Outlaw's Baby: A Bad Boy Secret Baby Romance

by Marci Fawn

  If this is the route we have to take to get rid of this whole fucking mess, then we may as well get it done. The sooner it’s all over with, the better.

  “Do we…?” I start to ask how we’re going to get access to Ryder this time, but Bridgette is already on it.

  She pushes past everyone standing in her way and opens the door Cherie behind vanished only a few hours ago. It seems like she’s really the type of person who doesn’t mess about.

  Cherie grips my hand tightly, taking the words I spoke before seriously. She’s mine and she knows that now. I don’t think she’d do anything to mess that up. Then again, neither would I.

  By the time the rest of us reach Ryder’s office, Bridgette is already inside talking to him. I can tell from her voice that she’s crying.

  “…it’s all a big mess, we just don’t know what to do.”

  “Okay, don’t worry, Bridge. I’ll sort it. You know I look after my girls.”

  Ryder’s face is unexpectedly sincere. Maybe we really can trust him.

  “Sorry to drag you into this, boss,” Lucas says, joining the conversation. “And I understand if you have to fire me now. Obviously I love my job, and I don’t want to lose it, but if you’re worried…”

  “No.” Ryder interrupts firmly. “I need you here, Lucas. I know why you did what you did and I also know you didn’t intend to do that. No, losing you from my business is not the solution here. I’ll think of one.”

  “Thank you,” Bridgette says, her voice barely above a whisper.

  I glance down to Cherie, who’s smiling at me, too. She thinks this is all over now, and that Ryder can magically make it all go away. But there’s a gnawing sensation inside of me, telling me that it isn’t quite that simple.

  There’s got to be a catch.

  “So…Axel, is it?” Ryder’s focus turns to me. I stand to attention, puffing my chest out. I need this guy to know that I’m a force to be reckoned with. I want him to be afraid of me. I won’t be fucked about, not be someone like him.

  “Yep,” I snap out, emphasizing the p.

  “The mysterious man who’s been blamed for the murder.”

  I nod, not sure where he’s going with all of this.

  He stands, moving out from behind his desk. There’s a light shining behind his eyes that suggests he has an idea. Why do I feel as if I’m not going to like this?

  “Really, you are the one who has the most to lose from all this.”

  “I guess you could say that, yeah,” I reply, stiffly. “Unless Lucas turns himself in.”

  “Yes. You’re the one that the police are after. If they catch you, they’ll lock you away no questions asked. I’m sure there’s enough evidence to convict you, even if you are innocent. After all, they wouldn’t have launched a nationwide manhunt for you if not. It’s never a good idea to release incorrect information to the media…”

  “All right, I get what you’re saying,” I say. “Get to the point, for fuck’s sake!”

  He grins, knowing that he has me exactly where he wants me.

  “I don’t owe you anything. However, I do want to protect Lucas and Bridgette. I’d even like to look after sweet little Cherie.”

  Rage bubbles in the pit of my stomach. I know he’s doing this to antagonize me, and I’d love to be completely unmoved by his attempt, but I can’t help being rattled. This is all complete bullshit. I never committed the fucking crime—Lucas did—yet I’m still paying for it somehow.

  And I feel like Ryder’s about to take his jealousy out on me. First, he couldn’t get Bridgette, he lost Lucas, and now, Cherie’s off limits, too.

  “So…” Ryder moves his body much closer to mine, trying to intimidate me. “I’m going to need something from you, if you want me to help you out of your predicament.”

  I don’t respond. I remain still and silent. He doesn’t need an answer right now. He knows I have no choice, because I wouldn’t be here otherwise.

  Then his eyes flick suggestively towards Cherie and I completely lose my shit.

  “What the fuck?” I say, yanking my hand from hers and balling it into a fist. If I have to pound this guy into the ground to show him what a fucking crazy idea that is, I will. I don’t even give a shit if I have to go to jail because of it.

  “How fucking dare you. As if you think I’d even consider that option. You really are a filthy little bastard, aren’t you?”

