I’m led down to the cells and instantly see my wife behind bars, slumped on a chair with her arms crossed over her chest. She looks up the second I walk through the door and her face instantly lights up.
A woman in the cell beside hers throws herself to her feet and flies towards the bars, latching on with both hands. I recognize her immediately and a heavy scowl takes over my face. “Tank,” Crazy Jill sighs. “Thank you. I knew you would come for me.”
Sophie’s scoff from the next door cell has my eyes flashing back to her. “Fucking delusional,” Sophie mutters making a smirk cross my face.
I walk up to her cell and she instantly gets to her feet and comes forward. I squeeze my arms through so she can fold into me the best she can. “Are you ok?” I ask as I check her over.
“Yeah,” she says. “I just want to get out of here.”
“Agreed.”
She pulls out of my arms as the cop goes about unlocking the cell.
“What?” Jill shrieks as she bangs her hands against the bars. “What are you doing? Why are you getting her? You’re supposed to be here for me. It’s my turn. I love you, Tank.”
Jesus. When will this shit end with this woman?
Sophie turns to face her but I put my hand on her shoulder to stop her. This is my fight, not Sophie’s and I should have dealt with it myself, rather than letting it fall on her like this. I walk up to the bars, directly in front of Jill but make sure to keep my distance. The last thing I want is this crazy bitch reaching out and touching me.
I give her my most menacing look possible and enjoy as she shrinks back away from me. “There is no you and me, Jill. It’s all in your messed up head. I don’t love you, in fact, I don’t even like you. I never have and I certainly never will,” I tell her. “You need to back the fuck off. I can handle you harassing me but now you’ve taken this shit too far. No one touches my wife and gets away with it. Do you fucking understand me?”
I watch as the color drains from her face and she visibly swallows. She doesn’t say a word so I push her further. “I asked you a question, Jill,” I roar. “You’ve got three fucking seconds to answer it.”
She manages to pull her shit together and hastily nods her head.
I narrow my eyes on her further, just to make sure she’s got my point. A soft hand slips into mine and my wife appears at my side. “Come on, let’s go home. It’s over now.”
I turn to her and put my arm around her shoulder. “Ok,” I murmur as I let her lead me out.
We leave Jill behind us, hopefully never to be seen or heard from again and make our way back to the main part of the police station. Sophie’s grabbing her things when Detective Andrews approaches us.
Sophie instantly gives him a scowl which has him shrinking back but me, it just manages to turn me on. “Ahh, could I see you both in my office?” he asks. “I have an update on the Baxter case.”
The scowl disappears from Sophie’s face as she practically runs and drags me into Andrews office. He takes a seat behind his desk while Sophie and I make ourselves comfortable in the stiff chairs opposite his. “What did you find out?” Sophie questions instantly.
“Wow, you don’t waste a second,” Andrews comments.
“Don’t try to be cute. You’re still on my shit list. Just answer my question,” she demands of him.
“Watch it, babe. The bastard might arrest you again,” I murmur.
“He wouldn’t fucking dare,” Sophie grunts as she fixes him with another fierce scowl.
I watch in amusement as Detective Andrews swallows and fixes his tie before finally recovering and getting to the reason we’re here. “So, Sophie, the images you managed to recover from your cloud were enough to get us a search warrant and while that didn’t bring up much we were able to find Baxter’s connection with the two men who entered your home. Oliver Jensen and Blake Casey. Jensen was on his third strike and cracked during interrogation with a full confession, so we have Baxter and his hired help on that.”
Holy shit. That’s amazing. I look over at Sophie just as she does the same. The relief is evident on her beautiful face as she reaches out a hand and laces her fingers through mine. I give her hand a squeeze and she does the same in return. “What about the three CEO ‘deaths’?” she questions.
