My secret weapon had arrived.
Jumping out of my unmarked police vehicle, I rushed to the meter to put in a few coins just as she came up to meet me, a sly smile on her stunning face.
“Hello Jason, I must say you surprised me with your call.”
Leaning over I pressed my lips to her cheek.
“Thank you for agreeing to help me Vegas, I owe you one,” I told her with a grateful smile.
“Keep your lips off my woman cop, or I will rip your lungs out with my bare hands.” A loud, deep voice shouted at me from somewhere near where I stood.
Whipping my head around, it didn’t take me long to find the owner of the menacing threat. Sitting sideways on a huge black Harley was Darth, his facial expression not happy.
Fuck, not good.
Lifting my hand, I waved to the big scary man who had a liking for kicking my arse in the boxing ring.
“What the fuck you waving at me for? Get a fucking move on, Vegas and I have shit to do,” Darth growled back at me, shaking his head as if I was a moron or from another planet.
“Oh, don’t mind him, inside he is a big soft marshmallow,” Vegas said with a giggle, as she grabbed me by the hand and started to lead me to the front door of the jewellery store.
“Marshmallow my arse,” I grumbled, worriedly hurrying beside her to get into the shop and out of Darth’s line of sight which was focused on my hand holding onto his woman’s. I tried to shake my hand from Vegas, but she wasn’t having it, so when a low growl followed me into the shop I knew that an arse kicking was coming my way very soon.
I drove in the opposite direction of Zoe’s place still confused by the text message I received just after I said goodbye to Vegas, thanking her for her help and being careful not to touch her in any way. I could still hear her laughter as she walked towards her ridiculously large man who sat on his bike the whole forty minutes it took for me to decide on the right ring for my fiancée.
Fiancée. It hadn’t sunk in yet that I actually asked Zoe to marry me, and that she actually said yes. Not that I regretted acting so impulsively, it was the best decision and the right thing to do. It felt right, I was happy, real fucking happy.
Sneaking a quick glance at the fancy bag the shop assistant handed to me, along with a free polishing cloth and a crystal keyring with the stores logo on it. I guess when you spend eight thousand on an amethyst and diamond ring the least they can do is throw in a couple of freebies.
My plan was to go straight to Zoe’s after work, but in her text, she asked me to meet her at my parent’s house. My confusion was she knew what I bought today, I mean, I told her last night the first thing I was going to do was buy her an engagement ring and meet her at home.
Not only that, I was worried that she chose to text me instead of calling.
I preferred to speak than text, a text message was too easy to get wrong. You couldn’t get the feel of the tone of a message; it was too easy to jump to the wrong conclusions. I liked hearing a voice behind the words, that way there were no misunderstandings and no heart palpations when your fiancée texted that we needed to talk and can I met her at my childhood home.
Zoe didn’t even know my parents, Deck never took her home for Sunday dinner during the time they spent together. That was how I decided to describe my brother’s relationship with my woman, better for my peace of mind and for Deck’s teeth.
I was only steps away from making her mine forever, then a kid or three and the whole Deck and Zoe thing would be erased from my mind.
Turning onto my parent’s street, I noticed the surrounding cars; it was the cop in me I suppose but I couldn’t help make a mental note of the licence plate of the piece of shit parked haphazardly in front of Kelsey’s place. The Holden Commodore had several mismatched panels, and I highly doubted it was roadworthy. I also had a sneaking suspicion it belonged to one of Kelsey’s mum’s men.
Poor kid, fancy going through life without being loved by your own mum.
I started to reflect on that when the gleam of chrome caught my eye.
Deck’s bike was parked next to Zoe’s black bug, as if they arrived at the same time.
What the fuck is going on?
Forgetting all about Kelsey and the crap car, I quickly parked my Ford behind Zoe’s car, switched off the engine and pulled on the hand break.
Grabbing the ring out of the fancy bag, I jumped out of the car and ran up the side of the house to the kitchen entrance. Mum and Dad spent a great deal of their time in the large, homey kitchen. It was the one room in the house they renovated with the thought of spending time in it.
