by Sam Crescent
The bartender called her name, but she ignored him. As she climbed back into the cab, her whole world felt tilted on its axis. Her gut had told her to stay away from him.
She’d ignored her gut, and now she was panicking.
Paying the cab driver, she climbed out and walked toward her door. She was inside her apartment and closing the door when her cell phone went off.
Rejecting the call, she placed her keys on the hook and tugged her jacket off. After a quick shower, she changed into a pair of jeans and a shirt. When she looked at her cell phone she saw over ten missed calls along with a dozen messages from him. Deleting them all, she tried to ignore the phone.
Caleb was not the kind of man to be ignored.
When her phone rang for the twentieth time, she answered, ready for him.
“Donna, what the hell is going on? I said I was bringing Chinese home and yet you’re going to the club. What’s going on?”
“Who are you?” Donna asked.
“I haven’t got time for this shit. What the fuck is going on?”
His anger wasn’t hard to miss. She chuckled. “Are you a pimp? Do you deal drugs? Are you a criminal? These are the kind of questions I’ve got for you.”
Silence met her questions, and her gut twisted.
“Who told you?” Caleb asked.
“So it’s true? All of it?”
“I’m not discussing this shit with you over the fucking phone. I’ll be there tonight,” he said.
“Don’t bother. I don’t want anything to do with you.” She hung up, and when the phone rang again seconds later, she launched it against her wall. Donna watched the device shatter on the floor.
The silence was a blessing and a curse. She didn’t want to be hearing anything yet knowing her life was never going to be the same again.
Caleb had invaded her life, and he’d destroyed it at the same time.
She’d given her virginity to a pimp.
Closing her eyes, she fisted her hands and tried to ignore the pain of what had just happened. What had just happened?
Had she fallen for a criminal?
Caleb didn’t do love, but that didn’t stop her from falling in love with him.
Pressing her face against her hands, Donna started to sob. She’d fallen for a man who’d kept his true identity from her. What was she going to do?
Chapter Nine
Trying Donna’s number again, Caleb knew she’d either smashed the phone or turned it off. Whoever was responsible for telling her the truth was going to deal with him.
“Trouble in paradise?” Henry asked.
“Someone told her who I am.” He turned back to the man they were punishing for trying to sell coke on their turf. Caleb had caught him last night trying to roofie one of the women in his club. He was one of Drake’s cronies trying to wheel in on his turf and piss him the fuck off.
“Who would have told her?”
“The only person she listens to is that friend of hers.” Looking at Henry, he came up with a plan. “Go to her place and get rid of Darren.”
“Darren?”
“Yeah, that fucker is running his big mouth about the fights. We can’t have a loose mouth on our turf. When you’re done, threaten the friend and get back to me.” Caleb ran a hand over his face.
“This is covering shit up, Caleb. This is where mistakes start to be made.”
“I don’t give a fuck what mistakes are being made. I’m repairing some damage caused. Think about it. Darren talks to the wrong fucker, the games are invaded by cops, we all lose.”
Henry let out a sigh. “Fine, I’ll go and deal with this shit. What about this fucker?” Henry pointed to the man who was close to death any way.
Pulling out his gun, Caleb fired, shooting the man in the head. Henry stepped back.
“Clean the mess up. I’ve got shit to do.”
Without waiting for someone to stop them, he left the warehouse and walked to his car.
“This is a mistake,” Henry said.
“Look, it’s been a month that I’ve known her, and I’m not giving her up.”
“There’s other pussy around, Caleb. You don’t need to settle for the first one who spreads for you.” Henry stood with his arms folded.
“I’ve tried to fuck other women. I don’t expect you to know what I mean. This is different. Donna’s different, and when I’m around her, I forget all the other shit.” He ran a hand over his face.
“Three weeks is not enough time.”
“Three weeks in the ring could have us dead or put us on the map. Three weeks can cause problems and solve them. It doesn’t matter about the time, Henry. It’s about feeling. Shit, I don’t expect you to understand.” He opened the car door and made to climb inside.
“Just remember she can be used against you. Come clean or find a really good lie.” Henry tapped the hood of his car, and Caleb pulled away.
Driving toward her apartment he didn’t think about anything else. He forgot about the food, and he parked up in the only available parking space. To get to her apartment, he’d broken the speed limit.
Running up the stairs taking them two at a time, he banged on her apartment door.
“Let me in, Donna.”
She didn’t answer, and he banged on the door again. He wasn’t going anywhere.
“Go away,” she said, shouting through the door.
“No, you’ve got to let me in to talk to you.”
“There’s nothing to say. Please leave.”
Gritting his teeth, he slammed his fist on the door. “Open the fucking door before I smash it the fuck in.”
The door was opened, and she stood staring at him. There were no red blotches around her eyes from crying. She looked ready to hurt him.
“What do you want?”
He pushed his way into her apartment closing the door behind him. She didn’t scream at him, only stepped back.
“We’ve got to talk.”
“You’re not the man you said you were.”
“I never said I was anything.” He ran a hand down his face as he looked at her.
Her gaze was on his hands, and he saw what she saw, the knuckles with bruises and blood on them.
