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

  He probably hates me.

  Her memory had come back over a few months. Now she felt like a fool for storming out of his house that day. The memories of hearing his voice in the hospital seemed like a dream now. Beautiful, listen to my voice and come back to me.

  She loved him. She owed him. She had betrayed him. He deserved better.

  Her health was improving every day. She had upgraded from a wheelchair to crutches. However, even though she could get to other areas of the house and to a phone, she still had been reluctant to call Kalon. Once she was well enough, she would give him an apology face to face.

  And the “little one” was still a secret she continued to keep from her family and her best friends. She didn’t want to tell anyone before she told Kalon.

  Taylor’s head snapped up with a jolt when she heard the bedroom door squeak. Her father came into the room wearing his usual attire; a double breasted black suit. “Did I frighten you?” Taylor shook her head. Her father moved further into the room, placing his hands in his side pockets. “I just stopped by to see how you are doing.”

  “Fine,” Taylor responded.

  “Good. Have you heard from Ari?”

  Taylor rolled her eyes heavenward. “Dad, I told you that Ari and I are separated. There’s no reason for him to come here.”

  Taylor watched as her father moved to the side of the bed and towered over her. In a cutting tone, he said, “I know what you told me, Taylor, but it would be in your best interest to make it work.” With that threat, he closed the door behind him.

  Long after her father had left, Taylor sat and stared at the closed wooden door in awe. The somewhat warning rang caution in her ears, but she had other things that she needed to figure out, and one was how she was going to tell Kalon he was about to be a father.

  Many nights, when she lay awake somewhere between pain and misery, Taylor rehearsed the scene in her head on how she would deliver the news. “You’re the father,” sounded too much like Maury, the talk show. “We’re having a child,” sounded too direct.

  Kalon would invade her dreams at night, and she kept waking up wet and horny. Then she’d find herself calling for Joy in the wee hours of the night to come and help her get out of her sweaty clothes.

  In her fantasies, he would have her bent over the arm of the couch and be pounding her from behind. Then the scene would switch and she would be riding him. Their sexual escapades would go on for hours. She could still see images of his wet skin touching hers, the slapping noises, her moans, his magnificent body, biceps, and firm butt. Taylor bit her bottom lip and let out a moan.

  Using a single crutch, she hopped over to the window overlooking the small pond her mother had built last year. The ducks swam with their ducklings in tow, making ripples in the aqua water. The reporters had all dispersed, except for one. Last week, Taylor overheard the bodyguards on the grounds warning the young man that he was trespassing on private property. Yesterday, her mother opened a window and yelled at the man to get off her property and away from her daughter before she had him arrested. Whoever this reporter was, he wanted a story and wasn’t giving up. Taylor could now see the familiar red Ford Focus parked across the street from her parents’ gated house. His camera lens was aimed right at her window, so Taylor closed the drapes quickly. She wobbled back over to the bed and placed her headphones over her ears to listen to music.

  The reporter was the least of her problems. It didn’t matter to her if Kalon wanted to be a family with her or not; she was ready and capable of raising the baby on her own. However, she knew for damn sure that she wouldn’t be bringing a baby in the world while still married to Ari Gallagher.

  CHAPTER TEN

  Driving down Wacker Drive, Kalon blasted his radio. The music ceased as the ringing built-in flat screen in the dashboard displayed that he had a caller. Punching the phone button on his steering wheel, he blurted, “What’s up, E?”

  Ephraim’s voice boomed through the car speakers, “Hey, man, why did you run off so early the other night?”

  Kalon let out a chuckle. “E, it was late and I was tired.”

  “Excuses, excuses,” Ephraim chanted. “Anyway, Josh swept in and took home your leftovers.”

  “What?” Kalon asked.

  Ephraim sighed. “You already forgot about that woman who dry humped you on the dance floor?”

  “Oh! Yeah, sexy legs,” Kalon said, licking his lips.

  “Yep, and I haven’t heard from Josh today, so I hope he can handle all of that package.” Both men laughed in unison.

