Jase (Kings of Korruption MC Book 3)

by Geri Glenn

  “Okay.” I take a step closer. “Can we try that again, but slower this time?”

  Ellen slaps her palm against her forehead and lets out a frustrated groan. “My son’s father is taking me to court for custody of my son.” I nod, indicating for her to go on. “We had our first court date yesterday, and apparently Bryce—my son—called his father after you left the other day. He told him that you were here with me, and that you were a member of the Kings.”

  I frown. “How the hell did he know that?”

  Ellen rolls her eyes. “He’s a kid, Jase, not an idiot. Your vesty thing gave it away.”

  “Vesty thing?” I point at my leather. “You mean my cut?”

  “Whatever,” she exclaims. “Anyways, Paul brought it up in court as a way to get my son from me, and my lawyer told me that if I had anything to do with you, or anyone from the Kings, that Paul could win.” She leans in and stage whispers, “She said you’re involved in organized crime.”

  I blow out a heavy breath, trying to wrap my head around everything she’s told me. “Who is this Paul guy anyways?”

  “He was a guy I dated back in high school. He was a football player, he was popular, and he ran like hell when I got pregnant at sixteen. I didn’t hear from him, not once, until just last year. He looked me up on Facebook.”

  I frown. “Why is he trying for custody after all these years?”

  She folds her arms across her chest, almost as if she’s trying to protect herself. I don’t like it. “He doesn’t like my rules. He wants to take Bryce away from me entirely.” I grit my teeth. What kind of man takes a boy away from his mother? “He’s a bully, trying to put me in my place. And after yesterday, I think he might get the chance to do just that.”

  Without ever having met him, I know exactly what kind of man he is. He’s one of those guys who couldn’t lose in high school. They got by, bullying those that were weaker than them, and scraping by in class because their coach needed them on the team. They got lots of tail and scored a few touchdowns. After they graduated, and all that went away, it left them bitter and angry. They became people who strong-arm others into doing what they want to feel powerful again, just like they did in high school. I hate fuckers like that.

  I ask the one question I need to know the answer to before I say anything else. “Has he ever hurt you or the kid?”

  She shakes her head sadly. “No. He grabbed my arm the last time he was here, but he left right after, and I haven’t let him see Bryce since.”

  “Did he hurt you?” I growl.

  “I’m tough,” she whispers, her brown eyes boring into mine.

  “You want me to deal with this guy?”

  “What? God, Jase, no! Why would you say that? I don’t want him dead!”

  I can’t help but laugh at the mortified look on her face. “Babe, relax. I wasn’t talkin’ about offing the guy. I meant have a little chat, man to man.” I turn my head and give her a questioning look. “What kind of guy do you think I am?”

  She blows out a breath and giggles. “Sorry. I don’t even know what I’m saying. I feel like my entire world is just spinning out of control, and I don’t know what to think about anything. But no, I don’t need you to talk to Paul. It’s sweet of you to offer, but he would just use that against me, I have no doubt. The only way to make this better is to stop seeing you.”

  I don’t miss the sad look in her eyes when she says it. “Are you sure about that, El? ‘Cause I don’t like that idea at all.”

  “I’m sure. Bryce is everything to me, Jase. I have to do whatever it takes to make sure I don’t lose him.”

  My gut clenches at her words. “You’re a good mom, El.” I lean in and kiss along her cheek. “Bryce is a lucky kid.”

  She lifts her hand to her chest, her eyes shiny with tears as I walk towards the door. I pull it open and turn back to her. “If you ever need someone to unload on, give me a call. You don’t need to do this all by yourself.” I know that I need to go and give her the chance to keep her family intact, so with those final words, I turn and walk out of Ellen’s life.

  Ellen

  Watching Jase walk out the door is harder than I thought it would be. We haven’t spent a lot of time together, and there’s a lot we don’t know about the other, but deep down, a part of me had wanted all that to change. It’s the part of me that stands frozen, staring at the door, and listening to the sound of his motorcycle roaring down the street and out of my life, once and for all.

