Over the next two months, Nicole and I worked tirelessly on our project during any spare time we had. It was difficult keeping it from Ryland, but I made sure to keep him out of the sewing room and limit my activities to the time he was at work.

Brayden and I still weren’t speaking, but Norma-Jean was. That morning she’d informed me Ryland had cut her off, much to her dismay. A spark of hope bloomed inside of me, and I couldn’t extinguish it with any amount of logic.

Which was why the minute Ryland walked in the door that evening, I was all over him.

He hit the door with an oomph as I pressed my naked body against him, fumbling to get his buttons undone quick enough.

Ryland didn’t argue as he discarded his suit jacket and unzipped his pants enough to free himself.  I clung to his body when he picked me up and spun me around, seeking out the tender flesh of my neck with his teeth. He fucked me hard and fast against the wall, rattling the picture frames and shattering a vase beside us in the process.

When he’d filled me with his release and collapsed against the wall, I finished undressing him and tugged him along to the sofa behind me.

“You’re going to kill me,” he teased, pulling me onto his lap. “You’ve been insatiable lately.”

It was true, though I didn’t know why. My entire body was a live wire, constantly humming with sexual energy. Every part of me was tender, including my breasts, and the slightest touch turned me into a useless puddle of hormones.

“Are you complaining?” I kissed my way down his chest.

“Does it look like I’m complaining?” he gripped his hardening cock in his hand.

I grinned and pushed him back inside of me where I planned for him to spend the rest of the night.

 

***

 

I barely made it to the toilet before I heaved up the contents of my stomach. Ryland trailed behind me, trying to hold back my hair while I swatted him away.

“Ugh, don’t,” I groaned. “I need to take a shower.”

He frowned and retrieved his phone from his pocket. “I think I should call the doctor.”

I reached up and stopped him as I stood on shaky legs. “I’m fine, Ryland,” I assured him. “It’s just the flu.”

He didn’t look like he wanted to leave, but he had an important business dinner tonight. He’d been talking about it all week.

“I’ll stay in bed all night,” I promised. “Okay?”

He nodded and pocketed his phone reluctantly. “I’m still going to have Nicole come by to check on you.”

He leaned down and kissed me on the forehead before he walked out the door, leaving me in peace to my sore stomach. Something strange had been going on with me lately, but I chalked it up to stress.

I stepped into the shower and scrubbed myself clean, enjoying the hot water on my skin. But the incessant ringing of my cell phone from the next room started to threaten my enjoyment, and I turned off the tap in frustration.

I had no idea who would be calling me repeatedly, but I guessed it was probably Ryland. He worried about me obsessively whenever something minor happened.

I padded towards the bedroom and picked up my phone, scrolling through the messages. Six missed calls from Norma-Jean. I dialed her number back and swallowed the lump in my throat when she answered on the first ring.

“What’s going on?”

“They know,” she blurted, her voice completely hysterical.

While Norma was always a little dramatic, I’d never heard her quite like this. There was real fear in her voice as she repeated the words over and over.

“Who knows what?” I demanded.

“They know Brayden’s his son,” she continued. “And that he didn’t finish the job. They’re coming after him, so he’s coming to get you.”

“Norma, I don’t understand what you’re talking about.” I rubbed my temples in exhaustion. “You have to calm down and explain.”

“Frankie’s wife found out about Brayden,” she said. “And she put a hit out on him. But Brayden thinks she knows about you too that’s why he’s coming to San Francisco.”

Her words were a sucker punch to the gut. I knew that Frankie was a dangerous man. And I knew he had a wife and other kids, but I had no idea how much trouble we’d be in if she ever discovered us. But it all made sense when I pieced it together. Why we lived in some shit hole in the middle of nowhere for as long as I could remember. Why our mother had changed her name and given us her father’s last name. All the secrets that had piled up over the years, never fitting together, suddenly made perfect sense.

Had Norma really lived that way to protect us from Frankie’s family? It wasn’t something I could reconcile in my head. She didn’t have a maternal bone in her body, and yet Brayden’s words came back to haunt me.

She had a rough go of it, Brighton. Things weren’t easy for her either…

I wanted to ask her. But it wasn’t the right time.

“When’s he getting here?” I glanced at the clock on the wall.

“He’ll be there at 7:15,” Norma rattled off. “You have to take care of each other, Brighton. You have to hide. You don’t understand what these people are capable of…”

The panic in her voice scared me. Norma-Jean had never panicked over anything except for money. But right then, it was clear as day how much she loved us. And I couldn’t believe I was only just hearing it now.

“I’ll protect him,” I assured her. “I’ll figure something out.”

“Okay,” she sniffled. “Please make sure you do.”

“What about you, mom?” I croaked.

For the first time in forever, she didn’t reprimand me for using the word.

“I’ll be okay,” she assured me. “I have a cousin in Springfield who’s going to let me stay with her a while.”

A cousin in Springfield? Again, something I hadn’t been privy to.

“Okay.” I glanced up at the clock again. “I have to go get ready. Please be careful, Norma.”

“You too, Brighton. I love you.”