War Wounded (The War Trilogy #2.5) (11 page)

Arianna grabs my face and forces me to look at her. Her expression is fierce. “I would never do what they did to you. I’ve been cheated on, I know how it feels, and I will never ever do that to you. I care a lot about you, too, Duke. I’m not them.”

I close my eyes and lean my forehead against hers. “I know you’re not.”

We stand there for a moment just holding onto each other, our heads pressed together. I lean down and softly kiss her lips.

“DUKE!” my mom calls up the stairs.

I sigh. Keeping my hand in hers, I step back from Arianna. “Coming!” I yell.

I give her one more kiss before leading her downstairs.

~ Arianna ~

In the living room, there is now a group of people talking and laughing. Duke gives my hand a squeeze of reassurance as we walk into the mix. Duke introduces me to his brother, Brett, his sister, Caitlyn, and their spouses. You can tell that Brett and Duke are brothers, they look a lot alike, but Brett isn’t as hard looking as Duke. And their sister looks nothing like them; she looks exactly like her mother.

Duke also introduces me to his six-year-old twin nieces. They are his brother’s kids. Then his sister, Caitlyn, has a two-year-old boy and a three-month-old baby boy. The two-year-old shies away when Duke tries to get him to give me a high five, but I’m not surprised, considering his age.

Alicia is holding the baby, but Duke steals him away from his grandmother, claiming that nobody is allowed to hold
his
baby. Alicia rolls her eyes but doesn’t argue with him. Seeing Duke holding a three-month-old baby is truly the most heartwarming thing I’ve ever seen in my life. You can really tell how badly he wants to be a father. It’s pouring out of him with every word he whispers and every kiss he gives to the little bundle in his arms.

“If that sight doesn’t make your ovaries explode then you aren’t really a woman,” a whispered voice says from right next to me.

I turn to see his brother, Brett, standing next to me watching Duke, too. I smirk.

“Oh, they’re exploding all right. It’s like fireworks in there,” I joke.

Brett laughs. “Nice.”

“Do you think he’ll let me hold him?” I ask Brett. I have a feeling the answer is no.

“Don’t hold your breath.” He grunts. “No one ever gets a chance to hold the baby when Duke’s around.”

I chuckle. “He’s so sweet with him.”

Brett nods. “Yeah, he definitely wants to be a dad.”

“I can see that.”

Brett turns to look at me. “He’s going to fight this relationship until it’s his last breath, you know,” he says sadly.

I sigh. “Yeah, I know.”

“You’re going to have to fight for him. And I mean really fight for him, if you want to keep him.”

I nod.

“I don’t know you too well yet, but I can tell that you’re nothing like his exes.”

I grin. “Thanks, I think.”

He sends me a wink. “It’s a compliment, for sure.”

“Dinner is ready!” Alicia calls from the dining room.

We all move into the dining room and find a seat. I end up between Duke and Caitlyn. Caitlyn smiles at me and leans in so only I can hear what she’s saying.

“I haven’t seen Duke this happy in about a year, so thank you,” she whispers and pats me on the arm.

I give her an appreciative smile as her words warm my heart. She basically said that
I
make Duke happy. And that makes me happy. I glance over at Duke, who is still holding the sleeping baby in the crook of his arm, while spooning food onto his plate with his free hand. I can’t help but smile at the scene he’s portraying. It makes me long for things that I’m not sure I’ll ever get from him…like kids.

Halfway through dinner, the baby starts crying. Duke tries to soothe him, but nothing is working. Caitlyn gets up and goes to get him.

“I’ll take him,” she says to Duke.

Duke hesitates to hand him over. “He’s okay, finish your food.”

“He’s hungry and that’s something you can’t help with,” Caitlyn says gently.

Defeated, Duke hands the baby to Caitlyn, who leaves the room with him. Duke sighs heavily and continues to eat his dinner.

“Got a thing for babies, huh?” I ask him quietly.

He sends me a sideways glance. “That obvious?” he asks with a lopsided grin.

I smile and nod. “Yeah, a little bit.”

He looks at me for a second before asking, “Do you want kids?”

“Yes, I do,” I answer.

“Me, too,” he says softly, a slight flush creeping up his cheeks.

Could he be any cuter right now? No, I don’t think it’s possible.

~ Chapter Eleven ~

~ Duke ~

I fidget nervously as I wait for Arianna to come back from the bathroom. We just woke up and I want to give her the Christmas present I got her before we go downstairs, just in case she doesn’t like it. Shit, you’d think I was proposing or something. I got her a little gift, nothing crazy; just something I came across that I thought she would like.

Arianna comes back and closes the door behind her. She’s wearing an oversized T-shirt and plaid pajama pants. Her dark hair is piled on top of her head in a messy bun and she has dark smudges under her eyes from the make-up she didn’t take off last night. She couldn’t look more gorgeous if she tried. I’m sitting Indian style in the middle of the bed in my tightie-whities. She grins at me.

“What?” she asks.

I give her an innocent look. “Nothing, what?”

“You’re up to something,” she says, narrowing her eyes at me.

“Me? Never.” I say with a cheesy grin.