  “In case you can’t tell, I want to be around you. I want to know all about you, El. But I can’t do that if you keep pushing me away.” God, Jase.

  I swallow down the giant lump in my throat. The other part of me, the part that was afraid to get attached to Jase, only to wind up with a broken heart, breathes a sigh of relief. Imagine how hard that would have been if we had been closer; if we had gotten to know each other better. I lean my forehead against the wall and squeeze my eyes closed. It’s better that we sever all ties now.

  A knock on the door breaks me from my thoughts. I rush to answer it, assuming it’s Jase, back to convince me to change my mind, but it’s not.

  “Paul? You can’t be here.”

  He chuckles without a trace of humour. “Shut up and listen. This court shit is going to get messy, and it’s costing me a fucking fortune. My lawyer’s told me that I have a really good shot at beating you, but I doubt you want that. So, I’m here to make a deal.”

  I can’t believe this asshole. “Are you kidding me right now? No, I will not make a deal with you. This is my son we’re talking about, not some used car, or an old lawnmower that we can just agree to share.” I step back inside and close the door enough that I’m peeking around it at him. “You need to leave, Paul. Let our lawyers do the talking from now on.”

  I go to slam the door shut, but he stops it with his foot. My heart races as he uses his entire body to shove it open again.

  “You’re making a big mistake, Ellen. A huge mistake. I want you to know that when I win custody of Bryce, it’ll be a cold day in Hell before you ever see him again.”

  “Just get out!” I scream, trying to shove the door closed, even with his body in the way. It’s all I can do to keep the angry tears from spilling over. “Go, you son of a bitch, or I’m calling the police.”

  He gives me an evil smile and puts his hands up, backing out of the door. “I’ll go, but only because tomorrow is my first supervised visit with Bryce, and there’s not one thing you can do to fuck that up. See you in court, bitch.”

  I watch in shock as he turns on his heels and walks casually to his car. Just as he’s about to get in, he turns, giving me a cocky salute. Once I see that he’s gone, I close the door, making sure it’s locked tight. My entire body shakes as I crumple to the floor when the tears I’d been holding start to fall.

  This is too much. I can’t handle this. Losing Jase before I even had him, the fear of losing my son in this terrifying, impersonal court case, and the fear of Paul in general, threaten to consume me. I don’t know how to stop this. I don’t know what to do.

  I pull my knees up to my chest, circling them with my arms, and I cry. I let all the sadness and anger out in one long crying session. So many tears fall, I feel like Alice in Wonderland, about to be washed away in a sea of salty sadness.

  Gradually my tears subside. Enough crying, Ellen. It’s time to man up, girl, and this isn’t helping.

  Standing from my place on the floor, I check myself over in the hallway mirror. I look a mess. My eyes are red and puffy, tear stains running down my cheeks. I can’t cry pretty like those girls you see on TV. No, not me. I cry ugly, fat tears, complete with dripping nose and red splotchy face. I am the ugliest crier I know.

  I go to the bathroom and try to fix myself up a bit. Bryce will be home soon, and I don’t want him to know I’ve been crying. I need to talk to him, especially now that he’ll be going to a family centre for supervised visitation with his father.

  I’ve ne
ver felt so alone; not even when my family disowned me. Thank God for Julie and her parents. Jase is right. I need to have someone to talk to about this, or I’m going to lose my mind, but who? Nobody would understand. They’d sympathize, sure, but would anybody really get what I’m going through?

  I blow out a long breath and look around my house. I’m going to have to get through this on my own. I can do this, because I have no choice.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Jase

  “Come on, man. You can’t tell me you don’t see the irony.”

  I roll my eyes and toss my beer cap at Ryker’s head. “Fuck you, asshole. This shit isn’t funny.”

  He smirks and shakes his head, leaning forward to pick at the label on his beer bottle. “You’re right, it’s not. You’ve been fuckin’ bitches left and right, without ever looking back. Now you’ve finally found one that you want, and she’s not interested.”

