“This is none of your fucking business, wanker. Go run back home to your mum and let the big boys deal with this.”
Aiden steps between me and Ford, and a warm feeling swarms my body at the protective gesture.
“I beg to differ. Bailey is my friend and my neighbour; I won’t have you bullying her. If you did your fucking job in the first place, you wouldn’t have gotten fired.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Ford snaps, his face turning red.
The muscles in Aiden’s back tense, and I look around for help, knowing I won’t be of any use if this turns into a fight. The woman who got out of the car earlier is standing in Aiden’s doorway, rocking Sunday, a phone to her ear and talking rapidly.
“Yeah, I fucking do. I’m a Carter. I know all about you and the sexual harassment complaints you’ve had from clients. How many more times do you think you can be fired before you’re laid off for good? Does it make you feel good creeping girls and women out? Does it make you feel like you’ve got a big dick when you scare them after they complain about you? You’re nothing but a dickhead who can’t get laid ‘cause he’s got a small dick.”
I scream when Ford roars, his fist flying towards Aiden. Aiden doesn’t turn but instead reaches back to push me out of the way, before planting his feet apart. I trip over a stone and end up falling to the floor. My hearing aid falls out, giving me a moment of relief before I remember what is happening around me.
I turn in time to see Aiden duck the punch Ford was aiming at his face, before twisting and landing his own punch in Ford’s gut, forcing him to the floor. Aiden straddles him, punching him once more before movement by the gates snags my attention.
I feel like I’m watching a bad horror movie when two cars pull up, stopping right outside our gate. Three men and four younger guys step out, looking intimidating and scary as hell.
I have to do something. Aiden can’t possibly take all of these men on.
When I turn back to Aiden, a scream bubbles from my throat as I see another guy has joined the fray and is beating on him too. I get up from the ground to help him, hating myself for not sending him home to his daughter when I had the chance. Just as I reach them, the guy who’s joined in rears his fist back to punch Aiden, and his elbow catches me in the eye. I cry out, feeling disorientated for a moment as I’m knocked back a few steps.
“Stop! I’m calling the police,” I scream out, pulling my phone out of my pocket, tears falling down my cheeks as Aiden punches Ford relentlessly while the other jumps on his back.
From the corner of my eye I notice one of the guys from the car step towards me, his expression unreadable. I flinch, taking a step back and clutching the phone to my chest. The others from the cars try to break everyone apart, but it ends up getting into a fist fight once again.
I stare in fascination when one of the guys from the car catches my attention. I try not to laugh when he throws his arms around in a karate gesture before punching the guy who ganged up on Aiden in the mouth. His lips move, and I swear he says, “Fucker, I’m gonna have you shitting out your teeth.” His face turns away before I can read if he says anything further, but I’m positive that’s what he said.
Movement close to me has me remembering the big, intimidating guy. He’s watching the fight, his mouth shouting the word, “Max!”
I quickly dial the police, but before I can connect the call, he snatches the phone out of my hand.
I look up at him, my eyes wide. “Hey!”
“Sweetheart, I’ll deal with this.”
“I won’t have you beating up my nice neighbour,” I snap, wondering how quickly I can get to the next nearest neighbour’s house. I look over to the woman who has Sunday, knowing she has a phone. But she’s no longer on it and she doesn’t seem as concerned as she did before. If anything, she seems relaxed.
A tap on my shoulder has me looking back to the guy next to me.
“I’m Maverick, Aiden’s dad. Just go wait over by my wife, Teagan, and I’ll sort this out, okay?”
He’s Aiden’s dad? He looks too hot and too young to be a dad. Okay, he’s not young—he has to be in his forties at the most—but he looks good.
“Okay,” I whisper, before rushing across the grass, over to her. The guys have stopped picking up their equipment and glare at me as I rush past them. I can’t help but watch the words spilling from their lips.
“Bitch.”
“Whore.”
I look away, wiping the tears staining my cheeks. When I reach the top, the woman Maverick called Teagan is talking to me rapidly, her hand reaching out to rub my arm.
