Chapter 7
Fox sat outside the preschool Ethan attended.
The text had said simply that Brooke would be home late and to pick up Ethan.
He had left work early to drive back across town in time to be there when the bell rang.
Climbing out of his truck, he joined the other adults milling around the gate to the school.
Moments later the bell rang, and teachers marched their students to the gate.
Ethan ran toward him waving a paper in his small hand. “Fox, look!” he yelled. He was caught by the teacher at the gate and told to wait like everyone else.
Fox hid his grin at the boy’s rampant enthusiasm and his sudden dismay. When it was finally his turn, the teacher checked his driver’s license before releasing Ethan to him. He appreciated her diligence.
“Look what I drawed,” Ethan said, happiness once again etched on his face.
“Look at what I drew,” he corrected, taking the paper.
“Drewed. It’s you, me, and Momma. Do you like it?”
“I love it. Can we put it on the fridge when we get home?”
“Yeah. Oh, and I drewed Uncle Knox one too, and Uncle Memphis one.” Fox debated trying to explain that they weren’t his uncles but decided it could wait a little longer. So far, they were the only uncles in his life. He could do worse than Knox and Memphis.
“That’s really nice. We’ll send your pictures to them.”
They walked to the truck where Fox pulled the booster car seat out of his toolbox in the bed. Ethan waited patiently while he was securely belted into the passenger seat. His small backpack and lunch box were deposited on the floor at his feet.
“Where’s Momma?” he asked when Fox reached for the ignition.
“She had to work late.” The text had said nothing about what she was doing. He had tried calling her, but it went straight to voicemail. It wasn’t the first time that she had gone out without so much as an explanation.
What bothered him was it was happening more and more. He wanted to confide his fears to Bailey, that Brooke was seeing someone else, but he had already crossed a line by admitting he wished things were different.
“Can we have pizza?” the small voice broke into his thoughts.
“Sure, buddy.”
“Can we invite Aunt Dover?”
“We can ask. She might still be at work, though.” He pulled over in the parking lot, fished out his phone and texted his sister. She agreed to come almost immediately. “She said she’ll meet us there.”
“Yay!” Ethan cheered. Fox wondered how someone produced by two toxic people could have such a sweet, loving spirit. It was one more reminder why he couldn’t simply walk away from Brooke no matter how much he wanted to.
They arrived at the small pizza restaurant first and found a booth near the back.
He ordered them both water while they waited.
It wasn’t the best pizza in town, but there was a small arcade in a room off the main dining room that Ethan loved.
After eating, Fox would let him play a few games before going home.
Ten minutes later, Dover pushed through the front door followed by the giant. She stomped over to their table and slid into the opposite side of the booth. Knox wedged himself beside her.
“I thought you were heading home?” Fox asked.
“Decided I’d hang around for a few more days instead. See Boston,” Knox replied.
“So you’re like a bad penny.”
“More like gum you can’t get off the bottom of your shoe,” Dover groused.
“Your sister is very bitchy,” Knox said, rolling his eyes.
“She grows on you,” Fox answered.
“Like fungus,” he agreed.
“Speaking of, where’s Brooke?” Dover asked.
“Momma is working,” Ethan answered. Fox made quotations with his fingers.
“Where does she work?” Knox asked.
“At a spa not far from Ethan’s preschool.
She’s a massage therapist. It’s how we met.
I pulled a couple of muscles in my back on a job and went in to see if they could be worked out.
Brooke was my therapist. She gave me her number before I left.
I called the next day.” He was interrupted when the waitress arrived.
“When did they move in?” Knox asked after they placed their order.
“Probably three or four months later.”
“Way too fast if you ask me,” Dover added.
“I don’t know. Greer and I weren’t even together when we started living together, but that’s a whole other story,” Knox said.
“If you mentioned how much ‘work’ she seems to be doing do you think something would happen? Something unpleasant?” He looked at Ethan who sat across from him coloring on a paper menu.
“I can’t risk it. Sometimes the…outburst has to be contained,” Fox answered. “I just wish I knew what was going on. I don’t want anyone put in harm’s way.”
“I have someone coming who can find out more about what’s going on. And before you mind-meld me,” Knox said, holding up his hands, palms out. “It’s our brother-in-law. He’s very good at poking around unnoticed. He’ll be here tomorrow.”
“No one asked for you to interfere,” Fox challenged.
“I’ve already tried,” Dover responded. “You might as well give up. He’s all ‘family this’ and ‘family that.’ It can’t hurt though. Guy’s apparently a fed.”
“Great, that’s just what I need,” Fox snarled.
“Look, maybe she’s just…‘working’ on someone else. If it’s something more, though, you need to know,” Knox argued.
“Do you get in the middle of everyone’s business?” Fox asked. “You do this to Memphis?”
“Hey, I’m the reason Memphis even met Thayer, same for Dex and Tyler.
Flint and Willow, however, were all them.
I just made sure they kept living. So, yes, I do this to everyone I give two shits about.
” Ethan’s head bobbed up, his eyes wide.
“Sorry, little man. I’ll put money in the swear jar when I get home. ”
“You have a swear jar?” Ethan asked, his eyes still wide.
“I do. I think it’s funding our next vacation.”
