Page 85 of Deadlier Obsessions

“For fuck’s sake, spit it out! You’re leaving us? Is that what you came here to say? Don’t you think we got that when you pissed off last night and left us in bits? Do you have any idea how we felt? We asked you a question, and you lost your shit, turned into the mega asshole you used to be, and you fucked off!” He practically winces every time I hit him with another question, but he deserves it. He deserves to know that it’s not okay to bugger off and leave the people who love you! To leave them feeling guilty for pushing, when they’re just trying to get to know you. He proposed, they all did, surely that means he wants this. Wants us?

MAV

I’m not sure I’ve seen Lucy this worked up, and it only makes it harder. It feels like this entire relationship hinges on me making things right with both women. Fuck. What if I can’t? The way they both glare at me now makes me convinced that I’ve fucked everything beyond repair.

“I’m here because,” I clear my throat before continuing, “you want to know about my family.”

Gage looks at both of them. “This is hard for Mav. He has never told anyone these things aside from myself, so let's be patient.”

I swallow hard past the lump in my throat. “My parents are Joseph and Margaret Dillon. I grew up in Calabasas, California.”

Stella raises her eyebrow in surprise, but Lucy has no reaction, because of course she has probably never even heard of them.

“Yes, my family is made of money. Joseph is the CEO of Celebrity National Bank.”

They both look at me in shock, and Stella asks, “Do they know about us?”

I run my hands through my hair. “No. They don’t. Please let me finish before you read into that. I haven’t had anything to do with any of my family since I met Gage.”

Taking a deep breath, I try to finish before I lose my nerve, to tell my deepest, darkest secret that might make them feel differently about me. “When I was sixteen, I got a girl pregnant.”

Lucy slaps her hand over her mouth. “You already have a child?”

Before I have a chance to respond, Gage barks at her, “Lucy. Damn it. Let him finish.”

Moving to the chair across from the bed, I sit down, because I’m not feeling great physically. Leaning forward with my elbows on my knees, I bury my face in my hands, so I don’t have to see the looks they give me. “She wasn’t my girlfriend, just some cheerleader. I told my parents, and Joseph ordered me to marry her, but I didn’t want to. I refused.”

The room is so quiet now, you could hear a pin drop. I spent the entire night wide awake imagining telling them this, and every time it was terrible, but somehow, it’s even worse now.

“I made it clear to Hannah, I wouldn’t marry her, but I wanted the baby. I offered to raise it. Or share parenting with her.She could be involved or not. I was on board for whatever she decided was best for her.”

One of my biggest fears about telling them this is, up until this point they thought I was a strong man, but that’s over now. Because I’m fucking breaking inside, and it’s beginning to show on the outside as tears streak my face.

“Joseph informed me if I didn’t marry her, she needed to have an abortion. I didn’t take him seriously, because why would he have any say whatsoever?”

I press my thumbs into my eyes, trying to force the tears to stop. What kind of a fucking weak man sits in front of his women crying? I’m supposed to comfort them, be strong for them, and right now I can’t even do that for myself.

“He paid her off. The price for my baby to die? One million dollars.”

The sobs come unwillingly as my body begins to shake. “She wasn’t ever going to have an abortion. Hannah had agreed we’d keep the baby and figure out how to raise it without being together. I guess a million dollars was too much of an amount for her to say no to.”

Through a choked sob, I tell them both, “So no, they don’t know about you or the babies. And they never will. They lost access to me when they killed my child.”

For years I’ve told people I was estranged from my family by their choice. Another story of a wayward youth that a family could no longer tolerate. It’s more common and invites far fewer questions than the truth does. When it happened, the pain was so excruciating I couldn’t fucking breathe. That’s how I ended up in Arizona with Gage. We met while hacking into Celebrity National Bank for very different reasons. As much of an asshole as he is, Gage is the only reason I survived it. I thought I might die, and a lot of days I wanted to. The same as I did for him, when I tried to push him away, he wouldn’t allow it. He becamemy family long before we had this. As good as our friendship is, if I cost him everything, I might lose him too, because I’m not sure he’d ever forgive me.

CHAPTER FORTY-SIX

SEBASTIAN

I’ve been awake for minutes at most, and in that time, Mav has just told the most heartbreaking fucking story. No wonder the guy doesn’t want to talk about his family, because they sound like monsters. It’s not lost on me that most people would describe any of us guys as monsters, but it’s different. My chest literally hurts from hearing his story. The girls, who sobbed their hearts out as he spoke, slide off the bed almost in sync, and pretty much climb in his lap at the same time, holding him as he cries into their hair. Gage is quiet, but relaxed, like maybe he knew how bad it was, and how hard it would hit all of us, especially the girls, to hear this. I kiss his cheek, and he smiles.

“What’s that for? Don’t feel bad for me, baby. It isn’t my story. Not that I’ll let you kiss Mav’s cheek though, of course.”

Possessive as fuck, that’s my man.

“You knew?”

He nods, rubbing his hand over his freshly shaved jaw, enticing me to kiss it again.

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