Delicious (43 page)

especially after the drama of her last “disappearance.”

“Kimber did. He‟s on his way back. Should be here in a few hours.”

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Of all people to call her husband but his former lover. She winced. And

wouldn‟t the producers of Luc‟s show be thrilled? He‟d been back for all of

two days . . . “He should have stayed there.”

Tyler‟s mouth dropped open. “Are you serious? Though I wish he had.

At least then I could make the argument that he didn‟t give a shit about

you.”

Still didn‟t mean he‟d come back for her. The baby had to be on his

mind, too.

“Did the cops catch Primpton?” Alyssa changed the subject. Any more

emotional conversation about Luc, and she was likely break down and

cry—and reveal just how scared she was that her husband didn‟t love her

the way she loved him.

At that, Tyler smiled. “Cops nailed him about fifteen minutes after he

fled. He was home with his wife, trying to pretend he‟d been sleeping the

night away. But they found his clothes and shoes with traces of gasoline,

along with his gun.” Tyler‟s smile died. “Baby, they also found a nook in the

back of his closet. It was like . . . a shrine devoted to you. Sick bastard had

fantasies of making you his sex slave. He had all kinds of pictures of you.”

Something crossed Tyler‟s face that seized her heart. “Pictures?”

He shuddered. “Some he‟d clearly Photoshopped so they looked like

pictures of you bleeding under his whip, bowing at his feet with hands

cuffed.”

Everything inside her recoiled.

“He had pictures of you the night you stripped for the anniversary

bash.”

“Pig.”

“He‟d written WHORE in red paint all over the walls.”

She shuddered at his delusion and thanked God that he‟d been

caught. “Guess we know who wrote all those notes and broke into my

house. Fucking bastard.”

Tyler nodded. “That‟s the police‟s theory. Mine, too. They‟re going to

run forensics.”

A technicality, most likely. Alyssa realized how lucky she‟d been. She‟d

never taken Primpton very seriously, failed to see him for the true whack

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job he was. Underestimating him could have cost her both her own life and

the baby‟s. Thank God for Tyler and Hunter.

And now that Primpton was behind bars, maybe she could rest easier,

stop looking over one shoulder, lose the fear of being attacked again.

Tyler tapped his foot on the tile floor, and she recognized the gesture

as a nervous one. “What?”

“You ought to know . . . He had pictures of you and Luc in your

bedroom at the club. It looks like he took them through the alley window.”

Alyssa gasped, shock blanching her with a chill. “Were we . . . ?”

“Oh, yeah. The look on your face . . .” Tyler looked away. “Luc know

how much you love him?”

She pressed her lips together. Damn, Tyler was perceptive. And no

one had ever accused him of beating around the bush. “No. It‟s that

obvious?”

He scoffed in answer. “That you‟re wearing your heart on your sleeve?

Yes.”

Great
. She sighed. “I don‟t know if he feels the same.”

“I don‟t know, either. He wants you. Bad.” Tyler shrugged. “I think

there‟s more there, but I‟m not the expert on guys‟ feelings.”

“Used to being the heartbreaker, not the heartbroken?”

A sheepish smile crept across his mouth. “Something like that.”

“I have a feeling that, deep down, you‟re a really bad boy.”

“Knock, knock.”

Alyssa turned to the sound of the female voice coming from the

doorway. Kimber. She was very nice, but Alyssa looked at the younger

woman with her auburn hair pulled away from her sweet oval face in a

wholesome ponytail and tensed. Luc‟s former lover had a long, lean body,

which showed only a hint of a baby bump so far.

Kimber was everything Luc had wanted out of life and lost to his

cousin. Yeah, on their wedding night, he‟d told Alyssa that he‟d never felt

more for any other woman. But who knew if that was really his heart talking

or just his attempt to make their marriage work?

Resentment toward the other woman flared, and she swallowed to

force it down.

“Come in.”

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Kimber drifted in, graceful in an athletic way, as if comfortable in her

skin. “My brother wanted me to check on you. You okay?”

