From Smoke To Flames— Amazon: A West Brothers Novel

by A. M. Hargrove

  “Montana, I’ll talk to your daddy about this.”

  “Noooo! He’ll get mad at me.” Her head shook back and forth almost violently. She clung to me as though she feared for her life.

  “Montana, it’s okay, sweetheart. I promise not to say anything then.”

  “I wanna stay here Mommy. With you. You don’t got any monsters.”

  “Can you keep a secret?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Mommy wants you to stay here too. I love you so much and I hate it when you’re not here. But Daddy wants you too, so you have to stay there.”

  “I don’t want to.”

  This was killing me. How could I make his home sound wonderful when I knew she hated it there? “Maybe I can talk to your daddy to see if you can stay here more. Would you like that?”

  Her head bobbed up and down furiously.

  “Okay, but you have to promise not to say anything to him. Can you do that for me?”

  She made a cross over her heart like I taught her. Then I did the same thing. “Now give me a big squeezy hug.” I still noticed the tension in her features, the slight crease between her eyes. She was four fucking years old! It made my head ache and my belly knot up.

  We loaded up her things in the car and I wanted to scream in frustration at the unfairness of it all. This child deserved so much better. I had been raised in a house filled with darkness and anger. I did not want that for my precious angel.

  When we got close to my ex’s, the phone rang. It was Miles.

  “Hey.”

  “I’m about four houses down on the right.”

  “Okay. I’m about to turn on the street.”

  “Don’t hang up. Slip the phone in your pocket. How are you doing?”

  “Not so good.”

  “Let’s see what we can make happen.”

  I pulled the car to a stop in the driveway behind his fancy car. I wish I could’ve rammed the thing straight into his garage door. I didn’t know why he never parked in there. It was probably to show off his expensive car to his neighbors. He’d always been ostentatious like that.

  As soon as I turned the engine off, the front door of the house opened. Then he stalked out to my car.

  “You’re a minute late,” he snarled.

  “No, I checked the time when I arrived, and it was five on the dot.”

  “Where’s Montana?”

  “She’s stuffed in the trunk. Where do you think she is? She’s in her car seat for Pete’s sake.”

  His lips pressed into a thin line. “Don’t you dare get smart with me.”

  “Or what? Are you going to beat me like you used to?”

  “You always needed a good beating, and you sure could use one now.”

  “Yeah, I have plenty of healed up broken bones to show for what you did to me.”

  “And you deserved every one of them.”

  “Are you hitting Montana? Because if you are …”

  He stepped closer to me. “What? What will you do?”

  I didn’t cower from him, which surprised me. “I’ll make sure you never do it again.”

  “If I’m hitting her, it’s because she deserves it like you did.”

  “You bastard.” I raised my arm to slap him, but he grabbed me, picked me up, and threw me down in his driveway. I broke the fall using one of my hands. Pain shot up my arm, which wasn’t a good sign.

  . “You jerk. You have no right to touch me.” I sat there for a minute, rubbing my wrist and collecting my thoughts. I could barely think because of the pain I was in, but never in a million years would I let him know.

  “I can do whatever I want. You’re on my property threatening me.” He leaned over me in an intimidating way.

  “You were threatening my daughter.”

  “That’s my right as her father. I can do whatever I want. I’m the custodial parent and it would serve you well to remember that.” He marched to the car, opened the back door, and yanked her out of the booster seat. She was crying out to me as he did it.

  “Shut up, Montana, or you’ll be punished,” he said cruelly. Her lower lip quivered, and it was easy to see how frightened she was of him.

  “You’re scaring her.”

  “Mommy, don’t leave me.”

  “I said, shut up.” And he shook her. Her curls went flying around her face as she cried.

  “Stop it, Greg.” I ran over to him, but he knocked me down again. Only this time, Miles pulled up in front of the house. It was about time. He jumped out of the car and helped me up.

