“She called the cops on me?”
I nod my head and watch as she moves towards the kitchen. I open my mouth to speak, but she quickly turns away and stalks back the way she came. Holy shit, she’s pacing. This is the most worked up I’ve ever seen her. Not even her fights get her this riled up.
“Conniving, selfish bitches! I asked them for one thing. One. Fucking. Thing. Do not fuck with my child. They could have the fucking money, they could have the businesses. Whatever the fuck they wanted. Anything, but my son. Anything, but him. This is what they fucking do!”
She stops moving and looks at me. Her body slumps and tears drip from her eyes.
“Nico, I can’t lose him. He’s all that I have. If they take him, I have nothing to lose. Nothing!”
Her voice crack and her shoulders shake with silent sobs. I move to hug her, offer some sort of comfort, but I’m cut short.
There’s banging at the door and a male voice announces that they’re with the police department. They also inform us that they have a warrant for Bailey’s arrest as well as someone from child services to take Kaelen. At that Bailey pauses, body tight with tension and nostrils flared as she pants like a bull ready to charge.
“I won’t let them take him,” she vows.
More banging sounds.
“Open it?”
I look to Benny and give him a reluctant nod. They’re probably going to arrest her and take Kaelen away. This will wreck her and I’m not a lawyer, so I have no way of fixing it. This feeling helpless shit is not for me. The door opens and an older lady with strands of gray hair peppered throughout the black walks in. She gives us a gentle smile and Bailey takes a step toward the door she closed. No one likes to be pitied. Two cops accompany the social worker.
“I’m Officer Jenkins, this is my partner Officer Reynolds. This is Mrs. Holloway. With a child present, we’d like to do this as smoothly as possible. Bailey Ross-O’Malley, we have a warrant for your arrest on the charge of kidnapping a minor.”
“Fuck you and your warrant. Touch my son and I’ll fucking annihilate you.”
Bailey’s voice is low and tight. Her fists are clenched tightly and there’s a fierce determination in her eyes that I’ve never seen. She’s been holding back on us. Plus . . . she just threatened two cops and this sweet old lady. For a brief moment, we all stare at her, stunned silent and immobile. Except the cops. A quick glance at them shows their hands drifting to tasers and cuffs. Bailey’s response is unexpected and irrational. She has to know this won’t help her case, but the gleam in her eyes tells me she’s not considering that right now. This isn’t the Bailey I know. Mrs. Holloway is the first to speak.
“I’m sorry, but we have to take him,” she tries to reason.
She makes the mistake of stepping forward and total mayhem erupts. Bailey darts into the kitchen and grabs two of the bar stools. I move to grab her – attacking an officer is a felony, too, right? – but Officer Reynolds moves at the same time. We collide and I watch as he bounces off of me and lands on the floor, nearly flipping over backwards. Shit. Does that count as me hitting him? I don’t spend too much time trying to figure it out because I can hear him requesting backup and both stools are flying through the air. Thankfully, Benny is close enough to step in front of Mrs. Holloway. The chair crashes into his back and he grunts. Mrs. Holloway lets out a yelp and drops her bag, the contents spilling all over the floor. Officer Jenkins moves just a tad too slowly and is rewarded with a bar stool to his face. Bailey is either a very lucky shot or she has perfect aim because it cracks him right across the bridge of his nose and blood flows immediately.
“You fucking bitch, put your goddamn hands on your head,” he demands as he fumbles for his gun and tries to stem the flow of blood.
“Fuck you, pig!” Bailey yells back.
It’s then I realize there’s a third stool. She grabs this one and wields it like a baseball bat. She does this without care for who comes near her, including me. I barely have enough time to twist my body and avoid being hit in the face. Instead she catches me on my right arm. I’m only able to ignore the pain because of one reason: Junior has decided now is the perfect fucking time to make a full appearance instead of his usual half chub. I’ve heard that if you thump yourself it’ll make an erection go away, so as discreetly and quickly as I can I ease out of the path of the swinging stool and give myself a good thump. Suddenly, I’m on my knees and fighting back tears. When I remember who gave me that advice they’re fucking dead.
