Riveted: Drawn Series Book 1

by M. A. Stone

  “Baby? Are you alright?” he asked, kissing my forehead. I winced a bit and then looked up at him. Stupid question. I arched an eyebrow and he grinned a bit.

  “What in the hell happened??!!” yelled my Dad, his hands balled into fists. He launched himself out of the chair. Until then, I did not realize that a man of his size could move that fast. Did I mention that my dad is super tall and scary as hell when he was mad? Jack put a hand on his shoulder to calm him down. Dad looked at him and took a deep breath. His hands were still balled into fists though.

  “She was helping me,” said Axel, coming into the room with a pretty good shiner himself. Dad’s head snapped to Axel, he stalked over to him and grabbed Axel by the front of his shirt, pushing him up against the wall.

  “Boy, what has gotten into your head? Are you that stupid, that you would endanger everyone over SUCH stupidity???”He growled.

  “I was protecting my daughter, old man. And I took off to protect my family and friends Dad. Your grumpy ass included. So dial it back a bit would you?” he said between clenched teeth. They stared into one another’s faces for a few minutes and then Dad let him go. Axel squared his shoulders and straightened his rumpled shirt. He stared at my dad angrily, equally as tall as my Dad and just as stubborn. Dad broke the crazy eye contact and it then sunk it what Axel had told him.

  “Daughter?” Dad sat on the edge of my bed, looking at Axel guiltily.

  “Yeah, she’s one. Her name is Harley. Her mother’s family is INSANE. They want money and I was trying to get it together. I explained all of this to Bleu but she was sidetracked before she could tell your crazy ass,” he replied. Dad nodded.

  “Where’s her mother son?” asked Dad, his voice still having an edge to it. Axel ran his hand through his hair.

  “She died a few months after Harley was born. Heroin overdose,” said Axel softly.

  “But it’s her brother. He did this to me,” I squeaked out. They all turned their attention to me and Axel came over to me, examining me with pain in his eyes. His eyes welled with tears, and he never cried.

  “Bleu, I am so sorry. So sorry. I had no idea. If I had known, I would have never ever come to you,” he said. Shaking my head a bit, I patted his hand.

  “Give him the money Axel. Get your daughter. Put his evil ass in jail,” I whispered.

  “Bleu, I told you that I don’t have it,” he said weakly. Dad patted him on the shoulder.

  “I will give it to you,” Jack said suddenly. Axel looked up at him.

  “Dude, don’t be a douche bag and argue with me. Not now. Call the bastard, set something up and just give him the money, please. I don’t want something to happen to anyone else,” Jack told him, taking in the look on his face. Axel nodded.

  “I will pay you back, I promise,” he replied. Jack smiled.

  “Dude, you are family. No worries,” he replied. Axel smiled and shoved his hands in his pocket.

  “Axel, where is the baby?” asked Dad. Axel looked up.

  “Dad, she is in California with Clem, Uncle Tangler’s sister. She is safe,” he replied. Dad nodded. Then he returned his gaze to me.

  “We need to get this one taken care of now. Jack is going to give you the money and hopefully this can all be put behind us. Then we are going to sit down and have a family talk,” Dad replied. Dad patted my hand and smiled.

  “Great…” said Axel. Jack glared at him and shook his head. Dad just stared my brother down. The door opened and all heads snapped to attention. The nurse came in, shooed them all out and gave me a shot in my IV. I was out before the door closed.

  Jack brought me home a few days later. The hospital gave me crutches because Cyrus had stabbed me in the thigh and I had broken that leg when he slammed me to the ground. I was camped out on the couch, arguing with Jack. He was hovering and driving me nuts. All I wanted to do was swallow some pain pills and watch some crappy daytime TV.

  “Jack, go to work. I am alright. I have crutches, my laptop and the TV. If I need you, all I have to do is text you!” I protested. He was sitting next to me with this determined look on his face. I grew up around stubborn men, he had nothing on them.

  “I don’t have all that many appointments. I could cancel them. Except I have one late tonight that I have to go to,” he said, more to himself I think, than me.

