Chapter 12
12
Robyn
“ R ita, I’m done for the day. Do you mind if I head out?”
“You go on ahead, mami. Kyra’s probably looking forward to spending the evening with you. It’s your weekly movie night, isn’t it?”
“That’s right. Every Tuesday evening. Popcorn and an animated feature film,” I chuckle softly as I check my bag, making sure I have everything. “Thank you.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Rita says. “Besides, I’ve only got one client left, and if she doesn’t get here on time, I’m going to call her and cancel.”
The salon is empty.
My last client walked out thirty minutes ago with fresh tips and a smile on her face. My workstation is spotless and ready for tomorrow. Half of the lights in the salon are off. It’s almost six pm, and the street is practically empty. At this hour, most people are already home.
“Where’s Kyra now?” Rita asks as I grab my keys from the reception counter.
“Ellie’s with her at her place. I’ll pick up my princess, and then we’re going to cuddle on the sofa and watch something colorful and, hopefully, funny.”
“Oh, there are a couple of great titles hitting the streaming platforms this week,” she says. “If not, you can always turn to the classics.”
“Yeah, Kyra won’t mind watching Beauty and the Beast again,” I reply. “Alright, I’ll see you tomorrow, Rita. Thanks again.”
“No probs, mami.”
As soon as I step out into the street, the cool evening air hits me. It’s already dark at this hour. Summer is long gone, and the maple trees lining the sidewalk display their ruby red leaves proudly. The streetlamps cast their amber glow over the pavement as cars drive by, their taillights briefly catching my eye. It’s so quiet, unlike the storm of uncertainty brewing in my chest.
I’ve been walking around with this feeling for a while now. I’d hoped it would wear off on its own, but it’s only gotten worse. Doubt. Fear. The absence of control over what will happen next.
“Robyn.” A familiar voice freezes me to my spot.
I hold my breath for a moment, then swallow as I slowly turn around to face him. “Calvin,” I whisper.
Seeing him in the flesh fills me with dread.
“It’s been a while,” he says, smiling. But it’s not a genuine smile, I can tell.
The years haven’t been kind to him. Then again, he spent them in prison. He’s lost some weight, and his long, once-shiny red hair looks dull and lifeless now. There’s a fire burning in his blue eyes, though. His skin looks pale, and I see a couple of new tattoos on his left cheek—he must’ve gotten them in prison.
He’s wearing jeans and a long brown jacket with a white tee underneath. Had I not immediately recognized him, I probably would’ve paid him no mind. Calvin blends in. A little too well. Maybe that’s how he’s been dodging the Riders.
“It’s been a month since you got out,” I say with a trembling voice. “What are you doing here?”
Calvin offers a slight shrug. “I wanted to get my ducks in a row before I came to see you,” he says. “I figured I’d make myself presentable. Land a job. Bring something to the table.”
“There’s no seat for you at the table anymore.”
“Listen, Robyn, please. Just hear me out.”
“What are you doing out of prison so early?”
He stills, his blue gaze scanning me from top to bottom. “Gosh, you’re even more beautiful than the last time I saw you.”
“You threatened to destroy me the last time you saw me.”
“I was angry, unwilling to take accountability for my actions. I’m a changed man, Robyn. As weird as it might seem, it turns out I really needed to go to prison to fully understand what I did and why I did it. I promise you I just want to talk to you. I want to make amends.”
“Then why are you dodging my questions?”
And there it is. That slightly arrogant chuckle of his. “You’re not going to cut me any slack, are you?”
“Why should I?”
I look around. Very few people are still out and about at this hour. And where the hell is my guard? Shouldn’t someone be here? If push comes to shove, I can scream and draw enough attention to scare Calvin away. He seems wary, cautious despite his close proximity. I decide to put his patience to the test and take a couple of steps back. He doesn’t move, but he doesn’t take his eyes off me either.
“I’ll have you know, I got a job,” Calvin says. “It’s legit, I promise. It pays well too. I’m gonna be able to buy you a new car.”
