The Love We Found

by David Horne

  Jackson felt his pulse jump. He had been worrying over nothing. He needed to bang himself over the head. Almost tripping over the curb, he led Andrew up to his door and let them in. They were barely inside before Andrew kicked the door closed and jumped on Jackson. He kissed him until Jackson could hardly breathe, Andrew’s hands shoving under Jackson’s t-shirt.

  “God, I love when you’re sweaty.” Andrew growled. He dropped to his knees and licked up Jackson’s stomach. “Delicious.”

  Jackson was panting as Andrew undid his jeans, tugging them and his boxers to his knees. Andrew’s hands were very warm on his cock, and Jackson was not prepared for Andrew’s mouth taking him in. His lips tightened and Jackson had to grab onto Andrew’s head to stop himself from falling to his knees.

  “Fuck!”

  He could feel Andrew smile as he withdrew, swirling his tongue over Jackson’s tip.

  “We certainly will soon.”

  “You know,” Jackson was stunned he could even talk, “I never thought I’d have a biker on his knees in front of me.”

  Andrew’s smile widened.

  “Well, you have now.” He stroked Jackson’s cock. “And you’d better get your clothes off.”

  “You first.” Jackson smirked at Andrew’s surprise. “My place, my voice. I’m in charge here.”

  Andrew’s surprise disappeared and his eyes glinted. He stood and stepped back, shrugging out of his jacket.

  “I’m good with that.”

  He was dropping the jacket to the floor when someone started banging on the door. Andrew paused. Jackson groaned. Typical that they would be disturbed. One of his neighbors probably saw them come in and objected. They were rather conservative people.

  “Stay right where you are.” He warned Andrew as he tugged his jeans back up, buttoning up as he headed to the door. “I’ll get the nosy buggers to go away.”

  He opened the door, expecting to see one of the old biddies on the doorstep about to lay into him about his visitor. But it was a well-dressed young man, immaculate in a suit and carrying a blue folded envelope. He gave Jackson a pleasant smile.

  “Jackson Prewitt?”

  “Yes, that’s me.”

  “This is for you.” The young man handed over the envelope. “Have a good day, sir.”

  “What?”

  But the suit was already walking away, acting like he hadn’t just thrust damning paperwork into someone’s hand. Confused, Jackson shut the door and stared at the envelope. He had seen many with this color on them. And that only meant one thing.

  “What’s that?”

  Andrew had now joined him at the door.

  “Someone’s served me.”

  “Someone from work? One of the patients?”

  “I have no idea.” Jackson opened the envelope. “As far as I know, I haven’t done anything wrong to my patients lately.”

  “Lately?”

  “Spokane was rather trigger-happy when it came to handing out lawsuits. None in Sacramento, though.” Jackson read the first few lines. “But this isn’t from a patient. It’s Antoinette.”

  “Antoinette?” Andrew stared. “What’s she doing suing you?”

  “Hang on.” Jackson read the rest of the letter. He was glad the legalese wasn’t that bad in this one. “She’s suing me because she believes I was in a relationship with you during your marriage, so she’s suing for her pain and suffering over adultery. And that I’ve been stalking her over the past year, including keying her car.”

  Reading it out loud made it sound even more ludicrous. Jackson didn’t think it could get any more ridiculous. Andrew’s expression almost had Jackson bursting out laughing. He looked like someone had hit him over the head.

  “Is this the baggage you were talking about?”

  “That’s an understatement.” Andrew took the letter and read it himself as he walked away. “What the fuck does she think she’s doing? She’s got no claim to it at all. It’s all lies, and she knows it.”

  “Well, I’m not at work until tomorrow afternoon. I’ll go to a lawyer and find out what’s going on.”

  “You can use Sara Manley. She’s an expert in small claims.”

  “Friends of yours?”

  “Baby sister to the treasurer.” Andrew put the letter on the coffee table before sauntering back. “Do you want some company tonight? Elena’s taking the kids out tomorrow and she’s with them right now.”

