Misty Reigenborn Romance Boxed Set (77 page)

“I wanted you to kiss me as soon as I laid eyes on you silly.”  Robyn kissed him.  “And when I got to know you, I wanted you to kiss me even more.”

Neal smiled.  “You are an amazing woman Robyn.”

“And you are way more amazing than you think you are.  Are we taking your car or mine?”

“Mine’s kinda low on gas.  I know I should fill it up, but it’s been so damned cold out.”

“Yeah.  I will be so glad when I no longer work at Gabe’s Place.”

“I know honey.  I think I’ll put in my two weeks’ notice about two weeks before your due date.  I’ve actually been planning to leave town as soon as I had Ashlyn back for a while.  An old friend of mine likes this business idea I have.  We’ve talked about going into business together.”

“That’s great.” She took his hand and they walked outside together, shutting and locking the door behind them. 

They bought her another doorknob and alarms for her windows.  Robyn wondered if it wasn’t overkill, but Gabe was sitting across the street from their building when they got home. 

“Shit,” she said.

“What?”

“He’s sitting over there.”

Neal shrugged.  “He already thinks we’re sleeping together so who cares?  He might fire me to try to keep me away from you and talk a bunch of shit so that I can’t get another job, but I have quite a bit of money saved up so that I would be able to take care of Ashlyn when I got her back.”

“I’m afraid he’s going to call off the search for her though.  That’s terrible, especially when they’re so close to bringing her back to you where she belongs.”

“He bragged to me about the investigator he’d hire if I let him look for her.  This guy is high priced but I could call him and maybe borrow money from my parents if I had to to make sure that he brings her back.  I don’t know about paying off Tress though.  My parents adored Ash and miss her like crazy, but I think they still blame me and they hated Tress.  I don’t think they’d want to pay her off if it came down to it.”

“I have money.  My paychecks are huge and with the stuff that Gabe bought me for the baby, and what my parents and my sister have given me, I haven’t really had to buy much besides a few things here and there.  If Tress wants to be even more selfish and demands money to give Ashlyn to you, I’ll give you everything I have.”

“Oh Robyn.  I hope it doesn’t come down to that, but thank you.  So much.”

“It’s the right thing to do.”

She squeezed his hand.  They got out of the car and went to the apartment together.  A horn honked behind them.  Robyn turned.  Gabe flashed his lights at her, and then pulled away.

She let out a sigh of relief, but her phone rang as soon as she put the key in the door.  Neal unlocked the door and she answered her phone.

“Hello.”

“Robyn, you sadden me greatly with the choices that you’re making.  Did you not like my gifts?”

Robyn sat down on the couch after turning the heater up a notch since Neal was working on changing the lock.  “Your gifts were too expensive and a little too late.”

“Nothing is too expensive for you.  I know that you’re pregnant and hormonal but do you really believe that Neal can please you the way I have?”

“It’s not about sex.  It’s about honesty and companionship and wanting the same things.  You were never mine Gabe.  You belong to your wife.”

“Leslie doesn’t want me.  She hangs on to me because she is selfish and wants me to share in her misery.”

“I’m sorry Gabe, but that’s your problem and you have to deal with it.  You should get a divorce for you and your kids, not because you think that you’ve found a woman that will love you the way your wife can’t.”

“You’re naïve Robyn.  Your average divorce when the spouses share no children and barely have two pennies to rub together is complicated.  A divorce like mine takes time and effort.  I thought that you believed in our love, that you were willing to put your faith in me and stand beside me until the blessed day when I could call you my wife.  I was a fool.”

“I’m sorry Gabe.  I didn’t want it to end like this, but the truth is we never should have started in the first place.  You know it as well as I do.”

“I don’t.  But you can spit in the face of true love if you’d like.  You can carry on with your pathetic loser.  If you’re lucky maybe I’ll be here when you come crawling back to me when he breaks your heart like Fuller did.  Maybe I won’t be.  I’ll have some hiring to do soon.”

“You don’t need to fire Neal.”

Gabe chuckled.  “Why would I want to fire him when it will be so much more fun to toy with him with he’s still in my employ?  Can your boyfriend take it Robyn?  Or will he run away from you when I turn up the heat?”

“Please just leave us alone.”

“You don’t want me to leave you alone.  You begged me to search for your lover’s daughter didn’t you?”

“It’s the right thing to do and you know it.  Tress isn’t a good mother.  You said yourself that the way they’re living isn’t right for a child, especially when Neal would do anything to provide for her better.”

“True.  I won’t call off the search and I will pay that stupid pathetic woman any amount she asks to release Neal’s daughter from her clutches.”

“Thank you.  Please don’t send me any more flowers or jewelry and you can pay me what we agreed on when I started and not two or three times that.”