“I don’t want anything from you, Calvin. Keep whatever money you’re making.”
“Well, Kyra deserves better. There’s that uppity school over in Central Point. I could pay for that. How is our daughter, anyway? I’d hoped you would at least send me some photos or videos of her while I was—”
“Locked up for killing a man?” I say, cutting him off. “After what you did to me? To Kyra? Have you lost your damn mind?”
“I didn’t mean for any of that to happen,” he says. “How long are you gonna keep punishing me for it?”
“Calvin, you abused me, verbally and physically. You waved your gun around and almost hurt Kyra!” I snap. “You have no business being anywhere near me. The restraining order is still in effect.”
“Robyn, please!” he cries out, tearing up. “I’m sorry, okay? I’ve missed you. I’ve missed our baby too. I’ll bet she’s growing up so beautiful and smart just like her mother. I’m a piece of shit, okay? I’ll admit it. I was a bad apple. I made terrible decisions, and I hurt you both in the process. I’ll own it. But don’t shut me out of your lives. Please. I’m a different man now. And the state saw fit to let me out on parole. I’ve been on my best behavior.”
“I don’t care about any of that,” I reply, inwardly shaking. “And I will never forgive, nor will I ever forget how we got to this point. I don’t want you anywhere near us. If I see you again, I will call the police. I’m pretty sure that would be a violation of your parole.”
He comes closer, puppy dog eyes fully activated. “Baby, please, I just wanna hold you. I’ve missed you so much.”
“Calling 911 right now,” I shoot back and take my phone out.
In the blink of an eye, he transforms into something else. Something I instantly recognize as he slaps the phone out of my hand. It lands on the pavement. The screen is visibly cracked. “Calvin!”
“For once, I’d love it if you would just listen to me,” he says, gritting his teeth. “All I want is a moment with you. Just the two of us, like we used to be.”
“You hit me,” I remind him.
“Well, you’re not making it any easier,” he replies, then takes another step forward. “Robyn, I’ve been around for a month now. I know what you’re up to, who you’re keeping company with. The whole town’s gossiping about the Rogue Riders who keep your bed warm at night. Where is our daughter while you’re playing the club whore?”
“How dare you?” I gasp, the outrage burning through me with the fire of a thousand suns.
“How dare I? How dare you shack up with the very people who put me in prison, who threw me out on the street?”
I shake my head in dismay. “You put yourself in prison the minute you killed an innocent man. You claim you’ve changed, yet you still can’t take any accountability for what you did. And now, you have the audacity to, what, accuse me of being an unfit mother? Are you for fucking real?”
“I’m not accusing you. I’m just laying out the facts.”
“You’ve done quite the 180 here, Calvin. You missed me, you want to be with me, and now you’re calling me a whore while you’re still in breach of a restraining order.” I point at my broken phone. “Then there’s that. I’m pretty sure that qualifies as assault or destruction of property at the very least.” I raise my voice for good measure, watching his eyes widen with shock. “Is this how you want to do things?”
“Are you out of your fucking mind? I’m just trying to talk to you,” he hisses. “You’re the one making civil discourse impossible.”
“You need to get the hell away from me. I don’t want to see you ever again. Kyra doesn’t even know who you are. You don’t belong anywhere near us.”
“Robyn, for fuck’s sake, come on, let’s go somewhere more private and talk about it.”
Before I can object, he grabs me by the wrist, and I’m about to scream when the rumbling sound of an engine gets louder and louder. A light falls upon us, getting brighter. We both look over and see the Harley coming.
Everything happens so fast that I don’t even register the movements until it’s too late.
Jagger pulls over with a screech. He leaves the engine running as he jumps off his bike.
In the blink of an eye, he pounces on Calvin.
“Jag, wait, hold on!” Calvin tries to stop him, but Jagger’s left hook clocks him just right.
He falls to the ground, cursing under his breath, his nose spurting blood while I jump back, barely able to breathe or register what’s happening.
“Are you okay?” Jagger’s voice breaks through the deafening hum filling my head.
