Kept Secrets (Secret, Love & Betrayal Novel Book 2) Read online

  Ari swung at Kalon, but he ducked and raised up with a right hook to Ari’s jaw. Ari stumbled a few feet back and Taylor screamed, “Please stop.”

  Kalon beckoned for Ari to come forward.

  Ari cracked his neck, right then left.

  “You’re not worth it,” Kalon said, snatched his jacket off the ground, and swung it over his shoulders.

  Ari watched as Kalon hopped into his Jaguar and sped out of the gate.

  Ari’s glare shot daggers at Taylor as he rubbed the side of his swollen jaw. “Is this who you’re divorcing me for?”

  Taylor remained quiet while tears flowed effortlessly down her cheeks. Ari shook his head. “I guess this is how it’s going down.” He walked to his car and left.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  Taylor had just left the doctor’s office. The Ob/Gyn had determined that she was twenty- four weeks pregnant, five months along. She was definitely showing now and the more she tried to camouflage her stomach the bigger she looked in the maternity clothes.

  She worked from home a lot more than she would have liked and took conference calls rather than going into the office and having people question her about her current state; especially Libby and Pam.

  The little scene between Ari and Kalon had taken place two months ago. Kalon hadn’t called or come by since that day, and Ari’s words were still seared into her brain. Is this how it’s going down? She hoped he was referring to the divorce.

  Mr. Fox, her father’s lawyer, had released two statements to the media. She vaguely remembered the article read: Taylor Briggs Gallagher issues a public apology.

  I am deeply sorry for the hurt and embarrassment I have caused to my family and everyone that has been affected. This momentary indiscretion was a temporary weakness. I ask that you please respect my privacy and give my family time to heal.

  Kalon’s statement was similar, but less incriminating.

  Taylor wasn’t sorry for anything she did, but it helped her father save face with his political constituents. She still refused to put on the happy wife façade going forward. Her father hadn’t spoken to her since that day she left his office and it worked in her favor. If her father knew she was pregnant and by who, she was sure that a public apology would not smooth things over—at least, not with him.

  Lying in her bed, Taylor rubbed her stomach and smiled. The doctor had offered to tell her the gender of the baby, but she wanted it be a surprise. She had purchased a crib, stroller, car seat, and bottles and had them delivered directly to her home. She had mentally started preparing herself for being a single mother. Unfortunately, she would probably bring this baby in the world while still being married to Ari.

  Her cell vibrated and she glanced down at the screen. An image of her brother popped up in full view. Dang.

  “Hello,” she said.

  “Can you buzz the gate?”

  Taylor rolled out of the bed and ran to the bedroom window overlooking the front yard. Tyler’s Hummer was idling on the outside of the gate.

  “Sure,” she replied.

  She ended the call and pressed the remote to open the gates. Taylor rushed into her en-suite bathroom and grabbed a heavy white robe off the back of the door. She tied it around her waist, but her stomach was still out too far. She untied the two belts and let them hang to her side, praying that Tyler wouldn’t notice anything but the oversized Bulls T-shirt.

  She walked the few steps to open the door and Tyler strolled in. She waited to see if he would follow the same routine as always, and Tyler didn’t disappoint. He glanced around the room briefly, and headed for the kitchen. Pulling a bottle of water from the fridge, he took a seat at the stool on the island.

  Taylor stood leaning against the island, staring at him. “Have you made yourself comfortable?”

  “Yep.”

  Taylor smacked her lips. “What do you want, Ty?”

  He took a swallow of his water. “Why don’t you have anything stronger to drink?”

  “I don’t have time for this, Ty. What’s up?” she said, walking over to the fridge to take out two eggs and place them into a pot of water.

  Tyler spun around on the bar stool to face Taylor. “Sis, I love you and respect your opinion … but do you remember when I asked you about dating Libby?”

  Taylor nodded while turning the knob to ignite the fire. “Yes, you asked at my wedding. And I told you how I felt about it then.”

  “We went out a few times,” Tyler admitted.

  Taylor froze. “Ty, I told you not to date my best friend.” She shivered. “I mean, to even think of it sounds gross.”

