Chapter 23 A Knock on the Door
A Knock on the Door
LAZLO
Lazy Sundays were my favorite. Mia wouldn’t let us sleep in—and that likely wouldn’t change for years to come—but there was never a rush to get anywhere.
No school for Sam, no clinic for me, no bar for Jer, and sometimes we would all pile together in our king-size bed, singing nursery rhymes and putting on stuffie puppet shows for Mia.
I knew the kids would grow out of this stage, sooner rather than later, so I embraced it while I could, making memories.
Sam helped make pancakes for a late breakfast, and we settled around the small kitchen table for some quality family time, with butter and extra syrup.
Mia had just started on solids, and she was already showing some very independent alpha vibes, so within minutes, most of us had been splattered with mushy gray cereal as she demanded to feed herself.
It didn’t help that with her cleft palate, she was constantly sneezing as cereal made its way up into her sinuses.
At least it didn’t seem to bother her. She wouldn’t have surgery to repair the palate until closer to her first birthday.
Sam’s phone beeped with a text in his pocket, and while he didn’t reach for it while we were eating, I could see how much he wanted to. His leg was jiggling under the table, and he started eating faster.
Jerry finally shook his head, chuckling. “Slow down, you’re going to choke on your food. If it’s that important, just check your text. Just this once, though.”
“Thanks, Dad,” he rushed to say without thinking, then fumbled to get his phone out of his pocket.
Jerry’s smile was everything. He loved being called Dad, and I knew he was almost finished the paperwork to make it official.
“Can I go to Jacob’s house? He got the new Pandora game, and he wants to show me. ”
“Sure, but—” Before Jerry could even finish his thought, Sam was out of his seat and rushing to get ready. This video game must’ve been a good one. “Hey, just be back for dinner,” Jerry called after him.
“Okay,” Sammy yelled, before the door closed behind him.
We all shared a look before laughing. “Teenagers,” I said, shaking my head.
“Get used to it,” Jer said. “Not long after Sam goes through it, we’ll be facing Mia’s preteen years, and you know what they say about teenage girls.”
“That they’re perfect angels, right?” August said, leaning down to plant noisy kisses on our daughter’s sticky cheek.
She squealed and tried to grab his nose.
“Because I refuse to believe she will ever be anything but a princess. Look at this adorable face!” Of course, now he had baby cereal all over his face too.
“Aw, look at you, baby.” I leaned over and wiped him off. Mia, however, would need more than a wet cloth.
“Divide and conquer,” Jer said, standing up to unbuckle Mia’s highchair seatbelt. “It’s my turn for bath duty.”
“I call dibs on the chickens!” August said, sticking his hand in the air.
As if we would ever tell him no. Cuddling chickens had become one of his favorite things.
I wondered if it was part of his paternal nesting instinct, even though it was still too early to know if he was pregnant for sure.
He was sure he was, though. The mere thought made me so damn excited.
How was I so lucky? Nothing could stand in our way now.
“I guess that leaves me with kitchen clean-up.” I gave them both kisses as we went our separate ways.
I had just started dishes when the phone rang. “Shit,” I cursed, reaching for a dish towel to wipe off the suds. Wasn’t it always the way. I picked up the phone. “Hello?”
And just like over the past few weeks, there was nothing but dead air.
I was really getting sick of these ghost calls, but instead of hanging up this time, I sat on the line, listening.
Was that… someone breathing? “Hello?” I asked again, quieter this time.
I was just debating calling the phone company to see about tracking it, or at the very least, blocking it, when a click sounded and the call was dropped.
“So strange,” I muttered, heading back to the sink.
With perfect timing yet again, as soon as I’d dunked my hands into the water, a knock came from the front door. “Of fucking course.” And since everyone else was busy, I dried my hands off again and headed to answer the door.
JEREMIAH
“Perfect angel, huh?” I laughed, staring down at my drenched shirt.
Mia giggled and slapped her hands into the water again, sloshing it over the rim of her plastic tub and all down my front.
