Man of the House: A Dark Bad Boy Romance

by B. B. Hamel

  32

  Vince

  I woke up with a start. “The fuck?”

  “Sorry,” Kaley mumbled. “My phone.”

  She quickly grabbed it from the floor, looked at the screen, and then answered it.

  “Hello?” she said, but she quickly walked out of the room.

  I watched her go. “Fuck.” I grunted as the memory of last night came back to me.

  We had fallen asleep on the couch together. Neither of us had said a word; we’d just fallen asleep.

  I had never done that before. I wasn’t the type to fall asleep while cuddling on the fucking couch. I fucked and then I left, that was my deal, but something about Kaley made me just feel right. Probably had something to do with the incredible way she sucked my cock while making herself come. She was incredible, insatiable, and drove me absolutely wild.

  I got up from the couch and knocked on the bedroom door.

  “Come in,” she called out.

  I went inside. “Morning, mommy,” I said.

  She just nodded vaguely at me, holding Alexei. She looked weird, but I was just chalking that up to having slept weird. I grabbed some clothes.

  “Showering. Want to join me?”

  “Maybe later,” she said, smiling.

  That wasn’t the response I’d expected. I’d assumed she was going to make some dig at me or some shit. I just shook my head and got into the shower.

  I didn’t have time to try to decipher her moods. I was going on patrol today, and while that was normally pretty easy, it was a much bigger deal in light of what had happened with the Russians.

  When I got out of the shower, Kaley was in the living room with Alexei. She was changing him, and I just made a face.

  “I’m out of here,” I said. “Stay in this room. Call my cell if you have issues.”

  “Okay,” she said vaguely.

  “You all right?”

  She blinked at me and smiled. “Yeah. Fine. Go do your thing, papa.”

  I laughed and left the room.

  She seemed distant and a little odd, but what did that matter? She was going through a lot of shit; that was for sure.

  I moved through the halls and met Rafa at our little office.

  “Morning, boss,” he said.

  “Any news?”

  “Nothing new,” he said. “Patrol today?”

  I nodded. “Strap on, man. We’re going for a ride.”

  He grinned. “Sounds fucking good to me.”

  We both put on our Kevlar vests, got our rifles ready, and headed toward the garage.

  We spent the day checking out my turf. I controlled a decent section of the city, and it was my job to make sure that the people in that area were well protected.

  Nothing went down. Whether that was because we had both hit each other and we were all gathering our forces again or if just nothing happened, I wasn’t sure. It was hard to tell if it was the calm before a storm or simply a calm.

  But either way, we rolled around the territory, keeping an eye out for anything strange. I’d been a central player in the war so far, and I knew that the Russians would try to hit me back sooner or later. It was just a matter of time.

  And I had to be ready when that happened. I did my best to keep any thoughts of Kaley to a minimum, because I couldn’t afford to be distracted.

  True, her lips wrapped around my cock kept coming back to my mind. I couldn’t completely forget about that, not when she was so fucking sexy.

  At the end of the day, after sunset, our teams switched out. Rafa and I headed back to the compound while a few other guys went out on patrol overnight. We pulled back into the garage and got out of the truck, slinging our guns over our shoulders.

  “Today was a good day,” Rafa said.

  “Why?”

  “I didn’t have to use my AK.”

  I laughed. “Good one.”

  He grinned. “What are you doing for the rest of the night, boss?”

  I shrugged as we walked side by side back into the main house. “I’m not sure.”

  “Come drinking,” he said. “I’m going back into the city with a few of the boys.”

  I shook my head. Normally I would have been all over that, since I hadn’t been out drinking with the guys ever since Kaley had shown up. But for some reason I just had no interest in getting hammered, or at least in getting hammered without her.

  “Another time,” I said.

  “Shit. You’re not going soft on me?”

  “Fuck off, Rafa,” I said. “See you tomorrow.”

