BAD INFLUENCE: A Dark Bad Boy Romance

by Callie Pierce

  When she’d managed to pull the paper back a foot, what she saw underneath caused her heart to skip a beat. Tiles. The wallpaper had been covering ceiling tiles. The space between the tiles and the floor above would have been perfect for stashing drugs.

  Propelled by her encouraging discovery, Ashleigh moved to investigate the initial tile she’d uncovered. It looked just askew, she thought. Maybe….

  She pushed on it, only to find an unnatural weight pressing down on it that made it difficult to budge it. After carefully tilting it back and forth for a few seconds, she managed to wiggle the tile forward, exposing a heavy plastic bag filled with a white powder that she knew immediately had to be cocaine.

  Shit. She’d actually done it. It felt as if the stone that had been sitting in her stomach since Alex had first shown up had dissolved.

  He hadn’t been lying to her. Everything he’d said about Jasper, about the reason behind the strange men hanging around, coming after her—it had all been true. That was an immense relief too, though it came with a flood of shame for having ever doubted him.

  What did she do now? Ashleigh stared up at the bag, hesitating. There had to be at least ten pounds of coke there, if not more. There was no way in hell she was chancing trying to get that out to her car. She didn’t even like the fact that it would have to stay in the bakery.

  She’d have to go find Alex and tell him right away. She could call him to come over…but she didn’t like hanging out here alone any longer than she had to. Besides, if he was still pissed at her, he probably wouldn’t even pick up.

  It might be better to try to reconcile with him right away, too, she decided. There was no reason to let things fester overnight.

  Now that she’d found the drugs, things seemed a lot less uncertain. And in retrospect, there were plenty of things she’d said to him that had come across a lot harsher than she’d meant them to be.

  It would be good to drive over and apologize in person, she thought. So she shifted the drugs over so that they were once again secured in the ceiling and replaced the tile. Just in case, she told herself.

  As she was climbing down from the chair, she heard the bell from the front door jingle.

  So Alex had followed her, she thought, a wry smile forming on her lips. Well, it had worked out for the better. She headed up the stairs.

  “Alex,” she called, “I know what you’re going to say, but you’ve got to hear me out.”

  She reached the top of the stairs. To her surprise, the front room was empty. Had she been imagining things?

  “Alex?” she called, her voice starting to quaver a little. She glanced to her left and right, but there was no one there.

  She crept into the kitchen, scanning ahead of her for the slightest sign of movement.

  But she didn’t look to her side in time. So she didn’t see the blow coming. She only felt the force of the impact before succumbing to the rising black curtain of unconsciousness.

  Chapter 21

  Cobra

  Cobra continued to watch the front door of the house. He sat straddling his bike a ways down the street, further than before, a cigarette between his lips. It was his third in the last hour.

  Immediately after his argument with Ashleigh, he’d been too pissed to do anything but kick around the house, stewing in his frustration. He was still reeling from finding out about Penny, and between his anger at Ashleigh and his inability to wrap his mind around the concept of fatherhood, he was a mess.

  His original plan had been to let her go, to forget about her. If she didn’t want him in her life, fine. He didn’t need her anyway. He had a daughter to worry about now, and come hell or high water, he was going to figure out how to be a part of her life.

  Ashleigh wouldn’t like it at first. She would do everything she could to keep him away. But he could be persistent, and eventually he would find a way to be a father. Fuck, if he had to steal Penny away a couple of times just so they could spend time together, he would. Ashleigh wasn’t the only one who would have a say in this, and if she wouldn’t listen to him, then he would have to take matters into his own hands.

  But as time passed and his blood cooled a bit, he began to reconsider his rash ideas. If he pissed Ashleigh off, there was no telling what route she’d go to keep her daughter safe, especially if she thought he was a threat to Penny’s wellbeing. She might try to get a restraining order or get the courts involved, and that was the last thing he needed in his life.

  Not to mention how bad it would be for Penny to have them fighting over her, to have them hostile and always at each other’s’ throats. Cobra still remembered what it was like to be the kid in those situations. His parents had always had a rocky relationship, and being caught in the middle of their shouting matches had left a definite mark on him. He would never admit it to Ashleigh, but whenever they’d argued over anything, even small things, his stomach curdled and twisted painfully. Nothing made him sicker than the feeling that he was falling back into the same miserable cycle he’d lived through as a kid.

  He didn’t want that for Penny. He didn’t want her growing up with that feeling in her gut—that same sense of helplessness and apprehension that he’d lived with. If that meant that he’d have to back down a little and wait for Ashleigh to let him into his daughter’s life, so be it.

  He’d considered staying away from her. But as the seconds ticked by while he sat alone in the house, shuffling restlessly from room to room, trying to distract himself by turning his attention back to his problem with Jasper, he found himself unable to think of anything but Ashleigh and the rift of bitter words that hung between them. It was like an itch he couldn’t scratch; it pervaded his thoughts to the point of consuming them.

