Starting Over (Sugar Creek Romance )

by Jordan Silver

  “I’m leaving? I just got here.”

  “Yeah but I don’t like the atmosphere around here tonight, you’re going home.” I pouted but there was no waylaying him. What did he mean by that by the way? Did he expect Natalie to cause problems?

  She was already gone when we got out front and from the looks of Ty there was some kind of showdown. He had a scratch down one side of his neck and a murderous look in his eyes. “What the hell happened to you?” Kevin stopped us in front of him.

  “I laughed at Natalie’s fired ass.” He looked down at the scratch. “It was worth it.” He shook his head and grinned at Kevin and I wondered what secrets the two of them were keeping.

  KEVIN

  Well, well, well, my little tigress has claws. It was amazing to watch her coming out of that shell and hitting her stride. Hopefully I had something to do with this new confidence she had. If last night was anything to go by she was finally coming to accept her place in my life. I hadn’t officially asked her to marry me yet I was waiting to buy the ring first and then put it on her finger before dragging her before the altar. I wasn’t getting down on my knees though; fuck that.

  “Who the fuck is that?” There was a strange car in the driveway. The phone rang and my niece’s number showed up. “What’s up kid?”

  “Uncle Kevin you need to come. There’re these two men here and they say I have to let them have the kids.” I jumped out the truck and hit the ground running with her hot on my heels.

  Tracy met us at the door with the phone still in her hand. The kids were huddled together on the couch looking scared as fuck and the dog was standing guard and pitching a fit. But a quick scan of the room showed that it was empty except for them. “What’s going on? Julie asked at the same time I asked ‘where are they?’

  “They went around back when I wouldn’t open the door.” I pulled her into my chest but my eyes were on my kids. “Good girl. Take the kids upstairs. You go with them too baby this won’t take but a minute.” She looked like she was tempted to disobey me but common sense took over in the end and she followed looking back at me every step.

  I kept my cool until they were out of sight and then reached in my back for my glock. I tracked them around the back of the house. I hit the outside lights and pulled the door open at the same time gun pointed.

  “What the fuck, are you doing on my property?” I stepped outside and closed the door behind me. The asshole ex didn’t see the gun since he was behind her dad and started to puff up his chest. “I came to get my kids…” He stared at the gun and looked at the older man and back to me.

  “There’s no need for all that, put that thing away.” Her dad, Frank if I remember correctly was looking a little green himself. “I asked you what the fuck you were doing here. You.” I pointed at the ex. “You and me, we’re gonna tango but not here, not now. Not with my woman and kids around. But I know where you live. As for you, your daughter’s been home more than a week, has been living here right around the corner from you for a few days and haven’t even thought of calling or coming to see you. I’m thinking that means she doesn’t want to.”

  “If that should change and she decides that she does I’ll think about letting her and our kids be anywhere near you.”

  “Just who do you think you are? You have no rights over my daughter and grandchildren. He’s their father, her husband…”

  “Where were you when this asshole was beating on her? You’re no dad and you’re not going to be a grandfather to my kids.”

  “Your kids?”

  “Yes mine and I’ll fucking shoot anyone who says different. Julie, go inside.” I’d heard her come out behind me but didn’t take my eyes off these two fucks. I didn’t want her anywhere around the asshole ex and the dad was a close second on that deal.

  “How could you come back here and play the whore with this, this…?” I put my hand on the trigger and barely restrained myself from shooting her dad in the head because of the three kids in the house. “Julie inside, now.”

  She didn’t even balk, just walked her ass in the house with her head held high. I know I was gonna pay for this later but whatever. It was high time someone put his overbearing ass in his place.

  “You sold her ten years ago. No don’t get scared she doesn’t know and she never will, but if you ever in your miserable fucking life talk to my woman like that again I’ll drop you. Now go the fuck home and be thankful I’m not cutting you off completely. I’d have to explain that shit to her and I won’t do that to her. But just remember, I’m watching you, with her and my kids.” The weak fuck, who likes to beat up on women hadn’t said fuck one since he saw my piece pointed in his direction. Asshole is queer as a football bat.

  “Go, before I change my mind.” They made tracks getting the fuck outta my space and I was mad as fuck that I’d finally come face to face with the asshole ex and couldn’t do shit. It was more important for me to go reassure and comfort my family.

  “Fuck!” She was standing just inside the door hidden by the wall and from the look on her face I could tell that she’d heard everything.

  “Come here baby.” I opened my arms and she flew into them. “What did you mean when you said my dad sold me to Robert?” “We’ll talk about it later baby, let’s go see about the kids.” Before I could turn her towards the stairs there were screeching tires out on the driveway and I thought the assholes had come back with reinforcements.

  I looked at the security monitor and saw Ty, Marshall another one of my guys, and my brother in law Ron. All three men were loaded for bear. “What the fuck?” I opened the door as they came rushing in guns drawn.

  “Tracy called Sandy, Sandy told Marshall and me and then called Ron, where are they?” Just then my niece came bounding down the stairs and straight into her daddy’s arms. My little princess peeped out from behind her brother with her thumb in her mouth. I’d never seen her do that and can only surmise that she did it when she was afraid or nervous.

