My Beautiful Lies (Beautiful Nothing #2) Page 9

  The pain was the pain medicine shooting through my veins. I am covered in scratches and bandages. I move carefully, searching for the bed remote. I need answers. I need to know if Laney is okay. I push the red button three times, and seconds later a nurse comes in.

  “You’re awake! Let me page the doctor for you, sweetie,” the old lady says, leaving the room before I can speak.

  What in the hell is going on? She wouldn’t even let me talk. I try to move, but I can’t get my legs to work, I’m too weak. A few minutes later the doctor comes shuffling in, with a folder. I assume she’s Dr. Banks, and ask her if Laney and the baby are okay. “Laney is stable, the baby, however, she miscarried before the explosion. I’m sorry, losing a child is one of the most painful experiences. I have had a few miscarriages myself,” she says, saddened.

  “Wait, she lost the baby before? How’s that? We were just at the hospital yesterday, and they said everything would be fine!” I say, raising my voice. I can feel a tear sneak out and roll down my cheek.

  “Oh, honey, she lost the baby a week ago. When she was brought in she had already had bled out prior to the explosion. Where were you before you came home?”

  “We were in the Poconos on vacation, she fainted and had to go to the ER. They said she was fine to go home! They said she just needed rest,” I shout, gripping the bars on the side of the bed.

  “I’m sorry, sometimes things happen, and there’s nothing we can do to stop them. She must have lost it on the way home. I’m so sorry, I wish I could fix it, but I can’t provide miracles, I wish I could.” I let the wall I’ve built over the years come tumbling down. I let every tear I have ever held go and just cry. I want to punch a wall but I’m stuck in this shitty bed.

  “Laney is okay?” I ask closing my eyes tight, trying to stop the tears.

  “Yes, besides losing the baby, Laney was thrown back against a car pretty hard. She suffered a mild concussion, one fractured rib, and was also cut by shards of glass. She is actually doing better than you, physically. She’s been awake for a week longer than you have.”

  “Can I see her?” I beg her, staring directly into her worried eyes.

  “I suppose, she is awake. James, I think it’s best that you know. She knew she was losing the baby before everything happened. She is coping pretty well with it. I have had a counselor in to see her a few times.” Okay, she knew she was losing it. She didn’t want to break my heart and tell me. That explains why she was so moody. A nurse brings in a wheelchair and another nurse helps her get me into it.

  “You ready, big guy?” the little nurse says. I just give her an annoyed look and let her wheel me to Laney’s room.

  When I see her, my heart starts beating again. I would lose the good in me if I ever lost her. She has a wrap around her head. Almost matching scratches and cuts covering her face and arms.

  “Hi,” she whispers, her eyes filling with tears.

  “I am so sorry, baby, I’m so sorry I couldn’t protect you. I love you so much, and I’m so fucking sorry,” I say next to her in my chair. I bury my face into her arm as she runs her fingers through my hair.

  “This is not your fault, James; this is Jake’s fault. All of it. Why couldn’t I’ve met you in college, there would never have been a chance for him. I wish I could find the words, but I can’t. We will make it through this. We can make it through everything, as long as we have each other,” she says, lifting my chin to look at her. She’s right, we can get through it and we can handle Jake by getting one step ahead of him.

  When he comes for us, which he will it’s just a matter of when, we will be ready and we will fight until the game ends. Not all fairy tales have a happy ending, not all bad guys can be redeemed. But one thing I do know is we will fight for it.

  TWO WEEKS LATER

  The whole front of Laney’s house is gone, blown to pieces. As for the rest of it, it went up in flames. We have no choice but to go to my countryside home. Yes, there were obstacles, but I figured a way around it with Harry’s help. He agreed to live in the basement with Lindsay, to keep her quiet until we figured away to get rid of her and Jake could go down for it. Laney is oblivious to it all. She is still recovering from losing the baby and stays in my room for the most part. As far as she knows, the basement has all my family’s stuff in it and is off-limits due to how bad it hurts. We shop for new clothes and get her settled in. We have had a long ass day, and I order pizza and stay in my room. We lie there when we finish eating and she starts asking questions about Jake.

