Pretend I'm YoursA Single Dad Romance

by Vivian Wood

  She felt her heart drop to her stomach. “What do you mean?”

  “I mean I have a very well-kept account of all that goddamned money you blew through from day one. Almost three years, Effie. And I’m not going to let you run off with my brother without paying your debt.”

  “You need to back off, Thorne,” she said. Her voice was close to breaking, but she wasn’t going to let him intimidate her. “I’m sorry that you cheated on me and now things aren’t working out how you wanted them to, but that’s life.”

  “That’s life?” Thorne asked with a nasty laugh. “And what do you know about life, Effie? You went straight from your mommy’s house to fucking my brother in high school and getting a taste for what a decent life is like. You hadn’t even graduated from fucking high school before you’d figured out a way to get someone else—me—to take care of you.”

  “That’s not true, and you know it,” she said. “Don’t pretend like it wasn’t both of us that decided to get back at King. It was stupid, and it was childish, but it was both of us. And you’re the one who proposed it.”

  “Listen up, you fucking bitch,” he said as he inched his face closer. “You’re going to pay, one way or another.”

  “And what does that mean?”

  “It means I take more than cash as repayment. If you don’t have what you owe me, you can bet your ass I’ll take it from your mom. From King. Even from your senile as shit grandmother.”

  Effie’s heart went wild, but she kept her voice calm. She pressed the CALL button and heard the rings begin.

  “I’m calling the police, Thorne,” she said.

  He started to back up and searched for the keys in his pocket.

  “You’re going to regret this, you fucking whore. Count on it,” he said.

  He fired up the engine and peeled away into the street as the operator picked up.

  “9-1-1, what’s your emergency?” a robotic male voice asked.

  “Uh, nevermind. Sorry,” she said.

  “Miss, do you know it’s illegal to call this line without an emergency?” The voice sounded more perturbed than angry.

  “I’m sorry, I thought there was an emergency, but there’s not.”

  “Are you certain?”

  Effie paused. No.

  “Yes,” she said. “I’m sorry.”

  She hung up, and only then did her entire body begin to shake. She had no idea of what Thorne was actually capable of doing.

  Effie hauled the bags into the back of the SUV, climbed in and drove down the street to park in the busy little strip mall parking lot.

  If nothing else, stay around people.

  She needed to ditch the phone, otherwise she’d never know if Thorne knew where she was or not.

  She didn’t know if she should call her mom and warn her or not.

  What if Thorne is just all talk?

  It was too early to get her family worried, and Renee wouldn’t know what to do. Besides, it would take too long to fill her in on everything.

  Effie only had one person she could call, but she didn’t even know King’s number. By some miracle, the number for the cabin’s landline popped into her head. It was still there, tucked away in some chamber of her heart, all these years later.

  “Hello?” King said. His deep voice instantly calmed her. It felt like she’d never left.

  “King…” she started, but her voice finally broke.

  “What is it? What happened?”

  “I, uh… I went to the condo to get my stuff?”

  “You went to Thorne’s place?” he asked, immediately on guard. “Why would you do that? Was he there?”

  “I thought he was in Florida!” she said. “I—God, I’m stupid. He’s still tracking my phone. He showed up right when I was leaving, and—”

  “What happened? Did he hurt you?”

  “No,” she said. “He just… he’s really angry, King. He says I owe him all this money, and threatened my mom and Yaya if I didn’t pay him. Then he said he’d take payment other than money, whatever that means—”

  “Where are you?” he asked. “I’m coming to get you.”

  “No, don’t,” she said quickly. “I’m okay, I’m at some shopping place’s parking lot.”

  “Is there a phone store there?”

  “What?”

  “An AT&T store, Best Buy, something like that.”

  “Uh, yeah,” she said as she scanned the stores.

  “Go get another phone right now, a burner one if that’s all you can get. You need to get rid of that phone.”

  “Okay,” she said.

