[Dawn]“Never,” he utters. “You were just…” but he doesn’t finish. He sighs. “Nevermind.”“No, tell me,” I push. “I’m sick of being the little sister of Andre. At least treat me like the adult version of me you decided to have sex with.” I’ve poked the bear now. His eyes flash, and I can tell his temper will flare. But I don’t care. A week of silences and excuses, a life of waiting for him to just run away.“It’s not that,” he finally says with a level voice. “It’s that…” but he still can’t find the words.I’m too frustrated at him to even wait around and hear them. I’m too hurt. I’ve got my answer anyway.He lets me walk past, and I flee the office. I feel like the biggest idiot. I feel like a selfish brat for acting like the way I am, yet in the same heartbeat, I don’t care. I feel like he led me on with all that flirting and talking. We were hot and dirty in the pantry one moment, now I just feel stale and stupid.I go to the bathroom and cool down for a few minutes before going ba
[Aldo]Andre is laying on the couch with his feet kicked off the edge. I’m sitting there tight as a spring, still reeling after my horrible discussion with Dawn. It went in the complete opposite direction of what I wanted to happen. Not that I wanted her to be in my arms by the end—did I?—but more than that, I wanted her to understand.Except that all that was understood was my stupid tongue getting tied up and making me look like an ass. The TV flashes and the person on the game show begins crying; they’ve just won a hundred grand.“Man, ain’t that a way to earn your money?” Andre asks. “You could walk into one of those game shows poor as shit and come out with buckets.”“Don’t they pay it out in installments?” I say, reclining myself back and trying to force myself to relax.“Nah man, surely not. It’d all be a lie then. Who’s gonna go on the game show to win a payment plan?” We laugh, and he goes on. “Surely they give you one of those big ass fake checks.”As if summoned, the co-h
[Dawn]She says it again, and I still can’t process her words. “What?” I repeat.“I know about you and Aldo in the pantry.” Sophie is practically beside herself giggling. She’s been driving the van at a snail's pace since getting off the highway, laughing herself stupid.I turn red, and I suppose there’s no way to cover it up or lie. “Well, yeah, we were screwing around in the pantry. But how do you know? We couldn’t see anyone…”Sophie shakes her head and laughs. “At least that pantry is getting some use. Those snacks have been in there for years.”I’m beside myself. I don’t know why I feel embarrassed. Maybe it’s because we’re laughing at my future burning up.“Look, it’ll be alright,” she says. She takes the van off to a side street and shoots out on another back road between houses and apartments. I sip at my coffee and nibble on the donut we picked up on the way. We’ve had a right morning of shipping out. We had breakfast on the road. We had toilet stops on the road. We made it
[Dawn]Sophie grins from ear to ear, however, and rolls the window down. Aldo is about to say something when Sophie cuts him off.“Morning!” she calls. “Change of plans!”Aldo’s eyes don’t even go to her, he just looks at me. The two of us stare like frozen animals on safari as the predator, that is Sophie, plays with us.Realizing what is happening, he begins to back away.“Not so fast!” Sophie says, hopping from the van and coming around to him. She gives him the keys. “You’re driving with her.”Aldo looks at me, the normally cool and calculated man is wide eyed and speechless. Then he smiles and snorts. “I’m driving the van with Andre. You’re playing a joke.”Sophie pats his arm and smiles back. “No, I’m not. You’re driving with Dawn.”“Why?” he utters.“I think we’re all adults enough to know why.” She folds her arms and cocks her hips to the side. I told you so.His face drains of color as he looks at me. I shake my head fiercely. I never told. Sophie is walking away, and he foll
[Aldo]The first few miles are awkward as hell. We’re like kids who just realized the weekend is ours and don’t know what to do with it. My mind’s racing, and I can only bet hers is too. The curve of her body still lingers in my hands and in my mind.And what an ass I am, jamming my foot in my mouth the other day, trying to explain things by telling her who her brother is…“Dawn,” I begin, overtaking a truck. “About the other day…”She looks up from her phone and waits.“I want to apologize.”“For what?” she asks.“The way I explained things.”“You mean how you hooked up with me and then explained it all as me being Andre’s sister?” her brows arch “You’re really not gonna make it easy for me?”Dawn laughs. “Hell no! What kind of apology was that?”“I didn’t get to apologize.”“And you’re trying now by bringing it back up? Unbelievable. How you kept a girlfriend for a couple years is beyond me.” she says try to bite back a smile.“Well, Lindsey didn’t make me nervous. You make me nerv
[Dawn]The whole afternoon has been a blur of laughing and talking. It felt like old times. Kind of like how our dynamic was before the hook up, except, there is the hook up between us.I think I should ask Aldo about it, I mean, does a hookup count if we don’t come? But the sexual tension over the last few hours has been growing the more relaxed we’ve become. And I’m not really sure what or where we stand on it. It’s a funny thing…We’ve stopped for gas again and a bit more food. Everything is normal between us except for the growing tension. Every time a romantic song comes on, we both look at each other. Just a little glance of recognition. But enough for the tension with its billboard sign of sex to pop up. I can see it in his eyes, and he in mine. We both remember that pantry all too well…It’s eight o’clock, and we’ve been on the road nearly twelve hours. I’m beat, and I haven’t done any driving. Not that I haven't wanted to, but Aldo insists. I don’t take it to heart because he