  He headed down a different hallway and I went upstairs, walking back to our room.

  Kaley was on my damn mind. Since we were back in safety, it was okay to indulge in a little fantasy. I wondered what she’d let me do to her tonight if I could get Alexei to fall asleep again. If it was half as hot as the night before, then turning down Rafa would be more than worth it.

  I pushed open my door and headed inside. “Honey, I’m home,” I called out.

  No response.

  “Shit, you didn’t leave the room, did you?” I called out.

  Still nothing.

  Damn girl. I told her not to leave the room, but who knew what had happened while I’d been gone all day? She didn’t call, so I had to assume she was safe.

  “I’m coming in,” I called out as I pushed into the bedroom.

  It was totally empty. On the bed, there was a piece of paper folded in half. I walked over and snatched it up, reading.

  Vince, I’m so sorry to do this. I know you won’t understand, but I had to leave. I had to go back. I hope you can forgive me one day. Love, Kaley.

  I stared at the paper and read it over and over again. It just made no fucking sense.

  Why would the girl leave? Hell, where would she even go?

  She said she went back, which meant she went back to her fucking family, her piece of shit family, the fucking Russians. She ran away as soon as things were getting good, maybe a little dangerous, but fucking good.

  I crumpled up the paper and threw it at the wall. I stormed out of the room, rage flowing through my veins. I kicked open the door and headed out into the hallway, walking fast.

  I made it up to Lucas’s room in half a minute. I banged on it loudly and waited.

  The door opened slowly. “Vince?”

  It was Natalie, looking concerned. “Nat, I need to talk to Lucas.”

  “He’s not here. Vince, our kids are inside. You can’t bang on the door like that.”

  “Shit. Where is he?”

  “At his father’s office.”

  “Thanks.” I turned and quickly left, heading to Arturo’s.

  Why were Lucas and Arturo meeting? Suddenly everything seemed like a conspiracy. Maybe they had something to do with Kaley leaving. Maybe they had somehow forced her to go back to the Russians. I knew Arturo and some of the other captains were cowards, but I didn’t think they were this bad. Things were just heating up, and they were already turning tail and running away. They’d forced her; it had to be that.

  I made it to Arturo’s and knocked. After a second, the door opened a crack.

  Lucas looked out at me. “Vince?”

  “We need to talk.”

  Lucas sighed. “Yeah, okay. Come in.”

  I stepped inside. Arturo was sitting at his desk, smoking a cigar. A half-empty glass of whisky was sitting on the side table next to where Lucas was sitting. I stood in front of the two of them and crossed my arms.

  “How’d you do it?” I asked them.

  “Do what, Vincent?” Arturo replied.

  “How did you force her to leave?”

  Lucas raised his hands. “Vince—”

  “No. Fuck that. I know you bastards have wanted her gone for a while. What’d you use to get her to leave?”

  “Vincent,” Arturo said firmly, “we didn’t make the girl leave.”

  I paused. “What?”

  “Man, we were trying to keep her here,” Lucas said. “I
honestly don’t know how she slipped away.”

  “You really didn’t kick her out,” I said to him flatly.

  “No, Vincent, we didn’t,” Arturo said. “Now calm yourself and speak plainly with us.”

  I took a deep breath, gathering myself. I was ready to flip the fucking desk on top of Arturo, that old fuck, but I needed to get myself together and remember who I was dealing with.

  “Okay,” I said. “Okay. So she left on her own.”

  “She slipped out, but we haven’t figure out how yet,” Lucas said.

  “The girl is an important symbol,” Arturo said. “We wanted to keep her. You know that.”

  “Why would she go back to her family?” I asked.

  “We were hoping you could tell us that. We only realized she was gone a half hour ago when her security card was found in a trash bin,” Lucas said.

  “I don’t know why she’d go back to them,” I said. “I really don’t.”

  “Think,” Arturo said. “She never mentioned leaving? Never had complaints?”

