I was nervous after several hours passed and Grady didn’t come back to my house.  I had to assume that Dane was back in town since Grady didn’t return immediately.  I started sending him text messages asking where he was when it was almost midnight, but I didn’t get a response.  The nervousness turned to panic and terrible thoughts started to run through my head.  Dane could have convinced his brother to leave me.  He could have reminded him who I was before Grady married me and while I had fallen hard for Grady, I was still the woman who betrayed his brother with my lies.  I felt like our bond was strong and growing stronger by the day, but Dane was his blood—he was more family than I was. 

I chewed my nails and sat on the couch, just letting those thoughts consume me.  I wasn’t sure what I would do if Grady decided to abandon me.  I would be picking up the pieces of my broken heart for a long time.  It was probably what I deserved.  I certainly left Dane’s a shattered mess, although it seemed he had recovered based on what I saw during the draft.  There was a knock at the door and I ran to it, not even questioning why Grady would knock instead of opening the door like he always did.  Instead of the man I was expecting, I saw the ice cold stare of Ray Stone.

“Hello Monica.”  He put his hand on the door before I could slam it in his face.

“Go away!  The week isn’t up!”  I pushed against the door, but he pushed back and stepped into my house.

“You’re correct, but the guy I have watching your house says that Grady has been gone for a very long time.  Trouble in paradise?”  Ray grinned and slammed the door behind him.

“No.”  I took a step back and glared at him.

“I’m glad to hear that.  I would hate to think that Mr. Grant has been so generous with the two of you only to end up empty handed again.”  He took a step towards me, which caused me to take another step back.

“Grady is going to get the money.”  Another step followed and then my back was against the wall.

“Of course he is.”  Ray’s hellish grin turned to a snarl as he got so close I could feel his breath against my scalp.  “You really must be a delicious piece of ass.  Two brothers who fell for you—the loser and the quarterback.”

“Grady’s not a loser.”  I lifted my head and felt my face flushing with rage.  “He’s more of a man than you.”

“Do you think an insult is going to upset me?”  Ray slammed his hand against the wall beside my face, causing the sheet rock to shatter.  “You should have married the quarterback.  At least then you would be a wealthy whore instead of wasting these curves on Grady.”

“We’re going to get the money.  You have no business being here.  The week isn’t up.”  I tried to remain defiant, but a lump was rising up in my throat.

“I just thought the two of you could use a reminder.”  He smiled again and leaned close to my ear.  “If Grady doesn’t come through with the money, I’m going to kill him.  I’m not going to make it an easy death, either.  I’m going to break him piece by piece until he chokes on his bones.”

“That might not be as easy as you think.”  I pushed him hard in the chest and spit directly in his face.

“You’ve got some fight in you.”  His expression didn’t change.  He simply reached into his pocket, pulled out his handkerchief and wiped away my spit.  “People pay good money to watch pretty little things like you get broken—they pay even more to be the one that breaks them.  I’d pay at least fifty-thousand for that.”

“You’ll never lay a hand on me.”  My jaw tightened and I narrowed my eyes at him.

“Tick-tock...”  He took a step back and tapped his watch.  “Your time is running out.”

***

I DIDN’T NEED A VISIT from Ray Stone to remind me how real the situation was and how terrible the consequences were going to be if Grady didn’t return with the fifty-thousand my father owed Walter Grant.  I needed to see Grady.  I needed to know that Ray’s threat was just callous words from a man I would never see again once we paid the debt. 

I walked to the kitchen and grabbed the only set of keys left.  My father had taken Grady’s motorcycle and Grady had taken my car, so the only thing left was my father’s truck.  It barely run most days and had left him stranded on the side of the road more times than I could count, but it was the only option I had.  I saw Ray’s SUV still parked on the street when I walked outside and climbed into the cab.  His menacing glare was in the rear-view mirror and he tapped his watch again as I turned the key and tried to start the engine.  My father always had the magic touch and could start it with one rotation, but it started to grind when I tried to crank it.  It took several tries, but I finally heard the engine roar to life.  I had no idea where Grady was, but I knew he was going to see his brother, so that was the first place to look.

Where are you, Grady?