I can see where Aiden got his looks. He has stunning parents. This woman doesn’t look a day over thirty.
“I’m sorry. I lost my hearing aid—not that it’s much good,” I ramble, my headache turning into a migraine. I wince, clutching my head when the pain becomes unbearable. “I’m sorry about your son. We need to call the police.”
Teagan shakes me gently and I look up, feeling dizzy from the pain. This is why I hate wearing the hearing aids I was given: they become too much and I end up like this. My grandparents offered to pay for a better quality one, but after my parents’ and brother’s death, I didn’t feel like I deserved to hear, not when I’m the reason they’re dead.
The black eye I can feel swelling doesn’t help my migraine. The throbbing right under my eye makes it hard to keep it open. I can see this being a bad one.
“I’m deaf,” I tell her, grimacing when Sunday stirs and I realise I said it too loud. “Sorry.”
“It’s okay. Why don’t you come and lie down? You look like you’re about to pass out.”
I don’t even know this woman—or Aiden—enough to lie down in their house, but if I don’t, I’ll embarrass myself and pass out in front of everyone. And I’m ashamed enough as it is.
“What about Aiden?” I whisper—well, I hope I did.
“His dad, uncles and cousins will sort it.”
I nod, letting her lead me inside. I thought she’d lead me over to the sofa, but instead she takes me through to another room. I look around, a small smile tugging on my lips when I see a beautiful cot with pink bedding and other baby things. One side of the room looks all man, while the other side looks like a unicorn threw up pink. It’s beautiful.
My eyes scrunch together when Teagan pushes me down on the bed. I look up at her, silently questioning her since it hurts too much to speak.
“Close your eyes for a bit. When I get headaches, that’s what I do, and I wake up feeling refreshed. Would you like some paracetamol?” I nod, feeling my throat tighten at this family’s kindness. “Lie down; I’ll only be a minute.”
I look down at the rumpled sheets, feeling my cheeks heat. Aiden sleeps here. Hell, the bed still feels warm.
I lay down, inhaling the scent of musk and man. I sigh, closing my eyes to take it all in, memorising the smell.
CHAPTER EIGHT
AIDEN
I thought my morning was going great until Mum started banging on my door frantically. I had just finished feeding Sunday and was ready to get her changed when she arrived.
I still can’t believe that dickhead was harassing Bailey. When I walked out, all of them were gravitating towards her. A feeling I only felt when I thought one of my family were being threatened overwhelmed me, and I was moving before I even knew what I was going to do. She had looked petrified, so fucking small curled up on herself that I wanted to punch him there and then. The only reason I didn’t was because of Sunday and Bailey. One: I couldn’t get arrested now I had a baby, and two: I think if I had started the fight, Bailey would never have been comfortable around me ever again.
I spit blood out of my mouth, onto the floor, and lick the cut on my bottom lip. One of his friends had sucker-punched me when I wasn’t looking.
I bend down, my hands on my knees, when the last of their trucks leave, looking over at my uncle Max lying on the grass.
“Uncle Max, wha
t the fuck were you doing? Having a dance off?”
Mason bends over, roaring with laughter. “I’ve been waiting for someone to bring it up. It was awkward for a moment there.”
“Fuck off, those were my ninja moves,” he snaps, before grinning. “I’ve not had that much fun since I ran Hayden’s last boyfriend off.”
“Not as much as we did when we took her last one to the secluded spot and threatened him,” Landon adds, not even looking out of breath. Fucker doesn’t even have a mark on him as he casually leans against Mum’s car.
“You put me off what I was doing, Dad. I kept worrying you were having an epileptic fit, or a heart attack,” Liam comments, grinning.
“Fuck you. I’m still young I’ll have you know,” Max snaps, glaring at his son.
“You’re lucky we got here as quickly as we did. Your mum was frantic,” Dad warns me.
“I didn’t start the fight,” I tell him. And I’m telling the truth. I may have goaded the fucker into hitting me, but I can, hand on heart, honestly say I never threw the first punch.
