“Not really. What are you doing here, Olivia?” I asked her. I tried to remain calm, but listened for footsteps on the stairs.
Her gaze narrowed on my face and she glared at me. “Have you found someone else? Is it that little slut that you employed to look after my baby girl? Because I’ll tell you right now, no two bit tramp is gonna replace me as mommy to our baby.”
I held my hand up and she stopped. My heart thundered in my chest. I knew I had to brush Amber off to protect her. “I don’t know what idea you’re operating under, but I don’t sleep with my staff and I would never sleep with someone I employ to look after MY CHILDREN. You gave up the right to be a mommy when you walked out on us. Get out.”
Her eyes narrowed and she moved towards me, grabbing my shirt. “One, I’m still your fucking wife, and two, that little girl is mine. If you try and fuck with me over her I’ll take you to the cleaners. Fire your nanny. Mommy’s home. I’ll be the one looking after my baby from here on out.”
It was on the tip of my tongue to say, ‘actually you won’t, you signed over all parental rights and now have no more claim over Sophia than you do Lucca’, but I managed to hold my tongue. I knew it wouldn’t work with her.
She wasn’t going to leave until she thought she had a chance. As much as it made me sick to go near her, if I wanted her gone, I needed to act fast. “Ollie, this is a shock. Please give me a few days to get used to the idea of you being back in town?”
She leaned up and kissed me on the lips. I kissed her back even though it made me feel sick. She was familiar to me, but it wasn’t her I wanted. I needed her to leave so I could talk to Amber. “Fine. She’d better be gone by Monday, Mason. Even your dad agrees that she doesn’t belong here. Get her gone.”
With that she turned and left. I put my hand on the counter to steady myself. I needed a minute before going to see Amber. I called Devon.
“Devon, it’s Mason.” I spoke before he could even say hello. “I need you to check over my custody papers. Can I email them over to you now?” I must have sounded panicked, but I knew my papers were safe. I had a copy here, in case I needed them. The real copy was in my office, in the safe.
I checked the drawer in the kitchen and they weren’t there. Devon spoke. “Sure man. What’s got you sounding so spooked?”
I rushed out into the office and went to the safe, turning it and entering the key code. The papers weren’t there either. “Fuck!” I muttered and Devon cleared his throat. “My ex is back. Can you get me a restraining order and also get my divorce finalised please?”
“Sure man. Email over what you need and I’ll take care of it tomorrow. Pop down to my office at nine and I’ll get it sorted for you.”
I glanced around the office and saw a clock that I’d never seen before. “Thanks man,” I muttered distractedly as I took the clock into the pantry and hit it with a rolling pin until it smashed into little pieces.
I ran upstairs to find Amber. I needed her. I had to tell her what was going on, but I needed her to be near me so I could figure out what was going on. As I raced into her room, I saw small figurine sitting on the hall table. I didn’t recognise it either. I raced to the end of the hall and launched it out of the window, hearing the crunch as it hit a tree.
I moved into Amber’s room. The first thing I noticed was that she wasn’t there. The second thing I noticed was the note propped up on the pillow. Oh god, no! Please, not again! I moved towards the note and opened it with shaking fingers, dropping down on the bed to read it.
Mason
I’m so sorry to leave like this. I know I said I wouldn’t, but Ollie is back and you didn’t tell her you didn’t love her so I’m taking myself out of the equation. I’m so sorry if this hurts you, but she wants a chance to be mom to Sophia and who am I to stand in the way of that.
You have my heart
Forever
Amber
My heart broke. I crunched up the note in my hand as the tears flowed from my eyes. I sat there in her room, surrounded by all her stuff as the walls crashed down on me, my heart and soul destroyed. I’d asked her not to leave me and she’d left anyway. As the tears fell from my eyes, my cell rang. I answered without looking, unable to see through my tears.
It was my mom.
“Hello,” I answered.
I heard the surprise in my mom’s tone as she took in my broken tone. “Mason, are you okay?”
“No, Mom, I’m not. You and dad need to stay out of my life. Thanks to you and your meddling, Ollie thinks she’s coming back and Amber left me. Mom, I love Amber and she fucking left because you let Ollie into this house, even though I asked you not to. How could you do that to me?”
My mom sniffed and my dad came on the line. “Mason, what do you mean by it, making your mom cry? We are only trying to do what’s best for you and Amber isn’t it. Now don’t call here again until you’re ready to apologise to us.” He ended the call. I text Harris and Joe the same message.
I need your help man.
As they answered I knew one thing, I wasn’t giving up on Amber. I’d deal with Ollie, but I would get Amber back. When I did she would staying by my side because there was nowhere else on this earth she belonged. She was mine and I was hers, completely and utterly. When I got her back, I was going to marry her. Well, as soon as my divorce was finalised. I would make Amber my wife. Fuck my parents, her parents and anyone else who had a problem with it. I wouldn’t lose her again. I’d make sure of it.
My cell chirped again and I lifted it, seeing a text from an unknown number.
Lose something shithead?
Underneath was an image of Amber in a dark room, tied up and bloody with a gag on.
To be continued…
The End
Acknowledgments
I’m going to try and keep this one short and sweet.
To my hubs- I love you more than I can ever express.
My Boys- Corey and Reuben you mean the world to me and I know I can’t change the world, but if I can make you both turn out to be half the man your daddy is then I’ve done my job.
My families- Mum, Dad, Marie and Rich, Jen, Shaz, Morgs, Al, Mike, Russ, Maxine and Arran. Thank you all for believing in me and helping me to pursue my dreams.
My girls- Lynne, Donna, Allie, Tracey, Katie, Laura and Lesley. You girls mean the world to me and I wouldn’t be who I was today if not for every one of you. Thank you.
To my readers group- You are all amazing and I love your ideas and how much you love my stories.
To my betas- Thank you for reading and reviewing and kicking my ass. Love you guys.
To the bloggers and readers- Thank you for reading and sharing my words. You are the fabric of the author world and we adore you.
To my author gals- Sloane, Sam, Michelle, AJ, Kirsty, Line, Jamie, Lizzy, Dawn, Bibi, Hayley, Scarlett, Jenn and many more. You make me believe in magic every day. Never stop believing we can change the world because every word we put out is magic.
Sylvia- Thank you for being my kick ass editor and having my back.
Claire- Thank you for being amazing and making this book as perfect as it is.
Leigh- Thank you for making it as pretty on the inside as it is on the outside. You rock my lovely and I can’t wait to see you in Belfast in March ’18.
Candice- Thank you for my amazing cover. It is beyond perfect.
Dawn- Thank you for being you, for the teasers and the amazing support. You are one in a million chick.
I’m sorry I know I said this would be small, but I wanna thank everyone.
Mostly though, thank you, the reader for buying my book. You make it so I can publish and you amaze me.
If you can leave a review, that would be wonderful. Thank you and thanks for reading to here.
If you wanna join my readers group for more on what I’m doing here’s a link:
www.facebook.com/groups/262466057447635/
Black Mercy (San Francisco Rock Romance Book 1)
Black Mercy (San Francisco Rock Romance Book 1) Page 23