This Crazy Forbidden Thing: A Bad Boy Secret Baby Romance Novel (The Knight Brothers Book 2)

by London Casey

  “When we lost Daddy we lost everything. Owen had to be a man at such a young age. I’m so upset with myself that it’s all come to this. But looking at you, I see something in your face. Your eyes. It’s all going to be okay.”

  Then Mom smiled. A genuine smile. I couldn’t remember the last time she smiled that big before. That honestly before.

  “You’re going to have my first grandchild,” she whispered.

  She kissed my cheek, hugged me, and my heart fell into pieces.

  I managed to hold off the tears until I got into my car. Once I got onto the road, I started to cry my eyes out. I blinked fast, trying to chase the tears away. My foot stepped on the accelerator harder and harder. My hands were shaking so badly. I wanted to be pissed at Owen. At Walker. At everyone. At the guy who killed my father, but that guy was already dead.

  The only person I could blame was myself.

  Or Slade.

  That fucking prick. He was supposed to be my forever. The man to whisk me away and save me from this town. I didn’t want to get swallowed up and end up working at a diner. But that’s what happened.

  I felt my stomach flip, sick with anger.

  “Slade,” I whispered.

  That night on his motorcycle. The way we touched each other. The way he knew how to explore my body and touch and taste places that sent me over the edge instantly.

  That was the night I was going to tell him I would go with him anywhere he wanted. I was going to run away with him that night. I had stuff packed and everything. It was going to happen. Ride off in the midnight moonlight and stop when the sun came up.

  But it never happened.

  That was the night Slade murdered someone.

  I told myself to slow the hell down.

  I was going too fast and couldn’t calm my emotions or my lead foot.

  I took my foot off the gas pedal and sucked in a breath. At that exact second I heard a pop sound. The car pulled to the right and I was off the road. I cut the wheel to the left, remembering Owen trying to explain to me what to do if I ever got caught with a flat or spinning out or needing to stop really fast if there was a car in front of me. I heard his voice but couldn’t remember a damn thing he said to me.

  My car shot to the left, crossing to the wrong side of the road. Thankfully the road was empty. I turned the wheel again, moving back to the right. The ass of the car tried to turn but I managed to get control. That was honestly the fastest I ever stopped crying and my tears dry up ever in my life. I got the car to the side of the road, safely, and got out. It took me a few minutes to get my heart to calm down. The front right tire had blown out. Luckily there was no damage to my car. I glanced back at the empty, dark road. I knew there was a spare in the trunk but I wasn’t going to mess around with that right then.

  If I called Owen, he’d get mad at me. Blame me for driving like a fool, which would be right. Not that driving too fast could bust a tire. Or maybe it could.

  I couldn’t call Walker, he was out of town celebrating his new deal.

  There was only one thing I could do.

  Ride on the flat.

  It wasn’t that far... well, to my apartment it was.

  But I knew where I could take the car.

  Jack would be at his garage...

  I waited a few minutes and Jack opened the office door. He stumbled a step and then caught himself and lit up a fresh cigarette. He loved to drink and smoke. But he was the best mechanic in town and probably the only one who would help me right then.

  “Jack,” I said.

  “Pretty girl,” he said. “What are you doing here so late?”

  “I got a flat.”

  “Just now?”

  “A mile back, maybe.”

  “You rode in on a flat? Why didn’t you call Owen?”

  I shrugged my shoulders. “I didn’t want to bother him.”

  “What about the fancy boyfriend of yours?”

  “Stop,” I said. “You’re too old for me, Jack.”

  He laughed and looked at the front of my car. He let out a whistle. “Well, doesn’t look like any damage. I’ll put it in the garage and give it a look. How’s that sound?”

  “Thank you, Jack,” I said. “You’re saving me right now. Seriously.”

  He smirked and shook his head. “Yeah, don’t mention it.”

