Unchained Hearts (Baxter Family Saga) (13 page)

Her body was ripe and ready to burst. He stood up from her and quickly discarded his clothes. He expertly donned the condom and teased her with his tip. When he heard her cry for more, he obliged and inched his way into her. Kyle let out a deep sensual moan as she became lost in his brisk thrusts, and he bent over to kiss her.

Kyle loved the feel of his power and control. His muscular arms held her lovingly while his powerful legs held hers. But she wanted more. In a swift move that took him by surprise, Kyle pushed him on his back and straddled him, proudly absorbing his length.

Randy nearly lost his breath from her sudden move, but loved her boldness. He was deeply inside her and her slick vise pulsated as she looked at him with hunger in her eyes. 

Arching her back, she rocked her hips back and forth, riding him slowly but deeply.

Randy looked at the woman above him and marveled at her confidence. She was open to him and enjoying their lovemaking in a way that made him want her even more. His hands wandered up that delicious S of her side to thumb her nipples.

Kyle let out a sensuous ‘Ah’
and smiled at him. She had not realized just how much she wanted him until she saw him walk through that door, and now, she was reveling in his touch. The movement of her hips quickened as she just let her craving for him guide her.

Every motion gave Randy little shocks through his body and that familiar pressure was building, making its way to his groin.

Randy’s hips move as he worked to create that delicious friction which would free them both. His grip on Kyle’s hips tightened as he sucked his breath through his teeth. She held on to his hands, her walls clamping around his dick. Kyle was desperately trying to last longer, but her body gave in as her nipples pointed skyward. The sight of Kyle’s explosion was enough to ignite his own. He thrust upward and burst within her.

They both breathed heavily as their eyes met and locked. He couldn’t remember the last time his entire body experienced such a beautiful, complete release. He wasn’t sure he’d ever had one like it. The knowledge both thrilled and scared him.

Kyle had never lost control like that before. She was always calm and her orgasms were good, when they came, but this was so much deeper.

As she dismounted, Randy felt spent. He slowly did away with the condom and reached for Kyle. She was smiling and he realized how much he loved seeing that smile of hers, knowing he had something to do with it. All those times, all those sessions, she would smile at him and he was like a school boy.

Leaning in for a kiss, they both chuckled.

“I never knew it could be like that,” she confessed.

“Neither did I,” he whispered, giving her another kiss.” I want more.”

***

The next few days were a mixture of ecstasy and reality. KC and Randy spent as much time together, with Randy becoming her self-appointed protector and consummate lover. Soraya was brought in for questioning by the police, but the case against her wasn’t strong enough for charges, especially when her lawyer presented the list of alternative scenarios as to how the so-called sedative got in the brownies. The school, however, was not so flexible. Soraya Munroe was suspended indefinitely and would most likely be expelled for her part in the attempted sexual assault. Kyle and Randy each filed restraining orders against her and Brian and breathed a tentative sigh of relief that Brian would be locked away for quite a while.

To celebrate the end of the nightmare, Randy decided to take Kyle to his favorite restaurant. He even rented a hotel room for a couple of nights, just to get away.

Kyle had never thought Atlanta was a place to find high end Chinese food, but Hap Sing’s was a great treat as they found a nice quiet spot to just enjoy. She laughed so hard at Randy’s stories of his high school years and Randy listened intently about her future dreams, hoping those plans included him. It was a chilly night as they walked back to the hotel for what they both knew was going to be an intense night of lovemaking. Randy had never known just how much fun he could have in bed until he met her and he had every intention of enjoying every minute worshipping her body with his own.

Kyle had never been more at peace in his arms. It was like she had finally found home.

Deep in their own thoughts, neither of them saw the car speed up and jump the curb careening toward them. Randy acted quickly, shoving Kyle out of the way before he was clipped by the speeding vehicle. She hit her head and fell dazed while Randy crashed against the wall. He tried to raise his head, but the pain was too much and he lapsed into unconsciousness.

The car found its way back onto the main road and drove off.

The paramedics treated them both separately and rushed Randy to the trauma center. His father was out of country, but his uncle Gray lived less than an hour away.

Because of the names involved, Detective Sykes caught the case and went over to Kyle first. “Ms. Avery, how are you holding up?”

The medics were bandaging her head, but she appeared alert enough.

“Where’s Randy? He pushed me out of the way and no one is telling me what’s happened to him.”

“Mr. Hall is banged up pretty badly and they’re taking him to the emergency room. Can you tell me anything about what happened?”