DawnI swallow hard, my neck tilted fully back as he leans in. My heart hammers. If I wasn’t so unsure where this was going, this would be so hot. Suddenly, Aldo picks me up, and a startled yelp escapes my mouth. His grip is firm, possessive, and I can feel his breath against my skin as he moves. He keys open the door and throws our things on the ground with controlled recklessness. My heart races wildly as he tosses me onto the edge of the bed, the mattress bouncing beneath me. In a blur, he somehow manages to close the door and hit the lights before we’re tearing at each other’s clothes like we’re starving. When he pulls me against him, his lips crush against my neck with a hunger that makes me gasp. His hands grip me hard, fingers digging into my skin, sending shivers down my spine. As he squeezes my ass, I groan into his ear, my voice heavy with need. My leg wraps around him instinctively, pulling him closer. I feel how rock-hard he is already, pressing insistently against m
[Aldo]The next day, we wake up early and are on the road straight away. We don’t talk about last night. The only acknowledgement is how gingerly Dawn is sitting on her seat.I grin widely.That was the hottest sex I’ve ever had. Not even just the first round. By the time we got to round three in the early hours, we were exhausted, but it was… I shake my head and keep focused on the road.As tired as I am, the memories that are flooding my mind are distracting.I claw my fingers around the coffee we’ve just picked up. I drink a long sip and then take one of the donuts. The rain that had promised to pour down overnight has only come this morning. We’ve got a proper storm pelting us. Dawn watches me drink my coffee and then smiles too.I lick my lips, grinning like a wolf. I’m trying to think of a fitting joke, and I can tell that she can tell that I’m thinking of one when—“Shit!” Dawn points out the windshield.I look back and see some idiot pulling out of a slip lane and into ours!I
EpilogueSadie – One Year LaterI gazed down at my baby, my son, in absolute wonder. My heart swelled in my chest with so much love, I thought it would burst. I was exhausted, and my whole body hurt, but I didn’t care. All that mattered was my little boy, that he was healthy and whole.“Are you feeling up to visitors?” the nurse attending to me asked in a soft voice, careful as to not disturb my sleeping baby.I smiled at her and nodded. “I am.”“I’ll let them in, then,” she replied with a grin.Turning, she made her way out of the room, closing the door behind her. I turned my gaze back down to my little boy and couldn’t help the smile that curled my lips.He was so beautiful. Tiny and pink and perfect.I couldn’t wait for his daddy and sister to meet him.At that moment, the door to my room opened back up, and the nurse returned with Cyrus and Megan in tow. Cyrus had been with me during the labor, but had gone out to wait with Megan while the baby was cleaned up so he could bring h
CyrusThe silence stretched between us for several long moments, and with each second that passed, I grew more and more nervous that she was going to say no.Her expression flickered between so many emotions so quickly, I couldn’t fully decipher what she was thinking.At length, she slowly said, “Are…are you asking me to marry you because you genuinely love me and want to…or are you just afraid of losing me after everything that happened with Ralph?”“Oh, baby, no,” I assured her with a firm shake of my head. “I love you with my entire being, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I want us to raise Megan together and be a family. I swear to you, this has nothing to do with Ralph.”I held her gaze, praying she believed me. I was ready to do whatever I had to in order to convince her I was being entirely serious.To my complete relief, though, her lips curled into a smile, and she blurted, “Yes! Yes, Cyrus, I’ll marry you!”I surged to my feet, pulling her from her chair. Wr
Sadie It was hard to break that bond between a child and parent, and no matter what Ralph did, I think there would always be a part of Megan that wanted that connection with him.“I hope so,” Cyrus told her. “He’s going to try. That’s what’s important.”Megan regarded him a long moment before saying, “I’m glad he’s going to try.”Cyrus smiled softly. “Me, too. I promise you, Megan, I’m going to take care of you and protect you no matter what. Okay?”The corners of her lips curled up at that. “Okay. I love you, Uncle Cyrus.”“I love you, too, Megan,” he replied. Then, he looked up at me. I couldn’t help but smile back at him. My heart swelled, and I fell even more in love with him at that moment. I wanted to explain my feelings to him in more depth, but we needed to talk away from Megan. I didn’t want to confuse her even more as Cyrus and I tried to figure out the stuff between us.“All right, is there anything else you want to talk about?” Cyrus asked, turning back to Megan.She blin
