The Bandit

by B. B. Reid

  “And what happens to the kid?”

  “I told you… I want this clean.”

  Meaning no loose ends.

  Son of a bitch…

  * * *

  I took Lucas by surprise when I returned from the meeting. I stood still while he avoided my gaze and buttoned the jeans he hadn’t bothered to remove. Unwillingly, my gaze slid to the bed and the girl he’d just been balls deep in. I tried to keep my irritation under lock and key but failed.

  “Fucking seriously?” I spat when she whimpered and scrambled up against the headboard while pulling the sheets up to cover her body. I looked away to give her privacy and regarded my best friend.

  “You were supposed to be watching her, not fucking her,” I forced through my teeth.

  A sneaky smile tugged up the corner of his lips as he shrugged. “I couldn’t help myself.”

  A small gasp wiped the smile off his face. She watched him with tears in her eyes while his avoided her. I jerked my head toward the door, and he followed.

  “Do you know what you’re doing?” I questioned as soon as the door was closed.

  “No,” he answered honestly.

  “Are you even sure she’s legal?” He looked back at the door with a wary look, and I could tell he had doubted his answer before he shrugged again.

  “What’s up?” he said by way of changing the subject. I hesitated for a half a second before leading him to my father’s office and launching into a recap of the meeting. I had Z hang back with some of the men to keep an eye on the senator while I figured out my next move.

  “Fucking hell…” He blew out a breath and roughly shoved his fingers through his hair. “So the contract on her head—”

  “I’m not going to do it.”

  “You took the money.”

  “He threatened to kill me.” He nodded, satisfied with my answer. “We need to take care of him.”

  Lucas’s head jerked back in surprise. “Take care of him? He’s a fucking senator!”

  “He may be a blue blood, but he bleeds red just like the rest of us.” Lucas didn’t appear convinced. “If it’s not me, he’ll hire someone else.”

  “You care about her.” He said it as if he had just realized it for the first time.

  “I’m responsible for her.”

  “Your father’s dead. You’re the head of the family, which means your babysitting days are over.”

  “It’s not that simple.”

  “Just admit it, man.” He smiled like he’d just uncovered my dirtiest secret. “She makes your dick hard, and you like it.”

  “I’m not talking about my dick right now. Maybe after I kill the senator.”

  His playful mood shifted into business as he leaned forward. “What’s the move?”

  “I need you to pay a visit to Jonny. It’s time we brought Theo up to speed.”

  Chapter Forty-Four

  Happy Birthday.

  ANGEL

  Three Years Ago

  She wouldn’t call.

  I wouldn’t call me either.

  Mian had this corny tradition of telling me happy birthday at exactly midnight. Birthdays were her favorite, she’d explained with a shrug when I asked the second year she’d done it. It was strange because I was sure she hated me. Since my father was never around, and my mother refused to come to the city, I figured she did it out of pity. I tried not to be angry that she pitied me at all.

  It was hard to be upset when she was being so fucking sweet.

  But this year, she wouldn’t say it.

  Those three words sweetly whispered from her lips had become the one thing about my birthday I looked forward to. I stared at the time on my phone and watched the minute hand change to midnight.

  I dropped my phone face down on my chest and waited.

  Four months ago, my father made the decision that I couldn’t be trusted with Mian. Taking her from me was the smartest decision he ever made, but that didn’t stop me from resenting myself. Two weeks prior, I convinced my father I needed time away, but the truth was, I needed distance from Mian. It had become impossible to resist her. Had I known the day I came back would have been our last, I never would have left.

  My father made Theo believe she could take care of herself. He had been reluctant to uproot her from another home and decided to leave the decision to Mian. He figured Mian still hated me and that would make the decision easier on him. My father, however, knew my feelings weren’t one-sided.

  That’s where I came in.

  She could have returned home where she could feel closer to her mother, but she was more than just a girl with a crush… and she had no business being in love with me. So I was supposed to ride in like a black-hearted knight and break her heart so she would want to leave.

  Unfortunately, it worked like a charm.

  Theo was kept in the dark, Mian went home, and my father was happy that his heir was free to toe the line once again.

  He had warned me to stay away, but I didn’t listen.

  Because I was a man falling for a goddamn teenager.

  I didn’t understand it at first. We barely spoke, and when we did, it was to spew insults, yet somehow, I looked forward to each encounter. I even started a few just so I could see the fire that raged in her eyes whenever I got under her skin.

  My heart sped up when my phone finally rang. I couldn’t pick up the phone fast enough.

  MOM.

  My jaw clenched as I hit ignore. The minute changed to one minute past twelve, and I found myself dialing a number I knew from memory. The seconds it took for her to pick up the phone seemed like an eternity.

  “Angel?” Her whisper was full of surprise.

  “You didn’t call.” I was even angrier that she actually picked up. Mian wasn’t a night owl. She was usually dead to the world by nine and up before the sun rose each morning.

