Read Learning To Fly (Fated Love Book 1) Online
Authors: Lauren Firminger
“Relax, darlin’. He may just need to let it sink in. It’s all a bit of a shock.”
I nodded as my phone went off in my hand. I pulled back to check it and saw a message from an unknown number.
“I warned you to stay away from him. Now you and that bastard child are going to die.”
“What the fuck?” I said as I blinked. Then the phone was gone from my hand, and Morgan was back inside.
What the hell was going on?
Quietly walking back inside, I heard Lucas and Morgan in the hall.
“Find them, Lucas. I don’t care what it takes.”
“We’re looking, but whoever is doing this knows what they are doing! We’ll tighten the hotel’s security as well as change her number and limit who gets it. No one will get near them.”
“They had better fucking not, Lucas. I have enough crazy on my plate with your brother still loose. Fix this!”
“I’m on it, Morgan. I’ll go over the letter again. Maybe I missed something.”
I stepped out of the doorway with my arms crossed over my chest and glared. “What letter?” When both of them turned to look at me, I narrowed my eyes at Morgan. “What damn letter is he talking about, Morgan?”
Morgan ran his hand over his face and sighed. “Last night, while you were asleep, someone left a letter downstairs. We are still trying to find out who.”
“How do they know about bean? Only a few people know, and three of them are standing in this hallway!”
“I don’t know, darlin’, but we’re leavin’. I’m moving you somewhere safe, and I won’t let anyone get to either of you.”
I turned and left Morgan and Lucas in the hall, moving to start packing. The more I packed, the madder I got. Why didn’t Morgan tell me about the letter? I heard the door open and felt Morgan move in behind me.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I was going to, but you were still so worried about Josh. I didn’t want to add to that. Especially when you told me about bean.”
I nodded and sighed. I guess I got where he was coming from. I was still pissed about it, though. Leaning back against him, I turned my head to meet his eyes. “Keep anything like that from me again, and bean will be an only child.”
He kissed my temple and nodded. “Noted, darlin’.”
I wrapped his arms tighter around me. “I love you.”
“I love you too, darlin’.”
As I packed, which wasn’t hard to do considering Morgan and I both practically lived out of suitcases while we were on the road, I tried to think about who could be responsible for the letter. No one stood out. I got along well with all of the girlfriends and wives of the band and crew. It was surprising because most women didn’t like me. I guess being with Morgan, they no longer saw me as a threat like most did. His two opening acts were new Up-and-coming artists. They had their noses so far up everyone’s ass just to make sure they didn’t fail that it would be stupid of them to do something like this.
“What’s on your mind, darlin’?”
“I’m just trying to see if anyone comes to mind as to who could have written it. What if it’s not the obvious?”
“What do you mean?” Morgan sat on the bed and looked over at me.
“Well, we are thinking this was written by an ex-girlfriend or one of the women on tour, right?”
He nodded, and I continued, “What if it were written by one of the guys or even Josh to make it look like someone else? We don’t know for sure it was written by a female at all.” He gave me a worried look. “What?”
“You’ve spent too much time with Daniel and Lucas. You think too much like them, darlin’.” I couldn’t help but laugh at that. “I’ll talk to Lucas. You could be onto something.”
I nodded and zipped up my bag before going to the bathroom to put our toiletries into my case. Zipping that up too, I sat it by my suitcase and did a quick check to make sure Morgan and I had everything.
Once Lucas and the boys were ready, Lucas went to check us out of the rooms while Morgan and I, flanked by the guys, headed to the garage down below. Getting settled in the back seat, I curled into Morgan as we headed to the new hotel.
It didn’t take Maddie and me long to pack. Once we got the okay from Lucas that we were good to move, I got Maddie into a car, and we headed to a new hotel on the outskirts of town. We needed to be somewhere away from prying eyes. I had a couple of shows to do here, and I really wasn’t one to cancel, but if security was compromised again, as much as Maddie disagreed, I would have to. I had to think about her and my baby’s safety. If it were just me, I would shrug it off and know my boys had my back, but I wasn’t playing with Maddie’s safety. She was too damn important to me. I had considered sending her back home early, but I knew she wasn’t ready to go, and forcing her to do anything would only result in her being upset, and I couldn’t do that to her.
After we got to the new place, we ate lunch and curled up on the couch to watch a movie. Hearing my phone go off, I pulled it from my pocket and saw that Lucas had sent me a link. I frowned and clicked on it.
‘Country Superstar in Trouble’
Country superstar Morgan Young and girlfriend Maddison Lee announced their engagement via social media today. Sources close to the couple say that’s not the only news coming from the Young camp. Our source revealed that Maddison is expecting their first child—due mid-July. This comes after only four months of dating. Our source also revealed that the engagement and pregnancy are last attempts in holding the failing relationship together. Are things really as good as the pair are leading us to believe?
I snorted, and Maddie looked over her shoulder at me. I showed her the article. She rolled her eyes and handed back my phone. “Find out who the source is, and get rid of them.”
“Lucas is on it, darlin’.”
She nodded and wrapped my arms tighter around her. It was a comfort thing she did. “Babe? The only people who knew about the due dates were us, the doc, and Uncle Michael…”
“Doc wouldn’t say anything. It wouldn’t be worth the lawsuit for breach of privacy, and we have been together all day, so unless someone was on that balcony with us....”
