Fake Escape Pt 07

Chapter 19

Killian

I had a drink in my hand but I had only just started sipping it. It didn't even taste right. All my inner desire to drown my emotions in alcohol still couldn't motivate me to get wasted again. But at least Misty and Cara had the good sense not to even show up this time. I'd have kicked them out if they did.

"What gives? You're acting like a schmuck. So she dumped you; get over it." Jake had a woman on each side as he lectured me, but I walked away and ignored him. Eventually I'd feel like myself again, but it was too soon to try to jump back into the deep end and swim with the big fish.

At this point I counted it a success that I was even here and hadn't stayed at home to hide in my room. The longer I was around these people the longer I realized they weren't really my people. They were the ones I grew up with and the crowd I had available to me, but deep down they weren't like me. I pretended to be like them because my dad was the wealthiest one so they made me the ringleader. Now I just wanted to surround myself with people who understood me.

I meandered through the sprawling condo until I found a quiet place in the corner of the kitchen and sipped my drink again, but I had no desire to finish it. When my phone rang I took it from my pocket and tossed it on the counter. Unless it was Bailey I didn't want to talk. The condo was filled with people I was already ignoring.

But the caller ID said Mike Matthews and my heart almost stopped. What the hell would he want to call me for? Unless he heard about the party and intended to be an ass and break it up. I ignored the call, sending it to voicemail, and walked out of the kitchen to find a different quiet spot.

Minutes later, however, Benny Parker walked out of the kitchen with my phone in hand and headed straight toward where I was leaning against the hallway doorjamb. He had his arm stretched out toward me and in his other hand he held a bong ready to go to the patio.

"Here, man, it was ringing."

I glowered at him and took the phone, only to see Matthews's number show up again. If I didn't answer this and he was out front, he'd just barge in and humiliate me or break up the party. Chances were someone just called in a noise complaint or something and he had to personally remind me I was on thin ice.

I swiped right and said, "What!" The music was loud but I heard him plain as day when he responded.

"Bailey needs you." His words were curt and I could tell he wasn't pleased with saying them.

"What do you mean?" I walked toward the door, already reaching for my keys.

"I mean, she needs you. The baby is sick and Bailey is terrified. Harold told me to get you over there, but so help me if you--"

I hung up on him. I didn't have any desire to listen to his lecturing or anger. If Bailey wanted me there, there wasn't a force in Heaven or on Earth that could keep me away. A few people tried to stop me and ask what was going on but I walked right past them and raced to the hospital.

I left my car parked in the emergency lot and ran through the doors but I didn't see anyone. Mr. Matthews wasn't around, nor was Bailey, which meant they were already in a room somewhere. I charged up to the check in counter and the nurse there looked up.

"Can I help you?" she asked politely, but I felt frantic.

"I'm here, um... Bailey Matthews please...." It wasn't that I was winded as much as desperate.

"Yes, sir, you'll have to take a seat. We can't allow visitors in the emergency department." Her fingers clicked away at the keyboard but she was serious about me sitting down. I wasn't having it.

"I'm the child's father." The old lie rolled off my tongue with ease and the nurse looked up at me.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Mr. Matthews. Let me get a nurse. She stood and walked away and I didn't even care that she didn't recognize me or use the correct name. I had to get to Bailey because if she needed me enough for Mike to come looking, then I knew it was bad.

They led me back through the maze of curtains and hallways until the nurse pulled open the door to a small waiting room. Bailey sat in a hard plastic chair with her father beside her and Mike next to him. They all three looked worried, but Bailey looked almost relieved to see me. She got out of her seat and crashed into my arms and I held her and smoothed her hair back as she cried softly.

"Hey, I'm here now. It's okay, baby. What's wrong?" She was too hysterical to talk so I looked to her father who didn't look pleased to see me but he sighed and stood with his hat in his hands.

"Sienna is getting a lumbar puncture. They think it's spinal meningitis." I didn't know much about medicine but I knew what a lumbar puncture was. This was pretty serious for a baby this young so I understood why Bailey was so shook up. I hated that there was distance between us and that when she called I ignored it. Mike had threatened me, otherwise I'd have been here from the beginning.

