by K. Webster
Mom’s eyes widen in fear.
“Let her go!” I roar and storm toward him.
It’s then the blanket falls away and a curly blonde-haired toddler with big brown eyes wearing a royal blue dress grins sleepily at me. Gabe releases my mother’s shoulder and thrusts the baby toward her. “Baylee, meet your granddaughter.”
Mom is frozen as she simply stares at the child. When the baby sees me again, she grins so wide and lets out a squeal. “Teev! Teev!” She’s reaching for me but I don’t know what to do. Fuck! Of all days for my father to be out of town.
“She thinks you look like Steve from Blue’s Clues. The kid’s obsessed with those DVDs,” Gabe says softly, his tone wistful. He presses a kiss against the baby’s head. “She turned two a few months ago. That’s your Uncle Ren,” he tells her.
“Teev! Teev!”
My heart thumps in my chest. The little thing is starting to get fussy because she’s reaching for me and I haven’t taken her. With a grunt, I storm over and pull her into my arms.
“Why are you here?” I demand, my eyes never leaving the little girl who looks like Hannah, but with Gabe’s eyes.
He runs his hands through his hair and gives Mom a pointed look. “Baylee, you have to take her.” His gaze falls to her belly and his jaw clenches. Mom remains deathly still, her glare fixed on him. “She isn’t safe.”
The baby tries to stick her pudgy finger in my nose, and I laugh. “What’s your name, little girl?”
She giggles and buries her face against my neck. “Teev.” Her sigh only further melts my heart.
Gabe tears his gaze from Mom and frowns at me. “Toni Lynn Sharpe.”
Mom sucks in a hiss of air. “You motherfucker…”
“Hannah named her after her grandparents. And now…” He lets out a groan of frustration. “You have to take her.”
“This is madness. I’m calling the cops,” Mom seethes.
But even though she’s making threats, her eyes keep sneaking over to little Toni. The child must be tired because her squirming stops and her breathing evens out.
“No, madness, Baylee, is having to keep a constant fucking watch on your kid so your jealous wife doesn’t hurt her in the middle of the night. Madness is having to tie your wife to the goddamned hotel room bed so you can give yet another perfect little girl in your life to another family…again…so your wife doesn’t kill her. Madness is staying with an unhinged and unpredictable woman that should be locked away because you know she’s better off with you than anywhere else.” His chest heaves with labored breaths. Dark circles rim his eyes and his hair is messy, probably from the way he keeps running his fingers through it. He’s exhausted. “Madness is not begging her to abort the child she’s now growing in her belly that you know she’ll grow to hate. I’ve never claimed to be a sane man.” His head hangs in shame. “But, goddammit, I love this kid and I love my wife and I love the one on the way. I’ll do whatever it takes to keep them all safe.”
Mom remains stock-still but a solitary tear runs down her cheek. I walk over to her so I can wrap an arm around her. “Hannah wants to hurt the baby?”
This doesn’t surprise me. It pisses me the fuck off but it doesn’t surprise me.
“I fell asleep on the couch the other day and awoke to find Toni shivering in front of the bathtub. The bathroom door had been closed so she couldn’t get out, her eyes were red from crying, and she kept telling me, ‘Momma, no.’ Toni was angry with her mother for leaving her for fuck knows how long. She could have fucking drowned or gotten hypothermia or some shit. Hannah was out back tanning by the pool at our new house reading a fucking magazine like it was no big deal.” His body ripples with rage. “But it was a big deal. And worse yet, she keeps doing shit like that. Little stuff. Accidents keep happening. Hannah gets bolder and bolder as her pregnancy progresses and I’m afraid one day I won’t be there in time. When she’s pregnant, she doesn’t take her meds. Claims they’re bad for the baby. We don’t exactly have a primary care physician to support her claims.”
Mom’s sobs come out sounding like she’s choking for air. “My Hannah…”
“Teev. Nanna,” Toni says, lifting her head so she can look at me.
Gabe gives me a tired smile. “She wants a banana, Steve.”
