His facial expression never changed, but his arms came unfolded in a flash and he hit me right on the jaw with his fist. Stars exploded before my eyes and I staggered backward, backing up against the sofa. His face was pale with rage, twin spots of color in his cheeks as he advanced on me like a stalking panther. I whimpered, and fell backward on the couch, struggling to get away, because I knew that face. I had seen it more than once before.
He rounded the side of the couch much faster than I was capable of moving and grabbed me by my upper arms. I struggled against him and his grip tightened, wrenching tears from my eyes. He threw me down on the couch and started tearing at my clothes. I screamed and kicked repeatedly towards Brad, surpisingly nailing a blow to his groin. I then got up, attempting to hide by behind the couch. I then remembered I had my phone in my pocket so while he was in pain, I managed to send Ty a text.
I thought about the baby. The idea of losing the baby filled me with towering grief. I was so weak and in so much pain that I couldn't even struggle anymore as I felt Brad picking me up and throwing me down on the couch. Brad saw my phone and he quickly swatted the phone out of my hands. He started clawing at my top, too, and I was bawling at the top of my voice.
Brad unzipped his pants and pulled them down, but right as he clamped his hand down over my mouth to silence me, the front door to my apartment slammed open and four security guards descended on Brad, pepper sprayed his eyes, and handcuffed him. Behind the guards came Ty, his eyes wild as he ran to me and held me, kissing me over and over, wrapping my exhausted body in the couch blanket. Once I was in his arms and covered up, I buried my face in his chest and wept.
"I’m never leaving you again," Ty swore fiercely, his arms tight around my body. "I'm so sorry, Candy, darlin'... are you hurt?"
"I-I don't know," I whispered. "I'm so glad you're here, Ty, he— he might have—"
"Shhh," he said, rocking me back and forth a few times. "It's okay, babe. I'm here, and I'm not goin' anywhere. I gotta take care of my baby-mama."
"Ty..." My voice shook. I didn't know if I could handle any more emotional trauma, but I couldn't hold it in any longer. "I— I don't—... I don't know whose it is." I closed my eyes and braced myself for his reaction.
"The baby?" he said.
I could only nod.
"It's mine," he said softly, rubbing his palm across my back. "You're mine. And that's all that matters."
***
Later on that day, I was in the hospital. The baby was still alive, but I was in bad shape from all the stress and morning sickness— underweight, anemic, heart arrhythmia, basically a perfect storm for having a miscarriage if I wasn't careful. They said they'd keep me there until I recovered. Unsurprisingly, I had a few visits from the hospital psychiatrist as well as the medical doctor. Ty, of course, stayed with me the whole time.
A few days after the incident with Brad, a strange man came to visit while I was talking with Ty about him moving in with me until I finished grad school. We both looked up in surprise as the man just waltzed in and stood beside the bed. He was dressed very nicely in a suit and tie and had with him a manila folder with a sheaf of papers. He sat down without even being invited.
"And who the hell are you?" I asked coldly, unamused by the intrusion.
"Reginald Quincy, Esquire," he said, sliding a business card across the tray table where my lunch sat.
"A lawyer?"
"Yes. I am, in fact, a close associate of your friend, Miss Nina Earhardt."
"Oh?" I cocked my head to the side. "What's... up?" I was thoroughly confused, and so was Ty. He was on the defensive, holding my hand tight.
"Miss Earhardt informed me of the details of your case, Ms. Owens—"
"My case?" I said, nonplussed.
’Your pending lawsuit against one Mr.…” he paused to check his folder, “-Brad Meyer for assault, battery, and attempted rape."
My jaw dropped. "What the… What lawsuit? I never filed any—"
"The Meyer estate," interrupted Reginald Quincy, Esquire, "has offered a settlement. A cash settlement, if you don't take the case to trial."
"What? What does that even mean?"
"To put it into layman’s terms, they’re offering you a cash settlement of one million dollars, plus medical and legal fees, if you don't take this to trial. He'll plead guilty to the charges and we'll all move on with our lives."
"What? But... why?" I pinched the bridge of my nose. "That doesn't make sense..."
"Mr. Meyer Senior wishes to settle this matter as quickly and as quietly as possible," the lawyer said with a shrug. "If it went to trial, you would likely be able to get greater compensation and harsher charges, but it'd take months, and be a very long, drawn-out, very public process. If I were you, Ms. Owens, I would take the settlement."
"Fuck that!" Ty spat, "That piece of shit deserves to be run into the ground and I hope every newspaper on the East Coast is talkin' about it—"
"No," I said quietly. I gave Ty a meaningful look and rested his hand on my stomach. His face softened and the anger melted away. I looked back at the lawyer. "That would be fine, Mr. Quincy. Where do I sign?"
Quincy put the folder on my tray table and set a pen on top of it. "I've highlighted all the appropriate fields in there."
I picked up the pen and could barely keep the smile off my face. With each time I signed my name, I felt a little bit of weight lift off my shoulders.Brad was going to jail, Ty was moving in with me, I was gonna be a mother, and within a few weeks, we would be pretty much independently wealthy. My hand was shaking as I turned over each page of legalese, and the stack to be signed got smaller and smaller until I had finally finished. It was done. I handed the folder back to the lawyer and smiled at him.