“She’s only making this worse. Please stop her,” Mrs. Holloway shrieks before letting out another yelp.
I look up in time to see Benny snatch her out of the path of another wild swing. Officer Jenkins is still cursing and trying to get the bleeding to stop, but it’s Officer Reynolds who ultimately draws my attention. He’s recovered from our run in and is moving toward Bailey from behind. When she raises the stool to swing again he pries it from her hands and tosses it aside. She turns to face him and in a move that would normally make me proud, her fist snaps out and lands squarely on his Adam’s apple. He makes a choking sound and grabs his neck. Before she can do any more damage, Benny tackles her from behind. It doesn’t matter that he twists their bodies so he takes the brunt of the fall. It doesn’t matter that I know he’s only doing it to stop her from any more violence. All that matters in my convoluted mind is that he’s touching her and he’s not good at his fucking job. That irrationally possessive and protective instinct that manifests only for Bailey comes crashing forward. Benny rolls them over so he’s pinning her on the floor and I take the opening to tackle him. I hit him twice before I feel a pinch in my lower back followed by pure agony. I just got tasered. My body is wracked with convulsions and as I lie on the floor I feel cuffs being put on me. From the corner of my eye, I think I see Bailey in cuffs, as well. I know I see Kaelen standing in the doorway of the room Bailey left him in, tears streaming down his chubby little cheeks.Chapter 14
NEEDLESS TO SAY, we were all arrested that day. Benny got hit with a bogus assault charge against me—clearly it was self-defense. I was charged with assault with a deadly weapon – my hands, straight bullshit in my opinion, and disorderly conduct. Bailey took the brunt though. It turns out that after I was tossed into the back of the cruiser, her neighbors heard the screams of Kaelen and came running to help. They found me handcuffed and tossed face down into the cruiser, Benny beat to shit and handcuffed on the floor, and Bailey screaming about filthy pigs while handcuffed and on the floor. With all the controversial deaths by policemen across the nation, it didn’t take much for the entire neighborhood to protest our treatment and pick up the pig chants. A police cruiser was flipped and some other damage was done. The cops had to call for back up. Apparently, that got Bailey charged with inciting a riot. Seriously. Inciting a fucking riot. She was also hit with two counts of assault on an officer, criminal threats, disorderly conduct, disturbing the peace and resisting arrest. On top of it all, was the kidnapping charge, but it was ultimately dropped. In the end, it was all for nothing. They still took Kaelen and we’ve been ordered to stay local. Technically, we’re only supposed to go to the gym and back to my place. Except Benny. That bastard is free to do as he pleases and right now it pleases him to stand guard near the front entrance. Fucker.
My hood is pulled from my head and my headphones are snatched from my ears. I hit the emergency stop and look around for the person bold enough to interrupt my workout. Immediately, I wish I hadn’t. Enraged doesn’t do Janae’s current look any justice. My eyes seek out Bailey and find her in the practice ring sparring with Jax. He has her pinned so I’m not sure if she’s seen Janae or not. Instinct tells me not to let Bailey see her, but I also don’t want it to look like I’m hiding something with Janae. Why is this so damn hard? Janae grabs my chin between her thumb and fingers and turns my face back to her.
“I’ve been calling you. I’ve been texting you. I went by your place. Why are you ignoring me?”
I
move her hand away and turn the treadmill back on.
“You can’t answer your phone, Nico? You have no idea what I wanted. What if it was an emergency? Anything could have been wrong.”
“If something’s wrong, you shouldn’t be calling me.”
“Is it true? Did you get arrested for her? It’s all over the gossip sites. They’re saying she’s your Savage Princess. That you got arrested rescuing her like it’s some twisted fairytale bullshit.”
“Janae, you’re not welcome here. You need to go.”
“I was by your side when you built this fucking gym. I’m more welcomed than anyone in this place,” she hisses.
“Didn’t you walk away? I seem to remember a wedding with no bride and no explanation.”
Her posture softens and she looks away. She begins to fiddle with her watch as her eyes dart up to me then back to the floor.
“Whatever you’re about to say is bound to be a lie. Leave,” I tell her.
