He grabbed a beer and was about to head upstairs, had one foot on the first step, when the sound of incessant female giggling brought him up short. It was a school night and Danny shouldn"t be up at one in the morning. Eva knew this.
Narrowing his eyes, he went left, through the living room and into the family room. Eva, Danny and Cage were packed onto the loveseat together, their eyes glued to the television. Danny took up the left corner, Cage had the right, his arm slung over the back of the couch and Eva was curled up in the s.p.a.ce between his arm and torso. Cage"s fingers were running distractedly through her hair and her arm was slung over his belly. A dark blue woolen blanket covered the three of them.
He stared. What the f.u.c.k was going on?
"Oh my G.o.d!" Danny cried, bouncing up and down in her seat. "She"s really going to make him a vampire!"
"No way," Eva said. "She won"t. She can"t. That is just so wrong."
"She could make me a vampire," Cage muttered, "She"s so f.u.c.kin" hot."
Eva burst out laughing. "You"d give up your life for a nice pair of t.i.ts, huh?"
If he wasn"t so p.i.s.sed he would have laughed. He"d been shot twice for a nice pair of t.i.ts.
Cage looked down at Eva and grinned. "For those t.i.ts, babe, h.e.l.l yeah. For yours too."
Eva snorted.
"Pig," Danny muttered.
"Yep."
"You can be a pig," Eva said, laughing. "As long as you keep rubbing my feet every day." She sighed happily. "Pure heaven, Cage."
Cage"s grin turned into a soft smile. "Anything for you gorgeous."
His fists clenched. Rubbing her f.u.c.king feet? Every day? Gorgeous?
"Ha!" Eva shouted, slapping at Danny"s arm. "I told you she wouldn"t do it!"
"Whatever," Danny muttered with a smile on her lips. "She should have. Eventually he"s going to get old. If I were her I would have immortalized all that hotness."
He stormed into the room and stopped directly in front of the television.
"Daddy, move," Danny said, trying to look around him.
He didn"t.
"Danielle West," He growled, "I wanna know why you"re not in bed."
He watched his daughter fold her arms over her chest and scowl at him.
"Today and tomorrow are parent-teacher conferences," Eva said quietly. "No school."
He narrowed his eyes. She was still curled up around his kid. Right in front of him.
"Eva," He barked. "Kitchen."
"Here babe," Cage said. He shifted his body out from under hers and slipped an arm around her back to help her up. She tottered for a minute then both her hands went to her swollen belly.
"s.h.i.t," Cage muttered. "Are you having contractions again? Or is it the salt thing?"
"Oh!" Danny cried, jumping to her feet, "Do you need your pills?"
Salt thing? Pills? What the f.u.c.k?
"Eva," He growled, growing more agitated by the second. "Get in the f.u.c.kin" kitchen!"
"Dad!" Cage yelled. "Shut the f.u.c.k up! She"s f.u.c.kin" sick! Blood pressure"s off the charts. Her OB has her coming in nearly every day to check her!"
What? What and what and huh?
"Why do you know this s.h.i.t?" He demanded.
"Better question," Cage shot back. "Why the f.u.c.k don"t you?"
It was either deck his only son or break something so he whipped his beer bottle across the room. It slammed into the stone fireplace and shattered in a spray of beer.
"Answer me!" He roared. "Why the f.u.c.k do you know this s.h.i.t? And why the f.u.c.k were you holdin" her?"
Cage"s lip curled. "Who do you think takes her to her doctor"s appointments and the f.u.c.kin" hospital? Who do you think has to help her in and out of bed and in the f.u.c.kin" shower? Sure as f.u.c.k ain"t you."
His nostrils flared. "You help her in the f.u.c.kin" shower!" He hissed.
"Yeah, daddy," Danny said quietly. "You"re never home and I can"t help her all the time. Her doctor said she should be off her feet and we gotta keep her salt intake low and calm her down when the contractions start by havin" her take warm baths or rubbing her back. Most of the time they"re Braxton hicks but because she went into labor already the doctors are worried."
