Hope Heals Read online

“What the fuck does she think she’s doing? There’s nothing to challenge. He didn’t have a damn thing, and the will stated that I got everything.”

  He didn’t release her, leading her toward the living room to get her seated on the couch. “Ease up, honey. Let me read.”

  She watched as he flipped through the paperwork while he stood in front of her, blocking her escape. His expression turned unreadable. “I’ll call the attorney, but it looks like she’s going to be asking for visitation with Jason.”

  “Fuck her.”

  “You have to stay calm.”

  “How can I stay calm with that witch wanting to take my son from me?”

  He dropped his hand to his side and leveled his gaze at her. “You will stay calm because I told you to stay calm,” he quietly said. “I’ll take care of this.”

  He went into his den, where she heard him talking in low tones a moment later.

  She didn’t have the energy to get up and follow and listen. Instead, she threw her head back and closed her eyes and desperately fought against the urge not to burst into tears.

  Would have been nice if she’d shown this much interest in Jason when Michael was alive.

  Her dad returned over twenty minutes later and sat in his chair. “You want the good news or the bad news?”

  “The bad.”

  “You’re going to have to go to New York and attend this probate hearing.”

  “Dammit. What’s the good?”

  “Both our attorney down here and the one who’s handling the will in New York agree that Isabella has a snowball’s chance of getting any kind of order of visitation granted. This is probate court, not family court. Neither attorney is even sure what Isabella thinks she’ll gain by doing this, or why her attorney would let her try it in the first place. Maybe she just wants to rattle you in hopes she won’t have to go to family court.”

  “Congratulations, she did that. I’m officially rattled.”

  He leaned forward. “You can’t let her do that to you. You are that boy’s mother, and no amount of crazy posturing on her part will change that. And you shouldn’t let her get under your skin anymore than you already have.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “No, don’t be apologizing to me. You didn’t cause this.”

  “It’s costing you money.”

  “Let me tell you something. There’s no amount of money I wouldn’t spend to keep that woman out of our lives.”

  * * * *

  She reluctantly agreed to let her dad handle everything. She returned to her office to try to work, even though she seethed.

  It was close to time for Jason’s bus to bring him home when her dad stuck his head in the door. “I’ve got it all arranged. Betty’s going up with you.”

  A slight twinge of panic set in. “Why can’t you go with me?”

  “Because one of us needs to stay here with Jason. I wouldn’t put it past that woman to claim that we left him with a ‘stranger’ if it’s not you or me.” He frowned. “Besides, I don’t need to be going to jail for assault if that woman starts in.”

  “And I do?”

  “Betty won’t let you do anything, don’t worry. She can handle you.” He smiled. “Besides, the woman has a mouth on her, if you don’t remember.”

  That did make Sarah laugh. Yes, Isabella would have a fight on her hands if she crossed Betty, of that there was no doubt in her mind.

  Now what she wanted to do was go curl up on her bed and have a good cry.

  Or curl up in bed with Pete and Sam and cry.

  Even better.

  Unfortunately, she knew that couldn’t happen. She still had too much to do and didn’t want Jason seeing her like that.

  When they headed over to the men’s house for dinner with Betty, Sarah still hadn’t had a chance to talk to the men about the probate hearing without Jason being in earshot. Apparently they could tell there was something wrong, because both men warily eyed her, concern on their faces anytime they were out of Jason’s direct line of sight.

  Once dinner was finished, she sent Jason home with her dad and Betty with a kiss. “Get your bath, get everything ready for school in the morning. I’ll be home shortly.”

  “Okay.”

  Once they were out the door, Pete and Sam surrounded her in the kitchen.

  “All right,” Sam said. “What happened?”

  She managed not to break down as she told them about the hearing. Both men looked ready to kill. “Want us to go up with you?”

  Yes, actually, she did, but also suspected that would bring about more questions from Isabella. Betty was a better choice.

  “It’s just I don’t need any more bullshit from her. Just when I think life’s settled down and everything’s fine, she pops up.”

  Sam pulled her to him and held her. “It’ll be okay. Your dad’s right, it has to be handled. You can’t ignore her.”

  Pete pressed up against her back. “Want to sneak back over after Jason goes to bed? We know how to relieve your tension.”

  They did at that. “Don’t fall asleep on me.”

  “We won’t,” they parroted.

  She was back over by nine thirty. The men had cleaned up the kitchen and put on soft jazz music in the master bathroom, in addition to lighting candles.

  Pete and Sam undressed her before stripping themselves. The men had bought the king-sized bed soon after their first tryst to make these occasions more comfortable.

  They still used condoms because while her first round of STD and HIV tests, taken at a clinic in Tampa while Sam and Pete both went with her at their insistence, had come back negative, she didn’t want to take any chances. She’d wait six months for another HIV test just to make sure.

  But at least with being on the pill, in addition to the condoms, she knew there wouldn’t be any accidental babies to worry about.

  Pete sat on the end of the bed and rolled a condom on. “Something different tonight, babe, to take your mind off things.” He positioned her straddling his lap, facing him, his feet on the floor.

  She closed her eyes as she settled her pussy down onto the full length of his shaft. He leaned back, taking her with him, onto the bed.

