Blue-Collar Bad Boys Next Door: The Full Eight-Book Collection

by Mazzy King

  Tonight. After tonight, things will be different.

  I lean my head on his shoulder.

  We’re halfway through the movie when someone suddenly pounds on my door, startling all of us. I jerk upright, my heart pounding.

  “Mommy?” Lexi says uncertainly.

  “Stay here,” Maddox says calmly, and gets up to check the peephole. He glances at me with a frown. “It’s some guy in a suit.”

  I’m totally baffled until I hear, “Roxie, open up.”

  My heart drops.

  “Daddy!” Lexi says.

  I look to Maddox. “Sam.”

  His face is impassive. “Okay. You want me to open up? I don’t think he called first.”

  I check my phone to be sure. Sometimes I leave it on vibrate, the way I have it at work, and forget to change it back. No missed calls or texts from him.

  But he is Lexi’s father, and she’s already getting up from the floor.

  I stand too and walk over to the door. Maddox backs up, his face still impassive. I’ve told him a lot about my relationship with Sam. He’s a narcissist who almost destroyed my sense of self. He was never physically abusive and never overtly verbally abusive, but the constant gaslighting, the constant lying, the way I questioned everything including my own sanity, was like I had a collar on tight around my neck and he was the one who held the leash. For years.

  I hate seeing him. I hate hearing his voice. I want to be rid of him forever, but we share a daughter, and that will never happen.

  So, I take a deep breath, lift my chin, and open the door.

  It looks like he’s come from the office, or maybe happy hour afterward. But he’s in his usual designer suit, cufflinks flashing, shoes shining. He’s a handsome, shiny package, and rotten to the core inside.

  He smirks at me before I can say a single word. “Just wanted to drop in and see what’s going on.”

  “Excuse me?” I snap.

  “You know how social workers will make unplanned calls. If you want me to take you seriously as my daughter’s primary caregiver, then I wanted to see what a normal Friday night looks like for you.” He glances around, a sneer on his lips.

  All of this before one single word of greeting to his daughter.

  “Primary caregiver?” I say, struggling to keep my voice steady. “I’m her mother.”

  “For now,” he says mildly. “Hello, Alexis.”

  Most little girls go running to their fathers when they see them. Lexi does with Maddox every day. And yet, she stands back now, shy, as if waiting to be invited.

  “Come here,” Sam adds, holding out a hand. “Let me look at you.”

  He kneels down and looks her over, and even has the audacity to check her hair—like he’s looking for lice.

  All of that, and not a hug for her.

  My heart breaks—for my daughter.

  Sam straightens and finally addresses Maddox, as if he’s just seeing him for the first time. “And who might you be?”

  I glance at Maddox.

  His face is stoic as he scans Sam. “Maddox Brassard.”

  In contrast to Sam’s suit that no doubt cost more than this entire duplex’s monthly rent combined, Maddox wears a snug, heather-gray T-shirt with ARMY printed across the front and jeans, what he changed into after taking off his motor-oil-stained work shirt and pants.

  “Army, huh?” Sam says. He looks at me. “You sure are slumming it these days, aren’t you, Rox?”

  “How dare you,” I say, my voice shaking.

  Sam only chuckles and turns back to Maddox. “So, you’re the new bedfellow? I see she hasn’t made any bones about having you around my daughter.”

  “Lexi’s her daughter too,” Maddox replies. “And we’re just fine over here.”

  “I’ll be the judge of that. I’ll need your social security number and date of birth to run a background check.”

  “You’re out of line,” I snarl. I try never to raise my voice at him in front of Lexi, but I’m flabbergasted at his audacity. “You need to leave.”

  “Stay out of this, Roxie,” Sam says, never taking his eyes off Maddox, who hasn’t even blinked, I’m pretty sure.

  “This is my house.” I storm over. “Leave, Sam. You need to call first if you want to see Lexi.”