"Harold, there's something you need to know. Bailey might not even know this either." Mike stood up and walked toward me a few steps but I didn't care what he told anyone. The only thing that mattered was that Bailey was in my arms and she could draw strength from me. Mike had zero tact. He just wanted to bully me.

"What's that?" Bailey's dad asked, and he turned away from me. The two men, being brothers, probably thought a lot alike. I wanted to defend our actions and the choice we made to lie to everyone but I couldn't. We both entered into that agreement as adults and what was done was done. Besides, if I could make Sienna mine for real, I would. I loved this woman.

"Killian isn't Sienna's father. I ran the DNA. So either they both lied to us, or he's manipulating her for some reason." Mike squared his shoulders as Harold looked back at me with a glare, and all I could do was walk Bailey to the corner of the room and help her sit down. Those too idiots would work it out between themselves. I wasn't going to engage with them when she was this upset.

"Kill," she whimpered and I brushed a few tears away. I noticed her uncle and dad talking but only looked into her eyes.

"I'm here as long as you want or need me, okay? I'm not going anywhere." I kissed her forehead and she clung to me.

"I'm glad you came. She's so sick. I'm so worried."

I held Bailey until Mike stormed out of the room in an angry huff. Harold never said a word to me; he just let me sit with Bailey and hold her. And when the doctors came in and told us we could go back to the baby's bed side, Bailey insisted that I come along.

The entire two-hours I was on pins and needles wondering what Mr. Matthews was thinking but he didn't say a word. We stood by Sienna's bed as the doctor explained that the condition she was suffering from was called roseola, and that the fever would pass but a rash would probably cover her whole body. We were so relieved, and Sienna was finally resting.

"So you're saying it's just a virus?" Bailey asked and she snuggled closer to me. She looked exhausted. It was nearly midnight and it looked like she hadn't slept in days. Probably so if Sienna really was that fussy.

"Yes, we can keep the fever under control and give you something for the rash but this will pass on its own. We'll keep her here overnight for monitoring, make sure the fever goes down and she gets rehydrated. She was probably just really miserable with the fever that high so she wasn't eating. We will release her tomorrow afternoon." The doctor, a balding man in his fifties, reached out and shook my hand.

"Thank you, doctor," I said, gripping his hand firmly. He shook Bailey's dad's hand too and then excused himself from the room.

Bailey curled around me tightly and laid her head on my chest. "I don't want you to leave, Kill. Please stay with me."

I kissed the top of her head and held her more tightly. "I told you I'm not going anywhere." Even if her uncle wanted to bully me and make me feel bad for the lie, that was behind us now. He could try to press charges on me but they wouldn't stick. Bailey would stand up for me.

"Son, why don't you take Bailey to her apartment so she can sleep. I'll sit with the baby overnight." Harold's hand on my shoulder made me tense at first until I saw the look in his eyes. He'd heard Mike tell the truth, that I wasn't Sienna's father, but he was still allowing me to be here. It puzzled me.

"Sir, I think we should let Bailey decide that." I loosened my tight hug and she stared down at Sienna. "What do you think, baby?" This time, when I called her baby in front of one of her family members it wasn't put-on. I meant it. I wanted her to be my baby in every sense of the word.

"Shouldn't I stay? I'm her mom." She chewed her bottom lip and her dad responded.

"I've got this. She's just going to sleep, and they will feed her if she's hungry. You go home and rest. That's an order." He grunted and cleared his throat then said, "And Killian, we have some things to talk about, but you take care of her tonight. I expect you to make sure she's hydrating and resting."

On any given Friday night I would have been wasted by this point, throwing rocks at the ocean or in bed with a random woman. But all of that changed and now this was the only place I could even fathom being. I wanted to be here with Bailey, getting lectured by her father about propriety and how to care for a woman. I wanted this.

"Of course sir. I'll take care of her." I nodded at him and hooked an arm around Bailey's waist and pulled her toward the door. She hugged her dad on the way and grabbed her purse then walked with me in silence toward the exit.

We didn't talk much as I drove her home, but she did hold my hand. I heard her crying and got her a napkin from my glove box when I stopped at a red light. She kissed the back of my hand and pressed my hand to her breastbone.

When I walked her up to her apartment, her shoulders were sagging. She looked despondent and lost. Her head hung, and her shoes dragged on the ground with each step. At the door she stopped and turned to me without making eye contact.