SadieA week after Ralph’s arrest, things finally felt as though they were getting back to normal. Ralph was charged with breaking the restraining order. True to his word, Cyrus didn’t press any other charges. Ralph would spend a little time in jail before his trial, and then, it was up to the courts to decide his fate.I didn’t worry about him, though. I focused on Megan and helping her overcome the latest trauma she’d been through. I hated that she’d gone through so much at such a young age. It wasn’t fair. She deserved so much better. I wanted to make it my mission in life to make up for all that she’d suffered. I wanted all this mess with Ralph to fade into distant memories for her. I wanted her to be happy. More than anything else in the world, I wanted her to just be a normal, six-year-old girl.We were out on the terrace one day, coloring, when she looked up at me and asked, “Sadie? Is my daddy gone forever?”I frowned at her and replied, “What do you mean, sweetie?”She hesita
Ralph stared at me. I could tell he wanted to argue.I waited for him to say something, anything, that I could use to shut down any chance he had left of getting close to Megan.To my surprise, though, he reluctantly nodded. “All right…all right. I’ll…I’ll do what you say. So long as you promise you won’t stand in Megan’s way if she wants to see me someday.”I regarded him a long moment before releasing a long sigh. “I promise. I won’t stand in her way. And I promise that I will take excellent care of her.”Ralph dropped his head, looking defeated.“I know you will,” he whispered.At that moment, I heard Sadie rushing back to us.“The cops are on their way,” she gasped when she reached me. She looked between me and Ralph and then gave me a relieved smile. “I’m glad to see everyone is still in one piece.”“Barely,” I grumbled.She wrapped her arm around mine and hugged it.“Thank you,” she whispered.I smiled down at her, but I then caught movement out of the corner of my eye. Turning
CyrusI was at the very end of my control. My temper was about to snap. I kept reminding myself of Sadie’s words. Of my promise to her, but it was getting damn difficult to hold myself back. Ralph would just not give up. He kept pushing and pushing, bringing up Kate’s name and claiming Megan as his.It was infuriating. He kept saying he was a changed man, but he wasn’t taking responsibility for what he’d done. He wasn’t owning the fact that Kate wouldn’t have driven off the road that day if he hadn’t chased after her. I didn’t care that it was an accident. I didn’t care that he thought he loved her.In the end, it didn’t matter. It didn’t matter because Kate was still gone. And she was gone because of him.“You know what, Cyrus?” Ralph growled. “You think you’re so high and mighty. You think you’re so much better than I am, but the truth is, you failed Kate just as much as I did.”My whole body went cold. “What the hell are you saying?”Ralph had the gall to glare at me. “If you thou
I couldn’t comprehend that. It made no sense.“How could you claim to love her and yet hurt her as much as you did?” I asked in a soft, cold voice. “How could you love her, but you put your hands on her? Hit her and scare her? Manipulate her, so she remained submissive and broken?”“I was messed up,” he answered in a pathetic tone. “I know I was. I know what I did to Kate was wrong. If I could go back and redo everything, I would. I’d love her the way she deserved to be loved. I wouldn’t lay a hand on her, and I’d do everything I could to make her happy. There is nothing I want more than the chance to undo all that I did, but I can’t. It’s too late for me to make things right with Kate, but it’s not too late for me to make things right with Megan!”I stared down at him, debating whether or not I believed him. To be honest, he did seem to be truly remorseful. I didn’t think anyone could truly fake this kind of emotion.Still, just b
CyrusI waited until Sadie and Megan were out of the maze and out of sight before I turned back to Ralph. He hadn’t moved, which was smart of him. If he’d tried to go after them, things would have gotten bloody. I didn’t want to break my promise to Sadie, though. She’d been right about needing to keep my temper in check and not attack Ralph. I couldn’t risk Megan’s wellbeing or her placement with me.I also didn’t want Sadie to look at me like I was a monster. I didn’t want to disappoint her. She was counting on me to take care of this matter and protect our…family.Our family.I couldn’t believe she’d said that. It made my chest swell with eagerness, pride, and hope. She wanted us all to be together. She was staking her claim on me and Megan, and it made me happier than I could have imagined. However, that happiness was overshadowed by my anger toward Ralph, who appeared as the only remaining obstacle in the way of the happy and whole life that I knew I could have with Sadie and Mega
CyrusIt felt like an eternity before I reached the estate. Ralph had several hours of a head start, at least, and Sadie wasn’t answering her phone.“Pick up, damn it,” I said, clenching my phone so hard I was surprised I didn’t crack it. “Why aren’t you answering?”I tried one more time, but still, she didn’t pick up.A million thoughts were running through my head, and none of them were good. I couldn’t stop imagining all sorts of terrible scenarios. I was growing more and more afraid that I was going to be too late. What would Ralph do to them if he got to them first? I didn’t want to believe that he’d actually hurt Megan, but Sadie? Ralph had no reason not to hurt her if he thought she was in his way.When I finally reached the estate, I was in a state of utter panic. I sped up the driveway and came to a screeching stop in front of the house. Throwing open the car door, I bolted to the front door and burst into the house.“Sadie!” I called out. “Megan?”When there was no answer, I