“What buddy, sorry, I was miles away there?”
“Are you going to come and see the dinosaurs with us?”
Shit, that's not my call. I look to Macen for help.
“Let's see how it goes at Casper's first, Dixon. Caspian may have to work this afternoon, but if Mr. Williams says it's okay for parents to see these dinosaurs, then who knows, maybe he can come along as well? Grandma's going out today with Marjorie before she goes back to Atlanta.” She smiles at me, letting me know it's fine for me to tag along. Thank fuck for that. How am I going to leave her? I start to panic, thinking about it — what if that dipshit, Reid gets to her, and I’m not around. I’ve been with her twice now when he’s been watching her. Fuck.
We’re in the car heading back to my place so I can get changed into clean clothes.
“I think you better leave some clothes at my place if this is going to be a regular occurrence…”
I stare at her. Did she just say that? Did she just suggest I stay at hers?
She leans over and pushes my jaw up. I didn't realize my mouth had dropped open. She smiles at me, then leans in and kisses my cheek. We hear Dixon giggle because he saw us. “Momma and Casp, sitting in a tree, K.I.S.S.I.N.G.”
We burst out laughing. “How on earth do you know that rhyme, Dixon?”
He shrugs his shoulders. “Lucas Williams sings it to me when Stacy kisses my cheek.”
Macen starts tickling him and teasing him for having a girlfriend, and he's laughing hard now, as is Macen.
I love this. I love this whole family vibe. I love them. “Come here, you two. I think it's time for the tickle monster,” I say in a pretend voice and reach over to tickle them both.
We’re just stepping out of the elevator to my place when I stop dead, causing Macen to walk into the back of me. Reid is there, leaning against my door. How the fuck did he get up here without a card key or Derek seeing him? I don’t let Macen and Dixon out of the elevator. Instead, I lean in and press the ground floor button, giving Macen a ‘don’t argue with me’ look. I see the moment she sees Reid stood there as the elevator door is closing, and I mouth for her to call the police and I hope she does.
“What the fuck are you doing here? Do you have a death wish, Reid, or are you just not right in the head?”
He glares at me, and if looks could kill, I would be dead. I don't move — there’s a table with a floral display between us. I can't believe the guts this guy has got. He shoves from the door and starts towards me. I can hold my own, but I want the police to handle him, and although he's here, it's outside of my property, so I can't say he's an intruder in my home. I watch him warily, in case he makes a move for me. He's walking slowly, sneering at me as he does. He's starting to move around the table towards me, and it's then I see a switchblade in his hands.
Fuck. He's a head case.
I move in the opposite direction, keeping the table between us.
I hope the police, or Derek the doorman, come up, just to distract Reid.
“What’s up, you cocky bastard, cat got your tongue now? Not got much to say, have you?” He’s goading me. He wants me to go for him so he can attempt to stab me. I don’t speak. I just watch every move he makes, ready for him to pounce. I can disarm him, no problem, and render him unconscious with one strike because I took Krav-Maga as soon as I could afford it, to protect myself.
He's coming for me slowly. If he lunges for me, then I will just take him out. That way, the police will finally have him. I know it's being recorded because we have CCTV all over the building. All of a sudden, he lunges over the table, sending the vase of flowers flying in my direction. That was his plan. I sidestep him, then take his arm with the switchblade and block it with one of mine so he can't make any stabbing motions. I take the back of his neck, and with his knife arm behind him, I push him to the floor and kneel on his back. He can't move now, but he's still conscious. Well, that was easy enough, the stupid cocksucker. I make him drop the knife by bending his wrist, and I move to put a knee between his shoulder blades, still holding his arm rigid behind him.
“You fucker, get off me. You can't have her. If I can't have her, no one will. She's mine, you ass-wipe. Her and the kid are mine. You will never have them.” He's going on and on, repeating himself.
