Filthy Daddy (Baby Daddies Book 2)

by Ted Evans

  “I understand if you want us out. Hell, I understand if you want to kill me, quite frankly,” she says. Liam stiffens against her side but doesn’t say anything.

  “So,” he finally says, after they’ve sat for a bit, “seems we have a friend in common.”

  “Who do you…”

  “Carlo…I know him, too.”

  Willow turns to look at Liam. “How do you know Carlo?”

  “It was his club I worked at with Harriet.”

  Willow’s stomach is leaden all of a sudden. She knows what kind of men used to work at Carlo’s clubs. His bouncers and doormen were nothing but hired thugs who would do anything he asked them. In the clubs was where most of Carlo’s personal guards has started out. Willow swallows thickly.

  “Did you…were you his…”

  “I was twenty one and like you I didn’t want to go back home. There was nothing but memories of my parents. Once they died in a car crash, there was no reason to go back there. I was just a lust-struck bar back.”

  “Right.” She sighs in relief.

  “Just, let me ask you…why Carlo, Willow? He’s at least twenty years older than you.”

  Pushing Liam away from her, Willow flops backward onto the bed and her eyes tracing the patterns on the ceiling. She waits to answer, trying to find the best way to say what she was feeling.

  “It was so glamorous, Liam. Vegas! I was star struck. And incredibly naïve. I thought Carlo was just some big business man. Casino and hotel owner extraordinaire. He was a big deal and I was beyond flattered when he noticed me. I was one pretty girl in a town full of pretty girls. It takes a lot to get noticed in Vegas.”

  Liam nods at her and rests his hand on her knee. Willow loves the warmth that spreads over her skin when he touches her.

  “Also, if you know Carlo, you know he doesn’t take no for an answer. So, when he asked me out, it was almost like I didn’t have a choice. Also, I didn’t want to lose my job. I went out with him and that was pretty much it. Less than a week later I was living in the penthouse and had a limo and unlimited shopping in the hotel shops at my disposal. I thought I’d struck gold.”

  “Sounds like his M.O.” Liam says.

  “Yeah, well, I learned the hard way what Carlo was really about. And I know being here has put you in danger. So, I’ll leave. I’ll take Frank and go.” Willow sits up and pushes Liam’s hand off her knee.

  Liam is staring at her, his face unreadable. He’s so good at making that blank face, so good at hiding what he’s thinking from her. She never knows if she’s disgusting him or if he wants to fuck her.

  “No,” he finally says to her, “stay. You and Frank. Stay and we’ll figure this out.”

  “Liam, that’s not the only issue.”

  Liam shakes his head, thinking that today can’t get any worse.

  “Harriet, it’s not a coincidence. She’s my mom and I know exactly where she is.”

  Liam felt as if he’d been stuck in the head with a baseball bat as he flopped on to the sofa. One minute he was sitting then the next he’s punching the wall. He was going through a wave of emotions. Not knowing what to do next. He stops the moment that he sees that he’s scaring Frank.

  Liam points to Willow, “So I’m your?”

  Willow nods as she tries to remain calm, “Yes and you’re Frank’s…”

  “How the fuck? When?”

  He has so many questions racing in his mind.

  “The day that you took Frank and I thought that you…”

  “Kidnapped him?”

  She nods and she’s waiting for Liam to say something, but the only thing he says through gritted teeth is, “Does she know that you’re with me?”

  She whispers, “No. She’s back home with my grandparents. I don’t know why? I think that she wants something. Grandma said that maybe she’s just come back home. She just wants the past to be in the past,” Willow’s talking so fast maybe trying to calm the situation down and try and figure out what Liam’s thinking. He doesn’t say anything so she asks the question,“So, what are you going to do?”

  He laughs, “I don’t fucking know. I can only deal with one thing at a time at the moment. So after thinking that everything was a coincidence, it turns out that it’s a lot more than that.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well, your mom wanted her name up in lights, so Carlo’s not only been with you but your mom too.”

  Willow whispers, “He’s not the only one.”

