Egotistically Yours by Hayley Faiman

Chapter Forty-Seven

BETHANIE

My entire bodyaches as I attempt to roll to the side. I let out a moan and then I hear someone move around the room.

“Just stay still,” a deep voice murmurs.

It sounds like Laurent, but I can tell that it isn’t him. I don’t move, but I crack an eye open to look across the room. It’s dark, but there is just enough light spilling out that I can make out the figure. Landry.

“I’m going to go get Laurent,” he says. “Stay there.”

I don’t speak, but I also don’t move. I do what he asks and stay where I am. Everything starts rushing back to me, flooding my mind with what has happened today. Peter, Zara, Tucker. Every minute detail fills me and tears start to pour down my cheeks.

Tucker.

“Tucker,” I cry out just as the door opens.

Laurent rushes to my side and sits down on the bed next to me. He reaches out, gathering me in his arms, and slowly he lifts me so that I’m pressed against his chest.

“Tucker is safe. Tennessee has him downstairs right now. Everyone is safe. I think I should take you to a doctor, get you checked out,” he says.

“No,” I whisper. “I don’t want that.”

He backs away slightly, his arms still holding me as he looks down into my eyes. “No?” he asks.

Shaking my head, I whisper no again. He hums but doesn’t push me further. “What do you need from me, baby?”

God.

I have imagined him saying these words to me a million times in my dreams but never would have dreamed it would be this way. My lips curve up into a grin.

“Help me change into something comfortable and take me downstairs so that I can see Tucker?”

“I’ll bring him up to you,” he grunts.

Lifting my hand, I cup his cheek. “Laurent. I need to visit with Tenny and your dad. They need to know I’m okay, too.”

“They’ll know. I’ll tell them.”

Arching a brow, I watch him for a moment. He lets out a grunt, then leans forward and touches his mouth to mine. His tongue slides across my bottom lip before he slips it inside of me. He swirls and tastes me and immediately I melt into him.

Sliding my hand from his cheek, I wrap my fingers around the back of his neck and whimper into his mouth. He swallows before letting out a grunt, a sound that I in turn swallow.

“Baby,” he rasps against my mouth before he breaks the kiss. “I’m not giving you what you want because that kiss was hot as fuck, but because your parents should be here any minute and I’m sure that you want to see them, too.”

“My parents?” I ask.

“I called them. They should be here soon.”

A few minutes later, after Laurent has helped me into a pair of joggers and a tank top, he guides me downstairs. My legs feel fantastic, but when I arrive at the bottom of the staircase, I freeze.

It’s not just Landry and Tennessee down here waiting for us. There is Lucinda, Lawrence, Detective Chenault, Hansen, and Sebastian. Pressing my lips together, I look around the room. They’re all staring at me, so I lift my hand and give them a wave.

“Hey,” I whisper.

I’m met with kind smiles from everyone. Landry is holding Hanna, but Tennessee has Tucker. She scoots over to give me some room next to her and shoots me a smile. Hurrying over to her, I ignore everyone watching and I sit down before she passes him to me.

“He’s okay,” I whisper back.

Tennessee lets out a sound that sounds like a hiccuped cry. Turning my head, I look over to her and frown. She lifts her hands and wipes her tears away.

“You’re okay too, Bethie. You were so brave, you protected him.”

“I didn’t know what I was doing,” I admit.

Detective Chenault clears his throat and I shift my gaze over to him. He’s smiling at me. His lips curved up into a handsome grin. He’s sitting close enough to Landry that I can compare them, and honestly, I don’t know which one is hotter.

I try to shake the thoughts of silver foxes out of my head, which is easy to do as soon as Detective Chenault starts to speak.

“Instinctually, you knew what you were doing. You would be surprised how many women not only get incredible physical strength but intuition and mental strength as well when they are in a situation like the one you were in,” Chenault explains.

Licking my lips, I tell him that it makes sense. Personally, I didn’t know what I was doing. My only goal was to keep Tucker safe. I just needed to make sure he was okay. Someone else starts to talk about a woman who picked up a whole car while her child was trapped underneath, but the conversation becomes just a blur because I see something and focus on it.

Lucinda is sitting very quietly at the kitchen counter. Her eyes are focused on Detective Chenault. Not just curiously focused on him, they are intensely focused on him. There is nobody else in this room for her, but him. If he feels her attention on him, he doesn’t make it known.

There is a knock on the door and I almost jump out of my skin. Laurent hurries over to answer, but it’s Tenny that notices my distress.

“You’re going to be okay,” she whispers.

She’s been through something similar and I know that she went through some adjustments, I’m sure that I will too. Licking my lips, I look over to her. “I don’t feel like I am,” I admit.

Her lips curve up in a small, sad smile. “You will be, though. Trust me. You’re so strong, Bethie, and you will be okay. Just take as much time as you need and listen to your body.”

