Page 23 of It’s Always Been You (Always #1)

He was joking, right? Caitlin thought frantically as she stared at Travis with her mouth hanging open. Travis’s eyes grew alert, taking in her reaction carefully.

“Babe. Breathe,” Travis said worriedly.

Breathe? Breathe? Breathing was the least of her problems. Well, maybe not.

She started taking deep exhalations, pulled away from Travis, and backed into the kitchen slowly.

She turned around and leaned against the countertop, bracing her hands on the edge.

“Are you trying to kill me?” she gasped out as her heart galloped against her breastbone.

“Caitlin,” Travis’s voice was calm behind her. “They’re going to love you, sunshine. Don’t worry.”

She released her grip on the counter and faced him. “Have you told them I’m alive?”

His gaze slid away from her and stared at a spot on the floor.

“Freaking great,” Caitlin muttered. “You’re going to give your parents a heart attack as well.” Then she shrieked, “What the HELL were you thinking?”

Travis’s arms were outstretched to placate her, but she swatted them away and scooted past him to wear a hole in the carpet in the living room.

“I’ll explain when they get here,” Travis said.

“And tell them what? Oh, by the way, my wife is alive?”

“I couldn’t hold them off forever.” It irritated Caitlin that Travis was so matter-of-fact about the whole thing. “Mom said my sister, Lisa, had some stuff for me and wanted to bring them over before she returned to work this week.”

“Travis, have you considered what would happen if things don’t work out between us?” Caitlin asked. “We’ll hurt them in the end.”

“We’ll make sure we won’t,” Travis replied, still speaking in that measured tone, but a line formed along his jaw.

And that was when it hit her. He was so calm about the whole thing because this was another way to back her into a corner and make her accept her fate as his wife.

“You did this deliberately.” Her eyes narrowed. Surprisingly, she wasn’t too pissed off by his tactics, but he had to stop his underhanded manipulations.

The doorbell rang. Caitlin froze.

Travis cursed, looked at the door then back at her.

Caitlin unfroze and started to run for the stairs.

“Caitlin,” Travis roared after her. She heard voluble profanities erupt behind her, and she stopped at the bottom of the staircase. What was she doing? What did she think she could do? Hide in her room forever?

Travis was already upon her by the time she could even decide what to do. He grabbed her hand and dragged her back to the living room.

“Stay here. Don’t fucking move,” he ordered.

The doorbell rang again.

The good news was no one fainted .

Travis was having second thoughts about this impulsive plan he had hatched early this morning when his mom called inquiring if they could come over.

It bothered him because he was not an impulsive man.

He was calculating and precise. It seemed when it came to Caitlin, all bets were off and he never knew how he’d react.

He’d become an opportunist. Any way for him to bind her to him he would do it.

She needed to have a sense of family. And he didn’t want to delay that any longer.

He opened the door to his parents, but he stood by the frame with an arm outstretched on the jamb, preventing entry. Lillian Blake eyed her son with a frown. “Forgot your manners, Travis?”

“Mom.” He leaned in to give her a kiss on the cheek.

Then he turned to his dad and lifted his chin in greeting.

“Dad. Ah . . . there’s something I neglected to inform you both,” Travis started, but his mom, clearly losing patience, ducked under his arm to enter the house. His eyes slid shut at the inevitable.

“Really, Travis, there’s no need for . . . oh, sweet Lord!” his mom shrieked behind him. Daniel Blake, hearing his wife’s distress, scowled at his son and forced himself past the door.

Caitlin would most likely demand a divorce after this. So much for wanting to rip this whole thing off like a Band-Aid.

“Uh . . . hi,” Caitlin said timidly to his parents.

“Sarah?” his mom choked. Walking a couple of steps forward, her movements faltered. His dad immediately rushed to his wife’s side to offer support.

“What’s the meaning of this, son?” His dad’s voice was gruff.

Travis walked to Caitlin and hugged her close. “Mom, this is Caitlin. Caitlin is Sarah.” Shit, this was harder to explain than he thought. “It’s complicated,” he added lamely.

Way to go, Travis. Real slick .

His mom took another step forward, her eyes glazed with tears, lips trembling. “Sarah? Oh, my God. Travis. Is this real?’

He better explain things pretty fast. “Mom, Dad. Maybe you should sit down.” He nodded to the couch. His parents sat, obviously in a daze.

“Sarah was a victim of revenge against DEVGRU, my SEAL unit,” Travis said.

He felt Caitlin stiffen beside him. He’d already rehearsed the whole story; he hoped she would play along.

