UnTouch Me

by Dawn Martens

  “I’m not letting them ruin our girl’s night. Let’s just forget they are here and do our own thing,” I tell her. Vinny has tried making things right between us, but I’m not having it. He’s fucked up too much. I thought I did wrong with the secrets I kept from him, but he had a child with another woman.

  I look back over in the direction of the guys, and see both Vinny and Angel staring at us. Vinny looks like he wants to come to me. Angel looks like he wants to bolt, with a mix of wanting to fuck Eden here and now. I feel pretty good after losing some of my baby weight. I’m not as dressed up as Eden and Hilary, but I still feel good in my jeans and blue V-neck sweater.

  Hilary comes sauntering back over, swaying her hips and giving her signature hair toss as she moves, and gives us a wink. I look behind her to see Reaper glaring at her back side. I smirk.

  “The guys wouldn’t let me pay. Whatever! Free drinks, bitches!” she shouts as she passes them around.

  We take our drinks and slug ’em back. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Vinny stiffen, followed by Jasper, then Mason. I don’t get it, but five seconds later I do. Our trio is suddenly introduced to three men- three men that, seriously, if we weren’t in love with other people, we’d be all over.

  Hilary goes first. “Dance?” a tall freaking gorgeous man asks her.

  “Hell ya, baby,” she says, winking at us.

  Eden is next. This man is taller; he even somewhat looks like Jasper, just no beard, and he’s not as built. “Babe, wanna go?” he asks her with a smirk.

  “Okay, why not?” she says, grinning, but not before throwing Jasper a look.

  I notice both couples dancing, seriously grinding and getting crazy on the dance floor. I quickly look over to the guys and see both Jasper and Mason staring with their jaws clenched and looking pissed beyond reason. Vinny is staring at me, looking as if he is silently pleading with me with his eyes not to dance when the third man finally leads me to the dance floor.

  He doesn’t waste any time getting to know me. “What’s your name, gorgeous?” He smiles, pulling me close to him.

  “Lilly,” I answer, swaying to the beat. Our bodies are so close, too close. The kind of dancing this guy has in mind is too intimate for a guy I just met. I step back from him, seeing the hurt look on Vinny’s face. Jasper has his hand on his chest, like he is holding him back. I don’t want to get this guy hurt, so I excuse myself to the restroom. When I come out, Vinny tries to wave me over, but I ignore him and go back to the girls.

  “Ladies and Gentlemen, it’s time to start! Who’s up first?” the MC of the night calls over the mic.

  Instantly, Eden moves, passing me her drink as she heads in his direction. “What is she doing?” Hilary shouts at me.

  I shake my head. “I think she’s going up.” Eden hasn’t sung in forever, not that I know of. I doubt she did much of that living with her father.

  “Look at Jasper. He’s frozen,” Hilary says with a laugh.

  I take a look over, and he is indeed frozen to the spot as Eden takes the stage. I look up and notice she’s at the keyboard, instead of having the DJ do the music.

  She starts the melody of ‘Say Something’ by A Great Big World, and slowly goes into the song. “Oh no,” I breathe out.

  As she starts the first note, I notice the lone tear running down her face. She sings into the mic with all she’s got.

  “Bitch should have become famous,” Hilary states from beside me.

  She could have; she’s that talented. I see her, listening to the pain in her voice, as if the song was made for her and only her. I quickly look to Jasper, and I swear I see tears in his own eyes. Pain is written all over his face as he stares at her.

  By the end of the song, she’s openly looking at Angel and singing to him, tears gushing, pouring out, and on the last line, her voice cracks so she’s flat out sobbing.

  When she stands up to move from the keyboard, there is a loud crash. I look back to Jasper and see the pain in his face and the wreckage of a nearby table he smashed as he storms out of the bar.

  I search the property, making sure the coast is clear, before going up to the front door and knocking. The guys all said they were going to a bar just outside of town tonight, so I figured this would be the perfect chance to get this done without them automatically coming to me about it.

  I would have an alibi, since I was making this quick and heading back to the clubhouse. No one will ever think I did it.