  “Who’s that?” Greg asked.

  “I’m her attorney, don’t you remember? You’ve just made a huge error, Mr. Wilson. I think it would be in your best interest to hand Montana over to her mother.”

  “I’ll do no such thing.”

  Then I heard sirens in the distance. They were getting closer and closer.

  “It would be in your best interest if you want to continue to have any kind of relationship with your daughter. Domestic violence is not looked upon very kindly in the courts, Mr. Wilson, and from what I overheard, you will have some serious charges against you.”

  “What do you mean overheard?”

  Miles took out his phone and I followed his actions.

  “That entire conversation was and still is being recorded.”

  His features contorted into a mask of hatred. “Why you conniving little bitch.”

  “No, Greg, not conniving, only concerned for the welfare of Montana.”

  Then he looked at our daughter and asked, “Did you know about this?”

  Her eyes grew wide and she trembled in his arms.

  “You can’t be serious?” I asked.

  He was squeezing her arms so tight she cried out, “Ouch, Daddy. That hurts.” Then she sobbed. Miles snapped pictures of the way he held her.

  Two police cars pulled up in front of the house and Greg finally put her down. Montana ran straight into my arms, still sobbing her eyes out. I dropped to the ground and pulled her against me.

  Miles went to talk to the officers and Greg came up to me. “You think you’re so smart. But this isn’t over, Rose. You might think you’ve won, but I can assure you, you’ll never win at this. Not until one of us is dead.” His eyes were cold, dark, and evil and they sent chills racing down my spine. He never said something unless he meant it.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Pearson

  * * *

  When Rose told me what happened, I nearly flipped. Turned out, Rose broke her wrist when her ex knocked her down but didn’t realize it until later that night. She’d been so upset over the turn of events that it wasn’t until she got home, things settled down, and her adrenaline wore off that she found herself in pain again. Miles drove her to the emergency room where they discovered it was fractured.

  I sat across from her in her office, listening to this bizarre turn of events. “Jesus Christ. He could’ve really hurt you or your daughter.”

  “Miles was smart to have us record him and call the police. When they came, and he played back the recorded conversation, they took him to jail. But now I’m really scared.”

  “Why? You have your daughter and from what it sounds like, he’s not going to get custody. He’ll only see her in supervised visits.”

  “True, but he said something to me that freaked me out.”

  I scooted closer to her. “What did he say?”

  “That this was only the beginning. And that I’d never win at this. One of us would be dead first.”

  “Idle threats. Did you tell Miles?”

  “Yeah, and he said the same.” She absently rubbed the cast on her wrist. Then her eyes met mine and I nearly wilted in my seat. “They weren’t idle. He meant every word. He’ll do something. The man hates me, hates me for getting pregnant, hates me for having Montana. He wanted me to get rid of the pregnancy. When I wouldn’t, he uh …” She swallowed, then said, “he beat me so badly I ended up in the hospital. I thought I’d lost my baby.”
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  “He what?”

  “Yeah, he beat the crap out of me.”

  I grabbed her uninjured hand, or I thought it was until she winced. I flipped it over and saw the abrasions. “Jesus, you did this when you fell?”

  “Yeah. It’s just a scrape.”

  Anger and disgust rolled through me in waves. How did I ever represent this asshole? How did I not see through him? Oh, yeah. I was probably high and fucked up at the time and didn’t give a shit.

  “When you landed in the hospital, didn’t the doctors suspect anything?”

  She chuckled. “He called the police and said he came home and found me like that. Blamed it on someone breaking in and stealing cash. He’s a psychopath. He can be very charming yet callous and can manipulate others with charisma and intimidation. He feels no guilt about hurting people either, even his daughter. Guilt or empathy don’t exist for him and he’s very narcissistic. I was so naïve when we met and when I started school and declared my major, he became even more cruel. I think it was because he knew I’d spot these characteristics of his.”

  “Why didn’t you leave?”