I could see lights on at the Faulkner house when I approached, but I didn’t see my car.  I thought about driving by, but the engine started to stall when I slowed the truck down and sputtered when I hit the gas.  It seemed like fate was telling me I was going to have to confront the man I had betrayed—it was the only way to find out where Grady could possibly be. 

I sent him one more text message, just hoping we had passed in the night and he was on his way back to my house.  I got no response, not even a few dots suggesting he was trying to type something back.  The entire screen was filled with my messages to him and not a single one from his end.  I took a deep breath and started walking up the driveway to the front door of the house.  I could hear music playing, which suggested someone was home.  I knocked on the door repeatedly until I heard footsteps and when the door open, I saw Dane’s face—a face that quickly turned to an angry scowl when he saw it was me on the other side.

“It’s you.”  He tightened his grip on the edge of the door.  “Did you come to beg for money on your own after Grady failed to convince me to pay off your father’s debt?”

“Grady was here?  Do you know where he went?”  My words were hurried.

“Who fucking knows.  He probably went home.”  Dane shrugged and started to close the door.

“Wait, Dane—please.”  I put my hand on the door.

“Who is it?”  I heard a woman’s voice call out from behind him.

“See for yourself.”  He let go of the door and the pressure I was putting on it caused it to open wider.  I saw the blonde woman from the draft standing behind him—completely naked from head to toe.

“You must be Monica.”  She laughed and walked over, putting her hand on Dane’s shoulder. “Sorry honey, he’s all mine now.”

“So much for that abstinence pledge.”  I looked at Dane and raised my eyebrows.  “And you’re drinking, too?”  I could smell it resonating off of them both.

“He just needed someone that had a pussy worth fucking.”  The blonde woman scoffed at me.

“What a proud thing to say about yourself.”  I rolled my eyes.  “Dane, I’ll go if you can just tell me where Grady is.”

“Not here.”  The woman shook her head.  “He’s been gone for hours.”

“He probably went to his apartment.”  Dane shrugged and started to push the door closed.  “Have a nice life, Monica.”

“Wait!”  I put my hand on the door.  “Uh, where is his apartment exactly?”

“You don’t even know where your own husband lives?”  Dane laughed and the woman joined in.  “Why am I not surprised.  Allison, go get a piece of paper.  I’ll give her the address if it’ll get rid of her.”

“Sure thing.”  Allison kissed his cheek and locked eyes with me before walking towards the living room.

“Dane, I’m really sorry about what I did.”  I sighed and shook my head.  “I deserve your hate.  I understand why you don’t want to give me the money, but there’s a lot at stake here.”

“I’ll tell you what, Monica.”  Dane looked over his shoulder and then back to me.  “Why don’t I get rid of Allison and the two of us can have a little fun?  It would be worth fifty-grand to me just to see what I was missing out on.”

“That isn’t going to happen, Dane.”  I shook my head back and forth.  “If you’ll just give me your brother’s address...”

“Here!”  Allison walked up behind him with a pen and a piece of paper.  “Write fast, I’m already horny again.”

“You got it, babe.”  Dane quickly scribbled the address and shoved the paper into my hand.  “Good riddance.”

The door slammed in my face and I squeezed the paper tight in my palm.  I couldn’t believe the version of Dane I saw was the same sweet man I was going to marry.  There was no way for me not to feel responsible for what he had become.  It tore at my heart as I walked back to my father’s truck and struggled to crank it up again. 

As much guilt as I felt over what Dane had become, I couldn’t let it consume me.  I had to find Grady.  Considering Dane’s state, I had no idea what he had said to Grady and I didn’t know if it had somehow shifted my husband’s perspective of me.  If what we had was lost, then I needed to know. 

I used the light from my cell phone to memorize the address and then started driving.  It wasn’t far so I didn’t have to toil in my own thoughts for long.  I rushed into the building and took the stairs instead of the elevator.  I couldn’t even stand the thought of waiting for it to arrive.  I got to the apartment door and started knocking, pushing my ear to it to see if I could hear anything.  I pounded louder when I didn’t hear anything and then I heard a grunt—someone was in there.  Footsteps followed and the door unlocked.

“Grady!”  I dove into his arms and wrapped my hands around his neck.  I pressed my lips to his and immediately tasted whiskey.