  She remembered.

  “Should I have?” There was ice in her tone, and my jaw was bound to break at this rate.

  “Say it.”

  “Say what?”

  “You know.” She sucked in air and then there was nothing. “Do it, Sprite. I want to hear the words.”

  I counted to three in my head and made it only to two when she breathed, “Happy Birthday, Angel.” My eyes closed and I held them tight. “Angel?” she called when minutes ticked by.

  “Yeah?”

  “Why did you have to hurt me?” She was on the verge of crying. I could hear it in her voice. If she had stabbed me in the heart, it would have hurt less.

  “Because it was the right thing to do.”

  “Hurting me was right?”

  “I would have never let you go if you didn’t want me to. We both know that.”

  “I just don’t understand why my father wanted me back here in the first place.”

  “He didn’t.” I forced the air from my lungs. “It was my father.”

  She was silent for so long that I checked to see if she’d hung up. “He knows, doesn’t he?”

  We had never even spoken about it to each other, yet somehow, it was so easy for my father to see. If Theo would stop keeping Mian at arm's length, maybe he would have seen it, too.

  “Yeah.”

  “Angel?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Did you know?”

  “Not until I thought I lost you.” I heard her sigh and pictured her smile. It would be sweet and soft like her. “My father is throwing a party tonight, and I want you there.” I need you there. “You’ll be my guest of honor.” Birthday parties haven’t been the norm since before I grew my first pube, and even then, it was my mother who put it together. This year it had been my father’s idea, and I wondered if it had to do with business and I had finally earned my place.

  “ But our fathers—”<
br />
  “Fuck our fathers.” I heard her inhale and waited for her to release, but she never did. She was holding her breath, waiting for what I would say next. “One day, you won’t belong to him.”

  “Then who will I belong to?”

  So fucking innocent.

  “Me.”

  Chapter Forty-Five

  A father’s love—means nothing.

  PRESENT

  “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

  I gazed across the table at the man who took what was left of my humanity. He looked two seconds away from lunging across the table and killing me too. I’ve waited for this moment for three years and spent the last two weeks in anticipation.

  “What the fuck have you done to my daughter? Where is she?”

  “She’s safe. Which is more than I can say you’ve done for her.”

  “I’ve kept her safe.”

  “You avoided her. That’s not the same thing.”

  “I was grieving,” he whispered loudly.

  “For six goddamn years?”

  “One day, when you’re in love and that love is gone forever, you’ll understand true pain has no timetable.”

  “Until then, you’re still a shitty father.”

  “Where’s my daughter?”

  “I told you she’s safe. That’s more than you deserve to know.”

  “You better not harm a hair on her head.”

  “If I had, the only one who would be to blame is you. What the hell were you thinking sending her after me?”

  “I didn’t send her after you. She was going whether I wanted it or not.”

  My gaze narrowed. “So you’re telling me she took the book?”

  “Of course not. I never told her about the book.”

  “Then why did you send her to my father’s home?”

  “The night your father died—”

  “The night you killed him. Be a fucking man and own that shit.”

  He looked ready to argue but something in him gave up the fight. “I was going after the book that night and planned to hand it over to someone I owed.”

  “Who?”

  He shook his head. “Not important.”

  I gritted my teeth and forced myself to move past his secrets while praying he wasn’t lying to me. “So you sent Mian to finish the job without even telling her exactly what she was getting herself into?”

  “It’s like I told you. She would have found a way with or without my help. She thought I was going after money.”

  “And you didn’t bother to tell her different.”

  “She was in a bad way and needed cash. Mian’s a smart girl. Even if she didn’t find a safe full of cash, I knew she’d take something worth some value.”

  “So you sent her in blind and you call that protecting her?”

  “Mian has no skills as a thief. She’s a good girl. The chances of her getting caught were high, but there was nothing I could do to stop her behind bars. Her safest bet was you. I knew you wouldn’t hurt her.”

  “That’s where you’re wrong. I did hurt her.” I kept my smile at bay when his face paled.

  “What did you do?” he urged through his shaken voice.

  “Nothing that will scar.”

  His fist slammed on the table top as he leaned close. “I trusted you,” he spat.

  “Like my father trusted you?”

  “You know why he died that night,” he gritted. I wanted to kill him on the spot. He was still excusing himself from blame. “Let my daughter go. She doesn’t deserve your wrath.”

  “I’m not sure about that, but it doesn’t matter anymore. Mian is in even bigger trouble, and I’m going to get her out of it. I just came to warn you that once I do, I’ll be keeping her.”

  “Trouble? What kind of trouble?”

  “Did you know that her son’s father is Aaron Staten?”

  “Impossible.”

  “Why not? Your daughter is a beautiful girl.” He looked as if he wanted to kill me for noticing.

