Into the Blackness (Blackness Series Book 4)

by Norma Jeanne Karlsson

  “How long have you guys been together?” Cole asks with his brow furrowed.

  “Since college,” Kat answers in a lie from behind me, moving to my side.

  I swing my arm around her shoulders and gently brush her smooth bare skin with my thumb.

  “How old are you?” Sawyer pipes in.

  “I’m twenty-eight. Rude question by the way,” Kat admonishes playfully.

  “So you’ve been together like ten years?” Dane does some quick math.

  “Yup,” Kat pops her p offering me a stellar smile.

  “I don’t believe it,” Cole says shaking his head. Kat goes rigid at my side and Jake’s eyeballs bug out of his head. I prepare myself for damage control.

  “Why’s that?” I ask nonchalantly squeezing Kat’s shoulder in reassurance.

  “I’ve never seen my parents like that. And I’ve been around longer than ten years. There’s no grab ass in my house. The only ass my dad grabs is his latest mistress’s and even that’s short lived. Right guys?” Cole asks for some backup from his friends.

  They both nod in agreement waiting for us to tell the truth.

  “Any of your moms look like my wife?”

  “No,” they respond in unison.

  “Any of the mistresses?”

  “No.”

  So fucking wrong they know an answer to that question.

  “Any of ’em as sweet?”

  “No.”

  “Any of ’em cookin’ you dinner and handin’ out group hugs to horny teenage boys?”

  “No,” they grumble and blush a bit.

  “If you’re lucky enough to have a woman like this you’ll be all over her every day until the day you die, gentleman. You admire a treasure when you find it, at any moment you’re able. Get me?”

  “Yes,” the three chime together.

  Jake offers me a proud smile as Kat turns her body across the front of mine. She leans up on her toes, barely because of the fuck me heels, and presses her fat lips to mine. It’s a soft sweet closed mouth kiss meant as a thank you. I’d like to take it as an invitation, but I give her soft and sweet before pulling away from her face stroking her jaw with my thumb.

  “Mindfuck,” she whispers before untangling from my arms and moving back to the dinner.

  “Can I move in tomorrow?” Dane asks as I stride toward the table where the guys are all settling in.

  “Sure,” I say jokingly thinking he’s giving me shit about Kat.

  “Seriously? Because my parents are in Europe until January.”

  “What?!” Kat yells from the kitchen making the table jump, except for Jake. “Sorry, I’m not yelling at you, sweetheart.”

  “We always go to Europe over the summer, but this year they didn’t come back with me before school started. My mother wanted to visit some health spa so she can try to look like you and my dad’s screwin’ a girl that wishes she looked like you,” Dane explains in an annoyed tone.

  “We’ll pick your stuff up tomorrow after school. Would you like me to speak to your parents or whoever’s takin’ care of you?” Kat asks carrying the roast to the table.

  Even if I wanted to argue that it’s not a good idea to move this kid in, I know I’d lose. Kat’s on a mission with these boys. I can see the determination in her face. It would definitely be a losing battle for me.

  She hands me the carving utensils without looking at me, her eyes trained on Dane’s light brown ones.

  “It’s just house staff at my place. I’ll tell ’em. They won’t care. Whenever my parents call I’ll let ’em know.”

  “When’s the last time you spoke to your parents, Dane?” I ask becoming concerned at how alone these kids seem to be.

  “At the airport last month,” he says blankly.

  “Jesus fucking Christ! I swear to God, Nicky,” she pleads with me to fix this for her. I set down the knife and fork to wrap her in my arms, pulling her back to my front.

  “Where are your parents?” she asks Cole who must also have shit for brains adults in his life.

  “Italy,” he answers sheepishly.

  “How long?” she growls.

  “Our parents left together. I think they’ll be back after New Year,” he says with a shrug looking to Dane for some help.

  “Sawyer?” she asks fighting back the emotion caught in her throat. I place a kiss on her naked shoulder and grip her tighter.

  “My situation’s a little more complicated,” he murmurs staring at his hands.