  Behind her she heard Sam doing something. She felt him rub cool lube against her ass.

  “What—”

  “Shh,” they both said.

  Yes, this was something she’d been wanting to do.

  And yes, it definitely took her mind off Isabella.

  Sam took his time, slowly massaging her virgin rim with one finger until he felt her finally relax. Then she tensed up again as he pressed forward, breaching her ass, holding still until she got used to the intrusion.

  With Pete’s cock buried to the root in her pussy, her clit was throbbing, desperate for a finger or friction from their bodies or something. Anything. When she tried to move, to fuck him, he held her tightly against him and began kissing her to hold her still.

  Sam waited her out, adding more lube and taking his time until his one finger easily fucked her ass. As she moaned, he withdrew, added still more lube, and then slowly pressed forward with two fingers.

  Sarah froze, whining as the burning pinch drove out pleasure for a few seconds. But then he paused and after a moment it started feeling good again, really good. In fact, she realized the slight pinch only served to amp up her need to be thoroughly fucked.

  He repeated the process until he had a third finger worked deeply inside her and Pete had let her start moving a little, her body desperately trying to find a position that would get her traction against her clit and give her relief.

  Sam’s hand disappeared, making her whine. This time in disappointment.

  “Hold on,” he said.

  She looked over to see him cleaning his hand with a wipe before he sheathed his cock in a condom. “Believe me, babe, you’re not more anxious than I am to have my cock buried in your ass.” He slathered more lube on his shaft, drizzled plenty on her rim, and then stepped behind her a
gain.

  “Hold still, baby,” he said.

  She felt him press his cockhead against her ass, pausing before breaching her rim.

  She let out a cry as the shock of the size startled her, but when he didn’t move, it quickly turned to pleasure again.

  Agonizingly slow, he worked his cock deeper inside her, withdrawing a little before pressing forward again, until his hips pressed against her ass.

  “There we go,” he said. Then he pulled her up against his chest. “Now, you need to come before we do anything.”

  “Holy fuck, that’s tight,” Pete said.

  She felt stretched, full, with both cocks tightly fisted inside her body.

  Sam cupped her breasts, tweaking her nipples, while Pete rolled her clit between his fingers.

  That was all it took. The first shuddering release wracked through her body, the effect of clamping down on both their cocks only increasing the pleasure.

  “That’s it,” Sam whispered in her ear. “You belong to us, completely, don’t you?”

  “Yes!” she gasped.

  “You want our cocks, don’t you?” Pete asked.

  “Yes!” She tried to move as much as she could, rocking her hips against them.

  “We can feel you squeezing our cocks,” Sam said. “We know you love this. And we love doing this to you.” He nipped her shoulder, sending another shiver through her already overwhelmed body. “No matter what,” he said, “no matter where you are, just remember you own our hearts the way we own your body right now.”

  She let out another cry as Pete’s fingers gently pinched her clit and triggered another orgasm. “We’re always going to take good care of you,” Pete hoarsely said. “You just need to let us.”

  Right now, she’d let them do anything to her, give them anything they asked, just to keep the sensations going. A razor’s edge of pleasure along the cusp of pain, it didn’t stop, felt like it might never end.

  Finally, as she trembled between them, Sam gently lowered her onto Pete’s chest and he began to fuck her.

  She braced her hands against Pete and tried to move, tried to help, and finally gave up to let them set the speed.

  Pete grabbed her hips and thrust up into her, eventually settling into a seesaw pattern with Sam that triggered another toe-curling orgasm inside her.

  “Fuck yeah,” Sam grunted, moving faster and harder.

  “Do it quick,” Pete warned.

  Sarah felt the world fall away around them, a cocoon of pleasure formed by the men’s bodies keeping her suspended in a delicious orgasmic haze. When they both finally came, their cocks pumping inside her, she collapsed on top of Pete and lay there, panting.

  Sam leaned forward and trailed kisses down her spine. “Did we break you, baby?” he teased.

  She nodded, a smile on her face.

  Pete brushed her hair back and kissed her forehead. “Better?”

  She nodded.

  Sam carefully withdrew and went to clean up, using another wipe on her to clean her. Pete carefully rolled her onto her back and withdrew. “You all right?”

  She hooked a hand around the back of his neck and pulled him down for a kiss. “I think you two might have to carry me home,” she said.

  She felt thoroughly and completely fucked.

  Deliciously fucked.

  Lovingly fucked.

  He smiled down at her. “Love you, baby.”

  She would have thought nothing could top what they’d just done.

  That did. “Love you, too,” she said.

  Sam returned and snuggled behind her after pressing a kiss against her neck while Pete got up to head to the bathroom. “Love you, too, sweetheart.”

  She tipped her head back to kiss him again. “Love you, too.”

  “Now give us a few minutes to recover and we’ll help you home.”

  She snuggled in tighter. “I’m thinking just wake me up early.”

  Pete returned and leaned over to set the alarm clock. “Done.”

  She did manage to drag herself out of bed to use the bathroom, but then returned to snuggle between them.

  “I guess this is a lot better than having to sneak around behind Dad’s back,” she mumbled, already crashing into sleep.