“I know you’re having soooo much fun splashing me, but the water is starting to get cold, ladybug.
I’m sorry, but it’s time to get out.” I scooped her out and wrapped her in a big fluffy towel, blowing raspberries on her bare tummy before I got her dressed in a fresh diaper and clean clothes.
“Now sit right here for a minute so I can get some clothes for me too.”
I plonked her down in her playpen with some toys while I went across the hall to grab a dry shirt and pants. While I was headed back to get her, I heard a knock on the front door downstairs.
I knew Lazlo was in the kitchen and would answer it, but I paused at the top of the stairs for some reason, a strange chill crawling down my spine. Something didn’t feel right.
Listening to Lazlo head for the door, my mouth suddenly went dry. He opened the door, and I heard a man’s voice, strangely familiar. “Hi, sorry to bother you. My car broke down just down the street, and wouldn’t you know it, my cell’s dead. I was just wondering if I could borrow a phone.”
Alarms blared inside my head, sirens and klaxons and red flashing lights, every instinct I had telling me this was wrong. I started down the stairs, heart in my throat. “Laz, hang on. Don’t let him—”
But I was too late. The door was open, and the guy simply pushed his way inside, shoving Lazlo back. I leaped the last steps and raced at him, but he pulled a handgun from inside his jacket and aimed it at Lazlo.
“No!” I shouted, grabbing Lazlo and pulling him behind me. I half expected to feel a bullet tear through me, but he didn’t shoot. Not yet.
I stared down the barrel into dark eyes. “You…” I hissed, memory taking me to another night.
“Good to see you again, hero,” he sneered.
It was him, the man from the club! I knew there’d been something off about him, but I never would’ve assumed he posed a threat to my family. I wracked my brain to remember his name. “Brandon?” I recalled.
He scoffed a bitter laugh and shook his head. “You can’t really be that stupid.” He wasn’t calm like he’d been that night at Mickey’s. His eyes were wild, manic grin gleaming with wicked intent.
“What do you want?” I asked, feeling Lazlo’s fingers clawing at the back of my shirt.
I wanted to reach for him, hold him and reassure him it would all be okay, but I needed my hands free.
If I saw an opening to take him down, I would take it.
“Money? My wallet is right there on the table. Take it.”
He showed no interest in my wallet, though. His gaze flicked behind me to the hallway, then up the stairs. “Where are they? Upstairs? You can’t keep them from me.”
I frowned, adrenaline making my senses spark. “Who are…” The words died on my lips as realization slammed down on me like a ton of bricks. “Victor,” I spat, and I heard Lazlo’s gasp behind me.
“That baby is mine.” He wanted what he thought was his. Too bad I wasn’t willing to let them go. I would take a bullet for them if it meant protecting them from this monster.
I kept my eyes on Victor, refusing to give away their locations. I only hoped August stayed in the barn.
And that was when Mia’s voice echoed down the stairwell, and Victor’s grin turned satisfied. “There they are…”
AUGUST
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
I’d lost track of time cuddling with the chickens.
Bernadette had hopped into my lap like a cat, demanding pets, and she made it impossible to ignore her—not that I wanted to.
And then, to be fair to the others, I had to give them all an equal amount of attention. Otherwise, they got jealous and rowdy.
When I slipped back into the kitchen, though, a laugh on my lips, expecting to be teased about how long I’d been gone, the earth had dropped away beneath me at the voice I heard.
“Good to see you again, hero,” Victor said, and for a split second, I thought he was talking to me. That my life with Jerry and Lazlo had all been some kind of blissful dream, and now I was waking up, dropped straight into a nightmare.
The air in my lungs froze, my heart tripping over itself as I tried to make sense of this terrifying reality. My past and present were colliding, and trapped in the middle, I was suffocating. I couldn’t breathe! I dropped to my knees, a hand clutching at my chest.
His voice chilled the blood in my veins, dragging me back into my own personal hell. Victor found me. Because of course he had. It was always going to happen. He couldn’t just let me be happy. He was the same cruel master he’d always made himself to be.
