Razor's Edge: A Bad Boy Romance (Bad Boys of Football Book 2)

by Clementine Roux

  He had me. How was I supposed to be respond?

  The reporter kept baiting me. “Please, tell me your side of the story. You wouldn’t want me to write a report based on what Mrs. Razor said, would you?”

  Behind him, a group of other reporters approached.

  “Please, Ms. Jackson. Tell me your story,” he begged.

  I froze in place as the other reporters and their camera crews set up their shots. I made a huge mistake. Now, I had to call E.J. to tell him. I dialed as fast as I could.

  “Hillary? Why did you hang up on me?” E.J. asked.

  “I need you,” I said, my voice shaking as I made my way back to my apartment.

  “Well, why didn’t you say so the first time?” E.J. sounded pleased.

  “No, listen to me. There are reporters here.” I started to cry. “They’re asking me questions about your ex. They have cameras and…”

  He interrupted me. “Lock the doors. Don’t let anyone in. We’ll be right there.” He hung up.

  “We?” I repeated his words as I stepped back into my apartment.

  Edge was talking to someone on his cell phone. As I walked in, he said, “She’s back. I have to go now.”

  “Who were you talking to?” I asked.

  He put his head down. “My mom.”

  Oh my God! “What? How? She has your cell phone number?” I asked, trying not to sound too alarmed. I didn’t want to frighten him. “Does your dad know that?”

  Edge looked at me like horns had come out of my head. “No,” he said defiantly. “It’s a secret. You’re not my boss.”

  I didn’t have time for snark. I was in a huge conundrum here.

  “Yes, but I am the person taking caring of you right now. I guess, I didn’t know you were keeping a secret from your dad. Can I see your phone, Edge?” I hoped my voice didn’t reveal the stress I was under. I had to do something to gain control of this situation, without letting him know how much trouble was brewing behind the scenes.

  “Is my dad coming back now?” Edge asked, his eyes guarding me as I moved about the apartment, closing all the blinds and windows.

  I noticed him put the cell phone down on the table in front of him. “Your dad will be here any minute. Can I have the phone now?” I tried.

  Edge shrugged. “No, it’s mine. He’ll take it away from me. I think, he’ll probably be here in two minutes or twenty years.”

  I grinned. Either option was a moment too long. I needed him here now before something else went wrong.

  Outside, there was a commotion. It sounded like rustling through leaves, but when I peeked out, there was an all out brawl taking place in front of my building.

  “What in the world?” I blurted out.

  Edge rushed to the window. “What is it? I want to see.” After a second, he screamed, “That’s my dad! That’s my dad! You have to help him!” With that, he ran out the door and headed straight down the stairs to the front entrance. I barely had time to turn around before he’d nearly made it outside.

  “Stop! Wait! Don’t go out there!” I ordered him.

  He kept running.

  Shit!

  Out of breath and out of options, I finally made it through the gathering crowd, right in between E.J. and the reporter he was tussling with. “Stop it! What are you doing, E.J.?”

  He was too angry, too caught up in the emotion of it all, that it was like I wasn’t there, like I hadn’t attempted to intervene. He was looking through me, not at me.

  “E.J.!” I tried again as he lunged for the bloodied reporter again. Cameras were catching every horrific moment of it. “Edgecott! Stop this now!” I screamed again before being knocked down to the ground in the melee.

  Police arrived within seconds. E.J. was still throwing punches. This time, they were aimed at everyone around him. I clutched Edge, trying to remove him from the situation, but he fought me at every turn, kicking, punching, and trying to bite my hands to loosen the grip I had on him. Soon, the police officers were caught up in the middle of it, trying to pry E.J. off the reporters and stop the mayhem.

  As he was yanked away by four officers, our eyes met. E.J. didn’t say a word to me. What could he say?

  Chapter Fifteen – Razor

  I’d only been here for four hours and it already felt like a lifetime. I’d fucked up and I knew it. For sure, no court of law would let a man, who did what I did, keep his son. I was going to lose my son and there wasn’t a damn thing I could do about it. Not a damn thing.

  “There’s someone here to see you,” the guard with sympathetic eyes said to me through the glass. “Stand up and turn your back to the door, please.”

  I did as was told -- probably a little too late to make a difference – but I did it. I stood up, turned my back to the door and backed up with my hands clasped behind me so he could release the handcuffs and let me pretend I was a human being for a moment.

  “Step out. Keep your hands locked behind you.” The guard grabbed my arm to guide me back. “Okay, now put your hands up on the wall next to you.”

  I followed each and every instruction. All the fight I had in me, left the moment I came out of my rage and looked into my son’s eyes. He looked at me with the same expression Hillary had. They were both horrified. Horrified because of me and my actions. I’d have to live with that knowledge for the rest of my life.

  “You’re not going to ask me who it is?” The guard sounded nice enough, but I got the feeling it was his attempt at sarcasm.