  “She did have a lot of something in the trunk, but you know Josh, he’ll try his best to hang,” Kalon said. “Hey, E, I’m on my way into the office. I’ll stop by your office in an hour.”

  “Cool,” Ephraim replied.

  Kalon disconnected the call and pulled his truck into his reserved place on the paved lot.

  He missed his company and employees, and was ready to put his focus back where it belonged.

  Although he still loved Taylor, it was time to move on. Too much time had passed and he still hadn’t heard from her. One thing he never did was cry over a woman, and he wasn’t going to start now.

  He walked in and was greeted by Jenny, a woman who had grown up in one of the toughest neighborhoods in Chicago, but was now his receptionist and did a damn good job at it.

  “Welcome back, boss man.”

  “Indeed,” he answered, giving her a wide grin.

  Kalon strolled down the narrow hallway and a few employee’s peeked their heads over the cubicles and greeted him. Kalon nodded as he kept it moving toward his office.

  “Mr. Knight.”

  Kalon turned to stare into the eyes of the mail clerk, Rob. “Hey, Rob, how it’s going?” The corner of Rob’s lips turned into a wide smile.

  “It’s going good, boss. I’ve been keeping my ears and eyes open,” he drawled.

  “Good,” Kalon replied and patted Rob on the back. “Keep up the good work.”

  Rob had a few screws loose in the head. His dream was to be an FBI agent and Kalon only assumed he thought he had Angel Kid’s under some type of surveillance by the way he always made the comment, I’m watching them, boss.

  Glancing around his office, he saw that everything was still intact, and slung his briefcase on his desk. His red and black décor gave his office a dramatic ambiance.

  His mini vacation was much needed, but he had to get back to living. Kalon slipped into the comfortable leather folds of the executive office chair and rolled himself up to a glass L-shaped desk.

  He opened his laptop, tapping a few commands on the keys to bring up an Excel spreadsheet.

  Kalon heard a light tap on his office door.

  “Come in,” he said without taking his eyes off of the computer screen.

  The door closed behind his visitor and he heard a soft cough. When he saved the file and looked up, anger ripped through him.

  Patricia White stared back at him, her arms folded over her small chest, waiting for him to say something.

  If Kalon’s eyes could shoot fire, he would have sent her up in flames. His jaw muscles flinched and he balled his fist up on the keyboard. He had blocked her number from his phone the day that she called, and now she stood three feet away, looming over him as if she had every right to be there.

  She glanced around the office, like she realized she should probably be nervous. Walking over to his sofa, she took a seat.

  Kalon came out from behind his desk. “Did I ask you to sit?” he snapped.

  Her eyes became glossy with unshed tears and she slowly got to her feet.

  “No, sit!” he commanded, and she quickly complied like some trained dog.

  He jammed his hands in his pockets; making sure they wouldn’t end up around her neck. After what she had done, choking her would be the best he had to offer.

  Patricia gave him a half-smile.

  “Why are you here?” he demanded.

  She fidgeted with her purse
strap as she stared out the window. “I don’t know. I had to see you.”

  Kalon perched on the edge of his desk and folded his arms. It had never occurred to him that Patricia might have caught feelings for him. No woman in her right mind would continue to come after a man who never showed signs of wanting her. His mother had told him once “that some things last a lifetime for some people.” He hoped that wasn’t the case with this fantasy relationship Patricia had in her head.

  Kalon inspected his watch and saw it was near lunch time. He probably shouldn’t have this conversation with Patricia at his office. The last thing he needed was his personal business to be hot gossip around the office. She was nice girl and very beautiful, but she wasn’t the one for him. Usually by now he would have gotten rid of her type by just simply not returning their calls, but something wasn’t wrapped right with Patricia. Fatal attraction were the words that came to mind, and he had to take it serious. He had seen the movie where the woman that the husband had slept with became psychologically deranged. Kalon prayed his outcome wouldn’t come to that.

  “Let’s go grab something to eat. We need to talk.”

