Caleb: Lost Breed MC Series: Book 6

by Parker, Ali

  “I’m not going anywhere. It’s time you packed up your shit and left. You got somewhere you can stay?” I asked. I was trying to keep this as civil as possible. I wouldn’t be the one to start the fight, but if he swung first, I’d match him, and I’d put him down. If I was being honest with myself, I hoped he would try to hit me. Then, I could give him the beating he deserved.

  “Somewhere to stay?” Cliff barked. He turned in a circle with his arms outspread. His head wobbled like a bobblehead as he peered incredulously at me. “The fuck you mean, somewhere to stay? I live here. I’m gonna stay in my fucking bedroom with my fucking woman, you piece of shit.”

  “No, you’re not. Lauryn wants you out. You’ve got about,” I glanced at my watch, “twenty minutes to pack your bags and hit the road. I suggest you get started. Otherwise, you’ll be able to get your things out of the dumpster tomorrow morning.”

  Cliff’s eyes narrowed, and he puffed up his chest. “Get out of my house.”

  I shook my head once. “I don’t think you’ve been listening. This isn’t your house anymore. You’re done here, and you’re done with Lauryn. I’ll wait for you to pack your shit. Let’s go.”

  Cliff took three stumbling steps forward and stopped to steady himself. “I don’t know who that little bitch thinks she is, but if she thinks she can send her errand boy to solve all her problems for her, she’s got another thing coming.”

  “The only thing she has coming is freedom from you.”

  Cliff smirked. “You think it’ll be that easy? You think you can just show up here and scare me off with your words?”

  I folded my arms over my chest. “I was hoping you’d need a little more persuading than that.”

  “Tough guy, huh?”

  I shrugged.

  Cliff threw his head back and laughed at the ceiling. “I knew she was fucking around on me. I knew it. I told her she’d cheat if she kept working at that hole. All those half naked women all over the fucking place. And assholes like you. She suck your cock, too, man? She get down on her knees and—”

  “I didn’t come here to chat with you about your relationship and whether or not Lauryn is faithful. I came to get you out of her apartment because you hit her. A man like you shouldn’t be around a child. I’ve asked nicely. I’m done asking.”

  Cliff roared with more obnoxious laughter and bent over to slap his knee. “You crack me up, man. She’s got you wrapped around her pretty little finger. I get it. She did the same to me. Then, after a while, they get carried away. You need to teach them their place. Yeah. I knocked her around a bit. You would too if you—”

  “Shut the fuck up!”

  Cliff fell silent, but he was still smirking.

  That was it. Fuck him. I wasn’t going to wait for him to make the first move. I’d given him all the chances I could, and he’d spat in my face every time. Clearly, he had no respect for Lauryn. He deserved to be smacked around, and I was more than capable of giving him that beat down.

  I rolled up my sleeves.

  Cliff continued laughing. “You don’t know who you’re messing with, motherfucker. I’ve got friends who would scare the piss out of you.”

  “Likewise.”

  Cliff’s expression hardened as he realized I wasn’t planning on back down. This was happening, here and now. “Fine. You want to do this thing? Let’s fucking do it.”

  My body thrummed with anticipation. I hadn’t had a fight like this in a long time—the one with Isaac Reed at Ryder’s house when Ruby was still running the scene had been the last time I really got my hands dirty, and that one had been cut short.

  This go around, I had ample time, and there was nobody around to cut it short or intervene. He was all mine.

  Cliff let out a drunken bellow before dropping his head and charging me. His attack was totally transparent. I had to decide whether or not I wanted to toy with him or end it quickly. I opted for the former.

  When he was about to plow into me to try to bring me to the ground, I sidestepped and brought my elbow down between his shoulder blades. Cliff grunted in pain and tried to wrap his arms around my waist. I drove my knee up, connecting with his chest, and sent him reeling backward.

  He caught himself on the corner of the sofa and tried to straighten up. I’d knocked the wind from his lungs, and he clutched at his chest as he tried to get his breath back. I waited for him to recover.

  When he sucked in a ragged breath, he glared up at me from beneath his brows. “Fucker.”

  I shrugged. He was the one who’d made a rookie mistake, not me.

