by K. L. Donn
“Jax, honey, come here.” Once he slipped free from under the bed, she saw the tear tracks down his face from silently crying as she was being assaulted.
Her heart broke and rage flamed right up from what he’d been subjected to.
Wiping away the tears with one hand, she told him, “It’s okay, I promise.” She tried to smile and reassure him.
“But you cwied,” he mumbled softly.
“You’re right, I did. But I’m fine now, and we’re gonna get out of here, but I need your help, all right?” At his nod, she told him what she needed him to do. “I need for you to quietly look in the dresser for a t-shirt and some pants, and socks too if there are any. Can you do that for me?” He shook his head again as he went in search of the items.
Pulling the gauze back from her chest, she saw the bleeding wasn’t stopping, and she was going to likely need stitches. Tossing the soiled patch to the side, she taped a fresh bandage to her skin, needing it to be good enough for them to leave.
“Dis good?” Jax asked as he walked over with everything she had asked him for.
“Baby, that’s perfect,” she praised, tossing the clothes on. She picked him up in her arms, hissing in pain. “Quiet as a mouse?” When he nodded, she pulled the door open to listen for anyone that was near them.
When she didn’t hear anything, she closed it again, hoping they would be left alone for a while. Putting the small decorative chair in front of the door and tilting it under the knob, she hoped it would stall anyone from entering for a minute or two. She placed Jax on top of the dresser just under the large vent that was not far above, praying she would get it open with no trouble.
Footsteps sounded outside the room again, and Jax whimpered in fear noiselessly beside her, gripping her shirt. She froze, wishing whoever it were would pass.
After two minutes of silence, she continued to pry open the grate. “When I was your age, my mam used to tell me stories of all kinds,” she told him. His little body was shaking with fear, so she needed to take his mind off of everything, “My favorite was always stories about Tinkerbell,” she whispered conspiratorially. “I loved how she could fly and spread fairy dust!”
His attention was so focused on her now that he’d stopped shaking. “I wanna fwy!”
“I would dream of soaring above the clouds! Seeing the stars and meeting the man on the moon!” she told him with excitement.
“There’s a man on the moon?” he asked confusedly.
“One day, I’ll show you what I mean.” As soon as she said that the vent popped free. “Yes!’ she nearly shouted. Jaxson’s eyes lit up in triumph, too.
Pulling the cover down, she placed it against the dresser on the floor. “Ready?”
“You’re coming too, wight, Pincess?” he asked her.
“Right behind you,” she promised.
Once he was in the vent, she took a look around the room wanting to make sure there was nothing to lead the others towards where they would be hiding. Everything looked fine, so she climbed up on the dresser and pulled herself into the chute, sliding the cover closed behind her.
Hoping for the best.
Praying for Dominic.
Please come for us, she begged.
*****
As Dom, Case, Creed, and his men pulled in front of the upscale hotel in downtown Baltimore, he couldn’t believe how ballsy Bradshaw was. To have them right in the middle of the city without thought to how many people would be in the crossfire was borderline narcissistic. But not surprising.
The man always thought he was God’s gift to the universe, believing he was above the law and retribution. Dom was going to make sure he didn’t leave today a whole man.
“Remember, my woman and son are in this clusterfuck so make sure your aim is one hundred percent, or it’s your ass I’ll be coming for,” he told everyone over their com units.
“SWAT’s been called,” Case told him. They’d decided they would call the authorities once they got there, not wanting or needing them to stop the bloodbath that was likely to happen.
“Hotel’s been evacuated, and they’re none the wiser,” Ace told them. Not wanting any casualties, they thought it best to have the entire hotel cleared out. Thankfully, Ace knew the manager, and they’d kept it pretty quiet so the only occupants were those in the penthouse.
“Let’s rock and roll, people!” Case shouted as they climbed from their vehicles.
One team headed straight to the roof in case they escaped and went up. One moved to the basement for the same reason. Another would be in the lobby. They had two other teams ascending both staircases on each side of the hotel, where they would meet on the penthouse floor then storm the suite.
They were going on faith and experience to tell them that they were doing things right. That they had everything and nothing to lose all at once.
With Dom possibly paying the ultimate price.
As far as he was concerned, Bradshaw and Brooke weren’t leaving the hotel no matter what.
Signaling Creed to beat the door in with his ramming pole, Case tossed in two smoke grenades to mask their entry. As soon as they were in, they could hear coughing and cursing. Creed’s men were already dropping and zip tying Bradshaw’s men before the smoke had even begun to dissipate, while he and Case went in search of Jax and Deidre.
Clearing rooms as they went, he was beginning to worry they were wrong when he heard cursing from a door to the master suite at the end of the hall.
Fisting one hand, he brought it up to halt everyone’s forward motion, pointing to the door with two fingers. Case went first, opening the door and rolling in, landing flat on his stomach next to the bed in the center of the room.
Dominic’s eyes roamed rapidly, taking in a scene from no horror movie he’d seen. For a moment, he froze in shock. Quickly, anger took its place, and he was moving in to confront them. Creed’s men held steady at the door waiting for instruction.