He gives us a proud smile as he begins his explanation and I can’t help but feel he’s got good news. “That was the tricky part,” Andrews starts. “The evidence you supplied was helpful but not quite enough as you would know. However, his receptionist, Aimee, had some holes in her stories, mainly on Baxter’s alibi. It never seemed to quite match up so we got her into interrogation and she admitted she lied which left Baxter with no alibi for all three occasions,” he tells us.
“So, you were able to place him at the locations?” Sophie asks.
“Sure were. Once there was reasonable doubt we could get the warrant for the security footage of the night Marco Cincinnati died at the brothel. The footage showed Baxter at the site paying off a security guard who then disabled the cameras, however, he failed to disable the interior cameras. Baxter was seen an hour before Marco’s death, dropping a pill into his drink before disappearing.”
“Holy shit,” I grunt as I turn to Sophie. “You were right. You got him.”
She beams back at me. “Aren’t I always right?” she questions with a giggle.
“Not even close,” I laugh.
Andrews clears his throat to gain our attention and we reluctantly turn back to him. “With a lot further digging, we’ve managed to get him on all three. Same MO; cutting security and sneaking onto premises,” he tells us. “So, I guess it was all worth it in the end.”
“Worth it?” I spit in shock and mostly anger. How the fuck can this bastard say that? “Baxter took our child from us. How the hell could it possibly be worth it?”
He blanches for a moment before accepting his error. “I apologize. I was not thinking. Of course, it could not possibly make up for your loss,” he says, fixing Sophie with a look of pure regret.
She nods her head slightly, letting me know she isn’t going to dwell on his comment. “So, you have a warrant for his arrest?” Sophie asks.
He nods his head. “Just about. The paperwork is being put together now and will be on its way to a judge later today.”
“Perfect,” Sophie says in a quiet voice, deep within her own thoughts before turning to me. “It’s over.”
“It sure is, baby,” I tell her as we get up out of the chairs and make our way out of the police station. I can’t help but notice Sophie now walks with her shoulders held a little higher as if all her worries have finally disappeared. She’s her old self again and I couldn’t be prouder. She’s come full circle.
Yes, we’re missing one, massive, important part of our lives that we’ll have to live without until our dying days but with the knowledge he’s in a better place, makes it that much easier.
I kick over the ignition and look over to my wife. “I love you,” I tell her as she reaches across the center console and takes my hand.
“I love you, too,” she says with the most stunning smile that makes my heart ache in my chest.
“I can’t wait to get you home,” I tell her.
“I know, me too. It’s going to be one hell of a wild night after the shit Crazy Jill put me through. Maybe I deserve more than just one naked cooking night, let’s make it a week long thing,” she grins.
I roll my eyes as I pull out into the traffic. “You got yourself a deal, babe.”
“Excellent,” she laughs before turning to me with a pleasing smile. “So, I know you’re probably in shit with Coach Larsden, but could you drop me off at Frisky Framing. I need my car.”
I let out a deep breath. “Sure, babe.”
“Thanks, Big Guy,” she says with a wink before leaning forward and turning up the music.
----------
It’s game night and my boys are just as pumped as I am. We all shuffle around each other in the locke
r room taking practice shots to the target that’s been painted on the wall as we wait for one of the officials to give us the go ahead.
As usual, I line up my shot just perfectly and watch as it sails straight into the center of the target. I turn and give Miller a smirk as if to say ‘beat that’. He scoffs at me as he lines up his shot. His stick rears back before flying forward. The puck sails through the air with incredible speed and as usual finds it’s mark, except it’s just a smidge off center.
Miller scrunches up his face as he turns back to me, having to declare himself the loser of this little challenge. “Mia was up all night,” he says attempting to excuse his poor efforts.
“Bullshit. Soph called Dani this morning who said she slept right through,” I laugh.
“Fuck,” he curses before pushing his way to the front of the line and giving it another go.
I snicker to myself as I make my way across the room and to my locker. I grab my phone to send a quick text to Sophie but find one already waiting. I open up the message from my wife and smirk at the picture attached.