“We just had dinner. We were headed back to the hotel when we heard a screech. The next thing I know, Randy pushed me to safety and that’s all I remember.”

“Okay, we are canvassing the area and I’ll let you know what we find.”

The medics indicated to the detective that they needed to load her in the truck and head off. Sykes stepped back and watched them drive away. Even without looking at the scene, he would bet his pension that Soraya Monroe was the culprit. Looking at that girl during interrogation, he saw a sociopath. She was incredibly controlled and the face she put on for the rest of the world was not who she was. People like her tended to retaliate if they were threatened or slighted in any way. This had all the earmarks of premeditation. Unless something was done, this girl was going to kill one or both of these kids.

***

Dr. Grayson Baxter ran through the doors at Huffman Trauma Center and found an attending. He knew more than a few of the doctors on staff here as several of them were his patients. He found Dr. Charlene Guevara, head of the trauma center.

“Charly, how is he?”

“He’s good. We’ve got him stabilized and waiting for the results of his scans to see if he needs surgery.”

Grayson found a chair and sat down heavily. Surgery. His nephew had barely had so much as a sniffle when he was growing up and now, surgery.

“What the hell happened?”

“Maybe I can answer that,” announced a voice of authority. Detective Sykes had navigated HTC so many times, he barely needed his badge to go through. 

“My name is Detective Sykes,” he said, giving Grayson his hand.

“Dr. Grayson Baxter. I’m Randy’s uncle.”

“Well, Dr. Baxter, we’re still gathering evidence, but it looks like a deliberate hit and run. Your nephew and his girlfriend were coming from a restaurant when a car jumped the side walk and tried to run them over. We found the car, but preliminary results show it’s probably stolen and it’s been wiped clean.”

“Someone tried to kill Randy?”

“Your nephew recently saved a young lady from a sexual assault. They were together having dinner. He pushed her out of the way, saving her life, again.”

“That’s my nephew, the hero.”

“We suspect the two cases may be related. Eyewitness accounts can’t identify the driver, but to be safe, I’m going to suggest you take steps to protect Randy. She may try again.”

“She?”

Sykes nodded. “Off the record, my gut tells me that Soraya Monroe, your nephew’s recent ex-girlfriend, is somehow involved.”

“My God.” Gray sighed. Brandon was never really one to talk about his love life, but this entire situation was more than surprising.

Dr. Guevara chimed in, “We can’t move him until after we know what we’re dealing with.”

“I’ll speak to Cass. We’re going to hire some help. No one but family.”

Sykes watched Dr. Baxter and saw the look of worry he had seen on many faces. At least Randy wasn’t as bad off as others he’d seen...but then again, it depends on your definition of ‘bad off.’

Grayson arranged for a private room at the hospital as well as round the clock security. It took a couple of days for Randy to regain consciousness and his first thought was about Kyle. Kyle’s mother had made the decision that her daughter was leaving Metropolitan. Despite her protests about being so close to graduation and wanting to be with Randy, Virgilia Avery was not in the mood to argue. As far as she was concerned, Randy was one of the reasons for all of this and despite how much they cared for each other, distance was needed. 

Randy ran into the same roadblocks with his father and uncle and found himself on the losing end. His phone was disconnected when he was strong enough, and he was transferred to Grady Memorial for recovery and rehab.

It was like Soraya had been wiped off the map. There was no trace of her and Sykes suspected she was getting special help from someone which meant she was connected and far from done.

***

Brandon sat in Cass’ office. He realized he had never told anyone what had happened between him and KC.  He was relieved and heartbroken at the same time seeing her again.

“While I was in rehab, I tried to find her. I scoured sites, got in touch with some of our old gang, Facebook, Twitter, nothing. It was like she never existed. I couldn’t explain it.”

Cass could. Through her own contacts and out of pure necessity, Virgilia had enlisted some high tech help. She was practically obsessed with protecting Kyle and it looked like she did too good of a job.

Brandon reached in his back pocket and pulled out his wallet. He opened it and took out a paper. “Then one day, I got this.” He gave the paper to Cass. It was just a picture of Kyle, with what looked like a recounting of her life. It was an obituary. Her picture had the word “BITCH” written across her face. Cass looked at the picture. He remembered Virgilia showing him an article about Kyle’s part in the expansion of Mama Avery’s foods. He remembered it distinctly, because it was one of the rare times she was pictured in the media. Cass looked at his son and saw the hurt in his eyes. The picture was creased and floppy like it had been opened more than a few times.

