Chapter 21
Knox
The only reason I heard them was because Master was a pain in the ass and had been ignoring me.
“The gremlins can talk?” It came out a bit higher pitched than I’d intended, but I wasn’t going to worry about that at the moment.
We had bigger problems than me being squeaky.
The gremlins were there and could talk.
Master let out a low breathy sound I realized was him telling me to hush and I clamped my lips together. I wasn’t going to be the reason the gremlins ate him or kidnapped him.
What would gremlins do if they were cornered?
“Save yourself if it comes down to it. I don’t care if they’re an endangered species.” There couldn’t be too many if they hadn’t made the news more often.
The only articles I’d been able to find on them had been completely unhelpful and were in random parts of the internet, so I knew we weren’t dealing with a huge population of the fuckers.
“You’re more important than gremlins or my stuff. Make good choices and remember you have to be bigger than them.” I’d have noticed magical creatures that were his size. “Don’t be scared.”
“What the fuck!” Master’s voice boomed through the phone and my heart nearly stopped. “Stop moving, fuckers, or I’m calling the cops.”
Could we do that?
How was I going to explain that?
I couldn’t end up on the news...I’d done some questionable shit in my attention-seeking youth.
“Knox. Knox!” Master’s slightly worried tone said I might’ve missed him calling my name a few times. “Kn—”
“I’m here. I’m sorry.” The last thing I wanted was for him to worry about me while he had the gremlins cornered. “I got distracted.”
Master let out a deep breath. “It’s okay. But I want you to come inside and identify the people who’ve been breaking into your house before I call the cops.”
People?
“You can’t call the police while we’re on the phone. And I can’t hang up because I have to be able to make sure they haven’t eaten you.” That was still important. “My gremlins have a human form?”
He tried to answer as I climbed out of the truck, but the gremlins had started getting worked up at the threat of the police being called.
“Stand against the counter or face the consequences, shitheads.” Master’s barked-out order had them going silent and reminded me that I was owed a bouncer story.
Before Master, I probably wouldn’t have gone into the house, but it definitely sounded like he had everything under control and had somehow managed not to get eaten.
He was amazing.
He was even standing in the doorway that led to the living room and kitchen as I walked in the door, obviously making sure they couldn’t rush me. “Freeze. I don’t care how old you are.”
Young gremlins were my raiders?
Were they old and needed to sit down?
If they were old, we probably should let them sit down even if they had been making me insane. It seemed rude not to.
“Come here, Knox. They seem to think you know them.” Master jerked his head and glared as one of them squeaked, but he had them under control with just a look.
My heart took a second to realize I was safe, though, and took its sweet time trying not to leap out of my chest. “Right behind me, Knox. Then I want you to look around me. If you don’t recognize them, you walk right out the front door and call the cops. ”
How had my life gotten so interesting?
“Okay.” Taking a deep breath as I inched up closer behind him, I tried to sound more confident than I appeared. “I can do it.”
I hated doing it, though.
The panic should’ve gotten worse, but as soon as I pressed myself against his back and took in his scent, my heartbeat slowed again. “Yes. I can do it.”
I might’ve said that a few more times, but Rohan didn’t rush me. Eventually, I managed to actually do it instead of just talking about it, but as I finally peeked around his wide body, I was dumbfounded. “It’s my nephew and his asshole friends.”
I wasn’t going to apologize for that because he attracted the worst people.
“Interesting.” Rohan kept his gaze on the asshole teenagers standing in my kitchen as I leaned into him. “I’m assuming his mother has a key?”
“Yes.” For fuck’s sake. “Yes, she lives down the street about a mile. She...I think she has a key for emergencies, but I didn’t think she’d ever used it. I never even thought about it.”
Just seeing Eric and his friends pouting with their arms folded across their chests had my knees going wobbly. “Why...why would they do this to me?”
Nothing made sense.
I was the one who paid for his football stuff and to make sure he got to go on his senior trip. I hadn’t even called the cops when he’d tried to steal my car last year. I’d just helped pay for one for him because I was an idiot.