Opening the door, I walked in and immediately saw Deck sitting at the table eating a plate of Mum’s spag bol with not a care in the world. A movement in my peripheral vision had my head turning to see Zoe standing by the fridge in the corner of the room looking like she wanted to throw up.
Rushing to her, I didn’t bother stopping myself from reaching out and taking her into my arms.
“Baby what’s wrong?” I asked her concerned and pissed off at the same time. Concerned because Zoe looked ready to run, and pissed because Deck was being a dick and my mother was hovering around him serving his every need.
Returning my focus back to the shaking woman in my arms, I held her tighter to me.
“Baby, you are shaking. Please tell me what’s wrong,” I begged starting to freak out. My first thought was Zoe, making sure she was okay. Getting stuck into Deck could wait, for now.
“Jason would you and Deck’s friend like a bowl of my famous spaghetti?” Mum asked and instantly I tensed against Zoe, my arms tightening around her more. It was time to put my mother straight on a few things.
Without letting Zoe go, I turned my body so I was facing my mother.
“Mum, this is Zoe, my fiancée. She isn’t Deck’s anything, they are just friends. Right Decker?” I glared at Deck who was busy downing a beer, his free hand making a whatever gesture.
“Oh, well they came in together, what was I meant to think? And since when are you engaged? You never told us you were seeing anyone.” Mum threw out the questions like an accusation.
“Since I am. I don’t have to tell you everything, Mum, and why haven’t you asked me if I was seeing someone? Show some interest in my life occasionally,” I argued with her, but I was far too worried about Zoe to care about Mum’s response. Her body was rigid in mine; the only indication she knew I was there with her was the fact that her hands were on my back. They fisted my shirt so hard she had some of my skin gathered in her fist along with the material of my shirt, her hold on me tight like she didn’t want to let go.
“Zoe, you are scaring me baby,” I said a little more forcefully, getting Deck’s attention.
“Zoe?” he asked finally taking notice that something was wrong with her. His fork hit the empty bowl and his face took on more of a concerned look.
I should be happy that he was finally seeing the situation going on under his nose, but that part of me I couldn’t get under control quite yet was annoyed.
Zoe was mine, she was marrying me. Deck had no place in this part of my life and definitely nothing to do with Zoe.
Zoe mumbled something into my chest, but it was muffled I couldn’t make out what she said.
“Say that again baby.”
Zoe lifted her head from its hiding place and I nearly crumbled at the lost and hopeless look on her beautiful face.
“I am so sorry Jason, I didn’t know, I didn’t mean it,” she cried, big fat tears streaming down her cheeks.
“Hey, hey Zoe Poe, please don’t cry. I can take anything but your tears baby,” I rushed to tell her, extracting my arms from around her shaking body I used my thumbs to mop up some of her tears.
My mother walked to us with a box of tissues in her hand, holding it out for Zoe to take one.
“Sweetheart would you like Deck to drive you home?” Mum asked and I lost it.
“For fuck’s sake Mum! Will you stop and fucking
listen,” I yelled a little too loudly because Deck was all of a sudden out of his chair and stalking my way.
Acting out of years of experience with fighting with him, I gently shoved Zoe behind me.
“Sit the fuck down Deck, this doesn’t concern you,” I warned him, getting ready for a fight.
“It is when you swear and yell at Mum, so watch your fucking mouth mate,” Deck warned me with a menacing growl, the second one I received for the day.
My blood was just about at boiling point. Mum was being her typical Deck cheering squad, he was up in my face, and all I wanted to do was protect Zoe and find out what the hell had her so upset after our wonderful romantic weekend.
Asking her to marry me and her saying yes was the best moment of my life—maybe it wasn’t for her.
She said she was sorry, sorry for saying yes? Maybe the hours at work and away from me gave her time to pause and rethink us.
I was stuck in my head and I never even noticed that Deck had made his way closer, his arm reaching around me to touch Zoe on the arm.
