I knew that Bryan was right.
“I’ll do it,” I said.
“I think we just did,” Bryan said.
“No, you cheeky little man. I mean going to the police.”
I felt him pause, and it gave me time to turn around in his arms. My stomach pressed into his as he cupped my cheek, his thumb caressing my flushed skin. I looked into his eyes as my leg slid between his, not caring about the fluids dripping from between my thighs.
“If we go to the police, we could set up a sting. I still don’t have a security camera system in the gallery—”
“Which we’re changing once this is all over. Immediately,” Bryan said.
“I know,” I said. “But a sting operation would catch him in the act. And it would be perfect since he’s coming back for his money in a few days.”
“When did he say he was coming back?”
“The third of July,” I said.
“The first thing we need to do is call Ramon. We need to tell him what’s going on. If we tell him why you were willing to sell the paintings, he’ll relinquish them. He’s a good man.”
“A good man you were jealous of once,” I said.
“Yeah, well. I had some time to get to know him and his actual intentions with you.”
“He might try to use another art tour as a bargaining chip for giving up the paintings,” I said.
“Then let him. Your European tour was highly successful. Why couldn’t you do another one?” he asked.
“Because I’m about to have a child,” she said.
“Then set the tour for after our child turns one. I’d like to have a cultured child anyway. I’ll be the fun stay-at-the-hotel dad, and you can do your thing. Then, we can come to all of your gallery openings. We could celebrate our child’s first birthday that way.”
“You’ve really thought about this, haven’t you?” I asked.
“Nope. I spitballed that. But it’s an option. Just call Ramon. You let me handle the police.”
“Okay,” I said.
“I have one question, though.”
“What’s that?” I asked.
“Was that burger good? Because that burger looked fantastic.”
I buried my face into the pillow and began to laugh as Bryan’s hands danced along my sides. I giggled as he tickled me, rolling me over onto my back. He straddled me and pinned me down as I squealed and screamed for him to stop. I grabbed his hands and tried to pull them away from my body, causing him to collapse on top of me.
“I love you, Hailey. We’re going to get you out of this,” he said.
“Please forgive me,” I said. “I’m so sorry, Bryan.”
“You’ll always be forgiven with me,” he said.
Chapter 23
Bryan
The more I talked to the police and thought about this Ben situation, the more convinced I was that Laura had nothing to do with it. Once I sat down with the police and figured out how easy it would have been to track Hailey down, I was no longer convinced this Ben character was capable of digging into my past. With the news articles that had run on Hailey alone, anyone would have been able to find her.
Even someone as sleazy as Ben.
So, there was only one other option, the only person who knew of my current life with Hailey and the only person who was still rallying against it, despite everyone asking her to back down. This had my mother written all over it, and I was ready to end this once and for all.
I told Hailey I didn’t want her to be a part of this. I told her exactly what I thought and how it was the only theory that made sense. My mother adored Laura. She was one of our champions in high school. She was ready to announce our engagement at my fucking graduation party. And when Laura broke up with me, she spent months chastising me for it, telling me what I could’ve done better and how I screwed things up with a wonderful girl. She’d even given me advice on how I could get her back and what grand romantic gestures my mother ‘knew she would love.’
My mother had staged this, and she was about to get my wrath.
I pulled up to my parents’ house as I white-knuckled the steering wheel. In order for me to get through to my mother, I had to approach her with a level head. If I erupted in front of her, she could cast this off as no more than an emotional outburst from her stressed son. But if I kept a level head and looked her in the eye, she wouldn’t be able to blame it on emotion.
She would have to face it head-on, and I was determined to make sure she did just that.
I drew in a deep breath before I slid from my truck. I marched up to the door and knocked on it before I opened it myself. I needed to keep a level head, but I wasn’t going to give my mother any semblance of control. From the moment people approached my parents’ house, they were controlled. Someone opened the door for them, someone dictated a dinner time for them, and someone else got them a drink of their own choosing. I needed to set a standard that I was the one in control of this scenario.
So, I opened the door and made my way into the sitting room.
“Bryan? Is that you?”
My mother looked up from the book she was reading as my father poked his head out of his studio.
“Son! What brings you around? Is Hailey with you?” my father asked.
“I have missed you so much,” my mother said.
She got up to give me a hug, but I didn’t return the favor. She wrapped her arms around me and patted my back, but all I did was cast a glare at my father. He stood in the corner with his brow furrowed, wondering what in the world had brought me here.
But he was about the find out the exact type of woman my mother had allowed herself to turn into.
“I am so glad you finally came to your senses,” my mother said. “Are you all right?”
“Bryan? Where’s Hailey?” my father asked.
“She’s fine. She’s at home cooking some dinner. I don’t have much time. I only came to talk,” I said.
“She’s at home? Well, she could’ve come here and had some dinner. I’m sure whatever our chef’s cooking would’ve been much better for you,” my mother said.
“I know you think I’m here to apologize, but I’m not,” I said.
“Oh?” my mother asked. “Then why in the world did you just barrel through our front door?”
“Have you been in contact with Laura Green?”
“Laura Green? That little girl you dated in high school?” my father asked.
“She was the one with the blond hair, right?” my mother asked.
“Don’t play that game, Mom. You’ve never been good at it,” I said.
“I don’t know what you mean,” she said.
I watched her keep a stoic face, but it was her hands that always gave her away. She had this tick whenever she was lying through her teeth. She could look you in the eye, but she couldn’t keep from picking at her nail beds. She spent hundreds of dollars a month on manicures trying to get her hands to not look like the battleground they were, and my eyes quickly dropped to see what they were doing.
She was picking at them relentlessly, and my eyes slowly panned over to my father.
“Dorothy. What have you done?” my father asked.
“I haven’t done a thing,” my mother said.
“Your fingertips say differently,” I said. “Now, you can admit it, or I’ll admit it for you. But if I have to admit it, you’re done.”
“What in the world does that mean?” she asked.
“With our life. With Hailey’s and my life. With your future grandchild’s life. You’re done,” I said.
“Now Bryan, hold on a second. Maybe your mother hasn’t done whatever it is you’re accusing her of,” my father said.
“It’s noble, you standing up for your wife. I get it. I’ve done it time and time again with you and Hailey. But at some point in time, Mom has to accept the consequences of her actions. And even though I defend Hailey, I never stand in the way of her learning a lesson no matter how hard that lesson is. Because she’s an adult. Just like Mom,” I said.
“I am nothing like Hailey,” my mother said.
“No, you’re not. Because Hailey is beautiful and full of life, compassionate and unreserved. She loves with everything she has, and she always forgives no matter what. She’s artistic and fluid. Spontaneous and happy. You’re right, Mother. You’re none of those things.”
I held my gaze with my mother as I tried to keep my voice under control. Her eyes were dancing along my face as my father scooted behind her. I had to give it to him. He was a strong man standing behind a woman like that. But in some ways, I felt sorry for him that he was stuck with a shell of a woman who was unwilling to admit how far she had fallen from grace. It had been a grace she once possessed when John and I were still little.
“I’m going to give you one more chance to tell me about Laura Green,” I said. “Because if I have to, when I walk out of here, it’ll be the last time I step foot in your life.”
“Bryan, threatening people the way you do doesn’t solve anything. And I have no idea what you mean with regard to Laura. Sure, I’ve kept up with her family. It’s what people do. They keep up with each other. I tell people what you do because I’m proud of you. I’m proud of the man you’ve turned into and the job you have and the people you’re finally fraternizing with.”