Filthy Daddy (Baby Daddies Book 2)

by Ted Evans

  She quickly picks it up in fear that she’ll wake not Frank, but Liam. She doesn’t know if she can face him today.

  “Nan?”

  “Sorry, did I wake you?”

  She shakes her head. “No, I was worried that I woke you up. I didn’t know if you were still getting up early in the morning.”

  Her grandma chuckles, “You know me too well, dear.”

  Willow sighs gently. She’s so far from the one place that she considers home. She should just pack her bags and go back there. After all, her grandparents have never met Frank. They don’t even know that he exists. She’s just about to tell her when her grandma says, “I’ve got good news for you.”

  “Me, too,” Willow says excitedly. She’s about to tell her that she has a great-grandchild and they’re coming home.

  “Your mom’s here.”

  “Mom?”

  “I know she doesn’t like to be called that. But I think that she’s changed.”

  Willow freezes. She was happy to go home to her grandparents, but to deal with Harriet too just feels like too much to bear.

  “What does she want?”

  “Well, don’t be like that. She was working in Vegas for a while as a dancer.”

  Willow nearly drops her phone, even though she was lying down with it close to her ear. This was too much of a coincidence.

  “Can you believe that she even got married?”

  Grandma’s laughing, but alone. She realizes and stops, “Anyway, she was working as a dancer or something in Vegas and married some bad man or something. She even got him sent to prison. Anyway, luckily he’s still there and with the help of the police she managed to change her ID and everything, but there was one thing that she always missed.”

  “What’s that?” Willow feels as if her heart’s stopped beating.

  “Home.” There’s an awkward silence, then her grandma continues. “I shouldn’t have said all this to you on the phone. You had something to tell me. You said it’s good news. I hope that you’ve met someone and you’re bringing him home. It’s been forever since you’ve been here.”

  Willow shakes her head. “I need to go. I’ve got a headache.”

  “Oh. Your grandpa said that I shouldn’t tell you. But I thought that it has been so long that we could all put it in the past.”

  Again, Willow is unable to breath properly, let alone sleep.

  “Okay, I can see that he was right, as usual. You give me a call when you get the chance. Just don’t be a stranger.”

  “Bye.”

  Her grandma was going to say something, but Willow doesn’t give her a chance as she hangs up the phone and once again cries into the pillow, the same way she did when she came home from work. The woman that Liam’s looking for just happens to be her mom and to make matters worse, the man looking after her son just happens to be his step-granddad.

  Willow sobs as she realizes that there’s only one thing to do. She needs to leave. For the first time in a long time she’d felt safe and had thought that she had a future, but, as usual, it had been taken away from her. Life was cruel to her, and she didn’t even know the reason why.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Liam

  He’d heard Willow when she came in from work. He’d been asleep on the sofa and the sound of her keys jangling in the lock had pushed him from sleep. He glances at the clock now and sees it’s almost six-thirty in the morning. He eases off the sofa and creeps toward his bedroom, peeking in the door at the Frank. The little boy is a tiny lump in the center of Frank’s bed, his thumb shoved into his mouth and a tattered bunny clutched beneath his chin. Liam steps back to the sofa. Might as well let the boy sleep.

  Liam drops back onto the sofa and punches at the throw pillow under his head, trying to soften it up. He’ll see if he can get a couple more hours’ sleep, too. And he might as well let Willow have some rest since she didn’t get home ’till almost dawn. He yawns and decides he’ll take Frank to breakfast in a few hours when he wakes up. He tries to get comfortable on the sofa and finally drifts back off, thinking of Willow, warm in her bed in the room next door.

  Small fingers tap at his cheeks. Liam jerks away and stops himself from grabbing at Frank just in time. The little boy is grinning at him, his dinosaur-covered pajamas rumpled and his hair standing on end, his stuffed bunny dangling from his tiny fist.

  “Hey, mornin’ kiddo,” Liam mumbles.

  “Morning, Liam.” Frank warbles brightly. “I hungry.” He pulls up his pajama top and rubs at his little belly.

  “Yeah, okay. Want some pancakes?”