  “What if he comes here and you’re not here to protect me? What if he blows up your house too?” I start thinking about what she asks and come up with an idea. She’s right, she needs to protect herself when I’m not here. So I reach into the bedside table and pull out my Smith & Wesson .357 Magnum handgun. I push the cylinder back showing it to her, then push it back in.

  “This is how you’re gonna protect yourself. I will take you out back tomorrow and show you how to shoot. Will that make you feel better?” I ask her, handing her the gun to get the feel of it.

  “I didn’t know you had a gun,” she says, shocked, lining up the barrel to the bad guy on the TV. She closes one eye and pulls the trigger and jumps when she hears the click.

  “Of course I have a gun; I’m a guy.” I laugh at her, taking the gun from her hands and placing it back in the drawer. I climb on the bed with her, and she snuggles up to me. She lays her head on my chest, rubbing small circles on my side. She focuses all her attention on Law & Order on the TV. Every few minutes she asks me questions about crime, and how I can tell who is crazy and who’s not at my job.

  “Thank you. I mean, thank you for showing me the gun and talking to me more about you. I love you, and I know that you would always protect me. It’s just sometimes, I want to protect myself. If Jake or any of the others show up at your door, I want to hurt them. I want to hurt them like they hurt me. What they did was kill me, they took everything away. Before I met you, I was ready to give up. I was ready to let them take everything I have ever worked hard for away. They took a piece of me, James, a piece of my soul. I don’t think I will ever get it back. But with you there’s hope,” she says, and it’s the most serious talk we’ve ever had.

  When she reaches up to kiss me, I feel loved, I do everything in my power to return that feeling. I turn over, laying her softly on her back. I lift her t-shirt up over her head, then roll her panties down until they hang off one ankle. I start at her neck, licking and lightly kiss her. Moving down to her stomach, then thighs, worshipping her body with each touch. I climb back up her body until my cock reaches her opening. I push in easy, then pull out, teasing her and making her moan quietly. I pull her arms up above her head and hold them in place. I bury myself inside her in a sudden thrust. I gently move in and out of her as her legs shake around me. When she closes her eyes, I ask her to keep them open and she watches me watch her. I move lazily making it last longer and make it more intense. I let her bring her arms down, and I reach up to her throat, grabbing it but not too hard, just enough to trigger more excitement. She wraps her legs around me and her back lifts slightly with every movement I make. Her eyes never leave mine, even when she hits her peak. I watch a single tear roll from her eye as she thrashes under me. I move faster, chasing my own climax. When it hits it sends waves of numbness down my spine to my toes.

  I roll off her, falling on my back. We lie breathless, our hearts beating in sync with each other’s. When I get up, my legs tingle but in a good way. I get a wash cloth and slowly wipe between her legs, cleaning up our juices, then grab a towel to dry her. I lie back down next to her, both on our sides, staring at each other. We don’t need words to know how beautiful the moment was.

  ***

  The next morning, I wake to my phone buzzing to the edge of the night stand until it falls off, waking me up when it hits the hardwood floor. I sneak out of the bed to not wake Laney, grab my phone, and go down to the kitchen. Harry messages me that he needs to get
a break. I argue with him back and forth until I win. He stays put until we leave. I throw together a quick breakfast, bringing it upstairs. Laney is awake watching TV with the bed sheet wrapped around her naked body. She does things to me. I just can’t shake the feelings she gives me. Feelings of wanting to be her husband, to be the man she needs me to be. We eat, get dressed, and I take her out back to get her training started. She flaunts out of the house like a natural bad ass, and I tell her she should lay off the Law & Order show. She just laughs and tells me to shove it. Who would’ve thought that I would be bonding with her over shooting guns? It’s the most fun I’ve had with her. She seems to enjoy it just as much.

  “All right, now that you know how to load it, and unload. Let’s try to not put your finger on the trigger until you’re ready to shoot. If you pull the trigger too soon, that could be the moment your plan backfires. Giving the perp enough time to knock you down and take it,” I tell her, moving her fingers to the correct spot until it’s time to fire.

  “Like this?” she asks, lining up her target—a soda can about ten yards away. She closes one eye like she did last night and pulls the trigger. It jerks her back. It scares her, but quickly recovers and asks to do it again. We practice half the day away until we get hungry because we skipped lunch.