“When did you get this?”

“A few weeks after I got out of the hospital. It came in the mail and it had a note with a creepy smiley face drawn in red ink. I went on the internet, tried to find the newspapers online, but I couldn’t find anything. That was when the email came with another message. It had some specific details about my life and the business.”

There was no doubt in his mind that this was a well-done fake, but to a young man with a broken heart, it was a nightmare made real. The worst part was that he, Gray, and Virgilia had no idea they were unwitting participants in this scheme which hurt the two most innocent in all of this. Their only concern was keeping them safe. But in the process, they both unknowingly helped this lunatic break their children’s hearts. Why didn’t Virgilia tell him about any of this? They had sworn never to keep anything from each other, but this…

“I remember what Soraya told me that day,” Brandon said, with tears brimming in his eyes. “About getting to me, and when I got this it just hit me...I got her killed.”

“Brandon, you can’t think—”

“No, Dad, it’s true. Soraya would not have gotten to her otherwise. “

Cass looked at his son. Even as a child, he had this streak of guilt that he carried with him, it seemed, from birth. He had done his best to make him see that what happened with his mother was not his fault. That what his mother did was her choice and had nothing to do with him or Jas or Cameron. He would never stop trying.

Cass leaned in and focused on Brandon.

“Look at me, Brandon,” Cass said sternly and his son raised his head. “Soraya Munroe is a gold-digging sociopath who set her sights on you. What she did to you and Kyle was because of her sick mind and her compulsion with getting her hands on you and what you have. I’ve met her kind before. Your grandmother Joan was a lot like Soraya, and God help me, I wanted her dead for what she put us through.”

That last statement made Brandon look at Cass.

“She tried to keep me away from Virgilia, and for a while she did, but we found our way back to each other and wound up stronger than ever. Brandon,” he said as he got up and walked around his desk, “when you find the woman you want to be with, don’t let anyone or anything get in your way. Having the love of your life by your side, you can handle anything, even a lunatic like Soraya.”

Brandon nodded and he could see a spark in his eyes which wasn’t there before. Love is love, Cass thought and he was going to make damn sure these two would have a happy ending.

“Now, did Soraya send you anything else?”

Brandon nodded. “She’s sent me a few things over the years.”

“Why didn’t you say anything? Did you keep any of it?”

“Sending letters isn’t a crime. Unless she did something, there was nothing the police could do. I’ve kept in touch with Detective Sykes since the first letter. He said that since he hadn’t been in touch with KC, he had no idea whether it was true or what happened. But he did tell me to keep them, just in case.”

“Good, we’re going to need them all.”

“Why?”

“The cops’ hands are tied, so we need someone a little more flexible.”

He grabbed his cell phone and made a quick call. At the end of the day, there was only one way to skin a cat and that was with a very sharp knife.

***

Brandon took in his father’s words. For the last few years, he had been half dead. He’d even convinced himself he needed to move on and that Penny, his last girlfriend, was a good catch. She was, in so many ways. She was smart and ambitious, she’d started her own catering business, and was a fantastic cook. On paper she would have made any man happy, but not him. After they broke up, he focused on the pharmaceutical arm of the business and made plans to expand their research into new areas, hoping to fill the void, or at least that’s what he told himself. He had managed a modicum of contentment, but it had slipped away the minute he saw her again.

She practically ran out of the house the minute she saw him and he stood there not believing his own eyes. She was alive and while he experienced a spark of happiness, he had let guilt and fear overpower it. He was afraid this lunatic would take away the woman he loved, that she would finally, really hurt him this time.

He should have fought harder to find her and chased after Kyle, stand in front of the car, something instead of standing stock still...he acted like a coward. Well, to hell with that and Soraya be damned.

He picked up the phone and called Stan, his father’s driver.

“I need you to text me the address of the young woman you brought here this morning.”

Within seconds, he received the message from Stan and hopped in his car. He had waited long enough. It was time to claim what was his.

***

It had been a day, Kyle thought. She’d told Jo the whole story and while she remembered things differently, they both agreed that Soraya was the cause of this mess. After Jo went home, she took a relaxing shower and sat on her couch. That night after the accident, she’d gone to see him, but the guards wouldn’t let her through. Then he disappeared without so much as a goodbye. Her mother was focused on many things and the last thing she needed to hear about was a stupid broken heart over some guy she thought she was in love with.