Frederick, back on his feet, cleared his voice. “I’m calling the shots around here, not you. Stand this asshole up.”
Three men dragged Rock to his feet. He noticed one of them had a Gypsy Fiends patch tattooed on his chest. Frederick looked hard at him. “You’ve caused all kinds of problems for me, you fucking lowlife. The first order of business is for you to understand that Clotille made the decision to come back freely to me. Isn’t that true, pet?”
Clotille nodded. “I’m back with Frederick. We talked things over and we settled a lot of stuff. I’m sorry, Rock.”
“Fuckin’ bullshit! I want you to look me in the eyes,chérie, and tell me you don’t love me. That it’s over between us.”
She kept her gaze downward.
“Go on, pet. Tell him you don’t love him, that I’m the only one you love and want to be with.” Frederick smirked at Rock.
With quivering lips, she looked up at Rock and her green gaze caught his. For a short moment they were connected, and then she broke away. “I can’t,” she whispered. “I love him with all my heart.”
Rock smiled. “Oh,chérie.”
“You fucking cunt! You will be punished long and hard for humiliating me. And your indiscretion will be felt beyond the whip on your flesh. I’m going to kill Andrew.” Frederick’s nostrils flared as spittle formed in the corners of his mouth.
“No. Frederick, no! I’ll do anything but don’t harm Andrew. You promised me.” Clotille dropped her face in her hands.
“You promised me a lot of things too. It isn’t fair that you can break your promises and I have to uphold mine. All bets are off,pet.” He glanced at Rock. “Are you wondering who Andrew is?”
Rock stared expressionless at the man he wanted to tear apart. Clotille was extremely upset, and a tinge of curiosity weaved through him.
“Let me tell you.” Frederick sneered.
“No, Frederick. Please. Not like this.” Clotille glared at him “I’m the one who needs to tell him. I was going to do it tonight,” she said softly.
“Shut the fuck up!” He turned to Rock. “He’s your bastard son.”
“What the fuck?” Rock stared at Clotille as tears streamed down her face. His heartbeat raced and the room spun. “I have a son?” Casting her gaze downward, she nodded. “How?”
“That night we were together in the park,” she said softly.
“Clotille… what the fuck?” His head pounded as he tried to comprehend what she was saying.
“When I found out I was pregnant, you hadn’t been sentenced yet. You dad was still I ICU barely alive.” She locked onto his widening eyes. “I wanted to have our baby and wait to for you, even though I didn’t know if you’d be in for life, but my mother and Armand threatened that they’d make me have an abortion. They didn’t want me sullying our family reputation.” She pushed her shoulders back. “You don’t know how bad it was. I was desperate. I couldn’t let them kill our baby, so I sought Luc out and pretended to want to reconcile. He fell for it, we had sex, and I told him a month later I was pregnant. I knew he’d do the honorable thing and marry me. I didn’t have a choice, Roche. Not even my dad was on my side. I was seventeen and alone.” She turned away, sobbing.
“I’ve been paying for your brat. That was the agreement.” Frederick smiled broadly. “It doesn’t feel good being betrayed by this whore, does it?”
Rock didn’t answer, the reality that he had a son still ricocheting inside him.
She wiped the wetness off her cheeks. “It was either have an abortion or give our baby life and a chance of a good future. My whole family blamed you. After several years, Luc started fooling around on me, so I left him. I struggled to make it on my own, raising Andrew all by myself and juggling a couple jobs.
“My dad helped me a little without my mom knowing, but when he died, my world went from bad to hellish. After we lost all our money, Frederick spotted me at a charity function. My mom checked him out, and she and Armand concocted this plan where he would help our family financially if I’d be his partner.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “The only reason I did it was because I wanted to give Andrew a chance at a good life. You were poor… you know how hard it could be. I wanted him to go to the best schools, travel the world, and not worry about money or anything, so I agreed to become Frederick’s partner even though I knew the lifestyle he was into. I thought it would be okay, and it was until I saw you. Then I knew everything up to that point in my life had been a lie. You’ve always been the only one I’ve ever loved. I was going to tell you tonight when you got home. I swear it.”
Rock shook his head. Adrenaline rushed through him as his muscles strained against his skin. He couldn’t fathom that he had a child and she’d kept it from him. “How in the fuck could you not tell me I have a son?” he gritted. “We’ve been sharing the same fuckin’ bed for the last few weeks and you never told me. Fuck, I knew you were hiding something, but I never imagined it was anything like this. You’re cruel and cold-hearted. You always were.” He darted his eyes between her and Frederick. “You and this fuckin’ asshole deserve each other.”
He tried to pull away from the three guys who held him, but they latched on tighter. “Get your fuckin’ hands off me. I don’t plan to fight for this woman.” Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Clotille cover her face with her hands when she heard his words.
Frederick came in front of him and said, “It doesn’t play out that easily. You soiled my pet, so now you have to pay.”
Rock spat at Frederick, his spit trickling down the fucker’s button-down shirt. “You asshole! You raped the bayou, my mother’s land, so I call that even. Only an outsider could do what you did.”
Frederick took out a handkerchief and wiped off the saliva. “Is that what you think? I don’t think Armand or Henri are outsiders. Henri’s your brother, isn’t he? He was very anxious to kill your mother for the land. He’d been hoping you would’ve killed your dad and then that would’ve eliminated you from inheriting the land, but you couldn’t even do that right, you fucking moron. Nevertheless, it all worked out.” He straightened the cuff on his shirt. “By the way, condolences on the death of your father. You never know where they’re buying the food in the prisons these days.”
Rock felt like he’d been sucker punched and all the air had gone out of him.Henri killedMaman? How could he have stabbed and strangled the life out of the woman who gave birth to him? Who cared for and held our misshapen family together?A guttural roar came from his throat and, with a sudden burst of energy, he pulled away from the bikers and sprinted to the front door. The men were on him seconds later, fighting and punching him. In his weakened state, the three large men overpowered him.
Frederick came up to him. “I think since you’re so careless about sticking your cock in women, it would be best if I got rid of it for you. Of course, pet would want to see this.” He motioned for the men to take him in front of Clotille, who he forced to kneel on the floor while he held her leash tightly. The thugs laughed and dragged him over, pinning him to the floor. Rock kicked one of them hard in the crotch, but then someone hit him hard, again, over the head. Blood streamed down his face and his eyes went blurry. Frederick came over with a large pair of gardening shears and handed them to one of the bikers. “This should do the trick. After it’s done, my pet can eat it. She loves cock, don’t you?” He patted her hair before curling his hand around it and yanking hard. She yelped.
