Feathers and Thorne Series Books 1 - 3: The Complete Collection

Chapter Eleven

Isabella

Carter grits his teeth when his punch doesn’t land. “Move, dove.”

“No,” I bite. “You’re not going to freak out over nothing.”

“He had his hands on you. That’s enough to die.”

“It was harmless.”

He stands over me now, his irises burning through me. “The only harm that will come out of this will be us in the bedroom when this asshole leaves. Move, Bella. Right now.”

I stand firm, my arms hiked over my chest. “Please, Carter. Just be rational. I burned my wrist on this damn stove, and he helped me. I was making tea, and we were waiting for you to come back, that’s it. We talked about our parents. Nothing more. He didn’t touch me or do anything terrible; I swear.”

Carter looks past me, darting his deathly glare through Rich. “Alright. Go upstairs, then. I’m going to talk to Donahue.”

“No, I’m staying,” I say again, pushing back even more than before. “I want to be involved.”

Carter’s glare grows more and more impatient with me. “Dove, why are you being like this?”

“Because you can’t just shut me out to protect me anymore. I want to help, but you being coy with that Lilian woman worries me.”

He looks between Rich and me like he just caught us in bed together, and I’m the one accusing him of being unfaithful. He rolls his eyes and leans in, kissing my forehead lazily. I take it for now, watching him trot past Rich without so much as a lingering look. He strips off his coat and retreats to the living room, working on taking off his tie while he sits on the couch.

“Sorry about that,” Rich mutters. “I wasn’t trying to cause any problems.”

“You’re not, trust me. We already have problems.”

“Don’t sweat it, Isabella. You’re the power couple of Manhattan. I wouldn’t worry about it too much.”

“Thanks,” I groan. “I just have a feeling that it’s going to get worse.”

His brows furrow. “Worse? How so?”

I can only shrug for now, looking over the wound on my wrist. It’s an open sore, burned, and pink, but it’s not bleeding, and it doesn’t feel like it’s on fire anymore. I pour a few cups of hot water into some mugs and hand them out with separate teabags.

Carter tips his head in thanks and then pulls me into his lap. I lay against his chest casually, trying to feel how we once were, but it’s different. There’s mistrust, secrets, and so much stacked against us that it nearly feels impossible to face anymore.

“How did you like the property?” Rich asks, steeping his teabag into his mug. “It’s a big place, right? Lots of options for you to tinker with.”

“Yeah, I suppose so,” Carter admits. “I’m just wary.”

“About what?”

“Going into business with you,” I whisper, reading the hesitation on Carter’s handsome features.

My lover nods in agreement. “It’s too close to the business we tried to strike with Lacey. I just needed a simple money launderer into the campaign. Now I’ve got an ex-cop as mayor and a twin brother to my rival coming in here at six in the morning to be alone with the woman I love. Don’t take it personally that I don’t trust you, Donahue. But I don’t.”

“Understandable,” Rich says, not showing an ounce of being offended. “I sincerely have no ill will toward anyone here. I’m trying to fund my mother’s treatment, that’s all. My other option is to sell it to the city and have them auction it for pennies. This way, we can work with one another, Carter. If you need something, then me and my resources can step in, and vice versa.”

Carter holds me tighter, his once furious demeanor now softened in his light touch. “I’m not sure about this. I’d like to say I agree, but I think I need to run it past the rest of my family.” He hesitates, looking deeply into my eyes. “What do you say, dove?”

I swallow hard. “What?”

“I want you to tell me what you think. Should we take this deal?”

I look at Rich, seeing a person that is in a position too similar to mine. He wants to care for his mother, just like I did everything in my power to look after my father. If I needed something to help fund treatment, I would have sought help from wherever possible.

“I think you should,” I mutter. “He doesn’t seem like he has bad intentions. Plus, with Killian taking office this week, we will need someone on our side who understands the business.”

Carter’s features are sad, but he nods and presses a kiss into my cheek anyway. “Alright, then it’s settled. Looks like we’re in business, Rich.”

“So great to hear,” Donahue breathes. “I’m very happy to hear this. We can have the construction crews out there by this weekend.”

“I’ll write you a check,” Carter replies. “But that will be in a day or two. I haven’t slept in nearly two days, and I need to retire for the rest of the day.”

“I’ll show you out,” I hum.

Rich sets his teacup in the sink on the way out, tipping his head toward me while I hike the front door open to the blue sky outside. There are a couple joggers on the sidewalks already, waking up to the morning, and they look to be Anita’s friends in tight pants and tall ponytails. They give me the look I was hoping to avoid by letting Rich inside earlier, and it looks like I avoided it for nothing.

“Thank you for this,” Rich says, lingering on the front porch. “I think going into business together will be the best thing possible for both families.”

“I hope so,” I whisper. “Hey, good luck with your mother. I hope she gets better.”

His smile grows. “Thank you, Isabella. Good luck with your father. I hope the same.”

“Me too.”