  “Yummy!”

  “Okay,” Liam sits up and stretches out his back. “Let’s go down to the diner. Just us buds, let your momma sleep some.”

  “Just us bugs!” Frank says.

  Liam grins and rumples the kid’s hair.

  Liam helps Frank change his clothes and they head to the diner, Frank hanging onto Liam’s hand as he skips down the sidewalk. They push open the door to the restaurant, moist heat and the smell of coffee washing over them. Liam leads Frank to a booth in the far corner and helps him into a booster seat so he can reach the table.

  Liam has to admit, having the kid around has been pretty fun. Last night they’d watched a cartoon about a lost fish. Liam hadn’t watched cartoons in years and was surprised by how much he enjoyed it. They’d pushed Frank’s little truck around the living room and had a late-night snack of leftover pie. Then, they’d settled in for another cartoon about talking cars. Frank had slumped over and fallen asleep on Liam, his little body warm and heavy against Liam’s side. Liam had carried him to bed, watching for a few minutes as the tiny child’s chest rose and fell with his deep, sleepy breathing. It was too damned precious, Liam decided.

  Placing their orders, Liam settles back into his seat, sipping at his coffee and watching Frank color animated bacon and eggs on the sheet the waitress had given him. It’s comfortable in the diner, the air fogged with the scent of eggs and pancakes, the grill sizzling and giving off big clouds of steam. Liam has just let himself be lulled by the lazy morning routine when a heavy hand clamps onto his arm.

  Liam spins, his coffee cup clattering to the floor, and seizes the hand in a vicious pinch, grabbing the flannel-covered arm and pulling up behind the broad back of the owner. Who is laughing uproariously at Liam.

  “Shit, man. Relax. It’s me, Tony,” the man laughs.

  Liam drops his arm.

  The man shakes his arm out and pulls at his shirt, a big grin splitting his pock-marked face. “Fancy seeing you here, Blacke. Mind if I join you?” He slides into the booth across from Frank and points at him. “Who’s the kid?”

  Liam picks up his coffee cup and mouths a “sorry” at the approaching waitress before easing into the plastic booth seat next to Frank. “Neighbor’s kid. Just doing a favor.”

  “Cute kid. Must have a cute momma, too. Especially if you’re doing favors for her.” Tony smirks at him.

  “Hi, mister. We’re bugs.” Frank pipes up.

  Liam hands Frank a crayon and points him back to his coloring sheet. “Watch your mouth around the kid, Peters.”

  Tony raises his hands in a mock surrender. “Whatever you say. What are you doing around here anyways? This the last place I expected to see you.”

  “Not much. Watching a lot of TV. Being bored.”

  “Even with the pretty momma around?”

  “I said watch it.” Liam growls.

  The waitress arrives with plates stacked high with pancakes and bacon. The table is quiet as Liam helps Frank cut his pancakes and pour his syrup over the top. Tony orders a coffee and watches them with a little smile on his face.

  “So, you and the chick…?” Tony says as he points to Frank.

  “I told you, no. Just a favor.” Liam doesn’t want Tony knowing anything about Frank or Willow. They’d been in the joint together, and while Tony Winters wasn’t exactly a bad guy he wasn’t the kind of guy Liam wanted around Frank and Willow
. He was sneaky and shifty and would sell his own mom for a buck. But he’d helped Liam in prison, so he didn’t want to be rude. Hopefully, they’d just have a quick breakfast and Tony would go on his way.

  Liam shovels a pile of pancakes into his mouth, talking around the syrupy sweetness. “It’s nothing. I swore off women after Harriet, you know that. They’re just my neighbors and she’s having a hard time with work.”

  “Whatever you say.” Tony gives him a grin that says he thinks differently. “Anyhow, speaking of work, how you makin’ your cash these days?”

  “Just…living off my savings right now. More coffee?” Liam gestures to the waitress for more coffee, hoping to get Tony off the subject.

  “Well, that ain’t gonna last forever.” Tony says.

  “Yeah, well…” Liam crunches down onto a piece of bacon.

  “Well, I’m in town on a little job right now. You ever think of getting back into the game?”

