Hidden Betrayal (O'Connor Girls Book 1) Read online

  “According to Jason, Kurt is doing an inquiry into the investigation. He said he'd have Hannah out by the end of the week.” The spark of hope in his eyes made her breathe a sigh of relief.

  “Are you going back to her home with her?” Kristy hoped not because the thought of Dean being back in town when she was in Hopedale made her sick to her stomach.

  “I don’t think Hannah will ever go into that house again.” Dean took her hand and linked his fingers with hers. “Keith has the guys cleaning up one of the bunkhouses for her.”

  “Do you really think she’ll be comfortable there? Isabelle has another room here. I’m sure she wouldn’t mind having Hannah stay here.” Kristy traced the tattoo that ended at his wrist with her finger.

  “Kitten, I know Isabelle would put Hannah up if I asked, but my sister won’t be comfortable with someone she doesn’t know, and besides I’ll be there with her.” Dean put his finger under her chin and pulled her face up, so she had to look at him. “You want to tell me why you’re worried?”

  “I’m not.” Kristy lied. Although, terrified described how she felt a little more accurately.

  “Yeah, you are, and I know what’s going through the beautiful brain of yours.” He tucked her hair behind her ear.

  “Oh so not only are you a joker, you’re a mind reader now. You should really take that show on the road.” Kristy rolled her eyes.

  “Maybe after this is all over. I’ll need a lovely assistant. You want to moonlight as my assistant?” He smiled and cupped her cheek.

  “Sure,” Kristy laughed.

  “Stop worrying.” Dean brushed his thumb across her lower lip.

  “I’m not.” She couldn’t lie and look him in the eye which was why she glanced toward the window.

  “You are, and if you would stop avoiding eye contact with me, I’ll tell you why you need to stop worrying.” Dean released her hand and held her face between both his hands.

  “What?”

  “My feelings for you haven’t changed in the last twenty-four hours. I. Love. You.” Dean pressed his lips against hers and pulled back.

  “I know that, and I love you too.” Kristy cupped her hands on his forearms.

  “I’m also not about to lose you now that I’ve got my head out of my ass and had a taste of those sweet lips.” He smiled.

  “Dean, you’ve got so much more to worry about than me.” Kristy met his eyes. “I don’t want you to forget I’m here if you need anything.”

  “I won’t because I can’t forget about you. You’re in my every thought, and there isn’t a second of the day I don’t think about you. Even with all the shit going on in my family, you were always my first thought in the morning and the last one before I go to sleep. I wish I hadn’t waited so long to tell you how I feel.” Dean pulled her into his arms and pressed his lips against the top of her head.

  “I love you so much, Dean.” Kristy wrapped her arms tightly around him.

  “Kitten, even with the hell of all my family shit the last couple of days, I feel lighter because I have you.” Dean kissed the top of her head.

  Kristy swallowed the lump in her throat. He’d finally said the words she'd wanted to hear. She was so happy she could cry, but the truth was, their relationship couldn’t move forward. Not until Hannah was out from behind bars and Peyton's murderer was in jail.

  “I’m sorry, the last thing you need on your plate is to be concerned about my insecurities.” Kristy pulled back and saw the tears in his eyes. “Dean, what is it?”

  “Pey told me if I didn’t tell you how I felt soon I would lose the chance and I’d be kicking myself in the ass for the rest of my life.” Dean smiled and blew out a breath. “She wasn’t wrong.”

  For a long time, they sat together on the bed and held each other. It felt intimate, and for the first time in her life, Kristy understood what her mom meant about intimacy being more than sex.

  A loud knock on the bedroom door broke the spell, and Kristy pulled back from Dean’s embrace. She still kept her hand linked with his, and she smiled when he didn’t pull away.

  “Come in,” Kristy called out.

  The door opened, and her father walked into the room followed by Keith. Neither of them looked pleased, but she couldn’t help from rolling her eyes when her father raised an eyebrow at their intertwined fingers.