She gives me a dubious look before climbing onto the bed and sitting down next to me. Pulling out the box I had tucked behind my leg, I place it in her lap.

“Merry Christmas,” I say.

Her eyes widen and her mouth drops open. “Duke! That’s not fair! I didn’t get you anything!”

“Shush. I got this a couple of weeks ago. It reminded me of you and I thought you might like it,” I tell her. My stomach flutters anxiously. Please let her like it!

She frowns but unwraps the box. She stares at the little black jewelry box.

“You better not have bought me something expensive,” she warns, glancing at me.

“It wasn’t really expensive, I swear.”

Arianna opens the hinged box. A slow smile spreads across her face when she sees what’s inside. She glances at me with adoration in her simmering brown eyes.

“A cupcake necklace with matching cupcake earrings? This is the best gift ever, Duke,” she says sweetly and wraps her arms around my neck.

She gives me a lingering kiss on the lips before pulling away to start taking the necklace out.

“So you like it?” I ask, just to make sure.

“I love it! Thank you so much,” she gushes and puts the necklace on.

She then puts on the earrings and goes over to the dresser to look into the mirror that’s above it. Her smile widens as she fingers the earrings in her ears.

“They’re so cute!”

I grin at her happiness. Damn, I love seeing her happy. She glances at me through the mirror and I see a mischievous glint in her eyes. What is she thinking? She walks over to the door and locks it. I cock an eyebrow at her. Arianna seductively walks back over to the bed, a naughty smirk on her face. She crawls up onto the bed and pushes me down onto my back.

“Hello,” I murmur.

“Since you got me something, I’m going to give you something,” she purrs.

“Is that right?” I ask and tuck my hands behind my head, my dick already getting hard at what she’s suggesting.

“Mmm hmm,” she hums and grabs the waistband of my underwear and yanks them off.

“I think I’m going to really like this present.” I smirk.

“Yeah, I think so, too,” she says before taking my cock into her mouth.

~ Arianna ~

Everyone comes back to the house for dinner. I finally convince Duke to give me a turn holding the baby when the doorbell rings. Alicia gets up from the table to go answer the door. We can hear her talking with someone, kind of excitedly, so I wonder if it’s another family member that decided to drop in for a surprise visit. But I’m not prepared for who follows Alicia into the dining room. And apparently, neither is Duke.

A tall, pretty blonde follows Alicia into the dining room. Her smile is hesitant and dread immediately pools in my stomach.

“What the FUCK is she doing here?!” Duke booms from his seat next to me, startling me enough that the baby starts crying.

Caitlyn takes the baby from me and leaves the room with her two-year-old in tow. Brett's wife also ushers the twins out. Shit, this isn’t going to be good if the kids are being taken out. Alicia frowns hard at her son.

“Duke, what’s wrong with you? There’s no need for that kind of language,” she scolds.

Duke’s livid gaze lands on his mother. “There most certainly is! Now someone better answer my goddamn question!”

“Well, Aimee and I still talk. She asked if she could stop by to say hi since everyone was going to be here…” Alicia starts.

I can feel the fury vibrating off Duke. I want to touch him but I don’t think it would go over well right now. This is his most recent ex-wife, the one who he caught cheating after five years of marriage. I can’t imagine what he’s feeling right now.

“You still talk…” he struggles and turns his attention to Aimee. “…You still talk to my mother?!” he squawks and shoots to his feet, knocking his chair to the floor in the process.

“Duke, calm down! I don’t understand why you’re so angry! Just because you guys didn’t work out doesn’t mean she was never part of the family!” Alicia snaps.

I have a feeling that Duke never told her
why
they got divorced. Oh god, this is going to be so bad.

“Duke, please, I just want to talk to you. Please, just give me a couple of minutes,” Aimee pleads.

Déjà vu, anyone? Is Kyle going to come popping out to ask to talk to me, too? What the hell is with these exes? Don't they know when it's over, it's over?

“I have nothing to fucking say to you, get the fuck out of here,” he growls low and points a shaky finger toward the front door.

I look around to see Duke Sr., Brett, and Caitlyn's husband watching everything with wide eyes and slack jaws.

“DUKE!” Alicia bites out angrily.

“NO! HOW DARE YOU INVITE HER HERE!” Duke roars at his mother, slamming a fist on the table, making her flinch.

Duke storms over to them, his posture threatening, his face suddenly eerily blank. Aimee actually backs up a couple of steps. He glares at her while talking to his mother.

“You want to know why we
actually
got divorced, Mother? I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want to hurt you. I knew how much you liked Aimee. What I never expected was for this bitch to continue to talk to you even after I told her not to come anywhere near me or my family again.”

“What are you talking about?” Alicia frowns, looking between Duke and Aimee.

Aimee now has tears running down her face as she begs Duke not to say anything.

“Fuck you, you stupid cunt, you brought this on yourself by coming here today,” Duke snarls nastily. “I caught Aimee cheating on me with one of her business partners in New York. All of those business trips she was taking? Yeah, those weren’t all for business.”

Alicia gasps while the guys around the table groan.

“Aimee! How could you?! You knew what Mallory had done to him and you went and did it too?!” Alicia cries in anguish.