“Here, Mom,” I say firmly. “Hold her while I go grab her a piece of fruit.” I don’t give my mom a chance to argue and deposit the chunky thing into her arms. Even though I don’t like Gabe’s crazy ass, he’s definitely the lesser threat right now. My sister has really fucked up our family. It’s even wearing Gabe down.
When I come back with the banana, Mom is twisting her body holding the little girl to her chest. Toni’s playing with Mom’s hair.
“Momma?”
“No, your momma is sleeping, remember?” Gabe says, his voice soft and gentle. “That’s your grandma.”
“Mom-mom?”
My mother runs her fingers through Toni’s blonde curls. “Yes, I’m your mom-mom.”
Toni grins at her and then reaches for me once she eyes the banana. “Teev!”
When she calls me Teev, my heart pounds hard in my chest. I’ve barely met this kid and she feels like family. I knew I was an uncle but I never got to be an uncle. Now I’m Uncle Teev.
“Baylee, please,” Gabe pleads.
I open the banana and break off a piece for my niece while Mom struggles internally. She sways gently with her granddaughter glued to her hip.
“I hate you,” she reminds him, although her voice has lost its bite. “I wouldn’t be doing this for you.”
Gabe lets out a rush of relieved breath. “I don’t care who you fucking do it for as long as you just do it.”
Mom shoots me a determined look before regarding the man that tortured and terrorized her at one point in her life. “For how long?”
He scrubs his jaw with the palm of his hand. “I’ve been researching some drugs that are safe during pregnancy that might help. If I have to drive her to Mexico to obtain the shit, I will. Once she has the baby, I’m hoping she’ll calm the fuck down again. I’ve already made plans to get a vasectomy once we’ve settled somewhere.”
“Fine,” she murmurs and kisses Toni on her fuzzy head. “Do you have things for her? Is she allergic to anything? How can I get ahold of you if there’s a problem?”
“No allergies and everything’s out in the car. I’ll call and check in,” he vows. His jaw is set and his eyes are narrowed. I believe that he will. It’s clearly killing this monster to have to leave his baby.
“Take care of my daughter, and I’ll take care of yours,” Mom tells him.
He pulls the baby from her arms and squeezes her. “Daddy has to go bye-bye to get things for the baby in Mommy’s belly. Then we’ll come back for you. Uncle Steve will take you to the beach, I bet, if you’re a good girl. Are you going to be a good girl, Toto?”
She nods and gives him a slobbery kiss. “Dadda go bye-bye.”
“Thank you,” he murmurs and seizes my mother in a quick hug with his free arm. “I owe you big for this.”
Mom wriggles free from his grip and takes Toni from him. “You owe me big for a lot more than just this, Gabe.”
Me: I miss you.
Me: Can I see you tomorrow?
Me: Maybe you’re having too much fun at this party without me.
She hasn’t responded in hours and I wonder if I should crash the party like I playfully warned. I climb out of my bed where Toni is curled up snoring and begin arranging pillows so she doesn’t fall off when my phone chimes with a text from “Juliet.” The whole Romeo and Juliet thing started when I picked her up one day, while Heath was away on business, to take her to a movie. I brought her a single white rose and she said I was a natural Romeo. And since she took to calling me Romeo on occasion, even going as far as programming it in her phone, I thought it was only fair she was Juliet. The parallelism isn’t lost on me. Two feuding families. Two people who aren’t supposed to date and still do so
in secret. Of course she doesn’t know my reasons.
Juliet: I don’t know if I’ll get to see you tomorrow. I’m in trouble.
Me: Can you talk right now?
I’m waiting for her to respond when my phone starts ringing. I answer it quietly and slip out of my bedroom so I don’t wake the baby. Hannah’s room is still decorated all girly but Mom packed up a lot of her stuff last year. She told me earlier she was going to fix it up for Toni while she stays with us.
“Hello?”
A familiar female voice exhales into the phone. “Ren.”
Simply hearing Brie’s voice settles me.
“Why are you in trouble?” I question. “What happened? Are you okay?”
She half chuckles half sobs. “It’s a long story.”
“It’s a good thing I like long stories then, huh?”
“I’m not sure I can talk long enough to get the entire story out,” she says with an exasperated huff.