  Patricia smiled from ear to ear as she jumped up and grabbed ahold of his hand. Kalon snatched it away and opened the office door. “Patricia, don’t get the wrong idea. We’re just going to talk.”

  Patricia’s smile vanished, and for a moment it seemed as though she replaced her short-lived happiness with some sense of dignity.

  “Okay,” she said and strutted out the office. Kalon let out a long breath and hoped he didn’t just make a mistake.

  ***

  Kalon and Patricia walked the five minutes to a nearby restaurant. A public place was in order, due to the reality of him not being sure of what type of mind set Patricia was in. Driving anywhere together was not going to happen. He had seen the movie Vanilla Sky, when Cameron Diaz drove Tom Cruise off the bridge, and he wasn’t trying to make a sequel.

  Taking a sip of her iced tea, she asked, “Are you dating anyone?”

  Kalon raised his head from the salad on his plate, wiped his mouth with the cloth napkin, and placed it back on his lap. The moment had arrived and he had to give it to her raw. “No, I’m not dating anyone,” he said. “But that doesn’t mean that there is a chance between you and me. Ever.”

  He gave it a moment for the words to sink in.

  “I know you’re the one who sent the email about Taylor, but I didn’t need you to do that.”

  Patricia lowered her head and took another sip of her tea.

  “Look, Kalon, this lunch is not going the way I expected. I don’t know what I expected, but this isn’t it.” She waved her hand in the air.

  Kalon pounded his fist on the table. “What did you actually expect, Patricia? For me to applaud you for your little stunt? Have sex with you? Or maybe tell you I want to be with you.” Kalon lowered his tone when Patricia began to glance around at the other diners.

  Rubbing his head, he said calmly, “I’m sorry to blow up at you.”

  He noticed Patricia’s hands shook on the table; he assumed she had become nervous or maybe scared. He continued, “Taylor was in a serious car accident. I’m not saying it’s your fault, but you have to let people make their own decisions. I don’t know how much clearer I can be with you about us.” He pointed to Patricia and back to himself. “It’s not going to happen.”

  Patricia briefly twirled the spaghetti around, but dropped the fork against the bowl with a clacking sound. She locked Kalon with an intense stare.

  “If you had never dated Taylor, would there have been a chance between us?”

  Kalon propped his elbow up on the table and rested his chin in the palm of his hand. He stared her straight in the eyes.

  “I don’t know, Patricia, it’s hard for me to answer that. To be honest, I wasn’t looking to get involved with anyone. If I never met Taylor, I couldn’t say that we could’ve had something.”

  “That’s not what I wanted to hear, but I appreciate your honesty,” she said in a low tone. “I guess I’ve been a little like Nikki on that television show, The Parkers.”

  Kalon moderately laughed and gave her a small smile. “Pretty much. And I’m no Professor Olgevee, he makes waaaaay more money than I do.”

  “You will one day. I believe in you,” she said, reaching into her purse to pull out some cash.

  Kalon placed his hand over hers and crumbled the bill back into her palms. “Patricia, you’re a beautiful woman. There is some man out there—the right man—who will love you for who you are. I’m not that man. And you’re not a woman who should be chasing any man who’s not giving you mad respect. You feel me?”

  “I got it and I’m sorry.” Patricia smiled and stood to leave.

  Kalon stood and embraced her, kissing her cheek as she whispered, “I’ve heard all that before, but sometimes I get so tired of waiting.” She gave him a lopsided grin. “If my Mr. Right is out there, he must’ve gotten hit by a bus or something.”

  “Then you need to be at the hospital waiting for the paramedics to roll him in.”

  Patricia let go of a belly laugh, embraced him one last time, and she was gone.

  Kalon sat back down at the table to finish his salad. Patricia had taught him a valuable lesson. He had to get rid of his “one-time dip” rule; it had gotten him nowhere. Maybe, Patricia could’ve been the one for him, but he didn’t allow himself to feel anything for her. He’d been running from love for so long, he was surprised that he was capable of such a great gift. Until Taylor came along and pulled on his heart strings. The way she was playing him to the left, made him realize that he was doing the same thing. He had left many women’s hearts alongside the highway.

