Bottled Up (A Broken Lives Short Story Book 4)

by Marita A. Hansen

  “Yeah, I know, even my dad thinks so, but when I visited him yesterday he wuz asking ’bout Killer. He didn’t say as much but I could tell he wants him back. The poor bastard can’t help himself. He has a major hard-on for Killer with love hearts and bows attached to it, like Killer has for him. Just a pity Killer’s a psycho.”

  “Or more like, it’s a pity that Killer and Jade can’t share him. I know I couldn’t share you with anyone, but in your dad’s case, I think both Killer and Jade give him the full package.”

  “That would only end in death. Nope, they definitely wouldn’t be able to share.” He moved his arms around my neck. “And I couldn’t share you either. No one is allowed to touch my woman but me.”

  I smiled. “That goes both ways.” I smacked his bare arse. “Because only I’m allowed to touch this fine derrière.”

  He laughed and gave me a kiss.

  The doorbell went off. I pulled away and smacked his arse again. “Get dressed while I answer that.”

  I headed out of the room, getting to the bottom of the staircase quick smart. Hoping it wasn’t another reporter, or even the annoying neighbour from across the road, I opened the door, instead finding a cute-looking guy with long dreadlocks staring back at me.

  “Is Dante home?” he asked with a heavy Maori accent.

  “Who may I say is calling?” I replied, not willing to give out any information until I knew who he was. The number of people who came to our door, asking for Dante, was beyond aggravating.

  “A mate of his brother’s,” he said, dropping his gaze to my chest.

  “Which brother?” I asked, making sure he was legit.

  “Ash,” he said, talking to my chest. “Dante’s big bro wuz my best mate back in high school.” He finally raised his gaze to my face. “So, can I talk with Dante or not?”

  “Dante!” I called out, the guy sounding legit, his accent the same as Dante’s and Ash’s.

  Dante appeared around the corner dressed only in leather pants. He scowled as his eyes landed on the guy. “What the fuck are ya doin’ here, Joel?!” he barked, glaring down the staircase at Ash’s friend.

  “I need you to talk to Lavinia,” Joel answered, the name ringing bells.

  I refocused on him, seeing the guy in a totally different light now. Dante had told me that Joel was his ex’s partner as well as her stepbrother.

  Joel continued, “She’s done a runner. Won’t answer my calls.”

  Dante bounded down the staircase, his fist in Joel’s face before I could stop him. Joel fell backwards, landing on his arse, swearing up a storm as he wiped the blood from his nose.

  Dante jabbed a finger at him angrily. “Take your stoner arse outta ’ere before I smash you up some more! And if I hear you did anything to my daughter, you’re dead!”

  Joel sneered up at him. “All I did wuz raise her, treating her like she wuz my daughter, cos you were too bloody stupid to cover your cock before putting it into my woman.”

  I grabbed Dante’s wrist before he could go at Joel again. He jerked his arm free, but thankfully stayed put. “Lavinia wuz my woman at the time,” he growled, “so don’t gimme that bullshit, you sister fucker.”

  Joel scowled at him. “Stepsister, and it’s not my fault I fell for her. You fell for her too.”

  “Only cos I wuz thirteen at the time. I wouldn’t be that stupid now, and you’re still fucked in the head for screwing whanau.”

  “Says the guy who fucked his teacher. I heard you were fifteen while she wuz in her twenties, so don’t jump onto that high horse so quick, you hypocat.”

  Dante sneered at him. “It’s hypocrite, you dumb fuck, and Clara’s a million times better than that lying ho bag you set up shop with.”

  Joel shoved to his feet, a mask of fury falling over his cute face. “Watch what you say ’bout Lavinia!”

  Dante stepped through the doorway, puffing out his chest. “What’cha gonna do ’bout it if I don’t, stoner? Eh?” he taunted, using his height and impressive physique to his advantage.

  Joel clenched his hands, probably knowing he couldn’t take Dante on and win, but still looking like he was considering trying. Thankfully, he held back, though he didn’t hold back on his opinion. Or the foul language.

  “You don’t have a right to treat me like shit, you mo-fuckin’ cunt!” he barked. “I got played more than you did. I didn’t find out that Cleo wuzn’t mine for years. It tore my bloody heart out! And now you come along with all your money, threatening to rip Cleo away, endangering her and her mum. Lavinia wouldn’t have run if it wuzn’t for you!”

  Dante’s eyes widened. “I didn’t endanger anyone, Lavinia caused all this shit. I should report her to the cops for what she did.”

  Joel started shaking his head vigorously. “You can’t involve the pigs, you’ll fuck everything up.”

