Chapter 95: Chapter 95

The next two weeks that passed Taylor grew wilder and became a party ripper. She began coming home pretty late and drunk most night. I tried my best to ignore her and let her pass most times, but I could only take so much.

One of those nights I was tending to Reign whose cry was longer than usual and after I finally put her to sleep, I came to my room and laid down, trying to sleep when I heard noises coming from the living room and immediately I knew who it was.

Taylor.

She had a thing for loud and unusual entrance most night and it was because whenever she was drunk, she would automatically become clumsy.

I got up from the bed and came downstairs to see Taylor giggling softly and mumbling something I couldn't quite make out. As I drew closer, I noticed that she was super drunk and hanging on to a blonde hair guy, who was about six-foot-tall was either twenty-four or twenty-five years old, that didn't stop me from figuring the type of person he was out.

He was a guy and so was I and I had been his age before and I knew the things that went through my head whenever I was with a pretty girl that fortunately for us was drunk. I never acted on my thoughts because my will was stronger, but not everyone was like me.

I wasn't going to bet that this guy staring directly at her exposed cleavage would have a second thought if he got a chance alone with her.

I hated the way he was staring at Taylor's exposed cleavage like a hungry animal, I hated the fact that she was acting stupid around him, I hated the fact that he was young and she was interested in him, I hate the fact that he just wanted her for sex because I knew she meant more than that to me, I hated the fact that I knew all he wanted from her was just sex, and hell I hated the fact that she didn't seem to care.

If she was hoping to get me to lash out, she was on the right path.

"What are you doing, Taylor?" I spoke up before I could stop myself and they both turned to me.

"Oh hi--iii- Keenan, I-I" she slurred and began walking towards me only to miss her step, but the boy beside her held onto her waist to keep her steady and beside him. "Kee-nan meet Ge-ra-ld and Gerald me-et Keenan weee m..et at the pa-rty and he's so fiiiiit don't you thi-nk?" she says, locking her lips with his and the pervert hands goes down her butt to roughly grabbed her there and her breath cut sharply, but the idiot didn't get the sign that it that made her uncomfortable and he only squeezed harder making her whimper out.

That's it!

I yanked the boy with his brown leather jacket and away from Taylor and "Esci! (Get out!)" I said to the boy and instead of obeying, the punk looked up at me challengingly.

"What are you doing, Keenan?!" Taylor exclaimed aloud in panic as I pulled the blonde boy out of the house and to the door.

"Che cosa é tuononno di problema? (What's your problem, grandpa?" he sneered adjusting his jacket, his breath reeking of alcohol and weed. "Geloso lei ha scelto me al posto tuo? (Jealous she chose me over you?)"

Jealous? Maybe. Grandpa? Not quite sure about that.

Shutting the next word that was about to leave his ugly mouth with my fist, he falls to the ground knocked out cold and I shut my door.

I turned around and I was greeted with a slap from Taylor. "You had no right!!"

"He was going to have his way with you with or maybe even without your consent. E non si preoccuperebbe nemmeno di te entro domani mattina (and he would not even care about you by tomorrow morning.)" why was I the only one that cared about that?

"It's my life and my body and I can do whatever I want to do with it. It's not up to you to decide what I do!" she yelled, miraculously sobered up to form clear words.

"You forget that this is my house and so that gives me every right to do whatever I want and as long as you live under my roof, you're gonna have to live by my rules!" I shouted back at her and she froze probably because I have never done that before, but I wanted her to listen and this was the only way.

I love her so much that it hurts but I couldn't take it anymore. "You've been acting like a complete bitch these past months and I blame myself for giving you the hand, I thought you were going to come around in time, but I just realized that you're not going to come around, you never will."

"É stato sei settimane e non hai chiesto dopo tua figlia (It's been six weeks and you haven't even asked after your own daughter,) your flesh and blood and I know there are things you've been through in your life, but cut me the crap. Reign è troppo innocente e troppo delicata per essere trattata in questo modo (Reign is too innocent and too delicate to be treated like this.) She didn't ask for any of this and she's in this world because of you and Rory. Too bad he isn't here, but you are, so woman up and take the responsibility for your daughter. You're her mother and you can never change that, so stop trying to be this girl I know you're not!"

Reign began crying from upstairs and I guess she must have heard all the noises and I immediately began to regret ever raising my voice in the first place. I walked away from the speechless and pale-faced girl in front of me and went upstairs where Reign was crying. I took her into my arms and I began to rock her gently, singing her favourite Go To Sleep Little Princess rhymes to her to calm her down and hush her back to sleep, but unlike the past nights, Reign would not stop crying and I didn't know what to do anymore.