  He then walked to the garage door and pressed a button, letting the door slowly open. The chains creaked and groaned, squealing loud enough that it made me wince. I knew Jack was a millionaire yet he lived like a broke slob.

  When the door was completely open he turned and folded his arms. “I’ll have my help take good care of you.”

  “Help?” I asked. “Since when do you have help?”

  “Need a little help out here!” Jack bellowed.

  I heard a voice yell, “On it!” and I froze.

  Jack was a nice guy. A really nice guy. He always looked out for the best interest of the town and the people, no matter what. In fact, I had done some stuff in one of his cars out back in the little junkyard lot he created.

  That was a lifetime ago though.

  And it was with...

  “Slade,” I whispered.

  There he was, standing at the open garage, looking as shocked as I was.

  His body was built so beautiful. He was older, bigger, a man now. The look in his eyes burned at me as we were both in silence. We were both going through every possible memory of one another. The good, the bad, the last one we had. I had seen him at his father’s funeral but that was at a distance. I was just feet away now.

  “Olivia busted a tire,” Jack said. “Throw on a spare and leave that one here. I’ll fix it up.”

  Slade looked at Jack and nodded. “Okay.”

  He stepped from the garage toward me. My mind said to step back but my heart said to lunge forward. I ended up just standing there.

  Slade came at me and grabbed for my door. He looked right at me again and swallowed hard.

  “Anything else wrong?” he asked.

  Those were the first words he spoke to me since the night he had to bail out of town.

  Anything else wrong?

  That question was far beyond loaded. Of course there was something wrong. The only man I truly loved was standing there, almost like a stranger to me now. He had the same eyes as before but there was just so much that couldn’t happen to make wrong seem right. He was off limits. He was the town bad boy and always had been. I was warned he would stomp on my heart. He would say anything to get into my pants and then he would ditch me.

  Did Slade do all of that?

  Yes he did.

  The car door shut and he started to drive forward.

  He stopped the car and I caught him looking at me in the rearview mirror.

  I forced a quick smile and then waved.

  Wave? For real?

  Slade gave a nod and then got out of the car. He looked at me. “Give me a few minutes, okay? I’ll switch this out and check for any damage. Do you have a ride home just in case?”

  You, Slade. Live up to your promise and take me home.

  “Yeah,” I lied and smiled. “I’ll just hang out here.”

  Slade shut the car door. “I don’t bite, Liv. At least not the way you remember.”

  I gasped. I felt my cheeks turn bright red. My mouth opened but nothing came out.

  Slade was the only man to ever call me Liv. And, yeah, I remember the way he used to bite me. Playful nibbles... his teeth grazing my neck or the inside of my thigh before he...

  “Hungry?” a voice asked.

  It was Jack, holding the door open to the office.

  “What?”

  “I got some leftover pizza,” Jack said.

  “No,” I said. “Thank you. I’m okay. I’ll wait here.”

  “Suit yourself,” Jack said. He then looked over at Slade and shook his head.

  Jack knew exactly what he was doing.

  He was putting me in a position to ruin my d
amn life.

  (SLADE)

  I had her car jacked up and the tire off. It was shredded down to the rim but there was no damage to the rim. I stood and turned, seeing Liv standing there. She made it about ten steps closer than where she was a minute ago.

  Again, she waved.

  “You could stop waving,” I said.

  My eyes fought to look away from her eyes. Too late though, I had already checked her out. From the second I met her I knew her beautiful body was going to end up into a seductive woman. The shape and curves of her hips were perfect against the shape and curves of her breasts. Up close now, it was pretty obvious that Liv had blossomed beyond what I had remembered her as. Her hair was longer than before, probably almost to the middle of her back. She had it tucked behind her ears, almost looking cute with a few loose strands doing their own damn thing.

  But it was those blue eyes that just tore me to pieces, like it had happened before.

