JAX: MC Biker Romance (New Adult Contemporary Bad Boy Romance) (27 page)

“Hey honey!” she beamed. “Oh!”

She recoiled back in horror when she realized who she was talking to.

“Shit!” she panicked and began to scramble backward, as she stumbled into the back of the sofa. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“Well, that’s no way to greet the love of your life.”

Rex towered over her, his enormous stature like a bull in the doorway. His shoulders were so wide they eclipsed the light before it had a chance to enter the house.

“But, I have to ask….” he strode into the living room, glancing around the place he used to know so well.

“Who you callin’ honey?”

There was an anger in his voice that Brandy hadn’t heard before, a menace in his eyes that she knew meant trouble. She remained silent, her voice strangled in her throat. For a moment, she just watched him, just looked up to his scarred face with terror in her gut. But then, he came closer to her, so close that she could smell the liquor on his breath and the musky cologne as it mingled with his sweat.

“Whut…. Whut are you doing here? I thought you still had time!”

“Now, that ain’t the response of a loving old lady… You should be welcoming me home with open arms, and open legs…” he moved even closer and grabbed at her bare thighs.

She let out a pained gasp, as she felt his muscular fingers dig into her skin. As she looked up to him, she didn’t think it was possible he could get bigger, but after almost two years of being inside, he’d bulked up.

Brandy tried to wriggle free, tried to pull his hand off her, but she was helpless against his strength. It was like a kitten trying to fight off a bison.

“Why are you struggling, babes? I thought you’d be pleased to see me.”

He spread her legs and pinned her up against the couch, eager to feel all of her body in between his hands.

“I’ve missed you so much, been desperate for the touch of a woman,” he grunted. “But, you still didn’t answer my question… Who were you calling honey?” he gripped at her chin and held her gaze to his.

She said nothing.

“Cos unless I’m paranoid, which God forbid I am, I could have sworn you were expecting me to be a lover of yours.”

His mouth was so close to hers she could almost taste his sour breath. She grimaced, as he breathed into her face, and winced as the tears stung at the sides of her eyes.

“Eh?” he shook her head. “Am I right?” he looked to the floor behind her and saw a pair of men’s boots.

His face was red with rage, and Brandy took note of the throbbing vein that was flickering between blue and purple at the side of his head. She recognized it so well; it was the vein that pulsed when she knew he was reaching fever pitch. It was going to come, the temper. He was going to destroy the house and everything in it. He was going to ruin her life, he was going to…

“Mama?”

There was a tiny voice coming from the top of the stairs. Rex looked up and saw his son for the first time. In shock, he let his hand go limp and Brandy pulled away, rubbing at her face as she hurried up the stairs.

Bundling Ricky into her arms, she picked him up and ran into the bedroom, slamming the door and pushing a chair in front of it. She threw the bedding up in the air, as she searched for her phone. It was beneath her pillow, and she tried her best to punch in 911, but her hands were shaking too violently.

Meanwhile, her bewildered little boy was sat on the floor with his pacifier hanging halfway out his mouth. His eyes became wide, as he heard heavy footsteps coming down the hall. His tiny hands reached for his mother and she clutched him tight, the both of them huddled on the bed.

Brandy watched as the door handle began to move. It shook slightly as Rex tried to get in, but when he realized the door was obstructed, she was certain it would be torn from its socket. She imagined any minute now he would kick the door in and it would shatter in splinters.

Her hands were trembling as she held onto her baby, the tears coming fast and frequent as they spilled onto her shirt.

“Brandy! Let me in,” Rex yelled.

She punched in the numbers 9 and 1.

“Hey, come on!” he shouted.

She was on the brink of pressing the last 1 when she heard something that made her stop. It was Rex’s voice and it wasn’t what she expected.

“Look, Brandy,” he now sounded defeated. “If anything… Will you at least let me see my boy?”

She heard the sound of him giving up and slouching to the floor, his enormous weight resting against the door.

“Please,” he begged. “I don’t want the first time I meet my son to be like this.”

*****

Her hand was still shaking when she opened the door. Rex stood up when he saw her and, for the shortest second, she was sure she saw a redness around his eyes as though he’d been crying.

There was a deep tension hanging in the air, but despite the fear Brandy was feeling, she found herself stepping to the side.

“Would you like to see him?” she asked, as she noticed the softness in his eyes.

Something had changed in Rex like a switch. He was no longer the beast he was downstairs, but now, looked as though he had something behind his eyes she hadn’t seen before. If she wasn’t mistaken, he looked as though he cared.

She watched him in awe as he stepped into the room and introduced himself to Ricky.

“Hey buddy,” he knelt down on one knee. “Do you know who I am?”

The little boy shook his head, as he chewed on his pacifier.

“I’m your Daddy,” Rex explained. “In fact, I can see you’ve got the same nose as me,” he pressed one of his giant fingers onto the end of Ricky’s nose.

The child giggled and pulled away, his tiny hands resting against his chubby tummy. Brandy could see it, the resemblance between them. There was no denying it, he was definitely the biker’s boy. Despite him still being a baby, he had the making of Rex’s diamond shaped jaw and high cheekbones, and there was that nose… that proud, snub nose…

For a long while, Brandy watched the biker stare with love at his son. If she was being honest with herself, she’d have to admit he seemed to genuinely love him despite him having never met him before. There was a bond between the two as they played and laughed.

She watched as Rex picked his boy up and flung him over his shoulder. Ricky squealed and giggled as the enormous man tickled his ribs. Brandy couldn’t help but smile, eventhough she was still scared.