“Fuck me,” I groan to myself as I take in my very naked wife in nothing but a pair of heels and sitting in a very suggestive position with the words ‘Good Luck’ written across her chest in my team’s colors. I am one lucky son of a bitch who can’t wait to take that woman home and show her just how happy she makes me.
I was wondering what she was doing this afternoon all holed up in our bedroom and refusing to let me come in but it’s certainly worth it now.
Knowing I only have a moment, I type out a quick reply.
Tank – Fuck, babe. I’m going to rock your world when we get home. All. Fucking. Night.
Sophie – I’m counting on it, Big Guy.
I can just imagine the sexy smirk on her face as she typed out her message and the thought has me grinning like a fucking idiot and growing hard beneath all this gear and trust me, with the fucking cup I’m wearing, this shit ain’t comfortable.
I adjust myself as I put my phone back in my locker while Coach Larsden calls our attention. The boys instantly stop what they’re doing and give him their undivided attention because, well… they know better.
“Alright boys,” he starts. “Tonight is a big one. This determines if we make it to the semi-finals. I want each and every one of you on point. No fuck ups, you hear me?” he demands. “Cameron, keep on top of your footwork. Jake, no illegal moves. The rest of you, watch out for their defence. They’re good but not as good as us.” His speech goes on and soon enough the boys are rowdy and excited.
The game official comes barging in and lets us know it’s go time. We line up with me at the front and soon after, I’m leading the boys out of the hole.
The crowd roars the second we show our faces and my eyes instantly snap up to my wife sitting in the grandstand, only she isn’t sitting, she’s up on her feet jumping around like a damn fool but at least she’s not alone, Dani is right there by her side letting the crowd know exactly who they’re cheering for.
Twenty minutes later, I’m standing in the center of the ice, facing my opponent as the referee drops the puck. My stick snakes out and we scuffle for a second, fighting for the puck. I come out on top and as soon as I have that puck safely in my possession, I take off like a bat out of hell.
I push forward with my boys right by my side, defending the puck just as they have been taught. A big fucker from the opposition comes barrelling down the ice towards me and out of all the guys on his team, he’s probably the only one big enough to do any damage.
I flick the puck across the ice to Cameron who sends it straight off to Miller just as the big fucker reaches me. I see his intention the moment before he makes his move and I have all of one second to twist this situation in my favour.
He cuts around me and tries to throw me into the boards knowing I’m one of the biggest threats in the game and hoping to take me out early. I come to a hard stop and throw my body to the side. The dickhead completely misses me and throws himself, as hard as possible into the walls.
I grin at the fool but don’t have time to dwell on it as he drops to the ice like the sack of shit he is. After all, I have a game to dominate and I refuse to let losers like this take me down. Besides, my wife is watching.
The crowd is suddenly on their feet, cheering and I search out the game to see Miller is close to shooting the first goal of the night. I take in his position against the oppositions and I know without a doubt, he has this in the bag, well, depending on how good their goalie is but Miller has always had a talent for reading people.
I watch as his stick shoots forward, sending the puck sliding across the ice. It travels straight through the center and right between the goalie’s legs. The buzzer sounds followed by the sound of the crowd, yet Miller doesn’t stop, he loops around the back of the nets and straight for me. I prepare as quickly as I can for the idiot who leaps into the air and slams his chest into mine before tackling me to the ice.
“You can’t say I don’t still got it, fucker,” he laughs as the rest of the boys’ pile on top of us.
“Just you wait. The game’s still new. I’ll step off this ice with twice as many goals as you.”
“Is that a challenge?” he asks with an excited twinkle in his eye as the guys start climbing off us.
I get to my feet and pull the dickhead up with me. “Fuck, yeah, it is,” I grin.
By the end of the game, I’m proud to say I whipped Miller’s ass. Well, I didn’t double his goals but I sure did beat him. Either way, we were on fire, in fact, the whole damn team was.