“Shit, what are you doing here?”  He didn’t return my kiss and when he pulled away he put his hand on his head.

“Dane gave me the address.  I was worried when you didn’t come back.  I guess I should have been more worried about finding my car wrapped around a telephone pole.”  The source of his intoxication seemed to be the bottle on the counter that was mostly empty.

“You saw Dane?”  Grady let out a sigh.  “I guess you know he didn’t give me the money, then.”

“I don’t want to talk about that right now.”  I closed the distance between us and wrapped my arms around him again.  “Just hold me—tell me you’re not going to leave me.”

“Leave you?”  He put his arms around me. “No, I just didn’t want to come back and tell you I was a fucking failure.”

“You’re not a failure.”  I leaned back and stared into his eyes.  “You’re all I want—fuck the money—fuck Walter Grant and Ray Stone.  Let’s just leave.  Let’s get the hell out of Las Vegas tonight and never come back.”

Grady’s hand interlocked with mine and I felt something against my skin.  I looked at his hand and saw the wedding band I had placed on it, although I had only seen that memory in pictures.  A smile crept across my face.  It was the first time he had put it on since the ceremony.  I had put mine back on after the first time we made love, and just seeing it on his hand made me feel more joy than I had felt in a long time. 

I started kissing him with more passion and he finally started to show signs of the desire I was used to feeling from him.  Our tongues swirled together and then he led me to his bedroom.  We undressed quickly and our lips continued to chase the next kiss as pieces of our clothing hit the floor.  He lifted me up and turned towards the bed, sinking between my thighs as soon as we were on the mattress.  His cock was already hard and my pussy was drenched with my desire for him.  He started to enter me and I gasped from the pleasure of the penetration.  His lips crushed mine underneath his kiss for a moment before they started to tease my neck while his hands caressed my breasts.

“This is all that matters.”  I whispered into his ear and gasped again.  “The two of us against the world.”

“Fuck the world.”  His words came out in a raspy growl.

He started to drive his cock into me, getting faster with every thrust.  I felt so close to him that it seemed like our skin was melded together.  I never wanted him to stop.  I just wanted to be trapped in that moment with our bodies forever consumed in the lust that had given way to love.  I no longer doubted what I felt for Grady—it was the only version of love I had ever truly known. 

My body reacted to his touch and it was like fireworks in my heat each time he came down between my thighs and slammed his cock deep inside me.  I needed him—I wouldn’t let anyone take him from me.  We could run away forever and I would live anywhere as long as I was with him.  He kept the steady rhythm of our bodies coming together and I shifted my hips to take every inch of his dick, desperate for the feeling of ultimate bliss to take my mind off of everything that swirled in my head.  His lips continued teasing my neck, occasionally brushing against mine as our passion continued to grow.  His breath started to get harder, each thrust making my body quiver with desire for the next one.

“Harder...”  I begged, squeezing him as hard as I could.  “Don’t stop.”

I think there were words buried somewhere beneath his hurried breaths, but they were not loud enough for the thunder in my ears to make sense of what he said.  He grunted and continued to pound his cock into me, making my body surge with pleasure.  I could feel the orgasm building and I was so close to the point of no return that I could taste it on the tip of my tongue. 

His cock started to throb inside me and his steady rhythm was interrupted by the lust consuming him.  The bed felt like it would shatter beneath us, but I didn’t care.  His throbs turned to quick, steady pulsations that felt like he had set my g-spot on fire.  I went over the edge and started to orgasm, feeling my pussy clamp down on his cock.  The tightness sent him over the edge as well and I felt cum rush through his shaft.  He exploded inside of me, throwing his head back with a roar as he unloaded his seed.  I continued to orgasm with his release, feeling a second one build and erupt before he was done.  My muscles started to relax and I sank into the mattress, still locked in his arms.  He slumped down on top of me and his breathing slowly returned to normal.  After a few seconds of respite, he rolled to the side and our bodies remained tangled together in the afterglow of our bliss.

“I don’t think I can move...”  I muttered as my eyes slowly closed.  “But we need to figure out what we’re going to do.”

“We’ll figure it out tomorrow.”  He pulled me closer and I gave him a weak nod.