Fulfillment (Book 3 in The Temptation Series) (23 page)

I savoured his
touch and our kiss, equally stroking, licking and nipping at his
mouth. The sheer love, lust and connection we felt for each other
was as ever present in our kiss as it had always been, and once
again it reiterated that we were on the path of healing and would
eventually be fine. It also conveyed that we needed each other more
than ever.

He broke away
from my mouth and pressed his lips into my forehead quite firmly.
“Go back to sleep,” he whispered as he pulled himself back. “I just
want to hold you in my arms and be grateful that you are still here
with me.”

“Of course I
am still here,” I whispered back as my eyelids got heavy. “I’m not
going anywhere.”

***

The following,
morning Bryce had to leave for an appointment with Jessica. I asked
him if he was okay and reiterated that if ever he felt he needed to
talk, I would always be there for him, to listen, to advise, to
share. He assured me that he would talk to me if he needed to and
that the reason he was seeing Jessica was simply to get an update
on Gareth. But I suspected our recent heartbreaking loss was going
to be a topic of discussion, which kind of irritated me. It
shouldn’t have, though, because Dr. Jessica Carrot-Top was his
psychologist and had been for a long time; therefore, it shouldn’t
bother me that he would talk to her and tell her things that he
would not tell me.

I couldn’t
deny that I was jealous.

I think it was
probably because she was a stuck-up, toffee-nosed bitch more than
anything. Regardless of my immature insecurities and dislike for
Dr. Jessica, I was glad he talked about his feelings rather than
bottle them up. I appreciated that fact.

Bryce kissed
me deeply just before the doors to the elevator opened and Lucy
entered the apartment. He broke away from me slightly breathless,
winked and walked toward her. She gave him a long embrace while
talking quietly to him and intermittently rubbing his back. Tears
filled my eyes at seeing her love and support for her brother. It
really was touching.

“I won’t be
long,” he said to her as he stepped into the lift.

“Go, its fine.
She’ll be fine. I’ve got this.”

“Thanks.”

He turned to
me and blew me a kiss as the doors closed. It was then that it
dawned on me that he had arranged for Lucy to visit and babysit me
while he was gone.
Caring, over-protective arse.
I was
capable of babysitting myself for an hour or so.

Lucy made her
way over to where I was on the sofa. “Alexis, I am so sorry. I
can’t imagine what you are feeling right now and I’m not even going
to begin to try. Just know I am here for you, whatever you need.”
She sat next to me and leaned in for a gentle hug.

“Thank you,
Lucy. I’m okay. Just you being there for your brother is all that I
need.”

“Don’t worry.
I’m keeping my eye on him.”

I let out a
breath. “Good, I’m relieved to hear that. So far he has been open
about the whole ordeal, but I worry about him being that he is a
controlling, stubborn arse at times.”

“Yes, he is
all of those things and more, Alexis. But we’ve both learned from
past experiences that it is best to be open about our feelings
rather than to close them in and pretend they do not exist. Don’t
worry. He’ll talk to me if he needs to.”

I smiled at
her wearily. Not because I did not believe her, but because it was
obvious she knew exactly what she was talking about due to their
sad histories—and that was sad in itself.

“I hope so. He
desperately wanted this baby, and I think he may be keeping it
together for my sake. The thing is, I’m coping. I’m okay.
Obviously, I’m devastated, but life does go on. I can’t bring my
baby back. I can’t reverse the clock and decide to take the
elevator instead of the stairs. I just can’t. All I can do is move
on and treasure the time I had when my baby was a part of me. All I
can do is remember and be grateful.”

“You are a
strong woman, and Bryce is a strong man. You were both meant for
each other. You’ll see he’ll be fine too, just like you. Knowing my
brother, he will break at some point, then he will find the
strength that you obviously already have. Now, I am going to make
you a cup of tea. Sit back and relax. I’m here to wait on you hand
and foot—Bryce’s orders.”

Lucy made me a
cup of tea and we talked about the things we had always talked
about. I asked her how Alexander was, and at first she tried to
change the subject. It was obvious when I asked her if he had
rolled over yet and she dismissively said, ‘Yes, two days ago,’ as
though it was nothing and then proceeded to talk about
politics.