Dad rolls his eyes, sighing. “You’re a dad now, son.”
“I know,” I snap, wishing he would believe me.
“Maverick, he’s telling you the truth,” Mum says, and I stand up straight, glancing at her. “He was trying to help Bailey when that guy attacked him.”
Dad still looks doubtful. I inhale, turning around to face Mum. “Where’s Bailey?” I ask. “Is she okay?”
“She’s asleep in your bed.”
“What?” I ask a little too loudly, confused as to why.
Mum walks down the steps, pinching my chin and tilting my head side to side. “You need to go get this cleaned up. You all do.”
“I don’t,” Landon pipes up.
I glare at the fucker. “Was you even fighting?”
He narrows his eyes back at me. “I had five of them on me.”
Liam sits up from the grass he was laying down on. “He’s right. I was next to him fighting one and was wondering how the fuck he did it.”
“I took them all on,” Uncle Max says, getting up. “Now I’ve got to get back to school before P.E. starts.”
“You came from school?” I ask. I’d presumed it was teachers training day or something.
“No. I had the morning off and was going over some things with Mav and Maddox about some work on the house.”
“Oh.”
“Dad, you don’t have a mark, either,” Mark says, sounding envious. The left side of the poor lad’s face is completely swollen, as if someone trod on it.
Dad grins, looking smug. “I only stared at the two guys who were gonna come at me and they ran off to get their tools before leaving.”
Mum giggles and I roll my eyes. “Can we get back to the real issue?” I ask, then look at Mum. “Why is Bailey in my bed—asleep, I might add?”
“She mentioned something about a hearing aid and she looked in pain, the poor thing. I went to get her some paracetamol for the black eye but she was asleep by the time I got back.”
“Hearing aid?” I ask, before my eyes widen. “A hearing aid? She’s deaf!”
Dad steps towards us, handing me a crushed device. “Think this is what she was talking about.”
“Crap! I wonder why she doesn’t wear it, then,” I muse to myself.
“Well, Great-grandma Mary’s first one used to irritate her ear and give her migraines. If I was to guess, that’s what’s happened here. She looked pale and in so much pain.”
“And who the fuck punched her? Did you see?” I growl, wanting to go look for them fools and finish what they started.
“I’m not sure,” Mum tells me gently.
“She tried to get in between you and the guy who jumped you. As he pulled back, his elbow landed in her face,” Dad answers.
“And you didn’t do anything?” I growl.
He gives me a dry look. “Of course I fucking did. He’s the one they carried to the truck.”
I relax, looking up the stairs at my apartment. “What do I do?”
“Let her get some rest. She looked like she needs it,” Mum tells me.
“And it’s not like she’s gonna hear you or Sunday,” Liam adds. I turn my glare to him. “Wow! Calm down. How long have you known this chick? Sheesh.”
“Officially, yesterday,” I admit, rubbing the back of my neck. Mum and Dad share a look, before she heads back upstairs, smiling. “What?”
Dad grins. “Nothing.”
“You’re pussy-whipped,” Max adds, laughing.
Glaring at him, I snap, “No, I’m not.” They all start laughing and I growl, clenching my fists. “Shup up, dickheads!”
“Look at you getting all mad,” Liam laughs.
“I wouldn’t antagonise him,” Dad warns, before clapping me on the shoulder. “Don’t worry, we’ve all been through it.”
“I’m not going through anything,” I assert.
“Yeah, you are, but it’s worth it,” Uncle Mason calls out.
“I’m really not.”
“Yeah, you fucking are. Just don’t fuck up,” Max adds, holding his hand out to Mason, a silent request to help him up. Mason keeps walking, and I chuckle as Max narrows his eyes. “Right, Maddox, you can take me to school before they fire me. I’m gonna have to tell them I was mugged.”
I chuckle, wondering how many times he’s had to explain bruises to the school.
“I’ll get a lift back with Teagan and meet up with you later,” Dad tells the others.
“Thanks for coming, guys.”