  Liam glances at Frank, who is singing under his breath and stacking his pancakes into little buildings. “Hm. Not really.”

  “Thanks, sugar.” Tony holds out his coffee cup and winks at the waitress as she refills it. “Well, like I said, that money ain’t gonna last forever.” He takes a sip of his steaming coffee. “How about you take my number. Whenever you run outta your money, give me a call. I can fix you up with something.”

  “That’s really not necessary, Peters. I’m fine. I’m not into that anymore.”

  “Still, no harm.” Tony stands up and pulls out a card, dropping it onto the table in front of Liam. “Call when you’re ready.” Then he drops a fifty-dollar bill onto the table on top of the card. “Breakfast is on me. Take it easy, bug.” He salutes Frank and strolls out of the diner, the open door letting in the noise of the street outside before thunking shut behind him.

  Liam finally picks up the card, turning it over and over between his fingers. He looks back at the door Tony disappeared through before slipping it into the inside pocket of his jacket.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Willow

  Bright sunlight pricks her eyes and Willow groans as she rolls over and pulls a pillow over her face to block the light. The moment she registers just how bright the light is, is the same moment she realizes how quiet her apartment is. She flings off the pillow and stumbles to her feet, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. A check of the clock tells her it’s past 10 a.m. Frank. How could she forget about her little boy? Guilt pierces her heart as she shucks out of her work uniform and into a pair of jeans and a sweater. She kicks her revealing work outfit across the room before picking up the flimsy material and dropping it into the wastebasket near the door. Sliding her feet into a pair of shoes, she heads out the door and down the hall to Liam’s apartment.

  It’s almost alarmingly quiet. Willow taps on the door with her knuckles. She can’t hear any movement or the sound of the TV. She presses her ear to the wooden door. Nothing. They can’t have gone to Liam’s apartment and gone back to sleep? She knocks again before wiggling at the doorknob, trying to see if it’s unlocked. It’s not. She pushes back the panic as she dials Liam’s number. When she hears his phone ringing from behind the locked door, her world almost goes black.

  Terror is pounding through Willow’s chest as she runs down the stairs. Where is her kid? She can’t believe she left him with someone she’s only known a couple of weeks. What kind of mother did that? The desperate kind, that’s what kind. She slams through the double doors at the bottom of the stairwell and bursts out onto the sidewalk. A quick glance up and down the street comes up empty so she runs to the side of the building where a grassy strip grows between two parking areas. She’s hoping she’ll see Frank and Liam rolling a ball back and forth across the grass. Nothing.

  Willow is frantic now, running across the street, cars honking at her as they slam on brakes to keep from plowing into her. She runs the few blocks to the local park, dashing around dog walkers on the sidewalk and almost knocking over an elderly man out for a walk with his nurse.

  Shit, he must have heard me on the phone and he knows. He’s probably going to use Frank as bait!

  All kinds of crazy shit is running through her mind as she skirts the perimeter of the park, looking for Frank’s bright hair on the swings or monkey bars. She doesn’t see them anywhere. They’re not in the park. Willow heads back around the block, passing the ice cream parlor and turning into the local library. A quick talk with the librarian lets Willow know Frank hasn’t been in with Liam that morning. She jogs down the library steps and looks up and down the street as tears start to pour down her face. She’s lost her baby. Liam took him. Why would Liam take her baby? What did she really know about this guy she let into her home and her bed? Nothing, that’s what. And now he has Frank.

  Willow starts running down the block, trying to remember what Frank had on the last time she saw him. She’s calling the cops when she gets back to the apartment building. Liam is a felon anyhow, they’ll have all his info on file. Willow hasn’t set foot into church since she was a kid but she’s praying as she runs down the sidewalk for her baby to be okay, to be safe.

  That’s when she seems them, Liam, leading Frank out of the diner ahead. Frank, bouncing by Liam’s side, a crumpled paper clutched in his sticky fist. Willow’s heart stops when she sees his golden curls and his syrupy smile. He’s okay. He’s okay. Then, he spots her. “Hi, Mommy!” he squeals across the parking lot. Liam turns around and gives her a wave.