  Boss man and his woman have been down my throat for months now to fix this Kayla problem.

  The door opens, and a tired looking Kayla answers the door. “Hey, Brandon, I didn’t expect you here tonight,” she says tiredly.

  I shrug. “Just wanted to see you,” I tell her, pulling her into me and giving her a quick kiss. “You look tired,” I point out.

  She yawns. “Yeah, with breastfeeding Rose, and since she still wakes up at night, it’s never ending. I barely get any sleep.” Then she smiles. “But I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world.” She smiles sheepishly. She wraps her robe around her waist, securing the sash.

  “Where’s Rose now?” I ask her.

  “Oh, she’s sleeping in her room. Finally. This is my chance to finally clean up a bit,” She says, walking toward her kitchen. “I’m gonna make some coffee before I conquer the house.”

  I follow slowly behind her, taking my gun out of the waist of my pants and quietly putting on the silencer. Her back is to me while she makes coffee, when I put the gun to the back of her head.

  She freezes. “What... what are you doing?” she asks, her voice shaking.

  “Sorry, sweetheart, but this has to be done. You’re an obstacle that needs to go,” I simply tell her.

  “But my baby,” she says, sobbing.

  “Don’t worry. I’m sure she’ll be taken care of.”

  “I loved you. H-h-how can you do this?” she asks, her voice cracking.

  “You were a job, nothing more,” I tell her just before pulling the trigger.

  Blood splatters, some landing on me. Her body slumps to the floor as I walk to the sink to clean up any blood on me, and then I pull my cell out.

  “Well?” his impatient voice asks.

  “It’s done. What do I do about the baby?” I ask him.

  “Call Roni. She used to be friends with Kayla. Get her to take care of the brat until someone gets there,” he says, hanging up. I almost didn’t want to do it, but I also only started dating her to get close enough to kill her. She sort of grew on me.

  I dial Roni’s number and listen as she answers on the second ring. “Hello?”

  “Yeah, get to Kayla’s house. Need you to take care of her baby. When you get here and see shit, call the police. But I swear to fuck, you say my name, you’ll be next. Also, Kayla told me she had a Will done up, and she wanted the kid to go to Lilly. See to it,” I say, hanging up.

  I walk down the hall to check in on the baby. I see that’s she’s asleep, so I shut the door and walk out of the house. Roni will be here any minute, so I start up the bike and roar off.

  I feel slightly drunk as I walk into my house. The cab dropped me off first, since I was closest. Shutting my front door, I decide to go for some coffee. I really don’t want to be hung over when my mom brings Elizabeth home in the morning.

  I’ve just got the brew started when there is a knock on my door. I sigh, thinking it might be Vinny. The way he kept trying to get my attention tonight has me thinking about him more than I’d care to admit.

  I open the door and am faced with a red-faced Roni holding a baby—Rose. She and Elizabeth really could pass as twins.

  “Um, hi?” I say, clearly confused. Why the hell is she here? And with Kayla’s baby?

  “I need to leave Rose with you. Can you take care of her?” she asks as she puts the baby in my arms. I catch her before she falls, since I’m not ready to take her and hold her close.

  “What’s going on?” I ask, confused.

  She sh
akes her head. “Kayla’s dead. The cops will probably stop by or something. I told them I was bringing her to you, since well, she’s like your step kid and all that.” That’s all she says before she runs off to her car and peels off out of my driveway.

  I gulp, taking a look down at the child that is the reason Vinny and I are not together. Why do I have to take care of her? I don’t understand.

  I want to hate this child, but then she smiles at me with her big one-toothed grin and my heart melts.

  As I shut the door with Rose on my hip, I take out my phone to call Vinny, so I can find out what in the hell is going on. But he doesn’t answer.

  I put my phone down and stare at Rose. Two babies. Can I do two babies? Oh God.

  I head to the guest room and lay Rose down on the carpet so I can set up the playpen. As I’m tucking her in to sleep, my doorbell rings.

  I quickly and quietly leave the room and close the bedroom door, making my way to the front of the house. When I open the door, Officer Thrane is standing there. “Can I help you?”