"Tell Ms. Earhardt that I said hello... and... thank you." My chin quivered and I pressed a hand to my heart. "Do you mind if I ask, though, why are you doing this for us?"
Quincy shrugged. "Nina's engaged to my sister." He grinned, gave us a polite nod, then spun on his heels and sauntered off.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Epilogue
I don't know how I did it, but I managed to get through my last semester of grad school while pregnant. I got through graduation and celebration without incident, although it did leave me feeling pretty drained, and I had to wonder why we had planned our wedding just two weeks later. Yes, as soon as we got our settlement, Ty and I decided to get married.
I was seven months pregnant on my wedding day, and honestly, being with Ty had helped me heal so much that I felt wonderful in my body. I wasn't the least bit self-conscious, in fact, I thought I looked pretty adorable in my wedding dress with my giant baby bump.
Ty did, too.
After grad school, Ty and I invested in a rather experimental business that combined our talents: An auto mechanic which employed teens from juvenile detention centers and people on work-release from prison. It sounded like a wild idea and the family thought we were crazy, but Ty and I knew that it was the right thing to do. We just knew.
And it worked.
I guess we felt pretty good about "rehabilitating" people, plus, we were able to charge less for our services and help low-income families get their cars repaired. We didn't really have problems employing "troublemakers." We found that, once they were given honest, meaningful work, and a loving environment to learn in, well... they were just like anybody else. It wasn’t long before our baby girl was born. We named her Nina Judith Franklin since my best friend had done so much for me. For us. Once she got a little older and looking after her wasn’t so chaotic, we opened a second garage to employ homeless people. It worked out just as well as our first one.
I never heard from Brad again, and although he'd put me through hell, I had to be grateful to him. Yes, my life was at its worst with him, but it also got to its best because of him. If it weren't for Brad, I never would've met Ty. If it wasn't for Brad, I never would've learned to stick up for myself. And if it wasn't for Brad, I wouldn't have
become a literal millionaire overnight.
I don't think he had a clue about how wonderful he was, but Ty was a model father, teacher, and employer, and he did it all with the same gentle, un-self-conscious humility that I knew and loved. He positively blossomed while helping the kids and raising his daughter, and soon, we were trying for another baby. We were happier than either of us had ever dreamed possible, and it was all thanks to some jerk that I had dated, once upon a time.
Bonus
Touch Me
Chapter 1
Kyle
The woman in front of me paced back and forth. I was sure it was supposed to be an intimidation tactic, but with her cute face, and bouncy blonde hair, she wasn’t very scary. “You just going to keep walking around or are you eventually planning to tell me what’s going on?”
I was sitting on a cold, steel chair, my hands cuffed in front of me. This wasn’t my first visit to an interrogation room. This time, however, things were different. This time, I was innocent.
“Look, Mr. Johnstone. I am your lawyer and as your lawyer, I have an obligation to do whatever I can to help you. But even so, I can only do that if you tell me the truth. Now, did you, or did you not kill Ross McArdle?” She leaned forward, the cut of her shirt dipping down slightly, showing off her nice bosom. I smirked slightly before looking into her bright blue eyes.
“I already told you, I’m innocent. I didn’t kill him. Sure, we had our grudges. He’s part of the rival motorcycle gang, it’s only natural, but I had my respect for the man. I would never shoot him in cold blood like that.”
“Then why are you withholding your gun from us?”
“Because it’s not a legal gun and well, I’ll need it when I get out of here.”
“Well, if you don’t start cleaning up your act soon, I’m not so sure you will.”
“What? Are you not going to defend me?” I raised an eyebrow.
The woman straightened, rolling her shoulders back. “I’ll be asking the judge for a bail.”
“No. I want a trial.”
“If you get a trial, Mr. Johnstone, the jury will eat you alive. They’ll never believe your story.”
I shook my head, wringing my fingers together. I was starting to lose my temper. Why wouldn’t anyone believe me? “Sit down, Linda.” My voice came out harsher than I intended it to. My lawyer looked shocked before she took a seat, placing her briefcase on the table. “Why do you even carry that thing if you don’t plan on defending me properly?”
“It’s none of your business.” Her voice was icy and cold. She also had her hands folded in front of her. I studied her for a moment. She was cute. Looked a little too innocent to be working as a public defense lawyer, but I wasn’t one to judge a book by its cover.
“Fair enough. So tell me, why did you decide to become a lawyer? Better yet, someone who defends the bad guys.”
“Irrelevant and also none of your business.”
“It is my business because you’re my lawyer.” The back of my orange jumpsuit was starting to get really itchy. I reached back and scratched myself. Instantly, the guards who were stationed in the room stepped forward, their hands on their guns, looking ready to shoot. “Damn, can’t a man scratch an itch? I don’t have any weapons on me. You did a thorough search to make sure.” I glared at them and they eventually backed down. “Besides, I’m not some lowlife murderer. Never will be.”
