BlackJack (A Standish Bay Romance Book 1) (13 page)

“Shannon for God’s
sake, cover up,” he growled out at her.

***

He’d seen her
naked before, so the hell with him. She climbed out of bed and heard John curse
as she grabbed her robe off the back of the chair and wrapped herself into it. She
was still tightening the belt when she turned to face her ex. She promised
herself she would not lose her temper. It would not solve anything. So she
tried to fight back the anger trembling inside her, trying to explode like
Mount Saint Helen on a really bad day.

“You coming in
here was wrong. What I do with my time, my body and my life are none of your
concern. I want you to leave.”

John was
clearly pissed beyond reason and he glared at her. “It is my concern. You’re
the mother of my son and whether you like it or not, it gives me a say in your
life.” His temper snapped and he went for Cole, who’d stood in the background
watching the exchange between the once married couple.

“You murdering
son of a bitch, stay away from my family,” John yelled as one hand closed
around Cole’s neck. He had him shoved up against the wall before Cole clearly
knew what hit him. Shannon’s eyes widened with surprise and shock at John’s
behavior.

It didn’t take
long before Cole wrestled away from John’s death grip and threw an upper cut
into John’s gut, sending him down on one knee, coughing and wheezing. He didn’t
stay down long though before he charged Cole again. They went at it for a time,
each one getting their punches in, and it would have gone on for a lot longer
if Cameron hadn’t come into the bedroom.

“Stop it, stop
it,” he yelled at the top of his lungs, and Shannon’s froze at the anguished
expression on her son’s face. Cole and John ignored him. He finally got their attention
with his next sentence.

“Cut the
fucking shit, now!”

Chapter Ten

Both men froze
in their tracks and turned around to face an extremely upset Cameron. John was
bent over at the waist, his hands on his thighs as he sucked in air. Shannon
could see the blood clinging to his nose and lips. He mumbled something
unintelligible and booked it into the bathroom.

Shannon broke
out of her spell when she heard the bathroom door slam and she hurried to
Cole’s side. “I’m sorry about John. I don’t know what got into him.” She
reached up with her trembling hand and gently brushed his hair out of his eyes.
She cringed. “You’re going to have quite a shiner and your lip is split.”

Then to her
surprise Cole began to laugh, he hugged her to him and laughed harder. “I don’t
think I’ve fought over a girl since I was thirteen.” He pulled back and smiled
at her, then flinched. “Ouch, my lip hurts. Who do you think won?”

Shannon
couldn’t help but smile at his boyish question. “I think it was a draw. Cameron,
I realize you’re upset with what happened here, but would you please go
downstairs and make some coffee while I have a talk with your father.”

Cameron looked
from his mother to Cole then to the bathroom door. He shrugged his shoulders
and said, “Sure Mom.”

Cole moved to
leave with Cameron, but Shannon reached out her arm and stopped him. “Please
stay.”

***

How could he
resist the pleading in her eyes and in her voice? He would stay and confront
John reasonably this time with words instead of fists. Of course, that all
depended on John and if he was capable of being reasonable. Cole didn’t think
he could be when it came to Shannon.

Cole finished
dressing and sat down in a chair while Shannon dressed quickly before John came
out of the bathroom. She sat, back straight as an arrow on the bench at the
foot of the bed and waited. When John finally came out of the bathroom, he
didn’t look any better than Cole did. In fact he looked worse. Good she thought.
John deserved it the way he came barreling in here like a madman. Cole didn’t
deserve it though. Anger twisted around inside her stomach, causing it to ache.
She reached out and patted the bench beside her. “Come, sit down John and we
can talk like the adults we are,” she said as calmly as she could because she
refused to have a repeat of what just happened.

John sat down
next to her on the bench and exhaled loudly. “I’m sorry I came in here like that.
It wasn’t my intentions for things to become physical. But I have something to
say to you, and I will only say it once. If you continue seeing…” He glanced in
Cole’s direction. “…that man, I will fight for Cameron. I will not tolerate him
being around my son.” When Shannon tried to interrupt, he put up his hand. “I
told you once before I didn’t want him near Cameron and you ignored me like I
had
no
say, well guess what?” His voice became low, deep and menacing. “I
do
have a say. A huge say in my son’s life, and you can choose either…” He
pointed across the room. “…that man or Cameron.”

Shannon, too
shocked to answer right away, sat on the bench while a battle raged out of
control inside her. Her throat burned, and tears, against her will, leaked out
of her eyes and streamed down her cheeks onto her lap. Her trembling hands
clasped together and her insides shook like California experiencing an
earthquake. A catastrophic earthquake. When had John become such a tyrant? He
used to be a practical man and so considerate of others. Oh yeah right, he used
to be, about a million years ago during a previous life. Now he was nasty and
mean and trying to control her life and make her choose between her son and the
man she had come to love. A love that went beyond any other she had ever felt
and she would surely wither and die without it. But she would die an even more
slow, painful and horrendous death without her son.

