Wanted by Her Lost Love (Pregnancy & Passion #2)(44)

“I’m going with you,” Cam said tersely.

Ryan shook his head.

“You don’t get a choice. It’s either I go with you or I’m calling the police. The difference is, I’ll let you beat the crap out of him. But I won’t let you kill him. The police aren’t going to let you touch him. So what’ll it be?”

Ryan’s lip curled into a snarl.

Devon sighed. “You should see yourself, man. It’s a good thing Kelly is sleeping. Whatever it is you need to do, you need to get it done so that when she wakes up you can be the support she needs. You’ll just scare her to death if she sees you like this.”

“Devon can stay with Kelly,” Cam volunteered. “I’ll go with you to confront Jarrod. Then you can get your ass back here where you belong and put this whole thing behind you.”

Cam made it sound easy, but Ryan knew better. Kelly might not ever forgive him and he wouldn’t blame her if she didn’t. But if she did and if she and Ryan were going to be together, he was going to make damn sure his family was never an issue for her again.

“Will you do it?” Ryan asked. “Will you stay with her for a while? If she wakes let her know…”

“I’ll handle it,” Devon said. “You just go so you can get your head on straight again. And rip his nuts off for me. The bastard deserves it.”

Seventeen

Jarrod’s expression was one of resignation when he opened the door to Ryan’s insistent knock. Ryan didn’t give him time to do or say anything. He grabbed his brother by the shirt and propelled him backward into the small studio apartment Jarrod lived in.

“What the—?”

Ryan silenced him with a fist. Jarrod went sprawling and Ryan and Cam both stood a few feet back waiting for him to pick himself up off the floor.

Jarrod wiped at the blood on his mouth as he stumbled to his feet. “What the hell, Ryan?”

“Why did you do it?” Ryan asked in a deadly quiet voice. “Why?”

An uneasy expression crawled across Jarrod’s face. His lips drooped and his eyes went dull. At least he wasn’t going to pretend he didn’t know what Ryan was talking about.

Jarrod dragged a hand across his mouth again, his hand coming away smeared with blood. “I know it won’t mean much, but I’m sorry.”

Ryan exploded at him. Jarrod didn’t even try to defend himself. He went down on the floor and this time he didn’t get up. “Sorry? You’re sorry? You tried to rape her. You lied to me about her. What the hell is wrong with you? She was the woman I was going to marry. Why would you do something like that?”

“Mom,” Jarrod said in a weary voice.

Ryan took a step back, stunned. “Mom? Mom put you up to this?”

Jarrod dragged himself only up enough to lean against the living room wall and he put a hand through his hair, his expression weary and defeated.

“Yeah. She went ballistic when she found out you proposed to Kelly. She was determined you weren’t going to marry some penniless upstart. Her words not mine. I thought she was crazy at first. I mean I figured she’d throw a fit and then get over it, but then she wanted me to go buy her off. She said that if Kelly refused the offer, I should frame her with the fake rape story. I swear to you I wouldn’t have raped her, Ryan. I just wanted to set it up so you’d think we slept together.”

“Jesus,” Cam muttered. “This is crazy.”

Ryan was numb from head to toe. His own mother had done something that sick? It didn’t seem possible. How could anyone hate someone else so much that they’d go to such lengths to get rid of them?

“She invited me to dinner last night. But I swear, Ryan, she told me that you wanted me there, that you and Kelly wanted to let the past go and start over. I wasn’t going to go, because I didn’t want to upset Kelly or make you angry, but Mom told me you specifically asked for me to come. And I hoped… I hoped that maybe you and Kelly could forgive the past and that we could be a family again. Like old times.”

Ryan dropped his hands to his sides, suddenly so sick at heart that he just wanted to walk away. “You’re no longer my family. Kelly and our child are my family. I don’t ever want to see you again. If I ever catch you near Kelly I swear to you that you’ll regret it.”

“Ryan, don’t. Please,” Jarrod called hoarsely.

Ryan stopped at the door and slowly turned around. “Did she beg you like you’re begging me, Jarrod? Did she ask you to stop?”

Jarrod’s face flushed a dull red and then he looked away, no longer able to meet his brother’s gaze.

“Come on,” Cam said quietly. “Let’s go, man.”

As they walked back out, Ryan nudged Cam toward the waiting car. “You go. I’ll take a cab. I’m going to see my mother.”

Cam hesitated. “Sure you don’t want me to go with you?”

“Yeah. This is something I have to do by myself.”

Ryan knocked tersely on the door to his mother’s home and issued a clipped demand to see her when one of the maids answered the door.

A moment later, as he paced the floor of the receiving room, his mother hurried in, her brow wrinkled in concern.

“Ryan? Is something wrong? You didn’t call to tell me you were coming.”