by J. L. Beck
My eyes glazed over as I watched Bree and Gia giggling and playing. I hoped like hell when Devon and I had our own children I could be half the mom she was to her daughter. Tears threatened to escape from my eyes so I blinked them away. My mother had popped back into my life not long after everything happened. I don’t know how she found me, but I guess it wasn’t that hard when she had her own connections. She acted as if time hadn’t passed as if her being gone had done nothing to me.
After finding out I was back with Devon and that somehow my dad and me had found one another again, she wanted me to choose. She or them. I tried to talk some sense into her, let her know we all could find a way to coexist. I even went as far as trying to fix our relationship, but she wanted nothing to do with me when I wouldn’t choose her. She was selfish in her own needs, and when she didn’t get what she wanted, she moved along as if Frank and I never existed. How someone could give birth to their child or love a person and leave, I didn’t know.
Bree must’ve noticed the faraway look in my eyes because suddenly, she was reminding me of the help that surrounded me.
“You know you’re always welcome to talk to me and Zerro about your relationship with your mom.” Bree knew about my shit storm called life. When I first met her, I was hesitant to become friends. Once I let my guard down around her, we had become the best of friends. After everything Caroline had done, I didn’t know if I would ever trust someone like that again. The news failed to mention anything about her, but that didn’t surprise me. She was good at hiding. No one had seen or heard from her since her party.
“I know but there are differences between us. You both lost your mothers. Mine just gave up on me,” I admitted, taking another sip of my beverage. Before Bree could respond, Devon interrupted us.
“Teg, get that sweet ass over here and help me cook,” he yelled over the lawn at me. I giggled like a school girl. His banter still made me swoon. His smile and deep commanding voice had me removing my panties every night.
“Coming,” I hollered back at him, giving Bree a smile as I got up. I definitely would be coming later on. A hop and a skip later, and I was at Devon’s side. He smiled at me like the devil he secretly was before placing a kiss against my cheek.
“How is my sexy as hell wife?” he flirted. Every time he said something like that, my stomach filled with butterflies. The feeling never got old.
“Your sexy as hell wife was admiring her naughty hubby from across the yard.” I smirked, picking at one of the strawberries in the fruit salad next to me.
Devon leaned into me, his eyes following the strawberry as I brought it to my lips. “Naughty? You weren’t saying that last night when I fuc—”
“None of that dirty-talking shit at my grill,” Zerro interrupted Devon while setting a bag of chips on the table. I eyed it curiously, my stomach rumbling. I was hungry again, and I had just eaten before we left the house.
Without even thinking about it, I grabbed the bag of chips, getting myself a handful. Zerro watched me, a deep dimpled grin on his face as he shook his head.
“What?” I questioned shoving a chip into my mouth.
“Nothing, you just eat like you’re pregnant or something…” I smiled to myself not wanting to give our secret away.
“Did you just call my wife fat?” Devon joked, butting into the conversation. Zerro laughed, raising his hands as if to say he hadn’t anything of the sort.
“Nope… not at all.”
“He did…” I pretended to sniffle. It was a wonderful feeling to be surrounded by those who cared and loved you.
“Men,” My father’s deep voice met my ears and I swung around to see him and James, Bree’s father, both standing in the doorway. They were on their way outside, both carrying a handful of bags. Before my dad could take another step, I was crossing the patio to hug him.
“Hi, sweetie,” he mumbled into my ear, wrapping one arm around me to hug me back as James walked past us. Moments like these made time stand still. Having gone from not having anyone to having someone at every turn was far more than even I deserved.
“Are you taking good care of my daughter, son?” Frank asked in his FBI boss voice. It was deep and held an authority to it that almost made me laugh. How he thought he could come in here and play that shit, I didn’t know.
“Send some of that voice to me, Frank. I wish I could talk to Zerro that way,” James added. Unable to hold my laughter in anymore, a snort came out.
“You wish, Pops,” Zerro said, slapping James on the back. James laughed a deep hearty laugh as he sat the bags down on the table, making his way over to Bree and grabbing Gia.
Now that everyone was here, I was bursting at the seams to reveal our secret. I nudged Devon in the arm as he then looked at me sideways before lifting an eyebrow.
“Now,” I said, returning the same look he just gave me as I stood there with my hands on my hips.
“Can I get everyone’s attention,” Devon called out. Everyone turned to him all at once, my father’s eyes bleeding into the back of his head.
“Oh, you got my attention, boy…” My dad grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest. He had given Devon the fifth degree about love, marriage, and commitment.
“Good, I’m glad I got your attention, old man.” Devon turned, throwing a wink over his shoulder. I was a bundle of nerves, but it wasn’t the kind that caused anxiety. This was the good kind, the kind that had you jittery to see what would happen. Frank glared as everyone gathered around.
“Don’t hold us all up now. Spill the beans or shut up. I got grub to eat...” Zerro complained, Bree giving him a look that said, keep that attitude up and your ass is grass. With an arm around my waist, Devon moved us so we were facing the crowd.
“We have an announcement that we would like to make...” Devon peered down at me, his green eyes shining brightly in the light.