  After a bombshell like that, Jackson didn’t think he would find himself wanting any company. But he wasn’t about to push Andrew away.

  “As long as you let me take charge,” he said as he took off Andrew’s t-shirt, tossing it aside. “No wrestling for it.”

  Andrew grinned as he slid his arms around Jackson’s back.

  “Done.” He whispered against Jackson’s mouth.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Jackson had met Richie Manley but had never realized Richie had a sister. And one who was a successful lawyer. She was a petite woman Jackson’s age with long blonde hair wearing bright pink, high heels and a flashy engagement ring. If it wasn’t for the pink tattoos peeking out of her blouse, the nose ring and the bright pink streak in her hair, she could have been one of the High Society girls who spent her days shopping.

  Jackson liked her on sight. She approached him as soon as he and Andrew walked into the room, shaking his hand and hugging Andrew. Then Sara stepped back and looked between them curiously.

  “Much as I love seeing you, Andrew, why are you here?”

  “It is my ex-wife who’s suing him, Sara.” Andrew gave Jackson a sidelong glance. “And I was with Jackson when he was served.”

  “Oh?” Sara’s delicately curved eyebrows shot up. “Care to tell me anything?”

  “Sorry, Sara, I don’t kiss and tell.”

  “I see.” Sara’s mouth twitched. “So, dare I ask how long this has been going on?”

  “Only a couple of days.” Jackson shot the smirking Andrew a glare before handing the serve notice to Sara. “Not years as Antoinette Lewis has been saying in her papers.”

  “May I have a look?”

  Sara took the letter and read it as she walked back to her desk. Andrew tugged Jackson with him, and they sat in the black leather-backed chairs. Jackson wished he had worn shorts instead of pants; he started sliding off the chair.

  Sara sat down and read through everything. As she read, Andrew reached over and took Jackson’s hand. That had Jackson staring at him, wondering if he had gone mad, but Andrew simply gave him a lazy smile. He turned his hand over and squeezed Andrew’s fingers. It felt good to hold his hand and not worry about who was watching.

  As she finished reading, Sara glanced up at the two of them.

  “So, you’re certain that the allegations of adultery are false?”

  “Absolutely.” Andrew spoke up. “I’ve never cheated on Antoinette and she knows it.”

  “Remind me what her charges are.”

  “Contempt of court and child abuse.”

  “Shit.” Sara put the letter down and sat back, crossing her legs. “Well, this is just stalling her trial. That’s all it is. She wants to put her grievances across and try to get something out of it before going to her own trial.”

  “Can she do that?” Jackson asked.

  “She already has done.” Andrew pointed out, wincing as Jackson punched his shoulder.

  “She can, I’m afraid.” Sara shook her head. “It won’t stop her own trial, merely delay it if she drags it out. Miss Lewis is just trying to make her ex-husband squirm. I’m guessing she thinks that declaring the man she was once married to has been sleeping with men might put some sympathy on her.”

  Andrew snorted.

  “I was with a guy when we met. And everyone knows of my sexuality, so it’s not exactly going to be detrimental to my professional or personal life.”

  “But she can make emphasis on it, try and make herself look like the victim in everything.” Sara shrugged as Andrew rolled his eyes. �
�You’re one of the Blackhawks, Andrew. You know that not all biker clubs are criminal gangs, but the apples around the rotten ones do get bruised. Your membership with them could be construed as part of a criminal enterprise.”

  Jackson saw Andrew’s jaw tighten. He squeezed his hand.

  “It’s just another tactic to try and make you squirm, Andrew. You’re used to it, and you ride it out.”

  Andrew glared at him.

  “I may be used to it, but that doesn’t mean I want to keep squirming.”

  Sara giggled.

  “Well, it’s safe to say that you’re not the only one who’s squirming. Antoinette has been doing quite a bit of that lately.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “One of my contacts in the prison she’s being held at gave me a call shortly before you arrived. Antoinette has been kicking up a massive fuss. She’s been attempting to snitch on people, especially a few of the Blackhawk ladies in there. To say they’re happy with what she’s doing is an understatement. As of right now, Antoinette is in the infirmary sporting a broken nose and she’s going into solitary once she’s mended.”