  “No, Lavinia fucked it up when she tried to extort money outta me.”

  Joel held out his hands. “C’mon, cuz, you can’t set the pigs on my woman. You can’t do that to whanau.”

  “Being whanau didn’t stop you from stealing my girlfriend, cuz,” Dante spat.

  “You’re cousins?” I asked, though I was ignored, the guys too focused on each other.

  Joel spoke over me, “In my defence, I didn’t even know she wuz with you at the time, and c’mon, you can hardly talk, you fucked your bro’s woman. That’s a shitload worse.”

  Dante’s face dropped. “Don’t talk ’bout Beth, she’s dead.”

  Joel wrinkled his nose. “Yeah, sorry, I did hear ’bout that, but you gotta understand that none of this is my fault or Cleo’s. If you report her mum, she’ll also suffer. You can’t do that to my li’l girl.”

  “My girl!”

  “’Kay, I get it, she’s yours, but you’ve gotta acknowledge that I raised her, so I ain’t gonna disappear just cos you found out she’s yours. She thinks I’m her dad, while I consider her my daughter, regardless of blood. You also gotta understand that Lavinia did her best for Cleo. She only phoned you outta desperation. You know what it’s like to be dirt poor. You can’t tell me that you never did shit you normally wouldn’t have just to eat, to fuckin’ survive.”

  Dante went quiet, Joel hitting on a nerve, my man having done a lot of things to get by when he was younger.

  Joel continued, “Which is why we needa work together, to help bring Lavinia and Cleo back. Safely. I’m really worried cos Lavinia won’t answer my calls. You scared her chronic when you phoned her.”

  “She phoned me, and when I tried to call her back, she wouldn’t pick up, so don’t pin this on me.”

  Joel frowned. “Well, some guy phoned her, saying he wuz gonna take Cleo. That’s all I managed to get outta Lavinia cos she wuz hysterical. She yelled over the phone that she needed to leave, that she’d call me as soon as she could, then hung up. I raced across town to the flat, but by the time I got there she wuz gone. The neighbour said Cleo mentioned they were visiting New Zealand, which is why I’m ’ere. But the thing is, none of her friends and whanau have heard ’bout her bein’ back. I’m stressed to the max, scared that sumpthin’s happened to ’em, especially since she hasn’t called me like she promised.”

  “You don’t needa worry, I got a call telling me she’s in Taranaki. And the guy who pro’bly said that shit to her will be my mate’s uncle. He would’ve been tryna smoke her out, and it looks like it worked. You also don’t needa to worry ’bout Cleo no more, I’ll get custody of her the legit way, through the courts.”

  “Then you’re a selfish cunt,” Joel spat. “Lavinia may be many things, but she’s still a good mother, one that Cleo adores.”

  Dante sneered at him. “One who tried to blackmail me into giving her money. Doesn’t sound like a good mother to me.”

  “I told ja she wuz desperate, what part of that don’t cha understand?”

  “The part where she keeps tryna screw me over.”

  “You gettin’ her pregnant screwed her over. She has loads of debt
s cos she tries to give Cleo everything, debts that I can’t keep helping her pay. I got my own. And Cleo is yours, she looks just like you. You should pay sumpthin’.”

  “Ten years!” Dante snapped. “Ten years she kept me away from my daughter!”

  “I’m sorry, man, I know what Lavinia did wuz lousy as fuck. What she did to me wuz shit too, but suck it up, the only thing that matters now is our daughter, and she is ours,” Joel indicated to both him and Dante, “cos I’d die for that girl. Cleo is what counts, and she can’t be whisked off from one place to another. Sort this shit out with Lavinia if it’s only to help Cleo. Get shared custody to see the girl, just don’t take her completely away from her mother or me. Do what’s best for Cleo, not for yourself.”

  Dante frowned at him.

  Joel wiped his nose again, a touch of blood leaking from it. “Now, tell me where your bro is living. I wanna see him. Heard he’s fuckin’ L. Bloody dumb arse. He shoulda stayed with Tiana, she’s got a pussy. Doesn’t matter whether L’s hotter, pussy always wins out, plus Tiana can make any dick rise to the occasion, even mine, and my dick prefers Lavinia.” He screwed up his nose. “Shit, don’t tell Ash that, I wouldn’t fuck his ex.”

  “Nah, you only wanna fuck my ex,” Dante grunted. “By the way, you haven’t changed one bit, have ya?”

  Joel shrugged, then looked at me, or more accurately, my breasts. “You’ve got a nice missus.” A big smile split his face as his eyes rose to my face. “Bet’cha gave Dante A’s for his D.” He wriggled his eyebrows at me.