  “And it’ll keep him from accidentally shooting us,” Sam muttered.

  Chapter Seventeen

  At least Jason getting his cast off on Friday afternoon was a high point of the week. He cheered once the doctor finished cutting it off him and the nurse helped him scrub his arm.

  “Just take it easy for a week or so,” he cautioned. “Don’t go hog wild.”

  “Can I swim?”

  “Yes, swimming will be fine.”

  Sarah guessed Jason would be begging to jump in the pool as soon as he got home. And he’d finally be able to enjoy getting back in the pool with the rest of the swim team.

  But as the weekend passed all too quickly for Sarah’s liking, and the hearing date approached, her good humor once again turned dark.

  Late in the afternoon the day before the hearing, Sarah sat at the airside gate at Tampa International and struggled not to nervously tap her foot. Betty reached over and placed a comforting hand on her leg.

  “It’ll be all right,” she softly said. “I’m with you. And trust me, I’m no pushover.”

  “I really, really appreciate you doing this. Putting your life on hold to go with me.”

  Betty offered up a smile. “I’m looking forward to giving this witch a piece of my mind in person,” she said. “Besides, not like your dad is a good flyer.”

  Something clicked home. “Is that why Dad isn’t coming with me?”

  “No. Well, not completely. The only way I got him on the plane to go up to you was I plied him full of alcohol and one of my old Xanax,” she joked.

  “You brought him to the airport?”

  “He called me, in a panic, and rather than trying to get him to calm down on the phone, I walked over and found him racing around and trying to pack. I shoved him into the shower, got his carry-on packed for him, and got his ticket booked.”

  She hugged Betty. “Thank you.”

  “Hey, we’re family.” She grinned. “Isabella won’t know what hit her if she tries any bullshit around me.”

  They got up to stand in line for boarding. “I don’t understand why I have to fly up there anyway. Why can’t they do it through mail or on the phone?”

  “Probably because of Isabella filing her challenge to the will.”

  “Which I also don’t understand how she can do that. Not that the son of a bitch had anything left to leave to me or anyone else, but as his widow, he specified everything went to me.”

  “People can file bullshit if they want to, unfortunately.”

  “Yeah,” she groused, “and it costs me money I don’t have. I hate that Dad’s paying for this nonsense.”

  She laid a hand on Sarah’s arm. “Trust me when I say he doesn’t mind. I think he views it as money well spent to have you and Jason back in Florida.”

  “Still, it bothers me.”

  “Don’t worry. I think the woman will soon regret tangling with us.”

  * * * *

  They spent the night at a hotel not too far from where the hearing would be held. Their flight out the next evening returning them to Tampa meant hopefully any delays in the proceeding wouldn’t interfere with their return.

  They met up with Sarah’s attorney at his office down the block from the courthouse. He offered her a warm smile and reassurances.

  “Sarah, believe me, this is highly irregular in a case like this. Especially when the estate has no tangible assets and is buried in debt.”

  “She’s not even listed in the damn will. What does she know that we don’t?”

  “I don’t know. She didn’t present any conflicting will. We’ll have to wait until the hearing.”

  When they were escorted into the conference room attached to the judge’s chambers where the hearing would be held,
Isabella glared at Sarah from the other side of the table.

  Sarah didn’t flinch. She held the older woman’s gaze until Isabella finally looked away.

  Bitch.

  Her attorney, a young, nervous-looking man who appeared fresh out of law school, wasted no time presenting a challenge for custody of Jason. Sarah studied him, convinced she’d seen him somewhere before but unable to place him.

  The judge put down his pen and stared at the attorney. “Say what?”

  “My client wants to challenge custody of the decedent’s minor child.”

  Sarah struggled not to break out in giggles. Under the table, Betty reached out and squeezed her hand.

  The judge took off his glasses. “In my time, I’ve seen a lot of things, but this takes the cake. You are well aware that this is a probate hearing, correct?”

  The attorney nervously nodded. “Yes, your Honor, but—”

  “No buts. Sarah d’Antonio is the child’s mother, correct?”

  “Yes, but—”

  “Counselor, no buts. Motion denied.” He looked at Sarah’s attorney. “Anything else?”

  Isabella looked enraged, glaring at Sarah.

  Now she placed the other attorney. He was the son of one of Isabella’s friends. She’d seen him at a Christmas event last year at Isabella’s home in the Hamptons. And if she recalled, back then he’d just taken the bar exam.

  Sarah disguised her laughter with a coughing fit. Now it made sense. The guy was clueless.

  They were out of there fifteen minutes later. Her attorney hustled Sarah and Betty down the hall and into an empty conference room.

  “Told you it would be easy,” he said after closing the door behind them.

  She nodded, relieved, and explained who Isabella’s attorney was.

  He laughed. “Well, that explains it. I suspect the other reason she tried this was likely because her regular attorney told her with Jason’s residency now in Florida, that she would have to challenge custody there. This was a long-shot, Hail Mary attempt.”

  “Yeah,” she groused, “but it cost us money I don’t have.”

  Betty hugged her. “Come on, sweetheart. Let’s call the guys and give everyone the good news.”