She never would
have thought John was capable of being so cruel as to try and take Cameron away
from her. But she wasn’t so sure anymore. This was a side of him that frightened
her. He could persuade a judge to see his side. He had connections with
everyone because of his job. She hunched her shoulders in defeat and sobbed
into her hands, hoping John suffered tremendously for putting her through this
torture.

After a time of
complete silence, except for the sound of her crying, Shannon finally looked up
to Cole and saw by the expression on his face he knew what her decision was and
he understood. He closed his eyes and nodded slightly then got up and went into
the bathroom.

***

Once inside the
bathroom, Cole slammed the toilet seat closed, sank down on it and breathed
deeply, fighting the pain in his chest and the lump in his throat. John was a
son of a bitch. How could he treat Shannon like that? How could he play their
son against her? Didn’t he know she would choose her son over him? Cole snorted.
Yeah, he knew. And that’s why he gave her the ultimatum.

John only saw
what he wanted to see when it came to him. He saw in black and white only. What
he saw was Cole, a convicted killer and ex-con, on parole for the murder of his
wife. And there was nothing gray about it. Shannon, his heart constricted when
he thought of her, saw all shades of gray. She saw the good in him and she knew
he wasn’t capable of killing anyone. She loved him as he loved her, but he wouldn’t
put her in the position of losing her son. He wasn’t a quitter, definitely a
fighter, but sometimes the stakes were too damn high. For now, he would step
aside. But there would come a time when he and John would have it out, and he
would come out the victor then. Shannon was worth too much to him to lose her. His
heart was worth too much to be broken for a lifetime. Her heart deserved to be
whole. She deserved her lover and her son.

Cole leaned
over the sink and splashed icy cold water on his face, wincing at the stinging
of his lip, and then stepped out of the bathroom to find Shannon alone, looking
out the French doors to the ocean beyond. Her arms were tightly wrapped around
herself and she looked defeated. His chest constricted and his legs appeared
suddenly void of all strength as he walked up behind her, enveloping her into
his arms and burying his head into her hair. He cleared his throat to enable
himself to speak. “I’m leaving now,” he said with a quiver to his suddenly
hoarse voice. “I love you.”

She pivoted
around, put her unsteady hand on his cheek and looked at him with all the
anguish of a thousand souls riding on her shoulders. “I’m sorry,” she said in a
defeated whisper.

He took her
hand and kissed the palm. “Don’t be. Your son
should
be the most
important person in your life. I just wish John didn’t see in black and white
only.”

She broke down
then, clinging to him, sobbing and shaking. He held her until she quieted down,
and then he walked out the door with one last look back as he picked up his bag.
His insides burned from the spears of a hundred flaming arrows. He ran down the
stairs and glanced once at Cameron who sat at the kitchen counter looking stiff
and uncomfortable. Cole forced a smile and a wink and he mouthed, “See ya kid.”

He found John
standing outside by his rent-a-car. No big surprise there.

“Don’t get your
piss in an uproar. I’m leaving.”

John looked at
him with eyes blazing. “Stay away from my family.”

Cole couldn’t
help the snide remark that came out. “Last I checked, you gave up the right to
call Shannon family after your divorce. And by the way, does your current wife
know you’re still in love with your ex?”

Before he heard
John’s reply, Cole climbed in the car, turned the key and hit the gas. As he
headed in the direction of the highway, he decided to drive all the way to
Pittsburgh. He needed the feel of the open road to soothe and lick his wounds.

***

After John
watched Cole drive away, he reentered Shannon’s house in hopes of making peace
with her and his son, whom he knew would also be pissed off at him. But nothing
prepared him for Shannon’s words. She stood there, looking like the wrath of
hell herself, her hand held out.

“Hand it over.”

John tilted his
head as he had no idea what she wanted him to hand over.

“My house key,”
she said. “Hand it over.”

“Shannon that’s
ridiculous, I’ve always had one of your house keys.”

***

She wasn’t
caving on this. She didn’t start the war, he did, and she meant to finish it. “You’re
no longer welcome in my home. When you come to pick up Cameron, you will stay
outside and beep the horn. I don’t ever want to speak to you or see you again
unless it has to do with our son. You ruined our friendship when you barged in
here this morning interfering with my life and my happiness.” She tried to keep
her voice calm, but it got harder by the second.