And caring, too. She probably smiled while giving the perfect blow job,

kept a gorgeous garden, had been a virgin for her husband, and was

looking forward to PTA meetings.

Alyssa released a shuddering sigh. She couldn‟t be unkind just

because her own insecurities were eating at her. She looked deliriously

happy with her husband, Deke, and never gazed at Luc like a lover. The

problem, Alyssa realized, was all her.

“Fine. Thanks. How‟s your brother?”

She rolled her eyes. “Macho as always. They wheeled him out of

surgery to remove the bullet half an hour ago, and he‟s already wanting to

leave. Idiot. He‟ll be fine.”

“He came in to save me when he could have left me to burn, and I‟ll

always be grateful.”

“Saint Hunter, huh?” Kimber shook her head. “No. If there‟s an

adrenaline rush, my brother will run to it. Burning building? Big fun!”

The sarcasm was thick, and made Alyssa smile. She could actually

picture Hunter thinking that an inferno was better than a hip party.

“Hey, I resemble that remark!” Tyler protested.

“Yeah,” Alyssa shot back. “And we‟ll have words about it later.”

His expression told her she‟d be wasting her breath.

Kimber turned to Tyler. “Can you give us a minute?”

Alyssa frowned. What could the other woman possibly have to say that

Tyler couldn‟t hear?

Her bouncer looked between the two women, then shrugged. “Sure. I‟ll

see if the doc is around to examine you so we can get you out of here.”

“Thanks,” she murmured, her attention focused on Kimber.

The woman moved into the room to occupy the chair Tyler had just

vacated and clenched her hands in her lap. “I know I‟m not your favorite

person and that it‟s none of my business, but I wanted to thank you for

what you‟re doing for Luc.”

Alyssa hesitated, filtered through Kimber‟s statement a few times, then

frowned. “What am I doing? I don‟t know what you mean.”

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“You know . . . Marrying him and letting him play father to your baby.

He was so crushed when I wasn‟t pregnant a few months ago . . . when he

was still with Deke and me. Luc has wanted a baby for years, and knowing

he can‟t father one has nearly killed him. But you giving him this

opportunity—”

“What?” Luc unable to father a child? That didn‟t add up. Of course he

could; she was living proof. But Kimber‟s expression made it clear that she

absolutely believed every word coming out of her mouth. “That‟s not true.”

Kimber raised her brows, then sent her a smile full of pity. “You don‟t

have to pretend for me. Luc has known for nearly twenty years that he can‟t

have children. He‟s been looking for alternative methods to fatherhood for

the last few. That‟s why he was involved with Deke and me. He didn‟t love

me, you know. He just hoped the three of us . . . Well, that Deke would get

me pregnant so Luc could be a daddy.”

Alyssa blinked. Blinked again. Stopped breathing.
That
was why he‟d

been involved in ménages? Luc genuinely thought he was sterile? Oh, my .

. . If Kimber could be believed—and why would she lie?—that meant Luc

“knew” she wasn‟t pregnant by him.

Cold nausea rushed all through her, and she set a protective hand

over her belly. “This baby is Luc‟s. I haven‟t—”

“It‟s okay.” Kimber smiled. “Luc told me how grateful he is that you

turned to him, instead of Tyler. I‟m sure it would have been easier to marry

the baby‟s father, but Luc needed this so badly.”

“He told you that?” she repeated numbly. He‟d told Kimber that he

believed he couldn‟t have children, but hadn‟t told his own pregnant wife?

Pain stabbed her in the chest. Betrayal ripped across her heart. It

fucking hurt. How could he deceive her like this? Keep such a monumental

secret. She‟d
known
he was withholding something since they married and,

even when she‟d asked, he‟d refused to share. Goddamn it! How could he

marry her, believing the child was another man‟s, and play along so

masterfully?

How could he be so wrong?

God, she was going to be sick.