"You don't have to stay if you don't want to. I know you're probably missing a big party or something. And I know I'm not your type, and that you could have any woman you want, and I'm poor and--"

I pressed a finger to her lips, halting her, and she looked up at me with tears in her eyes. "You know nothing, Bailey." I moved toward her, desperate to feel her against me again and she didn't shy away. "I can't stand being away from you."

"What?" Her soft whimper melted my heart and it pooled in my groin. I needed her.

"I am in love with you, Bailey Matthews. And I don't care if your uncle throws me in jail; I want to be with you." I cupped her cheek and kissed her softly.

"What do you mean?" she asked, face contorted in confusion.

"I mean, when Robocop tested my DNA against Sienna's and found it wasn't a match, he threatened to throw me in jail. He told me to stay away, and now I just don't care. I can't do this anymore. The partying and drinking--I hate it. I found something with you that is better than all of that and when I couldn't have it, I lost any motivation to get out of bed in the morning." I kissed her again. "I want you, Bailey. For real--not some fake relationship to fool your family. I want this to be reality."

"Oh my god," she whined and wrapped her arms around me. "I thought you were done, like you got sick of me bossing you around, or that you didn't want me because I was poor. Or that you thought I was a gold digger, or--"

My lips covered hers again, swallowing her rambling. I hated that she'd been torturing herself that long and I could have fixed it. I just feared what Mike would do if I responded to those texts and voice messages. Prison terrified me, and maybe I was naive for thinking that he could actually do that, but I wasn't exactly the poster child for following the law.

"We should go inside," I told her, because my dick was swelling, and by the hungry way she groped my body, I knew this was going somewhere.

Inside, she locked up and took my hand, leading me across the messy living room toward her bedroom. There were empty ice cream containers and pizza boxes. A stack of dirty dishes by the sink, and a pile of laundry on the floor by the couch. S he'd been so overwhelmed she hadn't even cleaned up the place for days it appeared. But when she swept the comforter and everything else on the bed with it onto the floor I knew none of that stuff mattered.

She crawled into bed and I followed her, and before her head even hit the mattress she was naked and I was buried inside her where I belonged.

Yeah, this was the only thing that felt right.

Chapter 20

Bailey

Killian's body was draped around mine, pinning me down. His light snoring was the best sound in the world to wake up to. When he showed up at the hospital last night I couldn't believe it. I heard what Mike told Dad, and I knew Dad would have questions, but we'd face that together. I also didn't know what to think about Uncle Mike and how Killian had broken the law and lied to him too. Certainly he couldn't stay angry and hold it against Killian now?

But what confused me the most was how Killian had stayed even when I gave him the out. I told him I wasn't his type and that he didn't have to stay and he wanted to stay. He said he loved me, but was that a ploy to get sex from a vulnerable woman? Because I'd have slept with him last night just to have the moment with him one last time even if I knew he would still leave. But he was here.

"Good morning," he said, and I noticed he was watching me. I smiled and nestled into his chest, placing kisses on his skin as I wrapped my arms around him.

"Morning, yourself." His hands on my ass were warm and he pulled me closer until I felt his morning wood pressing against my tender pussy. He really fucked me hard last night, but this morning I wanted him again. I had to know if this was real, if he was truly going to stick around in my life or if he was just playing the game we started.

"How did you sleep?" he asked, kissing my forehead, and I shrugged a shoulder.

"A bit restless. I'm still worried about her." The fact was I didn't sleep well at all. Having my little girl in the hospital while I was home resting felt bad, like I wasn't doing the right thing.

"She's going to be fine, baby." Kill's words made me tense and apprehensive. He was calling me baby, which meant what? That this really was real?

"Why are you here? Why did you stay?" I traced lazy figure eights on his chest with my index finger and he smiled at me.

"Because there are some things in life money can't buy and when you find them you don't let them go." He kissed my forehead again. "I told you, I love you, Bailey. I want this to be real."

I felt my eyes welling up with tears again, but for the first time in months they were happy tears. "Yeah?" I said, and he nodded.