  “Bull, we need to talk.” Keith walked into the room and closed the door.

  “Okay,” Dean glanced between her uncle and cousin.

  “Kristy, I think we need to talk to Bull about this alone.” Her father’s voice seemed strained.

  “It’s okay, Kurt. What is it?” She was relieved when Dean held her hand a little tighter and didn’t ask her to leave.

  “Bull, did you know your sister had another child?” Her dad asked.

  “What? No. Hannah only had Pey.” Dean's mouth hung open as he gaped at her dad.

  “Sandy found a hospital record from when your sister was fourteen. It showed that she’d given birth.” Keith stopped and dropped his head. “Sandy found a sealed adoption record that said she put the baby up for adoption.”

  “I didn’t know. My parents never mentioned anything to me about her putting a baby up for adoption. For that matter neither did Hannah.” Dean had started to squeeze her hand, and it began to hurt.

  “Bull, the baby was a boy.” Keith obviously wanted to say something else.

  “Wow, I didn’t know.” Dean rubbed his hand over his head.

  “There’s something you’re not saying.” Kristy knew her father and cousin well enough to know when they were hiding something.

  “The boy was born in November.” Her dad stared at her.

  “Wait, you think… no fucking way.” Dean jumped to his feet and dropped her hand.

  “Sandy hasn’t been able to get the record open yet but Bull, it all lines up.” Keith kept his focus on Dean.

  Kristy watched Dean because she knew where they were going with this. Dean’s birthday was the sixteenth of November. Was it possible he was Hannah’s son and not her brother?

  “There’s no fucking way my family would keep something that big from me. Jesus Christ, they kept things close to the vest but no… no… fuck no. Hannah's not my mother.” Dean stomped out of the room and almost knocked Keith over on his way out.

  Kristy jumped up to run after him, but Keith caught her by the arm. She tried to pull out of his grasp, but he shook his head.

  “Kristy, give him some time to digest this.” He released her arm.

  “Do you really think…” Kristy glanced at her father and then through the open door where Dean disappeared.

  “I don’t know what to think, but there were lots of rumors going around about that family over the years. It wouldn’t surprise me, but I can’t believe they would hide something so important from Bull.” Her dad wrapped his arm around her shoulder and kissed the top of her head. “I know how you feel about him but listen to Keith. Give him some time.”

  Kristy rested her head against her father’s shoulder and sighed. It was hard to let him run off without following, but she knew Dean needed time to get his head around what they told him. She hoped that this shock didn’t cause him to push her away.

  Chapter 13

  Dean didn’t know how long he’d been walking, but he was back at the bunkhouse where he stayed when he was in Hopedale. His head pounded, and his thoughts were swirling in all different directions.

  There was no way Hannah was his mother. His mother had shown him pictures of herself when she was pregnant with him. He remembered her raving about how good she felt when she was pregnant and happy because she never thought she could have any more kids.

  The records had to be fucked up. Even if Hannah did have another baby, he wasn’t it. No. He couldn’t believe his family would betray him in that way.

  “Well, it’s about fucking time.” Dean spun around.

  Matt Carter stood in his opened door with a clipboard in his hand. For a moment
Dean forgot why the man was there. Then he remembered he’d called him when they got back to Hopedale about the house next to Isabelle. He’d also called Mike’s wife Billie to see about buying the home. She and her friend were partners in a real estate business, and he knew that if anyone could get him a good deal on the house, Billie and her friend Abbie could.

  “Sorry, I got distracted with some family shit.” Dean yanked open the cupboard and pulled out a bottle of whiskey. He needed something to calm his frayed nerves.

  “I heard. I know what it’s like to lose someone. My condolences.” Matt’s statement was filled with emotion. The love of his life had been murdered the year before and he was left to raise their daughter alone. The little girl was deaf, and Matt only found out before Peggy died that he was Chloe’s father.

  “Thanks,” Dean held up the bottle.