“It’s what families do,” Mason tells me, squeezing my shoulder.
“I’ll be back in a few hours. Text me if you need longer,” Maddox tells me, winking.
I roll my eyes at him before saluting them goodbye and heading up the stairs. Mum is placing Sunday down in her Moses basket when I step inside.
“I’m gonna have to head in. Maddison and I have a big order to fill out. We’ve got four weddings this weekend.”
“Thanks for coming, Mum.”
“Always. I wanted to come check on you. I’m gonna come by tomorrow evening. If you want to go out for a drink with your siblings and cousins, I’ll watch Sunday for you.”
“Nah, I’m good. I’m not ready to leave her just yet.”
She smiles softly at me. “Okay, honey. Get cleaned up. You don’t want to get blood all over Sunday.”
“I will. I promise,” I tell her, reaching over to kiss her cheek, chuckling when she gets a bit of blood on her face.
She glares at me before wiping it off.
“Bye, son. Speak to you later. Look after those girls.”
I look down at Sunday, who is sleeping soundly in her basket, then at the door to my bedroom, knowing Bailey’s in there. “I will.”
I see them out before heading into the bedroom to get a change of clothes, since I was only wearing my jogging bottoms when Mum came over. I walk in and pause in the doorway. Bailey is lying on her side, cuddling my pillow, partly under her head, to her chest.
Her innocence shows on her sleeping, peaceful face, her chest rising and falling with each soft breath she takes.
Quietly, I step closer to her. Her dark eyelashes fan across her high cheekbones, and her lips have formed a cute pout that brings a smile to my own. I don’t know what compels me to do it, but I end up walking over to the edge of the bed and lightly brushing her hair from out of her face. She sighs, snuggling further into my pillow.
Girls have always been simple to me. There are ones that flirt and are looking for a good time, there’s the shy ones who crush on you and picture your future babies, and there’s the ones who pretend they’re only after a good time, when really all they want to do is tame you. Then there are the rare creatures who deserve more, the ones who will always be worth more than the person they meet. The women in my family are those rare creatures. No man on this earth will ever be good enough for them. Not to us guys, anyway.
But Bailey… Bailey is one chi
ck who is a mystery to me. She doesn’t flirt or look at me like I’m a slab of meat. Although, I bet she’s had some right dirty thoughts about me. How could she not; I’m fucking sex on legs. She’s not shy, and she’s had no problem talking to me, even though she does seem like the girl who keeps to herself. And she doesn’t strike me as the type of woman to manipulate a man to get what she wants. Call it intuition or what have you, but I just know she’s different.
And a complete fucking puzzle I can’t work out.
A Carter always gets what they want. And finding everything out about Bailey is what I want right now. Whether she knows it or not, she’ll tell me everything.
*** *** ***
Movement from the bedroom door catches my attention from the corner of my eye. I look up, smiling at Bailey’s just woke up look. She nervously straightens her hair and hoodie, looking around the room in confusion.
“How long have I been asleep?” she asks, her eyes drifting back to me.
I look up from changing Sunday’s nappy to answer. “Only an hour. How are you feeling? Did you take the tablets Mum left out for you?”
“I did, thank you,” she says, still looking dazed, before her eyes widen in horror. “Oh, my gosh, you’re hurt. I’m so sorry. This is all my fault. I should have phoned the police when I looked out of the peephole.”
“Sit down before you fall down,” I tell her when she starts to sway. She reluctantly does, surprising me when she sits down on the opposite side of Sunday, stroking her cheek.
“I really am sorry,” she whispers, glancing up at me. “What happened after I came inside?”
“Stop apologising,” I tell her as I lift Sunday in my arms, bringing the bottle to her lips. She’s been crying for the past twenty minutes, and she never finished her bottle this morning, refusing to drink it. Now she gulps it down. Once I know she’s happy, I look back up at Bailey. “What happened wasn’t your fault. I should have warned you last night after I spoke with my cousin. They’ve been known to harass the women they’re working for.”
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