“Keep talking, Jana and I’ll let this little pit-bull I’m holding go. She’ll make quick work of you. No suffering,” he says.
A short laugh comes from me. “She will suffer, though. A broken arm and maybe a few ribs should make sure of that.”
Channing whispers, “Threatening her is against the law, Baby. Let me handle this.”
I stop wiggling and wait to see what he’s going to do. “Be my guest.”
“I’m not giving you that car back, Jana. Have a fit if you want to but it was never in your name. It was always mine and I wanted my dead best friend’s wife to have it. And you should start retracting a bunch of your lies. You’re about to be blown out of the water and the entire world will hate you,” he says then places my feet on the ground.
“They aren’t lies and you know that, Channing.” Her face loses the redness and goes a little pale. “Have you told her what you’ve done to me?”
“As a matter of fact, I have.” He kisses the top of my head and keeps a tight grip on my hand.
Jana’s face pinches as she asks, “So the little slut is into it then?”
Channing shakes his head as I try to get free and run to her. “No, Beth! Don’t do what she wants. She wants you to attack her so she can tell some more lies and have some more bruises and scrapes to show the world.” He turns his attention to Jana. “And what we do together is none of your damn business, Jana.”
The sound of sirens is heard and a smile creeps over Channing’s face. I laugh when I see the realization hit her and say, “Hope you like jail.”
“You wouldn’t! Channing, no! Tell them you won’t press any charges, please. I just wanted my car back. Please!” she begs with glistening eyes which say she’s about to cry and make a real scene.
How this woman loves her dramatic scenes!
Channing laughs as Jana squirms. “Now then, Jana, seems I have a bit of leverage since you decided to break into my house. How about a public retraction of the lies you’ve told? Then I’ll see fit to not to press any trespassing charges.”
“Channing, I can’t. You deserve what you get.”
“Then so do you,” he says as the first police officer comes in through the garage door she managed to get open then comes into the kitchen where we all are.
“The security company called us about a possible break-in,” he says, with his hand on the gun in his holster. “I saw the damage to the garage door, so is it safe to say one of these women is the culprit?”
Channing points at Jana. “There she is, Officer. You can take her away.”
The cop looks at Jana who’s melting into what appears to be a breakdown. “No, Officer, please! I merely wanted my car back. It was my car, and he gave it to this no account woman.”
The officer looks at me. “Is she talking about you?”
“No!” I shout. “I’d never drive her old lady mobile! It’s another woman who doesn’t have much and is Channing’s dead best friend’s wife. Also, she’s the mother of his Godson.”
Channing takes the conversation over, “It really doesn’t matter why she broke my garage door and why she thought she could come in here with no invitation what-so-ever. What does matter is she broke into my home and I want her charged with trespassing.”
The officer shifts his sizeable body as he finally takes his hand away from the butt of his gun. “Now, I suppose your hot-shot lawyer neglected to inform you of the way the law works.”
Channing’s forehead creases as he frowns. “I am aware of the way the law works. I have a home I had locked up, and she destroyed the lock on my garage door which I will have to replace and repair the damages. She came into my home without an invitation. That is trespassing and damaging property which is not hers. So take her away, please.”
“Sure,” the cop says with a smile. “Just produce the divorce papers and I’ll do what you’ve requested.”
“Divorce papers?” Channing and Jana say at the same time.
I grimace at the fact and then my mind goes into crazy-land as the officer speaks, “Yes, divorce papers. You see in this state the married parties can reside in the home they’ve shared until the divorce is final. She broke no laws. Quite the contrary really. You should never have locked your wife out, Mr. Michaels.”
The smile that moves over Jana’s face makes me want to go and scratch it right off. “Bull shit!” I shout at the officer.
He levels his dark eyes on me. “And you, Miss, have nothing to do with this so shut your mouth or I will book you on charges of obstruction of justice.”
“I don’t…” I say before Channing has me in his arms and his hand goes over my mouth.
“She won’t say another word, I promise,” he says. “So what am I supposed to do? Let her live here?”
The officer nods. “That is what you have to do until you have a signed, legal divorce paper. Now, I will bid you all a good night as I have work to do.”
The cop leaves and I feel very deflated. Channing’s heart is pounding in his chest behind me.
“Jana, you know that’s a terrible idea. I will file for divorce in the fucking morning. Don’t think for a second you can really stay here. You know this was my home long before I even met you,” Channing says with an air of authority.
But her face is saying she just found out something she didn’t know and her wheels are turning. “Channing, the law is the law. And we both know I’d rather not be in this house, anyway. So this seems like a great time to make a deal. A financial transaction that will keep me away from the home we share.”
Channing’s chest rises and falls then he says, “I know where you’re going with this.”
“Good, then we’re on the same page. Finally!” she says as she claps her thin, long hands together. “Morgan will be so pleased! I’m off to talk to him and will be back in the morning to tell you what my offer is.” She turns and walks back to the black Cadillac of Morgan’s
We watch her walk away, her head held high as she leaves the empty garage her car was once kept in. The dark night closes in around her as she walks to the car.
