Page 61 of Claiming Ours (Anchor Bay #2)

BAYLEE

M y socked feet slapped the hardwood floors with every step as I paced the length of my living room. Both dogs and BamBam watched me cautiously, as if they knew I was on the verge of tipping over into a hysterical crying fit.

Again.

“I just don’t understand why you can’t tell me,” I pleaded. “What if he doesn’t come back from wherever he went?” I paused and turned to where Liam sat on the edge of the chair, gray eyes locked on me like they had been all morning. “What if he realized I’m not enough to keep him here and?—”

“Okay, that’s enough of that.” He stood and strode to me, scooping me up in his thick arms and squeezing me tight against his chest. “You’re not thinking straight right now, so I’m going to allow that remark about you not being enough to slide without punishment, but you only get that one.

” Cupping my face, he tipped it up to his.

“You just have to trust me and Memphis both that what he had to do was to protect us—you, me, and himself. Can you do that, Little Bit? Can you trust me when I tell you everything will be fine, and he’ll come home to you? ”

I chewed on my lower lip. “I do trust you,” I whispered.

“But all these worst-case scenarios pop into my head, and the idea of yesterday morning being the last time I ever see him breaks me. I know what it feels like to be the one left behind, Liam. I’ve done it once and barely made it through, and that was with someone who I…

.” I trailed off, not wanting to admit that last part out loud since it had only been recently that I actually realized it myself.

“Someone who you loved at one time, but you’ve now realized that it had faded, while what we have here is the real deal?”

I gaped at Liam. “How did you know?”

“Multiple lives, remember, Little Bit. I know because I feel the same way. I thought I knew love before all this, thought I’d loved with my whole heart, but I had no idea there was a depth of love where I felt it with my whole body and soul.

It doesn’t diminish the relationships any of us had in the past; it just makes us very aware of the amazing thing we have between us three now. ”

“Us three,” I murmured. “I want that so bad it hurts, Liam.”

“Same, which is why you being worried that Memphis wouldn’t go through hell and back just to get back to you is crazy talk. He’ll be home soon, but I will warn you.” He grimaced and looked at the door. “There was an incident.”

“What?” I said, voice so deep and dark that Liam looked shocked for a split second at my reaction.

“All I know is that he has a concussion, so?—”

“And you’re just now telling me!” I shrieked and shoved out of his arms. “We need to go to him right now.” I pointed to the door and stomped my foot, which did not get the reaction I wanted.

Instead of looking scared, he looked like he was about to burst out laughing.

“Now, Liam. I don’t know where he is, or I’d already be out the door going to him. ”

When he didn’t move, I tossed both hands in the air and stormed past him. “Fine, I’ll go alone.”

“Like hell you will,” he chuckled. “You don’t even know where you’re going.”

“I’ll figure it out,” I hissed.

But as I reached the front door, the sound of the deadbolt clicking had me pausing. The door swung open. Elvis yipped and bolted past me, almost slamming against the door and closing it in Memphis’s and Langston’s faces.

“Hey, buddy,” Memphis said, a wide smile splitting his face.

His bruised face.

He had a black eye, a purple and swollen cheek, and a huge goose egg that poked out of the side of his head where his blond hair was shaved close to the scalp.

I froze, almost forgetting how to breathe as I inspected every injury, committing them to memory. My anger and worry fought against each other for dominance, anger winning out when he winced as he bent down to scratch behind Elvis’s ears.

“Who the fuck did that to you?”

Both men stilled, their gazes locked on me with a hint of fear in their expressions.

Memphis straightened and hobbled toward me.

“And you can’t walk?” I screeched.

“Just from the fall. My hip looks worse than my face.” He reached out, brushing his knuckles down my cheek. “Hey, Kitten. I missed you more than you can ever imagine.”

Tears welled and leaked down my cheeks, but I held in the desperate sob that wanted to escape. But despite all the relief at seeing him, that anger and need for vengeance continued to flare.

“Tell me, Memphis,” I said, stomping my foot. “Tell me who did this so I can hurt them back.” My hands curled into tight fists at my sides. “They don’t get to do that to you and get away with it.”

His responding smile was soft and shy. “The person didn’t, Bay. The cops came and took care of the situation. The person responsible will get the help they need. Someone from their family is coming to get them.”

“But I want to hurt them,” I whispered, almost horrified by my words, yet I meant them.

Really, really meant them.

“And I love that you want to hurt them to defend me, but there’s no need, sweet girl.

” He pulled me in for a hug, and my arms immediately went around his waist. “Fuck, it’s good to feel you in my arms, hear your voice.

I’m sorry I left like I did, but I had to go.

To protect us, our family that we’re starting here.

I had to protect us the only way I knew how. ”

I let those words sink in.

Our family.

That sounded almost too good to be true.

Liam and Langston whispered about something, their voices too low for me to make out their words, but I didn’t care. Memphis was back in my arms, and Liam was close by. Our family was back together—just the way it should be.

Memphis swayed in my arms, making my heart stop. Shifting positions, I draped his arm over my shoulders and pressed against his side to help support his weight.

“Come on, let’s get you into bed. I’ll get you some pain meds, unless you’ve already had some. Oh, and juice. I think I have some. That will help with your energy and hydration. You have a concussion, should stay by your side to monitor your vitals.”

Memphis’s smile was wide when I finally stopped rambling to look up.

“What?”

“Nothing, Kitten. Just… happy. And I’ll let you take care of me any way you see fit.”

“Lucky,” Liam grumbled, making me hide my smile against Memphis’s ribs. “Never had the urge to purposefully fall off a horse before, but if that’s what needs to happen, I’ll do it.”