I shut the door softly, biting down a warm grin as I turn and meet Carter’s eyes from the stairs. It’s clear that his ferocity was bedded down for the sake of our company, but it’s clear now that he’s not too happy with how I stepped in to defend Rich Donahue.

He holds onto the banister halfway up the stairs, giving me a look that I know all too well.

“Come on, dove. Let’s sort this out,” he says.

I hesitate to move from the foyer, not sure if my ass is ready to be greeted by that damn belt. “I don’t want to be punished, Carter. I’ve done nothing wrong.”

“He had his hand nearly on your ass, Bella. I walk in here before sunrise to see you in our kitchen with another man. How is that fair?”

“Tell me about Lilian,” I fire back. “Since we’re striving to talk about what’s fair.”

He comes down a few steps, looking through me like I’m glass. “Dove, what are you implying.”

“She looks like Brooke,” I bite. “So I just want to know the truth. Is she someone that you slept with?”

“I told you that already,” he groans. “We talked about this at the hospital, and I told you the truth.”

“No, you didn’t!”

My voice echoes through the nearly empty house.

Carter goes taut. “I hope you’re not being serious, dove. If you want me to lie to you, then I will, but I’m not going to bullshit my way through this disagreement and pretend that your best friend isn’t feeding lies into your ear about cheating.”

My heart drops suddenly into my stomach. “Don’t bring Sam into this.”

“Why not? You brought her into this relationship, dove. She thinks I’m a lousy cheat now, and you were going to believe it, too. I could see it in your eyes. You don’t believe me in the slightest, and I can’t do anything to change that!”

I step back, tears pushing to the rim of my eyelids. “That’s not fair,” I whisper. “I don’t know what to believe, Carter. You can’t sit here and deny your past. I already know about it. I know that if you and I weren’t together, you would be in bed with someone just like Lilian.”

“No, I wouldn’t!”

“Yes, you would! It’s so obvious, Carter! You would still be working past your trauma with Brooke, the family, me, the world, your own fucking heart—all of it! You just want to deny the past ever happened, but I know that if Lilian was in your life before, then you did something with her. The resemblance is uncanny. I just don’t see why you can’t admit that you—”

“That I did what?” he roars, his voice the most ungodly sound I’ve ever heard in my life. I back down, watching him race to the foyer, where I’m frozen in place. “So, what if I fucked her? I fucked a lot of people, Isabella. It’s sex. It didn’t mean anything until I started doing it with you!”

My back presses flush with the wall, and his arm caves me into his domain by resting on the wall over my head. He’s massive in muscle but throbbing with anger. I can’t help but feel trapped and secure in the same breath, something so unnerving about that realization.

“I want you,” he breathes. “That’s why I don’t think it matters what I’ve done in the past. It was all before I met you, okay? So, why can’t you just be on my side about this? I’m not hiding anything, Bella. I’m trying to keep you safe and keep you in my realm. Seeing Rich with his arm around you when I come home after a fight with you isn’t what I need to see.”

“I understand that, but it was innocent. I burned my wrist. He was just trying to help.”

“I don’t want him to help you,” he adds.

I swallow hard, wishing I could understand his reasoning here, but I can’t. Still, I have to give in. Arguing with Carter is the last thing I need right now, and it’s the worst way to spend our time together. I give in at last, leaning against his fiery hot chest and kissing the hollow of his throat. He purrs with delight, the tension withering out of his body at last.

“Okay, then,” he whispers. “Let’s go upstairs. I need to shower and catch up on sleep.”

My brows furrow. “That’s all?”

He rests his hand on the top of his pants, toying with the buckle of his belt. “No, that’s not all.”

“I figured as much.”

I kiss him on the lips once, then slide out of his possession before making my way to the stairs. He follows closely, watching his feet rather than me. He’s wounded, and that’s clear, but why should we be arguing? The worst we could ever go through is finally over. We should be happy.

When we make it to the doorway of the bedroom, he pulls me back by my arm, tucking me into his side.

“I love you, dove. We have to stop being like this.”

“I know that we do,” I admit. “I don’t want to argue, either. I love you, Carter.”

“Then let’s take a break. Once this morning is over, and I get some rest, then I think we should go shopping, okay? Maybe find some things to fill this house with.”

I nod, hopeful. “I’ll wait in bed then.”

He yanks me back when I nearly walk away. “Go kneel first.”

I swallow hard, knowing it’s coming but still hopeful my wide eyes will get me out of this punishment. He doesn’t care, nudging me toward the bed. I garner the courage to shimmy out of my shorts so I can kneel. He flicks my shirt off my back while I do so, tossing it aside so I’m left only in my panties.

I keep my head down, pressed into the side of the bed, while I hear his belt slide through the loops on his pants.

I hate that damn belt, and he knows it.

“Sit up straight, dove.”

My body moves with rigid action, managing to sit up straight while he comes around to sit on the edge of the bed where my face was just resting. He spreads his legs out past my shoulders, caging me in his thighs and leaning forward so I can feel the belt lick gently against the plane of my ass.