  He finally shifts his gaze to me. “You were the one who decided to live with someone who got your apartment burned down. You endangered my daughter’s life. Now, you’re living in this dump of a place, feeding Alexis—what the hell are those? Chicken nuggets? I’ve told you before, I want her on a vegan diet.” He rolls his eyes. “You can barely keep yourself together, and I’m expected to believe you can care for our child? And on top of everything, you have her around this…” He gives Maddox a slow, sweeping glance, stopping at the tattoos on his arms. “This criminal.”

  Maddox actually chuckles then.

  “Criminal?” I exclaim. “Are you out of your mind? He’s a veteran! He’s a hero. Something you’re not!”

  “I think it’s time to leave,” Maddox says quietly. “In fact, I know it’s time to leave.” He opens the door.

  Sam steps over to him. Maddox is tall, but Sam is even a couple inches taller. “Roxie has always and will always belong to me. You should know that before you get in too deep. Although, I’m sure you already have.” He snaps his fingers. “Alexis, let’s go.”

  She’s been silent the whole time, fully aware of the anger and tension filling the room. “Go where?”

  “You’re coming with me.”

  “You’re not taking my daughter!” I hiss.

  “I am. I’ve had enough of this. You can expect to hear from my lawyer and a case worker on Monday.” He reaches around me for Lexi, snapping his fingers.

  “No!” I grab his arm.

  Then he shoves me—hard.

  I stumble into the coffee table and fall backward over it. Lexi bursts into tears and screams for me.

  And Maddox moves so fast, I freeze in shock.

  He uses his forearm to pin Sam to the wall beside the door by his throat, bending his other arm back. “Touch her again, and I’ll break your arm.”

  “Get off me,” Sam says in a choked voice. “Get off me!”

  Maddox releases him and steps back. He looks totally calm—except for the rage in his eyes.

  Sam straightens his tie, his face red. “Congratulations, that’s assault. I’m calling the cops and pressing charges.”

  “I know cops too, pal. It’s called defense. You shoved her first. Try to take me down if you want—but you’re going first.”

  Sam glares at him. “Alexis, get over here now.”

  “No,” I scream, reaching for her.

  She’s crying hysterically.

  “Let her go,” Sam says between his teeth. “Or the cops really will get called here, and that will traumatize her. You can’t keep her from me. I’m her father.”

  I don’t want to further traumatize her any more than I already have. Sobbing, I pull her into my arms and hug her…goodbye.

  “Go with Daddy,” I say through my tears.

  “Mommy,” she sobs.

  I force a smile. “I’m okay. It’s all okay. I’m going to see you again real soon, baby. Go with Daddy. He hasn’t seen you for a while.”

  “Alexis, now,” Sam says sharply.

  Lexi looks at me, then at Maddox. His fists are balled at his sides, but his face is smooth. He winks at Lexi.

  “It’s okay, munchkin. Go with your dad.”

  She runs from me to Maddox, throwing her arms around his waist. He reaches down to hug her back, but Sam grabs her arm and wrenches her away.

  “Don’t touch my daughter,” he hisses at Maddox, then looks at me. “You’re done. This is over. You’ll be lucky to get supervised visitation by the time my lawyers are done with you.”

  Then he takes my daughter, and the door slams shut behind him.

  I completely fall apart.

  Maddox is there in an instant, scooping me into h
is arms and holding me tight. He says nothing while I scream into his chest. Sam is well-connected. He has a lot of money. If he says I’ll never see Lexi again…

  He’s a master of gaslighting. He lies. He manipulates.

  But I’m so confused, so emotionally torn up, I don’t know what’s real and what’s not.

  All I know is that my daughter is gone, and the beautiful, sweet little life I enjoyed for forty-three days has just ended.

  6

  Maddox

  What was supposed to be a beautiful weekend turned out to be a hideous one.

  I planned to tell Roxie how I feel about her, after we put Lexi to bed, and returned to the bedroom I’ve started thinking of as ours. I planned to tell her how much I want to spend my life with her. I planned to tell her I love her in a way that has healed what was broken inside me, that she showed me something that beautiful was possible, even for me.