The second we get the media off our heels, we head into the locker room and as expected, we’ve just started dropping our gear when that sexy as fuck voice is heard from the doorway. “Cover up, boys. I’m coming in.”
My wife comes barrelling through the door and runs straight for me. She throws herself into the air and I catch her around the waist. She doesn’t waste one second before her lips are squished together with mine, creating a beautiful dance.
“I swear that woman has a radar for half naked men,” I hear one of the guy's mutter.
Sophie pulls back and turns towards the voice. “Correction. I have a radar for when my husband is getting naked. The fact that the rest of you guys are doing the same is just a bonus for me.”
“Ugh,” Miller grunts. “Please don’t tell me I’m included in that bonus?”
“Sure are, hot stuff,” she winks.
Miller scrunches up his face as he turns away from us and walks into the showers. “Don’t tease him like that,” I scold her.
“I thought you liked it when I was a bad girl,” she grins.
“Fuck, babe. I got to get you home. Give me two seconds to shower,” I tell her.
“Don’t even think about it,” she warns me in a low, sultry voice that tells me she’s dead serious. “I’m coming with you.”
I raise my eyebrow, knowing she doesn’t mind the audience as I desperately try to think over the consequences of screwing my woman in the showers. I mean, there’s one stall with a door. “You sure, babe?” I question.
She licks her lips as her eyes become hooded. “I’ve never been so sure in my life,” she tells me “But make it fast, I need you now.”
Fuck me.
I don’t need much more than that as I carry my wife into the bathroom and fuck her up against the cold tiles of the locker room showers.
Chapter 22
Sophie
What an amazing night. Watching my man dominate the ice and then dominate me in the locker room. Wow. Since the day I met him he has rocked my world in every possible way and here, five years later, he still manages to surprise me.
We pull up to our home and he practically jumps out of his truck and rushes around to my side. I open my door and he scoops me out of my chair before throwing me over his shoulder and spanking my ass.
I can’t help but giggle at this big goof ball as I kick my legs and beg him to let me down, I mean, t
he guy is ginormous, if I was to fall, it would be a long way down but on the other hand, there’s no way my man would put me in any real kind of danger.
He wraps his arm firmly around my body as he uses his other hand to fish his keys out of his pocket. While he’s distracted, I slip my hand down the back off his pants and grab a handful of muscled ass while I wonder if we’ll actually make it to the bedroom or not.
As I wait for the door to open, my hand gets lower and lower and is dangerously close to somewhere that I know is going to earn me a damn spanking but I can’t help but grin, knowing how much he hates it.
He gets the door open and I find myself flinging through the air and before I know it, I’m wrapped around his torso with my legs twinned around his waist and my lips crushed to his. He kicks the door closed with his foot and walks us down the hallway.
We come into the clearing of the living room when his body stiffens and he rips me off him before throwing me to my feet and stepping protectively in front of me. “What the fuck, babe?” I question as I try to move around him, only his arm shoots back and cages me in.
“I think you’re lost,” he says in a tone that has goosebumps raising all over my skin.
What the fuck is going on?
A bad feeling starts to shoot through me as I peek my head around my husband’s side and a swarm of terrifying memories come rushing back. My heart starts to race as my palms begin to sweat.
Christian Baxter sits in my living room chair, the same one he had sat in all those months ago when my life changed for the worst. I never imagined in my life that things could ever get worse than what had happened that day, yet here he is again, only this time, he sits with a gun pointed directly at my husband.
My hand instantly slips into Tanks back pocket. I pull out his phone and search for Detective Andrews number as fast as I can before pressing the call button. Fuck, I hope he answers quickly and gets a damn move on, otherwise, we’re fucked. I have no idea how we could possibly come out on top in this situation but I know I’m not going down without a fight. There’s no way I’m letting this low life get away with harming my family again, not if I have anything to do with it.
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