“What’s up gorgeous?”
The endearment triggered my next move, pushing her further away from me I yanked Deck’s hand off her and pushed him back.
“Back the fuck off, don’t make me tell you again,” I yelled, my fists up ready for Deck to swing at me.
“Do. Not. Touch. Me.” Deck growled each word, his blue eyes, identical to mine turning black, his hulking body radiated anger.
Well fucking bring it arsehole, I ain’t scared of you.
Behind me, Zoe was pulling at my shirt, begging me to go outside with her. Mum was on the phone to our father, insisting he come home as soon as possible. All of this going around me didn’t do anything to snap me out of my one-minded focus on my brother.
Deep down I knew this was coming, despite his nonchalant approach to Zoe and me since we told him, and I knew there would be a showdown between us. It was in our DNA to go at each other’s throats no matter the reason behind it.
Stepping forward, I got right in his face, “Who the fuck do you think you are hey? Big army hero turned biker. You had your chance with Zoe and you blew it. You couldn’t see her true beauty; instead, you treated her like nothing more than a casual hook-up. Well, I fucking love her mate,” I spat the endearment at him with more than a little hatred. Something I haven’t felt for him in a long time.
“Is that right brother? Well, ain’t it just like you to follow in my shadow. Always the loser, taking my offcuts. That first night at the compound she danced with me when you left. Did a bit more too,” Deck taunted me.
And I saw red. How fucking dare he suggest such a thing about Zoe, it was a lower than low thing to say about anyone but more so about a woman he spent ten or more years with casual or not. And what the fuck did he mean when he said ‘did more too’?
I was pulling my arm back, my fist tightly closed ready to lay Deck out when Zoe pushed her way between us screaming something that completely shattered me.
“God damn it stop! I’m pregnant. And you know damn well it wasn’t anything Deck. We danced a few times and shared a couple of kisses. Don’t make it sound like it was more than that,” Zoe threw at Deck, her whole body shaking with rage.
Rage consumed me, hearing that after I went home, the most important person in my life kissed my brother as if our reconnecting meant nothing. Suddenly, the night at the restaurant came to my mind and the look that crossed over her face. She didn’t cheat because we weren’t really anything then, but we sure as fuck were now.
Looking at my brother, all I wanted to do was kill the bastard.
I stilled, my fist cocked back ready to deliver the first blow to Deck’s face, which now had an expression of complete shock.
Turning around to face Zoe, my heart dropped to my stomach when I saw the devastation on her face.
The baby isn’t mine.
Logically I knew that, firstly because we hadn’t been together long enough for a pregnancy to happen, and two because we had used protection each time.
“Oh, my lord,” I heard my mother whisper, sounding shocked.
Shocked didn’t begin to describe the feeling coursing through me right then. After three attempts to speak, I finally managed to croak out the one thing I dreaded more than anything.
“Deck’s.” It wasn’t a question, I already knew I just needed Zoe to confirm it.
Zoe nodded sadly, “The tests we took… it showed up in the blood work,” she replied through her tears. Tears that gutted me, but taking her into my arms to comfort her was not something I had in me.
“The fuck? Did you just say what I think you said?” Deck spluttered, his eyes bugging as he looked from Zoe’s face to her belly then back up again this time looking at me.
“How? Are you sure it’s mine?” Deck asked all of a sudden, his cool, don’t give a fuck attitude unravelling.
“The doctor at my clinic, my boss, said I’m roughly five weeks along and since Jason and I have only been together for two weeks—” she let the rest of the sentence hang out there for Deck to finish.
“Then it has to be mine.” He surmised correctly.
“But we used protection every time Zoe,” Deck argued.
“Yeah, we did, but that last time we were a little drunk and a little careless. Remember?”
I stood there listening to my— to Zoe rehash details of the last time she and my brother had sex. It felt like some sick joke was being played on me, how the fuck could this be happening? She said they’d always used protection, always, she said.
