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I covered my mouth to hide my laughter. “He’s like a baby when he doesn’t get all the sleep he needs.”
“I heard that.” Boone leaned over again. “Clearly, a man has to be willing to spank to get some respect around here.”
I leaned back into the car and kissed him. When I pulled back, he looked up at me with sleepy eyes. He looked like such a boy at that moment that I could see the baby I was carrying looking exactly like him. “You’ll get your snack and your movie soon.”
“And you.”
“And me.” I kissed him one more time before standing back up to kiss Remy. “I’ll be right over. Try not to get into any tussles before I get there to watch and cheer.”
He slapped my ass as I walked away and groaned when I flipped up the back of the dress he’d bought me to flash him. “Dammit.”
I rushed up the sidewalk to the house and hurried inside, eager to get back to the guys. The flight had been rough on the way back, but on the way there, it’d been great. I was officially in the Mile High Club and knew what a private jet felt like. Even though we’d only spent the night, I was so happy that Remy had wanted to take me with him. Things were getting serious, I thought. I knew I loved them and wanted to be with them. I thought they felt something close to love for me. I just wasn’t sure.
I tossed my purse on the couch and rushed upstairs to change. Before I could even slip a single shoe off, however, movement on my bed caught my eye and I let out a scream that would’ve gotten me a role in any horror film.
Charlie. Charlie stood up from my bed and grinned at me. “I’ll be damned, Little Fish. You caught yourself some fucking whales! Come here and give me a hug, baby.”
I backed away to stay out of his reach. “What are you doing here? You can’t be here. You have to leave. Right now!”
“Come on, baby, don’t be like that. I know you’re running a con here. Let me help you. You were never good without me.” He tried to come closer again, but I turned and hurried down the stairs. “What the fuck is wrong with you, Fish?”
I don’t know what came over me, but I ran to the other side of the island and grabbed a knife from the knife block. Charlie was a monster and I had a baby to protect. I just wanted him away from me and the guys. If he got to them before I could explain everything to them, they’d hate me. I couldn’t let that happen. “Don’t come any closer to me, asshole.”
He stopped and glared at me. “What’s your—”
I saw his eyes go down to my stomach, where my hand was protectively shielding it. I lifted the knife higher in my other hand. “You need to leave, Charlie.”
His face went red. “You stupid bitch. You really did it. You got yourself knocked up. That’s not how the game is played, Memphis! You can’t make shit work with a baby slowing you down. Who’s going to want to hand over their money when the lady seducing them is a pregnant cow?”
“Leave! You’re not welcome here. You robbed me blind the last time I saw you and now you’re going to come in here and pick back up like nothing’s different? Fuck you, Charlie. I don’t know how you found me, but whatever we had back then is long gone. Don’t waste your breath here.”
He slammed his hand down on the countertop and it felt like the entire house rattled. “I didn’t rob you. I took what I was owed. I spent years raising you from a stupid fucking kid to a grown woman who could make something of herself. I took care of you when no one else wanted you. So that money was mine. What were you going to do with it anyway? Give it all away to a college that would’ve just told you in four years that you were too stupid to do whatever you thought you wanted to do? So stupid. Now you’re knocked up and you look like you’ve gained weight. I taught you better than this. You don’t tie yourself to the mark.”
“You’re not hearing me! I don’t want you here. I don’t know how you got in and I don’t know why you’re here, but you need to leave. You don’t know anything about me or what I want anymore. You never did. For you to think that you took care of me, fucking ever, is a joke. You did nothing for me. I made the money, I paid all the bills, and I paid for everything Jackson and Knox needed. I went without. You didn’t do a thing for any of us.” I pressed my palms into my eyes, the knife still in my hands. When I saw him move, I jerked it back in his direction. “This isn’t what you think it is. I’m in lo—”
The front door slammed open and I saw the last person I ever expected to see. Jackson.
53.
***Memphis***
RemyshovedJacksonfartherinto the guesthouse, his face a mask of rage. “What the fuck is going on here?”
I rushed over to my little brother and grabbed his shoulders. “Jackson? Why are you here? How are you here?”
Wells took the knife from my hand and pointed it at Charlie. “Who’s this?”
I shook Jackson when he just stared right through me. “Jack. Jack, look at me.”
“He’s high out of his fucking mind, Fish. He wanted to stop on the way up so I helped him find something to take the edge off. That rehab you had him in was a piece of shit, by the way.” Charlie leaned against the island and smirked at everyone around him. “And I’m Charlie. This one’s ex before she got a taste for the good life, apparently. Although this house is kind of pathetic compared to the big one up front. Maybe your shit just isn’t that good anymore, baby.”
“You got him out of rehab? How? How did you do that? He was supposed to stay for a year and…why did you take him out? He was getting clean! I used every last dime I had to make sure he’d be okay and you just took him out and gave him drugs?” I was crying as I grabbed Jackson again. I slapped his cheeks harder. “Jackson, honey, look at me.”
“You know how the trailer park works, baby. It was easy to find that piece of shit place you stowed Jackson in. Once I promised him a hit and got him out of there, he was all too happy to spill his guts. Seemed you told him all about your plans before you left. You never were that bright.” Charlie snorted. “Finding a surrogate named Memphis wasn’t hard, either. You guys really pissed off that rigid bitch from the agency you used. She was all too happy to share the details with me.”
I stroked Jackson’s face, ignoring Charlie. “Jack, buddy. Hey, it’s me. Can you look at me?”
“He was in our mother’s room, stealing her jewelry.” Remy’s voice was as black as night as he spoke and I knew he would never forgive me.