  “Just here to make sure Miss Rager did indeed bring the child to you.”

  I nod. “Yeah, she dropped her off about fifteen minutes ago. I just laid her down.”

  “Gotta say, the only reason I’m not bringing social services in on this is because Vincent is the baby’s father. No need to have that child put in a home somewhere.”

  “I agree,” I say quickly.

  “We were informed by Miss Rager that Kayla had a Will done up a few months back, though I’m not really sure how she knew that. According to the neighbor, tonight was the first time Miss Rager has ever been over there since she’s been back in town,” he tells me.

  I frown. “I didn’t even know Roni knew Kayla.”

  Thrane shrugs. “I’m just checking to make sure you are okay with all this. I know you had some troubles a while back, but I also know you would never hurt a child,” he says, trying to comfort me slightly.

  “I’m fine, Officer Thrane, really,” I say softly.

  His hand comes up, and he moves some of my hair off my face, giving me a sad smile. “I know you are, honey. Take care now, okay? We’re gonna try to get a hold of Vincent, to let him know what’s going on.”

  I say goodbye and shut the door. I go to the couch and grab my phone, trying to call Vinny again. I get no answer, so I try Jasper.

  No one answers their phones. Frustrated, I put my phone down on the end table. Just as I’m about to doze off, my phone rings.

  “Yeah,” I say, picking it up.

  “Babe, you up for company? I need to come to you right away,” Hilary says urgently.

  “Yeah, I’m up. Come over,” I say and hang up. She’s still staying at the hotel downtown, because she wants to try and avoid Mason as much as possible.

  It’s not long before my front door is opened, and Hilary comes rushing in. “I got the call that you had Rose, so that’s good. I have news, big news,” she says hurriedly, pulling out a file from her purse.

  “What’s up?” I ask.

  “Don’t ask me why, but Kayla came in a few months back, wanting to do up a Will, just like you had done when you were pregnant.” Not surprising. With the pressure of Hilary, I had one done up just as a precaution. Apparently, most parents do this.

  “Anyways, I was going to say no, but then she mentioned something that had me going to town on this Will. She wanted you to have Rose should something happen to her,” she tells me.

  “What? Why?” I ask, shocked.

  “I don’t know. At first, I questioned it, even asked her if she was dying or some shit, but she said no. She just wanted it all done up. Anyways, she wrote you a letter, explaining why, so I’m here to bring it to you,” Hilary says, sounding so formal.

  “How did you know about Kayla?” I ask her.

  “I was woken up by bitch face Roni. Not sure how she got my number, but she let me know about what was going on, so I made a few calls to confirm her story, spoke with Thrane, and he let me know that Rose was safe and with you. So I went to my office to get the files I needed.”

  I take the letter from Hilary and start reading.

  Dear Lilly,

  I know I’m the last person you ever wanted to talk to, but I also know you are the best person for this job. Vincent loves you, honey. Beyond anything. If you are reading this, it means something has happened to me, and I know you have said you never want to know my daughter, but I want our girls to grow up together. To love together. And you are the best person to help my little girl grow up. For years, I watched you and Eden and Hilary together. I can only hope our girls have that bond as they grow up.

  Please take care of her. And please, if you haven’t already, give Vincent another chance.

  Kayla

  “I… I-um,” I say, shaking, with tears falling down my face as I finish the letter.

  “Babe, it’s going to be okay. I promise. And I’m sure Brandon will still want to be able to see Rose sometimes too, so you know, it’ll be fine,” Hilary says as she takes the letter out of my shaking hands.

  “Wait, who’s Brandon?” I ask her. I heard about Kayla having a new boyfriend, but I didn’t know his name.

  “Brandon, you know him as Breaks?” I can’t keep up with all the club members, but I’m pretty sure he is a cop. I can remember seeing him around a few times, now that I think of it.

  Seeing Lilly last night, looking like she was having fun out with Hilary and Eden, pissed me off. It shouldn’t have. I should be happy that she’s getting out and able to enjoy herself, but I want to be the one to put the smile on her face, to make her happy and be the one dancing with her. After Eden sang to Angel last night, Reaper and I took off after him.