  “No cancelling appointments, you are going to work mister! Chloe is going to bring me lunch, and I think my Dad is going to be stopping by later to hang out with me,” I said. He nodded and stood up, smoothing his hands on his carpenter jeans. He leaned over and kissed me.

  “Love you babe, see you later!” he whispered. He left and I was stunned to say the least. I mean, there were many times that I wanted to tell him that I loved him. Past experience had burned me though. Shaking my head, I grabbed my laptop and started to see if I could get some work done. Avoidance? Yep. It had been awhile since I had cracked into my computer and did some work.

  I must have fallen asleep, because I woke up to Chloe talking and my Dad responding. Peering over my shoulder, I saw that there was also another gentleman sitting at the table with them. He was wearing a police officer’s uniform.

  “Uh what are you guys doing?” I asked, wincing as I turned the wrong way and pain shot up my leg. They stopped talking and the police officer came over to me. He sat down on the opposite couch and smiled. He was tall and lanky with cocoa colored skin and short curly brown hair. He had amber colored eyes with long lashes. He looked familiar but I could not place him.

  “Bleu, my name is Officer Banks, you might know my brother Lamar,” he said with a husky voice. I nodded. I remembered now.

  “I wanted to make sure you are alright. I am working in collaboration with Willowvale PD to take care of this Cyrus that attacked you and threatened your family. I was also on the scene a few weeks ago when your brother’s shop was broken into and vandalized. When I was notified about what happened up in Willowavale, I attempted to come up to the hospital to talk to you, but you had already been discharged.”

  “And how are planning on taking care of Cyrus?” I was a little cynical to say the least and my pain meds made me grumpy. He must have sensed that because he looked at me with a reassuring smile.

  “We have been working closely with the agencies involved in this case. Without going into too much detail, we are going to be watching your brother when he meets up with Cyrus to give him the money. The rest is a piece of cake,” he replied. I snorted. Dad frowned and Chloe chuckled, shaking her head.

  “You make it sound so easy. Like it’s all going to go down smoothly and without a hitch,” I remarked. Dad shot me a look which I ignored. His cell phone dinged and he walked into the kitchen to check the screen. I turned my attention back to the Officer and not on what my Dad was hiding.

  “You are absolutely right. A million things could go wrong. We’re hoping that they don’t. You are safe though, and the sooner that we get this dirt bag off of the street, the better it is for all involved,” he said.

  “Forgive me if I am a little jaded Officer, but this guy almost killed me and threatened to come back and do more damage. I have nightmares about what he is going to do to me or my family if this all goes haywire. I cannot see how I should be super excited about a situation where there is not a guaranteed outcome,” I replied. Dad shot me another look.

  “Again, nothing is one hundred percent and I know that does not exactly instill warm and fuzzy feelings of safety and security .Best case scenario, he takes the money, we bust him, he goes to jail for a long time. Worst case scenario, things get ugly and someone gets hurt. But to be on the safe side, we are posting an officer outside your brother’s place of business and this apartment building. Your brother is going to crash here until the meeting with Cyrus. You will be safe,” he replied. Nodding, I leaned back against the couch and closed my eyes. Officer Banks patted my hand and stood up to leave. He was right, I did not feel better. Not by a longshot.

  “Thanks Officer. I did not
mean to be rude,” I said as an afterthought. He smiled, shook my Dad and Chloe’s hand and left. Dad was still pissed at me; I could see it written all over his face.

  “You know Dad, I was thinking, seeing as how Axel is staying here tonight, I think we should have that family meeting.”

  “Oh that’s going to be fun, you hopped up on painkillers trying not to kill your brother and father,” commented Chloe. I shot her a dirty look. She smiled sweetly and stuck her tongue out at me.

  “I don’t think tonight is a good idea. Besides I have an appointment tonight,” he replied, avoiding eye contact with me.

  “It has to happen sooner rather than later Dad,” I replied. He nodded, grabbing his keys. He looked down at his phone again and then put it in his back pocket. He kissed the top of my head and then left soon after.

  Axel, Matt and I were sitting on the couch. Matt and Axel were playing Call of Duty Ghosts on Matt’s Xbox 360. There were empty bags of popcorn on the coffee table and beer cans everywhere. I sat and sipped on my root beer. Somehow, painkillers and alcohol are not a good combination.