  “No, that shit’ll kill ya.” Matt laughed.

  “Probably but I’ll take that chance.” Dean poured the dark amber liquid into a tumbler and pointed to the kitchen bench seat.

  “Billie said you wanted me to take a look at the house on Beach Street next to Mike’s cousin?” Matt sat down.

  “Yeah, I’m thinking about buying it for… I wanted to know if it was worth buying and fixing it up.” Dean didn’t want too many people to know the real reason he wanted the house.

  “I can drop by there and have a look, but Abbie or Billie will have to get me the key to the place so that I can look around. I drove by there on the way here, and from the outside, it has good bones.” Matt leaned back on the bench and draped his arm over the back.

  “If I buy this I need you to keep it quite that I bought the house.” Dean pressed his lips together.

  “Even from Keith? Don’t get me wrong, Bull but he’s still my boss, and I can’t do something on the side without letting him know.” Matt worked for Keith’s construction company while he studied architecture.

  “I trust Keith to keep it to himself, and I know Billie and Abbie will as well.” Billie had threatened to spill it to the whole town if he didn’t tell her the reason he wanted information on the house.

  “Give me a few days, and I’ll get back to you.” Matt stood up and made his way to the door. “I’m assuming this has something to do with the youngest of the O’Connor girls. If I run into her, I’ll tell her I’m working on a project for school.” Matt laughed.

  “Thanks,” Dean forced a smile as Matt disappeared down the path to the small parking lot Keith had for the staff.

  He closed the door and slammed back the rest of the whiskey in his glass. He grabbed the bottle from the counter and made his way to the couch. He plopped down and poured another glass for himself. He didn’t drink very often, but he needed something to take the edge off his confusion. Not that getting piss eyed drunk would help, but he just didn’t want to believe what Kurt and Keith told him.

  No fucking way.

  “Dean, wake up.” He heard her sweet voice, but he had to be dreaming. She wouldn’t be at his place in the middle of the night.

  Dean opened one eye and closed it immediately when he saw the empty whiskey bottle on the coffee table. He’d drank the whole thing and must have passed out.

  “Dean, don’t do this to yourself.” Kristy knelt next to him and pressed her cool hand against his cheek.

  “I didn’t mean to.” He mumbled and felt like he was about throw up all over himself.

  “Wow, you smell really bad.” Another reason he loved this woman. She didn’t hold anything back.

  “I need to get up and grab a shower and swallow a bottle of Tylenol.” Dean cringed when Kristy grabbed his hands and pulled him to a seating position. “Or you could shoot me in the head now and put me out of my misery.”

  “Come on.” Kristy pulled on his hands. “You go get a shower, and I’ll make you something to eat.”

  “I don’t think I could eat.” The acid in his stomach burned.

  “That’s why you need to drink that bottle of water and take these.” She put something into his hand, and when he opened his eyes, there were two pills in his hand and a one-liter bottle of water.

  “I’m sorry.” Dean sighed.

  “Something upset you, but I know you aren’t one to run and get drunk every time something upsets you.” Kristy touched his cheek.

  “No, I hate getting drunk. That bottle of whiskey has been there for over a year.” Dean stood up and fell back down on the couch when the room started to spin. “I also don’t like the room to spin when I stand up.”

  “Come on I’ll help you to the bathroom.” Kristy chuckled.

  Dean stood under the shower spray until he felt somewhat human again. He couldn’t remember the last time he drank so much. He stood outside the shower stall with a towel wrapped around his waist and stared at his disheveled self in the vanity mirror.

  The memory of the conversation with Kurt and Keith echoed in his brain. He was thirty-seven years old and never even suspected Hannah could be his mother. It was hard to wrap his head around, but there were clues over the years. People wondered where he got his height because his mom was only a little over five feet tall and his dad barely hit five feet eight.

  Lots of people had made comments over the years about how he didn’t resemble either of his parents. Sure, he had his dad’s hazel eyes and his mom’s dark hair, but if Hannah was his mother, he could have inherited that from her.