"And who the f.u.c.k you think is drivin" Danny to school?" Cage yelled. "And pickin" her up after cheerleadin" practice. And takin" her to f.u.c.kin" gymnastics? Mom"s f.u.c.kin" workin" ten hour shifts, Eva can"t do it anymore, you"re not f.u.c.kin" around, that leaves me!"
With tears in her eyes, Eva moved slowly across the room and disappeared into the foyer. He had planned on following her only Cage wasn"t done running his mouth.
"You"re doin" it again," He spat. "You"re f.u.c.kin" everything up. You did it to mom, you"re doin" it to Eva. You"re never f.u.c.kin" home, you"re leavin" her alone with no one to talk to and nothin" to do and she"s gonna leave dad you don"t stop sleepin" at the club and f.u.c.kin" wh.o.r.es. And f.u.c.k you, but I don"t want her to leave and either does Danny. Havin" here has been f.u.c.kin" awesome, she"s cool to talk with, she"s f.u.c.kin" fun and she makes s.h.i.t feel good, better than it has in a long time and you"re f.u.c.kin" it all up cuz you"re a f.u.c.kin" selfish a.s.shole!"
Danny moved to stand in front of Cage and took a protective stance. "Yeah daddy."
He had to take several deep breaths so he didn"t end up saying something he didn"t mean. Done breathing, he turned and left the room.
Deuce entered the kitchen shortly after I did. He walked right by me without as much as a glance my way, headed for the refrigerator. I bit my tongue. I had been biting my tongue a lot lately but I couldn"t fathom anything good coming out of a heart to heart when he"d just gotten into a fight with his kids.
Instead, I tried to think of something to talk to him about and kept coming up empty. I didn"t have a clue what he"d been doing lately, not for work, not with his boys, nothing.
"I got served," I blurted out.
Empty handed, he closed the refrigerator and turned around. "What?"
"Served," I repeated. "Chase wants a paternity test and he"s court ordered me to have it done."
He blinked.
"WHEN DID THAT f.u.c.kIN" a.s.sHOLE DOCTOR SAY THE CONCEPTION DATE WAS?".
I took a step backwards. "Deuce, why are- "WHEN EVA, f.u.c.kIN" WHEN!".
"The end of June," I whispered. "But it"s not always accurate."
"Really?" He sneered. "Is it not accurate cuz it was the beginnin" of f.u.c.kin" June when we f.u.c.ked?
I stared up at him, speechless.
"Jumped from my f.u.c.kin" bed straight into Frankie"s, jumped from Frankie"s right back into mine and then from mine straight to f.u.c.kin"s Chase"s bed! That f.u.c.kin" kid could be Frankie"s couldn"t it?"
"Stop!" I cried. "You know it wasn"t like that! You showed up and you had Frankie locked up and I was a wreck and you were you and I have never been able to be rational around you and I just wanted to be with you one more time! Chase was a mistake! I was trying to help Frankie but then I was trying to hurt Frankie and then I just wanted to hurt myself and I was so f.u.c.ked up in the head and I don"t know, Deuce! I just don"t know!"
"No, you never f.u.c.kin" did know s.h.i.t, did ya? Didn"t know your old man had cameras in his f.u.c.kin" stairwell. Didn"t know Frankie wasn"t just crazy but a f.u.c.kin" homicidal maniac. Didn"t know Chase f.u.c.kin" loved you, didn"t know he was hole punchin" the f.u.c.kin" condoms so he could knock you up and keep you! Don"t even f.u.c.kin" know who put that f.u.c.kin" b.a.s.t.a.r.d inside you!"
Chase was what? Oh my G.o.d. OhmyG.o.dohmyG.o.dohmyG.o.d...
"Yeah," Deuce sneered. "Now you get it. Now when it"s too f.u.c.kin" late. That"s his f.u.c.kin" kid in you then he"s gonna play that f.u.c.kin" card. And I f.u.c.kin" know you, s.h.i.t starts to get hard, you get upset, you"re gonna run."
"Where am I going to run to?" I demanded. "Since you know everything you tell me where I am going to run to!"
