Page 19 of Forever His (The Donovans: Secret Son #6)

Tia

Tia was excited.

She’d arrived home to an empty house which had originally worried her. After walking through every room to make sure Trent wasn’t there, she found the note in their bedroom. It had been sitting right beside her overnight bag and Tia had smiled foolishly as she read it.

She wanted to call Camille and tell her that she’d been right, that Trent had scheduled a special weekend for them.

After being out all day Tia wanted to shower and to change her clothes.

Before heading to the bathroom Tia had tried to call Apollo to let him know where she was going in case he wanted to follow her but she hadn’t received an answer.

She moved as quickly as possible before grabbing that bag and getting on the road.

The drive was long but scenic until it became too dark for her to see.

Still, she’d loved watching the sun set over the trees.

Her mind wandering to Trent and to their life together.

After losing Jake and Jennifer, Tia had never considered finding love again.

She’d never contemplated having a baby, let alone wanting two babies.

But now she did. It didn’t take her long to realize that everything she loved about her life had started with Trent’s persistence in getting her to go out with him.

If he had just listened to her that first time he’d asked if he could call her, she wouldn’t be where she was today.

That was a sobering thought and with it came another realization.

One year ago today she was extremely happy with her family.

Trent and Trevor were enough. Although she and Trent had talked infrequently about having more children, neither one of them had every really pushed the issue.

Until now. Until the doctor told her she might not have another chance.

But really, she thought as she checked her GPS to see that she was only a mile out from her destination, was that a totally bad thing.

If she’d been happy with just Trent and Trevor before, couldn’t she still be happy with just the two of them?

If her doctor had said the surgery was urgent and she had no other choice, wouldn’t she have simply been thankful for all that she had?

The answer to both questions was a resounding yes.

As soon as Tia admitted that to herself the stress that had been weighing on her shoulders was lifted.

She sighed heavily, smiling to herself as she thought of how Trent would react when he told her.

The moment she got into their room she was going to erase that ovulation app off her phone. Then she was going to spend the rest of the night making love to her husband. Yes, she thought as she grabbed her bag and stepped out of her car, she and Trent were going to have the perfect weekend.

Trent

Trent, York and Dev each had their mini flashlights in one hand gun in the other. The light was shined directly at the door which was how they’d seen the doorknob turning. They each waited, ready to fire at will and to finally, once and for all, end this irrational game Roslyn had started.

The door creaked as it opened and she walked in, bag in one hand, her other hand lifted as she tried to block the lights that were shining in her face.

“Trent?”

“Tia?” Trent cursed and let his gun hand drop to his side. “What the hell are you doing here?” he asked when she’d taken another step into the living room.

She looked totally confused, seeing Dev and York and, “Bailey! Is that you? Oh my goodness, you’re alright!” Tia was saying.

Trent walked toward her and asked again, “Baby, what are you doing up here? How did you know we were here?”

Tia turned to him them, her happy smile at seeing Bailey faltering just a bit.

“You left me a note,” she told him.

Trent frowned. “A note?”

“Yes. It was in our bedroom and you packed my bag. You told me to meet you here. I’ve been driving for what seems like forever. I thought it was going to be just us, but oh I’m so glad to see you Bailey,” Tia said.

“I’m glad to see you, too,” Bailey replied but her tone was a little stilted.

Trent knew why.

“I didn’t leave you any note, Tia. I called you to tell you I was following up on a lead with Bailey. Since we didn’t know who tipped the press off about what was going on, I didn’t want to leave a message or say it in a text,” Trent spoke, his mind now whirling.

Who had written that note?

Better yet, who the hell had been in his house?

“Well, isn’t this quaint?” Jaydon walked in through the open front door.

“Bitch!” Trent heard Dev say from behind him.

Jaydon nodded, her dark hair straight and falling around her shoulders. “Let me see who we have here,” she said as she ran her hand along a wall and switched on the light.

“I know you,” she said looking at Dev. “Still angry as hell, huh? Well, join the club. And you, aren’t you supposed to be knocked out?”

The last was directed to Bailey.

To York she said, “I don’t know you but under different circumstances it might have been nice to get to know you.”

She smiled and Trent recalled the first time he’d met her. He’d clapped Parker on his shoulder and told him well done. Jaydon Donovan was one sexy as hell woman. She had body, beauty and brains which was a deadly combination. Trent had no idea how true that would eventually become.

“What did you think was going to happen here tonight, Jaydon?” Trent asked.

“It doesn’t matter what she thought,” Dev stated through clenched teeth. “The plan has obviously changed.”

Jaydon laughed. It was a rich sound that filled the space, so much so that Trent almost missed the movement of the arm she’d been holding behind her back.

He gripped his gun, but Tia had grasped his arm so he couldn’t raise it.

Jaydon abruptly stopped laughing and raised her arm quickly.

“This wasn’t part of my original plan, but you know I’m used to going with the flow.

My mother used me to do her bidding. Dane used me to keep our mother in line.

And then Parker, well, he just didn’t want me.

So he dropped me like a hot potato. That’s how you Donovans do, don’t you? ”

“Put the gun down!” Dev yelled. “Put it down now or I’ll blow your fucking head off!”

“You heard him, put it down!” York countered.

Tia held on to Trent’s arm even tighter.

“Jaydon you don’t want to do this. Think about it, you’re outnumbered,” Trent told her.

“What? Oh you mean the guys in the woods,” she said and shook her head. “Don’t worry about them, Orin took them out a while ago.”

“This is your last chance,” Dev said. “Put the damn gun down!”

“Not until I finish what we started,” Jaydon spat. “Not until you bastards get what you deserve. Each one of you, including the stupid bitches that keep falling for you!”

Everything happened in slow motion at that moment. Jaydon pulled the trigger. York and Dev fired. Jaydon’s body jerked and stumbled until she finally fell back slamming into the wall, blood smearing over the mustard yellow paint as she slid to the floor.

Then there was a gasp and Tia’s grip on Trent’s arm slackened.

He turned to look at her, to make sure she was alright.

That’s when her body slumped and Trent saw the blood splatter on his shirt.

Tia was going down and Trent went with her, falling to his knees and catching her in his arms. Blood covered her chest and ran from her mouth as she choked and tried to talk.

Her eyes were rolling in the back of her head, blood pouring out of her chest.

Every fear, every nightmare, every moment that he’d worried and then told himself he was being foolish come screeching to an abrupt stop in his mind. All Trent could see was Tia covered in blood. All he could feel was…nothing…he felt nothing without her. Not one damn thing.

The heart wrenching yell that came from his throat and echoed throughout the entire house said it all.