  “I did. It took me several tries because the first couple of times he beat me so badly I couldn’t leave the house.”

  Sitting became unbearable so I got to my feet and paced the small room. “I don’t know what to say other than I’m sorry you had to live through that.”

  “You didn’t know, but I really hated you for letting him take my daughter from me.”

  “Rightfully so. I gave him the means. But one thing is good. With me living at your place, you won’t have to worry so much.”

  She eyed me curiously. “Why’s that?”

  “I’m bigger and stronger than he is. I will beat the shit out of him if he tries anything.”

  A smile tugged at the corner of her mouth, but I was serious as hell. I may be a recovering addict, but domestic abuse of any kind was intolerable. Just because some dude was bigger than she was did not give him a right to push her around and threaten her. “Pearson, if he tries to do anything to Montana, I’ll shoot him.”

  Rose, peaceful Rose, just shocked the shit out of me. “You own a gun?” I’m pretty fucking sure my brows were glued to the ceiling.

  “Yes, and I won’t hesitate to use it if I have to.”

  Her tone actually scared me. “Okay, but let’s hope it doesn’t come to that. And if you do, don’t shoot anyone else in the process and for God’s sake, make sure he is inside your house.”

  She pulled her lower lip between her teeth and clutched the necklace she wore. It was one of those medallions that diffused essential oils to calm the nerves. “I took classes on gun safety.”

  “Fine, but in the heat of the moment, when passion flares, things can go south when you least expect them to. My concerns are you and Montana.”

  “I don’t care so much about me.”

  I knelt down in front of her and took a hold of her hand. “Listen to me, Rose. If something happens to you, where will she end up? You don’t want her with her father, do you?”

  “No!”

  “Then have a care with that gun.”

  She licked her lips and swallowed as I watched her throat work. “I hadn’t thought about that.”

  “People normally don’t when things go haywire. I’d rather you let me handle things if he decides to pay you a visit.” I had a vision of a shootout at her house with disastrous results. “Where is Montana now?”

  “She’s here, up front. I’m trying to get her into a preschool nearby. They said maybe tomorrow or the next day.”

  “Should you even be here today after what you just went through?”

  “No, I’m not staying. I needed to stop by and pick up a few things. But …” She wouldn’t look at me.

  “What is it, Rose?”

  “Miles said he made bail. He should be out later this morning.”

  I was still kneeling in front of her. “You’re afraid to go home, aren’t you?”

  She nodded, her head moving in a quick jerky fashion. “What if he shows up and takes Montana away?”

  “That’s abduction. I doubt he’d do that.”

  “I don’t.”

  She was terrified. “Call Miles and let me talk to him.”

  When Miles was on the phone, we discussed having Rose stay in a hotel until the weekend when I got out.

  “I can’t do that,” she said.

  “Why not?”

  “I don’t have the money.”

  “Stay here a minute.” I went in search of Sylvie. Once I explained things to her, I was sure she would let Rose and Montana stay with her. I finally located her, but she was in session. Then I checked the time and realized I needed to get moving to my own. Maybe Jeremy would let me meet up with him later when I explained things.

  What a crazy morning. It wasn’t even ten yet and I was busier than I’d been in weeks. Jeremy eyed me when I practically jogged into his office.

  “What’s up with you?”

  “Hey, I need a favor. Rose is in a bind. Is there any way we can move our session to a different time?”

  “Sure. Can you tell me what’s going on?”

  After I gave him a very brief rundown without going into detail, because it wasn’t my story to share, he said, “Let me talk to her. She can stay with me. My wife and Rose get along great and she’d love to have her.”

  Rose gave me a questioning stare when we entered her office, but I shook my head. Jeremy didn’t wait and said, “Pearson told me you needed a place to say for a few days. I know Cindy would love to have you. Why not stay with us?”

  “Oh, I …”

  “Really, Rose, we would both love it.”