  It was comforting, having him there. Someone who had her back.

  “Once that’s done, call me back. And text me the address of the store, just in case.”

  “I really don’t think Thorne’s going to—”

  “Did you hear me, Effie? Go get a new phone and text me your address.”

  “Why?”

  “I’m coming to get you, no arguments. We don’t know if he put a tracker on your car, too.”

  “Are you serious?” she asked, her voice quiet.

  “I don’t know,” he said. “He might have before you left him, or he might have done it when he showed up at the cabin. Either way, for now you need to leave the car.”

  “What are you going to do?”

  “The roads are clear, I just ordered an Uber to come get me and take me to my Jeep. It’s not far from here. I’m coming to get you. Shit, the car just pulled up, hold on.”

  “King, what are you doing?” she cried.

  She didn’t know what she’d expected when she called him, but it wasn’t this.

  “Effie, just do what I say right now, okay?” he asked softly.

  “Okay,” she said even as her heart broke a bit at the words.

  “All right.” She heard King get into the car and greet the Uber driver. “Until this whole situation with Thorne has abated, I’m going to be with you. Okay?”

  She hadn’t known how much she wanted to hear those words until it happened.

  Effie hung up and hurried towards the store.

  18

  King

  Effie was wide-eyed without a whit of makeup when he picked her up in the parking lot.

  For a moment, as he pulled up in the Jeep, he felt like they were teenagers again. He’d driven a Jeep in high school and Effie still looked the same as she climbed into the bucket seat with those long legs wrapped in tight denim.

  “I feel so old school,” she said as she held up the flip phone. “It’s all they had that I could get working right away.”

  “Fancy,” he said.

  “It’s kind of nice,” she said as she examined the phone. “No apps, no internet, just calls and texts. I had to change my number,” she said quietly. “I… I don’t know if my mom has tried to call me.”

  “Does she call a lot?” he asked as he pulled out of the parking lot.

  “No,” she said quietly. “I was just saying. I don’t know anyone’s numbers. I just put in my mom’s, Renee’s, and the cabin number.”

  “It’s okay,” he said.

  King had to admit that it seemed a bit extreme, but Thorne had completely flown off the rails. He had no idea what his brother might be capable of.

  “So, what’s the plan?” she asked. “Where are we going?”

  “To the cabin for a minute,” he said.

  She raised her brow at him. “Seriously?”

  “Not for that,” he said quickly. “I mean, not that I don’t want to but—I just have to get some things. I rushed out of there without really thinking.”

  “Okay, and then?”

  “I don’t know,” he said with a sigh. “I think maybe we should just check into a hotel for awhile and figure things out. Somewhere Thorne won’t be able to find. He’s already been to my place, I got an alert from the security company.”

  “He broke in?” she gasped.

  “No, just ringing the bell non-stop. It was enough to
make the system throw up a flag, though.”

  “Thank God he doesn’t have a key,” she said as she explored her new, simple phone.

  “Yeah, well. We were never close enough for that.”

  King angled the Jeep towards the dirt trail that led to the cabin. It seemed like so long ago that he’d taken this same route to escape everything.

  He hadn’t wanted anyone to know where he was. A few days alone in the cabin had seemed like the perfect place to disappear, especially with the threat of snow all over the Chicago area. At the time, the Uber driver had looked at him curiously as he’d dropped him off.

  “You might get stuck up here,” the driver warned. “It’s supposed to really come down.”

  “That’s what I’m hoping for,” he’d told her as he stepped out with bags of groceries and a duffel bag with a few supplies.

  Now, returning here with Effie, he had a purpose. It was nice to have someone to take care of. King never thought it would appeal to him, but there they were. He killed the engine and looked at her.

  “I’ll just take a couple minutes,” he said. “Then I think we need to go see your mom and grandmother before we get a hotel.”

  “What? Why?” she asked, suddenly on edge.