  “Fucker!” yelled Axel, twisting around on the couch and glaring at the TV. Matt grinned and shook his head.

  “Well get the sand out of your gash and play the right way asshole,” replied Matt. I giggled. Axel chucked an empty beer can at him.

  “Don’t be hating douchebag. It’s not my fault that you have been playing this game since the whole Call of Duty shit came out and you still play like a bitch,” muttered Matt. Axel ignored him and did not break concentration from the screen. Matt grinned even wider.

  “Dude! You keep ganking my ass,” screeched Axel. Matt chuckled.

  “And again, stop playing like a bitch,” replied Matt. Matt’s cell chirped and he hit pause. He stood up and took the call in the kitchen.

  “Thank fucking god!” said Axel, putting his controller on the coffee table and looking at his cell phone.

  Chloe was out with her friend Jess and Jack was at work. It was around eleven thirty. Axel was furiously texting on his phone. I was trying not to be nosy.

  “I see you trying not to look at my phone,” he said with a laugh. The shiner on his eye was fading to a purple yellow. My huge cast had been decorated by everyone and the bruises on my face were beginning to fade slightly.

  “You two have put me in Xbox jail, made me listen to the both of you whine and you won’t talk to me,” I whined.

  “Bleu shut up about the Xbox jail. You play miserably,” he said with a laugh.

  “I wonder how Matt would feel about that.” I asked. He glared at me which of course made me laugh.

  “So tomorrow huh?” I said after a bit. He nodded. I patted his hand.

  “Bleu, do you ever feel like you are going nowhere? Like everything is one big nightmarish cycle? Things go good, then right back to shit, good again, shit after that. Again and again. Everyone around you seems to be normal, your life just freakin sucks. I meet a girl that I think is awesome; she gets pregnant, we have a gorgeous daughter, and then the girl I love dies. I have a thriving business, I am a good person and now I am broke, and my daughter is in California,” he said.

  “Are you feeling sorry for yourself?” asked Matt, coming back in. He shot Matt a dirty look.

  “Uh who asked you douche bag?” grumbled Axel.

  “You are sitting here acting like you are some choir boy dude. You are not. I mean, I will not sit here and say that you did not love your baby’s mom. Nope not me. But shit dude. Remember the name rule?” he asked. Axel raised an eyebrow.

  “What is the name rule?” I asked. Axel nodded grimly.

  “Sure fire way to never have to worry if you forget a girl’s name.” he stated.

  “Care to explain?” I asked. Matt nodded.

  “You call them baby, sweetie, doll, love or sexy. That way, they think you are being all endearing and shit when really, you are trying not to let them know that you forgot their name,” he replied.

  “Are you kidding me?!!” I yelled. Matt winced and then nodded.

  “No. Dead serious,” replied Axel. I was pissed.

  “If girls did that, you would call us whores. But it’s all part of the “bro code” I guess,” I fumed.

  “Thanks Matt. Now my sister is going to be pissed at me. Awesome,” he muttered. Matt shrugged.

  “Hey guys. I uh got to go. Something came up,” he said quickly, avoiding looking at either one of us in the face.

  “Oh sure. You start shit with me and Bleu and then you high tail it out of here. Dick move man,” said Axel with a smirk. Matt gave me a hug and fist bumped Axel on his way out. Axel turned off the TV.

  “You know, things will get better Axel. Seriously it will. You need to try and stop feeling the way you do,” I said softly. His face clouded over and he stood up like someone set his ass on fire.

  “Look at you Bleu??!! You discover our mom, dead. You work your ass off; you do everything right and your fiancé dumps you.”

  “I kind of cheated on him Axel,” I replied.

  “Wait? What?” he stuttered? I nodded.

  “I talked to some guy from work, we flirted a bit. He considered it cheating,” I replied.

  “That’s not cheating. That’s fucking flirting. Shit I do that every day with my clients. Do I sleep with them or date them? Not all the time. Carl was a douche nozzle,” he remarked.

  “Well it really did a number for my relationship.”