  It had been maybe a half an hour before he decided that he couldn’t leave things the way they were. It wasn’t good for him and it wasn’t good for Ashleigh. They had enough to worry about already. He could suck it up and be the bigger person here. He could apologize and tell her that he’d respect her wishes, even if that ended up being a temporary arrangement.

  Christ, he hoped it wasn’t temporary. It hadn’t been a week and already he was addicted to her—the scent of her, the taste of her, the feel of her naked body beneath his hands. When she’d pulled away from him, the feeling of withdrawal had been physically painful.

  Maybe it was his own damned fault for believing that he could quit her cold again. Maybe he’d forgotten what hell it had been when he’d left her the first time. It was easier to lie to himself, to tell himself that he’d been strong enough to take it and that losing her hadn’t hurt that badly.

  Easier until now. Now he faced that possibility again.

  Cobra hadn’t waited long after that realization. He’d headed straight out to Ashleigh’s friend’s house, hoping to catch her before Ashleigh showed up to pick up Penny. She wouldn’t like him turning up with their daughter around, but he wasn’t going to wait another goddamned second. He wasn’t going to give her time to decide that she was better off without him.

  He’d been waiting out on the street for at least ten minutes, and he was beginning to suspect that he’d already missed her. And if that was the case, he was shit out of luck, since he had no idea where she lived. And he had a strong feeling that she wouldn’t be taking his calls after their last little exchange.

  Cobra took a final deep drag from the cigarette, allowing the concentrated smoke to linger and percolate at the back of his throat. He closed his eyes as the familiar soothing effect washed over him, calming his nerves a little and quieting the buzz of thoughts in his mind. He dropped the butt onto the ground beside him and stamped it beneath his heel.

  So what the fuck was he supposed to do now? Knock on this woman’s door like a Jehovah’s Witness? Try to convince this woman that he needed to talk to Ashleigh right away?

  Well, he didn’t have many other options.

  Cobra took a moment to straighten his leather cut, as if that could somehow make him any more appeal
ing to this suburban mom. He knew what he looked like: bad news. The wrong crowd. Like the kind of guy parents warned their kids about.

  Cobra made his way down the sidewalk and up the path to the front door. Time to turn on the charm, he thought.

  He rang the doorbell and waited.

  After a few seconds of waiting, the door cracked open just a fragment. Ashleigh’s friend peered out through the opening, a chain door lock hanging just below her chin.

  “Can I help you?” she demanded coldly.

  Already off to a great start, Cobra thought to himself.

  “Hi, sorry to bother you, ma’am, but I’m looking for Ashleigh. I can’t seem to get ahold of her—”

  “Who, Ashleigh Barnes?”

  Cobra fought the instinct to fire back a sarcastic remark. “Yes, ma’am, Ashleigh Barnes. She mentioned you were a friend of hers, and that her daughter was staying here—”

  “She gave you my address?” The suspicion in the woman’s voice was evident.

  Shit. She was onto him. She probably thought he was a stalker. “I was out in the car when she dropped Penny off,” he lied smoothly.

  The woman let loose a derisive “humph.” “Were you now? Because I could have sworn I saw you circling off just down the block, spying on her. Get out of here before I call the police. And stop harassing that poor woman. She’s been through enough without having to deal with a creep like you.”

  The door slammed shut in his face.

  Cobra let loose a roar of frustration. The stupid bitch didn’t even know what she was talking about.

  No. He had to keep calm. If he wanted to make things right with Ashleigh, he couldn’t fuck up now just because he was having a little trouble tracking her down. He would just have to tell her the truth—or, enough of the truth, at least. And if that didn’t work…well, maybe he would have to go around knocking on doors. Or maybe he’d find a phonebook and try his luck there.

  Cobra rang the doorbell again. He waited but there was no response.

  Great, he thought. Well, he wasn’t about to turn around and forget about tracking her down. He started pressing the doorbell and releasing at regular intervals, hoping that Ashleigh’s friend would eventually cave and come back to the door.

  “Mom!” he heard a little girl call from inside.

  “Mrs. Haversen!” That was Penny’s voice.

  Penny was still here? How was that possible?

  “Mrs. Haversen, there’s someone at the door!”

  “Mom!”

  “I’ve got it, girls!” Ashleigh’s friend yelled. Cobra could hear the exasperation in her voice.

  The door cracked open again, and Cobra found himself face to face once more with the portly woman, who now looked at him with unabashed disdain.

  “I told you to scoot, buster. Now, I’m serious, I will call the cops on you, so you’d best get on out of here.”

  “Did Ashleigh call about picking up Penny?”

  The woman’s eyes narrowed. “What’s it to you?”

  “Did she call or not?” Cobra snapped, his voice pitching louder than he’d intended.

