Chapter 4
Sutton has been playing a game of cat and mouse this last week, and today that stops.
I know she’s been busy with Raegan getting ready for the carnival coming up tomorrow, but it’s been too long since my lips were on her skin.
She hasn’t responded to a single text, and now she’s going to learn that I follow through with my threats.
“You ready, buddy?” I call out to Zane in the backseat of my truck.
My divorce was finalized five days ago, and I’m itching to celebrate.
Getting out of the truck, I pull my bouncing boy from his car seat, and I carry him into his new little adventure.
“Welcome in, how can I help you today?” the receptionist greets behind a desk.
“I have an appointment with Jenny,” I say as she checks her computer.
“Yes, please have a seat. She’ll be right with you.”
I set Zane down, and he runs over to the little block table in the corner. It isn’t long before a redhead comes out from behind a door and greets us.
“Mr. Roberts?”
“Yes.”
“I’m Jenny, we spoke on the phone.” I nod and head over to pick up Zane. “Come this way, and I’ll show you guys around.” She looks over to greet Zane, and he responds with a shy nod.
“Thanks for making room for us,” I offer, even though I know she felt like she didn’t have a choice.
“Allison is wonderful. I’m happy to help,” she responds. “If it wasn’t for our new hire, I don’t think we’d be able to add a few more kids.”
I know who she’s referring to, and it makes me smile even wider.
She shows us several rooms around the large building and then Zane’s new classroom.
“This will be where you come to drop off every morning.” She waves her hand at the closed door. “Ms. Sutton is exceptional with our littles, and her helper, Chloe, is a great addition, which makes her room stand apart from the others.”
When she scans her badge, the door clicks to open. The security here is beyond great, I had Hawk look at it before I ever thought of reaching out and signing my boy up here. This way Martha will get a few hours off to handle any business she needs to get done.
When we walk in, the kids are standing at a table in aprons covering their clothes. Sutton is at the front looking the same but with a trash bag encased around her body. She’s in front of a piece of paper, and she’s got her hands shoved into bowls of paint.
“Is everyone watching?” she calls out, not seeing us over to the side of the room.
“Now dip your tiny, little hands in the paint and smack ’em on the paper like this!
” She does the motion and paint flings everywhere when her hands collide with the paper.
“Oops!” she says, and it earns fits of giggles as the kids follow suit mimicking their teacher.
“Zane will be the youngest in the class not being four yet, but I think Ms. Sutton is patient and perfect to help him adjust.
“Yes, I think she’s perfect,” I remark. Sutton looks over at that very moment. Her eyes widen, and her mouth goes slack.
“Ms. Sutton,” Jenny waves her over, and I can’t keep the cheshire smile from my face. “This is Beckett Roberts,” she introduces us. “And this big guy is his son, Zane. He’s going to start on Monday.”
Sutton stands there for a few seconds before her manners kick in, and she kneels down in front of Zane.
“Hi, Zane, I’m Ms. Sutton,” she says. “I’m so glad to have you here. Would you like to paint for a little bit?”
“Uh-huh.” He nods quickly.
“Great, let’s get you an apron and some paint.”
She starts to usher him to an empty spot, but I speak up, “Is it possible to have a word or two with Ms. Sutton?”
Jenny already knew I wanted to speak with his teacher so this isn’t a surprise request. Sutton plasters on a smile and calls her helper over to help Zane.
“The copy room down the hall is available,” Jenny tells us once Sutton pulls off her trash bag and washes her hands.
I follow Sutton down the hall, admiring her tight ass the entire way. Once we get in the room and the door closes, she lets out a frustrated breath.
“What are you doing here, Beckett?”
“My son needs to be socialized. I read that somewhere,” I say and let the silence hang in the air for a bit.
“And you haven’t responded to any of my texts or calls like I told you to.
How else am I supposed to get ahold of you?
You don’t live in your old house, and I couldn’t find any other residence of yours. ”
“Stalker much?” she mocks, and it makes me laugh.
“You have no idea, Angel.”
“You can’t just show up where I work and make a scene. I need this money,” she reveals.
“For what?”
She rubs her forehead and looks down at the ground.
“For what, Sutton?” I ask again.
“To leave,” she breathes out.
“And go where, Angel?”