“Who are you?” she asked.
“I’m Caleb Cassell.”
“I know your name. I also know that you own the club with Henry. What I don’t know is everything else.” She folded her arms, glaring at him. The shirt rode down exposing a great deal of cleavage. He’d woken up and sucked on those tits. Caleb had yet to fuck her tits and ass, but he was going to.
“Are you pregnant?” he asked. He’d been waiting impatiently to find out the truth.
“I don’t know.”
“It’s been a month, and you’ve not started your period. I’m not stupid, Donna. You’re pregnant.”
“I’ve never been regular in my life. It doesn’t mean anything, and I’ve not taken a test to confirm yet.”
“Why do you keep hiding from the truth?” he asked.
“Why do you keep lying to me? I’ve told you the truth about who I am.”
“I can’t tell you the truth unless you agree to marry me,” he said, firing out the ultimatum.
“What? That’s absurd.” She glared at him, her beautiful blue eyes promising fire and danger. “Why can’t you just be a man and tell me the truth?” Donna yelled, opening her arms and standing close to him.
She lashed out, slapping him around the face. He accepted the first blow, but by the third, he’d had enough.
Grabbing her arms he tackled her to the ground.
Donna cried out, screaming for him to leave her alone. He wrestled her to the ground, and he rested between her thighs.
“Fucking stop. You’re going to hurt yourself. I’m stronger and fucking faster than you.” He yelled the words against her ear to force her to stop.
“You’re a monster.”
“I’m not. I’m a fucking businessman.” She wriggled underneath him. His cock res
ponded to her body moving underneath his. For a split second he enjoyed the feel of her body against his.
“You sell women. I can’t believe I gave myself to you.” She tried to force him off. Donna wasn’t a match for his strength.
“I protect women who want to sell their fucking bodies.” He snarled the words at her. The last thing he regretted was being with her. The past three weeks had been sheer perfection to him. There was nothing he’d change about being with her.
She called to him. Her sweetness gave him hope that he could have something more meaningful in the future with her.
“What?” she asked.
“I’ve never claimed to be a good man. To the world I own Ecstasy. No one needs to know the rest. I worked in an underground fighting club. I learned to keep my fucking mouth shut and fight. Fighting was where I met Henry. We couldn’t fight to the death all of our lives, and so we took off on our own.”
She stopped moving to listen to him.
“The club is a front to sell the drugs, but I keep it fucking clean. This is my business, and I need you to keep your mouth shut. This world, it’s not safe.” He stared into her eyes. “Now, I’m going to release your hands, and you’re going to keep those fucking claws to yourself, understood?” he asked.
Donna nodded.
He released her hands and leaned back, giving her plenty of room to move. Slowly, he climbed off her and helped her to her feet.
“I’ll tell you what you want to know, but then you remain my woman, Donna.”
“You can’t do that.”
“It’s simple. You want to know the truth, you find out knowing you’re not having another man in your life. I’m it for you, baby.”
“I can date whoever I want.”
He shook his head. “No, I’ll kill any man who thinks he can touch what’s mine. You’re mine, Donna.”
“That’s not your decision to make.”
“Babe, it was made the moment you let me inside your fucking cunt. I don’t share, and there’s no way you’re taking another man.”
She tucked some hair behind her ear, and her hands were shaking. Guilt swamped him at what he’d done.
“You better tell me the whole truth then,” she said, taking a seat on her sofa.
He watched Pearl climb up on her lap.
Sitting in the chair opposite he leaned on his knees and gave her his full attention.
“What I’m about to tell you can never leave this room.”
“I’ve got no one to tell,” she said, staring at his hands.
“You can’t talk to Lydia either. This is dangerous.”
She visibly swallowed then turned her gaze to his. “Then I won’t tell anyone, but I think it’s time I find out who I share a bed with.”
He told her everything and didn’t leave anything out. Caleb opened up about his life from the fighting down to the change with Henry where he became his own boss.
“You’re the boss?” she asked. “You have the final decision?”
“No and yes. Henry has a scar down his face, and he doesn’t like to deal with the front of the business, so I take that role. We let others believe that I’m the one in charge while he’s simply my guard. It’s not the case. He’s my best friend, and I won’t let anything happen to him.”
His cell phone buzzed, and he looked down to see it was Henry.
Henry: Deal’s done and brunette is up to speed.
“So, you’re not the boss?”
“I help decide shit, Donna. I don’t pass that buck along to Henry. I’m in this with him.”
“Why can’t you stop and do other things, legal things?” she asked.
“I could. It doesn’t earn me enough money to do what needs to be done. If I wasn’t running this, someone else would. Those women, they came to me because another guy was roughing them up and forcing them to take drugs. I don’t force anyone to do shit they don’t want to do.” He pocketed his cell phone. “All of the women, they can leave when they want. I don’t force them into the lifestyle. This is their choice, not mine. I’m the muscle to take care of them. A lot of men try to rough them up, and I stop them.”
“I just can’t believe this is true.” She stared down at her cat.