“We would have told everyone sooner, but we wanted to wait in case something happened. Now that we have gotten the all clear, we can finally share this news with everyone.”
“We’re PREGNANT!!” I couldn’t contain the excitement in my voice. My father’s face paled, Zerro shook his head, a huge smile marring his face, and Bree all but ran across the grass wrapping me in a one arm hug.
“Congratulations. Now Gia will have a little playmate.” I nodded my head in agreement, tears in my eyes as she released me. Devon still had a hold on me, and as I pulled from his touch, I walked over to my father.
“My little girl is going to be a mother?” he stated in shock.
“Yup.” I patted my belly. His eyes drifted down to my hand. Then something happened that I never expected. One single tear escaped his eye.
In that one tear, I found my own happiness. I let the fear, the hate, the sadness, and the past go. Inside of me grew a blessing far greater than anything I could have asked for.
The past had become a distant memory and the future… well, it was looking more and more blissful with every passing second.
Our love story had started in heartbreaking tears and restarted in joyous ones. I hadn’t just gotten my happily ever after… I had gotten a love so strong it could withstand the tests of times.
Devon paced the living room floor, his emotions all over the place as I sat there with tears in my eyes. Since coming home from the doctor’s office, I had been waiting patiently for him to get home from work. I had something I needed to tell him, but it wasn’t something you could just tell someone over the phone or through a text. This was the kind of news that, without a doubt, would change both of our lives.
“Teg, what’s wrong? Why are you crying, baby?” He came to a stand still directly in front of me. His knees hit the floor with a loud whack, and I wanted to reach out and comfort him.
Was there a true way to express how I was feeling right at this second? When I looked at him, I saw my everything. Now… Now, there would be more than one everything.
“I… I have to tell you something.” I kept my voice ca
lm and neutral unsure of which way this would go. His dark green eyes bled into mine as a trickle of fear showed in them.
“Go ahead,” he said, clasping my hand in his own.
“I’m…..” I stumbled over my words.
“You’re what?” Devon pleaded for an answer.
“I know we wanted to wait a little bit longer, and I don’t know how you will react, but I’m pregnant…” Hesitation laced every word that left my lips. In a flash, his eyes went from dark to relief, and then acceptance and love flowed through them.
“You’re... you’re pregnant?”
I nodded my head yes, tears leaking from my eyes.
“You know what this means, right? It means now I have more of you to love and you have more of me. Inside of you, you carry the love we share, baby. Nothing is more magnificent than having a part of me growing inside of you.” Our love had created a blessing of epic proportions.
“I love you, Teg…” he said softly as he placed his lips against my forehead.
“Teg, did you hear me?” Devon’s voice pulled me from my thoughts as he made his way over to me.
“No... No. What did you say?” I asked as I smiled up at him, my father walking off. “I asked you if you thought there were aliens out there, and if they were, do you think they do stuff like we are doing right now? If they could possibly be as happy as I am to have you?”
I struggled to answer his question, snorting in laughter. “There might be, Dev, but even if there were, no one could possibly be as happy as I am to have you.”
No longer were we invincible for just a mere moment…
We were invincible—forever.
# # #
Injustice
A Kingpin Love Affair
VOLUME four
J. L. BECK
Chapter One
Isabella
The floor was cold beneath my hands, a blindfold covered my eyes never allowing a sliver of light to break through. I missed the sun and all the things that it brought like warmth, the heat that would coat my skin. I could hear someone next to me sobbing quietly. I had been just like her mere weeks ago. Now I was nothing but a shell of myself, betrayed by my own family and sold into a sex ring.
My hope was shattered, my thoughts of escaping this place disappearing the moment I realized I had nowhere else to go. This was my new home until I was bought, whether I liked it or not. I was beaten, battered and broken in every way, and the worse part was there was nothing I could do as I awaited my fate.
I knew what would come of me—nothing. I would be used for everything I could be, and then when the time came, they would discard me like yesterday’s trash. I had been here months and had seen it happen time and time again. I had come to terms with the life I was being given.
“Tony says we need to move them the fuck out of here. Someone is coming.” A man’s voice I knew all too well echoed through the room, bouncing off the walls and flowing through my ears. I had no idea where we were, what was going on, or who it was that had me. I had been drugged, blindfolded, and forced to sit with my hands tied with rope behind my back when I was taken—or rather given away.
“All right, man.” The other man sighed in frustration. “You take the left side of the room and I’ll take the right side.” A shudder worked its way through my body. I wasn’t ready to be touched. I never would be. Maybe they would consider me crazy and just kill me outright. In the end, that would be better than what they would make me into—some drugged up whore.
“Let’s go, Princess.” One of the men growled in my ear just as there was a tug on my arm forcing me to stand. A scream threatened to break free of my lips as my muscles protested, and my body threatened to collapse to the floor. It was then my mind drifted. I was close to going into survival mode. Then again, wasn’t that what I had been doing all along? When was the last time I had eaten something? Drank water? I could feel myself crawling back into my shell. It only hurt if I allowed it to hurt.