What now? She thought. What about Neil? As Rex looked up and their eyes met across the room, his mood seemed to change once again. He put the little boy gently on the bed and asked for a high five. As Ricky slammed his little palm into Rex’s, he laughed and did a backward roll.

“So…” Rex approached Brandy while he was still laughing at his son’s amateur gymnastics. “He’s a real cute kid. Looks just like me as a baby.”

“I can imagine that.”

“He’s even got that little cheeky streak running through him. He’ll be trouble, I can tell you that.”

“Yeah… I hope not,” Brandy looked to the floor.

“Well,” Rex reached into his pocket and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. “Shall we talk outside?”

She nodded, knowing she had no choice. She had to do what he said. As they walked down the stairs and back out into the garden, the biker lit two cigarettes and handed one to the young mom.

“I shouldn’t,” she sighed. “I’m really trying to quit.

“Urgh… Quitting's for losers,” he smirked.

Brandy found herself laughing at his lame joke eventhough she hated him. There was something about him that was so magnetic, eventhough he was a brute. He’s a psycho, just remember that, she reminded herself.

“Is that a smile I see?” Rex noticed the look on her face. “If I wasn’t dreamin’, I’d say you were sweet on me again.”

“Nope,” she looked back down to the floor as she blew out a lungful of smoke. “I’m just thinking of something.”

“Oh yeah? Like your new man?”

She looked up at him with panic in her eyes.

“What?” he upturned his hands. “Like you think I don’t know? It’s written all over your face, his smell’s still in this house and his shit’s everywhere.”

He shook his head in despair.

“I don’t know how you could do something like that to me, Brandy. I thought we were good together.” He looked into her eyes with a pained expression etched across his face. “Weren’t we?”

“We were,” she nodded, her lips hanging onto the end of the cigarette butt. “But, I can’t believe you’d do such a thing like hold up a gas station with a shotgun,” she spat. “Why would you do something like that? What did you need the money for?”

He said nothing, just sucked on his cigarette as if it was giving him life.

“Don’t you worry your pretty little head about gang business, lady,” he tilted his head back and gave her his signature cocky look.

She could see the sweat on his brow and smell the whiskey on him.

“You’ve been drinking already,” she said. “It’s not even nine A.M.”

“Well… what can I say? I was released at six this morning and I kinda went to town a little.”

“A little?”

Again, he said nothing. They both stood in silence. In the background, the humid breeze rustled through the long grass, and beyond that, a freight truck hurtled down the empty road. Brandy listened to it, her ears in tune to the sounds of the country. She imagined the vehicle kicking up dust as it drove, the driver deep in concentration as he hurled himself through the wilderness.

“You look lost in thought,” Rex interrupted her. “What’s on your mind?” he asked casually.

“Too much,” she slumped down onto the steps. “There’s too much swimming around in here right now,” she tapped at the side of her head. “I didn’t know you’d be out so soon,” she admitted. “I didn’t think things were going to work out like this.”

“Me neither,” Rex sat down beside her. “Where were you?”

She looked at him with a quizzical expression.

“What do you mean?”

“Where were you?” he repeated. “All those months I was holed up in that jail, you never came to see me. I waited and waited until I thought my heart was bleeding. Every time visiting day would roll around I’d be waiting to see your face. I’d be desperate to see those pretty blue eyes of yours, but you were never there.”

“I wrote to you,” she replied coldly, although she didn’t mean to. “I wrote to you a lot, but you never replied.”

Rex looked to the ground and kicked up the gravel with his biker boots.

“I never was good at writing letters,” he confessed, “or writing anything at all.”

Again, he shook his head as though trying to shake away the regrets.

“I just wanted you to come and see me. That’s all. Even once would have meant the world.”

There was a spike of anger in his voice, a tinge of menace that was once again resurfacing.

“I couldn’t make it,” Brandy looked up at his face, “because I was looking after your child.”

“Why didn’t you bring him with you?”

“Prison ain’t no place for a baby,” she said with a definitive firmness. “What kinda lesson would that teach him, eh?”

Rex stood up, anxious and annoyed. That stormy look came over his eyes again, the one that signaled trouble was approaching. It was one of the things Brandy had always hated about him. Despite his charming personality and stunning looks, he could flick like a switch, change moods in an instant.

“Who is he?” he stood up close to her, his chest pressing into her.

“Eh?” she knew fine well what he was talking about, but fear was holding her words back as though her mind was in a cage.

“Your new man. Who is he? I wanna know who’s stolen my boy.”

“He’s not stolen him!” Brandy protested. “He’s been raising him as his own while you were in prison!” she wailed.

“Raising him as his own?” the thought enraged him and his face grew red. “And, why would a man be so stupid as to raise a biker’s son as his own? Is the man suicidal?”

Brandy didn’t know what to say. She couldn’t bear the thought of Neil being hurt, but the thug in front of her…

“You still haven’t told me his name…”

Brandy looked down to Rex’s hands and saw they were white at the knuckles, his fingertips pushing into the palm of his hand.

“I don’t think it’s any of your business,” she feigned a level of haughtiness.

She knew it would make him madder, knew she was playing with fire, but she had a family to protect; a perfect one, and she wasn’t giving it up.

"None of my business!" he seethed, his eyes narrowing as he looked down to the tiny woman beneath him. "Bitch," he pointed at her. "Don't tell me who he is... and I'll take that little boy from up there and you'll never see him again."

She knew it wasn't an empty threat, but she also knew she didn't want Neil to get hurt. In a moment of terror, she did the unthinkable, knowing before all else, she had to think of her child.

"Neil Wilkins," she hung her head in shame.

"Neil?" Rex yelled. "That fucker mechanic who works over on Weston?"