  “She felt unsafe here, but that was reasonable,” I said. “I moved her into my room to try and help that.”

  Lucas nodded. “What else?”

  “She got a call this morning,” I said, remembering. “She seemed weird after that.”

  “Maybe that call had something to do with it.”

  “Shit,” I said. “Fuck. I should have pressed her.”

  Lucas put his hand on my shoulder. “It’s fine. Don’t worry. We’ll figure it out.”

  “I have to get her back.”

  “No,” Arturo said firmly.

  “I can do it myself. I don’t need to put anyone else in danger.”

  “No,” Arturo said again. “We are not escalating this. We’ll see what the Russians say first before we try anything like that.”

  Fuck. I clenched my jaw but didn’t say anything. I wanted to get out there right away and start cracking skulls to get her back.

  Her and Alexei, my son. It wasn’t just Kaley that I wanted, I realized. It was Alexei. I was just beginning to feel like maybe I could really be a father, maybe I really could do it for real. And then he was taken away from me?

  Fuck that.

  “Come on,” Lucas said. “We’ll get a drink, calm you down.”

  “Fine,” I grunted.

  “Don’t do anything stupid, Vincent,” Arturo said.

  “Yes, sir.”

  But as Lucas and I moved out of the room, I was already planning my next move.

  I wasn’t going to lie back and take this. Kaley probably had her reasons, but her reasons were wrong. She should have talked to me, should have come to me first. But she clearly wasn’t ready to do that, even if we were getting closer and closer every day.

  No, I needed to make my own play. I couldn’t wait for help or for her to say something.

  I was going to get my fucking woman and my fucking son back.

  33

  Kaley

  Several hours earlier

  “If you come back, they won’t hurt you or the baby,” Soph said.

  “Really?” I whispered. “How can I trust that?”

  “Listen to me,” Soph said. “I promise. I swear. They want this war to end, and you can end it. Your dad himself told me to make this call.”

  I bit my lip. “How can this be true?”

  “It’s not worth the bloodshed,” Soph said. “Besides, they’re beginning to soften up about the kid.”

  “I want to,” I whispered. Vince was just in the other room. I didn’t have time to talk too long. “But I’m worried.”

  “Kaley, it’s me. You can trust me. Come home and it’ll be fine. You can keep Alexei and the war will be over, no more bloodshed.”

  “What about Vince?”

  “You can’t see him.”

  “No. I can’t do that.”

  “I’m sorry. That’s what your dad said.” Soph paused. “Please come home, Kaley. I don’t want any more people to die.”

  “I don’t either.”

  “Come home.”

  “I have to go.”

  I quickly hung up the phone.

  My mind was immediately in a tailspin. I felt dizzy as Vince came into the bedroom and made some joke about showering. I could barely pay attention as I rocked Alexei in my arms and Vince left for the day.

  They said I could come home, but if I did that, I could never see Vince again. And we were just starting to become close. My feelings for him were just starting to become clear. Ever since last night, I knew what I wanted from him, knew that I wanted him to become the father to my son. He was so good with Alexei, and Alexei clearly liked Vince. My son needed a father.

  But if I were allowed back into the family, then Alexei would have plenty of fathers to look out for him. And most importantly, the war would end.

  As soon as Vince was gone, I paced around the room. I couldn’t leave Vince, but I couldn’t let the war keep going if I could stop it.

  “Fuck,” I said out loud, and little Alexei looked up at me.

  Alexei. All of this was for him. As much as I wanted Vince, I knew that Alexei would be safe back with my family and that he’d have a good life. This war could put him in danger if I let it keep going on.

  Soph had promised me they’d keep him safe, and I believed her.

  “Fuck,” I said again, but more softly.

  I had made up my mind. I was going to leave. I was going back to my parents.

  I was going to end the war. For my sake, for Vince’s sake, but most importantly, for Alexei’s sake.

  Now the real problem was figuring out how the hell I was going to do it.