  He wants to say something else, to comfort her, but he can’t. So he leans over and covers her mouth with his, then he pulls away as he realizes that she’s his stepdaughter and he’d lied to her earlier. He does know exactly what he wants to do with Harriet and it has nothing to do with what he wants to do to Willow right now. In fact the complete opposite!

  Chapter Nineteen

  Liam

  When he wakes the next morning, the sky outside is still gray. He rolls over and encounters a bundle of blankets. Stretching his hand over the makeshift blanket wall, he touches warmth. Willow. She and Frank are snuggled together on the far side of his large bed, blankets building a barrier between him and them. He eases up and squints into the darkness, barely able to make out the mounds their bodies make under the quilts. He can hear their breathing though, soft and low in the darkness. A fierce protectiveness sweeps over him at the sigh of Frank’s baby breaths.

  Pushing aside the blankets, he creeps out of bed and into the kitchen, feeling his way to the coffee pot. Finally, he gives up and switches on the dim light over the range hood. He’s just scooping coffee into the filter when he hears the scuff of bare feet behind him. Turning, he finds Willow standing next to the counter, one of his t-shirts sweeping across her knees. She’s rumpled and delicious looking in the low light.

  “Morning,” she whispers probably too scared to approach him.

  “Morning.” He gestures to the coffee and grabs another cup from the cabinet when she nods her assent. They’re quiet, making their way to the sofa with their cups, steaming curling up over the tops of the fragrant brew.

  Willow sits at one end and tucks her legs up underneath her, clutching her cup close to her and inhaling the scent before taking a small sip. Liam settles opposite her and watches her, sipping at his own coffee and letting it scald across his teeth.

  He clears his throat and she looks up, her face expectant. “I think there’s something we need to talk about.”

  She nods her head as she sits quietly and waits for him to gather his thoughts.

  “All right then. So, you know I know Carlo. But I didn’t tell you how. I didn’t just work in his club, he was the reason I went to prison. It was his hotel that Harriet set up the theft ring in. He’s the one who caught me, thanks to Harriet. He’s also the one who had his thugs beat me half lifeless before he turned me over to the cops.”

  Willow’s mouth has formed a silent O. She licks at her lips before finally whispering, “That was you? I heard about that…heard his security talking about it. He was really pissed at you.”

  “Yeah, I know, I was there.”

  “I can’t believe, in Vegas, how close we were. I was right upstairs. And that night, that he caught you? That’s the night I ran. Security was gone because they were after you. Without even knowing it, you probably saved my life that night.” Tears spill over her cheeks.

  Liam puts his coffee cup on the table and reaches over to take hers from her shaking hands, depositing it beside his.

  “There’s more…” he starts. This is the part he doesn’t know how to tell her. He’s not sure how to get the words out the right way, without scaring her. He decides to just get it out and deal with what happens after. She’s waiting on him to finish.

  “Okay,” he takes a shaky breath, “I did a job for Carlo in prison. I’m not going to tell you what it was, but it wasn’t…good. Now, Carlo wants me to do another job for him.”

  Willow sits up straight and drops her feet to the floor. Tension
radiates off her in waves. Fear starts to tighten her face. She’s a bird on the verge of terrified flight, waiting for his next words to drop.

  “It’s you. And Frank. You’re the job. He wants you back. Both of you.”

  Willow bolts, flying across the room to the bedroom, her breath hashing out of her throat. Liam chases after her, wraps his arms around her waist and pulls her back into the living room, away from sleeping Frank.

  “Willow, Willow, Willow. Baby, stop.” Liam has her wrapped in his arms, rocking her as a low, terrified moan seeps from her mouth. “Stop, baby. Shhh, shhh. Quiet, don’t scare Frank.”

  When she hears her sons name, she starts to thrash against Liam, her keening taking on a higher pitch. Liam slaps his hand over her mouth and drags her across the room, falling to the sofa with her and pulling her onto his lap. He pulls his hand from her mouth and taps her lightly across both cheeks.

  “Willow. Willow! Look at me, look at me, baby.” He grabs her chin and forces her face around. She’s babbling at him now, “Please, please, please. Don’t hurt him, don’t hurt Frank, he’s just a baby.”