"Yeah." This time when he kissed me he kissed my lips. It wasn't hungry or demanding; it was gentle and compassionate. His tongue traced my lines and made me want to feel him inside me, as if that would cement this moment and actually make it real.

He rolled, taking me with him until he was pressing me into the mattress with the blankets still up over our bodies to the waist. Without any additional help he dipped his hips as I spread my legs and his dick pushed into me slowly. The sensation was exquisite, like the feeling of a hot shower when you really need to relax, or a dip in the pool on a hot day.

It quenched my hunger and simultaneously healed a part of my soul. "I love you too, Killian," I whimpered and started rocking my hips in time with his thrusts. He was as lost as I was, and I knew that this was the beginning of something real.

His hand found my breast and kneaded the tender flesh as he pumped into me harder, his other hand splayed out on the bed above my head as if he was trying to restrain himself. I didn't want him to though; I wanted everything he had to offer. I wanted to drown in him, to feel every inch of him imprinted on my skin and burned into my memory.

"Tell me again," I panted, and he obliged, his voice gruff and low in my ear.

"I love you, Bailey." Killian's body against mine felt like home. I clawed his back and pulled him closer. He continued thrusting, bending low to kiss me and bit my lip.

"Harder," I breathed, and he growled.

He obliged, slamming into me harder and faster, his grip on my hip tightening. His teeth grazed over my jawline and down my collarbone, leaving a trail of shivers in their wake. We were both panting now, gasping for air between moans and confessions of our love for each other. It felt like the world was ending, like this was our last night on earth, but I didn't care.

My orgasm built, and I arched my back, my body tensing as the pleasure coursed through my veins. "I'm going to..." I panted, and he circled his hips to hit my sweet spot. The way his dick grinded into me had me trembling and shivering. My body couldn't even contain it, and the pleasure leaked through my lips in screams and gasps.

"Shit, you're hot when you're coming," he growled, and squeezed my tit harder. "Makes me go insane."

"Oh god... Oh my god." I writhed under his weight and every nerve ending was on fire as he slowed and looked down at me.

"I love you, Bailey Matthews."

"I love you, Killian Welch," I breathed, "and don't you ever let go of me now."

"Never again." he said, and tenderly kissed my lips before he started to move again. It was as if time had stopped, and the rest of the world vanished. In this moment, it was just the two of us, lost in each other's arms. Killian's body tensed and he kissed me hard as he grunted and I felt heat explode up inside of me. His thrusts were slower but more determined, as if he were trying to stay inside me as long as possible.

His chest was slick with sweat and his breathing was ragged as he finally collapsed on top of me, cradling my body. Our bodies were spent and sated, and we were both drowning in each other's arms. "I don't want this moment to end," I finally said after a long while.

"Me neither," he agreed, his voice muffled in my hair. "But we have a little girl who needs us."

"Us?" I asked.

"Yeah, well I'm her father now so yeah..."

As strange as that felt, for him to take ownership of my little girl who very much did not belong to him at all, I felt safe when he said it. Killian had no intention to hurt me. I could tell it in the way he peppered my forehead and the crown of my head with kisses. Those weren't for him. He got nothing out of them. Those were for me, and they said "I love you" in ways his words never could.

We showered together, talking intimately about how we'd handle our "family matters," including but not limited to my Uncle Mike and how he might react, and the fact that there was no room for him in the tiny space that was my apartment. He washed me, and we ended up screwing once more in the shower, to make it four times in less than twelve hours, but I rushed him. I wanted to get back to the hospital.

When we breezed into the room, now in pediatrics on the third floor, Dad was there, along with Mike and Margret. They beat us by only a few minutes. Dad looked fresh despite having slept on a pull-out bed next to Sienna's crib all night, and Margret handed me a cup of coffee and gave me a hug.

"How's she doing?" I asked, unaware of anything else in the world other than my baby girl sleeping soundly.

"She had a bottle about two hours ago and she's been sleeping peacefully. She was fussy overnight, but the docs are taking great care of her. How do you feel?" Dad's answer came as I turned toward the bed and thanked Margret for the coffee.

Killian hovered by the door like a stray waiting to be invited in. I reached for him and he joined me at the side of the crib where Sienna looked more at ease than I'd seen her in days. He held my hand as we watched her sleep for a second, and he kissed my shoulder.