I barked a laugh and shook my head. Pausing just outside my bedroom door, I frowned at the small queen-size bed. Looking over my shoulder, I took in Liam’s massive frame and then scanned Memphis’s.

“We need a bigger bed,” I mused.

“And a bigger cabin so we can all have our own space for when we need it,” Liam added.

“I’ll go get Memphis settled, and then we can text Carl to see which of the bigger cabins are open,” I said.

“Or we could take one of the empty lots and build our own, one that fits all our needs.” Liam paused beside me and placed a gentle kiss on the top of my head. “How does that sound, Little Bit? A place of our own.” He pressed a palm to my lower stomach. “For our family now, and maybe more one day?”

“I’d love that,” I rasped. “Really, really love that.”

“Then consider it done.”

I watched him walk away, not realizing I was staring at Liam’s ass until Memphis’s weight pressed harder against me as he swayed on his feet.

Right. Take care of this boyfriend first, then start designing the home of my dreams.

“We’ll need an ermine door,” I murmured as we shuffled into the bedroom.

“Fuck, you’re adorable, Baylee Smith.” I tipped my face up to Memphis and smiled, finding him doing the same. “And all mine.”

“Ours,” Liam shouted from the other room.

“Ours,” Memphis corrected.

I shook my head, rising onto my tiptoes to press a gentle kiss to the corner of his lips.

“Mine. All mine.”

“I love this kitchen,” Memphis said as he lounged beside me on the couch. He looked at Liam and pointed at the iPad screen. “What are the odds we can get all that here in Anchor Bay?”

Liam squinted at the screen to see the Pinterest picture I had pulled up.

“It might take a while, and not everything will be exactly that. It’ll depend on who will deliver here, but we can make something like that work for the new place.”

Memphis and I shared a wide smile and high-fived.

“This is going to be epic,” I murmured, swiping the screen. “Anchorage will have a lot of what we’ll need, so we won’t have to wait too long.” Memphis shifted, his face scrunching in pain. “Medicine time?”

“Fuck, how long does it take to recover from a concussion?” he grumbled.

“Longer than two days,” I joked as I slid off the couch and stood to get the Tylenol. “And your hip looked nasty. Did they do X-rays to make sure nothing was fractured?”

Before he could respond, there was a loud knock at the door, the force making it rattle on its hinges. Liam looked at me and I shrugged, letting him know I wasn’t expecting anyone. He was out of the chair between blinks and striding to the door with determined purpose.

His wide frame blocked me from seeing who was on the other side of the now-open door, but as soon as the voice hit my ears, the hair on my arms stood on end. As if sensing my nervousness, Elvis stood up from where he lounged in front of the fireplace and came to sit at my feet, Hank doing the same.

“Yeah, come on in,” Liam said, tension clear in his tone. “What is this all about?”

My heart hammered as the sheriff, Oliver, Brandon, and Carl filed into the cabin. Their expressions ranged from resigned to suspicious, the latter on the sheriff’s tight features.

Brandon and Carl moved to flank Liam. I looked at Memphis, who grabbed my hand and jerked me back down onto the couch, tucking me against his side.

“Where were you yesterday afternoon?” Sheriff Johnson demanded, looking at Liam, puffing up his chest.

Liam, to his credit, didn’t react to the accusing tone or fake bravado from the sheriff. Instead, he looked at Oliver and arched a brow.

Oliver sighed and placed a hand on his father’s shoulder, giving it a firm squeeze. “Let me handle this, Dad,” he offered.

“It’s Sheriff Johnson,” he snapped, flabby cheeks going red. “We need to know exactly where he was yesterday afternoon to rule him out.”

“Rule him out?” I whispered to Memphis, not taking my eyes off the five men. “For what?”

“I was here yesterday with Baylee,” Liam said, rubbing his jaw as if attempting to ease the tension. “And Memphis. Langston was here for a little while too.” He crossed his thick arms over his chest and glared down at the short, overweight man. “Why do you want to know?”

Oliver and his dad exchanged a look before the sheriff waved at Oliver to explain.

“Jasper Cain didn’t show up for last night’s shift at Sips, which was normal for him, but Paul still called us to do a wellness check like he always does. I figured I’d find Jasper passed out on his floor like I have many times before, but last night was different.”

“How so?” Brandon asked, clearly not knowing what this was all about either.

“I found him at his cabin—you know, the one about thirty minutes outside town. But he wasn’t passed out or even drinking or playing those fucking video games he loves.

” Oliver looked at Brandon, Liam, and Carl before sliding his concerned gaze to where Memphis and I sat on the couch.

A small smile curled his lips when he saw Hank at my side, but then it slipped as he sighed.

“I found Jasper Cain dead in the middle of his living room.”

“What?” we all exclaimed in unison. I jumped from the couch, but Memphis tugged me back down. I landed next to him with a huff.

“What happened to him?” Carl questioned.

“At first it looked like a suicide, and the note we found beside him supported that. It said he was sorry, that he took the blame for all the missing women over the last few months, and that they were all dead.”

“What the fuck?” Liam said, disbelief in his voice.

“But you don’t believe it,” I cut in, loud enough for everyone to hear.

Oliver shook his head and locked his intense gaze on me. “No. Based on the evidence I recovered and the scene itself, I think it was staged.”

“So, you’re saying….” Brandon trailed off, unable to finish the sentence.

Oliver nodded, agreeing with Brandon’s suspicions.

“Jasper Cain was murdered.”

Keep reading for the conclusion to Baylee, Memphis and Liam’s story!

Want to know what happens next in Anchor Bay? Find out more in Book 3, Only Theirs , coming this winter! Throuple reveal this fall!