Wed to the Bad Boy (19 page)

Greyson

I slammed my fist into the body bag. Again. Again. All I saw was the red of that bag. The rest of the world faded away when I was slamming my fist into something. I’d been working out non-stop since she left. Going to the gym in the mall and just letting it all out.

Spars, a bag, it didn’t matter. I took beatings, but I gave them out too. I’d gone back to enforcing for my father full time, turning over the factory to Janson. It felt good to take my pain out on others.

Especially if they deserved it, but really, I didn't care. I wanted to make someone hurt just as much as I did. I wanted to sink those fists into my father. Into her uncle.

I was so fucking sick of this life. My father, the family. They were all just obligations that took away everything I wanted. Everything I needed. Joanna was gone because I wasn’t man enough to stand up to my father. Because I accepted his word as law. She’d just done the same thing, really, followed the laws of her family. Done as she was told.

And it got her ripped from me.

Lenny told me I just needed to get laid, but there was no woman that held a candle to her. No, I couldn’t fuck anyone else, no matter how hard I tried. Janson told me I needed to lean into the pain and let it out. Denial was so much better.  Anger filled me instead. Gave me purpose. My father thought I’d come around, that I was doing the right thing for the family. He’d actually told me he was impressed with my work. He knew I was letting out the pain the only way I could. And when I was ready, I’d come back to the family just like he wanted. At least in his mind.

But I didn’t see that happening. I was a machine now. All the anger and pain turning me into the monster I fought so hard to keep at bay.

I didn’t want to do what any of them asked of me. I just wanted to fuck someone up.

I was slamming fist after fist into that body bag when I saw Janson out of the corner of my eye. He was waiting there for me like he’d been watching for a while.

“What?” I asked as I turned to see him. I unstrapped my gloved and waited. I knew I looked like death. I’d stopped giving a shit weeks ago. Black rimmed eyes stared back at me from the gym mirrors that lined the wall. The mirrors reflected a man I didn’t know covered in sweat, his face wild, his breathing gagged. I wasn’t the pretty boy I used to be, no. I was a scrapper now. With more bruises and scrapes than I ever had as an enforcer before.

I was a fucking mess.

“Got some news for you, thought you might want to shower and get to the office so we could talk about it in private.”

“Why the fuck didn’t you just call?” I didn’t want to be bothered with business now. I wanted to lose myself in a fight then go out drinking.

Except that never ended well. I always found a pretty girl, started talking to her, tried to hit on her, but in the end the only face I saw was Joanna’s. I took off at the end of the night alone every time.

I couldn’t fuck anyone else. Not after having her. She’d spoiled me.

“I did. A dozen times. This shit is important,” Janson said as he clenched his jaw. “It’s about Jo.”

Jo. It had to be news from the PI. I’d sent one on her as soon as we’d parted ways. I told myself it was because I wanted to make sure she didn’t betray us. That she didn’t do anything stupid. Or that I wanted to know if someone tried to come after her.

The truth was, I wanted an eye on her. I wanted to know she was safe.

“What’s it about?”

“You really need to come into the office to hear about it,” he said. But there was an envelope right there in his hand.

“Just tell me,” he knew I wasn’t going anywhere. Knew I was going to turn right around and get back to work as soon as he said what he came to say.

“Fine. We’ve gotten pictures of her coming out of Planned Parenthood. She’s been seen clutching her stomach, and it looks… distended.” He handed the envelope over to me and I pulled the pictures out immediately. There was no doubt that woman was showing. She was pregnant.

My wife was pregnant.

“Planned Parenthood?” I asked.

“It doesn’t mean anything, not that she’s looking to get an abortion. They don’t just do those, they also have regular family services. OBGYNs. Might be how she can see a regular doctor,” Janson was thinking what I was, that there was a chance she was trying to get rid of my baby. I was never going to allow that to happen. I didn’t care if I had to kidnap her and take her hostage for the remainder of the pregnancy. It was my baby. My legacy.

She wouldn’t deny me that.

It had to be my baby. She was a fucking church mouse before I came along. I could tell by the tightness of her pussy the very first time, the way she clung to me. No one else had fucked her in a good long while.

Just me.

“So you don't think-” I started to ask, fear and longing entering my mind for the first time in weeks.

“I honestly don’t know, but you deserved the right to know. I came over as soon as I got the information.” Janson shrugged.

