Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

Connor

If the Darling PD had a speed trap set up on the road to Bliss, Connor was fucked. But times like this were why he’d bought a car that could do two hundred miles an hour in a pinch. If this situation wasn’t a pinch, he didn’t know what was.

Bliss was in trouble, and she hadn’t thought she could call him because he’d acted like an ass last night. He really had been trying to get to her place all day. But he had to get her car off the side of the road and to Winnie’s garage. Then Reid had wanted to talk about the meeting he’d missed.

He’d run by the store to pick up a few things he knew Bliss needed, and that had taken longer than he’d thought. Why the fuck were there so many different brands of everything under the sun that a baby needed?

On the way to his car, Connor called his friend Raleigh Stevens. He was the lawyer on retainer for Sabre Security, and he’d been a huge help when Gage’s Little girl, Breezy, was going through a hard time.

“Yeah, I get you, Conn, but it’s Saturday. There’s a limit to what I can do unless it’s an emergency. The courthouse is closed.”

“You don’t call this an emergency?” Raleigh Stevens was the best lawyer in eastern Tennessee as far as Connor was concerned. He was also on retainer with Sabre Security. “I need you out at Bliss’s house. Child Protective Services is at her house right now.”

“What the hell for? I’ve seen her with those kids. She’s an awesome mom.”

“I agree, but some asshole called in a complaint saying she was neglecting them, so they showed up about fifteen minutes ago demanding she let them in to look around. She’s terrified, and she’s there alone.”

Connor heard nothing but dead air. “Raleigh, did you hear me?”

“Yes, I heard you. I’m trying to get my shoes on. Are you close to her?”

“I’m about three minutes out.”

“Good. I’m on my way. For god’s sake, don’t let her say anything. If they said they had the right to come in, it’s serious. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

When Connor pulled up to Bliss’s house, he had a sense of déjà vu. He’d been there not twenty-four hours ago. That visit had gone to hell. He had no idea if she’d even let him back in her house. He wouldn’t blame her if she wouldn’t. But she was in real trouble, and he was the one who was going to get her out of it.

It may have been less than a day since he’d seen her, but a lot had happened since then. He’d pulled his head out of his ass, for one thing. He had a lot of ground to make up. He’d hurt her in a way he’d never do again.

He’d still kill anyone else who tried to hurt her. His chest had almost exploded when she’d called him a few minutes ago. She sounded utterly lost. And she hadn’t turned to him. He had no right to feel hurt, but he did.

A silver CR-V sat to his right. He jogged to the door, knocked once, and walked in. Bliss sat in an armchair close to her bedroom door with her knees pulled up to her chest. Her eyes were almost swollen shut from crying, and the room was silent except for her whimpers.

He went straight to her, lifted her up, and sat down with her in his lap. She tried to struggle, but at his single command of, “Still,” she collapsed back into him.

“Bliss’s lawyer is on his way,” he informed the woman sitting stiff-backed at the front edge of the couch like she thought she might catch something if she sat back. Connor narrowed his eyes. “Can you tell me what this is about?”

The woman gave him one of the best Betty Better Than You looks he’d seen. She probably practiced it in the mirror.

When he held her gaze, she challenged him. “And, uh, you are?”

Who the fuck did this woman think she was? He better not catch her using her snide-ass remarks on Bliss. He didn’t care if she thought her shit didn’t stink, he wasn’t going to have her looking down her crooked nose at his girl. “Connor Davis, Bliss’s fiancé.”

Bliss froze but remained quiet. That was his girl.

Sheer disbelief bloomed across the woman’s face. “Miss Carpenter didn’t mention being engaged. It’s not in my paperwork.” She gave a pointed glance to Bliss’s ring finger. “And I don’t see a ring. When did this engagement take place?”

“I’m not sure that’s any of your business, ma’am .” Connor poured as much derision into his tone as he could. “But if you’d like to call her sister, I asked Bliss to marry me last night at her house, surrounded by all our friends.” He took his phone out of his pocket. “I can bring up the number if you want to talk to her.”

He held the phone toward her, waiting for her answer. He’d taken it one step too far, but the woman was a bitch and a bully. There was no way she’d chance being wrong in front of them. The front door opened behind her, though she didn’t appear to notice. Raleigh arrived, suit and tie in place.