Sure, he might not like me, but my sanity was useful.
“We’ll figure that out, but first, I’d like you to call your sister.” Rohan’s voice was calm and firm as he reached one hand around behind himself and gave me a hug. “Then we’re going to get to the bottom of this.”
Yes. He’d figure out what was going on.
Phone.
I had to call Missy.
Bringing up my contacts list, I hit the button for Asshole and it started to ring. One. Two. Three. “I’ve got things to do. What?”
Her angry bark had me finally starting to see where Eric had gotten his lovely personality from, and suddenly I was just tired. “Your son broke into my house. Come get him before I call the cops.”
Disconnecting the call, I pressed closer to Rohan. “It won’t take long. She won’t want the police called.”
“She might not get a say in the matter unless I like the answers these assholes give me.” Rohan’s deep voice got squeaks from the wimpy teenagers standing in my kitchen shaking. “Talk. One at a time and politely.”
The three boys exchanged glances before one of the shorter asshole friends with some kind of floppy haircut broke first. “You were a dick to his mom. You deserve it.”
Rohan scoffed. “Yeah, right. Try again.”
Eric got cocky once his friend cracked. “She told me what you said about her and Mary. You’re a dick. Making you think you were crazy was a small price to pay.”
What?
“It was easy too. Some Goodwill plates and leftovers and your brain melted.” His cackly laugh had my spine going straighter.
“I...she’s...” How did I explain to Rohan how crazy our relationship was? “She was the golden child growing up and it’s only gotten worse.”
Understatement of the year right there.
“She...she keeps dropping my niece off for me to babysit but only when Mary has the plague. She’s given me the flu three times in the last couple of months.
” The only time I ever saw the kid was when she was sick.
“My doctor was starting to worry because I couldn’t get well, and then she brought the baby over again right after I’d been on these crazy meds. ”
So I might’ve been a bit rude.
“Runny nose and a cough. The kid doesn’t even go to daycare.
I pay to make sure Missy can stay home with her even though Mary’s dad is a deadbeat.
” He was beyond deadbeat, but I wasn’t going to point that out in front of Eric, even if they weren’t related.
“I was so tired of being sick and getting so behind on work, and she wanted me to take the baby overnight again. I snapped.”
“You’d been sick for at least a month by that point, Knox.
I remember that and now some of your venting makes a lot more sense.
” Rohan tightened his hand around me as much as he could, given the odd angle.
“You’ve spent the last six months sick. I was amazed when I saw you and you weren’t coughing at the very least.”
Yeah, that had felt good.
“She got angry with me when I said I wouldn’t watch Mary.
She hasn’t been speaking to me.” It hadn’t even occurred to me that that was when the gremlin activity had started.
I’d just been enjoying my peace and quiet.
“She...she was angry that she had to watch Mary on her own, but I couldn’t do it anymore. ”
I’d been so tired of being sick.
“You can only help family so much. If the kid isn’t in daycare and is sick this much, she needs a specialist.” Rohan’s logical response had me wondering why I hadn’t thought of that first.
Probably because I’d been so sick.
“Bullshit. Don’t lie to make yourself sound better to your boyfriend.” Eric’s angry tone reverberated through the house. “Mary’s been in daycare since she was born. That cheap place is crap because you wouldn’t help.”
What?
I just stood there gaping at him because it didn’t make any sense.
“What the hell, idiot? Shut the front door next time.” Missy’s sharp tone coming from behind me had me fighting the urge to jump. “Now what the fuck are you doing with my kid? I have errands to run and you’re wasting my time.”
“Trying to decide if the little shit is going to jail.” Rohan turned around, glaring at Missy like he didn’t care what she was going to say. “He’s been terrorizing Knox because somehow your little shithead is under the impression that Knox was mean to you.”
Missy didn’t react at the terrorizing accusation and I thought that was because she didn’t know and didn’t care, but the mean to you comment had her eyes going wide for a split second.
Fuck.
