For a little while longer, Aviva held eye contact with him before she looked down at her hands that had subconsciously begun to pluck at the bedding.
“I was driving along and I noticed there was an SUV behind me. At first I thought nothing of it. It was your birthday, and I was looking forward to dinner. When the car repeatedly started to speed up and fall back, I became worried.
The next thing I knew the headlights were turned on at full beam, and the SUV was coming at me, fast. I didn’t have much time to react before it hit me really hard from behind.”
From the moment she mentioned the SUV, Jason’s heart rate increased. He reached out and turned her face towards him, his gaze intense. Casting him a surreptitious glance Jason knew she was aware that he was furious. Letting go of her face, his hands fisted in an attempt to hold in his anger.
“Go on, Angel.”
“When I felt the first contact, I sped up. It was funny, but there was nobody else on the road. That’s when I realized what was going on. The SUV had fallen back every time another vehicle came into view. They were just waiting for the right moment, I guess.
Then the car came alongside me and rammed me so hard I lost control. Before I could get my thoughts together, I was heading for some trees. My next conscious awareness was when I woke up in this bed.”
At the cessation of her summary of the accident, Jason rose from beside her and strolled over to the window. He had no interest in what was going on outside; turning his back to Aviva was his attempt at hiding the rage that emanated from every muscle in his body. It was as he had feared. The accident had something to do with him and his past life. What that something was, he didn’t yet know, but he would find out. In the meantime he again wondered, when people were going to learn that they should not fuck with his wife!
Chapter 13
Noon had come and gone. By the time 4:00 pm rolled around, MacKenzie was losing her mind. She had begun calling Carlos at 1:30, and he had yet to answer either his home or mobile phones.
Taking matters into her own hands, she left her home at around 4:30 and walked to the nearest A.T.M. There she withdrew three hundred dollars. Then she hailed a cab and sat through a hellish drive to Carlos’ house. When she arrived at his home, she rang the intercom at the gate for a full fifteen minutes to no avail. Frantic with worry, MacKenzie thought about climbing over the wall, but the seven foot structure that surrounded his property was beyond her.
With tears streaming down her face, she got back into the cab and did her best to ignore the sympathetic glances she received from the driver as they drove away. When the taxi came to a stop, MacKenzie pulled out her cell, dialed a number and waited.
“Hey, Kenzie.”
“He took my baby, Vee!”
“What?! Who took your baby?”
“Carlos. He took her, and now he’s not taking my calls.”
“I’m coming, Kenzie, hang on, I’m on my way.” MacKenzie could hear the deep rumble of Jason’s voice in the background as Aviva scrambled around. “I’ll be there in a little while, hold on.”
There was a short pause. “MacKenzie, where are you?” The sound of Jason’s voice on the other end of the line startled her. MacKenzie was still getting used to Jason, and for a moment she forgot to respond.
“MacKenzie, where are you!” Jason asked again a little more sharply.
“I’m outside your house.”
“Are you on foot?”
“No, I’m in a cab.”
“Stay on the line. I’m going to open the gates. Hang on honey, we’ll sort this out.”
The fact that Jason tagged an endearment onto his assurance caused fresh tears to run down her face. She hadn’t even known that he liked her.
By the time the cab delivered her to the house, Jason was outside waiting. Opening the door almost before it came to a stop, he reached in and pulled her out and into his arms.
“It’s going to be okay, MacKenzie. Everything is going to be okay,” he said as he gently rubbed her back.
As Jason led her inside, MacKenzie gave no thought to paying the cab and failed to notice that Jason had taken care of the fare. All she could think about was her baby.
Just then her eyes alighted on Aviva, who stood at the bottom of the stairs with a surgical dressing on her forehead. Blinking a few times, MacKenzie looked between Jason and Aviva as though attempting to figure out what she was seeing.
“I thought I told you to stay in bed?” Jason said pointing at his wife.
Ignoring him, Aviva came to MacKenzie and hugged her as she whispered, “It’s a long story, but I’m fine.” In response to her friend’s silent enquiry.
As though by magic, MacKenzie found herself standing in the Kingdom family room surrounded by the Kingdom men.
Numb, she could only watch as Jake gently moved Aviva out of the way and took her face between his hands. With tender care, he brushed away her tears even as more fell to take their place.