  Everybody loved when a celebrity failed. They especially loved when I failed because I practically built my career on one scandal after another. While I would have liked to have been known for my moves on the field, my ability to command and direct a team, my temper got the best of me and somehow, that translated to everyone and their mother following me around with a camera and an open mic, just waiting for me to fuck up again. And, again.

  “Doesn’t matter,” I answered him.

  I think, I must have disappointed the guard by not going off on him because his whole demeanor changed in an instant. His shoulders squared. The grip he held on my arm tightened and beads of sweat formed right over his lip. “We need to strip search you.”

  “What? Again? Why?” I asked. Well, if he wanted a fight, he was sure getting close to getting one.

  “Look, you’re getting a visit a few hours after you got here. Do you know there’s guys in here who haven’t had a visit in months, so don’t act like you’re above doing what I tell you to do because you’re not. In here, you’re like the rest of them. Money and fame doesn’t count for shit in here,” the guard said as he tried to shove me into a changing room.

  “Whatever, asshole. I’m just trying to do what I have to do and get out of here.” I avoided eye contact with him, so he wouldn’t get the satisfaction of gloating. He wasn’t winning any prizes here. Not on my account, at least. “Here you go.” I threw my jumpsuit off and endured the intrusive search. Compared to how badly my heart was hurting, a strip search wasn’t going to do any more damage than I could have done on my own.

  When I stepped into the visiting room -- a room with a wall of windows that separated inmates from their visitors, Kelly shook her head at the sight of me. I took a deep breath, prepared for the tongue lashing she was about to give me, but as soon as I grabbed the phone to speak to her, her expression changed.

  “I’m not going to mince words here…” she stopped, swallowing the lump that formed in her throat. “She got a court order to have temporary custody of Edge. Her attorneys called me. I was on my way to Hillary’s now, but I wanted to stop by to tell you face-to-face.”

  My heart fell. Stephanie was taking my boy away from me. “What do I do? You can’t let this happen! Why the hell are you here? You should be out there doing something to stop this! She can’t take him. He’s my son. She doesn’t even know him.” My voice broke as the realization sunk in. It was all too much for me to bear.

  Kelly stood up. “You did this to yoursel
f.”

  Tears rolled down my face. There was nothing more I could say. She was right. I had done this to myself, but that didn’t mean, I had to sit back and accept it. “Isn’t there anything that can be done? Can’t you do something?”

  Sighing, she pushed a stray strand of hair up over her ear. “First, we have to get you out of here. Are you ready to go home and fight the right way? My partner is downstairs right now doing what she can to get you out of here. In the meantime, hang tight. Keep your mouth shut. Try to keep your hands to yourself. I’m going to Hillary’s. Hopefully, I’ll get there before the demon and her entourage do.”

  I nodded, my throat so full, I was unable to speak. There was nothing I could do but sit there, feeling sorry for myself. If I’d done what I’d planned to do, none of this would be happening.

  After a couple of very long hours of sitting in a cell with no way of communicating with anyone, I was going crazy. Wild thoughts went through my mind. A large part of me wanted nothing more than to get out of there and find Stephanie. If I gave her what she wanted -- money, fame, fortune -- I was sure she’d give up on this crazy crusade to hurt me. She didn’t care about Edge. She didn’t know him. If she’d truly loved him, she wouldn’t have vanished from his life. A real mother would have made an effort to know her son. I wasn’t dealing with a brokenhearted woman. I was dealing with a sadistic, money hungry bitch.

  “I need to get out of here!” I yelled.

  “Hey, big time football player, you’re all over the news. I bet that will get you a lot of endorsements,” a guard responded as he walked over to my cell door and opened it for me. “Your entourage is here for you with cameras and a lot of commotion outside the building. Good luck with that.”

  “What’s on the news?” I asked. “What are they saying?”

  He didn’t have to answer. As we walked to the area where I’d be processed to leave, I caught a glimpse of a television in one of the offices. Sure enough, my face was splashed all over the screen. The volume was low but I didn’t have to guess what they were talking about. I’d provided the media with enough fodder to keep them busy for years to come.

  “Hey, why did you get divorced? You’re ex is hot. Is she married now?” the guard asked with a smug grin on his face.

  “You can have that bi--” I stopped myself, remembering Kelly’s warnings. I didn’t need to see one of the guards on television detailing every word I said while I was in here. While I knew that would happen eventually, I hoped they’d at least give me a little time to get my affairs in order before they ripped me to shreds again. “I think she’s single. I don’t really know. I don’t care, to be honest.”

  “Well, the paperwork is ready. You can go out and see your adoring fans now. Best of luck, pal. You’re going to need it.” He led me to a set of steel doors. “You might want to start caring, though. You got a kid to think about now.”

  Yeah, I didn’t need advice from a rent-a-cop who didn’t know a damn thing about me or my life. No one really knew anything about me. No one at all. People knew what I wanted them to know and no more. My childhood was my business. My private life was my own. What people thought they knew about me was due to the shit storm I always managed to land in, but they didn’t define me. Not the real me anyway.