  “She’s interested,” I drawl, wagging my eyebrows. “She just has all that shit going on with her ex. Man, the guy sounds like he needs his ass kicked.”

  Ryker nods. “He does, so let’s do it. Let’s find this asshole and set him straight.”

  I crack my knuckles and curl my lip. “Oh, trust me. I intend to. Just need to find out who the fuck he is first.”

  A commotion from the entrance of the clubhouse draws our attention. Gabby, Gunner’s daughter, is standing by the door, talking to two of our members with her arms flailing, looking worried. The two guys look to us, concern heavy in their expressions.

  Abandoning our beers, we stand as one and move in Gabby’s direction. “What’s going on, sweetheart?” Ryker asks.

  “My dad,” she says, clearly trying to control her emotions. “I can’t get a hold of my dad.”

  “Okay,” Ryker says in a soothing voice. “Let’s get you sitting down. Your father’s a busy man, Gab. He’s probably not able to answer the phone right now. Nothin’ to worry about.”

  “No!” she exclaims, yanking away from Ryker. “You don’t understand. He was supposed to be at my place two hours ago. He was going to come over and fix the dishwasher, and said he had something to tell me. He never showed, and he never called. That’s not right. Since we started talking again, he’s been really good about making sure I know he’s not standing me up. Something’s wrong.”

  Ryker and I exchange a look.

  She’s right, something’s off. Since reconnecting with his kids a couple months ago, I’ve seen Gunner interrupt church meetings to call Gabby and let her know he was gonna be late for something they had planned. He loves his kids, and knew that with their history, they still feared he’d leave them again.

  Ryker pulls his phone from his pocket and taps the screen a few times before pressing it to his ear. I can faintly hear the ringing coming from the other end of his call. He doesn’t take his eyes off me, and I don’t miss the fear hiding there.

  He taps the screen again a couple more times and puts it to his ear. More ringing, still no answer.

  I hear Tess’s voice on the other end, instructing the caller to leave a message. Tess is Gunner’s old lady, and for her not to answer the phone is just strange. The woman has that thing in her hand twenty-four seven.

  Ryker disconnects and taps the screen a third time. Putting it to his ear, I hear it ring twice before it’s picked up. “Bosco, I need you to do me a favor. Who you with?”

  I stare at Ryker, waiting to hear what the hell is going on. His forehead creases. “Shank? Who the hell is Shank?”

  I can’t help but chuckle. Ryker never was good with names. Shank is our newest prospect, only coming on board a few weeks ago. He’s a huge son of a bitch, but I don’t know much about him other than that.

  “Whatever,” Ryker continues. “Take him with you. I need the two of you to run over to Gunner’s house and see if him or Tess are there. If you see him, tell him that Gabby is looking for him, and so am I.”

  Ryker jams his phone back in his pocket and takes Gabby’s hand. “Come on, sweetheart. Let’s get you a beer. Those guys aren’t too far from your dad’s house.”

  Moving to the bar, I snag a beer and twist off the cap, handing it to Gabby.

  She takes it from me and gives me a nod before tipping the bottle back and swallowing down half of it in one go. It’s not hard to tell she’s Gunner’s daughter.

  Gabby sets the bottle down heavily on the table. “I’m worried,” she whispers.

  Ryker doesn’t say anything. He looks worried too. I move in and take her hand. “I know, Gab, but we’re gonna find him, okay? Let’s find something else to talk about.” I look around the room, desperate to find anything to distract us from the wait.

  “Laynie tells me you’re finally seeing that Ellen woman,” Gabby says.

  “Yeah, I was, but she broke it off.”

  Gabby’s eyes widen and her mouth drops open. “What? Why?”

  I give her the short version, without telling her too much of Ellen’s story. That’s not mine to share. I’m just finishing up when Ryker’s phone rings.

  “Yeah?” he barks.

  I don’t hear what’s said, but Ryker’s expression says it all. “Okay, hold tight,” he chokes out, his voice choked up with emotion. He disconnects the call and his gaze shifts to Gabby. “Bosco found him. He’s dead, Gabby. Him and Tess.”

