by Vivian Ward
But on the other hand, dead women didn’t need clothes, and since I was packing the ones he’d thrown out of my closet, I still had a shred of hope. By the time I had shoved the last of my clothes in the bag and looked up at him, he still had the same hateful stare on his face. The one that said he hated me and I’d fucked up bad.
“What are you waiting for?” he roared. “I said let’s go. Grab the kid and come on.”
He pushed the door open, holding it with one arm, allowing Bentley and me to pass through the doorway.
“Before we go, promise me one thing,” I gulped. “Promise me that you won’t take away my baby, and that you won’t kill me; that you won’t put my body out in the woods over one of those bombs and make it look like an ‘accident.'”
His face had twisted before he bellowed out a low, throaty laughter.
“Everyone in this room is coming with me alive, and that includes you. I’m not the monster that you think I am, and we’re going to work through our issues. I’ve ignored this shit for way too long, and I should’ve handled things differently. If you had told me that you were pregnant and that we’d be parents, things would have been much different.”
“Gage,” I lowered my voice, allowing myself to sound submissive in an attempt to show him that he was in charge. “I didn’t find out I was pregnant until after you left.” I was afraid to ask the next part, but I forced myself; I had to know the answer. “And what are you saying? Work through things?”
He backed me against the wall in the hallway, slow and deliberately.
“I’m saying you’ve got another chance—only one. We’ve got history, and you’ve kept my son safe. I’m not blind. You might have been the biggest bitch to me, but that’s not a death sentence—at least not yet,” he leaned down, putting his mouth next to my ear and lowered his voice. “Cross me one more time, though. I dare you.”
His hot, sultry lips brushed the tip of my ear, and I trembled.
“We’re going to be one big, happy family—or I’ll do this all on my own,” he glared at me. “You’ll learn how to smile and be a good housewife, running around barefoot and pregnant.” He paused, “Oh, and I hope you packed something to make my dick pulsate on our honeymoon.”
Housewife? Barefoot and pregnant? Honeymoon?
The whirlwind effect that his words had on me sent me quivering down the wall, where I sat as he pulled out his cell phone and called Henry, of all people.
Twenty minutes later, Henry pulled up in Gage’s jeep to pick all of us up.
Gage’s nostrils flared as his eyes burned through Henry before his face curled in disgust and he nodded at him.
“This ain’t over, and I’ll deal with you later, but right now we’ve got to get them out of here.”
Henry nodded back as though his life depended on understanding Gage and he pretended I didn’t exist. I didn’t blame him for being terrified; hell, I was because Gage had a temper and a mind of his own. He turned his attention back to me for a minute.
“You and the kid will ride in the back,” he said lifting Bentley’s car seat off the ground and strapping it into the backseat. “I’ll check us into the hotel where Henry and I were staying until we figure out something better. I’ll call your parents when we get there to let them know that it’s not safe to go back home.”
“I don’t want to stay where your girlfriend hangs around,” I spat at him.
The last thing I wanted to see was that tramp parading around the hotel.
“You don’t have a right to say anything, babe. She was never my girlfriend, and you’ll stay where ever I take you.”
“There’s got to be another option. How about The Frampton? We can stay there,” I suggested.
“At this point,” he glared at me in the rearview mirror, “you’re lucky that you’re sitting in the backseat with my son.”
I didn’t think he was ever going to take his eyes off of me as a cold shiver ran down my spine. I sat in silence until we got back to the hotel, not daring to provoke his anger any further.
I didn’t have a clue what was about to happen next, but I was pretty sure the worst chapter of my life was about to start, and it wasn’t going to be an easy one.
Gage and Henry carried mine and Bentley’s bags into the hotel, checking us into an ‘extended stay.' I didn’t like the sounds of it, but I wasn’t exactly in the place to say anything.
Not after the way I’d hid his son from him and betrayed him; he was liable to do a whole lot more than just check me in for an extended stay. My fear? He’d put my body out on the property somewhere and say the terrorists had done it because I stuck my nose where it didn’t belong.