“So give me the Cliff Notes version.”
I can hear her sniffling but don’t prod her. Eventually, she lets it all out in a rush. “You know Heath adopted me, right?” I remember back when we went to see Gabe and Hannah years ago before shit hit the fan. Dad explained to us that this good, respectable family had stepped in to adopt her since she had no one to take her in. At the time, it seemed odd, but I never really questioned it.
“Yeah.”
“I told you it was because my parents both died,” she says with a tiny squeak. “I lied, Ren.”
I lied too.
“It’s okay, B. Tell me what really happened.”
Her voice grows wobbly as she speaks. “My mother was murdered by this girl and…”
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
“And what?”
“And my dad somehow...” She pauses and an exasperated huff of air comes over the line. “Fell under her spell, I guess. He ran off and left me for her. Allowed me to get adopted by a criminal family.”
I pinch the bridge of my nose and attempt to keep calm. “People make mistakes. He still loves you.” My attempt to assure her is met with a hiss.
“If you love someone, you don’t set them free. You hold on to them. He let me go,” she chokes out. “He broke my heart.” A sob escapes her.
“Brie…”
“I was basically bought as a bargaining tool.”
Wait, what?
“Heath adopted you—” I start but she cuts me off.
“Legally, yes. But he wants to marry me off to one of the biggest cocaine suppliers in Colombia. I’m nothing but a business transaction and—”
My skin grows cold and I fist my hand. “He wants to fucking marry you off? You’re seventeen, Brie!”
Her laughter is cruel. “It’s a part of their plan. It will happen.”
“But what about us?” I can’t believe I’m even hearing this nonsense. “This is stupid. This is the twenty-first century and we’re in America. That kind of shit doesn’t happen around here.”
She grumbles. “It does happen, Ren. It is happening.”
“When?”
“I’m not sure exactly. I turn eighteen on Saturday, but all three Rojas brothers are in town this week for this party. Heath and Camilo are meeting in Heath’s office downstairs right now. Then they’re going to call us in to let us know the verdict.”
I let out a grunt. “I’m coming to get you. My parents can keep you at their house. We’ll keep you safe from those men.” They already have one of Gabe’s kids. What’s one more?
“Ren, I—shit!” she hisses.
“What?”
“I have to go. I’ve been summoned.”
“I’m coming for you.”
“I’m sorry.” Oscar hangs his head in shame as we walk down the long hallway that leads to Heath’s massive office. “I just missed you and knew you were turning eighteen soon and that there was a good chance since we were so close that I would be married off to you. I didn’t anticipate that it would blow up in my face. I just want…us.”
I let out a sigh and grab his hand. “We’re too young to be put in this situation anyway. In all honesty, I want it to be you. If I have to marry someone, I’d rather it be my friend. At least then, I’d be free to see Ren on the side since this whole thing is just for show anyway.”
Oscar stops right outside the office door and turns to regard me. His brown eyes are narrowed and a small frown tugs at his lips. He lifts his hand and rubs his thumb across my bottom lip. “If we’re to be married, it would never be for show to me. I’d want you—all of you. You would be enough for me. And I’d hope that I could be enough for you.”
I blink stupidly at him and shift nervously on my heels. “Oh.” Oscar is Mr. Playboy. Mr. Non-commitment. I never would have guessed he’d take this whole arranged marriage thing seriously. I sure as hell don’t. How can you love someone you’re forced to marry? I take in Oscar’s handsome features and wonder if I could ever love him in a husband capacity.
I’m not sure that I can.
Gripping his wrist, I pull it away from my mouth. “Vee likes you. What we did was wrong on so many levels. She saw and now she’s heartbroken. We betrayed our best friend, Ozzy.”
Anger flashes in his eyes and he jerks his hand from my grip. “She’ll have to get over it once we’re married.”
I swallow and give him a weak smile. “You could see her on the side like I plan to see Ren.”
He lets out an angry growl and seizes my jaw with his strong fingers for just a moment before he crashes his lips to mine again. This time, I put up more of a fight and tear my mouth from his. His erection grinds into me against the wall. I’m about to punch him in his gut when the office door swings open.