Gabe chuckled.  “I will pay you four or five times what we agreed on if I choose, to remind you that I can provide for you better than any other man.”

“Gabe please.  What you said you’d pay me is fine.”

“You are one of a kind Robyn.  We could have had such a life together.  It astounds me that intelligent women make such stupid choices over and over again.”

“I need to let you go Gabe.  I have another phone call.”  She didn’t, but she really didn’t want to talk to him anymore.

“My love for you will never die Robyn.  Remember that.”

He hung up.  Robyn sighed.  Neal had finished installing the new doorknob.  He shut the door and crossed to her. 

“What hon?  What did he say?”

“More bullshit about how his love for me is undying.  When I asked him to pay me what he said he would when he hired me, he told he’d pay me four or five times that if he wanted to.  But he did say that he wouldn’t fire you and that he would pay Tress whatever she wanted to give Ashlyn back to you.  He said that he wanted to play with you though.  I wonder what he meant by that?”

Neal sighed.  “Who knows?  I’m sure we’ll find out soon enough, maybe even as soon as tomorrow night.”

“Great.”

Neal squeezed her hand.  “Chin up beautiful.  We only have to put up with his bullshit for a few more months.  I’m gonna start on your windows.”

“Thank you.”

Robyn sat back on the couch.  She felt tired suddenly and a little like she had woken up in the middle of a nightmare.  It seemed terribly unfair to her that when she had finally started a relationship with a man that she could trust and that would be hers alone that Gabe had to pull his bullshit to try to ruin it.  She knew that she never should have slept with him, but she was beginning to think that he would have eventually tried to seduce her anyway, though what Kasia had told her about Gabe having more respect for her than other women he’d been with did make at least partial sense.

Neal finished her windows quickly.  They decided against going back out into the winter weather to have another copy of her key made and retired to the bedroom where they made love and were able to forget the crazy situation they were sitting in while their bodies were joined together.

Neal checked the webcam after they had finished.  It had picked up nothing.  He stayed with her all day.  They watched movies and cuddled on the couch.  It felt so good to Robyn and so right, so much more right than her relationship with Gabe ever had.

They made dinner together, watched another movie and then went to bed.  Robyn knew that she would miss him in her bed when he wasn’t there.  Even with all of the craziness with Gabe that might get even crazier as time went on, she was hopeful for where her relationship with Neal would lead.

Chapter 12

The next morning, Robyn dropped the new key off with the manager.  He accepted it without question.  She thought that maybe he thought she was worried about Fuller.  They left and got another copy of the key made which she was very glad to give to Neal.  They had the jewelry appraised and found that it was worth roughly $17,000.  The man at the jewelry store offered to buy it from her, but she thought that his offer was much too low.  Robyn worried that it wouldn’t sell, but as soon as the ads were posted in online classifieds she started getting calls right away.

Neal stayed with her until he had to go to work and promised to stay with her again that night.  She felt warm inside and wanted to lead him back to her bedroom instead of saying goodbye, but she gave him a lengthy kiss and let him go.

She took a nap and then made dinner.  Gabe didn’t call or text her, but he was sitting outside when she looked out to check the weather.  She was tempted to confront him or at least send him a text begging him to leave her alone, but he was gone after she’d returned from using the restroom.

She was soaking in the tub around one a.m. when her phone rang.  She reached for it, smiling when she saw it was Neal.

“Hi.”

“Hi.  I’m sorry to bother you Robyn, but can you come pick me up?  Eric already left and some asshole slashed my tires.  All four of them.”

“Oh Neal.  It had to have been Gabe.  I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay.  It’s not your fault Gabe’s a little crazy.  Or I hope he’s just a little crazy.”

Robyn knew he was trying to get her to laugh, but she was worried about what Gabe would do next.  “I’ll be there in a few minutes.  Be careful.”

“I’m always careful.  I’ll see you.  Bye Robyn.”

“Bye Neal.”

Robyn drained the tub and dressed quickly.  When she arrived at the bar, Neal was sitting in his car.  He got out and gave her a weak smile.  She embraced him.  “Why do I have a feeling it’s gonna get bad before it gets better?”

“We’ll get through it together, no matter what that asshole throws at us.”

He squeezed her hand and then they got into her car and drove back home.  Robyn didn’t sleep well that night.  But the next day was better.  The weather cleared and she was able to sell both pieces of jewelry.  Ironically enough the man that she sold them to was Kasia’s Mitchell.  He said he’d bought her three engagement rings and she hadn’t liked any of them and he thought the ring would suit her well.

Bettina cried when Robyn handed her the money, but Robyn could see that her neighbor’s tears were of joy.  She’d made $12,000 off of the two pieces.  She knew that it would help Bettina and her boys.