Except… I wasn’t the man I used to be. I’d changed.
Jerry and Lazlo had shown me that I could be strong, that I could be brave.
And right now, Victor was in the living room with them.
No. I refused to stand by and do nothing while he hurt the men I loved. My eyes darted to the hook beside the door, where my keys were hanging, the bright red cannister of pepper spray right where it needed to be.
Distantly, I heard Mia’s cry from upstairs, and it was enough to spur my body into motion. I’d broken free from my prison to protect my daughter, and I knew I would do whatever it took to protect her now.
“There they are…” Victor drawled from the next room, and I was already in motion.
My fingers closed around the cannister, unhooking it as I marched out of the room. Fear was banished from my mind; the only thing left driving me was hot, blinding fury. How fucking dare he treat my loved ones like that—treat me like that. I deserved better, I always had.
Rounding the corner, I saw my piece-of-shit ex starting toward the stairs.
I barely registered the gun in his hand.
I only had eyes for my men. Jerry met my gaze, eyes fierce with his own rage.
I expected him to tell me to stop, but he saw the spray in my hand, and he nodded. He knew exactly what I intended to do.
I was taking back my life—this time for good.
“Fuck you, Victor,” I shouted, bringing his attention square on me, just like I’d intended. I wanted his eyes wide open for what I had planned for him.
He started to bring the gun around, but he was too slow.
I already had the cannister pointed right at his face, just like Jerry showed me.
I sent a spray of gel directly into his eyes.
He shouted in surprise and pain, and he fired the gun blindly in my direction.
Behind him, Jerry was in motion, seeing his chance.
I ducked to the side, the bullet flying wide, buried in the kitchen’s plaster wall.
Jerry didn’t miss, though. He slammed into Victor’s back like a linebacker and took him down hard.
They wrestled for the gun, but with Jerry’s full weight bearing down on his back, there was only one possible outcome.
“Stay down!” Jerry barked, gripping his hair and knocking his face into the floor with a satisfying crack.
He groaned, going limp. Blood pooled beneath him, gushing from his broken nose, and Lazlo easily pried the gun from his hand and moved back with it, keeping it at the ready in case it was needed.
It wasn’t. Victor was smart enough to know he’d lost.
The whole thing felt so surreal. The police were called, and Victor was taken away in handcuffs, dried blood down his chin and shirt. He looked… weak. Broken. A shell of a man. He wouldn’t even make eye contact with me. Just as well, since I had a feeling Jerry would’ve gladly punched him again.
My cheeks were dry at the end of it all.
I refused to shed even one more tear for that piece of shit.
He had taken so much from me. Even after I left him, he’d kept hold of a piece of me that was not freely given.
But now, Mia was safe, my men were unharmed, and I was…
free. “Is it over?” I whispered, standing in the center of our home.
It looked the same, and yet, everything had changed.
“Yes, baby. It’s over.” Lazlo kept running his hands over me, as if checking for injuries. “You did it. You are so incredible.”
I shook my head. “I didn’t do anything.”
“Are you kidding? You saved us all. Our hero,” Jerry said, pulling both me and Laz into his arms. I would’ve laughed if he hadn’t sounded so serious.
“I’m no hero,” I insisted. “I just… stood up to a bully.”
Jerry tilted my head back to look into my eyes.
“Don’t do that, don’t sell yourself short.
It was a big deal, August. He had a gun.
You put your own life at risk to save the ones you love.
You are so brave. Some might even say… heroic.
” His full lips pulled back in a smile, and I snorted a laugh, slapping a hand over his firm pec.
“Fine. I guess I’m a hero then,” I said with an eyeroll.
But then Lazlo pressed himself into my back, hard enough to feel his growing erection. “And you deserve the full hero treatment…” I wasn’t sure what that entailed, but if it meant being naked with my men, then I would take the title gladly.
There would be interviews in our future, evidence and witness statements and a trial. But more importantly, there was a beautiful future to be had. A life of freedom and happiness and love.
And I couldn’t wait to get started.