I swallowed. I had to get to her, and I had to get to her now. I hadn’t been sleeping, I swear I lived on fucking bourbon and gin.

I needed her, and now that I knew she was carrying my baby it was my chance to get her back.

I couldn’t go another day without her.

“Get back to the office, I have somewhere to be.”

Chapter Twenty One

Joanna

“I’ve come to talk to my wife, and I’m not going away until she answers me. Joanna, you need to talk to me.” His hand slammed against the door the echo of it reverberating through the walls of the house. My dad was passed out drunk on the couch and I just stood there, on the other side of the wall, my back pressed against it.

I wanted to hear him, hear his voice, even if I knew I should have nothing to do with him. I’d called him a million times but I never let it go all the way through. I couldn’t. It was too much to bear.

I was a stain on his family. That’s what David said. I was going to betray him. The proof had all been right there, recorded for everyone to hear. They played it over and over again. Me talking to my uncle, the things I told him.

“I need to talk to you, Joanna. You have to at least give me that. You owe me that much.” His voice was raw, the pain evident as he ground out the words. He’d been drinking, and hard. I could hear it in his voice, hell, I could smell it through the fucking door.

“Go. Away.” I said, finally. I should’ve closed my mouth, pretended I wasn’t home. I knew he would go away after a while. But I couldn’t help myself. My hand flitted down to the tiniest of bumps on my belly and held on to that little bit of hope in my life. The only thing I had left.

“Jo-“

I’d already betrayed him, why wouldn’t I hesitated to do it again. They’d banished me for it. Even though I’d pleaded. Sent me back to live with my father, the drunk. If he was here, it was to ask something of me I didn’t want to do. I couldn’t do.

“Just, please. Go. Away.”

“Did you think I wouldn’t find out? That I wouldn’t know you’re pregnant. I know, Joanna.”

“Please-“

“We have to take care of it,” he said the slur of words almost unintelligible. “You have to let me take care of it.”

Take care of it. I knew it. He wanted it gone. No. There was no way in hell I was ever going to have an abortion. No way I would ever get rid of my baby. It was mine.

“How can you even ask that?” I screamed. “You have no right to.”

“You’re right, I don’t. But it’s what’s best for us, baby. Please.” He slammed against the door, the weight of his whole body heaving against the wood as it pushed me away.

“No. Just, go. Please go. This is my problem, not yours. You don’t have to be involved at all. But it’s mine. I won’t give it up.” I cried, the tears rolling freely down my face.

“What?” he asked.

“Get out of here, Greyson. Now.” My anger came in a new wave, the hurt of his rejection overwhelming me. I wasn’t going to just sit here and let him badger me into something I didn’t want. I needed him to go away. Needed him to know I was serious.

“Fine. But don’t expect me to stay away. I’ll be back, Jo. I’m not going anywhere. Not until I get what I want.” He growled through the door.

I sucked in breath after breath. He was going to make me do the one thing I didn’t want to, and I knew it. I was terrified of that. I was so scared he would strip this baby away from me.

But he turned around and left, I could hear his footsteps fleeing as he got in his car, revved the engine and drove away.

I let out a sigh of relief as I slumped against the door and slid down, sinking until my ass was on the hardwood and my knees were drawn together. I sobbed until I ran out of tears, the flow of them trickling to nothing. I’d never cried until I couldn’t, that was a new thing for me. I always heard about it, but I thought it was just one of those things people say. No, it’s real, and it hurts. It hurts not to have another tear to give to pain.  I couldn’t believe the amount of hurt I was experiencing. It made me want to double over and just scream. Rage.

Another knock at my door. He said he would be back, but I didn’t think it would be this soon. The anger of the moment overtook me as I stood up and wrenched the door open glaring at what I thought was Greyson. I was going to scream at him to stay the fuck out of my life and leave me alone. He made his damn choice when he banished me from his life to live with my father. I wasn’t interested in his plans for me or this child.

Instead, a sick smile met my eye level. The kind that shattered all my anger and left me feeling one emotion. Fear.

“Hello, Joanna.”  David looked down at me, a man on either side of him. “You’re going to come with me.”

Greyson

I walked up to her door with the crowbar and expected to have to use it. I didn’t expect that the door would be hanging open, but it was. My breath quickened as I assessed the damage.

Fuck.