  “Although I enjoy the look of you only covered with a towel, I think you need to come eat.” Kristy had walked into the bathroom without notice.

  “I wonder who fathered Hannah’s first kid,” Dean whispered mostly to himself but loud enough that he knew Kristy couldn’t miss what he said.

  “Dean, don’t do this to yourself. You don’t know for sure and until you do, don’t torture yourself.” Kristy stood behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist. The warmth of her cheek against the middle of his back soothed him in a way he couldn’t understand.

  “I know you’re right, in here.” He pointed to his head, “But in here it’s hard to deal with the fact my family hid something from me that could affect my life.” He held his hand over his chest.

  Kristy walked around to stand in front of him and placed one hand over his. She cupped his cheek with the other and gazed into his eyes.

  “I’m sure it’s a shock to find out all this but it doesn’t change who you are. A strong, smart and protective man who cares about people and will walk through hell to keep someone safe. You are still Dean Nash, the man I love, and I don’t care if your parents are Martians, nothing changes that. It’s not going to change how I feel or how my family feels about you.” Kristy stood on her toes and brushed her lips against his.

  “Martians? Really?” Dean rested his hands on her hips.

  “It was a rumor I’d heard from one of the girls who worked at the store. I think her exact words that nobody from this planet could look so good.” Her arms wrapped around his neck and she pressed her body against his.

  “If you keep rubbing against me that way, I’m afraid the food will get cold,” Dean whispered into her ear then bit it gently.

  “You have a microwave.” She gasped.

  “I do.” Dean slowly nipped his way down the nape of her neck and nudged the loose collar of her t-shirt out of his way so that he could run his tongue over her shoulder.

  “As much as I would love to continue this, I regret that I promised my mom I would help her train a new girl at the pub.” Kristy grazed her nails down the center of his back and covered his ass with her tiny hands. She squeezed while she pressed him against her.

  “Yet you have no problem teasing me.” His hard cock rubbed against the material of the towel, and the pressure of being pressed against her firm stomach made him want to spin her around, rip off her clothes and bury himself inside her.

  “I’m torturing myself as well here.” Kristy flicked her tongue across his nipple and pulled gently on his piercing with her lips.

  “I th
ink you better go back out to the kitchen before I lose all rational thinking.” Dean kissed her cheek as he stepped back. Her eyes dropped to the tented towel in front, and she grinned.

  “Maybe I can stay here tonight.” Kristy glided her fingernail across his abdomen above the towel.

  “Great idea. Now go so I can try and force this thing to go down so I can get dressed.” He slapped her ass as she walked away. “Oh, and Kitten,”

  “Yeah,” She turned her head around to look at him.

  “Thanks, for distracting me from my thoughts.” He smiled.

  “I like distracting you.” She winked and disappeared from the doorway.

  He loved her so much. He wasn’t going to fuck this up and no matter who turned out to be his parents, he wasn’t about to let it ruin his budding relationship with Kristy.

  Two hours later Dean had eaten the western omelet Kristy had made and drank a full pot of coffee. He actually felt himself again, but now he was pacing outside the courtroom where Jason had managed to get a judge to look into Hannah’s release from custody.

  Apparently, Sandy’s father Stewart had called in a favor and if he was to believe Sandy, threats of secrets revealing themselves about a certain judge and his court reporter.

  “You need to relax, Bull.” Keith and John had come along for moral support because Kristy helped her mother to train a new girl which Kristy said needed very little instruction.

  “I don’t want to get Hannah’s hopes up only to have her thrown back behind bars.” Dean braced his back against the brick wall and rubbed his hands over his bald head.

  “What are you more nervous about? That or finding out she could be your mother?” Keith stood next to him in a mirrored stance.

  “She’s not.” Dean still couldn’t believe it was possible.

  “Sandy is still working on getting the record open.” John didn’t look at him. He gazed over his shoulder out through the window.