“She knows. That’s her tell.” I didn’t bother explaining what it was to Rohan but he must’ve seen because he made a soft agreeing sound. “She told him something and she knows what set him off.”
That was all Master needed.
“Would you like to explain where all the money Knox has been sending you is going? He’s under the impression he’s been paying for you to be a stay-at-home mom to a baby you don’t seem to have with you.” Rohan chuckled and shook his head. “Because she’s at daycare, isn’t she?”
God.
Missy rolled her eyes. “What did you do to my kid? I’m not going to ask again.”
What had we done?
“You’ll ask it as many times as it takes for me to get a fucking answer.” Rohan’s stonewalling tone made it feel like I was being protected by a mountain. “Your little shithead has been breaking into Knox’s house to make him think he was crazy.”
I wasn’t sure if it’d been too easy for him to do it or not, but I was glad Rohan didn’t mention that part.
He just glared harder and kept going with his amazingly angry tone.
“He’s somehow under the impression that he needed to protect you from your big bad brother.
You know, the one who’s been paying all your fucking bills. ”
Well, most of them at least.
“It’s...it’s better for a baby to be home with its mother than in daycare.
I read...I read studies on it.” I’d read a lot of stuff about raising babies because I’d written a series on single dads a few years ago.
It’d sold really well but it made it obvious to me that I was not supposed to have children.
“She couldn’t stay home with Eric when he was little, so I wanted to make it up to her. ”
Clearly, I was an idiot and his stay in daycare hadn’t been the cause of his assholery.
Maybe I was a wuss?
Possibly a victim of some sort?
“I might need a therapist?” Or at least a spanking. “I don’t think I’ve been making the best decisions.”
Rohan kissed my head. “We’ll get it figured out later. Right now, we’re drawing some boundaries.”
Yes, boundaries first and therapist later. That way I could tell them I’d already started making progress and they wouldn’t think I was hopeless.
“Thank you for your help with this.” I wasn’t sure what else to say but that could’ve been because my brain just wasn’t working right.
“You’re welcome.” Rohan rubbed my back, not taking his eyes off my crazy family for a moment. “Is it okay if I handle the rest of this?”
“Yes, please. I just...I don’t know what to do anymore.” I’d tried being nice but that’d been the wrong way to handle it.
“That’s okay.” Rohan’s hand came up and squeezed the back of my neck, sending waves of soothing pressure through me. “I do.”
Having a Master was incredible...and I was going to let him know that once we had some privacy.
“You’re going to collect your child and his moron friends. You’re going to make sure they understand how badly this could’ve turned out for them. Then you’re going to leave.” Rohan’s calmly delivered orders had the hurricane in my stomach slowing.
Knowing it wasn’t up to me anymore was making me feel lighter than I had in ages and the way he kept giving orders just made it even better.
“The locks will be changed. You’re going to leave Knox alone until you’re ready to grovel appropriately or he decides to contact you.
The free money train has stopped until he’s had some time to process this and you’ve turned over all your household finances so he can see where the money he’s been sending you is going. ”
My first thought was that I didn’t want to be mean, but then I remembered I wasn’t in charge and Rohan didn’t have to be nice.
Yes, having a Master was a very good idea.
I wasn’t very good at drawing boundaries if these seemed mean.
“You’re also going to mail us proof that you’ve taken Mary to the doctor’s office to discuss why she’s been so sick or I’m calling Child Protective Services.” Rohan made that seem so logical it was hard to question it. “Now get out.”
Moving his hand to my back, he steered me away from everyone. “You’re going to head into your office for a moment. Why don’t you find a few more notebooks and make sure you have that calendar you said you wanted?”
Yes.
Notebooks made everything better and I had pretty ones I hadn’t even used yet.
Nodding slowly, I ignored everything around me and headed to my office. Rohan was here and he’d finish fixing things, and then once I’d properly thanked him for figuring out my gremlin problem, he could help start fixing me.
I was pretty sure that was on his list of duties as my Master and I wasn’t going to let him skip out on taking care of my sanity just because it was precariously balanced.