  Alexei was squirming in my arms as I knocked on the door. She answered surprisingly fast.

  “Hi, Louisa,” I said.

  “You brought a baby,” she commented flatly.

  “Louisa, this is Alexei, my son.”

  She looked at Alexei. “Hi there, baby.”

  “Listen, Louisa, can I talk to you for a second?”

  “Okay.” She turned and walked into her room. I followed, shutting the door behind us.

  “I want to leave,” I said simply.

  She stopped walking toward her computer and turned back toward me. She cocked her head to one side. “Because of what I showed you?”

  “Partially, yes.”

  “Will you be safe?”

  “Yes. I think so.”

  She frowned. “Sound more sure.”

  “I’ll be safe. My best friend from home told me that my family would take me back. She said they’d let me keep Alexei.”

  Louisa frowned but nodded slowly. “Okay. I’ll help you escape.”

  “Escape?” I said, laughing. “I’m not a prisoner, am I?”

  “Of course you are,” she said. “But don’t worry. This house is mine.”

  She walked over to her computer and began typing. That black screen covered in text came back, and she began scrolling through it, typing occasionally.

  “Okay,” I said, laughing nervously. “How am I escaping then?”

  “In thirty minutes there’s a produce delivery van pulling up next to the kitchen. In forty minutes, you’ll be on that van.”

  “That’s too soon,” I said.

  “Next shot won’t be until tomorrow.”

  I chewed my lip nervously. If I waited until tomorrow, I’d have to spend another night with Vince.

  And if I saw him again, I didn’t think I’d be strong enough to leave.

  “Okay,” I said. “Let’s do it.”

  “The guy that drives the van is an associate of mine,” Louisa said. “He brings things in and out of the house for me. You’ll get into the back of the van and sit down. He will pretend like you don’t exist.”

  “Okay,” I said. “Easy.”

  “When the van stops and the doors open, you’re free to go.”

  “What do I do from there?”

  She gave me a look. “Get on a bus.”

>   I laughed. “Okay. Okay. I’m just nervous.”

  “Don’t be,” she said and looked at me directly for the first time since I’d walked into the room. “I’m the most powerful person in this house.”

  I nodded and felt strangely better.

  She looked away. “The van will be outside the kitchen in twenty-eight minutes. You better hurry.”

  “Thank you,” I said.

  “Go.”

  I turned and walked quickly out of the room.

  I practically ran down the halls. I tore into Vince’s room and quickly threw my things into a single bag. I took only what I was going to need and then shoved Alexei’s things into his baby bag.

  I threw the stuff onto my back and then walked quickly back out into the hall.

  My heart was hammering as I made my way downstairs and toward the kitchens. I knew the way only because I had followed the staff there once when I was out exploring a few days ago. I was worried someone was going to stop me and ask me why I was carrying two bags plus Alexei, but nobody bothered to.

  Maybe nobody gave a shit if I left. More likely they assumed I was allowed to do whatever I was doing.

  I went out a side door just before I got to the kitchens. It took me a second to orient myself, but quickly I found the road and saw the van parked up ahead.

  Nobody was near it. I jogged over to it, threw open the back door, and climbed inside.

  Alexei was fussy. “It’s okay, baby,” I whispered. “It’s okay. We’re going home. You’ll be happy to see grandpa again.”

  I had no clue how much time passed, but eventually I heard voices coming toward the van. The doors opened and a man with a big, thick mustache looked at me. He nodded once. “Looks good,” he called out. He shut the doors.

  I heard him climb into the front seat, start the engine, and then we pulled out.

  I couldn’t believe I was doing this. Only a few hours ago I never would have imagined running back to my family, let alone sneaking out in the back of a produce delivery van. But there I was, baby in my arms, getting smuggled out.

  The van stopped once and I heard more voices, but nobody opened the doors. A minute later we were off again, and I knew we had passed through the gate.