Linda sighed, her blue eyes softening just a bit. “Sure. You’re not a murderer, but if you want to get out of this, you really should come up with a better story.”
“I’m not lying so why should I say anything other than the truth?”
“You really want me to believe that one of Ross’ men killed him? That a member of the Iron Horses would kill their own leader just so they could drive the Blackbirds, your motorcycle gang out of town?”
“Think about it. Killing Ross and framing me for it seems like a pretty good way to get rid of us. Besides, it’s much easier to kill your own leader than it is to kill the leader of a rival group.”
Linda still didn’t sound convinced. “If I ask for bail at $100,000, will your friends be able to pay for it?”
“Yes, no problem. But I already told you, I’m not going to settle for a bail.”
“Would you prefer to rot in a jail cell?”
“No. I prefer justice.” She scoffed at my words. I got up, slamming my hands against the table. “Look, there has to be a good reason why you decided to be a public defense lawyer. You must think that there are some innocent men who get sent to jail for crimes they didn’t commit. I’m one of those people. I didn’t kill Ross!” My face had moved dangerously close to hers before the guards harshly pulled me away. “Why won’t you believe me?”
Linda had a calm expression on her face as she got up, grabbing her briefcase, but I could tell that her fingers were shaking. Was I scaring her? I did my best to calm down a bit. “I still don’t know whether I believe you or not, but I think it seems more likely that you killed Ross McArdle than one of his own members. After listening to witnesses, Ross held great respect among his people, why would one of his own –”
“I already told you! Whoever did this is a coward! They didn’t have the guts to find me and kill me themselves.”
“That’s enough, Mr. Johnstone.” One of the guards dug their fingers into my arm so hard I nearly winced.
“You have to believe me…” I said through gritted teeth. “If you don’t, then who will?”
“Look. I’m going to get you bail, but that’s the best I can do. If we go for a trial, you most certainly will end up in jail.”
“Is it because you’re scared?” I challenged.
“Huh?”
“Are you afraid to defend me in court? To question all these gang members and put yourself in jeopardy.”
She just crossed the room, her high heels clicking against the hard cement. She was much shorter than me, but even so, she held my gaze, her face serious. “I’ll tell you one thing, Mr. Johnstone. I’m never scared.”
Chapter 2
Linda
Well, that was a lie, but Kyle didn’t need to know that. I turned on my heels and walked away with a dignified step. I gripped my briefcase tight in my hand, my knuckles turning white. I was shaking all over, but I wasn’t about to let anyone see that.
Out in the hall, I finally let out a sigh of relief. I leaned against the wall, running my fingers through my hair. Like always, my curls were horribly frizzy and I cursed myself for not using hairspray that morning.
“Miss Harris, how did it go in there?” My personal assistant, Jeremy, showed up, a bundle of papers in his arms.
“Fine, just fine.” I walked past him, keeping my head high. “The hearing starts in an hour, we’ll have to get everything sorted before that.” Jeremy nodded, grabbing my briefcase and carrying it for me. “Have you gotten those profiles for me yet?”
“Yes, ma’am. They’re all right here.”
“Perfect.” We were already outside, where Jeremy had parked the car against the curb. He opened the door for me.
“Here you are.” He handed me the papers and I took them, closing the door to stop him from staring at me. Jeremy was a hard worker, but he was awkward at times. He was like a little gnat that always hung around for too long. “To the courthouse, correct?” He asked once he got behind the wheel.
“Yes. Thank you.” I sunk into the leather seat and started to go through the profiles Jeremy had printed out.
The first one I looked at was Kyle’s. He was the leader of the Blackbirds, a long-standing motorcycle club. He had inherited the leadership from his father, Keith Johnstone. The Blackbirds frequented the Black Rock Bar on the east side of town and were peaceful, for the most part.
I frowned, reading the description. Maybe there was some truth to Kyle’s words, but that didn’t make sense. I was sure he was leaving something out. Why would Ross’ own men kill him? I just wasn’t prepared to believe that. These men were
supposed to uphold honor and comradery and yet, Ross had been shot in the back… It just didn’t make sense.
I flipped the page, turning to Ross McArdle. He was the leader of the Iron Horses, an equally as respectable motorcycle club. He had taken the position by force twenty years ago when he had landed the previous leader into a coma. The charges against him were dropped by the family and he was never taken to court. The Iron Horses frequented Patty’s Pub on the west side. At least one member of the Iron Horses was arrested a month.
“Hmm…” I twirled my pen in my fingers.
“What is it, Miss Harris?”
“Nothing.” I dismissed Jeremy, flipping through the case files. Ross McArdle had been killed in the city center. It didn’t seem likely that an intrusion on turf was the motive… I shook my head. There had to be something more to this. Then again, if I tried to figure out every gang feud in the city, I would quickly go crazy. It was better to pick my battles and this wasn’t one I was prepared to fight.
***
The prosecutor on the case was one of my biggest enemies: George Pollock.
Trust Me: A Bad Boy MC Romance Page 12