Chapter 12
The money doesn’t mean shit. I have more than enough. It’s the betrayal. The lost time I can’t get back with my pretty girl. It’s the act of fucking war that her mother committed when she decided to try and keep me from what’s mine.
Thank fuck Roxy’s finally come to her senses and let me in. I can only imagine how long her mother would’ve kept up this lie… Until she drained her bank account, I’m sure.
Then what was her plan? Kick Roxy back out onto the street? I’m fucking fuming. And by the time I pull into Gloria Luna’s driveway, all I see is red.
Roxy grabs my wrist. “She’ll have you arrested if you go in there.”
She can certainly fucking try. “If she does, take the car and don’t stop until you’re back in Lavender Heights. My lawyers will have me out by morning.” I squeeze her hand in mine.
Her eyes are wide and glassy. “What are you going to do?”
My suppressed rage bubbles over, violating my entire body. “I’m going to show her what happens when you fuck with what’s mine.”
I hop out of the car before Gloria and Earl have a chance to see me coming. I hear the car door slam behind me, followed by the clomp of Roxy’s boots.
After she unlocks the front door, I grab her by the waist and press her up against the wall. “Go upstairs and get your things. I’ll be right behind you.”
She gazes up at me, her eyes full of trust for the first time since the accident. “Be careful.”
I press my forehead to hers and take a deep breath. “I’ve got you, baby girl.”
She nods and gives me a soft peck on the cheek before barreling up the stairs toward her bedroom.
I crack my knuckles and charge into the sunken living room. I spot the back of Earl’s head as he lounges on the couch, surrounded by an array of cheap beer cans. A college football game blares from the TV. He doesn’t even know what’s about to crash into him.
I swipe his cell phone off the arm of the couch and stuff it into my pocket before coming around to face him. He starts to get up when I kick him square in the chest, sending him toppling back down. He wheezes and clutches his heart as the force knocks the wind from his lungs.
“Where’s your cunt wife?” I growl.
He reaches for where he thought his phone was. I take it out of my pocket and wave it in the air above my head. “Looking for this?” I slam it down on the coffee table so hard, it breaks in half.
“You must be the psycho boyfriend. You owe me a new goddamn phone, asshole.” He spits at me, but his aim is shit.
The fucking audacity. “Yeah, I’ll get right on that. After I break your face to match.”
He snorts. “Well, shit. Roxanne must have some magical fucking pussy. Maybe I’ll trade up and have a taste. Her mama is starting to bore me.”
I flip the coffee table over and charge at him. Swinging as hard as I can, my fist connects to his cheek with a loud crack. I press my knee into his chest, pinning him against the couch, and wrap my hands around his neck.
“Do you know how many people I’ve killed for her? Hmm?” I squeeze until his face turns bright red. His eyes bulge with fear. “And I’ve killed them for far less than the disgusting filth that just came out of your mouth.”
He claws at my hands, desperate for air. But I’m too fucking strong and too fucking angry. “You see, Roxy is mine. Did you really think I was going to let you degenerates keep me from her? That I would let you hurt her?”
I release some pressure only because I’m not ready for him to die yet. He gasps for air as he continues to try and pry my fingers from his throat.
I hear the click-clack of heels in the next room. Laughter bubbles up in my chest. “Sounds like Mama’s home.”
Earl shakes his head in a panic. “Please, leave us alone.”
“Too late for that, Earl. I’m just getting started.”
Gloria Luna freezes when she sees me. I glare back at the woman who was nothing more than a vessel to Roxy. My gratitude for her birthing the love of my life doesn’t outweigh my fury for what she’s done.
“You ain’t supposed to be here. Imma call the cops if you don’t leave right this second.” Her tone is stern, but I can hear how it falters. She’s a tough woman, lived a hard fucking life, I’m sure. But that’s no excuse to treat your own daughter like trash.
My future daughter will never know this woman. Never know this fucking dismal life.
I click my tongue at her when she starts to reach inside her purse for what I’m assuming is either her phone or a weapon.
“I will fucking snap his neck if you don’t take your hand out right fucking now. Put your purse on the floor and kick it away from you.” I squeeze Earl’s throat hard, reminding them both who’s in charge.
She hisses but does as I say. “What do you want, Punk?”
I laugh out loud. “Are you serious?” My darkness swirls around me like madness, threatening to consume me. “What I’ve always wanted. Roxy. You’ve been trying to keep me from her so you can use her as your own personal ATM. You’re fucking disgusting and a sorry excuse for a mother.”