  Cobra watched with satisfaction as she recoiled back from him. Her angry confidence deflated a little, giving way to apprehension.

  “She didn’t.”

  Cobra’s gut tightened inexplicably. He didn’t like this. Something didn’t sit right with him. It had been too long since Ashleigh had left. She should have come by already.

  There were plenty of other explanations, he told himself. This didn’t mean anything.

  Cobra decided that pushing for Ashleigh’s address from this woman would probably be asking for too much. Besides, Ashleigh would have to come by here at some point. He could just hang out in the area, keep an eye out for her vehicle. Maybe leave a few messages on her phone on the odd chance that she’d actually listen to them.

  “If Ashleigh comes by, tell her that Co—that Alex is looking for her, and that she should give him a call.”

  The woman continued to eye him warily. At least she hadn’t slammed the door again.

  “Sure.” Her tone wasn’t very reassuring.

  “And tell her that I said I was sorry,” Cobra added. Then he turned and stalked away before he could do anything stupid.

  Something felt so wrong. He wanted to get his daughter out of that house and take her back to his place where she would be safe for sure. He had a gnawing feeling in his gut that things were about to take a turn for the worse, and he didn’t want to chance anything, especially not with his little girl.

  He had to keep reminding himself as he walked away that she was probably safest with Ashleigh’s friend. Jasper wouldn’t be looking for a little girl. Ashleigh had never taken her near the bakery and had only been out in public a handful of times with her since this whole mess started. That meant there was no reason for him to potentially ruin everything with Ashleigh by snatching Penny up without her knowledge or permission. That would only piss off her pudgy soccer-mom friend and scare Penny half to death.

  Besides, he reasoned as he made his way back to his bike, this was just a feeling. Ashleigh had been pretty pissed when she’d left. Maybe she’d gone for a drive to blow off steam. Maybe she had errands to run before picking up Penny. There were plenty of possibilities. He was just on edge because of the way they’d left things.

  When he reached his bike, he pulled his phone from his pocket and stared at the screen for a minute, trying to decide what to do. She wouldn’t pick up. And he’d never been good with leaving messages. He never could get the words out right, and they always ended up being a jumbled, incoherent mess. Or worse, he’d end up sounding antagonistic somehow, because that was what came easiest to him. He wasn’t good at contrite and apologetic.

  But shit, he’d have to try, wouldn’t he? He was out of options.

  He pressed the phone to his ear and waited. The ringing seemed to go on forever. Each stretched out tone and silence felt so much longer than normal, especially with Cobra being so keyed up. He was about ready to scream into the receiver to hurry the fuck up when it hit voicemail.

  “This is Ashleigh. Leave a message.” Short and sweet. Then the message tone.

  Had he really expected anything different?

  “Ash, it’s me. Look, we really need to talk. I’m near your friend’s house. Don’t worry, I didn’t do anything stupid. I’ll be around, so just give me a call when you get this. And even if you’re still pissed, just call me so I know you’re safe. Okay? All right, talk to you later.”

  Cobra hung up and slipped the phone back into his pocket. His gut felt tighter than before. He hadn’t apologized at all. He should have said something to acknowledge that he’d been a little out of line. Not that she was completely blameless either. But he had to acknowledge that she’d only been trying to protect her daughter. Their daughter. If he’d been in her place, he probably would have done the same.

  Why hadn’t he said that? He hesitated, wondering whether he should leave a second voicemail. God, but he didn’t want to sound desperate or obsessive.

  His phone started buzzing his pocket. His heart skipped a beat as soon as he felt the vibrations against his side. He fumbled to get it out, struggling get ahold of it in his haste.

  His whole body sagged a little in relief when he saw the caller ID. Ashleigh. So he’d just been paranoid after all.

  Cobra pressed the phone to his ear. “Ash,” he sighed.

  “Alex?” she sobbed from the other end. Her voice, laced with terror and panic, cracked on his name.

  Cobra’s blood ran cold and his ears started to ring. He could no longer feel the phone in his hand or the ground beneath his feet. It was as if he’d slipped into the worst of his nightmares, and the physical world around him was fading away. Nothing mattered, nothing but the shaking voice on the other end of the line.

  “Ash, what’s wrong? What happened?”

  “Nothing.” A sinister male voice replaced Ashleigh’s. A voice that was familiar to
Cobra. It hadn’t changed much over the years. “Nothing yet, that is.”

  Jasper. Shit. Cobra never should have let her walk out. He’d let his temper get the better of him. He’d let her walk out, knowing full well how dangerous the drug lord was. And now Jasper had her.

  “What do you want?” Cobra demanded flatly.

  “Straight to the point, Alex. But it’s been so long. I thought we could catch up first. You have yourself such a pretty girl now. She has such a lovely face. Tell me, did she like what I did to yours?”

  “If you touch a single hair on her head, I will gut you,” Cobra growled. “Now tell me what the fuck you want, so we can be done with this.”