  “That’s what I mean! Stable relationships? Not for us. The dude left you high and dry! Then Cyrus kicked your ass because you were trying to find me, to help me! When do things work out for you?” he yelled.

  “Oh so no one told you that Jack and I are fine?? Because we are!” I yelled right back at him. He flinched.

  “Ok so I was wrong about that one. One thing. You get your ass handed to you by some psycho that I am dealing with. Shit all over again! What’s going to happen next? You get pregnant and Jack dies in some mass explosion??!!” I laughed. He was not pleased, nor was he joking.

  “First of all, I am fine after the beat down Cyrus handed out. I am not going to let something like that get me down. I may have nightmares and panic attacks, but you know what? I am going to be okay. Maybe not now, or next week, but eventually I will be okay. Yeah things have sucked for a long time. But my family is together. We have love. And if I did get pregnant, it would not be a bad thing. You love being a dad don’t you?” I asked. He nodded. I touched his face with my hand and smiled.

  “I think things are going to be alright Axel.” He sat there for what seemed like a long time. I studied his face and prayed that everything would go smoothly tomorrow.

  “You are not going to start singing or laying hands on me are you? Start praying for me?” he asked, raising an eyebrow. I laughed.

  “Nah, I am good. If I am going to lay hands on you, it’s going to be because I am beating the hell out of you,” I muttered.

  “You were not kidding about the whole getting pregnant thing were you? Is there something you want to tell me?” he asked.

  “No Axel. I am not pregnant. I am happy though. I finally found someone I love and loves me back. I am good. Babies can happen later, that’s even if Jack wants any,” I replied. Axel nodded and we both looked up as Jack stood there. I wondered how long he had been standing there. He walked off to the bedroom and shut the door behind him. Axel and I looked at one another and I shrugged.

  “What did I say wrong?” I asked.

  “No clue. Let’s see. You are not pregnant. You don’t plan on it in the near future and um, you love him,” he replied.

  “No clue. Wait! Have you told him that you love him? “He asked. Shit!

  “Um no. I have been too chicken shit to say anything,” I replied. He shook his head.

  “Maybe that’s it Bleu. Maybe he is pissed because you told me that you loved him, before actually telling him?”

  “Thanks Dr. Phil,” I said while standing up and slipping my crutche
s under my arms. I hobbled over to Jack’s bedroom and bumped the door with one of my crutches. He opened the door and held it open for me to come inside. He waited until I was inside before he shut the door. He had taken off his clothes and was standing there in his boxer briefs. If he was not pissed, I would have ripped those boxers off.

  “What’s up?” he said, barely looking at me. I tossed myself onto the bed and my crutches fell on the floor.

  “Well let’s see, my boyfriend has gone all emo on me and I haven’t a clue as to why,” I snapped. He looked up at me.

  “Hmmm, well my girlfriend told her brother that she loves me, but the other day when I said it to her, she said nothing!” he replied, throwing his hands up in the air.

  “What did you want me to do? The last person I told that to went and fucked my boss in MY bed and then I had to kick his ass!” I yelled. He ran his hands over his bald head and groaned.

  “Bleu! I am not him! Not one bit! I have been here for you! When your own brother ditched you, I was there. We all were! You are my family Bleu. There is only you. What the fuck Bleu!!! I love you isn’t that enough???!!! I tried not to get all ass hurt about you not saying it back, but I refuse to have Axel be the go between in our relationship. I get it; I understand that you two are tight, but tell me not him, that you love me,”

  “Jack! I am trying here. I am really trying. I was scared. Scared of how I feel. I have a lot of baggage. Axel and I both do. But I never said that I was not happy with you. Never,” I replied. He looked at me and grabbed his pants and his keys.

  “No, you never said you weren’t happy. But you tell your brother that you love me? Before me? You could not come and talk to me, maybe tell me how you feel? No, it takes me getting upset for you to finally open up to me. And all because you think that I am going to hurt you like that douche nozzle you were engaged to!” he said, his face inches from mine, his eyes full of pain. I can’t say anything. I don’t know what to say.

  “I was wrong,” I whispered. He just shook his head, throwing his hands in the air.

  “It’s not always about you Bleu,” he whispered.