  I got down low and opened my arms for her and she flew into them. “It’s okay princess daddy’s got you.” I gave the guys a quick rundown of the situation and of course they wanted to stay, even though I told them we were fine. I was talking to air. Ron took a shaken Tracy home and Sandy was ringing my phone off the hook.

  I left the guys and took Julie and the kids to the master bedroom. Dylan had been quiet this whole time and once we got there and I got them settled on the bed I directed my statement to him. “You two will sleep in here with us tonight.” I know some fucked in the head shrink somewhere would say this was a bad idea, that it was setting a bad precedent or some fuck, but I didn’t give a fuck what some coked up quack had to say about how the fuck I choose to raise my kids.

  Dylan seemed to relax a little and I didn’t miss the fact that he was holding his sister’s hand. “You two were scared huh. It’s okay to be scared, but you did just right. You listened to Tracy and stayed calm, I’m proud of you both.” Tiana gave me a sleepy smile. Poor baby was plumb tuckered out. And Dylan lost that haunted look from his eyes.

  I hugged my woman and whispered reassurances in her ear. “Baby, whatever happened ten years ago is in the past. We’re here now and nothing’s going to change that. Let me go tell these two that we’re fine here and I’ll be back.”

  I left her with the kids and went back out to where the boys were standing on my deck with the dog, who was on high alert. “Guys, thanks for coming but you can go now. We’re good here.”

  “No can do Cap. We’re staying. Why don’t you go on inside with your family. Marsh and I will take shifts.” What the fuck, this isn’t Mosul.

  Ty was in Op mode, which means he’s not going anywhere no matter what I say. Even as their leader, when it comes to my safety they’d ignore even me. That’s what I get for training them too well. “Fine, I see you’ve already found the beer and you know where the spare rooms are.” I left them and the dog and headed back inside.

  She was in bed cuddling the kids who w
ere fast asleep. There were tears in her eyes and dry tracks on her cheeks. I eased Tiana out of her arms and pulled her out of bed. I carried her to the chaise lounge in the sitting room and sat with her in my lap.

  She cried silently as she clutched my shirt in her fists. “How did you find out?” I kissed her temple and squeezed her. “I ran your ex and some things didn’t add up. So I went deeper. It didn’t make sense to me that your dad was so dead set on you marrying this guy who you didn’t even really know. I couldn’t see where any of that made sense. Your dad was having some financial difficulty and his dad needed a blind for him.”

  “He was constantly getting into trouble and causing a scandal of one sort or another, and they figured if he settled down with a wholesome all American beauty it would give his look some polish. Your dad just happened to be friendly with his, and was in need at the time so you drew the short straw. Now I want you to take the time to get over the hurt of that, but I also want you to keep in mind, if none of this had happened, you wouldn’t have those two in there. So whenever you start to feel bad about this mess, remember that. Think only of them.”

  “But we lost so much…”

  “I know baby, but we can’t get it back and there’s no point in mourning the fact. We’re here now older and wiser. And I love you.” I felt her body jump, but carried on with what I was saying. “I couldn’t love you more than I do right this minute. So ten years later or not, we’ve found each other again.”

  She didn’t say anything for the longest time, just ran her hand up and down my chest and then she picked her head up and looked into my eyes. “You love me.”

  “Well yeah!” She grinned and gut punched me playfully before putting her head back on my shoulder. “You’ll be okay princess.”

  “I thought Tiana was your princess.”

  “She is, and so is her mother and the sisters she’s soon to have.”

  “When you say sisters, how many were you thinking?”

  “Well now. I’m thinking you gave the asshole one of each so you have to give me two of each at the least.”

  “You do realize I’m thirty-one I’d have to have a kid a year for the next four years or I’ll be having babies well into my forties.”

  “Well then I suggest you get on that shit right quick.”

  27

  Julie

  The man is a tyrannical menace. It’s been three days since the little home invasion and I don’t think the kids and I have been allowed to be on our own for one waking moment. If Kevin wasn’t here, then one of his team was. If I even moved towards the door someone was there, blocking my way before I turned the knob.

  Our trips to the park were more like an exercise in secret service training. At least it was good for some comic relief. Three grown men trying to keep up with my little whirlwind and playing twenty questions with her brother while trying to corral a rambunctious dog was just too much.

  Today I was getting a breather. Kevin had lit out early with some obscure statement about having to go out of town for a meeting. Still I was confined to the house and his parting words, ‘your ass better not step one toe out this bitch until I return’ pretty much said it all.

  I spent the morning keeping the kids busy. I’d had days to think of the revelations about what my dad had done in the past, and whenever I was feeling down about it I climbed into Kevin’s lap and cried on his shoulder until I got it out of my system. Then he’d make love to me slowly, tenderly, until I cried tears of a different kind.

  Those encounters were all well and good and certainly needed at the time, but I was beginning to miss my crazy man. Tonight the kids were going back to their beds no matter how my daughter bats her lashes at her daddy to con him into staying in ours. I knew they were over whatever trauma they’d suffered that night and were now just milking it for all it was worth. It was too cute to see them play him, and even more amazing that it were possible.