The elevator doors open and two cops come rushing out, with their weapons drawn and aimed at me. “Whoa, wait, he attacked me. I’m Caspian Kade, and I live here.” I nod with my head to my door. “This is Reid Hughes. You have a warrant out for his arrest.” I slowly get up, releasing Reid’s arm and hold my hands up. Reid starts to get up, but the two cops charge for him and kneel on him like I did, while they get the cuffs on his wrists.
I let out a breath and bend over, putting my hands on my knees. I feel sick. I feel a hand on my arm, “Hey, you okay, sir?” It's one of the cops. I stand up and nod. “Yeah, just a bit shaken. He had that switchblade and came at me?” I nod to the knife on the floor.
The cop gets a plastic bag from his pocket and picks the knife up with it, then seals it inside. He looks around, seeing the cameras. “I'll get whatever footage there is so it helps you out, in case he makes up some cock and bull story.”
I nod.
Macen comes running out of the elevator just as I'm coming back out of my apartment. “You fucking whore. You're mine. No one will have you ever if I can't have you. You and the kid are mine. We're a family, you stupid bitch.”
The cops haul him into the elevator, telling him to be quiet and that everything is being recorded on their body cams. I run over to Macen, who is standing back from the elevators, holding Dixon's face to her tummy, and hiding his ears so he doesn't hear Reid ranting and raving. I pull them both into me, and we just stand, hugging.
Dixon squirms out of his momma’s hold. “Can we go now, Momma? It's nearly time for the party to start.”
“Come into my place for a few minutes while I get changed. We still have time before the party starts?” He walks past Macen and me and straight into my place. I hear him running around. “Wow, Momma, have you seen it in here. It's really big — so much room, and I can see all of the park. Momma, come and look.” She looks at me, and I shrug. We walk into my place, hand in hand.
I watch as she too walks around in awe at all the space. It is huge, and has the best view over Central Park. I move up behind her, wrap my arms around her waist, and rest my chin on the top of her head. “It's beautiful up here, Caspian. That view is to die for.”
Don’t say that. It could have happened, I think to myself.
Dixon is standing with both hands on the glass and his nose resting on it, breathing on it then drawing in his breath — the little tyke.
We walk round to Casper's with ten minutes to spare. Some of the party guests have started to arrive already. We go in, and I take Dixon with me to my office, then I put a chef’s hat on him, and we head into the kitchen, with Macen following. I show him where his momma works, and then show him the food some of the other chefs are preparing. “Oh, I'm going to be a chef like Momma when I grows up big, Casp. What do you do?”
I laugh at him. “Well, I'm a chef too, just like your momma, but this is also my restaurant, so I am the boss and the head chef.”
He's thinking. I can see the cogs turning. “Oh, well then, I'm going to be what you are. The boss and the head chef.”
I ruffle his hair “That's my boy,” I say without realizing what I've just said until I see a tear slip from Macen's eyes and the beam she has on her face.
Macen
I CAN'T HELP IT. My heart just melts when I hear him say that to Dixon. My knees turn to jelly, and my heart beats so fast with all the love for those two bonding.
I know what just happened was traumatic, but I feel such a sense of relief that the police finally have Reid in custody. I don't know what will happen now or how long they will have him, but for now, I feel I can breathe.
I sit at the bar, watching Dixon enjoying his party, with Caspian and Mr. Will
iams, whose son is having the party, and when we leave to go and watch the dinosaurs, Caspian's with us, and I love it. It's just like having a proper family.
The show’s great and watching Dixon get so animated with each dinosaur that comes out is just the best. Caspian sits with me the whole time, holding my hand, at the back, away from the kids, although I swear Caspian wants to join them. He’s just as excited as they are. The show’s just finished, and I take my cell out, just in case Grandma has tried to contact me, and see that I have a missed call from an unknown number. If it's important, they will phone back, I'm sure. Grandma should be waiting outside to take Dixon home, as Caspian and I are on the late shift.
“Hey, Macen, what do you say to us taking Dixon to the T-Rex crazy golf next weekend. Has he ever been? What do you think?”