“That won’t be necessary, Mr. Davis. As I told your fiancé, I need to look through the house and check the children to make sure they are well.”

“I’d like to see your warrant before we agree to that.” Raleigh stepped between the woman and Bliss. “Miss Carpenter has worked with children for over a decade, and no complaints have ever been registered. I’d like to hear the allegations.”

The woman didn’t like being challenged. She puffed up like a peacock and rummaged through her bag. Raleigh turned to Bliss and winked. Connor could forgive him this once when she relaxed against his chest.

Drawing out a paper, the woman handed it to Raleigh.

Raleigh took the paper and began to read. “Thank you, Mrs. Talon. Oh, Mrs. Talon, this doesn’t appear to have your name. If I could get that from you, along with your title and phone number, as well as your supervisor’s name and number, I’d be very much obliged.”

Mrs. Talon snatched the paper back, scribbled the requested information, and handed it back to Raleigh.

After Raleigh read the complaint, he asked Mrs. Talon to step outside so he could confer with his client. After she complied, slamming the door behind her, Raleigh turned to Bliss.

Connor didn’t like the look on Raleigh’s face. He braced himself for bad news and it was a good thing.

Bliss didn’t know Raleigh as well, so before his friend could speak, she whipped around to face him. “How could you tell her that we’re engaged?”

Yeah, that hadn’t been his most brilliant play. He’d gotten so angry at the things the CPS lady had been spewing at Bliss he’d lost his head. He never lost his head unless he was around Bliss.

But the condescending tone and smirk on the woman’s face had thrown him straight into protection mode. He’d wanted to put her behind him and get in the woman’s face. So, he opened his mouth and made a bad situation worse.

Raleigh’s gaze shot to Connor. “You did what?”

“I told the woman that Bliss and I got engaged last night.”

“She doesn’t have a ring,” Raleigh pointed out.

“You’re not the first person to point that out.” Connor wanted to pound his head against a wall. Bliss’s face was paler than when he’d arrived, and that was on him.

“What are we going to tell her?” She turned to Raleigh. “Is she going to be coming back again? What’s she going to think when I don’t get a ring? Not to mention the fact Connor is never here.”

Damn it. She was going to work herself into another panic attack if he didn’t do something. He grabbed her chin between his fingers and turned her to face him. He was going to tell her he’d take care of everything. If he needed to tell the lady he’d panicked and lied, that’s what he’d do.

But the anger and resentment in her eyes hit him like a punch to the throat. She stared up at him, waiting for him to explain himself. Even after the blunder he’d made, he needed to see faith in her eyes. Faith in him and his ability to fix everything.

So he kissed her. Not a peck on the cheek, or a brush of the lips, but a full-on kiss, deep, hard, and wet. After a moment’s surprise, she tried to shove him away. The struggle didn’t last long, though, before she was kissing him back. If they had nothing else, the physical attraction they had was intense.

It was more than physical, though. He wasn’t sure what it was, but he knew he wanted more than her body.

“Um, guys. There’s a lady waiting on the porch to inspect the house and the longer she’s out there, the madder she’s going to get. So, if you two could put that on pause for later, I have a few things to go over with Bliss.”

Bliss held a trembling hand to her well kissed lips. With one last glare at him, she turned to Raleigh. “I’m so sorry. I don’t know what came over me.”

Connor knew what came over her. The same thing that had come over him. He started to speak, but Bliss elbowed him in the stomach. Since Raleigh was right, he decided to let that go until later when they were alone.

Eyes twinkling, Raleigh held up the paper the Talon woman had given him. His smile faded. “Bliss, who have you left in charge of Sophie and Sadie since you’ve been in Darling?”

Bliss jerked at the question. “No one except Winnie. Why?”

Raleigh nodded, reading the paper again. “That’s what I thought. There are some pretty serious allegations here. I’m going to need a list of the places you’ve taken them, and the names of anyone who talked to you while you were out in a way that questioned your care of the twins.”

Bliss began to tremble, so Connor pulled her closer. This time she didn’t even struggle. “You need to tell us what’s going on, Raleigh. You’re scaring Bliss.” His words came out sharper than he’d intended, and Raleigh broke into the same kind of knowing smile Reid had the night before.

