Forever Driven: Forever Bluegrass #4 (14 page)

Cy nodded. “I have a friend who is a snake expert. He’ll tell us if they were naturally in the house or if someone put them there. He’s a professor at the University of Kentucky. I’ll have him meet us at the hospital. In the meantime, get your gun and get my daughter some clothes.”

R
iley felt good
, really good after the hospital had given her morphine for the pain. Two shots in twenty minutes had left her unable to stop smiling.

“Why is she giggling?” Miss Violet asked quietly.

“You’re awesome, Miss Violet. I miss your bread pudding, though. Zinnia does a pretty good job, but her bread pudding doesn’t make me orgasm like yours does. Just a little
zing
to your hoo-ha when you take a bite. I miss that,” Riley sighed.

Matt stood by the door, shaking his head and trying not to laugh. The Rose sisters, Gemma, and Riley’s cousin Layne were all crammed into the small, curtained room. At that moment, he was content with not being seen.

Layne’s father, Miles, was with Cy at Riley’s house with the snake expert. He had left only after doctors had assured him Riley was perfectly fine. Her hand had swollen, but with medicine, it was slowly coming back down. She hadn’t needed anti-venom but would be kept overnight for pain management. While she had received a bite, the envenomation was local to her bite. The doctor told her it would hurt for 24 to 48 hours as the pressure from the swelling receded, and then her hand may be a little stiff for a month, but it shouldn’t hinder her. She had been lucky and had shown no sensitivity to the venom.

Miss Lily clucked. “It’s a sad day when a pretty woman like you is reduced to orgasm by dessert.”

Gemma rolled her eyes at Miss Lily and Riley giggled again. “What do you expect after
the incident?
And when I’m over that, Dad goes all crazy on anyone I date. And all it did was let Reagan get away with . . . oops,” Riley’s eyes got comically big as she slapped her unswollen hand over her mouth. “That’s a secret,” Riley whispered to the entire room before giggling again.

“At least one of your daughters has apparently been getting some.” Miss Daisy chuckled as Gemma lightly swatted at her.

“That is not something I need to be worrying about or knowing about,” Gemma whispered.

“It is if you want grandbabies,” Miss Lily said seriously, though her eyes danced with amusement.

“Babies!” Riley said happily before sighing. “I want babies. Not now, though. Good thing, too, since Matt used a condom, and I don’t know if he even loves me, but I hope so. Talk about your hoo-ha
zinging,
though,” Riley said, fanning herself as a loud growling noise filled the room. Matt didn’t need to turn around to know that Cy and Miles were back.

“It’s a good thing I love him. I’ll let him make my hoo-ha
zing
every day. Every breakfast, lunch, snack time, and dinner. Basically anytime I eat, I could have sex. They say sex is better than chocolate and Matt sex is
waaaaaay
better.”

The room gasped as the growl grew louder, and Matt was glad he was already in a hospital. He prided himself on being a strong man, a man who never backed down, but there was no way in hell he was going to turn around right now or he’d need emergency care. He could feel the anger rolling off Cy, standing behind him.

Riley sighed again as Layne frantically tried to get Riley to talk about something else. Riley pushed her cousin’s hand away from her mouth and narrowed her drugged eyes at Layne. “You of all people should understand. I mean, remember that super-hot guy you were boinking before Uncle Miles found out and scared him away? Where are the real men? Men who aren’t afraid of some old dads,” Riley asked as if she were giving a speech in the House of Representatives. Gemma stifled a laugh. She apparently didn’t fear for Matt’s life and any future grandchildren as much as Matt had hoped. A second growl, deeper than Cy’s, sounded behind him as Layne frantically tried to quiet Riley, but she was on a roll.

“Men with balls. And big penises! Who know how to use them,” Riley added as a second thought. “Men who can stand up to our fathers and say, ‘I’m going to love your daughter. I’m going to
zing
her all night long because a good man gives good orgasms,’ right, Layne?”

“Amen!” Miss Lily called out.

Layne groaned and covered her face with her hands.

“You and I need to have a little talk.” The barely formed words coming from right behind Matt sent shivers down his back. And if that weren’t enough, Cy’s hand clamped around the base of Matt’s neck to pull him away from the room.