  But just as I raise my fist up, the red mist beginning to descend, he shocks me by booming out with laughter.

  “Oh, Axel.” He shakes his head in amusement. If I wasn’t so confused right now, I’d be beating on him hard.

  “You’re hilarious. No, of course I don’t want Cherie. You think I can’t get my own girls? Plus, I respect that she’s yours. I don’t want to steal.”

  He holds his hand to his chest in a mock offended gesture, as if I’m supposed to believe that a connected guy like him isn’t a fan of theft.

  “No, what I want is you,” he continues.

  “Huh?” Oh god, this guy isn’t hitting on me, is he? That really would be fucked up.

  “I want you to work for me.”

  Thank fuck for that.

  “Like Lucas does? As a bouncer?”

  I consider that option for a moment. Working as a strip club bouncer to save myself from going to jail. No, that option seems too good to be true.

  “Yes…sort of. I think the details of this should be discussed in private, don’t you?”

  The way he looks at me gives me choice but to nod in agreement. Clearly the work he wants me to do isn’t for the ears of the others.

  “No, I…” Cherie starts, but I shoot her a look to silence her. I know that I’m being a hypocrite—after all, I insisted that she couldn’t see Ryder alone, but this is about more than that. This affects all of us.

  Bridgette was the one who got involved with Hunter in the first place. I’m the one who decided that it was a good idea to beat the shit out of him, which made the cops believe I killed him, and Lucas is the one who accidentally killed him. We’re all involved. Cherie isn’t. She’s only in this out of association. I’ve already put her in enough danger, and if there’s something that I can do to protect her, I will.

  After all, she’s innocent.

  “Just wait outside. This will only take a few seconds,” I say. Then I kiss her lightly on the top of her head, inhaling the sweet scent of her hair before ushering her towards the door.

  “Thank you, Ryder. I really appreciate it,” I hear Bridgette saying. She pauses for a second, looking thoughtful. “Just…be nice, okay?”

  Ryder laughs. “Of course. Am I ever anything else?” The look Bridgette gives him just makes him laugh some more. “I’ll see you soon. Look after yourself.”

  As soon as the door slams behind the three of them, Ryder turns to face me.

  “Right,” he says, grinning brightly as if he’s just won the lottery. “Let’s get down to business…”

  21

  Cherie

  I cannot sit still, and I don’t know how the hell Bridgette and Lucas are so damn calm. They’re so relaxed, casually sipping their drinks as if they have no troubles in the world. Don’t they realize that their lives are hanging in the balance here too?

  “Will you just sit still, Cherie?” Bridgette hisses at me. “We’re not supposed to be looking guilty.”

  “Oh yeah, because we totally fit in here!” I say, indicating to our bizarre surroundings. “Just two chicks—one of them knocked up—watching a strip show with a bouncer. Completely normal.”

  “If you weren’t acting so crazy, you’d see that it’s not so strange!”

  I try to calm my racing heart down. Chill out, I think, but it gets me nowhere. Whatever Bridgette says, I don’t think I’m overreacting at all.

  “What’s Ryder doing in there?” I finally ask. “Why couldn’t we just stay? I can’t stand this.”

  “Ryder knows what he’s doing. He’s just about the only person
in the damn world that could get us out of this. You need to trust him. Trust me, at least! Plus, Axel is a grown-ass man. He can look after himself. You need to stop worrying; you’re going to give yourself a heart attack.”

  I shoot my sister a nasty look. Most of the worrying that I’ve been doing over the past few months has been over her. She has no real right to tell me how to feel now, especially seeing as it was her boyfriend who inadvertently got Axel into this mess.

  I can’t tear my eyes away from the door as I wait impatiently for Axel to show his face. I’ll be able to tell right away how bad things are.

  “I’m just scared, that’s all,” I mutter, almost under my breath.

  “You really care about him, don’t you?” Bridgette asks, seemingly eyeing me in a new light. “I mean, I already guessed that he was more than just a friend. But it runs deeper than that. Do you love him?”