  Jackson smirked.

  “Maybe we should lock them in a room together.”

  “I couldn’t agree more. From what I was told, I’d be going for her as well.” Sara pushed the served letter across her desk. “You’re going to have to go to court and answer it, Jackson. The date is next week, so I suggest that you have everything you can possibly get to say that you’re not where she claims you were. It’s all blowing hot air, but because it’s false doesn’t mean you don’t need evidence.”

  “Let’s hope so.”

  Jackson pressed his fingers to the bridge of his nose. He was exhausted from all of this. Getting involved with Andrew, he knew, wasn’t plain sailing. Considering his past, it was no surprise there were going to be problems. And he should have expected things to drag him down. Just not to give him a headache.

  Antoinette was a headache. She hadn’t been that bad before. Jackson remembered when she was relatively decent. There had been something there that rubbed him up the wrong way, but Jackson had let it go. Andrew wouldn’t have believed him, and the love the two of them had was so strong Jackson thought Andrew could temper his wife. Clearly, he didn’t.

  “Jackson?”

  Jackson looked up. Sara was watching him with narrowed eyes.

  “Sorry?”

  “I know it’s a massive headache, but you just need to grit your teeth. Then I suggest both of you filing restraining orders.”

  “Already planning on doing that.” Andrew said. He looked at Jackson. “Jackson?”

  Jackson didn’t need to answer that. He simply nodded. But he had a feeling a restraining order would just escalate the situation.

  With Antoinette around, that was certainly going to happen.

  Chapter Seventeen

  At least one thing had been dealt with. Even from prison, Antoinette was causing trouble. But she was contained, for now. Being in solitary meant she would be restricted from doing anything except getting sunlight for an hour or so every day.

  Andrew had never wanted that for his ex-wife. But it was where she needed to be right now.

  However, it wasn’t just Antoinette who was being a pain in the ass. The girls harassing Caitlyn needed to be dealt with. Andrew had spent the night at Jackson’s and he rang Caitlyn the next morning. She was insistent that she was okay, but Andrew had managed to get out of her that more messages had come through, saying they wished she had been caught by the glass and she deserved to be cut. Caitlyn had ended up breaking down and Andrew had made her pass the phone to Elena to get the fully story.

  Elena’s take on it wasn’t great, either. If anything, it was worse. And Andrew couldn’t believe he hadn’t been told about this. If he had, this would have been stopped weeks ago. Nobody abused his kids and got away with it. Tina Marko was currently awaiting trial, but her friends should have been there with her.

  Caitlyn thought she had been doing the right thing hiding it from her dad. She hadn’t. Now Andrew was out for blood.

  He wasn’t going to go in all guns blazing, much as he wanted to. But throughout the journey to and from Sara’s office, Andrew was compiling a plan in his mind. There was something he could do, and it would be painless. To him, yes. To the people involved, it would be very painful for their pockets.

  Jackson had to head to work, and Andrew needed to oversee three of his sites. They parted ways with a kiss and Andrew was sorely tempted to drag Jackson back to bed. Nobody would care if he didn’t turn up to work - he was the boss - but Jackson couldn’t be missed.

  Dating a nurse who was a workaholic was going to be interesting. But Andrew was willing to give it a go.

  The workday went past very sluggishly. The humidity had come back and it was like a heavy blanket on Andrew’s shoulders. Working outside in that weather never worked for him, and it was affecting everyone on site. Tempers flared, and Andrew could feel his building, but he tempered it back. He was going to deal with a few spoiled little brats after work, and that was enough to keep him going.

  Andrew didn’t like attacking children, but he knew he was going to enjoy making these kids squirm. And they should have squirmed a long time ago.

  Caitlyn was the only one home when Andrew got back, fast asleep on the couch. Elena had mentioned taking Billy and Charlie out and they would be back late. Andrew didn’t bother his daughter, heading up to have a shower and a change of clothes. Instead of his usual sweats after work, Andrew selected a suit and tie. The temptation to get his bike leathers and make sure his tattoos were on display was great, but Andrew had a feeling a biker in a suit was going to be scarier. It had had an effect like that before.