Deidre was on her knees in the middle of the room, hands tied behind her back facing him. Tears ran down her cheeks, anger shone brightly in her eyes, and blood stained the front of her shirt. Someone was going to die for that. Bradshaw held a knife to her neck with a cold look in his eyes, challenging Dom to make a move.
“Daddy!” Spinning around, he saw Brooke standing in the bathroom door with a gun pointed at his son’s head from behind.
“You fucking, bitch! I warned you!” Aiming his gun at her head, he was prepared to shoot.
“Ah, ah, ah,” Bradshaw tsked from behind him.
Looking between the two, he knew he would only have one chance to shoot, only be able to save one of them.
“Don’t be a pussy, Bradshaw, do it,” Deidre taunted him, earning a sharp tug on her hair.
“Quiet,” Dom snapped at her.
“Listen like the good little bitch you are,” Brooke laughed.
Case caught his attention from the corner of his eye as he moved to aim his weapon on Brooke. She wouldn’t stand a chance with him.
“The police are on the way. This is your one and only chance to let them go. There’s no negotiating,” Dom warned them both.
Brooke laughed like her life wasn’t about to end.
Bradshaw smirked as if he thought he’d be leaving alive.
Shrugging, Dom told them simply, “I warned you.”
“Close your eyes!” Dee yelled to Jax.
Two shots rang out.
Two bodies hit the floor.
Relief and hope flooded his heart as his world came crashing into his arms from both sides.
*****
When Deidre heard Brooke and Bradshaw come into the room, she’d held her breath, not wanting to make any noise. Unfortunately, even though Jax had tried to remain quiet, dust had tickled his nose and he’d sneezed, giving away their hiding spot.
When Bradshaw opened the vent with a sick smile on his face, she’d tried to back away, but he grabbed her ankle before she c
ould coax Jaxson to move back. He’d ripped her from the vent like she weighed nothing while Brooke grabbed a struggling Jax.
They heard the front door burst open, and Brooke had gone to the bathroom with the young boy in her arms crying and trying to break free.
Seeing Dominic come crashing through the bedroom door had her crying in relief. She’d never been so happy and angry at once because at the same time, Brooke appeared in the bathroom door with a gun to Jaxson’s head and had her ready to explode. Had Casey not killed her, she was pretty sure she would have done it herself.
*****
Twelve hours later and she was still in the hospital with three dozen stitches in her chest, a little boy who clung to her like she would leave him, and a grown-ass man unable to take his eyes off of them long enough to rest.
“I’m fine, Dominic,” she told him for probably the hundredth time in the last hour as he stared at her chest like blood would come pouring out again.
“It’s going to scar,” he said to her.
“Like I care,” she told him wanting to ease some of his guilt. They hadn’t talked about his choice to go after Jax instead of coming for her. To her it was simple, she was a woman who had a lot of shit thrown at her in her short life and could defend herself. Jax was just a baby; he needed someone to protect him. She’d have made the same choice.
He, however, saw it as not being able to protect them both. It was something they were going to have to work on. He needed to let the guilt go so they could move on.
“You don’t think it’ll be a reminder of my failure?” He wouldn’t even look at her.
“Dominic Slade! Don’t you dare. You didn’t fucking fail me! How dare you!” She was so angry she could spit nails.
“Yeah, I did.”
“Look at me, damnit!” When he finally did, she continued. “You decided to save a small child, your own son. There was never a choice to make. If the situation were reversed, I’d save him first, too. You know why?”
He seemed taken aback by her anger as he shook his head. “Because you’re a strong, self-sufficient fucking man. You know how to take care of yourself, how to fight; he doesn’t. So please tell me why you would choose anyone but him.” She was so mad she couldn’t look at him anymore.
Turning her and Jaxson over on the bed so her back was to him, she wasn’t surprised when a few minutes later, he crawled in behind her. “I’m so fucking sorry, though. I could hear the sadness in your voice when you knew what was happening.”
“And I could hear the tears in yours. Don’t think for a second I hold any anger towards you for any of it. Jaxson should and always better come first, for both of us.”
“I promise.” He sighed against her neck. “I love you, Deidre.”
“I love you, too.”
“Pincess?” Jax muttered sleepily.
“Yeah, baby?”
“Tell me a story?” he asked her.
“Let me tell you one my mam used to tell me; it’s more of a sweet Irish prayer.” She smiled thinking of it.
“Okay,” he yawned.
“Leprechauns, castles, good luck, and laughter. Lullabies, dreams, and love ever after. Poems and songs with pipes and drums. A thousand welcomes when your dreams come.” He was asleep before she’d finished.
Twenty-three
It’d been two weeks since Dee and Jax were nearly taken from him. His son woke from nightmares once in a while, and anyone new to him, he was leery of. But for the most part, he was beginning to move on and didn’t hold on to Dee like a lifeline anymore.
Since that night, Dominic has had trouble sleeping himself. Flashbacks of the scene he’d walked in on crept into his subconscious when he least expected it. He tried to keep them to himself, not wanting to worry Dee, but she’d known almost immediately and gave him shit for not telling her. Now when they occurred, she held him like he’d been the one to be taken, beaten.
