20. #2
“That was almost too far, only because I’ve known her since she was a little girl.
If it were anyone else, someone I didn’t consider family, I’d say that was a bucket-of-kerosene-on-a-bonfire kind of burn.
Since it’s Jewel, on all our behalf, I have to ask you to please never take things in that direction again. ”
I looked up and found three men I’d met during Matteo’s wedding festivities, but had only seen from a distance a few times since then. I stood up from my comfortable position, leaning on a pallet of sheetrock across from the chair Robert was tied to. “Gentlemen, welcome to my future home.”
“Thanks for having us, but I thought it was polite for us to bring you a housewarming gift, not have you give us one.”
“As much as I’d love to let you have him, I’ll only need your advice if this goes sideways, and he doesn’t learn exactly how important my requests are.” I looked at Robert and asked, “What was my first request?”
“To keep my fucking mouth shut,” he answered meekly.
“Do you know how many times I’ve had to stop myself from teaching you that lesson over the years?
And don’t even get me started on how hard it has been for Grunt to let you keep breathing,” the elder Forrester said as he walked closer to Robert.
“He only let you live because Jewel asked him to. Did you know that?”
“That’s the only reason you’re not bleeding out right now,” Bird explained. “You and I have had words before, Robert, and for a while, I thought you’d learned your lesson. Apparently, you’ve forgotten it.”
“I never got my hands on him, so can I have a turn?”
“Clem, you know it’s Kale’s turn. He’ll pout if you get to him first.”
“You’ve been taking turns kicking his ass, and he’s still this stupid?” I asked.
“What exactly did he do today?” Bird asked.
“He’s been threatening Jewel so much she was granted a restraining order while they wait to go back to custody court.”
“You’re still dragging her back and forth?” Smokey asked angrily.
“This time, Jewel filed because Robert had blacked Max’s eye not long before.”
The way all three men went completely still before slowly turning their heads to stare menacingly at Robert was so eerie that I felt a shiver run down my spine. Robert felt it, too, but instead of shivering, the front of his pants bloomed with moisture right before he burst into tears.
Honestly, if I were tied to a chair and at the mercy of not just one angry man from Jewel’s family, but three with another on the way, I might have the same problem.
There was something about them, especially Jewel’s father’s generation of the family, that was more than a little unhinged.
I could admit that because my family wasn’t any more civilized when it came to protecting the ones we loved.
“I was trying to get him to go to school out of state so he’d be safe.”
“By hitting him in the face?” I asked, incredulous.
Robert was sniffling and blubbering, but I was still able to understand his reason, even if the thought process made no sense. “I thought if I alienated my boys, they’d keep their distance and be safer than they would if we spent . . .”
“That’s the biggest pile of horseshit I’ve ever heard!” Smokey roared. His voice dripped with disgust. “A real man never hits a woman or a child, but I guess I shouldn’t have expected you to understand that.”
“I never hit Jewel!” Robert boasted, as if that would take the heat off him for blacking his son’s eye. “I’ve never hit either of the boys before that happened with Max!”
“You knew she was the only thing keeping you safe from us,” Bird said. ”If you ever touched her or any of the rest of the family in anger, the only thing she’d need our help for would be hiding your fucking body.”
My phone started ringing. When I pulled it out of my pocket, I wasn’t surprised to see it was Jewel. She had a knack for calling at just the wrong time, when I would inevitably have to lie to her. This would be the second time today, and it was still early afternoon!
The first lie had been about my wallet. I knew exactly where it was–in my pocket as it should be–but I needed her in the back of the house so she wouldn’t see Tino and Jersey overpowering Robert and hauling him out to my truck while I took his and hid it in my garage.
Now, she was going to ask me what I was doing and where I was, and I’d have to tell another blatant lie.
“It’s Jewel,” I said as I stared at the screen.
I heard a garbled noise and looked up to find Bird Forrester standing behind Robert, holding him in a tight headlock with his hand pressed over his mouth.
I wasn’t sure he realized he was covering his nose, too, but he’d figure it out when Robert lost consciousness.
Since my guest was being handled by my new cohorts in crime, I answered the phone as if I didn’t have a care in the world. As I put it on speaker, I said, “Hey, Kitten. What’s up?”