  Tyler shrugged his shoulders. “Tay, listen to me. She makes me happy. Neither one of us wanted to hurt you. I don’t understand why you are so against us being together.”

  Tyler folded his arms across his chest and waited for an answer.

  Taylor blew out a frustrated breath. “You’re my baby brother and I’m just looking out for you. I just don’t think you ready for that type of commitment.” Taylor perched on the bar stool next to Tyler. “And Libby is my best friend. I know what she is looking for in a man. And—”

  “You don’t think I can be the man she needs?”

  Taylor shook her head. “What I’m saying is that Libby is ready to settle down; you’re still in the prime of your youth. I don’t want you to feel pressured to marry her. And if you guys don’t work out, I have to pick up the pieces.”

  Tyler left the bar stool and paced the room. “I swear to you, sis, I’m ready to be with her. I’ve never been with a woman who just gets me.” He had a faraway look in his eyes, and for a moment Taylor’s heart went out to him. “And I get her. Our chemistry is undeniable.”

  Taylor braced her elbows on the counter, watching as his expression changed from excitement to seriousness. Who was she to deny Libby and Tyler happiness? She didn’t want to lose the close relationship she had with her little brother or her friendship with Libby.

  “Ty, I’m sorry,” she said, reaching out to take his hands in hers. “If you love Libby, then I wish you two the best.”

  Tyler clasped his hands over hers, and pulled her in for an embrace. “I love you, sis.” He kissed her on the forehead, but Taylor shooed him away and he tossed his bottle in the trash on the way out the door.

  “Wait,” she hollered.

  Tyler walked back into the kitchen. “Why didn’t you tell me that Kalon came to the hospital?”

  Tyler’s gaze landed on her marble tiles. “Ty, what are you not telling me?”

  “Mom asked all of us not to tell you.”

  Taylor’s eyes widened to the size of saucers. “Who is ‘all of us’?” Taylor asked, trying to keep her voice calm as she took a head of lettuce from the fridge.

  “Toni, Libby, Pam, and me.”

  “Oh, I see,” she said, slicing a knife clean through the vegetable.

  “Have you gained weight?” Tyler asked.

  Taylor froze with the knife midway on its second pass through the lettuce. “Boy, something is wrong with your eyes,” Taylor said with a lopsided grin.

  Before she could stop him, Tyler had advance forward. He swirled her around by her waist and his hand touched her belly.

  “Don’t ask,” Taylor warned.

  He stood there with eyes transfixed on her stomach.

  “I gotta ask. Are you?”

  Warm tears welled up in her eyes.

  “Yes,” she whispered, settling on the nearest stool. “I’m pregnant.”

  As the tears flowed, Tyler held her and she laid her head on his broad shoulders.

  Taylor sniffled, and wiped her eyes with the back of a trembling hand. “Please don’t tell Mom and Dad,” she said.

  Tyler nodded. “Tay, you need to tell them soon. Get all these secrets out in the open.” Taylor ripped a paper towel off the holder and blotted at her eyes.

  “I will,” she said, “I promise. I just need some time to sort things out.”

  “Well, not too much ti
me,” he said. “That baby looks like it’ll be here in a few months.”

  Hours after Tyler left, Taylor emptied her uneaten salad in the garbage disposal and placed the plate in the dishwasher. She picked up the phone and dialed the number of the man she needed to come clean with.

  Taylor disconnected before the phone rang. “Damn it, Kalon!”

  ***

  “Go, Bulls! Go!” The crowd chanted at the United Center, and Kalon was cheering along with them. The Bulls were playing the Miami Heat and was grid-locked in an 86-point tie for the championship. Dwayne Wade had missed his second free throw attempt and the coach for the Bulls had called a time out.

  “Are you having a good time?” the woman with her hand resting on Kalon’s upper thigh asked him.

  “Yeah, kind of. Football is really my game,” he replied.

  Ephraim had begged him to accompany his girlfriend’s cousin to the game. The woman, who had just moved from Utah, was pretty in the looks department and a little skinnier than Kalon would have liked, but she had a nice personality and it was hard for him to be rude.