"Back to daddy," He said darkly. "Back to the f.u.c.kin" club. Back to where it"s safe and you don"t gotta deal with your f.u.c.kin" life cuz you got a whole s.h.i.t load of men who"ll deal with it for ya. And then you can keep tryin" to save Frankie cuz that"s all you"ve ever done with yourself and you don"t have a f.u.c.kin" clue what to do when you"re not tryin" to save him. And you and Chase can get back to beatin" each other senseless, f.u.c.kin" each other in public, and gettin" off on it cuz you both f.u.c.kin" hate yourselves and your f.u.c.ked up lives."
I felt my face get hot. I was angry but I was also embarra.s.sed. Deuce had just aired my dirty laundry in a house with an open floor plan. I had no doubt Danny and Cage had heard everything.
"Shoulda never f.u.c.kin" laid a hand on you," He spat.
My heart seized. "What?" I whispered.
"You heard me b.i.t.c.h. I wish I never f.u.c.kin" touched you. Never f.u.c.kin" met you. You"ve done nothin" but f.u.c.k with my life."
As if he"d slapped me I staggered backwards reaching for the counter top to steady myself.
"Deuce," I whispered. "Please take that back."
He didn"t. He didn"t say anything at all. Just turned away from me and left.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN:.
I stormed into the clubhouse on a mission. Deuce hadn"t been home in over a week. He wouldn"t answer his cell phone and his boys were covering for him.
I made it to the back hall when c.o.x was suddenly in front of me pushing me back.
"I"ll get him for you babe, just hold tight."
"f.u.c.k off," I hissed, shoving him back. "I"m not stupid. I know what he"s doing back there!"
c.o.x grimaced. "I let you in there, he"ll kill me."
"Then write out your will because nothing short of a bullet is going to stop me from going in there."
"Foxy," He said quietly. "I can"t let you back there."
I glared up at him. "Are you s.h.i.tting me?"
"No babe. He will take my cut if I let you back there."
"Fine c.o.x, you wanna play with me? Things are going pretty good with you and Kami so far, right? Been going back and forth and seeing Devin, getting to know him? Been lying to his mother, telling her you left your wife and all sorts of other bulls.h.i.t just so you can keep f.u.c.king her, right?"
c.o.x"s face went tight. "Eva," He warned. "You can"t- "Shut up," I hissed. "I can and I will. I will tell her not only have you not left your wife but that you are still f.u.c.king everything on two legs that comes your way. So what"s it gonna be, c.o.x? Are you going to let me back there or are you going to lose Kami?"
Glaring at me, he moved out of my way and swept his arm to the side. "Go right ahead you f.u.c.kin" b.i.t.c.h."
Deuce"s door was locked but the doork.n.o.b was cheap. Two solid fist drops to the top and it busted. I kicked the door open and Deuce"s eyes flew open.
"Eva!" Miranda exclaimed, turning red. "You"re here!"
Deuce was pushing out from underneath her, pulling himself up into a sitting position. His eyes were bloodshot and unfocused, courtesy of the empty bottle of Jack lying on the floor next to the bed.
"I"m not here," I informed her. "I just need to tell him something and then I"m gone."
She started getting up and I signaled her to stop. "You should stay," I told her. "After I"m done with him he"ll probably need to f.u.c.k you again."
"You stupid f.u.c.kin" b.i.t.c.h," Deuce growled. "Get the f.u.c.k outta my club."
That hurt worse than walking in on him and Miranda. If he truly loved me, I didn"t understand why didn"t he want me to be part of his life.
Miranda scrambled off the bed. "I"m...uh...I"m gonna go."
Without bothering to find her clothing, if she"d even had any to begin with, she took off down the hall.
"How the f.u.c.k did you get back here?" Deuce yelled I shrugged. "I"m a wh.o.r.e. I jumped a couple of beds."
Deuce was instantly sober and across the room. Gripping my bicep, he started dragging me out of his room and down the hallway. b.u.t.t naked.
"Since you"re kicking me out I"ll make this quick," I told him. "I get why you"re mad about Chase but Frankie is different. I"ve loved Frankie for as long as I can remember."
Deuce"s face went hard and he started walking faster forcing me to scramble just to keep up with him.
"We grew up together; we went through a lot together. He was always there for me and I was always there for him. He lost everything at a very young age. He latched onto me as a child and it was in no way s.e.xual. It wasn"t until later that he needed me for that as well."