Just as I’d predicted, she asked, “Where are you?”
“I’m out checking on a property.” That wasn’t a total lie, so maybe I was out of the woods after all. “Where are you?”
“I’m at home. I just finished making a report with the cops. I guess Robert took me seriously when I told him I was calling them, because he left before they got here.”
“Is that good or bad?”
“I’d rather the boys not have to hear stories about their father getting arrested on my front lawn, so I think it’s a good thing he was gone before they arrived.”
“The option to make all your problems go away is still on the table, Kitten.”
“You’re so good to me, Ziggy.”
“You’re gonna make me blush,” I teased, looking everywhere but at the three men watching me like I was dangling a mouse in front of a cobra. “What time is dinner this evening?”
“Mom said we should come over around seven, but I’d rather get there closer to six so I can help her in the kitchen. Last time I spoke to her, she said Dad was talking to imaginary friends and giggling like we used to when we were up to something.”
Smokey snorted before he covered his mouth and coughed.
“Who is that?”
“Where?”
“With you. What property are you looking at?”
“It’s an investment property here in Rojo. I’m not quite ready to share the details with you yet, but I will soon.”
“Who are you with?”
I winced before I answered, “You know I never get to go anywhere without Tino and Jersey.”
“Nip, is my Papa Smokey with you?”
I leaned my head back and stared at the ceiling beams, trying to figure out how to get out of this one. Finally, I asked, “Why would Mr. Forrester be with me at my property, Kitten?”
“I don’t know. Why won’t you answer my question?”
“Didn’t I just do that?”
Jewel was quiet for a few seconds before she said, “Sometimes when I was a kid, my dad would take off with the guys and be gone for an hour or two, and other times it was all night long or even for a few days. When we’d ask Mom what he was doing, she’d say he was taking care of the world and making sure it was fit for us to live in. ”
“That’s sweet.”
“I’m sure that nothing he was doing with his friends could be called sweet by any stretch of the imagination.” Smokey pulled his lips between his teeth and shrugged, but I noticed he didn’t make eye contact with me when he did it. “Is Smokey with you?”
“I’d rather not answer questions without a lawyer present, Kitten. Can we just . . . not . . . right now?”
“Are you making the world a better place for us?”
“I’d like to think so, but there are parameters I have to navigate within that hinder the process.”
“Parameters.” Jewel hummed for a few seconds. “He has to live, Nip. I won’t be able to look my boys in the eye if something happens to him because of me.”
I wasn’t surprised she knew my meeting with Smokey had to do with Robert. “That’s a difficult position to be in, and although I don’t understand your reluctance, I assure you I’ll make no moves that can’t be rescinded.”
“You’re sexy as hell when you talk like a businessman.”
“Thank you,” I said as I turned and started walking away, furiously trying to get my phone volume to work so I didn’t have to use the damn speaker, knowing where Jewel was going with this. Finally, I had to warn her, “You’re on speaker, Kitten.”
“When are you going to realize that’s never a good idea?”
“My phone is jacked, okay? I have to talk to you on speaker or via text because I can’t hear you otherwise.”
“You have more money than God and can’t buy a new phone? Come on.”
“It’s on the agenda for next week.”
“Good, because speakerphone and I don’t work well together.”
“I’ve noticed.”
“And you don’t want to talk to me because Papa Smokey is there with you, right?”
“That’s what you seem to think.”
“Who else is there?”
“When your dad used to take off, do you think your mom asked him a million and one questions?”
“Damn right she did, although she probably waited until he was back to grill him because she doesn’t trust technology any more than I do.”
“Does this mean that my inquisition can wait?”
“It does. I’ll get the answers out of you tonight after I use those sexy ties of yours to strap you to my headboard.”
I looked over my shoulder and found Smokey wincing, Clem standing with his hands over his ears and his eyes tightly shut, while Bird shook his head furiously. Just to be an asshole, I asked, “And then what will you do?”
Clem’s eyes shot open, and he mouthed, You motherfucker.
Before Jewel could answer, I hurried to say, “Kitten, let’s chat about this when we’re alone and members of your family can’t hear us talking, okay?”
“So he’s not alone.”
“I’ll see you in a few hours, Jewel,” I said firmly.
“If you must.”
“Oh! I almost forgot! I love you too!”