“I’m not at liberty to discuss the who and the what.

But a year after Sarah was taken, I began to piece together some evidence that led me to believe she was alive. ”

“That’s why you never gave up on her,” Lillian’s voice trembled with emotion. “Oh, Travis. Is this why you started BSI?”

Travis nodded. “There’s more to this, Mom.” He glanced briefly at Caitlin, who had her head bowed. He gripped her hand tightly. “Sarah does not exist anymore.”

“Is someone still after you, Sarah?” his dad asked.

“Her name is Caitlin now,” Travis said. “She has amnesia.”

“What?” his parents exclaimed, their eyes narrowing at his wife.

Caitlin shot him a you’re in so much trouble look. He didn’t care as long as they ended up in bed. His cock twitched. Fuck! Blake, now is not the time to have a hard-on , especially in front of your mom . Any lustful thoughts were quickly squelched.

“Caitlin only remembers the past three years. She doesn’t remember the both of you.” His throat constricted. “Or me.”

His mom rose and walked over to them. “Oh, Travis.” His mom hugged him.

Shit. Nothing like a mother who could sense her son’s pain.

She turned to Caitlin. “Your death nearly destroyed him, Sarah . . . I’m sorry .

. . it’ll take me some time to get used to your new name.

” His mother embraced Caitlin tightly. “Whatever happened, I don’t need to know.

I’ve accepted that part of my son’s life.

Dear child, it’s good to have you back.”

His mother broke into a sob, hugging Caitlin tighter. Travis encircled them both in his arms. His life was definitely looking up.

The men observed the women who were busy chatting in the living room.

The only other awkward moment was when his mom bluntly inquired about Caitlin’s scar and bruising.

His mother was admittedly nosy and sometimes was short on tact, but there was no one who had a bigger capacity for love than one Lillian Blake.

“There’s something you want to tell me without your mother finding out?” Daniel asked his son.

“Someone is still after Caitlin,” Travis admitted to his dad.

“The attack we told you about, which is the reason for her current injuries, is not quite over. It’s under control right now, but I’m trying to be careful.

I’ll be assigning extra security for you both, unless you want to take Mom on a vacation for a while. ”

“How long?”

“I don’t know, Dad.”

His dad nodded. “I understand. I prefer to take your mom away, but a part of me doesn’t want to leave you both alone in this. If something happens to either of you, we want to be close in case you need help.”

“Dad—”

“Your mom is not obtuse, Travis. Leaving for another vacation so soon after coming back from Lisa’s is going to make her suspicious. I’ll break it to her gently.”

“I’ll arrange for security as soon as possible. I had a contract that ended yesterday, and I’ve already recalled my crew from that one.”

“We’re all set then. ”

“You’re all set,” Travis assured his dad.

It would be a couple of hours before Travis’s parents left.

Caitlin caught an earful of his mother’s anecdotes of her life before, thinking it would spark her memory.

Sadly, amnesia didn’t work that way. None of the stories sounded familiar, and it was as if Lillian was recounting someone else’s life—not her life with Travis.

Though she knew Lillian didn’t mean it, the older woman’s eyes drifted to Caitlin’s scar more frequently than was comfortable.

Eventually his mother said, “I know of a good plastic surgeon that can fix your scar, Caitlin.”

Caitlin knew she meant well, because there was no malice in her tone, and clearly she was just trying to be helpful. Unfortunately, the men had walked back to the living room by then, and Travis overheard his mother. He was furious.

“What the fuck, Mom!” Travis snapped. “Caitlin is perfect the way she is. I would not change a fucking thing.”

“Travis, calm down.” His father’s voice boomed behind them.

There was a tense line along Travis’s jaw. “I think this visit is over.”

“Travis, your mom—” Caitlin began.

“No. He’s right, my dear,” Lillian said in a quiet voice. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything. It’s just that—”

“It’s okay, really,” Caitlin assured her. “The scar is a part of me now. I’d feel naked without it.”

His mother looked at her with such regret. “Oh, Caitlin.”

Damn, she must have looked really good with a flawless face, Caitlin thought miserably.

“Sweetheart,” Daniel addressed Lillian. “I think it’s time we get moving. We haven’t quite settled back to routine, and the kids need time for themselves. Three weeks is not enough to make up for three years.”

“Damn straight,” Travis muttered. His mother wrinkled her nose at her son, miffed at his cursing. Caitlin wanted to laugh. There was such a sense of family between them that even when they were at odds, she found it so endearing.

“Thank you,” Caitlin told Travis after his parents had left.

“For what, sunshine?”