Kimber nodded. “We‟re so thrilled for you both. Luc seems so much

happier now. I felt guilty when Deke and I paired off and decided to marry

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and raise our own family. Knowing that you‟re giving him what he needs

means everything to us. Luc is a wonderful guy and he‟ll make the best

father ever. I have no doubt.”

Right
. Alyssa suddenly had doubts—many of them. First and foremost

that he gave a shit about
her
. Hell, she‟d bared her soul to him, told him the most painful, intimate parts of her life, given every bit of herself to him. He‟d

repaid her with deception.

Tears threatened, and she blinked, holding them at bay. Not until

Kimber was gone. Not until she could grieve alone.

Joshua and her mom had drilled into her head that she couldn‟t trust

anyone, no matter how close the ties. Luc‟s tenderness, hot lovemaking,

jealousy, protective streak—all bullshit. All manufactured lies to keep her

deluded and by his side.

Fucking bastard.

Just then, the doctor knocked, Tyler in tow.

“Oops, that‟s my cue to leave.” Kimber hopped up from her chair.

“Good luck. Call me if you need anything. We can swap baby stories.”

The woman left with a giggle. As if she hadn‟t dropped an enormous

bombshell on Alyssa that shook the foundation of her very life.

Luc had married her for this child, which she‟d known. She‟d had no

fucking clue he genuinely thought the child was Tyler‟s. Or some other

man‟s. His initial reaction to the news of her pregnancy now made sense.

And . . . you’re here because it’s mine?

She‟d heard the doubt in his tone and misunderstood it, written it off to

his belief that she was a whore who slept around. Which he still must

believe.

But it hadn‟t taken him too long to sing a different tune with her.

The best birthday present
ever
. I don’t want you to call me when the

baby is born. I’d like to be involved in this child’s life. I want to be there
every step of the way . . .

She snorted. It all made sense now. If he thought he couldn‟t have a

baby and would accept another‟s as his own, then marriage, even if he had

to fake feelings for his new wife, was the price of f atherhood.

A new wave of nausea hit her. From start to finish, this marriage had

been about this baby and placating her so that she‟d share the child with

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him. He‟d lied to her with every whispered word, every touch. All that

jealousy? Perhaps feigned to make her believe that he cared. Or maybe he

hadn‟t wanted anyone touching the woman he‟d given his name to or

endangering the child to whom he planned to devote himself.

She‟d been used for a lot of things in her life, but never her womb.

Somehow, this felt like the worst violation of all.

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Shayla Black

L
UC arrived back in Lafayette as the sun set, tearing into their

driveway and barely parking his SUV before abandoning it and sprinting

through the door, toward the stairs. He had to see Alyssa now, know she

was all right. When he‟d received Kimber‟s phone call, his heart had

stuttered, then threatened to beat from his chest. Primpton nearly roasting

her alive?

Thank God they‟d finally caught the sick freak harassing her. He‟d

known the city councilman wasn‟t dipping both oars, but would never have

suspected that the divorce of one of his followers would put him over the

edge and incite him to murder.

But Alyssa was safe. Luc
needed
to see her unharmed and in one

piece. Hold her. Tell her that he loved her.

Inside the foyer, he stumbled over something unexpected and tripped,

barely righting himself without falling. He looked down. His suitcases. They

were packed.

Could that possibly mean what it implied?

His world tilted upside down. A chill went through him as he skirted the

luggage and bounded up the stairs. “Alyssa?”

No answer.

Jogging down the shadowed hall, he stopped in the doorway of the

master bedroom. There she sat in bed, hair loose and long. Her wedding

ring wasn‟t on her finger. She wore a big gray T-shirt and stared out the

window to her right. She looked a million miles away. No, she looked

defeated.

Alarm prickled along his skin. Alyssa was a fighter. She‟d survived

trauma that would have crushed most—and she‟d come out stronger. The

woman mentally escaping out the window . . . That wasn‟t her.

“Sugar?”

“You‟re a smart man, Luc,” she said, without looking his way. “I don‟t