“Can we get a swear jar?” he asked, looking at Fox.
“Thanks.” Fox scowled at Knox.
“See, your life is already better with me in it.” Knox smirked back.
Brooke placed the cash through the door in the glass separating her from the cabbie. She stepped out onto the curb and closed the back door.
“Are you sure you’ll be okay down here?” the cabbie asked.
“I’m fine,” she answered and stepped back against the building.
“Suit yourself,” he said with a shrug and drove away.
This was always the part she hated. You never knew who was along the waterfront after hours. It wasn’t dark yet, but that didn’t deter the drug dealers.
She had been propositioned several times as she’d walked the two blocks. This time she just got a catcall for her efforts. She teetered down a road never meant for five-inch heels.
Reaching the heavy metal door, she pressed the buzzer on the wall.
A few minutes later the door was rolled back, and a strong hand jerked her roughly inside.
It was dark except for a work light hanging over the door.
Her eyes struggled to adjust before he had her by the arm and was dragging her through the darkness.
She guessed she should be used to this by now. It wasn’t the first time he had insisted she meet him at the warehouse. Her heart would race whenever she got the text to meet him. The flesh on her body would tingle the second she stepped inside the immense space.
He pulled her past the crates into his office and straight to the back wall.
“Turn around,” he snarled. She pouted but followed his instructions, turning her back to the wall. Somewhere on the wall he had a lock installed that opened a secret room. She heard the sound of stone scraping against cement, and her heart began to race. This was her favorite part of the game.
“Come on,” he said stepping inside the room. She turned around and followed. The door closed behind her.
Her gaze immediately fell on the back wall. She took in the intricacy of the mural first. He explained that it was the school crest where he had attended high school. It was an almost lifelike rendering of an eagle.
But, unlike most eagle mascots, this one looked like it was flying right at you. The talons reached out in front of it, like it would swoop you up in them. It sent a chill up her spine every time she entered the room.
There was a motto written in Latin underneath the eagle that she muttered to herself. He had told her what it meant several times, but she never could remember. The only word that had stuck with her was the word pietas—piety.
Her gaze roamed over the rest of the wall. The driver’s licenses, ticket stubs, car keys, money. There were even several cell phones attached to the wall. Anything they found in the men’s pockets.
It was amazing what people carried with them. The silver-haired attorney had a pocket full of condoms. She wondered how lucky he’d thought he was getting that night. Turns out, not lucky at all.
“Do you see it?” he asks, slipping up behind her. His hand snaked around her throat, and she gasped. “Halfway down on the left,” he whispered. His other hand clamped on her breast. She felt the wetness soak her panties. “Do. You. See. It?” he asked once again. She quickly nodded her head.
He pressed against her as he moved her closer to the security badge of the bank executive. There was a second photo of the moment he died and one of the man laid out on the pitch at the private school.
Spread around the pictures was breath spray, a poker chip, and a photo of his family. She wished she could pick the ones who weren’t just looking to cheat on their wives while they were in town on business. The kids in the picture would be better off without him, she reasoned.
She felt her dress pushed up over her ass.
His hand snaked over the globes of her ass until they wrapped in the string of her barely there panties.
With one twist, they were yanked away from her body.
A moan slipped out from between her teeth.
She was inches from the photos of her last mark when he entered her in one harsh stroke.
She would have screamed, but she could no longer draw a full breath.
Her arms stretched in front of her until they felt the wall to keep from falling forward.
She knew he would punish her if she toppled against it.
There was a part of her that craved that punishment more than anything.
His praise for her being obedient was an even more powerful drug, so she pushed back as he railed into her.
His hand around her throat tightened until she had to struggle to remain conscious.
“Finish me,” he hissed. She felt a sharp slap against her backside that pushed her body to orgasm.
It was exactly how he had been training her.
All she wanted was to please him, and she knew exactly what he needed.
He froze behind her as he pumped his seed inside.
He never wore a condom. It was a good thing she had taken care of any chance of getting pregnant again when Ethan was born.
He slid out and slumped into a desk chair. She turned to make sure he was happy to find his pants still open. Dropping to her knees, she crawled across the rough cement floor to him.
“Fucking hell,” he snarled when she reached for him. “Give me a minute.” She sat back on her heels and waited. “You’ll never believe what happened today.” He laughed, and her heart soared. “My parents are having their townhouse remodeled and awarded the work to the group your boyfriend works for.
“Do you know what that means?” he continued. She looked up waiting for him to explain it to her. “It means it’s time I meet your boyfriend. Don’t you think?”
“If you think so,” she mumbled.
“We can arrange to run into each other at dinner one night. I’m sure he’ll invite me to sit with you. Would you like that demanding pussy to be fingered under the table while we’re all getting to know each other like friends?”
“Yes, please.”
“That’s a good girl. Maybe I can fuck you in the bathroom between courses. You’ll still feel me on you when you go home with him. Would you like that, my little dove?”
“Very much,” she answered. She wasn’t sure about any of this, but she knew it was better to give him what he wanted. The last thing she wanted to do was wind up on the machine behind the glass at the other end of the room.
“Then put those pretty lips to work, and I’ll see what I can do.” He sat back with his legs spread as her head dipped toward him.