I want to ask her what she means, but I don’t get the chance. The room is suddenly filled with more people.

My parents are here and at the sight of them, I completely fall apart.

LAURENT

Food is ordered,consumed, and people start slowly leaving the house. Lucinda, who has been unusually quiet, is the first to go, Detective Chenault follows and then Lawrence. Dad, Tenny, and Bethie’s parents are all that’s left.

I can tell that Bethie is exhausted, but she’s not willing to give up the sleep fight. Tucker, on the other hand, gave up a while ago. He’s been sleeping in Bethie’s arms for at least an hour. We don’t talk about what happened, in fact, everyone avoids it and to be honest, I’m glad.

“We better get going,” Landry mutters, holding a sleeping Holden.

Tennessee nods her head, but then she looks from me to Bethie and then back to me. “Can I talk to you for a minute, Laurent?” she asks.

I’m surprised. I like Tenny, always have. When I first met her, I wanted to get in her panties and everything, but once I saw her and my dad together, I knew that there was just him for her and her for him. I didn’t understand it at first, but I do now—completely.

Walking out onto the balcony, Tennessee follows behind me. Once I hear the door close, I turn around to see her standing in front of me. She clears her throat and sinks her teeth into her bottom lip.

I can tell that she’s thinking about her words, probably attempting to choose them carefully. If I know anything about Tennessee, it’s that she doesn’t want to upset people for no reason. She inhales a deep breath, then lets it out slowly.

“Be gentle with her, Laurent.”

Arching a brow, I tilt my head to the side, but I don’t ask her in what sense she means. Thankfully, she doesn’t make me try to guess or ask her either. She starts to explain, but I can tell that she’s nervous.

“I just … I’ve been in her shoes. Just be gentle with her. She’s going to go through a lot of different emotions, so take everything slow.”

“Everything?” I ask.

Tenny rolls her eyes to the sky, then drops them back to meet mine. “Everything,” she snaps.

I smile, loving making her feel a little uncomfortable. Taking a step toward her, I give her a quick hug.

“I’ll take care of her, Tenny. I got your girl.”

“You’re taking her from me and I should be pissed, but I’m really not. I’m so excited for you two to start your life in Denver.”

I hum, releasing her as I take a step back. “I’m nervous things are going to bomb, again,” I admit.

Tenny curves her lips in a smile. “That right there. You being nervous, you being cautious. That will be the reason that you don’t bomb. You have a family to think about now, you’ll succeed, Laurent. I can feel it.”

“I’m glad someone is confident in me,” I grunt.

“Your father is too, extremely.”

Speaking of him, my dad opens the door and loudly whispers that they need to go. She flicks her gaze behind my shoulder and gives my dad a nod. Then she shifts her eyes back to mine.

“Be good to my friend, Laurent. She loves you.”

“I love her too, Tenny.”

Her eyes widen, then her lips curve up into a wide grin. “I’m really glad.”

She lifts her hand, reaching out to wrap her fingers around my bicep and squeezes gently, then she lets her hand fall and she walks away from me. My dad doesn’t leave though. I don’t even need to turn around to know that he’s still behind me.

A few moments pass and he makes his way to my side. He doesn’t say anything right away. Instead, he stands there and looks out at the city. I wait for him to speak, knowing that he has something that he wants to say.

“I’m sorry, Laurent.”

Turning to him, I frown. “For what?” I ask, confused by his words.

“Your mother. I should have left her a long time ago. I should have ended things with her years ago. Now she’s hurt two of my children. Tucker and Bethie could have been seriously injured.”

“You have no control over her, Dad.”

He grunts, shaking his head a couple of times. “Yeah, I let it go for far too long and you kids have suffered. I fucked up and it’s my fault.”

“No,” I grind out. “All of this is on her and nobody else. I don’t want you to feel an ounce of fucking guilt for anything Susan Astor has done. If anyone is guilty aside from her for this shit, it’s me. I brought Cody into this whole fucking mess, then Zara, and I signed that goddamn contract with mom, so trust me when I say you are off the hook for all of this shit.”

“I married her,” my dad reminds me. “And stayed married to her.”

I snort. “Yeah, but really you were trying your best, and you only made yourself live in misery on that one.”

He laughs and lifts his arm, wrapping it around me before he pulls me into his side. “I’m proud of you, Laurent. The job shit will work out. We got this. You, Bethie, and Tucker being safe are all that matters.”

I follow behind him and together we walk back into the house. Tenny and my dad leave a few minutes later, but Bethie’s parents stay.

As soon as everyone else is gone, Rob levels me with a look and I know I’m going to need to explain some of this shit in detail with him. He’s not buying the simplified explanation I gave him, and I don’t blame him one bit.