  Liam forces her to look at him, staring directly into her swirling eyes. “Willow.” He says each word with a calm and deliberate precision. “I’m not going to hurt you. Or Frank. I’m not going to give you up to Carlo.”

  As his words sink in, she stills against him, her struggled movements slowing to a stop. Liam brushes at her face, dashing away the tears lingering on her cheeks. She sniffles and rubs her hand across her nose. Liam grabs the blanket off the back of the sofa and wraps it around her shoulders, pulling her onto his lap. Her terrified sobs give way to soft hiccups until she’s finally quiet in his arms.

  When he thinks she’s calmed enough, he pulls back, eyes roaming over her face. “We’re going to figure this out, Willow. I’m going to help you, if I can.”

  “What about mom?”

  He chokes, “She’s not the issue right now. If I don’t kill you. Someone else will. Do you understand what I’m saying to you?”

  She sits up, the blanket falling to the floor as she pushes off his lap. “There’s nothing you can do to help. If you don’t do the job he’ll just find someone else. He’ll keep sending people until he finally tracks me down and then he’ll take Frank…and do…who knows what he’ll do to me. If I’m lucky, he’ll kill me.”

  Liam’s gut clenches violently at hearing her talk like that, at the defeat in her voice and at how dead and flat her eyes have suddenly become. It eats at his insides to think of anything happening to her and the kid. Liam realizes he wants to keep her safe. More than anything, he wants every morning to start like this one did, with her in safe in his bed, the two of them sharing coffee and quiet words in the still air. He wants her. All of her. He loves her.

  He knows what he has to do.

  “We can’t do this alone. We need to go to the cops. They’re the only ones that will help us.”

  His eyes are darting around the room avoiding Willow’s as he tries to think of a plan.

  “We’ve got no money and no one’s going to stand up to Carlo. Only one man will do and he has the force behind him.”

  She surprises him by laughing, but it’s joyless and black, this laugh. Nothing that he’s ever heard from her before. It’s futility and bleakness. “We can’t go to the cops. Every cop from here to Vegas is in Carlo’s pocket. Going to them is a death warrant for the both of us. I’m not going to get both us killed.”

  “No, I know someone. A detective. He’ll help us.”

  “No one will help us, Liam.” She slumps in the corner of the sofa and stares off, her eyes on some distant point only she can see. “Take him.”

  “Take? What? Take who?” Liam stares at her in confusion.

  Her slim throat jumps as she swallows heavily. “Take Frank. Run. Keep him safe. No one knows we know each other. I’ll go to Carlo, tell him I lost the baby. You take Frank and get as far away from Carlo as you can.”

  Liam snatches her around to face him, the flat quality of her voice alarming him. “That’s not going to happen, Willow.”

  “Please,” she begs quietly, “take him away, keep him safe. Give him a normal life, Liam.”

  “Mommy.” A little voice pipes up from across the room. Frank is in the doorway, his little fists rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

  Liam bounds over and sweeps Frank up, swinging him around in a circle. “Morning, bug.” Frank giggles and wiggles out of his arms. Willow has moved to the kitchen and bustling around, pouring cereal and juice for Frank, freshening Liam’s coffee. The look on her face pleasant and bland as she listens to Frank’s chatter. When the boy is eating, and pushing a small car in circles around his bowl, Liam takes her arm and pulls her aside.

  “Look at him, Willow,” he says quietly into her ear, “can you really leave him?”

  Her glare is steel. “If it means saving him from Carlo? Yes.”

  “Let’s talk to Detective Peters first. Just to see what he says.”

  Willow glances back over her shoulder, her eyes lingering on the tiny boy popping rainbow colored bits into his mouth one by one, milk dripping over his fingers. Her sigh is an acquiescence.

  “Okay, we’ll talk to your detective.”

  Liam gathers her to him, pulling her into his chest, dropping kisses over her golden head. “Thank you, thank you. It will be okay, everything’s going to be all right, I promise. I’m going to keep both you and Frank safe.”