“You had no
right to do what you did. Cameron and I are perfectly safe with Cole. That’s
right. I said his name!
Cole Jackson
is more of a man than you’ll ever
be. He has suffered more than you will ever know because of narrow-minded,
self-centered people like yourself and I personally don’t want anything to do
with you anymore. I loved you once and continued to love you long after our
divorce.” She saw the confusion on his face so she clarified. “I loved you as a
friend, but it’s over and done with. I’ll never forgive you for making me
choose my son over the man I love. How would you feel if I suddenly felt Cheryl
wasn’t fit to be around Cameron and made you choose?”

“It’s not the
same?” he snapped out.

“The hell it
isn’t,” she yelled. “In my eyes and in my heart, Cole has done nothing wrong. So
it
is
the same. Now, I will say it once more. Give me my house key.”

***

Damn her to
hell and back for this. John fumbled with his suddenly trembling hands to
remove the key from his key ring and reluctantly handed it over. It was not a
sign of defeat. He would not give up the battle yet, just put it on hold for
now. He stormed out of the house and sat inside his car shaking at the words
she’d spoken to him and at the words he remembered Jackson had spoken just as
he left.

He scrubbed his
hands down his face. Jesus, was Jackson right? Was he still in love with
Shannon? Was it okay that he’d gone on with his life, but he didn’t want
Shannon to go on with hers? Couldn’t bear to see her in love with someone else?
Damn them to hell and back for putting thoughts in his head. He loved his wife,
Cheryl, not Shannon. And to prove it he drove home, stopping along the way for
flowers, and the minute he stepped inside the door he swept Cheryl off her feet,
brought her to their bedroom and locked the door. He pulled her into his arms
and kissed her senselessly.

“John, the
children,” she reminded him.

“They can wait.
I need you.”

      ***

AJ awoke in a
cold sweat from a deep sleep. He rolled over and looked at the clock, four in
the morning. He didn’t often dream about Lindsey anymore, but with Cole out of
prison and the band back together, AJ’s guilty conscience was getting the best
of him. Every time he looked at Cole, guilt and shame churned inside him. Maybe
if he’d spoken up about Lindsey’s infidelities with him and the many other
lovers she’d had, he could have kept his best friend out of prison.

But he’d been
too ashamed to have fallen in love with his best friend’s wife. He and Lindsey
had spent two years together, steeling moments of pure carnal pleasure whenever
the opportunity presented itself. And it presented itself often, with Cole
seemingly uninterested in his own wife. But that didn’t make what he’d done right.
What he’d done with Lindsey would never be justified. He’d coveted another
man’s wife.

He wanted to
tell Cole about his relationship with her. He needed to clear his conscience. He
supposed it was selfishness on his part in telling him now, but he had to.

AJ had already
checked in at the hotel in Pittsburgh where the band would be staying during
their concert tour. He came early. He hadn’t wanted to go home. He had a small
condo in Los Angeles but he hadn’t felt like going there, and besides, his real
home was in Scotland with his wife Elizabeth and their three children. After
Lindsey’s death and Cole had gone to prison, AJ, brokenhearted and dejected
went back to his homeland to make a new life for himself. He’d set himself up
on a horse farm. Breeding and raising horses had become his life. He’d married
Elizabeth Walsh, whom he’d known most of his life. He didn’t truly love her,
not with all his heart, but he did love her as much as he was capable of loving
anyone after Lindsey.

Elizabeth was
kind and she truly loved him. She was easy to be with. He missed her terribly,
and he couldn’t wait for the concert tour to end so he could go home to her,
his children and their horses. He loved the quiet, hard, busy life of the farm.
He had loved the life of a rock-n-roller when he’d been younger, and he was by
no means ready to give it up, but he needed his downtime and his family. But
before AJ could truly be happy and completely content with his life, he needed
to speak with Cole. There were so many things that needed to be said and should
have been said ages ago.

***

Cole drove
straight through to Pittsburgh from Shannon’s house. And as he drove, his mind
engaged in a constant battle with itself about how things were left. He’d let
John simmer down a bit, but he had no intentions of letting Shannon slip
through his fingers. His heart and soul and every other part of him was now a
part of her too. It hurt too damn much to contemplate life without her.

Christ, what
had John been thinking barging in on them like a crazed lunatic? He’d upset
Shannon and Cameron. Didn’t he care the two of them probably hated his guts
right now? Hell, he did. Shannon was an adult, she could handle it, but he
didn’t need to alienate his son. Cole ran one hand through his unruly hair, frustrated
beyond belief with worry about his life and Shannon’s. Add to that he now
worried about John and his relationship with Cameron. John, who didn’t deserve
a thought in his head, but somewhere in the back of Cole’s mind, he truly
believed John was a decent guy led astray by his emotions.