  Kat pulls out of my arms and slides into the seat next to Sawyer. She tips his head up with her finger under his chin. I set about carving our dinner because I’m starving while my wife tries to save the planet one neglected child at a time.

  “What do you need?” Kat whispers holding his chin firmly in place.

  “A mom like you,” he says honestly.

  Fucking hell, these kids are killing me.

  “You’ve got it. You understand me? You need me for anything I’m there,” she states emphatically.

  “I looked into getting emancipated this summer. But it got to be pretty complicated so I quit.”

  Kat looks up at me signaling it’s time for her man to step in.

  “Sawyer, how about you and I talk after dinner and see if I can help you figure some stuff out?” I ask as pleasantly as I can, wishing we had that heavy bag right now.

  Parents that forget their children should be shot in the street and left for dead. I’d be happy to have that job if it becomes available.

  “Thanks, Nick,” Sawyer breathes out, relieved for the assistance.

  I finish carving the roast and serving it to the boys while Kat fills their plates with vegetables, potatoes and fresh rolls. When she finally sits down, we tuck it away with deep satisfaction. Kat is talented in the kitchen, but her heart is her true aptitude in life. She’s blowing my mind all over the place right now. And she calls me the mindfuck?

  Nick

  “Guys you gotta get movin’,” I order gruffly up the stairs where the teenagers live. Six weeks now, I’ve had a full house of teenage boys and it’s been pretty good for the most part.

  Kat immediately schooled them in keeping their rooms clean and picking up around the house, but other than that, they’ve been good kids. Cole and Dane moved in without incident. Both their mothers talked to Kat at her behest and acted like it was the most normal thing in the world. They told her since she was here and they were so busy abroad it was a convenient solution. We’re complete strangers to them and they agreed to let us be responsible for their children after a twenty minute conversation! Fucking worthless people. Kat went at the heavy bag for thirty minutes after that talk.

  Sawyer has been another ball of wax. His mother, if you can call her that, is doped up on any and every prescription she can get her hands on. She’s overdosed twice in the last year. Both times, found by Sawyer. His father lives in a dream world where he works tirelessly and then fucks any twenty-two year old he can get his hands on. They’re both around enough that Sawyer doesn’t feel comfortable moving in, but he’s here every night. According to Kat, more than half his shit is in his room here too.

  The op is crawling at this point. I’ve gone to poker at the Bookers every week for the last five and the only fucking thing that’s happened is I’ve made some decent money. I’m welcomed like everyone else, but shit is mostly superficial. So I keep plugging away.

  Kat has had three lunches and two brunches (is there a difference?) with Trish and some of the other Stepford Wives. All five interactions were much the same as mine at poker night, polite and uneventful. We knew this would be slow going in, but I think we’re getting a dose of reality now. A year may not even cut it at this point.

  Kat and I are getting along for the most part. We’ve improved our communication. She only calls me a mindfuck a few times a week now instead of multiple times a day. I’ve done an award winning job of keeping my hands to myself. We’re affectionate in the house when we have an audience—all t
he time—and in public, but at the end of the day we stay on our sides of the bed and crash. By affectionate I mean brief lip brushes, hand holding, a hand on her thigh or an arm around her shoulders. There’s been no more grab ass because I’m a tough motherfucker, but I can only tempt myself so much before I crack.

  At some point Kat got a hold of the DCA and was able to have some different sleeping clothes shipped in. Now she’s mostly wearing button down cotton tops with shorts. It doesn’t make a difference…she’s still fucking hot. So my resolve is struggling, but I’m working hard to remain a professional and not to be a monster. Kat, Jake and the boys make it easy. They’re good for me.

  I hear the elephants descending the stairs at a rapid pace because they’re running late for school this morning. They blow past me into the kitchen and start snatching breakfast burritos Kat made them for breakfast off the bar. She’s standing in the kitchen with her hands on her hips trying to look pissed. It’s successful.

  “Boys,” she admonishes.

  “Sorry, Aunt Kay,” Sawyer says sheepishly. “We’ll do better.”