Channing puts his arm around me. “I have never needed help as much as I do right now. Those two will clean me out.”
I nod in agreement. “You know how they’ve gone to the public?”
“I do,” he says as he looks at me with hope in his blue, green eyes. “Please tell me you have a great idea, Baby.”
“Not one yet, but I am working on one,” I say then pull him to go back inside.
He follows me and says, “Don’t work on it too long. It seems I need it a lot more quickly than I thought I would.”
Now I really have to get to work on my plan!
Chapter 10
CHANNING
The pink of the first hint of the sunrise is barely meeting my sleepy eyes as my cell phone rings and I see the word, ‘Mom,’ filling the screen.
Unwrapping myself from Beth as I held her close to me all night after the shrew left, I answer the phone. I have to admit I’m hoping my mother and grandparents have decided to back me on this. “Hi, Mom.”
“Good morning, Son. I’ve heard from Jana already this morning and it seems you might be telling the truth. She was quite ecstatic to learn you had to let her live with you until a divorce was final. I found that odd but kept my mouth shut about that so she’d continue,” she says.
I breathe a sigh of relief. “And what else did she say?”
“She said she was going to make you a deal you couldn’t refuse. The deal is she wants it all. She wants everything you have, and she plans on giving it all back to the rightful heir. Your father,” she says with a low tone to her voice. “Which I agree with, Channing.”
“What? How could you agree with that? Mother, I worked hard for everything I have. The initial million was helpful in making things happen a lot faster for me than if I’d not had it. But I made my own money. I made the grades that got me my degree. I made the right decisions on starting an investment firm. I did
all that. I would’ve done it without the money from my grandfather…”
She interrupts with a shrill voice. “That man was not your grandfather, Channing Michaels! My father was not just your only grandfather but a father-figure to you as well. I hate the fact that Morgan’s father left you a thing. Mom, Dad, and I are your family. Your only family, Channing. Give her the money so she can get it back in the man’s hands it belongs in and leave them both in your past.”
“I won’t do that. No matter what you think about the man I never met, my grandfather was a good man. He was never told about me and my life would’ve been so different if we had known each other.” I get out of bed and pace as Beth moans and yawns and opens her sleepy eyes.
“Listen to me, Channing,” my mother uses her best ‘mom’ voice. “I didn’t ever want you to know Morgan Riley or his family. The man is awful, and we were dumb teenagers when I got pregnant with you. I never wanted you to have anything to do with them. I was furious when that attorney waited until you were eighteen to come and tell you about what that man had left you. Furious! Now you have the chance to get him out of your life forever. I don’t care if you have to give every last cent you have to your wife to get him out of your life. Just do it and you’ll find your life much easier than it has been.”
“Mom, I will never give everything I worked for away. Not ever. I’m sorry you don’t understand me. I really am. But the fact is you’ve made no good decisions and I won’t be following what you think is best. Frankly, it’s not in any way the best thing to do. And if I did give away everything I had then what am I supposed to do.”
“Come live with me and my parents, Channing. Come back home to us. They don’t have that many years left and you’re missing them with all your money and that damn hockey team and all the other things your money has you busy with.” Her words stun me.
I have to sit down with what she’s said. “Mom, why have you never made a life for yourself? You’ve stayed right there at your parents’ home. You’ve never gone to college to get any kind of education. You dropped out of school when you got pregnant with me and have worked that dead-end job as a cashier at the grocery store for so damn many years now I can’t count them all. You’ve never moved up. Not once in all these years. What are you so afraid of?”
“How dare you…”
I stop her. “Mom, I offered so many times I can’t count, to buy you your own house anywhere in the world you wanted. I did the same for Gammy and Papa. No one would take what I could give.”
“We wanted nothing from that tainted money. That money belonged to people who were evil to their very core. Do you know how your grandfather gained his wealth, Son?”
I did my research on the man. “He made it in the textile industry. So what?”
“So what?” she asks as she makes this exasperated sound. “Son, he had children working in sweat-shops overseas to make the textiles he had shipped to America and sold right here. Children died because of that man. We want none of that blood money and neither should you.”
“Mom, Papa told me the same thing a long time ago. It was a different world back then. I’m sure in today’s world the man would’ve used legitimate sources. There just were none available back then. I understand and think some of the reason he was so set on giving me some of his wealth was because of the way he used kids to help him make his money. I’m sure he was trying to make up for what he’d done. But the fact is, I’ve made a lot of my own money now. The money he gave me is gone and what I have now is money made the right way. Hard work and ingenuity, Mom. Not blood money.”
“Well, it stemmed from that money,” she says. “That’s what really matters is where it came from in the first place.”
“Well, then you should have a similar opinion of me. Morgan is his son and so I stem from him as well. I deserved the money, and I made good use of it. I didn’t squander it away like Morgan has. I didn’t do anything bad with it. I got my education and invested the rest in my firm.”
“All the fancy cars, and the tramps you had with you all the time tell me that money is evil and we want no part of it. Do as I say and get rid of it all. Your life will be so much better. I promise you it will.”