I walked into the house and looked around. The foyer table had been knocked over, the rug flipped up. There had clearly been a struggle. In the middle of a chaos was a note. A single piece of paper with just a few words scribbled on it.

She’s mine now.

David. It was his handwriting. His fucking note left behind. He took my wife. He took my unborn child.

He was going to pay.

I crinkled the note in my hand and let out an angry yell. That piece of shit was going to get exactly what he deserved.

I turned to leave the townhouse, and that was when I heard it. A snore so loud that it couldn’t be ignored. She was ripped from her home all while her father slept in his bed, probably in a drunken stupor.

Rage filled my veins and left me wanting to punch something, so I turned to the closest target, the living room wall. It gave easily under my fist putting a hole in the already dry-rotted construction, then I stalked down the hallway to another unsuspecting target. Her father.

I opened the door to his room and saw him passed on the bed, a bottle clutched to his fucking chest.

“Wake the fuck up, you piece of shit,” I yelled as I kicked him right in the side.

“What?” He asked, his words slurred.

“You dumb fuck, do you have any idea what you’ve done? You were fucking home you stupid shit.”

“Who the fuck?” her father asked as he came up swinging. “Grey-“

“Joanna, where is she?” I grabbed his collar and slammed him against the head of the bed. I knew he didn’t know anything, I knew he couldn’t, but I was so angry I didn’t give a shit.

“I-I-” he stuttered, the fear very real in his eyes.

“You’re fucking worthless, you know that? If you’d be awake, sober, you might’ve been able to save her.” He wouldn’t have. I was kidding myself when I said that. What I really meant was that if I’d stayed by her side, if I’d refused to leave when she screamed at me to, it never would’ve happened.

She’d be safe in my arms, and not out there with David.

I went through a mental list of all the resources I had. Dennis, but he might not give a shit, he was pretty pissed about the way shit went down. He and my father had started proxy wars with territories and gangs, my father wouldn’t care, hell I wouldn’t be surprised if he fucking gave his permission. The only people I had on my side were Janson and the crew, but they would be enough.

I walked out of the bedroom and grabbed my phone, dialing.

“What is it, Greyson?” my father asked.

“Did you send him?”

“Send who?” I could tell he was tired, probably been sleeping.

“Who is it baby?” I heard the voice on the other end of the phone, it wasn’t my mother. Another one of his damn whores.

“David. Did you give him permission to come after my wife?” I would take down the entire family from the inside out if he did.

“What? No, I didn’t.” He sounded genuine. Like he was surprised David had done anything of the sort. “Greyson, I had no idea.”

I cleared my throat. The threat of tears stung my eyes but I willed them away. Men like me didn’t cry, we got angry. I was furious.

“Well he did, and he left a note. I don’t expect your support in this, but I’m going after him on my own. I need permission to bring my crew.”

A long pause. “You have my permission, but if you capture him, do not kill him. He is my son, and the time has passed when that is acceptable. I will carry out whatever sentence I deem fit myself,” he said. It sounded so final.

I’d never expected him to grant any kind of justice. He never would have with me.

“Fine, but if he dies in a fight, that’s not on me,” I growled into the phone then hung it up. Sometimes I wish we still had phones that could be slammed, because that was exactly what I wanted to do. I fought the urge to throw my smartphone against the wall, to destroy what was left of this tiny little hovel.

I slammed my thumb through each contact until I found Janson’s name.

“Yeah?” he asked, his voice sour.

“I need you to round up the men, we have a job to do,” I said slowly.

“What do you mean?” he asked.

“David is going to get what he deserves. Tonight. He took Joanna,” I breathed into the phone. I was livid.

“What?” Janson asked.

“I went to get her, bring her back to the penthouse, and he’d taken her in a struggle. Left a note.” My blood boiled just thinking about it. I’d kicked her out of my home, out of my life, and left her to figure it all out on her own. All because I was afraid of the consequences my father might bestow upon me. I wanted her back, even if she wasn’t pregnant, but when I’d learned that she was, it was the last straw. I was going to have her. I was going to make her see just how much I loved her.

“He wants you to come after him.” Janson said it like it was a revelation. I wasn’t stupid, I knew exactly what this was.

“I know. It was the showdown that was always meant to happen.” The one my father put in motion from the very beginning. “Meet me at headquarters. I have a feeling I know exactly where he is.”

I didn’t care what my father told me to do. That bastard was going to pay.