I beam at him for thinking of Dixon and nod in agreement. “He would love that, and no, we’ve never been. It sounds like a fun day out though. I will just have to check my shifts next weekend and let you know.”
He smiles down at me. “I’m sure your boss will be kind enough to make sure you have a day off next weekend.”
He winks at me, and I melt.
Grandma takes Dixon home, and Caspian and I decide to walk back to Casper’s as we have time before our shift starts. It feels so normal walking through Central Park, just the two of us holding hands, and I feel quite emotional. I've never had this with anyone before.
Caspian catches me smiling and bends to gently kiss my lips. “What are you smiling at?”
I shrug then stop and face him. “I feel normal, like a real normal person, doing this,” I gesture between us, “I've never had this or done anything like this. I've never been part of a couple. Does that sound stupid? Are we a couple?”
He takes my face in both of his hands, so we’re stopped in the middle of the path, and a biker comes past ringing his bell at us, but we ignore him. We just stare into each other's eyes. He leans down, lifting my head slightly, and he takes my mouth gently. I automatically respond, my hands rest on his hips, and I melt. The feelings coursing through me are like none I've ever had before, even all the other times he’s kissed me. I feel like he’s pouring all his feelings and love into this one kiss. Showing me that we are a couple. Someone on roller blades goes past us shouting, “Get a room,” but we ignore them.
He pulls back and looks me in the eyes, still holding my face. “Yes, yes, we are a couple, Macen. In one respect, I'm grateful you have never had this with anyone else, but in another, I'm sad you have never experienced any of it. I’m delirious that it's me who gets to love you and show you what it's all about. I'm a good teacher, you know?” He wiggles his eyebrows at me, and I laugh. “I love it when you smile, Macen. I see those dimples of yours, and I fucking love it even more, when you laugh, knowing it's me making you smile and laugh. You have no idea what you do to me.”
I move into his chest and hug him, wrapping my arms around him tightly. “I love you, Caspian. I have so many feelings that I have never experienced before, and it scares the crap out of me.”
He pulls back, looking at me, and there is a tear rolling down his cheek. I wipe it away and then reach up to kiss where it was trickling down. “Hey, you okay?”
He nods and holds my face again. “I love you, Macen. I have never loved anyone in my life. You’ve come along, in the space of a week, and my world has changed. Everything I thought was important before, like Casper's, is all second place to you. You are important: you and Dixon. I love you both. Oh, and for the record, you are my first as well?”
I scowl at him. I know he's slept around. “I mean I have never had this, the walking in the park as a couple. I have never been in a proper relationship.” He shrugs.
As we approach Casper's and are about to head around the back, I feel it. I feel the hairs stand up. “He's here!”
Caspian stops with me and rotates, searching for him. “Why the fuck have they let him out? Why would they do that when they have the DNA and the evidence of the scratches, not to mention the video evidence of him attacking me?” Caspian is rigid beside me. The anger is rolling off him.
I fear that if Reid is here, Caspian will do something he’ll regret. “We need to get inside, Caspian. Let's ignore him.” I look at him fleetingly, and he's pulling his cell out. He hits 911 and speaks quietly into the cell. I start to walk towards the back door to Casper's, holding onto his other hand and watching all around me.
“Fuck!”
I stop and look at him. “What is it?”
I look to where his gaze is — on Reid.
“You fucking pussy. Yes, they let me go. They believed me and her were just having a lover’s tiff.” He gestures between himself and me. “That we had an argument, and she fell and banged her head, but as she fell, I tried to catch her, and that’s when she caught me with her nails.” He smirks and shrugs. “There is no proof of me stalking her, and as for attacking you, well there was no CCTV footage either — apparently, it had just stopped working. I would get your building to check it out if I were you.” He glares at us, smirking.
“I have personal CCTV footage?” Caspian says.