“I just wanted to explain everything. I wanted to meet up somewhere we could talk without an audience,” she says as she glances around.
I look around as well and see that we have the attention of quite a few people. Petra is scowling and shaking her head. Van’s head hangs limply to the side with his tongue lolling from his mouth and his hand above his head as though he’s hanging himself. Law is repeatedly shooting himself in the head using his hand as a gun. I really need to find new friends.
“I’m good. You should really go now.” The scowl returns and she reaches over and slaps the stop button on the treadmill. Jesus. Can’t a man just work out in peace? I push out a deep breath and look at Bailey again. She’s focus sparring with Mark now. The tightness in her shoulders as well as the number of times Mark is able to hit her lets me know that she’s definitely spotted Janae. Janae grabs my chin again, this time with more force and brings my gaze back to her.
“Stop touching me, Janae.” I take a step away from her, turning my back to Bailey. If I keep watching her Janae will never leave.
“Stop looking at that bitch then. Does she get off on fucking my fiancé? Did you tell her about us? Everything about us? Does she know how much you loved me? How much you still love me? She’s not even a real fucking woman. Her ass is nothing compared to me and we both know it. She’s worthless, Nico. Did I hurt you that bad you had to lower your standards to that?”
She gets louder with every word she takes and it’s evident that she’s doing it intentionally. She didn’t come here to talk she came here to embarrass Bailey.
“Janae. Stop talking about her. Leave now or the next person in jail will be you for trespassing. I’m not your fiancé and if you think I’m fucking her what does it say about you still hanging around here?” I thought I really wanted to hit Malia, but Janae is giving her a run for her money. I can hear Petra fussing and cursing behind me and I know if I turned around I’d find Cade restraining her. I can’t look back though. If I did I’d look at Bailey and if I found even an ounce of hurt in her eyes from Janae’s words, the “never hit a female” rule would be out.
“You think I’m jealous of her? Jealous of what exactly? A woman who can’t find her own man?” Janae asks as she taps a finger against her temple and a sinister glint enters her eyes. “Or should I say jealous of a woman who couldn’t keep her man satisfied so she had to kidnap another woman’s child and claim it as hers? A fucking criminal.”
Rage barely restrained, I close the distance between us and she scrambles back. “Get the fuck out. Never let me catch you here again.” She swallows thickly and tries to take another step back.
“Or what?” she asks, her voice trembling slightly.
She knows she’s gone too far. She knows that only a very thin thread is holding that savage prince everyone’s always talking about back.
“It’s not like you’re going to hit me,” she says.
If I were her, I wouldn’t be too sure about that. One more word out of her about Bailey and, God, forgive me, I’ll bite that bullet. I feel a tug on the back of my hoodie and my shock that anyone would interfere with this right now causes me to take a step back. That shock turns to sheer disbelief as I watch Bailey slip past me and wordlessly wrap one hand around Janae’s neck, the other goes beneath her arm. One second they’re standing, the next Janae is gasping as her back is slammed onto the floor with Bailey resting on one knee beside her, hand clutched tightly around her throat. What the fuck did I just see and why did it give me the insane urge to put a baby inside Bailey?
“Take a minute to catch your breath because I want you to hear what I’m about to say and pay close attention to it,” Bailey tells Janae.
The gym goes silent with the exception of the hum of certain machines. A few weights clang together and usually that would irritate the hell out of me. Not right now though. Right now, I’m trying to figure out how I just saw something that should have been physically impossible. Remember how I said I liked my women big enough to handle me? Remember how I also said Bailey was skinny as shit? Well, she’s still skinny as shit. Janae is only about an inch shorter than Bailey, but she outweighs her by at least forty pounds, maybe more. My eyes had to have been deceiving me, but the current sight tells me maybe not. Well, that and Van’s voice from somewhere behind me.
“Holy shit. Choke slam. That was a fucking choke slam.”
“Fuck yeah, it was. She picked the wrong time to call Bay out,” Petra agrees.
“Am I the only one whose dick got hard just now?” Law asks.
No. No, he’s not. He’s not alone in that aspect at all, but that doesn’t mean I’m not going to hit him later.