  Night ended up being shitty. We all just decided to go back to the clubhouse. Angel’s phone went off a few times, all calls from Roni, but he kept hitting ignore. He didn’t want to talk to her crazy ass.

  I grab my phone from the night stand, and notice Roni called my cell all night too. I frown. Why the hell is she calling me? I scroll some more and see that even Lilly tried calling me.

  Frowning, I grab my clothes from the floor and put them on, walking out to the main area of the clubhouse while shrugging on my cut.

  I notice only a few members are in the main area when I walk in. Angel and Reaper turn to look at me, their faces watching me carefully.

  My eyes narrow. “What?” I ask.

  “Uh, have you checked your messages on your phone?” Angel asks.

  “No, I just woke up. Oh, and Roni has been fuckin’ calling me all night,” I tell him.

  “Fuck, man,” Angel says, scratching his beard.

  “What?” I ask.

  “Kayla’s dead.” Reaper just lays it all out there with no warning.

  My body stills. “How?” I manage to get out.

  “Bullet to the back of the head. Roni found her, said she was going over there to see her. Those two were friends in high school, and she hadn’t seen her since she came back, so she wanted to catch up. She said the door was open, and she walked in. Rose was crying in her bed, so she went that way, then walked out and found Kayla in the kitchen,” Angel says.

  “I need to go to my daughter,” I say while moving toward the door.

  “She’s safe, man. She’s with Lilly,” Angel says. At his words, I stop and turn back to face him.

  “She’s with Lilly?” I ask.

  “Yeah, man, Roni took Rose to Lilly after the cops questioned her about Kayla, and that’s where Rose is now,” he says.

  “She can barely take care of herself, let alone Elizabeth. How’s she gonna take care of Rose too?” I spit out.

  Angel’s face shuts down. “Lilly’s doing fine. She’s off her meds now. She’s still going to the therapist. She’s okay. If it wasn’t for her, would you really have Roni keep taking care of Rose?”

  My face twists. “No, of course not. I need to get over to her place then. After all the shit she spouted off at me about
the babies never being allowed near each other, I need to make sure everything is okay,” I tell them.

  “I have my cell on me. If you need me just call. I’m going to pick up the kids from Mona, spend some time with them,” Angel says.

  “I’m going to hunt down Hilary, so if you need me, don’t call me. I’ll call you later,” Reaper says, his face dark.

  “Didn’t you just see her last night?”

  “Yeah, but besides forcing her to let me pay for drinks, we didn’t talk. And then when I was about to make her fuckin’ talk finally, Angel needed us more,” he says.

  “Well, good luck,” I tell him as he walks out the door.

  “Zippo, man, there’s more,” Angel says.

  I take a deep breath and let it out. “What?” I say impatiently.

  “After Rose was born, Kayla went and got a Will drafted up. According to Hilary, who, by the way tried refusing to work for her, said that now that Kayla finally had something worthwhile in her life, she wanted to make sure Rose was covered.”

  “You make it sound like she knew she was gonna die,” I say.

  He shakes his head. “No, actually, once people have children, they usually get that done. It’s normal. But here is the part you need to know.” He walks to his desk and pulls out a file. “Hilary dropped this off to me this morning. In Kayla’s Will, she states that if something was to ever happen to her, she wanted Lilly to adopt Rose.”

  What he says shocks the fuck outta me. “What?” I whisper.

  “Yeah, that was my reaction too. Hilary said after Kayla blurted that out when she was arguing that she wasn’t doing shit for her, Hilary said she got down to business and drafted it all up.”

  “Why would she do that?”

  Angel shrugs. “Kayla said that you would be spending the rest of your life with Lilly, and said she knows that Lilly would take care of Rose as if she was her own.”

  I shake my head. I hate that she was killed. I want to find the fucker who did it. I might not have loved Kayla, but we shared history. We had a child together, and I cared about her. For her to do this makes me realize that Kayla loved me more than I thought. Guilt rears its ugly head. How could I have done this to these two women? Lilly sure as fuck didn’t deserve this. Kayla sure as fuck didn’t deserve any of this either.