Chapter 61: Chapter 10

KYLE

As I drive, Molly is seated next to me, her arm resting on the center console. My phone buzzes, a call from Greg, one of the guards. I listen to him, my anger rising to the point where I have to pull over. I shift the truck into park and kill the engine. Greg continues to describe the state of Molly’s apartment and my heart plummets—barely any food, hardly any clothes, roaches everywhere. Why didn’t I find her sooner? I end the call and turn to Molly, who’s just staring at me.

“Why didn’t you tell me about your apartment, Molly? Is there anything you absolutely need from there?”

She just stares back, clearly embarrassed. I lean back, resting my arms behind my head. Why didn’t she warn us? No one should live like that.

“No, not really. I’m sorry, I wouldn’t even know where to start. It’s all I could afford.”

I stare at the truck’s ceiling as she starts to cry, my heart shattering. I flip the middle console back and slide over, pulling her onto my lap. I hold her as she cries, whispering in her ear.

“Molly, I don’t care where you come from. I don’t, baby! Believe that right now! I’m so sorry I didn’t find you sooner, but I’ll spend every minute spoiling you! I’ve been searching for you for six years. Let me love you and spoil you. You’ll also gain a huge family! More friends and family than you can imagine!”

“Why me, Kyle?”

“You’re my queen! There will never be anyone else. Now let me spoil you and treat you the way you deserve.”

She nods and I help her back into her seat, buckling her in. I slide back over and send a quick text to have everything trashed before starting the truck and heading to the mall. I park and tell her to wait. I get out, walk around to her side, and help her down. I take her hand and lead her into the first store, telling her to grab whatever she wants. I don’t care how much she spends. I’ve been saving everything I make just for this.

I watch as she looks around, then heads to the clearance rack. I quickly walk over when she grabs some items and turns around, bumping into me. She backs up, looks at me nervously, waiting for me to say something.

“What are you doing?”

She looks down at the clothes, trying to understand what she’s done wrong.

“Well, I was getting clothes like you said.”

“Do you even like them?”

“Well, I don’t want to be greedy. I know what it’s like being on a budget.”

I wrap an arm around her waist, pulling her against me.

“Molly, baby, I just dropped fifty grand on a truck without batting an eye. You have no budget, sweetheart. If you want to spend ten grand on clothes today, then do it. Want to spend fifty grand, then do it. Get clothes, shoes, purses, intimate stuff, anything your heart wants.”

She just looks at me with wide eyes and nods. She puts everything back but one shirt. She starts shopping and I follow her, holding everything she hands me. She tries everything on. It all fits, but she hesitates again. I shake my head when she slowly hands me everything.

I take it all to the front while she follows me. I pay the bill, grab the bags, and we hit the next shop. We spend hours shopping, getting everything she wants and more. All I care about is seeing her smile. While she’s trying on intimate stuff, I run next door to the family jeweler’s shop. I walk in and he looks up, smiling.

“Finally, I was wondering if you would ever find her! What are you looking for?”

“I need something with a star.”

“You know what, I just made something new the other day that has a star.”

He shows me a stunning red single diamond star. It’s perfect! I nod and quickly purchase it, grabbing the box. I rush back to the other shop just as Molly is coming out with her arms full of intimate stuff. I couldn’t stay knowing what she was trying on.

We would have probably been thrown out. I quickly pay the bill, grab all the bags, and we leave the mall. I load our stuff in the back seats and open her door, helping her in before getting in myself. I reach for her hand.

“Molly, my love, when you were in the last store I ran next door. It’s customary that when anyone finds their goddess to give them a necklace. I went over and chose one for you. Now when we get home we will probably be swarmed by all the women in the house.

“All the men you saw today live in the same house. It’s an estate and we have a huge room that’s all ours. In one of the wings. You’ll see all the women walking around with a necklace.”

I pull out the box and hand it to her as I wrap my arm around her shoulders. She starts shaking as she tries to open it, and I quickly grab her hands, rubbing them to help her relax. She takes a deep breath, opens it, and covers her mouth, turning to me sobbing. I place a finger under her chin, lifting her face to look at me.

“Molly, my love, you are everything to me. You may think you aren’t important, but to me, you are my star. The red diamond is rare and so are you. I will do anything and everything to keep you smiling.”

I take out the necklace and place it around her neck. It’s absolutely gorgeous on a fucking gorgeous girl. I grab her face and kiss her. She quickly pushes me back and straddles my lap, kissing me back. She starts grinding against me and it doesn’t take long before I start to lose control. I grab her by the waist and stop her.

“Molly, as much as I want to fuck your brains out, not here. Let’s get you home so we can unload all your stuff and get it put away.”

She nods and I move her back to her seat and slide back to mine. I take a moment to turn on the truck and adjust my pants. I watch her slide next to me and buckle up, smiling at me. I start driving toward the estate, my arm wrapped around her. God, it feels so good having her right by my side. It takes us about an hour to reach the gate. I roll down my window and Jesus steps up to the side.

“Sweet truck, Kyle, and you got a goddess to go with it! Fuck, man, it’s about time! Hello, love, I’m Jesus. What’s your name?”

“I’m Molly.”

“Hey there, Molly. Catch you all later when I’m free!”