Gabe continued to torment Neal.  After Neal replaced his tires, his car was broken into and his stereo was stolen.  His front window was broken and two of the tires were slashed again.  Gabe sat outside their apartment building for hours at least every other night.  There were dirty love notes on Robyn’s door many mornings when she went outside. 

The damage to Neal’s car stopped when Ashlyn was back in her father’s care though.  Two weeks after Robyn had begged Gabe to find Ashlyn, the little girl was brought to her father by a hard looking man who handed him Ashlyn’s birth certificate, shot records, and custody papers.  The little girl had few belongings and seemed confused and a little scared, but once she got past her apprehension she settled in nicely with Neal.

Ashlyn stole Robyn’s heart.  She and Neal had shared words of love and were talking about marriage and were making plans to leave together after the birth of Robyn’s baby.  Ashlyn liked Robyn and didn’t seem to mind sharing her father with his girlfriend.

Kasia quit earlier than planned.  She told Robyn that she was pregnant and that Gabe had been coming on to her again and she had to get away.  Gabe openly pursued the girl that he hired to take her place.  They spent time locked in his office together when Flora was on the clock.  It pissed Robyn off since she had to do all the work then, but she didn’t say anything.

Gabe stopped watching her and seemed content to flaunt his relationship with Flora, but he did sometimes pay her as much as five times what he had agreed to pay her when he’d hired her.

Robyn let it go and it was almost easy to forget about her relationship with Gabe as the days passed.  She and Neal were still living separately, but they spent most nights together.  He was very good at foot massages and it made no difference to Ashlyn whether she slept on the pullout bed in Robyn’s couch or in her bed in her apartment.

A week before Robyn was scheduled to go on maternity leave Flora was gone.  Neal said that Angel had gotten to her.  The girl that replaced her had a boyfriend, but flirted with men worse than Kasia had.  Robyn didn’t like her very much.  She was a little lazy and Tandra served her boyfriend free drinks all night on the first night that Robyn worked with her.

She wasn’t sad to say goodbye to Eric either.  On the last night she worked with Eric, Tandra walked in with Gabe and the three of them disappeared into Gabe’s office on Eric’s dinner break.

The last night she worked with Neal went well.  Many customers wished them luck with their relationship and said they both looked happy.  They were also glad to hear that Neal had custody of Ashlyn back.

Robyn’s last night she worked with Tandra.  It was a long night.  Tandra’s boyfriend was angry with her and sat in the bar all night and gave her dirty looks.  Robyn was not sad when she parted from them after cleanup.

But Tandra wasn’t the only reason that she wasn’t sad to say goodbye to Gabe’s Place. Her feet hurt, her back ached, and she realized she had to pee again as she pulled into the parking lot of her apartment building, even though she’d used the restroom right before she walked out the door of Gabe’s Place.

She got out of her car and locked it, suddenly getting a strange feeling of foreboding as she neared her apartment. She glanced around the parking lot, looking for Gabe’s maroon SUV.  But it wasn’t there, nor was it across the street where he’d sat on the nights he’d watched her apartment.  Still, she was tempted to call out to Neal as she put her key in the door, but shook her head at herself and told herself to stop acting like a hysterical pregnant woman.  Besides, she thought, she wasn’t sure if Neal had Ashlyn with him or not since she’d been begging to spend the night at their next door neighbor’s house, and she didn’t want to wake the girl if she was inside.  She planned on making good use of Ashlyn’s Daddy tonight, she thought with a grin as she turned the key in the lock.

She opened the door and stepped into the apartment, but instead of finding her current boyfriend in her easy chair, she found her ex-boyfriend.

She put her purse on the table beside the door, shutting the door behind her.  She fought back a sense of panic, wondering what in the hell Gabe was doing sitting in her living room.

“Hello Robyn.  Have a seat.”

“Gabe, I’m eight months pregnant and I need to pee.”

“Don’t disturb the present I left for you on your bed.  I didn’t have a chance to wrap it the way I wanted to.”

“Um, okay.”

She opened the door to her bedroom, and closed it behind her, feeling a scream build up in her throat.  She forced it back, and crossed the floor as quietly as she could.  Neal was tied up on her bed.  He had a lump on his forehead.  She could see where the blood had dried from the wound.  His eyes were tightly closed, and she wondered if he was unconscious.

She brushed a kiss against his cheek and said softly “I am so sorry Neal.  I am going to get us out of this babe.  I love you.”

She went to the bathroom, using the toilet and washing her hands.  She stood looking at herself in the mirror for a minute, wondering what she was going to do.  She wanted to call the police, but her cell phone was in her purse in the living room.  With Gabe.

She took a deep breath, wondering if she could fit her big pregnant butt out her bedroom window before Gabe came and found her.  She quickly dismissed the idea, and decided she was going to talk her way out of the insane situation she was suddenly sitting in.