“I’m sorry! I’m so sorry! It was the biggest mistake I’ve ever made! Please, Duke. I want to try again. I swear this will never happen again. I miss you so badly. I was so stupid,” Aimee bawls before covering her face with her hands.

“Never gonna happen. You need to go,” Duke says, his tone hard and unforgiving.

Aimee races out of the house in a fit of tears.

“Un-fucking-believable!” Duke barks then turns to his mother. “What the hell, mom? Why would you invite my ex-wife over while I have my girlfriend here?!”

Alicia glances guiltily at me before turning back to Duke. “I didn’t think it was that big of a deal. I thought you split on mutual terms.”

“SO?! You still don’t do something like that!” he shouts.

“I’m sorry, Duke,” she whispers.

Duke just shakes his head in disgust. His eyes finally meet mine and I hold my breath, afraid of what he’s going to say. But he doesn’t say anything; instead, he storms out of the house, slamming the front door so hard that a picture frame falls off the wall and shatters.

Alicia starts bawling her eyes out, covering her face with her hands. Yeah, what she did was pretty fucked up, and I’m not exactly sure how I feel about it. I get up from the table and go after Duke.

Once outside, I see him stomping down the block, his fists clenched at his sides. I start after him, jogging to catch up.

“Duke,” I call after him.

He turns just as I reach him. I crash into him, fling my arms around his neck and hug him hard. He’s vibrating with anger. His body is so tense and stiff, but he slowly starts to relax and brings his arms up to hug me back. I was afraid for a second there that he was going to push me away instead.

“I wish there was something I could say to make this better,” I whisper to him.

His head shakes slightly. “I just need some space right now,” he rasps.

The wind blows hard around us and I shiver, making me realize that I didn’t put my coat on.

“Get back inside before you freeze,” Duke murmurs and lets me go.

“What about you? You don’t have a coat on either.” I frown.

“Don’t worry about me. Go ahead,” he says and jerks his chin toward the house.

The look in his eyes breaks my heart. He looks devastated and betrayed. I would give anything to take that look out of his eyes. He takes my hand and brings it up to his lips, leaving a tender kiss on my knuckles.

“Please, just go. I need to be alone for a little while,” he croaks.

I nod and hesitantly turn back toward the house. I glance over my shoulder to find him watching me, his hands shoved into his front pockets. He gives me a slightest of smiles before I open the front door and walk back into the house.

~ Duke ~

I have absolutely no words for what just happened. There is an actual pain in my chest now from what went on in that house. I feel completely betrayed by my mother. She has been talking to Aimee the entire time we’ve been divorced. That’s been over a year now. And she’s never said a word to me about it. Probably because she knew it was fucked up, yet she did it anyway. Then she goes and invites her over while I’m there with my new girlfriend. What in the ever-living fuck was she thinking?! I can’t…I can’t even look at her after what she did to me.

Then there’s Aimee, pleading with me to take her back and work things out. She must be out of her damn mind if she truly thinks that I will ever take her back. And poor Arianna had to witness it all. I don’t think I’ve ever been so furious in my entire life.

Now my issue is, what to do in regards to Arianna? Do I go with my heart, which is telling me to stay with her because I love her? Or do I go with my head, which is saying that I need to protect my heart and call things off with her? Fuck! Everything was going so well, until Aimee shows up and ruins everything by reminding me of why I keep my heart locked up tight.

I return to my parents’ house about an hour later, after I’ve cooled off and feel like I’m back under control. I have no plans of talking to my mother, though. I walk through the front door and head right up the stairs to my bedroom. I really don’t want to talk to anyone right now.

When I walk into the room, I find Arianna lying on the bed on her back, an arm flung over her eyes. I quietly shut the door and lock it, just in case
someone
decides they want to try to talk to me. Nope. Not happening.

Arianna lifts her arm from her face. “Hey,” she says quietly.

“Hi. Wishing you stayed home for Christmas yet?” I scoff and stop at the end of the bed.

I cross my arms over my chest to help fight the urge to crawl into bed with her and pull her close. She sighs and pushes herself up into a sitting position.

“Not sure if it would have been any better, really.” She shrugs. She pulls her knees up to her chest and wraps her arms around them, making her look vulnerable and unsure of herself.

I don’t like it one bit. I watch as she fingers the cupcake necklace around her neck. Fuck, I don’t even know what to say to her right now. I go over to the desk, pull out the chair, and sit down. I lean forward, putting my elbows on my knees and dropping my face into my hands. I blow out a breath and roughly rub my face.

“Don’t,” Arianna says into the silence.

I lift my head to look at her. “Don’t what?” I frown.

“Don’t break up with me,” she says.

“Arianna…” I start, but she cuts me off.

“I know you well enough to know that’s what you’re thinking. You think that you need to end things with me to protect yourself from getting hurt again.”

I gape at her.

“Right?” she asks.

I swallow hard and nod. She shakes her head and I can see the tears well up in her eyes. God, I hate it when she cries. She unfolds herself and slips off the bed. She comes over to me and straddles my lap, forcing me to sit up straight in the chair. Her hands come up to cup my face so she can kiss me tenderly.