Page 31 of Jonny’s Redemption

Why did that no longer matter to Jonny?

Because she’d pushed him to the brink and now he was so pissed he couldn’t stand the sight of his own mother. Could his life get any worse?

Hours later, he would find it could.

Then he made a decision.

“Babe, I need a favor.” He waited until he had Bobby’s full attention then went on. “I need you to drive her home.”

Bobby’s eyes widened and her face bleached. It was a shit favor. She barely knew his mother. Not to mention, she probably wouldn’t want to be around a drunk. Though Anita had been sitting in the station for hours so she was likely sober.

“Whatever you need,” she replied.

Jonny’s eyes slowly closed and his head dropped forward. God, how long had he wanted to hear those words from Bobby? How long had he denied himself the woman he loved? Too damn long. And now that he finally had her he was being a selfish prick.

He owed her an explanation. It wasn’t a good one, but it was the truth.

“I can’t look at her right now. I need to calm down before I—”

“Shh,” she hushed and stepped into his arms. “I said whatever you need and I meant it. I’ll drive her home and sit with her. You do what you need to do. I’ll wait for you. Don’t worry about her, I’ll get her settled.”

“Thank you.”

Relief washed over him but so did disgust. He should be stronger than this. He should be protecting Bobby. Anita was his responsibility; she always had been. Even when his father was alive, he was in charge of looking out for his mother.

Bobby’s father called his exploits fishing. His father had called it work. Calvin Spencer would put on a suit, kiss his wife goodbye, and walk out the front door of his family home carrying a briefcase and garment bag. He’d leave his children in favor of fucking whatever woman he kept on the side. He’d put his filthy, lying mouth on his wife knowing he was going to cheat on her. But it was his parting shot that still burned Jonny’s gut. The same thing every time his father left for the weekend. “Take care of your mother.” A simple request. One that Jonny deeply resented. Calvin should’ve been taking care of his wife. But he never did.

“Vaughn? Do you need Jonny for anything?” Bobby asked.

“No. Everything’s ready.”

“Go do what you have to do. I got this.”

Bobby rolled up on her toes and touched her lips to his. He didn’t find peace. And that pissed him off all the more. Something else his mother had stolen from him. Bobby was his. The only person with whom he felt whole. The one person who could always calm the storm. But not right then. Not when his alcoholic mother was dressed in black, mourning the motherfucker who had ruined their lives.

No. All Jonny could think about was how he would never be good enough.

“I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

“Take what you need, Jonny. I promise I’ll take care of her.”

Damn, he loved her. Straight to his soul, he loved Bobby. But he couldn’t tell her that. He couldn’t say a goddamn thing. So he turned and walked out of the station, leaving his woman to deal with a shit situation that was his responsibility but he couldn’t handle it. Not without tearing into his mother.

“You’re back,” Nix greeted when Jonny walked into the reception area of Gemini Group.

Of course the man would know Jonny was on his way up. Nixon had cameras outside and in the stairwell that led to the second-floor offices. What he was surprised about was his friend hadn’t known he was on his way home.

“You didn’t hear?”

“Hear what? Last update from Chasin was you and Bobby were staying at the beach for another couple of days. Is she okay?”

At that moment, it was a good probability Bobby was not okay. But he pushed aside how that made him feel and concentrated on why he’d come to see Nixon.

“Right now Bobby is driving my mother home from the sheriff’s station. She was arrested. Driving while impaired.”

Nixon’s face was perfectly blank. Not even a twitch of shock.

“You knew?” Jonny inquired.