“Mom!”
“What!” Shade yelled in frustration, trying to pull on his jeans over his hard cock.
“He spilled som
e on me, too!”
“John!”
“I know, go to the bathroom.”
Lily waited until the boys were moving away from the door before looking at Shade questioningly. “Would you like me to put the toys back for you?”
“No, I’m going to get them in their pajamas before sending them back to Razer. Then I’m going to text him and make sure he keeps them there this time, no matter how many cups of Kool-Aid Clint spills.”
“What then?” she asked breathlessly, seeing he was still having trouble getting his jeans zipped.
“Then, Angel, I’m going to show you exactly how that toy works.”
CHASING RAINBOWS
CHAPTER 1
“Have you seen Ice?”
Grace turned as her brother Dax entered the formal dining room of her father’s new home. “No. The last time I saw him was this morning when he left to get his tux. I’ve been helping Willa and Ginny set up for the reception.”
Dax frowned. “The photographer wants to get started taking pictures of Dad’s groomsmen.
“I’ll text him and see where he is—”
“Just call; it’ll be quicker.”
“I left my phone in the kitchen.” Conscious of her brother following her, she kept her expression neutral as they headed toward the kitchen. If she told her brother she didn’t want to talk to her husband, it would raise alarms in both him and their father. Although, neither of them had missed the growing coldness between her and Ice.
For the last year, they had subtly tried to find the reason for it, but she had been keeping them in the dark, evading their questions as much as possible when she could. When she couldn’t, she would use a variety of excuses that pointed away from the real reason her marriage was falling apart.
Giving Willa and Ginny quick smiles, she reached for her phone on the counter, then nervously pressed Ice’s number. They fought that morning when they woke up. When Ice hadn’t been willing to end the argument, she stormed into their private bathroom and slammed the door on him. If they had been in their own home, he would have never let her get away with it. But because they were in her father’s home, he left, slamming the bedroom door on his way out. She sat on the side of the bathtub and cried at the sound.
He was furious and, truthfully, she couldn’t blame him. She had created this problem in their marriage, and she wasn’t willing to give in. She couldn’t.
When her call went unanswered, she felt a crushing dread that Ice was so angry with her that he returned to Queen City without telling her.
“He didn’t answer,” she was forced to admit to Dax, self-conscious that Willa and Ginny were listening. “He’ll probably be here any minute. Tell Peyton to start taking pictures, and I’ll text you as soon as I hear from him.”
Sensing her embarrassment from having the two other women in the room, Dax nodded. “Just send him on to the church when you hear from him. That’s where Peyton is waiting for us.”
“I will.” She started texting Ice to tell him as Dax left the kitchen, leaving her with a worried glance. Before she could finish the text, though, Ice’s name flashed across the screen.
Accepting the call, she started walking to the bedroom that T.A. had given them during their stay. Grace walked inside the room that was situated off from the kitchen, closing the door behind her.
“What did you need?”
She clenched the phone at the abrupt way he had answered it. “Killyama’s mother wants the groomsmen for pictures at the church.”
“I’m already here.”
Grace licked her dry bottom lip. “I’m sorry I yelled at you this morning.”
“I was over the fighting a couple of months ago. I’m sorry just doesn’t cut it anymore, Grace.”
Walking toward the bed, she sank down onto the mattress to keep from collapsing on her shaky legs. “Are you saying you want a divorce?”
“No, I don’t want a fucking divorce,” he hissed from the other end of the phone. “What I want is for the fighting to stop.”
“I do, too,” she said achingly. “This fighting is tearing me apart.”
“I’m not the one that starts them.”
“I know,” she admitted then heard his sigh of frustration when that was all she was willing to concede.
“Grace, Dax is coming in the door. I have to go.”
Her hand holding the phone dropped to her lap when the phone went dead.
Their fights were escalating to the point that, if they didn’t stop, the marriage was going to be irreparable. If it wasn’t already.
Grace stared blankly at the wall in front of the bed. She hated herself for being the one who was sparking their disagreements, but unless Ice was willing to give in to her pleas, she couldn’t see their arguments ending. Divorce might be the only option left for her if Ice wasn’t willing to walk away from Desmond Beck.