  “Listen, I don’t know what Thorne’s going to do—or not do,” he said. “But if he’s tracked you to his place and threatening your family, we at least need to make sure they’re okay.”

  “You’re right,” she said. “God, this is going to be awkward. How am I going to explain—”

  “Don’t worry, it’ll be fine,” he said. King leaned over and kissed her lightly on the lips. “I promise.”

  “Fine,” she said. “You’ll just be a few minutes? I’ll stay here.”

  “No, you’re coming with me.”

  “King—”

  “I’m not letting you out of my sight until all this is over.”

  He shoved what he could into a gym bag as Effie paced in the hallway. “I’m going to miss this place,” she said with a tired smile when he appeared with the heavy bag slung over his shoulder.

  “We can always come back.”

  “That’s what people always say when it’s the last time.”

  In the Jeep en route to her family’s home, King didn’t have to ask for directions. He was coming from a different area and it had been years, but he’d driven to her old home so often it was burned into his cortex.

  The poverty-stricken part of town was even worse than he remembered. Effie scrolled through the radio stations and settled on the Oldies. The Supremes belted “You Can’t Hurry Love” out of the speaker. He stole a glance at her, but Effie gazed out the window, lost in the music.

  They pulled up alongside the rickety white stucco house. It was nearly falling apart, but Effie didn’t seem to notice. Weeds were overgrown and the driveway was empty.

  “Nobody home?” King asked, but Effie shook her head.

  “Yaya probably is.”

  Effie opened the unlocked door while King widened his eyes at the lack of security.

  “Yaya?” Effie called.

  They heard a bang from the back room. He followed closely at Effie’s heels to the laundry room. King didn’t have time to take in the full state of the house. They found Yaya on the floor, scrubbing stubbornly at a spot.

  “Yaya, stop!” Effie said. “Don’t worry about that, I’ll take care of that.”

  “King!” Yaya said when she looked up.

  Her hair was whiter and she was less adept at the lipstick, but otherwise she looked the same to him—and unsurprised to see him.

  Effie helped her grandmother off the floor. He watched as she squeezed Effie tight before she moved to him. “When are you kids getting married again?”

  “Sorry?” King asked.

  “The wedding!” she said. “I always forget.”

  “Sorry,” Effie mouthed to him as she hooked her elbow through her grandmother’s.

  “Oh, soon,” King said. The old woman patted his forearm.

  “Where’s Mom?” Effie asked.

  Yaya looked at her, confused.

  “Come on, let’s get you into the living room and rest,” Effie said. Effie scanned the room as King helped her grandmother sit. “She’s not here,” Effie said. “Maybe we need to take Yaya with us.”

  King opened his mouth, but nothing came out. Her family really did always come first, and that wasn’t changing. He jumped as the front door flew open and her mom rushed in with arms full of shopping bags. He saw Cartier, Tiffany and Gucci, all of which were wildly out of place in the falling-apart house.

  “Hi, Mom,” Effie said dutifully, voice on edge. “What’s with all the bags?”

  Clem looked thinner than he remembered, a spray of new wrinkles across her face.

  “Thorne bought them for me,” she said defensively. Her eyes moved to King and her face hardened even more. “What the fuck are you doing in my house? Effie, what the hell is this?”

  Effie pulled herself up to her full height. “Mom, stop.”

  “Effie, I swear to God—you’re marrying Thorne, and that’s that. I promised Thorne, and—”

  “That’s not going to happen now. And you promised Thorne?” Effie eyed the bags. “I’m guessing recently.”

  “You little slut,” Clem hissed. “Yes, it was recently. And Thorne filled me in on your little escapade. I’ll have you know I don’t approve. At all.”

  “Clementine—” Yaya started, but Clem held up her hand. Effie patted Yaya’s shoulder and stood in front of her grandmother to block her from Clem’s rage.