“You can’t tell anyone. If you call the cops then you’re dead. There’s only so much I can do to help you.”
“I could die for knowing this about you?”
“Yes.”
“I won’t tell anyone. I don’t want to die.”
He saw the tears start to fall. Going to his knees in front of her, he tilted her head back.
“You’re under my protection, and I won’t let anything happen to you.” He pressed a kiss to her lips, surprised when she didn’t pull away. “I’m going to go to the pharmacy to get that kit. Stay here and don’t let anyone inside.”
“I won’t.”
He stared into her eyes to make sure she wasn’t lying. Convinced she’d do as he asked, he got up and took her keys. She wasn’t going to risk her life. Even the cops would give him the head’s-up if she turned up at the station.
Leaving her apartment he called Henry.
“Everything clear on your end?” he asked.
“Yeah, Lydia’s going to keep her thoughts to herself. It helped she had a shit load of bills. We paid them off and put some cash in her account. Darren is out of the question. I went to see him, and the fucker pulled a gun on me. I didn’t have a choice, and he was going to shoot Lydia. I’ve paid to clean away the body, and Lydia won’t say anything. She looked pretty pissed he was using her as a shield. It’s probably a good thing he’s gone. He’d been talking to too many people. Fucker didn’t know when to keep his mouth shut, but he does now.”
“Lydia’s not going to cause us problems, is she?” He was done with problems for tonight.
“No, she won’t. I’ve told her plain and simple, keep her mouth shut or get a bullet in the head. She’s decided to stay silent.” Henry cleared his throat.
“What is it?” Caleb asked, rubbing his eyes.
“I’ve told her not to say anything to Donna. She’s to tell her that Darren broke up with her and left town. Your woman won’t know the truth of what went down or that we interfered to make him go away.”
“Thanks, man, I appreciate it, but I’m going to tell her the truth.”
“Are you sure about that?” Henry asked.
“Yeah, I’m sure. Thanks for taking care of the problem.”
“Anytime.”
Hanging up the phone, Caleb climbed behind the wheel. Now he needed to find out what was going to happen in his life.
****
Donna sat on the toilet seat with the bathroom door closed. She heard Caleb pacing outside of her door. His movements continued to unnerve her. Closing him out of her mind she focused on the white stick in her hand. She was shaking so bad she could barely see the section that was about to determine her fate. Was she pregnant?
Would she be able to love her child?
The very question had her in knots.
“Baby, you can’t keep me out,” Caleb said.
“I’ve asked for these few moments. Please, let me have them.” She closed her eyes, and when she opened them, any hope she had dropped.
She was pregnant with Caleb’s child. Tears welled in her eyes, and she stood up, going to the door.
He stood holding onto the doorframe as she opened it up.
“I’m pregnant,” she said, glancing at the stick then handing it to him. Brushing past him, she went into her bedroom and climbed on top. Holding onto a pillow, she closed her eyes and tried to blank out the fear that was clawing at her.
I’m going to be a mother.
The very thought seemed foreign. She heard Caleb in the background along with the rustling of paper. He was probably reading the instructions to make sure she didn’t fuck up.
Stop thinking.
She couldn’t stop thinking or feeling. Her life was going to change, and there was nothing she cou
ld do to stop it.
The bed dipped behind her. In the next instant his arms were sliding around her waist. “You don’t need to worry,” he said.
“I’m not going to stop worrying. I carry a life inside me. In case you didn’t notice, it’s a huge deal.” She kept hold of the pillow, treating it like a lifeline or at least a security blanket.
His fingers pushed her shirt aside, and he started to stroke her stomach. “We’ll get through it.”
“You’re a pimp and will probably end up in jail. I’ll be forced to bring this child up on my own.” All of her fears multiplied in the face of what she was going through. The tears fell down her cheeks silently.
“I’m not going to jail. I always watch my back, Donna. No one can pin shit on me. I’ll be part of our baby’s life.”
She liked the way he touched her stomach. The slow caresses helped to calm her nerves.
“I’m sorry,” she said.
“You don’t need to be sorry. I’m the one in the wrong. I should have told you the truth in the beginning when you asked. This is all on me.” He kissed her neck.
She kept her eyes closed wishing for a few moments that things were different. Growing up she always imagined she’d be married when she got pregnant. This just went to prove that life never went how she imagined. Blowing out a breath, she opened her eyes to stare at the wall opposite her. There was no magical answer to help her decisions.
“What are you thinking?” he asked.
“I don’t know what to do. This is not how I expected to be pregnant. I always expected to be married and have been in a relationship a few years, not weeks.”
She sniffled as the emotions suddenly weighed down on her. Life truly wasn’t fair.
“I’ll arrange for us to get married. Do you want to be married in a church?”
Shaking her head, she tightened her hold around the pillow she was holding. “You don’t have to marry me. I’m pregnant with your baby. You’re not in love with me.”
“I care about you, Donna. Some couples don’t even have that much going for them.” His breath fanned against her ear. Closing her eyes, she waited for him to finish talking. With him close behind her, she couldn’t deny the attraction. Her body refused to listen to her mind, and she heated, wanting more from his touch.