Chapter 20
Chapter Twenty
BIG RED
I ’m on my way to Viper and Cara’s house with Alice to get all the info on Chloe and her sick-ass husband. Alice wasn’t joking when she said she wanted to know everything. I love that she’s stepping into a nurturing role toward my kids. I want to be with Alice, but if she held no interest in my kids, there would be no us.
The kids just left with Crystal to go to school. Cindy let me know she hasn’t had any problems out of Tommy and his little clan. I guess that beatdown I gave Zack was enough to get his son in line. It seems like everything is falling in line in my life except for two people.
Chloe and Declan.
This isn’t over by a long shot. Declan is far too obsessed with Alice just to accept losing her. As for Chloe, I really don’t understand her angle. Six years is a long time to be gone, just to pop back up, acting as if she suddenly wants to be a mother. I don’t think I could ever harm Chloe, but if she tries anything that will put Cindy and Colt at risk, then all bets are off.
When we arrive at Viper and Cara’s house, Viper is standing on the porch, holding the door open, with his daughter Angel in his arms.
“Daddy day?” I guess.
“You know it.” He chuckles, shaking his head as we walk into the house.
“What’s daddy day?” Alice asks, looking between Viper and me.
“She gets in these moods where she only wants to deal with me. Most of the time, I can accommodate that, but if I can’t, she is pissed at the world.”
“Aww, that’s so sweet,” Alice coos.
“Only to a certain extent. She won't even let me hug my own husband.” Cara scoffs, walking into the living room with a file in her hand.
Alice giggles at the jealous tone lacing Cara's words. We sit on the couches in their living room, and Cara hands me a file. When I open my mouth, Cara holds up a finger. She grabs a pair of headphones and a tablet off the table and gives them to Angel. She quickly puts on the headphones and begins clicking away on the tablet.
“I don’t need her to hear any of this.”
My stomach turns at the thought of how bad this is. I have a gut-wrenching feeling that whatever is in this file is about to put the nail in the coffin for Chloe. I open the folder and Cara follows suit.
“So, on this first page is Chloe's very lengthy arrest record from the time she left. She has been arrested for possession of drugs, petty theft, drunk driving, and soliciting prostitution.”
“What the fuck?”
I sit back, reading the words she spoke, not wanting to believe this. Chloe was always wild but never like this. I don’t even know who this woman is. I’m trying to find a slither of hope in this chaos. I’m getting nothing. I would love to believe that maybe she cleaned up her life and now wanted to be in the kids' lives, but I know that isn’t the case. Her husband is a pedophile, and she still wants to take them around him. She even said Cindy's feelings don’t matter.
Sighing, I rub my forehead and motion for Cara to continue.
“Four months ago, she and her then-boyfriend, Blaine, were attacked outside of a club, resulting in his death.”
“How did he die?”
“A bullet to the head.”
“Man, what the hell is really going on?” I’m becoming frustrated because none of this is what I was expecting. I don’t know what I thought I would learn, but all of this sure ain’t it.
“Based on her statement, they were attacked once they approached their car. They were both beaten and her boyfriend was shot. They did have camera footage that I did look into, but from the angle of the camera, you can’t get a good look at the killers. You do get a glimpse of Chloe's face as they approached them. Chloe knew the men who killed Blaine.”
“How do you know?” Alice asked, sitting forward.
“The look of recognition was on both of their faces. But that’s not the craziest part. In Chloe’s statement to the police, she told them she had been with Blaine for eight years.”
This might as well have been a record-scratch moment. Did she just say Chloe had been with this man for eight years?
Colton is seven. If the little man didn’t look exactly like me, I would question whether he was mine. It wouldn’t have mattered either way. Colt is mine, and a DNA test wouldn’t change anything.
Chloe is dead to me. We still have more things to go over in the file, but her fate is sealed. If she tries running up on me again, I will have no mercy for her.
“This is crazy,” Viper says, shaking his head.
“That’s an understatement. How the hell does she go from being with a man for eight years to being married in four months?”
“All I know is once she married Jeffery, he paid to have her records sealed just like his,” Cara informs me.
“You can do that?” Alice asks, astonished, turning to me with worried eyes.
“Money talks and bullshit runs a marathon,” Cara says.
“This doesn’t make sense. Why would Jeffery marry a drug-addicted prostitute, seal her arrest records, and help her fight for custody?” I throw the file down on the coffee table in frustration.
“Maybe he was getting something out of it,” Cara suggests.
“Like what?”
“Cindy.”
I’m off the couch in a flash, pacing the living room. The unexpected movement causes Angel to look up at me briefly before returning her attention to the tablet. I start breaking down everything I’ve just learned, and although it somewhat makes sense, I just don’t want to believe it.
I can’t accept Chloe leaving our children motherless just to return and pull something like this.
“The pieces didn’t click together for me until yesterday at the beach. When I said that man was a pedophile, her ass was not surprised by my statement. The fact she was standing there acting as if this man being around Cindy was no big deal helped me figure out her angle.”
“Where are they staying? I will kill Chloe and his ass before I give them a chance to hurt Cindy.”
“I don’t know, Red. I did before, but they checked out of the hotel this morning.”
“I swear I can’t catch a damn break,” I hiss, pulling my hair.
“I’ll do my best to find them. But you know I put trackers in all the kids' shoes. So even if Chloe and Jeffery try something as stupid as trying to kidnap the kids, they won't make it far. Alice, I need to give you this as well.” She pulls a bracelet from her pocket and hands it to Alice.
“What is this?”
“It’s a tracker bracelet that I make at my tech shop. With Declan disappearing, we also need to ensure you’re protected as much as possible.”
Alice doesn’t question it. She nods her head before putting the bracelet on.
“In the meantime, you two stay alert. Sara, Tech, and I are doing everything we can to find them, but until then, keep your eyes open. I have a feeling things are about to heat up.”
We say our goodbyes to Viper and Cara and leave. Halfway through the walk home, Alice turns to me and wraps her arms around my waist. She rests her chin on my chest, staring into my eyes.
“Everything’s going to be okay.” She rises on her toes, pecking my lips a few times.
All the tension in my body melts away. Alice has the power to calm me like no one else. I never saw this coming. As much as I wanted someone for myself, I didn’t think it would be possible after Chloe. I mean, she gave me two babies, and I still couldn’t fall in love with her. But with Alice, I’m different.
The second she’s gone, I miss her. When I tried staying away from her when she first came here, it was like torturing myself. I found myself sitting on my porch just to see if she would come outside. I would watch the dining hall door during breakfast and dinner, hoping she would come.
I should have known then that this was the real thing.
Wrapping my arms around her, I press my lips to hers, kissing her deeply. When she melts against me, I pull away and cup one of her cheeks.
“I love you, kitten.”
Alice's mouth drops open before she smiles. Her eyes fill with unshed tears. “I love you, too.”
Right there, in the middle of the walkway, we make out like two love-drunk fools.
As much as I want to just bask in the happiness of my growing relationship with Alice, I have to keep my defenses up. I still don't know what Chloe has up her sleeve. And there's also the lingering threat of Declan.
Despite any of that, I won't let anything happen to my family.