  “Come on, then,” Cliff said, motioning me forward with the curl of his fingers. He bent at the knees and shook his head, no doubt to clear the drunken fog muddling his mind. “I’m gonna knock your fucking teeth out.”

  All of Cliff’s tough talk amused me. He seemed to be completely unaware of himself and how drunk he was. He had also miscalculated his odds against me. He stood no chance. I was a trained fighter. Cliff was sloppy and fought like a high school football player.

  I responded to his invitation by moving in close. I kept my hands up to protect my face, and Cliff lunged forward, swinging his right fist out in a wide arc toward the right side of my head. I ducked, and he swung again with his left. I avoided that, too, and he let out a furious yell as he tried to get me again.

  I drove up with the heel of my hand into his jaw. He yelped—actually yelped—and stumbled back, clutching his chin in one hand.

  I stepped back and straightened as I waited for him to yet again sort his shit out.

  “Are you done?” I asked.

  “Fuck you,” Cliff spat.

  “Good. I wasn’t either.”

  This time, I went after him. His eyes widened at the last moment when he realized he stood no chance of stopping me. His right hand blocked my first swing, but then I was driving my knee up into his gut. It doubled him over, and I used his own forward momentum against him, bringing my other knee right into his nose. He wailed, and I slammed my elbow into the back of his neck.

  He pitched forward and landed flat on his stomach at my feet.

  I dropped to a crouch beside him and gathered a fistful of his hair to yank his head back. He was out of breath and whimpering, and his nose was a bloodied mess. There was no doubt I’d broken it. I leaned in close so he could hear every word I said. “You and Lauryn are through. You hear me? Never come around here again. She’s moving on with her life. I suggest you do the same. If you come back around, I’ll be here waiting for you. Got it?”

  Cliff tried to nod but wasn’t able to.

  “Answer me,” I growled.

  “I understand,” he said through gritted teeth.

  I’d humiliated him. He was weak, and he knew it. Releasing his hair, I stood up straight and nudged him with the toe of my boot. “Now, get the fuck up and pack your shit.”

  Cliff groaned and grunted about it, but eventually, he managed to stand up. The first thing he grabbed to throw in a duffel bag was his six-pack of beer from the fridge. I waited by the front door, listening to him rummage through his dressers until he emerged five minutes later with two packed bags.

  “That’s everything?” I asked.

  He nodded. “Fuck you, man. Sticking your nose in my shit. You’ll get what’s coming to you. Mark my words.”

  “Forgive me if I don’t seem concerned,” I said dryly. Being threatened by a man who you’d just used to wipe the floors with was never that intimidating.

  “I know people,” he growled.

  “Good. Maybe one of them has a couch they’ll let you sleep on.” I reached out and grabbed one of his bags. I tore open the zipper and peered inside to make sure he wasn’t stealing any of Lauryn’s shit. I zipped it back up and checked the other one. When I established that he hadn’t, I stepped aside, and we went out into the hallway.

  I walked to the elevator with him. Cliff punched the button to call the elevator and glared over at me. “I can see myself out.”


  “I’m going to make sure you leave.”

  Cliff said something under his breath but didn’t challenge me. At least he’d learned from his mistake and knew he couldn’t play my game.

  The doors opened, and we got on. For a moment, I wondered if he would try to catch me off guard in the small confines of the elevator. If he stood any chance of getting the jump on me, now was his opportunity. But we arrived on the ground level in one piece, and he slung his bag over his shoulder.

  I watched him walk out the front doors and called after him, “Don’t show your fucking face around here again. I’ll make this beating look like child’s play if I catch word of you trying to see Lauryn.”

  Cliff gave me the finger over his shoulder. “The bitch is all yours.”

  He got in his truck and drove off. I watched, satisfaction rushing through me, as his taillights disappeared around the corner.

  Then, I turned and went back inside. I hadn’t noticed at the time, but we probably made a bit of a mess of Lauryn’s living room, and I felt somewhat obligated to make sure she and her son wouldn’t be returning to a home that looked like two bulls had run free in the place. That wouldn’t be fair.

  It already wasn’t fair what had happened to her.