  And now he needed to take his own advice to what had been his potential stalker. Not a single call. Not a single word. Not a letter. A telegram. A telegraph. Nothing! And she said that she loved him; said that she wanted to be with him.

  The truth of the matter was that his Miss. Right was actually a Mrs. Right and she was all wrong.

  Kalon paid the tab and was out the door.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Antsy. That’s how Ari felt sitting in Jay’s black Ram truck. He grabbed the binoculars out the middle console and zoomed in on where Jay was standing with his informant.

  “Dang, how do you use these things?” Ari said as he tried to adjust the lenses.

  He couldn’t focus, so he tossed the binoculars in the back seat. His day was not going according to plan. Taylor had the divorce papers delivered to his brother’s house. If a divorce was what she wanted, then that was unfortunate. He wasn’t ready to let her go.

  Ari pushed those thoughts to the back of his mind when Jay made a dash for the truck, hopped in, and turned the key in the ignition.

  “What happened?” Ari asked.

  Jay ran his fingers through his dreads and cocked his head sideways. “He said that the truck was rented to Maci. There was no destination address on the paperwork.”

  A stab of disappointment filled Ari.

  “But we do know where they dropped it off.”

  Ari kept his eyes fixed on Jay. “And?”

  Jay turned to lock Ari with an intense stare. “And we’re heading to Detroit.”

  ***

  Ari awoke four hours later, just in time to see the sign on the side of the interstate that read Welcome to Detroit Michigan.

  He rubbed his eyes a few times; the four hour trip had given him time to catch up on some much needed rest. Thoughts of Adrianne had kept him up for the last few nights. He could vaguely hear his little girl calling out for him, and it would wake him out of any kind of sleep he tried to have. And her voice haunted him throughout the day.

  Jay parked the car at the U-Haul rental center and scoped out the area. Ari rolled a few ideas in his mind. Since Jay had filled him in on their way to Detroit, he was fully aware of what needed to be done.

  Ari popped the locks, but Jay placed his hand on Ari’s arm to kee
p him from leaving the truck.

  “Do you think you can do this?” Jay asked.

  “I got this,” was all he said to Jay before he made his way across the pavement and into the U-Haul center.

  Standing in the lobby, he saw a young woman behind the counter. She looked to be in her early twenties and she had thick wavy hair flowing down the center of her back. Ari approached the slender faced woman, and decided to turn on some charm.

  Ari gave her a mega-watt smile, and went into that deep, sexy baritone that had been known to weaken a woman’s knees. “Do I know you from somewhere?”

  She looked up, giving him a once over as she blushed. “No, I’m afraid you don’t,” she responded with a shy smile.

  Ari leaned on the counter and brought his face mere inches from hers. “I never forget a pretty face.” Snapping his fingers a few times, he scratched the back of his neck in attempt to act like he was trying to remember her name. He pointed in her direction, waving his index finger with creased eyebrows.

  “Carmen,” she blurted with a smile.

  “Exactly,” Ari replied. “Can I take you out some time?”

  Carmen giggled, and his smile widened.

  When she gave him a single nod, he said, “But first I need some information.”

  Carmen leaned in so she was only inches from him, and asked in a sultry tone, “And what is that?”

  Twenty minutes later, Ari practically ran from the building, waving a piece of paper in his hand. Jay rolled down his driver’s side window as Ari said, “I got it, let’s roll.”

  Ari could only hope that the information the woman provided was in fact Maci’s new address.

  ***

  Taylor was finally back at home and in her own bed. Libby and Pam were bringing her belongings from the car. Her mother had practically begged for Taylor not to leave, but she assured her mother she would be fine.

  She was down to only using one crutch. Her leg was regaining its strength quickly, thanks to working with the physical therapist three days a week. The stay at her parents’ was uneasy at times, but what was even stranger was that neither one of them ever asked her how the accident happened.