  “Hey!” Dante snapped. “Watch how you speak to Clara, she’s my fiancée.”

  Joel shook his head. “Looks like you’re the dumb arse, cos if I wuz famous like you, I’d be fucking all the groupies. By the way, you got any jobs for a bassist? I’m real good.”

  “Fuck off!”

  “Just think ’bout it, cos you won’t find a better bassist than me.”

  “I would never hire you, and if you’re so broke, how the fuck did’ja pay for a trip to New Zealand?”

  “Like how I paid to get to Australia in the first place.”

  “How’s that?”

  “Stole the money.” Joel saluted Dante, then turned, strutting down the footpath with a swagger not that dissimilar to Dante’s, just a slowed down version, as though he had all the time in the world. He waved at the paparazzo, who’d unfortunately returned, calling out, “I’ll give ya a photo, I’m a bassist. Dante might be hiring me.”

  “Dream on!” Dante hollered. “By the way, fuck-knuckle, I needa favour from you.”

  Both Joel and the paparazzo turned their heads to him.

  Dante snorted out a laugh. “Not you, Joel, the other fuck-knuckle, the one with the camera. Me and my fiancée,” he indicated to me, “are gettin’ married tomorrow at the registry office in town. I’ll let ya take our photos if you plaster them all over the papers and give me some nice ones to frame.” He saluted him with his finger, or maybe it was to Joel, then steered me back inside, closing the door behind us.

  “Guess what?” he asked me.

  “What?”

  He smiled wide. “Tomorrow you’ll be my wife.”

  To Be Continued in

  Hysteria

  (A Broken Lives Short Story #5)

  Coming Soon...

  Thanks for Reading!

  I would like to ask if you could review Bottled Up along with any of my other books that you’ve read, regardless of whether you’ve loved or hated them, because every review counts, especially for self-published authors.

  Here’s the link to my Amazon author page, where you can find all of my books:

  http://www.amazon.com/Marita-A.-Hansen/e/B005H5W79K/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1

  Regards,

  Marita A. Hansen.

  About the Author

  Marita A. Hansen is from New Zealand. She loves writing, creating art, watching and participating in football, and running. For more information on Marita check out these links:

  Author Facebook Page:

  https://www.facebook.com/pages/Marita-A-Hansen/113130742120676

  My Masters’ Nightmare Facebook Page:

  https://www.facebook.com/pages/My-Masters-Nightmare/167338690126962

  Blog Site:

  http://maritaahansen.blogspot.co.nz/

  Amazon Author Page:

  http://www.amazon.com/Marita-A.-Hansen/e/B005H5W79K/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1

  Goodreads’ Author Page:

  http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5129673.Marita_A_Hansen

  Artslant Page:

  http://www.artslant.com/global/artists/show/74433-marita-hansen

  Patreon Page:

  https://www.patreon.com/maritahansen

  Twitter Name: @MaritaAHansen

  MORE BOOKS BY MARITA A. HANSEN

  Graffiti Heaven

  Behind the Hood (Behind the Lives #1)

  Behind the Tears (Behind the Lives #2)

  Behind the Lens (Behind the Lives #3)

  Behind the Secrets (Behind the Lives #4)

  Don’t Peek (The Diaries of a Teenage Girl)

  Overwhelmed (Blurred Lines #1)

  My Masters’ Nightmare Season 1, Episodes 1 – 5

  My Masters’ Nightmare Season 1, Episodes 6 – 10

  My Masters’ Nightmare Season 1, Episodes 11 – 15

  My Masters’ Nightmare Season 2, Episode 1 “Mind Games”

  My Masters’ Nightmare Season 2, Episode 2 “Déjà Vu”

  Ricardo (The Santini Brothers #1)

  Brando (The Santini Brothers #2)

  Vincenzo (A Santini Brothers’ Short Story) from the anthology Men of Mayhem

  I Love You, Salvatore (A Santini Brothers’ Novella)

  Sasha & Andriena (Lovers & Sinners #1)

  Broken English (Broken Lives #1)

  Shattered Poetry (Broken Lives #2)

  Jagged Pill (Broken Lives #3)

  Love Drunk (Broken Lives #4)

  Facing the Music (Broken Lives #4.1) & (A Broken Lives Short Story #1)

  Smokescreen (Broken Lives #4.2) & (A Broken Lives Short Story #2)

  Demon in Disguise (Broken Lives #4.3) & (A Broken Lives Short Story #3)

  Crying Out Silent

  Love Hate Love