  I rode the elevator back up and went back to her apartment. The living room wasn’t bad, but the furniture had been moved around during the scuffle. I pulled the sofa back to its spot, making sure the legs rested in the same indents in the carpet, and collected all the empty beer cans littered all around the place.

  I went to the kitchen and rinsed them out with water before tucking them in one corner of the kitchen counter.

  My knuckles and wrists throbbed from the fight, but it was worth it. It was a reminder that an asshole had gotten what he deserved. I was impressed by how much I’d managed to hold back. Cliff deserved worse than what he’d gotten, but it was better to just get rid of him rather than leave a bloody mess in Lauryn’s living room.

  Even though that might have felt better at the time.

  Chapter 14

  Lauryn

  I looked up at Jayden in the reflection of the rearview mirror of Caleb’s car. He was sitting in the back seat popping pieces of sugar-coated sour candies into his mouth. His cheeks puckered, and his eyes watered with every bite, but he sucked on them and chewed them up anyway. I was sure his tongue would be raw by now, but like me, he couldn’t say no to the sourness. I loved sour candies.

  I’d have stolen a couple from him, but my stomach was spinning end over end with nerves. The thought of putting anything in it right now made me nauseous.

  We’d been sitting at the curb in the car for at least ten whole minutes now. My palms were sweaty, and I’d tried to busy myself by tidying Caleb’s car—but it was already immaculate. This did not surprise me at all. Caleb was an organized person, and he cared about everything. His health, his career, his coworkers at Kadia … me.

  I took a deep breath and twisted around to look at my son. “Well. I think it’s about time we go back inside. You ready?”

  Jayden nodded.

  “Have you eaten almost that entire bag already?”

  Jayden gave me a bright smile and nodded again.

  I got out of the car and walked around to his passenger door. “He’s going to be up all night now. I did not think that through,” I grumbled to myself. When I opened the door, Jayden sprang out and hopped up on the curb to run across the grass on the front gardens of the apartment building. It was dewy from the cold, and I could see little droplets of water springing up from his heels as he went.

  I took the path. We buzzed in through the front door, and by the time we stepped on the elevator, my stomach was doing somersaults. I needed a carbonated drink. Or some Pepto. Either would work at this point.

  Zandra would have been better, but now that Cliff was gone, so was my supplier. I hadn’t thought about that until this moment. A little hand of panic squeezed my heart.

  I shook my head at my own foolishness. No. This is for the best. You know that. Cliff had to go. You’re a mother, and Jayden deserves better than to have a guy like that around. If that means there’s no guy around, then there’s no guy around.

  “You okay, Mom?” Jayden asked, reaching over and taking my hand.

  I squeezed his little fingers. “Yeah, baby. I’m great. I’m just a little sleepy.”

  Jayden was content with my answer. After the elevator doors opened, we stepped off and then walked down the hall to our unit. I stood in front of it. Everything would be different when we went inside.

  You needed a fresh start. Caleb saved you from yourself. Consider this a clean slate. No Cliff, no Zandra, just you and Jayden and better choices from here on out.

  I nodded as if giving myself permission to go inside and finally opened the door.

  I wasn’t sure what I’d been expecting. A mess of some sort, I supposed. But the house was exactly how I’d left it—minus the beer cans Cliff had left all over the living room.

  Water was running in the kitchen.

  I was suddenly struck with a terrible thought. What if Cliff was in the kitchen? What if Caleb was the one who’d gotten his ass kicked, and he was lying face down somewhere, beaten and bloodied?

  If that was the case, I was in a hell of a lot of trouble. The hit I’d taken from Cliff earlier that week would be nothing compared to what he’d do to me for trying to kick him out. He’d be furious. Irate. Uncontrollable.

  I held onto Jayden’s hand, and we walked down the hall toward the kitchen. There was no point in delaying the inevitable. If I’d fucked up by bringing Caleb here, then I needed to face the music.

  I stopped in the doorway to the kitchen.

  Caleb was standing at the kitchen sink with his back to us. He was rinsing out beer cans, one by one, and setting them on the counter in neat little rows. When he was done, he turned off the tap and leaned toward the stove, where he dried his hands on my floral printed kitchen towel.