“Oh! There he is. Hi, Matt. You have a nice penis and know how to make my hoo-ha
zing
!” Riley called out before she caught sight of her father. It would have been comical if the hand squeezing Matt’s neck didn’t suddenly tighten.

Riley’s eyes were so round they might’ve popped out of her head. Then she shook her head, lifted up the hospital sheet, and looked under it. “I’m sorry, hoo-ha, no more
zinging
for you.” She put the sheet down as Cy dragged Matt away. They heard her call out, “Before you die, know I love you, Matt!”

He was probably going to die. There was nothing “old” about Cy. He still ran every day and sparred with professional bad-asses. However, all that fear was cast aside when he heard Riley tell him she loved him. Okay, it was a drug-induced declaration, but he’d take it since it wasn’t a whispered “I love you” like you say when you aren’t really sure and don’t want any of your friends to know. Nope, she had screamed that she loved him, and he was going to find a way to tell her he loved her, too.

Cy shoved the door leading to the stairwell open, sending two nurses scurrying back into the hall. He didn’t say anything as he took a deep breath, and Matt decided he was tired of waiting for his demise. He might as well face it head on. “Would it help if I told you I loved your daughter?”

Cy shook his head. “That’s my baby girl.”

“I know. And I know about what happened to Riley in college,” Matt said with more seriousness than he’d ever had before. This was his whole future, and he wasn’t going to lose it.

Cy stopped clenching and relaxed his fist. “She told you about that?”

Matt nodded. “Don’t forget we’ve known each other for years. Just like you and I have. And have I ever not been there for you or your family? Have I ever hurt Riley or given any indication I ever would?” Cy didn’t say anything, but he hadn’t killed Matt yet either, so Matt went on. “I would have asked Riley out over a year ago, but I think we needed to go our own way for a while to see if our paths came back to each other. And they have. My feelings haven’t changed. I love her. I did last year. I will next year. I hope you’ll approve of our dating, but it won’t change anything if you don’t. I want to be with her, and I’ll leave that up to Riley if she feels the same.”

Matt held his breath. Cy relaxed more and started to pace the small landing of the stairwell. “I guess I can be a little overprotective,” he admitted as if under extreme torture.

“I’ve already warned Riley that I will be, too,” Matt said as he dared to allow his lips to quirk upward.

“After the text she sent in college . . .” Cy shook his head as the memory came back. “Luckily, my brothers and Ahmed where playing poker with me that night. Cade had her location pinged instantly, and we all took off after her. My heart stopped beating from the second I read that text. I don’t know if it has ever fully recovered. Someone tried to take my little girl from me.”

Matt nodded solemnly. It caused his heart to constrict even thinking about it.

“Riley doesn’t remember most of it, but I do. We found him in a deserted parking garage near the bar she had been at. He was over halfway up and parked in a dark corner.”

Matt felt his brows knit in confusion. “Riley said she remembers the car slamming to a stop.”

“No. She must have mistaken my ramming his car with that. I lost my mind when I saw his silhouette grabbing at my daughter. I slammed my car into the back of his so his car was pinned on the front by the cement barrier and behind by my car. He wasn’t going to drive off before I dealt with him. Riley’s shirt was torn. He had his pants down and was trying to . . . Riley was fighting with everything she had, even if she doesn’t remember it. But she was so weak. She wouldn’t have been able to hold him off much longer. I reached in and pulled him out at the same time Miles got Riley. He and Marshall had her rushed to the hospital where a drug test was taken, and they pumped her full of liquids to flush her system. Emma discharged her and took her home with Marshall and Miles after the hospital did everything they could. It’s handy to have an ER doctor as a family friend.”

“What happened to him, and why doesn’t Riley know?” Matt asked.

“I may have crossed the line and injured him. However, all parties witnessed him slipping down the stairs as he tried to run away. My brothers took him to the police station, and Ahmed drove me to the hospital. Riley doesn’t remember it. She didn’t even remember being in the hospital. I asked her if she wanted to know what happened, and she said no. She knew she hadn’t been raped and just said she wanted to put it behind her. I should have forced her to talk about it. I should have made her see a counselor, but she refused. She does have a stubborn streak,” Cy said, knowing full well that streak came from him.