“Sorry. Allegations of abuse and neglect have been made. Wait, who watches the twins at Bundles of Joy?”

Bliss groaned. “Her name is Sandy Wainwright. She does a good job with the twins, but I’ve always gotten the feeling she didn’t like me very much. Nothing I can point to really, just a feeling. It’s weird because I’d never met her before I started working at the daycare. Why, do you think she had something to do with the allegations?”

It was Connor’s turn to flinch. Sandy fucking Wainwright. He’d dated the woman on and off for the past year, but she wasn’t worth the effort. The woman was petty and vindictive and didn’t have a Little bone in her body.

Her being the one that made the allegations explained everything. This whole situation was his fault. He wanted to rip something into tiny pieces. When Bliss realized he was the one who’d brought this whole mess to her door, it was going to be that much harder to mend the bridges he’d burned the night before.

But when he thought about it, maybe this was a good thing. If it was Sandy, he could go talk to her and get her to rescind the allegations. His jaw clenched at the thought of talking to her again. He’d shut that door for a reason. But he’d talk to her in a heartbeat if it would clear all this up for Bliss. He wished he’d known she was the viper looking after the twins. He’d have warned Bliss to be careful.

“Connor.” Raleigh called his name, drawing him out of his head. “You recognize that name?”

“You could say that. Sandy and I dated on and off for about a year and a half. I broke it off with her—shit, I broke it off with her three months ago.”

“So, a few weeks before Bliss moved back to Darling.”

Connor ground his teeth before snarling, “Yeah.”

He couldn’t even look at Bliss. Even though she had no right to feel betrayed, he couldn’t take seeing it in her eyes.

She leaped off his legs. “That witch! Do you mean to tell me she’s trying to get my children taken away from me because she’s jealous? Argh! That makes me so freakin’ mad.”

She paced the room, never looking at Connor. It was like he wasn’t even there anymore. He tried to take comfort in the fact that she was angry at Sandy instead of him, but he wanted her back in his lap.

Raleigh held out a hand. “Calm down. You’re going to wake the girls. Worse, Mrs. Talon is going to hear you.”

Bliss froze, hand over her mouth, eyes wide. Her gaze shot directly to him, then darted away. He might be grasping at straws, but he took that as a good sign. When she was afraid or needed comfort, she looked to him first. She might not want to, but she did.

Raleigh stepped closer to Connor and motioned for Bliss to do the same. “I think I have a solution to your problem. It’ll work, but you both have to be all in.”

Bliss answered first. “Of course. Anything. Just tell us what to do.”

Connor took that as another good sign, too. In her mind, they could be a team, if only for the time it took to deal with Child Protective Services.

He nodded at Raleigh. “I’m in. Just tell us what to do and we’ll do it.”

Raleigh grinned. “I was hoping you’d say that. I’m going to go talk with Mrs. Talon. She’s going to do a walk through the house and have a look at the babies, but not touch them. You two are going to sit on the couch, too consumed with your love for each other to worry about her. When she’s gone, I’m going to my office to set up a plan because I’m relatively sure she’s going to be able the get a court hearing out of this, which we are going to win?—”

Bliss broke in, protesting. “But it isn’t true. How can they get a hearing if it isn’t true?”

Fuck it. She was getting upset and she was too far away. He reached for her, snagged her wrist, and pulled her back onto his lap. She struggled for a few seconds, then calmed and relaxed onto him just like before. The tightness in his chest released and he could breathe again.

Raleigh continued. “They can because this is a small town at heart and it’s more about who you know than what you did. I’m on this, Bliss. I promise. We’ll go to court, and we’ll win. Then this whole unpleasant situation will disappear. Isn’t that right, Connor? We know exactly what we need to do.”

Raleigh stared at him like he was missing the obvious. Connor wasn’t missing anything. He’d give anything for his girl not to be in this ridiculous situation. But since she was there, he was going to be the one to get her out of it. And hopefully rebuild the trust he’d lost.

He knew what they needed to do, and doing it didn’t upset him at all. The only thing he didn’t know was how Bliss would react. But after he found the perfect ring, he was going to find out.