  When he turned around and saw us, he smiled. “Hey.”

  “H-hey,” I stammered. What was this feeling? It felt like my whole body had suddenly become weightless like it was filled with nothing but air, and every negative thought had vanished like it never existed in the first place. It had been a long time since I’d felt like this, and I was pretty sure it could only be one thing: relief.

  Jayden was hovering behind my legs and peering out from behind my back at Caleb, who was now hanging the floral towel back on the handle of the stove. “The place is all yours. It’s a nice apartment. Exactly what I expected.”

  “How so?” I asked.

  Caleb shrugged. “Flowery towels. Bright colors. And more pillows on a sofa than any normal person could ever need.”

  I tried to laugh but couldn’t.

  Caleb nodded at Jayden. “Hey there, kid. Sorry I kicked you guys out of your house for a bit. Did you guys go somewhere fun?”

  Jayden nodded but didn’t say anything. He was and always had been a shy kid. It had taken him over a month to become comfortable enough with Cliff to talk to him on his own, rather than through me.

  Caleb seemed to understand Jayden’s shyness. He didn’t look at him when he talked. In fact, he sort of ignored him. He went to the kitchen table, and as he pulled out a chair, he said, “I got kind of bored, so I poked my head in your room. Coolest place in the whole house if you ask me.”

  Jayden looked up at me. His eyes were bright. I smiled at him. “Caleb is a friend.”

  Jayden bit his lip.

  Caleb shrugged and leaned back in the chair. He still didn’t look at either of us. “I know I’m sorta weird looking. So if you don’t want to come and talk to me, that’s fine.”

  Jayden moved around me and went to the kitchen table. I watched, heart fluttering, as he took the seat across from Caleb and sat on his knees. He leaned forward on his elbows and looked up at Caleb, who now met my son’s gaze. Jayden smiled. “We got candy.”

  “Candy?” Caleb sai
d enthusiastically. Then he looked over at me. “Did you bring me anything?”

  I shook my head.

  Jayden held up his bag of sour sugary candies. “You can have some of mine.” He put the bag down between them and opened it up. “The red ones are my favorite, but the blue ones are the sourest.”

  I caught the way Caleb’s brow furrowed. I suspected he wasn’t a big fan of sour candies. He reached out anyway, took a blue one, and popped it into his mouth. His face puckered, and he recoiled like the bag was a vicious cobra on the table. “How on earth do you eat these things? These are terrible!”

  Jayden was giggling. Caleb started laughing too.

  I cleared my throat. “Are the two of you good here if I just step out for a second?”

  Caleb glanced at me and then nodded. “Take your time.” He looked back at Jayden. “You cool to hang out with me for a few minutes?”

  Jayden nodded shyly.

  I didn’t wait for any more permission before I slipped away and went into my bedroom. The dresser drawers were all open—the ones that Cliff used—and empty. It looked like he’d gone through the room in a panic to collect all his things. I wondered what had transpired when Jayden and I were gone. Had it been a vicious fight? Had it lasted long?

  I went to the bed and sat down on the edge. I drew my knees up and wrapped my arms around my legs. By the time I pressed my cheek to my knee, the tears had already started flowing.

  I’d wasted ten months of my life with that loser. Not only that, but I’d exposed my son to a man with a violent streak for that length of time, and I felt like a terrible mother. How could I have been so selfish, so desperate? I’d kept him around so I didn’t feel lonely, but Cliff had only made me feel more isolated and more unlovable. He’d destroyed any ounce of confidence I had left, and I was only the shell of the woman I’d used to be.

  I hadn’t even been capable of fixing my own mess. I’d needed Caleb to come in and do it for me.

  I was embarrassed. At the root of it all, I was incredibly embarrassed by how far I’d let this whole thing go. All because I wanted a man in my bed when I came home, a man I never loved, never trusted, and never really wanted to be intimate with. The sex had been quick and raw. There had been nothing tender about it. Cliff just fucked until he was done and then rolled over like I was some late-night random hookup. To him, that’s probably all I was. I also happened to prepare all his meals for him and provide a clean and free place for him to rest his head.