  I had thrown a rock through the diner window and that’s how I got her attention. I didn’t mean to have her in the line of fire and I was glad she didn’t get hurt. She did, however, come right after me. Cursing up a storm, swinging at me. She was on fire from the second I met her. Even now, standing in front of me, looking worried, I could still see the fire in her eyes.

  “I don’t know what...,” she started to say but stopped. She shook her head. “No. Nothing. Just tell Jack when you’re done.”

  She turned to walk away.

  It wasn’t going to happen again.

  Before I knew what I was doing, my hand grabbed her arm and I turned her around. We were just feet from each other. I could smell her hair as it whipped around. She gasped and looked at me, shocked. I quickly let her go and put my hand up.

  “That’s it?” I asked. “All this time...”

  “I don’t know what you want me to say. I didn’t even know you were in town still.”

  “I’m trying to work shit out with the old man’s place,” I said. “I guess I could do that from anywhere in the world, but I just don’t want to leave here yet.”

  “Why not?”

  “Do you really need the answer?” I asked with a grin.

  Her cheeks turned a deep red. She took a step back. “Just please take care of the tire.”

  “I will, Liv. Can I at least ask how you are?”

  “You’re looking at it,” she said. “I’m still here.”

  “Still at the diner?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Never got out, huh?”

  “No, my ride left without me.”

  Ouch, beautiful.

  “Ah, shit,” I said. I ran a hand through my hair. I needed a smoke, bad. “Look, I replay that night in my head ten times a day. I’ve always wanted the chance to tell you what happened that night with Danny.”

  “You were charged with murder and got away with it,” Liv said.

  I sucked in a breath and gritted my teeth. I swallowed hard and nodded. “You’ve already made up your mind. Okay. I’m sorry then. Let me get the spare out of your trunk and you’ll be on the road in a few minutes.”

  I popped the trunk and spotted a set of running shoes that weren’t Liv’s size... or for women. Her tiny ass feet wouldn’t fit in these things. They were men’s shoes. I reached down and went for the spare tire. I had to ignore the shoes, even though it cut through me.

  She had someone else.

  Of course she would have someone else. It had been a long time since we were together. She had to move on. Christ, she thought I was a murderer. My hands were dirty and guilty of a lot of bad things, but not murder.

  “Everything okay?” Liv asked.

  “Yeah,” I said.

  I got the tire and didn’t even look back.

  I crouched down and put the spare tire on the car.

  I heard the click of her shoes on the concrete and looked to my left.

  She was approaching me.

  I started to tighten the lug nuts and felt my heart pounding. I tightened them as hard as I could as she stood there.

  “Uh, Slade,” she said. “This is so unexpected for me, okay? I thought you were gone. I tried to come to the funeral...”

  I popped up, dropping the wrench. I faced her, towering over her like I always had. I had a good seven inches on her and I loved every inch that I was taller. Not to mention all the inches of my cock driving into her body.

  “I saw you at the funeral,” I said. “We looked right at each other. Don’t play that with me, Liv.”

  “Fine. I was there.”

  “You were taken from there. By someone. Are those his shoes in the trunk?”

  “What if they are?” Liv asked. “It’s none of your goddamn business, is it, Slade? You fucking left me. You took all the promises and just...”

  I saw the look in her eyes. She was going to swing at me.

  I kept my hands at my sides, willing to bear anything she needed to do to me.

  “What?” I asked. “Don’t hold back now, beautiful.”

  Her lips quivered. “I shouldn’t have gone. And you shouldn’t be here right now. You don’t belong in this town, Slade. You’re only here to stir up trouble. And when you do that, it hurts me.”

  “Trouble?” I asked. “You want trouble?”

  I felt the last bit of fire rise up through me.

  My hand came up and I touched Liv’s face. So soft and pretty, the back of my fingers running against her cheek. My hand then turned and my fingers slid into her hair. Right to the back of her head. My thumb stroked her cheek.

  “Trouble,” I whispered.