  Willow sees red. She storms across the gravelly asphalt, her terror at thinking Frank was missing still ringing in her head. When she reaches the boys, standing on the sidewalk and waiting on her, she snatches Frank up and pulls him into tight hug.

  “Ugh, Mommy, you squishing me.” He wiggles in her arms.

  Willow turns to face Liam. “You, you asshole!”

  “Bad word, Mommy, bad word,” Frank warbles.

  Liam has taken a step back from her anger, his eyes hooded as he watches her approach him. She can see the wall going back up between but she doesn’t care.

  “How dare you take my son away from my apartment,” she spits at him, “You’re...” she’s about to say something, but then she figures that she needs to know if Liam does know the truth.

  If he doesn’t then that buys her time. Not much, but enough for her to come up with a plan. A proper plan. One that doesn’t involve packing her bags in the middle of the night and leaving. The problem is that Frank has started to enjoy Liam’s company. It’s not going to be so easy for her to leave with him. Not like she did with Carlo. He’ll be crying and she needs to make him see Liam as a bad man before they leave for good. Which will need to be soon. Real soon.

  She sees his jaw tighten, his teeth grind slightly. That doesn’t stop her from railing into him.

  “I was so worried. Why didn’t you wake me up? You don’t take someone’s child out without their permission.”

  “I was watching him,” Liam clips off his words.

  “But you took him out without telling me. How could you? What were you thinking?”

  “That you were sleeping! What’s got into you?”

  Willow avoids looking at him as he continues to explain, “Damn it, girl. I thought I’d let you sleep, you worked late. We had pancakes. We were on our way back. Did you think I’d hurt him?”

  “I don’t know. I don’t know you. You were in prison and chasing after your ex that you want to kill,” Willow whispers the last part, but that doesn’t stop Frank from looking at Liam askance.

  She sees the exact moment the wall slams down. That’s it. She’s done it now. She doesn’t mean any of what she said. She really did trust Liam with Frank. It was just her terror making her say what she didn’t mean and Liam wasn’t clear about what he was going to do with Harriet.

  The thought keeps entering her mind: he isn’t looking for Harriet to take her out for pancakes. He is a bad man. One that she needs to steer clear of, because she has a habit of being with bad men and the
n regretting it afterward.

  “I…” she fumbles with her words.

  “Yeah, don’t worry about it.” Liam turns on the heel of his boot and stomps down the sidewalk toward their apartment building.

  Willow tugs Frank along, hurrying behind Liam. She catches up as he’s about to open the double glass doors leading into the entryway. “Liam, wait…”

  He spins to face her, his entire face hard. “You made yourself abundantly clear, so now let me say a few words and make myself clear. I tried to help you. I watched Frank for you. I tried to let you get rest. You’re just like every other woman. Ungrateful, grasping, and greedy. Always wanting more. Always ready to throw somebody under the bus for your own selfish wants. I tried to be friendly but it never works with you women. So, stay away from me. Don’t knock on my door again. You and your kid get on my nerves. We’re not friends anymore. We never were. We’re nothing.”

  He pulls open the door and stops before he steps through. “And maybe, if you can’t take care of your kid, you need a different job. Not one at some seedy club where you walk around half-naked for tips. Frank needs a real mom, not some trashy barfly.” Flinging open the door, he walks up the stairs. Willow watches until he rounds the landing.

  “Mommy, Mommy.” Frank is patting her leg and when she looks down she sees his bright eyes filled with tears. While she knows he may not have understood the words, he certainly understood the anger. She picks him up and pulls him close to her, hugging him to her chest, pressing his cheek into hers where their tears mix and mingle together.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Liam

  Liam’s back on his sofa, flipping through channel after channel on his ridiculously large screen. He can’t concentrate on watching TV. He doesn’t want to go down to the bar. And the diner is definitely ruined for him now. Maybe it’s time he should think about moving on, hitting another town. This one is soured for him now and he’s got no reason to stay. He gets up and heads to kitchen for a beer. Yeah, time to go. He’ll start looking for another town soon. It’s better if he moves on.