.  I’d follow you and that fuck.  You know I would, but I can’t let Alton down.  I need this job, now more than ever.”

“I know.  I love you Rich.”

“I love you too, Brandy.  Will you think of me, when you’re. . . you know.  With Gabe.”

She didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.  She sobered and said “Of course.  It’ll be the only way I’ll be able to get through the night.”

“Goodbye baby.  Please come home to me safe and sound.  If that piece of shit hurts you I swear I’ll kill him.”

“I can handle Gabe.  It’s just one more night.  Then we’ll be rid of him forever.”

“I hope so darlin’.  I sure hope so.”

“Um, Rich, there’s one more thing that I need to tell you.”

He sounded cautious when he said “Okay.”

“I did a line.  It was just one, and I promise that I’ll never touch the stuff again.”

“It’s okay babe.  I know how hard it can be to give that shit up.”

“Thanks Rich.  I love you.  I’d better let you go.  Gabe’s probably waiting for me.”

“Be safe Brandy.  I love you.  I’ll see you and Joey when I get back home.”

“Bye Rich.”

“Bye babe.”

She hung up her phone and considered throwing it at the bathroom wall.  Instead she sighed and shoved it back into her pocket.

She unlocked the bathroom door not bothering to look at Sabrina or Chloe as she walked by.  She was sure that Gabe had explained to them that she wouldn’t be working that night.

He was leaning against his truck when she got outside.  “Do you want to drive? I already put the directions in the GPS.”

“No.”

She wasn’t looking forward to this night one bit she thought as she got into the passenger side of the truck and strapped herself into the seatbelt.

Gabe started the truck.  “Are you hungry Brandy?  We could stop and pick something up on the way out of town.”

“No.  I don’t think I could eat anything right now anyway.  It makes me sick to think of sleeping with you again.  What are you doing with my car?”

“I’ll have someone come and pick it up later and take it back to your house. And thanks so much Brandy.  I love you too.”

She gave him a smile that she didn’t feel and then turned around to look out the window.

“It’s about a six hour drive.  The Perrys agreed to meet us halfway.  We’ll have plenty of time together tonight.  And tomorrow you’ll get to see your son again.”

A thought had suddenly occurred to her.  “Gabe, I don’t have anything for Joey, not even a bed.”

“It’s already taken care of Brandy.  When Rich leaves for work tomorrow someone will come in and set up your spare bedroom for Joey.  He’ll have a bed and a dresser, and plenty of toys and clothes.  I was glad that you’d had a boy instead of a girl when I was picking everything out. I have much more experience with a four year old boy than a four year old girl since Jessa’s still a baby.”

“Why do you have a key to my house and my car?”  Then she sighed. “Oh, never mind.”

The ride was silent after that.  She was half asleep when Gabe pulled up to a hotel hours later.  He went inside the office and returned with a magnetic key card. 

He opened her door for her and said apologetically “I didn’t think to get you a change of clothes or anything.  We’ll stop somewhere in the morning before the Perrys get here.  The hotel provides hygiene products so you’ll be able to take a shower at least.”

She nodded, feeling numb.  She still felt numb when she followed him to a room on the second floor. 

Gabe didn’t waste time undressing once they were in the room.  She let him undress her, already pretending she was somewhere else in her head.

Gabe did manage to surprise her that night though.  When he’d demanded one last night with her she’d expected him to ask her to do the kind of degrading things he’d had her do on some of the nights they’d spent together at the bar.  But instead he did everything he could to try to please her.  She figured it was a last ditch effort to try to convince her that she should be with him instead of Rich, but it didn’t work.

Thinking of Rich really was all that got her through that night.  She was so intent on thinking of Rich that she called out his name the first time Gabe made love to her.  The second and third time she did it on purpose, but she wasn’t sure if either of them really cared.

She slept late the next morning.  Gabe shook her awake a little after ten a.m. 

“Get up Brandy.  I’m sure you want some fresh clothes before your son gets here don’t you?”

She rolled over in bed and groaned, having a very strong craving for a cigarette.

“Gabe, do you have any smokes?”

“No.  You are not going to smoke another cigarette Brandy.  I may be letting you pretend that the child you’re carrying belongs to you and Rich, but it is still my child.  No more smoking and certainly no more coke.  I still can’t believe you pulled that crap at the bar last night.”

She looked up at him and grinned.  “You make girls go a little crazy sometimes Gabe.”

“Ha ha.  Get up.  Let’s go.  The Perrys will be here with Joey in less than two hours.”

“Thank you Gabe.”

“A child needs his mother.  Well, sometimes I think mine would be better off without theirs.  But I would never take them away from her.  She does love them in her own way I suppose, in the way that a truly selfish bitch like Leslie can.”

“You love your wife.  You know you do.”

“That doesn’t mean she isn’t a selfish bitch.  Get up and get dressed.  I’ll get you a cup of coffee from the office.  Do you want a muffin or a donut or something?  I think they have a free continental breakfast.”