The hand on my arm tightened in warning. Pain was all I ever felt. “I said to fucking move.” Rancid breath encompassed me, my senses going on high alert as I felt him right next to my ear. Forcing my wobbly legs to move, I followed behind him as he tugged me along. I could hear others moving around and wondered how many of us there truly was. Sometimes I even wondered if the other girls thought like I did, felt exactly as I did. What were they going to do with us?
“Now, you’re going to go through this door and be a good little girl. No kicking, punching, screaming, or trying to escape. Do you understand me?” The anger in his voice promised horrible things and I knew if I tried to get away I wouldn’t like what would happen to me. My teeth rattled as he pushed me, my foot catching on the door jam. With no hands to catch myself, I fell onto the cold dirt-covered ground. I could smell the earth beneath me and wondered what it would be like to become one with it. Fresh tears formed and slid down my face, yet I felt no emotion. Was there a way to shut it off? To make all the hurt go away?
“You klutzy bitch!” he whispered harshly, ripping me from the ground and pulling me back up to my feet, my legs still wobbly.
As soon as I could, I marched forward not wanting to draw more attention to myself. In the pit of my stomach my nerves unraveled. The desire to know where it was I was going and who I would be with was almost too much. As I stumbled further, the darkness covering my eyes still shielding me from my surroundings, I felt as if I were floating through time. Simply waiting for my moment to come.
“Over here, Princess.” I tried to follow the sound of the voice but felt as if I were drifting further from it. Nervousness filled my veins. Anything could happen and I wouldn’t know until the very last second.
“Two men coming in from the right stairwell.” Another hushed voice muttered. The sound of guns being cocked filled the air. I felt like I was going to be sick, someone could die and that someone could be me. The other voices I could hear clearly before were now being drowned out by my own thoughts. Was this some sick twisted game they used as a scare tactic? Was someone else going to come and take me? Had this been the plan all along?
“Get over here, Princess.” I could hear the aggravated anger in his voice as he ordered me to find him. I stood there frozen in time as I heard a door being kicked in. Where had the man who pushed me through the door gone? Why wasn’t he leading me to where I was supposed to go?
“You cannot let them find her, Xavier.” Another man spoke. I floundered around the room, backing up as much as I could in hopes I would bump into a wall—anything to give me some type of direction. Hushed voices surrounded me, and as I tried to pick up on what they were saying, I felt myself moving a million miles a minute as I continued to scurry around.
“Princess, get over here, or I’ll be forced to put a bullet in your head.” I stopped immediately, my steps wavering as I swiveled around in the darkness trying to figure out where they wanted me to go. The gag that had been placed in my mouth when they first tied my hands behind my back kept me from responding to their vulgar words. Saliva pooled in my mouth as I tried to swallow around the intrusion. Did I really want to scream out and tell them where I was?
The barrel of a gun was being loaded.
Sweat covered my body in a mist of sheen.
I was going to die.
“She’s valuable goods, X.” A muffled voice that sounded as if it were a million miles away met my ears.
“I got this, man. Boss will just have to deal with it.” I had heard the bullet before I felt it. Pain seared through my body as a burning sensation radiated through my arm.
“You missed, fucker.” A voice sounded in my mind, but nothing mattered but the pain. My body fell to the floor limply, my chest filled with oxygen, but I felt as if I was unable to release it. This was it. This was my time. I had wanted this all along. Blood dripped down my arm, falling to the cold ground with a thud. I was aware of everything that was taking place around me, but at the same time, I felt as if I were a spectator watching it al
l go down instead of the chess piece in the middle. My body ached and a pressure formed deep inside my head.
This is the end, isn’t it?
“FBI. Come out with your hands up.” FBI? I wanted to scream out, to tell them I was here, but I couldn’t. Between the pain in my arm and the gag in my mouth, I couldn’t form words if my life depended on it—which, at this very moment, it did.
Heavy boot covered feet crossed the floor, growing closer and closer toward me. I was on the verge of passing out, the smell of iron filling my nostrils. Inside, I was screaming… begging and pleading for someone to save me, but on the outside, I was as meek as a mouse.
“It’s okay…” I heard someone whisper in my ear causing me to jump instantly. “It’s okay. I’m here to save you.” Save me? Was this real or was I dreaming this all up? I felt hands wrap around my head, they were large but gentle and offered something that I hadn’t felt in years-comfort.
In an instant, the bag that kept me in darkness for months was being ripped away. The gag that contained every ounce of hate, anger and every admission I ever wanted to say was released from my mouth. Bright lights flooded my eyes. Black spots appeared everywhere as they tried to adjust. Instantly, my body felt shielded, protected, and warm.
I was being rescued. Someone was saving me from a life that had slowly taken everything from me. For the first time in months, I took a deep breath and didn’t feel an ache in my chest. I didn’t feel scared.
I was safe. I was being taken somewhere. I would be okay. I had to be.
Right?
Chapter Two
Jared
Present
I wasn’t sure what bothered me more at this moment—the fact that my phone was ringing off the hook or that I had brought another chick home last night. Fuck. Regret filled every pore of my body. Every time I said I wouldn’t do it, I did. There was no point in trying not to. I had already admitted to being a useless piece of shit who used women repeatedly as a way to cope with the person I had become. It was the easiest way to deal with the pain.