  “Effie, I’m too tired to listen to your bullshit. Why am I tired, you ask? I don’t know. Maybe because I’ve been taking care of Yaya, doing your fucking job, for a week now. You owe me for that, you little bitch, and I’m ready to be repaid. Right now.” Clem held out her hand and snapped her fingers.

  Effie widened her eyes and shook her head in shock.

  “Effie, go pack your grandmother’s suitcase,” King said.

  Effie looked at him, but King just motioned her to be quick about it. Effie rushed off while Yaya followed her.

  “Are we going on a trip?” Yaya called, delighted.

  King stood off against Clem in the living room. She glared at him, hands on her hips.

  “I never fucking liked you,” she hissed at him.

  “Well, I’m not really worried about that,” he said. “Keep on hating me.”

  Clem sneered at him, turned on her heel and stormed off.

  Jesus, why does she hate me so much? That wasn’t the case when they were teenagers, at least he didn’t think so. And why is she so smitten with Thorne?

  It stung, but he had other things to worry about now.

  Effie appeared in the doorway, one arm hooked through Yaya’s and a small, battered suitcase in the other. King took her grandmother’s arm while Effie rushed through the front door.

  “I’m so happy you two are finally getting married,” Yaya said.

  “Me, too,” King replied. There was no point in correcting her. Besides, it might make the whole thing easier.

  Effie climbed into the back seat with the suitcase while King helped her grandmother into the passenger seat. He had to lift her small body up while she clung to his neck.

  “We can’t go to a hotel now,” he told her.

  “What? Why?”

  “I don’t want any of us sleeping in separate areas, and… I’m sorry,” he whispered, “but I’m not sharing a bed with you with your grandmother right beside us.”

  “Oh, right.” She said. “Crap.”

  “Effie, language!” Yaya cried, but she didn’t seem particularly upset.

  King grit his teeth. “It’s okay. I know somewhere we can go. Somewhere he’ll never find us.”

  As they drove out of the neighborhood, he couldn’t stop thinking about how his brother had raised his hand to Effie. In that moment, he could have killed him.

  He couldn’t stop thinking about
how Effie had cried afterward, like she really believed everything Thorne had said about her. It killed him that she could think Thorne was right.

  Effie looked at him in the rearview mirror. “Are you sure my car will be okay in that parking lot?”

  King sighed. “Yeah. If not, I’ll get it out of wherever it’s towed.” It was a nice car, way too nice for a vet tech’s salary. Thorne had clearly financed it, which meant he’d probably had a tracker installed, too.

  It was too fancy of a car for King, too. He made good money, but if Effie was used to Thorne-level money, there’s no way he could keep up. King shook his head.

  What the hell are you saying? She’s still the same girl that wrecked you.

  When she’d turned him down and he left town, he’d really gone off the deep end himself. When he was working as a fixer in L.A., he still remembered the night he’d beat a man within an inch of his life.

  Nights going up against the Mexican mob with just a gun, or the evening in that old fallout shelter with a mob boss who stroked a moustache like a movie villain, there was a part of it all that terrified King.

  There was also a part that drew him close. Getting close to Effie meant big stakes. If he lost, he didn’t know if he’d have the strength to move on again.

  There was a time, not that long ago, that King thought about killing himself. He’d talked himself into thinking everyone would be better for it. After all, it’s not like he contributed anything to anyone. All he did was take, embarrass his family, and fuck up over and over.

  You can’t take her down with you.

  King took a familiar exit and watched Effie chew at her lip in the mirror.

  No long-term planning this time, he told himself.

  All he had to do was take care of Effie until Thorne moved on. Well, Effie and her grandmother. Surely it wouldn’t take long.

  His brother got bored easily. As soon as his wounds were thoroughly licked, Thorne would be on to the next conquest.

  Easier said than done, he thought. He looked at Effie, who sat curled up in silence. What are you thinking about?

  Another song by the Supremes came on the radio and Yaya lit up beside him.