  “Because she’d never go for that prick, much less—” He stopped and looked away. He was clearly having a hard time accepting the thought of a cock between his daughter’s legs. The thought made me want to put a bullet in someone so I could only imagine how he felt. I decided to change the subject for both of our sakes.

  “The senator wants her dead.” I dropped the bomb in his lap but didn’t wait for the explosion. “I’m not going to let that happen.”

  His eyes were rimmed with red as he stared at me in disbelief. “You would do that for her? Why?”

  “You were supposed to protect her, and at the very least, love her enough to keep her from doing something stupid.”

  “I tried .”

  “And you failed.” I rubbed my chin as we locked gazes. “But that doesn’t matter now. You had your chance, and you won’t get another one. She’s no longer yours.”

  “What the hell is that supposed to mean?” He spoke so harshly spit flew from his mouth.

  I leaned forward so there was no mistake. “It means, I’m her daddy now,” I growled.

  Chapter Forty-Six

  Old habits die hard.

  MIAN

  I felt like a dog that had been let off the chain for the first time. The first place I went sniffing was after my son. After Angel had scarred me for life, he didn’t bother to lock me up. At first, I figured he was too pissed off to realize his blunder until Z passed me in the hall with a bright smile and one of his chin lifts.

  After searching the house from top to bottom, I couldn’t find a trace of my baby or Angel. I did, however, find Lucas lounging in the den.

  “Where’s Angel?”

  He looked up from drinking milk from the bowl of cereal he had just eaten, and reluctantly, I had to admit to myself how cute he looked with his milk mustache.

  “Out.”

  “Fine. Where is my son?”

  He set the bowl down on the coffee table in front of him and leaned back, resting his arms along the back casually.

  “He’s out, too.”

  God, I wanted to kill him. “Where did he take my son?”

  ‘To get some fresh air.”

  “You mean, keeping him from me.”

  He shrugged. “You can’t be trusted, girl.”

  “That is not for any of you to decide. He is my son.”

  “And you’re Angel’s prisoner, which means your son belongs to him unless he lets you both go.”

  “You mean when he lets us go,” I corrected with suspicion in my gut.

  “Sure.” His lips tilted.

  I stalked to the back of the couch and placed my hands on his powerful shoulders. I leaned down to whisper in his ear. “I’m free now,” I reminded him. “You should watch your back.”

  I felt the muscles in his shoulders stiffen, but I didn’t stick around for the aftermath. Without Caylen to find or a working phone to call for help, I retreated upstairs in defeat. It was my intention to return to my cell, but somehow, I stood in front of the door to Angel’s old bedroom.

  He spent six years of his life babysitting me. This room hadn’t been his space in all that time. There was nothing in here that would give me answers. I accepted that, but it didn’t stop me from being curious. The last time I’d been here, I was preoccupied looking for a place to hide.

  I pushed open the door, and the first thing I noticed were the bare walls. There were no posters of buxom beauties or angry rock bands. The floors weren’t littered with discarded white t-shirts and sneakers. The bed wasn’t made, but I had a feeling that was because of Lucas uncovering my hiding spot weeks ago.

  I laid down and found the mattress soft. The sheets smelled too clean. They didn’t hold his scent.

  “You have no idea how
many times I’ve pictured getting you in my bed.”

  I jackknifed from his bed and found Angel’s muscular body filling the space in the doorway. His long arms were stretched over his head gripping the frame. The position put his impressive muscles on display under the white t-shirt that was damp with his sweat.

  “I was looking for my son. Where did you take him?”

  “I thought he might need a change of scenery.”

  “You’re lying. You were making sure I couldn’t get to him. Why not just keep me locked up?”

  “If that is what you wish, I can make it happen. But this time, it will be to my bed.”

  I ignored the hot ache in my gut. “I told you before. I’m not getting into bed with the man who kidnapped my son.”

  “So, if I gave him back to you…?”

  My heart raced. “What are you saying?”

  He walked inside and shut the door behind him. I held my breath as I watched him slowly turn the lock. “You used to follow me with your eyes,” he said without turning around.

  “That was a long time ago.”

  “Old habits die hard,” he countered. He turned and leaned against the door to watch me under lowered lids. He bit his lip, and my pussy sang a song of rejoicing.

  “I don’t watch you.”

  “But you want to. You’re more in control of your emotions now.”

  “And?”

  “I don’t like it.”

  “Because it’s not so easy to take advantage of me anymore?”

  I pictured hate to be cold and dark, but his burned bright and hot. “I never took advantage of you.”

  “I was young—”

  “So was I,” he said through clenched teeth.

  “You were old enough to know better.”

  “So were you.” He pushed from the door and stalked me. “Despite what you think, you weren’t innocent about what almost happened between us. You wanted it. Perhaps even more than I did,” he taunted. He was back to being cruel again. Within his eyes, I caught a glimpse of a younger Angel—the one who let his emotions rule him.