“It was Uncle Michael.” She sighed as she picked up her phone and sent him a text message asking if he’d said anything to anyone.
I sent a message back to Lucas asking him to look into Michael for me. Something just wasn’t sitting right with me. I knew he wasn’t my biggest fan, but would he really go this far? I knew I was jumping to conclusions, but this was gonna kill Maddie if he had said anything. Putting my phone back down, I wrapped my arms back around her and pressed my lips to her neck. I felt her instantly start to relax and melt into me. “All that matters right now, darlin’, is you and me. Let’s lay here and let the world disappear.”
“Using your song lyrics as lines now, baby?” I couldn’t help but chuckle.
“Good to know you pay attention, darlin’.”
“To you? Of course!”
Maddie rolled over to face me, and I loosened my arms just enough so she could. I pressed my lips to her head, and she closed her eyes. “That’s not really watchin’ a movie, darlin’.”
“I don’t care about a movie when I have my sex on legs fiancé wrapped around me. I’m letting the world disappear.”
Sliding my hands beneath her shirt, I let my fingers move lightly over her skin. It was moments like this that I wished I could share with the world, but I was so glad not to at the same time. In this moment, I was just Morgan and she was Maddie. I wasn’t some big country music star. I was just hers.
Reaching carefully for my phone, I switched it to silent and took a photo of her and me like this. Opening my Instagram, I put the caption ‘Perfect moments with my perfect girl. Letting the world disappear. #FamilyTime #PapaBear #MamaBear #EngagedLife #WouldntHaveItAnyOtherWay.’ I tagged her in it and hit post before putting the phone down.
“Morgan? Did you just tell everyone I was pregnant?”
“In a way.” She pulled back and held her hand out to me. Handing her my phone, I showed her the post. “You mad, darlin’?” She shook her head and smiled before kissing me softly and handing back my phone.
“No, baby. That was really cute.” I grinned and kissed her nose before she put her head back against my chest. Right now, with my girl safe in my arms and our boys keeping watch, nothing could beat this moment. Right now, in this moment, my life was perfect.
A couple of hours later, we were both showered and ready to leave. Maddie was coming to the show with me. Her and the boys would hang out backstage. I had spoken to the label about everything that had come out today and they understood she wouldn’t be taking photos from the front now. They also said if she wanted to, she could do backstage shots or just relax and enjoy herself. She still hadn’t heard anything from Michael, and she didn’t know where he was to leave a message with someone when he didn’t answer her calls. The more time passed, the more things just didn’t seem right to me.
Grabbing my guitar and taking her hand, we left the room once Lucas had the car waiting, and we made our way downstairs. I loved what I did, but I couldn’t wait until I could relax with Maddie and our baby at the end of this. I had been doing this for a while now, and I was finally seeing what was really important. Maybe after this album, it would be time to take a break. We could stay in Australia and raise our baby, or we could settle here with my family and give bean the same upbringing I had. Either way, the little bean in my soon-to-be wife’s belly was something I had been waiting my whole life for. They both were. I pressed my lips to her temple as the car pulled up at the concert venue, and I got out. Taking her hand, we headed inside to get ready for tonight’s show. Maybe I could surprise her one more time today…
When we got inside the venue, shit got crazy. Once everyone knew we were there, they were in my face, asking if it were true that I was pregnant and congratulating us on the engagement. Seeing that I was overwhelmed by it all and needed to get relaxed again, Morgan pulled me away from everyone. Once we got inside his dressing room, I took a deep breath and tried to calm myself back down. I hated people in my face like that.
“You okay, darlin’?”
I gave him a small smile and nodded. Taking the bottle of water from him, I sat down on the couch and closed my eyes. Maybe I should have stayed home tonight. I heard a knock on the door and bit back a groan. Morgan answered the door, and I opened my eyes to see who it was. When I saw Lucas there, I closed my eyes again and put my head back against the couch.
“We found him.”
“Who?” I said.
“Michael,” replied Lucas. I opened my eyes and sat up straighter.
“Where is he?” I asked
“Here in Arizona.”
I pulled my phone out of my pocket, saw nothing still and sighed. “It’s him. He’s the one leaving the notes. He’s the one behind the messages.” I looked up at Morgan, and they both looked like they were ready to grab me and run. I couldn't let Morgan do that, though. He needed to finish this. “I’ll stay here with Lucas and Daniel. When you’re finished with your show, we can leave. Lucas? Can you have someone watch him?”
Lucas nodded. “We have your uncle now, Maddie. We’ll get a couple of guys to take shifts and keep eyes on him.”
“Do not let him leave your sight!” said Morgan.
“We won’t, Morgan. We also have him on GPS.” I nodded, and they both stared at me.
“What?” I said.
“You are being surprisingly calm about this.” Said Lucas.
I shrugged. “All he has done is confirm what we already know.”
“Yeah, but what we don’t know is why.” Replied Lucas.
I lay back against the couch and nodded. Would he ever admit this to me, or was he still gonna think me to be stupid and oblivious? Did he think not answering me would make this go away? Lucas left, leaving me to my thoughts, and Morgan closed the door. Did we really know what Uncle Michael was capable of? I never in a million years thought he could do something like this to me. I tucked myself into Morgan’s side when he came to sit beside me, and laying my head against his chest, I closed my eyes. I felt his hand move to rest against my belly as his head rested against mine.
Please God, don’t let anything happen to my family.
I’m not sure I could handle it.