“Luce, its
fine. I can talk about babies, especially your adorable little son.
Is that why he’s not here with you? Because you thought seeing him
would make me upset?”

She nodded
apologetically. “He’s at home with Nic, but he’s sick and miserable
and very clingy. He had a slight temperature last night.”

“Luce, go home
then. I’m fine. You should be with Alexander, not here babysitting
me.”

“No, it’s
okay, Nic is with him. She’ll cope.” Her voice did not sound
confident.

“Lucy Clark.
Go home, now! Bryce will be back soon. My arse is pretty much stuck
on this sofa, so GO!”

“Are you sure?
Bryce will kill me,” she said, as she bit down on her
thumbnail.

“I’ll handle
your brother, don’t you worry.”

She smiled. “I
know you will. That’s what I love most about you. You have an
uncanny form of control over my brother. No one else has even come
close to having that type of power over him—no one.”

I smiled at
her words, although at times I felt I had no power over him at all.
He made it quite clear on numerous occasions that he holds the
upper hand. Speaking of which, I need my crutches.

“Can you do
one thing for me before you go, though?”

“Sure. What is
it?”

“Get my
crutches from the basement carpark. Your control freak of a brother
left them down there so I would have no choice but to let him carry
me around.”

She burst out
laughing. “He’s good, I’ll give him that. Sure, I’ll go get them
now.”

***

Lucy found my
crutches and placed them next to the sofa before she left.

I was just
about to start my new book about a young girl who discovers her
true identity, when the buzzer to the door rang.
Fuck! Of
course, as soon as I’m alone and in the mood for a fictional
happily ever after, I get a visitor. Just my luck.

I slowly got
up and, with the assistance of the crutches, hobbled over to the
door.

The buzzer
sounded a few more times during my journey there.
Okay, okay!
Hold ya fuckin’ horses, you impatient pain in the arse.

I pressed the
buzzer and in a frustrated tone, answered. “Yes?”

“Alexis, it’s
me.” Rick’s voice spoke back to me.

Shit! He still
doesn’t know about my accident. Shit, shit. I can’t deal with him
right now.

I pushed the
buzzer and spoke again. “Rick, now is really not a good time.”

Almost
instantly, he responded. “Open the door. We need to talk.” His tone
seemed slightly more irritated.

I pushed the
button again. “Are you still having the kids next week for the
holidays?” I asked, figuring that I better clarify this before the
time was upon us.

“Yes, of
course. Why? Open the door. Why aren’t you opening the door?” he
asked again with annoyance and a tone of confusion.

“Good. That’s
all we needed to talk about then. Now please, Rick, go. I can’t get
into an argument with you right now.”
Please just go. Please
just go.

“Alexis. Stop
being a fucking child and open the fucking door. You could be
carrying my baby and we need to talk about it,” he shouted,
angrily.

My heart
started pounding, and I felt dizzy. I braced myself against the
wall as tears started to flood my eyes and face.

I pushed the
button again, clearly speaking through sobs. “Please, Rick, just
leave me alone. I can’t do this.”

“Alexis, you
can’t avoid me. This is too serious. You can’t honestly tell me
that there is no chance that the baby you’re carrying is mine.” His
tone had softened a little, but he was still persisting.

“Yes, I can,”
I struggled to say through whimpers and gritted teeth.

“How can you
possibly fucking know?” he shouted again.

At that point,
I couldn’t take it anymore, I was beyond upset. He was not going to
let this go, so I slammed my fist onto the button and screamed into
the intercom. “Because I am no longer carrying a baby, you fuck! I
fell. I lost it. I fucking lost my baby. Now fuck off, and leave me
alone.”

There was
silence for what felt like minutes as I propped myself against the
wall crying and reliving my horrific memories, all the guilt and
grief flowing back through me.

“Alexis.” His
voice wasn’t much louder than a whisper. “Alexis, fuck. I’m so
sorry. Please open the door. I need to know you are okay. Are you
alone? Where is Bryce?”

I slumped
against the intercom and pressed it with a heavy hand. “He is at an
appointment. Just go, Rick, I’m fine.”

“Alexis. Open
the door, now...please...I’m begging you.” His tone was now full of
concern, and he was pleading, so I surrendered and opened the
door.