Deidre was the strongest person he’d ever met, constantly amazing him with her resilience. She had a few nightmares of her own, and it was always about what could have happened rather than what did happen. At first he worried she wasn’t dealing well, but he watched her like a hawk, especially when she thought she was alone. Nothing seemed to bring her down. After they’d left the hospital, she had one long, hard cry after Jaxson had woken from a nightmare, but it seemed as if she purged everything out of her in that moment.
Case kept a close eye on her, too. Between the two of them, they were confident she was all right mentally. She startled easily with loud noises, which relieved him a bit because that meant she wasn’t just ignoring what she was feeling.
He was relieved that no one was seriously hurt. Larry and Angela had been knocked out and locked in the basement of Larry’s house when two of Creed’s men had gone to find them after the whole mess was over with. He’d felt horrible for not sending someone for them sooner because in all honesty, his mind and heart were on Jax and Dee. Thankfully, they’d both been fine. Pissed off but fine.
A knock on the door had him jumping form his chair in the living room as Dee and Jax were in the kitchen making something...they wouldn’t tell him what.
Shock ran through him when he opened it.
*****
When Dee heard a knock on the door, it took everything in her not to stop what she was doing, grab Jaxson and hide him. She was coping fairly well, but her only real fear was the what could have beens rather than what did. She had a hard time letting Jax out of her sight. He had gone through hell and was still dealing with it.
“Deidre!” she heard Dom call just as Casey came in the back door.
“Coming,” she called back. “Watch him?” she asked Casey. At his nod, she went to see who was there.
She wasn’t more than ten steps into the room when a voice she hadn’t heard in nearly a year caught her ear. A voice that used to sing silly songs to her. A voice that could sooth with the softest lullabies.
“Mam?” she whispered, almost too scared to believe it was real.
“Oh, a stór.” She cried, holding her hands to her mouth.
Dee was speechless. She had no words for the emotions going crazy inside of her. So much had happened, and she’d learned so much more. A thousand questions ran through her mind in about a second, fleeing as her mam’s arms wrapped around her in a tight hug.
Tears ran down her face in a steady stream. “You’re here,” she breathed out, closing her eyes. Needing to savor the moment.
A clearing of throats had her eyes popping open and anger replacing everything else she felt. “Get the hell out!” she hollered when she saw Brock standing in the doorway. No way she wanted him here; she couldn’t be in the same room as him. He’d nearly killed Casey and could have killed Jaxson.
“Now wait a minute,” her mam tried to soothe.
“No. He shot Casey. He hurt Jaxson. He could have killed them. He has to leave.” She looked to Dom hoping he’d back her up.
As he walked towards her, she could see it on his face, he was going to make her listen to reason. “Don’t you dare, Dominic,” she warned him.
“Princess,” he growled right back wrapping his hands around her shoulders.
“You don’t fight fair,” she hissed.
“Listen to them, please,” he asked.
“You knew they were coming?”
“I knew Brock was.”
“Fine.” She wanted to stomp her feet but figured that might be a little too adolescent for her. Looking at her mom and Brock she told him, “Speak.”
He looked as though he wanted to laugh, but instead he told her why did what he did. He’d been hired years ago to keep tabs on Bradshaw, to find out who and where his guns came from and went to. He was instructed that if there was ever a time where he was given the job of killing someone, to injure them and then let them escape. That up until that day on the highway, he’d never had to make the decision before.
Brock had been the
one to shoot Casey, but he’d never have let the other men hurt them—she was skeptical about that. He assured her that had Dom not shown up when he did, then he would have taken out the men he was with. It only worked in his favor to have Bradshaw believe he was still on his side. Which was why he’d fueled her hatred for him.
She wasn’t sure how much she believed, if any. But the look on her mother’s face told Deidre that she believed him. That she had faith in his word. Dee had never seen her look at any man with that kind of trust and devotion before.
“You’re never allowed to be alone with our son,” she told Brock, “or alone in this house.”
“Our?” Dom asked.
“What?” She was confused by his question.
“You said our son…”
“I did,” she confirmed. She refused to take it back. Jaxson was hers. By blood or by heart had no matter to her.
“Fucking love you, Princess,” he growled just as his lips crushed hers in a bruising kiss.
*****
The moment the word ours left her lips, Dom’s cock had grown harder than ever before. She sealed her fate upon claiming his son. She’d already done so in so many small ways, but they’d never talked about it. Never said he would be hers, even though Dom knew it.
His lips molded to hers, taking her breathy whispers into his mouth. When she rubbed her body against his like a cat in heat, he grabbed her ass cheeks in his hands lifting her to wrap her legs around his waist.
“Ewww, Mommy and Daddy are loving!” They heard Jax laugh, running away as he did.
It did the trick though, he pulled away from her tempting body before he did something stupid like strip her in front of her parents.
As her eyes opened, tears immediately fell. “Deidre?” he asked as he wiped them away.
The smile she gave stole his breath, made his chest tighten in the happiness he could see in her eyes, “He called me Mommy,” she responded in awe.