One Fateful Night (Maddox Family Book 1)

Chapter 8

Kaylee hugged Cassidy goodbye one more time the following morning. "I'm going to miss you but I'm super excited for you. Have the most wonderful time on your honeymoon," Kaylee sniffed as she tried to hold back tears.

"Love you bestie, thanks for everything. I promise to text you as soon as I'm back," Cassidy said. 

Kaylee waved goodbye to Porter and Cassidy and hugged Calvin as he waved goodbye, "Bye Auntie Cassidy and Uncle Porter."

"Come on buddy, let's go pack up. We have a long drive ahead of us," Kaylee said as she grabbed his hand and led him back up to their hotel room. They drove the 8 hours back and when Kaylee got back to her townhouse she stopped suddenly. Brandon was sitting on the steps.

Kaylee blanched and Brandon eyes widened glancing between Calvin and Kaylee. Kaylee walked past him and unlocked the door. She gave Calvin a quick kiss on the forehead and said, "Hey buddy, head inside okay? I have to talk to this guy."

"Hi Brandon," Calvin waved cheerfully.

Brandon smiled and waved back as Calvin went inside. Kaylee closed the door most of the way leaving it open a crack. They stared at each other for a long while. Finally Brandon broke the silence, "Kaylee," he started.

"No, don't start," Kaylee whispered yelled, "You don't get to come here after all this time. Like what the hell? How did you find me and why are you here? I don't want to see you and I don't want anything to do with you." 

"Kaylee listen, I want to apologize."

"Apologize?:" Kaylee snorted, "Yeah, okay, it's a little late for that."

Brandon sighed and ran his fingers through his hair, "Seriously Kaylee, I need to tell you what happened. I didn't want to do what I did but I had no choice. Also you have a kid?"

Kaylee held out her hand, "Stop right there, we aren't talking about Calvin. Let's talk about you and how much of a dick you were."

Brandon sighed, "Look, my parents threatened you and your family."

"What do you mean?"

"Well according to them, you broke the contract. Part of it was a no contact clause which well clearly we didn't follow."

"Did you know about it?" Kaylee asked.

"I had no idea, I knew there was a contract in place and I knew the basics but I didn't know the details. And they threatened to take everything away from you and your family because of the broken clause."

"Why would they do it?" Kaylee gasped, "They're monsters."

"They were in dire straits. The family business was in trouble and I was forced to date Melanie, and eventually I have to marry her," Brandon shivered in disgust.

Kaylee's mouth dropped open, "Oh my goodness, that's absolutely ridiculous. People can't force people to marry."

Brandon shrugged, "My parents can and will. I agreed to protect you. I didn't want anything to happen to you and your family and that was the only way I could protect you."

Kaylee sat down with a sigh, "Holy crap. Of all the reasons I thought you did what you did, I never imagined something like this."

Brandon sat down beside her, "I'm so sorry Kaylee, if there was any other way I would of done it. But I couldn't risk harm coming to you. It might not seem like it but I'm still in love with you Kaylee. I never stopped."

"Well, I," Kaylee stopped abruptly not knowing what to say, "I, uh, wow." 

"Don't say anything. Think about it. I want to rekindle our relationship. I refuse to marry Melanie. She knows that."