  “No,” she cries. “No!”

  “I’m so sorry, sweetheart,” he whispers before stalking out to his bike and leaving me with a woman who just learned she’d lost her father.

  Ellen

  Bryce is crawling into bed when I walk into his room. “Hey, Bud. Can we talk for a sec?”

  He arranges the blankets across his lap and shrugs. “Sure.”

  I sit down on the edge of his bed, trying to figure out exactly what I should say. Nothing can prepare you for having to tell your son that his father is trying to get full custody. I don’t want to sway him away from his father either.

  I want him to be able to enjoy his childhood without his parents’ drama affecting his life, but knowing Paul, he’s not going to let that happen.

  I turn towards Bryce and smile. “I wanted to talk to you about your dad.”

  Bryce scowls back at me, his mouth pinched tight. “What about him?” His voice is cutting and sharp, obviously ready to defend his father against anything I’m about to say.

  I close my eyes before looking back at him. “Remember when we went to that lawyer’s office last week, and I said I had to talk to her about some stuff?” He nods, his expression getting even harder. “Your father has contacted a lawyer and is taking me to court.”

  “Good,” he snaps, his hands balled into fists. “It’s not right that you don’t let me see him anymore, just because you don’t like him. It’s not fair.”

  My throat gets tight. Does my baby hate me? Has Paul already taken him from me? “Baby, I know you’re angry, but you don’t know the whole story.”

  “It doesn’t even matter,” he says, jumping up from his bed and pacing the room. “You’re jealous of him. He knows it, and I know it.”

  My eyes fall close again, trying fight back the despair I feel, knowing that he will never fully understand. “Your father wants full custody of you.”

  Bryce’s body freezes and he turns to face me. “What do you mean?”

  I speak slowly so he can’t mistake my meaning. “Your father thinks that you would be better off living with him, and only seeing me once in a while.”

  Bryce’s head snaps back and his eyes blink rapidly. “You’re lying. You’re a liar.”

  “I’m not lying, Buddy. We’ve been to court already, and the judge said you can visit with your dad at a family centre, under supervision, until she can decide which of us you should live with. You’re going to see him tomorrow.”

  He stares at me, his eyes unblinking as he takes in what I’ve just said. “Good,” he barks. “I’m going to ask him myself, and he’ll tell me the truth. Dads never lie to their kids.”

/>   It’s my turn to stare at him. “Who told you that?”

  “Dad did. Are you gonna tell me that’s a lie too?”

  I press my lips together and shake my head. It’s no use talking to him right now. He’s too angry, and isn’t even listening to what I’m saying. I stand from the bed and skim my fingers through his hair. “Good night, Bud. I love you.”

  He doesn’t respond. I walk out of his room feeling completely defeated. Bryce is a good kid, but he’s wanted a father his whole life.

  And now that he’s finally got one, he’s not going to let him go without a fight. I get that, I really do. I just wish I’d never responded to that Facebook message last year.

  The phone rings just as I’m walking back into the kitchen. I look at the number and see that it’s an unknown caller, so I let it go straight to voicemail. It’s most likely Paul, and I can’t deal with him right now.

  A few seconds after the phone stops ringing, it alerts me of a new voicemail message. Putting in my password, I lift the phone to my ear.

  “Ellen, just wanted to remind you again about the visitation tomorrow. It starts at four o’clock. It’s best that you’re not late. I get him for three hours, and you’re not going to mess that up. Better yet, be late. It will look even better for me if you are. See you tomorrow.”

  I slam my phone down on the counter. I hate him! Why is he making everything so hard? Why, after all these years, does he want to take a child he never wanted in the first place?

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  Jase

  The two cherry wood caskets sit side by side, ready to be lowered into the ground. Looking around, I see the sad faces of just about everyone I know, all here to mourn the great loss we’ve all suffered. Even Ellen showed up in support of Charlie, but I haven’t had the chance to talk to her. I don’t even want to. I don’t want to talk to anyone.