Risking Fate (Mitchell Family #4)(40)
Author: Jennifer Foor

He grabbed my arm and pulled me to the other side of the barn. “I’ll tell ya what you’re goin’ to do. You’re goin’ to stop cryin’ like a f**kin’ baby for starters. Then you’re goin’ to get your ass in that house and tell your wife that because nothin’ happened, you didn’t get the papers. You’re goin’ to tell my sister that you couldn’t go through with it.”

“I can’t lie to her, Man.”

“You need to, because it would be bad enough to hear what you think happened, but to top it off, she would still have to battle that woman for custody without the love and support of her husband by her side. She’s pregnant with twins, in case you haven’t noticed. She needs her husband.”

“She’s going to know.”

Conner shook his head and pushed me. “Ty, you told me that she drugged you. Is that the truth?”

I nodded. “I don’t remember shit. I sure as hell wouldn’t have cheated on my wife. I never would have taken things that far. I swear.” It didn’t matter what Conner believed. I knew the truth.

“As far as you know, nothing happened. You don’t remember it, so how are you lying? Shit, you could have passed out before anything did happen.” He put his hand on my shoulder. “It’s taken me a long time to accept your marriage, but one thing I have always known, was that you loved my sister. Even before you two had somethin’ goin’ there was always somethin’ between you. I don’t believe for one second that you would do any of this on purpose. Miranda is just as at fault for this, but I know she couldn’t handle it. What happened tonight, stays between me and you. Understood?” He shook his head. “Ty, when everyone was ready to turn their back on me, you opened up your home and let me get clean. I owe you my life. Consider this as a payback.”

I looked up at Conner and saw how serious he was. As much as I wanted to die for what had happened, I wanted to be with my family more. I’d promised to not lie to my wife and I hated that I was doing it, but it was about my family, not just me. It was about Izzy, and Jax and Jake. I needed to be their father.

I agreed to never speak of what happened and forget about it. I knew that Conner would always have something on me, but for some reason I felt like it made us closer. If he had my back, then he truly believed that I would never hurt my wife on purpose.

Once we got in the house, I got a shower and threw on some clothes from the laundry room. When I climbed into bed, I just laid there staring at my pregnant wife and I couldn’t help but to break down again.

Chapter 15

Miranda

Falling asleep was impossible when I knew where my husband was. Conner never left my side and I had finally calmed down when I realized why he’d hit Ty. It was a good plan, but still a little hard to watch.

I’d fallen asleep sometime after two in the morning, following hours of crying. Luckily, Bella went to sleep early and didn’t understand what exactly I was upset about anyway. We told her that her daddy had to do something with a loose cattle and she was content to that.

I woke up hours later to a sound I wasn’t very familiar with. As I slowly opened my eyes, I saw the back of my husband and his body was trembling. He was sobbing.

“Ty?”

He rolled over and I could see from his face that he’d been crying for a long time. His eyes were swollen and even in the dark room, he looked horrible. Fear rushed over me and I ran through all of the scenarios in my head. Was I really ready to ask him what happened? Did I want to hear the details? Did he love me enough to say no?

I reached my hand out and grabbed his, pulling it to my heart. “What happened?”

All I could think about was him cheating on me. If he’d done it to save our daughter, could I ever get past that?

“I didn’t get the papers. She didn’t believe me.” He started to cry more as I pulled him into my body. “I’m so sorry, Baby. God, I am so sorry. I just wanted to make things better for us. I wanted to protect our family.”

I kissed his head and wiped away the tears with my thumb. “Shhh, it’s goin’ to be okay. No matter what, we are goin’ to fight this woman. We’ll take it to court and fight her on the grounds of her bein’ an unfit person. The courts will believe us. Colt knows people. We can still beat this.”

Everything I was saying was true, but most of it was just optimistic thinking. Tucker’s mother was Bella’s grandmother and I found it hard to believe that the courts would be against her having a relationship and getting to know her blood relative.

Ty cried himself to sleep, while still nestled in my arms. It was uncomfortable, but I was too scared to wake him to get adjusted. Besides, after waiting up half the night and finally getting him home, I didn’t want to let go. I needed to be close to him. I needed to know that he was still mine.

When I woke up the next morning Ty was lying there staring at me. He was on his stomach resting his head on his hand. With his free arm, he traced the skin on my cheek. “Hey.”

I slid my body into his and waited for his strong arms to fold around me. When they did, I nestled my head against his chest. “Let’s not talk about anything today. Let’s just be together.”

His hand slowly moved its way up my t-shirt and I felt his fingers tracing the side of one of my br**sts. The twins were moving all around, maybe because I was starving. Between the movement and my stomach growling loudly, Ty began to laugh. He carefully pushed me on my back and kissed my belly. “I love this life with you. I’d do anything for you.”

I ran my hands through his hair and watched him look up at me. “Touch me, Ty.”

My stomach growled again and he shook his head and laughed into my stomach. “When’s the last time you ate?”

I shrugged. “I don’t remember.”

Ty sat up and rubbed his hands into his face. I watched him walk toward the bathroom in his underwear. I had to bite down on my lip when I saw the beginning of his sexy crack peeking out of the top of them. His sexy body made me crazy and I started imagining his hands all over me.

I could clearly hear him relieving himself, but it didn’t stop me from removing my shirt and wrapping my arms around him. Ty jumped at first and then finished what he was doing. He spun around and backed up enough to take in the site of me. My big belly made me feel huge, but I could tell from Ty’s eyes, that he didn’t agree with that.

He pulled the clip out of my hair and watched the length fall down over my br**sts. Ty bit down on his bottom lip and held up his index finger. “Hold that thought.” He grabbed his toothbrush and handed me mine, with a wink. I brushed my teeth and he looked me up and down. His eyes were desperate and I wanted his mouth to tell me what they were thinking.