  Kalon gazed down at the manicured hand attached to his hamstring. This was the fourth time tonight that she had applied delicate pressure to his inner thigh. Kalon kept his head straight. He wished he was anywhere except here entertaining a woman who was not his type. His mind was too spacy at the moment to be charming.

  After two months, the visions of Taylor still invaded his every waking thought. He couldn’t understand why he couldn’t get this woman out of his head. It was like something was drawing him to her. However, the only thing that kept his feet grounded was the “almost” fight he had with Taylor’s husband. He didn’t do the fighting-over-a-woman thing. There were too many birds in the flock to submit himself to that type of humiliation. Kalon wasn’t a fighter, he was an icon. He gave women a lifetime of sexual pleasures to remember. This was always his calling in life—to be a sex symbol and to be every woman’s fantasy.

  “Hey, Kalon.” He snapped from his reverie at the sound of Ephraim’s voice. “Come with me to the concession stand.”

  Kalon refocused his attention to the court and realized that the game had gone into overtime.

  Damn, Taylor got me bugging.

  He pounced at the opportunity to get away from Ms. Aggressive. “A’ight.” He stood to bypass his date, if that was what she could be called.

  She reached out and rubbed her hands down his abs and said, “Hurry back, handsome.”

  Kalon rushed off the floor seats and up into the stands behind Ephraim. “Hold up, man,” Kalon shouted, a little out of breath.

  Ephraim stopped in his tracks. “Why you being rude?”

  Kalon walked up to the concession stand and ordered a medium popcorn and a large Coke. Giving the woman a ten dollar bill, he said, “Keep the change.” He turned to face Ephraim. “Man, I’m not being rude to Ms. Aggressive. I told you I didn’t want to come. Basketball is not my thing and I don’t even like half of the players on the Miami team.”

  Ephraim waved his hand. “Wait a minute. Did you just name that girl Ms. Aggressive?”

  Kalon nodded. Simultaneously, they broke out in laughter.

  Ephraim tried to stifle his laughter as he said, “Kalon, don’t play me. I know you’re sitting over there with that girl, thinking about Taylor.”

  Kalon grabbed his popcorn and drink off the counter, and walked over to the condiment table to apply salt to his popcorn. Ephraim was right behind him.

  “I’m not thinking about that girl.” Kalon tried to sound more convincing then he felt, and Ephraim gave him a sideways glance. They walked back toward section B, and to the second row from the floor.

  Ephraim was a season ticket holder and was guaranteed the same seats throughout the playoffs.

  As they approached the ground level, Ephraim whispered closer to his ear, “Go get your woman.”

  Kalon merely grunted his approval.

  ***

  Kalon had lost the coin toss with Ephraim earlier that day, making him the designated driver for tonight. Pulling up to the condo where Ephraim stayed with his girlfriend, Kalon waited patiently for everyone to exit the car.

  “A’ight, see you tomorrow,” Kalon said as he bumped fists with Ephraim.

  Ephraim took hold of Shelly’s hand and closed the door. Kalon glanced over to the passenger side of his vehicle to find that the remaining guest was giving him a devilish smile. Kalon assumed she wanted a proper goodnight.

  “I had a nice time …” He couldn’t remember her name, so he left that part out.

  Kalon watched as her hand came toward his face. She stroked his jawline and licked her lips.

  “You’re a sexy man. I want to see what this hunk of chocolate tastes like.”

  In your dreams.

  She started to move her lips forward with her eyes closed shut.

  Kalon froze. He had never had a woman to try to kiss him that he actually didn’t invite. In some weird way, he felt like he was cheating on Taylor.

  Ludicrous. The absurd thought vanished as her lips neared.

  He leaned his head backwards until it hit the window; he was trapped. Kalon’s hand shot up just in time.

  Her eyes popped open when her lips kissed the palm of his hand.

  She looked confused and somewhat embarrassed.

  Kalon wanted to let her down easy and not bruise the rest of her self-confidence.