  “Love him? Of course not. I haven’t known him for long enough to love him.” I’m arguing so ferociously that it’s almost as if I’m trying to convince myself. “He’s great, but…”

  Before I get to continue that sentence, he finally swaggers back into sight.

  “Axel!” I cry, jumping from my seat. I don’t even care that people are probably staring. None of them matter to me. Only he does.

  I grab him and pull him closer to me, as if I’m about to kiss him. Only I don’t, I whisper in his ear instead. “Is everything all right?” I ask.

  He nods mutely.

  “What did you have to do?”

  He looks deep into my eyes, as if he’s searching for an answer there. “It doesn’t matter. All that matters is it’s a done deal now. You’re safe.”

  He pauses for a second. “We’re all safe,” he says, almost as an afterthought.

  “But what…?” I try asking again, but he’s already walking away.

  “Shall we go?” he asks Bridgette and Lucas. They nod, and all three of them start to walk towards the door, leaving me wallowing in my pool of confusion.

  Why the hell is he being so secretive?

  I’ll have to find out later. I’ll make him tell me, and I won’t let it rest until he does.

  * * *

  We race along on the back of Axel’s bike with the others following in the car. We’re heading back to Lucas and Bridgette’s place for the night. They have a spare room, and after the chaotic few days—few months really—that I’ve had, a decent rest with the knowledge that my sister is alive sounds like heaven.

  As we fly around the corner towards the blocks of apartments, the first thing I spot is a police car.

  “Holy shit,” I mutter. “That’s not here for us, is it?”

  Did Ryder rat us out? Would he do that? Maybe that’s why Axel wouldn’t tell me anything. But then again, this is a shady part of the city. Surely they could be here for anyone.

  So why am I so sure that things are about to go to shit?

  “Are you okay?” Axel asks. It’s then that I realize I’m shaking like a leaf. The terror is blasting through me, causing my breaths to come out funny. I cling to him tighter, not wanting to lose him. Not now.

  “Don’t panic,” he mutters, not sounding quite as confident as I would like.

  He pulls over and parks a short distance away, as if he’s trying to decide what to do. I don’t move off the bike. I want to stay with him if he’s going to take off. I don’t want to be left behind.

  Wherever he goes, I go, too.

  “Let’s just wait for your sister,” he finally says. “We can’t get in without her.”

  “Aren’t you afraid?”

  “No,” he says, far too sharply to be the truth.

  “Do you think Ryder would…?”

  “No.”

  I fall into silence, praying that Bridgette is going to have all the answers.

  “Act natural, they’re coming over,” Axel suddenly says. This gives us no choice but to dismount the bike and pull off our helmets. We’d look too strange just sitting there.

  “Mr. Lake?” one of the officers asks. I drink in his appearance; the man who’s about to strip my life of Axel. The one who’s about to take away the only safety blanket I have. He has sharp, beady eyes and the pudgy stomach of a man who loves junk food and hates exercise. I want to hate him with a burning passion, but I’m far too numb inside. I just watch him instead, feeling absolutely nothing.

  “Yes,” Axel replies, resignation on his tongue.

  “I’m Officer Scout, and this is Officer Alexander,” the cop says.

  They shake hands, and I start to wonder what the hell is going on. Shouldn’t they be pinning him to the ground and handcuffing him, or pointing a gun our way?

  The officer continues. “We heard that you might be staying here. Is it all right to come inside? We have a few things to discuss with you?”

  This really doesn’t seem at all like the arrest I was expecting at all. Is this standard procedure? Where are the handcuffs, the police dogs, the ‘you have the right to remain silent?’ Does that only happen on TV?

  “Of course,” Axel replies, seemingly unfazed. “But the home belongs to Cherie’s sister so we’ll have to wait for them to return. They shouldn’t be too long.”

  “Right.” Officer Scout seems awkward now. “Well, we’ll just wait for them to get here, I suppose.”

  I watch them walk back to their squad car until they’re finally out of earshot.