Reid shrugs, “Maybe, but then they have to catch me again. In fact, I think the cops will be coming for you any time now. It was you they saw attacking me. You had me pinned down. The sooner they come for you, the better. Macen and I can then get on with what we started.” He raises his eyebrow at me.
Caspian starts to move towards Reid, and I have to pull him back, “No, Caspian, don't. You will make it worse. He will end up looking like the innocent one in all this. God knows what bullshit he's been telling the police. Come on. Let's get inside.”
I start pulling him towards the back of Casper's, but Reid moves at the same time as we do, trying to block our way. “Move, Reid,” I grit out at him. “Don't you think you've caused enough trouble? Why are you doing this? What have I ever done to you?” I'm looking at him, pleading.
He cocks his head to one side. “You still have no idea, do you?”
I shake my head, no. “I don't know what it is, Reid, you have me mixed up with someone else or something, but I have never met you before in my life.”
He laughs out loud, a real belly laugh. He scares me, and even with Caspian here, I'm terrified. He's dangerous and who knows what he will do next? “You and that fucking kid of yours are mine, Macen. We will be a proper family. Like we should have been, you dumb fucking whore?”
Caspian lunges at him and sends him flying to the ground. He sits on his chest, pinning his arms to his side so he can't do anything, before grabbing him by the neck and lifting his head towards his own. I see the spittle coming out of his mouth with the anger. “You ever fucking come near her, or me, again, and I will kill you. You ever speak to her again, and I will kill you, do you hear me, you crazy mother-fucker? Leave us alone. She has never been and never will be yours. Get that through to your fucking tiny pea brain,” he says, tapping the side of Reid's head.
Reid is just smiling, goading him, wanting him to punch him or mark him in some way. I move closer. “Caspian, come on, he isn't worth it. Let's get inside.”
I pull on his arm. He looks at me. I see the confusion on his face: should he stay and fight or should he come with me? He releases Reid, shoving his head back, which bangs on the floor, then gets up off him. He takes my hand, and we both walk into Casper's.
Inside, in his office, he is visibly shaking. “The cops said they released him as there was no real evidence, and they couldn’t hold him. They did say they needed to speak to me again, though. It was me they saw pinning him down after all.”
I move to him, I sit on his knee, and we hold each other. He’s still shaking with anger, as he rests his head on my chest. I know something else is bothering him. “What is it, Caspian? What else has got you so worked up?”
He looks at me, and I see his eyes are glazed with unshed tears.
“Tell me what’s wrong?”
He looks into my e
yes. “I just feel so hopeless and helpless, Mace. He’s doing this to you, to us, and I can't stop him. I can take anyone down. I learned how to protect myself when I was a teenager because I was bullied in the homes. I could kill someone with my bare hands, yet I can't protect you and Dixon from this dipshit, and it scares the fuck out of me what he's going to do next?”
“I don’t understand it. How has he managed to get away with it — attacking you twice and me once? He has all the luck. I don’t understand how they bought his story, that he and I were a couple having a row and I fell. It doesn’t make sense, Caspian. What will it take?”
He rubs my back because I’m starting to get a bit hysterical, and he’s trying to calm me down.
“I have CCTV footage. I have my own security, so they should be able to charge him with something. I need to get it to them — the sooner the better, but then, as he said, they have to catch him again. Macen...” He pulls my face to look at him. I see the anguish. “He’s not stable. He’s convinced you and him will be together as a family with Dixon. That scares the fuck out of me. Maybe I should hire a PI to look into him and his background? See if we can find out where this obsession with you came from. In fact…” He lifts me off his knee and unlocks his filing cabinet, searches through the papers. “Here we are. His employee records.”
He's quiet for a bit, reading the records. “Nothing really, just that he was at NYCS, passed top of his year, had a few jobs with smaller restaurants for a few years, then started here for me. I have an address, but he's probably moved on from there?”
I wonder when he was at NYCS. He looks older than me, but then when I first went to school, I was the youngest there. “How old is he, Caspian?”
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