  But now, our sweet existence has shattered, and so has she. I hurt for her.

  I wanted to tear Sam limb from limb. I know at least a half dozen ways to make him beg for mercy, but I couldn’t do that in front of Lexi. Because as much as he’s a piece of shit in a slick suit, and as much as he treats Lexi like a pet, he’s still her father.

  Something tells me his threats of lawyers and case workers are bullshit, but I don’t know him well enough to make that call with certainty. It’s just a gut feeling. With a child on the line, though, it’s not worth it to call his bluff.

  Still, I want Roxie to go about her life as normally as possible. If he does throw lawyers and case workers at her, she’ll have a stellar work attendance record and, of course, a flawless record as a tenant.

  After a quiet, tense weekend, she gets ready to go in to work a little early for the meeting with her boss she was so excited about on Friday.

  “Are you sure you don’t want me to take you?” I ask, cupping her face tenderly.

  She reaches up to touch my wrists. “I’m sure. You have an early meeting too.”

  Her eyes have been a little bloodshot and watery all weekend long. She’s cried so much, and I’ve done my best to hold her each time, comfort her, reassure her everything is going to be all right.

  “You’re going to do great,” I say lightly, kissing her.

  Her mouth trembles under mine. “I don’t want to go. I can’t focus on anything but Lexi.”

  “I know, baby.” I tilt my forehead to hers. “He wants that. He wants to know he has power and control over you, that he can throw threats at you, and you’ll crumble. But he can’t. You’re stronger than him, and you’re stronger than this. And everything’s going to be fine. I promise.”

  She swallows and nods.

  I kiss her forehead. “Now, go get that promotion you deserve.”

  Roxie manages a shaky smile. “With my luck, she’s going to let me go.”

  “No way. Believe in yourself the way I believe in you. You’re amazing.”

  “Thank you,” she whispers, then takes a deep breath. “Okay. I’m going.”

  I watch her walk out of the bedroom, her head high. She’s steel wrapped in silk. I’m humbled by her strength, and so proud of it.

  After the front door closes and the sound of her car fades away, I get dressed. Not in my Roy’s uniform—no, I texted Roy early to tell him I’d be a little late this morning.

  Roxie was right—I do have a meeting this morning.

  With Sam.

  Sam Henderson, financial advisor at GBT Financial downtown Port City, has an office on the top floor of a seventy-two-floor building. I ride the elevator up to his floor, glancing around as the elevator doors slide apart.

  Some would probably call it a sophisticated design, all sleek black furniture and mirrored walls, but I call it cold. Sort of like that bastard.

  An attractive woman sits behind the desk and offers me a practiced smile as I approach. “Hello. Do you have an appointment?”

  “I don’t,” I reply. “But I think he’ll see me.”

  She lifts an eyebrow, taking in my plain black V-neck T-shirt and jeans. “Mr. Henderson only takes appointments.”

  “Why don’t you call him out here?” I say calmly. Then I point to the only office door to the side of and behind her desk. “In fact, no need. I’ll show myself in.”

  “Sir!”

  Ignoring her, I barge into the office. Sam is leaning back in a very comfy-looking desk chair, on the phone, and his eyes widen as he sees me.

  I make a “don’t worry about it” frown and wave him on. Finish your call. I stand in front of his desk, arms crossed.

  “Anders, I have to go,” he says abruptly, narrowing his eyes at me. “Something just came up.” He hangs up the phone by pressing his finger on the hook and holding it there. “You have five seconds to leave this office, or I’m calling security.”

  I hold up a hand. “I just came here to talk.”

  “About what?”

  “You know about what. Mind if I sit?”

  “Yes,” he snaps.

  I help myself to a chair anyway. “Listen, Sam, let’s have a man-to-man talk. Shall we?”

  “I have nothing to say to you.”

  “Then listen while I say things to you.” I lean forward, bracing my elbows on my knees. “I haven’t known Roxie for years like you. Lexi isn’t my biological daughter. But they’ve become as much of a family to me as if I’d known them their whole lives.”