  Willow lets him smooth his hands over her back and make his promises of safety but he can see in her eyes she thinks it’s hopeless. After he calls Detective Peters and sets up a time to meet, he comes back into the living room where she and Frank are playing some made up game on the carpet. He drops down onto the sofa, his elbows resting on his splayed knees as he watches them play for a bit. When Frank finally toddles to away, bunny dragging behind him, Willow settles onto the sofa beside Liam. She reaches over and laces her fingers through his.

  “Listen,” she finally says, “I don’t really trust your detective but I’m willing to trust you. We we’ll go, we’ll listen to him but if I think anything is off, I’m gone. I’ll go on the run again. And you’re right. I can’t leave Frank. So, with or without you, I’ll be gone.”

  Liam nods, “I understand that and in a way I think that it’s for the best after all we’re related.”

  “By marriage only and we never knew.”

  He shrugs, “Maybe?”

  “Or are you still thinking of my mom?”

  “You mean Harriet?”

  He wonders if she’s using the word ‘mom’ to make him feel guilty about what he’s planning to do to her.

  “No, this is about you and Frank. You two are the only ones that I care about.”

  “Liam if you don’t chose to come with us, then you have to promise to never look for us. Ever.”

  Liam just stares at her. He’s not sure he can do what she’s asking, but he’ll tell her whatever it takes to make her feel better about going to see Detective Peters. So he looks her in the eye and lies. “Okay, if you leave without me, I’ll never look for you.”

  She slaps her hands together and stands up. “Okay, then. Let’s go see your detective.”

  Chapter Twenty

  Liam

  After confirming the time and place for their meeting with Detective Peters, Liam, Willow, and Frank spend the rest of the day at Liam’s apartment. Frank plays and watches cartoons, Willow raids the cabinets and refrigerator until she finds the ingredients for a pasta dish Liam had never heard of. Their dinner is delicious but mostly silent, Frank making the only noises as he chases noodles around his plate with his fork. Liam notices that Willow hardly touches her meal even though she’s barely eaten all day. He guesses that he can hardly blame her for not having an appetite. Knowing that someone is out to take your child and possibly kill you will do that to a person.

  Liam helps clear and clean up after the meal and then they sit, looking at th
e TV but not really watching it until the sun goes down. Willow looks at him with a nod and he gets up and helps Frank into his shoes and jacket. Willow puts on her own and stands near the door, tension pouring off her in waves. She puts on a smile for Frank though, and tells him they’re going for a walk and that maybe they’ll get ice cream later.

  Liam goes down the stairs first, stopping the flip off the lights in the building entryway before stepping outside into the night air and peering around carefully. When he doesn’t see anything suspicious he pulls the doors open and waves Willow and Frank down the stairs. The slip out behind him and the three of them cut across the sidewalk and into the darkness of the building parking lot.

  They cut behind businesses and parking areas, Frank quiet for once, Liam leading the way in the dark. Once, when a black SUV turns the corner, Liam pushes them back into the shadow of an alley until the truck slides past them. He doesn’t think it was anyone looking for them but it’s better to be safe. After fifteen minutes of walking in a roundabout circuit, they arrive at the back door the of a large white building. This area is brightly lit but a brick wall surrounds the yard, cutting off the view from the street. Liam looks at his watch and raps quickly on the steel door. Seconds later, it swings open and fluorescent lighting spills through the gap. Liam steps back and ushers Willow and Frank through the open door before following them into the brightly lit hallway.

  They’re in the back of a police station. Heavy doors, all of them shut, line the hallway. Frank watches as Willow takes in the stark white walls, sees the pulse jump nervously in her neck. Even here, surrounded by police officers, he can tell she doesn’t feel safe. That says a lot for what she went through at Carlo’s hands.

  A junior officer escorts them down the hall and into one of the rooms off the side. They haven’t seen anyone else but Liam notes the camera mounted in the corner. He sits with his back to it. The young officer is polite, offering them drinks or snacks. When Frank asks for crackers, the officer gives him a big grin and leaves the room, returning shortly with a bowl full of tiny, orange fish. He gives these to Frank along with a box of juice. Willow thanks him and Frank gives him a big thumbs up. Liam studies the empty room around them, waiting impatiently for the detective to show up.