She obviously lied, told me what I wanted to hear to make me feel better about the fact that she used to regularly fuck my brother.
An overwhelming need to vomit rushed through me, bending at the waist, I supported my hands on my legs feeling the square box in my pocket.
Zoe’s engagement ring. What the fuck do I do now? Ask her to marry me still even though she is carrying my brother’s child? My niece or nephew. The thought that Zoe was never going to be just mine, that Deck was now guaranteed to always be in her life made me furious.
I needed to punch something, someone.
“Oh right, yeah, I forgot to put on a condom when I first went in. Then we remembered but I guess it was too late,” Deck scoffed good-naturedly, as if it had been a minor oversight no big deal.
Deck laughed then punched me on the shoulder, “Some of my soldiers went off on their own,” he joked at the worst possible time—for him.
Standing to my full height I reared my arm back then punched Deck square on the jaw. Satisfaction flowed through me hearing his bone crunch under my fist, despite the pain that radiated up my arm and Zoe’s surprised squeal.
The bastard had a strong jaw.
“Fuck me Jason, what the fuck?” Deck growled, holding onto the side of his face.
“Always you. You take everything, don’t you, couldn’t give a fucking shit that I am your brother. You get all Mum’s love and now you get what should have been my happily ever after.” I couldn’t keep the hatred out of my voice. Deck took it all from me, he put his baby in Zoe and now he had her and I had nothing. Just a broken heart, a lost dream and an eight-thousand dollar ring.
“Jason,” my Mum said, coming up to me. “What you said isn’t true,” she said grabbing hold of my arm.
Shaking it off, I backed away from her and Zoe, who was staring at me wide eyes full of tears, her hand over her mouth. Seeing her so upset hurt me, but I was so lost in my own pain, anger and loss, I couldn’t make a move to go to her. She kissed Deck after that night she agreed to go out with me. Kissed him! My inner voice pleaded with me to go to her, show her I didn’t care, but I couldn’t because I did care. Instead I turned my attention back to Mum.
“Then why did you think she was Deck’s? Why suggest he take her home and not me? You know we might look alike but we are as different as night and day Mum. I’m nothing like him so you disregard my feelings, my achievements and accomplishments.”
> I didn’t wait for her to respond with bullshit lies, the last five minutes gave me enough of those to last me a lifetime.
With one last look at Zoe, my eyes drinking her in for one last time, etching her face into my mind I turned and walked out the back door. Staying around to listen to Deck and Zoe plan their life together with their baby didn’t hold any appeal to me in any way. Torture was not my thing, neither was having my heart ripped out of my chest it seemed.
Chapter 14
I chucked the empty bottle in the direction of the rubbish bin, hearing the glass smash when it hit the numerous other bottles already in there.
When I left my parent’s house three nights ago, after hearing the heart-shattering news that the woman I loved was carrying my brother’s child, I headed straight for the bottle shop bought two slabs of Fosters beer and a bottle of Tequila, went home and locked the front door. I called in some personal leave at work and hadn’t moved from the couch since.
Was I drunk? Fucking A I was. Inebriated and on the way to total wasted oblivion.
If I was lucky the alcohol I was pouring into my body would pickle my brain enough so I would be able to forget the devastation on Zoe’s face when I lost my shit and decked my brother then walked away from her.
“Ha, I decked Deck,” I said, laughing at my silently thought joke then let out a burp/hiccup.
“Oh, fuck, I think I have had too much to drink.” I dropped my head in my hands and closed my eyes.
“Ya fucking think arsehole. It smells like a brewery in here.” The voice I least wanted to hear said from somewhere in my house.
Pressing my hands to my ears, I pretended that I didn’t just hear Deck and that it was the effects of my drunken state. But when I heard more swearing and grunting in the same voice I knew I wasn’t hallucinating and the prick was in my house.
“Damn he has some balls,” I muttered swiping a hand down my face in an attempt to wake myself from my stupor.
Love Hurts: The Love Duet Page 11