Desmond was the owner of Beck Industries. Wealthy, handsome, and charming, the man was a favorite bachelor in Queen City’s society. But behind closed doors, he was ruthless, cunning, and formidable at the power he held.
The truly frightening part to her was when she had found out that her husband was the one who enforced Desmond’s power.
She had turned a blind eye to the strip club that he protected by placing Jackal and Buzzard inside as bouncers. What she couldn’t turn away from, though, was him placing his life on the line every time a deal went down by making sure the agreement was met without the fear of the buyers or the sellers being double-crossed, all the while making sure that Desmond received his cut of the transaction.
Of course, the affluent friends he had accumulated not only provided a smokescreen but were another layer of protection Desmond used to surround himself. He was able to stay safe and warm in his mansion, hiding behind the façade of being a legitimate businessman, while Ice did whatever dirty work he was ordered to perform.
Naively, she hadn’t asked too many questions, and those she did, she had accepted the ambiguous answers he had come up with. She had told herself repeatedly that he would get tired of the job and move on like normal men did as they grew older and wanted to start a family. Except, Ice had no intention of changing his job, whether they started a family or not.
That fact had finally registered to her when she became pregnant two months after her mother’s death. She had looked at the baby as a bright spot in the grief she had been dealing with, happily planning to turn one of the guest rooms into a nursery. That was the same time their arguments began.
Dealing with the overwhelming grief of losing her mother, it occurred to her: What if something happened to Ice? No one could do anything if misfortune happened, such as an accident, but the job Ice did was laced with danger that could be prevented.
That was when the truth about her husband finally hit home: he had no intention of changing, regardless of how many children they had.
Each time they fought, his only response was the exact same—she had known what type man he was before they had married. And she had.
Another blow to their marriage had been when she suffered a miscarriage. During that year, Ice had been supportive and loving. Everything a woman could need from her husband was there, except for what she needed the most. She needed Ice to pick her and the child she hoped to have in their future over being Desmond’s henchman.
That was over three years ago, and they were no closer to a solution that would make them both happy.
To make matters worse, she had no one she could confide in. She didn’t want her father and Dax to know what Ice did, nor could she talk to Penni, who was her best friend. Penni was married to Jackal, who was Ice’s sergeant-at-arms in the Predators. He was right beside Ice when the deals went down.
It didn’t seem to bother Penni that her husband took risks, or that he worked at the Purple Pussycat, protecting the women during encounters with their customers. Penni’s brother, Shade, belonged to The Last Riders motorcycle club, so she was used to turning a blind eye to the jobs the
men in her life carried out.
Rising from the bed, Grace smoothed down the dress she was wearing. The knee-length, rose-colored chiffon skimmed her body lovingly.
Catching sight of her reflection in the bureau mirror, she was tempted to throw something at it, to break the image that was staring back at her.
She might look the same as when she married Ice, but she changed. Losing her mother and the child she wanted had altered something inside of her. Now something was missing, and unless she discovered what that void was, Grace was deathly afraid that it was going to swallow her whole.
Ice had said he didn’t want a divorce, but she didn’t know how much longer she would be able to say the same if what she suspected was true.
Tucking a stray wisp of hair back into her chignon, she took a deep breath to steady herself. Today was Valentine’s Day, she reminded herself, and her father was getting remarried in a few hours.
Both his and T.A.’s happiness glowed on their faces whenever they were in a room together, highlighting just how unhappy she and Ice must appear.
Valentine’s Day was supposed to be filled with love. So far, hers was totally sucking. The only bright spot she was looking forward to was the wedding. As much as she was anticipating the wedding, she dreaded the oncoming evening when she and Ice would be left alone.
After the reception, her father and T.A. were flying to Florida to retrieve a motorcycle he had left with a friend. She and Ice would stay the night then fly back to Queen City in the morning.
She wasn’t under any delusions that they wouldn’t spend the night arguing, despite the romantic nature of the holiday. No pink cardboard heart was going to be able to heal the rift between them. It was going to take something that Grace was beginning to doubt Ice still felt for her.
Love.
CHAPTER 2
Grace stared down at the wedding ring on her left hand as T.A.’s and her father’s guests mingled while waiting for the newly married couple to arrive from the church.