  “I’m sorry … Ummm …”

  “Renee … a-hole,” she blurted out.

  “Renee,” Kalon continued, “I’m sorry to offend you, but this here is not going to happen.”

  “You weren’t my type anyway,” she said, and slammed his door like a linebacker on a football team.

  After the car shook several times, Kalon watched her sashay toward the house. He rolled down his car window and said, “Hey, hold up, Renee.”

  He turned the engine off and walked the few steps to where she stood. Her arms were planted across her small breasts and her eyebrows furrowed together. Kalon placed his hands in the pockets of his jeans.

  “I’m sorry, how that came out in the car.” He massaged the back of his neck. “I just got a lot of personal issues going on right now.”

  The rocks in her jaws relaxed to a half-smile. She uncrossed her arms and asked, “Who’s the girl who left that dagger in your heart?”

  Kalon observed the woman for the first time that night. Maybe he’d underestimated her intelligence.

  “Hmmm … what makes you think I’m suffering from a broken heart?”

  Renee let out a small chuckle. “C’mon, Kalon, I’m a woman and you’re a man. I think we’ve been around long enough to know the look of someone suffering from heartbreak.”

  Kalon had no response; she’d hit it right on the head. It wasn’t that hard to see that he was hot one moment and cold the next. Only a woman could do that to a man.

  “Do you want to have a night cap?” Kalon asked. “I know this 24-hour restaurant downtown.”

  Renee nodded. “Don’t try anything, because I don’t date guys who are already taken.”

  They laughed in unison.

  The only way to mend a broken heart was to move forward with someone new. He didn’t know the future or dare to predict that he and Renee would make it to the end, but she was a good start toward his recovery.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  Maci was throwing a temper tantrum, Ari concluded. She stomped her bare feet around the floor, slamming cabinet drawers, swinging open refrigerator doors, and shouting obscene words in his direction.

  Ari sat at the kitchen table eating his cereal. He had dropped Adrianne off at school, and it seemed now that he was in the house Maci did nothing. She had fired the nanny. He prepared all of Adrianne meals, helped with her homework, played with her, and bathed her at night. He read the bedtime stories, and all Maci did was wait for him to complete his daily routine and then tried to sneak into his bed at night.

  Every mornin
g she had this temper tantrum of their prior night, on what didn’t happen.

  “I hate you, Ari! You said,” she pointed in his face, “that you wanted to be a family with us and you’re not. I said hot passionate sex was involved, if you want to see your daughter.”

  Ari continued to tune her out; he wasn’t about to argue with crazy.

  “Do you hear me, Ari?” she shouted.

  Ari said nothing.

  He saw her fist coming at him out of his peripheral, and caught her arm in mid-air. Ari spoke thought taut lips, “You don’t want to do that.”

  Maci swung her other hand and he caught that one, too. Now they were standing in the middle of the kitchen in a stare down. Ari saw the pucker of her lips and Maci sent a ball of spit flying into his face.

  Ari shoved her back slightly toward the counter and wiped away the residue that had landed on his lips. He was fuming. Ari grabbed his car keys off the table and marched toward the door.

  Maci ran behind him and yelled from the screen door, “Don’t come back, asshole.”

  He ran outside into his rental and sped from the scene.

  Ari tightened both of his hands around the steering wheel as he hissed. He dialed Jay’s number on the car radio.

  “Hello.” Jay’s voice boomed through the speakers.

  “Man, have you found out anything yet?” Ari asked.

  “Yes, but I need to look into one more lose end. Are you good?”

  Ari gripped the steering wheel tighter. “Yeah, I’m cool, just hurry up with your investigation.”

  Jay assured him that he would have something soon, and Ari ended the call. His thoughts kept going back to Taylor. She had moved on with a new man and here he was stuck with a woman because of the one night he’d made the foolish decision to sleep with a stranger. That’s exactly what Maci was; he didn’t really know her or her past.

  He never took the time to ask her about her family or friends. The thought crossed his mind before, but honestly he didn’t care. He got caught up, and now he had to deal with the consequences. She was only supposed to been a one-night stand.