“No thank you.”

She was still a little queasy thinking about the night before, what she had done with him.  It also embarrassed her that she had let herself fall asleep naked in Gabe’s arms when she was so much in love with Rich.

“I’m surprised you don’t have morning sickness this morning.”

“Me, too,” she said.  Then the real nausea hit her and she ran to the bathroom.

She heard Gabe chuckle as she slammed the bathroom door behind her.

She had used some of the mouthwash that the hotel provided and was dressed and sitting on the bed when Gabe came back, balancing two cups of coffee and a napkin that held two muffins.

He handed her the coffee and said “It’s decaf.  I could never get Leslie to give up caffeine when she was pregnant.  Have a muffin please.  You didn’t eat anything last night.  You need to stay strong for the baby.”

If the situation were different Brandy thought his concern might actually have touched her.  But it didn’t she thought.  He hadn’t technically raped her the night before since she had willingly
given herself to him.  But it still felt a little like he had, even though her traitorous body had indeed responded to him as it always had.

“Thanks.”

She took the offered muffin and made herself eat it, though it was banana nut and she’d never liked the flavor.  Rich would have known that she preferred blueberry she thought, realizing again how much she missed him.  How much she wished that it could be him here with her instead of Gabe.

Once they had finished the muffins, Gabe said “Let’s go.  There’s a mall a few miles away.  If you’d like we can pick you up some maternity clothes while we’re there as well.”

“No thanks.”

“Suit yourself,” he said, and followed her out the door.

At the mall she did let Gabe talk her into letting him buy her some maternity clothes because she was already gaining weight and most of her clothes were tight as it was.  He over did it in the usual Gabe style.  They were loaded down with bags by the time they left the mall an hour later.  She had picked out a book that she had loved when she was a child and a teddy bear for Joey which she insisted on paying for herself.

When they got back to the hotel with barely half an hour to spare before the Perrys were scheduled to drop off Joey, she quickly became so nervous that she almost threw up again.  Gabe gave her a ginger candy to settle her stomach after she had gotten dressed in her new clothes. She’d used the hairbrush to brush her hair that he had given her to use since they had forgotten to pick one up while they were at the mall, though it weirded her out a little to use it because he told her that it belonged to his wife. 

She pulled a red hair out of the brush that she could see was starting to turn brown at the roots and wanted to ask him if his wife was a natural brunette, thinking that the dark hair she had seen in pictures of his son and his baby daughter had come from their mother and not the unnamed father that Gabe seemed to think it came from, but she kept her mouth shut.

She even let him sit her down on the bed and rub her back when she couldn’t sit still.  She didn’t think that Rich would care, especially since it was so tame compared to what she had let him do to her the night before.

A little after noon, there was a knock at the door.  Gabe let her get up to answer it.  Her heart felt like it was in her throat when she turned the knob.  She hadn’t seen her baby in person in over two years.  Oh, what if he hated her for taking him away from the only parents he had ever known she thought as she opened the door.

Aida Perry was standing on the other side of the door, and Joey was clutching her hand.

When Brandy looked at her son, she wanted to cry.  He was so beautiful, she thought.  She could hardly believe that he come from not only her, but his natural father, whom she had pretty much considered worthless after he had given her a fat lip and accused her of cheating when she told him she was pregnant.

After a moment stretched on in silence, Aida Perry said “Hello Brandy.  You look well.”

“Thank you.  You look good too, Mrs. Perry.  Hi Joey.”

“Hi Mommy.”

Her son stepped forward from where he had been partially hiding behind Aida Perry’s leg and said “Mama Aida said that I’m going to live with you now and that I’m going to have a new Dad.  Do you have a dog?  Mama Aida and Mr. Tom have three.”

Brandy felt tears sting her eyes.  “No.  We don’t have a dog right now baby, but we’ll get one real soon okay?”

“Okay.”

Aida Perry handed Brandy a duffel bag and turned to Gabe. “Thank you Mr. Atkins.  You’ll never know how much the money will help with the children that we’ve just adopted.”  She took a thick stack of papers out of an oversized shoulder bag and handed them to him.  “Here are the papers.”

Gabe glanced through the papers, and after removing one and tearing it to shreds, handed the rest to Brandy.  “The wire transfer should go through today Mrs. Perry.  I added an extra $25,000 for your troubles.”

“Oh, thank you Mr. Atkins.  We love Joey so much, but these other children needed a home so badly.  I’m sure he’ll be in good hands with his mother.”  She turned to Joey. “Do you want to go say goodbye to Mr. Tom and the kids?”

Joey nodded.  “Yes please.  Do you want to come Mommy?”

When Joey slipped his hand into hers, she thought there was no way she could stop the tears from flowing.  Gabe smiled at her and patted her shoulder.  She did manage to keep her tears in check though.  She and Joey followed Mrs. Perry out to a dark green full size van that had four car seats in it. What must have been Joey’s was the only one that sat empty.