  “I’ll set your alarms for five in the morning and break off the snooze buttons if you don’t get your shit together, you four,” she growls.

  They all nod in understanding and move to the garage. She rolls her eyes at me before following them to begin her never ending chauffeur duties. I watch her perfect ass swish away in a blood red skirt that hugs everything just right and offers me the tease of a high slit in the back as she goes. It’s always a nice view around here.

  Today is a big day for me. I have a meeting with a few of the guys from the poker group that want new security at their law firm downtown. In a town as small as Maybelle, I find it interesting that there are quite a few law firms, but we are in Ivy League hell so I’m not surprised.

  I gather my briefcase and head into the garage to meet with potential holes in the human trafficking ring. Game face on.

  I pull into our sweeping driveway relaxed and satisfied. I got the job and now have the ability to bug their office. Two weeks from now, I’ll have feeds inside every room in that place. Finally, some damn progress. Now I have to hope they have something to do with this shit.

  The SUV is gone and it’s not time to pick the boys up. That’s a rarity. If Kat’s going out she always texts or calls. Once I’m in the kitchen, I check my phone to see twenty-five missed calls. FUCK! I had it silenced for the meeting and completely forgot to check it. I run to the office to see if she left me a note while simultaneously dialing her.

  Straight to voicemail.

  No note on the desk.

  I dial again.

  Straight to voicemail.

  I try Jake.

  No answer.

  I try Sawyer.

  “Dude, where the fuck are you?!” Sawyer chides in a whisper.

  “At home. What’s goin’ on?”

  “Shit’s fucked up. Get here now!”

  He hangs up.

  I jump in my car and speed through the calm town, making it to the high school in less than five minutes, more than twice as fast as it would be legally. I bolt from my car and high tail it into the building to be met by Cole, Sawyer and Dane. They’re all scowling at me in disgust.

  “What?” I growl.

  “They’ve been goin’ at Aunt Kay for over half an hour. Where the fuck were you?” Cole seethes.

  “Workin’. Where are they?”

  I don’t know who they are, but if they’re going after Kat, I want to be there now. They march off and I follow until we reach the school office. As soon as I breach the door, I can hear a man yelling. Oh, fuck no. I blow past the receptionist who’s ninety years old and attempting to stop me by calling me sir. Fat chance.

  I follow the bellowing to come to a conference room where I can see a man standing inches from Kat’s face pointing at Jake, screaming. I take a breath and then throw the door open. This motherfucker doesn’t miss a beat.

  “He’s a fuckin’ trouble maker,” he yells as I enter the room.

  “I don’t know who the fuck you are, but if you don’t get away from my wife in two seconds I’ll rip your fuckin’ throat out,” I growl in a menacing tone I recognize from my monster years. It’s cold, ruthless and terrifying on its own, but matched with the look on my face it’s a promise of unbridled pain and anguish.

  “And you are?” he asks in a cocky snide voice.

  “Get the fuck away from my wife. Now!” I roar.

  Jake jumps while Kat remains still. Her back is to me so I have no idea what her face looks like. Jake is also facing away from me and right now, I want their eyes.

  The motherfucker takes a step back and I approach Kat with caution. I step between her and Captain Douche to see her face is a mask promising the same things mine was earlier. She’s livid. She’s looking through me to get to him. I glance away from her to see Jake’s face is bruised at the jaw and beginning to swell beneath his eye. I see.

  “Do you need a hospital?” I ask in a painfully mustered soft voice.

  “No, sir,” Jake replies instantly holding my eyes to let me know he’s fine.

  I turn my gaze back to Kat’s fiery hazel slits and grab the side of her neck. Her eyes finally cut to me like she hasn’t been aware of my presence until I touched her.

  “You good?” I ask again in a tortured softness.

  “No,” she growls.

  “He touch you?”

  “Not really.”

  “Kat,” I demand in a low timbre.

  “He poked my chest.”