  His first stop was at a house three blocks away. It was in an attractive-looking suburb for wealthy families. From what Andrew had read when he checked up on the first family, the father was an accountant and the mother was a real estate agent. Their daughter, Josie, was in Tina’s class and her best friend. They did everything together, and Andrew knew from the witness statements that Josie had also been there. Josie had also been the main instigator texting Caitlyn and threatening her.

  Best one to start with. Andrew wanted to reduce a bully down to size. Something he loved doing.

  Andrew parked his bike up in the driveway behind a silver BMW and headed up the path. It was a pretty-looking house, the perfect American family. That was going to have an angry father banging on the door.

  Andrew rang the bell and waited. A few moments passed and then the door opened. A pretty woman in her forties with dark hair tied back in a ponytail opened the door. From her blouse and tailored pants, she had literally just walked in the door. She frowned up at him.

  “Can I help you?”

  “I’d like to talk to Josie, Mrs. Costello.”

  “And who are you?”

  “Caitlyn Lewer’s father. I’ve done some work on houses you’ve sold.” Andrew watched as Shelly Costello’s eyes widened in recognition. “I see you remember me. I want to speak to your daughter.”

  Shelly’s mouth opened and closed. Then she squared her shoulders, lifting her chin defiantly at him.

  “And what if I won’t let you in?”

  “I’m not going to barge in, Mrs. Costello. I’m not a thug.”

  “You’re a biker, Mr. Lewer.”

  “I didn’t realize a lifestyle automatically made you a bad person.” Andrew spread his hands. “If you don’t let me in, then that’s your decision. I won’t let you change it. But then you’re going to have to explain to Detective Prewitt when he comes here tomorrow why your daughter is still contacting and threatening my daughter after she was warned not to? From what I heard Detective Prewitt is going to arrest her for her actions.”

  Shelly’s face paled. Clearly, she had no idea this was happening. From what Andrew remembered briefly interacting with Shelly on his work sites, he had found her straightforward, by-the-book, n
o-nonsense. Having a daughter on the cusp of getting a criminal record was not something she would approve of.

  “You...you’d better come in.”

  “Thank you.”

  Shelly headed into the hall and shouted up the stairs.

  “Josie, get down here now!”

  “I’m busy, Mom!”

  “Do as you’re told, young lady! I said now!” Shelly turned to Andrew as he shut the door. “How’s Caitlyn doing?”

  “She’s on the mend.”

  Andrew watched as Shelly began to pace, absently tugging at her ponytail.

  “My husband and I were horrified to hear what happened. We didn’t know the girls were going there for a fight. And we had no idea that Josie was doing any of this, I swear. If we had, Josie would’ve been grounded until she was eighteen.”

  “I know you didn’t.” Andrew believed her. He folded his arms. “But your daughter was there, and she’s harassing Caitlyn. That’s not right.”

  “You’re not going to hurt her, are you?”

  Shelly looked genuinely nervous at that. Andrew had to fight back a smile.

  “No. I don’t hurt women and children, Mrs. Costello.”

  That had Shelly slumping her shoulders as she let out a heavy sigh. But then she stiffened and spun around, going from relieved to furious in an instant as someone came down the stairs. Andrew watched as Josie Costello came into view. She looked every bit a sullen teen. Dark-haired and chubby, the girl carried a scowl like she had been born with it. There was nothing but defiance in her as she glared at her mother before realizing Andrew was there. The glare intensified. Andrew was surprised Josie didn’t start snarling.

  “Josie!” Shelly slapped the banister to get her daughter’s attention. “You lied to me! You said you wouldn’t contact Caitlyn Lewer again!”

  “I haven’t.”

  “Then why is her father here saying that you have?”

  Josie shrugged.

  “She likes to cause trouble. She wants to make us out like bad guys because she came out of a fight worse.”