“When we’re done here, you can come shower with me, dove.”

“I know,” I sigh, a bit fearful of the belt that casually strokes my lower back. “I’m just tired and worn out, Carter. It’s been a bit hectic lately. I need a break.”

“I understand,” he sighs, his free hand tucking my hair back behind my ears. “Are you ready?”

He lifts the belt, waiting for my permission. I act quick, undoing his zipper and freeing the erection I know is there. He growls, his fist in my hair as though to pull me back, but it’s too late. I run my tongue under the length of his shaft before swallowing his girth into my throat.

I nearly choke on the feeling, and it turns him on more. His fist in my hair loosens to the point of guiding my cheek to take the brunt of his throbbing cock, pushing me as deep, or as shallow, as he sees fit. His growl is enough to know that I’ve distracted him well enough, but it doesn’t last long.

He throws the folded belt out, landing a stinging slap against the top of my ass. I choke, more in shock than in pain, gagging against the tip of his dick and feeling him fight back the urge to shoot his sweet cum down the back of my throat.

“Goddammit, dove,” he whimpers, thrusting slightly as he fills my lips with every inch he was blessed with. “You’re trying to get out of punishment. I’m just mad that it’s working.”

I release him from my lips long enough to catch a breath, his hand finding my throat and lifting my face to his. He makes out with my tongue, tasting the corners of my mouth while I lose track of his hand wielding that evil belt.

It cracks through the air, whipping my ass again and making me whine into his mouth.

His smile deepens while he releases my chin, watching me scatter to get back to his daunting erection. I take him in both hands, working the base with the precum that covers my mouth again. He drops the belt at last, using both hands to hold my head in his grasp so he can thrust appropriately into my throat.

“Damn,” he growls. “You’re fucking perfect.”

It’s not long before I feel him twitch and come, tasting it as it settles on my tongue. He yanks his hips back, pulling my bottom lip down enough to see the product of his relief still settled on my teeth and tongue. Shaking his head, he redoes the zipper on his pants.

“That was a good move, dove,” he whispers, speaking directly into the frame of my ear. “But I still owe you a real punishment. Looks like we’ll have to do it while shopping later.”

A pit builds in my gut. “Oh, no.”

“Yes,” he says with a grin. “Lay down and get some rest. You’ll need it for when we go shopping.”

I crawl into bed, feeling his lips press against my forehead. My body is exhausted, and I consider sleeping, but hearing him start the shower nearby just makes me miss him more. He has the door shut, and I hate that there’s so much unsettled between us right now.

Eventually, I climb out of bed and lean on the door, opening it slowly. I expected to see him in the shower, where he would convince me to join him. Instead, I watch Carter lean against the countertop by the sink, his body bent forward while he’s stark naked, his arms folded around his face. I recognize the position well.

He’s deep in thought, too much to move or react. His eyes are shut, his breathing shallow, as he fights through the demons in his mind while refusing to stand up straight again.

I dare to leave, catching a glimpse of his phone on the edge of the counter. I know I shouldn’t, but I can’t help myself. While he’s going through his many thoughts, I take his phone and shut the door as softly as I had opened it.

I consider putting it back the moment it’s in my hands. I’m tempted to forget about it, to simply trust the man who says he loves me, but my nerves are shot through after this entire ordeal. We have too many enemies closing in, ones that might be worse than Jacob and William combined.

If he doesn’t let me in, we will fall together.

I open up his phone, coming to the screen where Tristan and Carter have been texting religiously over the last twelve hours. Scrolling up a little, I start from the point where Carter left work, even though he wasn’t there for more than a handful of hours to begin with.

Tristan starts the conversation:

Did you find out what you’re going to do about Lilian? What are you going to tell Isabella?

My heart already aches. Carter is pretending she’s not an issue, but she apparently is if Tristan knows about her, too. Now I wonder what else Tristan knows that I don’t.

I’m going to end things soon. Don’t worry about that.

I hope you make it fast. Don’t hurt her too badly.

It’ll be quick, but I won’t let her stand in my way anymore. She’s nothing to me, brother.

If you say so. Just be careful. Isabella will be upset if she finds out before you say anything to her.

I slowly wipe my rising tears away, feeling warm pain spread throughout my chest.

Carter’s going to break up with me, or in his words, end it, and it’s all for this stupid woman I hardly know anything about. I set his phone down on the nightstand and lay in bed with my back to the bathroom. I hold my stomach and hug myself, praying not to throw up in utter shame and guilt. Instead, I press my tear-soaked face into the pillow and hope to fall asleep fast.

We haven’t been in this house long, but I’ve already cried myself to sleep twice.

I’d hate for that to be the new normal, but I doubt this will be my life much longer. I have a lingering feeling through those text exchanges that Carter’s going to make quick work of leaving me, and it will all be for the woman who surpasses my similarity to Brooke Blackthorne.

I thought I proved myself before, but it’s clear now that it will never be enough for him.