It would fit and make perfect sense, and it didn’t help that he was smart and savvy enough to pull it all off.
He could take Bentley and be gone in a flash while my parents searched for my body. I tightened my hold on Bentley, gripping him a little tighter as the woman behind the desk handed him key cards for the room.
I thought about trying to run, but I wouldn’t get very far very fast while carrying Bentley. Before I could make up my mind about what I wanted to do, he picked up Bentley’s diaper bag and nodded his head.
“Come on; it’s time to go.”
Glancing over at Henry, he refused to make eye contact with me. I quickly noted that just looking at his friend pissed Gage off. His jaw tightened as he gripped the bag tighter, making his knuckles turn white. Scurrying to his side, we walked to the room where he tossed the bag onto one of the full-size beds.
“You stay here with her—OUTSIDE of the room,” he commanded Henry. “I’m going back to the car lot and house to lock things up, and hopefully, tell her parents that they can’t stay there. If anything happens to her or the kid, it’s your balls on a fucking platter sent back to Asia so your mom knows she has a daughter now.”
Speechless and pale as a ghost, Henry’s Adam’s apple bobbed in his throat before he nodded and headed outside of the room.
“Don’t try any shit while I’m gone,” he said as I peeked around the doorway and saw Henry’s arm. “I’ll be back soon, but I have to make sure your parents don’t go back there.”
After he had shut the door, I sat on the bed, holding Bentley in my arms as he slept. He looked so peaceful as a small puddle of drool escaped his mouth. I’ve always said this baby drools more than a Saint Bernard.
“If her or the kid needs anything, you call me. Got it?” I heard him saying to Henry out in the hall once the door was closed. His voice was muffled, so I had to listen closely.
“We still aren’t cool, but until this shit’s over and we find Bethany, I’ll never speak to you again, and I’ll see to it that Mr. Sanders fires your ass for the shit you pulled!”
Damn. His voice sounded as cold as frozen steel, and I knew he meant every word he said. I leaned back on the bed, stroking my baby’s head as he stirred in my lap; mostly for my comfort.
Staring at the peeling, discolored wallpaper of the hotel room, I realized that he’d need to be fed soon. I hadn’t grabbed any of his snack foods or favorites from the kitchen cupboard before he rushed us out of the house.
Soon after, I had fallen asleep, but I was awakened by talking and banging that filled the room. When I opened my eyes, I saw my mom and dad with Gage standing behind them, sitting down the last of their bags. Apparently, he’d convinced them to stay here too; I just hoped it was on nicer terms than the ones he laid out for me.
“I’ll leave you all here to sleep for the night, and I’ll let Henry know that he’s going to stay here to watch over you while I go back to the house.”
My mom smiled nervously at me as she sat beside me on the bed while my dad shot me a look of, “I told you so.”
Returning a sympathetic smile to them, I nuzzled my face against the crook of Bentley’s neck and deeply inhaled his soft baby scent. I could never get enough of his sweet scent, and it helped calm me.
Gage walked outside of the hotel room and told him to che
ck on Mask and Bethany while he headed back to the woods. It was obvious that Henry felt bad; the poor guy couldn’t look Gage in the eyes.
He acted like a beaten, old dog who was morbidly obedient to his new master. I felt bad for him, and it made me sick to my stomach.
I didn’t know how close they were—if they were ever close to begin with—but none of this was Henry’s fault. If anything, it was my fault. I should have known how he would react if he found out about us.
My father looked down his nose as he stood over me, pursing his lips as he folded his arms.
“I told you it wasn’t right to keep that man from his son. You should have told him the minute he came back in town.”
“I know him better than you or mom, and I don’t know what you expected me to do when I ran into him at the store. What should I have said, ‘Oh, by the way, we have a son together, and he’s at home eating dinner right now’? Is that what I was supposed to have said?”
“Anita!” my father started.
“Let’s not argue. It’s late, and we might wake up Bentley,” my mother came to my aid. “We can talk about this in the morning. The important thing is that he knows now, and that’s all that matters.”