“Away,” she whispers sadly, and my heart lurches at the thought. Something isn’t right. I think someone or something is causing her pain. I don’t know what or who, but I know it in my gut.
“Tell me and let me help make this better,” I order.
“You can’t.” She shakes her head then looks down at the ground.
I pull her into a hug and hold her to me, kissing the top of her head. She might not trust me yet to tell me what’s going on, but she will.
“I need to get back to the classroom,” she mumbles into my chest.
I let her go, and she looks up at me, resolve written all over her face.
“I’m going to crack your shell, baby. And then I’ll fix all these problems swirling around you.”
She gives a halfhearted smile.
“Zane looks just like you,” she says offhandedly, but her genuine smile comes across her gorgeous face at the mention of my boy.
I mirror that same beautiful smile. “He is pretty awesome.”
“Do you dress him up to match your outfit every day?” She’s referring to our black shirts, jeans, and black boots.
Her remark makes me laugh, but she has no idea how easy it is to have seven basic T-shirts and jeans or shorts with black shoes and just rotate them. Martha helped teach me that.
“That mouth of yours is going to get you into trouble one day, Angel,” I tell her then peck her plump lips.
“I got you this,” I say as I pull out a phone from my back pocket.
“It’s registered in your name and has everyone’s number in it.
You need something—you call one of those numbers.
Raegan and Ivy are already in there too. ”
“But…how…why?”
“You need to have a phone that works and is all yours. It’s paid for the rest of the year, so don’t worry about the bill, just keep it charged,” I request then add. “Please.”
“Fine.”
“Want to grab dinner after work?” I ask, knowing our time is running out.
“I’m meeting with Raegan to do the finishing touches with her mom for the carnival tomorrow.”
“Then I’ll see you tomorrow,” I say, then bend down and press another kiss to her lips. As much as I want to deepen it, I know I can’t. The last thing I want is for her to get into trouble. “Let’s go see if I can pluck Zane away from all the fun.”
“I do have a fun class,” she says as we walk back down to the room.
When we get there, they are circled up listening to Ms. Chloe read animatedly from a book.
“I’ll call you later,” I whisper as she breaks off from me and heads over to the sink to clean the paint brushes, and I try to haul my kid from all the fun.
The carnival was a fucking disaster. Got us arrested and landed in jail, thankfully no charges were brought against us, thanks to Raegan.
But ever since that day, Sutton has fully pulled away from me.
I can’t find out where she’s staying, and the only interaction I have is when I drop off and pick up Zane from school.
She’s missed several days and neither Jenny or the front desk lady are giving a reason why.
“What do you mean you have a job?” Papa seethes after I told him that I couldn’t miss another day.
“I volunteer to keep busy and to stay out from underfoot around here,” I voice, hoping to sound convincing. The moment he learns I receive money, he’ll want every dime to be given to The Fellowship.
“And you thought to just now say something? Did the mayor’s daughter put you up to this? After that display at the carnival, I can’t believe I agreed to let you hang around that Jezebel. Have you forgotten your place here?”
I’ve tried so hard to hang on to my connection to Raegan, but after the knowledge that she’s involved with the local MC, quite a few members of The Fellowship are questioning how the mayor runs his house.
I don’t mention the bruise across her face when Ivy called me and told me that something bad happened to her, and that I needed to get over to Stone’s house.
I stayed there with her and did my best to be the friend she needed.
I listened to her, we went for a run, then came back and ate pizza.
She told me what had happened with Dennis.
I wanted so badly to share with her all the horrible things that I’d experienced, but couldn’t.
My throat seized up, and the words never came.
She had a lot on her plate at the moment, and I didn’t want to add another item to it.
The last thing she needed was to hear about what I’d endured for the last decade of my life.
The men of The Fellowship are nothing but power-hungry bottom feeders who look down on others to make themselves seem tall and important. I learned that after a year into my mission.
The moment I stepped off the plane in Colombia, a group of men were waiting.
They ushered me into a van and drove me to a remote village out in the middle of nowhere.
The camp had no running water. Everything looked desolate.
A man and woman came over and took my small suitcase and backpack from me and searched through everything right there on the dirty ground.
The man took my passport and cell phone then left while the woman sifted through each article of clothing.
She tossed me a handful of my clothes and kept the rest. She walked me over to a small hut-looking building and pointed to a straw makeshift bed.