  That’s all it takes. I spin away from Kat and launch at the piss-ant behind me, catching his throat and pinning him to the wall.

  “Did you poke my wife you pathetic piece of shit?” I seethe into his face constricting tightly as he flails to get free.

  “Yes,” he rasps.

  “Are you Hoyt Burke?” I fume.

  “Y-es,” he sputters.

  “Did your son get his ass handed to him by my nephew?”

  He nods because he can no longer speak.

  I release his throat and he drops to the floor.

  “You’re fired as of now. Get your sorry ass outta Maybelle along with your piece of shit son. If you’re not gone by nightfall, I’ll have the State’s Attorney file felony charges against Will for assault of a child, since Jake’s only fifteen. Then I’ll have him file assault charges against you for touching my wife. I suggest you leave the state if you know what’s good for you.”

  “You just assaulted me you psychopath,” he chokes out.

  “I was defending my wife and nephew who you had held captive in a room where I found you assaulting my wife. Explain that to a judge and see what they have to say about it.”

  “I’ve been the assistant principal at this school for a decade. My family has lived here for five generations. I’ll take my chances,” he scoffs climbing to his feet, his pussy fingers still clutched around his neck.

  “Suit yourself,” I say blankly. I turn to Kat who has a small smirk on her lips matching a similar one on Jake’s.

  “Kat, call the police and tell ’em you and Jake have been assaulted on school property by a school official. Jake, run out to the boys and have ’em round up witnesses to the first assault and this one. I’ll sit here and keep Assistant Principal Burke company.”

  Kat dutifully pulls out her phone as Jake rises from his seat. Three, two, one.

  “Wait,” the pussy says dejectedly. “We’ll go.”

  I spin around and pin him with a gaze that holds all the promises I’ve just made and then some.

  “I’ll be drivin’ by your house at nine tonight. If there’s any sign that you’re still in that house, I’m comin’ in and what I just did to you will look like child’s play.”

  He nods briefly.

  “Let’s go,” I instruct my family holding out a hand to Kat.

  She places her sweaty palm in mine, shaking from head to toe with unused adrenaline. Heavy bag is in for some
torture tonight.

  I move my family down the hall and back past the ancient receptionist as the boys run up to us from the waiting area. From our faces they know now is not the time to talk. With my arm tightly around Kat, I pull Jake into my other side as we step outside.

  We swiftly arrive at Kat’s illegally parked car half on a median. I let Jake go, but he stays right at my side. I cage Kat’s body to the driver’s door and cup her cheeks in my hands, staring as deeply into her blue-green-grey eyes as I can so she can’t lie to me.

  “You good?” I ask softly.

  “Fuck no,” she whispers.

  “Can you drive?”

  “Yes.”

  “I’m takin’ Jake with me and followin’ you.”

  “’Kay.”

  I press a long kiss to her forehead before I let her go and stalk to my car a few medians down. She can handle anything…I know this. Still, walking away from her right now is making me sick to my stomach, but I don’t have a choice. We have to get both cars home. I’ll take care of her once we’re there and away from prying eyes. Then I’ll plot the untimely deaths of the Burke men because the monster within me has the taste for blood on his tongue and craves immediate satisfaction.

  Nick

  Jake and I climb quickly into my car, waiting for Kat and the boys to drive off. I turn to him and grab his chin so I can get a good look at him. Not bad. Will maybe got two hits.

  “You fuck him up?” I ask letting his chin go.

  “Yes,” he responds without hesitation.

  “He hit you first?”

  “Sucker punched me in the jaw.”

  “Pussy.”

  “Yeah.”

  “Where’s he at?”

  “Hospital.”

  “Bad?”

  “He’ll live. Maybe have a limp.”

  “Good.”

  “Kat flipped the fuck out in there,” he whispers with pride.

  “I bet,” I snort as we pull away behind Kat’s SUV.

  “She was wasting time waiting for you.”

  This stops my breath for a second. Kat was waiting for me. I wasn’t there and she didn’t know when I would be…she was willing to wait for me. Because I run shit. Fuck me.