“And the guy?” Matt asked.

“Was put in jail. Riley’s blood test showed she was drugged. Furthermore, she had clawed his face. The doctors collected the scrapings from under her nails. When the police got involved, they ran his DNA against open rape cases and found two matches. He’s serving twenty years for rape.”

Matt drew a deep breath. “And Riley has no idea because she just wants to shut the whole incident out. She needs to know. She doesn’t think she does, but it scarred her more than she wants to admit. However, she did say Bridget and Annie helped her get her confidence back.”

Cy nodded. “I called them. I knew I was too involved. I was too close to it and she wouldn’t listen to me. Anyway, I didn’t mean to say so much. It’s just that, because of this, I
might
have been a little hard on the men she was dating.”

“I’m not going to complain,” Matt said with a grin that had Cy relaxing his shoulders. “I just want you to know you don’t have to protect her anymore. I want the honor of that position. I want to be there for her for every up and every down.”

“I can’t do that. I’ll always protect her, but I’d be happy for the help.” Cy held out his hand and Matt quickly took it. That was the closest thing Matt would ever get as a blessing, but he’d take it.

R
iley blinked her eyes open
. It was Friday. The vote was that day. She put her hand to her head and groaned at the headache pounding behind her eyes.

“How are you feeling?”

Riley let her hand fall and looked around the curtained room. She found Matt pushing off a flimsy blanket from where he sat in a hard plastic chair next to her. She gave him a weak smile and then looked at her hand. It was a nasty color of black and blue, but the swelling had started to go down. She could even bend her fingers again.

“Hand is feeling better, but my head is killing me.”

“They took away your happy juice,” Matt chuckled.

“The what?” Riley tried to remember all the medicine they had given her. Quite frankly, she didn’t care what it was. All she cared about was the pain had gone away.

“Morphine. You’re not sensitive to copperhead venom, but you are to morphine. It made you a happy, giggly, talking mess.”

Riley blinked as she tried to remember what she had said. She remembered the Rose sisters, her mother, and Layne being there. “I remember just talking with the girls. Then I dreamed about wolves growling and stealing Layne.”

Matt’s shoulders shook, and he gave up the fight and let loose with his laughter. “Honey, those weren’t wolves. Those were your father and your uncle Miles. Your girl talk was all about sex. Miles swooped in when you started talking to Layne about, your words not mine, ‘that hot guy you were boinking.’”

Riley was mortified. She would never deliberately tell Layne’s secrets. Oh, no. What other secrets did she tell? “What else did I say?”

“You said enough to get people wondering what Reagan’s up to, but you didn’t spill the beans. You also let Miss Violet know her bread pudding gave you an orgasm, and you told your mother we practice safe sex and I gave you a better orgasm than the bread pudding. And that’s when your dad hauled me out.”

Riley was about to find out if you could die from embarrassment. “And you’re alive?”

Matt grinned at her, and she decided she’d rather not die of embarrassment and partake in one of those orgasms again instead. “We’re good.”

“Say what?” Riley must not have heard him right. Matt was probably in the chair because both legs were broken, and he was higher on drugs than she apparently had been.

Matt stood up so he could take a seat next to her on the bed. No broken legs. No broken anything. He looked perfect. He lay against the back of the bed and brought her into his arms. She rested her head against his chest and listened to his heartbeat. “There is something I want to tell you,” Riley said slowly.

She felt Matt’s chest rumble as he said “Hmm.”

Riley took a deep breath. It was only speaking the truth, and you should never be afraid to speak the truth. “I’ve fallen in love with you. I think I’ve loved you since that night at the water tower.”

“I know,” Matt said softly as he kissed the top of her head.

“Wait, what? You know?” Riley shot up and was about to punch him when she saw the grin on his face.

“You might have mentioned that yesterday, too.” Matt stopped laughing and cupped her face with his hands before kissing her gently on the lips. “And I love you, too.”

“There is something I need to do, though, before I feel I can put the past behind me and move on. I need to find out what happened that night in college,” Riley said softly as she buried her face into his shirt. Just thinking about the man still alive was enough to keep her heart from truly being free.

“I think it’s time, too.”

Riley sat up as her dad walked in and took a seat next to her bed. “You’re not here to kill Matt, are you?”