  They might be suffering from the same whiplash as I, going from Robert’s bullshit indifference to someone who actually cared about them and what they felt. He never once shut them down in the last few days no matter how silly the question and they were way ahead of me in fully accepting our new life.

  I still had moments when I wanted to pinch myself, when I couldn’t believe that this was all real. He tells me he loves me all the time now and each time it’s like winning the jackpot. There are really no words to describe what it feels like to have the man you adore with all your heart say those words to you when he’s buried deep inside you as he looks deeply into your eyes.

  Crap; time to change my thinking here, I just slightly came on myself. I found Tyson in the kitchen making more coffee while Marshall was telling the kids a story about one of his Ops with their dad. Their eyes were big as saucers so I was sure he was laying it on thick to make Kevin look good. Not that he needed much help there.

  “I’m going to sit out back and get some sun is that allowed?”

  “Let me check with the boss.” He had to be kidding. I rolled my eyes and left the room to the sound of his laughter.

  KEVIN

  I timed it well arriving at his home when I was sure he was there. She didn’t know that he’d lost his job and was two steps away from being broke. He didn’t even know that he was almost broke. Except for the ten dollars I’d left in his account when I used my clearance to find it where he had it stashed away in the Caymans. He’d be finding the shit out soon enough.

  I’d put the money in a trust for the kids and when the time comes they’ll know where it came from and can decide if they want to keep it or not. But their care was coming out of my pocket from now on.

  He was in his kitchen moving shit around in the cupboards and muttering shit about a worthless bitch, who I presume is my future wife. That’s grounds to put a cap in his ass right there, but I had some shit I wanted to tell this fuck before I fuck his shit up.

  I waited for him to even sense my presence but he didn’t have a clue. Amateur. I got so far as pulling a chair at the table and sitting down before he knew I was there. Coulda dropped this ass and buried him out back already. He almost shit a brick when he turned with coffee bag in hand and saw me sitting there watching him.

  I didn’t have my gun out this time. Never bring a glock to a kiddie rubble. I wasn’t even dressed the part. Sweats and a hoodie and some sneaks, he didn’t warrant ass-kicking gear. Pansy ass motherfucker.

  “What are you doing in my kitchen?” Good for you; show some bravado that way I know I’m not about to knock the shit out of a female. Thought for sure this bitch was missing his balls, but I guess the two kids disprove that theory.

  My arms were folded over my chest and I guess his eye fuck was to ensure there was no gun. “I told you we needed to talk.” Fucker jumped a foot in the air when I stood, and backed away. “I don’t know what she told you but it’s all lies.”

  “Really? You never took your fists to her? You didn’t terrorize two kids that were depending on you for love and security?” Is this guy on something? His eyes moved from side to side like a damn rodent. Way fucking off. “Look, I worked hard, I wasn’t here enough…”

  “Not interested in your lying ass history. I want something from you. It’s the only thing that’s going to save you from an early grave.” I drew the papers from the small of my back where I’d shoved them when I left the truck.

  “What’s that?”

  “You’re going to sign these giving up all rights to my kids and then I want you the fuck gone out of their lives forever. Before you say anything, this isn’t a fucking debate. Your signature or your blood; choose!”

  “That’s blackmail, that’s, that’s extortion.”

  “I think the word you’re looking for is coercion college boy, and yes, yes it is. What you gonna do about it? I can do you one better. That shit that she threatened to take to the media, nothing stopping me from doing that shit.”

  The asshole swallowed hard before reaching for the papers. “You got
a pen?” I gave him one and watched him sign with distaste. I’d have died before I signed away my fucking kids I don’t give a fuck if you had the three hundred behind you.

  I took the signed papers and read the signature to be sure he wasn’t pulling a fast one. “Now that that’s done.” I put them away and reached for him, lifting him off the floor by his neck. “Hey I thought you said…”

  “Shh, snowflake, I’m not gonna kill you. I’m gonna beat you to within an inch of your life but you’ll survive. And guess what, I know where to hit so it doesn’t show.” I squeezed down on his jugular until his eyes damn near popped out of their sockets before slamming him into the wall.

  I hit him with the Z, hitting every pressure point in his body. That way he’d think he was dying and the fear and pain will linger for a while after I’m gone. I dropped him to the floor where he was fighting to breathe and leaned over into his face. I kicked his legs apart and planted my foot on his balls. “Don’t ever come back to my town. You come anywhere near my family they’ll never find you.” I ground my heel into his nuts until I heard the little pop and walked out the door to the sound of his high-pitched screams. Fuck yeah that was good.

  28

  Kevin

  I was back in time to take my kids to the park. That night I convinced my two shadows that it was okay to leave their posts. I had to pull rank to get their asses out of my house. But I needed my woman tonight and these little quiet fuck sessions weren’t cutting it.

  I didn’t tell her what I’d been up to that morning though her suspicious ass kept giving me looks. I waited until the kids were down and the house was quiet. The fucking dog who knew he wasn’t allowed to sleep inside and had his own house, refused to leave so now he was standing guard upstairs with the kids. I’m a bitch in my own house now. Everybody’s just running my shit.