  Sam sniffs, scrolling through his phone.

  “The least you can do,” I say softly, “is look at me when I’m talking to you about your daughter and the woman you had her with. Since, of course, she means so much to you.”

  His gaze darts to mine, as if to assess my level of seriousness. I don’t even blink.

  “Fine.” Sam puts his phone down, spreads his hands, and looks at me pointedly. “You have my undivided attention. For the next five minutes. And then you leave.”

  “Fine.”

  “So, what do you want?” he demands. “Money? Roxie send you here?”

  I draw my head back. Is he for real? “I can assure you in no uncertain terms I don’t want a fucking red cent of yours. I’m here because I want you to stop whatever proceedings you threatened Roxie with where her custody is concerned.”

  “Why would I do that, when my child is clearly living in squalor?” he asks calmly. “Why should I continue paying child support to a woman who’s clearly not putting it to use?”

  Ah—so we’ve come to it. This is about money. For him.

  I lean forward. “Roxie’s shared your child support arrangement with me. I know how much you’re paying her each month, and she uses that money solely to keep Lexi in daycare. Everything else—clothes, food, bills, utilities, simple pleasures in life—Roxie takes care of on her own. And no, she might not be living in a palatial high-rise like this or what I’m sure your home looks like. But I’ll be damned if you call a clean, well-maintained, modest home in a hardworking, blue-collar neighborhood squalor.”

  I jump up from my chair and start pacing. Sam watches me with a fearful alertness you might watch an uncaged lion with.

  “Look, Maddox,” Sam says. “My relationship and my arrangement with Roxie are none of your business—”

  I turn on him. “That’s where you’re dead wrong,” I say quietly. “Because when the woman I love spends days crying her eyes out, terrified she’s never going to see her daughter again because her ex is a fucking narcissistic bully, that is my problem. What I know is that you almost destroyed her once. What I know is that you never will again, as long as I’m breathing.”

  Sam blinks. “You’re in love with her? I thought you were just fucking her.”

  Give me strength not to punch him right out this window, I beg whatever higher power might be listening to me.

  “Did you ever even know her?” I ask quietly. “Truly. Because I can’t understand how you can treat her the way you do.”

  “Roxie was just some waitress I met at happy hour one ni
ght,” Sam says with a shrug. “It was never supposed to go farther than a few dates. We were young. I wasn’t ready for a kid, but she refused to get rid of it.”

  My stomach churns. Get rid of it. As if Lexi was some piece of garbage.

  “She wanted us to try to make it work for the baby,” he goes on. “And I did try for a few years. But it wasn’t working. We just didn’t work.”

  “You mean, you didn’t work,” I say. “You never appreciated her, not really. You never got to see the side of her I see. You never got to unlock her true heart, because she had to spend so much time guarding hers with you.” I shake my head in disgust. “Actually, you know what? Thanks.”

  Sam bunches his forehead. “For what?”

  “Thank you for fucking up so monumentally with her,” I say. “Because if it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have gotten to meet her. I wouldn’t have gotten to fall for her, or for Lexi. Thank you for being an asshole. Now I get to show her all the ways she should be appreciated.”

  I glance at my watch, then lean toward him, balancing my weight on my knuckles on the desk. “My five minutes are up. Roxie is an excellent mother, and you know it. She knows that little girl’s every breath, every thought, every need. She would lay down her life for Lexi.” I curl my lip. “You’re so afraid of Roxie taking you to court for real child support—and rightfully so—that you never took the time to appreciate how much she loves Lexi. You’ve been trying to beat her to the punch for years just so you wouldn’t have to separate with any of your precious money—since apparently that means more to you than your own child.”

  Sam draws a long breath through his nose.

  “I’ll make you a deal,” I say quietly. “Let Lexi go home to her mother. Stop all this lawyer and case worker bullshit. And keep all your fucking money.”

  He lifts a brow.

  “I will pay for Lexi’s daycare from now on,” I continue. “I will take care of them, because I actually love them. Because I want what’s best for them.”