  “My daughter would be with me.”

  “That’s great. I didn’t know you had her now.”

  Rose’s lower lip trembled, and Jeremy noticed it immediately. “Hey, what’s going on? Does this have anything to do with that?” He pointed to her cast.

  “Yeah.” Big fat tears bubbled out of her eyes as she broke down crying. I was a fish out of water here, so I let Jeremy handle it. He put his arm around her and comforted her and as I watched him, I thought that should be my job. A feeling of jealousy rose over me and I pushed it down because it was a completely alien emotion to me. I’d never been involved with a woman before … never had the desire or inclination. I’d seen what happened when it didn’t work, and Rose was the perfect example. Okay, maybe not, because her ex was a brutal son of a bitch, but still.

  As I watched and listened, I took note of how Jeremy comforted her and got her to explain what happened. When she was finished, he said, “You’re staying with us until Pearson gets out on Saturday. It’s only for a few days and Cindy will love it. I’m not taking no for an answer. We have the room and there’s not a reason in the world you can possibly give to get out of this. I’ll go home with you to pack your bags and follow you to my house at lunch.” His voice was firm, and she finally agreed.

  Jeremy drew me out of her office as he left. “Can we meet this afternoon instead?”

  “That’s fine. Thanks for doing this,” I said.

  “You were right to come to me. I had no idea her ex was that bad.” The frown he wore told me how upset he was.

  “Now you might understand how terrible I feel over representing him in their divorce.” Even after all this time, my gut still crawled into knots when I thought about what I’d done. It was a vicious cycle that kept repeating itself in my head.

  “Yes, but you had no way of knowing. You’re going to have to find a way to let that go. Look at what you’re doing for her now.”

  “I’m not doing anything. It’s my friend who’s doing it all.” I raised my voice in protest as I ran my hand through my hair.

  “Pearson, calm down. Think about it. If it weren’t for your help, Rose wouldn’t have gotten Montana out. It’s because of you, she had your friend on her side.”

  That much was true, but it was because of me she’
d found herself in this predicament in the first place.

  “Right now, I could use a strong hit of something. Anything.” I wanted to scratch my skin off.

  “Deep breaths. Let it go,” Jeremy said. “Your craving is coming from your guilt and you can’t change the past. You can’t go back. What matters now is you’re doing the right thing.” It took some doing, but he eventually talked me down. “Meet me in my office, say around two. I’ll see you then and we’ll hash this out some more. Take a meditation class this morning. Got it?”

  “Got it.” I went back into Rose’s office and saw her huddled in her chair.

  “You okay?” I asked.

  “I suppose.”

  “I am so sorry. We’re going to fix this.”

  Her head lifted and hazel orbs targeted mine. It was obvious she’d been crying by the sheen on her cheeks. I went to her side and something overtook me. I didn’t mean to do it, but somehow, I pulled her to her feet, and she ended up in my arms. I was suddenly kissing her soft lips. She tasted salty from her tears and stopping wasn’t an option. Cupping her cheeks, I brushed my thumbs along her delicate cheekbones, wiping the moisture away. When her arms crept around my neck, I angled her face and went for gold. I knew I should stop. Alarms were going off like crazy, but I couldn’t. It was like hitting the jackpot with Rose. Besides, this was only a kiss. But her mouth was heaven and I wanted more. I shouldn’t, but I did. When I finally pulled away, I did with an intended apology on my lips.

  Instead, I said, “I should say I’m sorry, but I can’t. I wouldn’t trade that kiss for anything.”

  She smiled, and it was a lazy one, the kind you have when you wake up in the morning after a great night of sex. “I wouldn’t either. I’m not sorry one bit so I’m glad you’re not.” Then she touched my face. “And to think I hated you.”

  “What are we going to do?”

  She did a funny kind of giggle-laugh. It made me happy because I hadn’t heard her laugh ever. “I guess we’ll take it one step at a time.”