  I pulled at her as I brought my lips to hers. The second our lips touched, the old fire blazed hotter than ever. Nothing was lost. Nothing was forgotten. I kissed her again and then opened my mouth. I wanted to devour her right there, against the car.

  I saw her hand lift up and swing at me, slapping me. I broke the kiss and backed up. She swung again, cracking me hard across the face. The slap had some real kick to it. It wasn’t the first time she ever hit me and it was definitely not the last.

  There was a second that passed by, both of us standing there. Her eyes wide, bluer than ever before. My cheek burned a raw red throb. My hands balled into fists. I inched forward and she jumped at me. Her hands at my shoulders, my hands at her hips. I put her right back against the car, thrusting myself at her, feeling everything I had once felt before. Now our tongues not only touched but we attacked each other. I tasted her mouth, my tongue commanding the kiss. I slipped my hands to her ass and pulled, bringing her right against me. I wanted her to feel my cock through my jeans. I wanted her to feel what she was fucking doing to me.

  I squeezed tight and lifted her. I wanted her legs around me, telling me she was ready for it all.

  But then I thought about the shoes in the trunk.

  The guy that grabbed her arm and pulled her away at the funeral.

  My hands moved around and I pushed away. I was tempted to run my hands up her body and cup her breasts.

  “Fuck, beautiful,” I said. “How serious is it?”

  “What?”

  “You know what I’m talking about. The guy. How serious?”

  And right then, appearing as innocent as the day I met her, she burst into tears.

  I watched as she slithered along her car, touching her stomach and trying to control her crying. She had broken down in a way I had never seen before. Shit, even the day I left, she wasn’t this worked up. It left me shocked.

  She pointed to the front of the car with a shaky finger. “Is it done?”

  “Yeah,” I said. “Let me get it off the jack for you. Liv...”

  “No,” she said. “Goddammit, no. This was... you should leave this town.”

  I curled my hands into fists. “Why?”

  “You don't belong here.”

  “I grew up here, just like you.”

  “You left.”

  “I was chased out. You know what I went through?”

  Liv shook
her head. “No, I don’t. You never called me. You never said a thing to me.”

  “It was a favor,” I said through gritted teeth. “Your brother... you know what? Fuck it. It doesn’t matter. You have a life here, Liv. You have a job. You have a guy in your life. Good for you. I had no idea you were coming here tonight with a flat tire. Don’t make it seem like I set this up, okay? I’m in town trying to settle up my old man’s estate.”

  “What about your brothers?” she asked.

  “If you really must know, Caine is back in Canada and Roman wanted to be with his girl. She’s pregnant.”

  “I know,” Liv said. “I heard about it online.”

  “So that leaves me,” I said. “Jack pays me good money and lets me play in his junkyard. That’s what I do. I fix shit.”

  Let me fix this, Liv. You. Me. What happened that night.

  “Well, if you’re going to be here, then I won’t,” she said. “I’ll find somewhere else to go if I have car problems. I can’t ever see you again, Slade.”

  It felt like someone punched me in the gut. I felt the anger roll up inside me. I crouched down and grabbed the wrench and double-checked the lug nuts. I lowered the car and tossed the wrench aside. I walked around the front and got into the car. It smelled like her. Some kind of clean and fruity smell. I started the car and backed it out of the garage. I left it running and climbed out. The door was open and I backed away, looking at her.

  “All set,” I said. “I’ll go tell Jack. I don’t want to be fucking involved anymore than I already am, Liv. You want the truth? Yeah, I’m sticking around when I don’t have to. I’ve never had a home. I’ve always just taken to the road and stop when I want and leave when I want. Right now, I don’t want to leave.”

  “Why?” she asked.

  “Because you don’t know the truth. That’s why.”

  I turned and walked away. I went through the side door of the office and whistled.

  Jack looked up from a small television.

  “She’s good,” I said. “I have the flat in the garage. She’s ready to go. Do whatever paperwork or shit you need.”

  “So that’s it?” Jack asked.