Morning came fast and as much as I wanted to sleep in a little longer, I couldn’t. Bentley had started crawling around on the bed and was babbling. He had to be hungry. I didn’t get to feed him dinner before he went to sleep. Both of my parents were still asleep in the other full-size bed; I wondered what time it was.
Looking at the window, I realized it was still dark out. Glancing at the alarm clock on the night table next to the bed, I saw that it was only 5:08 AM.
“Bentley,” I sighed. “You hungry?”
A sweet smile crept across his face as he nodded and said, “I hungy.”
I loved how he still couldn’t pronounce some of his words; it was the cutest thing in the world. He was so innocent and pure and didn’t have had a care in the world what was going on. He didn’t have a clue that I’d kept him secret from his dad or that his dad had found out and was ready to kill me. My baby was just happy to be awake, crawling around on the bed while he waited for some food.
“Okay, shhh,” I put my finger to my mouth. “Mama and Papa are asleep so we gotta be quiet. I’ll see about getting us some breakfast.”
He cracked a big grin and imitated me, “Shhh.”
“That’s right. Come here, baby,” I picked him up and nestled him against my breast. “Let me get you changed and then we’ll eat.”
What we were going to eat, I had no clue. I grabbed a diaper and the wipes out of his bag and changed him before tossing the diaper into the tiny wastebasket that was next to the dresser. Picking Bentley back up, I pulled him onto my hip and opened the door.
As I pulled the door open, I jumped back as Henry fell backwards onto my feet.
“I’m sorry,” I said, giving him space to get up. “I didn’t know that you were sleeping against the door.”
He blinked his eyes open and rubbed the sleep out of the corner of them. “Nah, it’s all right. No need to be sorry,” he climbed fast to his feet, disoriented.
“Where is Gage? The baby’s hungry because he didn’t get a dinner last night with everything that,” my cheeks felt hot as I thought about the kiss that we shared. The kiss that got us busted and ruined my big secret. “With everything that happened,” I picked up where I had left off.
“Uh,” he looked around, keeping his voice low. “He didn’t come back last night. I know he’s pissed off at me, but I haven’t heard from him,” he checked his phone.
“I don’t understand what’s going on. I heard him talking about a Bethany and Mr. Sanders, but neither of those names rings a bell. Why are you guys here?”
He looked around the room and saw my parents sleeping in the other bed. “I think the hotel starts breakfast in about a half hour, let’s take a walk and get the baby some food.”
I started to follow him out of the room, but he stopped mid-step and smacked his forehead. “I’m sorry, can he even eat regular food? I didn’t think about him being a baby when I said that.”
“Yeah,” I nodded, “he can eat table food. I’m sure I’ll be able to find something for him.”
We took our time walking down to the breakfast area of the lobby as we talked but it wasn’t easy. Bentley wanted down; he didn’t want to be held, and he was hungry. The young man who was setting things up noticed that Bentley was starting to get loud and invited us to come early.
“Thank you,” I said as we entered the breakfast room. “He’s starving, and I appreciate it.”
“No problem,” he replied. “Help yourselves. Everything is included in the price of your room. The juice is over there, cereal is over there, or we have bagels, donuts, and muffins over there,” he pointed around the room. “But if you want hot food like pancakes and waffles or scrambled eggs, you’ll have to wait about ten more minutes until all of that is ready.”
“Sounds good,” Henry said, waving the young man away.
After we had our food, I peeled back the liner around the muffin that I’d gotten for Bentley and began feeding him small pieces.
“So you think Gage is at my place? On the property?”
“It’s hard to say, but I’d suspect that’s where he is.”
I hadn’t noticed him carrying a laptop, but one magically appeared from the seat next to him as he opened it on the table and started pecking away at the keyboard.
“What are you doing? Emailing him?”
“No, I wish,” he shook his head. “I’m checking to see about any new leads on Mask or Bethany. This is the longest they’ve ever evaded us, and it just doesn’t make sense.”