Her face pales. She takes a step back, her hands trembling at her sides. “I just took what was owed to me. I raised that brat, put food on the table, kept a roof over our heads. And when Hank was killed, she didn’t even bother calling me to see if I was okay.”
I shake Earl by the throat as my rage billows.
“Oh, so she should’ve shown you some empathy?
With your choice of men? You should’ve heard what came out of this piece of shit’s mouth before you walked in here.
What were you saying, Earl? Something about tasting my girl’s pussy, was it?
” I glare daggers at Gloria. “This is the kind of man you’ve exposed your daughter to all her life.
She’s never been safe with you. I’m the only one who can protect her now. ”
“I remember,” Roxy murmurs as she shuffles into the room.
“Roxanne, call the police right now. He’s gonna kill Earl,” Gloria shrieks.
Roxy stares at her, dumbfounded. “Well, I can’t help you because I killed Hank. Gutted him like the pig he was.”
Her mother’s face twists in horror. “You have a brain injury. You’re just confused. Now call the police before he kills us all.”
I snicker. “Are you sure about that, Gloria? You haven’t seen what my pretty girl can do with a knife.”
Roxy picks up her mother’s purse and rifles through it until she finds the debit card she stole. She chucks it at her. “This is why you wanted to take care of me so badly. Why you brought me back here to Crimson Valley.”
Gloria shakes her head, fear flashing through her eyes. “He’s telling you lies, Roxanne. I just needed a little cash to help pay for your expenses.”
“Seven fucking thousand dollars?” I snicker as I look around the room, taking note of the massive TV, the shiny new pieces of furniture that still have the price tags hanging from them. “She wasn’t taking care of anyone but herself, baby.”
The Roxy I fell in love with snaps back into place, recognition returning to her murderous gaze like a rag doll coming to life.
She stalks toward Gloria, her fists clenched.
“I’m sick of your lies, Mama. You only came for me when you found out I had money.
It’s always been about self-preservation with you.
That’s why you pretended not to see what Hank was doing to me.
As long as he helped pay the bills, you’d let him do whatever he wanted. ”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Hank was nothin’ but good to us. I knew it was you who killed him. I felt it in my bones.” She backs up farther as Roxy keeps at her.
“If you think what he did to both of us was good, then you’re even stupider than I thought,” Roxy yells. When she snatches the half-drank bottle of vodka off the dining room table, I know in my gut what she’s going to do.
I wrap my arm around Earl’s neck and squeeze until he loses consciousness. Gloria screams when his body slumps over. “Relax, he’s not dead. Yet.”
“I always knew you were the devil, child. Get the hell out of my house. Both of you.” Gloria rushes over to Earl and shields him with her own body.
My pretty girl comes alive, her eyes blazing with a fire that I had feared had been snuffed out. But she’s back. And she looks like the angel of death. She empties the bottle of vodka onto the floor, swirling it around the living room.
“You don’t deserve to have nice things, Mama. Because the devil lives in you.” Roxy snatches the gold-plated lighter off Gloria’s pack of cigarettes. She flicks it open and rolls her thumb over the wheel, igniting the flame.
“Are you insane? You’ll never get away with this, Roxanne,” she shrieks.
“Burn it down, baby,” I coax.
Roxy’s lip curls up into a snarl as she glares down at Gloria.
“See, the thing about money, real money, is that it buys power. I have lawyers. All you’ve got is a lazy boyfriend and a house you bought with money from your dead husband’s life insurance policy.
I don’t think it will be too hard to convince the cops that you passed out drunk with a lit cigarette. ”
Her mouth gapes open. “You wouldn’t…”
Roxy nods. “And if you even try to pin this on me or Punk, I will press charges against you. I have proof that you made those withdrawals from my account. Seven thousand dollars is a felony. They don’t let you have vodka in prison, Mama.
Although, the food has gotta be better than the garbage you try to cook. ”
Laughter erupts from my chest. I’ve never been more proud and turned on by my pretty girl than I am in this moment. I want to fuck her against the wall while the rest of it burns down around us.
“It’s time. Let’s get the fuck out of here, baby,” I urge.
Her mother screams when Roxy throws the lighter. Flames shoot across the shag carpet, making a direct line for the curtains faster than I anticipated. I grab Roxy by the wrist and drag her to the front door.
“Come on, love. This place is gonna fucking blow,” I shout over Gloria’s screams. On the way out, I scoop up the duffel bag Roxy placed by the door.