He practically
burst through, ready to hug me when he saw my foot was in a
cast.

He put his
hand over his mouth and the other through his hair. “Geezus! Shit!
What happened?”

I wiped my
face and glared at him then turned and made my way back to the
sofa. “I told you. I fell.”

He put his
hands around my shoulders, trying to help me walk. “Where? How?
When?”

I shrugged
them off. “Don’t. I can do it myself.” I reached the sofa and sat
down.

He didn’t
hesitate and sat right down beside me. “Alexis, I’m sorry. Talk to
me. What happened?”

“I fell down
the stairs. I knocked myself out. I broke my ankle and I lost my
baby. That’s it,” I answered dryly.

He placed his
hand on my back and gently rubbed. “When did this happen?”

“A couple of
days after my party. I was in hospital for five days after that, I
got out yesterday.”

“Do the kids
know yet?” He seemed really concerned. I think he too knew that
Nate and Charli would be devastated.

“No, they are
still at Mum and Dad’s house. Bryce and I were going to pick them
up tomorrow so that they were ready for their time with you on
Monday.” My tear bank broke again and I sobbed harder this time. “I
don’t know how I’m going to tell them, Rick. I don’t think I am
ready to tell them, but they’ll know; they are both smart
kids.”

He wrapped his
arm around my shoulder and pulled me to him. “Don’t worry about
that. You obviously need more time. I will drive to Shepparton
tomorrow and pick them up. That way you can have this week to sort
through everything that you need to sort through. I know I can’t do
much for you, but I can do that. I can give you the extra time you
need.”

“Thank you,
Rick.” I hugged him back.

At that
moment, the elevator doors opened and Bryce walked in.

CHAPTER
SEVENTEEN

“What the fuck
are you doing here?” Bryce hissed at Rick as he stepped out of the
elevator.

I went to
speak, “Bryce—”

He stormed
over to the sofa. “Get your hands off Alexis, and get the fuck out
of my home,” he growled.

He was
furious.

Rick stood up.
“Bryce, settle down, I’m consoling her. Clearly she is upset. And
who are you to tell me not to touch Alexis?”

“Rick—” I
tried to talk again but no one seemed to be listening to me.

“
I
will console her, not you. You have no right to fucking
help her grieve the loss of our baby,
my
baby.”

Oh no, this is
why he is so upset. He thinks I was letting Rick grieve.

“Bryce, it
wasn’t—” I began to explain, but I was cut off yet again.

“Who said it
was your baby, Bryce? It could’ve been mine.”

“Rick! It
wasn’t your baby. I told—”

Before I could
finish what I was saying, Bryce had thrown a punch which connected
perfectly with Rick’s jaw.

I screamed.
“Bryce! Stop! No!”

Rick recovered
quickly and barrelled into Bryce’s stomach, with his head down and
his arms wrapped around Bryce’s waist in an attempt to take him to
ground.

I screamed
again.

Rick was
obviously no match for Bryce, not only in size but in combat,
self-defence and fighting skills, because Bryce was able to get
Rick in a head lock and subdue him gently, slowly squeezing the air
out of him.

I tried to
stand up, putting pressure on my foot and forgetting momentarily
that I had a broken leg. I cried out in pain.

“Alexis!”
Bryce let go of Rick—who fell to the floor—and dashed over to me.
“Shit! Are you okay?”

“No!” I
screamed at him, now in a considerable world of pain. “I’m not
fucking okay. I’m not okay at all.”

Rick was on
his hands and knees coughing, attempting to get his breath
back.

Bryce didn’t
even look over at him. Instead, his eyes were on mine. “What can I
do, Hunny?” His voice had softened and it was laced with regret and
concern.

“Nothing!
You’ve done enough.” I turned to look at Rick. “Rick, are you
okay?”

“Yes,” he
spluttered.

“Good. I think
you should leave.”

He looked up
at me, registering that I just wanted him to go. “Fine, I’ll ring
Maryann and Graeme and tell them I’m coming to get the kids. Don’t
worry about them. Like I said, that’s the least I can do.”

Bryce looked
at Rick then back to me, suddenly comprehending that the encounter
he walked in on was about Nate and Charli, nothing else.