Beth sits up in the bed with her hair all messy in the best possible way. Her lips pull to one side and she says, “I’ll love you no matter what you decided to do, Channing. I’ll take you with or without any money. But for the record, your mother is way off on this. And also for the record, this decision is yours to make alone.”
“Don’t listen to that girl. I’ve seen her with you on the television. She’s a gold digger, Son. Mark my words. She is part of the evil surrounding you right now because of that money. Drop her and the money and come back to where you belong,” my mother tells me.
“In a three-bedroom small home in one of the oldest neighborhoods in Miami. To do what? Watch people grow old doing nothing with their lives but existing? Papa and Gammy do the same thing every day. I love them, but, Mom, I would go insane sitting there with you three, day in and day out.” I run my hand through Beth’s hair. “Plus, I have a woman in my life now and I plan on marrying her and having children with her. And I’m not about to start from ground zero. So think any way you want about me. I’m not giving that bitch or my father a fucking dime. And you can take your advice and put it where the sun doesn’t shine, Momma.” I end the call and laugh. “That felt so fucking good!”
Beth’s face is full of surprise. “Wow! You know how to stand up for what you think is right. I have to say that is very attractive. Very, very attractive.”
She reaches for me and takes me by the shoulders. Our mouths meet in the middle and her tongue runs over mine. Her body melts into mine and our hearts begin to find the other’s rhythm.
I don’t believe the money I inherited was evil. I don’t believe that Jana can get away with making me give her my money. I do think there’s a way to get to the truth behind her and my father and that’s where I’ll be spending my time and resources.
But right now it seems Beth is quite turned on and I never plan on leaving this woman wanting a damn thing!
Chapter 11
BETH
Listening to Channing stand up for himself is amazing. I could never go against what my parents say.
I tried once when I really wanted a candy bar. They never let us have candy. One of my friends had two of them and I wanted it so badly.
My father told me how sugar rots your teeth and Mom told me how the chocolate can make your skin break out. I still wanted the candy, though.
At sixteen, I wasn’t some child who needed to be told they could or could not have candy. I felt angry with them for treating me like a little kid with no concept of what candy can do.
I argued about it only a little. Telling them I wasn’t asking if I could do drugs. I just wanted the dang chocolate. Everyone else I knew had tasted it. That’s all I was asking for, just a small taste.
They told me it was better not to know what it tasted like or I might develop a want for something which was not good for me. In the end I stopped arguing and told my friend I couldn’t have any because my parents said no.
The way I felt was horrible. Like I couldn’t be trusted to make even the simplest decision for myself. My parents were odd that way.
Major things like my college major, they trusted my judgement. Even this thing with Channing, they trust my judgement. But a simple thing like if I wanted to risk rotting my teeth out or making my face break out into pimples that decision was taken away from me.
Now that I look back at it, it was me who let them take that decision away from me when I asked them in the first place. I should’ve just taken the bite like I wanted to.
And now that I think about it, I’m going to get me a damn candy bar and eat the whole thing!
But first I have to have a taste of my man. My very independent, sexy man who knows what he wants and goes for it, no matter what anyone says.
“Channing, you
’re so amazing,” I murmur in his ear as he kisses my neck.
“You are,” he says, making his warm lips move over the skin on my neck, sending chills through me.
His hands move up my arms and down my back and my body melts with his touch. I’m wet for him already and the need I have for him is strong.
Pushing the blankets off me, he exposes my naked body. We’ve decided clothing as we sleep is not practical and have ditched the nightclothes. He hasn’t dressed yet either so he moves his body over mine and presses his hard dick into my waiting wet heat and we both moan as he fills me up entirely.
“Fuck, you feel like Heaven, Baby,” his soft words send a heat through me as he makes his first slow stroke into me.
I pull up my knees to get him deeper into me and my nails rake over his back. The smell of him, I breathe in deep and try to make a place in my mind to keep the memory.
I would move Heaven and Earth for this man. Whatever he needs or wants, I would do with no hesitation.
Arching up to meet him as he goes back into me with a very deep penetration, his mouth finds mine and his kiss takes me even further into the depths only he can take me to.
I tangle my hands into his dark waves as our tongues flow softly over the others. He makes a little hum then his strokes turn into thrusts. Hard and fast. His hands move and I find him taking mine in them and holding them on each side of my head as he begins to pound into me.
He stops the kiss and pulls his head up. “Look at me, Beth.”
I open my eyes to see his are stormy and dark. “K.”
He moves hard and fast into me and the breath is knocked a little out of my lungs with each hard thrust. “You are mine. From this point forward you are mine forever. Do you understand me?”
He’s much too serious and his demeanor is kind of intimidating. “Channing, of course I’m yours, Baby.”
“I need to know no matter what happens, I have you. I can’t stand the thought of not having you. If I do give all my money away, do you swear you’ll stay with me?” he asks as he moves harder and faster.
The Shameless Billionaire Series: Billionaire Romance Box Set (An Alpha-Male, Billionaire, Bad Boy, Bad Girl, Romance) Page 123