Her father’s lips twitched with amusement. “Not yet. Can I talk to you alone, though?”

Matt gave a nod and slid from the bed. “I’ll go get us some breakfast. You want anything, Mr. Davies?”

“Sure, grab me whatever you’re getting.”

Riley was pretty sure she had died and was now living in an alternate universe. “Not yet?” she asked as Matt left.

“Nah. He’s good enough to date you. Now, marriage is something else.”

Riley tried to hide the tears threatening to spill and took a deep breath. “Tell me about that night.”

Her father moved to hold her hand and started at the beginning. By the time he was through, she had lost her battle with her tears, but a weight she hadn’t even known she was carrying was lifted. The bogeyman wasn’t out to get her anymore. Well, someone else was out to get her, but she knew how to get them. She needed to get back to Frankfort and shake things up.

* * *

“
A
re
you sure you want to be here?” Matt asked once again as he parked the car at the Capitol building.

“More than anything. Dad told me they couldn’t determine whether the snakes were planted in my house or not, since they found what appeared to be an entrance point. Either way, I’m going for a little payback,” Riley said with a grin that worried Matt.

“What do you have planned?”

“Want to help me release snakes into the House chambers?”

“You didn’t.”

Riley laughed and shook her head. Ever since her talk with Matt and then her father that morning, she seemed lighter. Nothing was holding her back now. She had agreed to see a therapist . . . well, she agreed to talk to Sydney Ashton Parker. Sydney was a sports psychologist and was Riley’s cousin by marriage, but Sydney had all the certifications and was taking a crash course in an advanced class this week to be ready for their first appointment.

“No, but I thought about it. I just intend to make a very public speech.”

Riley opened the door and with a bounce in her step left him hurrying after her. At the door, DeAndre gave her a hug and shook his hand. “Damn, it’s good to hear you’re okay.”

“How did you know I wasn’t?”

“I know everything that goes on in and out of Frankfort.”

“Are you sure your last name isn’t Wolfe?”

DeAndre smiled. “I’m sure.”

“Do aliens speak to you?” Matt asked.

“Nah, man. Just no one pays attention to the rent-a-guard. I hear all kinds of things.”

“So, where did you hear about my hand?” Riley pressed.

“Everyone has heard about your snake incident. Too many people, if you ask me. Someone wanted to make sure everyone was talking about it. I can’t pin down who said what first. There are two stories going around. One, it was an accident. Two, it was payback for being a pain in the ass.”

“How’s the split?” Riley asked.

“Pretty even. And I hear both of them being debated all the time, so it’s hard to know which people think which theory is the correct one. The House has already started, so you’ll make quite an entrance. Oh, and there’s a camera crew in your office. Tell my baby ‘hi’ for me. She’s loving her job so far. I think you created a monster when you told her she had free rein of the office,” DeAndre joked.

Matt followed Riley and heard Aniyah before he was even halfway down the hallway. “And I told you, I don’t give a fig who you work for. I work for Miss Davies, and I promised her I’d keep her office cleared of bullshit. And sugar, you reek of it.”

A perky blonde stormed out of the office in such a huff she didn’t even see Riley and Matt walking toward her with huge smiles on their faces. “I knew Aniyah would be perfect for my office,” said Riley.

Matt just shook his head as Riley walked through her door and stopped. “I see you’ve done some rearranging.”

“Oh! Bless me. I didn’t expect you in today. I hope it’s okay, Miss Davies. I didn’t want anyone sneaking in on me,” Aniyah said a she stood up from the desk positioned right in front of the door. There was barely enough room to close the office door without hitting it and Aniyah had the door propped in such a way that it connected with the end of her desk, leaving only one way to get past her and into the office.

“It’s brilliant,” Riley smiled. “And call me Riley.”

Matt stood behind Riley and peered over her shoulder. There wasn’t any room for him to stand anywhere else. Aniyah had her cross necklace draped nicely over cleavage pushing up from her one-too-many-unbuttoned blouse, but it worked. On anyone else, the tight pencil skirt and display of boobs would be ridiculed, but not on Aniyah. She was an interesting combination of classy and sassy. “Looking very professional. It also seems your desk is already working.”