Immediately, I feel his presence.
Terrifying and menacing.
Possessive.
“Gabriella.” The way my name is spoken, so harsh and feral, has Oscar jerking away from me.
“Mr. Berkley,” Oscar says, his head bowed in respect before he stalks into the office.
My gaze meets Heath’s and he glares at me. He’s furious and about to blow a gasket. As far as Heath knows, I don’t date. If he knew that I was dating our lawn boy on the side while having impromptu make-out sessions with one of the Rojas brothers at every turn, he’d probably chain me up in my bedroom and forbid me to ever leave.
I shudder at that thought.
He closes the office door so that we’re alone in the hallway. Then, he advances on me. His body is heated and I can feel the warmth rippling from him even though he isn’t touching me. When he speaks, I can smell the expensive liquor on his breath.
“This is unacceptable behavior,” he hisses.
I swallow and meet his fiery gaze. “I’m sorry. It just happened.”
“Oscar’s tongue in your mouth just happened?” His scathing tone makes me shiver. “I’m not stupid.”
“Heath,” I plead. “We’re friends and we were just messing around—”
His palm pops me across the cheek, echoing loudly in the hallway. My eyes brim with tears and one manages to escape. It streaks down my cheek, hot and angry, before dripping from my jaw.
“You hit me,” I choke out, surprise in my voice.
His jaw clenches and he leans so close I think he might lick my tear right from my cheek. “You’re getting out of line and need to remember your place—your duty. You’re lucky I didn’t whip your ass in front of the entire goddamned Rojas family to remind them that you’re still a little girl for a few more days. My little girl.”
I’m not his. I will never be his.
He grabs my elbow and drags me into the office behind him. Four pairs of eyes burn into me. I try not to make eye contact with any of them but I end up sneaking a glance at Oscar. His elbows are on his knees and his face is in his palms. He looks upset. When I flit my gaze over to the older brothers, Esteban remains stoic and impassive while Duvan flashes me a smug grin.
Heath rounds his desk and sits in the leather chair bring
ing me into his lap with him like I’m some little girl. You’re still a little girl for a few more days. My little girl.
“We’ve made our decision,” Camilo says, his voice gruff from decades and decades of smoking. He’s a heavy cigar smoker and the thick scent permeates the air around us. I lift my gaze to the old, white-haired man. To most, he looks like a grumpy grandpa. But Oscar has told me stories. Of how he’s broken each bone in a man’s hand one by one for attempting to steal some coke from him. Or how he strangled a man to death with his bare hands for talking badly about his sons. Or how he has more bodies buried on his property than most cemeteries.
Oscar tends to embellish the truth at times but I somehow sense when it comes to Camilo, it’s all true.
Heath wraps a possessive arm around my waist and pulls my back against him as he leans forward to address the men. His palm rests on my lower belly, his pinky nearly touching me where I know he’d love to have a go at. “On Saturday morning we’ve arranged for Judge Griffiths to come by and do a small ceremony. You’ll be a Rojas by lunchtime and then you’ll catch a flight with your new husband back to Bogotá where you’ll spend your honeymoon.”
I freeze in his arms and jerk my gaze over to Oscar. He won’t look at me and his shoulders are hunched. It’s not him. It’s one of his brothers. “We’re not staying in California? What about Vee?” My voice comes out as a whine. What about Ren? “I don’t know anyone there.”
“You’ll know your husband.” Heath chuckles and it reverberates through me. “And darling, surely you’re not stupid enough to think that she is going to miss your absence. Vienna is devastated right now. What you and Oscar did was atrocious. Not only was my daughter interested in him, but you’re not his to put his hands on. You never were.”
I swallow and flick my gaze to Esteban. His eyes glitter with desire. It makes me shiver. He’s so gigantic. I can’t ever read his thoughts. For the most part, he’s calm and collected. But when Duvan pokes at him, he rages like a homicidal bear. Oscar told me there’s always been a rivalry between his two older brothers. That they both want to take over once Camilo retires or dies. Plus, I get the feeling that maybe Esteban has hurt people who they care about. Whenever I probe, Oscar always shuts the conversation down.