  “What the hell is going on? Are they arresting you or not?” I ask.

  “Nope,” Axel replies. “Or I’d be in the back of that car by now.”

  “Well, what then?” I tug on his arm, desperate to have his full attention.

  “We’ll have to just find out, I guess,” he replies, much to my frustration.

  Luckily, my sister and Lucas finally make their appearance a few seconds later. At the sight of the cop car, Bridgette stares at me, but I can only shrug helplessly as a reply. I really don’t know enough about what’s happening to communicate verbally, let alone telepathically.

  “Let’s get this show on the road,” Axel says, tugging on my arm and making me follow him.

  * * *

  As soon as we’re all sitting in the small front room, awkwardly holding cups of tea and coffee, Officer Scout begins.

  “First off, I’d like to apologize on behalf of the city’s police department. You were our primary suspect because you were the last person seen with the victim, engaged in a physical altercation. We had an eyewitness to that.”

  Ugh. He’s trying to defend their error. What kind of bullshit apology is this? Axel has been on the run for months, and all he’s getting is ‘oh, sorry, we thought we were right about you.’

  “Some new evidence has come to light that Mr. Hunter Wheeler’s death was nothing more than a tragic accident.”

  We all wait for him to elaborate, but he says nothing. He looks uncomfortable; he can’t even make eye contact with anyone. This is too weird for words.

  “What…?” I start to ask, glancing around the room for confirmation that I’m doing the right thing. “What do you mean, an accident?”

  “I’m afraid I cannot divulge details,” he replies sharply, before rapidly stumbling onto the next topic. “Now, as for you Mr. Lake, we will issue a statement to the media, declaring your innocence. I hope this resolves things for you.”

  “Wait…” I start to speak out again, but Axel talks over me.

  “Thank you, Officer.”

  Thank you? Why the hell is he thanking this guy? He should be going nuts. He should be demanding that they explain to him how they could have fucked up so badly. He should say that he’ll still be demonized by people who believe that there’s no smoke without fire. He should…

  I suddenly realize something, and I force myself to seal my lips tightly shut.

  This is all part of Ryder’s plan…

  22

  Axel

  Okay, it’s official. I’ve made a deal with the Devil. The fact that I’m now walk
ing away scot free just proves what a powerful man Ryder really is.

  And now I’m going to be forced to give him exactly what he wants…

  “Let’s get down to business.”

  That’s how the conversation began. I just knew those words were going to mean trouble for me…and how right I was.

  “So what is it you want?” I replied. I wouldn’t let him have Cherie, not for anything in the world. I hoped that he could see that.

  “Let’s start with what I’m going to do for you, shall we?”

  I didn’t respond to that. He was just fucking with me again.

  “I’ll get the police off your back,” he continued. “I’ll also ensure that Cherie, Bridgette and Lucas are protected, too, and I’ll let the authorities know that Hunter’s death had absolutely nothing to do with any of you.”

  He wanted me to ask how he was going to do that, what he was going to say, but I didn’t. No way I was gonna give that fucker the satisfaction.

  “Then, in return, I want you to work for me. The job won’t be here. The work will be a part of my…side business, shall we say?”

  I guessed that he was referring to his criminal activities. Otherwise he would have just come out and said what it was. I had more than enough experience in that sort of area.

  “Doing what?”

  I had to ask. I didn’t want to blindly agree to anything.

  He waved his hand evasively. “This and that.”

  “Right. Okay.”

  “Well, before you finally agree, there’s more.”

  More? Seriously? This guy was nothing more than a pretentious douchebag. Did he want me to sell him my fucking soul or something? Give him my firstborn son?

  “I need you to leave Cherie.”

  “Leave?” I asked. He was making no sense. Leave her where?

  “I need you to leave her behind and commit fully to me. What I’m going to ask of you is dangerous. There’s no need for her to be mixed up in any of it.”

  “Absolutely no,” I said. I’d only just found Cherie, and I didn’t intend to leave her already.