  “Ready?” Kelly’s law partner, Claire, shook my hand.

  Normally, I would have said something dirty to her when I ran into her, but this wasn’t a joyful occasion and I was not interested in making her panties wet. To me, she had always been another blonde woman with eyes for any man who had a little bit of money. That’s the vibe she put out to the world. She would get all googly-eyed when I’d run into her, but I never let it go beyond that. Kelly would have been all over me if I had and, contrary to popular belief, I did have respect for some people.

  “What happened with Edge? Where is he? Have you heard from Kelly?” I didn’t care to make small talk with her. I wanted information and to get the hell out of there as soon as possible.

  “He’s fine. I’ll explain when we get to the car. For now, you’re going to walk out of here with your head held high. No stupid smiles. No bravado and absolutely no back talk. Act like a damn human being for once in your life and I’ll get you out of here. By the way, your security goons suck. I called them and no one called me back. How much are you paying them to be useless?” Claire had obviously been working with Kelly for too long because now they sounded exactly alike.

  She was right about my security team. They were paid too much money to do what essentially amounted to nothing most of the time, but when they did have something to keep them occupied, they did their jobs well. They were good for crowd control and, truth be told, I always drew a crowd everywhere I went. People adored me. I was a walking wet dream.

  “Hello? Did you hear me?” Claire tapped the heel of her black pumps on the floor underneath her.

  “I heard you. I know what to do. You don’t have to tell me. Just get me out of here,” I said.

  One delay after another almost made me have a conniption. They were dragging things out as slowly as they could, while my life was ripping at the seams. No one cared. Their only interest was in watching me fail. Most people would say my demise was inevitable. One thing I knew for sure wasn’t inevitable was that I’d lose my son. That wasn’t going to happen. Not now. Not ever. I’ll be damned if I let the money-hungry bitch take my son away to a bunch of strangers who hadn’t once bothered to get to know him or learn anything about his life. Fuck them; I never liked to lose and I wasn’t about to start now.

  Chapter Sixteen – Hillary

  “What do mean? I have permission to have him here.” I clutched the door frame, pulling the door in tighter to block their view. “E.J. asked me to watch him.”

  Behind the group of social workers and police officers, I heard Kelly’s voice. “Let me through! I’m Mr. Razor’s attorney!”

  Oh, thank God!

  “Ma’am?” An officer ignored Kelly’s demands and continued trying to strong-arm me in order to get to Edge. “Open the door. Let’s not make this any more difficult than it already is. The judge has issued the court order. You can talk to your attorney and hash it out later, but for now, let us do our jobs.”

  I don’t know what came over me or what I was thinking beyond knowing I had to do something to stop this. I hadn’t even realized I’d slammed the door shut in the officer’s face until Kelly replayed the whole scene for me in a panicked state. “Why did you do that? Open the door before you get yourself arrested.”

  My hands shook wildly. I knew I’d made a huge mistake in closing the door. What was I thinking?

  Kelly noticed my shaking hands. Pushing past me, she said, “Let me handle this. Sit down. Sit on your hands, if you have to, but whatever you do, don’t let them see you acting like a nervous wreck. Geez, am I the only with a brain these days?” She smoothed her blouse before opening the door for the officers. Before she had a chance to say anything, the officer and his cohorts, shoved past her and made a beeline for both me and Edge, who sat with his back to the door, watching television.

  “I’m sorry,” I started, but no one seemed interested in my apologies. “Wait; please,” I tried to no avail. “Please, don’t do this. I swear, I have permission from his father.”

  The officer whose face I slammed the door shut on snapped his neck at me. “You don’t have permission from his mother. You do know the kid has a mother, don’t you? That’s usually how it works. Kids have a father and a mother.”

  Edge recoiled at the officer’s sarcastic tone, obviously bewildered by what was happening. The poor little guy’s world had gone completely out of control and there was nothing I could do to stop the chaos.

  Kelly tried to intervene. “Wait! Let me see the order! No one is taking my client’s son until I see the damn paperwork!” Her broad shoulders slumped as she reviewed the paperwork. We were going to lose this battle. I could see it written all over her face. With her pencil-thin eyebrows nearl
y intersecting over each other, she looked directly at the social workers and asked, “Where are you taking him?”

  The social workers exchanged glances. One adjusted her glasses as she answered, “He’ll be safe.”

  “Wait. What does that mean? He’ll be safe, where? I thought his mother wanted him. Isn’t that what this is all about?” I asked, my heart aching.

  Kelly stepped in front of Edge, blocking his view of the social workers and the police officers. “Is this really necessary? You can’t take him to a foster home. You can’t put him in the system. My God, he has a home. He’s lived with his father his whole life.” Her voice broke as she pleaded with them to do the right thing.

  “I’m sorry, ma’am…” one of the officers started.

  “No! Don’t tell me you’re sorry. Tell me why you’re doing this. Do you have any idea who his father is? Do you even know his name?” Tears filled Kelly’s eyes.