“Mask?” I asked. “What the hell is going on?”
“I don’t know if I can tell you,” he blew out a deep breath. “Look, I’m pretty sure that I’m not even supposed to be talking to you, let alone telling you our business.”
“Nothing is stopping you from sitting here having breakfast with us, so I doubt that you’re not supposed to talk to me.” He puckered his lips; he knew I had him on that. “I know Gage, and while he might like his privacy, I’m also the mother of his child, so I think I deserve to know what’s going on.”
“Fine,” he closed the lid of his laptop, taking a long sip of his coffee before he finally continued. “We’re here on a mission of our own: to find and return our boss’s daughter. Her name’s Bethany, and she’s running with a real bad guy, the kind that likes to sell a lot of dope and run sex trafficking rings to collect as much cash as he can.”
The look of shock on my face must have betrayed me as he continued talking.
“But that’s not all he’s into. He runs a few drug rings and has business overseas.” He stopped, taking another long sip of his coffee while I fed the last of the muffin to Bentley. “He’s got Bethany with him—willingly—but just because she left willingly, doesn’t mean she’ll go that way once she figures out he’s his next fix for quick cash.”
“Jesus. Where are they? And if you guys are helping me, doesn’t that put you behind?”
Not that I valued what was going on at our house any less, but I felt bad for their boss, and his daughter. I imagined what I’d do if Bentley were running with the wrong crowd and I was scared for his safety; it made me shiver.
“Not exactly. We don’t know where they are. The last I knew, they weren’t far from here but once they got to Tennessee, they went off the grid, and we can’t find them.”
“Oh God,” I said, thinking about what must be running through the father’s head.
“You’ve got that right, and our boss isn’t too happy with us. Course, I haven’t told him all that in that exact fashion, but he knows we’re at a loss for where to find them.”
I pulled Bentley closer to me and hugged him tight as he sipped on some juice. Suddenly, I wanted to help them find her; maybe I wanted to do it because it would make me feel good to reunite a daughter and fath
er, or maybe I was trying to get on Gage’s good side and make things up to him. Either way, I wanted to see her safely returned to her dad.
Chapter 8: Gage
As much as I wanted to let her have it, I knew that it wasn’t the right time. There was too much going on, and I needed to focus on taking care of business.
It was the only thing that was keeping me sane. Concentrating on the task at hand kept her in the far recesses of my brain, just far enough away to keep her safe.
Her and her little secret—my son—had changed my life overnight.
I spent the next couple of nights sleeping out in the woods, keeping an eye on her property while I tried to sort through the shit that was swimming in my head. It was so hard for me to wrap my mind around the fact that I was a father now, someone’s dad.
My old man hadn’t been there for me, and it left a scar on me. I’m not sure which was worse: the scar on my soul from my father or the scars on my back from my mom’s boyfriends putting their hands on me. And here Bentley was, almost a year-and-a-half old, and he had no idea who his old man even was.
The thought of my boy—my boy—my flesh and blood, alone in the whole world out there, not knowing who his daddy was made a poisonous blood pump through my veins.
There’s no way in hell that I would ever let my boy be a bastard. I’d be the father he needed, raise him as I saw fit and knock down anyone who stood in the way of preventing me from doing that.
When I saw my son in his crib, there were two emotions that ran through me.
The first was love. The instant our eyes met and I saw a mirror image of myself; my heart melted into a red puddle of wax. Call it instinct or fate or whatever bullshit they say, but I knew that boy was mine. I didn’t need Anita or anyone else to confirm it.
All I wanted to do was swoop him up—and I did—and hold him forever, let him know that I’d be there. Unlike that son-of-a-bitch father of mine who bolted out of the door so damned fast that he left a lightning streak on the door on his way out.
I’d be there for my boy forever. Nothing would ever stop me from being his dad or loving him. It’d be a cold day in hell before anyone—including Anita—would ever separate us again. My flesh and blood belonged with me, with his family.