Aniyah preened under Matt’s praise. “Thank you. This is my business attire. I thought since I was working in such a fancy place, I better dress for it.” Matt looked down to her five-inch stilettos that made walking in stilts look easy and grinned. Aniyah’s confidence is what pulled her outfit together. She was rocking it, and she knew it.

“What did Peel’s assistant want?” Riley asked as she moved around the desk, and Aniyah closed and locked the door behind them.

“This shit is real. I mean, I thought those reality shows with them rich women, er, rich husbands—whatever they are—were messed up, but it ain’t nothing compared to what’s going on here. First of all, what happened to you? It’s all everyone is talking about, and they are circling your door like vultures,” Aniyah asked as they went to sit on the couch and chairs set back in a private corner.

“We don’t know for sure. It could be really bad luck or someone planted a den of poisonous snakes in my closet,” Riley told her.

Aniyah made the sign of the cross. “Lord, that is some messed-up stuff. It makes you miss the days people just shot each other.”

Matt struggled not to smile, and Riley just nodded. “I hate to agree with that, but I would like to know who is behind this or if it really is just bad luck.”

“The camera crew you wanted is hiding in your office. I made sure none of these spies saw them. What’s going on?” Aniyah asked.

“Ever heard of Harvey Luttrell or LeeRoy Hager?” Riley asked, and Aniyah just shook her head. “See what you can find out. All these people visiting you want information, and now I want information. I want to know who is in Luttrell’s and Hager’s pockets.”

“What information about you should I give them in return?” Aniyah wanted to know.

“Tell them I am thinking of changing my vote to support the highway if we get an exit into downtown Keeneston. But I need this information immediately. I’m going to walk into the House chambers before the vote. Then, soon enough, they’ll all know I’m not changing my vote.”

“You got it, Miss R. I’ll have them eating out of my hand in no time.” Aniyah got up and hurried from the room. It was actually close to a sprint, and Matt just shook his head.

“How can she run so fast in those shoes?” Matt wondered out loud.

Riley laughed. “I was thinking the same thing. Now, let’s go have a chat with the news crew.”

R
iley opened
her office door and found none other than Dan from Channel 14 News sitting on her couch, having makeup applied. Riley had never seen so much bronzer being used before, or so much eyebrow dye on such bushy brows.

“Ah, Representative Davies. Dan Kentner, 14 News head anchor.” Dan stood up with the napkins still stuffed in his collar making him look like an over-bronzed, furry-eyed pilgrim.

“I’m honored,” Riley said seriously even though she was struggling not to laugh. She needed Dan on her side. He was the most prominent local news anchor in central Kentucky.

“What’s so important that you called the station manager, who woke me up early to come here? I know it’s the budget vote today, but that’s not sexy. That’s standard six o’clock news.” Dan sat back down and was instantly attacked by the makeup lady.

“How about an alleged attempted murder by pit vipers over the proposed highway?” Riley asked sweetly.

Dan slapped away the woman putting on blush. “Now that’s sexy. Someone get Representative Davies into hair and makeup. I have an exclusive interview to do.”

F
orty-five minutes later
, the interview was given, and Aniyah was pacing back and forth while Dan finished taping his segment. Riley didn’t even have time to ask Aniyah what she found before Dan did. “You’re the assistant and you look like you know something.”

“It’s okay, Aniyah. Dan has an exclusive on this story,” Riley said to calm Aniyah’s ruffled feathers. Aniyah didn’t like Dan at first glance. When she saw his eyebrows, she made the sign of the cross.

“Well, I heard that Luttrell and Hager go way back. Rumor has it they were middle school buddies in some small Podunk town here in Kentucky, but no one could remember the name of it. Luttrell’s father was a farmer, and Luttrell went off to college in New York City to study business. That’s where he got his idea to industrialize farming. He brought in investors, and then bam, the model exploded and no more local farms. Hager has a similar story. Worked construction on roads out of high school for years. Then his good buddy Luttrell talked a bank into giving Hager a loan to start his own road construction company. The rest is history,” Aniyah said as she sat down on the couch and looked at Dan. “You need to tweeze your eyebrows. There’s some crazy hair there, and it just ain’t right.”

Before Dan could explode, the makeup lady was already attacking the eyebrows with her tweezers.