“Technically it’s two hot chicks fighting, but am I the only one wondering why Nico hasn’t separated them yet?” Jax tosses out.
Again, no. Currently, I find myself wondering the exact same thing. As soon as he asks that question Bailey’s head snaps up to me. Her eyes are blazing and I have to stifle the urge to step away from the unspoken threat in them. Just in case I missed it though, she tosses one at me out loud.
“Touch me and I’ll rip off all your fingers and stuff them in that same treadmill you were just on.”
I stuff said fingers into the pockets of my hoodie. Clearly, she has some things she needs to work through.
“When did psycho get so hot?” Van asks.
With Bailey’s attention on me Janae makes the mistake of trying to sit up. Bailey slams her back down, banging her head against the floor. I bet she’s glad we have foam matting everywhere. Janae stares up at her, eyes bulging and terrified. In all the years I’ve known her, I’ve never seen her so afraid.
“That child you think I kidnapped, you bet your bitter ass I claim him as mine and that’s because he is. Never mention him again. Never think of him again. You have no connection to him, so keep it that way. That man standing right there, the one you think I’m fucking, rest assured I’m not. Yet. However, since you think he’s mine, I feel it’s only fair that I fill you in on a few things about me and mine. I don’t like sharing. I obviously don’t play well with others. I really don’t like you and that means I have zero issue with hitting you.” She leans closer to Janae and lowers her voice, barely loud enough for me to hear. “If I see you near Nico again, if you try to talk to him, if you mention him or my child again, I’ll slit your fucking throat and wrists just shallow enough to where I can sit and watch you slowly bleed out. Now leave.”
She lets Janae go and steps away from her, bumping into me in the process. I place my hand on her hips and she elbows me in the stomach, mumbling something about not touching her. Her bony ass elbow hurts. Janae scrambles to her feet and stares at Bailey in bewilderment.
“You’re crazy,” she says before looking at me. “She’s crazy, Nico. You’re going to let her treat me like that?”
Bailey’s hand flashes out and Janae’s head snaps to the side and she cries out. Red alert: pre-cum everywhere. The sound of the smack echoes throughout the gym and this time not even the hum
of the machines can be heard. What the fuck happened to the music we usually play?
“What did I just say about talking to him? Did I not make myself clear?” Bailey asks.
Janae’s mouth is set in a perfect oval of surprise as tears drip from her eyes. Yeah, that slap sounded like it hurt.
“You’ll be hearing from my lawyer, you crazy bitch!”
Bailey watches as she leaves then turns and disappears into the locker room, Petra hot on her heels. I’m not worried about a lawyer or anyone else being involved. Janae is much too sneaky for that. Her attack will be subtle, yet brutal with the main intent to draw Bailey away from me. That worries me more than anything.
“EVERYTHING’S BEEN quiet on this end. He’s been calling her nonstop, so she still hasn’t changed her number. Also, she keeps getting pictures from Kaelen’s mom. I think they’re of him, but I could be wrong. She said to tell you to take a shower and come help her bake . . . something,” Benny tells me as I exit the elevator to my penthouse.
Damn it. Now the little shit is reporting to me. He is not good at his job. I do feel bad for the broken nose he’s sporting with the black eye he has, so I nod at him and tell him to have a good night. I’m not sure how to feel about Bailey giving me orders, but of course Junior loves it. I try to ignore him as I make my way through the apartment. I spot Bailey in the kitchen stirring something on the stove as music plays. All thoughts of a shower are gone when I see what she’s wearing. Shorts. Cut-off shorts. Denim cut-off shorts that fit her frame perfectly and give her ass a nice little curve and display temptingly beautiful, long legs. I’m still confused on how she actually has hips. Hips that I want to wrap my hands around as I sink into her. My gaze travels up over the dip and curve of her spine to the bottom of her neck where her new tattoo rests. She got it after Mak repeatedly yelled it at her during her first fight. In big, bold and flowing script is the word rage, outlined in black and shaded blood red. It looks amazing on her skin tone. I wonder how she’ll react when she finally sees the one on my back.
Heart of a Savage Page 13