  “Go shower, we can go grab a bite to eat at the café,” I tell her as I start cleaning up the yard and packing up the supplies.

  I message Harry letting him know we are going out for dinner to go do whatever it is he need to do before we get back. We get to the café and talk about how well she did, and she says she wants to try again tomorrow. She’s trying to distract herself from everything, and I don’t blame her. Since Jake blew up her house, we haven’t heard from him or seen him. Which is really shady—he never gives up a fight. I know he will strike again, but at least we’ll be ready. We get back to the house around seven, and I can tell she is tired. All the adrenaline pumping through her veins today will wear anyone down. We get back to the house and head to the room. I tell Laney I need to hop in the shower, and she nods her head saying she is going to rest her eyes. Which means sleep, I think to myself.

  LANEY

  James gets in the shower, and I am drained. I just want to mold myself into his bed until morning. I close my eyes, but something keeps nagging at me in the back of my head. I just feel like something bad is going to happen. Every time I close my eyes, Jake’s walking through the door, fist cocked back ready to hurt me. I sit up and start looking for the remote when I hear a door open downstairs. My heart drops into the pit of my stomach. James is in the shower, and he has no family. So who in hell would be walking into his house unannounced? That’s when it hits me. Jake. I don’t hesitate, I reach into the night stand and grab the handgun. I look into the bathroom to see James washing his hair and take the situation upon myself. If it’s Jake, I will kill him. I deserve to kill him. Me, no one else. I sneak down the stairs, trying not to make them creak beneath me. When I get to the bottom of the steps and turn the corner I see the last person in the world I ever expected.

  “Lindsay?”

  TO BE CONTINUED…

  I want to thank first and foremost my readers. Without you guys, I wouldn’t push so hard to bring you the stories trapped in the back of my mind. I love you all and hope to always leave you hanging off the edge of your seat. I also want to point out some amazing friends who have never stopped supporting me. They have been there since day one, and still stand by my side when I need them the most. Jamee Earlene Godwin, you are my best friend and biggest motivator. You have always been just a message away, never letting me doubt myself and encouraging me to push myself to the max. I love you so fucking much! #OneDay <3 One of my favorite authors and bitch Heather Dahlgren, you are also always there when I need you. You inspire me to be great like you and encourage me to never give up. I love you thank you for always being there. Lizette Palleschi, thank you for always having my back, supporting me and letting me rant. You constantly make me laugh and I love you! My street team, you girls go out of your way and promote me and love my books. You all have a special place in my heart, thank you. My fan group for dealing with my rants, and always having someone there to encourage me when I am feeling low, thank you for all you do to support me. I also have new friends who just came into my life recently. Krihstin Zink, you are an amazing author and have been an amazing friend to me. Thank you for the support you have shown me and just being a positive person has made a change in my outlook on life. Annie Boylan, you have been one of the best PA’s to not only one author but a few and let me tell you girl, you nail it. You are encouraging, a pimp queen and one of the most outgoing people I’ve come across. You kick ass at your job and being a good friend. I am so thankful you have become a part of my life, you keep me grounded when I start floating away. Ha I love you girl! I would like to thank Wendi and Justin Temporado of Ready, Set, Edit for their hard work. They made my book everything I wanted and more.

  Last but never the least my family. Christopher Coggins, you make me push myself in everything I do; not just writing. You believe in me and think I can conquer the world and that makes me believe I can too. You are my best friend, lover and the best fiancé a woman could ask for and I wouldn’t change that in a million years. My mom Lisa Brooks and my sister Laura Miller. You two are the only part of my family who’s always been there through anything. We are closer than ever yet so many miles apart. If that’s not love then I don’t know what love is. I love you more than words could express. My Buggy Elizabeth, for always listening to me complain, helping me with my plots and agreeing with me on the crazy ideas that pop in my head. Thank you for being my bestie I love you. My babies Cameron & Shaun. You are my life, without you guys I wouldn’t have ever went after my dream of becoming what I wanted to be. You make me a better person and I am so proud that you guys enjoy reading as much as me. I love you.