AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“They’ll pay,” I growled, making sure he heard the savage note in my voice. “All of them.”
Toby was quiet for a moment. And then he said, “I missed you, buddy.”
I could sense the thrumming emotion in his voice. It was the same one that made my throat tight and nearly overwhelmed me.
“I missed you too.”
Our talk was interrupted by Charlotte, who flew into the room. After getting me in the ambulance and making sure I wasn’t dying, she went back to give her statement to the police. But now she was here, her eyes searching for me desperately.
I smiled weakly at her and then looked into her eyes. “Hi, babe.”
A sob escaped her, and then she dashed into my arms. I felt a twinge of pain as she threw herself at me, but I ignored it, overjoyed to have her in my arms again.
After her first bout of tears, her eyes immediately flew to Toby. She wiped her eyes and waved at him, attempting a smile as she said, “Hi, Toby. I’m Charlie. It’s so nice to finally meet you.”
“Hi,” Toby said, and his voice cracked. He blushed and cleared his throat as he waved back.
After that, Toby moved into my house, and so did Charlotte and Casey. They still visited Charlotte’s parents on the weekend, and I’d hired an in-house care nurse for her father, who was recovering well from his surgery.
Charlotte no longer worked at the gas station, largely because I fired her and banned her from getting another job. She continued coaching the basketball team, though, but she’d gone on leave from that, too, seeing as she was now obviously very pregnant.
I felt my heart thrum at the thought. A baby girl. Any moment now, I will have a baby girl to add to my family.
Charlotte had practically taken both Toby and Casey as her sons already, which was funny because she was nearly the same age as Toby. I heard the door to the basement open behind me and glanced up as she walked down the stairs.
“You sure they’re not going to hurt each other?” she asked, just as she always did.
“Relax. Casey’s getting pretty good.” In fact, he’d just gotten suspended for fighting some asshole kid at school. Probably the boy who was bullying him and giving him bruises on his arm. Casey had planted his knee on the boy’s back and kept him there until the boy apologized. After his suspension, Charlotte insisted I needed to talk to Casey about fighting in school, so I did.
“Do it in private next time,” was all I told him. “And don’t get caught.”
He gave me a mischievous smile, and I winked. I knew Casey wasn’t the type to use his newfound power to pick on other kids. But I wanted him to know it was okay to defend himself and others too.
“I know,” Charlotte said now. “It’s Toby I’m worried about.”
At the sound of his name, Toby looked at us, and Casey managed to catch him on the side of his face, sending him stumbling back.
“Ooh,” I said. “That looked like it hurt.”
Toby glared at me as he straightened up, but then his eyes flickered to Charlotte, and he became red-faced again. I figured Toby had a tiny crush on Charlotte, and I didn’t blame him. It was hard not to. He was staying with us in the meantime until he found a place. I asked him if he wanted to continue fighting, and he shook his head.
“Maybe I’ll get into electronics or computer science. I’m not sure, to be honest,” he said. “It’s been a while since I let myself dream.”
I nodded. I understood that, and I was determined to make sure he got whatever he needed.
“Take it easy on him, son,” I said now, directing my words to Casey. “He’s getting old.”
Casey smiled. “Yeah, okay, Dad.”
It warmed my heart the same way it did every time Casey called me dad. Toby attempted to flip me off but then stopped at Charlotte’s disapproving look. They returned to sparring.
“Oh, don’t forget Mom and Dad are coming over later for dinner,” Charlotte said as the boys returned to sparring.
“I know,” I said because I’d already spoken to her mom on the phone earlier today and committed to picking them up. Charlotte’s parents had warmed up to me significantly since the surgery, and we now had dinner several times a month, either at our home or theirs.
According to Charlotte, she’d finally made them open up Kelly’s diary, and they found out Kelly had met Viper long before she met me. The two had a brief fling, but Kelly cut it off because she found out about some of his criminal dealings, including beating someone to death.
After we started dating, she still loved him, so they began an on-and-off affair that was wild and tumultuous. Kelly remained with me, though, because she knew that one day, Viper might kill her for what she knew, and I was the only one who could save her from him.