She opened the bedroom door and closed it softly behind her, crossing to the couch.

“What did you do to him Gabe?”

“It was nothing Robyn.  I only hit him hard enough to knock him out, not to do any lasting damage.”

“How did you get into my apartment?”

“Does it matter?  For all you know, your stupid boyfriend let me in.  And he is stupid Robyn.  He told me that you two made love on the night that you begged me to find his daughter.  Or was he lying?  Were you screwing him the whole time?  Did you tell me that you loved me so that Neal could keep his pride and not have to come crawling back to me, begging me to find his daughter?”

“I did love you.  You were never going to leave your wife for me and we both know it.  Did Neal really let you in?”

“I let myself in.  I have a key.”

“I changed the locks.”

Gabe shrugged.  “It doesn’t matter how I got it.”

Robyn started to answer him, but Neal suddenly called out from the direction of the bedroom.  “Robyn, get the hell out of here.”

She started to get up off the couch, but Gabe gave her a look, so she sat back down, then thought fuck it, and started to get up again.  She stopped when Gabe pulled out a gun.

“What are you doing Gabe?  Why are you doing this to us?”

“We are going to have a nice conversation Robyn.  Your boyfriend is fine.  His daughter is fine too, though I’d hardly classify the woman that he left her with as qualified adult supervision. 
He doesn’t care though.  He was too hot to get down your pants.  Some men are just like that, I suppose.  Getting hot and bothered over pregnant women.”

“What do you want to talk about Gabe?”

“I am giving you two choices Robyn, though you may not appreciate the second one very much.  Your first choice is to marry me.  I have divorce papers in my truck right now, waiting to be served to my lovely wife.  I have made arrangements with my lawyer to pay off any woman that comes forward and claims to have my child.  I have also agreed to give Leslie half of what I have made since we’ve been married.  Well, half of what the lawyers know about anyway.  I have other accounts that none of them know about, that contain substantial amounts of money.  Enough money for us to live comfortably for the rest of our lives.  I can give you a good life Robyn.  I’ll be a good father to your baby.  You will never want for anything as long as you’re with me.”

“What’s the second choice?”

“If you choose not to marry me, then you must walk away from Neal, or I will call Tress and tell her to come pick up Ashlyn.  I will give her whatever amount of money she asks for.”

“Why would you do that?  Tress isn’t a good mother.  Ash is so much better off with Neal.  How could you do something like that to a child?”

“So you’ll agree to marry me then?”

“No.  I don’t understand you Gabe.  When we were together I begged you to get a divorce and you’d never do it.  Now that I’m happy with someone else, you suddenly show up with divorce papers and threats.  Just leave us alone Gabe, please.  No one ever needs to know about this.”

“I’m afraid I can’t do that Robyn.  There is a third choice, though I don’t think you’ll appreciate that one much either.”

“What is it Gabe?  I’ll do anything.  Just let Neal, Ashlyn and me leave.  We’re going to get married.  I can be a good mother for Ash and Neal can be a good father for my baby.  Please Gabe.”

“I will allow you, Neal and Ashlyn to walk away on one condition.  You give your child to Leslie and I.  My wife has been whining about having another child and she’s been having trouble conceiving.  We all win that way.  Leslie shuts the fuck up about another child, and you and Neal can go create another child of your own.”

She looked at him, wondering if he could possibly be serious.  When she saw that he was she said “No.  I will not give you my child.  Look Gabe, Neal, Ashlyn and I will leave in the morning.  Neal has a good idea for a business and this guy in his hometown is going to help him set it up.  You won’t have to hear anything from any of us again, ever.  Please just let us go.  I’m begging you.”

“I simply can’t do that Robyn.  You betrayed me.  I thought that you would be the woman that truly loved me, and the next thing I know you’re screwing around with that imbecile you call a boyfriend.”

“Face it Gabe, we would never have lasted.  This isn’t Neal’s fault.  You wouldn’t have left Leslie and you know it.  You love Leslie.”

“That may be true, but if you would have been true to me, I could have found the courage to free myself from her clutches.”

She didn’t get a chance to answer him, because her bedroom door burst open and Neal came flying out.  He and Gabe were soon struggling with the gun.

“Get out of here Robyn.  I don’t care what happens to me.  Just take care of yourself and the baby.  Promise that you’ll take care of Ash for me.  I love you.”

“I promise Neal.  I love you too.”

She moved as fast as she could, and grabbed her purse on the way out the door.  She was soon locked in her car and dialing 9-11 on her cell phone.  She was still waiting for the operator to pick up when she heard the gunshot.

Her heart felt like a stone in her chest.  What was she going to tell Ashlyn if Neal didn’t make it she wondered?  Would the little girl have to go back and live with Tress?  She couldn’t stand the thought of Ash having to go back to her mother.