I blink a few times and look at him. “What?”
“Are you okay?”
All I can do is nod slowly. “Yeah.”
“What the fuck are you doing, Calvin?” Jagger shifts his focus back to my ex-husband, who gets up with a wobble, wiping his bloodied nose with the back of his jacket sleeve. “I thought you knew the drill already. There’s a restraining order out against you where Robyn and Kyra are concerned. And there’s a club made of more than a hundred people itching to bash your fucking brains in if you get anywhere near them. So, what the fuck are you doing?”
“You need to mind your own fucking business,” Calvin snarls. “This doesn’t concern you.”
“Oh, but it does concern me,” Jagger replies.
My head’s spinning. A ball of bitterness unfurls in the back of my throat as I struggle to remain upright and try to figure out a reasonable, nonviolent way out of this hot mess, but it’s too late. I’m no longer in control of the situation.
“You finally did it, huh?” Calvin sneers with bloody teeth. “You fucked her.” He looks at me. “Are you my replacement? Kyra’s new daddy?”
Jagger doesn’t bother with words anymore. He punches Calvin again. A direct hit to the nose, followed by a left and a right hook. I hear the bones crackling. I can almost taste Calvin’s blood in my mouth. My knees get weak when Jagger finishes with a mind-boggling uppercut.
Calvin falls back and lands on his ass. His face swollen and bruised, the skin breaking where Jagger’s knuckles made contact. And I see him for what he’s always been; he hasn’t changed a bit, not even by the tiniest bit. This is Calvin Russo: the man I thought I would love and be with for the rest of my life.
The father of my child.
And my worst living nightmare. It took me years to heal from his lies, his manipulations, and his psychological abuse.
“Stay away from Robyn and Kyra,” Jagger warns him. “I’ll make it hurt even more if you go anywhere near them again. Have I made myself clear?”
“Fuck you, Jag. You’re not the boss of me anymore,” Calvin says but despite his strong words, he doesn’t get up from the ground. He stays down, barely able to look his assailant in the eye as he tastes the blood from his cracked lip.
“No, I’m the man who’s going to put you six feet under if you don’t abide by that restraining order,” Jagger says. “It’ll be self-defense too. I promise you.”
“You’re threatening me?”
“I’m telling you what’s going to happen, you piece of shit,” Jagger replies.
Calvin gives me a sour look. “I will take legal action, Robyn. There’s no way I’m letting our daughter grow up in such a dangerous and toxic environment.”
“I think you hit him a little too hard,” I mutter, glancing at Jagger. “He’s talking out of his ass.”
“Nah, he’s always talked out of his ass,” Jagger replies, his brow furrowed as he moves closer to me. “Calvin just thinks we’re still buying into his bullshit.”
“You’ll pay for this,” Calvin shouts.
“Get the fuck out of here before I shut you up for good.”
As soon as Jagger takes a step toward him, Calvin jumps back to his feet and walks away, constantly cursing and promising legal repercussions. I watch him make his way down the street, nausea building up to the point where I’m confident I’m going to hurl.
Jagger’s arm comes around my shoulders. “It’s a good thing I was on my way over to relieve Jackie.”
“Jackie?”
“Your security detail,” he says, half-smiling. “You’ve had her for most of the day. She called me about a half hour ago and said her mother was in an accident. She had to ride off.”
“That’s why I didn’t see anybody watching for me when I left work,” I mumble.
“Robyn, are you okay?” He gives me a worried look.
“Yeah, why?”
I feel soft and mushy all of a sudden. Hot and cold at the same time. My knees are weak, as though I’m made entirely from jelly. My throat burns. My heart’s racing, every beat thudding against my ribcage.
“You don’t look okay,” Jagger says. “Did Calvin do something to you?”
“No, no… he barely touched me…”
My words aren’t coming out the way they’re supposed to. I’m slurring.
“Robyn.”
“Jag… something’s… off…”
My field of vision drowns in instant darkness. My eyes roll, and I can feel myself falling.