"Can I hold her?" I heard Taylor trembling voice asked from behind and I turned to her.

I didn't hear her come into the room because of Reign's crying, but when I saw her standing there with a trembling hand, I felt sorry for her. Her eyes are wet and teary, and her lips trembling and her hands were shaky and the look on her face was remorseful and filled with grief and my heart clenched within my chest and I nodded.

"Yeah, you can," I replied, walking close to her and then handed the crying Reign over to her.

She tenderly took the baby into her arms and began rocking her in her arms, still sobbing hardly and staggering a little. I didn't for once keep my eyes off her as I thought she might let go of the baby at any moment.

"I'm so sorry, I'm so for treating you the way I have treated you these past months, and you were never to blame. You were innocent and I was so blinded with rage and anger I forget that you were not too responsible for my pain. I promise to always put you first from now on and be your mother." After the heart filled talk, she sang Reign to sleep and then, she laid her in her cradle.

She turned to me and as I stared at her, she seemed to have sobered up a little although she was still shaky and nervous.

"Keenan- I'm- I.." she stuttered, losing her words and I knew what she was getting at even though she couldn't say much.

"It's okay, Taylor, I'm sorry for what I said to you earlier. I shouldn't have raised my voice at you."

"No, don't." she stopped me with a shake of her head. "You were right; I was being someone I wasn't." Hiccups, "I didn't just know how to take up the responsibility; I was so cut up with the fact that she was Rory's that I forgot she was also mine. I'm worse than any mother; I do not even deserve to be called a mother." hiccups, "Keenan, I'm sorry, I really am and I hope you'd forgive me."

I could see true repentance in her eyes and who was I not to forgive especially now that she'd seen the error of her ways? I took her hands into mine and rubbed small circles on them before looking up into her sincere blue eyes.

"I'm no longer mad at you, Taylor, what you just did has made it clear you're not a terrible mother, you were just lost and needed to be reached and I'm so glad you're back." She ran into my arms and did the rest crying there and after a while of endless cuddles on the sofa in Reign's room, she fell asleep in my arms.

The next weeks that followed were everything I had hoped after the night, Taylor and Reign bonded and became much closer as mother and baby and I felt jealous a little, but I couldn't wish it differently, because that was what I always wanted.

*

When Lucia returned finally returned from her break, she was surprised to see the changes around but more than anything, she was happy for Taylor, and Reign. She asked me if any girl had cut my attention in her absence, but the only one did and when I didn't answer her question, she patted my arm with a small smile. I knew she wanted to say I'll find the right girl someday, but I beat her to it.

"I'll find the right girl one day, Lucia, but for now, I'd like to think that girl is Taylor."

*

While she was still pursuing her degree, Taylor inquired about Goodfood, one of the Hilton's multimillion restaurant in Rome which was closed down six years earlier after the funds invested in the business and left at the supervision of John, Bethany's husband were mismanaged.

She was interested in restarting the restaurant again under the Hilton name and although I tried to talk her out of it, I couldn't. I gave up and helped her talk to Dad about restarting it and asked him for a loan of $2 million which Taylor was certain she would refund in a year's time. Although also sceptical, Dad agreed to loan her the money.

Taylor began work on the restaurant and was ready to make it something big and before six months, she refunded Dad's money. Dad was so impressed that he signed the ownership of Goodfood to Taylor and also gave her $10 million to start similar branches in four major states of the country with the Hilton name. After attaining major success, Taylor began offering financial advice to people wanting to start businesses of different varieties and also to those whose businesses were close into bankruptcy and those who were mismanaging their businesses. She gained fame in the business world quick and she became even successful when we began dating, but underneath her success, I knew she wasn't truly happy.

She was still in love with still Rory and although it did hurt me, I couldn't do anything about it. I'd wake up many nights to hear her calling his name and demanding reasons why he didn't stand by her like he'd promised. She still promised me she would let go in time and I believed her.

We crumbled six months later in our relationship because she couldn't let go as she promised. No, she was never ready to let go. I found out she had been keeping a close tab on Rory who then was always in front of the news blog back home and he was never alone, he always had a handful of ladies with every encounter. She couldn't let go and I couldn't hold on, not when she was this taken at heart. So I asked her to choose between the both of us and her answer was one I expected all along.

She couldn't love me because something else was taking that place it was anger, bitterness, hatred and revenge.