He leaps off the truck, and the gates swing open wide. As we drive down the road, I catch Molly’s face lighting up at the sight of the estate from the corner of my eye. She glances at me, then back out the windshield.

When we pull up, everyone rushes out as I signal the guards to collect the bags and take them to my room. I move to help Molly out, but she’s already out the door, running to hug everyone and introduce herself. I close her door and follow her, placing my hand gently on her lower back.

As the crowd starts to thin, I take her hand and guide her to my room at the end of the hallway on the second floor. We reach the room and I fling the door open. She steps in, gasping as she takes in the surroundings.

My room has a large window on each side, with a wall in the center behind the bed. This allows us to look outside from the bed or from the seating area by the other window. There’s a fireplace in one corner, and the closet and bathroom are on the opposite side.

She opens the closet and I watch as she picks out some clothes. She heads toward the shower, shedding her clothes as she goes, glancing back at me. I shake my head, following her and quickly undressing to join her.

***

JESSIE

We’ve been in this room nearly all day, discussing what to do with each property. Peggy’s input has been invaluable in determining what’s best for the seniors. We’ve already begun work today on fixing the worst units as quickly as possible. If a unit isn’t worth repairing, we simply replace it. There’s no reason for the seniors in this city to live in squalor.

We’ve discovered that some aren’t seeing a doctor, taking their medication correctly, or eating properly. We sent out a request for local companies to assist, and the response has been overwhelming.

We have people scheduled to work on ramps tomorrow, and with five properties, there’s plenty of work to go around. Lumber yards are offering supplies at a deep discount. The city was horrified when they found out. We have nearly two hundred volunteers showing up at each site tomorrow. Even all of us Maxwells will be overseeing each site.

Doctors and nurses are volunteering to see each resident and provide them with what they need. Local food banks are delivering food for the residents. We have new units being delivered and quickly installed as soon as the old ones are removed. With hundreds of men, we can pack and move quickly.

We’re constantly receiving calls from companies wanting to help tomorrow. We’ve had to set up whiteboards around the conference room to keep track of each property and who’s showing up tomorrow, as well as which units are the worst and need immediate attention.

I’m sorting papers when Mandy walks in, looking distraught. She mouths Jocelyn’s name, and I immediately jump up and run out of the room. I sprint up the stairs to our room, where a group of women are gathered, clearly upset.

I rush in to find Jocelyn crying in her mother’s lap on the floor. She looks up at me and collapses on the ground. God, no. We haven’t even had our first appointment yet. This can’t be happening. Why us? What did we do? She’s been so careful. I drop to my knees, staring at her as tears start to fall.

Her mother leaves us alone, and I slowly crawl over to Jocelyn, pulling her into my lap. I let her cry, glancing into the bathroom and seeing the blood. I grimace, knowing what it means. We’ve lost the baby. I sit with her in my lap, crying with her. I don’t understand why this happened, but I know it does, and there’s nothing she did wrong. First, we grieve, then we heal, but we’ll never forget. We stay like that for hours until I look down and see that she’s fallen asleep in my arms.

I carefully pick her up and lay her on the bed. I need to blow off some steam. I’m furious, and I don’t want to take it out on her. She did nothing wrong, and if I show my anger, she might think I blame her. I grab some workout clothes and quickly change in the bathroom.

I can only imagine the panic she felt when she saw the blood. I find cleaning supplies under the sink and quickly clean up the bathroom. As I head toward the door, I see Mandy and Eva standing there.

“I need to blow off some steam. Can you guys stay with her? I’ll be back in an hour or two.”

“Of course, Jessie.”

Eva gives me a hug and smiles as I head down to the gym. Downstairs, I see all the guys gathered. Word has obviously gotten out. Nate, Kyle, Luis, and Carlos are all geared up and ready to work out too. I’m grateful for these guys.

We walk silently to the gym, put on our sparring gear, and start sparring. After an hour of pushing ourselves to the point of exhaustion, I can’t go on. I drop to my knees, ripping off my gear and throwing it aside.

The guys come over, hugging me and letting me express my emotions. I start crying, my body shaking with sobs. I need to let it all out so I can be strong for Jocelyn. The day had started so well. Kyle found his girl and brought her back here. We were wrapping up plans for tomorrow when my world—our world—came crashing down. I hear a throat clearing and we all look up to see Caden standing there.

He motions for me to get up, and I run to him like a child, throwing my arms around him in a hug. It’s the kind of fatherly hug that only one person can give. I’ve had hugs before, but this is different. I never thought this could happen to us, but I know it can. I’m in shock, I think. Maybe disappointment, but not in Jocelyn. Never in Jocelyn. She did nothing wrong. I’m disappointed in not knowing what could have been.

I let go of Caden and head back up to my room. I quickly shower, put on clean clothes, and slide in next to Jocelyn. She slowly opens her eyes and looks at me.

“Jessie, baby, I’m so sorry. I don’t know what happened. What did I do to cause it?”

“Shh, Jocelyn, baby, sometimes it just happens. You didn’t do anything wrong. Don’t be sorry. We’ll get through this. I’ll be the rock you need to lean on. I’ll cry with you, and love you even more. Am I upset? Yes, but never at you, Jocelyn.”

She starts crying again, leaning into my chest, and we both fall asleep with her wrapped in my arms. This is probably where we’ll be for the next week. However long she needs to process our loss, I’ll be right by her side.